So easy a caveman could do it

The gulf stream shifts, warm tropical air moves in, charcoal in the grill turns light gray, and I with a single malt scotch sit on the deck with the smell of cooking meat pervading the air.  Life is good.  As Spring rolls in and fresh produce once again becomes available, cutting carbs is no longer a decision, its auto-matic.  Even Mrs D is willing to give up her wieght watcher ways for more fresh vegetables, and food on the grill.  Grilled pasta, hah, fugedaboutit.  This time of year the cravings for heavy starchy food seem to fade on thier own.  Its as if nature is telling our bodies that winter is over and its time to shed the excess blubber and get about the business of chasing and eating meat.   The winter sloth is gives way to activity outside.  Cutting grass, clearing brush, organinzing and planting a garden.  Here in the northern lattitudes for the first time in months the Sun is now Strong enough again to cause our skin to make vitamin D.  I think this is at the heart of the need to be outside.  Our reserves of our own natural vitamin D reserves are depleted.  We need the sun to restore us to a healthy state, and this drives us outside to sit and work in the sun. The cold pale flourescent lights now seem mean and hateful.  Get me out of this cubical hell ,and let me go play in the sun my inner cave dude screams.  My inner cave dude and I have been communicating more regularly these days, and I have been trying to minimize anything he wouldn't recognize as food.  I call him my inner cave dude, but more accurately he is my Jungian archetypal ancestor figure, inner cave dude just sounds cooler.  My inner cave dude thinks I should take up bow hunting again, Mrs D says I need a hobby to get me off the computer.  Maybe thier both right.

Girrrrls!

Strong Women Rock! New York Times

Butter This!

One of my biggest complaints about the High Carb/Low fat crowd is their insistance that all we who practice carb restriction eat, is bacon and butter. The recent bru-ha-ha about the Atkins diet beating the others has brought Ornish and his cronies out of the woodwork spouting thier nonsense, and his "bacon and butter" comments are everywhere. He's a lucky man he lives so far away from me, cuz If I could get to his house I would put a flaming bag of cow dung on his front porch, ring the bell and run away to watch him stomp it out. So with out further ado.... Do I eat bacon and butter? Sometimes. Do I eat vegetables" Yes, lots of them. Do I eat fish? Again, Yes, quite often. And berries, and apples, and Oranges, and even a bean or two. Right at this moment I'm in an eat on principle, not counting phase. While it might seem silly to some that I measure everything and count nothing, one does have one limits you know. I really don't know what my calorie or carb count is, but If some one wants to add it up, good for them, but I'm fairly certain that my carbs are well below what the ADA etc recomends. A typical day, today, looks like this.

Breakfast:
3 eggs plus .5C egg beaters
2 oz Canadian (back) bacon
6 oz V8
1 small banana
Coffee with cream and splenda

Lunch:
5 oz Salmon
3 cups salad
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp vinegar
1 med apple
Liptons Diet Ctirus Green Tea

Snack
1oz nuts
2/3 cup cottage cheese
2/3 cup mixed berries

Supper
8 oz Top Round
3 C roasted vegs
.5C rice
2tbsp olive oil
Wine (Yellow Tail Cab/Merlot Blend)

Post Work Out
1C Milk
2 scoops Bomber Blend Protein Powder

How many low fat dieters eat that many vegetables, or get as many
nutrients from thier grain based diet? Not many I'll bet. So for all you
bacon and butter preachin low fat zionist, take that and smoke it.

Squat!

If, for what ever reason, I was forever allowed access to only one book on strength training, the book I would choose is, The Complete Keys to Progress by John McCallum. Originally written as a series of articles between June 1965 and November 1972 for “Strength and Health” magazine, this goldmine of information was collected into a book, and is still available and relevant even today. In this one book, is how to advance from beginner to intermediate, to advanced. How to train if your old, young, skinny, fat, or injured. You will find the recipe for the “Get Big Drink” , how to properly do a ketogenic diet, and the benefits of protein. I consider myself fortunate to have been exposed to McCallums writings very early on in my training career. While to many, my views about strength training fall into the “HIT” school, in my own mind, I consider myself a “McCallumite”. The bottom line in training is out right hard work. There is no substitute. All these complicated schemes of sets and reps and undulating periodization patterns and what ever the latest buzzwords are is a sham. Most people spend way to much time thinking about how to train. I was speaking to an acquaintance of mine who knew that I lifted. He wanted my opinion of a spread sheet he had developed to help him keep track of what set/rep scheme he was supposed to do and for which body part on any given day. It was full of a's, b's, c's, and d's in multiple colors with a legend and auto calendering, truly impressive it was. I told him I thought it was “something else”. He asked If I wanted a copy. I politely refused. He looked confused, and somewhat hurt. There was a question on his lips, when I interrupted, “I only workout twice a week, maybe three if I'm doing an upper/lower split”. I then proceeded to receive a mini lecture on the science of strength training and optimal lifting patterns yadda yadda yadda. To which I responded, “So, how much do you squat?” Confused silence. So I continue, “like for Instance, right now I'm squatting 235 for 2 sets of 15, how much weight do you put on the bar when you squat? “Really?” he asks. “Yup, I'm doing some foundation work do get my strength back up to par”. - “Oh,... can you really squat 235 for two sets of 15?” - “Sure, I've done more than that. But at this point I don't go really heavy anymore. Not worth it.” Now, I realize that for many squatting 235 for 2x15, isn't very heavy. I agree. Unless of course you are A: a small framed women, or B: one of those folks who never really works hard, but just works out. But, If you're a man under the age of 50, and have no limitations from illness or injury, squatting 250 for 2x15 should be a minimum for a foundation of strength. Women should go for about 1.25 x body weight. Until you build a foundation of strength, all those fancy schmancy schemes will do you more harm than good. Even after you build your foundation a good basic work out, worked hard, will get you far. Whats a good basic work out? I'm so glad you asked. Based on the work out in Chapter one of “Keys”:

Overhead Press 2 sets of 12
Bent Rows 2 sets of 15
Bench Press 2 sets of 12
Curls 1 set of 10
Squats 2 sets of 15
Breathing Pullovers 2 sets of 20
Straight Leg Dead lift 1 set of 15
leg lifts 1 set of 25

Lifting for Lymphoma

Dave Tate writes about an up comming project by Alwyn Cosgrove that is for a very good cause.