Friday Stream of Consciousness
It’s Friday so I’m going to write about whatever comes into my head:
Christopher Hitchens passed away. Although he wouldn’t appreciate the sentiment, God Bless him. He was one of those people who lived by the sword of his brilliance, but carried with him all of his scars and flaws.
Republican Debate last night. Apparently it was the final debate of the year and really the big one rolling into the Iowa Caucasus. Once again the debate was ugly at times with Republicans fighting among themselves for the nomination, but as I’ve said before, they are having a real debate about what we should do as a country and who should lead that effort from the Republican side. I think the Gingrich boomlet may be dissipating somewhat under attacks from Bachmann, who surprisingly continues to hang in the race and may do well in Iowa. Romney was Romney (despite a made up controversy from press about his words and trying to link them to the KKK– funny, but Mormons don’t seem to be a hot bed of KKK agitation). Perry seemed to have had his best debate so far. With the stories about his early performances being affected by his back surgery and the hours of duty required for his day job (he is STILL Governor of the state of Texas), and his push for visibility in Iowa I can see him gaining ground. Now, none of these guys have made the deal with the voters just yet,but they are getting there and I am happy that we have a long, sustained campaign on the Republican side.. We need someone who can stand up to the Obama war-chest and the cynical, last-gasp Verdunne strategy they are likely to employ in this election.
I am SORE. Part of what I’ve most proud of this year is a real attempt to examine and improve my life. I’d love to give credit to Elizabeth Warren and the “State”– Ha.. In seriousness, I’ve made the most improvement by doing the things the government tells us NOT to do. From a health perspective, I follow a Paleo/Primal/Archevore diet that is high in saturated fats, avoids vegetable oils and all “healthy whole grains” (is that a trademark by the people who brought us the food pyramid or the food plate or whatever they call it now?), and is filled with plenty of hearty red meat, bacon and eggs.
Nor do I follow the standard advice to do plenty of cardio. I walk a couple of miles a day with my German Shepherd, but the rest of my workout regimen is “to life heavy things” a couple of times a week. To that end, I started using Mark Rippetoe’s “Starting Strength” program (well, a modified program, given that I don’t eat enough, don’t sleep enough and still have too much stress from work). What it means in practice for me is lifting twice per week and doing a short list of very intense, full body lifts – Squats, Bench Press, Power Cleans, Deadlifts, Overhead Press and when I am not too fried at the end of the workout, pull ups and chin ups. The program calls for 3 workouts a week while alternating deadlifts and cleans and alternating bench press and overhead press. For the moment, I’ve been doing the full range twice a week — but now that my weights are moving up and getting higher, I’ll likely have to start alternating or at least varying the volume of work in those exercises.
For beginners, even beginners of my age (full disclosure, I am 44), this overall program WORKS. First of all, Paleo works. I started at 200 lbs with about 25% body fat and in 3-4 months dropped 20 lbs and to about 16% body fat while working out very minimally… And the benefits go beyond the weight loss. I’m not hungry, I feel more focused, I sleep better. Really, it makes me wonder what the Hell the government is thinking in advising people to eat a diet that is so far separated from the traditional diets of our ancestors…
Second of all, Rippetoe’s program works. As noted, I’m hardly a great candidate for big weight lifting gains. 44, married, stressed at work and at home, too little sleep and with a marginal ability to recover in time for my next workouts. Yet in about 4 months I’ve taken my working sets in squats from 85lbs to 175 lbs, my deadlift from 135 to 210 and my bench press from 85 to 170. My wife and others have noticed (never a bad thing), and the BF machine has noticed. Although I never trust it to be entirely accurate, it says I’ve gained somewhere between 5-10 lbs of muscle while in the lifting program putting me at 190 lbs now with people telling me I look thinner than I did when I weighed 180.
http://www.archevore.com/get-started/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-101/#axzz1ghqcTdYk
http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Starting_Strength_Wiki
In my world, everyone should get to make their own decisions about what is best for themselves. So, obviously, read and make your own decisions. That said, I think anyone who is skeptical of the government should think hard about the advice that is peddled from that government regarding your health. Personally, I think it is inconceivable that the afflictions of our modern age (diabetes, obesity, cancer and the general malaise of moder life) are things that are hardwired into our DNA, and I refuse to take advice that I believe will lead me directly into those afflictions.
