The 100 Albums I Don’t Want To Live Without

Friday, Feb 24th, 2012 by admin | Leave a Comment
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Music is powerful stuff. There are a handful of albums, works of art in my mind, that have had, and continue to have, a profound effect on my life. Some of these albums are inspiring, some quite beautiful, and some can take me back to places and times that have long since passed. Powerful stuff indeed.

For fun I decided to weed through all the music I own and try to pick my current top favorite 100 bands and/or artists from all the stuff I’ve been listening to for the past 25 years. I went one step further and then picked the one album from each that I just can’t live without. This is the result:

  1. ABC How to be a Millionaire
  2. Air Talkie Walkie
  3. Alice in Chains Dirt
  4. Arcade Fire Funeral
  5. Arcadia So Red the Rose
  6. The B-52’s Cosmic Thing
  7. The Beach Boys Pet Sounds
  8. The Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique
  9. The Beatles Abbey Road
  10. Beck Mellow Gold
  11. Big Audio Dynamite II The Globe
  12. Billy Idol Rebel Yell
  13. Bjork Homogenic
  14. Blondie Parallel Lines
  15. Blur The Great Escape
  16. Bob Dylan Bringing It All Back Home
  17. The Breeders Last Splash
  18. Bright Eyes I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning
  19. Broken Bells Broken Bells
  20. Cake Comfort Eagle
  21. The Cars Heartbeat City
  22. Creedence Clearwater Revival Chronicle Vol. 1
  23. The Cure Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
  24. The Dandy Warhals Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia
  25. Dangerdoom The Mouse & The Mask
  26. David Bowie Ziggy Stardust
  27. Dead or Alive Rip It Up
  28. The Decemberists Picaresque
  29. Depeche Mode Violator
  30. The Drums Portomento
  31. Duran Duran Rio
  32. Elastica Elastica
  33. EMF Schubert Dip
  34. Erasure Pop! The First 20 Hits
  35. Eurythmics Be Yourself Tonight
  36. Faith No More Angel Dust
  37. Falco 3
  38. First Aid Kit The Lion’s Roar
  39. Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
  40. Frankie Goes to Hollywood Welcome to the Pleasure Dome
  41. George Michael Faith
  42. Gorillaz Demon Days
  43. Green Day Dookie
  44. Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion I
  45. Howard Jones Action Replay
  46. Iggy Pop Lust for Life
  47. Imperial Teen What Is Not To Love
  48. Information Society Information Society
  49. INXS Kick
  50. Jane’s Addiction Ritual De Lo Habitual
  51. Jeff Buckley Grace
  52. Jesus Jones Doubt
  53. John Lennon Imagine
  54. John Lennon & Yoko Ono Double Fantasy
  55. Johnny Cash Folsom Prison and San Quentin
  56. Kasabian Kasabian
  57. The Killers Hot Fuss
  58. The Kinks State of Confusion
  59. Live Throwing Copper
  60. Loretta Lynn Van Lear Rose
  61. Lou Reed Transformer
  62. Madonna Like a Prayer
  63. The Magnetic Fields I
  64. MGMT Oracular Spectacular
  65. Michael Jackson Thriller
  66. Modest Mouse The Moon and Antarctica
  67. Mountain Con Dusty Zeroes, Dirty Ones
  68. Neutral Milk Hotel In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
  69. New Order Substance
  70. Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine
  71. Nirvana In Utero
  72. Pet Shop Boys Actually
  73. Pink Floyd The Wall
  74. Pixies Doolittle
  75. Portishead Portishead
  76. The Postal Service Give Up
  77. The Presidents of the USA The Presidents of the USA
  78. Prince Sign O’ the Times
  79. Prince and the Revolution Purple Rain
  80. The Prodigy Fat of the Land
  81. Radiohead OK Computer
  82. Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik
  83. The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers
  84. Roxy Music Country Life
  85. Run-DMC Raising Hell
  86. Scissor Sisters Ta-Dah!
  87. Sigur Ros Takk…
  88. Sinead O’Conner I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got
  89. Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
  90. The Smiths Meat is Murder
  91. Space Spiders
  92. Squirrel Nut Zippers Hot
  93. T. Rex 20th Century Boy
  94. Talking Heads Stop Making Sense
  95. Tears for Fears Songs from the Big Chair
  96. Travis The Invisible Band
  97. Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend
  98. Weezer Weezer
  99. The White Stripes Elephant
  100. The Who The Ultimate Collection

Give it a try yourself and see what you come up with!

Apple Nut Crumble (Primal-Friendly)

Monday, Oct 31st, 2011 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: cooking, health, nutrition, paleo, primal blueprint

One of my favorite desserts this time of year is an apple nut crumble. For me the yearly apple harvest is as big a part of autumn as football or Halloween. And apples have always been one of my favorite fruits. If you ask me, the perfect end to a cool, crisp autumn evening is sitting down for a piping warm bowl of freshly baked apples topped with oats and nuts and butter and brown sugar… Yum.

But since I’m not currently eating flour, sugar, brown sugar, or oats, that’s pretty much off the table. But then I got to thinking… Maybe I could create something similar with primal-friendly ingredients. So, I started experimenting a few weeks back, playing around with different nut combinations and ratios to almond flour and flax seed. Honestly, the first batch was a little awful. It tasted mostly like butter. But as they say, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. This week, on my third attempt, I think I’ve perfected the recipe for a nice fall apple treat that is sugar- and flour-free. If you decide to give it a try, enjoy! I hope you like it.

Filling:
8 Organic apples (Granny Smith are nice), peeled, cored and cut into 1/2″ slices
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Topping:
1 cup almonds
1 cup pecans
1 cup cashews
1 1/2 cup flax seed
1 1/2 cup almond flour
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
8 Tbsp butter (1 stick) cut into cubes and softened to room temperature

Directions:

  1. Heat over to 375 degrees.
  2. Put chopped apples into a large bowl and sprinkle with 1/4 cup almond flour. In a smaller bowl, combine the lemon juice, agave nectar and vanilla extract. Pour over the apples and mix well with a wooden spoon.
  3. Place almonds, pecans and cashews on a baking sheet and roast in the oven just until before turning brown (about 7-10 minutes) turning once or twice. Let cool for a few minutes, then pulse in a food processor until they are roughly chopped.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, combine almond flour, flaxseed, cinnamon and salt. Add the butter pieces and massage into the mixture using fingertips until it forms a course meal. Add the nuts and combine with fingers until it forms a nice even crumbly consistency.
  5. Butter a 13×9 glass baking dish. Pour in the apple mixture and spread evenly. Pour the topping over the apples, and use fingers to gently spread evenly over entire surface. Press gently into the apples.
  6. Bake in the center of the oven for 45 minutes, or until the topping is nice and toasty brown.
Top it with a little fresh whipped cream--perfect!

Top it with a little fresh whipped cream--perfect!

Smmmile, It’s Three Cheesy

Sunday, Oct 16th, 2011 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: cooking, health, nutrition, paleo, primal blueprint

Remember eating this stuff as a kid? I sure do. I loved macaroni and cheese, and Kraft was the best.

Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, comfort food for kids.

Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, comfort food for kids.

But guess what? As far as I can tell, that pretty blue and gold box contains neither macaroni or cheese.

The first ingredient is “enriched macaroni product”. Right off the bat that kind of worries me. Why isn’t it just “macaroni”? Or “pasta”? I mean, I get the “enriched” part. Everything has to be enriched nowadays, because all our food is constructed from processed (deconstructed) corn, soy and wheat. That process strips out anything good for you, so the minerals and vitamins are added back in, unnaturally. But “product”? Yikes. Makes me think of Frankenstein in the lab for some reason.

Okay, let’s check on the cheese. Says right there on the front of the box “three cheese”. Wow! Sounds awesome. When I make homemade baked mac and cheese, I only use two kinds of cheese, gruyere and sharp white cheddar, and it’s delicious. Three cheeses might be even better, right?

Hmmm. Looking at the label, I don’t see any cheeses listed. None. No cheddar. No gruyere. No emmentaler.

In fact, the only mentions of cheese are “cheese sauce mix” and “cheese culture”. What? Let’s take a closer look at the cheese sauce mix, which has several sub-ingredients listed: whey, milk, salt, skim milk, milk fat, milk protein concentrate, modified food starch, sodium tripolyphosphate, buttermilk solids, sodium phosphate, citric acid, cellulose gel, cellulose gum, lactic acid, cheese culture, calcium phosphate, yellow 5, yellow 6, and enzymes.

So there’s no actual cheese in the macaroni and cheese. But there is milk, skim milk, milk fat, milk protein concentrate, and buttermilk solids. So that’s good, right? Cheese is made from milk, so really there is cheese in Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, right?

Not exactly.

Cheese is made by from milk by adding bacteria and then an enzyme called rennet, which causes coagulation. The solids are then separated and formed into their final shape. Some include mold on the rind or layered throughout the cheese. Seeds from the Annatto tree are used as a natural food colorant in some cheeses such as gouda and cheddar, giving them their orange hue. There are hundreds if not thousands of kinds of cheese in the world, all varying in flavor and texture depending on the kind of milk, the fat content of the milk, the bacteria, mold and aging process, and any herbs or spices that are added to provide additional flavoring.

That’s how real cheese is made.

I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised that there is no actual cheese in Kraft macaroni and cheese. What does surprise me however is that they are allowed to call it “macaroni and cheese”, when really what’s in the box is “enriched macaroni product and cheese sauce mix”. I guess that just doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as nicely, does it?

So what is all this stuff that is in there then? Let’s take a look at a few of the listed ingredients:

Modified food starch
This is used as a thickening agent, stabilizer or emulsifier in food products. So, it’s what makes the cheese sauce all gooey and creamy. But what is it, and how is it made?

Starch is found is most plants, and is the most common carbohydrate source of our diet. In this country we get most of ours from corn, or rather, from food products made from corn. According to Wikipedia, modified food starches are “prepared by physically, enzymatically, or chemically treating native starch… to change their texture; to decrease or increase their viscosity; to lengthen or shorten gelatinization time; or to increase their visco-stability.” Modified food starch is found in all kinds of food products, from frozen pizzas to gravy mix to gelatin desserts. It keeps the food product from separating or falling apart, and keeps it from becoming lumpy if it needs to be reconstituted with water before eating (like Kraft macaroni & cheese). Modified food starch is also used in wallpaper adhesive, as a thickener in textile printing, and in paper manufacturing.

There are many types of modified food starch, made any number of ways. Acid-treated starch is made by, yes, you guessed it, adding hydrochloric acid to break down the starch molecule. Dextrin is made by roasting starch with hydrochloric acid. Yum. Bleached starch is made with hydrogen peroxide, oxidized starch with sodium hypochlorite. Acetylated starch is produced by creating an ester with acetic anhydride. I think you get the picture.

Cellulose gel
This vague ingredient could be taken to mean a number of things, but for the sake of this blog post that all of five people might read, let’s assume that it’s one of the edible compounds I found that fall under the heading “cellulose gel”.

The first is the compound ethylhydroxyethylcellulose, also known as ethulose. As a food additive, it’s an emulsifier, known as E467. It’s other use is as a laxative.

Another possibility is the semisynthetic compound hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), or hypromellose, a thickening agent used in foods as an alternative to natural animal gelatin. It’s also used as an eye lubricant, as well as in tile adhesives, cement renders, gypsum, paint and detergents.

Cellulose gum
Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), according to Wikipedia, is “a cellulose derivative with carboxymethyl groups… bound to some of the hydroxyl groups of the glucopyranose monomers that make up the cellulose backbone.” Whew, that’s a mouthful! But do we really want a mouthful of this stuff?

CMC is used as an emulsifier and stabilizer in food products like ice cream. It’s also used in K-Y Jelly, toothpaste, laxatives, diet pills, paint, detergents, and textiles.

So there you have it. There is no actual cheese in Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, and yet they tell us theirs is the cheesiest. They do add a lot of stuff made in a lab to make it seem cheesy, I’ll give them that. But I’m sorry, it just doesn’t seem right to me. I’d rather make my own macaroni and cheese from real food. You know what’s in the recipe* I use? Whole wheat pasta, flour, butter, milk, gruyere and white cheddar cheeses, salt, cayenne pepper and nutmeg. Now that sound like real, delicious food.

*I’m not currently eating pasta of course, but if and when I decide to reintroduce it to my diet, this will be one of the first things I prepare!

Patagonian Toothfish

Sunday, Oct 16th, 2011 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: Uncategorized

So simple, so delicious. One of the nicest meals I’ve had in a long time. Patagonian toothfish (better known as Chilean Sea Bass, thanks to clever marketers) is probably my favorite cooked fish. Its flavor is full, rich and sweet. It needs nothing extra, all the flavor is built in.

I baked the fish in a glass baking dish with a little olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon, salt and pepper, covered with foil, at 350 for 18 minutes. Sweet potato “fries” and some massaged kale salad rounded out the flavor nicely.

toothfish

The Primal Diet Experiment Is Over… Or Is It?

Wednesday, Oct 12th, 2011 by admin | 2 Comments
Filed under: health, nutrition, paleo, primal blueprint

What began as a 30-day experiment has now been going on for about 45 days. I met with my nutritionist Deb McInally for an hour earlier this week to review the past month and to ask a lot of questions, which she very patiently answered. I thought now would be a good time to capture the pros as cons, as I see them anyway, of the past month plus. It’s probably pretty obvious that I’m happy with how it’s all gone down. I mean, on day 31 it’s not like I ran out and scarfed down three greasy cheeseburgers and a pound of french fries, washing it all down with a beer or four.

Damn, that sounds pretty tasty right now actually.

Focus! Ok, so, yes, there were a lot of good things, and a few bad things, but mostly it went well. So, here’s a recap, along with what I think I’ll be doing diet-wise going forward.

Oh, how I do sometimes miss this.

Oh, how I do sometimes miss this.

Pros
I feel better physically. It’s hard to put into words what exactly I mean by that statement. It’s sort of an overall sense of well being. More specifically, I am never bloated. I never really feel like I’ve eaten too much. And if I do eat a large portion of food and do feel a little fuller than usual, it completely subsides within 15-20 minutes. I tend to eat even slower than I did before, and food tastes better. Yes, it’s taken time to get used to it (because it’s a lot different). It’s like hunger now is more honest. And when I eat, I’m eating with real purpose, that is, to put necessary, good foods into this amazing machine that is the human body. That feels great in a physical sense, but also mentally or spiritually as well.

The food that I eat tastes amazing. I ate a carrot last week, one delivered from Full Circle as part of my weekly produce delivery, and upon that first bite I was shocked. I’d forgotten what a carrot, a real carrot, tasted like. It took me straight back to my childhood. I grew up on five acres in the woods way out in the boonies, and we grew a sizable vegetable garden every year (I say “we” because even we three kids participated, often ending up on weeding duty). Peas, corn, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, onions, radishes, and yes, carrots. In the summer, “Mom, we’re hungry!” was often met with “Go pick a carrot out of the garden!” I distinctly remember doing so on many occasions, and then turning on the garden hose to give the carrot a rinse before snapping off a bite. That taste is unmistakeable… Fresh, wholesome, honest.

Obviously some of what I’m now eating tastes better because it’s fresher and of higher quality. I’ll give you that. But I also suspect there’s an additional component at play here. I believe that in cutting out the “fog” of all the needless, processed crap previously part of my diet, I’m now able to taste food more… clearly? Call me crazy, but that’s my take on it.

My energy level throughout the day is pretty even nowadays, I have to admit. I don’t get that super tired run-down feeling in the afternoons like I used to. I don’t have spikes after eating followed by crashes moments later. When I’m hungry, I eat, and when I’m full, I stop. And then when I’m hungry again, I eat again, even if it’s only a short time later. I haven’t worried too much about how much I eat, but instead have focused on consuming a healthy ratio of the three macronutrients (protein, fat and carbohydrate) from good sources.

I’ve leaned out considerably. My body fat is currently 6.3%, surely the lowest it’s ever been in my life. I back-calculated where I was last year on my 40th birthday and figured I was somewhere between 18 and 20% body fat. So, a huge improvement over the last year just from exercise, but I really trimmed up on this primal blueprint diet.

And I feel great during my CrossFit workouts, full of energy and focused. I sleep better now too. I never used to sleep the whole way through the night, and would usually wake up three or four times. Now, if I do wake up, it’s usually just once, and much later in the night, like 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning.

The mental and spiritual effects of eating well have been great too. I’m much more at ease with it all, knowing that I’m doing everything I can to eat well. Also, as a result of the ton of reading and research I’ve done over the past six weeks, I’m so much better educated now in terms of overall nutrition and how the food industry works in America. The culture of eating in this country isn’t pretty at the moment, but it’s comforting knowing there are a lot of people out there that realize this, and that are doing something about it.

Cons
Ok, so I’ll be honest, it hasn’t all been rosy, or easy for that matter. I had to make an effort. I had to figure out how to eat without a lot of main staples, things like bread, crackers, rice, corn, beans, and beer. I hadn’t realized how much bread I was regularly eating prior to eliminating it. Bread probably accounted for the biggest hole in my new diet, followed closely by rice. Think about it… Eggs or an omelet for breakfast? Sure, along with two slices of toasted wheat, please. Tuna fish or egg salad sandwich for lunch? Sure! Rye or sourdough would be great, thanks. Big chicken dinner with a little pan gravy? Pass me a dinner roll or a chunk of that fresh baked artisan loaf so I can sop it all up!

Luckily I like to cook, and I’m comfortable experimenting in the kitchen. Deb provided a lot of recipes and a lot of ideas about how to eat without bread and all the other stuff. It wasn’t too difficult, but it was somewhat challenging. Thankfully I like meat. I’ve certainly increased my intake of beef, pork and chicken. I’ve always eaten a fair amount of seafood. I’m eating up to a dozen eggs a week now too, whereas before I’d have eggs for breakfast maybe twice a month.

Not consuming alcohol for a month wasn’t hard in the sense that I ever really missed or craved it, but it did present a few challenges due to its social nature. For me, going out for dinner with friends often includes a pre-meal cocktail or pint of delicious beer. I think I went out for dinner three times during my 30 days (twice for sashimi, and once for steak and fresh oysters on the half shell), and it felt odd each time not having a drink. And spending time with my family? Alcohol is required! But I made it through Labor Day weekend with no casualties.

The food I’m eating might be a little more expensive, but I suspect that I’ve actually spent less over the course of the month than I think I have. Yes, the roasts I buy from Blue Valley cost more than the anonymous chunks of meat I can buy at QFC, but I know that the animals they came from were grass fed and finished, and were treated humanely and not pumped full of harmful antibiotics.

Yes, sure, I did experience a few cravings now and again, but nothing insurmountable. Green beans, edamame, hummus, soy sauce, apple crisp, cheeseburgers, corn tortillas, black beans, Triscuit crackers, ice cream… At one time or another I’ve missed eating these things. So where does this leave me now?

Going Forward
I’m going to continue with the primal diet. Overall, for me, the benefits have far, far outweighed the costs. If I end up spending a little more on food than I would have otherwise, so be it. My health is worth it. As is the peace of mind that comes from knowing that I’m putting good, natural food in my body.

I plan to cut out the teetotaling. I’m looking forward to having a nice glass of red wine with the beef and pork roasts I’ll be cooking up this fall. Or a nice lager or IPA with a pork chop, or a gin martini when I go out for sushi. Moderation is of course the key.

I’ll probably try reintroducing rice into my diet, mainly just for when I go out for sushi. That will be one of my “cheats”.

I may try a day of reintroducing bread back into my diet, only to see if it makes me feel poorly at all. But for now, I will continue a wheat- and corn-free diet. No soy either, but I’ll allow myself a little bit of soy sauce with my sushi.

Most importantly though, I’ll continue to avoid all processed foods. My number one goal going forward is to continue to source my food locally, make all my own food, and to eat as healthily as possible.

Eat (healthily), drink (in moderation), and be merry!

Eat (healthily), drink (in moderation), and be merry!

So, You Roasted a Chicken.. Now What?

Monday, Oct 10th, 2011 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: cooking, health, nutrition, paleo, primal blueprint

Easy! Make soup.

After you’ve carved up your delicious chicken and picked off all the good bits, there’s no sense in letting the rest of it go to waste. Making soup stock is easy. I recommend doing this on a weekend day while you are doing chores around the house. After getting everything in the pot, there’s nothing much else that needs to be done, but you’ll want to let it simmer for about four hours. Bonus: it makes the house smell awesome.

Below are instructions for making a basic soup stock from a chicken carcass, followed by a recipe for a primal blueprint-friendly chicken vegetable soup. Enjoy!

Fresh veggies about to become soup.

Fresh veggies about to become soup.

Chicken Stock

1 chicken carcass
1 onion
3 celery stalks
1 carrot
1 head garlic
1 bunch fresh thyme
1 sprig rosemary
2 tsp salt

  1. Coarsely chop the onion, celery and carrot. Cut the head of garlic in half crosswise.
  2. Add all ingredients to a large pot. Add 10 cups water.
  3. On stove top, heat until just coming to a boil (but don’t let it boil rapidly).
  4. Reduce heat to low and simmer (so that just an occasional bubble rises to the surface) for 4 hours.
  5. Remove from heat and let cool for 30 minutes. Pour through a strainer into a large glass bowl. Cover and refrigerate over night.
  6. With a slotted spoon remove as much of the fat that has coagulated on the surface as possible, then pour through a cheesecloth/strainer.
  7. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to a year.

Chicken Vegetable Soup

8 cups chicken stock
3 medium-sized chicken breast halves
2 sweet potatoes, cubed
2 carrots, cubed
4 turnips, cubed
4 celery stalks, sliced
4 sprigs fresh thyme, de-stemmed and finely chopped
1 onion, diced
8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sea salt
Pepper to taste

  1. Bake chicken breasts in a lightly oiled glass baking dish covered in foil in a 350-degree oven for 25 minutes or until internal temp reaches 165 degrees.
  2. In a large pot begin to heat chicken stock on stove top.
  3. In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until onion softens, about 3-4 mins.
  4. Add onion and garlic to chicken stock and turn up heat to bring to a boil. Add sweet potatoes, carrots, turnips, celery, thyme, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 mins, or until vegetables soften.
  5. Shred chicken with a fork, and add to soup. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy.
Tasty!

Tasty!

6.3%

Thursday, Oct 6th, 2011 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: CrossFit, exercise, health, paleo, primal blueprint

Yesterday, the folks from Body Fat Test, a “mobile hydrostatic body fat testing clinic” spent the day parked outside the Lab. What is a mobile hydrostatic fat testing clinic, you ask? It’s basically a big truck with a shallow metal tub in the back, in the bottom of which sits a submerged scale. According to their website, hydrostatic weighing is “the best method of calculating your true body composition and is still considered the gold standard.”

So how does it work?

Essentially, hydrosensitometry is a method used to calculate body composition. That is, it is a means to calculate how much of you is lean mass (bone, muscle, organs) and how much of you is fat. By volume, fat weighs less than muscle, and both displace a known amount of water. If you know your weight, it is easy to calculate how much water you would displace if you were made up entirely of lean mass. Compare that figure to the actual amount of water you displace, and you can determine mow much of your body composition is fat rather than lean mass.

This is where the dunk tank comes in.

In all, the test took less than 15 minutes, start to finish. I showed up to the truck, knocked on the door and was invited in by Brian. The inside of the truck was simple: a large metal tub filled with maybe two feet of water, a desk with a computer, and two changing rooms. I quickly changed into my swimsuit. Then Brian weighed me on a scale (179.4 pounds), and then measured me against a wall (5′11 3/4″). Next, we did the actual test.

Brian had me sit in the tub, which is maybe 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. The entire bottom of the tub comprises the scale. I sat on it, in about two feet of warm  water, and placed a weight belt over the tops of my lower legs to keep me in place. Just under the surface of the water are hand rails. I grabbed one with my left hand, plugged my nose with my right, and slowly leaned back into the water until I was fully submerged, at the same time exhaling as much air out of my lungs as possible. It’s amazing how much air your lungs actually hold. It takes a few seconds to squeeze it all out. And you want as much out as possible, as extra air in your lungs could skew the results.

You repeat this process of dunking yourself and exhaling until you get two similar readings from the scale. As soon as Brian saw no more bubbles coming to the surface, he would rap on the side of the metal tub to let me know it was ok to come up for air. It took me four or five times, but all in all it was really quick and easy, and definitely painless.

I dried off and changed, and by the time I was done doing that Brian had a printout of my test results ready. According to the hydrostatic method, 11.3 pounds of my total 179.4 pounds is made up of body fat, which comes to 6.3%. I’ve been cross-fitting for 6 months, and doing primal blueprint diet for 6 weeks, so I knew I’d leaned out a bit, but I was pretty surprised that my body fat was actually that low. At the top of the report, it says “According to your age group and your percent fat of 6.3%, the closest value on the chart is 6.6%, placing you at the 99th percentile with a rating of ‘Healthy Range’.”

It’s good to be healthy!

I didn’t really have a goal in terms of lowering my body fat, and really only took the test out of interest (I’d never done this before and was curious). My goals still remain the same: to be healthy and active, to eat well and to challenge myself physically.

So, What Have I Been Eating Anyway?

Monday, Oct 3rd, 2011 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: Uncategorized, health, nutrition, paleo, primal blueprint

I’m just about a month in on going primal. Next week I’ll do a write up on how I plan to go forward after completing my month-long test period. But today I thought it might be a good idea to outline the basic things I’ve been feeding myself. I’ve been getting my box of goodies from Full Circle every Wednesday, and I’ve started ordering most of my meat from Blue Valley, so I pretty much always have a well stocked fridge. I challenged  myself to prepare every meal from whole foods for the past four weeks, and I managed to succeed in doing so (with a couple exceptions, noted below) . That said, what exactly have I been eating this month?

Beef
 I eat beef twice a week on average. Before the weather turned, this mostly was in the form of a nice grilled steak. And I’d always make extra so that I’d have leftovers to slice over a green salad the next day, or heat up with some spinach or sweet potatoes. I keep the portion right at six ounces (two of the proverbial decks of cards–eating only one “deck” leaves me hungry for more!).

Chicken
As mentioned in a previous post, I enjoy roasting a whole chicken. There’s just nothing like it, if done well. I probably eat chicken 3-4 times a week.

Pork
I’ll do a pork roast or chops once or twice a month. And I’m no stranger to bacon or pork sausage, in moderation.

Fish
I eat canned tuna once, sometimes twice a week. I do worry about mercury levels a little, so I don’t generally consume more than that. I also really enjoy sushi, so typically if I do eat out, I’ll hit one of the many great sushi spots here in Seattle (and there are many!). I probably do eat sushi once a week on average. I did go out for sushi three or four times in September. I’ll also occasionally broil a nice salmon or halibut filet, or pan sear a handful of scallops. I can easily put away a dozen raw oysters too. All seafood is delicious.

Eggs
Prior to going primal, I ate eggs once a week. Now I’m averaging about a dozen eggs per week. I’ll often scramble three eggs for lunch, or if I’ve decided to hard-boiled a dozen, I’ll whip up a quick egg salad and eat with cucumber slices.

Vegetables
I eat a lot of vegetables, and am having a fun time being creative with whatever shows up in the Full Circle box every week. The “Big Ass Salad” has become a weekly event (sometimes twice weekly), where I’ll whip up a giant bowl of salad with just about everything you can imagine. For instance, this week I threw in leaf lettuce, red chard, arugula, cucumber, heirloom tomato, roasted red beets, carrot, radish, peppers, hard boiled egg, some leftover chicken breast, and avocado. Tossed with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a little salt, it’s just perfect. Some favorite vegetables I eat often: zucchini and other squash, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, sweet potatoes, beets, onions, and kale.

Fruit
Blueberries and strawberries when I can get them (sadly we are at the end of the season). Right now Full Circle is sending me lots of apples, pluots, peaches and pears. I eat half a grapefruit in the morning as well.

Nuts
I eat a lot of seeds and nuts. I make my own mix for my yogurt in the morning (cashews, pecans, almond, raisins, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds). And I always keep a large supply of almonds in the cupboard, and grab a handful when I need a little snack. Nuts also make up the bulk of the protein bars I make (see below).

Dairy
I’ve not been eating a lot of dairy, but I haven’t eliminated it from my diet entirely. I have Greek-style yogurt every morning for breakfast. I do eat cheese a couple times a month, preferably with a sliced apple or with some nice olives. I don’t drink milk, just as a personal preference (it’s just not my thing).

Sweets
This has been the toughest area for me, but I’ve managed to be creative and satisfy my cravings with moderation. The homemade protein bars and power bites are perfect for when I need just a little something sweet. I also keep a supply of quality dark chocolate on hand, and will sometimes eat a few squares with a handful of almonds in the evening after dinner.

Alcohol
I did manage to abstain from alcohol for the month of September, other than the one gluten-free beer I tried over Labor Day weekend, which I found quite awful tasting. I don’t plan to continue teetotaling 100% going forward, but can definitely see myself just having one drink, once a week, or even less often.

So that’s what I’ve been eating this past month, a month without grains, breads, beans or alcohol. I certainly feel healthier for it. And I am more comfortable with my diet knowing that it’s largely unprocessed, and more often coming from sources that are at least a bit healthier for us and the environment.

How To Best Roast A Chicken

Wednesday, Sep 28th, 2011 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: health, nutrition, paleo

As anyone can plainly see from reading this blog, I love roast chicken. It really is one of the easiest things to prepare, and the process of doing so is quite gratifying as well. I love the crackling sound it makes in the oven when it heats up and the fat begins to splatter about the roasting pan. It makes the house smell wonderful too. I much prefer roasting a whole, organic, locally grown, free-range chicken over buying frozen chopped up chicken parts. For one thing, it’s cheaper to buy a whole chicken on the bone. I also like to try and use the whole chicken whenever possible–I despise wasting food. Feeding oneself is expensive enough as it is, no sense in throwing away perfectly good food on top of it. I already mentioned how easy and wonderful it is to roast a chicken. The only thing better? Eating it. It tastes delicious.

I’ve been tweaking and modifying my recipe for roast chicken for a year or so now. I started out following Julia Child’s method of beginning with a hot oven, crisping the exterior of the bird for 15 minutes on it’s back and then also on each side, and then lowering the temperature and repeating the rotation every 20 minutes until done on the inside, all the while basting with an olive oil and butter mixture. While delicious, this proved to be just a hair tedious. I’ve also tried various rubs, as well as stuffing the bird with all sorts of things, or accompanying it with all sorts of vegetables while roasting. But in the end, for me anyway, keeping it simple makes for the best tasting chicken. Here’s my recipe:

  1. Rinse a 3 1/2 to 4-pound whole, completely defrosted, chicken with cold water, inside and out. Pat dry with paper towels inside and out, and place in a roasting pan. If the chicken came with the giblets, you can place them under the bird in the pan if you wish (and you should if you plan to make a gravy from the drippings).
  2. Salt the inside of the chicken well.
  3. Cut a lemon and an entire head of garlic in half. Rub the halves of garlic all over the exterior of the bird. Squeeze one half of the lemon over the bird, and then squeeze the other half inside it. Place half a garlic head, half a squeezed lemon, and another bunch of fresh thyme inside the bird. Tie legs together with twine, string, or rubber bands made for this purpose.
  4. Finely chop up a bunch of fresh thyme, so that you have about a tablespoon or two. With your fingers, mix in 1-2 teaspoons of course sea salt until it forms a sort of gray-green salt. Sprinkle the mixture all over the bird, gently patting it onto the skin.
  5. In a small bowl mix 2-3 tablespoons of butter and an equal measure of olive oil. Drizzle about half all over the chicken, but do so carefully so that the salt-thyme rub doesn’t wash off.
  6. Place the roasting pan in the center of a pre-heated 350-degree oven. Baste with the remaining butter-oil every 20 minutes, roasting for a total of one hour and fifteen minutes, or slightly longer, until the interior of the chicken reaches 160 degrees. I use a meat thermometer as it takes the guessing out of it, and because I despise overcooked meat. It’s recommended that chicken be cooked to 165 degrees, but remember that it continues to cook awhile longer after you remove it from the oven.
  7. Let the chicken rest for at least ten minutes. If you start carving it right away, you’ll lose all the juice and have a dry chicken on your hands. Besides, it’s hard to carve a hot chicken with bare hands! Also, this gives you plenty of time to bring the rest of your meal together.
  8. You can easily make a nice gravy to accompany your chicken if you wish. (I use Julia Child’s recipe). Remove all but a couple tablespoons of the fat and oil from the roasting pan. Return to low heat on the stove top. Toss in a tablespoon or two of minced shallot or green onion, cooking slowly for a minute until softened. Add a cup of chicken stock and bring to a boil, letting it reduce by half, while scraping up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat, salt and pepper to taste. Keep it warm in a bowl or gravy boat if you have one, and then just prior to serving, add a few pats of butter and gently incorporate.
  9. Carving the chicken isn’t difficult, but it does take a few times to get the hang of it if you don’t have a lot of experience. And there are a few ways to do it, so I recommend searching online for a couple videos showing how this is done, and then watching them a few times prior to performing your own surgery. I also recommend having a good sharp chef’s knife in your kitchen, as it’s invaluable for this and many other common tasks.

I usually leave the thigh and leg connected and carve as one piece. I also carve each breast half as one piece. Basically this equates to four nice-sized portions. Oh, and I usually carve off the wings first, and nibble on them as I go about my task. There’s nothing like eating a hot crispy roasted chicken wing fresh out of the oven, juices still dripping!

Thigh and leg of roast chicken

Thigh and leg of roast chicken

I’ll often eat a thigh and leg for dinner that night, and then throw the rest in the fridge to eat over the course of the week. Reheating chicken can easily dry it out, so I usually just eat leftovers cold. Sometimes I’ll chop a leftover breast up and throw over a green salad, or mix with a bit of mayo and some chopped onion and celery for a nice chicken salad. There are a lot of ways to eat leftover chicken, use your imagination!

And if you are feeling extra ambitious, save the carcass in a freezer bag and pop in the refrigerator. The next day throw it in a large pot with 8 cups of water, chopped onions, celery, carrots, garlic and thyme, salt and pepper, and/or other herbs if you wish. Bring it to just below a boil and then simmer on low heat (so that just the occasional little bubble breaks the surface) for about 4 hours. Then, after letting it cool slightly, run through a strainer so that just the liquid is left. Let it set and cool until most of the fat rises and settles on the surface, and spoon it off. If you want it extra pure, strain it through a cheesecloth as well. Salt to taste, and voila, you have a few quarts of delicious homemade chicken stock. Refrigerate if you don’t plan to use immediately, or freeze for up to a year.

Now that’s using the whole bird!

A Few (Hundred?) Words About CrossFit

Tuesday, Sep 20th, 2011 by admin | Leave a Comment
Filed under: CrossFit, exercise, health

I began my journey with CrossFit at The LAB on February 28th, 2011. Although it’s now been just six or so months, it seems forever ago that while on a run one afternoon, I decided on a whim to just walk in and see what the place was all about. I happened to catch the owner Lindsey while she was leading a class, but she was nice enough to chat with me for a few minutes. Behind her a class of LAB athletes grunted as they lifted insane weight, and jumped about and sweated profusely. I’d not heard much about CrossFit (and from the looks of it, it looked hard), but her explanation of how it worked and the philosophy behind it definitely resonated with me. Improve my strength, stamina, power, speed, agility and coordination? Go at my own pace within my own skill set, and with the benefit of encouragement from coaches and fellow members alike? Where do I sign up?

At the time, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had no inkling of how difficult and challenging it would be. And little did I know back then how rewarding an experience CrossFit training ultimately would prove to be for me.

Yes, back in March, way before I’d even heard about power cleans and snatches and split jerks, jumping rope singles for 30 seconds without stopping was a personal feat. Ten unbroken push ups was, at the time, all I could muster. And, I’m embarrassed to admit, I couldn’t even do one unassisted pull up. Not one.

But I’m stubborn. And when I decide to do something, I go at it 100%. I don’t know any other way to do it. It’s not in my DNA to do something half-assed. So when I signed on to start CrossFit, I was on board all the way.

That said, it had been many years since I’d seen the inside of a gym of any kind. I’d starting running for the first time in my life the previous spring, and in fact had trained all summer for my first marathon attempt, The Portland Marathon last October. (Unfortunately the knees didn’t want to go much farther than the 20-mile mark, but that’s a story for another post).

So when I started CrossFit last February 28th, at the time I thought I was in decent shape from running. In hindsight, my stamina, endurance, and agility were actually pretty sub par, but I just didn’t know any better then. Ignorance is bliss, right?

And strength? Simply put, I had none. I mean come on, I couldn’t even do a pull up. I had zero upper body strength. But that’s why we go to CrossFit, right? To get stronger, faster, better. If nothing else, I understood that concept, even back then. It became apparent early on that if I just kept showing up, that would happen, that I’d see incremental change, no matter how small. And that did indeed begin to happen. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Pitfalls and Stumbling Blocks

CrossFit is not easy. In fact, it hurts. Often. But in addition to the normal, usual aches and pains that come along with any new workout regimen, I hit a few larger, well, obstacles during my own journey. My first little stumbling block came on day two of on-ramp.

Yes, day two.

With my lower back pretty sore from the first two classes with on-ramp trainers extraordinaire, Paul and Emma, I was hopping out of my truck late that evening when I suddenly felt a familiar stabbing pain in my lower back as it quickly went into spasm, pulling my spine out of alignment and causing me much discomfort. (Yes, I have a history of this happening, starting about ten or so years ago. I’ve learned to deal with it, and I’ve learned how to keep it from happening–Hint: Get strong! Stay limber!–but again, that’s a topic for another post).

I remember being really bummed out, mostly because it looked like I was going to miss the rest of my on-ramp sessions. We hadn’t even gotten to kettle bells yet! The next morning I woke up, and sure enough my back was in even worse shape. I couldn’t even stand up straight–my spine was being yanked off to one side by all those angry little stability muscles. Damn.

Feeling super lame, I emailed Lindsey to let her know that I wouldn’t be in for class, and that I might have to restart the on-ramp process at a later time. She responded, wishing me well and to heal quickly, and she let me know that I could rejoin on-ramp whenever I was better. Cool, right?

But then later that day, I received this note from Paul:

Hey Jamey!

Just wanted to touch base with you and let you know that if you wanted to come in tonight, I would love to show you some stretches and recovery techniques for your back.

Not sure how chronic your injury is, but I love trying to help out with these things. No pressure, just offering.

Hope all is well and that we can get you back into The LAB as swiftly and safely as possible!

Best,

Paul Felix

Are you kidding me? How cool is that? After reading Paul’s note, I remember thinking, I’ve been going to The LAB for all of two days, and this is how they treat their members, even a newbie like me? Amazing! Right then I began to suspect that I’d stumbled onto a pretty amazing facility run by some pretty amazing folks, folks who really seemed to care.

I took Paul up on his offer, and that evening spent the majority of what should have been my third on-ramp session, focusing on kettle bells, instead laying on my back on top of two tennis balls stuck together with athletic tape. (More on these tennis balls in another post!). He also checked out the stuck muscles in my back and did a little light manipulation/massage on the stubborn little buggers. He also showed me some good stretches to do at home throughout the day to help get it to come out of spasm.

The next day I was at least 50% improved, and by Friday nearly back to my old self. I started on-ramp again the following Monday, and although the back was cranky here and there (hello, kettle bells?), I made it through the process. Armed with my new skills of proper stretching and self-massage (with tennis balls!), I was able to keep the muscles from getting too tight and causing me any big problems.

Knowledge Is Power

That stuff Paul taught me (which is also taught and embraced by the rest of The LAB staff) still helps me today, six months later. I continue to have days where my back gets grumpy, and I probably always will. But now I have an even wider array of tools to fight back. Tons of stretches learned at the gym, plus a single tennis ball, a double tennis ball, a lacrosse ball, a foam roller, ‘The Stick’… I have ‘em all. And I use them in one combination or another almost every day.

Trying to master the art of the pull up while on vacation.

Trying to master the art of the pull up while on vacation.

I want to point out that stretching and rolling out have been absolutely key in my being able to do CrossFit as often as I do. I go to class five days a week, and haven’t missed a day since March. Some weeks this summer I upped it to six or seven classes a week (I even did the “Cindy” workout while on vacation in eastern Washington for the weekend), and one crazy week I even did ten workouts. Needless to say, that was a brutal week, but I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could do it. And I did it. But I think 5 days a week is plenty.

Some of those weeks were really rough, especially on certain body parts like my quads or my shoulders. I remember having sore or painful shoulders for stretches of time that would last weeks or even over a month non-stop. I just didn’t have the strength and flexibility to do what I was asking my body to do every day in class, at least not without it resulting in angry, sore, overused muscles and joints. I cannot stress this enough (see what I did there? I even bolded it): Stretching and rolling out and continuing to go to class were the keys to me being able to continue with CrossFit. I firmly believe had I instead stopped and took a break to rest, rather than pushing forward, that I would have been worse off for it in the long run.

But that’s just one man’s opinion. Most of my friends think I’m crazy. I’m okay with that.

For the first several weeks of my post on-ramp CrossFit adventure, it was all about getting my legs under me, learning the movements, learning proper form, learning technique and how to breathe, and starting to condition my body to the torture that was being thrown at me in the Elements room daily by Dean.

Yeah, I said it. Torture.

Many days that’s exactly what it felt like. Some things seemed more difficult than others for me, like jumping rope and burpees (I don’t think I’d done either since junior high) and the previously mentioned pull ups and pull ups. Others came a bit more naturally, like squats and power cleans. Of course we were mostly just using blank bars back then, but hey–learning technique and getting a little experience under your belt was the important thing, especially if the goal was to improve so I could eventually move up to the Advanced room.

The LAB is broken up into two class levels, Elements classes for people new to CrossFit, and Advanced classes for seasoned veterans. Now, back in March and April, I distinctly remember Dean’s Elements classes kicking my ass. At that time I had zero aspirations of moving into the Advanced classes. I was just fine where I was, thank you very much. And in fact I was, admittedly, quite apprehensive about the possibility of joining those dudes and dudettes. They were all huge and ripped and strong and fast. And I… I wasn’t.

Well it turns out that the decision wasn’t mine to make. About six weeks in I showed up for Elements class one afternoon and Dean walked over and said something along the lines of “Hey man, get outta here, it’s time for you to start going to Advanced. I was gonna tell you next week, but screw it, get your ass over there.”

Jumping In With Both Feet

So that’s how my sudden abrupt departure from the comfort of the Elements room went down. Remember your first day of high school? The nerves? The anxiety? The excitement? I don’t want to exaggerate, but my first day of Advanced class felt a little bit like that. I remember looking around the bigger room at all the bigger “upperclassmen” and wondering if I could even hope to measure up.

My nervousness and self-doubt about the Advanced class were short lived that first day, however, as there was something else that demanded my immediate focus: the WOD.

I don’t recall exactly what that first Workout of the Day in the Advanced room entailed, but I remember it was hard. I know I didn’t do the prescribed weight (and it would in fact be quite some time before I would eventually work my way up to hitting a few “Rx’s” in a week here and there). But I did it, and I finished it.

However, I finished the WOD dead last that day. In fact, for months going forward I would pretty much always end up last in timed workouts, behind everyone else in class. Or I would end up with the lowest amount of reps, if that’s how the WOD was being scored. But I kept telling myself, that stuff doesn’t matter. All that mattered was that I showed up every day, and tried my best to do what the coaches put up on the big whiteboard in the front of the gym, and to just put my head down and stubbornly refuse to quit.

Most days coming in last didn’t really bother me. I was just happy to be exercising regularly again, to be using muscles I’d forgotten I even had (A lat? What’s that, a coffee drink?). I’d found a routine that suited me, and a gym that was full of great, supportive coaches and members. Who cared if I was always last?

Then, it started to happen, but slowly, oh ever so slowly. I didn’t take notice really, at least probably not the first handful of times, but eventually it just sort of dawned on me that I wasn’t coming in last every single time. I never tracked where exactly I placed (again, it wasn’t important to me), but I began to see my times get better and my reps get higher, and over the course of months I’d climbed to the middle of the pack. It was a great feeling. I felt like I was actually competing with my peers. A big reward was the occasional little “Rx” next to my name on the whiteboard. Finishing a workout with the prescribed weight always feels like a huge accomplishment to me.

Progress happens slowly. I struggled for so long on some things, and at times it was hugely frustrating. It took me forever to get the hang of the kipping in a kipping pull up. I remember the day it finally all came together and I busted out 15 or 16 in a row. I couldn’t believe it. I was very excited. I think Rory, leading class that day, was just as excited for me, if not more so. Her big grin and congratulatory high-fives were the icing on the cake. The support and encouragement of each and every coach at The LAB has been paramount to my success, and I cannot thank them all enough.

Yes, I’ve gotten stronger, and more proficient at a lot of the movements. Six months ago I couldn’t do a single unassisted pull up. Now? I can bust out ten strict or twenty kipping pull ups unbroken, no problem. I know that’s not elite status ability right there, but for me, it’s a huge accomplishment.

I’m also getting faster. I can’t say why or how or where it’s coming from, but I’m able to do more for longer before I tire out and have to catch my breath. I’m sure it’s just been a matter of coming every day and pushing myself as hard as I can, but somehow it seems a bit more magical or mystical than that. I feel like all of a sudden I’ve broken through some sort of invisible threshold, as though now, after six months, I’ve gotten to a point where I’m just now ready to begin to truly do CrossFit.

And I couldn’t be more excited.

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