Active Concept Training

I have to tell you, I was a little curious as to how, and if, I would be able to put forth the effort needed to finish this ride without eating the proverbial "carbo load" that most, if not all, endurance athletes say must be done.

The ride, 3 Mountain Madness, is a tough ride consisting of about 8000 ft of clmbing in 75 miles...good stuff!  Where I live in NC, there are few hills, so to train for something like this, I had to travel.  Travel to other parts of the state, and to Ireland, where the true climbs are!  Was my training perfect?  No, but it was sufficient, for I finished this killer route!

Above are the 3 big climbs, and the hills in between (no it is not FLAT between the climbs!!)

Nutritionally what did I do?  The night before I ate chicken and veggies, with two beers, which I don't think they are considered carbo loading.  Oh, and 2 pints of water and 12 ounces of coconut water.  The morning of, I ate from a friend's farm, two eggs, a few sausage links, some pieces of kiwi, peaches, and blueberries and drank more water and 12 ounces of coconut water.

During the ride I did not drink gatorade or powerade.  i do believe in some fluid-derived simple carbs so I drank one from Hammer Nutrition that fit the bill for electrolyte replacement and some simple kcals...without the dyes and fake sugar.  I drank two bottles worth of those.  For food, I ate raisins, an almond trail mix with some dried cranberries, organic peanut butter with coconut oil mixed in, one snickers bar (for my almost home chocolate fix), about 4 orange slices, one Stinger honey gel, and one power bar gel with caffiene for a little boost about 2o minutes before the last climb up Pilot Mtn.  Does that sound like enough?  Oh, and at least 4 bottles of water as well.  For any one day that would be way TOO much simple sugar kcals, especially if I am trying to lose weight, which I am not.  However, on a day like this one, where energy had to come from somewhere quick at times, and a little slower from fat sources, I think this was a good mix of macronutrients.

I felt good, and the next day my legs did not fall off.  I was even able to hike to the top of Hanging Rock with my family (most of the time holding our 3 year old!)  In hind sight, the only problem I had, was my training.  More climbing, to get used to, yep, you guessed it...more climbing!

All in all, a great ride with. friends.  A special thank you to my lovely wife, who put in as much time as I did by taking care of the house and our 3 year old without my help when I had to go ride.  Thanks, babe!

Don't worry about conventional wisdom.  Do what feels right to your body, your training.  What's more, have fun!

GO!

These are a few things Paul Chek has to say about nutrition and health.  I tend to agree.  In all my years of teaching about nutrition to my clients and the public, these ideas hold true for lifelong health.

• Stop reading books on diet and nutrition.

• Listen to your body...it never lies.  (if your skin, weight, fatigue, sleep patterns, etc are wrong, so is your diet)

• Record everything for a week- 10 days...look for patterns and make adjustments.
  

• Simplify your life...cut out any unnecessary activity or food (i ate beets, or beef, and didn't poop for 2 days, i get tired 3 hours after drinking coffee all the time)  identify the offending cource of the problem.

• It's all an experiment...what works best for you?

I've almost NEVER had a specific diet that worked for everyone.  We are all unique in what we digest well, and what we don't.  Remember, any study you read about, did they study YOU???   N=1.  You are the experiment in and of yourself.

Take these ideas above, and begin to understand YOU.  Make it happen...

GO!

Below is an excerpt from a leading vitamin D researcher Dr. Richard Haney interviewed by Dr. Chris  Mohr.  Anyone wanting to read the truth about vitamin D, here it is...

"Dr. Chris: Alright, great. So let’s get right into it. First of all, vitamin D, we keep hearing a lot about that it’s an epidemic, a worldwide deficiency and just in your practice as a researcher and a scientist what have you seen with your research subjects in terms of rates of deficiency?

Dr. Heaney: Well, most of the adults that we work with are vitamin D deficient, at least by my standards, and although I don’t personally work with children or young people, it’s worth noting that an article in the Journal of Pediatrics just about a year ago found that between 60 and 98 percent of teenage girls, for example, both black, Hispanic, and white, were vitamin D deficient. So between 60 and 98 percent. That would be consistent with what we seem to see in adults as well. Probably pushing toward the high end of that. But, of course, if you define vitamin D adequacy by a very low 25-hydroxy D level, then fewer people are g oing to show up as deficient by that criteria.

Dr. Chris: Right. Great point. And for those who don’t know, you’re located in Nebraska, so you’re pretty far north.

Dr. Heaney: Yes, we’re at 41 degrees north latitude. Just about halfway between the Canadian border and the gulf. So it’s not that far north, but we don’t get useful sun exposure for about six months of the year.

Dr. Chris: And that actually brings me – I actually saw you present one time at a conference – and it brings me to my next point. One thing that was mentioned was that if you’re north of Atlanta you wouldn’t be able to make sufficient vitamin D from the sun. If you could just clarify that a little bit, that would be great. If I’m on the mark with that or what.

Dr. Heaney: Well, it’s useful to bear in mind that the human organism evolved in equatorial east Africa wearing no clothing. We got sun exposure, tropical sun exposure, 365 days a year for all practical purposes over our whole body. And we don’t begin to approach that now. In the summer here at Omaha at 41 degr ees north, about the same as Boston as a matter of fact, we can make vitamin D. We can make substantial quantities, but it doesn’t last us through the year. By the time we get to February, even outdoor summer workers are now down to a level that I would consider deficient. So anybody living north of Atlanta certainly, even though they may get out in the sun substantially in the summer, really needs year round vitamin D supplementation. Now from Atlanta or Dallas, farther south, if you’re outdoors a lot then you may not need much vitamin D. But actually studies of middle aged and older women, particularly those with osteoporosis, have shown that the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency is low in any part of the country. Florida, Arizona, Texas, you name it. And that’s largely because the women concerned actually don’t spend much time outdoors. And when that’s the case, of course, it doesn’t make any difference at which latitude you may live, you need to get the ultraviolet rays in order to make the vitamin D. And if you’re not getting them, then you may as well live in Alaska as far as that’s concerned.

Dr. Chris: Great point. And that makes me think of something else... for people who do spend time outdoors, which unfortunately are not many, if people are putting sun block on or suntan lotion, does that affect vitamin D? Or are you still able to make it even with suntan lotion.

Dr. Heaney: Sunblock, to the extent that it’s applied according to the manufacturer’s directions, sunblock blocks vitamin D synthesis entirely. Just as it blocks the damage that those same UV rays might be producing in the skin.

Dr. Heaney: So you can’t really have it both ways. But it’s important to understand that sunblock came into widespread use just in the past 25 years. If the absence of sunblock had b een so deleterious to us, the human race might have died out thousands of years ago. But it didn’t. I mean my parents, my grandparents, your grandparents surely got a lot of sun exposure unprotected and I don’t know whether any of them died of skin cancer, but I can tell you I have no relatives that did. So I think the principal problem with excessive sun exposure is drying and wrinkling and other cosmetic problems. Now yes, you can get squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma and I don’t think those are anything to be laughed at but they’re not as serious and life threatening as many of the problem diseases caused by vitamin D deficiency might be.

Dr. Chris: So would you recommend then people either not wear suntan lotion or at least get a little sun exposure on a daily basis without it?

Dr. Heaney: Well the good news is that much of the vitamin D we make in our skin is probably made in the first few minutes after sun exposure. The timing on this is still uncertain so I can’t put a precise time number in terms of how many minutes. But let’s just say for the sake of argument that if you’re going to be out in the sun, stay out there for 15 minutes and then put your sunblock on. That would probably protect you just as well from most of the damage that might be produced by ultraviolet, but at the same time it will allow you to get some and maybe much of the vitamin D you would otherwise have gotten. You see, the longer you’re out in the sun without sunblock protection, what the UV radiation does is not only make vitamin D in the skin, but it also degrades it before it can leave the skin. So you reach a point where there’s kind of a diminishing return there. And that’s why the first few minutes are probably where you’re going to get the best benefit with the least damage."

So, use sunscreen, but only after you've gotten used to the sun over time, over the course of several weeks.  DO NOT let yourself get burned, soak up the rays so that your BODY can make vitamin D!

Vitamin D3 is best absorbed by the body, mostly in gelcap form.  Use it, especially this winter...http://www.activeconcepttraining.com/apps/blog/show/2370276-you-gotta-read-this-hypertension-and-fructose-etc-

Dr. Davis of "Wheat Belly" fame also recommends vitamin D moreso than that of RDA recommendations.

It's where we come from as humans...get some supplements of Vitamin D.  Please.

GO!

So, the sweet tooth.  It does really exist.  Not long ago, in our evolutionary model, we as humans had a sweet tooth when fruit was in season.  What's more, we ate more of it toward the end of its growing season.  The reason being to "fatten" up for the winter.

Unfortunately, some thingshave changed.  One, our sweet tooth is quenched by eating candy, pies, cakes, and other sugar filled cane-filled goodie.  Two, the timing has shifted.  Now, is it because of the commercialism of Christmas, or something else such as the worldwide shipping of food, I don't know.  However, it remains that the sweet tooth fix isn't quenched at the end of the growing season, but rather at the beginning of winter!!  Talk about throwing off circadian rythyms!!

Well, here is my allowance to you, and if you've been very good, you'll like it!

• If you have been great this past year with your ancestral nutrition habits, give yourself 5 pounds you can gain over the next 4 weeks!
• If you have been about 70% accurate, give yourself an allowance of 3 pounds.
• If you have not been very accurate at all, give yourself ONE pound to gain.

There!  Go have your sugar and carb fix!!  Remember, it's like crack cocaine, so once you have it, it will be hell trying to knock the habit out come January.  Remember this grading system come next December.  If you are good throughout the year, give yourself some leeway...your ancestors did!!

GO!

"First, huge, multinational food companies now dominate the landscape. Wielding far greater lobbying power andmuch deeper pockets, these companies have been very successful in stagnatingfood regulation. Second, cost savings have been a key profit driver for theindustry, but they've had a devastating impact on both food quality and foodsafety. Think factory farming and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), just to name a couple of examples.Third, as consumers' health concerns have increased, processed foodmanufacturers have become even more aggressive in making dubious health claimsor co-opting fad diets to market their brands and develop new products."  --Bruce Bradley.

Wow.  And people think I am nuts to eat real food?  Whether you call it Paleo, or Ancestral, or simply eating as real as possible...maybe I'll call that the RAP diet.  Sorry, tangeant.  Anyway, eat real according to this guy, Bruce Bradley who blogs at brucebradley.com, has come out of the closet so to speak to tell us what goes on behind the scenes at Big Food.

Yes, just like with Big Pharma, we have to contend with what is truth, and what is marketed as the truth.  Who would have thought we would have to do such a thing 100 years ago?  You bought from the local market, local farms, etc.

Once again, if it wasn't here 200 years ago, don't consume it.

Here's to the RAP diet!   GO!

Hi!  I hope Autumn weather where you are has been kind.  Kind enough to let you stay outside in your active pursuits!

In the coming cooler months, things change.  People don't spend as much time outside.  People begin to hibernate, and with that, comes inactivity.  To help get you through these times, I am offering some new ways to stay true to your ancestral being...being active and nutritionally sound.

Listed to the left is my "schedule of fees."  Here,  you will see my new offerings of:

Program Design--I will design an activity/workout program for you for the next 4 weeks, taking into account a questionnaire and consultation to determine your needs.

Nutritional Analysis--By sending me your food log, or diary, for the next 4 weeks, I will help you stay the course, and improve your course, of sound nutritional choices for YOU!  After these 4 weeks, we will have a 15 minute consulation geared towards small changes, or big changes, you will have to make to improve your nutrition.

These can be used simultaneously, or not, depending on your needs.  Please let me know what I can do to help you, or a loved one, effect change for the better!

Four...so far, who have decided to send me their food diary via Lose it or Myfitnesspal. Guess how many people have begun to lose weight? FOUR! It's not that hard...or is it. That is a big question.

So, why can't we just cut down on the carbs and sugar, eat plants and animals, drink mostly water, and so be it? In the end, is it will power? Addiction?

I saw an email response to someone who gave a lecture on why we all should be gluten free vegans. Huh? The same reason why we can be gluten free omnivores I guess...because wheat causes lots of problems. In the amounts that we eat them especially!

Does it not make sense that the common denominator here is wheat?  Let's see, in both a gluten free vegan diet, and a gluten free paleo diet, what do they leave out?  Now, am I saying that you can't have ANY wheat at all?  Well, that depends on your tolerance to it.  If you believe that today's wheat is not the same as yesteryear's, then we don't tolerate it to well anyway, so keep it to a minimum, whole wheat or not.   http://www.trackyourplaque.com/blog/2011/08/wheat-belly-explodes-on-the-scene.html

We welcome the cool air to North Carolina!  Get out and move...GO!!!!!

If you have followed me over the years, this link will bring you nothing you haven't heard.  What it does show you is that the movement is real...just like the food we are supposed to eat!

I highly regret missing this event in SCal this past weekend.  Lots of pioneers of the movement were there.  Though, some of the REAL pioneers are no longer with us.  Some folks from the early 1900's, 50's and 70's who told the powers that be that they were wrong--they were the ones we should have listened to before.

Well, now we have another chance!!  Second chances rarely happen on this magnitude.  I hope we all listen now.  Or else we will rely on nothing but fabricated goods, including food, to keep us alive.  I don't want that!

In case someone is not listening...this is NOT the eat nothing but meat diet.  This is eat real food.  Period.  Fat is good for you, as is protein, as are limited carbs (debates will go on forever on this one.)

http://bigthink.com/ideas/39662

Eat some real food!!  Oh, and move like nature intended us too!  Have fun while you are at it!

Ok.  it's HOT here in NC, and everywhere else in the US right now.  Let's take a minute and think about how that affects our eating habits.

I will first start with a personal story about my grandparents.  My father's parents, didn't have air conditioning in the house.  My memories of going to see them in the summers were of sitting outside, under a shade tree or carport shelter or both.  Sometimes stringing beans, peeling potatoes, shucking corn, or doing something in the heat, albeit slowly!

Knowing that meals, of any kind, would be served in such sweltering conditions, do you think we over ate?  Hell no!  We ate just enough to call it a meal, and then it was cold dishes of some kind.  Fruit, fruit salads, lukewarm veggies, and maybe a meat that had been allowed to cool down.  This went on until I was a bit older.  Then came the AC window unit.

We would stay inside a little bit more.  As the unit was in the living room, it cooled down part of the house so staying inside to eat wasn't such a cookfest; yes a pun.  I don't remember how many units they eventually had in the house before...THEN came central air conditioning!!  What did we do?  We stayed inside, out of the heat!!   What did we eat?  EVERYTHING!  And a lot of it.

So does A/C and the light bulb have something to do with our eating patterns over the last 100 years?  You betcha!  Think about your own experiences growing up, or think about turning the A/C off for a day or two when it's in the high 80's, and see what you feel like eating.  I bet it would change?  Do you?  Give it a try...though maybe not this week!!

GO!

...and cigarette butts.

What trips my trigger?  Walking around the parking lots and outdoor parks in the area.  Nothing but butts.  Whatever happened to taking your trash with you, and yes cig butts are trash.  I hat seeing someone throw their cig butt out the car window.  Where do they think it's going?  To "fairy land?"  Hate it.

Another thing...cups from fast food chains in the trash bin at the gym.  Hmmm, one can say there will always be an issue with health when you see these at the GYM!  What did that person think before they came in..."I think I will hydrate with a refreshing soda, or maybe since I am going to the gym, a diet soda...yep, that's just what I need."

Are you serious?

http://www.activeconcepttraining.com/apps/blog/show/1981196-butter-vs-margarine-go-figure

The falacies of health are astounding, and the last place we need to look is a food guide pyramid or suggesstions from a government that has their hands in the "cookie jar" of so many companies that make a buck if they say "eat this."

n=1.  Keep a food journal for a month or two, and see how you FEEL when you eat what you eat.  Control your caloric intake.  EAT REAL FOOD!!

http://www.activeconcepttraining.com/apps/blog/show/3326313-how-do-we-get-fat-

Tell the truth to others.  Spread the word of how eating real food will start you down the road to better health!!  GO!