
The science behind how your productivity is chosen by what you eat - LeonW
http://blog.bufferapp.com/the-science-behind-how-your-nutrition-will-decide-your-productivity-for-today
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jacques_chester
This thread is going to be hilarious. There's nothing quite so beautiful as
people who read the same half dozen pop science books arguing about nutrition,
a stupidly complex science about which almost no universal statements can be
made (with one and only one exception[2]).

For example: I am an intermittent faster[1]. I don't have breakfast, have a
modest lunch and a large dinner (heavy or light on carbs, depending on my
training). I lift weights 5 or 6 evenings a week.

I am as productive as hell in the mornings.

The reason I eat this way is because I suck at portion control. 3 small meals,
fiddling with plates or not, is _torture_. Whereas I am perfectly capable of
not eating in the first place.

[1] <http://chester.id.au/2012/04/17/my-diet/>

[2] That net calorie balance is the determinant of long term average
bodyweight. Lots of people are annoyed by that:
<http://chester.id.au/2012/05/26/fat-and-simple/>

[3] Yes, I know I'm spamming links to my own blog. It's just easier than
typing out the same stuff all over again.

~~~
fingerprinter
Man, huge +1 that you reference Cheat Mode. If you are actually doing that,
you are well on your way to a healthy lifestyle.

I've been advocating some form of carb-cycling diet for years (Cheat Mode,
Carb Back-Loading and Lean Gains are all styles of carb-cycling). It. Is.
Awesome. And the science backs it up too. In all my fitness books I advise
this style of eating as well. Huge success with it for both me and the
readers.

One note: I don't know how quickly you want to lose weight, but it notes in
your blog that you were at 133kg. If you want to accelerate that and save your
muscle (muscle sparring) at the same time, I suggest you change up the carb-
cycling like this: 6.5 days of VLC (very low carbs, less than 30grams) and
then have a very big carb night. This is essentially Keto with carb refeeds
and it is great for shedding fat. Accelerate it further by doing some steady
state cardio (walking on a treadmill) for 30 minutes 3-5 days a week. Don't do
HIIT training EXCEPT the day after your carb refeed. HIIT will help you clear
the glucose from your system on that day, but on any other day it will start
to eat your muscle.

Now, however, if you are comfortable at that weight and want to do a more
steady recomposition, you are doing the right thing. I just suggested the
above if you wanted to lose fat faster.

~~~
radicalbyte
Interesting, I had lots of success with the Body4Life plan. That combines
weight training, HIIT and the 6/1 split of protein/carb-overload.

It works really well for fast weight loss: in 12 weeks, 22kg fat burnt and 7kg
raw muscle mass added (if the measurement is to be believed).

Sure, I've gained 15kg fat back since I stopped, but that's the Achilles heel
of all diets..

~~~
fingerprinter
I don't look at them as 'diets' per se. I think of them as lifestyles that fit
my current goals.

So, for instance, when I want to maintain weight, I eat moderate carbs after I
workout. If I want to gain weight, I'll eat more carbs, and higher GI carbs,
after I workout. If I want to lose fat, I'll do the 6.5 day refeed approach
(this was nutshelling in its heaviest form....there are many nuances, but you
should get the idea).

You don't have to gain the weight back. Just realize what made you successful
and start adapting that to how you live after you hit your goal, whatever that
is.

~~~
jacques_chester
Like I say in my blog post: we are are our own controller. Observe inputs and
results.

These days I have lost enough fat that I can, by eyeballing, see what I had
for dinner the night before. Lots of carbs --> retain water --> some veins
disappear. Few carbs --> less water retained --> veins more visible.

At the moment I try to schedule particularly carby dinners for hypertrophy
days, on the theory that this will work better for sarcoplasmic hypertrophy
purposes.

But at this point in the discussion I am well and truly majoring in the
minors. The headline is still that I am losing fat through caloric deficit and
that _for me_ , the easiest way to do so is intermittent fasting.

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diiq
Not that it invalidates the article, but it's worth noting that, no matter how
many times it's said, you do not replace everything every 7 years. Not by any
available definition of 'everything': cells, atoms, limbs, tastes.

[http://askanaturalist.com/do-we-replace-our-cells-
every-7-or...](http://askanaturalist.com/do-we-replace-our-cells-
every-7-or-10-years/)

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ipsin
I must've spent 30 seconds trying to parse the title.

The science behind how (your productivity is chosen by what you eat)

not

(The science behind how your productivity) is (chosen by what you eat)

~~~
magpie707
I still can't parse it.

~~~
dredmorbius
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

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jaggederest
It is likely that you will waste more time worrying about your diet than you
gain in productive activity.

You should probably still do it, since it has long term health consequences,
but the rules are really easy:

1\. Eat something

2\. Not too much

3\. Mostly plants

~~~
JohnsonB
>1\. Eat something

>2\. Not too much

>3\. Mostly plants

There are a lot of diets that disagree with this, diets which many people find
success in. For example the Ketosis diet says:

1\. Eat as much as you want

2\. Mostly protein and fat

3\. And vegetables

~~~
jaggederest
"Diet" in this case is not something to lose weight. Diet is 'whatever you
eat'.

If you're 'dieting', you're doing it wrong. Instead of dieting, avoid crappy
food and you're fine. Dieting shouldn't be something you 'succeed' or 'fail'
at - if it involves restrictions you can 'fail' at, it's probably a terrible
thing to do to yourself in the long term.

~~~
kahawe
Paleo diet with "diet" as in lifestyle change and whatever-you-should-be-
eating. It seems to have its fair share of followers and they appear to be
loving it and there are studies that show beneficial effects like lower blood
pressure.

------
Swannie
So much wrong! [EDIT: OK, not quite as much wrong as I thought]

"Most of what we eat will be broken down to one thing: Glucose. Glucose is our
fuel, keeping our brains awake and alert."

Say what? Fat is not turned into glucose (fat -> free fatty acids and
glycerol) [EDIT: Wrong here, as glycerol can undergo Gluconeogenesis to
produce glucose]. Protein is not turned in to glucose. [EDIT: I was partially
wrong here too, see comment, as Glucogenic Amino Acids, from digested protein,
can undergo Gluconeogenesis too :-/] Neither is the cellulose in my
vegetables, etc. etc. Pretty much only the starch I eat, the sucrose and the
glucose I eat goes to glucose.

"The most important part here is that we are in full control of how we release
glucose to our blood and our brains."

Huh? Really? "full control" are we? Insulin doesn't play a part??

So here is an article basically suggesting that the readers attempt to eat
slow release carbs (better than fast!)... all day long to sustain their blood
sugar level? Graze... all day long? Specifically dark chocolate and chocolate?

Well, it appears so, yes. Which is pretty much a recipe for decreasing your
insulin sensitivity, generally accepted as BAD for your health.

~~~
jacques_chester
> Protein is not turned in to glucose.

Actually, it can be: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluconeogenesis>

I've experienced gluconeogensis myself. How do I know? The byproduct is
ammonia, which is excreted in sweat. It's hilarious and also really unpleasant
to be coughing because you are giving off chemical fumes.

~~~
jaggederest
Gluconeogenesis is a continual process - it doesn't happen like a switch, it
ramps up and down depending on your need for glucose. I would be surprised if
there's any human on earth that hasn't 'experienced' it.

~~~
jacques_chester
Good point. The body isn't a finite state machine.

That said -- when you a spluttering on your own ammonia fumes, it's more
noticeable :D

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navs
What kind of quick meals would you suggest for a very busy person on a
students budget? Many of us hackers do things outside the norm, sleep
deprivation is long touted as a form of achievement. What do you hackers out
there eat to 1. Maintain your cognitive ability, 2. Ensure you get your
minimum nutrients and 3. don't take too long or cost too much to prepare

~~~
cowpewter
Omelet. Eggs are cheap and cook fast, you can put whatever you want in it -
prechop/cook things to throw into it. If you're keeping it low-carb, lots of
cheese and a spoonful of salsa on top is delicious. If you're eating the same
cheap things everyday, then a one-a-day style multivitamin is cheap insurance
against deficiency. You'll pee most of it out but it's better than risking an
actual deficiency in something.

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mhd
Ah, diets, where bad science reporting meets physicians with pet peeves, "folk
wisdom" and fads.

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mzarate06
Great to see someone dig into this and provide some science behind it all (and
perhaps others have done the same, I just haven't made it a point to look
around). And timely, too, I've made important changes in my diet recently and
the productivity payoff is huge. In particular, I discovered green smoothies
about 2 months ago, and man the change those things have made! I rarely go a
day w/out one, and they provide hours of increased focus and energy.

I believe in them so much I put up a quick article about them. For those that
may be interested (one my recipes is included):

[http://freelancefactor.net/index.php?/page/articles.html/_/a...](http://freelancefactor.net/index.php?/page/articles.html/_/articles/productivity-
booster-green-smoothies-r10)

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wtrk
The article heralds soy as having an uber-low glycemic index ... but doesn't
note that soy appears to function as an endocrine disruptor in humans,
something of concern for everyone but especially for children/infants.

------
kahawe
> _Across the board, yeah, food puts you in a better mood. To be more exact,
> research has shown that 2 cheeseburgers = one orgasm._

At the same time it has become far too common to shun and judge pretty much
all overweight people as nothing but lazy, disgusting pigs. I know, not
everyone has trouble with their hormones or glands but I think the sooner
people would see it and especially treat it as an addiction to food similar to
caffeine and nicotine, the better.

You absolutely have to be in the right state of mind to stop over eating or
eating for comfort and solace and you need a lot of will-power and self
awareness to keep it that way when you hit a rough patch, much like giving up
cigarettes and drinking lots of coffee.

