Rozey Thorn Trees

I watched a biochemist offer a cheap and easy hack to reduce glucose spikes by up to 30% and to lower your energy crash after meals.  Add a tablespoon of vinegar to 8+ oz of water a half hour before your biggest meal of the day. The vinegar’s acetic acid interacts with your digestive enzymes  and the water dilutes the acid so that it doesn’t etch away your teeth enamel.  I add apple cider vinegar to my water bottle every day anyway, so all I need to do is drink the 8 oz ahead of my big meal and see if I can tell the difference.

 Oh, wow. I spent too much time scrolling through this Kuwaiti guy’s foodie TikTok page . I’m astounded at how much calorie dense food he can put away in one sitting. The food looks great! Mostly fast food it seems but from the Middle East. It makes me want to visit some day. There was a time not that long ago where  I could easily imagine myself putting away large calorie meals. My reaction to most of his videos was not only that it’s too much food but also it’s too sweet. I can’t believe he’ll keep his weight down. I’m concerned he’s getting on the diabetes train.  In 6 more months, I’ll be free of my WFPB commitment. I prefer my disciplined approach to eating right now. I know I’ll be eating outside my boundaries when presented food like the Kuwaiti guy eats! I’m planning to partake but in sampling portions on rare occasions. MayGod give me strength to resist my glutinous instincts of times past!

I’m watching Dan Buettner’s beautiful series about the famous Blue Zones around the world where communities have the highest longevity on average in the world. He explores why researchers believe these people outlive the rest of us generation after generation. It’s true that diet and exercise has something to do with it. It’s also true that there are diverse contributing factors for why they live to 100 or more. Here are the key factors presented in episode one of four in the Netflix series: Okinawa, Japan: Medicinal Food / Caloric Density / Hara Hachi Bu / Balance / Moai / Ikigai  Always have fun, be easygoing, forgive quickly Food is medicinal Meat, eggs, fish is less than 1% of their diet Purple Sweet Potatoes that are full of complex carbohydrates, antioxidants  Mulberry leaves Okinawa Tofu lowers heart disease  No single ingredient but the range of nutritionally dense whole foods They eat 2,000 to 2,500 calories per day compared to 3,200 to 4,000 plus for Americans  They can indul

David Goggins writes about his cookie jar method of motivating himself to get through his challenges. He digs deep into his cookie jar of memories of past challenges big and small that he achieved. He admires each cookie carefully before each bite to savor its flavor.  I could use this method right now!  Our treadmill lubricant came in. Laura applied it last night. I plan to tread on it this week at night to make up for missing steps!

I’m stuck between 205 and 210 right now. Partly because that’s been my pattern. Also because it was my birthday last week so I’ve eaten a little more than I planned to. My teen made healthy birthday cupcakes for me 🥳. My wife and I ate at Olive Garden. Very little can be eaten there by me. Have you seen their calorie portions?! I settled on a soup and house salad. 

 I love how brutally honest David Goggins is in Chapter Six about how stupid it is to presume that because he was a seasoned SEAL he could run an ultra marathon without any training and then fail miserably. As honest as he seems to be with himself, he still has to learn things the hard way just like the rest of us.  I have not kept up with my PT myself for no good reason. I need to look in the mirror tonight and fess up and be real about my intentions and what I’m going to do about it. Until I get back on track, I can say goodbye to meeting my goals! I can’t let that happen!

  Foods to Avoid with a History of Contamination as documented in the film Ground burger: needs to be cooked at 155 degrees internal temperature; order to temperature—if they can’t then order something else  Chicken (salmonella): 1 in 4 meat products contaminated; the producers tested 29% of their Perdue brands samples were contaminated; salmonella is still legally allowed in most chicken products in the USA Romaine lettuce (E coli): especially bagged Cut Fruit Caramel Apples Tomatoes  Onions Cookie dough Similac  Lucky Charms  JIF Peanut Butter Cake mix Cantaloupe: especially the outside because once the knife cuts through the skin it contaminates the inside of the fruit Sprouts  Bagged lettuce (all the outbreaks involved triple washed and bagged); wash your own single head of lettuce  Raw fish, oysters Any menu item with a disclaimer that says consumption of undercooked meat can expose you to meat 

 Dara Torres explains the difference between high intensity workouts and endurance workouts In chapter 3 of her book Age is Just a Number . High intensity workouts The goal is to create both more strength and more capacity in the muscles to process lactic acid If too much lactic acid builds up in the muscles, you get a condition called acidosis Acidosis is the main reason sprinters muscles get fatigued after 20 or 30 seconds It’s why longer sprints are harder to recover from A real sprint breaks down your muscles. If you want to improve, after you sprint, you have to let your muscles recover, and build back up. Really high intensity workouts should only be undertaken once or twice a week Within workouts, maximum effort needs to be followed by plenty of rest “Speed is like money. If you don’t spend it wisely, if you just go for broke day after day, you’ll soon find it gone.” Endurance training  Endurance strength is built, slogging through massive numbers of meters day after day Olympic

 Today is my birthday! 52 years old. I feel my age I think because of my diet; plus, I woke up with a stuffy nose. The girls were very sweet to sing happy birthday to me this morning. I explained to them on the way to school that we wouldn’t have a birthday party today because of our busy schedule; However, Sunday afternoon, we would celebrate by going to the movie theater to watch a 3-D movie of The Wild Robot as a family. They like that idea. I treated myself today by playing disc golf at Paw Paw Park. It’s been a month since I’ve played. I could tell I had gotten rusty. My Udisc app tracked my steps at 6,744, 3.1 miles, and 2 floors of elevation. My steps for the day are 12,097. Not bad at all! I remembered that I could get a birthday discount off a drink at Biggby. I downloaded the app. The Barista showed me how to use it to get my coffee for free. I ordered a 12 oz Fortaleza with Coconut milk and I added a raw sugar and a Stevia packet. Delicious! No Cake and ice cream for this b