The Dude’s Flow – i.e. where I put my energy and attention on a regular basis – is always adjusting, always evolving.
The mass of information available to us on a daily basis can be a bit mind-numbing. However, with the right focus – or flow – the plethora of info at our fingertips can be liberating.
Information has the potential to create knowledge. And knowledge leads to power.
Although, on the flip side, the more wisdom you acquire, the more you realize how little you actually know. Life sure is a slippery slope.
Somewhere in the middle of life’s slippery slopes is a point of balance. A point where we can flow. Finding this balance is the challenge.
As I consume our daily cornucopia of information, I am constantly categorizing and filing information into areas of my life where my flow can be drawn into a tighter focus.
My flow is constantly flowing. Shifting focus. Moving in new directions. Experimenting.
And sometimes this flow sends me off the reservation into areas that may seem extreme and buck the commonly held beliefs, knowledge, and/or dogma.
In my view, going rogue is a good thing (BTW, www.RogueFitness.com is a great site for fitness equipment ;)). Moving off the reservation generally leads to the potential for big rewards. Group-think often does a great job of holding us back.
Don’t worry about what anyone else has to say or thinks of your decisions. The only person that can take care of you, is you.
Self reliance.
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” – Thoreau
I’m doing my best to use the information superhighway that dangles at our fingertips to build a strong foundation of self reliance.
As my self reliance foundation grows, it develops a feedback loop that perpetuates my belief that a hefty dose of self reliance would do wonders for our collective conscious as well.
Do “authorities” really have all the answers? Probably Definitely not. Find the answers yourself.
This post could meander in a wide variety of directions…just like the Dude’s Flow. It will definitely create jump-off points for future posts. But for now, I’m going to try to keep the focus relatively tight.
I’m going to open the Dude’s skull and take a gander at where the Dude’s health is flowing these days.
A bunch of links, a few comments here and there, perhaps a tangent or two, and most definitely a trip off the reservation for anyone clinging to the status quo for their health knowledge.
More to come as the flow flows, but for now, let’s dive in….
…after a couple quotes and one of the Dude’s fav jams to get us primed…
“All of our life is nothing but a mass of habits.” – William James
“What you give your love , you give your life.” – Mumford Sons
Be careful with the habits you choose. You’re the only one that can take care of you…
And don’t be afraid to change…
Blind Melon: Change
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdXXgppVU4c[/youtube]
Dude’s Timeline: A quick timeline to offer a bit of perspective on where the Dude is coming from…
- High school and college: Ate anything in sight and worked out consistently for athletics.
- Graduated high school at 165 lbs.
- College+: Working out for athletics morphed into working out for size. I realized the crucial ingredient of diet – mainly protein = muscles.
- By 25, I tipped the scales at 235. It was eye opening to see how much I could control my body with a conscious focus on eating and lifting heavy weights. But I wasn’t healthy.
- 25+: I reduced my processed food intake, drastically limited my salt intake (Does salt really effect high blood pressure as much as “they” say? Probably not.), and overall focused on fresh, whole foods – including whole grains.
- Dropped down to about 195 pounds.
- 34 – today: I’ve jumped on the primal/paleo bandwagon big time.
- I’m maintaining at about 185 pounds with a very streamlined workout regimine, the cleanest diet I’ve ever eaten, and some “wacky” dietary practices – including intermittant fasting and butter in my coffee!
Dude’s Workout
- I’ve already shared a down and dirty of my workout. It’s evolved and morphed a bit over the past few months, but that post is still very relevant. I won’t reinvent the workout post here. But there will be more to discuss down the road.
- Although, I will highlight a point I made in that post. Diet is 80% (maybe more) of your overall health and physical fitness. You should pay close attention to what you put in your body and make conscious/educated decisions.
Status Quo:
- I’m not going to spend much time dissecting the misguided health information the status quo has perpetuated through the years, in this particular post. However, I do want to point out a very interesting statistic/article I recently came across. Are you aware that medical care is the 3rd leading cause of death in the US! Wow.
- Should we add to this stat the fact that The Man – big med, big pharma, big govt – is also the source of questionable dietary and health guidelines? I wonder how many deaths result from poor guidance?
- Question authority; build self reliance.
Paleo/Primal
- At the bottom of the post is a great infographic that covers the Peleo lifestyle very well.
- Think in terms of lifestyle, not diet. Flow = lifestyle, not quick fixes.
- Paleo, or Primal, is gaining in popularity these days, and as a result, there is a lot of good info/opinions online. However, my advise is start with Mark’s Daily Apple and build from there. No need to get overwhelmed, Mark Sisson has the direction you need to get rolling.
- A few highlights
- Stay away from grains – yes, including whole grains. No bueno.
- Check out this Dr./Author – Wheat Belly.
- Figure out how to get grass-fed meats, dairy, etc. Grass-fed makes a significant difference. The industrial food production system is muy no bueno.
- Go barefoot.
- Get dirty.
- Soak up the sun.
- Play.
Bulletproof
- Paleo is most definitely divergent from the mainstream, but now we’re headed way off the reservation – The Bulletproof Executive.
- Dave Asprey is Silicon Valley executive who has turned his diligent business perspective on his health. He considers himself a “bio-hacker.” He researches and experiments with himself to find the most efficient and effective methods to obtain optimal health and well-being. He has some pretty rad ideas – diet, supplements, sleep, mindfulness.
- In the end, Dave’s research has led him to a diet/lifestyle very similar to Paleo, however, Dave kicks it up a notch in a few ways.
- For one, the Bulletproof lifestyle focuses on reducing toxins – mycotoxins…mold. Apparently there is a huge amount of mold – i.e. mycotoxins – in the food we eat.
- Bulletproof also focuses very heavily on consuming good fats. Paleo does as well, but Dave takes this to a new level…and the results are very impressive.
- Let’s get crazy with some Bulletproof coffee – remember, the right fat is VERY beneficial.
- High quality coffee (single origin, wet processed) + grass-fed butter + MCT oil + vanilla = an amazing breakfast.
- No carbs + high fat = ketosis.
- High energy and a fat burning machine.
- FYI – I’ve grown to love great coffee, but I’m more of a green tea kinda dude (stay tuned for a green tea post). I’ve tested butter and MCT oil in green tea, and it’s pretty darn good.
Intermittent Fasting
- If you told me a year ago that I would be substituting my breakfast for coffee with butter and not eating until 1 or 2 PM on many days, I would not have believed it. Yet, here I am doing just that on most days of the week.
- Along with Paleo, intermittent fasting has grown in popularity recently, so there is a large amount of info out there. Here’s what Mark’s Daily Apple has to say about IF.
- Bulletproof coffee takes IF to a new level because you’re not really fasting, but you are creating a perfect environment for ketosis – i.e. burn fat for energy.
Carb Back-Loading
- Continuing waaay off the reservation…carb back-loading. How about saving your carbs for night?
- Here’s a Master’s Degree physicist turned health/fitness guru that has developed an amazingly successful protocol for consuming carbs backasswards from the beliefs perpetuated by the people in the “know.”
- 7 reasons you need junk carbs at night…
Mobility
- Before we meander back to the reservation, let’s wander back to the physical rather than the dietary for a final piece of the Dude’s healthy flow. Mobility.
- The idea of “mobility” wasn’t even on my radar until the passed year or so, and now it’s a daily activity.
- Our bodies are in rough shape. We may not know it because we mask the pain and/or grow accustom to it, but physical activity wears you down and creates all sorts of hidden damage.
- The awareness and exercises I get from MobilityWOD are amazing.
- You need to stretch and you absolutely need to “smash” your muscles, connective tissues, etc. with massage on a regular basis.
- This is a very rewarding process because your body feels great when your bits and pieces are working well. However, it’s far from easy…and it hurts. In fact, things may get worse before they get better.
- Mobility as a metaphor for life? You’ll be amazed by how much is connected. A mangled muscle in your lower back will lead you “up and down stream” from issues in your legs to issues through your neck. It’s amazing.
Whew, that’s enough for now. I think about the Dude’s health/lifestyle flow everyday, and even my head hurts trying to wrap itself around what seem like crazy ideas. But crazy is all about perspective. Crazy comes from many moons of poor guidance.
Self reliance is our ticket to the truth, regardless of what may seem crazy to some…most. Don’t be afraid to travel off the reservation…there’s some great scenery out here.
Bonus: Here are a couple great examples of practical use of some of the above ideas by Dr.’s…
- Dr. Terry Wahls defeats her MS with diet…not drugs!?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjgBLwH3Wc[/youtube]
- Dr. Mary Newport helps defeat her husband’s Alzheimer’s with coconut oil and a ketogenic diet?!
Paleo Infrographic
