You are Addicted to Bad Health

I know, to most people, the idea of being “addicted to food” sounds ridiculous.

Seems like a bit of a cop out for people who can’t ‘just say no’

Let’s suspend our disbelief for a moment and take a closer look at what constitutes addiction, and, just maybe, what keeps you from your goals.

Cigarettes may be the least of your worries

Addiction:

Two important criteria:

1. Continued/Compulsive behavior.
2. Done in spite of negative consequences.

Eating ice cream, french fries, and blowing off training are all compulsive behaviors. We do them in the moment and they feel. so. GOOD. but,

These behaviors hurt us. These little failures are short-sighted and cheat us of the joyful vibrant health we deserve- err don’t deserve, but want really bad

Just like an addict we know what we should be doing, and we don’t do it.

We are in the unlucky position of being addicted to multiple substances and behaviors this makes change difficult.

So what do we do?

1. Why do you  use? Cheetos, Little Debbie, or Coca Cola. Do you use for comfort, for pleasure, or social reasons? So there, you get those benefits.
2. Why shouldn’t you use? Cancer, diabetes, fat-and-lonely syndrome? If you weigh the consequences out then you’ll likely see that your unhealthy habit probably isn’t worth it.
3. One day and one thing at a time. You’ve got to go to war with a part of yourself. Everyday, especially in the early going, is gonna be a struggle, but you know why you are doing it and you aren’t going to get beaten by a brownie are you?

Certain foods (especially the bad ones) cause some pretty serious neurochemical and physiological changes.

Don’t let a cardboard box or aluminum can own your health.

So next time you hear the call of that crispy-creamy temptress, be strong we are all in this together.

Beat your addiction and look junkie-skinny nekkid friends.

The Fight for Raw Milk – Nature’s perfect food

It was a sad day when I walked into my local Whole Foods Market and first realized the good stuff was missing. I decided to focus on this for a short essay in a class I am taking.

Here goes…

New food production practices and regulations have left us increasingly alienated from the sources of what we eat. Recently, food production and distribution in the United States has seen an unprecedented amount of change.

Our food is increasingly dominated by fewer companies and larger farms. The unbridled aggregation of production and resultant mega-corporations such as Tyson and Smithfield have left the consumer with dwindling options for obtaining locally and naturally produced foods.

California, along with Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Washington State have all served as a recent battle ground in the fight for older methods of food production. Within the last month, Whole Foods Market has made the exemplary decision to pull all raw milk products off its shelves in all of these states. Raw milk is cow’s milk unpasteurized and unhomogenized. Both pasteurization and homogenization permit mass production and distribution of milk. Beneficial compounds are removed from the milk during the process, and the milk loses all of its good bacteria which would otherwise live in symbiosis with the human body. Many people, myself included, swear by the benefits of unaltered milk.

Mass produced milk must be pasteurized because of the distance it is shipped and the conditions of the cows producing it. These cows are fed corn as opposed to their natural diet of grass. This leads to bacterial growth in the stomachs and eventually milk of these cows. They are fed a steady diet of antibiotics to combat this problem, but much of the bacteria have grown resistant to these drugs; consequently, pasteurization must be employed. Conversely, cows that produce raw milk at farms like the Caravale Farm in Pinoche, California are strictly pasture fed leading to a healthier cow and safer milk.  For that reason, there is no need to pasteurize the milk of these cows. Raw milk produced in this fashion has been consumed safely for about as long as humans have domesticated animals.

The consumers’ right to drink milk in its natural state has been consistently challenged.  The expanding distance between us and the origins of our food accurately parallels the growing distance between our own bodies and the rich vibrant health we are being deprived of. The recent Whole Foods controversy is just one of these many conflicts we are being sickened by today.

Whole Foods announced its decision and explained that they needed to establish a uniform safety standard for these producers before they could continue to sell these products. It is widely held by industry insiders that the real reason for the move is the pressure placed on Whole Foods by insurers. The safety of these products needs to be insured.  Although there have been no deaths and only two cases of illness correlated to raw products, insurers have made it too costly for Whole Foods to carry these products on their shelves. This is not the case, however, for products that continue to be sold from Whole Foods that include spinach, strawberries, tomatoes, and beef – all of which have seen deaths as a result of bacterial contamination.

The loss of Whole Foods’ support has been hard on raw milk producers, and has left them scrambling to find another way to bring their product to market. Luckily, they have established a patchwork network of local cooperatives and farmers markets, but they have still lost significant business. The recent raw milk controversy seems to be a microcosm for problems plaguing the entire food industry. Efficiency of manufacture, not tradition, dominates.

Monsanto, a seed company, offers another harrowing example of the abuses of industrial food production. The company maintains a vast number of patents on seed varieties. Nearly all farmers of corn or soy rely on Monsanto’s seeds. If one of the few farmers who do not employ these seeds happen to be located adjacent to a Monsanto crop they run the risk of law suit due to cross pollination. Small farmers have little hope of fighting companies of this size. Monsanto in particular, maintains a large and highly paid legal team. Monsanto also operates as a revolving door for high-level government employees in congress, the judicial branch, and various regulatory agencies such as the FDA. Monsanto highlights an industry-wide tradition of legal and regulatory bullying. Tyson, a meat packer, is another company notorious for preying on small organic chicken farms. It is naturally very difficult for small local farms to defend themselves because they are by definition small and local.

A growing body of media now covers the alienation of food production and agitates for change. Books such as Fast Food Nation, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Good Calories Bad Calories, take a historically grounded perspective on our food. All of these recent books attempt to explain the apparent paradox of society getting richer while its members get increasingly sick. They all agree that we have lost touch with the way of life we evolved in. The movie Food Inc. summarizes nearly all these modern controversies over food. The film holds that the consumer can save himself as long as he makes strong choices at the supermarket. The recent, Raw milk controversy is another battle the consumer must fight to keep his/her food simple and natural.

Sorry to preach, but if there’s one thing I love its a happy healthy cow.

After All he's done for you

Fight for your rights and look good nekkid friends.

How to Set Fitness Goals

Difficult to set.

Difficult to achieve.

It’s too bad, Goals give us a sense of focus that keeps us chugging.

I’m not going to review what has been said before about goals.

What I am going to tell you about your health goals is that they must be achievable in scope and short in time frame.

While it may sound ideal to have a series of short term goals contributing to longer term goals concluding with your grander purpose – this dance is very difficult to execute. I’m sorry you aren’t a professional athlete.

Ok your long term goal is looking and feeling great. Done. Now, I want you to focus on one small achievment.

Your OSA needs to take about two weeks and should involve no more than five units of what you are working with.

For example:

I will lose five pounds in two weeks…

I will add 2.5 pounds to my bench press in two weeks…

I will climb the rope in my gym two more times…

Fitness is a series of highly motivated sprints not a dull marathon. If you could accomplish something every two weeks for a year you would be looking and feeling great nekkid in no time!

Get your OSA on, and start achieving friends…

This Health Mistake Could Cost You

…or at least make sure you don’t live as long as you should.

If you are reading this then you’re concerned with your health and work to improve it. You have gone so far as to read about it here and likely many other places. Great, me too.

However, what you need to avoid is the paralysis of analysis. It’s easy to get caught up in the debates and day to day nuances. Organic food, ionized water, and buying five dollar goose eggs from your local farmers market in the case of my partner Paul, just to name a few. This stuff is great and will probably improve your health, but before you incorporate shiny new techniques into your protocols I want to ask yourself three questions:

1. Can I maintain/afford this? Organic free range chickens are great, but you might not be ready for a second mortgage. Sprinting three times a week would have you looking great, but what if Project Runway is on? Feasible and maintainable over expensive and exotic.

2. Do I have the Basics covered? Enough sleep, water, stress relief, companionship, nutrient dense foods? Focus on the frame before you paint the house.

3. Is it worth it to my stress level? If you find that something about your fitness regimen is triggering significant stress, cut it. With the exception of rapid fat loss diets, which help with motivation, never go too extreme. Stress kills faster than anything. So take a deep breath and relax buddy.

If your meals involve a test tube you might need to reevaluate some things

Spend your life determining your personal routine and find what works best for you because you’re unique, and what works for someone else isn’t guaranteed to work the same for you.

Save yourself the time and hassle of fancy methods that aren’t for you and look GREAT Nekkid friends.

What does Rhythm have to do with Fitness?

Training is music. The notes being squats and presses (quite loud) and the genres being resistance exercise (Rock), High Intensity Interval Training (Metal), Steady State Cardio (Soft Rock), etc…

Rhythm is the most important part of music. What does Rhythm mean to our training?

Rhythm is finding a level and frequency of training that fits best into your life. How hard, how often, and when you train are much more important than how you train.

Keeping strong training rhythm prevents nasty derailments such as burnout, over-training, or boredom.

Keep good Rhythm, keep on training, and look good Nekkid.

5 Ways to Get Fat Fast

Not to brag, but this quarter I learned a thing or two about getting fat. There are many roads that lead to Rome, but here are the getting fat facts you just can’t miss.

1. Drink alcohol

The road to fatness is actually a river my friends – a river filled with alcohol. Drink up and make sure to learn the closing time of your local Denny’s/Jack in the Box/Taco Bell. Missing a late night feast would be a blunder.

2. Keep goodies around

You know those minature candy bars you just can’t stop eating? Well make sure they are around.  Buy them by the bag and eat them throughout the day. Yumm

3. Eat out

Don’t you dare cook for yourself. Those meals are limited in portion and you’ll feel way too guilty when you know what goes into your food. Try to get on a first name basis with a few local restaurants.

4.Eat like your friends

When you eat with friends don’t let them feel left out or worse don’t let them think you are on some kind of diet. Make sure to go with the flow and eat like everyone else.

5. Don’t sleep.

Make sure to go to sleep and get up at a different times everyday. It’ll make your hormones crazy and will have you eating like a monster.

There it is. Follow these simple steps and you’ll be breaking chairs and scaring children in no time.

If You Don’t Develop a Relationship With Food Now You’ll Hate Yourself Later

Strong relationships require care, sacrifice, and honesty.  Your relationship with food is no different.

You can disrespect food. Don’t spend any money on it. Don’t give it time or attention. Lie to yourself about it. Cheat on loving honest hardworking food with that crispy creamy slut on the way home from work.

Hell hath no fury.

That relationship will hurt you. You’ll end up fat, sick and alone. Probably a little depressed as well.

On the other hand… You can love the foods that love you. Spend your time, money, and efforts on seeking out great food and treating it right. That long lasting relationship will not only extend your lifetime, but you’ll enjoy eating monogamously as well.

Don’t eat around on a good diet. You can’t afford the divorce.

Respect your food and look good Nekkid friends.

Fasting: An experiment in health

Author: Kyle Armstrong

We are told to eat 5-10 times a day.

It is supposed keep our metabolism quick, keep us full, and away from junk food.

Right? Maybe not.

No research says eating all the time is the only way to stay fit.

Granted, it has built some amazing physiques, but lets keep an open mind.

Reasons why fasting could work:

• Its natural- Our ancestors did it. Imagine if  you were dropped off in the forest and told to figure out how to feed yourself. I have a feeling you wouldn’t eat ten times a day. I also have a feeling you wouldn’t eat much at all for a while. There was a period of time before McDonalds and Hot Pockets when we didn’t eat as often and when we did find food, we gorged. We didn’t always know where our next meal was coming from. The impulse to overeat explains why buffets tend to add notches to our belts.
• More convenient- We spend so much time eating, getting food, preparing food, cleaning up food, and finally pooping out the food. If we took a break from all that we could focus on making our meals count as well as freeing up a lot of time every day. We’ll also be hungry enough to fully enjoy them.
• Hormones- Fasting improves insulin sensitivity and sex hormone response. It makes your body more sensitive to the food you eat. You also use more calories from fat depending on the length of your fast.
• Food makes you tired- Food comas are a problem. Eating big meals all the time makes you sleepy. Think of the crash everyone has after Thanksgiving dinner.
• History of use- Greeks fasted for health and so did the Romans. It worked for them and can work for you, too.
• Research says so- Most of the studies have been done on animals, but they consistently show lower rates of disease, improved longevity, and even lower rates of depression. Here is thoughtful research review of intermittent fasting for fat loss.
• Learn something about your relationship with food- When you stop eating you will realize how much you actually eat when you are not hungry. We’ve all visited the Ben and Jerry’s therapist at one point. Emotional eating is overeating.
• Its hard to eat just a little- Restricting yourself from bad food is hard. Not eating, on the other hand, is easy. You would be amazed at how little you will think about food when it’s not on your schedule. Much better than battling temptation ten times a day.
• You’ll get full- When you do break the fast you will fill up quick. It’s a strange new feeling.

Reason enough to try some fasting for myself.

I started on what’s call an intermittent fasting regime. I don’t eat for 20 hours and I overeat healthy food for 4.

The plan is called the Warrior Diet

What happened?

In three weeks I lost ten pounds, increased my energy levels, sleep better, and stay more focused (I have ADD like the rest of us).

I am now a believer and I want to spread the faith. So I twisted my Dad’s arm until he agreed to not eat one day a week for six weeks and do an interview on those days. Lets see and hear how fasting works for him, shall we? Or at least lets enjoy his pain together.

The Skinny:

• Fasting has some potential for our health.
• It worked for me.
• Let’s see if it works for my Dad.

Maybe an unsual method can get us Nekkid faster?

Interview coming soon.

How to Sleep Better – The Complete Guide

College destroys regular sleep patterns.

This year, class started at a different times everyday so did my day. The year wore on and my sleep got worse. On weekends I would go to bed at five and wake up around two.

Monday came and so did 9:00am class – Needless to say, I wasn’t going.

Sometimes I would go to bed at three and wake up at eight AM unable to go back to sleep.

Sleeping trouble made me unproductive, irratiable, and tired (who would have guessed). I can count on one hand how many times I made breakfast at the dining halls. My condition undermined my efforts in the gym and in school.

I have been to the edge of bedtime bankruptcy and back. I want to share with you my method for getting on track, but first let’s quickly rundown why sleep is so damn important.

1.Gets you on a schedule – Waking up at the same time lets you work, eat, and play with regularity. Regularity equals progress.

2.In the gym – Chaotic sleep alarms your body. That means less muscle building and fat burning hormones. Instead it elevates the belly growing muscle eating variety. Your body isn’t going to waste resources building biceps or shredding your abs if you are sleeping like there is a disaster.

3. Immunity – You get sick less.

4.Enjoyment – Tiredness sucks so does irritability. Quality sleep ninety percent of the time equips you to handle the other ten percent that may include a spur-of-the-moment Vegas run.

Good sleep is the bee’s knees. How do you get some?

Follow the sleep commandments:

Respect your bedtime – What time you wake up is less important than when you go to bed. Go to bed early enough that you wake up naturally around the same time everyday. To establish your bedtime start by figuring out around what time you are tired enough to go to bed everyday. If it’s not too late for your schedule then just mark it and stick to it, but if its too late go to bed 30 minutes earlier every two days until you are on track.

Establish a sleep routine – Buy a candle and light it 30 minutes before bed. This is your only light til you fall asleep. That means no light from a computer screen, a television or Iphone. Next, its time to stretch and do some light mobility work check out my guidelines here and here (down the page). Next, sit down in a chair or on the floor and breathe deeply. Focus on the way your breath feels going from your nose deep into your lungs. After ten minutes pull back the covers its time.

Cultivate mental tranquility – If you are fighting with your partner say your sorry. Don’t check your email, watch TV or work an hour before bed. Minimize the mental static that keeps you up at night. Always keep a notepad by your bed to get any worries or stray thoughts out of your head and on paper. My best ideas come to me right before I go to bed. This used to frustrate me until I kept a notepad close.

Supplement for slumber – Buy some melatonin, its cheap, safe, and works well. The only side effect you have to deal with is vivid dreams. This could be good or bad depending on the dreams of course. If you are still having trouble you can also take 5-htp. Be careful though, the combo will knock you out.

Darken your room – Turn off every light and cover up anything that can’t be turned off. We evolved sleeping in caves. These caves came without an ambient blue glow from our samsung HDTV. Light upsets the bodies hormonal rythym keeping you from good Zzz’s.

Equip yourself  - Buy a pillow you love. Spend some money on and it take it out on a date its going to sleep with you every night. Buy an eyemask. The added darkness is especially helpful for people who sleep later into the day because of work schedules. Earplugs help deal with otherwise noisy environments, but can make it difficult to hear your alarm (if you follow the commandments you shouldn’t need one)

Address your allergies – If you can’t breath through your nose you are limited to lower quality sleep not to mention some mean morning breath. Figure out what you are allergic and fix it. If you can’t figure it out there are some great over the counter fixes.

Greet the morning sun – Go outside every morning and get some sun. Soak it up. It’ll wake you up and tell your body it’s business time. Sunlight causes a cascade of hormonal changes that wake you up and make you feel great.  Who needs cafiene?

The art of living well is getting a good night’s sleep.

Quality sleep provides a foundation for a quality life.

I found this out the hard way because college destroys regular sleep patterns.

This year, class started at a different time every day and so did I. Without a regular sleep pattern the year wore on and my sleep got worse. On weekends I would go to bed at five and wake up around two.

Monday came and so did 9:00am class – Needless to say, I wasn’t going.

Sometimes I would go to bed at three and wake up at eight AM unable to go back to sleep.

Sleeping trouble made me unproductive, irritable, and tired (who would have guessed). I can count on one hand how many times I made breakfast at the dining halls. My condition undermined my efforts to gain muscle and get good grades.

I have been to the edge of bedtime bankruptcy and back. I want to share with you my method for getting better sleep, but first let’s quickly rundown why sleep is so damn important.

1. Gets you on a schedule – Waking up at the same time lets you work, eat, and play with regularity. Regularity equals progress.
2. Improves your physique - Chaotic sleep alarms your body. That means less muscle building and fat burning hormones. Instead it elevates the belly growing muscle destroying variety. Your body isn’t going to waste resources building biceps or shredding your abs if you are sleeping like there is a disaster you are running from.
3. Immunity - You get sick less. Less colds and/or flus make you a happy camper.
4. Enjoyment - Tiredness sucks so does irritability. Quality sleep ninety percent of the time equips you to handle the other ten percent which may include a spur-of-the-moment Vegas run or a all night work session.

Good sleep is the bee’s knees. How do you get some?

Follow these nekkid guidelines to nighttime bliss:

Respect your bedtime - What time you wake up is less important than when you go to sleep. Go to bed early enough that you wake up naturally around the same time everyday. To establish your bedtime start by figuring out around what time you are tired enough to go to bed everyday. If it’s not too late for your schedule then just mark it and stick to it, but if it is too late then go to bed 30 minutes earlier every two days until you are on track.

Establish a sleep routine - Buy a candle and light it 30 minutes before bed. This is your only light til you fall asleep. That means no light from a computer screen, a television or IPhone. Next, its time to stretch and do some light mobility work – check out my guidelines here and here (down the page). Next, sit down in a chair or on the floor and breathe deeply. Focus on the way your breath feels going from your nose into your lungs. After ten minutes pull back the covers, its time.

Cultivate mental tranquility - If you are fighting with your partner say your sorry. Don’t check your email, watch TV or work an hour before bed. Minimize the mental static that keeps you up at night. Always keep a notepad by your bed to get any worries or stray thoughts out of your head and on paper. My best ideas come to me right before bed. This used to keep me up until I kept a notepad close.

Supplement for slumber - Buy some melatonin, its cheap, safe, and works well. Try 3mg twenty minutes before bed and increase as necessary. The only side effect you have to deal with is vivid dreams. This could be good or bad depending on the dreams of course. If you are still having trouble you can also take 50-100mg of 5-htp. Be careful though, the combo will knock you out.

Darken your room - Turn off every light and cover up anything that can’t be turned off. We evolved sleeping in caves. These caves came without an ambient blue glow from our samsung HDTV. Light upsets the body’s hormonal rythym keeping you from good Zzz’s.

Equip yourself  - Buy a pillow you love. Spend some money on and it take it out on a date. It’s going to sleep with you every night. Buy an eyemask. The added darkness is especially helpful for people who sleep later into the day because of work schedules. Earplugs combat otherwise noisy environments, but can make it difficult to hear your alarm. If you follow these guidelines you shouldn’t need one.

It's over!

Address your allergies - If you can’t breath through your nose you are limited to lower quality sleep. Not to mention some mean morning breath. Figure out what you are allergic to and avoid it. If you can’t figure it out there are some great over-the-counter fixes.

Greet the morning sun - Go outside every morning and get some sun. Soak it up. It’ll wake you up and tell your body it’s business time. Sunlight causes a cascade of hormonal changes that will make you feel great.  Who needs caffeine?

Better sleep, better body.

The Skinny:

• Terrible sleep teaches you the value of the good stuff
• Make sleep a priority
• Follow the nekkid guidelines for sweet dreams.

Sleep well, feel well, and look good Nekkid friends.

Here’s how doing nothing can improve your work ethic

We need to take breaks.

Go ahead pick it up

Unbroken effort leads to staleness and burnout.

Physically, hard training will eventually overwhelm your ability to recover.  Nutritionally, you can’t diet forever it will make you nuts – Go out and see what the rest of the world is eating.  Its known that you need a break from paid labor from time to time as well.

Stay fresh by planning vacations from work.

My recent  leave of absence from writing and training has taught me lessons that will help you get the most from your time off.

Information for proper vacation:

• Do everything your not supposed to – Eat junk, don’t exercise, go to bed at different time every night. The idea being you can remind yourself how good healthy productivity feels. You can see firsthand why you choose to live the way you do.
• Decide in advance when it’s over – It’s all to easy to altogether stop training or working unless you have your restart date in mind.
• Tell people about your start date – Accountability is huge in getting the ball rolling again.
• Socialize – Working hard strains relationships. Take this opportunity to go overboard with spending time with friends and family.

We are animals with a life cycle.

This means we must cycle our efforts.

Take regular breaks and enjoy the fruit of your labors.

Be happy nekkid buddies

Scroll to the bottom, type in the box, click leave comment, and lets talk.