Archive for September 2008
The “Groan” Diet
Mark Sisson dissects "The Zone," and precisely so. I respect Barry Sears, and certainly, his prescriptions are far better than, say, those of the attention grabbing low-fat fat-face Ornish (I emphasize: huge understatement). I tried that diet (Zone) for a couple of months back in the mid-90's when the original book came out. I soon knew it would never work for me. Mark's section on "hunger" is really the essential point. In the end, it…Read More
Cancer
I had occasion just a bit ago to reference a couple of of posts from the past concerning some unconventional treatments for cancer. Given that there are so many new readers and that this information is so important, I'd thought to highlight those posts. The first has to do with an ancient idea with and even more ancient basis. We didn't evolve side-by-side with refrigerators and freezers. In other words, food was often scarce, so…Read More
Leaving Soon
I'm headed off soon for the weekend, no WiFi. So, this may be the last entry until Sunday night. So, let's make it a food pic, eh? Polish Sausage (uncured), green & red cabbage, onion. Super simple. Maybe 10-15 minutes total, 5 or so in the Wok. This was a while back, so I'm not sure exactly what fat I cooked it in, but I'd say coconut would be just fine.Read More
Question #8
For those who took the survey (thanks), answered question #8 in the affirmative, and for whom it may not have been strictly hypothetical, please feel free to email me for discussions. No obligations, of course. As I said, you'll not be contacted -- in fact, I have no way of knowing identities anyhoo -- but please do contact me if interested in participating.Read More
“Jack LaLanne Is Still an Animal”
Well, I can assure you that I had no idea that was out there when I chose the new name for the blog. How, after all these years, does the godfather of fitness do it? By balancing the brain with the beast... Yep, pretty much. Yet, I rather like to think of it as a full embrace of your animal nature and a full embrace of your rational mind. 100% and 100%; 1+1=3. Balance implies…Read More
Half Mil
Sometime last evening, this blog surpassed the 500,000 mark for lifetime page views. So, thanks for viewing.Read More
Would You Eat 18 Ears of Corn?
Here's a theme on what I generally say to people who extoll the goodness and health of fruit juices. Would you eat two dozen oranges in a sitting? I've been known to eat two, but the couple dozen required to make a large glass of OJ? Nope, and this is the problem with highly processed foods: concentration. Go over and see Regina Wilshire's 1000-word picture.Read More
Dinner Simple & Quick
Grilled swordfish with lemon garnish. Green beans, carrots, yellow squash and a bit of sweet potato (all previously cut up, uncooked leftovers from a seafood Thai curry the other night) stir fried in coconut oil, then finished with a couple of dashes of toasted sesame seed oil and whole seeds. 15 minutes, start to finish.Read More
Keeping the Animal Free: Pets
How badly some people treat their pets. Some are actually ignorant and arrogant enough to feed dogs a vegetarian diet. I've seen it. It often makes them fat, immobile, flatulent snorting machines. Then they die young, often of heart failure. Here's our two beasts during a hike behind our cabin in Arnold, CA. American Rat Terriers. Nanuka ("Nuke") in the foreground is a 3-yr-old champion female. Rotor, in the background, a 9-yr-old male in pristine…Read More
Seafood Stir Fry
A few weeks back, I'd guess. It's a pack of frozen Seafood Medley from Trader Joe's (shrimp, scallops, calamari), along with celery broccoli, and maybe a thing or two other I can't recall. It's fried in the wok in coconut oil, of course, then sprinkled with paprika and black pepper.Read More
Public Service Announcement
I plan to do this once per quarter, as I think it's a very worthwhile project. KIVA.ORG Now, you can lend as little as $25 to real micro entrepreneurs in developing countries around the world. You're lending to small business people so they can grow, prosper, and lift their communities. If you're like me, perhaps you have a distaste for most charitable endeavors. Typically, if I like them at all, they'd be something close to…Read More
“Noodle Food”
Now with a somewhat ironic metaphorical title for her blog, Diana Hsieh has it nailed. If you have time for the -- now -- 85 comments, you'll see how she has really educated herself quite deeply. No surprise for a professional philosopher -- particularly one used to operating from a set of general, reality based principles. It's a small world. I knew of Diana from USENET way years back, like '94ish. Also, her now husband,…Read More
From Hunt to Table
Last week I blogged about my brother's taking of a big mule-deer buck in Utah. Now, here's what it looks like on the table. He writes: I cooked the Venison in Ghee, instead of the traditional flour coating and bacon grease. I sautéed the shitake mushroom in the Ghee and the vegetables in the coconut oil. On a side note, I discovered that cauliflower is absolutely delicious in the coconut oil. The Tomatoes are Heirloom,…Read More
A College Education in Evolutionary Fitness in 8 Minutes
Do you have eight minutes to spare, to acquire every essential you need in the quest to Free the Animal? Thanks to commenter Ricado in a recent hunting post for providing it. I disagree with him on the ethics issue. Provided animals are dealt with in a humane and rational fashion, and the purpose is consumption as food, it passes ethical muster for me. However, there are differing levels of respect for me. Bow hunters…Read More
Real Reader Results
Hot out of the email inbox. Last time I went from 2XL to XL. Today, I went from XL to L. Since I eliminated most of my diet soda consumption, and really monitored alchohol intake during fasts -- like none -- I have broken through my latest plateau -- around 232 -- down from 255 -- looking to go back to 2-3 lbs per week. I am ready to do what do what it takes…Read More
Bad Science and Confirmation Bias
Good honest science is first approached by collecting observational data, analyzing for certain relationships, and finally forming hypotheses around the data. But that's just the beginning. The good scientist then does his level best to disprove the hypotheses suggested by the data. To the extent he tries and fails, the hypotheses gain more acceptance. Then, other good scientists set about to disprove, and to the extent they try and fail, the hypotheses become to be…Read More
Art De Vany on Lazy Overeaters
This is a clip from the Art De Vany Evolutionary Fitness seminar I attended last May in Las Vegas. This is from his 4-DVD set, seven hours of lecture. At $140 it's a bargain compared to a flight to Vegas, two nights in the hotel, meals, and self-imposed bodily and financial abuse.Read More
You and Your Animal Are in Charge
Good advice from Doc Eades (author of Protein Power and others) on how to deal with your nutritionally ignorant doctor. The important thing to remember is that you - not your doctor - are the one ultimately in control of your health. I can guarantee you that if you have been reading this blog for any length of time or have roamed through and read in the archives, you are much more nutritionally savvy than…Read More
What Do You Really Know About Dietary Fat?
A commenter on my recent Lard post highlighted a post by Dr. Mary Dan Eades, and that reminded me of a section in Taubes' Good Calories Bad Calories. Let's take a look at both. First to Eades. Now let’s compare lard to that darling of the disciples of the Mediterranean diet: olive oil. Olive oil contains 71% oleic acid, that heart-healthy, monounsaturated fat that we’re supposed to get more of. Lard contains 44% oleic acid,…Read More
Why All Diets and Exercise Programs are Fads and Usually Wrong
It's because they do not integrate evolutionary thinking. This leads to the eating of highly processed and packaged foods, the eating of non-foods, the eating of anti-nutrients and toxins we didn't evolve to eat (like grains -- chiefly wheat and corn), puts us in chronic caloric depravation, ignores gene expression pathways critical to optimal health, overtrains us, focusses on weight loss instead of fat loss and lean gain, and on and on. So, why is…Read More