My Inadvertent A-B-A Experiment (OT)

This could be ugly, but in a week or two I'll be able to report to you on the results of an A-B-A experiment I've made but didn't really mean to make.

An A-B-A experiment (actually it's a design in Applied Behavior Analysis, from the field of psychology), as you might know or maybe can guess, is when you change something to see the results, (A—>B), then change it back again to see if the results go back to the way they were before (B—>A). It's a way of checking to see that your results are direct consequence of the change.

For example, when I had an episode of atrial fibrillation, I was told that coffee consumption might be worsening it. So I quit coffee for three weeks (that's the A to B part), and my a-fib got better. Then I went back to my old coffee habits again (B back to A), and my heart issues got worse again. That proved it to me; so I quit drinking coffee, after, I think, 46 years. Haven't had a sip of coffee since about mid-2018.

Anyway, a few years ago I went on Dr. Greger's daily dozen diet, a modified whole-food plant-based (WFPB) plan. As you might remember, when I first advocated it and people asked how it was working for me, I asked for six weeks to go on it strictly so I could be more sure of the changes. Well, I ended up staying on that diet for just about exactly 17 months. But then I did some traveling and had to go off the diet, and my brother died and I got depressed, etc., etc., and I gradually regressed back to a modified version of my old eating habits.

It's been almost exactly a year since then. I haven't been eating badly, really, but I've been eating out a lot, eating sugar again, being lazy. "Eating conveniently" I guess you could say. Eating according to the SAD (standard American diet) and the prevailing "food environment," meaning, what's easily available and offered everywhere, such as at standard "meat, cheese, and grease" restaurants.

So in the interests full disclosure, I figure I'll be honest with you and tell you what happened. I'm not currently due for a checkup, but I asked the good Doctor Anderson, my PCP, if he would order bloodwork for me, and he acquiesced; I'm going to fast tonight and overnight and then go in to have blood drawn tomorrow.

That way I can give you an A-B-A report: the effect of the original change, and the effect of my backsliding.

The Daily Dozen diet is an outcomes-based plan. It's not a cuisine, like the Mediterranean diet; it's not a "food ideology" like strict veganism; it's not a fad diet, like keto; it's not a diet based on an imaginary fantasy, like paleo; it's not primarily a slimming diet where results are judged only by weight loss. It's merely an attempt to eat in a way that leads to the best health outcomes, according to the consensus of the best available science. That means both ongoing health markers and also statistical health outcomes in the long term—like, are you going to get diabetes, heart disease, etc. Obviously I can't report on long-term outcomes, only on biomarkers, outward effects, and how I feel.

I already reported the good part—the changes I experienced after one year of healthy eating. (I continued on that diet for another five months after that post, till about this time of year in 2021). When I get my bloodwork back I'll tell you what's happened to me in the year since then.

Mike

Book o' the Week

Jay Maisel: Light, Color, Gesture. This was suggested by Moose. I got to meet Jay Maisel once. Everybody should meet him in his books, if they haven't already. Might help; cannot hurt. Jay's is some of the most positive, hopeful, and generous picture-taking advice you'll find.

This book link is a portal to Amazon.

B&H Photo

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Comments

[Kenneth Tanaka]

This is your private blog and you can use it for whatever potifications, pronouncements, and brainstorms suit you. But do you think photography will ever again be your front-and-center subject here? It’s been a few years since that’s been remotely true. Maybe you’re just over it and need to move on? That’s fine but about the site’s name…

[Admit it, you just *really* don't want to go on a diet. :-) --Mike]

[John Krumm]

The diet I find most appealing and also the hardest to do is the Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants one. It's the mostly part that's hard. Let in a little of the bad stuff and it turns to a lot very easily. I think it's just the country, economy and culture we swim in. Hard to go against the tide, individualizing everything. That's why I think nutritionists should be activists, not self-help gurus. So far, the two things that have helped my health the most consistently are a high blood pressure pill and a statin pill. That and a dog that needs a walk.

[Al]

Mike,
I am a terrible eater ( although one of those who is not over weight) but I every now and then I swim against the current amd eat healthy for a while with great results for a while but then I return to normal… almost. As you mention you went back to a modified version of your old diet, and it’s probably a bit healthier than it was so good work with that and good work with the 17 months that’s a big win more than most will ever achieve in this area. I’m always grateful for the advice you shot out to young people over 10 years ago that not putting on weight in the first place is the best path - I’m not quite as young anymore but I haven’t put on weight and that advice gave me the inspiration to swim against the current every now and then to keep things in check even if I can’t get on top of it - good luck and thank you

[Arg]

I await with bated breath!

[Edward Taylor]

In response to some of the commenters who wish you would stick to photography only, I just want to say that as long as you have a blog, I will be checking it every day and reading everything you write as I have for the past decade or more, regardless of what you're writing about, even if you stop writing about photography altogether.

You are a writer, and it is enjoyable to appreciate your work.

I came here for photography, but now I realize that coming here JUST for photography is, in a way, missing the point. In reality, I now come here for the writing.

[darlene]

Mike,
I honestly do not know how you can write so much about photography for so long! This site is really about 'Mike' and photography, and Mike's interests. For anyone that does not enjoy the selection of material must be a gearhead looking for a fix. I am not a gearhead, I am a photographer that needs gear to pursue my work and sometimes art. I like the selection here and I am here because you are a fine writer.

Eating is such a personal choice. I enjoy my cooking so much, I stopped eating out a decade or more ago. When I was raising my son (and his father), it was not difficult to cook for them (meateaters) and for myself (vegetarian). I grew up eating healthy and that seems to be the only way I enjoy to eat, plus for me it is easier to shop and prepare meals from fresh produce. But I have to admit as I have gotten older, my selection of what I prepare has gotten smaller.

I think it is like a lot of what I do; I find what works for me and stay with it. Whether it is a few post-processing tools, or cameras, or food, I stay with it until I master it and call it mine. Just like you, I come here to read whatever it is you write because I want to read the author.

Looking forward to the results of your A-B-A experiment, and hoping for the best.

[Richard Parkin]

How will you control for the fact that you are at least two years older (at a time when that may make a big difference) and was your diet the same before the first change as it was in the middle?

[James Bullard]

My version of A-B-A was a weight-loss regime back around 2006 with the objective of getting my weight under 200# (down from 283). I succeeded with a calorie/exercise app but then I got cocky and stopped tracking my consumption vs burn on the app. I thought I had it figured out and didn't need the bother of entering everything I ate and the exercise I did. The second A was slow coming but inevitable and I crept back up to 245. I'm now working on the B part again but finding it harder because my metabolism is slowing with age.

[McD]

I use a variation of the DD diet (more nuts, less grains) and find my body likes it. It took some experimentation to find suitable choices within DD guidelines.

[Jim Arthur]

A-B: I’m over 60 and in the midst of my own A-B experiment. A couple of months ago I made a life style change based on common sense…which is something I had been avoiding for far too long. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ My pandemic spread was getting out of control and I felt old and lethargic. I decided to eliminate 90% of the common sense bad stuff (fast food, chips, beer, sugar, dairy) from my diet and replace them with fruits and vegetables (canned, frozen, supermarket “fresh”, doesn’t matter). In addition, I resolved to exercise (walking, stretching, light weights) for 1 hour per day. After a month of this I felt much better and had far more energy, so much so that I started doing all the neglected repairs that were needed around the house which means I’m now even more active. Everything seems to be snowballing in a good way.

Currently my clothes fit much better and I have the energy to tackle anything that comes up. The home repairs I mentioned have never been my forte (spent many years as a renter) but with my new energy and a decent YouTube video, I’m ready to give most things a whirl. Here’s hoping I can keep it up, I haven’t felt a need to cheat at this point which I’m taking as a good sign. I think this is because I still partake of a small amount of the bad/fun stuff when I meet friends once a week at the local pub.

[Eric Brody]

Many people seem to have a "set point" at least for weight. It is fairly easy to elevate it but challenging to go below it, regardless of diet and exercise. Of course eating healthy is a good idea though I just read an article in the Atlantic magazine that reports on a study showing that there was no benefit to restricting dairy based saturated fat after a certain age. "The Vindication of Cheese, Butter, and Full-Fat Milk," by James Hamblin.

Yay! Julia Child was right as she was about so many things.

[Herman Kriegr]

That's food for thought.