weekend wind down

Will and myself skated Willing park in tamaqua yesterday. Small park, has a nice box and small pyramid, couple of quarter pipes. Simple yet fun, especially considering it was my first time skating anything but my cruiser board for a long time. Before I could go though, I had to stop at homebase to get my new setup. Talked with Po and caught up a little bit, also got some sick new nikes. Got home, set up the board, and left to meet Will. I was slightly excited to go skate, as this picture will tell you.





Was very happy with how the session turned out. Did tre flip over the hip, took a few tries but did it. Even had a couple of ledge tricks still in the bag, crook and back tail both first try. Muscle memory is a funny thing. They can forget too though. After skating and really firing a lot of fast twitch muscles, my legs are quite sore tonight. It's been a long time since they'd done that sort of thing. Its a different sore altogether then what I was getting after cycling or lifting. Going to continue skating very carefully and use it as a way to make my ankles stronger. Not taking risks or jumping down stairs anymore, thats for sure. Here is a few photos we got from the goPro. More pics to come once I upload the mark II pics.

my k grind

will 5-0 180



and why not end with a clip from the good old days of when I was hucking myself down stairs or off of whatever else I could find.

warning: diet/health/sitting rant. Read at your own risk

My job is to be on the phone, and sell health, prescription, and/or dental insurance plans to people over 50 years of age. This is proving to be an extremely difficult thing to do on a daily basis while I continue on my quest to better health. A good portion of people I talk to have clearly neglected themselves and their bodies throughout their lives and are now in need of dire help, some as young as 50, taking 10+ prescriptions a day. Perhaps this is part of the reason I've decided to reconfigure my diet. Eating more as nature intended so my body is able to do the things I want to do not just now, but many years down the road. It is genuinely scary to hear people who are 60 years old, that sound like they are 90, who have multiple chronic conditions, and are unable to get health insurance. On the other end of the coin, it is very uplifting to speak with someone in their 90s who is completely with it and able to take care of themselves and their business.

Sometimes bad things happen to good people regardless. Disease, sickness, accidents, what have you. I understand that. At the same time though, I very much feel that you create your own luck to a certain extent. It is beyond safe to say that the 90 year olds I talk to who are totally competent did not abuse themselves like the 60 year olds that are near death. The word abuse here can mean many different things, but for today I'm simply talking about 2 things: diet and a sedentary lifestyle. 

In the words of Professor Arnold Ehret, "There is no animal that abuses food such as man." The 3 meals a day concept is complete nonsense. The quantity of food an average restaurant serves for a 'meal' is well beyond what the stomach can handle at any given time. Natures intention, as far as food is concerned, is to give us enough energy to function. Simple. So many people seem completely ignorant to the fact they are destroying themselves with the way they eat and how they act, or don't act. Entirely too many people go to work(much of them sit at work), then come home and sit in front of the TV. Sitting wreaks havoc on our bodies and can technically be called a cause of death. I strongly suggest you research it yourself and I'll even start you with this, a simple info graphic with some figures on how badly sitting is killing us.

While I consider myself to be on the path to better health, I do not consider myself to be very healthy. In my eyes, someone who is very healthy has at least an average range of motion in all their joints. Another thing I consider to be extremely vital in being healthy is posture(also very neglected). I've come a long way from where I was in this regard and continue to be conscious of it on a daily basis. While on the outside I may appear to be healthy simply because I'm not overweight, it's just not the case. I have limited ROM in my hips, ankles, spine just to name a few, as well as chronic pain in a few of those areas. Golf and my lack of knowledge of posture created my back issues, skateboarding with little to no regard for my body for 10 years is how my ankles reached this point, and working in a call center is what has created my lack of mobility in my hips and spine from sitting too damn much. Even as active as I am outside of work, sitting for that many hours is extremely detrimental to the body.

At the same time, however, I am extremely grateful for my body and all of its flaws. It presents one hell of a challenge to restore and rebuild it to what I consider to be good health. I feel I've taken a lot of the right steps so far on this journey and am extremely proud of what I've accomplished. One thing I would like, however, is to see more people take an interest in themselves and their own health and well being. If we work together and are able to support each other by taking a path to better health, it will be easier for all of us. I see way too many people, some of them close to me, that seemingly do not care, or do not see the reality of the situation. Eat at least a somewhat balanced diet, exercise a fair amount, don't sit too much, or you will eventually die because of it!

"Why don't you take a good look at yourself and describe what you see, and baby, baby, baby do you like it?"

Sounds better when you listen to Robert Plant wailing it(misty mountain hop), but even written down it still holds some meaning.

To follow that, I ask you, do you care enough about yourself to do anything about it?

what have you..

I'm a huge fan of the Big Lebowski. You'll start to see that with subtle references from time to time, so if you ever see one, please, feel free to finish the quote or drop a lebowski line. Much obliged.

I've got a couple of clips and photos from riding at the lehigh gap the other day. It was a strikes and gutters day for sure. I'm about halfway through making the clip, but here's a photo for now! About 28 degrees, 30 mile an hour gusts..    Laughable man, HA!!

Virginia visit

Went to virginia this past weekend for allises birthday. Had a great time of course but my body is letting me know about it already. All part of the experiment I suppose. Ate quite a bit of delicious food and today I woke up feeling quite gross. I'm anxious to get on with my next phase of the experiment, which will begin tomorrow. I'm going to continue with a mainly mucusless diet, although I'm going to add some grains and possibly eggs on workout days here and there. I'm confident in the knowledge I've gained so far and look forward to seeing my body transform further. If I can eat the way I did for those 12 days on my first attempt, I'm certain I can go for much longer then that and see even more results. Going to skip out on yoga tonight as my body is too dehydrated and could certainly not handle it. I may go to tomorrow evenings session depending on what my body is telling me at that point.

Psyched!!!

Today was an amazing day.

A phase

Today I write neither in victory or defeat. Not happy or sad. Not in, out, up or down, but simply from an objective perspective. As I sit here mindfully enjoying my chicken ceaser wrap, I've got a few reflections on the beginning phase of this diet experiment. These notes are mainly meant for myself, but obviously your free to read them, otherwise it wouldn't be posted :)

Eating the way I did for the past two weeks has opened my eyes in numerous ways. Namely the amount of food that is actually necessary to fuel the human body from a mechanical standpoint. If you look at the body as a machine, it was certainly not 'designed' to have 3 meals a day, or for them to consist of the things we Americans decide to fuel them with on a regular basis. Fruits and vegetables have almost entirely lost their place in our diets when they could really be the only thing we need.

The next phase of my experiments will continue as follows. Meat and dairy on a limited basis, I just love food so I'm not giving them up entirely anymore. These foods are mucus forming and ultimately slow down our bodies and obstruct, as professor ehret says, our bodies from circulating properly. Continue with eating lots of leafy green vegetables and fruit to continually cleanse my system. Fasting will become another integral part of the cleansing process and I will eventually work up to multiple day fasts.

In summary, my body feels spectacular at the moment, just having had my first chicken ceaser wrap at I consider a fairly long time. It will be interesting to see if there is a noticeable change in my body tomorrow when I wake up. Until next time, I'll continue the trend of a random photo, I like the golf theme at the moment. I like this one because of how the tee looks, and because I hit an awesome drive on this shot!

Thoughts

So far I'm 11 days with a mostly mucusless diet- fruit, veggies, and nuts. There were just 3 times where I had bread, albeit on a veggie and hummus panini. Today, however, was a challenging day. Lot of doubts creeping in my head which I'd figured would start a little sooner. The fact it was a rainy day and I didn't have much to do made it that much more difficult. I was really craving a chicken ceaser wrap, or even a subway sandwich that I was somewhat addicted too for awhile, but I resisted. Allise made me feel a little better saying that I should be having doubts and that I'll probably feel like crap but that it's part of the healing process. That is normally what I would tell myself, but for some reason today I was having a hard time saying it, so it was nice to hear it from her. So all in all just another day and another salad. Going to do some strength training and see how many squats and pushups I can do before working out my busted ankles with the theraband. If I'm going to continue getting stronger and becoming more balanced, it needs to start from the ground up, so I need to make a better commitment to my surgicled feet. For no reason at all, I'll end with a random video clip from a round of golf my dad and I played at iron lakes, enjoy.

yoga

Did hot yoga tonight. I felt stronger than I did last week, a good sign of course. The question is how will I feel on the recovery days this time around because last week I was annihilated the 2 days following. Time will tell as it always does. If I only I could get time to tell me a few things sooner rather than later, I'd have a lot more figured out by now. Damn you time, damn you.

random photo post

 I have an immense amount of photos and videos I've taken over the years stored up, I figured this would be a good place to post a random photo/video once in awhile.



Early March 2011, my dad, brother, my friend big D, and myself took a trip to Atlantic City to golf, gamble, and what have you. One of my favorite things about the trip was the amount of wildlife we encountered while playing. While driving the golf cart around back of the green, I stopped and took about 20 or so pictures of these ducks while quacking at them. This guy responded to me right at the right time!

Temptation

Went up to James' house today with Tony to help clear some brush out of the hollow to make room for more trails. Did a little riding as well of course.

Afterwards went up to my grandparents with my brother to eat and watch football. They enjoyed lasagna, steak, ham, and cheesy potatoes while I had some greens with apple and tangerine. Ham is one of my favorites and it was very tempting but I haven't given this diet enough time to really feel it's effects, so I resisted.

Body status:  didn't have a lot of energy initially today. Once I got moving around a bit and ate some grapes and cherries I felt a little better.  I suppose my body was trying to tell me I should have just rested today after all I did yesterday. Work tomorrow will give me plenty of time to rest and stretch though. Mentally today was difficult seeing all of that food in front of me, although I'm glad I was able to resist the urge. 

Solid Day

All the way around an awesome day. Got up early, walked/jogged. Went looking at houses as my brother and I are looking to rent, and likely found one that will work very nicely. Got back and went for a walk/jog/skate on the cruiser board, just under 6 miles in 45 minutes. Relaxed and hung out with tony(brother) and a few of his friends. Ate a salad and drank a cup of tea. Hung out a little while longer and then got in a very solid strength training workout as well. Laying in bed now, just finished up editing a video clip of my cousin and I mountain biking at the Trexler Nature Preserve trails. Would you like to watch it? I think you do.

Early Bird

I woke up this morning to no alarm except from my body telling me it was time to rise. I looked at my alarm clock and it said 7:01, which means it was 6:51 as I always have it set 10 minutes fast. I laid in bed figuring it was just the usual wake up in the middle of the night and fall back to sleep, but today was different, no falling back to sleep. So instead, I lay there meditating on my breath for about 10 minutes.

I am not a morning person, although this particular morning I feel well rested, have considerably less mucus in my mouth and throat then 'normal', and feel eager to take on the challenges of the day. I'm going to get dressed up in my under armour gear and head out for a walk/jog.

Progress is a reassuring feeling.

TGIF

Another day, and some more fruit and veggies. Starting to gain my strength back after yoga kicking my ass on wednesday. Can still feel it in my upper back and hamstrings. Did a workout consisting of playing some kinect, about 60 push ups, 40 squats, 20 squat jumps, 10 lunges. Also practiced the hand stand some more which is improving nicely. Going to do some acupressure, read a little while, meditate, and call it a night.

Dinner!

kale, spinach, mango, cranberries, avocado, walnuts and chust a touch of peach dressing.

Sore

Really feeling the effects of last nights yoga session today. Even though I drank plenty of water yesterday before and after, my muscles are feeling pretty dehydrated/stiff. My upper back on my left side and both hamstrings specifically. Going to stretch out a bit and keep drinking a lot of water for the rest of the day. Had some brocolli, carrots and hummus a bit ago, and now I'm sipping some mint tea with honey.

Current mindstate: Feeling pretty good about the diet changes so far. Yes, it's only been a few days, but I feel like I'm really making the right decision for my body. I'm anxious to see the changes start to take effect, but realize that patience is the determining factor on how this all turns out. This weekend I'm going to develop a very specific workout plan to address my weaknesses and work on converting them into strengths. Ankles and core strength are going to be the focus for the first 6 weeks. At that point I'll reassess and see what needs to be the focus of my attention at that point.


for now i'll leave you with a zen quote to ponder, enjoy your day.

To be free from the passions
And to be calm,
This is the most excellent Way.

- Sutra of Forty Two Chapters

Drained

Went to hot yoga tonight at LV yoga. It was my second time taking a yoga class and it went very much like the first. It highlighted my weaknesses, which are present all over my body. Balance poses showed how much work my ankles need. Inversion and seated poses exposed the limited mobility in my low back and core muscles.

Hot yoga takes place in a room that is heated to almost 100 degrees. This does not count all the breathing and movement of the people actually in the room, which I will say there are entirely too many. However I found the experience to be highly enjoyable as it was the first real sweat I've had this year.

At the end of the session while laying on the mat, focusing on my breathing, I'd felt as if my consciousness was lifted out of my physical body, and was drifting along in the waves and sounds of the music that was playing. An awesome feeling to say the least. A bell rings as the instructor brings everyone back into their physical being. We end with a short meditation, followed by everyone in the class saying 'ohm' in unison. A very powerful experience as well.

Yoga class, weekly, from now on. Also, a few restorative poses before bed to help sleep. I've seen the benefits this has had with my sleep before, just need to ingrain the habit.

Simple, yet delicious

Today I've enjoyed a breakfast of blackberries, blueberries, and a small glass of green juice(spinach, kale, celery, all types of other greens). After a few hours I had an organic granny smith apple with organic almond butter, which I can see is going to be one of my favorites. Just a little while ago, I had some celery, brocolli, green peppers, and carrots with some spicy red pepper hummus. Yum.

I'm having cup of tea with honey and am going to read some of a book I just bought called 'Stretch to Win'. It talks in detail about muscle fascia and the importance of stretching in order to obtain maximum performance.

Weak Sauce Part II

Had my salad which was delicious after not having food for awhile. I wasn't hungry beforehand but knew it was time to break the fast. I did some light stretching after eating as well as some acupressure which proved very helpful in releasing some of the tension in my stomach/abdomen. Other then that, very little activity today, just a short walk around the block with Allise. Couple hours later had a banana, about a third of a mango, and a small handful of nuts which was very satisfying. Did a short yoga session with allise and was still extremely weak and got pretty light headed after about 10 minutes. I'm fully aware that this process I'm undertaking will make me weaker, likely much weaker, before I get stronger. But in order to achieve the level of health I'm seeking, it's something I must do.

"Tomorrows strengths will surface because of todays weaknesses."

Weak Sauce

Slightly graphic information to follow.

Woke up this morning feeling extremely weak and mucusy after a lousy nights sleep, which was to be expected after fasting all day. My mouth and throat had a thick mucus especially immediately after waking, hard to breathe out of my mouth until I cleared my throat a few times. Per Professor Ehrets teachings, I'm having my morning cup of tea with lemon and honey to help break up the mucus. About an hour from now I'll have my first solid food, which will be mostly greens and a few blue/blackberries.

Going to take it easy for most of the day and see how my body reacts to the food.

Status Report

Today I've had a cup of organic green tea with lemon and honey. Other then that I've had a few glasses of water. No solid food. To my surprise, I'm not hungry and am glad I decided to make today my first fast. This will give my body a chance to catch up on processing all the foods I've eaten over the holidays. Tomorrow morning I will have the same cup of tea and around mid day I will break my fast with a small salad consisting of spinach, kale, brocolli, celery, onion, and cherry tomatoes.


One of the things I'm going to spend a lot of time on are bodyweight exercises. Especially in the beginning phases of this transformation. Todays workout consisted of 10 squats, 10 lunges, 10 pushups, repeated 3 times.

 There are a few areas where I have limited range of motion, due not only to skateboarding for so long, but also working in a call center for the past 3 years. These areas include my hips, ankles, lower back, and wrists. I'm going to note my progress in these areas as I progress in my bodyweight and strength training.

 Another change that I have been consciously incorporating for some time now is in regards to posture. For a very long time I was in the dark as to the effects of gravity and posture and how it relates to our overall health and well being. I feel I've already progressed immensely in this area, but have still got plenty of work to do. This is another reason why I've taken such a liking to yoga as it is very alignment oriented even in the simplest of poses.

My girlfriend(Allise), my mother, and myself are headed to Kims Healing Center to get massages this evening. We decided to get a massage for eachother for christmas, and split the cost of a massage for my mother as she has never had a professional massage.

That's it for now, I'll have an update tomorrow morning as to how my body is handling the fast.

New Beginnings

Hello and welcome to my first blog. My name is Dave and the objective of this blog is to document the progression(or degression) on this journey of mine. Topics will range greatly but initially it is going to be focused on diet and exercise. I am going to attempt to convey in words some of the things going through my mind and body as I undertake this new path.

But before we get into all of that here is some background for those of you who don't actually know me. I'm 26, live in allentown PA, work as an insurance agent for the hartford. I grew up in Schnecksville and was always active, played soccer for about 10 years. My passion for soccer quickly turned to skateboarding at about age 14, which I'd done for about 10 years as well. Due to extreme ligament damage to both my ankles I've had surgery on both feet(left 2007, right 2010) which I still feel the effects of today. I've done extensive rehab and therapy for both of my ankles and continue to do so. Since I'm no longer able to jump down stairs on my skateboard, I now get my adrenaline fix by hitting the trails on my mountain bike.

Now that you know a bit about where I'm coming from, let me tell you where I intend to go. Aside from my chronic ankle issues, I've also had a nagging back injury that has been around roughly 2 years. This is due to the fact I dove head first into the game of golf about 4 years ago with little to no knowledge of the swing and how it relates to the body. I created a knot in my back that still exists, although it has been reduced significantly and I've gained considerable flexibilty and strength through yoga.

And so we come to today, January 2, 2012. I've decided the next step in my path to health is to make what some would call an extreme change in diet. To best understand where I'm coming from, look up Professor Arnold Ehret. Specifically his book, The Mucusless Diet Healing System. In summary, he talks of the ability to heal and transform oneself strictly through diet(consisting of fruit and vegetables) and intermittent fasting. This will be a difficult undertaking to say the least, but I've prepared and feel I'm mentally and physically ready. I've told all of the people around me of my intentions, and everyone has been extremely supportive.

I'm looking forward to a new year with a new outlook. I'll be posting a lot of random thoughts and feelings along the way as I conduct this experiment on myself. I'll be posting them not only for you as a reader, but just as much for myself to look back at where I've come from.

Thanks for reading, talk to you/myself soon.


"To be different then what you are, you must first know what you are." Chinese proverb