My current way of Eating

                                                       Animal Based Nutrition Plan

      I'm calling my Latest Way of Eating (WOE), "Animal Based Nutrition Plan". The base of my WOE is animal flesh. I'm eating enough animal flesh to get 1 to 2 grams of protein per pound of my body weight. I weigh between 170lbs and 175lbs depending on the day. So I'm trying to get between 170 to 200 grams of protein a day from animal flesh. In addition to the animal flesh I'm consuming dairy products in the way of milk and cheese. I also add in some berries or fruit. This is how I eat Monday through Friday. On Saturday evenings and Sunday evenings I eat whatever the family is having. Most Saturday evenings we have Mexican food. I eat some chips, guacamole, and queso. My entry is something with a lot of meat. On Sundays I have whatever my Mom is cooking. You could say I have 2 cheat meals a week. I eat 3 meals a day Monday through Friday and on the weekend I usually only eat 2 meals.

 

                    So the above pie chart is sort of a representation of how I eat.

This seems to be working very well for me. I'm happy with the way I look, feel, and perform.

Carnivore is What Paleo Was Meant to Be.

I've gotten back to eating a more Paleo/Primal Nutrition Plan. Here are my thoughts.

      Carnivore is what Paleo/Primal started out as and it should have stayed that way. We should have listened to the message from "The Perfect Human Diet" by C.J. Hunt. But we didn't. We went off track by several ideas that came into the Paleo movement. We got caught up in trying to make it easy and include more people. We got shamed by society for acting like cavemen and women. But now carnivore has helped bring us back to our dietary heritage. We can once again proudly display our steaks, roast, and host of meats while we dance around our campfires. Well maybe our grills, air fryers, and ovens

      There were several ideas that came into the Paleo sphere that changed it. People brought their plant baggage with them into the Paleo diet. Others brought their high fat beliefs. And then there was the scientist and bio-hackers. All of these different ideas splintered the Paleo diet and pulled people away from the core idea of the Paleo, "Eat a lot of meat".Paleo accepted in all the people who were sick and over weight that had failed to get results from other ways of eating.

       The plant based group was willing to accept the idea that they needed to add some animal protein to their diet, but they clung to their old idea that plants were more important to health than meat. They wanted to keep fruits and vegetables at the core of their way of eating. All their years of hearing that we have to be plant based just couldn't be dropped. So they argued the fact that we just had to have our fruits and vegetables. They not only wanted to have fruits and vegetables but they wanted their properly prepared safe starches. They argued for those as well.
      The high fat people wanted to keep fat and alternative low carb food and treats in their Paleo plan. The benefits of fats were elevated about the need for protein. They got everyone worried about their blood glucose level and ketones. Everyone started started chasing their blood glucose and ketones numbers. All while ignoring their calories and body weight on the scales. They forgot about Robb Wolf's driving principle, "How do you look, feel, and perform". People were sitting around with butter in their pockets and wondering why they weren't seeing the results they wanted.
      It is hard to blamed the plant-based and fat-based people for clinging to their old ideas because the scientist were there to back them up. The doctors, nutritionist, dietitian, and bio-hackers were there in increasing numbers to lay out the data and research behind their dietary strategies. Once again we started tracking all sorts of numbers and adding supplements to help us see the results we wanted. We got all wrapped up in our microbiome, heart variability, and other bio-markers. Instead of looking in the mirror and asking ourselves how we looked, felt, and were performing, we looked outside ourselves to the data.
I never bought into the high fat ideas, it just didn't make sense to me. Also I saw that the ones that were preaching the high fat doctrine were the ones that looked the worst. I also do not like artificial sweeteners nor do I believe that they are good for you.
      But I did believe that plants were good for us. I've had in drilled in my head for years. I've preached it myself. So I went the way of the plant-based Paleo diet. I started increasing my plant consumption and lowering my animal products. I started eating more fruits, vegetables, and safe starches. I got to were I was only eating animal products once a day and the rest of my meals were plant-based.
      After 3 years of eating less and less animal foods and more plant-bases foods the wheels started falling off of my wagon. I started looking, feeling and performing worst than ever. Lucky about this time Dr. Shawn Baker and the Petersons started popping up on podcast toting the virtues of a carnivorous diet. They really weren't talking about anything new. Most of the ideas they were talking about were things we had talked about early in the Paleo movement. Ancient man eating a more carnivorous diet than hyenas, Vilhjalmur Stefansson and his time with the Eskimos, and how poisonous plants were to humans. We had been over the anti-nutrients time and time again, but some scientist was always there to argue about the benefits of plants.
      But Jordan and Mikla Peterson's message was one that caught people's attention for some reason. People started getting carnivore curious. They weren't setting out to start a movement, but it happened. Jordan just laid out what was working for them and admitted he didn't know why it was working but they were getting better. He said he didn't know if it would work for anyone else but they might give it a try.

      Dr. Baker's approach is a different. Eat meat and drink water until you feel better. All the nutrition science is biased and not reliable. He is unapologetic and stands his ground. Keep it simple and see the benefits. We should have been unapologetic in the Paleo movement and kept our way of eating; animal protein based. We should not have let our need to include more people or our need for scientific proof sway us from our core belief, eating animals made us human and its the proper human diet.
      I'm looking, feeling, and performing much better now that I have returned to eating animal products at the core of my diet. I feel like I've returned to the true Paleo/Primal way of eating.

I started uploading sledgehammer training videos to my youtube channel since the release of my book. Here the link to My channel.

My book is available

I finally got my book published on Amazon. I only have it as an ebook right now. I might do a paperback later. The book is designed to be for beginners or people wanting to expand the sledgehammer routines. The book is also to promote my Youtube channel. My plan is to start uploading sledgehammer training videos to my channel several times a week. I'll be uploading individual exercises and also routines. So stay tuned.

Here's the link to my book: Primal Bodhi's sledgehammer book

Flow in Obstacle Racing

 

I’m reading, The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler. I’m also listening to Kotler on episode number 873 of the Joe Rogan podcast. Steven Kotler is a New York Times bestselling author and the cofounder/director of the Flow Genome Project. He is one of the world’s leading experts on ultimate human performance. The Rise of Superman explores what the upper limits of human possibilities might be. In 2013, The Rise of Superman was the first book in history to land on the national bestseller lists in the sports, science, and business categories simultaneously.

So what is Flow? Kotler says,”Flow is an optimal state of consciousness, a peak state where we both feel our best and perform our best.” Wikipedia defines flow like this, “In positive psychology, flow, also know as the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in the feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity, In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does.”

The psychological concept of Flow was named by Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Csikszentmihalyi wrote in his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, “...is a state of concentration of complete absorption with the activity at hand and the situation. It is a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.” Csikszentmihalyi laid out nine component states of achieving Flow, “challenge-skill balance, merging of action and awareness, clarity of goals, immediate and unambiguous feedback, concentration on the task at hand, paradox of control, transformation of time, off of

self-consciousness, and autolelic (deriving meaning and purpose from within) experience.”

I think it is the Flow that makes OCR so fun and addictive. When I’m running an obstacle race I lose myself. As you read the list of states of achieving Flow, you probably notice that many of them are components of an obstacle race. When approaching an obstacles one has to quickly assess it and evaluate the challenge and their skill level. They have to be aware of the conditions of the obstacle and their action on the obstacles have to match the conditions. Is the obstacle wet or dry? It is stable or unstable? Obstacle racing incorporates the all component states of achieving Flow.

On the Joe Rogan Podcast, Kotler describes one of the routines he does to put himself into Flow. He starts with a 30 minute hike with his dogs. Exercise and being in nature are two elements that can start the neurochemicals flowing that are part of Flow. He then does hill sprints for about seven minutes to get endorphins in his system. He finishes with running down hill to create a risky situation. The greater the risk the better the Flow. After he finishes he uses the Flow state for his writing.

Kotler’s routine for creating Flow is just like running an obstacle race. Most of the Elite runners show up early and warm up before the race. They jog around the area and do various warm up exercises. When the race starts they sprint to the first obstacles. When they reach the obstacles they encounter the risk. No wonder people can do the World’s Toughest Mudder, they are repeatedly putting themselves into Flow.

But you don’t have to be an Elite runner to experience the flow. Just being outside and walking to the obstacle is enough to start the Flow experience. When you reach the obstacle it might be difficult for you and that is enough to get your endorphins to kick in. The risk is built into a lot of the obstacles. Obstacles require awareness and focus. Flow follows focus. So even beginners will experience Flow while running an obstacle race.

One other way to experience flow is in service to others. When are helping others we lose ourselves in the moment. Some of the obstacles are really hard to do alone. Some people show up at the race that are not physically prepared to meet the challenge of the obstacle and need assistance to make it through the obstacle. Running as a team is very popular in obstacle racing. Friends and families helping each other through the obstacles. But it doesn’t end with friends and families. Strangers helping strangers is also the way some get through the course and feel the Flow. Group Flow is even more powerful than individual Flow.

Next time you run an obstacle race think about Flow. Try to have the best Flow experience you ever had while running the race. Enjoy being outside and enjoy the exercise. Push yourself physically so that you get your endorphins pumping. Attack the obstacle in a way that makes you feel the risk. Don’t walk around scarey obstacles, try them. Then sprint off to the next obstacles. Keep repeating this cycle through the race. Enjoy the moment, push yourself and/or help others, and feel the risk.

CTG XTC Mega Race Review

                                        CTG XTC Mega Race Review

      I almost didn't go to this race because it was schedule so close to the Obstacle Course Racing World Championship. I didn't want to be hurt or too sore before my trip to Canada. But, I'm really glad I participated in the CTG XTC 10K Mega OCR. It was one of the best races I've ever ran. In addition to the course being fun and difficult, it was like the closing festival for obstacle course racing in mid-America. Hosted by Conquer the Gauntlet and Xtreme Timber Challenge at KC Timber Challenge in Bonner Springs, Kansas.

      I ran in the elite wave so I got there early. One by one the Conquer the Gauntlet pro-team started arriving. This was like the who's who of OCR in mid-America. Those racing stars who were not at the Spartan World Championships in Tahoe were at the Mega Race.

 

The race started with a shotgun blast. We ran for nearly 3miles before we reached the real Gauntlet. We had to climb the steps of the zipline tower and ring a bell.

 

                                                        First obstacle, The Log Cross

                                                           Rope climb up a bluff.

                                                                       Bus Crawl.

                                                                 More bus action.

                                                              The Quad Burner.

                                                                    Another climb.

                                                                The Ankle Turner.

                                                    Notice the Tower in the background.

                                                      Looking down the tower stairway.

                                                         Someone ringing the tower bell.

  

The view from the lower part of the tower. Hay bale climb over on the left. Monkey bars on the right.

                                              What it feels like to Conquer the Hay Bale.

                                              Climbing over downed trees on the path.

                                                            The Conqueror's Carry.

                                                                     Looking Good!

                                    Pipe crawl. It was pitch black in the middle of the tunnel.

We hit the first to CTG obstacles and it really slowed the pack down. The slackline was kicking almost everyone's butt. It took me 5 tries before I made it across. Next was the Z-beam. It too was slowing people down.

 

                     Couple demonstrating how to help each other across. Not allowed in the Elite.

                                                       A group of Z-Beam walkers.

                                                                     Hammer time!

       Now for the real Gauntlet, it was sort of like a Gauntlet inside a Gauntlet. Nine of Conquer the Gauntlet's hardest obstacles back to back. Throw in one to get you wet and a couple just to sap whatever grip strength you might have left. Hammer Time was great for getting my frustration out after so many attempts at “Slacking Off” and “Z-Beam”. Nothing like bashing a block across a couple of rails with a sledge hammer to relieve a little tension. But it was really just the first in a long line of obstacles designed to fatigue your grip

“Tarzan Swing” was the first in a long line of upper body strength test. This rig has possibly the longest distance between swinging holds on the whole OCR circuit. You need to be a gibbon with a 10 foot arm span to make it across the “Tarzan Swing”. In the elite lane they have probably the sketchiest holds in the OCR industry. Rubber hand grenades, upside down bowling pins, and pipe bombs are the holds that occupy the elite lane. This was the one obstacle I failed this go around.

                                                Getting ready to attack the Tarzan Swing.

                                                        Me before I fell off the last hold.

 

     The “Great Wall of America” was next but it might have been “Rock Wall”. Either way both require jumping and climbing. Lack of fear and grip strength are a must. I'm not saying that all of the holds on “Rock Wall” were loose but I did hear a few people scream. I guess its better to just run up the wall. I've seen it done. “Great Wall of America” is a 12.5 foot plywood wall that has a couple of 4's placed on it to help you up. One of the 2x4's is 4 feet up from the ground the other one is at the 8 foot mark. No problem simply step up on the first 2x4 and reach up and grab the second one. Right? Now you are only one ballistic jump away from grasping the top board and pulling yourself over the top.

                                                            Great Wall Mob.

                                                                 Just up and over.

                                                         Backside of Great Wall.

                                                                      The Rock Wall.

         I'm not sure of the exact order of the next few obstacles, but it was one grip killer after another. “More Cowbell” isn't a very tall rope, but if you just finished the “Tarzan Swing” you might not have much strength left in you upper body. Use your legs, if you didn't wear them out getting over the two walls. No problem except you have “Rubber Road Block” and “Net Scrambler” to negotiate next. The “Rubber Road Block” requires total body strength and coordination to conquer. An absents of fear of heights helps too. “Rubber Road Block” is a wall of automobile tires threaded together with rope. It feels unstable. You have to keep three points of contact with the wall so you don't fall off. “Net Scrambler” isn't as scarey or difficult as “Rubber Road Block” but it requires total body strength to get over. Its just an “A” frame with a cargo net over it. Did I mention grip strength?

“Cliffhanger” is a monkey bar set that goes up and then back down. There is a deep pool of water under you just in case you fall. 

                                                                    More Cowbell.

                                                              The Rubber Road Block.

                                                                     The Cliffhanger.

                                                              The Net Scrabbler.

    There isn't anything really difficult about the “Torpedo” except climbing the boards to the top and climbing the cargo net out of the pit. Unless you are afraid of heights and water.

                                                      Me shooting out of the Torpedo.

 

      The “Belly of the Beast” is a combination of balance, strength, and coordination. You walk up a plank to a platform. Hopefully your shoes aren't too wet from the “Torpedo”. From the platform you slide under a cargo net and crawl on the underneath side down to a cowbell. If you touch the ground before ringing the cowbell you have to start again at the plank. 

                                                             The Belly of the Beast.

      Now that we have gotten wet and our grip is failing we reach one, if not the, hardest obstacle from Conquer the Gauntlet. The “Pegatron”. Oh, “Pegatron” how we all love to hate you. “Pegatron” is a pegboard that you traverse across horizontally. Or I should say, “Try to traverse”. No two holes in the boards are the same. No two pegs are the same. Makes it more fun that way. I managed to make it this time. I ran 5 Conquer the Gauntlets and this Mega race this season. I made it across “Pegatron” only twice.

                                                                   Me on Pegatron.

                                                          Another shot of Pegatron.

     I now reach what many consider the second hardest obstacle from CTG. “The Stairway to Heaven”. Or is it the “Stairway to the Pool”. When I got to the Stairway my forearms were done. I looked like Popeye. My forearms were larger than my biceps. Well, at least they felt that way. I Started up the stairway and at the third step I knew I couldn't make it. I went back down and stepped away from the obstacle. I ate a gel pack. I walked back over to the “Cliffhanger” where there was a water station and got a water. I finished the water and continued to wait until I felt enough blood had left my forearms and returned to my heart for fresh blood. Then it was up and down the stairway.

     The “Walls of Fury”. Five eight foot walls in a row. All you have to do is jump up and pull yourself over. Jumping up wasn't too much of a probably for me. I'm 5' 10.5” and I have long arms. But, holding on to the top board was difficult. But, I made it. Up and over all five walls. I'm off and running through the woods.

    I didn't find a good picture of the "Walls of Fury" so you will have to go here to see it. If some one from the race has a good picture, post it in the comments.

      It was close to 3 miles back to the finish line. Once again up and down all the creek banks on the way back. There was tires to navigate through and mud holes to splash through. Another bus, but this time it was climb a cargo net up and over the bus instead of going through the bus. And then out of nowhere there appears another set of monkey bars to cross. My grip strength had returned by this time so it wasn't too much of a problem. This set of monkey bars was the opposite of the “Cliffhanger”. The bars ascended down to the middle and then back up toward the end.

                                                                  A little agility test.

                                                                      Tires to go over.

                                                               Oh yeah, more mud.

                                                                       A little rinse.

 

                                                              Over the bus this time.

                                                          Cargo net on the bus.

                                                        Me climbing over the Yeti Gate.

                                                        The second set of monkey bars.

                                            Tape is holding strong. My arm never fell off.

       Back to running. Right before the finish line there was two more CTG obstacle. The “Inverted Ladder”. It's about eight foot high. You can crawl underneath the ladder using your feet or jump up and grab the top step. Pull yourself over the top and walk down the steps. 

                                                                The Inverted Ladder.

                                                      At the top of the Inverted Ladder.

                                                        One last mud hole to go through.

“Flying Flames” was the last obstacle. It wasn't a very big stack of flaming logs but after 6 miles of hills and 64 obstacles my butt was feeling a little heavy as I leaped over the logs. I made it through the race without any injures except the lost of my elite belt. Very painful. 

                                                                    The Finish Line.

     You can watch a 14 minute video of the full race at this link. Jason Williams recorded his run through the race. He fast forwards through the run and slows the video down for the obstacles.

     After the race it was time for a celebratory beer and visiting with all the OCR friends I've made over the 2016 season. We talked about the difficulty of each obstacle and how we made it through the race. Several of us will be running the OCRWC in two weeks and we talk about preparing for it.

What a great race to end the season. I encourage every to attend this race next year. Don't make it your only race. See how many races you can do next year and then finish with CTG XTC Mega Race. 

                                                                     Said beer.

                                                                  The prized medal.

                                                                  They have a Yeti!