Quick and Easy

The top picture was taken pretty recently and represents a pretty typical meal for us.  Those Rotisserie Chickens from Kroger are so good!  I love the salad from TJ's, too.

This bottom picture was taken last fall upon returning from the Franklin Farmer's Market.  Ahh, I miss those brisk mornings surrounded by good people with local meat and produce.  

What a wonderful world

November 18, 2012
2:12 CST

Nashville, TN


I am going to be a dad!

G is doing good so far, although this is very early in the journey.  We are both very excited and it is difficult to not be emotional.  This is, after all, a very exciting time!  We have so much to be grateful for, and this amazing turn of events really brings that to light.  Life has new meaning in a way that I have never felt before.  Everything is somehow different in a very unique way.  More alive.  More organic.  Life is a breath of fresh air.

Sleep, fat, off days

It is currently 5:34 a.m. in Nashville.  I have been awake since about midnight, watching tv.  I couldn't sleep because I had the most horrible thoughts running through my mind.  It was almost like the second my eyes closed, I thought:



What if I am walking down the street and get sandwiched by two trucks and my intestines are forced through my esophagus

What if my wife punches me in the face so hard that her fist goes through my skull and it kills me

What if I sit on a grenade

What if my teeth rot until they fall out of my mouth and I get brain cancer.




On a more positive note, D&G are off on Thursdays!  Woot woot!  We are going to have a grand ole time!  I have started a new schedule at work and have been skipping breakfast for the past two weeks.  As a result, I have lost a tremendous amount of weight.  This has created a deficit of roughly 500 calories.  My breakfast used to consist of 3 scrambled eggs in about 2 tbsp of Kerry Gold butter and 3 strips of thick cut bacon.  This is perhaps slightly more than 500 calories, but that's just an estimate.

I have been eating two larger meals a day with usually one snack, which is usually Omega Mix from Trader Joe's (LUH DAT STUFF.)

Still intermittent fasting from about 6:00 pm. on Fridays until around noon on Saturday.

Love it.

Dinner

Meatloaf (with paleo ketchup, onions, garlic and green bell pepper), steamed broccoli and oven baked sweet potato fries.  To your left is the ever-so-Dracula-like Red Wine!  Fitting, see as how yesterday was Bram Stoker's birthday and Halloween just passed!


This is a much higher carb meal than is usual for us, mainly due to the sweet potato.  It is important to keep things interesting, and for the most part this comes effortlessly.  Glory is constantly looking in to new and exciting recipes for us to try, which is definitely a major influence on our daily cooking.

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

Natural Cleaners review

Hey It's G here!

In our quest to live a non-toxic healthy life I am on a journey to find cleaners that are natural as much as they are powerful. 

Mrs.Meyers 

Clean Dry          Lavender

Pros:

• All purpose cleaner can be used to clean bathrooms,kitchens,floor etc.
• Cruelty-free
• Biodegradable
• 25% Post consumer plastic
• Aromatherapeutic apparently lavender helps with fatigue & is suppose to be relaxing
• A little goes a long way only 1/4 cup need for 1 gallon of liquid
• Doesn't seem to leave residues on the floor
• Cuts grease effectively

Cons:

• Smells kind of like an old women's perfume
• Not antibacterial
• Expensive 32 oz cost around $9
• Eye irritant
• Harmful when swallowed 

Final Thoughts:

I really liked this cleaner.It makes the floors feels really clean with no sort of weird film or residue. The scent was okay.I would of liked a more mild scent but the scent does completely dissipate when dried. We cook a lot as you may imagine and its gets greasy in our kitchen.This cleaner did a great job of breaking up that grease and making the floor feel clean. I would of liked an antibacterial cleaner but I may add vinegar to help kill off any nasties.I give this a 8 out of 10.

7th Generation

Lemongrass & Clementine Zest

Pros:

•  Scent is great not overpowering & very fresh
•  A little goes a long way
• Biodegradable 
• No dyes or synthetic fragrances
• No phosphates
• Cuts grease very well
• Gentle on hands
• 96% recycled plastic
• Cruelty-free
• Fairly priced at $ 3.27 for 25 oz
• No film or residue on dishes

Cons:

• Not antibacterial

Final thoughts:

First natural cleaning product I've tried and I love it! Suds up really well cuts through grease probably because it's citrus based. I love the scent and honestly would wear lotion with this scent! I am excited to try other scents and would definitely recommend to others. Also not antibacterial but maybe i am a germaphobe. Besides being clean is not something that is natural. I would rate this product a 9 out of 10.

Clorox Green Works Cleaning Wipes

Pros:

• Price is only about a dollar more than regular clorox wipes
• Easy to find available at most retailers
• Compostable
• 99% Naturally derived
• Not tested on animals

Cons:

• Very thin
• Does not clean throughly 
• Small wipes
• Not antibacterial 
• A bit dry

Final Thoughts

I was not impressed by these wipes.I felt they were dry much like a damp towel and didn't feel they had much cleaning power. The cleaner on these feel like there is nothing to cut grease or remove stains in it. I will not be buying these wipes again although they are very easily obtained though most retailers since they are clorox brand.I give them a 5 out of 10.

Disclaimer: I have not been sponsored by any of these companies all images,designs & rights belong to all respective companies I do not own these images.

Bio Hacking, Sleep, Red Meat and Red Wine

Here it is, 4:12 a.m. CST and I have been awake since about 11:30 last night.  Tried to go back to sleep but for some reason I couldn't stop thinking about intermittent fasting.  Also, this whole Bio-Hacking concept really intrigues me, as does just about everything that Dave Asprey talks about.  One thing that I am going to experiment with a bit is the Carb Refeed.  I have been eating low carb (under 60 grams or so each day) for the last 3.5 months and have gotten to about 8% body fat.  This is just an estimate, and I could very likely be slightly off.  My abs are completely visible and I now have many palpable veins in my hips and entire body.


I recently started a new schedule at work and have been playing with an adjusted eating window as well.  Although I haven't been in the gym this week (yet), I feel like these recent changes are definitely helping with continuing the fat loss.  Last night Glory and I had an awesome steak dinner and I ate a medium sized sweet potato (so good!)


With the exception of an organic gala apple about once a week, my only other major carb source have been grapefruits.  I am going to try to work in a higher carb day once a week or so, depending on how I feel tomorrow after my workout.  If I feel any hungrier or stop losing fat, I will obviously make a few adjustments to both the amount of carbs and perhaps the timing.


Also, I really love this basic marinade that we found on YouTube for steak:

Red Wine
Worcestershire Sauce
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder

G's primal story

Its the usual story! I was skinny kid.Very active playing outside with my friends.Even in cold massachusetts winter i still played outside but that was just it we were playing!Fast forward to age 11 finally a woman! Everyone was excited but me especially when i went to the doctors and was diagnosed with PCOS. I didn't really know what that meant i thought it was great no periods for months at a time,awesome! Freshman year i weighed a healthy 117lbs still somewhat athletic doing ballet throughout the year but finally had my first job. Freedom at last to buy whatever i wanted,which consisted of fast food and junk food like all my friends ate. It couldn't hurt right? Looking at this from as an adult now i relize i was the thinnest of my friends at the time. Taking a look at my diet in those 14 years consisted of mostly low glycemic root vegetables rice & beans along with lots of protein sometimes fish typical Puerto Rican cuisine to top it off i was also active all that time! So let's jump forward to age 14. My mom trying to do the best for her family started cooking low fat. What was she supposed to do? She just wanted to do the best for her family. Besides, could that many doctors be wrong ?!? As i quit ballet started working just about full time while still going to school. My insulin must have been completely destroyed from my sleep deprivation! I promptly gained about 30 lbs in one year! Holy Shit! What the hell happened?!? Eating whole grains,turkey spaghetti & margarine what was i doing wrong?Besides again, how could all those doctors be wrong? Off to the nutritionist i went. It was  an hour that seemed an eternity. It consisted of a man who was at least triple my size telling me I was fat and that i had no willpower I need to more carbs/less fat and most importantly it was my all my fault.


To be continued....

D's Story

Childhood:  Very active.  Ate whatever I wanted and was lean by default.  Pure junk, with typical American grease-battered, deep fried carbs.

Young adulthood:  Enlist in the army at age 20 and do 4 years active duty.  Am introduced to bodybuilding and fall head over heels.  Do the typical high protein, high carb, low fat approach for years with mixed results.  Mostly lean gains with serious gluten sensitivity.  Return home from Iraq with GI problems that are consistently diagnosed as Gastroenteritis (vague enough?)  Am instructed to stick to grains, low fat, no fruit, no alcohol.

Adult civilian life:  ETS from active duty and move in with future wife, Glory.  Am introduced to Paleo and immediately notice a huge difference.  Skin clears up, stomach problems vanish, mental clarity increases.  No longer have need for ADHD medication.  Physique improves in both muscularity and fat percentage.  Fell off the wagon a few times and reverted back to the dark side of SAD BS, but have since remained enlightened.

Introduction...we think...

............This is just a test....for introduction purposes...how does this look?  Decent?  We hope so..