Daily Ramblings – Free Writing Friday – Reading

Tags

BlackBirch 3, Diet, free writing, Gum Disease, Learning, Reading, The Carnivore Diet, The Keto Diet

I love the snowy months. We’ve gotten hit with about 6 inches with more in store for the next few days. Snowy days are great days for reading, writing, and all the other things I do from the comfort of my office chair. I finished a few books this week. The first was Blackbirch 3 from my friend and author in Australia, K.M. Allan. I also finished the book The Carnivore Diet. This book has been on my reading list for a while. I picked it up after seeing a YouTube video from Joe Rogan interviewing Dr. Jordan Peterson. He has been on the Carnivore diet for about a year at the time of this showing. His wife, daughter, and he have adopted this diet because of health issues in his family. Autoimmune disease, depression, and arthritis in his daughter. Remarkably, they have all come of anti-depressants, his gum disease has disappeared, and he has lost about 60 pounds.

I too suffer from gum disease and have also felt some other changes occurring that I’m not too happy with. So, I’m going to embark on my own adventure into the carnivorous diet. I don’t know if I’ll go as hard as the Petersons, which literally means they eat beef and nothing else, but salt and water, but I’ll definitely give it a go. Gum disease is incurable and is no fun. I was diagnosed in 2018 and have been dealing with it ever since. I had an appointment with a dentist to get to work on this, but when I found out the procedure would run me about $6000.00, and there was no guarantee that it would go away, I passed and have looked for more homeopathic solutions. Diet is one of them, since changing diet will also change the biome in my gut and mouth. The theory is: If you stop eating things that feed a certain type of bacteria that lives within you, those bacteria that are harmful will die off and the bacteria that is needed to digest meat will survive.

I’ve tried the Keto diet in the past and it was really effective at weight loss, but it was too hard to track. Fat is the primary food source Keto dieters use. It has been very effective for those with Diabetes, but the measuring of yourself for being in Ketosis is very difficult, not to mention, tracking all the things you need to track, so I gave it up as too unsustainable. The Carnivore diet, on the other hand, is easy. Eat meat. That’s it. So, I’m going to give it a whirl. My way of moving to a new diet is not a radical change overnight, but gradual. I’ll see what it does and how it impacts me.

I read a lot of books at the same time. I enjoy reading non-fiction, but also enjoy fiction and spiritual books. So, I always read at least three at a time. Currently I am reading: A Deadly Influence, The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad book 2, and I’ve got to find another non-fiction book to dive into. I don’t know what I’m going to read, but I’ll start looking today.

Well, I’m done for now. I hope all of you have a great Friday and weekend. Here’s to a hot cup of coffee on a snowy day!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Health

Tags

Diet, Exercise, health, mental health, motivation, Sleep, water consumption

Happy Monday, all. Today, I’d like to talk health. If your gym is extra busy, here’s why? New Year’s resolutions. Yep. Your gym will be busy for the first three months of the year, and then, it will drop back to normal levels. I’ve watched this every year I’ve been active in the gym and it is almost like clockwork.

The reason I bring up health is because you can’t be motivated if you feel like crap. Each of us is unique. We are all the same in some respects, but our tastes in food and our ability to eat various foods all boils down to our uniqueness. Some folks are allergic to gluten. Some are allergic to dairy products. Some are allergic to both.

Exercise doesn’t have to be in a gym. You can get a good amount of exercise shoveling your driveway or raking leaves or doing chores around the house, particularly if you have stairs. How many times do you walk up and down stairs while you do your laundry?

Diet is very individual. Many folks, however, don’t catch what foods make them feel good and what foods cause an adverse reaction. My sister cannot drink protein shakes. She breaks out in hives immediately after drinking any type of bottled protein. Protein powder is fine, but whatever they put into the bottled version causes her to break out.

If you really want to know what is up with your body, go to a allergist and have them run a battery of tests that will tell you exactly what you are allergic to and what you are not allergic to. You may find out that something you’ve been eating for years is just not good for you and your unique makeup.

Some folks can’t go to a gym. They can’t afford it or they don’t have one within a reasonable driving distance. There are solutions to that. You can either just do calisthenics, yoga, or some other non-machine type workout. Walking is another terrific way to exercise. It is non-stressful, it works the heart, and it is a great time to get caught up on music you want to listen to, you can call one of your friends and talk to them while you walk, or you can get caught up on that audiobook or podcast you want to listen to.

Health is an important aspect of our lives. If you’re young, you’ll recognize that your preferences change as you age. You’ll find foods that used to be good for you, are not anymore. You’ll also find that you may have to change a workout routine from time to time. The key is to keep yourself in the best health you can.

Well, that’s all I have for now. I hope all of you have a great Monday.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Routine – Adapting to the Lockdown

Tags

Adapt, Diet, health, Improvise, Overcome, Persist, Sleep, Supplements, Water, workout

This week, we are in week two of Michigan’s lockdown. The gyms are closed again; the restaurants are closed again; the libraries are closed again. So what to do?

This week, I’ll be using my bodyweight, exercise bands, and the stairs of my home to get in a good workout. This week, it’ll be about moving. I have a timer that is ongoing that is set for 30 minutes. Each 30 minutes, I’ll do 60 seconds of exercise, whether it be a set of pushups, situps, squats, stair stepping, or biceps curls. Each day I’ll hit every body part 2-3 times, as I get up and move every 30 minutes. If you’ve never tried something like this, it’ll keep you from turning into a couch potato for sure.

I hope each of you is safe and sound during the lockdowns that are occurring intermittently in your area of the globe.

The key to living a healthy life is eating right, managing stress, getting the sleep you need, drinking plenty of water, taking whatever supplements you need, and to KEEP MOVING! That’s all I got for now.

Have a great workout week!

See you at the finish line!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Food

Tags

alcohol, Allergies, Carbs, Diet, Food, junk food, pastries, Religious diets, Spiritual Saturday, Sweets

Paying attention to foods can help you lead a better spiritual life. People ask me, “What is good food?” There is no good food or bad food for everyone. It depends upon the individual, upon his particular health condition. Who can best tell what’s right for you? You can, of course.

—Harold Klemp
The Language of Soul

Have you ever ran into a person that was allergic to something that you weren’t allergic to? My Mother and Brother are allergic to pork. My Dad, my Sister, and I aren’t. Interesting, right?

How about Avocado? My Mom is allergic to Avocado. The rest of the family isn’t. I can eat guacamole until my skin turns green.

I cannot drink Whey protein. It binds me up. It took me years to find this out, but sure enough. As soon as I moved to a plant protein powder, the binding up issue dissipates.

My body loves carbs, but has a horrible time digesting them. I’ve been bad as of late since the lockdown. I’ve eaten all the carbs I enjoy. But the weight gain follows. I’m not a proponent of a keto diet. I know many are, but for me it is just not a sustainable way to live. That being said, the carbs that do not put weight on me are the slow digesting ones, like oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potato. White breads, white potatoes, white rice, high sugar items like snack foods and pastries are a no-go if I want the weight to come off. The same goes for alcohol. Beer, mixed drinks, and all the rest put the weight on.

I just wanted to demonstrate what Harold is getting at. You have to eat what you know works for you. In some cases, particularly if you are a diabetic, you really need to watch the sugar or carb intake, to maintain your blood sugar levels.

So, enjoy the foods you can. Enjoy eating. As long as you are eating what your body can tolerate and is healthy for your particular condition, have at it. Everyone is unique. Everyone has different tastes and tolerances.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Routine – Week of June 22, 2020.

Tags

Consistency, Diet, Discipline, Full-Body Workout, healthy living, persistance, weight lifting

This week we’re going to elevate the intensity of workouts again. Now, we’ll push to a 3-set full-body circuit. That’s doing one exercise for each major and minor muscle group moving from one machine to the next without too much rest (wiping down machines and such). I’ll be doing this three times.

Monday – Saturday Full-body circuit

If your area is still in lockdown or your gym is still closed, continue to push at home. Exercise bands are a great alternative. They helped me tremendously. You can also take walks or runs, stair climbers, or body-weight exercises. Yoga and Pilates are also great options.

Have a great week, folks!

See you at the finish line!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday

Tags

Canada, Diet, Exercise, Intermittent Fasting, Music, Niagara Falls, Reading, Writing

Happy Monday!

Our trip to Canada was awesome!! I finally got to see Niagra Falls. Wow, what a spectacle. We just drove by them because we were on a schedule to get back home, but it was really nice to say I was there and got to see them.

This week, it’s back to the gym with the 12-week Labrada Trainer. I’m helping my wife with some of her school work. She’s in the final leg of her Master of Education in Special Education and I’m so excited for her.

I’m working on a few of my books, started a Western Civilization course at Hillsdale college and midway through a course called Mindshift on Coursera. I’m also plugging away at my technical recruiting book.

I’m going to begin a practice of intermittent fasting. I will be playing around with the eating schedule and such initially, just to get myself adjusted to this new lifestyle. From what I’ve read, it is terrific on your digestive system, helps with weight loss and loosens up your schedule when you’re not having to eat scheduled meals, like most weight loss and bodybuilding regimens. A lot of folks in the bodybuilding and cross-training space have adopted this type of eating lifestyle and have found success so I figured it would be worth a try. For religious reasons I fast Thursday to Friday for 24-hours and I always feel terrific. If you’re curious about this type of eating plan, a quick search on Google will deliver a lot of results. As always, make sure you check with your doctor to make sure this will be ok and try it out for a day or so before committing.

I may sound a little stupid and geeky here, but while in Canada I was in a position where I needed my computer and the place we were at did not have a Wi-Fi setup. I learned how to use my phone as a hotspot for the first time. It was really cool to be able to access the internet on my computer using my phone. I have a really good data plan and wasn’t worried about exhausting my data stores.

To all those folks that are writers in my audience: Do you like to listen to music while you write? If so, what kind of music assists your writing practice? I enjoy listening to study-time instrumentals and other focus-type music.

Well, that’s it for today folks. Have a great week!!

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Thinking Thursday

Tags

Amazon, Books, Diet, Exercise, Netflix, Plato, Reading, Writing

“Thinking: the talking of the soul with itself.” – Plato

Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/thinking

I’ve really begun to enjoy my reading sessions each day. Sometimes I pick out a string of books that are just not that great, but the last few months I’ve been getting my hands on some terrific ones—books you look forward to reading each day. Have you ever read a book that you enjoyed so much that you took your time reading it to expand the time you could enjoy it? That’s what it has been like with the books I’ve been reading. Kobo and Uncle Tom’s Cabin are two books that I’m enjoying tremendously.

I just started the Mindshift course a while ago. It is a lot of fun. The teachers are the same as my previous course – Learning how to Learn. This course is about different techniques for learning new things, like a language or picking up a skill you do not have any experience with. It is terrific!

One of the things I’ve learned about low-carb diets is my energy level. It is easier to do endurance work, but lifting weights is much tougher than it was when I was eating a decent amount of carbs. I have been getting comments about my trimming down, which always feels good. I’ve adjusted my workout routine to every other day to adjust to this diet. This is a temporary adjustment, but one that should expedite my body’s adaptation to this new eating pattern.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far. Feel free to comment below with any of the things you are doing well, any goals you have set or accomplished, and even course or book recommendations. I’m always on the lookout for the next great online course or book.

Books:

The Shariyat Ki Sugmad, Paul Twitchell

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe

The Spiritual Exercises of ECK, Harold Klemp – Just finished this book yesterday. Boy, what a collection of exercises that can help solve some of life’s little challenges.

Kobo: A Story of the Russo-Japanese War, Herbert Strang

The Thirty Years’ War 1618 – 1648, Samuel Rawson Gardner – Religious differences and intolerance, coupled with greed and vanity and you get 30 years of conflict along with the civilian suffering that followed. Very interesting read if you would like to learn about the 30 years’ war.

Classes:

Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential

Public Policy, Hillsdale College

Mini-Habits Course, Udemy

Documentaries:

I’m a Killer (Netflix)

Movies:

Ready Player One (Amazon Prime) – I haven’t watched this yet. My sister recommended it and it is on my hit list.

Fun:

The West Wing (Currently on Netflix)

Keep pushing, only today and tomorrow before the weekend!!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday

Tags

Blood Type Diet, Diet, Food, Harold Klemp, nutrition

Paying attention to foods can help you lead a better spiritual life. People ask me, “What is good food?” There is no good food or bad food for everyone. It depends upon the individual, upon his particular health condition. Who can best tell what’s right for you? You can, of course.—Harold Klemp The Language of Soul

Ah, food! My evolution with food is slow but sure. I have been reading a lot of books about nutrition. Some of it was absolute BS but there are some little nuggets of gold here and there.

For my current weight loss efforts, I am tracking my food intake daily and monitoring my carb, protein, and fat intake. One of the books I read explained how type O blood folks (that’s me) are really good at digesting fats and proteins. Our particular weakness is with carbohydrates, particularly those nasty ones in grains and dairy products. Unfortunately, there are no studies out there that verify that the blood type diet or any of the other diets out there do anything for your waistline, however, there were some items in the type O diet that I already knew I had a problem with.

My body loves protein but I discovered in the last few weeks when I began paying more attention to what I was eating, that Whey protein products are a no-go. I only drink about two protein shakes a day and they were causing some major issues with my digestion. I’m trying an egg white protein now and it appears to be ok with my physical makeup.

This is what Harold is talking about. What’s bad for me, may be good for you and vice versa. It’s really important to find this stuff out before you have a major allergic reaction or you screw up your digestive track. For me, it’s important to eat whole (non-boxed foods) and make sure I supplement properly to recover from my workouts.

So, folks, take some time to analyze your diet and identify those foods that might not be working for you. You can also visit your doctor and have him send you to a nutritionist if you have a major concern. These folks can make diet recommendations to get you started. Regardless, the food you eat, the supplements and vitamins you take, really are individual. Some supplements I have tried have ZERO effect, while others have been very helpful. Experiment, test things out. You’ll feel a lot better in the long-run.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Log – Online Training Programs

Tags

Bodybuilding, Cardio, Diet, Exercise, Health Living, Safety, Taking it slow, Weightlifting

I started the Kris Gethin Hardcore Trainer this week, instead of elevating my last workout routine with cardio. I’m glad I did. This workout is awesome!

This routine is a 5-day split, coupled with 2 cardio sessions each day. This week is 20 minutes, but next week and the following weeks will increase by 5-minute increments. Cardio has always been one of my weaknesses and I look forward to improving my cardiovascular fitness over the next 8 weeks.

I wanted to address the importance of following a workout, but keeping it personal. The reason I stress this is because you may not have the same equipment available in your gym or you may not have the ability to do a particular exercise a certain way because of a previous injury.

Follow the workout as best you can, but always treat these routines as yours. I workout to stay in shape. I’m not looking to compete at a show or anything like that. I like to gain strength and improve my cardiovascular fitness, but feeling good is the primary goal of my workout routine.

If deadlifts, for example, won’t work because of a previous back injury or something like this, you can always substitute the exercise for something else. Exacerbating an injury or trying to do something you just can’t do is ridiculous. Do the best you can and always consider your personal safety and health a prime consideration when using someone else’s routine. Remember: Most of these online trainers have more than a decade of experience working out. If you are just starting out, or in your first year or so, don’t try to do all of the things these workouts require.

I was talking to an old Army buddy of mine recently. He hasn’t worked out in quite a while. He wants to get back into it. I cautioned that he should make a gradual start. You can’t begin a program like this if you have not worked out in a few years. The same goes for any of you.

I’ve been working out for the bulk of my life. I’m no Spring chicken, but I can hold my own in the gym. It’s better to make slow and steady progress instead of trying to bite off more than you can chew and getting injured. Injuries will stop your progress in its tracks. Be careful!

I also cannot stress the importance of diet when you are beginning any workout routine. You have to eat and hydrate! A program like this will kill you if you are not eating, supplementing, sleeping, and hydrating. Weightlifting is a taxing enterprise.

Take your time, when beginning a new routine. Warm up, stretch, and follow the form of the exercises as best as you can. Most gyms will have a local trainer available. If you have any doubt about how to use a machine, ask someone to show you. Some of these machines bite!

You also need to really control the weights you are working with. If you are jerking the weights, using crazy body movements to get a dumbbell or barbell up, you are probably using way too much weight. Back it down and really control the movement as you perform the exercise. I see people everyday using improper form, jerking weights, and dread the day they tear or dislocate something. It is not worth it.

That’s it for today! I hope all of you are getting to the gym or getting exercise daily. It really makes a huge difference in your mental outlook, your self esteem, and sets you up for success in many areas of your life, if not all of them.

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Journal Series – The Nutrition or Eating Journal

Tags

Diet, journaling, nutrition, Nutrition apps

The Nutrition or Eating Journal

This journal is a great one if you are using it in conjunction with an exercise journal. Why? Because most of us are exercising to trim our waste lines and feel better. If you are into bodybuilding, you’ll probably want to be tracking your macros. Macros are literally composed of three items: protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. If you are not tracking macros, you may only be tracking calories. Either way, you’ll record what you ate, and the macros or calories in the food you just ate.

This is a tough discipline. Writing down every single thing you eat takes a bit of practice because we are not used to it. It is really important though, particularly if you have a specific goal you want to achieve. When you know what you are putting into your body it follows that you can adjust what you are eating to either continue moving in the direction you are striving for or change up your food intake to curb a disturbing trend.

This has become such a popular idea that there are numerous apps and websites that support this type of activity. The list is too long to give here, but if you search the Google, Apple, Amazon, or Windows app stores you are sure to find one that works well for your lifestyle and needs at a minimal expense. These apps all have calorie and macro counting capability built in, so it makes it much easier than manually looking up all of the foods you are eating each time you are putting it into your journal.

Once you know what you’re allowed to eat, simply add food items to your journal as you go through your day, and then monitor how close you are to your daily goals. If you fail to achieve the results you want, you merely adjust. If you are using a specific diet, you’ll no doubt have access to troubleshooting, which will be provided by the plan’s book, website, or app.

You can also write down things that you are feeling with your diet. Things like, “Boy, I’m hungry” or “that was an awesome meal”. Any of these things will be excellent later on as you review your progress and remember those days you were really hungry and stuck with your diet anyway or fell off the wagon. The key is to find your own specific pulse. Once you know where your weaknesses are, you’ll be likely to avoid those times you are particularly weak with friends who love to eat. You’ll also develop some strategies to curb those cravings or compensate for them.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. I’m not a dieting expert but can point you in the right direction if you need some help.

Until next week…

Dave