Doing very well.
I don’t actually think that I have ever felt as on top of my game as I do now. It’s like all the different bits of information I’ve collected over the years are interlacing and connecting with other bits-like having done a chunk of the middle of the puzzle and then working in from the frame of the puzzle…now the pieces are coming together It’s such a great feeling!
As you know, I’ve been doing the raw vegan thing for about a week now. Getting a good grip on that as well, but it’s time to incorporate meat and fat back into the diet. I’m so glad I did this though because I’ve gained such a better understanding of the different diets out there and whys and hows.
The low carb approach actually isn’t any better than the low fat approach in my opinion-the problem is the both at the same time approach or the niether approach. As I mentioned in the last blog, Dr. Doug Graham has been very outspoken about his high carb, low fat, low protein approach and while I’m not there in my understanding, what I have come to understand is that those two are a poor combination. High fat diets combined with even moderate carb intake is the perfect equation for insulin resistance, which isn’t so much insulin resistance as it is insulin failure in that the insulin is not capable of eschewing the sugar out of the blood stream and into the cells because they are coated in oil-the insulin itself is insulated with oil. This seems to be why so many people do better on very low or no carb/high fat diets. This is also seems to be why people do well on regular carb, no fat diets-though not as well because ‘regular carb’ for most people is still too high and too refined. Competitive bodybuilders in the 80s were all about the no fat diets, and they of course worked assuming they used all the energy from the sugar they consumed. People who live in the tropics, plent of carbs, very low fat. It all works! It’s our desire to have it all at the same time that doesn’t work.
On very high carb, via fruits and vegetables and no fat, I was almost just fine and I have candida. That says something. I had some very slight symptoms but nothing crazy like what would have been the case had I eaten that much fruit while eating high fat at the same time. Eating too much fruit at one sitting was a bit of a problem but if I split up the same amount of fruit into a couple of meals I was pretty much fine. So now the plan is to see if I can cycle the two approaches-high carb, no fat, low protein and no carb, high fat, high protein. I might have to include a half day or a day of fasting in between the two, but that’s no bigge. The only question I have left is if bodyfat has the same effect on insulin and cellular uptake of sugar. If so, it makes sense then that a certain level of leaness is required to really make Dr. Graham’s approach a true winner. I think I’ll order his book-the 80/10/10 diet.
In other news, the gym is going real well as well. My antagonist stretching approach has now broadened to an antagonist and synergist stretching approach. Yielding great results, I must say. Something my physical therapist, Dave Buchannen, told me when I was 16 was that a muscle will only get as large and as strong as it’s ‘opposing will allow.’ I’ve since expanded on that by saying a muscle will only be as flexible, as strong, and as large as it’s support will allow. This is pretty obvious, it seems, but still there are too many trainers and therapists out there stretching muscles that are tight as the result of another tightness. They’re just treating the symptoms. Sound familiar?
So, in the last two weeks or so, I have gone from having a lot of constant back pain to much less back pain; I have gotten a great new understanding in regards to nutrition and I have interwoven a ton of old and new information in regards to training to give me a better understanding and new perspective there. Things are going well. Over and out, good night.
