Welcome aboard.

I read Protein Power in the late 1990s and it really got me interested in paleo eating. But I didn’t do it. Was scared off by the naysayers. I was vegetarian at the time, had been for 13 years. I did start eating meat again a few years later, and felt better, but was still primarily vegetarian by habit.

I’ve just spent three years studying/doing research in biological anthropology and it all started to click. I started paleo eating in December after being diagnosed anemic, and I feel great.

But I only found your blog recently, and am loving it. You’ve blogged about some of my favorite anthropological journal articles and are really confirming what I’ve learned in anthropology about human health and diet and what we are REALLY meant to eat. I use the Leslie Aiello Expensive Tissue Hypothesis every time someone criticizes paleo eating. It’s so clear to me that meat made our brains big, and that the shift to agriculturalism has had a negative impact on human health.

I’m in graduate school for Public Health now and hope I can convince some of my future colleagues there that we need to incorporate paleo eating into thinking about obesity and overall health.

I could gush more but just wanted to say that I feel like you’re on the right track and I love your blog.

I wonder if we can train ourselves to increase our sensitivity to the Insula’s signal? That might help us keep ‘on track’ when faced with temptation.

Re constipation: I find psyllium husks to be a wonder drug for both constipation and diarrhea – a tablespoon dissolved in a glass of warm water.

Re smoking: almost everyone smoked in the 50s and cigarettes were called cancer sticks. I quit in 1984 with the help of nicotine gum (and knowing the guilt I would feel if my nonsmoking husband developed lung cancer). What really pissed me off was that it was relatively easy! The hardest part was changing your preception of yourself to being a nonsmoker.

Now if you think you are done when the fat is lost, think again. That’s when it really starts. Keeping off the weight is much harder than losing it. You are really done when you have reset the sensitivity of neuro-receptors in your brain. And that could take 6 months or longer.

I think this is a very powerfull system and it could explain why so many people bounce back in weight. Still, I never heard about it until I read an article on pubmed.

The good news is that the longer you keep off the weight, the more your brain will help you to stay there.

Guilt is not a usefull emotion and I only feel regret for the things I didn’t do.

Besides, the biggest health improvements come from staying in ketosis most of the time. And my mother is 86 and still going strong. And she ate carbs all her life! I must have strong genes!

I also related to the comments from the person who quit smoking by thinking about what he was not getting. The truth is, I really don’t like cake all that much in the first place. In fact, I’ve often been disappointed by the actual taste of desserts I thought I might enjoy. Recalling those moments has helped, too.

Even with other carbs like cereals and breads, I have found that I really did not feel that good after eating them. They make me feel sleepy and sluggish. I bring this to mind as well when I think about eating them, and it helps.

This is an interesting question and one I have wrestled with in the past.

My answer as clearly and simply as I can state it:

A body, once obese, wants to remain obese. Convincing the body that it no longer needs to be obese is goal 1.

I have had UNBELIEVABLE success in combining PP with ideas from The Gabriel Method. (See http://www.thegabrielmethod.com).

I didn’t know what the Gabriel Method until I went to the website. Now I still don’t know what it is. But I am glad you’ve had success with it.

Indeed, why is a program like Weight Watchers sucessful? It’s not the food – it’s the rah-rah, we-are-doing-this-together factor that inspires people and their, well, insula, I guess.

When I have a difficult day food-wise – not enough healthy food around, don’t feel like cooking – it’s so easy to give in to the notion that low-carb is not a reasonable plan. From now on, I plan to spend a lot more time on this site!

Thank you for a great post.

L.
Glad you enjoyed it.