Dean's Diet & Exercise Regime, Tips, and Motivation

[Dean Pomerleau]

All,

 

I've been engaged in an off-forum Q&A dialog with a CR friend, and I figured some of you other crazies might appreciate reading about (and hopefully commenting on / criticizing) some of the details of my current diet & exercise regime, as well as tips & my motivation for them. If not, feel free it skip this post!

 

I've only included my sided conversation, but I think from my answers it is pretty clear what the questions were. Feel free to ask for clarification on anything that's unclear.

 

Regarding eating once per day. It's very hard, especially when just starting out on this regime, to eat once per day in the afternoon. It takes a lot of willpower. So I recommend, and always try myself, to wait a couple / few hours after waking before I eat, but then eat in the morning rather than waiting until afternoon, and definitely never try to grocery shop on a (very) empty stomach!

 

For large scale chopped veggie storage, I use glass containers because I'm a bit paranoid about leeching from plastics. The glass jar I use is from Anchor Hocking. Turns out it is only 2gal. Here is a link. I believe both Target and Walmart have them as well, although I'm not sure about in-store availability. 

 

I chop my "chunky" veggies once per week, and store them in this glass jar, all mixed up, between layers of paper towels to absorb moisture and keep them fresh. I chop my "leafy green" veggies at the same time, throughly spin-dry them using salad spinner, and then store them in another containing between layers of paper towels to preserve freshness. Both go into my fridge, which I temperature control to maintain a very steady 34degF.

 

Vegetable prep takes me just over one hour per week, but after many years I've got it down to an art/science. It used to take me about 2 hours.

 

I find meditation and practices that cultivate mindfulness are helpful for fostering one's self-discipline. Other than that, I don't have much specific advice on that topic.

 

I used to cook for my family when we were 4 rather than 3 . But now that it is just the three of us, and my daughter has an extremely busy schedule, my wife and daughter's eating schedule is pretty irregular. So they cook for themselves.

 

I also found it hard to cook for them. Not because I was particularly tempted by the food I was making for them (although on occasion that too was the case), but more that I was conflicted by the opposing goals of cooking as healthy meals as possible for them, but also meals they would enjoy, and not waste by not eating. When practicing CR for a while, I've found you become extremely averse to wasting anything, but especially food.

 

Plus I'm an ethical vegan. Both kids are (were) vegetarian, and my wife eats mostly vegetarian. But they enjoy quite a bit of dairy, which I had trouble buying/cooking for them for ethical reasons. 

 

Regarding exercise, I'll enumerate everything I do in a day, in order:

• [Get up at 2:45am - yes I'm kind of a early riser  ]
• 4min - straight arm planking
• 2min - 100 body weight squats
• 10min - "10 minute abs" workout - Originally from YouTube video of that name, but after doing it several thousand times, I've got it memorized. . Video embedded at bottom. Warning - this will really hurt anyone not used to doing an ab workout, but her accent is strangely compelling...
• 20min - Jogging on treadmill at 4mph and 15% incline (very steep). 1.07miles, 200 kcal
• 120min - Stationary road bike. Modest intensity. HR around 95bpm. My Resting HR is about 45bpm.
• [breakfast - 1.5 hours]
• 10min - One mile run outdoors. Moderate pace . usually with my dog.
• 20min - Resistance training. 4day split to work all body parts on successive days, but giving each enough time to recover. Little rest between sets to keep it mildly aerobic. Pretty light weights. Pull-ups, pushups, light squats, triceps extensions, curls, shrugs, etc. All the standard exercises. Using dumbbells and body weight.
• 4min straight arm planking
• 2min - 100 body weight squats
• 2min - Ab Slide machine. Quite a good Ab exerciser
• 90min - Stationary road bike again.
• [Time now around 10:30am - Shower & 6min inversion therapy (to decompress spine and stretch back) & 20min power nap]
• [Puttering around for a while, light food prep, errands etc - 1-2 hours]
• 10min - One mile run outdoors. With dog.
• ~240min - pedalling at my bike desk while reading, surfing web, posting to CR forums
• [Off and on throughout afternoon evening - spend time with wife and daughter, especially when they eat dinner]
• 30min - brisk walk with my wife (and dog)
• [8:00pm - bedtime. 8:15 sound asleep]

So in total I run for about 40min, do resistance training / calisthenics for about 45min, walk 30-45min, and then pedal for about 7h per day. On an average day, my Fitbit tells me I log about 45K steps (or step equivalents, including bike pedal revolutions), and about 23 miles. All of it at home, by myself (except if you count the mile walk with my wife and jogging with my dog    ). I don't enjoy the hassle of working out with others at a gym. I don't seem to need the motivation of having other people around to exercise with.

 

What motivates me to such extreme exercise? Hmmm... A few ideas:

• I like to eat, and to stay slim. Extreme exercise let's me do both.
• I'm exploring the possibility of getting CR benefits while eating lots of calories, but burning them off via lots of exercise and cold exposure.
• It makes me feel good. I like the endorphins, opiates, whatever makes exercise feel good.
• With my stationary bike and bike desk, I'm able to do other things while pedaling, like composing this message!
• I like being different from other people.
• I like pushing myself to extremes, to see what's possible. Pushing the envelope of human possibliity.
• I think exercising one's abilities and strengths is why we are here, and what makes life meaningful and significant. My biggest strength is probably self-discipline / conscientiousness.
• Exercising discipline strengthens the will.  As Nietzsche said in Twilight of the Idols, "From life's school of war, what does not kill me makes me stronger." He was a big proponent of hormesis before it became fashionable. 
• I hope being very different from others, and sharing my results, will enable people (like you!) to learn from my experiences and experiments, and figure out what might work best for them. 

Regarding sleep. I sleep for 6.5 hours per day (8:15pm - 2:45am) + a 20min power nap. Lately I've been sleeping like a baby, without my former problem of early waking (unless you count 2:45am as early  ).

 

I hope this is helpful.

 

--Dean

 

[gracezw]

Dean, thank you for posting all this. I enjoy reading it! Please see my questions below.

 

You: “Vegetable prep takes me just over one hour per week, but after many years I've got it down to an art/science. It used to take me about 2 hours.”

--Me: That is very efficient!

 

 You: “I find meditation and practices that cultivate mindfulness are helpful for fostering one's self-discipline. Other than that, I don't have much specific advice on that topic.”

--Me: do you recommend any specific meditation and practices that cultivate mindfulness?

 

When you read, surfing web and post to CR forums while pedaling at your bike desk, does pedaling slow you down for your reading and typing?

 

Do you do the 10 minutes/one mile run outdoors with your dog immediately after your breakfast, or do you rest after your breakfast and before your run?

 

How many calories do you eat every day?

[Dean Pomerleau]

Hi Grace!

 

do you recommend any specific meditation and practices that cultivate mindfulness?

 

I consider mediation a very personal thing - what works for one may not work for another. For a number of years I struggled to keep up a vipassana practice (i.e. watching the breath, quieting the 'monkey' mind). Unusually (or so I've heard) it wasn't that I found it that difficult, I don't get easily distracted. But I found that at the end of a 15-20min session I wouldn't feel any difference. It was nice and relaxing and all, but I'm a pretty relaxed person already so I wasn't really seeming to benefit from it. 

 

What I have found works better, by helping me stay focus and in touch with the 'big picture', is an idiosyncratic practice which can best be described as a hybrid of insight and mantra meditation. I have a ~30min "mantra", or series of very specific thoughts / word pictures I run through in my mind every morning while performing my pre-breakfast run & calisthenics. Some of the thoughts I run through are affirmations, some are designed to reflect upon what happened the day before, some are designed to help motivate my engagement with life through the contemplation of how things work and where I fit in, in my model of the Big Picture. Some of these ideas I've mentioned in this post and one's below it in the Ultimate Purpose of Life thread.

 

The second practice I've found most helpful is a mindfulness practice. It is a way to simply center myself and "wake up" to the present moment whenever I can manage to think about it during the day. To notice what's going on right here, right now. I've found the best way to actually inculcate this practice, and make sure I do it, is to 'greet' my Self whenever I can think of it (~ a few times per hour at this point), by literally verbalizing the phrase "hello me". I do this (very quietly) even when in the presence of others.

 

Why actually verbalize you ask? Because I've found it serves as a strong punctuation, making sure I actually do the practice of waking up to the moment, rather than simply thinking I've woken up to it, and I've really in fact let it slide by. There is something about one's own voice going out into the world and then coming back in through one's ears that gives it an added gravity and salience, and in this case ensures that the moment doesn't slip past like almost every other moment of our lives.

 

When I introspect deeply, I realize that I'm only truly conscious pretty rarely. Most of the time I (and extrapolating, we) go through life on autopilot, either not thinking at all, or perseverating on something trivial while our body goes about getting things done in the world. Its only when we introspect and wake up to the moment that some sort of Self crawls its way back to consciousness, looks around, and (ex)claims "Here I am! Of course, I've been here all along. Where else would I go?". In short, the continuity of consciousness that we intuitively believe is really an illusion. This practice of verbalizing "hello me" whenever I manage to think of it, helps to both overcome this illusion, and to make actual consciousness arise more frequently throughout the day. To learn more about this perspective, and what one might do to overcome it, see the really good talk by Susan Blackmore on "The Self Illusion" at the bottom of this post.

 

When you read, surfing web and post to CR forums while pedaling at your bike desk, does pedaling slow you down for your reading and typing?

 

No, I don't think the bike desk interferes at all with my productivity. My stationary road bike (as opposed to my bike desk), does slow my writing down since I'm using my Android tablet and a keyboard propped on the handlebars - which isn't ergonomically very effective. But this setup is very conducive to reading and researching, so the 3.5 hours on my stationary bike is when I do a lot of reading and surfing the web.

 

Do you do the 10 minutes/one mile run outdoors with your dog immediately after your breakfast, or do you rest after your breakfast and before your run?

 

Immediately after breakfast, I scrape, floss, interdental brush my teeth, stimulate my gums, and rinse my mouth with a homemade mouth rinse made from water, baking soda (to bring down pH), erythritol and xylitol (to suppress the bacteria and reduce plaque that cause cavities). I'm a bit of stickler for dental hygiene.   This ritual punctuates the end of the meal (which is helpful to prevent further eating...) and to get all the vegetable fiber out from between and around my teeth. 

 

Immediately after the dental care routine, about 10min after completing my meal, I run the mile you are referring to. By the time I get back, its been about 1/2 hour since the end of my meal. I figure the acidity has been reduced and the enamel of my teeth hardened enough to brush with my Sonicare electric toothbrush.

 

How many calories do you eat every day?

 

Oh sorry. I thought I must have already pointed you to the thread on my current, rather controversial, eating strategy. The short answer is a lot - about 3400kcal/day. See this big post in that thread for the details. You'll see I've taken some flak for it... Here is the post with my justification. 

 

--Dean

 

 

[AlPater]

Right now, you say, Dean?

 

http://dailymotivator.com/memberflash/rightnow.html= Relaxation words and scenes.

 

http://www.pathways-to-peace.com/popframeset.html= Pathways To Peace.

 

= Inspiration, relax, joy site.

[Dean Pomerleau]

Al,

 

Those are beautiful - thanks for sharing them!

 

--Dean

[drewab]

I love reading these detailed posts about your diet and lifestyle.  Two questions:

 

1) How long have you been practicing CR? It's over a decade isn't it?

 

2) How has your diet/lifestyle changed from then to now?

[gracezw]

 

1) How long have you been practicing CR? It's over a decade isn't it?

 

 

 

I can help Dean answer that question. It is about 15-16 years. :-)

[Dean Pomerleau]

Thanks Grace! You're right. I started CR just after the turn of the millennium, so it been about 16 years.

 

Regarding how my practice has changed over the years - quite a bit! Here is a 2002 article about calorie restriction that has a profile of my practice at that time, after I'd been on CR for about 2 years. I'll use it, my blood test spreadsheet (with lifestyle footnotes at bottom), and various subpages from this very old personal website of mine from 2005, to highlight changes over the years:

 

                               2002                          2005                          2016                Comment                                                                                       

           Diet:    Pesco-vegetarian                 Vegan                        Vegan               Mostly an ethical evolution. Before starting CR in 2000, I was omnivore

      Macros:             ???                      20P/53C/27F                9P/58C/33F          Reflecting what we've learned about benefits of lower protein::

  Meal Freq:           3x/day                         2x/day                        1x/day              Mostly out of convenience, and for benefits of intermittent fasting

    Calories:           ~2400                     ~2000-2200                    ~3400                To feed my exercise habit - see below

    Exercise:           45min/d                     30min/d                      540min/d            Trying something different :-)

Body Wght:             125                            124                            116                 Feel good at this (116) weight - peak weight was 172lbs, in 2000

           BMI:             18.7                           18.6                           17.4                I'm 5'8.5" tall

 

 

Sorry if that chart wraps, or otherwise looks ugly. I've included it again below as an image for clarity.

 

Does that answer your question Drew and/or spark new ones?

 

--Dean

 

-------------------------------------------

Same chart, but in image form:

 

[AlPater]

Dean, if I read your blood test spreadsheet correctly, on Leap Day 2000 your weight was 160 pounds.  I was also surprised that your 2000 random glucose level was lower than the random or fasted ones were subsequently.  And also, reference ranges of testosterone should change over the age from 35 to 51, yet the data give only one.  I thought there might be something in your data suggesting a possible Survey, reflecting what we have eaten and what test results happened.  Dunno.

[Dean Pomerleau]

Al et al,  :-) ¹

 

Dean, if I read your blood test spreadsheet correctly, on Leap Day 2000 your weight was 160 pounds.

 

Yup. After a couple months on CR, I'd lost something like 12 lbs. Probably too fast - I was overzealous in those early days. :-)

 

I was also surprised that your 2000 random glucose level was lower than the random or fasted ones were subsequently. 

 

Yes - if you are referring to the 50 mg/dL non-fasting glucose level on 2/29/00, that was strange. One might guess it to be hypoglycemia as a result of insulin overshoot, but I was eating a low-GI diet even then, so you wouldn't think that should happen. I make sure I'm in a fasted state for any official blood tests I do these days, to avoid such anomalies.

 

And also, reference ranges of testosterone should change over the age from 35 to 51, yet the data give only one.

 

You're right Al - I only show one reference range per test row in my blood test spreadsheet, despite the RR varying with age and by testing lab. I try to update the RR listed to reflect the one listed in my most recent lab tests (far right column).

 

As for (total) testosterone, the reference range in the spreadsheet (348-1197 ng/dL) is what LabCorp put down for the RR on my latest comprehensive bloodwork (6/21/15), and on their website for all men > 19 years. But perhaps the lower bound should be lower. The Mayo Clinic lists 240-950 ng/dL as the reference range for all adult males. By that metric, my measurement of 294 ng/dL would put me in the normal range - whoopie!

 

Of course, at 2.2 pg/mL, my free testosterone is still less than 1/3rd of the lower bound of the LabCorp reference range for men 50-59, namely 7.2−24.0 pg/mL, which is strangely higher than the Free-T reference range listed for younger men 40-49 (6.8−21.5 pg/mL). Either way my free-T is quite low, FWIW.

 

I thought there might be something in your data suggesting a possible Survey, reflecting what we have eaten and what test results happened.  Dunno.

 

I'd be happy to put together another survey to add to the list of CR surveys, if you or someone else could suggest questions we might address relating diet to blood tests.

 

--Dean

 

----------

¹ I've decided to disable graphic emoticons and start using old school emoticons instead. I think they are more subtle and look less childish. But most of all, I do it to honor my friend and former CMU machine learning colleague, Scott Fahlman, who invented the smiley emoticon in 1982.

[AlPater]

A fair representation of the effects of age on normal testosterone ranges of those shown in;

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blood_values_sorted_by_mass_and_molar_concentration.png 

 

 

Testosterone levels and ranges for me were:

 

16.5, 7.9, 9.1, 2.7, 10.6, ~10, 11.1, and 5.8; initial reference range: 31-163 nmol/L for 1995-2002 for the same lab in Newfoundland, and:

 

A 9.0 reference range 10.0-30.0 nmol/L on 2012-07-05 07:51 

 

and

 

18.2 reference range 8.4-28.8 nmol/L on 2014-01-22 08:29,

 

for two tests in British Columbia.

[drewab]

Does that answer your question Drew and/or spark new ones?

 

That answered many questions - granted the one I asked was pretty open ended. I'm curious how you arrived at your macronutrient level? I'm also curious as to how your specific food choices have varied? I know that nowadays you eat a huge number of foods each week.

[drewab]

 

A fair representation of the effects of age on normal testosterone ranges of those shown in;

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blood_values_sorted_by_mass_and_molar_concentration.png 

 

 

Testosterone levels and ranges for me were:

 

16.5, 7.9, 9.1, 2.7, 10.6, ~10, 11.1, and 5.8; initial reference range: 31-163 nmol/L for 1995-2002 for the same lab in Newfoundland, and:

 

A 9.0 reference range 10.0-30.0 nmol/L on 2012-07-05 07:51 

 

and

 

18.2 reference range 8.4-28.8 nmol/L on 2014-01-22 08:29,

 

for two tests in British Columbia.

 

 

My T levels are very similar to yours (also in Canada btw).  I had it tested about six times last year and the results were something like 2,7,9,10,12, and 15 respectively.  Lots of variance.  A bit frustrating since I'm not as lean as many people here (BMI ~20.7).  But I digress on Dean's thread. Oh well, having lower T has allowed me to focus on being productive in many other aspects of my life. 

[Dean Pomerleau]

Drew,

 

I'm curious how you arrived at your macronutrient level?

 

Honestly, I only care about keeping protein fairly low. The tradeoff between healthy carbs and healthy fat seems about a wash to me - particularly since cold exposure preferentially burns fat.  In fact, I didn't even realize I was eating as much fat as I am (~33% - mostly from nuts/seeds/avocado) until prompted by James to run my diet through CRON-O-Meter so I could respond to him on that other thread. 

 

I'm also curious as to how your specific food choices have varied? 

 

Besides the eliminating all animal products about 12 years ago (mostly for ethical reasons), significant shifts in my food choices over the years include:

• Eliminating isolated protein powders - in order to reduce protein intake, and eat a more natural diet.
• Eat somewhat more fruit and somewhat lower quantity of veggies - Fruit tastes better :-), and is somewhat more calorie dense and digestible so I don't get as bloated after meals.
• Eliminating EVOO in favor of more nuts/seeds - they taste better, are more satiating, and provide protein (in place of protein isolates), plus they cost less than high-quality EVOO, and storing EVOO properly is a major pain in the ass.

I know that nowadays you eat a huge number of foods each week.

 

That has been a constant since I started CR. In fact, from the beginning I've employed the strategy of chopping veggies once per week, thereby enabling me to eat a wide variety at every meal. In general, I believe in covering my bases and avoiding 'overdosing' on any particular food item, by eating a little bit of lots of different (plant-based) things.

 

Note this strategy extends to practices like buying multiple varieties of cacao beans from several different sources and countries, in order to avoid putting all 'my eggs in one basket', and perhaps inadvertently choosing a single variety with high levels of cadmium, for example. In other words, I consider it prudent to spread the risk by eating a very wide variety of foods.

 

--Dean

[James Cain]

Thanks for sharing, Dean!
 

When practicing CR for a while, I've found you become extremely averse to wasting anything, but especially food.

 
I've found myself progressively shifting towards a more overall frugal lifestyle, diet included. I've never been materialistic, but you could say I'm trending towards minimalism--nothing extreme, but definitely more conscientious about material goods, natural resources, and food waste. Potentially because of my upbringing and my past days in athletics and bodybuilding, I have a tendency to clean my plate regardless of what's on it. This paired with my developing frugality has required some consideration of my dietary habits to keep myself from over-consumption.
 

[Get up at 2:45am - yes I'm kind of a early riser  ]

 
I assume you tend to wake up early anyway, but you also seem like the kind of person who likes to keep things consistent by setting an alarm slightly earlier than usual. Do you set an alarm?
 
I've woken up without an alarm for quite a few years, usually waking between 3:30-4:30am (5:30am is a lucky day of sleeping in for me!). I'm also usually unable to keep myself awake after 8:30pm.

 

~240min - pedalling at my bike desk while reading, surfing web, posting to CR forums

I think I've asked before, but are you (semi)retired? You are certainly prolific when you set yourself to a task, and I'd imagine you have a lot of free time, and the content you generate on this forum is evidence of that (and many thanks for that!).
 

What motivates me to such extreme exercise? Hmmm... A few ideas:

• I like to eat, and to stay slim. Extreme exercise let's me do both.
• I'm exploring the possibility of getting CR benefits while eating lots of calories, but burning them off via lots of exercise and cold exposure.
• It makes me feel good. I like the endorphins, opiates, whatever makes exercise feel good.
• With my stationary bike and bike desk, I'm able to do other things while pedaling, like composing this message!
• I like being different from other people.
• I like pushing myself to extremes, to see what's possible. Pushing the envelope of human possibliity.
• I think exercising one's abilities and strengths is why we are here, and what makes life meaningful and significant. My biggest strength is probably self-discipline / conscientiousness.
• Exercising discipline strengthens the will.  As Nietzsche said in Twilight of the Idols, "From life's school of war, what does not kill me makes me stronger." He was a big proponent of hormesis before it became fashionable. 
• I hope being very different from others, and sharing my results, will enable people (like you!) to learn from my experiences and experiments, and figure out what might work best for them. 

 
We share many of the same principles and motivations. I usually find what you post here, and also stuff form the old mailing lists, to be very similar to my own thoughts and interpretations.
 

Regarding sleep. I sleep for 6.5 hours per day (8:15pm - 2:45am) + a 20min power nap. Lately I've been sleeping like a baby, without my former problem of early waking (unless you count 2:45am as early  ).

What do you consider early waking, assuming you were to have a restless night and not be able to get back to sleep? For me it's around 2:30-3:00am. I try to stay in bed on those nights, but often once 4:00am rolls around my body is awake enough that it's too late to get back to sleep. Any idea why you think you're sleeping better recently?

[Dean Pomerleau]

James,

 

I do set an alarm - a silent vibratory one with my Fitbit for 2:45am. But I almost invariably wake up a few minutes before it, ready to start the day. That's one way I gauge if I'm getting enough sleep.

 

Regarding employment. Yes, I'm (semi-)retired. I consult occassionally, but mostly spend my time reading, researching, thinking, exercising, eating, spending time with family and of course posting to the CR forums! It's not a very exciting life, but I seem to really enjoy it.

 

Regarding early waking, which these days for me is when I wake up at 1am and can't get back to sleep. If after 20 minutes I'm still awake, I'll get up and start my day.

 

But it hasn't happened in over a month and I'm not sure why. I've stopped consuming any liquids after 3:30pm, so I'm not having to pee as often in the middle of the night. That last trip to the bathroom around 1am may have been what was triggering my early waking.

 

Alternatively, maybe I'm learning to hibernate as a result of all the cold exposure. :-)

 

--Dean

[hannamarin]

thanks for sharing this diet and exercises! follow http://bigessaywriter.com/blog/health-care-why-we-should-eat-fruits and see why people should eat fruits everyday!

[timc]

Hmmmm ...

[Dean Pomerleau]

Hello Hanna,

 

Welcome to the CR Forums! We all agree that fruit is a terrific food, but that essay you point to provides very little information.

 

Are you really interested in CR, or simply here to post a link to that essay writing website (as I suspect Tim suspects)?

 

If (as I hope) it is the former, please introduce yourself!

 

--Dean

[TomBAvoider]

Odd - the very first post by an unknown poster, and here it is. Meanwhile, I was away at a different computer, and didn't have my log-in credentials, so I posted as Guest with my name, and that was a couple of days ago, and my post has still has not appeared. Talk about comatose and low traffic, now add "but spammy!" for the trifecta :)... pretty soon it will be the lone voice of Dean howling in the emptiness - or maybe everyone is watching the howling at the RNC :)

 

EDIT: finally appeared.

Edited July 20, 2016 by TomBAvoider

[Dean Pomerleau]

Tom,

 

Regarding posting as guest, depending on the content, sometimes posts from guest accounts get held for moderator review. But these posts don't show up when I visit the CR forums via my usual route - i.e. the link to new content. So sometimes I don't see them in order to approve them. That may have been what happened to your recent guest post - which I believe I may have just approved this morning, IIRC. Sorry about that. Feel free to ping me if posts don't show up in the future.

 

That's all the more reason to post a registered user.

 

--Dean

[TomBAvoider]

No problem, Dean - I was just thinking of anyone who might want to try the waters by posting as "Guest" - if they then don't see their post for days on end, they might feel it's pretty dead and be discouraged. I only post as "guest" when I'm away from my regular computer, traveling or otherwise don't have my credentials with me, but maybe I should note my info down and bring it with me, so I don't have to post as "guest" :)

[Sthira]

I love fruit!

 

... pretty soon it will be the lone voice of Dean howling in the emptiness...

Keep howling, Dean, https://m.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/howl-parts-i-ii

[VeganCarbSmart]

Hey Dean and any old timers lurking here... I'm a blast from the past... way back before you were vegan. Dr. Walford was still reading the list and very rarely posted. I posted a lot back then. You, Michael, Mike C., Tim C., Paul, Allen, Saul, and on and on I could go. Brings back great memories of the good old days.

 

I see you popped-up again to post for awhile, and then "poof" nothing recent. Just as an outsider looking in I'm hoping you might consider cutting back on so much exercise. Humans do wear-out body parts, and I would be concerned about your joint areas.

 

So, if you're still around tell us if you've changed your diet or exercise routine from 2016. I would like to know any updates if you have any. I recently started a vegan diet that will be permanent, so I'm reading around for more about doing that. You brought me back "here" to see what I can find out considering you've been doing this for about 14yrs now! WOW. It seems like yesterday from my mind's eye. Do you post anywhere else actively regarding diet and nutrition?

[Dean Pomerleau]

Hi VeganCarbSmart,

 

I'm a blast from the past...

 

Welcome (back)! I presume since your vegan diet is new, you weren't called that back in the day. I'm curious who you were back then. 

 

if you're still around tell us if you've changed your diet or exercise routine from 2016.

 

Yes I'm still around. I have cut back on my exercise, especially the biking, since (as you suggest) I was starting to feel it in the knees. These days I'm jogging a little over one (hilly) mile, resistance training for about 30 minutes, casual (stationary) biking for 30-60min, and walking ~3 miles each day.

 

Little has changed in my diet except I'm eating less (with less exercise) and I dropped the durian (too expensive to justify). I'm still eating only a single meal each day in the early morning consisting of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and a small portion of my 'starch mix' - legumes, sweet potatoes, barley & rice. I've moderated my weight somewhat - I'm now 135lbs (BMI = 20.0).

 

Do you post anywhere else actively regarding diet and nutrition?

 

Nope.

 

Hope this helps!

 

--Dean