Wednesday, October 15, 2008

My Experience on the Morning show

I’m back home after a whirlwind trip down to New York City to film a spot on the Morning Show with Mike and Juliet.

From my experience this was a win. Not a giant win, but a small significant one.

After all, the point of my appearance on that show wasn’t to win the approval of a dietitian and a medical doctor (It's not like this was a scientific debate), and I fully expected them to be skeptical….(after all, they got to hear a 30 second hyped up montage, me talk for about 1 minute and then were asked to give an opinion.)

Instead, my plan was to expose a large audience of people to a style of eating that can help them lose weight, and to help them understand that this method is incredibly simple and effective.

No supplements, no phases, no stress, no guilt, no unhealthy obsession with 'eating clean', just a simple way to eat less while enjoying the foods you eat.

Given the time I had, I think I did a fairly good job.

OK, so now lets get to the good stuff, here is the behind the scenes info:

First, let’s start with the evil dietitian and the mean medical Doctor – They were actually both super nice, open minded women. I kid you not! Off the air they were both very likable people.

And, Dr. London is no stranger to the weight room, that lady had some muscle!

As for their on-air personalities and their concerns about Eat Stop Eat, well we’ve all heard them before. “Your metabolism will slow down and you will lose muscle.”...nothing new here.

I knew this was what they were going to say, after all, I thought the EXACT SAME THING before I went back to school.

And as I said before, my goal wasn’t to convince these two people that I was right and they were wrong…because you simply can't change a person's way of thinking in only 30 seconds.

But just for the sake of argument and to show that I'm not just cherry picking one random unnamed, unreferenced study... here is a snapshot of just a few of the papers that I review in Eat Stop Eat that show that your metabolism does NOT slow down and that you do NOT lose muscle:

  • Carlson MG, Snead WL, Campbell PJ. Fuel and energy metabolism in fasting humans. Am J Clin Nutr. 1994 Jul;60(1):29-36.
  • Halberg N, Henriksen M, Söderhamn N, Stallknecht B, Ploug T, Schjerling P, Dela F. Effect of intermittent fasting and refeeding on insulin action in healthy men. J Appl Physiol 2005; 99: 2128-2136
  • Jensen MD, Ekberg K, Landau BR. Lipid metabolism during fasting. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2001 Oct;281(4):E789-93.
  • Johnstone AM, Faber P, Gibney ER, Elia M, Horgan G, Golden BE, Stubbs RJ. Effect of an acute fast on energy compensation and feeding behavior in lean men and women. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2002 Dec;26(12):1623-8.
  • Klein S, Sakurai Y, Romijn JA, Carroll RM. Progressive alterations in lipid and glucose metabolism during short-term fasting in young adult men. Am J Physiol. 1993 Nov;265(5 Pt 1):E801-6.
  • Mittendorfer B, Horowitz JF, Klein S. Gender differences in lipid and glucose kinetics during short-term fasting. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2001 Dec;281(6):E1333-9.
  • Samra JS, Clark ML, Humphreys SM, Macdonald IA, Frayn KN. Regulation of lipid metabolism in adipose tissue during early starvation. Am J Physiol 1996;271:E541-E546
  • Webber J, Macdonald IA. The cardiovascular, metabolic and hormonal changes accompanying acute starvation in men and women. Br J Nutr. 1994 Mar;71(3):437-47.
  • Zauner C, Schneeweiss B, Kranz A, Madl C, Ratheiser K, Kramer L, Roth E, Schneider B, Lenz K. Resting energy expenditure in short-term starvation is increased as a result of an increase in serum norepinephrine. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 Jun;71(6):1511-5.
  • Gjedsted J, Gormsen LC, Nielsen S, Schmitz O, Djurhuus CB, Keiding S, Ørskov H, Tønnesen E, Møller N. Effects of a 3-day fast on regional lipid and glucose metabolism in human skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2007 Nov;191(3):205-16.
So even if they weren't taking the opposite view just for the sake of good TV, I should point out that I certainly did not expect either woman to be completely up to date on the literature in this field.

I had to go back to school full time, spending almost two years reviewing papers full-time just to get to the level of understanding I currently have - and I am nowhere near the world’s leading expert on this topic.

Both these woman run extremely busy personal practices…it simply wouldn’t be fair to think they had time to review all of these papers before we went on the air. (TV moves fast, I only found out about this appearance on the Weekend, so I imagine both Kerri and Dr. London only even heard about Eat Stop Eat on Sunday, maybe 24 hours before the show went live.)

So in the end, despite the fact that I was met with the same old argument, it was a good experience and I met some great people.

I hope I exposed a lot of people to a style of eating that will help them lose weight without asking them to become obsessive compulsive about what they eat or by asking them to spend hundreds of dollars a month on useless supplements or specialty foods.

The Morning show is run by a group of very nice, very professional people, and if even one person who saw the show has success with the Eat Stop Eat lifestyle then it was worth my time.


BP

PS- if you missed the show you can see the clips by using the following links:

http://www.mandjshow.com/videos/mj-investigates-the-latest-dieting-fads-continued/

http://www.mandjshow.com/videos/an-mj-investigates-greenroom-exclusive/

Stumble Upon Toolbar

25 comments:

Unknown said...

Enjoyed those two clips. I have to hand it to you Brad - you kept your cool there and were quite patient. LOL

It's amazing the commonly accepted myths that dominate our industry.

Good job!

Teaspoon said...

Love EatStopEat! It truly is the simplest lifestyle change I've ever made to get into shape!

Thanks for providing the clips. I also want to add my Kudos for keeping your cool so well with a fairly adversarial format.

I blog on personal finance, and I think I'm going to have to blog on the financial aspect of EatStopEat! ... I'm noticing a definte savings in dough on a weekly basis (all puns intended ;)...

It is interesting that folks really have the ingrained idea about metabolism and fasting. I love being abl to point them to your book and advanced series chock full of research to back up and put your mind or your doctors mind at ease.

thanks,
Teaspoon

Anonymous said...

Brad,
Nice job under pressure.
I browse many nutrition sites, and I always enjoy your simple, honest approach.
The clips reminded me of a clip of Timothy Ferris, of "Four Hour Work Week" fame, when he was grilled by Donny ("Big Idea")Deutsche on a national morning show. (you can probably find the clip at Tim's site). Similar to your experience, Tim stated that Donny was very friendly off camera, and that he did not expect to change any opinions in his 1-minute segment.

Anonymous said...

Brad you were fabulous on the Morning show! You are a born celebrity, and you have the science to back up your ideas. It's only a matter of time before Eat Stop Eat explodes into mainstream!

Sara
Doggyfitness

Anonymous said...

Brad
You did a really great job on the show. I'm glad it was a good experience. I would have liked if they had allowed you a little more time to explain, but you really worked with what you had.
That was great.

Craig Ballantyne, CTT, Certified Turbulence Trainer said...

You did a great job. So did Chad. Congrats!

Skwigg said...

Way to stay focused and rational while getting beat up by the forces of darkness (dietitians in blazers). :-D I was hopping up and down wishing they would let you speak! I found fasting to be easy, much easier than counting calories, restricting carbs, weighing and measuring food, all of the standard "diet" advice. My muscles and metabolism are just fine. I still eat lots of healthy whole foods. Fasting doesn't cause me to binge. If anything it makes me more conscious of what I'm eating and why.

So, I found a lot of their arguments to be really annoying! LOL

I think your TV appearance will cause more people to look into intermittent fasting, read the research, and decide for themselves. I guess I was pretty skeptical too until I did my homework.

Unknown said...

I gotta say, It's amazing how much people freak out about not eating. Maybe the people that didn't eat breakfast ate a ton later on. Skipping 1 meal is so much more different than skipping 24hrs. I honestly get less hungry at 24hrs. What's even better is that I feel my body digests the food much better after a fast.

Maybe you should send the book to these 2 ladies so they can read eat. As a matter of fact, you should also train them b/c I don't think they even know what a squat is!.

GREAT JOB!!

Anonymous said...

When I started lifting weights with my dad in the mid 70s, every sedentary slob told me it would cause arthritis and the muscle would turn to fat. That took decades to correct.

I love the fact that your book (and blog) points to actual research to support your common sense analysis. It truly opened my eyes. It's probably going to be decades to correct the fasting/slow metab myth.

As I listened to these 2 uninformed women, I couldn't help wonder what they thought of sleeping, which is 8 hours without eating.

You did great on the show and I applaud your patience and kindness under pressure.

Anonymous said...

Brad, I thought you did great. It's sad that the myths about fasting are still perpetuated by nutritionists and doctors. Agree with you Skwigg. Fasting and EatStop Eat is so simple and effective. I've lost over 20 pounds since april and I can't believe how easy it is. Fasting does make me much more aware of what I eat and I enjoy food more. No binging because after you fast for a while the appetite resets itself. What's funny about the lame arguments against fasting is that lot's of medical tests require 12 to 24 hr fasts. If it was really that dangerous for people why do they regularly ask for a 12hr fast for blood tests.
I tell all my friends about EatStopEat. You did great Brad. It's too bad that the segment was so short but if I gets people to take a look at intermittent fasting then it's worth it.

Chester-not said...

If the was the extent of your appearance the show, I don't think it was enough. I don't know much about your methods, and I am only curious about it because I have heard about it before on Men's Health. If I hadn't heard of it before however; that little segment would not make me interested in learning more. Not enough information on your methods and I don't think having the other two there did anything except limit the time you had to explain more.

Brad Pilon said...

Hi Erik,

It was all in good fun, difficult, but fun.

The myths are unbelievable, but I guess if I was asked for my opinion on surgery techniques, I'd probably spread some pretty silly ideas too.

BP

Brad Pilon said...

Hi Teaspoon,

Thanks for the great post.

I've always wondered about the financial cost of ESE versus other more popular weight loss programs.

I would guess it would end up being several thousand dollars in difference by the end of the year.

BP

Brad Pilon said...

Hi Anon,

Thanks for the post. I should ask Tim about his experience, he probably would have some great tips.

BP

Brad Pilon said...

Hi Sara,

it's all about the small wins..unless you are doggy fitness, which is EXPLODING in popularity!!

BP

Brad Pilon said...

Hi Denise,

Thanks for the post. I would have loved even an extra ten seconds.

Next time

BP

Brad Pilon said...

Hi Craig,

Yeah, I was super lucky that Chad was willing to make the sacrifice, fly down to NY on a Canadian Long weekend, just to support the diet.

(We did catch a Rangers game!)

BP

Brad Pilon said...

Hi Skwigg,

I thought the lose muscle mass comment was funny, considering that Chad is a very well muscled guy...and has been following ESE for years now.

BP

PS- there's a difference between being skeptical and making bold statements on national TV.

Brad Pilon said...

Hi Juan,

Thanks for the post.

Honestly, the MD was actually very muscular, but I agree, next time I discuss the book on TV, it would be cool if they read the book first.

BP

Brad Pilon said...

Art,

That is a FANTASTIC point...I guess everything 'new' is scary.

However as I tried to point out on the show, there is nothing new about short periods of fasting.

BP

Brad Pilon said...

Hi Denise,

The funny thing is that I had the medical fasts as one of my main points..I just more than needed 10 seconds to get it out.

BP

Brad Pilon said...

Hi Darren,

I couldn't agree more..extra time would have been great.

Or conversely, I need to get my point across even faster.

BP

Anonymous said...

You did great.
Dr London made the comment that women find it harder to fast and that it was probably hormonal.
Could it be that women have smaller stores of glycogen and it runs out faster causing hunger to replace the energy store?
As a woman I don't find it hard to fast at all, especially since you get one meal a day.
Sue

Anonymous said...

I agree w/a lot of people here, and was really irritated by the doctor who said that it wasn't fair for you and Chad to talk because it's so much easier for men to fast than women.

I started out as a TOTAL skeptic. Just several months ago, I was convinced that I had 'blood sugar issues' and that if I didn't eat every few hours, I would feel sick. (In fact, I once made my husband stop at a Taco Bell in the middle of a shopping trip so I could get some beans and rice because I was convinced my blood sugar was crashing after 4 hours!)

I tried fasting for the first time in August, and was amazed to discover that as long as I was drinking enough water, I hardly notice at all that 24 hours is going by w/o food.

I agree w/another poster that I actually feel *less* hungry the longer I fast. Maybe when you focus on the 'deprivation' like the doctor's example of her religious fasting, then you can go a little overboard afterwards. But EatStopEat isn't about deprivation...

Brad Pilon said...

Hi Anon,

I'm not sure if there is any actual difference. I have had a number of women email and disagree with Dr. London, so I think that may have been her theorizing on her own personal experiences.

BP