Sometimes I cringe a little when I go back and read some of my earlier posts on nutrition. Not always, but sometimes I am tempted to remove a sentence or add an update. But with almost 2,000 posts on this site, it would be an impossible task to maintain current views on all those entries. And it would be futile, as my views are constantly changing.
Plus it seems unethical to go back and tidy up posts to make oneself always look correct. So my policy is to only update spelling or grammatical errors on older posts. I’ll also fix links that break. The only exception to this policy is recipes. As I make a dish and learn ways of making it better, I will update those posts.
Since my views are changing, how can I quickly bring readers up to my current thoughts? Recently I got a great idea while listening to the podcast interview of Robb Wolf by SportsCoachRadio.com. At the end of the interview Robb is asked to participate in a “speed round“. Quick answers to a lot of topics. A brilliant idea.
Here goes my first speed round.
CrossFit – Asinine
Squat and Bench Press – Unnecessary and unsafe.
Parkour – Looks cool. but unless you are training to be a cat burglar, the risk of injury is way too high.
High-Intensity Training – Love it.
Cardio – Unnecessary for good health.
Eat Less Move More – Only explains the successes.
Intermittent Fasting – Great for learning how to deal with hunger. I think the daily 16 hours are excessive, especially for ectomorphs and women. I like Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat approach best now.
Cold Temperature Exposure – I like CT as a tool to widen one’s comfort range of temperatures. However, I am skeptical of the broad fat loss claims. Those losing fat with CT all seem to be endomorphic males. Unless you are a thick-wristed big dude, I would use just enough CT to expand your comfort window. Women should probably avoid.
Glucose vs Ketones – I’ll probably do a full post on this later, but I am still in favor of a cyclical approach to carbs, only now my bias is much more towards glucose metabolism.
True Toxins – Veggie oils, wheat, and unfermented soy. Sugar is likely fine.
Paleo – A good start, but only a start.
Fitness blogs by young mesomorphs with cut abs – Mostly delusional nonsense written for other young males who like to be told fitness fairy tales.
GMO – Sorry, but I don’t fear genetically modified food. Economist Tyler Cowen cuts through the hysterical claims in An Economist Gets Lunch.
Microwaves – Fine.
Diet Colas – Sugar cane soda is a much better option, however, a single diet cola a day is probably fine. More than that might cause strokes.
Popcorn – I have no idea if it is good or bad. I eat it occasionally. Nothing suppresses my appetite more.
Best Nutrition Book – None. Get a cookbook that inspires you instead.
Best Fitness Book – Body By Science or HillFit.
Long term view of health – Extremely optimistic.
Confidence Level that I Understand Fitness – 70%
Confidence Level that I Understand Nutrition – 30%
That is it for now. I’ll likely do another Speed Round post in a year mocking my opinions in this post. 🙂
Kevin @ Rebooted Body
Apr 16, 2013 — 10:49 am
I don’t agree with everything here, but I like the format of the speed round. Makes hearing what you have to say quick and easy.
Anemone
Apr 16, 2013 — 11:58 am
I like the speed round, too.
Though, I am a woman and love cold exposure. That’s what got me hooked on your blog. I don’t see why it would be a problem for women.
MAS
Apr 16, 2013 — 3:16 pm
@Anemone – It is just a guess, but from everything I’ve read, optimal female health for women of child bearing age would be one where the environment signaled abundance and safety. Higher temps, more carbs, less fasting. Those conditions would be better for reproduction and likely result in lower stress levels. Lower stress could benefit health.
Men lower stress through accomplishments and challenges. Almost everything I’ve seen written about CT is coming from men and usually men between 20 and 60 years old. Men tend to me competitive and like challenges.
Again, this is just a guess. Some CT for women is probably a good thing, but less is likely needed.
Glenn Whitney
Apr 16, 2013 — 5:48 pm
Great stuff – nicely concise, from an already concise blogger!
Thanks for the podcast mention.
Matt
Apr 17, 2013 — 12:53 am
Hi,
I’ve been following for a few months now, and I just wanted to say how much I love your blog: I really love your blog!
I really enjoy the thoughtfulness of your approach, and your counter-to-the-mainstream (and counter-to-the-counterstream) conclusions – always gives me a lot to think about 🙂
Cheers,
Matt, in sunny England.
Anemone
Apr 17, 2013 — 6:44 am
@MAS – I’m not doing the ice baths, just cold showers, though cold showers in January in Montreal are cold enough (probably close to freezing, nothing like the balmy 50°F people talk about on the internet). So it’s possible that my cold exposure, which *reduces* the stress I experience outside, isn’t what you’re thinking of. I still think it’s an odd idea that women should do less cold exposure, though, since we all used to live without central heating not so long ago. But then I’ve never been normal. I wonder if it’s more related to body type than sex per se. Just a thought.
MAS
Apr 17, 2013 — 7:34 am
@Matt – Thanks!
@Anemone – You are also approaching CT from a healthy mindset. So you are accepting the stress and dealing with it appropriately. Most people that I’ve discussed CT with, men and women, don’t get that.
Stephan
Apr 17, 2013 — 9:30 am
The first time I heard something like a speed round was by Chris Kresser on Bulletproof Radio. There Dave Asprey asked Chris about individual nutrients such as magnesium, idione, fish oil etc.
https://blog.bulletproof.com/podcast-transcript-22-beyond-paleo-with-chris-kresser/
Really enjoyed this format as you are forced to cut the details and convey the core arguments leaving all of the endless BS discussion aside.