Sick day, chicken soup, space heaters and BCAA

Felt like shit this morning but got up and went to work anyway.  Started my shift and within 30 minutes realized that I was going to be useless to the world.  Talked to supervisor and left for the day.


Came home and turned my chicken breast that I was going to eat for lunch in to chicken soup, with the assistance of 2 carrots, 1 onion and 4 cloves of garlic (all organic, of course)


Of course, this morning I had originally intended on pushing through the day at work, so I had an unbelievable amount of caffeine which means that now I am home and can't sleep.  What an interesting turn of events.  I wonder what the rest of the day will hold!  If only G were here...


On another note, there is something that I have been thinking about for some time now.

I think that at this point it is probably safe to say that weight training in a fasted state is not only productive to the agenda of leaning out but also pretty safe as far as catabolism is concerned.  Some people will say otherwise, but from my own experience over the past few years this has been the case.  With that said, I am sure that for someone like Jay Cutler or Dexter Jackson this might be a different story, but for someone like myself with a smaller frame and a more modest amount of muscle, this approach works wonders.

My real question is not whether training in a fasted state is safe or enhances fat burning (because I know for my body that it does), but my question is just how long does it really take for my body to fully digest and utilize the amino acids from various sources of meat?  It seems to me (and I could easily be wrong) that this is the real question and perhaps the biggest part of the equation with the whole concept of intermittent fasting (which D&G love.)

IF red meat has (X) amount of BCAA's, how long does it take the average human body to utilize them and what factors affect whether they are used for muscle repair vs. a source of energy?   Also, I have noticed in the past on the few occasions that I have actually supplemented with a BCAA product that I did not have any visual differences in my physique regardless of the dosage, but rather my workouts seemed to be slightly more energetic.  Again, I could be wrong, but it makes sense to me that the naturally occurring BCAA's found in meat would be far superior to some powder created in a laboratory somewhere.  But unfortunately, buying quality meat from the store doesn't make any money for the supplement companies, the same way being healthy doesn't make billions of dollars a year for the pharmaceutical companies.

Obviously, I do not have any science to prove or disprove any of these questions, just my own experience and observations.  But even so, if there was some sort of *proof*, rule or standard, would I really trust in it?  After all, look at what the "standard" of modern nutrition is...and we all know how that's working out, even though it is fed to us as the absolute truth.

I realize that the human body is far too complex of a thing to be able to put in to black and white terms. For some people I'm sure that the approach that I have taken and continue to take would not work for various reasons.  It's the same general principle when it comes to when we question why some people are "nutritional rogues" as Michael Savage puts it, in that they can eat whatever they want with virtually no weight gain or negative affect on their body composition.  In the end, it's all up to us individually.  We can only keep trying new things, discarding what does not work and living and breathing what does.  This is a lifelong commitment, and something that I do not believe I will ever perfect.  It is a continuous journey and adventure, one more reason to get up in the morning.  What better than to invest in your own body.


D