Lex's Journal

[lex_rooker]

I struggled with anaerobic lifting in the beginning quite a bit but it's worked itself out and I don't get as sore as easily - except for my lower back but I believe that is related to previous injuries.

Craig,
I don't find that I get sore, and fortunately I've never had any back problems (and don't want any!).  I haven't done any weight training but probably should add at least some body weight stuff like pushups and pullups to help even things out.  As it is, my only exercise is jogging and this is a bit lopslided, favoring the legs and lower body.

Lex

[lex_rooker]

E- & Jeff,
I follow along with Charles' adventure when I get time, but don't check in consistenly.  I'm not a member of that forum either so can't post.  Charles has done some amazing things.  I just wish that he would do more metebolic testing like BG, ketones, and the like.  It would make evaluating his findings a bit easier.

As an example, after I jog 4 miles, I find that BG tends to drop and stay low (mid 70s low 80s), for many hours until I eat my next meal.  Since I jog in the evening and my meals are late afternoon, this period is often 16 hours or longer.

BG does go up significanly after eating my first meal but then drops back into the mid 80s the following day.  If I don't jog that day, then after the second meal BG will stabilze a bit higher maybe high 80s, low 90s.  It will remain in this area until I jog again and the process starts over.  This rapid fall in BG after jogging has me wondering if I've depleted glycogen stores and my body is only producing whatever BG is necessary to glucose dependent systems.  The incremental rise over a 3 day period as I eat my meals has me wondering if BG is being stored as glycogen over the 3 day period and as stores increase less BG is being converted to glycogen allowing BG to rise over time.

Lex

[Sully]

Hi Sully,
I wish it were that easy.  I've found that as I've gotten older the pits, divits, and gopher holes in grass are worse than an even hard dirt track or cement sidewalk.  20 years ago I could take these things in stride.  Now, my joints are not as flexible and forgiving as they once were and it is very easy to twist and strain the various joints on uneven surfaces - especially when I can't see imperfections.

My favorite running surface is a rubberized asphalt, but these are expensive to install and maintain so most of the local schools don't have them, and the ones that do, don't open their tracks to the public.  My choice is either deal with the jarring of joints when running on a smooth hard surface, or risk twisting my knee or ankle and possibly tearing ligaments by running on an uneven but cushioned surface like grass.

It seems that everything is a compromise,

Lex

Try cricuit weight training. It hits your cardio and builds muscle. No wear and tear on the joints. You don't necessarily need weights. You could do push ups, free weight squats, pull ups etc. Cricuit training is just moving to one workout to another without rest. It only take about 10 to 15 minutes a day.

[lex_rooker]

Try cricuit weight training. It hits your cardio and builds muscle. No wear and tear on the joints. You don't necessarily need weights. You could do push ups, free weight squats, pull ups etc. Cricuit training is just moving to one workout to another without rest. It only take about 10 to 15 minutes a day.

I hadn't considered circuit training as I think of it in regards to weight lifting.  Any suggestions as to a "routine" I could do using body weight exercises like squats, pushups, pullups etc. and would this replace jogging or just supplement it.

Lex

[Sully]

I hadn't considered circuit training as I think of it in regards to weight lifting.  Any suggestions as to a "routine" I could do using body weight exercises like squats, pushups, pullups etc. and would this replace jogging or just supplement it.

Lex

It could replace jogging, or it could be jogging. You could jog for 1 minute, then sprint for a while, then walk a bit, then jog, then sprint, and repeat the process. Do as many reps as you can.

Hear is another thing you can do.   Do 10 pushups, then jump rope for 50 reps, then do 5 pull ups, or do some squats and repeat process and continue to each exercise with no breaks. You can do each exercise by reps or you can time it. For example, for the push ups you can have 10 seconds to do as many as you can, then go to jump ropeing for 30 seconds as many as you can as fast as you can, then move to squats and etc.
So you can do it by reps or time it with a stop watch or somthing.

[lex_rooker]

It could replace jogging, or it could be jogging. You could jog for 1 minute, then sprint for a while, then walk a bit, then jog, then sprint, and repeat the process. Do as many reps as you can.

This would still focus mainly on lower body as all of these are just variations on running/jogging.  Not sure this would add much value to what I'm already doing.

Hear is another thing you can do.   Do 10 pushups, then jump rope for 50 reps, then do 5 pull ups, or do some squats and repeat process and continue to each exercise with no breaks. You can do each exercise by reps or you can time it. For example, for the push ups you can have 10 seconds to do as many as you can, then go to jump ropeing for 30 seconds as many as you can as fast as you can, then move to squats and etc.  So you can do it by reps or time it with a stop watch or somthing.

This idea is a bit more interesting.  Keep moving quickly from exercise to exercise to keep heart rate up, but vary the exercises such that all areas of the body are worked.  I'll investigate this a bit further.

Lex

[Sully]

I wish your training well.

[xylothrill]

E- & Jeff,
I follow along with Charles' adventure when I get time, but don't check in consistenly.  I'm not a member of that forum either so can't post.  Charles has done some amazing things.  I just wish that he would do more metebolic testing like BG, ketones, and the like.  It would make evaluating his findings a bit easier.

As an example, after I jog 4 miles, I find that BG tends to drop and stay low (mid 70s low 80s), for many hours until I eat my next meal.  Since I jog in the evening and my meals are late afternoon, this period is often 16 hours or longer.

BG does go up significanly after eating my first meal but then drops back into the mid 80s the following day.  If I don't jog that day, then after the second meal BG will stabilze a bit higher maybe high 80s, low 90s.  It will remain in this area until I jog again and the process starts over.  This rapid fall in BG after jogging has me wondering if I've depleted glycogen stores and my body is only producing whatever BG is necessary to glucose dependent systems.  The incremental rise over a 3 day period as I eat my meals has me wondering if BG is being stored as glycogen over the 3 day period and as stores increase less BG is being converted to glycogen allowing BG to rise over time.

Lex

Lex,

I think it must be glycogen stores. I don't use them so long as I stay aerobic but you appear to still be using them. Sorry but I'm behind. Are you doing interval such as sprinting then jogging and so on? Satya says that the same amount of calories are burned at the same distance whether it be from walking, jogging, or sprinting. Maybe you should do a brisk walk at the same distance and see if your BG still goes down. If it goes down, you must still be burning glucose even aerobically. If it doesn't, you're probably going anaerobic during your jogs.

I know, so many experiments and one guinea pig! I really would like to see you try this though, for just a day, and see the results.

Craig

[Ronbo]

Where did everybody go??

No posts from Lex since the 30th??

Is he OK?? (Are you OK Lex??)

RJ

[xylothrill]

Where did everybody go??

No posts from Lex since the 30th??

Is he OK?? (Are you OK Lex??)

RJ

I've been wondering myself. He is missed. 

Craig

[lex_rooker]

Sorry folks.  I'm back, but only for a moment.  Was on vacation for 3 weeks then returned this Monday, Dental appointment for me and the missus Tuesday, and yesterday (Wednesday), I had a colonoscopy.  Still trying to catch my breath.  Will be leaving again Nov 1 and will be gone for 2 - 3 weeks.

Things are going well.  The longer I'm eating raw meat the more my health improves.  Last week I did transition back to the lower fat diet.  Calories from fat are now in the 65% range rather than 80%.  I do find that I want more food.  Eating 80% calories as fat it was all I could do to get down 650 grams of food.  I now eat about 900 grams (2 lbs) and I've actually lost 3 lbs of weight.  It is clear that if the fat is high enough that you will gain weight even when eating zero carb - at least that is my experience.  My energy also seems a bit higher on the lower fat protocol so this is what I will stick with. 

I set out to prove Taubes statement that it takes Glycerol Phosphate to store body fat and the primary source for GP is from eating carbs, therefore if you don't eat carbs you can't gain weight - or so went my interpretation of Taubes statement.  Experience has now shown that extremely high fat - 85%+ - will cause weight gain.  At least it did in my case.  So what gives?

After a bit of study and reasoning it seems that animal fats are also in the triglyceride form and therefore carry Glycerol Phosphate with them when eaten.  Much of the Glycerol Phosphate is broken down into glucose during digestion, but if enough fat is eaten, then there is a surplus that can recombine with Free Fatty Acids to create new triglycerides that can be stored as body fat.  Hence weight gain.  Even under my worst case where I was trying to eat 2 lbs of the high fat food each day I only gained about 10 additional lbs so it takes a lot more dietary fat to create additional body fat than it does carbs.  Once I cut the food intake to a more manageable 650 grams my weight did drop back to the 160-162 range.

Now that I'm eating 65% fat my body weight has dropped to 155 but since it has only been a little over 1 week I'm sure it is not stable and may rise again or even fall futher.  Time will tell and I'll report.

BG was averaging in the mid 80s and now it is back to the mid 90s - again unstable so we'll see where it finally settles down.

Ketones were always maxed out at level 4 on the 80% fat protocol.  Since returning to 65% fat they have dropped to Level 1 with an occasional dip to Trace level or a peak of level 2.

Resting heart rate has continued to slowly improve and a week ago it reached a low of 49.  It will be interesting to see if this lower level holds with the increase in protein and reduction in fat or if heart rate will increase.

The colonoscopy was ordered by my doctor.  It is apparently recommend for anyone over 50 and he was also very concerned that my diet of raw red meat would spell real trouble.  Both my doctor and the Gastro Specialist that performed the procedure admonished me that it was vitally important to colon health to eat lots of fiber in the form of whole grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables etc. and to eat little red meat.  With my diet of raw red meat I was just asking for colon cancer.

They performed the procedure and when I woke up they said they couldn't believe how healthy my colon was.  They told my wife that my colon was amazingly healthy and more representative of someone in their 20s. They further stated that there was little chance that I would ever get colon cancer and they were recommending to my doctor that it would not be necessary to ever repeat this procedure.  Amazing.

They also took BP at the hospital and it was 108/63.

All in all I'm thrilled with where I am and will continue with this raw meat adventure until there is evidence that I need to change something.  Glad to answer any questions.

Lex

[rawlion]

Really fantastic results! Congratulations!

[wodgina]

Wow, the colon of somebody in their 20's!!! Well done

and your 'numbers' are amazing. Have you thought more about cross training? Weights?

Cheers

Andrew

[igibike]

Congratulation, Lex 

[xylothrill]

Great news Lex,

I was starting to get worried about you. Thought we may have killed you with all this suggested experimentation.  Glad to have you back.

I read somewhere that roughage actually causes minute scarring that accumulates over time and is the reason people can't absorb as much nutrients as they get older.

I don't know what to make of you. You're a different animal than I am.  Just do what feels best for you. I don't feel any different when I eat more protein and less fat I just get hungrier and eat more. I like not having to eat as much. It's kind of like when I quit smoking. After about two months off cigarettes, I realized how much thinking about cigarettes stressed me out. It's very liberating.

Congrats on your superb health! If you keep this up, it's a possibility that you've only lived half your live so far.

Craig

[boxcarguy07]

Hey there Lex! Good to see you back, and those colonoscopy results are amazing!

[Nicola]

Lex, I am sooo glad that all is well - when people don't post on any of the forums I fear that "things are not as they used to be"...

To know that your colon is in good form is worth more than any marathon that people estimate as being a successful, happy and healthy life!

Did you eat your own food on holiday and have you kept up the exercise?

Please look in Charles own forum (he left the other one because "zero carb" does not sell any Atkins bars that Jimmy is trying to flog):

http://zerocarbage.com/index.php

Nicola

[goodsamaritan]

The colonoscopy was ordered by my doctor.  It is apparently recommend for anyone over 50 and he was also very concerned that my diet of raw red meat would spell real trouble.  Both my doctor and the Gastro Specialist that performed the procedure admonished me that it was vitally important to colon health to eat lots of fiber in the form of whole grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables etc. and to eat little red meat.  With my diet of raw red meat I was just asking for colon cancer.

They performed the procedure and when I woke up they said they couldn't believe how healthy my colon was.  They told my wife that my colon was amazingly healthy and more representative of someone in their 20s. They further stated that there was little chance that I would ever get colon cancer and they were recommending to my doctor that it would not be necessary to ever repeat this procedure.  Amazing.

Hi Lex,

I think your doctor needs to update his education by reading this book: FIBER MENACE (The fiber myth debunked)

http://tinyurl.com/fibermenace

WHAT IS SO MENACING ABOUT FIBER?

You probably believe fiber prevents colon and breast cancer, lowers cholesterol, reduces the risk of heart disease, regulates blood sugar, wards off diabetes, curbs the appetite, induces weight loss, cleanses the colon, arrests diarrhea, and unplugs constipation. Tragically, none of this is true!

In fact, fiber-rich foods and fiber supplements are either the primary cause of most of these conditions, or major contributors. Please watch my investigative report (or read the transcript) to learn the truth. If you consume fiber for any health reasons, the next 14 minutes will turn your life and health around...

http://tinyurl.com/fibermenace



Video http://blip.tv/play/gdQZ0eJcif03

[boxcarguy07]

But Edwin, don't you eat a good bit of fiber-rich fruit?
Is it not enough to be harmful?

I've been struggling with constipation, and the past few days I've added more plant foods in my diet, and my digestion is much better than it was with less plant foods.
I also found out that I do not do well with bananas, but I do well with oranges (despite it being said on this board that citrus fruits are more neolithic than grains?)

[goodsamaritan]

My personal experience with raw fruitarian is it is the fastest and easiest bowel moving experience I have ever had.

This is what the author of Fiber Menace has to say about your question regarding fruits and fiber:

http://www.fibermenace.com/fibermenace/fm_transcript.html

Rest assured, I am not on a crusade to kill off all traces of fiber in favor of another extreme. In fact, the very first chapter of Fiber Menace opens with the following sentence [link]:

“If you consume minor quantities of fiber from natural, unprocessed food, there isn't anything wrong with it…”

My beef, as I said, is with too much processed fiber and the resulting digestive, metabolic, and cardiovascular disorders.

So if anyone tells you, that my book or my recommendations are extreme or not mainstream, it's a lie...

And consider this undeniable fact: The people of Japan enjoy the highest longevity in the world. And guess what? The traditional Japanese diet - based around fish, sea food, and white rice - is practically fiber-free…

My teacher barefoot herbalist mh warns against fiber from vegetables; and when he teaches orange juice fasting he makes it clear you get rid of the fiber, just keep the juice.  Aajonus Vonderplanitz says juice your vegetables, discard the fiber.  David Wolfe suggests juicing vegetables.

We know in raw paleo teachings that it is FAT that helps move our bowels.  I read that somewhere, I just can't seem to remember the link.

[boxcarguy07]

Yes, I remember reading a post of yours that went something like
"Fat makes you move.
Fruit makes you move"

I tried adding more fat in the form of beef fat each day to my diet, but it did not help with my digestion.
Eating more plants has though.
I really think people's digestive systems are built for more or less plant food, depending on the person.
For instance, Nicola sometimes talks about runny stools from raw meat. Never ever the case with me, in fact quite the opposite.

I don't know about juicing... I've never done it, but it doesn't appeal to me on different levels. Of course, paleo man wouldn't have juiced anything.
I just know that I've been eating more plants lately (namely pears, apples, oranges, and spinach) and I've been having regular bowel movements of a decent size rather than slow, hard, small stools every two or three days.

[JustAnotherExplorer]

I remain fascinated, as always, Lex, and am glad to hear that you're doing well.  When you do return here's a question for your consideration.  I understand that you sometimes (maybe twice a month, if I recall correctly) dine out and consume a cooked, very rare, steak or two.  Do you notice any differences, physiological, digestive, energetic or what have you upon consuming these in lieu of the raw meat?

[coconinoz]

good to hear from you, lex, & congratulations

apologies, as well, for interrupting the flow of your crisp discourse as follows:

in my own experience only (not that i know of anyone else doing this), i never ever suffer from constipation if i do the circadian water drinking in the am, 4-8 cups; it washes my digestive tract from mouth to anus & works like a charm for me

please note that this is just a note in cyberspace for the sake of exercising my fingers; i am not a licensed nutritionist or health care provider > i do not suggest or advise anything to anyone

good night

[Jeff]

Lex, great news about your colonoscopy and all the other "numbers".  I'm due for my turning 50 colonoscopy in a couple of years.  I hope mine goes as well as yours.  But then, I know of no reason why it shouldn't.

[lex_rooker]

I understand that you sometimes (maybe twice a month, if I recall correctly) dine out and consume a cooked, very rare, steak or two.  Do you notice any differences, physiological, digestive, energetic or what have you upon consuming these in lieu of the raw meat?

My dining out is only a couple of times per month so I really don't see much of a change in anything.  What I eat out is also very close to my normal diet.  It is red meat and cooking is minimal.  It is also only one slightly cooked meal in between many raw meals, all of which are some type of red meat.  The only time I had a problem was when I was at a seminar and didn't take food with me.  I ended up eating cafeteria food for a full week (mostly breakfast like eggs, bacon, sausage etc) while trying my best to stick with my zero carb approach.  This did not go well.  My ankles swelled to triple their normal size and I felt terrible.  It took about 2 weeks to recover.

Did you eat your own food on holiday and have you kept up the exercise?

Yup, this time I arranged to have a refrigerator in my room and took all my food with me.  I learned my lesson last time out.  It was also much cheaper.  My food costs were less than $10 USD per day where most everyone else was spending that much or more on just lunch.

Lex