Evolution God

My heads been a lot of different places lately.  Sometimes I wish I was a full time writer.  I get these thoughts in my head and I just want to explore them.  But I don't always have time to do so.

I like to investigate.  I like to know why things are the way they are.  I like to know the potential different outcomes of things if you do them one way or another.

A couple weeks ago I started an online certification program to become a Primal Health Coach.  For over a year now I've changed what I've been eating and have lost about 30 pounds of body fat.  Mostly by eating more fat and less carbage.  I say carbage because not all carbs are bad for you, but all carbs can keep you from losing body fat.  Over the past year, I've helped or provided inspiration and encouragement to several people who've collectively lost well over a TON of weight.  Literally.  I'll never get tired of hearing success stories.  They come almost everyday now.  Including one recently who's just reversed all markers for type 2 diabetes.

I thought this course was going to be a breeze and I'd simply be adding "certified" to what I already know.  Wrong.  It's fairly challenging.  There are parts of the course that teach about genes, the history of human kind, evolution of our species and lots of other things too.  It really got me thinking about what happened 20,000 thousand years ago when someone sick.  They most likely died.  That was part of life.  Death.  I think we don't really give to much thought about that today.  Death is something we don't have to worry about till someone gets old. And when someone dies young we are all in shock.

We are God.  A few years ago when we were considering IVF (look it up if you don't know), I made the statement that it seems as though it's like playing God and I wasn't comfortable with that.  If God wanted us to have kids, we'd be able to have kids naturally.  Looking back on that, what an asinine statement that was.  What do we do when we get a headache?  Take Tylenol.  What do we do what we break a bone?  Get a cast put on.  What do we do when we get cancer?  Seek treatment.  We have the advantages in todays civilized world to treat whatever ailments fall upon us.  Isn't that also playing God?  Or was the creation of all these advancements to heal our bodies by design from God?

But throughout human history, death was a part of everyday life.  Like headaches and colds are today.  That was normal.  We weren't supposed to survive.  And that's how we thrived.  Only those with  the right genetic makeup survived to reproduction age.  And those genes were passed down.  It took hundreds of thousands of years for those with strong genes to flourish.   The human race would migrate to a new area.   Some people just couldn't survive there.  But some could.  And those genes would carry on.

But today, we don't have the selection pressure.  We live in climate controlled houses.  We buy food from grocery stores.  We drive to work.  In fact, the main reason you work is to make money to buy your food and shelter instead of working and creating it for yourself.  You pay for someone else to provide it for you.  This leads to society.  Economy.  Community.  We are Gods, creating our environment.  All the while living an artificial life.

An artificial life?  Yeah.  Most of us should be dead already.  But because of these advancements in technology and medicine we've been able to stay alive long after the natural world says we should.  In some ways this can be good, in other ways I don't think it's so good.

Vaccines.  Many people get vaccinated so they don't get sick from diseases that otherwise would have killed them.  Like polio, measles, and smallpox.  This is great, it keeps people from contracting this disease and in many cases with minimal side effects.  Though some would argue what those side effects entail.

History is fascinating.  Take a look at this graph.  Grains were first discovered as use for food about 10,000 years ago.  This removed a lot of pressure to hunt and gather food.  Of course though, grains were much healthier at that time.  They aren't the genetically modified unhealthy grains from dwarf wheat that we have today.  All of the sudden when food was a plenty, advancement began.  And it's snowballed over the past few hundred years.  Can we sustain this advancement?  OR should we just stop and let it sit for awhile.

This is where I may get some weird looks if I haven't already.  For the most part, in the developed world, we are great at keeping people alive.  But why?  Just so they can die later anyway?  When I was 7 I broke my leg.  I should have died.  And that would have been fine if it was thousands of years ago.  I made a stupid decision and was jumping off of things I shouldn't have.  And the consequence of making a stupid decision would have been death.  I may have lived a little while, but the odds that I'd be able to survive would be bleak.   What's the point of staying alive just a little bit longer?  It used to be survival.  That was the point.  But we've got survival down pretty good.  Where are we going?

This isn't a natural world anymore.  Yes, everything comes from this world.  But that doesn't mean it should have happened.

We won't stop.  History won't stop.  This is a new world.  We are adapting.  But are we adapting fast enough?  We are the same human race.  Are we even designed to live in this new world?  Or are things like CRISPR going to change the human race?

So there you have it.  That's what's been in my head.  At least a small portion of my head.  Till another thought evolves.

You Are More....

And so am I.  I am more than the clothes I wear and the shoes on my feet.  Or as my daughter would say, the "not shoes" on my feet.

I was at a local establishment this morning, one that I frequent almost daily.  Usually for a coffee refill but sometimes to get an omelet for the kids.  As I was walking in, a customer was walking out and said to another person in the store, "Hey look, it's the barefoot guy!"  It wasn't in any type of negative way, just acknowledging my presence to others around.  She made no attempt to actually engage me.  That's when I politely said, "I also have a name, it's Jon."

It makes me wonder.  How many times has she noticed me?  How often am I talked about and referred to as simply, the barefoot guy?  Was she even going to say hi to me or am I just some object that walks around for people to comment on?  Because, this isn't the first time something like this happened.

I took my shoes off in the spring of 2013 and didn't put them back on until the spring of 2015.  Aside from a few moments in the bitter cold winters or an extended period of time in the snow.  Two reasons I put them back on.  Running 20-40 miles a week was too much for the condition of my feet. And I was sick of being known as the barefoot guy.  Anywhere I went, just about everyone I knew only ever acknowledged what was on or off my feet.  It got really annoying.  I am more than that.  There is more to me than what's on my feet.  I'm sorry that that's what you only see.

I also got sick of the problems in certain stores.  I didn't want to argue.  Even though I knew all the legalities and insurance regulations and it was perfectly legal to not wear shoes.  I hated to argue.  If you want to read about that stuff...it's about 415 blogs ago.  Seriously, back in 2013...if you are interested.

So in 2015 I just decide to where whatever I wanted on my feet.  Or not.  Sometimes I'll wear shoes, other times sandals and other times nothing.  It's been fantastic.  And yet...two years later, people still comment.  STILL!  And I don't think ever remember anyone ever really asking "why" with an intent to understand.  Ok...maybe one person.

Anyway...back to this morning.  Talking about me without actually talking to me has never made me feel more like an object.  It was really eye opening.  And it made me be more aware of the many people I encounter on a daily basis.  Even the employees at certain store, they are more than the cashier.  They are more than their job.  They have a story, they have a family.  Stop and ask about it sometime.

Don't create a character out of someone.

Often times you can't see the heart from the outside.  You have to dig a little deeper.

You Better Win

Gonna get my thoughts out now on the 2017 finals.  It's no surprise it's the Cavaliers and Warriors.  The Warriors are an incredible force.  They are an offensive machine.  Defensively they can hold their own as well.

In 2015 the Cavs and Warriors faced off in the finals.  Undoubtedly, the Warriors won while the Cavs were missing Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.

In 2016 the Cavs made history.  The first team to ever come back from a 3-1 deficit.  Warriors fans argue it is partly due to Draymond Green being suspended for game 5.  Last I checked there were 7 games in a series, not one.   But lets remember, the Warriors were a 73 win team last year.  73 WINS!  They only had 9 losses during the entire season.  They also had 9 losses in the playoffs.  4 coming from the Cavaliers.   They were the best team in the NBA last year according to the regular season record.  They themselves even overcame a 3-1 deficit against the Thunder with Durant and Westbrook.

Enter 2017, as well as Kevin Durant, Zaza Pachulia and David West as well as a few others to the Warriors roster.  The Cavaliers made extremely minor additions.

Here we are, Game one is over.  The Cavs beat themselves.  The turnovers were ridiculous.  The Warriors were offensive machines and took full advantage.  The game play was physical.  Kevin Durant looks like he was made for the Finals.  But remember, this Cavs team was down 3-1 before.  One loss isn't anything to be afraid of.  

This is the same Cavalier team that overcame a 3-1 deficit last year.  This is NOT the same Warriors team.  This is a 73 win Warriors team that ADDED an 8x all star and 2014 MVP to their team.  They built their team to win a championship.  That's what all teams do, right?

Let me repeat that.  A 73 win western conference champion ADDED Kevin Durant to their roster.

They don't want to lose again.  Well, they've pretty much set themselves up to not lose again.  What they also did was make it so that the only people that care if they win a championship will be Warriors fans.  This year, 2017, the Cavs have nothing to lose.  They've proved that their 2016 team has done something no other team has done.  And they did it as a TEAM.   Lebron James didn't play for a 73 win Miami team.  He didn't come back to play for a 73 win Cleveland team.  Please don't compare James and Durant in that regard.

Durant signed with the 73 win team that came from from a 3-1 deficit against his former team.  Good for him.  He was criticized about that decision.

Here's my feelings.  The Warriors have an amazing team.  But even if you win this year....that's because you built the best team.  You signed an MVP to your 73 win team.  You've given yourself no other option but to win a championship.  Which I guess is what you are supposed to do.

NOBODY expects you to lose, so your win is nothing special.  Especially when you have to build that team like that to beat a "weak" eastern conference as you call it.

It's Your Hormones, Doing Hormonal Things.

You've heard the expression, "you can't have your cake and eat it too".   It doesn't really make sense at first.  You can't have your cake and eat it too.  In other words, if you eat the cake it will disappear and you will no longer have it.  You can hold onto the cake, not eat it, and you will have it.  You can't eat it AND have it.   For the sake of this blog, I'm going to pretend that the "it" in this scenario is weight loss.   You can't have your cake and have weight loss too.  But you can have lots of other delicious foods.

I'm been a yo yo dieter for much of my adult life.  When I hit 23, I started gaining weight like crazy.  I was up to 211 about a year into my marriage.   I'm guessing I was around 160 a few years prior, though I didn't own a scale.  So in the summer of 2007 some friends and I decided to do a weight loss challenge.  I started at 211 (with the help of a gallon of water to pad my stats) and finished 3 months later at 176.   It was 3 months of torture.  Exercise everyday and severe calorie restriction.  I didn't really know what I was doing.  Well, over the next months/years it all came back.  Because who can really sustain that lifestyle?  And we shouldn't have to work out everyday just to stay at a reasonable weight. Let alone the fact that chronic exercise can be just as unhealthy as a bad diet.

You simply can't out-exercise a bad diet.

Like I mentioned before, over the next few years my weight crept back up to the 210's, then I'd restrict calories and exercise.  I'd lose about 15 pounds and be satisfied.  But then it would come back.    I've probably gained and lost over 100 pounds over the past 10 years or so.  I got really good at losing the weight I gained.  But it just wasn't right.

So many people find themselves in this pattern.  Some give up and have accepted being overweight.  Some still go back and forth eating and exercising.  But it's not about the "weight".  It's about how you feel and are you healthy, physically, mentally and emotionally.  Weight gain is a sign that something in your life is out of balance.

I would venture to guess that when most people want to lose weight they choose to exercise.  I have a hunch that their mindset goes something like this....."I'm getting fat, I should lose weight.  I need to stop eating so much junk.  I can't.  I love food.  But I can exercise. I used to be athletic so this should be easy.  And as long as I burn more calories than I consume, I'll lose weight.  So exercise it is."

I'm telling you now, this doesn't work.  It may work for you in the short term, but it's not sustainable.  The "cake" that you want is weight loss and you can't have weight loss and eat cake too.  Even if you exercise, it's not practical.  Case in point,  two years ago over the course of about 5 months I ran 6 marathons, 15+ half marathons and about 30 other runs of 5k or more.   I didn't massively over eat during that time frame either.  I didn't lose a pound.   You'd think averaging about 40-50 miles a week I'd have lost weight.  Wrong.  Our brains and bodies are smart.  It sensed a pattern.  I was running almost every day or every other day.  It knew I was using energy so anything I ate, it stored.  It needed every bit of energy I could give it.  I was stuck in a storage/depletion cycle, never actually getting to all the long term fat storage.

Here's the big secret. 

Weight loss is 80% diet.  But it's not just about eating chicken salads, kale, fruit and yogurt.  Anything but.  It's about finding out what type of foods you need to be eating and how those foods interact with your hormones.   When you eat a high carbohydrate diet, that equates to a high insulin producing diet.  Insulin is the hormone that transports glucose from your blood stream and uses it for energy or stores it as glycogen in your muscles and liver.   If your glycogen stores are full, glucose is converted and stored in your fat cells...thus making you, well......fat.   NEWSFLASH.  Fat doesn't make you fat.  Consistently eating  a high carbohydrate diet or snacking every few hours of a with carbohydrate filled snacks,  keeps you in storage mode.  You'd have to exercise an awful lot to keep a balance...and even if you could do that it can lead to insulin resistance.

But I have good news.  What if I said you can have your bacon and have weight loss too?  See, a low carbohydrate diet (100g or less of carbs from healthy sources like leafy green veggies, OCCASIONAL fruit and nuts) will keep you in a low insulin producing diet and engage glucagon.  Glucagon is the retrieval hormone.  It senses the blood sugar is a little low and will stimulate the liver to break down glycogen and release glucose into the blood stream as well as break down stored fat (triglycerides) to use as fuel for cells.   If you go really low carb (50g or less though some will say 20 to be sure) and you'll go into ketosis and burn some serious fat.  Your body will produce ketones for fuel.   In addition to ketones, your body will thrive off your stored fat being used for fuel, as well as exogenous fat from healthy oils like olive and coconut (NOT seed oils like soybean, canola or vegetable oil: these are very inflammatory and your body will not thrive), Avocados, nut butter, grass fed butter, ghee, nuts, cheese, heavy cream....OH and did I mention BACON and EGGS?

And yes.  If you don't eat meat, you can still cut out pasta, bread, sugars, excess fruit consumption, grains, corn and other starches, and add in healthy fats in addition to your leafy greans, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and cabbage.  This will take a little extra planning to assure proper protein requirements are met, but still possible.  Remember, there are only two essential macronutrients, protein and fat.  There is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate.  That doesn't mean they don't have their place, they just aren't essential as many people suggest.

The even better news.  You don't need to buy some magic weight loss energy product either.  The foods you can enjoy on a low carb/ketogenic/primal diet are incredible.  Not cheap low fat cardboard rice cakes or dried out chicken breast.  Primal isn't a fad.  We've been doing it for tens of thousands of years.

Don't take my word for it.  I challenge you to try it for yourself.  You don't have to exercise to lose weight.  Let me help you do it.  Prove it to yourself.   Exercise for fun, not for weight loss.

Putting myself out there on this one.  This is 5 months of diet. 

A year ago I started a Ketogenic way of eating and lost a little over 30 pounds in about 2 months.  I've kept it off for over two years now with absolutely no problems.   I've never been able to maintain a great weight for myself for this long in my adult life.  I'm 6'1" and 190.   I've also started a support group on Facebook and the small group of friends and friends of friends has collectively lost well over 4000 pounds.

 I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is.  If you are serious about losing weight, I'll meet with you and discuss a plan.  If you like it and are willing to commit to it, we can move forward.  I care about people and their health.  I wasted so much time and energy doing things the wrong way.

I am a certified primal health coach.  Health coaches are simply that.  A coach to help you navigate weight loss and healthy lifestyle practices like minimizing stress.   I won't even charge you anything, though I do have limited space.  I just want to see people take control of their health.

And once you get things all figured out, you'll be able to eat that piece of cake if you want to.  And you'll know exactly what that cake is doing in your body!  Might make you think twice.....