Life Extension.
My personal opinion from reviewing the fasting/caloric restriction (a term I hate) research is that there really isn’t anything non-medical we can do to greatly extend our lifespan.
On the other hand, there is a LOT of things we can do to keep from ending our lives prematurely…which sadly I believe is the fate of most people living in North America.
Live to 150? Probably not yet.
Live to 100 and spend as much of those years ‘with it’ as possible…not a completely unreasonable goal.
So what can you do to avoid being like everyone else? (IE NOT cutting 15 years off your life and dying of a preventable disease)
Simple:
1. Eat Less
2. Stress Less
3. Weigh Less
Numbers 1 and 2 are easy (ESE) and pretty self explanatory.
Number 3 is where I think my next couple paragraphs may start an on-line fist fight.
So here it goes.
Most people reading this really want me to say that number 3 is all about having a low body fat percentage, and for the most part that’s true.
BUT..most people reading this also want me to say that the more muscle the better (even I want me to say that)…but….well I’m not sure.
Who’s ‘more healthy’ a 5’9″ male who is 220 pounds and really over-fat, or a 5’9″ male who is 220 and 10% body fat?
I’m sure most of us think the bodybuilder is ‘more healthy’…but why?
According to the National Institute of Health:
“Overweight: Overweight specifically refers to an excessive amount of body weight that may come from muscles, bone, adipose (fat) tissue, and water.”
Not to be confused with Obesity:
“Obesity: Obesity specifically refers to an excessive amount of adipose tissue.”
So why do we think that more muscle is OK?
We know there are limits to how much muscle we can carry naturally.
You simply can’t grow forever (especially without drugs).
The vast majority of us will never move far into a BMI of “overweight” just by putting on lots of muscle…
And if you did…whether through steroids, freak genetics or magic, the question remains:
Is it good for you, or do we just think it is because it “looks Healthy”?
Here’s another point about weight.
I did a lot of research on the Adonis Project, and while John Barban and Brad Howard take a light and fun approach to that product, let me assure you, there was nothing ‘light’ about the amount of research that went into it’s design.
According to those equations at 5’10” My waist and shoulders should be:
31.5″ and 51″
Currently I’m around 32″ and 49.5″
And while I still have a bit to go on the shoulder circumference I highly doubt that my fasted weight would need to be any higher than 180 to hit this goal.
A fasted weight of 180 pounds at 5’10” would put me just slightly into the ‘overweight” BMI. Now, I’m not a giant fan of the BMI, but my point is this:
You don’t have to weigh a lot to look great, or to be strong…
Now here’s the other point.
According to my findings in the book “How Many Calories” realistically the maximum amount of lean body mass I will probably ever be able to build is about 160 pounds. The last time I checked, my lean mass is 153 pounds (measured by BodPod) …so this is all starting to fit together.
So 7 pounds of added skeletal muscle is my limit…and probably an exaggerated one.
And I’m only about an inch away from my ideal Adonis Index (plus one on the shoulder, minus one on the waist), which from an aesthetics point of view is where an adults male body of my height should be…
Then why would anything above this be healthy?
It may not matter if it’s muscle or fat..maybe just carrying around more weight than you need to for 60 or 70 years is in and of itself, unhealthy?
Maybe the ‘muscle at all costs because it’s perfect’ mentality we’ve been sold isn’t 100% true.
In fact, just like just about everything else with health, maybe there’s a normal distribution to weight and lean mass…where anything to far to the left (too little food, too little stress, too little body weight) is just as bad as anything to the far right (too much food, too much stress, too much body weight)
But of course, this is only in the realm of health and longevity..it doesn’t mean lots of muscle is wrong or undesirable..
It all depends on your goals.
Regardless, it seems like if you want to live life as long as possible and as well as possible, for most people living in North America the answer remains:
1. Eat Less
2. Stress Less
3. Weigh Less
BP
