A Brief Discussion on Nutrition

This should remain brief partly by design and partly because I doubt I have that much content I can put in it. That aside, here goes:

People who've gone to the earlier reaches of this log will find some references to Jamie Lewis's predator diet and to my dietary history in general. I've tried various (fairly faddy) approaches, and at this point resigned myself to a few relatively simple things:

1) Whatever the current model of obesity predicts would be effective for weight loss is probably the best evidence-based method of losing weight. Currently that appears to be limiting palatability of your food to reduce overconsumption, because it seems fairly laid-in-stone nowadays that the actual amount of weight lost or gained depends primarily on caloric deficit/surplus (respectively).

Fortunately, palatability on the level that's (presumably) caused the recent dramatic increase in American calorie intake is fairly easy to avoid by simply cooking the vast majority of your food yourself. This is where it gets stickier, because making decisions past that point requires some kind of framework that will probably be health-based, and there are numerous conflicting positions on what constitutes a healthy diet.

That being said, there are a few things that seem fairly universal:

1) Refined sugar and anything containing it is generally bad.

2) Hydrogenated oils and anything containing them are bad.

More controversially:

1) Fructose (and by extension sucrose) is problematic because it can't be stored as muscle glycogen (or, as far as I'm aware, even removed from the blood by muscle cells) and should be limited due to the liver's small glycogen capacity (~100g, apparently). This doesn't mean avoid all fruit, but it does suggest that avoiding large quantities of fruit and sucrose will be beneficial, and that starches should be prioritized over fruits for any method of carbohydrate loading.

2) Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids should generally be avoided in the context of Western diets, as a bias of w-6 over w-3 appears to lead to chronic inflammation and generally damage health. w-3 biased over w-6 is also a problem, but it's a lot harder to reach that stage because Western diets tend to be very high in w-6 as a result of our animal feedstocks and habit of using seed oils in most of our foods. Saturated and monounsaturated cooking fats are probably best, and grassfed/pastured meats may be preferable for this reason.

More selectively and controversially:

1) Glutenous grains (N.B. - the family of celiac-associated plant proteins is quite large and does not, as far as I know, actually feature a specific protein named "gluten") may be contraindicated for a large percentage of the population due to various levels of intolerance and allergy. Avoiding these goes (somewhat) hand-in-hand with reducing omega-6 intake, since the two seem to be found together quite frequently.

I'm currently experimenting with carb backloading (as with my APD experience, this is more for convenience than anything else - the APD didn't really work out, though it did at least teach me a few things about how effectively I can eat some things). That said, I'm taking a modified approach based on what I've said above, partly for health reasons and partly because while some of the science has merit (primarily his notes about post-exercise changes in muscular utilization of glucose), a lot of it appears to be bullshit (of the traditional "doesn't say what he says it says" variety). This basically turns it into "

Currently unsure of how I'm going to handle breakfast; Keifer presents some argument for coffee with fat and very little protein or carb (I suspect that if I go this route it'll be hazelnut roast with cream and coconut oil).

Later in the day (a few hours before training), I'm thinking a fairly conservative meat and greens meal; half-rack of ribs, steak, pork chops, etc.. There are plenty of good protein and fat meals and easy vegetable sides.

For non-training days, that'll get followed by something larger (or multiples thereof), say a full rack of ribs or a whole roast chicken. I may allow myself some wiggle room with respect to carb content in the evenings, but ideally these will essentially be "keto" days.

On training days, post-workout meals will consist of some manner of protein (ideally with lower fat content) with a fairly large amount of starch, generally from rice or potatoes. Braised meat with rice, curry, Shephard's Pie, etc. (and cheat meals) go here.