A magician never reveals his secrets.... Kidding aside, it's been mostly dietary changes. Lots of fresh fruits and veggies in their natural state (big salad) everyday A little bit of protein (wild salmon and locally raised, organic, grass fed beef) - but not every day Only whole grains Keep the total fat content relatively low but use fat strategically to enchance meals Drink a lot of water Don't eat processed or refined foods (except for a glass of wine or beer with dinner or a piece of good chocolate as a treat) Don't eat artificial sweeteners The bigger dietary changes I have made are "process" ones. I don't count calories or grams. I focus on the kinds of foods I eat. I only eat when I am REALLY hungry. I usually only eat one meal a day at dinner time, but it is a very big meal. If I am really hungry during the day, then I will have a piece of fruit or some raw veggies, but that is rare. The recommendation of eating a little bit every couple of hours doesn't work for me at all. I was always hungry and never satisfied when I did that. One big meal a day is not a problem for me and it makes eating fun. When I sit down to dinner with my family I know I am really hungry and don't feel badly about eating a lot of food. But I eat slowly and stop when I'm not hungry anymore. Dinner always starts with either a big salad or non-creamy vegetable soup. Basically it's a blend of the ideas of VanAaken, Clarence Bass, and Bert Herring. It seems to work well for me and, importantly, it's something I can stick with long term without feeling deprived. My activity is not at a super high level right now - total running and walking <30 mpw. i haven't done any running that would challenge (much less deplete) my glycogen stores, so i haven't dealt with needed to carbo re-load after a long run (but that's not the point here anyway now is it?). i have maintained my weight lifting - 2 total body workouts per week. i'm not doing pure maffetone-style base building. i want to maintain as much lean body mass as i can while losing excess fat. lifting weights helps with that. mpw.="" i="" haven't="" done="" any="" running="" that="" would="" challenge="" (much="" less="" deplete)="" my="" glycogen="" stores,="" so="" i="" haven't="" dealt="" with="" needed="" to="" carbo="" re-load="" after="" a="" long="" run="" (but="" that's="" not="" the="" point="" here="" anyway="" now="" is="" it?).="" i="" have="" maintained="" my="" weight="" lifting="" -="" 2="" total="" body="" workouts="" per="" week.="" i'm="" not="" doing="" pure="" maffetone-style="" base="" building.="" i="" want="" to="" maintain="" as="" much="" lean="" body="" mass="" as="" i="" can="" while="" losing="" excess="" fat.="" lifting="" weights="" helps="" with=""></30 mpw. i haven't done any running that would challenge (much less deplete) my glycogen stores, so i haven't dealt with needed to carbo re-load after a long run (but that's not the point here anyway now is it?). i have maintained my weight lifting - 2 total body workouts per week. i'm not doing pure maffetone-style base building. i want to maintain as much lean body mass as i can while losing excess fat. lifting weights helps with that.>

I haven't chimed in yet, but have been interested in this. I have lost about 12-15 pounds doing something similar. It's the not-dieting diet. I eat only when hungry, try to eat whole foods, and stop when full. The last bit is the hardest. Trying to get more lean while keeping muscle too. To that end, I do chins,dips,hanging leg raises, and back extensions and run. When MAF is over, I'm going to add some leg resistance exercises too but for now just running. I fast 1 or 2 days per week to reduce calories, then follow normal eating on days off. Working wonders for me. Still nuancing it, but I'm looking good, feeling good, and getting faster, while losing only bodyfat.

I think you nailed it.

Thanks, Jimmy. I learned about Clarence Bass from George Beinhorn. Amazing guy with a workout program that - for a bodybuilder - is surprising close to Maffetone's recommendations. He does 2 hard workouts a week, one weights the other high intensity intervals. The other days he walks for about an hour. Check the website and you see the results. Bass did experiment with sterioids back in the late 70s, but came to understand that they weren't necessary and, in fact, were harmful and setting him back. He admitted his drug use in print in his first book (back in 1980). Refreshingly honest, especially in light of what we see in professional sports today. Bass led me to Ori Hofmekler's "Warrior Diet" (though Bass himself seems skeptical of it). Frankly, Hofmekler's a little over the top for me but he did get me thinking about "intermittent fasting." That led me to Bob Herring. So mix up VanAaken's "don't eat like a pig" point, Clarence Bass about eating whole, natural foods, and Herring's ideas on meal timing and I got a system that works for me. Only eat when you're hungry Stop eating when you're no longer hungry Eat (nearly all) healthy natural foods Drink a lot of water I must be a complete jackass to hunt through a bunch of books and websites just to figure that out.

Physiologicaly the body is in detox - cleaning out period for 8 hours, from 4am till lunch. as soon as You eat anything the detox cleanouts stopps and the rubbish stays in the body. Only detox helping stuff should really be consumed, like detox tea, water, honey, lemon, diluted fresh fruit juices. There is important idea of getting the body rest from food rest to digestive system and this means few things : not munjching all day long, having clearly defined meal time and than not eating in between...Good book about all this issues related is from Tonya Zavasta, she has her own website with regular emag and sell her books from there, the book is called : Quantum eating.

Not to get too personal here, but I have found that the detox aspect is another huge benefit of my way of eating. Apart from a cup of black coffee in the AM all I have before dinner is water or detox tea and (very rarely) green tea. At the risk of getting too personal, though, I'll admit that I do drink a glass of water with psyllium husk powder before noon everday. I've never had a problem "running on empty," so exercising without eating is easy for me - though I'm still not sure about how to handle long distance glycogen depleting runs. If I ever get into serious carb-depleting runs I will probably open my "feeding window" when I'm done with the run so that I can reload, but I'd have to see how my body responds to that. Honestly, right after a long hard run eating is usually the last thing I want to do. Right now I'm on "Fast 5" a 19/5 plan (fasting/eating). Works great for me. There are many others "Warrior Diet" (20/4), Leangains (16/8), ADF "alternate day fasting" (36/12), :East Stop Eat" (24 hrs fasting 1-2 X /week). I like "Fast 5," but Buddo seems to be on the "Eat Stop Eat" plan and it's working. Important thing seems to be figuring out what works for your body and life. Another site worth looking at (though heavy on marketing and attitude) - www.leangains.com. In this regard I should note that I find there's a lot of helpful information to be learned from bodybuilders. They've got real, practical experience with losing fat for a purpose. A lot of times you see elite runners saying things like "I know I'm at a good weight when I'm in shape, then I step on the scale." That may work for them but it's not such great advice for the "fattage" challenged like me. Bodybuilders have some good advice that - if applied sensibly - can make a difference. A nice example of disparate training styles learning from one another.

I read that article. Interesting. I never knew I had brown fat. One way that eating some fat can help in losing weight is that it is more satisfying. Seems when I eat carbs, it's hard to get enough. I eat more. Richard Simmons can help loosen those waistbands as well. He's awesome. --Jimmy

168.0 lbs, 16.5 neck, 33.75 waist, 13.5% fat. Continuing to lose at a relatively quick rate (1.4 lbs last week). Mirror seems to be improving but there's still plenty of "jiggle" when I jump. Surprisingly, when I run now I seem more conscious of where my fat is located than I was before I started this 12 pounds ago. It's fun to pick up a 10 pound dumbbell and know that I've basically stopped carrying one of those around with me full time. Stubborn fat areas seem to be abdomen, "love handles," and lower back. On the downside, it's official - last night marked the first time my wife voiced concern that I am getting too thin.

Thanks. I'm continuing to tweak things as I get more experience with what works and what doesn't. Although a five hour window is generally right for me, starting at 5 p.m. as Herring suggests doesn't work well for me. I don't like eating after I'm done with dinner, so if I waited until 5 p.m. to start eating I really only had a 2 to 2-1/2 hour eating window. Even with a huge dinner it was hard to get in enough calories, and I'd get cranky in the mid afternoon . Now I start eating around 3:00 p.m. and finish eating when I'm done with dinner. Yesterday, though, I was really hungry at 10:00 A.M., I waited a while and had some water too see if I was just fooling myself, but I was still hungry, so I started eating a little before 11:00 and ate throughout the day. Maybe my body was just trying to play "calorie catch up" with me. I was lifting weights a little while ago and my wife commented again about me getting too thin. So I told her I've been lifting more lately to try and add muscle. We'll see where it goes.