Meat & Vegetables

Lots of kids don't want to eat their
vegetables. With taste buds all over
their little mouths, vegetables can
seem bitter, or spicey or just gross.
I for one could not stomach raw
tomatoes because they reminded
me of garbage. Mushrooms tasted
like dirt, and olives were just
crazy gross.



But when you get to be an adult,
veggies start tasting better and better.
Onions become a staple of flavor.
Artichokes seem delicious. And
things like sliced cucumbers and
avocado are a delicacy.


So many men are really into their
meat. My brother in law won't eat
vegetables, only meat. And he likes
it spicey... which comes from hot
peppers...


Think of it this way. When you go
to Subway, the breads are good,
and you order your favorite meat.
But what really excites you is having
the plastic-gloved clerk load up
your sandwich with fresh veggies.
You know exactly what you want
when you walk through the door.
And it's the veggies that give your
sandwich the awesome flavors.

"Lettuce, tomato, green peppers,
yellow peppers, jalepenos, cucumbers."


Raw vegetables are alive. When you
chew a piece of red bell pepper, or
onion on a burger, you're eating a
living organism. This does a number
of good things for you.


The people of Okinawa live longer
than anyone on the planet. When I was
there, I asked a bunch of them why.
Almost every time, the answer was
that they eat a lot of seaweed, and
small amounts of pork. Each of them
seemed to think the small amounts of
pork is very important.


I don't recommend vegetarian or vegan
diet. The reason human brains have
so developed is because of eating meat.
2 million years of protein has turbo-charged
our cerebrums. Conversely, our early
ancestor Australopithecus was vegetarian,
and became extinct about 2 million years
ago.


The point of this blog is merely to suggest
a ratio of meat to vegetables.


Try to eat mostly vegetables and small
amounts of meat. In fact, you can probably
eat all the vegetables you want (although
corn is pretty high on the glycemic index).
Eat fruit, but remember that fruit is generally
more sugary than veggies. And eat some
meat. Okinawans recommend pork. Sometimes,
my body craves beef; so I'll eat lean beef,
but not too much of it. Eating fish seems
to help me lose body fat. I eat poultry, but
try to keep that in check also.


Go buy a nice red or orange bell pepper
and eat it like an apple.

Down 14-Pounds In 3-Weeks

I'll tell you how, but first I want
to tell you:
A. I am the master of losing weight
B. I'm not done yet
C. (this is important) I am in no
better "shape" now than I was
three weeks ago.

So, how do I lose body fat ?
It's 95 percent diet. Yes, you
do need to exercise if you want
to lose body fat; however, your
unyielding willpower must be
absolutely focused on what you
put in your mouth.

First (and this is not an advertisement),
when I want to lose body fat, I buy
three bottles of caffeine-free HydroxyCut.
The name sounds terrible, seemingly
implying that this product is comprised
of harsh chemicals and such, but
it's not. It's mostly green tea extracts.
I take two pills when I get out of bed,
wait an hour, then make an omelette
with two eggs, green onions and maybe
some mushrooms or red peppers. I take
my GNC vitamin pack with about
three ounces of juice.

I have weened myself off lunch. You
can do it too; you just need to eat dinner
a little earlier. Drinking water all day
helps a lot. In fact, other than juice with
breakfast, I don't drink anything else.

Some time around 3:00, I take two more
pills. The around 4:00, I make a great
salad. First iceberg, then spinach, then
either broccoli slaw or cabbage slaw,
then cucumbers, red peppers, fresh
cilantro, (sometimes Roma tomatoes)
two tablespoons of light dressing,
plenty of gorgonzola, several shakes
of real bacon bits, some dried berries,
dried coconut, sun-dried tomatoes,
several dashes of green Tobasco,
and lots of black pepper. I like to
give myself four or five Whoppers
for desert.

If I get hungry later, I eat a can of
white tuna, or sardines in hot sauce.
Protein in small quantities is the
name of the game.

Some nights, around 9:30, I will eat
a small bowl of Raisin Bran with
1% milk. This is a sugary snack, but
seems to help keep my bowels moving.
I don't eat very much of it either.

As far as exercise, I do follow a
regimen of approximately 60-minutes
each day--
but I'm doing Tai Chi and calisthenics,
not lifting weights or beating my brains
out somehow.

This is why I say I am in no better shape
than before. I have lost body fat, but
I am negligibly more capable than I was
three weeks ago. In fact, I took a "before"
photo with my belly hanging over my
pants, and it doesn't mean a damn thing.
Three weeks ago, I was in the best shape
of my life, and I still am.

You Are Born Of Energy

When you're green, you're growing.
When you're ripe, you rot.
So what is the difference between
growing and rotting ?
Growing is cultivating energy.
Rotting is the loss of energy.

Pinch yourself.
Go ahead and do it.

At the molecular level, your
skin looks like this:
http://www.nanohedron.com/dmso_delivery.jpg
What you see is matter.

But at the atomic level, matter
is comprised of atoms which are
mostly energy, and very little "stuff."

When you are dead, your body
lies motionless-- a lump of decomposing
matter. When you are alive, you
have energy; you move and breathe
and make decisions. In fact, the
human brain is so vast and complex,
it is rarely denoted or connoted as
simply a mass of "grey matter." It
is the movement of electro-magnetic
energy that makes it "a mind."
The body is exactly the same.

So why do you think about your body
as a mass of carbon-based matter ?
This is simply what you've been taught.
Most movement and exercises are practices
based on the concept of matter.

But when you practice Fu Tai Chi, you are
learning a completely different basis for
movement. Forget that you have bones.
Forget that you have muscles. Forget that
your earthly form is constructed of matter.
Instead, think of your body as a circuit of
energy with an awesome battery in the center.
Because it is.

The Chinese call life energy "chi." Practice
of Fu Tai Chi (and Chi Kung) cultivates energy.
Western doctors and trainers dispute the
existence of chi because they can't see it,
touch it or measure it. But they have the
same dilemma about death: what does
a living person have that a dead one
doesn't ? Energy. Chi.

When you're born, you breathe deeply.
As you get older, your breaths become
shorter and shorter. When you die,
you don't breath anymore.  Air is chi.
Wind is condensed chi. A tornado is
a powerful issuance of chi.

When you practice Fu Tai Chi, you learn
to breath in a sophisticated way that
cultivates and stores energy. When you
develop these skills, you eliminate
illness. You can do more in a day.
You will live longer and healthier.
And you can use the chi for many
different applications such as speed,
power, grace, accuracy and endurance.

Matter doesn't really matter.
Develop your energy.

Muscle is Temporary; Joints are Forever

Yesterday, I wrote a blog to say,
"Strength Ain't The Way."

Some heated debate arose on a
website that runs my blogs in
tandem. While I am trying to
start a revolution of better health,
and freely offer excellent advice,
some senior citizens argued with
me that lifting weights is
ALWAYS a good thing.

This morning I found a valuable
link on Oprah.com; multiple
"fitness" experts offer advice on
exercise in your 20's, 30's, 40's,
50's, 60's, period. If you briefly
peruse the article you will see
just "how important" weight lifting
is to LOSE WEIGHT when you're
young; then gradually, the experts
tell you to phase out of it in order
to maintain your mobility. There is
no mention of how to exercise after
the decade of your 60's:
http://www.oprah.com/health/Exercise-for-Your-20s-30s-40s-50s-and-60s_1/print/1

My work coincides greatly with this
information, with the exception that
I'm not advising exercise for fat loss.
I'm trying to convey the message that
MOBILITY IS PARAMOUNT TO
YOUR HEALTH.

I want you to think of it this way:
imagine a 1-14 scale pH test for mobility.
Less than seven is incrementally decreasing
mobility, and 8-14 is increasing mobility.
When you're born, you're immobile:
you are a one (1) on this scale. Then
as you grow up, you get more mobile
until you reach a precipice; let's just
guess you reach pH 10 at age 15. Then
you start getting older, and gradually
stiffer. You reach pH 7 at age 30, and
lose a point every decade after that.
Most people finish life grossly immobile.

If you were to imagine a pH scale for
health, it would overlay the pH scale
for mobility almost identically. So again:


MOBILITY IS PARAMOUNT TO
YOUR HEALTH. What I sincerely
want you to understand is that the more
mobile you are, the fewer health problems
you will have. This has everything to do
with stimulation of the internal organs &
the spinal column, and weight-bearing on
your bones (which is where white blood
cells are manufactured).


Every time you lift weights, you are reducing
your mobility. Your tendons are getting
shorter and shorter from all the excessive
pulling; this in turn reduces your range
of motion. Even if you stretch, it's not enough.
Your mobility pH is going down every day.
When you're older, you'll have twice as
far to go to regain mobility.


Conversely, if you practice Tai Chi, you will
let go of your strength. You will relax; stand
upright; allow your tendons to stretch in
natural, rotational patterns; and increase your
mobility. If you thought it was strange that
a 15-year old only achieves a mobility of 10,
it's because people like gymnasts, dancers
and Tai Chi masters are far more mobile
than even a highly flexible teenager.


Tai Chi is based on the philosophy of
the "Tao Te Ching." Chapter 76 reads:
Man when living is soft and tender;
When dead is hard and tough.
All animals and plants when living are tender and fragile
When dead they become withered and dry.
Therefore it is said:
The hard and tough are part of death;
The soft and tender are parts of life.


Weight lifting will speed you to your death.
Fu Tai Chi will make you tender and years younger.

Strength Ain't The Way

I once read a quote from Forbes that said
something like, "for each generation to
make progress, it must view the one before
it as barbaric."

These days, exercise is all about muscle
and strength. But in the future, we will
look back on these concepts as barbaric.
Why ? Well, for a lot of reasons.

We're starting to realize that building
muscle is not as valuable as enhancing
function, i.e. those with great coordination
and balance tend to be much more athletic
than those with great strength.

I thought yoga was fad. Back in the 90's,
all the ladies and metrosexual men were
dashing into yoga classes and workshops.
(I think Madonna had a lot to do with it)
I was sure that yoga would be dead in
ten years. I was wrong. But the way
I see it, many who practice yoga still
talk about how it builds strength.

The hottest emerging exercise is called

functional exercise or (gulp) "functional fitness."

The concept is that conventional weight

training isolates and builds muscles, but

it doesn't "teach" those muscle groups

to work with other muscles. So "functional"

movements focus less on raw strength and

more on integration and coordination. These

are more like whole-body exercises that will

help you lift a toddler out of a car seat or

carry a 60-pound suitcase down the stairs.

Doctors and trainers are closing in on the

exercise of the future. They know "functional"

is better than strong, and that stretching (yoga)

is really important. Tai Chi is all that and a

bag of chips.

Tai Chi is all about coordination. In fact, the

movements are slow so that you can fine tune

your coordination. When you move slowly,

you begin to feel which parts are not linked up.

In the west, we view "coordination" as aggregate.

But in Tai Chi, there are six coordinations:

three exterior (shoulders & hips; elbows &

knees; hands & legs) and three interior (heart

& intention; intention & chi; chi & strength).

At higher levels, all six must also coordinate.

Tai Chi is also a phenomenon of stretching.

Sure, yoga gets you stretched, but not like

Tai Chi. Tai Chi focuses on "functional"

stretching in the waist and hips so that you

can stand on your feet, balance very well,

and turn your body at will. Tai Chi masters

can move like the wind.

Tai Chi focuses on cultivation of "chi" or

life energy. The chi provides amazing

speed and power. While a western trainer

might believe this is just an alternative

method of strength training, the Tenets

of Tai Chi translate STRENGTH with the

word "Li." In Tai Chi, strength is forbidden

and "Li" is a dirty word.

My teacher's father once wrote, "when

you practice Tai Chi there should not

be a single iota of brute strength remaining

in your sinews."

The popularity of yoga has paved a perfect

path for Tai Chi. Time Magazine calls

Tai Chi "the perfect exercise," and it is.

In 20 years, we will look back and say,

"how silly that we used to focus on strength."

Think Fasting

This is not a subliminal message.
I write these words to plant the
seed inside your head.
Think fasting.

If you've never tried a fast, that
is, never intentionally denied
yourself food for 24 or 48 hours,
you should try it. If you've fasted
before, perhaps it's time again.

Fasting for a day is good for you.
The so-called "godfather of fitness,"
Jack Lalane, learned much of his juicing
and health techniques from a man named
Paul Bragg. Bragg loved to teach
people about the health benefits of
water fasting. It will clean your
system and help you start fresh.

I recommend you try it this way:

Tell yourself you're not going to eat
for 24 hours. Convince yourself.
Eat a normal breakfast and a healthy
lunch; then eat a salad for dinner.
Drink water with the salad, and for
the rest of the evening. Go to bed.

When you wake up, drink water
(definitely not coffee). Keep a full
glass of water with you all day, and
keep sipping it. I recommend distilled
water first, and filtered water second.
(Paul Bragg also recommended distilled).

If you get hungry, change up the water
for tea or watered-down juice. Go for
tea first; try not to drink juice unless
you're really coming apart. Do not let
yourself eat anything until dinner time.
Then, eat another salad and drink more
water. Drink water through that evening,
and go to bed. Try to eat light and healthy
the next day: mostly veggies if you can.

The "tail end" of this exercise is to observe
and consider the rates, consistencies, colors
and general abnormality of your bowel
movements. A water fast with veggies
consumed before and after should scrape
and flush your gastrointestinal system.
You should see all kinds of "weird shit"
and you might feel like improving your
diet for the future. (imagine scraping a film
of Big Mac’s from your intestines, and you
probably won’t want to replace it…)

Repeat as often as once each week, but
definitely try to fast once every six to
twelve months.

Old People Should Not Lift Weights

Without medical doctors, we would sure
be lost. They know all kinds of stuff
about organs and bones and brains--
all kinds of stuff.

But when I read about some doctor
suggesting seniors should lift weights,
I throw up a little in my mouth. They
don't call 'em DUMBELLS for nuthin'.

As humans, we want to walk upright.
But as we age, the so-called "stabilizing
muscles" have tensed and flexed so
much that they begin to merely lock up.
I'm talking about your hips and waist.

As the hips begin to lock in the adducted,
inward-rotated and hip-flexed position
(bent over and knock-kneed), the upper
and lower body will follow. Knees, feet
and ankles get stiff. Shoulders, elbows,
wrists and fingers get stiff.
(This is starting before you even turn 30...)

Without stretching, the joints break down.
They progressively stiffen out of alignment
because some ligaments lengthen abnormally
while others shorten. This wears the cartilage,
causing arthritis, pain and reduced mobilization.

http://www.arthroscopy.com/sp12001.htm
(contrary to this diagram, tendons CAN
be lengthened)

By the time your 55, your tendons are short
and brittle. Lifting weights exacerbates the
problem, and can cause the muscle fibers
to tear out of their boney origins or insertions.

Resistance training is just plain dumb for
old people. This is why Tai Chi has become
so popular at assisted living facilities. Tai Chi
assists the elderly to mobilize their joints
without the risk of injury. Duh.