Goldilocks and the Three Metabolic Pumps. (Trigger Warning: Science!)

It's time we had another conversation about how not to be fat, pulling together all the previous information for the new guys.

There are three separate mechanisms that add fat to your body, both in the form of new fat cells (de novo lipogenesis), and adding fat to existing adipose tissue.

Think of them as three pumps which generate fat. Each one is fueled by a different material. We'll summarize each one, and link to more detailed discussion.

The first pump is the Fructose Pump. It runs on a specific sugar called fructose, which is present in sucrose (your standard white table sugar), high fructose corn syrup (obviously), fruit (in smaller amounts), and anything sweetened with either of these (including natural fruit juice).

This pump is the most powerful, and it has no shut-off point. Furthermore, the more it runs, the more powerful it becomes.

This where landwhales come from. You can learn, in detail, how it works, here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceFyF9px20Y

The second pump is the Starch Pump. It runs on glucose, another find of sugar, found in grains (bread, pasta), potatoes, and pretty much anything starchy.

It is moderately powerful, and it drives body fat up, but reaches a point of diminishing returns.

This is where "a couple of extra pounds" comes from. You can read about it here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/comments/353buo/eating_101_fork_use_for_dummies/

The third pump is the Weak Pump, also known as the thermodynamic pump. It runs on pretty much anything that has any calories and raw materials at all.

It is weak, and it has a low shut-off point, because it is a deliberate body process whose goal is to keep you above a certain fat percentage, for your health. However, sometimes we wish to slow this pump, too, because the idea of a "healthy reserve" that you have in a society surrounded by food, is different than that of a body evolved under conditions where you might not catch a wildebeast this week.

This is your "calories in - calories out" mechanism. It actually uses the starch pump to work, by synthesizing glucose to feed into it. Yes, your body will synthesize glucose itself if you don't eat enough. Your body needs glucose. Just not an infinite amount of it.

It makes the difference between "athletic" and "super cut bodybuilder".

So, what to do about all this?

Know which pump is causing your problem. For example, if you are drinking lots of soda or fruit juice, and you are 25% fat, don't bother counting calories, because that's messing with the Weak Pump, when your problem is the Fructose Pump.

Shut pumps down in order. Not all at once. If you try to shut them down all at once, you will white-knuckle it for a while, then fail. Your body knows how to make you hungry.

Don't mess with the Weak Pump until you're ready. You don't need to calorie restrict to get to 15% bodyfat, or even 12. Go hard keto first.

Be careful with the Weak Pump. No, you won't starve yourself to death. Nobody's that dumb. But if you calorie restrict too much, you are taking away what your body needs to feed those carefully built muscles (you ARE lifting, aren't you?), and you will do yourself more harm than good. Do not run large deficits.

Cheat days should feed lower pumps in preference to higher ones.