Experiment: weight gain and loss page

[toban]

I'm planning an experiment to disprove the lipid hypothesis ("fat makes you fat"), and to vindicate the carb/insulin hypothesis. I'm going to fatten up over the summer and then slim out over the winter. I'm going to eat paleo the entire time, but eat more carbs (fruit) & less fat in the fattening phase and more fat & less carbs in the slimming phase. I'm also going to keep my calories lower in the fattening phase, while keeping activity level constant.


I think that evolution-wise, we are meant to get fat from carbs so we can fatten up on fruit at the end of summer to get us through the winter (when there's no carbs at all). So I don't see any health dangers in doing this—it's totally Primal.


My method for fattening will be to up my carb intake gradually (weekly or bi-weekly) while lowering fat correspondingly to keep calories stable. For leaning, I'll eat sub-50g/day carbs and high-fat so my calories are higher than the fattening phase.


I'd like to hear some feedback. Any comments, criticisms, tips, suggestions?

[pk]

This sounds like an interesting experiment. I like your hypothesis - supposed to fatten on fruit in the summer, so we have stored fat for the winter.


-pk

[hannahc]

Hey I was literally just thinking about this last week! I realized how backwards it is that people tend to fatten up over the winter, then try to slim down for the summer with "bikini season" and all that. Even for early Native Americans, February was "hungry month" because so little food was available. So when people complain that summer is hard because they have to resist so much good food, it's because we're evolved to need it! I'm only a week into primal eating, so I'm definitely curious to see how the holidays will effect me (if at all) this year. Looking forward to hearing more about your results!

[Diana Renata]

Keep us updated on how the experiment is going. Very curious.

[toban]

I'll definitely keep you updated, and I'll publish my results to the web when it's finished.


I've been crunching the numbers, and here's what I've come up with:
<ul>[*]Plan outline - http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcjf45qs_1259v4zg7r8
[*]Schedule - http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?k...DA&output=html[/list]


Your feedback is most welcome.


I'm pretty sure that I'll lose fat on 30g of carbs. I'm not too sure if 265g of carbs will be enough to gain a noticeable amount of fat. Any experts here that can tell me how many carbs I'll need to gain fat?

[62shelby]

A model slash trainer is doing something similar but not primally. the last six months he has put on 7 stone now he is in his weight loss phase.


http://randomquorum.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/paul-pj-james-fat-or-fiction/


Doing it primally if youre going to do something like this would be a way healthier means of experimentation. I think the way this guy put on weight means he will have damaged some of his systems long term.

[dragonmamma]

Good luck trying to gain weight on fruit! I'm always at my leanest when I'm eating tons of summer fruit; primarily watermelon. (Mind you, I'm not tracking calories or macronutrient grams.)