The perfect spice: BACON!

Grass fed burgers, beef filets, and the "spice"!

I have gotten into what I feel is a very positive habit; that of grilling about a weeks' worth of meat on my day off, usually Sunday.  But, today being a rainy Wednesday, I enjoyed putting this little ensemble together!

The thing about bacon is, it is relatively cheap, it adds a lot of good fat, which adds a LOT of great flavor, and it goes with anything- fish, fowl, beef, or even PORK! (fancy that!)

And afterwards, after you've eaten some of the meat for supper, you have a lot of bacon to save! (If you've eaten some already, fine... but I usually save most of it).

Along with your morning (free range!) eggs, you now have grilled bacon to heat up briefly in the microwave!  Trust me- this makes for a breakfast that you will dream about.  Just add some coffee with real whipped cream, sweetened with stevia and topped with cinnamon, and you are not only fortified for many hours that day, but also loaded down with beneficial nutrients!

Add in a Paleo smoothie, and you might not have to eat at ALL that day, if you get too busy!  (And I guarantee you won't miss the toast, muffin, or whatever other harmful filler you used to think was necessary!)

The Hunt!

 

Right now, I am grilling!

There is a rainstorm outside; I know very well, since I was out in it!  

Why, you may ask?  Well, on Sundays I like to work out "heavy", meaning in the basement.  I use my power rack to press against full-out in "aerobic isometrics", doing slow, isometric-type movements that simulate chins, dips, and military presses, against a bar at various levels in the rack.  Usually now for one minute at a time "under load".  Strenuous, to say the least!

I also do elevated, full-range pushups on chairs, chins and dips for high reps, leg lifts, hyper-extensions, grip work, and hack squats, leaning far back in the rack to take the strain off my knees (and glutes!), leg raises, and a few other weird exercises that I promise I will detail at length soon! (I really like them, and they work very well for me!)  They are good at alleviating "injury-prone" zones, and work the muscle well, and quickly- the whole deal takes me about 35 to 40 minutes total. 

I wind up with Tim Ferris' )of Four Hour Body fame's kettle bell swings- I do 75 reps, as he recommends, and have for some time now.  I have a kettle bell I built out of pipe, which is adjustable, and it really is the bomb!

If there is one exercise to get the whole body, this is it!!

Then, I did bare-foot sprinting in the yard; about 50 yards at a time.  It had started raining, and I almost gave it up, but then- Hey!  the rain feels kind of good on my bare shoulders- very cooling!

My point in all of this?

I have vegetable shish kebabs grilling right now.  I will add grass-fed beef filets and scallops shortly.  I am sipping red wine as I write this post...

I feel great, and I know NOTHING I do this coming week will

be even one iota as hard!!

I think this is a valuable point: after exerting yourself really hard; giving it your ALL, it puts everything else in modern life in perspective.  

The stresses we all undergo each week, after simulating the HUNT as I just did- the chase, the kill, the sheer physical exertion that our ancestors necessarily underwent, and that we should for our own physical (and mental!) well being-

Well, our modern stressors are put into perspective.  Very underwhelming; almost easy in comparison.  

And now, I will really enjoy the feast!

Time to go baste the vegetables in coconut oil, tribespeople!

The 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferriss

I promised I would review the 4 Hour Body, and here I am, at last to do so!

As Tim Ferriss himself points out, this is a book not meant to be read cover to cover- it is more of a reference book about physical stuff- albeit a "crazy" sort of reference book, written for a younger audience for sure, and so much more "alternative".  Think of The Whole Earth Catalog, but then, if you know what that was, I guess you're not so young after all, so you'll know exactly what I mean by "alternative".

Not to say that this book doesn't have useful, even essential information- it surely does!  Who wouldn't like to know how to best lose fat, build muscle, and eliminate prior injuries?  It's just that, in addition to those instructions, which are extensive, and actually quite perceptive and ahead of the curve by a mile!, he also has chapters about Holding your breath for 5 minutes!  and Adventures in Tripling Sperm Count.  Although I'm sure there is an avid target audience for those chapters, and some even more esoteric ones; I'll let you discover those when you read the book, since I really think you should!  

This book has TONS of really useful, really accurate advice!  And, it all comes "pre-tested" by Tim, as he is a "human guinea pig"! (He so attests himself!)  He really puts himself through all of these "quests", and walks the walk of really doing what he is talking about in his book!  Very unusual, in this day of "armchair pundits"...

The Kettlebell Swing in his chapter "Building the perfect Posterior" has to be a classic version of cutting to the chase- letting you know the one exercise that will give you the very most in terms of results!  (I've started doing it on a regular basis- that alone was worth the cost of the book!)

But then, I know a lot of what he is talking about from first hand experience.  And, from that, I know that what he is talking about overall is right on the money!  Paleo Diet (He calls it "slow burn", and adds in beans).  In fact, as an AVID Paleo fan, I heard him on the podcast "The Paleolithic Solution" with Robb Wolf- that's how an old dude like me even heard about the book! 

He knows about Arthur Jones and Nautilus, Ken Hutchins and Superslow training, the Casey Viator experiment that packed 63 pounds of muscle onto an already advanced bodybuilder in 28 days!, and lots more that occurred at a time when he was too young to have known about it directly.  

And he replicated the same protocol onto himself, with similar (and even more visually striking) results!

Not your usual how-to book.

I recommend this book to all!  Although I believe mainly (young) men will buy it, due to it's provocative book jacket and marketing, I think women, and especially older women and men would have the very most 

to gain from what information he offers.  

Go thee and read!  (But not the whole thing at once)

Jay

Practical fitness benefits

Here is
a very practical way to use your health and fitness, gained through healthy, primal/paleo/barbarian eating and exercise.  When the snow left over from a blizzard is MORE than your tractor can handle, you just get out the heavy-duty scoop shovel and have an "unscheduled workout"!

Kind of fun, really...

If you are NOT fit, however, you may wind up with a bad, wrenched back, shoulders or knees, or even a life-ending event!

Just a little observation from me on a cold, sunny, day-after-a-blizzard kind of a day!

Oil Pulling, and coconut oil period!

Jay and Wayne love to Pull Oil!!

I have been "pulling" coconut oil for about a month or so...

Just swishing it around in my mouth, as I take my shower each morning.

I first run the coconut oil, food grade!, in the little bottle I 've purchased, through the microwave for a minute-

When it is liquid, I :

massage a palm-full through my hair!

Put a "shot-glass" full into my mouth- and start SWISHING it around!

After my shower is almost completed, I:

1. Put shampoo on my coconut-covered head, and shampoo it out!
2. Spit the coconut oil in my mouth into the toilet! ( It would clog the sink pipes- it is that RICH!)

Then, I take the coconut oil, put about a tsp. into my palm, and put it on my face and neck- and then, I shave, needing NO shaving cream, since this coconut oil is FAR more lubricating than anything you've ever experienced!!


I also put a full can of coconut milk into my "Barbarian Juice Drink" each morning, and this lubricates me from the "inside out"- no more dry skin!!

"OIL CAN!!" as the TinWoodman was wont to say...

We are meant to eat medium chain fatty acids, as represented by Coconut oil!!

Carbs are the problem- NOT FATS!!!

Cheap Beer on the barbarian/paleo diet

OK, this is a biggie post:

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, somehow is fixated on alcohol, and how it fits into Paleo diet!


I don't know; it seems to be a fixation- "How can I justify drinking alcohol in my new, obviously improved, massively functional diet of Barbarian eating??

My own recommendation: don't worry about it!

(this is after massive, huge, and intensive research... REALLY!)

It appears that alcohol basically just... RETARDS your fat burning!

Whilst you drink it, your body just preferentially burns alcohol as fuel...

no insulin spike, nothing really bad...

Just a "preferential burning" of a really cool fuel, til it's gone.

Then, back to burning fats! (If you've made the barbarian transition to being a fat burner!)

What would be bad, is if you drank Coke, or other soda pops of nightmare sugared ingredients!

Also, if you drink CHEAP beer, it appears you are better off!!

Cheap beer, aka Blatz, Pabst, Hamms, and their ILK, are all mainly brewed from Corn- much less in terms of anti-nutrients.

My fave, Guinness, is probably the WORST because of all the intense barley involved...

But, even that, I opine, is probably NOT THAT BAD for a barbarian!

If you dial in the REST of your diet:  NO grains, no sugar, ample grass fed meats (preferably), seafood (sardines are ideal!), lots of vegetables, some fruits, and ample good fats (pastured butter, whole cream, and coconut milk and oil) you are FINE!!

So drink up, and imagine how you are going to destroy the Roman empire, since you aren't going to eat their grain-based, nutrient deficient diet, and so will be able to take them DOWN!!

The essence of being a barbarian is to be able to take what is GOOD from civilization, and yet retain the best of our barbarian, ancestral knowledge!