Month of Veganity

I got tired of the Paleo diet -- I would always find myself gorging on meat. Then, eventually, I got disgusted by it. Far too much animal flesh. Plus, the memories of the China Study continue to loom in the back of my head. So I decided to start a "month of veganity", which basically means I'm going to be 100% vegan for 30 days. After that, I may throttle back to Paleo, but who knows, maybe I'll stick with it. ;) My diet will basically be what is referred to as HRAV (High Raw, All Vegan). The majority of my intake (fruit a la carte, smoothies, salads) will be raw, but I'll have some cooked vegan meals as well. The key to doing well on a vegan diet is to keep it simple, whole foods. Nothing processed, no refined sugars, no crap (technically you can eat french fries on a vegan diet). I think the HRAV component will help there.

I ordered three more copies of the China Study this weekend! That's a total of about 6 this past week. My sister ordered the audio CD versions for a few friends as Christmas presents. I think I am personally paying for Dr. Colin Campbell's retirement.

Good times in Seattle. I again realized that I don't miss the city at all, but I do miss a lot of people up there. Perhaps some day I can get a summer house up there. For now, I've got to focus on saving the world. (I am Ironman)

Sally Field and Osteoporosis

I was watching a television ad inside a building today with Sally Field talking about osteoporosis. She said "I thought that calcium, vitamin D, and exercise were all I needed to save me from osteoporosis, but I got it anyway so now I'm taking Boniva!" I had to chuckle despite her pain (Schadenfreude, you gotta love it). I'll bet you a buffalo nickel that the source of her calcium she was getting was from milk, and I'll bet you the farm that she doesn't know that drinking milk introduces animal protein into your body, which is acidic, and the best way the body can neutralize this is by using calcium, which it draws from its bones. It's no surprise, then, that the countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis also have the highest rates of milk consumption. If you haven't read the China Study, read it. I've stated that I will buy a copy for any of my friends and have it shipped to their door if they would agree to give it an honest read. (this only applies to friends of course, no strangers!)

I really hope some day to have enough money that I can do my open-source research into this subject on my ranch in Austin. We'll have hundreds of college students, old folks, teenagers--you name it--gathered on my huge plot of land in the hills outside the lakes down there, and they'll be allowed to stay there for three months for free (possibly even be paid). The rules are that you must follow the dietary programs prescribed, any workout prescribed if applicable, then additional variables like alcohol consumption and smoking will also be observed. We'll monitor their health throughout the experiments based upon their prescribed variables and see how much people change over 90 days. We'll most likely film it, produce documentaries, etc. It will almost be like LOST!

Then my entourage will also arrange to put up advertising in places like Austin and elsewhere that basically says "milk sucks" or "animal protein-based diets cause cancer and heart disease". I'll have enough money at that point, so why the hell not? I figure once I have enough money I'll give back a lot of it to the world in the best ways I can imagine.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

I just signed up for a trial class of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on Wednesday to get a feeling for it. I think BJJ with CrossFit should be a pretty solid overall workout, so we'll find out soon.

I'm also still using the posture pump but I'm not really feeling any different yet. I'm seeing my chiropractor again on Friday so we'll see what he recommends.

Up to Three Kipping Pullups!

I was at CrossFit today and doing our pullups as part of the WOD. I happened to get three full kipping pullups in a row! A new milestone!

Posture Pump

I got my lateral cervical film today from the chiropractor -- apparently I am lacking a proper cervical curve. So I was prescribed a posture pump device and used it a few minutes ago. I don't really feel any different although I admit it was pleasant relaxation during the exercise (I extended it from 10 to 20 minutes as a result). My neck is a little bit sore right now, and I'm sure it will take a lot more use for results. Rome was not built in a day.

I heart my iPhone

Despite the poor battery life, I still very much love my iPhone. Once the battery can go 2-3x longer, it will be near perfect. (security is an issue but that is a software fix) I'll have to wait out their exclusivity with AT&T before going back to the best network, Verizon.

I've got all these great apps on it: yammer, mobile news, facebook, and one of my favorites: lightsaber. Stupid entertainment, I love it. I'm going to dig around for iPhone apps or web apps to record diet and workout. Otherwise I may just make my own...