Training & Food Log.

11/11 - water, fiber powder, coconut water, 30m treadmill walk, Tylenol, coffee, milk, Animal Flex

11/12 - water, fiber powder, coffee, milk, coconut water, chins/dips/30m rebounder, ZMA, Animal Flex

11/13 - water, fiber powder, coffee, milk, Animal Flex, ZMA, Animal Omega, chins/dips/30m rebounder/foam rolling

11/14 - water, fiber powder, coffee, milk, Animal Omega, chins/dips, Animal Flex, ZMA, yogurt, 30m rebounder, V8, foam rolling

11/15 - water, fiber powder, coffee, cream, chins/dips, yogurt, eggs, dips/chins, V8, 20m rebounder/10m light shadowboxing, Animal Flex, ZMA, Animal Omega, foam rolling

Five day modified fast as a digestive reset after the 5-6 month bulking experiment...  call it a moderate success.  Even featuring the "eat all the things" and "drink all the beers" nutrition template.  Put on 20-25lbs since May.  Some muscle - definitely got stronger in the gym, set new PRs - though that's probably as much from smarter, more consistent programming as putting on mass.  In addition to putting on muscle, put on some fat as well, as my expanded waistline attests...

If/when I do another bulk, maybe next fall, I think I'll try and keep the food quality higher.  You know, fewer pizzas, triple cheeseburgers & beers.  It was fun though, I'll admit.

Video Truth.

So a 5 day modified fast this week, and appropriate extremely light workouts...  good because it also gave some injuries [low back, elbow] some much needed recovery time.  Also coming off of lots of junk food and moving into a more responsible eating habit will help eliminate a lot of the inflammatory foods I'm fairly sure are making me a bit more susceptible to injury and slower to recover.

The next three months focused primarily fat loss, with strength, hypertrophy & conditioning all running a close 'tied for second' place.

Fat loss & body composition - More nutrition than exercise, so shifting back to a primal/paleo/LCHF/meat, eggs & veg nutrition plan.  Strict for 6 days a week with a cheat once a week.

Strength & Hypertrophy - 4X a week in the weight room.  Strength base, starting back on the 25th [next week is a light "get back in the groove" in the gym] is Wendler's 5/3/1.  But the minimalist "I'm Not Doing Jack Shit" variation.  The accessory/assistance work is going to be light weight/higher rep hypertrophy focused.  Culled from a lot of sources, most old school Vince Gironda stuff.

Conditioning - 6 days a week shadowboxing and bag work.  Did some light shadowboxing this week and it felt pretty foreign, as if my body forgot how to move in that way.  Hopefully that goes away.  And the big bit is doing that without aggravating my injuries that are hanging around, but hopefully slowly going away.  

Miscellany - yoga, stretching, foam rolling, meditation, swimming.

Onwards.

Never too old, never too late, never give up - Bodybuilding.com - Body Transformation: Erin Tecce Scorched 23 Percent Body Fat At Age 43!:

Today's Internets - Dalek Third Person Fail.

Not just tumblr, but FB, Twitter, the internets, etc - i hate connor kenway, tumblr spreads messages like "i don’t care if my...:
"tumblr spreads messages like "i don’t care if my bad mood and attitude offends you i’m not put on this earth to make you comfortable and happy deal with it" and with the same breath they say shit like "please don’t use these words and names with me they make me uncomfortable and i want you to stop using them also please be nice to me I’m sensitive and don’t touch me""

Not The Onion, I swear. - NSA Transparency Hurts Americans' Privacy, Feds Say With Straight Face | Threat Level | Wired.com

Talking about yourself in the third person gets you every time.

Also, The Night of the Doctor!

Democrats' Grip on the Future Slips Away as Techies, Young Retch in Disgust - Hit & Run : Reason.com: 

"In the year of Obamacare, NSA spying revelations, DOJ investigation of journalists, politicized IRS treatment of nonprofits, ad nauseum, it's not too surprising that young Americans have lost that shiny, happy feeling about the guy in the White House and his playmates. Likewise, Silicon Valley techies concerned about civil liberties and an open society are very clearly shocked to discover that the politicians who whispered sweet nothings in their ears meant...nothing."

Victory! - Record Opium Poppy Acreage Means Victory Is Just Around the Corner (As Usual) - Hit & Run : Reason.com:

 "...the amount of land devoted to opium poppies in Afghanistan reached an all-time high this year: 209,000 hectares, up 36 percent from last year and 8 percent higher than the previous record, set in 2007...  

That reality reflects a basic problem with the never-ending, always-failing strategy of preventing drug use by attacking supply. Although the UNODC seems to have forgotten, the whole point of eradicating poppies and seizing opium is to drive up prices and thereby discourage heroin consumption. But to the extent that drug warriors succeed in raising prices, they make the business of growing poppies and producing opium more appealing, thereby defeating themselves."

Feeling that.

Top 10 “Trendy” Words To Understand 30 Years Of Modern Japan : Japan Subculture Research Center: 

"This week Jiyu Kokumin Shupansha known for publishing the beloved Japanese language lexicon Basic Knowledge Of Modern Lingo (現代用語の基礎用語), in celebration of their 30th year of awarding the annual The New and Trendy Words Of The Year (新語・流行語大賞） announced the most enduring top ten trendy words for the last three decades...

"① Cabaret Club/キャバクラ (1985)

 ② It’s best to have a healthy husband, who is rarely home/亭主元気で留守がいい (1986)

 ③Sexual Harassment/セクシュアル・ハラスメント　同義語 セクハラ (1988) 

④Old guy girl/オヤジギャル (1990) 

⑤Supporter/サポーター (1993) 

⑥If you really sympathise, give me money/同情するならカネをくれ (1994)

 ⑦The Safety Myth/安全神話 (1995) 

⑧Good luck, Kobe! がんばろうＫＯＢＥ (1995) 

⑨I want to praise myself/自分で自分を褒めたい (1996)

 ⑩Unequal society/格差社会 (2006)"

Reminder to self - Master Your Emotional Health and Master Your Life | Tony Robbins Blog:

 "There are three forces in the world that determine what you feel. These forces are called the Triad. Together, these three patterns create any—and every—emotional state. Whatever you feel, you’re not feeling it because you have to feel it. You’re feeling it because you’ve chosen from the Triad"

We live in the future, and it's awesome - Cool Sci-Fi Future Is Nigh: Dad Builds Son 3-D Printed Prosthetic Hand for $10 - Hit & Run : Reason.com: 

"Shirking $30,000 in medical fees for a traditional prosthetic hand, videographer Paul McCarthy built a multi-colored “Robohand” for his son using a friend’s 3-D printer. McCarthy says he spent, “Five, maybe, ten bucks.” HarshLight/FlickrThe boy, 12-year-old Leon McCarthy, was born without fingers on his left hand. Once he turned ten, Paul started searching for an inexpensive and functional prosthetic alternative."

Well played.

JCVD Wins.

Science often isn't/dismantle the TSA - TSA blows a billion bucks on unscientific "behavioral detection" program, reinvents phrenology - Boing Boing: 

"10 years and $900M later, the TSA's behavioral analysis program is a debacle. Here's the US Government Accountability Office on the program: "Ten years after the development of the SPOT program, TSA cannot demonstrate the effectiveness of its behavior detection activities. Until TSA can provide scientifically validated evidence demonstrating that behavioral indicators can be used to identify passengers who may pose threat to aviation security, the agency risks funding activities [that] have not been determined to be effective." Basically, the TSA has spent a decade and nearly a billion dollars reinventing phrenology. I feel safer already."

Sleep is vital - Hidden Caves in the Brain Open Up During Sleep to Wash Away Toxins — PsyBlog: "The research discovered “hidden caves” inside the brain, which open up during sleep, allowing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to flush out potential neurotoxins, like β-amyloid, which has been associated with Alzheimer’s disease."

Batman Vs. Superman... Or Tim Daly And Kevin Conroy Have Too Much Free Time 

Tim Daly is great.

But this is still the best ep of The Daly Show.

Awesome - ‘My Hero’ by Matt Rhodes

Via Read the Awesome Adventure Comic ‘My Hero’ by ‘Mass Effect’ Concept Artist Matt Rhodes:

Today's Internets - "How exactly, I wondered, had remote wars against primitive societies on the other side of the world protected our freedom?"

"It’s a most distressing affliction to have a sentimental heart and a skeptical mind." - Nagulb Mahfouz

Fred On Everything: 

"As I write, it is Veterans Day. Coincidentally last night, November tenth, the annual Marine Corps birthday party took place  at the Tratoria, a local Italian restaurant. I hadn´t gone before, not being much of a joiner, but went this time with Vi and Natalia. The assembled were nice people, well along in years, as am I. There were good food, patriotic speeches, and a birthday cake. We sang the Marine Corps Hymn, though “from the halls of Montezuma” was perhaps not a high point of diplomatic appropriateness in Mexico. A camaraderie exists among Marines, into which I fit oddly...

So I understand when veterans get together and give patriotic speeches at a thousand Legion halls around the world. Yet, listening to the speeches, I wondered at the near total disconnect from reality. We Marines, I heard over and over, had made sacrifices “to protect our freedom.”  Made sacrifices or been sacrificed? How exactly, I wondered, had remote wars against primitive societies on the other side of the world protected our freedom? As so often, I marveled at the automatic assumption that America is somehow more free than other places. How more free than Switzerland, Australia, Japan, Germany, or Holland? I feel freer in Mexico than in the growing police state to the north...

How many Laos did we butcher for nothing, how many Vietnamese, how many Cambodians? Millions, literally. For nothing. Nothing.  How many Iraqis? Afghans? Pakistanis? If any of it preserved my freedom, I am unaware of it. How many in the Legion halls, the Marine Corps birthdays—they are friendly, decent, likeable men—have any idea of this?

...The rest of the planet pays a high price for our freedom. This is no doubt justified because we are the city of the hill, a light to the nations, bringing democracy and human rights to a globe thirsty for improvement by us. I have just never seen it. I like the people at the Legion halls, at birthdays for the Marine Corps, but I may be a little less proud of what we did."

Official: Presidential motorcade in Liberia used to ferry marijuana - The Washington Post: 

"MONROVIA, Liberia — Liberia’s Drug Enforcement Agency has arrested the head of the presidential motorcade for allegedly using an official vehicle to smuggle 297 kilograms (654 pounds) of marijuana into Liberia from neighboring Sierra Leone, officials said Monday. The motorcade commander, Perry Dolo, was arrested over the weekend along with three other men after crossing from Sierra Leone via the town of Bo Waterside, said DEA Director Anthony Souh. The other three men were a Liberian official, a Guinean and a Sierra Leonean believed to be a member of the armed forces, Souh said. He did not provide further details about the men."

Fat Head » Another Busy Week: 

"Several people asked my opinion on the FDA banning trans fats.  I’m sure you can guess how I feel about that.  Same as with sugar … yes, trans fats are bad for you, and yes, we should educate people about why trans fats are bad for you.  But if people want to consume trans fats anyway, that’s their business. Once you give the federal government the power to ban foods (or food-like substances) it decides you shouldn’t eat, you’re asking for trouble.  Give it time, they’ll ban butter and bacon."

From a Daily Show clip where they attempted to... - :):

"From a Daily Show clip where they attempted to find out which state was the most aggressively anti-gay between Alabama and Mississippi. They paid a couple of actors to pretend to be a gay couple, dressed them up in typical redneck clothes, and put them in a few scenarios where they would put their “homosexual relationship” on display for the general public. As it turned out, the general public doesn’t give a shit, and some members are actually incredibly supportive, despite the representing politicans from those states being absolutely sure gay people would never be accepted in their states, comparing them to other groups like “coloreds” that only recently became accepted. It was an amazing piece."

Daily Shows looks for anti-gay bigots in MS, AL and doesn't find any:

Student Debt is Crushing the Economic Future of the Young « naked capitalism: 

"But the powers that be have found turning adults into debt slaves as early as possible to be a brilliant bit of social engineering, forcing the young to stay in line lest they mar their employment prospects. And as long as the powers that be continued to be successful in pitting the young against the old rather than against their common enemies, a predatory and extractive financial services industry and a super-wealthly class that prefers to mine rather than develop the countries in which they hold investments, it’s unlikely that either group will escape the grim future that the neofeudalists are in the process of creating."

Beware the Valkyries (The Valkyries, on young girls in comic shops): 

"Juliette: A dad came in with his 4 year-old daughter and told her to ask me ("the lady who works here") for recommendations. She did and I showed her a few comics I thought she would like while the dad kind of waited a respectful distance away so that it was really our conversation. Then he said to her "I just want to make sure you know you can always ask the people in the comic book store for recommendations and they'll be happy to talk to you." And all of a sudden I realized that he was making sure his little girl would grow up believing that she is welcome in comic book and nerd spaces instead of feeling like she's an outsider just because she's a girl. PARENTING FTW!!!"