The fine folks at Epipheo enjoyed interviewing me so much that they made a second video. This one explains intermittent fasting in TWO MINUTES using CARTOON DINOSAURS and OGRES and ANIMALS BEING RIPPED TO BLOODY SHREDS. What more could you want?
Please drop a “Like” on the Youtube page, or even leave a comment. And, even more importantly, share this with your carb-grazing friends by using the widget below!
If you’re looking for my original beginner’s guide to the Paleo Diet, “Eat Like a Predator, Not Like Prey,” you can read it here.
Live in freedom, live in beauty.
JS
Your “paleo guide” is easily one of my favorites.
“Hangry” – love it!
Neat little vids, obviously meant to have broad public appeal but I love the mission to challenge dogma.
Another great video and yes I did put a like up on youtube
The comments section on YouTube is, as always, quite entertaining. Unfortunately, even with it’s simplified message, it looks like a lot of people just don’t ‘get it.’
Then again, I have to question the chain of causality as interpreted in the video. It implies that frequency of eating is a matter of ‘willpower’ when in fact it has more to do with macro-nutrient ratios and hormone responses to them. In other words, do carb eaters eat more often because of dietary advice from ‘experts’? (Yeah, right.) Or do they constantly snack (on carbs) because the hormonal response of insulin cycling keeps them hungry?
When I ‘eat like a predator,’ consuming lots of animal fat, I don’t feel the need to eat that often. I don’t like to force myself to fast on any kind of schedule. That requires ‘willpower,’ and I’m just not into that kind of BS.
I also think that most people assume that ‘predators’ eat a high protein diet. I think this point should be clarified: the choice is not between carbs and proteins, but carbs and fats.
j. sent the info on this cartoon over to primal blueprint/mark/marksdailyapple to share with his readers. between the two of you, my whole idea about food has redevelopeddevolved for the better back to our primal eating ancestors-because Nothing Else Makes Sense.
Hahahahaha! Eat Like a Predator in a nutshell … I mean, just how easy is it? You don't need a support group; you just do it. Like giving up smoking … no patches, no crutches, just stop and don't do it anymore. Stop eating rubbish, stop snacking. Eat real food, eat real meals and live.
That was a fun cartoon, J.
But, even Gnolls get “hangry” … GIVE ME CHEESE!!! French, of course … duh! like I'm going to eat cheddar* when I'm hangry and there's a Camembert sitting on the worktop?
*Nothing wrong with cheddar, BTW, but after some neolithic aggro (Fencing, Ju Jistu, Boxing, HEMA) something more fatty and creamy is always good. RRAAAaaahhh!
Eat Like a Dinosaur?
That’s a great little film, and the most important bit for me came at the end when you said something like “don’t be the guy who has to be fed every three hours”.
I too used to get moody just before getting hungry and was trying to eat more often to assuage those effects.
Since dropping bread (etc etc) and eating better fatty meats I am free from hunger. It is a shame the film didn’t include anything about composition of diet, which I think is the KEY to cracking the hunger/temper cycle.
Paul,
Funny you should mention eating something fatty after excerise (or play depending on how you look it!
) because there have been times when my body has wanted FAT afterwards and not really much carbs!
Caveman like this … good … like shred animals … yummy
Great video. I saw it on the Dish and found my way to your site for the first time. I’ve been doing something similar for 10 years (VLC–lots of fatty meats, greens and some other veggies, reasonable amounts of cheese/butter/cream, and tons of coconut products). Last year I added in intermittent fasting–I skip breakfast and eat only at 11 am and 4 pm, and that’s it, except for bourbon in the evening). I can’t imagine going back to grains and sugars, even though sometimes I crave dried pineapple (odd, but true).
I’m curious about how much protein you think folks should eat. I grew up hearing: 1 gram for every kg of weight (which would put me at 60 grams of protein a day).
And I’m curious about what you think about coffee? I adore it, and I especially adore the heavy cream I put in it. That means I’m drinking my food, as you warn not to, but that’s life. It works for me.
Great job! Thanks for your efforts to reform the sad state of American diets.
Iniquity:
Thank you! I think we need inspiration as well as factual knowledge.
Asclepius:
I made all the “hangry ogre” noises in the background, too.
Danny:
Absolutely. Some commenters want to complain “there's no science”…try putting Pubmed citations into a two-minute cartoon sometime.
Jen W:
Thank you!
Dave:
I agree…but there's only so much you can explain in two minutes, which is enough time for one idea if you do it right. In this case, the idea is “eat less often”. The consequences are “you'll have the time to fix real food instead of eating junk”, and “when you do eat, you won't have to restrain yourself or watch portion sizes”. Trying to explain how it affects blood sugar, let alone hormones, would be yet another video.
dana:
The more you think about it, the more the whole “hearthealthywholegrains” mantra stops making sense. They're not very nutritious, they're heavily processed and very calorie-dense, and they're not part of our natural diet as humans.
Paul:
That's already the title of a paleo book for children!
Ulfric:
I agree…but like I said to Dave, anything else wouldn't have fit in two minutes.
Jen W:
After exercise I can eat almost anything! But I definitely crave a real meal, i.e. something meaty with protein and fat, not just a bunch of carbs.
wildgrok:
It's not that I love killing animals — it's that I can't eat them when they're running away.
Nancy:
What site do you mean by “the Dish”?
Protein needs depend on what you're doing. Weightlifters in training can be in negative protein balance at 2 g/kg/day! It also depends on whether you're in calorie surplus or calorie deficit, and whether you're VLC and therefore need some surplus to turn into glucose.
Personally, I view 1 g/kg/day as a minimum..some talk about protein restriction as a path to longevity, but the calorie restriction studies haven't been shown to work in apes like they do in mice, it's much easier to build muscle mass on more protein, and lean mass wasting is the biggest non-pathological problem for old people anyway. I prefer to get my autophagy from fasting.
That being said, I don't count calories or protein grams, because the body is generally quite good at protein targeting: if you're eating real food, lean meats and other protein sources generally become very unappetizing once you've met your protein needs. There's a reason the leangains people have to resort to hacks like “protein fluff” in order to reach pathological protein intakes.
Finally, I count a latte as food…but I wouldn't stress about a bit of heavy cream in your coffee.
I'm caught up! Thanks, everyone, for watching. If you haven't gone to the Youtube page and left a “Like” or a comment, please do so…and if you haven't forwarded this to your non-paleo, non-book-reading friends, please do so via the “Share” button at the end of the article or on the video!
JS
In this case, the idea is “eat less often”. The consequences are “you’ll have the time to fix real food instead of eating junk”, and “when you do eat, you won’t have to restrain yourself or watch portion sizes”.
This is quite a profound statement. The same case could be made for exercise.
There is still an overhead; instead of grazing, more time and thought will have to be invested in food selection, preparation and cooking. And with exercise, vigorous, intense exercise may mandate shorter workouts with greater rest between such events, but base activity rates (walking) should be generally higher.
I view these changes (the skill of ‘learning to cook’ and ‘self locomotion’), as acts of ‘enrichment’. From a mental point of view, such enrichment is more rewarding than having to control portion size or force oneself to the gym.
We don't want to look at long-term consequences of anything (spending, consumption of food/drink, our behaviors) because it's Not Fun(TM).
We don't learn to cook (take out is faster. packaged food looks pretty on our shelves and in our garbage bins).
We don't lift heavy stuff ('aerobics' give a bigger shift on the scale the next day.).
We don't learn to properly de-stress (why bother when alcohol and drugs can do this for you).
We don't do things that give us long-term benefits because we're too caught up on Right Now I Must Have Fun To Make Up for My Hard (Whatever – life, workday, etc).
We drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes and do various drugs that impair our executive function so that we eventually *can't* see long-term consequences to our actions.
And then wonder at some point “How did I get *here*?”
Just saw you featured on the Dish! Good work J. 🙂
The Dish Andrew Sullivan the daily beast
permalink
29 Nov 2012 01:21 PM
Eating Like A Predator
Nutrition writer J. Stanton encourages us to eat fewer meals during the day:
Some #sullyTMI thoughts. I’ve now been on a gluten free diet for over a year, and have slowly adjusted to eating only one real meal a day. Maybe I find that easier than most because eating bores the crap out of me, and is, for me, a necessary energy-producer, not something I treasure or savor or look forward to. If I could take three pills a day to provide nutrition, I’d prefer them to food. Because the less time I spend eating the more time I have for things I actually enjoy: going for a walk with the dogs, reading an essay or a book at leisure (those were the days), working out, watching The Soup, hanging with friends, slumping on the couch with my husband, etc. I’m unusual in that respect. I’m also unusual because I am now on a new drug called Egrifta which targets HIV-related lipodystrophy, i.e. strange fat accumulation around your internal organs, by triggering an increase in your own body’s production of growth hormone.
Bottom line: I get less hungry and my body has slowly grown not actually to crave bread or cake or pasta or pizza. I’ve lost around 10 pounds or so – and 2 inches around my waist. I sleep better, eating like a predator. And because you only have one big meal a day, you actually enjoy it more, because you really are hungry. So I’m basically down to one full meal in my blogging break after 1 pm, and then a protein shake or some rice krispies in the evening. The effect is not sudden, like a crash diet, but gradual as your body adjusts to less processed wheat. Everyone’s different, but it sure has worked for me.
Grrr.
I love it because I am living it. I used to get SO HUNGRY I felt like I needed to throw up (that was the only way to describe how awful, weak and puny I felt.) Food controlled my life. When would I be able to eat next? Traveling? Better have lots of snacks with me, in case I can’t get to food. Working out later? Better plan what I eat before and make sure I have food after. All this “control” over food led me to 269 lbs on a 5’6″ female frame. About 9 months ago I first read about paleo eating and it was as if a lightbulb went off. Now I’m almost embarrassed to admit this was the first time such a method of eating had occurred to me (apparently I’m slow…) Living in “modern” times, it’s sometimes difficult to adhere to, but I’m successful probably pretty close to 80% of the time and am down 70 lbs so far. About 6 weeks ago I “discovered” a pattern of fasting then eating that has finally taken the power away from food. I easily fast, alternating 16 to 18-hour fast days with 24-hour fasted days and don’t feel hungry (or HANGRY!) I know the world won’t end without a meal or snack always at hand. I realize now this pattern of eating is possible because of the paleo/primal foods I eat. Processed carbs would never have allowed that. No more drastic insulin spikes making me feel sick (both when low and high.) Just a wonderful, even, level of energy and well-being that lets me cruise through the day. I can’t imagine going back to the way I used to be. I’ll take eating like a predator over prey FTW!
Asclepius:
“I view these changes (the skill of 'learning to cook' and 'self locomotion'), as acts of 'enrichment'. From a mental point of view, such enrichment is more rewarding than having to control portion size or force oneself to the gym.”
Absolutely. Preparing real food, and using our physical skills to perform necessary daily activities, are evolutionarily concordant activities. They're important parts of what we've been selected for, as humans. In contrast, going to the gym and eating junk are evolutionarily discordant…they're never going to be fun or satisfying.
E Craig:
It turns out that convenience is evolutionarily discordant. We think we want everything to be easy…but what we find out is that true, lasting satisfaction only comes from accomplishing something difficult.
Uncephalized, Dib:
Thank you! I'm glad someone's seeing it besides my own fans.
tonya:
Food is wonderful and delicious…but it's a wonderful feeling to no longer be enslaved by food, isn't it?
JS
watched the video and enjoyed it, 2 minutes is too short of course 🙂
i always share your articles via FB and often find a surprising number of friends read them too.
JS wrote “It turns out that convenience is evolutionarily discordant. We think we want everything to be easy…but what we find out is that true, lasting satisfaction only comes from accomplishing something difficult.”
I think this is an oft overlooked, and *very* important point. Any mountain/rock climber will tell you the satisfaction of reaching the top is directly proportional to the difficulty in doing so.
As JFK said “we choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard”
When we succeed at doing hard things, we feel better (brain reward hormones), but we also, often, have either learned a new skill and/or conquered a fear in doing so.
In short, it makes us better, more confident and accomplished people.
Someone who only ever does the easy things does not self improve.
is that the sort of person you would want for a partner, be it hiking, business or life?
The other side that is often overlooked, though I see it everywhere, is that convenience is *expensive*. Look at the premium you pay to have someone else cook your meals (restaurant), the money that is spent on “labour saving devices”, the cost of all the add-on luxuries to your car, etc etc.
A great example is the cost of “convenient and smart storage solutions” (e.g. Ikea) that simply enable us to own more clutter, instead of dealing with the hardship of sorting through it and getting rid of the unneccessary stuff.
When you step back and take a good look, convenience often not only makes us weaker, it makes us poorer too.
I used to be that ogre, too. I’d have to graze constantly to keep from getting hungry and cranky. It’s such an emotional relief to NOT have food running my life anymore. Eating fewer but heartier meals also means that I’m not eating anywhere near as much junk food.
I don’t think people realize how much they are chained by their dietary choices until they get off the grazing path.
eddie:
Thank you for helping spread the word!
Paul N:
It's important to ask of all these time- and labor-saving devices: “What am I saving my time and energy for?“
Beowulf:
When spending extended periods of time with other people, I'm always reminded of how much our lives are controlled, and our choices constrained, by the desire to eat every few hours. This is particularly apparent when traveling.
JS