Fast-5 Life

Back in 2006, my wife Judi heard from one of our nieces about Gary Long, a man walking across the country to lose weight. He was walking from St. Louis to New York City, then starting again from Los Angeles to continue back to St. Louis. Judi asked if she could walk with him starting in Los Angeles. Gary said okay, and in August of 2006 they set out from LA. Judi blogged during the walk on the Fast-5 website, but updates to this website meant leaving the blog content behind. By request, we've put her blog back on the web in its original, somewhat antiquated form.

In an ABC news story (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/brr-frigid-temps-lead-weight-loss/story?id=...), the concept of thermal dieting is discussed. Though it was probably hooked by a PR agent paid to help Tim Ferriss sell his book, it's an interesting proposal on a couple of levels. The physics of it make sense: If you expose your body to cold, it will burn more calories to stay warm. Ferriss points out that brown fat can burn calories to make heat.

Calorie restriction—defined as limiting an animal's intake to some fraction of what it would eat given the opportunity to eat without restriction ("ad lib")—has been shown to prolong healthy lifespan, reduce inflammation, increase resistance to cancer growth and more. You can read more about calorie restriction (CR) in this recent Time article.

In a study by Yanovski et al of holiday weight gain, the typical American gained about 1.3 pounds (0.6 kg) per year, about half of it during the holiday season. The subjects in the study were selected from among those on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD — likely a more health-conscious group than say, a random selection from the Wal-Mart checkout lines.

Sometimes people ask my wife and I how we're going to make money with Fast-5. When we say we probably won't, it raises some eyebrows. Why bother? Partly because money is what caused the problem in the first place.

This is my first blog entry on the new site, which is temporarily titled "Fast-5 Life." This is the third major website revision since Fast-5 LLC began in 2005. The Fast-5 way of life has been spreading through trusted relationships. In that time, with zero advertising, it's literally reached around the world. It's not really a diet, since it does not specify what to eat. It's not a lifestyle all of its own, because it's compatible with many lifestyles. I think it's especially compatible with those who wish to make a smaller footprint on the Earth in the way they live. Less packaging.