rawlife’s BodyBlog

So, for the last 2 or 3 weeks I’ve been doing a lot more volume work and relatively no heavy work.  This week I think I’ll start heavy again.  This constant cycling is what not only keeps it exciting but also primes you for development.  You’ve got to keep your numbers well in check though.  There’s a big lie going around weightlifting circles and, fortunately, its been somewhat exposed in the last couple of years: you have to change your routine everytime you go at it.  What you have to do is progress in one manner or another.  I prefer to keep my same exercises for a period of several weeks and use them as a control as I change the other variables related to the workout-weights, rest time, and reps.  With those three variables you can keep yourself going for a HECK of a long time on the same program.  I prefer to switch every few weeks or so, but those three variables are more than enough to provide you with progression material for months or years.  The fact of the matter is, we change exercises all the time, but often they boil down to the same joint functions-meaning they’re not all that different from one another.  You take out your barbell squat and put in a hack squat or a DB squat…or even a lunge.  Still a hip extension.  What you should really be changing is the overall stress you apply to your body, and that’s real hard to do if you don’t have any idea what your numbers are…and that’s real hard to have an idea of if you are changing exercises every two seconds.

   Didn’t start this blog thinking it was going to be a lecture, but lately my blogs have been rather free flowing and I think I’ll go with that for a while.  So this week, I’m thinking I’ll hit up 2 heavy workouts.  My elbow is still feeling a bit iffy, but much better than a couple of weeks ago and more or less totally painless during heavy compounds.  I so rarely do isolated arm work any longer that I don’t feel to ignorant going back to the heavy stuff while it’s still on the mend. 

   In other news, I’ve been ever vigilint in plugging leaks in my lifestyle.  The big ones have been dietary changes and sleep.  I pretty much never cheat with food-most who have read this know that-but I do vary a little too much in my opinion.  Basically, I’ve done the same thing with food as I’ve done with my workots.  I’ve chosen a control and I do it every single day.  If something doesn’t work, then I have a pretty good idea of what it is and I can make the necessary changes.  I am happy to report that my full body red blotches are essentially gone, with the exception of very light shadows here and there-and they were REALLY prominent a little while ago.  Funny, I am doing literally the exact opposite of what I ’should’ be doing in regards to getting my gut flora back in control and in good balance with candida, and am having great success.  Dinner is my only protein and fat meal.  The rest of the day is fruit and fermented vegetables(kimchi).  Lots of both…a heck of a lot.  The kimchi provides me with the good lacto bacteria and the sugar from the fruit puts it in overgrowth.  The key is to keep my fat and my carbs far away from one another.  My protein and fat meal is relatively low fat anyway, so it’s not such a big deal-and in regards to that, I am doing just as I said…the exact same meal day in and day out: 1kg raw ground beef, 4 egg yolks, 3 red beets, 2 onions, some capers, and some mustard for a little taste.  I am pretty proud of that mustard to be honest, I would never have allowed that before.  Now I’m getting crazy.  I’d like to make my own though.  I think I’m going to become a mustard connoisseur.  Last, sleep.  Too many people sending me texts and calling me too late or too early, and I’ve allowed it for too long.  Now the phone is being turned off at night and I’m using a regular alarm clock instead-I know it still goes off if the phone is off, but I wake up in the middle of the night and I’ve gotten to point where I have a real hard time going to sleep again without knowing what time it is-that’s the next leak that has to be plugged.  Alright, I’m out!

   I was watching the history channel the other day and a little clip popped up about Guadalcanal, otherwise known as "Green Hell" in the Pacific islands during WWII.  It sparked my interest because my grandfather was there in the 1st Marine division, along with in Peleliu, another Japanese Pacific island.  It might sound a little weird, but I didn’t really feel a strong connection with my grandfather until he past away, which was a few years back.  These past few years though, I’ve felt it real strong.  I get a little teary eyed here and there when I think of him and the things he did in his life.  I can almost feel the discomfort courage it took to get over.  The fact is, I get like that a lot though when people have gone through real hardship, in his case hardship in life in general and then pure unadulterated hell in the war, and come out a real hero in life.  That was my grandfather in a lot of ways. 

He was awarded the silver star for valor on Peleliu, several thought he should have been given the medal of honor.  He never ever talked about the war, almost real stereotypical WWII vet…just rarelv ever mentioned it and when he did, it was never one of these ’war stories,’ it was just a little blurb having to do with whatever else he was talking about.  He had to sleep with stories on tape in full blared earphones(volume ALL the way up) until the day he died.  Basically every single night.  I don’t know how my grandmother put up with it, you could actually follow to the stories he was listening to in his headphones in the other room-he had those big puffy ones, not the ones that go right in your ear.   

   Anyway, this documentary was pretty cool-the vets they interviewed described exactly what he described to me in detail the one and only time he ever talked about anything that happened in the war-I had a paper to write for school and I convinced him to open up a bit…he still didn’t get gory or anything, he just didn’t think it was was necessary or in good taste.  It was real clear to me though that Peleliu was hell on earth.  And now even more so.  He refused to watch war movies: "I have no desire to watch that or anything like it."

   What really touches me though is the sense of responsibility and pride that generation took in its country and fellow man.  Back then it was all about patriotism, but boiled down, it was still a feeling for the greater good.  My grandfather, much like many others of this day enlisted.  Didn’t wait to get called, and when he had done his year, he did another.  Guadalcanal and Peleliu killed a lot of his friends and left him considerably messed up for life, but I don’t think he ever regretted it.  When he got out, he worked his way up from a whole lot of nothing basically, to being the owner of a couple of banks and a microchip factory that actually supplied NASA with the first ever microchips in space.  He did real well for himself and continued helping his fellow man with whatever he could until the very end. 

On the other hand, from what I’ve heard from my mom and uncle, he was a…I hate to say it, oftentimes a real bastard of a father.  I think many from that generation were-just real hard "if you’re too stupid to understand, then I don’t have the time to show you" kind of stuff.  Fortunately, by the time I came along, all that was out of his system and he was the kind grandfather that I describe him as today.  When he died, people came out of the woodwork to pay their respects-they all remarked on his generosity and kindness…too bad he couldn’t show his own kids that.  I know they think highly of him but I can tell, at least in one of them, that the feelings are somewhat not 100% warm. 

   This blog kind of branched out in ways that I didn’t want it to, but I guess that’s alright.  Lately, I’ve really been working on just ‘letting go’ and not trying to control everything.  I’ll chalk this up to that.  The real point of this was to remark on how I would love to see people get get back to feeling something for one another and actually getting up and doing that something.  The truth is that people aren’t really going to ‘feel’ the need until they do a little bit of the deed, but I think plenty of people are getting to the point where their logical understanding is becoming such that it is bringing on feelings of its own.  These guys stared a gruesome death right in the face for one another and their country; and they did it voluntarily. 

  If you feel like it:

   After that migraine I got from the high blood sugar 2-3 weeks ago or whatever it was, I also got a hand sized red blotch on my thigh.  Still haven’t gone away.  Much to my dismay, I gave myself a look over the other day and saw that I had many more.  My tongue has also been totally coated for the last month or so.  I think that little incident was the straw that broke the camel’s back in some kind of way.  Anyway, so the conclusion is much like the conclusion I made in the last blog: I’ve got to actually do something about this. 

  I have a real easy time of just being pretty good.  This goes for many different areas of my life.  I sometimes then end up in the situation I’m in now though-one where the problem is bigger than ever because I never actually completely took care of it.  Right now my gut is not a happy pojke(boy).  And my skin looks as though I have some terrible disease.  I’m tempted to go to the doctor, but more tempted to work it out myself with diet.  I feel a real strong push of some sort towards working sorting things out on my own.  Even a guidance to the right answer. 

   One of the conclusions that I’ve come to in life is that a lot of people have a lot physical problems that I either have answers to or that I could have an answer to and it’s my responsibilty to take care of this stuff…like it’s one of my jobs, my Dharma, as I said.  I’m really thankful I’m developing a greater sense for this because it’s really enriching my life.  Work is a lot easier and I’m doing more freebies than ever…and it’s fun. 

   In addition to that, I made good on my decision to get off my butt and start doing some regular enviro-clean ups.  Went out last saturday and this saturday to the local park and picked up trash for about an hour or two.  It’s good to get it out of the forests so it doesn’t decay and poison the trees and plants, but what’s really necessary is to get it out of the water.  I think…actually I know, people look at me kind of funny when I’m doing this, but it has to be done and it’s just not getting done.  And it makes me feel good when it is done. 

   In other news, had a great workout today.  I’m still feeling some neck pain and a heck of a lot of elbow pain from that last workout I blogged about, so I had to change the program a bit, but no bigge…it was still good.  Hip adduction+hip abduction+single legged squat and dead combo.  Stiff arm pulldown+Standing cable row+shrugs.  Db fly+Db shoulder press.

The next generation becomes acutely aware of what the prior generation thought was nothing and this is based on the comfort of the generation which is often dictated by situations and events of the time-this I know is true.

We can make generalizations based on these events and their results.  I wonder if I am just seeing this in a few people an creating an explanation for it that I think fits, but I think I’m at least generally right here. I’ll give you an example:
Baby boomers and their adult children matured in a period of physical excess without perceived detrimental result.  HIV was not a scare, birth control pills were taken by everyone, no one thought about or was aware of the environmental result of their lifestyles, food was still relatively wholesome…etc.  You were having as much sex as you wanted and the worst thing you got was a prescription, eating as much as you wanted and the worst thing you got was a little chubby(manual laborers comprised a much greater percentage of the workforce), driving whichever car you wanted and could own a smog factory if you wanted and no one cared.  This generation or this group of people from this period of time, very naturally, are amongst the most physically life/health/eco retarded that have ever lived-none of them are ready to give up anything for something they’ve never first handedly experienced the detrimental results of, and getting them to change would require a period of strong discomfort-enough to erase the conditioning of essentially their entire lives.  On the other hand, because of their relatively great physical comfort, they are generally more forgiving, more understanding, kinder, and slower to anger than the young generation of today which is the exact opposite: literally bursting with anger and uncomfortable all the time. 
What’s funny is how cyclical it is.  Each generation gets a little bit more of the whole, but they always go back to the same equation: one is real uncomfortable, angry, and lives very physically efficient and frugal lives, and one is loving but relatively unaware of the results of their actions.  The generation just prior to the baby boomers, the WWII veterans and the survivors of the great depression, generally don’t have a huge problem with squeezing here and there and looking at the world from a wholistic perspective that needs to be taken care of but because of their physical discomfort and much harder lives due to social circumstances, they often practiced tough love and were relatively intolerant for anything they considered to be in excess or just ‘bull****.’

These are the results of the physical circumstances of a generation.  It’s a normal and very cyclical process that, after thousands and thousands of years, could theoretically result in a generation which is acutely aware of everything.  We’re not going to convince everyone of everything now, I think this point in time is a long way away for us Earthlings, but it’s cool to see it happening.  Convincing the slightly older population to change their physical lives is near impossible right now compared to convincing my generation and the next.  But convincing my generation to be more tolerant of one another and turn the other cheek is quite the task compared with the baby boomers.

Let me just end this with a prediction: not only will the next generation not think that living environmentally sound is weird, but they will think that the generation just prior was borderline stupid or psychotic, in a sense, for not having thought about it.  But they’ll be wrong.  Every generation is going to put its focus into that which gives them the most comfort based on what’s happening in the world at the time, and each following generation should, very simply, use each prior generation for that which they have to offer-either their information/physical life acuity or their love. 

  I think this is my 6th muscle tear.  It’s not a big one, so no worries.  Bruise about the size of a small fist.  Don’t even really notice it.  You know, when one of your calves doesn’t really work, the other one has to do double duty.  Now, the real issue is some severe cramping I experienced in my neck and upper trap area today-haven’t been able to turn my head to either side all day.  Although, I got it checked out real quick by the napprapat and she said it was no bigge either, just some severe cramping that will go over-no bulge-I was happy about that.  It really sounds like I’m complaining here, I’m not, just giving the update. The workouts are goin great right now and up until my 2nd to last set, when the neck cramped, all of my lifts were improved with the exception of one.  I have to admit though, for the last month I’ve had something like a little voice in my ear at the end of every workout saying ‘train your neck!’ and I’ve totally ignored it.  I’ve trained it a lot this past year but never with the same regularity as the other stuff and in the last few months I’ve slacked completely.  Stupid move.  I can only assume this is another little push in the right direction for me from the universe.  Given the fact that I am such a slow ass, I need severe discomfort to get my butt moving.  The universe knows this. 

Things are a changing, that’s for sure.  I reduced my work hours dramatically this past half year so I could have time to work on my other projects that I’ve spoken about and I’ve come to find that I’m not really cut out for a lot of down time.  I had a hard time focusing on my book, first of all.  Instead, I often found myself just doing nothing.  Second, I found that working on just one project became very monotonous…redundant, I know.  I don’t think I’m quite there yet in my development as a person.  I need more stimulus; and as is usually the case, life has provided me with plenty of interests to stimulate me…unfortunately, I’ve been ignoring them.  I have to admit I’ve been a lazy lately, a lot lazy. 

You know when you get used to doing very little, doing just a little more feels like a lot of work and is, of course, relatively uncomfortable.  And given that I am doing my best to make my life more and more comfortable these days, as it has been very uncomfortable in the past, I have been allowing myself to just kind of avoid any discomfort that comes my way.  I’m afraid, much like I tell others on a daily basis, this isn’t having the desired effect.  There is a point of diminishing returns and it sneaks up much quicker than one might suspect.  All I have now is a lighter work load and a strong sense of discomfort for anything above and beyond the norm.  I’m definitely not any happier than I was-I’m not sad, but taking a break didn’t deliver the improved life I thought it would.  What’s got to happen is that I’ve got to get more specific with what I’m willing to loosen up with and what I’m going to stay solid with.  Take a break from the stuff that sucks, and load up on the stuff that gives me energy…and that’s doing my ‘job.’

The truth of the matter is, I’m feeling a greater and greater sense of responsibility these days.  I guess it’s the one Hindus might describe as their Dharma-they’re job in life.  I’ve been ignoring my individual community service.  I have never gone out and done anything with true regularity, but I did do quite a bit with kind of off and on regularity before.  I still do little things here and there on a daily basis, but not like I used to and that’s becoming more and more unacceptable to me.  I see certain leaks that I know I can help plug and I’ve got to start doing it again for my own happiness.  It kind of feels like I’m ignoring my duty here.  That’s got to change.  The period of time I spent talking to the alcoholics on the street was a little too intense and, in the short term, had a kind of side effect on me in that it made me very uncomfortable doing anything more of the sort.  I still don’t know if I realistically have it in me to go back to that but I have to admit, it’s a very weak link and I see it very clearly.  I’m going to start with the environment. 

One thing is for sure, we have to make the weakest among us, strong.  Right now the weakest among us is the Earth, but of course, it is a symptom of the general discomfort of the human race right now along with our current understanding of life. 

So here’s what’s going to happen: I’m going to get off my butt. 

 ps. Workouts are goin killer.

  Workouts back on track, food digesting well, kickin asses at the gym.  Life is good.  Gonna fast for the first half of today; I’ve really got to get back into that, I always feel so much better afterward.  24 hour fasts might not do, but 1/2 day and 3/4 days might just be perfect.  In other news, I got my birthday present from my mom; in addition to some dough, she gave me a shirt with a phrase you may or may not recognize on it: Who is John Galt?  I like this very much.  I will have it on me 3-5x weekly and not wash it like I don’t everything else.  Being clean’s overrated anyway. 

   I’m seriously not putting myself in this situation again.  This morning, after 1 night with a migraine that made me want to cry, and 2 more days with a splitting headache, I finally woke up with dramatically less pain.  My tongue has been literally covered in thrush for 3 days and I have a big rash on my leg.  And it’s not because I’ve been slacking by any means, it’s the opposite.    I’ve, as you know, been getting progressively stricter and stricter…more animal like I guess you could say, eating the same exact thing every meal of the day-500grams berries, 500 grams meat.  And as you may well know yourself, the stricter you get, the less tolerant you become.  Then I went off it just slightly-not back to anything crazy just back to what I was doing prior eating the same thing every single meal of everyday-a few things I don’t normally eat daily, and boom!  Felt like I was run over by a truck. 

    On the one hand, it was much easier with a control that had so few variables to deal with, on the other, it doesn’t fit at all into my life or my current ability to maintain happiness.  I think this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  From here on out, I’m going back to how I began raw: I am going to have planned cheat meals relatively often…maybe 1-4x a month, not just to keep from getting headaches, but to keep me a little more psychologically healthy.  I’ve been feeling this coming for a while now and I can’t stay this seperated from the rest of society.  I’ve got to integrate more and I think I can actually connect with way more people than I do if I just give in a little.  So that’s what I’m going to do.  100% raw when I’m on my own, then whatever on the few occassions when I go out.  Things seem to be coming full circle.

   My head is killing me.  I know it was the ground beef yesterday.  I either need to chew it better or need to do it much less often than I do it now.  I was full all day long yesterday but kept eating nonetheless.  I was still full this morning when I woke up after a poor night’s sleep. My blood sugar is high, I can feel it.  I actually did the opposite of what I might normally do to see if I could work this out.  I ate just a few pieces of fruit here and there-1. Because of the fiber; I thought it might help get some things moving, and 2. Because of the insulin response.  I figured a bit of sugar wouldn’t do too much worse but it would get some more insulin pumping through my veins which might have a greater effect on getting sugar out of the bloodstream.  That actually worked pretty well to be honest with you.  For a while there, I was feeling relatively normal, assuming I didn’t shake my head around(am I the only one that uses that as a test to see whether or not I have a headache or to see how bad it is?).

Anyway, I grubbed a bit on some normal food tonight, hopefully it won’t kill me.  I’m a bit worried though that I’ll wake up in the middle of the night with a migraine.  For whatever reason they don’t hit me until the middle of the night.  Then they make me cry.

I’ve been thinking a lot today about everything I’ve been writing about as of late.  I think I may ease up just a bit on the strictness on the lifestyle to get a bit more joy out of it.  I have to figure out a good way to go about it though.  Nothing physical, or very little, seems to match up the feeling of connection with someone; and if my lifestyle keeps me from connecting with so many people, then I’ve got to make a change-either in how I present it or in how I am actually living it.  I’m sure the answer is both.  The truth is, I miss dinners with people and the comradery that comes along with sharing food with people.  I think that’s a pretty good sign that I need to let up a little bit.  To be honest, I’m only going to give if it actually works though, if the result is positive.  If having a bit more fun makes me a healthier person, then onward ho!  If not, then…you know. 

In other news, I was asked if I’d be interested in doing a dating snippet on tv-they’re doing a little thing with single PTs.  I told them I’m interested; they haven’t even seen yet(they just left a message at the gym), so we’ll see if anything comes of it.  That would be interesting.

Also still grubbin like it’s nobody’s business.  About 3.25lbs of raw beef today along with some quinoa and of course a good amount of fruit-been doing berries lately…about 3.25lbs of berries a day.  I buy them frozen because those are the only organic ones available.  I’ve got to tell you though, I don’t mind.  Let’em melt just a bit until they’re somewhat soft but still a little icey and they are great!  Anyway, I don’t remember if I wrote about it before but ground beef just doesn’t seem to sit with me all that well if it’s all I eat day in and day out.  Normally I can eat like that without a problem, but ground beef is a little problematic. I’ve been feeling like it’s just been sitting in my stomach all day.  My most recent thought is that it’s so soft that I don’t chew it well(which is true) and it takes a while longer to digest than normal meat would, which I basically never have a problem with. 

   Workout…workout was fast paced today: Inchworm+Kettlebell(nearest weight handy) Front Squat+Psoas Situp(my own invention).  3x around, no break inbetween exercises but a few minutes after each round.  Then I went into 3 sets of trunk rotations; GREAT for my back.  And last, 2 sets of hip abduction.  Done and done.  Hope all is well.