Carb-up day for this week.  Forgot all my pill-foods.

Food:
3 large sweet potatoes, diced and fried in
1 Tbl coconut oil and
1 Tbl grass-fed butter
6 extra large organic eggs (store-bought)
4 ounces sharp cheddar
3 strips of thick-cut bacon
3 cups cooked jasmine rice
0.75# cooked chorizo
1 cup hot salsa

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 03:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Light eating again today.  Basically just ate a pound of greens for dinner.  Probably enough protein for maintenance, but that was about it.  Carbohydrate re-feed tomorrow, and back in the gym on Monday.

Food:
32 ounces of coffee (Sumatra)
4 Tbl grass-fed half-n-half
2 megafatty muffins
0.75 quart beef stew
2 thick-cut slices of bacon, rendered slowly and then cooked with
1 lb of fresh kale

Supplements:
20000 IU D3
3 grams vitamin C
6 grams DHA/EPA fish oil (from the fridge)
1200 mg gelatin
1500 mg collagen
2 tablets of Chrysin Surge
1 tablet of DHEA
0.5 grams magnesium

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 07:24 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Fasted until 11am (~16 hours since the last bit of food on Tuesday), not counting cream in coffee.

Food:
16 ounces of coffee (Biggby Best)
4 Tbl grass-fed half-n-half
0.75 quart beef stew
9 ounces of sashimi
tiny greens-only garden salad with ginger dressing
8 fresh eggs from my chickens, scrambled with
4 ounces of extra sharp cheddar, topped with
0.75 cup hot salsa (Meijer Organics)
~1 megafatty muffin, eaten as broken bits from the tins and batter-licking

Supplements:
20000 IU D3
3 grams vitamin C
6 grams DHA/EPA fish oil (from the fridge)
1200 mg gelatin
1500 mg collagen
2 tablets of Chrysin Surge
1 tablet of DHEA
0.5 grams magnesium

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 07:42 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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When I wasn't drinking coffee, I was drinking iced tea.

Food:
4 slices of thick-cut bacon
6 organic brown eggs (store-bought, sadly)
4 ounces cheddar cheese
32 ounces of coffee (sumatra)
4 Tbl grass-fed half-n-half
1 quart of beef stew*
1 red bell pepper
half rack of baby-back ribs (8 bones' worth)
2 Tbl molasses-based BBQ sauce

Supplements:
20000 IU D3
3 grams vitamin C
6 grams DHA/EPA fish oil (from the fridge)
1200 mg gelatin
1500 mg collagen
2 tablets of Chrysin Surge
1 tablet of DHEA
0.5 grams magnesium

*beef stew made from
- 12 lb of bottom round roast, trimmed of all visible fat
- crushed tomatoes
- 6 ungodly hot peppers from my garden
- salt, cumin, cinnamon

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 08:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I spent most of Saturday in the car and then forgot to thaw meat for the crock pot in time to have a lunch ready for yesterday, so I ended up buying lunch from the Kroger deli.  When I did get around to cooking the thawed meat, I had slightly too much for the crock, so I fried up two slices of it as steaks.  Chewy steaks, but not awful.  I didn't eat solid food until about noon, and yesterday was a fairly small day food-wise.  I had meant to eat some of the red bell peppers I bought on sale, but wasn't hungry after the beef.

Food:
32 ounces of coffee (sumatra)
4 Tbl grass-fed half-n-half
12 ounces roast beef (unsure of cut, seemed very lean)
4 ounces Greek olives stuffed with blue cheese
12 ounces bottom round roast, trimmed and fried in
1 Tbl grass-fed butter (Kerrygold)

Supplements:
20000 IU D3
3 grams vitamin C
6 grams DHA/EPA fish oil (from the fridge)
1200 mg gelatin
1500 mg collagen
2 tablets of Chrysin Surge
1 tablet of DHEA
0.5 grams magnesium

Update: Removed cinnamon tablet that I didn't take yesterday.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 08:02 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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So yesterday was my weekly carbohydrate re-feed as I continue on The Anabolic Diet.  I still eat in a manner you could safely describe as paleo (or primal, since I don't seem to have issues from small quantities of good dairy foods).  Anyhow, here's everything I ate yesterday:

Food:
1 teaspoon of honey
1 cup of coffee
0.5 cup of orange juice
2 sweet potatoes, hand grated and fried in
1 Tbl of coconut oil
4 fresh eggs, cooked in the sweet potato hash as it finished
14 ounces of vanilla Häagen-Dazs
2 cups uncooked jasmine rice (which I cooked)
1 lb fresh chorizo sausage
0.5 cup hot salsa, Meijer Organics brand
2 cups grass-fed whole milk

Supplements:
20000 IU D3
1 gram cinnamon tablet
3 grams vitamin C
6 grams DHA/EPA fish oil (from the fridge)
1200 mg gelatin
1500 mg collagen
2 tablets of Chrysin Surge (terrestrius tribulus, an aromatase inhibitor)
1 tablet of DHEA

I missed my usual magnesium (0.5 grams) at the end of the day.  The ice cream is a sometimes food, so don't get excited.  Once or twice a month I indulge in ice cream on a high-carb day, and even then I pick the brand with the fewest ingredients.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 07:59 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Henri de Laulanié.

Norman Borlaug did some great work, but the result of his tinkering was less-nutritious, high-yield wheat that hasn't stopped causing health problems compounded with a series of unsustainable farming practices for it.  Henri didn't even have to breed the rice for traits, just work with it and experiment.  Norman could have done the same thing.  Anyone could have, really.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 12:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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• 16-oz. jar creamy almond butter
• 8 oz unsalted butter, softened
• 4 tablespoons raw honey
• 29 oz canned pumpkin
• 8.8 oz shredded coconut, unsweetened
  
• 6 eggs
• 2 teaspoons baking power
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• ¾ cup warm water

Tried this as an experiment, baked in large muffin tins at 325F for 60 minutes.  They came out okay, but slightly underbaked in the centers.  If I do them again, I'll probably double the water and baking powder.  I think it was a little too try and doughy to get much rise.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 11:28 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Hunter-gatherers, Westerners use same amount of energy, contrary to theory

I guess hunter-gatherers aren't leaner because they're more active. I'm sure it has nothing whatsoever to do with eating real food rather than big gulps, soyflour, and veggie-bacon.

Update: Full write-up

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 02:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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830AM black coffee, 1 cup.

930AM black coffee, 1 cup.  I was back home at this point after learning the power was out at my office.

11AM 8g BCAA.

1230PM 1 quart low-fat goat's milk, 1 larabar (chocolate chip cookie dough).  Not my ideal post-workout meal, but I'd had to drive to Powerhouse Monroe and I wanted to get something convenient in me during the post-workout window.  Why low-fat milk?  I'd never seen it before and wanted to see how it was.  Not bad.

240PM  1.2 lb ground sirloin with black pepper, 1 oz sharp cheddar, spicy brown mustard, 2g vitamin C, 7000 IU D3, 4g fish oil (capsules).  This is closer to where I like my post-workout meal to be in terms of protein.  Ordinarily I'd have some carbs here to spike my insulin when I'm most sensitive to it, but I'd already had plenty in my convenience meal up above.  If I were strictly trying to lose weight and maintain muscle, that wouldn't be called for.  Insulin is an anabolic hormone, though, and it's best to take advantage of that if possible.  That's also why I generally don't add too much fat to my post-workout meals: if insulin is high and dietary fat is available, it can be shoved into cells; having little to no fat around circumvents that.  High insulin and lots of free amino acids is a nicely anabolic state to be in, assuming you're insulin-sensitive.  I fought my way to that over a couple of years, so this isn't for anyone who's metabolically "broken".

530PM Handful of baby carrots.

810PM 0.6 lb of ground round, spicy brown mustard  (wife wanted something grilled), iced tea with one whole lime's worth of juice.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 09:17 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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My friend Mare was curious about what I ate in a typical day, so I'm going to diary a few of them for posterity.

9AM:  Discovered leftover coffee from yesterday, reheated in microwave and drank it.

10AM: 8g of branched-chain amino acids.  I try to take a dose about this size prior to a fasted workout.  My daily fasting window is typically 16-18 hours followed by lifting prior to my first meal.  The BCAAs are insurance: my fast should be just the right length that I've had some positive autophagy without triggering any muscle catabolism; available BCAAs reduce the chances of catabolic breakdown even further.

1030AM to 1130AM: Workout time.  Today was metabolic conditioning and explosive work: power cleans, kettlebell swings, and box jumps.

12PM: 8g BCAAs.  I wasn't planning to eat for another couple of hours, so I took another dose for the same reasons outlined above.

1PM: 1 oz sharp cheddar, 1 large green pepper, 4000 IU D3.  The D3 is half my normal dose because I actually had some time to sunbathe today.

230PM: 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs baked with Stubbs spicy BBQ sauce, 5g of fish oil, iced tea with the juice of one whole lime.  I added fish oil to the meal because I find I get fewer fish burps that way, and chicken fat in particular has a pretty terrible w-3 to w-6 fatty acid ratio, so this is an attempt at recovering some balance.

7PM:  0.7lb flat iron steak, seasoned with Montreal Steak seasoning, and pan-fried in Kerrygold Irish butter (pastured cattle, so the fats are well-balanced), 1c or so of steamed broccoli.  I put a tsp or so pat of butter on the broccoli after it was on the plate.  And another pat on the steak, because it's delicious that way.

8PM:  Another glass of iced tea with another lime's worth of juice.

9PM:  500mg Mg.  Helps me sleep, and it's one of those things that's hard to get with diet.  I never go higher than this dose, and I don't always take it (can result in loose stool).

And that's it, that's everything I ate today.  It's actually a fairly typical non-work day for me.  On a work day, lunch would be something out of the crock pot or something at a restaurant (Indian or Chinese buffet, typically).  Black coffee is my normal breakfast.

EDIT  forgot D3 and Mg initially

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 10:24 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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24 oz of thick cut bacon
16 oz of mild italian sausage
All the cloves in one small garlic bulb
1 green pepper
4-6 oz extra sharp cheddar
BBQ sauce (spicy or sweet, your choice, I used spicy)
BBQ rub (something you’d use on pork ribs)

Make a bacon lattice square about 6-7 slices wide. Doesn’t have to be perfect, just sturdy. Cook the rest of the bacon in the usual fashion until crispy, set aside to cool.

Using a freezer bag, mush the sausage out to fill the same area as the weave. You can do this without the bag, but it sucks.

Cut away the bag from the sausage square, carefully align and press the sausage square on top of the bacon weave.

Dice the garlic cloves and green pepper, crumble the cooked bacon into bits, and spread all evenly onto sausage. Drizzle BBQ sauce on top of veggies evenly. Just enough sauce for flavor, we don’t need extra moisture here.

Grate cheddar and spread that over top, pizza style. Sprinkle some BBQ rub over top.

Roll up the whole beast so that the bottom side of the bacon weave is now the outside of the roll, then liberally apply rub to clean bacon surface. Place in foil lined pan on rack (it’s going to render like a fat man at Cedar Point in August, the foil helps cleanup).

Bake at 250F for 1.5 hours, 275F for 0.5 hours, then 300F for another 0.5 hours.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 03:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Because of chocolate, because losing weight due to chocolate would just be weird. In any event, I was way ahead on this. I've been drinking brewed chocolate from Chocolate Alchemy for about a week now, and it's awesome.  I'll be sure to post if it also causes weight loss.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 01:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Posted by: leoncaruthers at 05:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm considering actually counting calories (they way we calculate them is horsefeathers, but the values are relative, so it's not totally awful). This looks like a handy tool for planning that kind of thing.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 02:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Choffy.  Cocoa beans roasted and prepped like coffee.  I've wanted to try and make something like this for years, like the Aztec xocoatl.  I've tried chicory as a coffee alternative, and it's pretty good (good enough that I'm considering trying to grow my own next year), but I gotta try this.  Possibly with added cayenne.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 01:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Daily Fat In Diet—A high-fat diet is a risk factor for heart disease, colon cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer. For a healthful diet, choose foods that are low in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol. Based on your responses, nearly all of your food choices are high in fat, which is increasing your risk. You indicated that you are not ready to take action to reduce the amount of high-fat foods you eat. Over time, you may want to reconsider your plans. Begin by thinking about the health benefits you may gain by eating a low-fat diet. Keep in mind that only 30 percent of the calories you eat each day should come from fat.

This is what Aetna told me after my "Health Risk Assessment" Questionnaire.  Everything else in the questionnaire, I'm at normal or better than normal (my HDL is 71, for Pete's sake), and yet they suggest a low-fat diet.  The totality of their nutritional advice was to eat more candy (i.e. fruit) and eat less fat.  It's entirely impossible that my robust health is the result of me eating a ton of good fat (OMG saturated!) and eschewing candy of all kinds.  Fuck you, Aetna, I'm healthy as heck, and doctors lie.  Typical nutritional ignorance from people paid to know better.  This isn't even my job, and I could walk circles around them on this topic.

I probably could eat more vegetables, though.  I'll cop to that.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 07:50 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And they tell the whole story.

This guy's whole blog is worth reading, actually.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 04:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Is real. Between yeasts, toxoplasmosis, and gut flora, how many actions that we take are really, you know, ours?  The really, really spooky thing is how many of these pathogens get into people by way of things that were proscribed by religion (promiscuity, eating forbidden foods) or simple superstition (avoiding cats).  It's almost like various cultures adopted heuristics (i.e. "traditions") that protected them from these things while remaining scientifically ignorant of their true causes.  Nah, I'm sure they were just evil, unenlightened, patriarchal meanies and haters.  It couldn't possibly be the case that fitness strategies and hygiene were ascribed to the supernatural because it was the best way to ensure compliance and protect the kinship group.  Just big ol' fun-hatin' men, right?

Sarcasm aside, how long before we all regulate our lives pretty much the same as Victorian-era Christians because science proves them right?  Because I assure you, as antibiotics and fungicides lose efficacy in the face of ever-evolving micro-organisms, abstinence and faithful monogamy will eventually be the only strategies that actually work.

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 07:48 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So I was reading this post over at Gnolls, and I had something of a clever thought (probably not original).  It's widely accepted that the human body burns alcohol preferentially to all other fuels, which is a big part of the reason it pretty much shuts down fat-burning metabolism (along with a smattering of related, depressive hormonal effects).  I hadn't really thought about it, but glucose is basically treated the same way by the body.

Like alcohol, glucose is burned preferentially if present (at least in the absence of alcohol), but it's also basically toxic to many tissues at blood concentrations that are easily achievable with modern, processed foods (or a once-in-blue-moon giant dose of honey).  Sure, you need some of it floating around to power your brain, but that amount is small-to-zero if you're keto-adapted and have functioning gluconeogenesis and adequate protein intake.   Too much of it over a sustained period of time, however, will damage your body in a dozen different ways.  So before resorting to the primary -- and safest -- aerobic fuel of fats, sugar in your blood is taken up and burnt, in no small part simply to protect you from it. 

Posted by: leoncaruthers at 02:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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