How does Rock stay so thin and eat so little?

[xiongmao]

Just a heads up that in 2 months of a low sugar diet I have now lost half a stone (is that 6lbs? We Brits have a weird system of weighing stuff that we don't even understand). If I was obese then I'd be reporting much more weight loss but as it is I am just overweight (and as a guy most of it is around my gut).

Anyway, this diet is highly successful and as a biochemist I would say that it works because:

1. Stuff without sugar in it tends to be less refined.
2. By converting your body to run on fat and low GI carbs you burn up food calories.
3. You never get a sugar crash and sugar levels stay constant. So you don't fall into the vicious circle of having to eat more and more to maintain energy levels.
4. The food industry is lying to you. Since 1980 they have been getting you to eat a low fat diet. Well the reality is that fat is GOOD for you, but sugar and stuff like high fructose corn syrup isn't.

A contentious issue is that I am avoiding all fruit apart from avocado, coconut and limes. Mainly because I don't actually like fruit, but also because as a former botanist I can tell you that modern apple varieties are full of sugar and not much else (ahem, Pink Lady) and if you must eat apples then pick the sourer green ones.

If you did low sugar AND gym work then you'd have an incredible body!

I am loosely following the paleo diet but with an Asian twist. i.e. lots of miso soup, green tea and noodles.

If you have a sweet tooth then chocolate is OK as the body takes a while to separate the sugar from the fat. But stick to good quality, soya free chocolate.

[onethousandknives]

I have the opposite "problem" as Rock. I'm normal sized, though a 25.7 BMI everyone thinks I'm like 20lbs lighter than I look, and I wear size 31-33 pants/jeans and size small (American) t-shirts, have a few Euro size 48 jackets that fit well but are a bit loose. I eat gobs of food. At one point I was... let's see here, 34 BMI, very fat. But even at that 34 BMI, friends who were fatter than me remarked I ate more than them and was skinnier. So I don't know if my metabolism is maybe a bit on the "fast" side or good genetics now. Anyway nowadays I usually work out 10-12 hours a week. I eat a high carb low fat diet without much meat, but if I'm with friends or family I'll eat whatever at a restaurant, but I tend to only eat out maybe... twice a month? Also besides exercise my work is somewhat physical and I tend to take 2 hour or so walks 2-3x a week when weather is nice, and sometimes even pace around my house for hours at a time (I think better when walking.) So that might help my calorie burning some.

At restaurants, I used to get super enormous portions. Now I'm not dainty with restaurant portions, but a bit more regular. IE, if given the opportunity, I'd totally for example, eat a Taco Bell Grande Meal (10 tacos) in one sitting with no assistance. Now if I go to Taco Bell, I do usually just get 2-3 fresco bean burritos and that's it, whereas before normal was like 5-6 tacos full of fatty cheese stuff. So I'm still on the high end of portions, but not anything near what I used to be able to eat. At home for example, I eat like, a whole thing of pilaf myself, about 3 cups and change of rice, can of chickpeas, maybe 2 tablespoons of olive oil? Then maybe 1/3-1/2 a loaf of Italian bread, and some lunch meat chicken (my mom buys it) or a few homemade baked falafel patties. I dunno, if I log it all it comes out to over 3000 calories most days.

Anyway, I think "small portions" is actually a BAD way to diet. Lots of people I know are straight delusional with their portion sizes. Especially women. They'll be in a public setting or at a restaurant, and only order a little dainty thing, to keep the narrative of "I don't eat that much" in their minds and others. Then they go home, watch TV, eat an entire bag of chips or box of Oreos, a little TV dinner thing perhaps. I think most people's dieting problems could be solved at least in large proportion if people just ate meals and didn't "snack" and didn't play the dainty meal game to appear virtuous for eating only a little when their actual physical form isn't fooling anyone.

That said, I've met skinny people who really did just eat small portions and don't eat anything and it perplexes me how to do it, too. Dr. McDougall, the guy I follow most as far as a diet plan/ideology said this:

Moderation Is Impossible for Passionate People

My great grandmother, Laura Bristow lived to be 106 years old eating a “well-balanced diet.” I recall her telling me, when I was a child, “Johnny, you eat too much meat; it’s going to make you sick.” Years later—I was 30 and she was 102—I had become, in all practical terms, a strict vegetarian. One afternoon at her home in the suburbs of Detroit she asked me to drive to the neighborhood McDonald’s and buy her a hamburger—a 30 cent burger, made with paper thin ground beef, two pickle slices and a blob of mustard and ketchup, all hidden within two halves of an airy white bread bun. Upon my return she proceeded to cut the hamburger into quarters and she shook one quarter in my face and advised me, “If you ate a little more meat you would be healthier.” She then ate two quarters and put the rest away for later. My great-grandmother was by nature a very moderate person who picked at tiny platefuls of traditional American foods, drank ¼ cup of diluted coffee each morning, and had one small glass of red wine on holidays. I am not like her.

“Everything in moderation” has been preached to every generation throughout human history. It didn’t work way back then and it doesn’t work for most folks today. Have you ever met a smoker who quit by cutting down? I haven’t. Have you ever heard of an alcoholic who sobered up by switching to beer? Neither have I. Westerners are completely addicted to their steaks, cheeses, and pies. Don’t tease them with a little bit. Cutting down on the portion size of fried chicken, gravy, biscuits, and ice cream is slow torture and is one of the primary reasons diets fail.
https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2009nl ... ionate.htm

I dunno if that's helpful or not, but hey.