Political Correctness...

Who needs it? Here is a story about a soccer coach and what happens with all this PC bull shit.
He's got the right idea:

A girls soccer coach who told parents of his 6- and 7-year-old charges that he expected his players to “kick ass” has resigned.
Michael Kinahan says he “meant to give parents a chuckle” but that people took his message on a the team he dubbed “Green Death” the wrong way.
In an e-mail message to parents last week, Kinahan wrote that the girls on his team would “fall, get bumps, bruises and even bleed a little. Big deal, it’s good for them (but I do hope the other team is the one bleeding).
“The political correctness police are not welcome on my sidelines,” he added.
Kinahan resigned after parents protested to league officials. Other parents have said they support his approach, said Chris Park, the registrar for the Scituate Youth Soccer League.
“He’s got a wry, sarcastic sense of humor. I think this whole thing just blew up on him,” Park said.
Kinahan also wrote that he expected “that the ladies be put on a diet of fish, undercooked red meat and lots of veggies ... Protein shakes are encouraged, and while blood doping and HGH use is frowned upon, there is no testing policy.”
Park said a major concern for league officials was Kinahan’s comments about referees.
“My heckling of the refs is actually helping them develop as people,” he wrote.
Park said a 12-year-old referee refused to return this year because of the way Kinahan treated her last year.
“That did lend some truth to what he said in the e-mail,” said Park.
Kinahan said his message was “largely (albeit not completely) meant in jest.”
“It was also meant as a satire of those who take youth sports too seriously for the wrong reasons,” he said.
--
THE COACH’S ORIGINAL E-MAIL
Congratulations on being selected for Team 7 (forest green shirts) of the Scituate Soccer Club! My name is Michael and I have been fortunate enough to be selected to coach what I know will be a wonderful group of young ladies. Chris Mac will also be coaching and I expect the ever popular Terry to return to the sidelines. Our first game will be Saturday April 4 at 10:00AM. There will be a half hour of skills followed by a 1 hour game, so total time will be 1.5 hours. All games will be played on the fields in the front of the High School. Each player will be required to wear shin guards and cleats are recommended but not required. A ball will be provided to each player at the first meeting, and each player should bring the ball to games and practices. There is no set practice time allotted for the U8 teams, but I will convene with the coaches to determine the best time and place. If there are cancellations due to rain, all notices will be posted via the Scituate Soccer Club website, no calls will be made (though I will try to send an email). Attached is the Schedule and Code of Conduct. After listening to the head of the referees drone on for about 30 minutes on the dangers of jewelry (time which I will never get back), no player will be allowed to play with pierced ears, hairclips, etc. We used to tape the earings, but that practice is no longer acceptable. Please let me know if your child has any health issues that I need to be aware of. My home phone is 781 XXX XXXX, my cell number is 781 XXX XXXX, and I check my email frequently. According to my wife, my emails get too wordy, so for those of you read too slowly, are easily offended, or are too busy, you can stop here. For the others……
OK, here’s the real deal: Team 7 will be called Green Death. We will only acknowledge “Team 7” for scheduling and disciplinary purposes. Green Death has had a long and colorful history, and I fully expect every player and parent to be on board with the team. This is not a team, but a family (some say cult), that you belong to forever. We play fair at all times, but we play tough and physical soccer. We have some returning players who know the deal; for the others, I only expect 110% at every game and practice. We do not cater to superstars, but prefer the gritty determination of journeymen who bring their lunch pail to work every week, chase every ball and dig in corners like a Michael Vick pit bull. Unless there is an issue concerning the health of my players or inside info on the opposition, you probably don’t need to talk to me. Coach MacDonald has been designated “good guy” this year.
Some say soccer at this age is about fun and I completely agree. However, I believe winning is fun and losing is for losers. Ergo, we will strive for the “W” in each game. While we may not win every game (excuse me, I just got a little nauseated) I expect us to fight for every loose ball and play every shift as if it were the finals of the World Cup. While I spent a good Saturday morning listening to the legal liability BS, which included a 30 minute dissertation on how we need to baby the kids and especially the refs, I was disgusted. The kids will run, they will fall, get bumps, bruises and even bleed a little. Big deal, it’s good for them (but I do hope the other team is the one bleeding). If the refs can’t handle a little criticism, then they should turn in their whistle. The sooner they figure out how to make a decision and live with the consequences the better. My heckling of the refs is actually helping them develop as people. The political correctness police are not welcome on my sidelines. America’s youth is becoming fat, lazy and non-competitive because competition is viewed as “bad”. I argue that competition is good and is important to the evolution of our species and our survival in what has become an increasingly competitive global economy and dangerous world. Second place trophies are nothing to be proud of as they serve only as a reminder that you missed your goal; their only useful purpose is as an inspiration to do that next set of reps. Do you go to a job interview and not care about winning? Don’t animals eat what they kill (and yes, someone actually kills the meat we eat too – it isn’t grown in plastic wrap)? And speaking of meat, I expect that the ladies be put on a diet of fish, undercooked red meat and lots of veggies. No junk food. Protein shakes are encouraged, and while blood doping and HGH use is frowned upon, there is no testing policy. And at the risk of stating the obvious, blue slushies are for winners.
These are my views and not necessarily the views of the league (but they should be). I recognize that my school of thought may be an ideological shift from conventional norms. But it is imperative that we all fight the good fight, get involved now and resist the urge to become sweat-xedo-wearing yuppies who sit on the sidelines in their LL Bean chairs sipping mocha-latte-half-caf-chinos while discussing reality TV and home decorating with other feeble-minded folks. I want to hear cheering, I want to hear encouragement, I want to get the team pumped up at each and every game and know they are playing for something.
Lastly, we are all cognizant of the soft bigotry that expects women and especially little girls, to be dainty and submissive; I wholeheartedly reject such drivel. My overarching goal is develop ladies who are confident and fearless, who will stand up for their beliefs and challenge the status quo. Girls who will kick ass and take names on the field, off the field and throughout their lives. I want these girls to be winners in the game of life. Who’s with me?
Go Green Death!
--
KINAHAN’S RESIGNATION
Team, After careful consideration, I have decided to resign from all coaching responsibilities related to Team 7 this season. Unfortunately, it has come to my attention that some parents and the Board of Scituate Soccer failed to see the humor in my pre-season email. For the avoidance of doubt, the email was largely (albeit not completely) meant in jest and with the goal of giving the parents a chuckle while enduring yet another round of organized youth sports. It was also meant as a satire of those who take youth sports too seriously for the wrong reasons. My overarching goal is the well-being of my players, and I do not want any player to feel uncomfortable, nor do I want to see the team disbanded because of a lack of active players. Therefore, while I’d prefer to go down swinging, it’s really about the kids and it just makes more sense for me to take the year off.
While I respectfully disagree with the Board's interpretation of my comments, I believe that they should be commended for their immediate actions to address the concerns of the offended parties. The Board’s action proves that the chain of command is functioning as designed. Board members volunteer their valuable time and I do not plan to add to their already significant workload. I also respect those parents who were offended as I am sure they acted in the best interest of their children. While I may question their sense of humor, I have no right to question their judgment regarding their children. Perhaps we may even have beer (I’ll buy) and a couple of laughs at the end of all of this.
And while I am sorry some people failed to see the humor, I do not apologize for my actions; I wrote it, I think it's funny and I do have a distaste for the tediousness of overbearing political correctness. Furthermore, I was serious about parental involvement as I do believe parents should cheer and encourage players (in a positive fashion obviously) so that the kids feel the excitement that comes from team competition. And most importantly, I was completely serious that I want to see each young girl develop a positive self image, self-confidence and the will to succeed in any endeavor that she desires. Lastly, I have added some comments to my initial email (in capitals) to clarify several points that may have been viewed as offensive.
Sincerely,
Michael A. Kinahan
Go Green Death!

Go Coach! May others understand...

Myth: You know how much stress your body can take.

I came across this today. Pretty good words to live by.

Myth: You know how much stress your body can take.

Mythbuster: Craig Weller

"During Special Operations selection training, you're subjected to a brutal series of physical and mental tests. Depending on the program and the time of year, between 60 and 90 percent of candidates won't finish. Fun stuff.But it taught me something important: Pain does not stop the body. There's nothing that hurts so badly that you can't keep going just a little longer.

Extreme and continuous stress teaches you to break daily life down into short, measurable goals. You make it to breakfast, and then you focus on making it to lunch. Sometimes your mind refuses to project beyond the immediate future: running one more step, swimming one more stroke, grinding out just one more push-up.Everybody hits bottom at some point. You get to a place where you'd do anything to make the pain stop. If your mind breaks first and you stop running, or wave for a support boat on a swim, or raise your hand during a beat-down to say that you're done, you're officially "weeded out." You've quit. You're part of the majority, but you still feel like a loser.

Fortunately, there's a loophole: If your body breaks first, they won't hold it against you. Every guy in my squad had the same perverse thought at some point: "If I can just push myself hard enough to black out, I'll crash in the sand, take a nap, and wait for the medics to revive me. I'll get a nice little break, and then rejoin the pack." So we ran harder. We pushed. But we hardly ever got those naps.

I remember being on a run, soaking wet and covered with sand. We'd just gotten back to our feet after calisthenics in the surf and a series of sprints up and down a sand dune. Then the instructors took off sprinting again. I didn't think I could make it any farther, but I knew I could never live with myself if I stopped running. So I put my head down and sprinted as hard as I could through the soft sand. Pain surged through my body, and the only conscious thought I can remember was that the air I was gasping into my lungs had turned to fire. I focused my eyes on the heels of the instructor. The pain was getting worse, but I kept going. I could hear another member of my class behind me, struggling to keep up with the pack while puking between strides. Guys who went through the training with me had similar experiences. They'd hit bottom one day, and think they could finally reach their breaking point if only they pushed a little bit harder. But it never worked. The agony would only increase. But so would their capacity to keep going. Pain, in other words, never actually broke our bodies.Which isn't to say we weren't incapacitated from time to time by hypothermia, hypoxic blackout, hypoglycemic shock, or some other things you find in the dictionary a few pages past "hell." But passing out was acceptable. Quitting wasn't.

I'm a civilian now, running a facility and training people. Every now and then, I hear someone say, "I can't." Frankly, that's bullshit. Next time you're tempted to say you "can't," remember that what you're really saying is, "I don't want to."

Happy St. Patty's Day

We had a fun filled day yesterday! Green shirts abound and the anticipation to go have some green beer to end the day is the way it was. To celebrate the day we enjoyed the workout known as "Murph". Here is a link to his amazing story and Operation Red Wing.

"Murph"

For time:
1 mile run
100 pull-ups
200 pushups
300 squats
1 mile run

Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run. If you've got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it.

Not a fun way to try to end a day before enjoying some after workout St. Patty's Day beverages. Everyone did really well and we all retired to Johnny G's afterwards for some green beer and fresh boiled crawfish. I had the salmon of course, with a little bit of crawfish on the side. Sometimes you gotta walk on the wild side.

For the next post, I am going to start recording my workouts and rest days to help give an idea of what kind of "practice" I get in and what I do on "recovery" days

Results....We gotta have results!

Well, we all made it back from the Fittest Games Challenge at CrossFit Dallas Central this weekend. We had a great time, met some great people, and got in a couple of blistering workouts! Spencer and Sam Nix along with Koy Nichols are great guys with a whole heap of knowledge floating around their box. This is displayed by the many amazing athletes they have at their place. Among other things, they also managed to put on a well organized competition. Of CF Denton County, we had 5 total competitors and threw down a pretty decent showing if I must say so myself.

The competitors and Final Standing were: (Note: there were MENS & WOMENS categories)
1) Bevin, 7th
2) Lindsey, 5th
3) Matt, 4th
4) Dave-o
5) Myself, 11th

Dave had an issue going into the second heat that managed to keep him out of it which was too bad, as he would've killed in it. But, Matt kicked ass and so did the girls, so when you see them give 'em a much earned "Congrats"! They did a helluva job and put up a helluva fight!

On Competition: I believe its a good thing to get out and do something like this every now and then. I know at CFDC we have been throwing around ideas left and right on bringing competitions to our joint. It allows for one to be able to see what kind of progress they have made and what kind of person they are when they get dragged outside their realm of comfort among friends. Not to mention you get to meet some pretty cool like minded people along the way. So, be on the lookout in the future for some local competitions, affiliate comps, and all out fun.

As and aside, Bevin and I went to a restaurant afterwards on Saturday that deserves some attention. Its a locally owned place that lovingly caters to Crossfitters and "health-nuts" alike. It's called The Kozy Kitchen, and I have to say, it was everything that it was said to be. They serve made from scratch foods, grass fed meats, copious amounts of vegetables, assortments of wines, and all at a pretty reasonable price. Also note worthy is the fact that they are willing to cook just about anything the way you want it and/or like it, if they have it in stock. I had a grass-fed beef filet with a mixed veggie sautee and a glass of red wine, while Bevin had an amazing chicken salad sandwich with a side of sweet potato hash. The hash was phenomenal. Few things beat bacon and sweet potato sauteed in olive oil. So, for you Zoners and Paleo followers alike, the next time you are around their area, visit them and try to wear a CrossFit shirt! They will know why you have come!

Update...

So I have found out about the structure of the competition. It will be the same workouts as described in the previous post, but instead of my assumed 3-4 hour break, there will apparently be only roughly 2 hours. I don't know what to think about that. That seems like a short amount of time to recover, but I digress. I will just have to suck it up and hit it hard (That's what she said).
I had the chance yesterday to see the first workout in action. Mike went ahead and blew through it in 5:29. A remarkable time! This was done with chin over bar kipped pullups, chest-to-ground pushups, and 225# deadlifts. Great effort. Makes me even more nervous, especially if they bring the CrossFit Games pull-up standard into play: Chest-to-bar! That sould tack on some time, though all-in-all it will still be a great time. Mike is going to attempt the second workout today, so I have yet to hear the report on that one.
Other news, there are some ladies joining the fun. Bevin (YAY!), Lindsey, and Coleen are all going to compete as well. My hats off to them in hopes they do great and make it through without injury. That being said, I can only hope that for all of us!

Weekend Plans

Well we are heading down to Dallas first thing Saturday morning to attend the Fittest Games Competition hosted by CrossFit Dallas Central. This should be an interesting competition and a good warmup for the 2009 CrossFit Games Regional Qualifiers and the 2009 CrossFit Games. I just got an email this morning on the format of the competition and is as follows:
2 workouts starting @ 8am.

Workout #1:
4 rounds for time of:
10 Deadlift, 225#
10 Pushups
15 Pullups

Workout#2:
5 rounds for time of:
7 "Any way Overhead" (i.e. Shoulder Press, Push Press, C&J), 135#
400m Run

These should be pretty good workouts with, I assume, a 3-4 hour break in between. The top 15 finishers of both men and women (30 total) go on to Austin in a few weeks to compete in a second round of competition. The top 2 finishers of both men and women (4 total) will get their regional qualifier fee and accomodations paid for from CrossFit Central in Austin. So, its a worth while attempt to try to get in the top! Wish us luck; Dave, Matt, and myself and I will report back with the results.

Quote of the Day

"The best measure of quality is not how well or how frequently a medical service is given, but how closely the result approaches the fundamental objective of prolonging life, relieving stress, restoring function, and preventing disability."
-Lembeke, quoted by Jeffery Bland in an article in Functional Medicine Journal

"A Day in the Life of a Hunter-Gatherer" by Loren Cordain

"Ten thousand years ago sounds like a long time, but in terms of how long the human genus has existed (2.5 million years), 10,000 years is a blink of the eye on an evolutionary time scale. The lifestyle of today's hunter-gatherers still holds invaluable clues to the exercise and dietary patterns that are built into our genes. The idea that cross training has value could have been figured out much earlier had we taken notice of clues from hunter-gatherers. Few modern people have ever experienced what it is like to "run with the hunt". One notable exception is Dr. Kim Hill, an anthropologist at Arizona State, who has spent 30 years living with and studying the Ache hunter-gatherers of Paraguay and the Hiwi foragers of Southwestern Venezuela. His description below represents a rare glimpse into the activity that would have been required of us all, were it not for the Agricultural Revolution."The Ache hunted every day of the year if it didn't rain...GPS data I collected ... suggests that about 10 km per day is probably closer to their average distance covered during search. They might cover another 1-2 km per day in very rapid pursuit. Sometimes pursuits can be extremely strenuous and last more than an hour. Ache hunters often take an easy day after any particularly difficult day, and rainfall forces them to take a day or two a week with only an hour or two of exercise. Basically they do moderate days most of the time, and sometimes really hard days usually followed by a very easy day. The difficulty of the terrain is really what killed me (ducking under low branches and vines about once every 20 seconds all day long, and climbing over fallen trees, moving through tangled thorns etc.) I was often drenched in sweat within an hour of leaving camp, and usually didn't return for 7-9 hours wi th not more than 30 minutes rest during the day.""The Hiwi on the other hand only hunted about 2-3 days a week and often told me they wouldn't go out on a particular day because they were 'tired'. They would stay home and work on tools, etc. Their travel was not as strenuous as among the Ache (they often canoed to the hunt site), and their pursuits were usually shorter. But the Hiwi sometimes did amazing long distance walks that would have really hurt the Ache. They would walk to visit another village maybe 80-100 km away and then stay for only an hour or two before returning. This often included walking all night long as well as during the day. When I hunted with Machiguenga, Yora, Yanomamo Indians in the 1980s, my focal man days were much, much easier than with the Ache. And virtually all these groups take an easy day after a particularly difficult one.""While hunter gatherers are generally in good physical condition if they haven't yet been exposed to modern diseases and diets that come soon after permanent outside contact, I would not want to exaggerate their abilities. They are what you would expect if you took a genetic cross section of humans and put them in lifetime physical training at moderate to hard levels. Most hunting is search time not pursuit, thus a good deal of aerobic long distance travel is often involved (over rough terrain and carrying loads if the hunt is successful). I used to train for marathons as a grad student and could run at a 6:00 per mile pace for 10 miles, but the Ache would run me into the ground following peccary tracks through dense bush for a couple of hours. I did the 100 yd in 10.2 in high school (I was a fast pass catcher on my football team), and some Ache men can sprint as fast as me.""But hunter-gatherers do not generally compare to world class athletes, who are probably genetically very gifted and then undergo even more rigorous and specialized training than any forager. So the bottom lines is foragers are often in good shape and they look it. They sprint, jog, climb, carry, jump, etc all day long but are not specialists and do not compare to Olympic athletes in modern societies." Dr. Hill tells us part of the story, but not everything. Today, women are just as likely as men to be found at the gym lifting weights, or running or riding their bikes. In stark contrast, hunter-gatherer women almost never participated in hunting large animals. Does this mean that women did no hard aerobic work? Absolutely not! Women routinely gathered food every two or three days. The fruits of their labors just didn't include plant foods, but also small animals such as tortoises, small reptiles, shellfish, insects, bird eggs and small mammals. They spent many hours walking to sources of food, water and wood. Sometimes they would help carrying butchered game back to camp. Their foraging often involved strenuous digging, climbing, and then hauling heavy loads back to camp while carrying infants and young children. Other common activities, some physically taxing, included tool making, shelter construction, childcare, butchering, food preparation, and visiting. Dan ces were a major recreation for hunter-gatherers, and could take place several nights a week and often last for hours. So, the overall activity of women, like men, was cyclic with days of intense physical exertion (both aerobic and resistive) alternated with days of rest and light activity.What hunter-gatherers had to do in their day-to-day activities is turning out to be good for modern day athletes. When the famous track coach Bill Bowerman advocated the easy/hard concept back in the 60's, it was thought to be both brilliant and revolutionary. Using his system of easy/hard, athletes recovered more easily from hard workouts, and their chances of getting injured were reduced. Ironically, coach Bowerman's revolutionary training strategy was as old as humanity itself.Similarly, weight training combined with swimming was a stunning innovation at Doc Counsilman's world famous swim program in the 1960's. Now, it is a rare world class endurance coach who doesn't advocate cross training to improve performance, increase strength, and reduce injury incidence.For humans living before the Agricultural Revolution, energy input (food) and energy expenditure (exercise) were directly linked. If Stone Age people wanted to eat, they had to hunt, gather, forage or fish. In the modern world, we have totally obliterated the evolutionary link between exercise and food. When we eat more energy than we expend, we gain weight and our health suffers. Two thirds of all Americans are either overweight or obese. Forty million American have type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S."

Kind of makes sense doesn't it? I especially liked the approach to so called "periodization": If you are beat down from a hard day, rest the next day! Crazy I know, but thats where the recovery comes from, not to mention muscle growth!

Glycemic Overload

Glycemic Load - a ranking system for carbohydrate content in food portions based on their glycemic index and the portion size.

Why is this important? As a matter of fact it is the absolute in any Nutrition Plan. By eating foods (carbs) that have a low end glycemic load, we can keep our insulin in check. Too much insulin, and our ability to burn fat is nil. Studies have shown that sustained spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels may lead to increased diabetes risk.

Here is a list of some NO-NO high GL/GI foods:

-Rice, Wheat, Pasta, Potatoes, Corn, Bread, Tortillas, Oats, Grains, Beans, Tropical Fruits (Bananas, mangos, papaya, pineapple, etc.)

Now here are some foods that are perfectly fine to eat:

Broccoli, Cauliflower, Squash, Carrots, Turnips, Rutabagas, Green Leafy Vegetables, Zucchini, Tomatoes, Onions, Garlic, Peppers, Artichoke, Asparagus, Brussel Sprouts, Eggplant, Mushrooms, Alfalafa sprouts, bamboo shoots, Celery, Cucumbers, Apples, Apricots, Berries (strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries), Cherries, Grapes, Grapefruit, Kiwi, Lemons, Limes, Nectarines, Oranges, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Cantaloupe.

So, there is a whole bunch of different veggies and fruits that one can eat and still maintain a healthy diet. Get away from that lame excuse of "I just have to have my bread and comfort foods". Get off the Grain Train and enjoy a healthy life with plenty of options to help fuel your everyday needs.

End of January Detox Challenge

A whole 30 days with no alcohol, grains(not that that was an issue anyway), sugar, tobacco, processed foods, little caffeine in the form of coffee and hot tea, and eating out. What a month! I feel great and have leaned out a bit and put on some muscle in the process. My times keep improving and so do my heavy lifts. So a lot of good came from this. I am going to continue with this system from here on out, minus the alcohol restriction. This will be on a limited basis and limited quantity (as I am now a cheap date) since I enjoy a cold beer or some whiskey every now and again. As a trade off for this, I will still keep sugar and "processed foods" out of my diet for the duration leading to the 2009 CrossFit Games Qualifiers in May at GSX in Ft. Worth. For those that don't know check it out: "2009 CrossFit Games". Hopefully I can keep them out for good as my insulin sensitivity is getting to the point where any amount of sugar just bombs me. This makes a good reason to keep it out of my diet.
I would encourage anyone to give this challenge a go for minimum 30 days and see what kind of results you can get. I promise you they will be positive. You will not only notice a better looking and feeling self, but everything gets better: sleep, workouts, and life in general!

4 Nutritional Challenges for the New Year

As probably seen in earlier posts, I have thrown down a couple of nutritional challenges to start of the year and potentially help everyone get into that realm of "being fit". Lets remember that we work out for 1 hour of a 24 hour day. That leaves us with 23 hours to complete the cirlce and actually make that 1 hour intense workout worth something! So with that being said, lets recap the first two and bring on the third and forth! As a note, you can tackle these one at a time in order from 1-4, or all together. I would recommend for the nutritional newbie to take things slow though, i.e. one step at a time.

NUTRITION CHALLENGE #1:
Eat protein with every single meal. EVERY meal! What kind of protein? A once living, breathing, roaming, walking, swimming, animal!
To spell it out even more: (in no particular order of relevence)
- Chicken, Beef , Pork, Fish, Shellfish, Eggs, Turkey, Lamb, Venison, Duck

NUTRITION CHALLENGE #2:
Drop sugar from your diet for a minimum of 2 weeks and see how you feel at the end. Once you realize how great you feel continue on with the NO SUGAR challenge. Of course its ok to indulge every now and again, but for the ones that have a soda or ten, a cookie, a doughnut, candy, etc. on a daily basis needs to stop! Try it and see what happens. The benefits will definitely outweigh any kind of negatives your pesky brain will come up with.

NUTRITION CHALLENGE #3:
Now that we have rid our diets of sugar and we are eating protein with EVERY meal, (yes this includes snacks) its time to take away the comfort food of our time: Breads, starches (minus the occasional sweet potato or yam), grains, cereals, wheats, pasta, rice, corn, and the like.
Here is a good article about the evil that are these!
"The Definitive Guide to Grains"
These things have been linked to all types of illness, disease, allergies, and just all around health problems. If anything, drop sugar and grains from your diet to create longevity of life! Once again, try it out for minimum of two weeks. After the two weeks, evaluate how you feel and carry one once you realize the benefit that you have just given your body.

NUTRITION CHALLENGE #4:
Once the first 3 challenges have been completed either one at a time or all together, its time to bring the final piece to finish our Nutrional Puzzle. Eat some GOOD fats with all your meals. By good fats I mean:
Olive oil, coconut oil, coconut meat, avocado, nuts, seeds, some nut oils, REAL butter, lard, EFA's (Omega 3's), Animal fats
Heart healthy fats that will help promote a healthy lifestyle. A plug from the FDA (although they are akin to the Anti-Christ in my opinion). This is now a primary fuel source for our body since we have ditched the grains and sugar, so you want to make the right choices. Not to mention they are more caloricly dense than carbohydrates (sugar and grains) at 9 calories per gram than 4 calories per gram respectively.
Read: "Definitive Guide to Fats"


Bringing it all together......
Once this has come full circle, whether it takes 2 weeks or 2 months, you WILL see a noticeable difference in how you look and feel and I would imagine that you will want to carry on this new lifestyle change from here on out. It will only allow you to live a longer, happier, and healthy life so why not?

Cold Remedies for the "Modern Man"

There are a couple of articles I would like to link in refernce to this post:

1. "Maintaining Your Immunity During the Holidays"
2. "Make Your Own Flu Shot, Or Just Stay Healthy in the First Place"
3. "What Happens to Your Body When...You Carb Binge?"

There is something that I noticed over the recent holidays. I got sick for a few days. I never get sick! This got me to thinking about what might be the cause of it so I am going to make an assumption on the issue. Around this time of year I tend to get more into sugar than normal, whether it be through pies, cakes, brownies, ice cream, candy, etc. After reading a little about sugar, it can cause an immune suppresion in the body. As can over-indulgence in alcohol, which also tends to happen around this time. Bad news. Especially this time of year when the Flu seems rampant. So, scan or read the accompanying articles and make your own assumptions, but I am going to attribute this recent sickness to too many sweets and too much drinks! Especially the 2 huge pieces of cheesecake that I ate for my brother-in-law's birthday a few days before Christmas. Well, I started "feeling bad", sore throat, congestion, runny nose, on Christmas Eve Eve (the day before Christmas Eve: not a typo). So I took meds and nothing really worked. NyQuil, my once favored drug of choice for a small cold, didn't do a thing but make me sluggish in the morning. Mucinex, which can dry out a 5x5 childrens sand box didn't work either. I had all the symptoms that these medications are supposed to take care of! After all the holiday hub-bub, I got back on track with my diet [lots of protein, good fats, fruits and veggies] and a couple of days later everything went away. So where am i going with all this? Well, it sounds like a good "prescription" for a cold or the flu is to just eat right (read older posts) and stay the hell away from mass quantities of sugar in the form of sweets and high density carbs.

Food for thought.....SUGAR = BAD

NUTRITION CHALLENGE #2:

Drop sugar from your diet for a minimum of 2 weeks and see how you feel at the end. If you say you feel worse I know you're lying!

Bringing in the New Year: 2009

Well it's time to end the 2008 chapter and start 2009. It's always nice to take some time and reflect on the years past to make some decisions for the upcoming one. So what is on the books for 2009? What, if any are your new goals or resolutions? I have decided to test myself for the month on January and clean up my act a little. I have other goals and resolutions as well but here is the main one that I hope to accomplish over the next month.

January Detox Challenge:
The goal of this challenge is to rid your life of anything that is "harmful". I will use that term loosely as there are many things that could be qualified as harmful to one person and ok to the next. So, things that I will be doing away with for January are as follows:
1. Any food that is processed. By this I mean any thing that comes in a box, jar, or has more than 3 ingredients.
2. Sugar
3. Tobacco
4. Alcohol
5. Eating out at restaurants
--What I will be keeping:
1. Whole natural foods; fruits, veggies, meats, nuts, seeds, good fats, fish oil. little starch in the form of yams/sweet potatoes.
2. A varied workout program to benefit from this "clean" living.
3. A positive frame of mind

I am doing this challenge for 2 reasons: 1) So I can see if I have the mental fortitude to undertake something like this for 30 days. 2) To see what kind of changes can be present without the influence of "harmful" substances such as alcohol and tobacco. So to all I say, give this challenge a try or cheer from the sidelines and wish the followers luck! I will keep an updated log along with this to track my progress.

January 2, 2009 - Start of challenge
January 6, 2009 - 5 days in and so far so good. I have made some amendments to allow for things that are in a container but are not laden with garbage. This would be milk, cottage cheese (not the Shepps kind) and some cocktail sauce I used for Oysters that Bevin and I bought at Sprouts. It was made from a tomato puree and not ketchup which has "HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP (HFCS)" in it. I haven't had any cravings for anything in particular. So, all is well for right now!
January 13, 2009 - 12 days in and all is good! No cravings for anything and all we have eaten has been great, wholesome, delicious food. We did eat out once but it will be an exception to the rule because it was Jason's Deli. We had the salad bar and only salad and veggies with a homemade olive oil dressing. For the protein there was eggs, and I just brought a steak from home. So, it was basically like eating at home, we just had to meet my little brother for lunch. Will probably do this again as its nice to eat outside of the house sometimes. NOTEABLE CHANGE: My weight has kept dropping and is now to 177....Don't know if this is good or bad yet as I have not lost any strength, so I figure its fat and water that is leaving. I hope so!
January 26,2009 - Well the month is almost up and I haven't had any issues keeping this challenge going. I am going to extend it 14 more days to Feb 14th to make a total of 44 days of clean living! Set a huge PR the other day on Grace @ 3:14. I can attribute that to this change and my consistant workout scedule.
January 30, 2009 - End of Challenge