Geo - 2017

[geo]

Oh and another point that maybe I have not made clear enough in the past. Nothing that I say thats outside the scope of the McDougall Program is in any way endorsed or encouraged by Dr McDougall or anyone on his staff or who he may work with. These are simply my own beliefs based on my experiences and learnings over the last 45 years or so. I do very much believe them to be true and scientifically accurate but they are in no way associated with Dr McDougall or his teachings. I DO believe in everything Dr McDougall and his staff says within the proper context of what they say. Same goes for Jeff's teachings. Yes I follow the MWL as close to 100% as possible along with Jeff's principles, guidelines, and recommendations, but I also branch out and experiment in other areas of health/nutrition/lifestyle/longevity/learning/etc...and NO I'm not trained as/work as/or pretend to be, a professional in these areas, just a curious, self taught person...in a scienitific sort of way And yes, I practice what I preach and experiment on myself constantly to prove to myself if the path I'm following is valid.

[sirdle]

Yes, the most important thing you can do to achieve the most efficient, effective and safest way to achieve muscular strength/hypertrophy is intensity of effort. I mean not the amount of weight you lift but rather had hard an effort you make in lifting a weight. Lift a weight, any weight really, in perfect form, slowly and steadily, till muscular failure (i.e., you just can't possibly do another full clean rep) is by far an away the best method to use.

Yes. My main mistake was interpreting 'intensity' in the narrow sense of 'amount of weight you lift' and thinking that I had to lift the most I could.

With 'isolated' lifts it didn't seem to be a problem, but with compound lifts, different muscles are used during different parts of the lift. I would start the lift forcefully and momentum would carry me through the part of the lift where I was weakest. Intellectually, I knew this was wrong... but it is one thing to read about it and another to experience it. When I reduced the weight and slowed each lift down, I realized that I had been cheating and was placing myself at high risk of injury!

Live and learn!

Oh and another point that maybe I have not made clear enough in the past. Nothing that I say thats outside the scope of the McDougall Program is in any way endorsed or encouraged by Dr McDougall or anyone on his staff or who he may work with.

Absolutely clear.

Cheers,

[geo]

Day 85

Food:
1. 10:00 AM - hash browns and banana with herbal tea
2. 7:00 pm - baked potato and sweet potato and stirfry veggies with herbal tea

Variety: tubers 2, veg 10, grains 0, legumes 0, fruits 1, herbs/spices 21. Total - 34

Exercise:
none, rest day

Movement:
NEAT and standing/walking every 5 mins of 30.

Stress Releif/Meditation:
10 mins mindfulness and thinking about STOIC qoute of day

Sleep:
8:15 hrs

Reading:
The One-Minute Workout by Dr Martin Gibala

Health Tips:
1. Its spring, so why not a spring cleaning of your body! Try a short fast, and literally clean yourself out and give your digestive system a rest. A 1-4 day fast could be just what the doctor ordered. (of course talk with your Dr first!) You don't want to initiate a fast if your sick on your own. And rmember, reintroduce food slowly after a fast and definitely stick to McDougall style foods when coming off the fast. Keeping the fast short, should allow you to feel the changes without causing any worry over lack of nutrients, but again do it in concert with your Doctors knowledge!

General Comments:
Great day, slept very well, felt great. Spent the day at daughters final dance competition. She had her 4 final competition dances with her studio. She did great as usual and I'm so very proud of all her hardwork and effort over the past 12 years. Fittingly, and by sheer coincidence, her final competition dance today was called "Save The Last Dance For Me". Also fittingly, her studio, Dancers Edge Studio, won the best dance studio in the area award over a lot of other studio's at this competition. They well deserved it and got to go home with a ginormous 5ft+ tall trophy

[geo]

You got it right Sirdle!

Slow careful moves with perfect form properly provide a full safe load to the intended muscles. Jerking, heaving, throwing, fast movements, contorting your body and even face grimaces allow the load to be effected by muscles that shouldnt be involved in the exercise and allows for dynamic movments and momentum to take away the load from the muscles to be worked AND cause serious safety issues as the work load may be several times more than the body expects and leads to tendons, ligaments and muscles torn, broken bones, weights falling on you and badly damaged joints...maybe not today, but over time its pretty much 100% guarenteed. I've never heard of any professional weight lifter that after a decade or two hasent suffered horrible body damage do to their "early" years in training when they thought they knew everything.

Personally, I never do dynamic exercises with weights, its a guarenteed injury waiting to happen.

Unfortunately, some sports expect dynamic movements with weights, such as Olympic lifting. In that case its even more imperative to practice the specificity of movement to understand the forces and leverages that can best be safely (or as safe as possible) applied. I.e.., in these kinds of sports you definitely need a coach that knows what they are doing.

[geo]

Day 86

Food:
1. 12:30 pm - baked potato and sweet potato and stirfry veggies and banana and herbal tea
2. 6:30 pm - 6 grain Hot cereal and herbal tea

Variety: tubers 2, veg 10, grains 6, legumes 0, fruits 1, herbs/spices 21. Total - 40

Exercise:
Weightlifting - compound movements done to failure
Cycling Tabata's - 8 x 20/10 on/off cycles

Movement:
NEAT and standing/walking every 5 mins of 30.

Stress Releif/Meditation:
10 mins mindfulness and thinking about STOIC qoute of day

Sleep:
8 hrs

Reading:
The One-Minute Workout

Health Tips:
1. Sexual Activity in your senior years. Theres lots you can do to not lose it as many do later in life. and the simple answer is to just follow a healthy lifestyle, such as promoted by Dr McDougall. Sexual activity can raise levels of substances in the blood that can lengthen life span. things such as endorphins, growth hormone and DHEA all rise and substances like the stress hormones adrenalin and cortisol go down leading to extended life span. And of course sexually acitive seniors are also happier and more stress free as well which has consequent good effects on your lifespan as I've said before. So sex for seniors not only improves the quantity of life but also its quality...so let your significant other know and do something about it Today!

General Comments:
Great Day, slept well, feeling great and good workout. Eating is a bit off but thats ok, I'm not hungry. And maybe my eating habits are changing slowly...to a less frequent eating pattern...that could be a good thing

Other than working out and doing a bit of food shopping and some web reading I've kept a fairly low profile today to recover from the long weekend.

[geo]

Day 87

Food:
1. 9:30 AM - hash browns and mixed peppers and onions and banana with herbal tea
2. 3:30 pm - baked potato and sweet potato and stirfry veggies with herbal tea
3. 7:00 pm - 6 grain hot cereal with mixed fruits

Variety: tubers 2, veg 8, grains 6, legumes 0, fruits 5, herbs/spices 21. Total - 42

Exercise:
none, rest day

Movement:
NEAT and standing/walking every 5 mins of 30.

Stress Releif/Meditation:
10 mins mindfulness and thinking about STOIC qoute of day

Sleep:
7:00 hrs

Reading:
The One-Minute Workout by Dr Martin Gibala

Health Tips:
1. Give a hug or cuddle. It been shown that hugs can release the same hormones as sexual activity can as I started yesterday. So it can extend life span. But did you know that holding back hugs and touches can also be very detrimental? It been noted that orphaned babies tend to do badly and even die without the loving touch or hug or love of someone. Same goes for unconious patients. those that are touched and lovingly held have been shown to recover faster than those not touched. Friends hugging and spouses sungglling, and grandparents cuddling grandchildren all create the same release of hormones that reduce stress and can lengthen life if not also its quality.

General Comments:
Good day, slept well, feeling great, no issues at all.
Spent some time cleaning daughters tank and adding in a new sponge filter system to ehnance the biological filtration system of the tank. Onely one problem...the tank is missing an orange glo-fish...I'll be damn if its not missing. I cant find it anywhere in the tank or outside the tank on the floor or under anything. I'm stumped at this point...hopefully it will show up soon. At least I dont smell the odor of death anywhere yet...sigh

[geo]

Day 88

Food:
1. 10:00 am - hash browns with mixed pepers and onions and herbal tea
2. 5:30 pm - baked potato and sweet potato and stirfry veggies and banana and herbal tea

Variety: tubers 2, veg 10, grains 0, legumes 0, fruits 0, herbs/spices 21. Total - 33

Exercise:
Weightlifting - compound movements done to failure
Cycling Tabata's - 8 x 20/10 on/off cycles

Movement:
NEAT and standing/walking every 5 mins of 30.

Stress Releif/Meditation:
10 mins mindfulness and thinking about STOIC qoute of day

Sleep:
7:45 hrs

Reading:
The One-Minute Workout

Health Tips:
1. Love, the most powerful emotion there is and the one that possibly generates the most endorphins and immune cells and in that way extends lifespan. How do you nuture love? well through loving all your life, when a child - your parents and grandparents, your pets, things and friends you play with. As adults, your parents and children and spouses and friends as well. But have you ever learned to love yourself? Its been said that to truly love others, you must first understand and experience love of self. On;y then can you learn to love and appreciate those around you. Everyday, try to do at least one thing that promotes love of self. Do an activity that makes you happy, think positively, say positive affirmations to your, right a happy journal or diary. Do anything you really enjoy that makes you feel good about yourself. Once in tune with yourself, let the love flow to others...it can be contagious

Genral Comments:
Great day, slept well again (I'm on a roll lol), good workout, feel great, no issues. Went out pokemon hunting with my wife lol.

[geo]

Day 89

Food:
1. 8:30 AM - 6 greain hot cereal with mixed fruits and herbal tea
2. 1:30 pm - baked potato and sweet potato and stirfry veggies with herbal tea
3. 7:00 pm - chili

Variety: tubers 2, veg 10, grains 6, legumes 3, fruits 5, herbs/spices 21. Total - 47

Exercise:
none, rest day

Movement:
NEAT and standing/walking every 5 mins of 30.

Stress Releif/Meditation:
10 mins mindfulness and thinking about STOIC qoute of day

Sleep:
7:30 hrs

Reading:
The One-Minute Workout by Dr Martin Gibala

Health Tips:
I think for the next few days I will post some interesting exercise routines that you can do at home everyday that are quick and will give you some semblance of fitness over time. This first one is interesting because it was developed in the late 1950's by the Canadian Air Force specifically help their cold war fighter pilots stationed at secret bases in the great white north to develope their fitness. They found that their pilots were losing all their fitness because the were basically stuck in doors for months at a time do to the freezing temps and lack of sunlight. So they commissioned a leading exercise physiologist to develope a quick routine the pilots could use indoors with little or no equipment to stay in shape...and it worked great and became the physical standard for pilots for years. It covers ALL people from those that never exercise to those that are atheletes or need to be physically fit for their jobs.

1. Quick, simple, time tested exercise routine that can be done anywhere. The Canadian Royal Air Force recommend exercise routine for its fighter pilots circa 1960...its still valid today and some routines you see sold on tv today (like P90X) have their basis in this routine. It called 5BX (which stands for 5 Basic Exercises). It has a very long history and is still a good quick 11 min workout you can do everyday.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... lZ3RHpy2-w

General Comments:
Another great day, slept well, rested well, feeling good with no issues. Rested and took it easy today...read a bunch and watched some web videos.

[geo]

Day 90

Food:
1. 10:00 am - hash browns with mixed pepers and onions and herbal tea
2. 2:30 pm - baked potato and sweet potato and stirfry veggies and banana and herbal tea
3. chili

Variety: tubers 2, veg 10, grains 0, legumes 3, fruits 0, herbs/spices 21. Total - 36

Exercise:
Weightlifting - compound movements done to failure
Cycling Tabata's - 8 x 20/10 on/off cycles

Movement:
NEAT and standing/walking every 5 mins of 30.

Stress Releif/Meditation:
10 mins mindfulness and thinking about STOIC qoute of day

Sleep:
7 hrs

Reading:
The One-Minute Workout

Health Tips:
1. The next quick exercise system is an American modernization of the Old Canadian 5BX system. Its called the Johnson & Johnson 7 minute workout. And yes its the same J&J tht makes the baby shampoo that everyone loves . Its based on the latest interval training knowledge known today (5BX was based on the interaval training knowledge known in the late 1950's) and takes 7 minutes to do. There's also an App (iphone and android) by the same name that lets you follow the routines as needed. Its quite popular today and makes for a great little fast workout you can do anywhere: https://7minuteworkout.jnj.com

General Comments:
Great Day, slept well again and feeling great. good workout, motivation high, and no issues. Last day of the 3rd month of 2017, how are you doing?

[geo]

Day 91, April 1

Food:
1.10:00 AM - hash browns with mixed and banana with herbal tea
2. 1:30 pm - chili with herbal tea
3. 7:00 pm - 6 grain hot cereal

Variety: tubers 1, veg 5, grains 6, legumes 3, fruits 1, herbs/spices 21. Total - 37

Exercise:
none, rest day

Movement:
NEAT and standing/walking every 5 mins of 30.

Stress Releif/Meditation:
10 mins mindfulness and thinking about STOIC qoute of day

Sleep:
6:00 hrs

Reading:
The One-Minute Workout by Dr Martin Gibala

Health Tips:
1.Its April Fools Day. Rest, relax, smell the roses, go take your family or SO out to dinner and enjoy each other...and no childish pranks please

General Comments:
Good day, slept well, felt good, no issues. Went out an got daughter a new bike. She been on an exercise kick for the last few months, going to the gym 3-4 times a week, Lately shes been begging for a bike she can ride around on to the store or with her friends on the trails. She only wanteda simple cheap one so thats what we got her and shes happy Its interesting how shes been focusing a lot on her fitness and even how she eats. Shes been doing better, but still is a SAD eater, though maybe a bit better SAD than most. Im proud of her anyways

[geo]

Day 92

Food:
1.10:00 AM - hash browns with mixed with herbal tea
2. 2:30 pm - baked potato and sweet potato and stirfry veggies and herbal tea
3. 6:30 pm - 6 grain hot cereal

Variety: tubers 2, veg 8, grains 6, legumes 0, fruits 0, herbs/spices 21. Total - 37

Exercise:
none, rest day

Movement:
NEAT and standing/walking every 5 mins of 30.

Stress Releif/Meditation:
10 mins mindfulness and thinking about STOIC qoute of day

Sleep:
6:30 hrs

Reading:
The One-Minute Workout by Dr Martin Gibala

Health Tips:
1. Another quick program for getting "fit" is one that can be found in the book: Total Fitness in 30 Minutes a Week: by Laurence E. Morehouse, PhD.

This book came out around 1975 and is long out of print but can still be bought cheaply used through Amazon. It a very interesting book because i actually forms a definitition of what fitness is and then shows you how to achieve it. The title seems a bit hokey but its an excellent book. Dr. Morehouse was one of the world's leading exercise physiologists in 1975. His claim to fame was that he was the person hired by NASA to develope the exercise program and equipment needed for the Apollo Astronauts as well as the SkyLab Space Station. He was the person responsible to ensure that Astronauts remained in physical condition while they remained in space.

In the book, he shows you a 10 min exercise program you can do in 10 mins a day, 3 times a week. After 4 weeks he says you can achieve a minimal level of fitness even if you havent exercised in 20 years. I've done the program and it does work to achieve what it sets out too. It will NOT turn you into an athelete, but will help you to get fit to a level that will fit your lifestyle and allow you to do everything you want to. The book is great in that it spends a lot of time trying to explain fitness, what it is, and how to achieve it, and the best way to do it. Highly recommended even if it is 40+ years old.

https://www.amazon.com/Total-Fitness-L- ... 9J4Y6ZTRVD

General Comments:
Good Day, slept well, feeling good, no issues.

A day late in posting this as I was a bit busy today. Trying to get a bedroom cleaned up and move some furniture and such into basement so daughter can have a small space to hangout in with friends...yeah so much fun for me ...lol

[geo]

Day 93

Food:
1. 10:00 am - hash browns with mixed pepers and onions and herbal tea
2. 2:30 pm - baked potato and sweet potato and stirfry veggies and banana and herbal tea
3. 6:30 pm - 6 grain hot cereal

Variety: tubers 2, veg 10, grains 6, legumes 0, fruits 0, herbs/spices 21. Total - 39

Exercise:
Weightlifting - compound movements done to failure
Cycling Tabata's - 8 x 20/10 on/off cycles

Movement:
NEAT and standing/walking every 5 mins of 30.

Stress Releif/Meditation:
10 mins mindfulness and thinking about STOIC qoute of day

Sleep:
7:45 hrs

Reading:
The One-Minute Workout

Health Tips:
1. Continueing in my little exercise segment...the previous book I talked about: total fitness in 30 mins a day does improve your fitness level to at least a minimal level but will not make you physically fit as an athelete. Dr Morehouse however did write a follow-on book that would take you farther along the physically fit scale. He called the book: Maximum Performance
https://www.amazon.com/Maximum-Performa ... erformance
Even though its 40+ years old, its still a very relavent book and shows how far sighted it was. Studies continue to show that Dr Morehouse was correct in his theories on fitness and performance enhancements. If your already fit but want to know how to continue getting better in your sport/activity, effeciently AND safely, I would highly recommend this book. He has a way of writing that makes everything pretty easy to understand.

General Comments:
Good day, slept well, good workout, no issues. Did some food shopping today for daughter...she was cooking a nice meal for her bf...shes still learning to cook but seems to enjoy it and is getting pretty good actually...now if only I can get her to switch to a McDougall diet...

Also cleaned up my nano reef tank today, did a 20% water change as usual and also tested all my water parameters which are doing really well. calcium - 420, Alkalinity - 10 dKh, nitrates - 2-3, phosphates - 0...pretty much perfect. Now I only wish I could grow some coralline algae...thats the algaoe you see on reef rocks that turn them a beautidul pink-purple color. Its about the only algae you really want to see in your tank but its not easy to grow from scratch and can take a year or more...

[geo]

Day 94

Food:
1.9:300 AM - hash browns with mixed peppers and onions and banana with herbal tea
2. 1:30 pm - baked potato and sweet potato and stirfry veggies and herbal tea
3. 6:30 pm - 6 grain hot cereal

Variety: tubers 2, veg 8, grains 6, legumes 0, fruits 1, herbs/spices 21. Total - 38

Exercise:
none, rest day

Movement:
NEAT and standing/walking every 5 mins of 30.

Stress Releif/Meditation:
10 mins mindfulness and thinking about STOIC qoute of day

Sleep:
8:00 hrs

Reading:
The One-Minute Workout by Dr Martin Gibala

Health Tips:
1. none today...need a break from all the exercise talk. I think tomorrow I will go back to things that people do that are long lived...sure its al mostly just anecdotal evidence, but hey you never know what may be true or not... my sources will be from various books and writings on the subject...

General Comments:
Good day, good sleep, feeling good, no issues. This was a lazy, restful day. Spent some time reading, researching on net and watching some utube video's. Worked a little on big tank which I'll do more on probably tomorrow.

[geo]

Day 95

Food:
1. 12:30 pm - baked potato and sweet potato and stirfry veggies and banana and herbal tea
2. 5:30 pm - hash browns with mixed veggies

Variety: tubers 2, veg 10, grains 0, legumes 0, fruits 0, herbs/spices 21. Total - 33

Exercise:
Weightlifting - compound movements done to failure
Cycling Tabata's - 8 x 20/10 on/off cycles

Movement:
NEAT and standing/walking every 5 mins of 30.

Stress Releif/Meditation:
10 mins mindfulness and thinking about STOIC qoute of day

Sleep:
8:00 hrs

Reading:
The One-Minute Workout

Health Tips:
To start this series of health tips I'll just list the groups of people that are know for their longevity. That will give some things to think about or maybe research a bit more. For many, these people may all be well known for others they may be a surprise:

1. Okinawans
2. Symi
3. Campodimele
4. Hunza
5. Bama

Did these surprise anyone?

General Comments:
Another great day, feeling well, slept well, no problems at all.

Spent some time trying to get the house cleaned up some. Built a stand/shelf thing to put a tv on for the basement. So that little project is coming along slowly. We just need to get the area cleaned up. put a rug down and carry down the stand and the tv to the basement...Its an old 36" CRT style TV that weighs about 75 pounds and is big and bulky...that will be so much fun...not! Then I'll have to route some power and co-ax cable, etc...t get it all working...oh and almost forgot a big futon couch has to go down there too...gee what did I rope myself into???

[geo]

Day 96

Food:
1.9:30 AM - hash browns with mixed veggies and banana with herbal tea
2. 2:00 pm - baked potato and sweet potato and stirfry veggies and herbal tea
3. 7:00 pm - 6 grain hot cereal

Variety: tubers 2, veg 8, grains 6, legumes 0, fruits 1, herbs/spices 21. Total - 38

Exercise:
none, rest day

Movement:
NEAT and standing/walking every 5 mins of 30.

Stress Releif/Meditation:
10 mins mindfulness and thinking about STOIC qoute of day

Sleep:
7:00 hrs

Reading:
The One-Minute Workout by Dr Martin Gibala

Health Tips:
1. Before I continue on with the healthiest/longest lived people in the world and their apparant secrets I just want to make clear a few things about longevity.

How long do we live, we know that here in America our lifespans are about 80 years give or take a couple years. We also know that other major, first world countries, live similar lifespans or may be 5-8 or so years more than us. Not a huge difference but one that is noticable in that we dont seem to be closing the gap, despite arugably having the best, most scientifically advanced medical care in the world (I won't argue whether we actually get that kind of care, just that it is available (whether you can aford it or not is anoher question I won't discuss)).

But is 80 years old good? Is that really a good, long life? Most seem to think so because by the time we reach that age we've been on the decline for probably 30 years or more, mentally and physically. What does the science say?

Well back in the 1960's a Dr Leonard Hayflick did some experiments and discovered that the 50 trillion cells in our bodies are capable of dividng only a fixed number of times, thereby limiting our lifespan. (Cells renew themselves by dividing into new cells as old ones die off).
This is known as the "Hayflick Limit" for those that want to google up on it.

Today most gerentologists believe that the human lifespan is about 120 years, give or take a few. Birth records over the past 130 years or so seem to prove this out.

So you tell me, if we have the potential lifespan of 120 years, yet we only average about 80 years are we living a nice long life? Is throwing away 40 potential years of life, 1/3 of your life a good thing? Some might say yes, given the infirmaties and sickness many people have by the time they reach 80. They consider it a blessing. To me thats warped and self defeating. Its quiting on life and those special to you. I for one want to live to my potential AND do it with good health. When I do go, I want it to be quick painless and in my sleep, much like many centenarians. Thats why I do this journal. Thats why I follow Dr McDougall and Jeff. And I hope that 60 years from now I am able to still do this More tomorrow...

General Comments:
Great day, slept well, felt good, no tiredness, no issues. Did some reading on line and watched some vids, but otherwise pretty much just relaxed. Rain pretty much kept me in all day