Book review, revisiting dairy, holidays...

So I finished my breakfast early this morning and thought I'd use the extra time to finally get my post reviewing Robb Wolf's book The Paleo Solution up on here.

First off, I have to say the book was almost wholly enjoyable. I found most of Robb's attempts at humor successful, and he didn't come off as a know-it-all too badly. Of course, Robb is a direct disciple of the Dr. Loren Cordain, who wrote the original book on The Paleo Diet.

Anyway, Robb's book is great, a pretty quick read, and he keeps it very light despite the intrinsically heavy subject matter. He doesn't go into the depth that Mark Sisson did in The Primal Blueprint , and he's not literarily awe-inspiring like Lierre Keith in The Vegetarian Myth or anything, but I'd definitely be remiss not to recommend you include it on your bookshelf. One thing I have to admit is that it's got me rethinking the issue of dairy.

It has always been my stance that those of us who tolerate dairy well should take advantage of this source of animal fat, protein, and other good things. The Maasai people provide an example of someone thriving on a highly dairy-laden diet.

But Robb Wolf makes the point that I used to think I was able to tolerate grain well, and that 30 days is a small price to pay to find out whether there's another level of wellness I'd achieve by going dairy free.

So I'm drinking my coffee with a coconut-based imitation of half and half that isn't half bad (wish I could say the same for my own sense of humor), and contemplating survival without copious supplies of cheese. I'm simply doing preparations now for a probable future endeavor into a world in which lactose is a bad word.

I would have to predict that I'll end up deciding that raw and grass-fed dairy products, especially fermented ones, are worthwhile inclusions into my dietary regimen, but at this point, I'm just getting ready for a post-holiday foray into cheeselessness.

That's all for now. I had a lot on my mind and I'm not sure it's all out there, so I reserve the right to edit this post. Leave me some comments!

Cholesterol

Well, I've been a lazy blogger for some time, due partly to the fact that I'm not even sure anyone's still reading. Hoping to get back in the habit here and see what kind of readership I can stir up. Even a solid half dozen loyal readers is worth it to me, so keep checking back, leaving comments, or talking to me personally if you enjoy the blog.

So on to the real post. There was a free cholesterol screening at work the other day, and I decided to participate, just for the hell of it. My total cholesterol came back at 320. This is what the medical community would consider dangerously, astronomically high. The technician repeatedly told me that I should look into 30 minute moderate-intensity workouts. I had to stifle my laughter, explaining that I work out 5-7 days a week, vigorously, for several times that duration, that I follow Mark Sisson's rules about lifting heavy things, moving around frequently at a slow pace, and sprinting once in a while.

So back to my allegedly dangerous "cholesterol" (HDL and LDL are actually blood lipids. They carry cholesterol, but aren't themselves cholesterol). Of that 320, my HDL was only 71, which is on the lower side of excellent. My blood glucose was a meager 74, despite my large breakfast. That's at the very low end of the normal range for fasting blood glucose, so I'm basically anti-diabetic. (up to 140 non-fasting is considered "healthy" by our pro-carbohydrate medical community).

My blood pressure came out a bit high, which doesn't worry me because I know it varies, and that my average is actually pretty low, but otherwise, no numbers to worry about. Resting pulse in the low 60's, etc.

So today's task is tactfully explaining to my co-workers (with whom I freely shared my numbers, just like I am here) that the best evidence out there doesn't indicate cholesterol as the culprit in heart disease, that your liver makes about 3-5 times your "recommended" daily intake of cholesterol regardless of what you eat (and in fact makes up for the deficit caused by your USDA Food-Pyramid recommended diet).

So I'm bringing "The Great Cholesterol Con" and linking to Mark Sisson's primer on the subject of Cholesterol and what it is and isn't. Any other suggestions for quick and dirty summaries of where the medical establishment has the story so wrong with cholesterol would be greatly appreciated.

That's it for today. More soon, assuming I don't drop dead of a heart attack in the next day or two. Although I think jealousy directed at Richard Nicolay is likely the worst I'll suffer...

Training Continues

Busy training for another fight. No low and slow cardio. Occasionaly high intensity intervals (calves are aching from doing HIIT on the treadmill in my Vibram FiveFingers classics)... along with tons of training, which is an active form of play where you can control how hard you push yourself, so it fits right in with Mark Sisson's primal law about play.

I've actually been eating very few vegetables, but I'm planning to try to fill up on spinach and other low-sugar greens to fill my plate up and help me consume less. I'm walking around at about 4-5 pounds over fight weight without depriving myself of any calories or anything, just eating gobs of butter and chunks of cheese, mountains of meats, you get the idea. So tossing a bed of arugula underneath everything might help on a subconscious level, if not a physiological one, to limit how much I eat at each sitting. Of course, I'm intermittently fasting (with great ease at this point. 20 hours plus goes by without a single pang of hunger, feeling of weakness, sense of longing, etc...)

Enough rambling for today.

You're welcome

I received a Thank You card today from my vegetarian-leaning grandmother today for a copy of Lierre Keith's brilliant opus "The Vegetarian Myth" that I sent her. Then I was playing around on Conditioning Research again and I saw this thinly veiled anti-vegetarian argument from a formerly meatless blogger.

Also found a few new sources for raw, grass-fed cheese. It's almost time to stock up for winter, as these items are only available during the sunnier months. Anybody know how long cheese stays good in the freezer?

Also, today is a huge day because Robb Wolff and Dr. Cordain's book comes out. I can't wait for my copy.

Last week's deadlift

I've often said that the deadlift is the single best full-body exercise around. I like to combine them with muscle-ups and call it a day after about 20 minutes. Of course, like all my big lifts, I like to go heavy and low rep.

Last week, I decided to try to break the 2.5x body weight barrier for a single rep. I would go so far as to say that the best measure of strength to weight ratio is deadlift/b.w., so I really wanted to get that 2.5 done.

Got on the scale and calculated the weight I'd need to lift: 332 pounds. Well, I'm at a gym with 2.5 pound plates at the minimum. Got warmed up with 5 easy reps at 225, then a tough 3-rep set at 315. Added 10 pounds and successfully got a 325 lift. Decided to go straight to 335, which I think was the right choice. Got the weight off the ground and even above my knees, but couldn't fully straighten my legs. 2.5x will have to wait for another day.

It got me thinking though. I know everyone out there isn't doing muscle-ups (or even pull-ups) and 36 inch box jumps. But I do think everybody should be doing deadlifts, whether it's with a straight bar and weight plates or a sand bag in the back yard. Google some YouTube videos and get to work!

Back into the blogosphere

So, I took some time off from blogging to prepare for my first amateur MMA title fight. This isn't a blog about my fight career, but I made the weight easily (weighed in at 133.3) eating 2 big, fat-filled meals a day, limiting my "cardio" (not including training jiu jitsu) to HIITs, and doing an occasional carb re-feed using sweet potatoes, bananas, and other gluten free sources of starch. The fight went the full 3 rounds, and my conditioning was certainly not an issue. (Oh yeah, I won a unanimous decision, for anyone who's wondering).

Training for another fight at a lower weight class. Obviously I will be utilizing the same strategy that I was successful with last time for making the weight and getting myself in shape. I have just less than a month and about 6 pounds to go, so I'm planning on a smooth transition to Super Featherweight.

As far as food, I'm still trying to eat less conventional dairy. I have been eating pemmican from U.S. Wellness meats and I plan to place an order for some meats from them soon, just making a bit more freezer space.

Questions and comments are always welcome. Apologies for the sabbatical between posts. It won't happen again any time soon.

Link

This is in response to a question I received from a co-worker. Since I'm not one to repeat work that's already been done (especially when it's been done better than I could do it myself), I will defer to Mark Sisson for a change. The question was about blood type-based diets, and here's the Mark's Daily Apple post on this and metabolic typing diets.