Meet Results

It's been almost a week since my most recent powerlifting meet and I thought I'd update on how it went.

The goal was to not use any water and salt loading tricks to drop weight.  Instead, simply cut out water the day before weigh ins around mid-day drinking around a liter of water and eating a decent bit of protein.  Target weight 181.6 or less.

Thursday things were going so well with my weight that I was able to get in about 200 grams of protein and some decent fluids.

The results?  1180.6 friday morning at weigh in.

Let's back track a bit, about 3 weeks out from the meet I was feeling confident after hitting a 405 squat and a 445 deadlift.  I set my opening attempts and that was that.  I was ready for the meet and even bigger 3rd attempts!

Around 2 weeks out my lower back was bothering me and I missed a 370 squat, my planned opener.  Based on the few previous weeks this should of been easily doable.  I threw this up as "I'm tired and beat up, time to recover".

Sadly from here things got worse, mentally at least.

Doubt had entered my head and I let it grow out of control.  Come the morning of the meet I was a giant ball of nerves.  I hit the warm ups on squats and just felt like crap.  315 felt heavier than that 405.  I thought to myself "maybe I should lower my opener to make sure I get in".  However my stupidity kicked in "don't be a bitch, get out there and squat this".

I knew better,

First attempt - no good, got pinned.

Second attempt - no good, got pinned.

By this point i'm freaking out of my mind that i'm about to bomb out of this meet.  Not only did I feel like an idiot, I was embarrassed at myself.  I felt ashamed.  I felt like I just let all my training partners down.  I decided to attempt 385 for my Third attempt, just to try and trick myself into hitting it.

NO FREAKING DICE.  Pinned.

I made a lot of technical mistakes but most were mental mistakes that kept me from being able to bench and deadlift.

After a bit of internal freak out and my nerves settled I was able to cheer on my teammates to watch them hit some great PRs and have a great meet.

I have another meet scheduled November 23rd and I will not make the same mistakes.  I will get my attempts in and I will have a great meet.

Counting Bodies Like Sheep

"Count the bodies like sheep
Count the bodies like sheep

Counting bodies like sheep
To the rhythm of the war drums

Count the bodies like sheep

Go back to sleep
Go back to sleep" 

A Perfect Circle

It's been said numerous times by various people that sleep is one of the most under utilized recovery agents out there.

Sleep is performance enhancing.  Sleep makes everything in your body work optimally.

Much like pain, you don't realize how bad your sleep quality is until you get a good nights rest.


Over the past few years my sleep quality has come and gone numerous times.  When I was obese and drank a lot I didn't so much sleep as just pass out.  I'd wake feeling like crap and rely on stimulants to get me going.  When I stopped drinking I realized how bad my rest was.  When I went from 300 to 160, my sleep quality improved even more.

Being sober and at 160 pounds I thought for sure I was getting optimal rest.  Then the night sweats kicked in.  I was constantly tired and stimulants weren't helping.  So I ran through a bottle of sleep aid.  That helped some what.  Once I started my treatment for my CML and the nigth sweats were greatly reduced, ahh restful sleep.

Then came the spike over load of 2011.

I burnt out my CNS with over stimulant consumption.  Back to piss poor sleep quality.  So I detoxed from caffeine, took mineral support to help me sleep ( will elaborate on how awesome I think this stuff is another time ) and recover.  I got better, eventually.

My sleep quality has been okay as of late.  Not horrible, but not optimal either.  6 hours during the weekdays and 9ish on the weekends.  That "works" for now.  Ideally I'd get more during the week and a bit more on the weekends .  Come Thursday and Friday's I'm pretty tired and the 6 hours is catching up to me.

Where am I going with this you ask?

Everyone is an expert if you ask them.  I'm no expert I just know what works and doesn't work for me.  Sure you can "catch up" on sleep during the weekends, but lets face it, that's not solving the problem.

I understand not everyone can go to bed at 9 and then wait for their body to wake up naturally.  Though if you can do that on the weekends, do it!

Here is what I feel will give you the best recovery throughout the week and keep you running on all cylinders.

• Aim for a minimum of 6 hours of sleep, when you can sleep longer, like the weekends, do it!
• Don't sleep for more than 10 on the weekends
• If you wake up in the middle of the night and don't fall back asleep within 5 minutes, get out of the bed and go do something.  Don't go watch TV or sit on the computer, read a book, sweep the kitchen, get a glass of water and slowly drink it while reflecting on what you want to accomplish tomorrow
• Try to minimize your caffeine consumption to before 10am, lay off the energy drinks
• Use fresh sheets once a week
• Turn the air down or have a fan blow over you, cooler conditions lend to better sleep quality
• Stop drinking liquids 2 hours before bed if you can ( you can take your night time meds/etc with some water but as little as needed )
• Get a nightly ritual that you do before bed
• reduce physical activity 60 minutes before bed
• Leave the bed for bed related activities. You should not be watching TV in your bed, it creates incorrect habits

Find what works for you.  If any o these are  not realistic for you then change them up, do something else.

I'm no expert and I'm constantly trying to improve my sleep quality, I just know when I employ some of the above it helps.

Chicken No-Noodle Soup

Easy Wholesome Chicken Noodle Soup... Minus the noodles.

Ingredients:

• Chicken Breast
• Chicken Stock
• Veggies to add ( celery, carrots, onions, parsley, radish, garlic, bay leaf were all used for mine )
• Fat to add in ( coconut oil is pretty damned tasty 3 TBSP )

What else you need:

• Large Pot
• Wooden Spoon
• Two forks
• Tongs 
• Open Flame/heating element, duh

Steps:

1. Place chicken breasts into pot
2. Cover chicken breasts with stock
3. Add Oil 3TBSP is probably plenty of what ever you use
4. Turn heat to high and bring to boil
5. While this all comes to a boil chop your veggies how ever you like and set aside 
6. Add the flavor veggies to the boil ( onions, celery, radish, bay leaf, garlic, parsley ) 
7. Turn down to simmer for 1 hour
8. Using tongs pull chicken out of pot and place onto cutting board/surface top
9. Using two forks, shred the chicken and add it back to the pot
10. Add carrots and let simmer for another 30 minutes to an hour.

That is it, enjoy!  I garnished mine with some chopped green onion and red pepper flakes.

If you really wanted to you could add noodles at the end and bring to a boil until noodles are ready.

The Originality Complex

"Hi Billy Mays here"...

If there ever was a master of re-inventing the wheel just because, it's the guys behind sold only on TV merchandise.

I've briefly touched on what I call the Originality Complex previously.  I feel it deserves it's own focus.

Ever notice the trend of constantly refreshing something old? You see it with movies, TV tropes ( hello yet another serial cop show... ), internet trainers, supplement companies, diet fads,  phone apps and so much more.

It is as if people think we wont see through the veil of recycled products with just a different name, yet we fall for it, otherwise they wouldn't still be doing it.

I'm going to touch on the subject of trainers and nutrition as it relates to originality.

99.9999% of what is out there is all the same recycled crap.  You can't just invent new methods over night, often what is preached as a new method isn't really new, or honestly that original.  It's just "New" to you.  For example the "paleo diet", there's nothing new about this, especially if you buy into the fact you should only eat what primitive man had available to him.  Well if a cave man ate this was, it's not new, it's just different from out current society.


The green faces diet, which is one where if it's not green or come from something with a face it is not on the safe list, with a few exceptions.  Basically eat green veggies and meats from animals.  The cuter, the better.  Mmm Veal.  What is "new" about this?  Nothing really, but it works. ( Courtesy Chris Colucci Green Faces Diet )

"But P-dub, what about the juicing diet?" you ask. Don't, just don't.  Yes you're going to get probably more fruit and veggies than you have ever eaten in your life, but at what cost?  We did not evolve to consume "juice".  This is an example of inventing something for the sake of inventing something.

If we weren't supposed to eat animals they wouldn't be made out of meat.

Ben Bruno invents some new single leg movement every week - why? Who is that advanced they need to isolate the Abductor Longus' twelfth muscle bundle?  No one.  Yes Ben has impressive single limb strength and reasons for doing what he does.  However is he really inventing something "new" or is it inventing something for the sake of inventing something?

Christian Thibaudeau who I enjoy learning from and respect came up with a "new" approach to body building a ways back called I Body Builder, it works.  It works well by most accounts-  For those that bothered to follow it as directed.  He didn't invent anything exactly, he did however blend movements into an approach that works.

Crossfit - great, you're doing something but do you know what or why you're doing it?  Crossfit is a great example of inventing something for the sake of inventing something.  If you think your Fran time or your Juxtaposed movements and methodological really prepares you for "life" then well, I've got some beach front property in Kansas I'd like to sell you.

When facing these "new" things you might do well to ask questions.

Is this something I really need to meet my goals?
Does this go against current logic and general knowledge?
Does the author or company have a history of selling hopes and dreams?
Who do I know who has personally done this?
Is it too good to be true?

Studies lie or more aptly are miss represented to sell products.  Supporters are bought.  Question anything and everything as it relates to someone selling you something.

Question my questioning of the system!

Can reinventing the wheel be useful?  I think so- yes.  Can it also be bad and just plain stupid?  Emphatically yes!

My first powerlifting meet.

Back in April I competed in my first power lifting meet.

To re-iterate what a power lifting meet is, it is a 3 lift competition.  Squat, Bench Press, and Deadlift.

In each of these 3 lifts you get 3 chances ( assuming you don't bomb out, i'll get to that in a bit ) at each lift.

You start with the squat - there are 3 judges, each giving a white or a red light.  Red is bad.  a red light means one of the judges did not pass you for that lift.  It could be a variety of reasons beyond this post.  You have an opening weight for each lift.  You must get 2 out of 3 white lights for a lift to be good.

If you fail to get two white lights on ANY of your 3 squats you can not move on to benching.  The same goes from progressing from the bench to the deadlift.

The highest allowed lifts of each event goes towards your total.  This total is essentially your score for the meet.

The day before the meet you weigh in to find your weight class, then traditionally load up on salt and carbs to get some bloat going to hopefully aid you on meet day with bigger lifts.

Some lifters do a water cut which is basically a several day loading of water and salt consumption then a subsequent drop in intake followed with no intake of food or liquid to ideally have you at your target weight for weigh ins.  Then you can rehydrate and bloat up making you "heavier" and hopefully stronger on meet day.

This is how you see those UFC guys that don't look 180lbs weigh in at 180lbs ( very simplified here, but you should get the picture )

------------

The week of the meet.  I was going to water cut and compete in the 198 weight class.  I believe I was around 206 pounds at the front of the week, it should of been doable.   Others have taken more drastic weight cuts.

I chugged my water as I was told and cut liquids when I was told.  Something happened that Thursday of zero liquid and food.  I stopped urinating.  I stopped sweating.  Friday morning at 6:30am I was still 202 pounds.  That was 4 pounds off from 198.  I could have taken some drastic measures to hit 198, but I did not.

It was my first powerlifting meet and I did not stand a chance at winning "best overall lifter"- which is where a lifter is given an award for having the best total to body weight ratio.

So I decided to start hydrating and just weigh in for the 220 class.  I weighed in at 212 after re-hydrating on around 2 liters of water.

It was feast time.  There was a Perkins attached to the hotel where we were staying and also competing.  Awesome.

Breakfast AND Lunch was at perkins.  Carbs and more carbs.  Dinner was at a greek restaurant.  It was pretty nice.

----------


Meet day!

Warm ups went well.  I had planned my squat opener at 315.  This was a weight I knew I could hit without issues and was going to hopefully be a confidence builder.  3 white lights.  It wasn't so bad.

2nd attempts - 335.  I unracked the bar, squatted down and started to pass gas.  335 should of been handled strongly with some decent effort involved.  I was stuck at parallel.  Barely rising. I was afraid to keep passing gas as I didn't want to lose my tightness and miss the lift.  After what felt like an eternity .... 3 white lights.  I had a few congratulations for fighting through the weight.  It should of moved much easier.

3rd attempt on squat.  Well - pun intended - "Crap! I probably wasted too much energy on that, I should go conservative" I called for 345 ( you have 2 minutes after each lift attempt tell them what you want for your next attempt ).

345 was easy and got 3 white lights.  Normally 3rd attempts ( unless planning for a specific total ) are where you go crazy and aim for a big PR.  Sand bagged.

Bench press!!  My weakness.

1st attempt 200.  Knew I could nail it.  Did it.

2nd - 215, was confident this would be okay.  White lights all around.

3rd 235- went for full 20lb PR.  Failed. 3 red lights.

Deadlift - Yvonna one of the women on our team took an opener at 345, I had planned on opening fairly light.  Bumped mine to 345 in a bit of sexist machosim.  3 white lights.

2nd attempt 365 - done and easy.

3rd - never pulled 405 before. Called for 405.  Nailed it 3 white lights.

This brought my total to 960.  1,000 would of been nice and easily reach if I planned better.  No worries, it won me 2nd place in the Mens Open 220 weight class ( pretty sure there were just 2 of us in that class... )

---------------

My first powerlifting meet.  Very tiring. Was not as mentally challenging as I anticipated for a first meet.  I had some fear in me about some things, but I walked away having done something most people wouldn't even dare to try and knew I'd come back stronger.


My next meet is September 21st, same place.  Same platform.  It will be brought.

Rose tinted glasses- augmented reality?

Perception is a funny thing.

It can be easily altered, destroyed or built in an instant, without notice or perhaps with a bang.

Life is funny in that we're able to even have a perception of things.  Books, movies, TV shows, people, foods, ideas and many more.

How fickle and fake they can be.

Have you ever read a movie review of a movie you enjoyed then later without noticing while speaking about said movie, your perception of it has been changed?  Ever gone into a movie with the perception it would be one thing and turned into another?  I think we can all relate to this, be it a book, vacation spot, etc.

I've heard the phrase "Perception is reality". As true as this may be- it is also, frankly, horse shit.

Some people are so out of their minds you can't argue that their "reality" is true to them.  The perception of those people are so far out of whack anything short of a meteor shower pummeling their neurons trying to force synapses to fire out a large enough signal to turn on their proverbial light bulb on isn't going to work.

You know these people.  Sometimes you can help, sometimes you can't.

What can you do?  Unless you're  skilled in Esoteric Neurological Reprogramming probably nothing to help.  You can accept that they are going to almost always have their "reality" versus the real reality because they perceive it a certain way. Flaky workout partners that don't realize they are only hurting themselves, co workers who imagine their work load is unbalanced towards them, or that guy at the grocery store that always judges your late night sundry item purchases - you are most likely not going to change their perception of things.  If you have tried to change their perception and they continue to keep their head in the sand, move on and leave their problems to them.

If you feel someone's perception of you has become their "reality" you can shrug it off or try to talk it out.

It is up to you.  Ultimately this is my perception and could very well not be reality.

Have or Have Not.

The phrase "either you have it or you don't" is utter horse fecal excrement.

Either you "earn it or you don't" should be what we teach our children.  Too many people today want things but don't earn them.

If you want respect, earn it.  You do not "have" respect without giving and earning it yourself.  You want to be rich? You better earn it.  Strong? Important? Famous? Powerful?  You must earn these things.

Some of you are so desperately wanting something.  Myself included some times.  We forget that we must EARN IT!  If you want it badly enough you will find a way to earn it.

Stop expecting hand outs, stop expecting it to just happen, get in there and earn it.  At then end of the day you should ask your self "Have I earned it? Or Have I not earned it?"  If there is any doubt, remove it and make sure you earn it.

Three People.

In my opinion I believe that are largely three types of people.

A. Hole
Jack A.
Mr Dumass

Let me explain using nutrition as an example.

Mr Dumass goes to Mc Donalds to grab a quick lunch, he orders the McRib because well, it's been advertised so much he's been craving it.  They are offering a 2nd McRib for a dollar.  It's a dollar for an extra sandwhich, it's a no brainer to him.  He'll eat it later.

By the time he gets back to the office, he's out of fries and half way through the first sandwhich, deciding it's so small he'll just eat another ( good thing he got that 2nd one for a dollar ).  Completely oblivious to how many calories he just consumed.  Neatly washed down with an extra large Coca Cola ( unless he lives in New York City ).

Jack A. goes to Mc Donalds, knows a double quarter pounder with cheese and a large fry is way too many calories for him to eat at lunch, he also knows about pink slime.  Yet against conventional wisdom and everything he knows, he eats it all.  With a McFlurry, because if you're going to have a heart attack, at least do it with a smile on your face.

Even knowing it was wrong, he still ate it.

Now A. Hole is such an upstanding guy, he knows exactly what every item on the menu is worth nutritionally.  While going out with people from the office for lunch he goes with them and orders two side salads with no dressing and gets water.

At the table with his co-workers he pops out a few ziploc baggies; fish oil,  leucine, and peeled boiled eggs.  To the shock and query of his co-workers he swallows powder from a bag, swallows 4 large flameout capsules and slices eggs across his salad.

A. Hole makes no fuss over what he's doing, he simply does it and eats.

Are you starting to feel me yet?  How about a training example.

Mr Dumass goes to the gym with purple every where and a judgement free zone that only applies to non-lunks.  he pays his 10$ a month membership and hits the express workout zone because he doesn't have much time.  On his way out, he grabs a bagel, it's bagel Tuesday, or something.

Jack A. goes into his gym, sets the bench right at 315, knowing on any good day he can't lower 315 to his chest controlled and push it back up away from him, yet he does it any way, because today will be the day he does it.

He fails and does the roll of shame, then barks as if he should of had it.  It's all him.

Our guy A. Hole ditches dinner with co-workers so he can go get his squats in for the week.  He walks into the gym with headphones on with not a single nod, wave or "sup girl" to a single person.

A. Hole starts lifting and ends up hitting a personal record of 625 on the squat while this Dumass guy does reverse barbell curls behind him talking about the rack position and knees hurting from squats.

Are we on the same page now? I hope so.  No one wants to be a dumbass, jackass or asshole.  However sometimes we are.  Knowing this what do you do?

Me?  Personally, I run with it.  I'd rather be the asshole to everyone than a dumbass or even worse the Jackass that knows better but does it anyhow.

There's nothing with with being Mr Dumass now and then or even being Jack A.  However the problem is when you continue to keep yourself tied to the same thing over and over.

To quote the good Dr Serrano "When you continue to do the same thing over and over and over you will fail".

So try to be different, put yourself out there, don't be afraid to be Mr Dumass, just don't be him every single day, educate yourself, get better, progress, no matter what it is.

Call out to myself.

Milestones.  Every weight lifter has one in his head.  There's certain numbers that seem so trivial yet we chase and chase and chase them.

Why?  Why do we put them to such a standard?  405, 495, 585, 675, 800, 900, 1100?  Everyone's got their number.  That white whale you just can't seem to hit.

You know what, fuck the whale and fuck your pedestals.

I said it.  I'm not just saying it to you, i'm saying it to me as well.  Far too long have we had the mental battle with a certain weight.  Okay fine, 405 is my whale at this moment.  No more.

The harpoon has been covered.

More reps at 365-395.  More sets.  One should always strive to step forward but be careful of your footing.  Too big of a step can result in a fall.

I will not touch 405 reverse grey band until I can nail dominate 395 for multiple sets and multiple reps.  Call it what you will,but I'm going to stop self destructing over a freaking number.

Be gone you foolish mindset!

Roofing Tar Can Hold A More Fluid Conversation Than You

I've known slugs with more cognitive ability than George.

George yawns all day long and can't focus on his work.  He's drank spike a few times but that doesn't really help him, sure he gets all energized and is able to crush some workouts but it just doesn't do it long term and he knows relying on a super powerful stimulant too often can be bad.  ( Read this post if you haven't )

He has a 2pm crash and isn't productive at all after that.  Not to say he's very productive at 10am either.  It's not a nutritional issue nor is it a lack of sleep issue.  George is just too swamped and stressed to get anything done.  The constant barrage of life is closing in on him and it's affecting everything.

George needs nootropics, which are by definition chemicals that purportedly improve mental functions such as cognition, memory, intelligence, motivation, attention, and concentration. Nootropics are thought to work by altering the availability of the brain's supply of neurochemicals by improving the brain's oxygen supply, or by stimulating nerve growth.

 Nootropics are legal but usually involve mixing and matching different ones to achieve a certain purpose.  That's a lot of effort.  You can try finding some premade online, however most are generally "stimulants" and do not operate the same.  They will only focus on one or two aspects.  Have you tried being attentive after knocking back a spike shooter?

Enter Brain Candy.  You might ask, what is Brain Candy?  Well my friends and hopefully strangers who my friends have shared this with, Brain Candy is a pre formulated affordable nootropic, and I dare say a damned fine nootropic.

The caffeine version contains a very large dose of caffeine at once.  For some this can cause a problem.  There is a caffeine free version which requires a bit of activation.  More or less a short duration of movement to increase blood flow throughout the body and distribute the Brain Candy.

What will Brain Candy do for you?  Well if you're like George and it takes you 2-3 hours after waking before you become a "morning person" it'll instantly get you talking.  Seriously, expect an increase in verbage.  It might also increase your vernacular's IQ.  Good bye "shiny thing" hello "Sternum Extractor"

If productivity is your downfall Brain Candy will leave you wondering where all the work went and how can you get more.

Failing to focus?  Brain Candy will allow you to count the flaps of a hummingbirds wings.  Okay maybe it's not THAT good, but it's freaking close.

Can you use Brain Candy daily? Yes.  I've been taking it daily for 9 months.

No ill effects, unless you count the nuclear reactor I built that runs on water and creates water as a by product and the government found out and some guy with a funny voice showed up and stole it using it as a weapon which resulted in the death of a guy who I thought was just a myth until I saw him in his cowl. Erm, well yeah.

As I was writing this piece I decided I should probably go without Brain Candy for a while to make sure I wasn't talking out of my pale rear end.

Well? The results?  Ask anyone in the past month and they will probably say I've been a larger jackass than normal.

Brain Candy is THAT important.  It increased your mood.  You know that person or persons at work that constantly bother you?  They are more tolerable when you're on Brain Candy.  I shudder to think what would happen if they were on it too.  Might you even get along?  The horror of that! Could you imagine, getting along with your co workers, what is this- The Twilight Zone?

Give it a shot, you will not regret it.

The truth behind magic

For only $$$ a month you can lose $$$ pounds, just look at these testimonials of people who aren't even the same height!

Magic pills, magic systems, magic powders.  It's all a lie.

We've all seen the commercials and facebook posts.  You can order some set of magic things that'll make you instantly lose weight and feel better, etc, etc.

It's all a lie.

See those things are there to instantly set you up for failure and bait you into the next product launch.  Stop and think about it.  Is sprinkling a powder on your food ( sensa ) really going to make you lose weight?  Is having some under nutritioned pre cooked food delivered to your door going to keep you full and make you eat them?  Are you really going to just drink 1 shake a day and not binge later when you're starving?

Many of these products on TV and online are gimmicks into a "healthier you".  If you really want to get healthy cut the crap, become determined and do it.  Sure  there's going to be bumps along the road, but that's the fun part.

Now you may say "But dude, I know a friend who's cousin's co worker lost 40 pounds on XYZ".  Sure, gullible has been removed from the dictionary too.

If you don't have the willpower to not eat a brownie, what makes you think you're going to follow a strict shake diet?  Once the novelty wears off or the hunger pangs, you will stop doing it.  Been there, done that.

Fatloss is a war, you need to attack it with a plan and a purpose.  That hydroxycut isn't going to make you magically stop eating pizza four times a week.

Save yourself the heart ache and do it right.  No I don't mean wrap yourself in plastic wrap to get a visibly leaner midsection in 1 application either.

I will end this on a positive note, if you want to change you'll do what ever you have to, if you just half heartedly want to change but are looking for a momentary reprieve into feeling better about yourself, go a head and order meals on wheels and lose weight like Dan Marino.

Just don't beat yourself up when you fail because you fell for a magic box.

Musings of 01/07/2013

How can you know what Order is without Chaos?

How do you know Strength without knowing Weakness?

As I reflect on today's training session I felt disappointed in myself.  I can do better, I am better.  Through reflection I can see my mistakes.  It is my mistakes that make me Strong(er).

If you really look at your weaknesses and accept they are a weakness, make them a strength.

If you know what a variable is you can solve an equation.

I'm not any better than you, I'm better than myself from yesterday.

Don't dwell on mistakes, learn, improve, move on.

Now I'm ready for what I can do to make tomorrow better and it all starts with recovery so that I may tear it all down again tomorrow.

-P

Curried Basil Coconut Chicken

I've experimented around with this based on a hunger I was having.

I was craving something with a curry flavor.  I also wanted to use some coconut butter.  A lot of curry recipes call for coconut milk.

Traditionally curry's don't even use curry powder!! So I made up my own food, like I normally do when I'm not stealing it from someone else.

1) Start rice maker with desired amount of Rice( used a touch of curry powder for color on the above photo ).
2) Dice, Slice, Cube Chicken meat quantity of choice
3) heat non stick skillet with glob of Coconut Oil
4) Mix spices* ( curry powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, basil, paprika, ginger and ground mustard )
5) Add chicken to hot oil
6) Add spice mixture to chicken, Mix Thoroughly.
7) Once chicken is done, add globs of coconut butter to desired coating.  It'll melt right in.  Mix well.
8) Top chicken on a plate or bowl of the rice.

For the spices, depending on my mood I vary quantities.  Sometimes it's more cayenne and ginger, sometimes it's a lot of garlic, light cayenne.

As pictured above you could make 1 plate worth with 1 chicken breast or you can make a lot at once

Southern Fried Things

See that fried pork chop?  It's healthy for you.

Yep, healthy.

I used rice flour instead of regular flour and pan fried it in coconut oil.  You could use almond meal.  Make sure it's a good meal, not that Bob's Red Mill saw dust junk.

Take a pan, get it hot, add coconut oil.  Two large spoonfuls should work.

Put flour on a flat plate, crack some eggs in a bowl and beat them, then dreadge desired food item for frying through egg then flour.

Add to hot pan with hot coconut oil, cook to desired cookedness.

I highly suggest adding seasoning to the flour.  Salt, pepper, spices, meat dust, etc.

As Chris Shugart has shown in his thread here you can use this on all sorts of things.

The rest of the dish was a gluten free mac - n - cheese dish from Kroger.  Then roasted tomatoes, asparagus and brussels sprouts.

Resolutions are for losers.

You know who makes resolutions?  Losers.

That's right.  Losers.  Did you make a resolution?  Loser!

This seems harsh but in reality many of you are going to fail your resolution, and badly, like a loser.  New things are always shiny and awesome.  Then not so much.

Look it's hard to complete a change.  I know it, everyone and everything is going to be against it.

You know how to win?  Stop trying to change.  Do it.  Grit your teeth, push through and do not take no for an answer.  Nothing is going to change unless you make it happen.

So what are you waiting for?  Ohh that's right, January 1st, that's what.  So suddenly on this day you're going to change?  Give me a break.

You're not going to change, you're still going to be what ever the hell it is you are now.

Lets face it, 90% of these resolutions are probably about diet and exercise.  

Are you really going to sit here and tell me you need January 1 to make your goals a reality?  What is holding you back?

You are holding yourself back.  Not me, not the world, not even the holiday smorgasbord of food.  You.  You ate that fudge, you ate that cake, you had to have 9 holiday parties filled with shit foods.  Yeah, shit foods, because they made you look and feel like shit.

Why do I say you're going to fail? It's because you've got no willpower, you don't have the mental fortitude to deal with it.  Sure you're going to start off great, then it's going to start getting hard.  Someone will have a birthday and you'll want cake.  Then you're too busy, so you hit up the Golden Arches.  Before you know it your diet is blown to pieces, your weight has climbed back up and you've got a new gym membership you'll probably keeping paying on for the next few months.

Everyone will turn against you and your goals, you're at the gym too much, gosh why are you eating so healthy, you look fine, come-on live a little.  Without giving a giant middle finger to every inconsiderate self centered whale and guilt projecting tard burgler  you will never make it through this.

Controversy.  That's when you know you're doing something right.  If people are trying to sabotage your goals, don't worry, call them out and then keep going.  Fuel your fire.  I dare you.

Seriously, prove me and everyone else wrong, because as far as I'm concerned, you're a loser and are incapable of doing it.


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Note: this is meant to either make you or break you.  If you personally feel attacked, good, that means I did my job and hopefully you're going to excel.  If this did nothing for you, then you've already failed.

Do not be afraid to ask for help from someone if you need help reaching your goal.  You'll only appear weak if you don't ask and fail as a result.

I Sure Don't.

No one cares.

It's a cold hard truth.  In reality no one cares about you.  Not your employer, not your "friends", and chances are most of your family doesn't care.

A lot of people wont agree with me, but I'll tell you what, no one is going to look out for you but yourself.  You might be one of the fortunate people out there who really truly has some people that care about you, however at the end of the day if it comes down to you or them, they will pick themselves.

That's Okay.

Then are two classifications in the world for people.  Them and You.  At the end of the day that's how it always breaks down.

The "its me versus the world" mentality can actually take you pretty far into life or it can cripple you until you've forced out everyone and then it really is just Them versus You.

On the positive side if you acknowledge that no one cares about you and your own but yourself, you can become self sufficient.  No one is going to make sure you have a job or your kids get fed but yourself, so you will do all that you can to make sure it happens.

For a turn to the negative, taking this standpoint of life can exclude you from other people's lives.  No one wants to be around a Debby Downer.

 There needs to be a balance, you can't expect anyone else to look out for you and yours, but you should also still allow yourself to be taken care of by others.  This may leave you vulnerable to let downs, but you can't stay shielded for forever.

This is one of the benefits of having a life outside of life.  My life outside of life is training at the gym.  Yours could be cooking, hunting, fishing, playing sports, reading books, or any other activity. Getting away from it all could be the best thing to keep everyone from getting away from you.

This is an interesting concept for many, myself included.  Let more people in and maybe you'll have someone willing to pick you up in the case of a broken down car.

Or don't listen to me and keep being an asshole, because you know what, sometimes it's nice.

Play your violin some other day

The alarm clock sounds and Frank is  rolling out of bed.  He goes and cooks breakfast for the family trying not to be too loud so they can sleep in a bit longer.  Pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage and oatmeal for the little one.  A few presents still need to be placed from Santa under the Christmas tree so he brings those in.

It's Christmas morning and time to wake the kids and wife.

Breakfast is done, dishes are clean, wrapping paper has been cleaned off the floor, and the kids are playing with their new toys.  Frank is packing his gym as a family friend stops over to say Merry Christmas and drop off some cookies.  The friends husband asks "Off to the Gym on Christmas?  Can't you take a day off or something?".  Frank just smiles and says "I could" .

Franks Gym is open every day of the week 24 hours a day except for Christmas, the owner feels it's nice to close the gym at least once a year.  So Frank is headed to a buddies garage, they don't have all the fancy equipment they need, but they've got a mastadon bar, a monolift and a couple hundred pounds of chains.  It'll do for some squats.  Frank just hopes the space heater is working today.

Many people who train are just like Frank.  You can substitute the holiday for any other holiday or event throughout the year.  The friends husband can be anyone as well, a friend, a family member, or a co-worker.

For those who train it's not simply an option to just skip days whenever we feel like it.  We're not some pencil necked, popped collar polo shirt wearing, two pounds of gel in our hair, over tanned douche bag, cheat curling the 50 pound dumb bells, Guido.

You wouldn't ask a violinist if they could just "take a day off from practicing" would you?  Those of us that train do it for a reason.  Whether it's the power lifter who has a meet coming up, the body builder needing to add more thickness to his lower lat tie in, the oly lifter who needs to strengthen his catch position of the snatch or just the better than average joe who is trying to beat his personal demons and make himself even better.

Yes days off are going to happen, yes sometimes we over obsess about making a training session, but you know what?  We don't stress about catching that episode of America Idol either.

This is a way of life for many people, we look to get in a session whenever  we can, early morning, late night, mid afternoon, what ever will work.  Now if you don't mind I have a family Christmas gathering this afternoon and I need to go get to the gym so I can keep my week some what on track with my training.

Yoda wears Nikes.

"Do or Do Not.  There is no Try."  Master Yoda.

The above statement is more about a mind set.  You don't "Try" to do something.  You do it.

Look at any successful person.  No matter their area of success.  You will see people who sought out to do something.  Either they did, or they did not.

"Try" is something people with the luxury to do so, do.  If you've got a paper due by 10am on Friday, you don't "try" to turn it in.  Your name's been called, you've got 2 white lights and 900lbs on the platform, you don't "try" to pull it.

Trying leads to failure, failure from trying leads to never doing.  Children have no cohesive thoughts of trying to do something.  I do not believe they even get frustrated when attempting to walk.  We as parents, grand parents and other relatives may think they are frustrated with something they are attempting but very small children can't be frustrated.  They don't know what the end goal is.

When a child falls on their butt they usually get startled then go back to working on "doing" what ever it was previous to their fall.  How many times have you seen a child fall and be fine only to cry once you say something?  It's a learned behaviour.

When a baby is trying to walk they keep getting back up over and over and over again.  Not out of willpower but because they HAVE to walk.

We could do well to steal from this mindset.

I'm not selling the secret or pretending to have it, I can say that this mindset is very important to me.  When we try to do things we fail in a cycle that just breaks us down.  If you want to do something, do it.

When you decide to do something, do yourself a big favor, pour yourself into it and do it.

Not quite perfected, Perfect Granola

2 cups minute oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
boat load of penzy's cinnamon
nutmeg
melted 80% cacao ( about a serving )
finely diced candied ginger
1 TBSP coconut oil
pinch of salt
pecan pieces
1/4 cup of splenda

Pre-heat oven to 350

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Then mix in 1/4 cup of water a little splash at a time.  The oatmeal mixture should be clumping together You might need more than 1/4 cup of water.  I just kind of winged it, maybe closer to half a cup.

Once the mixture is mixed well and clumpish, stir in melted cacao and melted coconut oil.

Spread across coconut oil greased glass baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.  Check firmness by breaking granola into pieces.  If the granola is still damp or moist, return to over in 15 minute intervals checking on it.  It should take about 1 hour total.

Variations: Add pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, other seeds/nuts as you see fit.

Serve over greek yogurt like the attached photo or perhaps in a bowl of almond milk

Notes:

A lot of granola recipes call for lots of sugar ingredients such as sugar, molasses, honey, agave and olive oil.  I wanted to make a better granola.  This recipe is the first step.  I will experiment with it a bit more.

I've also seen where you could use a nut butter as a binding agent.  I may play around with that in the future when I work on granola bars.

Alarm Clocks, Ladies of the dance and Paul

Frank has three alarm clocks.

One to turn off, the second to remind him he really needs to get up and the third is there to make sure he's up.

He's not lazy, he just works 18 hours a day and drives an hour each way.  On his only day off Frank sleeps for 18 hours.  Just enough time to wake up and shower before his week starts all over again.

Teri-lynn gets off work at 6am and smells like Vanilla.  She's a stripper while she goes through law school.  She even has a 4 year old son named Tomas Caine, or TC for short.


No one ever see's Teri tired.  Frank looks like something Dr Frankenstein created.  Teri excels in her classes and her dancing.  Frank's on a performance improvement plan.

Frank and Teri-lynn have one thing in common.  Sleep deprivation.   Where the differ is how they handle it.  Frank drinks gallons of coffee a day to little affect.  Teri-lynn takes Spike tablets before class and library visits.   She's even been known to drink a spike shotgun while at work.

Enter Paul.  Paul drinks a spike shooter in the morning, has an expresso with lunch and knocks back a spike double shot before lifting.  He usually drinks a shotgun throughout the day.  Paul is ALWAYS tired, on edge and his workouts suck, let alone his mental capacity is severely diminished.


Spike is a line of energy supplements by Biotest.  They are very potent and should be used tactically and with care.

Take the case of Teri-lynn.  She takes full dose (2) spike tablets only before heavy cram sessions, for regular classes she takes just half a dose (1).  If she has the day off, she'll stay away from Spike.  As for the shotgun, she only drinks it at work when she's just got in from a big exam and needs a little extra oompf for her pole routine.

Paul - the habitual abuser of spike products has fried his nervous system.  He can't function even with all the spike products in the world.  The only thing that can save him now is to cut out the spike AND any external caffeine source.  He'll need to back his workouts down to light explosive work, make sure his diet is on point and get plenty of sleep every night.

Frank, poor frank.  If only he'd buy some spike.  He'll be able to function better and get off that performance improvement plan which will mean he wont have to work so much and can grab some sleep for a change. He'll need to back off the caffeine from coffee, cutting it to Zero would be very wise with the spike consumption.  For frank I'd recommend drinking a Spike Shotgun throughout work day starting by drinking half of it first thing in the morning.

Here is my breakdown of spike products and how to use them properly:

Spike Shooter: need to run through a brick wall? beat a deadlift PR? this is the drink for you.  Half a can is most people's needed dose for power and focus.  A whole can is very powerful and often too much for a normal workout/activity
Spike Shotgun: the daily slow drinker.  it brings the punch without the jitters
Spike Double shot: it's like 5 hour energy, except it works, great before a workout without over amping you
Spike Tablets: 1 tablet is enough for plenty of mental energy tasks such as all day of classes, 2 tablets is a little extra for when you need to stay up all night studying.

You can apply the three cases above to anyone, in Paul's place you can replace spike products with any other energy drink.  Too much can be harmful.

Spike is my energy product of choice, and thus this is my post on Spike's useage.  Not everyone needs spike.