Archive for September 2008
Overtraining
One thing I should always mention about my results like I posted yesterday is that in addition to the real food and intermittent fasting, my workouts consist of only two 30-minute sessions per week, both of which I always do hungry, i.e., at least 12 hours since last food intake, and sometimes as much as 24-30 hours (I'm still in fat-loss mode). And regardless of how long it was that I hadn't eaten, I don't eat immediately after the workout either, for at least two hours. If that seems totally crazy to you, does that sense come from actual experience, first-hand knowledge, or are you doing what so many do, which is to just run with the crowd? As I've come to learn being around the gym, trainers, and cardioholics: the fitness industry is dominated by a herd mentality. It's very faddish, and if you watch closely you'll begin to notice all sorts of contradictory diet, exercise, nutritional and supplement advice. But stop to consider this: do mammals typically hunt in a fed or a hungry (fasted) state? If the latter, doesn't it seem logical, and also, doesn't it make sense that evolved physiology would be highly adapted to such...
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Coming Together and How You Can Help
Just a quick note to say that things seem to be shaping up nicely around here. Yesterday brought just a bit over 1,000 visits, around 1,900 page views. Visitors seem to be sticking around and looking around. I spend a fair amount of time at this and love doing it. But how can you help if you get value from it? Well, I can't see myself ever putting a tip jar to the side, nor do I even have an Amazon Wish List and likely never will. But there are a couple things you can do to help out around here if you get value from these efforts. First and foremost: when you see a post you particularly like, please share it. There's a little "share this" button at the bottom of each, and it takes but a minute to share on Stumble or Digg, probably the two best. A secondary approach would be a link to a particular post in the comments on another blog, so long as it's relevant to the post you're commenting on. Also, email me, or post comments about any of these fitness issues, of course, but also about your success stories (with photos, if...
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Periodic Photo Progress Update
I'm trying to get out a photo of my continuing evolution (an intended pun, there) about every 10 pounds of net loss. Last one was at a bit over 200 pounds, and this is at a bit over 190. But let's take a trip back, first. Me, on a European vacation, a mere two summers ago. Oh, one more. We'll call it "fat me II." Doing what I did best, back then. Here's the comparison I published last February between me around this time last year and 3-4 months later. Note: the before is actually after about 6 months of my brief, intense resistance training of two 30-minute sessions per week. The second is only 3-4 months later, having incorporated a proper (Paleo-like) diet, also including intermittent fasting in about the last month. Now here's a photo from just yesterday, taken a bit after a workout, so, there's a bit of a lactic acid "pump" going on. Now, let's run that comparison from a year ago to today. Still a ways to go. The abs are there, but unlike those who are content to make fools of you with the latest infomercial "ab this & that," you simply need to...
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General Health Benefits
Often, the focus around here centers on fat loss and lean gain, which is only natural since that's the chief problem for most people. But I'll also blog substantially about other health gains from this sort of Life Way. If you're new here, you may not be aware of my own experience in this area. I have been a seasonal allergy sufferer all my life, since my teenage years. This was debilitating in the spring and summer, and eventually, I found it was just best to take the prescriptions year round it was so bad. Same with acid reflux. I get nuclear heartburn. As of the first of the year (2008) and about 3 months of a consistent Paleo-like diet, with emphasis on grain free, I have been off all medications. I've just sailed through spring and summer never once needing to take my medication. I still get mild heartburn from time to time, but I know what's causing that: alcohol. If I go a few days without any, heartburn drops to nil. It's well known that a Type II diabetic can usually cure themselves by adopting a ketogenic diet, but how about a Type I? Not as common, but...
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IsAgenics
I received the following question in email from a reader. How would you compare the methods / products promoted by IsAgenics as a route to maintained weight reduction and increased sustained energy versus your program? A quick bit of Googling got me to the main company website (it appears to be an MLM, so there's lots of "affiliate" websites out there). OK, where to start? How about with the most obvious: this is simply not an evolutionary approach in the slightest. Can it work for you? Sure, anything can work for you, even low fat high carb -- if mere weight loss is your goal. The question, the only question as far as I'm concerned, is does it hold up to scrutiny from the standpoint of 2-4 million years of bi-pedal hominid evolution prior to the advent of agriculture 10,000 years ago? Taking that approach eventually begins to express genes that you already have, and begins to transform your body into the lean and attractive one designed by nature. I have begun to think that the one very fundamental problem in all of the diet fad world is the notion of "losing weight." Why do you want to lose weight?...
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Reader Food Pics
I'm going to try once per week (likely every Wednesday, here out) to post 1-3 food pics readers of this blog graciously send along to me in emails, provided they closely conform to being Real Food. Not interested in what anyone can do with Hot Pockets. First up, my aunt Brigitte send along this very nice looking lunch salad. Next is Adam, with his mini quiche. It's from a recipe off Mark's Daily Apple. Guidelines for food pic submissions (at least for pics of stuff you take going forward): white plate, platter, or bowl, please. That works best for contrasting the food. Bonus for a nice white napkin place setting and a glass of red or white wine, or water, iced tea and such.
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Survey Results
Thanks to all who took the time. As promised, and without further delay, here are the results. Is my information relevant to the average person who constantly diets, exercises, reads diet books & magazines, purchases Jenny Craig type food products and continuously gets discouraged by the dismal short term results? Y=95%; N=5% Is the scientific basis of the evolutionary fitness program easy enough for the average person to comprehend? Y=87%; N=13% Would you buy a streamlined, easy-to-read, step-by-step book or Internet Download of my new book? Y=70%; N=30% Would you attend, if made very affordable, a seminar for the “No Diet-Diet” program and life way? Y=39%; N=61% Would you participate in an informational 45 minute live Webinar? Y=57%; N=43% Do you think the people who are constantly and perpetually on diet programs would be interested in a fat loss program that would be permanent, easy, natural and provide long term results …and reduce their food bills? Y=94%; N=6% In your own honest opinion, could I succeed with my program if made public? Y=87%; N=13% Strictly hypothetically, if you were financially able and inclined to invest start-up capital for this sort of venture, would you invest $10,000 for the startup of...
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“Loving Lard”
New readers, of which there are quite a few: that's exactly right. By the time you finish reading this, I hope to have those of you who just know that lard is bad for you questioning that assumption. Keep it in mind, as it's instrumental and essential in deprogramming decades of such purely rendered error. Here goes. First, a reader email. Did you read the article in the San Francisco Chronicle today? It's in the Food section and it's called "Loving Lard." It extols the virtues of lard. You've been blogging about lovely lard long before the newspapers caught on to its benefits. When I was young, I had the pleasure of spending the summers with my Granddaddy and Grandmother in Winton, CA. They grew all their produce on their quarter acre of land, bought their meat and dairy at local farms, and canned their own food. Once a week, my Grandmother would get a tub of freshly rendered lard from the local farmer. Every day, she would melt some so that my Granddaddy could drizzle it over just about everything he ate. He lived to 99 years of age and was healthy and fit up to his last day....
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Life Tweak #57
If you sit at a desk a lot, as I do, perhaps you've at times experienced an irresistible urge to stand. Often, I'll turn my chair around and work bent over the backrest just to stand. If I get deep in thought about some thing or the other, I'll often stand and pace back & forth. I sit to the right. Now, I stand to the right. That was this afternoon's project. A solid 8' long surface. Four pieces, 12 bolts, and 15 minutes of assembly. $200 at Costco. Thanks to dad with his long bed pickup and enthusiastic willingness to help haul it up into the loft space. I will get some sort of bar stool, as I'm quite sure I'll not desire to stand all the time. But mixing it up is the key -- intermittency and acute stimuli, not chronic.
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Final Call
I will likely close the survey later today or earlier tomorrow. Final call for your valued input. Once the survey is closed, I will promptly publish the results.
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Excellent and Welcome News
Evolutionary Fitness Grandaddy (but not in looks!) Art De Vany has just signed with Harper Collins and Random House for the publication of his long, long awaited book. Due out in a couple of years (yea, it's a long process -- I've seen a friend go through it twice, same publishers). Here's his 71st birthday picture, just a few days ago.
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You Don’t Have to Believe in Evolution
...And yet you can still benefit tremendously, just as we benefit every day from Newtons "Laws," even though they have been found to be not precisely true in all circumstances. I never make any bones about the fact that I don't believe in any supreme being, and I'm as convinced of the overwhelming evidence in support for evolution as I am that the universe is heliocentric and not geocentric, as was believed by virtually everyone until only about 1,000 years ago. And evolution is observed to happen all around us. Stephan experiences it every day in the lab. What many people don't realize is that the facts point overwhelmingly toward evolution. American teachers have been tying their hands with the same wimpy anecdotes for decades. Evolution is not just about the fossil record and a few moths somewhere; it's a dynamic process that's happening around us at all times. I'm constantly dealing with it in the lab. For example, sometimes by chance I'll create a mutant strain of yeast that grows slowly. I'll streak it out on a petri dish. Five days later, one out of twenty of the colonies growing on that plate will have mutated into faster-growing strains....
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Quick Hit
Bill's second comment, right here, is what it's all about, folks. That is all.
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The Survey
I had originally indicated that the survey would go through Sunday and that I'd report the results. However, at the last minute we decided to leave it open. Why? Well, a couple of reasons. First, we're really closing in on statistical significance. With anything like this, you always know that the first to answer are your family, friends, and fans if you have any who aren't family or friends. So, give or take, the first 30-50 responses are likely to be rather biased. As in diet, nutrition, and general fitness, I don't like fooling myself. No reason to do it in business, either. The second reason is that the entrepreneur I'd be working with in the event this is a go has a network of affiliates and colleagues he's worked with or who have been successful customers or clients of his in the past. Emails went out to those folks last night, asking if they'd familiarize themselves with the blog and weigh in on the survey. So, I'll likely leave it open until the end of the week or until we achieve solid statistical significance, whichever comes first. Fair enough. And, so, that leaves everyone else. If you've taken the...
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Camping Breakfast II
The prep. The meal. Omelet with red onion, green onion, and tomato (with seeds and "gel" removed). Feta Cheese sprinkled on top.
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Point of Order – Vegetarianism
Got my first email question regarding vegetarianism. It was from a concerned friend. One of the insructors at my gym - a vegetarian - is fighting a cold, and is often slightly sick. Beside the diet, she is way over-trained (she is the instructor for 15 or so intense aerobics classes per week). She has 2 problems - diet and over-exercise. Her lifestyle and her job make it impossible to change either - and her immune system suffers. I really wish her well, but I don't think I, or anyone else could be of any meaningful help. We simply are not evolutionarily adapted to be vegetarian. We're not adapted to do 15 intense aerobics/cardio sessions per week. Combining the two is a recipe for disaster. When is the last time you saw lions, tigers, wolves, or even omnivores out jogging every day? The life of an animal evolutionarily adapted to energy and nutritionally dense animal protein and fat is one of languid rest, play, and intense -- all in -- explosive bursts. So, my response: I'm going to maintain a strict policy with regard to vegetarians and vegans. No advice whatsoever. The "advice" I give out is based on my...
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Camping Dinner
There are a couple of things about my health and fitness blogging that have surprised me, and this goes back to May, '07, even when this was still primarily a political blog with excursions into EvFit. They are reactions to the food photos and queries about cooking. I suppose I'm surprised because I've always been around people (familly, mostly) who cook, and cook well, and I've always cooked plenty (in between the pizzas and fast food of the last decade or so). It's just like my previous hunting post. I get that people don't really have to, to survive, but part of me could never feel that utterly detached from the base requirements of survival. I'm going to do something a bit different with this food post. I'll take you through it. What makes this different is this was out camping, so even though I shopped at a market and didn't forage or kill, I did cook out in nature, and ultimately, cooked over an open fire. Let's go, then. First, here's the setting. Now, here are the raw materials, foraged from Nob Hill Market. I have expensive balsamic at home and didn't want or need another $15 bottle, so...
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Stop the Presses
I've got a number of posts in process. It's going to be a busy week in other areas, so I want to get some suff in the queue. Then I reviewed my email and I've just got to toss this up immediately. My nearest younger brother Dave, in Utah, deer hunting. A 360 yard shot. Custom made 300 Ultra Mag. That's a 4-pointer, still in velvet. Nice kill. And, within a couple of weeks, I'll have my assorted venison (my favorite is the sausage, Dave). With our family, the hunt is just as much about the food as the sport. That's the ethic we grew up with. I loath trophies for trophy's sake. That looks to be a nice mule deer, just like the ones we used to take out of northern Nevada, Elko County, when Dave & I were kids and everyone participated (including my maternal grandmother, who always got her deer, and alway a neck shot in order to ruin the least amount of food). We consumed everything, including liver and heart. I understand this sort of thing might take some people aback, and trust me, Free the Animal is not about the necessity of any of you...
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Camping Breakfast
Even camping one can eat right. A lot better than the granolas, cerials and pancakes I see so many eating.
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Later
Man, I'd wanted to get two posts out today, have them half-drafted in the machine, half in the head. Things just didn't come together, since 6am, starting with the dog walk and nothing has slowed down since. But I've got to roll. We're out to a local place (Mt. Madonna, Hecker Pass) only an hour away to break in the new little retro camping trailer I picked up this week. It's the T@DA, by Dutchman. We've got the XTL floorplan. Only 2,000 pounds or so, about a thousand pounds lighter than the pop-up trailer I'm selling. And, it fits in our parking garage (clearance under 8', unheard of for travel trailers these days). If you see the grid toward the front, that's the A/C unit, specifically to keep the overhead clearance low. The quality is fantastic in terms of cabinetry and such. All around great craftsmanship, like Airstream. I don't think the campground has WIFI, but I might get down to Starbuck's or something to upload a post or two. If not, see ya Sunday. And if you haven't seen fit to take the survey, I'd really appreciate it.
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