Clean diet, Clean mind

Man, life has been great lately! I don't know if I've mentioned it yet, but I am 3 weeks through completing a Whole 30 program, and so far, it has been nothing but exceptional.  Essentially, the rules outline a strict Paleo diet... which, for myself, meant cutting out the oils and added ingredients that had somehow sneaked their way into my diet over the last several months.  Thus far, I've seen an increase in energy and mood, improvement in sleep, and a decrease in brain fog.  Mental clarity is at an all time high, and it's awesome.

Additionally, I can honestly say that this new clarity has spilled over into the rest of my life.  I feel a bit more... "awake".  Removing all of the excess from my diet has unintentionally inspired me to search for reconnection with my mind and body through the most raw, organic, true, unfiltered, and yes, definitely gluten-free means available.

And, as this blog is about that very evolution, I thought today I would share some of these ideas and the accompanying resources I will use to explore them.  In the hopes you might benefit from this list, I've made things simple by categorizing everything into Food, Body, and Mind.  Enjoy.


Reconnecting with Food:
-Completing Whole 30, and doing it a second time after a 3 day break. (Disclaimer: Possible KFC binge on the horizon...)
-Making the transisition from the grocery store to local farmer's markets for 80% of my food
-Improving cooking skills

Reconnecting with Body:
-Attaining true strength with my own body, no added weight, through the Gymnastics Bodies program.
-Running tests through 23andMe and Ubiome
-Finally getting a Septoplasty done so that I can actually breathe during my workouts (this has been a problem for years) - The surgery is scheduled for 3/5.
-Getting outdoors more through various channels.  Through Groupon I've scheduled a day of horse-back riding, and a day of archery range lessons.  I've joined a flag football team at work.  A friend is introducing me to Disc Golf over the weekend.  And so on.

Reconnecting with Mind:
-Pursuing mental improvement through the independent study of a classical liberal education, to include such topics as the Trivium.
-Getting off a Facebook (seriously, it's a time-killer).  I've limited my use to 1xweek on Wednesdays.
-Attempting to complete the increasing pile of books on my nightstand
-Finally taking the time to clean and re-string my acoustic guitar, while learning some new skills in the process.

Cheers!

Currently reading: The Well-Educated Mind
Currently listening to: Cynic

Moving in Nature: A personal account

I decided to do something a little different today.  I have a million ideas for blog posts laying around on my laptop, but after a 2 hour session of exercise at a local park, I felt too good and was too inspired to not write about it.  So, perhaps it was not I that decided to put this post up... but nature itself! Regardless, what you will read below is the end result - A first hand account out of my personal journal, with virtually no editing done, only an hour after returning.

I hope you enjoy.

- Jay

"What an incredible experience.  2 Hours of running around in the woods at the local park with some fellow paleo pals proved to be the most refreshing activity I have done in a long time.  It's exactly what I needed.  My body feels good and grounded.  My head feels clear.  I feel reconnected and rejuvenated.  All thanks to Mother Earth.

I could also not help but to notice some things happening within myself while I was out there.  It all just felt so natural and right.  And there was this sense of longing I seemed to, at some point throughout the years, have masked within my consciousness that was quenched by the woods.  Running, crawling, climbing.  Carrying, jumping.  Working and maneuvering through whatever the landscape had to offer.  It reminded me somewhat of my childhood... playing make-believe Army with my brother and friends in the trees behind our house.  

As we shuttled through the canvas of branches and brush, a long-lost sense of imagination seemed to reignite within my mind.  It renewed a desire within me to explore, to seek adventure at every turn.  And, to be quite honest, it was a little weird.  Not weird enough to outweigh how much fun I had, however.

Needless to say, I cannot wait to get back in the woods."

"Hey man, are you like, flowing?"

Flow.  What does that mean? Does it make you think of surfers in Hawaii, dreaming of tackling monster waves, but only after their ancient master and mentor of the beach ensures the young pupil is ready?

All cheesiness aside, it certainly does for me, and apparently, it does for the team behind the Flow Genome Project as well (http://www.flowgenomeproject.co/).

The premise behind this concept, is that drastic, dangerous activities produce a chemical response in the brain that produces a, "flow state", within human beings.  Or put another way, activities such as surfing, rock climbing, sky-diving, and other similar adrenaline sports, require such immediate and absolute focus, that heightened senses of time and creativity are produced.  These experiences seem to collectively cultivate better health over the long run. 
    
Stop and think about the last time you encountered something in your life that did this.  Anything come to mind? Unless you're a regular at one of the extreme sports I mentioned above, the answer is probably, "...Hold on, give me an extra minute, I'm sure I can think of something."  And for the record, my response is no different.  Sad, really, and it leads me to my next thought.

If we step back in time to the Paleolithic era, and visit our ancestors and observe their way of life, I would think (and I'm not the first to say this), that explaining the concept of the Flow Genome Project to them would be entirely unnecessary.  Think about it.  Hiking up steep mountains, fending off huge cats with fangs then quickly butchering them before some other predator comes lurking around.  All in the name of simply LIVING.  Just to survive, these people most likely encountered extreme, flow-state, chemical-producing instances whether they liked it or not!

Needless to say, this is no longer a requirement for the modern day human (unless you count fending off the hoards of vegans at your local Whole Foods).  And to be honest, this is truly an eye-opener for me that provides yet another aspect to the Paleo lifestyle that just makes sense.  A further evolution of thought in my mind... another piece of the puzzle.

So, I implore you to think about this post.  Whatever activity seems appealing to you, encourage yourself to get out of your comfort zone and get a dose of the good stuff, the stuff that scares you and yes, could possibly kill you.  For me, this entails planning my first sky-diving session in a few months, and I couldn't be more excited about it!

As always, feedback is appreciated - And I would love to hear what activities you will plan to attempt this year in pursuit of optimum health and in the name of finding more "flow".

- Jay

Currently reading: Seat of the Soul, Ender's Game
Currently listening to: Leprous 

    


   

Shift work, you say? - Part 1

Shift work is on the horizon.  Well, at least for myself it is.  In fact, in exactly 1 1/2 weeks, I will be moving from the set 7am-4:30pm schedule I've been working for the past 2 years into something entirely different.  Ugh.

You see, working for a large company is a great: I make a stable income, have awesome co-workers, and have the free time to post interest things on this blog for readers such as yourself.  But on the flip side of things, the company's wish is often my command (if I want to keep a paycheck, that is).  Thus, enter Shift work.

Do a quick search online and you'll find not only a huge, scientifically - proven database of studies and trials confirming that shift work is detrimental to human health, but also a huge, scientifically-proven database of studies and trials confirming that shift work is detrimental to human health.

Yes - I did just repeat myself.  I said it twice.  Because it's that important.

And, to be honest, I'm not really looking forward to it.  But you know what? I'll get over it, and I'll make the best of it.  I'll play the odds in my favor by controlling sleep, exercise, and supplementation to ensure my health is optimized on a daily basis... and to ensure the contrived consequences of our modern world don't get the best of me.

Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3, wherein I discuss my strategies for this situation, how the day-to-night-to-day swings affect my health, and much more.

Cheers

Currently reading: Seat of the Soul
Currently listening to: Steve Wilson, the Raven that Refused to Sing

Habits, habits, habits

Okay, I'm sure you're thinking, "Really? A post on habits? Aren't there enough of these on the internet already?" Touche, health enthusiast, touche.  But not to worry, I'll keep it short and sweet.

Habit: "An acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary" (dictionary.com).  Sound about right? It should.  We all have habits, both good and bad.  Things we do without even thinking about it.  Thoughts we allow to enter our minds without challenge, without question of their origin and validity.  In a way, our habits are the auto-pilot actions and thoughts running in our subconscious background.  And in a way, literally speaking, they direct our way in life.

So, it would seem the better our foundation of habits, the better we will feel about ourselves, interact with others, and steer the boat along a more positive path.  Think about it: All things start with a thought, which affects our mindset and mood, which affects our intentions and actions, which affect the course of our lives.  Good habits lead to a better life. 

You couldn't tell from looking at me (I'm not nor have ever been obese or even close to it), but food addiction has played a catalyzing role in my own life.  Food was my solution to issues I did not know how to wrestle with, starting at an early age.  And, rather than deal with the issues, I let binge-eating deal with them instead.  When I finally took a step back, evaluated things, and took corrective action, I created new habits, and changed for the better.  

At present, with stress a bit higher than usual due to certain circumstances, irresponsible eating has attempted to rear it's ugly head back into my life.  In effort to fortify my position, I decided to play around with HabitForge.com.  And, after one week of use, I can definitely say it's working.  I simply input a habit I want to create/improve/change, then follow up with a couple daily emails that ask me how I did, and remind me why I'm doing this.  So far so good! I encourage you to check it out if you are interested in creating new habits for yourself.

Okay, not so short and sweet as I would have liked it to have been.  But habits play a massive role in our lives, and should not be left to run free without our attention and guidance.  

Cheers and good luck!

Currently listening to: Les Baxter - Space Escapade
Currently reading: The Twelfth Planet, Seat of the Soul, Four Hour Work Week

Yerba Mate > Coffee

Anyone who knows me, knows that I frequently like to drink weird tea straight from the leaves through a straw with a filter on the end.

Yes, it sounds weird (because it is), but the smoky taste, smooth caffeine buzz without a crash, and affordable cost outweighs it's social irrelevance.  Welcome, Yerba Mate. 

There are few things I can say I truly love on this earth, and the drink above is one of them.  Do a quick Google search for the stuff, and you'll find I'm not the only one.  In fact, master intellect and life-long-learner Tim Ferriss is a huge fan of the stuff (http://tinyurl.com/2mmzh5), so you know it's gotta be good. 

As someone who has suffered from severe adrenal problems in the past, I can really only drink coffee once a week max without feeling like crap afterwards.  But with Yerba Mate, I can enjoy it all day long, feel great, and feel great when I'm done! Win win.

There is a certain method to making the tea correctly, however, so if you don't do so, you'll quickly know it.  But once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature, and an enjoyable part of the process.

Because I know you're interested in trying this stuff, and because I also don't want you to think I simply pulled some weeds off the dying lawn outside, put a straw in them then snapped a shot, head over to guayaki.com and take a look. 


Cheers

It's worth it

Yeah, I never feel like doing it.  I can always find other things to do.  Things to think about.  Things to fill my time up with.  I'm sure many of you are thinking of different activities in your life right now that meet these qualifications... but for myself, I am referring to Meditation.

Or as I like to call it, "Just sit down and shut up," time.  A time to quite my mind, to end the loops of nonsense information that so often to seem to plague my thoughts.  A time to just sit, be still, and be present.  And it is way harder than I would like it to be.

I have to fight that initial urge to skip the session.  Fight the thoughts about what's going on that day, and focus on breathing instead.  To purge all the information that has built up over the last couple days, that doesn't matter anymore, but that for some reason I continue to think about.

But in the end, it's totally worth it.  It's like clearing out all those files on your computer that have accrued over the years (to-do lists from 2007 anyone?), so that the programs left run more efficiently.  It's like jumping into a crazy cold pool of water, so cold that you have no choice but to focus on the cold and nothing else.  And when you dry off and wait a couple minutes, you realize you feel fantastic, strong, and cleansed... and that you may have even received up to 100 benefits for quieting your mind for those 10 minutes! (http://www.ineedmotivation.com/blog/2008/05/100-benefits-of-meditation/)

The biggest benefit, however, is that I have set the tone for an awesome day to occur.  I have taken a first step in the morning that says, "I control my thoughts, I control my life."  You don't get much more powerful than that!

I encourage you to experiment with meditation.  Try it a couple times a week, or couple times a day.  Set aside a time slot, and when that time comes around, don't think about it, just do it.  You'll be glad you did.