Latest in Paleo, The Weekly Paleo Podcast

"This Week in Paleo is a dynamic new blog and weekly podcast. "At the intersection of scientific evidence and evolutionary clues left to us by our ancestors, the Paleo Diet and Lifestyle is a unique approach to nutrition and fitness."

Angelo Coppola, the voice and force behind this Paleolithic diet podcast, is a deep voiced and entertaining joy... each issue is well researched and well produced. In its recent recreation Angelo has three timely podcasts, but for even more see the archives which includes 22 earlier shows.

Paleolithic diet

Paleolithic diet (abbreviated paleo diet or paleodiet), also popularly referred to as the caveman diet, Stone Age diet and hunter-gatherer diet, is a nutritional plan based on the presumed ancient diet of wild plants and animals that various human species habitually consumed during the Paleolithic—a period of about 2.5 million years duration that ended around 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture. In common usage, such terms as the "Paleolithic diet" also refer to the actual ancestral human diet.

A Blend of what I have learned

I believe I am finally ready to blend what I have learned and formulate my own culinary vision. I have revisited "Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days" an inspirational documentary based on the raw vegan retreat  Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center run by Gabriel Cousens, M.D. and felt the exhilarating optimism I knew when I visited the Ann Wigmore Natural Health Institute in Puerto Rico several years ago with my children.

Maximizing my exposure to raw fresh wholesome vegetables, while allowing myself the dietary joys of high quality meats and cheese in the world of a low-carb regime, I feel I can find a compromise with my real world addictions and culinary passions. I can never fully appease the dictatorial expectations of any one dietary discipline, yet never-the-less there is a blended balance consistent to my individual needs and what can work. Being trim and healthy, as well as, physically satisfied is not only possible but in pragmatic reach. I feel I am finally coming to an agreement between my inner needs and my external environment. A potential master of my own compulsive eating disorder.

a diet completely without carbohydrates

It is worth noting that while there are Essential fatty acids (EFA) and Essential amino acids (EAA) there are no essential carbohydrates of any sort and while a diet devoid of EFA or EAA will result in eventual death, a diet completely without carbohydrates can be maintained indefinitely without health detriment.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/low-carbohydrate-diet#ixzz1DtOsaovf

Drink, Drink, Drink that w..a..t..e..r

YouTube: Basics Of Low-Carb

How To Start Low-Carb

Jimmy Moore's "Livin' La Vida low-carb" a blog, podcast, and general overall resource for low-carb living is a great kick-off place. iTune it, google it, you-tube it and all will come tumbling down.

Laura Dolson's Low-Carb Food Pyramid

Once Again yet New and Fresh

It was quite obvious, for a very long time, I felt defeated and acquiescent to never being thin again. Yet again I feel ready to reenter the battle field and attempt the challenge.

There is no need to fully articulate all the pain I feel in my body, and in particular my back, which has nudged me brutally into hopelessness. These are the symptoms shared with an embarrassed majority in my native America. The fact that I live in Japan only highlights the cultural, sociological, psychological, and physiological factors that have spawned an epidemic on America's biggest generation.

So crestfallen, at our image bombasted via a hundred casual cell phone photos, I and my fatty peers now must fortify with pragmatic solutions... or die too soon. What other choice if no choice leaves me as I am today, obese and in despair. Both as part of a worldwide army of the misshapen and as an individual bludgeoned by his own self-image, hard core dieting is my only realistic choice.

A grueling somethingness

My actions are laughable though prophetic.
These words utterly inadequate.
My process a snail crawl to a promised resolution,
though my ability to keep promises questionable.
A circle dance, theoretical musical chairs...
The theories all having impact like bumper pile-ups on crowded highways.

Nothingness vs Somethingness

There comes inspiration and none at all, as all is forgotten. The intake we understand is causation compounding desire and need, all suggesting a hungry ghost's endless appetite. But fat is not a suggestion, it is a diabolical fact, a wasted energy source on an overextended societal debt... a wasted waistline.

Swirling within the Whirlpool

Massive wall of impotence and frustration. Hiding in air-conditioned tombs, watching the world through the window of the internet... Eat through the chain, not likely. Creation is the only way out. Defecate my fears and follow a muse through the skylight to the moon. Be the cow that jumps over. Be the man willing to die, to quiet forces founded on self love. Be, before non-being takes precedence. Before this prophecy of death hits the heart. Too late, always too soon, sing the chorus, preserve the tune, loosen the lyrics... let me be again, as before, an artist, free and naive, self-propelled and self-satisfied.

Buddha's warning of inevitable old age, sickness, and death

I lost three teeth in the last month or so. A problematic back molar eventually worked itself loose. More problematic, one of my two top front teeth hung loose prompting a cosmetic necessity of replacement, ... and while at the dentist I decided to eliminate a space from an earlier fall out. In the process of replacing my old bottom front teeth caps an additional tooth came out. Forgive this graphic explanation (more than you probably care to know).

My point being... the misfortune of aging pounces, and we have only so much we can do to prevent the onslaught. This belligerence of nature is terrifying, and I find myself scrimmaging for philosophical insights to shield from depression. Sure wish I had some god to offer to. Perhaps the inevitable sacrifice is our own human form, as in Christ on his cross. Nobody gets out of here alive, and seldom in good form. The bones in our necklace at death are often our own.

Endless Reminders

The calcium deposits may be the cause or the symptom, but the diagnosis is gout ('Tsufu' as we say in Japan) and the result is painful steps and inflammation. So a day spent in the hospital clarified what I was facing... dietary 'issues'. What I love, meats and seafood, creates gout, and what I crave, creamy desserts, helps make me fat. The solution would be to enjoy sacrifice, skinnism, fasting, I sense what I really need is an adventure, a daily process, a goal fully absorbing. A challenge I believe in, love doing, want to follow through. Unfortunately too much in my life is abstracted into dry toast. I am listening to a book by Gail Blanke titled "Throw Out Fifty Things". This was a process we attempted this summer with considerable success but apparently it is far from over. I can't believe how much more I need to get rid of.

http://www.throwoutfiftythings.com/

Terrible struggle of complacency

I returned desperately to meat as if the successes of a summer as a fish eating vegetarian was not value enough. Now my weight rises in a dance with depression and many many small actions to break the spell and invite back a long lost vitality. My reflection terrifies me. Yet in my terror I hide my mind with mountains of distractions. I live in paradise but the character I choose to play is utterly despicable. What color madness am I painting on this precious canvas... is tearful empathy my only answer?

Sometimes Simple is Best

As simple as A... B... C...
SMART Recovery ® (Self Management And Recovery Training)

ABCs- a crash course.

If you get some paper and a pencil to use while you read this, you can learn this technique in 10 minutes.

The "ABC's" are an exercise from REBT, which is a form of cognitive therapy that is simple enough and effective enough to be used by anybody and- it works. You can learn to do this straight out of a book, or off the computer screen. We use it to examine the beliefs we have (or the thinking we are doing) as some of this may be causing us problems. The "ABC's" are an exercise that helps us to stop being victimized by our own thinking.

A common example is the issue of someone else's behavior "making us angry". This is a very common way of expressing something and we hear it often, but in fact it distorts the situation it attempts to describe. A more accurate description of "someone making me angry" is to say that I feel angry about their behavior. They are not making me anything- they are simply behaving in a way that I am getting angry about. I notice their behavior and then I become angry. The responsibility for the anger is mine, not theirs. This can sound strange at first, but dealing with problematic anger and frustration this way works.

REBT theory says that it is generally irrational and self-defeating to get all worked up about someone else's behavior. The anger is based on a faulty assumption, which is that the other person SHOULD behave in the way I want them to. If you think about it, what the other person SHOULD do is not necessarily what they DO do. This is a very important element of the equation- reality. They do what they do, and then I/you automatically get angry about it, and feel quite upset for a while- possibly very upset. It's like walking around with a big pushbutton on your forehead that says "Push here to aggravate". Is this a useful response to others' behavior? Probably not.

Since they are very likely going to do that (whatever it is) anyway, it seems, then it would make life a great deal easier if I/you didn't get angry about it and lose our peace of mind. This is what REBT can accomplish, in many such situations. The missing part of the puzzle, and the part that is the really crucial part, is what WE THINK about what they do.

For example, if I really believe that they MUST NOT do whatever they are doing, and then they still continue to do it, then the DEMAND that I have inside my head that says; "they MUST NOT do that" will put considerable pressure on me from the inside to do something about it, which I am very often unable to do. Often, it just isn't possible to control other peoples' behavior. So this will automatically make me feel bad; frustrated, ineffective, angry, desperate, hurt, enraged, and so on because I cannot translate the DEMAND "they MUST NOT do that" into reality. Most external phenomena I simply cannot control. The problem is that I am DEMANDING something that I cannot get. It is better for my peace of mind if I simply PREFER to get what I want than DEMAND it.

How much easier it is if I can become aware of this and make a choice to change the DEMAND "they MUST NOT do that" into a more rational alternative, which actually means something; "I PREFER that they don't do that". Once I downgrade the DEMAND to a simple PREFERENCE, the heat is turned down and I can function again. After all, it's now only a preference!

REBT has a simple exercise to help us make this adjustment, called "the ABCs". It is used to analyze the situation and change our thinking about it so that without trying to change external reality, we can feel better about it. This doesn't mean that we should never try to change external reality- sometimes it is appropriate- it's when it isn't an appropriate or effective response that we can choose to have a different response instead in order to feel better. To use this ABC exercise for yourself, just pick any situation where someone's behavior is "making you angry" and take a look and see what it is you are thinking about it that is DEMAND-ing and irrational, and change it into something more rational- a PREFERENCE. It is irrational to demand that people behave in the way we want them to! Here is an example using drunken people making a lot of noise late at night as they pass by outside where I live.
SMART Recovery® is: Self Management And Recovery Training

A. (Activating situation)
Drunk people outside, making some noise.

B. (Irrational Belief I have about A) They MUSTN'T make any noise.

C. (Consequences of having those beliefs about A)

When noisy drunken people pass in the street outside late at night and wake me up I feel angry. It feels bad. I lie awake feeling angry and upset and don't get back to sleep for a long time.

D. (Dispute the irrational Beliefs in B by turning them into questions and answers)

WHY shouldn't they make any noise- where is that commandment written in stone? Well, it isn't.

E. (Effective new thinking- substitute something rational instead of B)

Drunken people often tend to be noisy, but it's no big deal. It is very common that they make some noise on their way home. I will CHOOSE to not upset myself about this, and I will stop even noticing it because it is not a problem for me. When this happens I will say "Ah, the drunk people who pass in the night" (taking care to spell it right) and go back to sleep.


You can make an ABC exercise really short;

A. (Activating situation) Drunks walking past outside, making some noise. B. (Irrational Belief I have about A) They SHOULDN'T make any noise C. (Consequences of having those beliefs about A) I Feel angry, etc
D. (Dispute the irrational Belief/s in B) WHY shouldn't they make any noise?
E. (Effective new thinking) Drunk people do make noise, it's what they're good at- its like a natural talent for them. I will CHOOSE to not upset myself about this.

And you can do this on many situations that bother you and reclaim your peace of mind, just look for the DEMAND and turn it into a PREFERENCE. Here's another one...


A. (Activating situation) I tried to do something and failed
B. (Irrational Belief I have about A) I must always be successful
C. (Consequences of believing B) I feel bad, depressed, etc
D. (Dispute the Irrational Belief in B) where is it written in stone that I must I always be successful?
E. (Effective new thinking to replace B) I would prefer always to be successful but let's be realistic- that isn't very likely, is it- so when I'm not successful I don't need to make myself feel bad.
SMART Recovery® is: Self Management And Recovery Training

That's it- that is how to do ABC's. Try this technique with something that is bothering you. Try to keep it as simple as you can while you get used to the ideas involved. Be aware of "should- ing" and "musterbation" (these simply mean the occurrence of problem-causing "should" and "must" DEMANDS in your thinking). Here are some things you might think or believe, in which case these could be your "iB"s;


I MUST NOT feel overwhelmed with responsibilities
I CAN'T STAND IT when I feel (bored, sad, lonely, whatever) People MUST not take me for granted
Email lists SHOULD be how I expect them to be Other people SHOULD behave in the way I want I SHOULD be able to have a drink
I NEED a drink ("NEED" is often interpreted as MUST HAVE- be aware of such invisible
MUSTS)
They MUST see it my way
I MUST NEVER display weakness
The sun MUST shine tomorrow
People who do bad things MUST ALWAYS be punished etc.

Try to find some Activating situations, iB's and Consequences of your own and do this exercise with them. Often is easier to start with the C- the Consequences of the A and B and work back to see what they were. Whenever you feel upset it can be a useful exercise to see if an ABC can be done on the situation and your thinking about it. You never know, you might just feel better. Get into the habit of doing this regularly and you might feel a lot better overall. And do please note; this is a tool not just a theory. Success with this (and other) cognitive techniques is dependent on your writing out your own examples and making it part of the way you think.

© 2006 - 2009 SMART Recovery® All rights reserved by SMART Recovery®

Tubes

To be part of an epidemic of obesity, to be a walking manifestation of a cultural dilemma, or not to be... my personal question of survival. My diversion to exertion, my proactive self-destruction, comes down to a betrayal, a neglecting of a court order from the evolutionary process of perseverance.

Gluttony, sloth, and greed, deadly sins as old as written reflection... a mirror, a magnification, indisputable evidence, a proclamation of guilt throughout the week. A sad journey of wobbly stunted motions, arthritic feet, and short breath panting.

Cut loose, cut calories, increase motion, change something fundamental inside where the sun don't shine... where a voice goes unheard, where some lie lays undisturbed, some rotten anti-truth decaying still salvageable flesh. Demons dance on a corpse of this living being, laughing and teasing 'Wake-up! Wake-up! You foolish old pig on a stick, or we will roast you in the flames of your own decadent sins!'

But I am intoxicated with diversions, and beat myself down with my spiralling stupor. Lamentable lard laid out on the pit, a luau for angry lost souls and mocking Asian crows.

A feast for the dismal self-righteously hungry, or one more blessed witness to God's rule? A Rumi poem of a lion eating a greedy ox, allowing the fox a chance, to know it is better to sacrifice all of the hunt's bounty, in order to be allowed to be left in the hunt. Better to sacrifice today’s pleasures in exchange for life, in agreement with the punishable laws of our universe.

Get off my merry-go-round while I still can.

No Direction Chose

I choose. Dubious such as it is. Lack of exercise, lack of caloric discipline. Choosing web work, driving... choosing to feel the stiff, the crystallizing joints, the out of breath sweating encumbered soul. So easy to tumble under the weight of sadness. Wondering if I have the spirit to counter-attack this summer. To make hard choices before I am chosen by nature as another bad example.

Small Successes Small Setbacks

There There, Big Boy... sometimes you go to the scale and there is good news, and you just do not know why. The very fact that you have not been paying attention may be the reason for your success, just as when you neglected the scale you gained all that weight. Go figure.

Marauding Anxiety

I will need to weed the planters on the terrace, toss the dried weeds into the recyclable trash. All part of an illusion of normalcy. All above an underlying theme of angst, a perpetual percolation of anxiety. There is such a magnificent spring outside, seeping through the windows.

We allow the world in, for better or for worse. We must. Life is a participatory phenomena. To walk as a ghost on the parameters of existence just doesn't cut it. We need to be in the game, to make any sense of what it is we are doing here. If we make it a meditation then there needs to be a front line of analysis, somewhere the rubber meets the road. Better we are the one directing the motion, initiating the interaction, living the life that suits us best.

Not taking the bull by the horns, or the balls, or, as in Zen, as a gentle friend, lead by its ring... is a fundamental error. Yet choosing among the options, when cloaked in a trench coat of despair, is daunting for the depressed. The chicken to egg cycle, of impotence due to the blues, needs to be disrupted somehow. The old hen needs to be beheaded or the damn egg scrambled.

In someway an initiative followed by an ignition is called for... a fire under our procrastinating perplexity... A self-anointed rite of passage, out the door, and into the mix of things. Spring awaits, but only for one season. Summer sits simmering just around that pertruding bend up ahead. Best to pull weeds while we still have fingers.

Best to express what you are really thinking, what you really want to be doing... and then, do it.

No Place to Go

To go out... I seem to have no romance with place, unless there is a high probability that I might meet someone. So the best place for me is a centrally located coffee shop where I know friends go. Since I am sedimentary at home, this means I end up being sedimentary when I go out. I love sedimentary activities. Computers, movies, chatting with friends, watching strangers, reading, listening. All are, more often than not, a study in still life.

Taking a walk with a friend, or dancing, as well as walking in dynamically different environments as a pilgrim or a tourist, are ways in which I combined my love of society with exercise. This is one reason I often fantasize purchasing a small place as residence downtown (either here in Kyoto or New York, though other dynamic centralized urban centers might work equally well) or to have a storefront where passersby may stop in and chat, as we watch the passing strangers, together over coffee.

There are many people watchers as myself... I wonder what it all means... what purpose do we serve in the organism of humankind? Is there some greater purpose, than just passing time? Are we meant to do more than watch life go by?