I ran out of deodorant on Friday night. Bear with me, this story has a point. Upon realizing that I had used up my last stick of glorious Old Spice, what do you think I did? Well, despite their misleading commercials*, I didn't switch over to Axe. But sure enough, Saturday morning, I went right to Safeway and bought some more deodorant. This got me thinking...
Most people consider certain things essential - like toothpaste, deodorant, soap, and so on. Note: Normal hygenic people, anyways. If you run out of toothpaste, you don't wait a week to go buy another tube. You make time, you go to the store, you spend the money. People don't hesitate when it comes to purchasing these products. You may look for a cheaper brand or try to save a few pennies, but one way or another, you're leaving the store with something. And this made me realize something: we should be treating supplements like fish oil and Vitamin D3 with the same degree of necessity.
Fish Oil and Vitamin D3. Refer to this post for more information. Simply put, these two supplements help improve long-term health, accelerate recovery, and enhance performance. So...
Spend the money. Feel better. Make it necessary.
*If using Axe products made beautiful women crawl all over you, trust me, I'd be swimming in that shit.
7/22/10
7/14/10
Stand Up! Pt.2
To go into more depth on my last post regarding posture, desk jobs, and the negative effects on fitness, performance, and appearance, here are a few articles you may find useful.
First is from Steven Low of Eat. Move. Improve. Steve covers how prolonged sitting and modern footwear can be detrimental to one's health. It's an incredibly in-depth and well sourced article. Long, but top notch. The second is a four-part series from Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson. It covers not only the science behind muscle shortening, but case studies involving classic postural problems as well as loads of exercises to help improve and correct it all. And lastly is a classic/brilliant article from Mike Robertson regarding the relationship between your hip flexors and glutes.
I highly encourage you to give them a read. Enjoy.
First is from Steven Low of Eat. Move. Improve. Steve covers how prolonged sitting and modern footwear can be detrimental to one's health. It's an incredibly in-depth and well sourced article. Long, but top notch. The second is a four-part series from Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson. It covers not only the science behind muscle shortening, but case studies involving classic postural problems as well as loads of exercises to help improve and correct it all. And lastly is a classic/brilliant article from Mike Robertson regarding the relationship between your hip flexors and glutes.
I highly encourage you to give them a read. Enjoy.
7/7/10
Simon Says
Simon sent me an intriguing email I thought I'd share with all of you...
Take a crack at the picture attached. It looks like a genuine chef cooked it. Nope, that is my creation. Its a sous-vide chicken breast with a sun-dried tomato vinaigrette, cooked to absolute perfection. I'm not a bad cook, but they way I cooked it yielding amazing results - the chicken literally melted in your mouth and was perfectly moist. Note: Haha... he said "moist"
Sous vide is what is important here - it is a better way to cook, and it works especially well for paleo style diets. The idea is that you vacuum seal the food and cook it in a temperature controlled water bath. It allows you to get perfect cooking every time because you control the water temperature very precisely.
A sous vide can be pricey to set up, my setup cost just south of $600. I bought a sous vide supreme (449) and a Foodsaver vacuum sealer (130). There are cheaper ways to do it though, mainly by taking a crock pot and rigging up a $100 temperature controller. You don't need the vacuum sealer as well, there is a clever way of using a plastic bag and a water to remove the air from the bag (see this video: http://vimeo.com/11317493). I have a crock pot if you want it.
I'll keep experimenting, but I'm going to invite the crew in the next 2-3 weeks for a sous vide dinner.
Simon sets a great example here. While eating better is paramount, at times, one can feel limited by their options - "No bread?! But what about that sweet deal at Olive Garden!?!" First of all, when it comes to cooking, you're only limited by one thing: your imagination. Seriously, anyone who thinks Paleo is unreasonable because of a lack of options is really just goddamn lazy. At Robb Wolf's seminar, we did the following exercise:
1) Make three columns.
2) In Column 1, write down a bunch of meat options. In Column 2, vegetables. In Column 3, fat sources. And in Column 4, spices and such.
3) Start mixing that shit up!
Do the math on how many potential meals this list could make. Pretty substantial, ain't it? And this list only scratches the surface of what can be done. I'm not saying you have to go as far as Nils, who's enjoyment of cooking even exceeds my love of YouTube, but make an effort. If you can make cooking an enjoyable endeavor rather than an annoying chore, the results will astound you. You'll eat better, perform better, look better, feel better, and all potential mates are impressed by someone with cooking prowess. How else could you explain Nate Nash having a girlfriend?
In a short while, I'll be posting a list of excellent Paleo resources filled with recipes, tips, and ideas. Stay tuned...
Take a crack at the picture attached. It looks like a genuine chef cooked it. Nope, that is my creation. Its a sous-vide chicken breast with a sun-dried tomato vinaigrette, cooked to absolute perfection. I'm not a bad cook, but they way I cooked it yielding amazing results - the chicken literally melted in your mouth and was perfectly moist. Note: Haha... he said "moist"
Sous vide is what is important here - it is a better way to cook, and it works especially well for paleo style diets. The idea is that you vacuum seal the food and cook it in a temperature controlled water bath. It allows you to get perfect cooking every time because you control the water temperature very precisely. A sous vide can be pricey to set up, my setup cost just south of $600. I bought a sous vide supreme (449) and a Foodsaver vacuum sealer (130). There are cheaper ways to do it though, mainly by taking a crock pot and rigging up a $100 temperature controller. You don't need the vacuum sealer as well, there is a clever way of using a plastic bag and a water to remove the air from the bag (see this video: http://vimeo.com/11317493). I have a crock pot if you want it.
I'll keep experimenting, but I'm going to invite the crew in the next 2-3 weeks for a sous vide dinner.
Simon sets a great example here. While eating better is paramount, at times, one can feel limited by their options - "No bread?! But what about that sweet deal at Olive Garden!?!" First of all, when it comes to cooking, you're only limited by one thing: your imagination. Seriously, anyone who thinks Paleo is unreasonable because of a lack of options is really just goddamn lazy. At Robb Wolf's seminar, we did the following exercise:
1) Make three columns.
2) In Column 1, write down a bunch of meat options. In Column 2, vegetables. In Column 3, fat sources. And in Column 4, spices and such.
3) Start mixing that shit up!
Do the math on how many potential meals this list could make. Pretty substantial, ain't it? And this list only scratches the surface of what can be done. I'm not saying you have to go as far as Nils, who's enjoyment of cooking even exceeds my love of YouTube, but make an effort. If you can make cooking an enjoyable endeavor rather than an annoying chore, the results will astound you. You'll eat better, perform better, look better, feel better, and all potential mates are impressed by someone with cooking prowess. How else could you explain Nate Nash having a girlfriend?In a short while, I'll be posting a list of excellent Paleo resources filled with recipes, tips, and ideas. Stay tuned...
7/1/10
Goals
Mike Robertson sent out the following newsletter on January 1st of this year:
The Most Important Newsletter You'll Get All Year?
That may have been exactly six months ago now, but the message remains important. Read it a few times and then honestly ask yourself two questions: 1) Do you have a definitive goal? 2) Are you on the right path to achieve it?
If not, it may be time to re-evaluate and make some adjustments. Nothing changes if nothing changes.
The Most Important Newsletter You'll Get All Year?
That may have been exactly six months ago now, but the message remains important. Read it a few times and then honestly ask yourself two questions: 1) Do you have a definitive goal? 2) Are you on the right path to achieve it?
If not, it may be time to re-evaluate and make some adjustments. Nothing changes if nothing changes.
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