Hello,

I decided to try 2 meals per day. Monday I ate at 9am
and 6pm, Tuesday 12noon and 6pm, taking in roughly
3000 calories, including 2 servings of whey protein
"snack drinks".

[The 9 and 6 timing is preferable. You should try to keep at least 8 hours
between meals so that the body is effectively in a fasting state (with lower
blood glucose and insulin) for as long a time as possible. Also do not eat
within 4 hours of sleep so that the body is in a low glucose/insulin state
during the early hours of sleep, since this will enhance growth hormone release
and other sleep repair/maintenance processes. In addition, even whey protein
snacks will cause insulin release since it is also necessary to cause amino
acids to enter the cells. So except perhaps when exercising (to build muscle
more easily) it is best to have nothing but water or zero calorie teas between
meals. Kitty and I have found that green tea between meals is particularly
effective at reducing any hunger pangs and this is supported by the literature
(PMID: 16436103, PMID: 11934132, PMID: 11773671). Such hunger pangs will also
reduce as you get used to this regimen and they also disappear if you do a
little light physical activity.
I also question your need for 3000 calories if that figure is actually accurate.
You should try to slowly reduce this to see if you really need such a large
digestive load. --Paul]


I am 28 years, 6' 2", 167 pounds, and 6.5 body fat percentage.

I will continue to manipulate my food choices as I
notice right away that I eat few vegetables but lots
of fatty nuts, seeds, etc. According to my calorie
calculator, 53.8% of my calories came from fats, 24.3%
from proteins, and 26.3% from carbs.

[There are 3 potential problems that I see here.
1) Your fat intake computes to 180 grams of fats per day. While this is clearly
mostly mono and polyunsaturated fats, it is still a large amount and even from
nuts, is not likely to yield the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of less than 4 (best
is likely 2) which is preferable. In addition, you need to be getting omega-3
from fish, since that is many times more potent a source of the long-chain
omega-3's which the body mostly uses than are any nuts.
2) Your protein intake computes to 182 grams daily. This is again excessive. A
large protein intake together with a small carb intake means that much of the
amino acids from the protein will be catabolized to be used as fuel. This has
several negative effects. First, it is a very inefficient process for the body
and can even potentially be hard on the kidneys (to get rid of all the excess
nitrogen products - which cannot be burned as fuel). Second, it downregulates
the recycling of old and damaged body proteins that it would be best for the
body to eliminate as quickly as possible (this is a major benefit of a calorie
restricted diet).

[As Paul said, any excess protein will be used as fuel, but to use it as fuel
the body has to either directly oxidize the amino acids (the protein is broken
down to amino acids in the digestive tract before being absorbed), or to convert
them to glucose by gluconeogenesis in the liver to make them available as a fuel
for the rest of the body. But the conversion of amino acids to glucose is energy
demanding and usually about one third of the excess amino acids are directly
oxidized and the resulting energy is used to fuel the conversion of the other
two thirds to glucose (PMID: 1557428). The end result is that only about two
thirds of all excess protein gets turned into useful energy for the body. Also
since this conversion is so energy demanding, eating a lot of excess protein
will significantly elevate the metabolic rate of the liver (and consequently the
body as a whole), and thus increase ROS production in the liver. This I would
expect to accelerate the aging process, particularly that of the liver.
-°Olafur]

3) Your low intake of carbs (197 grams daily) indicates that you are not
consuming nearly enough fruits and vegetables with their important nutritive
compounds.

At your young age, you will not be able to detect these potential problems
easily because your body will compensate. However, in effect they mean that your
body is deteriorating slightly faster than it could be and in time they will
collectively show negative effects. --Paul]


My initial question is about my whey protein. What
should be and what should not be in the ingredients?
I currently have "six star" brand which includes this
list as ingredients:
whey protein concentrate, alkalized cocoa powder, whey
protein isolate, dextrose, modified starch, propylene
glycol, partially hydolyzed whey protein, borage oil
(gelatin, maltodextrin, sodium caseinate, mono- and
diglycerides, mixed tocopherols), flax oil powder
(glucose syrup, mannitol), sucralose, acesulfame-K,
maltodextrin, soy lecithin, silicon dioxide

protein: 20g
total carb: 3g
sugars: 2g
total fat: 2g
sat fat: 1g
110 calories
creatine 1.3g

[It would be best for you to change over to a whey protein which contains
nothing else, not even a sweetener. Although you can also get a custom mixed
protein in which you could include some other important amino acids not found in
proteins such as taurine (Olafur does this). Also the creatine is very valuable
and it would be good for you to take as much as 5 grams daily. --Paul]

[I got a chance to speak with Jack just after he posted this message to the
group, and I suggested that he buy protein from trueprotein.com as I do. The
reasons I buy my protein from trueprotein.com and recommend it to other people
are the following:
1) The price of most of their products is the lowest I've found online. One of
the reasons for that is that you get discounts if you buy in large quantities.
2) According to their website their products are of the highest quality
available. To support this statement they will provide you with certificates of
analysis for all of their products upon request. And although one might get
suspicious about the quality of their products because of their low prices it is
worth mentioning that they do not spend any money on advertisements, fancy
containers and such, instead they use the money to keep their prices as low as
possible without compromising quality.
3) They give you the option to order a customized product and add several
beneficial ingredients to it, including amino acids, at a low cost. This can be
very convenient in the sense that one does not need to take as many supplements
separately.
4) My fraternal twin brother has known one of the two owners of trueprotein.com
over the Internet for over two years. He has found him to be an honest and
trustworthy person who cares more about the quality of the product he sells than
the money he makes from selling them. I have also known this person indirectly
through Egill and have made this same judgment about him based on what I know
about him. -°Olafur]


Are 3g of carbs too many in between my two meals? Should I opt for
pure whey powder instead, or is the difference negligible?

[3 g of carbs is a negligible amount, but you should change to a different whey
protein for other reasons. --Paul]


Thanks for setting an example. Two-meals is making
more sense as I learn more. Plus, I'm not as
psychologically afraid of not having energy nor as
afraid of the hungry feeling.
Today as an example, I worked out for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
10 minutes cardio on bike, 7 minutes stretching upper body, and the
remaining time split between 3 sets of 13, 11, and 9 repetitions of
the following exercises:
military press, 90-110 lbs; bicep curls 70-85 lbs; hanging ab leg-
raises 8-15 lbs; side ab bends 45 lbs; front deltoid raise 30-50 lbs;
side raise 30-45 lbs; rotator exercise 7.5-12.5 lbs; tricep
extension: 50-70 lbs.

[This seems like a large amount of your precious daily waking time for this
purpose. Particularly if you cut back on your protein and fat calories and
increase your fruit and vegetable intake, then you should be able to do nicely
on an hour or less of exercise daily. --Paul]

[Actually Jack doesn't practice weight lifting daily. I spoke to Jack during my
visit in AZ and if I recall correctly he lifts weights 3 times a week. Also this
is just an example of a weight lifting session, he does also train his lower
body regularly, something a lot of people that lift weights seem to neglect. I
got a chance to run with Jack during a recent hiking trip in the desert west and
slightly south of Casa Grande and I can testify that he has pretty good
endurance. -°Olafur]

[In the future I will get photos uploaded to MoreLife.org of this hike in the
TableTop Mountain Wilderness area about 60 miles from our house and one a week
earlier that included Jack in two areas near Sedona. **Kitty]


The range in weights means I completed set 1 (13 reps) at the lower
weight, completed set 2 (11 reps) midrange, and set 3 (9 reps) at the
upper weight.

I generally do not rest between sets if I can manage. However, as I
increase the amount of weight that I lift, I do separate exercises
with time when appropriate. Additionally, I drank one serving of
whey protein during this time.

Following this, I showered then ate meal one at noon. Felt fine and
dandy.

[Waiting until after exercise to eat is good when you exercise first thing after
rising. However, if you are not going to exercise at that time, then you should
eat a good breakfast before starting your day (say going to a class). --Paul]

[One of the reasons it is good to eat a breakfast before starting your day when
you are not exercising first thing after rising, is because it helps spacing
your meals and supplements (most of which are best taken with meals) more evenly
throughout the day. Doing so will help you keep a more constant concentration of
the nutrients in your circulation throughout the day. Spacing the two meals 12
hours apart would of course be best for this purpose, but for reasons Paul gave
earlier in this post it is not a good idea to eat shortly before going to sleep.
-°Olafur]


More as I experience more,

Jack
PS calculated calories at www.nutritiondata.com