Monday, October 15, 2012
Workouts Begin in the Kitchen: the Tea Ceremony
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When does our training practice start each day? I workout in the mornings. I get up early just to get in my workout before work. Usually i've thought of that practice as starting when my physical practice starts: with the first rep of the first set.
But of late, i think my physical practice actually starts before i get to the mat: it starts with making tea.
Ritual One: Japanese Green Tea - Genmaicha.
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| gyroku genmaicha. yum. reusable. |
Among it's many benefits, green tea is a fat mobilizer. It is the darling of the fasted cardio crowd for this reason. It is also, intriguingly for something that includes caffeine, a soother. Personally, i dig the taste - i dig the taste of one version in particular: the builder's tea of japanese green teas, genmaicha aka "popcorn tea" - the green tea has bits of popped brown rice in it that gives the tea a nutty flavour. Many genmaichas also include some green matcha powder - whole tea leaves that have been crushed. This is the stuff used in tea ceremonies, and makes it clear that green tea is green. The good thing about good leaves: can get 5-6 uses from one infuser of leaves. That's good value.
Over the course of the morning drink prep, i will make 2-3 liters of the stuff. Here's why:
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| Traveling US matcha by DO; UK fave matcha, Teapigs |
the first litre is for me, right away. I make the tea in a 1L pyrex glass measuring jug with a milk frothing thermometer clipped inside. I'll pour in water off the boil, and let it sit till it hits 79 degrees (actually it's by Anchor - it's taller than the Pyrex and i like that [usa | uk]). Then in goes an infuser with the genmaicha (i like the Large Finum tea baskets [usa | uk]). I'll pour out a bit into another cup, add some teapigs (UK) or DO (US) organic matcha powder, froth up, and pour that back into the litre jug, whisk that , and then part goes into a mug for me right now, and the rest goes into a thermos.
I'll repeat this process of making the tea again, but this time after it's all made, and sometimes without adding the matcha, i'll ice this tea as it will be the base of my workout drink.
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| Morning Tea Kit: themos, tea, matcha, glass jug, thermometer, china tea cup and (not shown, durn) whisk |
And yup, the kettle is on for the third Litre of the morning. Why? as i'm prepping my workout drink in Ritual three, i'm also chugging back my green tea from the thermos. I actually have TWO drinks for my workout: a protein concoction, described below, and a thermos of green tea. It seems i've gotten into the habit of alternately sipping green tea and protein drink for the long workouts. For these single movement focused training sessions, that seems to be just fine. It reminds me perhaps to stay relaxed while focused between sets. It feels somehow a little decadent or luxurious as well.
Ken Froese, who's been coaching me, and has been doing a lot of systema training of late keeps telling me strength is easy; relaxation is hard. Going for the sip of tea reminds me that i'm relaxing and recovering in this moment as i plan for the next set. I have found that i have not hit fatigue yet as far as i know in the 3.5 months i've been working on this cycle. Maybe the sipping makes the sessions a bit longer - maybe it lets them be longer so i get more done without the fatigue. Anwyay, i enjoy it.
Ritual Two: Once the Kettle's On: Essential Amino Acids
Once the kettle is on, i'll grab a shaker cup and some EAA's, stir em up, and chug 'em back. Starting these (along with a greens sup) over a year ago now have had a profound and tested effect on my mood, sleep quality and body comp strategies. I take these on waking up because they are zero cal. and start to replenish the amino acid pool in my body before i start to hit it with a stick in my workout. Depending on how i feel about the coming workout, i may also take a caffeine pill right about now. I have been experimenting with these, and, when taken irregularly, i find they can make a difference to my morning heavy day performance.
Ritual Three: Prep of The Beverage (Protein, etc)
For the workouts themselves, i have 1L camelbak eddy bottle - i like this bottle as it, too, via the bite valve, inspires sipping rather than chugging.
With the iced tea, i'll add about a scoop of either rice protein or pepto pro as the foundation. Then it's creatine for all the goodness of creatine, beta alanine, citruline malate to help with my cell to cell communication - that nitric oxide performance can be readily tested so that with or without citruline malate can be checked. I get test kits from bioletics. It works for me. It's also possible to improve NO by upping beets and greens like spinach. That's also testable.
Additionally, i'll add about 15g of some kind of sugar/carb stuff. I like cytomax, but am also happy with the much cheaper TrueNutrition mix of malto/dextro with electrolytes and enzymes. I do this much carb-ing because there's enough research to suggest that carbs seem to help both protein and creatine uptake. Based on some work Mike T Nelson's been exploring i'm also going to up those carbs every week or so, just to see if i notice a difference in performance / recovery, keeping everything else constant.
I will also add some BCAA's to this mix which may well be gilding the lily as likely the pepto pro in particular gets to my body with the same speed as the bcaa's but i'm a belt and suspenders kinda person.
Filled to the brim of the bottle, i'll have an eigth about ten minutes before the workout starts, sip throughout, and then usually there's about a quarter to a third left that i polish off after the workout.
Finisher Semi-RItual: Post Workout
Possibly really gilding the lily, i'll have another scoop of EAA's, a vitamin C and some l-glutamine if i'm not going to be eating for awhile. e.g., it's 9AM and i don't want anything else till lunch time. Otherwise, of late, i'll have a breakfast shake - and that's described over here.
Tea Ceremony Coda: Why Bother?
For the most part, i workout in the morning, first thing.
There is something warmly satisfying about getting up to do a workout - to practice a skill - and yet, not jumping out of bed and racing racing racing to go do it. Not to rush. To get up early enough that i can set up the space for the training session of the day, and prep for it, staying relaxed but focused. Relaxed. But focused.
My own tea (plus additional beverage ) ceremony seems to help me manage that Relax but Focused space.
These wee pre-practice rituals are not things i developed deliberately to serve this relax/focus end; they've evolved over the past four months - rather quickly - but i've only lately started enjoying them more deliberately, if that's a way to frame it. Rather than being "i need time to make this drink for my workout" - or "i'm doing these EAA's now for prep for 20mins from now" - i'm starting to get that focusing on what i'm doing, enjoying that - has its own rewards, too.
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| breathing, thinking, doing, in the tea zone |
Ritual High? You know that runners talk about runners high. Usually it's associated with running for awhile and then getting an endorphin rush. My understanding from more recent work is that just formulating a happy thought before running brings on a high. I'm finding that delighting in this moment's pause before the Big Lift happens. i *really* *enjoy* my green tea - it happens to be *really* *nice* genmaicha (as with anything there are all kinds of qualities). I also *really* *like* putting together a drink combo that no company happens to produce, and working to get the supplement and flavour profiles a little better each day (yes, i think i said "flavour profiles" - too much "top chef"). It's joyful.
And besides the chemicals i ingest from the polyphenols of the green tea and the aminos and and and that being in a more joyful if not happy place before i start my workout, i'm in a better mental place to face a challenging 85-98% 1RM workout. A lot of this game is mental, isn't it? And well that sip sip of tea during the workout is a pretty good reminder of focus/relax.
My new plan? Rather than seeing it as a means to an end (the workout) get more into this ritual and see what happens to the workout ahead
Old Skool? I bet the Ritual is something that experienced lifters know all about, and again, i'm just late to the party. Better late than never. WHo knows - this Relax/focus Strength thing may just help me get the Press.
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Addendum: the b2d youtube progress channel
As part of keeping it real, i've started the b2d youtube channel. Dan John talks about success being wrought by Just Showing Up. Maybe these progress moments of the Keep Showing Up Practice may be useful fodder for others pursuing a strength goal. For example: this first ugly but real getting of at 24kg pistol:
Personally, some youtube records that have inspired me? There's a convict conditioning series that shows one person's progress from the start of practice to success with full range of motion. Wow.
And thank you to that person for that record.
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Related Links
- Green Tea: good for more than what ails ya
- Tea Infuser - letting it go...
- How to fight a Wretched Cold
- And Fat Tea
- an alternative to coffee: the untea with lemon, hot sauce and honey
- Towards the Perfect Rep
begin2dig related
YouTube Channel: where we mean "in progress" all the time
PDF
Monday, October 8, 2012
Steven Sashen of Invisible Shoes/Xero Shoes - sometimes success runs away with you.
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But before we continue the fun from that review, first, a Sale!
May 10, 2013: 50% off till May 15 on color
The following interview (part 1 of 2) shows how blending a personal passion with entrepreneurial spunk can lead to a rolling boil success. In part 2, we'll step back from the founder and the footwear a bit to look at some of the philiosophies that inform this increasingly successful footwear founder.
But here, in part 1, let's take a look at the shoe, the foot, and how a company began, best foot forward.
Sounds like you're
the fastest Jew in Sandals, period, sport! that's awesome.
Ok, that's a surprise, but, come to think of it, i have seen things that purport to be transparent plastic.
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Invisible Shoes/Xero shoes are 21st Century huaraches: elegant 4mm or 6mm textured, fitted soles, tied to the foot by any imaginable lacing pattern. One can do self-sizing or have the shoe custom fit. And they're cheap. Try to get any other minimalist shoe for under 20 bucks. The b2d review of the invisible shoes experience is here, from Sept 30, 2012. In the next two articles, we're going inside Invisible Shoes with its founder, Steven Sashen.
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But before we continue the fun from that review, first, a Sale!
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| Xero Shoes - the new logo |
And Now, the interview, part 1, the foot, the business, the journey...
Setting up a business is no small thing; setting up a still-niche business like minimalist footwear is no even smaller thing. The costs and commitments alone can make a person's head spin. So how does one even begin to think about well, putting a toe in the water of such a space? Is one mad or insanely brilliant?The following interview (part 1 of 2) shows how blending a personal passion with entrepreneurial spunk can lead to a rolling boil success. In part 2, we'll step back from the founder and the footwear a bit to look at some of the philiosophies that inform this increasingly successful footwear founder.
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| Invisible Shoes (Xero Shoes) founder, Steve Sashen, modelling the Xero Shoe custom sole |
Steven Sashen of Xero Shoes, Part 1: starting a company, and creating a new Sole
Thanks for taking the time, Steven. The first question i'd like to explore is - has invisible shoes become a full time occupation for you?Within 3 months of starting the company (On November 23, 2009), this became a full-time job for my wife and me.
wow, that's
fast.
Tell me about it! And things are accelerating now in a way that makes those 3 months seem glacial.
We'll touch more on that speed in part two of this interview. But first, how
did you come to decide this is something you wanted to do? It's a big deal -
usually - to switch from something we're doing to a completely new venture in
at the time a very new market - especially where we're talking physical goods.
that's an investment.
I'm not sure "decide" is the right word. I started the business with just a website, and without a lot of thought. Once it became clear, though, that we had stumbled onto something good (both from a business standpoint and from the perspective of how we were helping our customers), we jumped in with both feet (bare, of course).
Bien sur. Could
you talk a little bit about that process? what inspired you to take the leap?
how you made that as safe as possible for yourself?
Let me back up. I started making huarache-style barefoot sandals for myself and some other local barefoot runners once I knew I didn't want to be stuck in shoes ever again.
When did this
happen? what made the connection for you between this type of footware and you
wanting to get your hands on or your feet onto this kind of platform? Running
in sandles for distance is not an obvious connexion for most of us.
I knew about the Tarahumara and the tire-sandals they wore when they won the Leadville 100. And in the barefoot community (small as it was 3 years ago) there was some experimenting with this idea.
People loved what I was making and the last person I made a pair for (with the materials I'd purchased) was Michael Sandler. He said, "I'm writing a book; if you had a website and sold these, I'll mention you in the book."
What is this with
Colorado and runners? is there something in the water?
Something in the air... namely, BLUE SKY with a big yellow ball, 300+ days /year! Shhhh... don't tell anyone or they'll all move here. [Anyway...]I raced home and told this to my wife, who totally shot down the idea. I agreed with her that it probably wasn't a good idea, that it wouldn't make money, and that it was a distraction from our other businesses.
And then, when she went to bed, I built a website.
Of course! Were there words
about this the next morning??
I think she just growled. But then I convinced her it would be a good case study for our Search Engine marketing business -- I could show how we could build our ranking and Search Engine placement, starting from scratch. I've said before that the most important psychological trait for an entrepreneur is blind naivety.
Great Council.
Sorry, "blind, optimistic, naivety"
If you don't mind - could we circle back to this for a sec? when you say "other businesses" - sounds like you're of the self-employed cloth. is that fair? and that your life partner is a co-partner in these enterprises?
Yeah, I've never had an actual job. I was a street performer, a stand-up comic, an actor, a software inventor (while getting a Masters in film -- which I did while doing stand-up and acting
(examples of Steven's ranging satirical talents)
-- I developed the industry-standard word processing software for film and TV writers, Scriptware, and built a company around that), an internet marketing consultant, a real estate investor, a day trader, a meditation teacher... I know I'm leaving some things out.
I know nothing about writing software... which makes me a great "programmer" because I figure out, conceptually, how things could work... and I can communicate that with programmers. What I developed with Scriptware still hasn't been duplicated 20 years later.
Lena and I have been together for 13 years... her job is to (try to) keep me organized. We were starting a Search Engine marketing business when the idea for Invisible Shoes landed in our lap.
We didn't think much about this business. We just started it.
With good intuition,
informed by some great feedback from your early adopters?
I don't know about intuition. Luck. Recognizing that we were onto something. Seeing the wave of interest in barefoot running growing. And, yes, the feedback was GREAT, which inspired us. And then, once it got going, we hopped on board for the ride. In other words, it became a real business before we had time to think about whether we wanted to start a business.
What a great problem
to have: success!
There are worse ones, for sure!And then, once you got into this in the first couple months...
Then, when the former lead designers and developers from Nike and Reebok sat at our dining room table, helping us design our products and craft our business plan (this was 6 months after we launched), we knew we were officially in the footwear biz.
Nike and Rebook and Xero? Ok, this one is
really a mind-puzzler for me: for those of us
outside the shoe industry, we would see first of all Nike and Reebok as
competitors between themselves. And they'd also be competitors with you,
no? SO what were they
doing at all sitting peacefully at your table (at different times) trying to
help you rather than burn your house down?
These were guys who had worked at those companies at different times in the past (and other companies as well). Now they were working together in their own company as consultants and sourcing experts.
The first thing one of these guys said to me when we met was, "Don't worry about the big shoe companies; they'll never do anything like this."
They sat at our table because they loved the idea of what we were doing, knew that it could be big, and wanted to help. They gave us many, many thousands of dollars of work at no cost... and continue to as members of our board of advisors.
Personal Passion and Business - Two great tastes?
Many folks are passionate about their running - even barefoot running - but they don't start shoe companies. What drew you to saying i want to make this sandal? esp. in light of other folks in the marketWell, when I started the only other sandal was a kit being sold by Barefoot Ted. The only other minimalist product was the Fivefinger shoe (which didn't fit me). I wanted the sandals because I wanted to spend as much time barefoot as I could... but with some protection, and with the ability to get into restaurants ;-) Plus, they look cool.
Again, I didn't give this nearly as much consideration as you think I might have, or maybe even should have.
Again, who can argue with success or happiness? Where do these shoes fit into your life? Are
you particularly passionate about running, or is there another idea or sense of
direction motivating invisible shoes?
I'm a Masters All-American sprinter, which means I'm one of the fastest 50+ guys in the country (I run the 100m in 12 seconds, and hope to be at 11.8 by next season).
That's very cool to
look at improvement over time/age. Way to go. If you improve year on year, how
fast do you think you can get? What would be your target?
Well, usually you get slower over time/age. But since I'm still really learning how to sprint, I hope I have a few years of getting faster before I start slowing down. And then I hope my "slow" speed is still among the fastest in the country. I'm not thinking past my 11.8-11.89 goal at the moment. One step at a time (or 49 of them in 11.89 seconds). And, as far as we can tell, I may be the fastest Jew over 50 in the world! ;-)
That and $9.95 will get me a cup of coffee at StarbucksSheesh. Do you run these speeds in flats or in your sandals?
But to your question: yes, running is a big part of my life.
Running fast. Wow, so what are a couple of
the attractions to running for you? when did this start for you and did it
become a passion early on?
I was always the fastest kid in school (until I was 16). I always enjoyed running fast. I put it aside and focused on gymnastics during high school (I became an All-American). And then didn't know there was a competitive circuit for old farts until 5 years ago.
It also sounds from
the invisible shoes forum that you coach people as well in how to run with sandals - have you
been a running coach for awhile?
No, I've coached a lot of physical activities though and am very good at understanding biomechanics. I've taught Tai Chi, gymnastics, Zen archery, body-centered psychotherapy... again, I know I'm forgetting a bunch.
Goodness, well let's shift back to xero or invisible shoes as they began. Could
you talk a little about where the name came from?
"Invisible" came from the fact that when you wear these, it feels like you have nothing on your feet...
hmm - i'm not quite
there yet. right now i feel something in particular between my toes.
Okay, then ALMOST nothing ... and in that nothing, someone put a thin layer of rubber over the whole world. And, if you cut the soles to really match your foot shape, and wear laces that are not too bold, it looks like you're not wearing anything. Our new name is Xero Shoes.
What? you're letting
go of an i? as in iShoes?? did Apple get to you??
I looked into "iShoes", but it's too hard to protect. I've been trying to get ishoes.com for 2 years... no luck.
What inspired the X
rather than a Z?
It looks very good on the sole of the shoe. X is cooler!
So the name change was motivated by what?
We're changing for a few reasons: The sandals aren't actually invisible (believe it or not, some people thought they would be)
demo'ing the uninvisbleness of Xero shoes multi-tying styles
Ok, that's a surprise, but, come to think of it, i have seen things that purport to be transparent plastic.
Well, we could use transparent plastic, but it doesn't wear as well (rather, it wears out faster), and isn't as comfy. We're working on it, though. Another reason for the name change is that people started making their shoes much LESS invisible, with funky tying styles, bead and charms, and now we have colored soles.
Also, we think Xero is a cooler name that still communicates the same thing.
I'm looking forward
to the shirts - xero sounds very stealthy. you'll be able to sell to the tactical crowd,
for sure. I say that in a good way.
You can order shirts at www.zazzle.com/xeroshoes
Material Sole
Ok, let's talk a bit about the materials of these shoes: you've made a bunch of really deliberate decisions here. For instance, you've recently changed the sole over to new material from new company. what drove that transition?We started with a Vibram outsole material that was made for repairing shoes and boots. It worked well for sandals, but wasn't designed for that purpose. It had some problems, too... the 4mm got a bit too floppy in the largest sizes, and the 6mm (which we didn't sell) was stiff as a board. The top surface wasn't as comfy as I would like. With the help of our Nike/Reebok advisors and their manufacturers, we developed our FeelTrue™ rubber otusoles, the only product made specifically for barefoot-style sandals.Personally, the sense that this is a SOLE for these kind of shoes feels really cool - it's like it really IS made for a foot - or in this case - my foot. Is that why you moved away from the Vibram outsole? better sense of fit?
They're a vast improvement over the Vibram in a number of ways:
- An sized product rather than a simple sheet of rubber (some people can use the soles, as is, but for those that trim them to fit, there's less trimming)
- Contoured shape that stays with your foot better
- Simultaneously, more flexible yet holds its shape better
- 2-way chevron tread design gives you great traction
- Textured top surface is grippy yet comfortable
- Reinforced, pre-punched ankle holes
- Better abrasion resistance (which is why we have a 5,000 mile warranty)
Have you explored
thinner than 4mm? or is that as low as one can go and still have something
there?
We've played with other thicknesses and this gives a good combination of stiffness, flexibility, strength and wear. The tread is 1.2mm, and you need to put the tread ON something, so the thinnest you could go is about 3mm, but it doesn't seem to be worth it.
Next Time: Footwear for Barefooting? Oxymoron on Zen Koan: discuss
Cool. This gives us a sense of how spontaneous eureka moments may actually launch themselves into great (ad)ventures. And from this we have a wee bit of a sense of the personality behind the venture. Let's continue next time with a look at the philosophy informing Xero Shoes by poking the stick in the oxymoron that is "footwear for barefoot running" and where Steven's views of health engage with some related wellbeing practices like - will that be Paleo or Pastries with that Sprint?Remember, till the Ides of October, you can use b2d's special Invisible Shoes coupon code "themind10" - without quotes - and receive 10% off your Xero Shoes order, too. Thank you Steven.con't in: Part 2: death to flip flops
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Invisible Shoes (soon to be xero shoes) - Every Step I take: A learning experience - review
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Exploring the minimalist shoe experience? Looking for stuff that passes "the twist test" to make sure you're getting as much barefoot goodness as you can handle? This post is a wee review and endorsement of one of the cheapest (ie most affordable) high value options available: invisible shoe's (soon to be xero shoes) customisable huaraches. Consider it an opportunity to rediscover walking, running and moving on your feet - even if you already do minimal footwear. Really. For 20 bucks, these offer a rather amazing education
Huaraches - that's Sandals, right? For Running?
For those of us who have come of age on the miracle that is lateral, medial, anti-pronation, eva footbeds, mesh uppers etc etc, that more or less blare out that our feet are not to be trusted, and thank god almighty for orthotics, sandals may be the last thing one would think of as effective running kit. Perhaps even further away from possibility than a pure bare foot.
If you've been exploring minimalist footwear - like vibram fivefingers (me, here, daily vff wearer since late 2008) or newer shoes like merrel trailgloves etc, you may be making various signs now to ward off the evil flip flop eye: sandals may invoke images undesirable constant flexion/clutching of toes to hang onto the shoe. THey are the Anti Minimalist, minimal wear - the fake coin of of barefoot parties. Birkenstocks unbending soles be banished; flip flops constant clutching, back to the darks.
But wait, this is different.
Xero Huarache's - Not your cousin's retread tire sandal
Sandals as lightweight foot covering (well, sole of foot covering) have a very long history, it seems, in our human history. Sandals as running wear were also made particularly popular in Christopher McDougall's book Born to run (and why is the kindle version more expensive than paper?). Here he features the Tarahumara Indians' huaraches: cut bits of tire tread tied to the feet with a lace. These are in part the inspiration for Xero shoe's huarache kits.
If visions of your elder backpacking counsins' huaraches of the 70's are creeping into mental view, set them aside. Those rubber soled behemoths would likely *not* have passed the twist test. Xero's definitely do.
A Xero Shoe Sandal is created from a size-specific sole that can be further trimmed to custom fit the wearer's foot. One can do the cut oneself from the basic sole closest to your foot size, or, Xero Shoes will do the cutting for you based on an outline drawing of your foot. Instructions on both bits are well detailed on the site, with text and video instructions.
New Soles. Once upon a time - about three years ago - the soles were simply cut from a sheet of Vibram outsole rubber. These kits can still be purchased, but the sized soles, the 4mm Contact and the 6mm Connect, offer particular advantages. For starters, the lace holes by one's ankles are pre-formed. They don't need to be punched into the sole, and they also have extra rubber around this area to ensure no lace is going to pull through the material on tying. Likewise the tread on the sole is designed to work with that size shape - there's a flow to the sole pattern. They also hold their shape better when tied - less flop.
The shape and texture of the sole is the brainchild of a collaboration with former running shoe design experts from rival major companies who shared a table in the home of invisible shoe maker, Steven Sashen. More on that in the following posts' interview with Sashen. For a preview, he demos and talks about the new soles in this youtube vid.
The new design also comes with a 5000 mile performance guarantee.
Steven Sashan posted on the barefooting blog about a year ago to the effect that, despite what Gray Cook has called the 'self-correcting' of stride that putting on five fingers (or going foot naked) is supposed to incur, Steven has still seen people at running events run in harmful ways and where they leave hating the barefoot experience.
Putting on Xero shoes, Steven gently implies, is a challenge to just how good your barefooting talent is.
I've been wearing these pretty much non-stop since mid august, as my colleagues will attest.
Each of the past six weeks had brought some new learning experience. I confess, i haven't always wanted a learning experience in each step i take, but it seems to be paying off.
So if you want to free your feet up even more than five fingers or trail gloves allow, and improve both your walking and running gait, and feel the world beneath your feet even more - without going total bare - then Invisible Shoes now Xero Shoes are worth the effort.
If you'd like to see what these learnings are about, here's at least a map of mine:
The shoes come flat in an envelop with instructions and links to videos for trimming and lacing.
Reader, i balked. I was super busy during the day, and when i got home the thought of facing learning a new way to tie a shoe and experimenting with tightness so it didn't fall off, never mind trimming another pair - yes, i quailed before what felt like an intrigued prospect. But finally time was made and the shoe'ing began. It began by grabbing said custom shoe and laptop for lace up video practice.
The shoes do come pre-laced but that just did not work for my head that had a very WTF moment (PhD means nothing before certain technological apparatus).
Also, on seeing one shoe modelled in a vid with what looked like paracord (turned out to be niteline), and having rather a lot of that with me, i abandoned the included laces and went straight to the paracord. Following a tip from one of the abundant videos, i trimmed out the core of the paracord for the between the toes bit to make it softer. While that works, i've since abandoned doing so.
Why do this? i like the look of the flecked cord better than the solid colour of the (yes softer which is nice) nylon laces.
Next, you're just getting used to the right tension and knot placement.
It took the longest to get that between the toes thing just right. Not right and when running, i found the lace dug into the side of either toe. Interestingly a tie job could work well for running but not walking. Not right and when walking, it just bit. Blick. Likewise, having a knot to tie off the project fall on an awkward spot on the top of the foot can be uncomfortable. There's a fine balance of forces here, it seems.
There were a few times i felt like this huarache thing would be a failed enterprise. It was really based on the reviews on the invisible shoe forum and conversations there that encouraged me to think sticking with this would pay off. There was nothing particularly special about me that would make me an un-sandal candidate, so i figured i just wasn't in the zone yet and kept going.
Hence the lacing, relacing, walk/run, relacing bit above.
Who knew sandals took such commitment, eh?
Talking with another colleague i'd turned onto Xero's he said he'd had a very similar experience getting one with lacing but he too thought it had been worth it. He likes to run through streams and trails.
Now, as someone who's worn fivefingers for years, and nothing for sometime, i kinda thought i had an ok stride. But yup, these sandals are little amplifiers of imperfections. When walking and perhaps more so running - i can hear that i have these sandals on and not close fitting shoes.
Yes there is a way to walk that keeps the shoes far quieter. Yes there is a speed and shape to run that keeps the shoes much softer and closer to noiseless. And that takes effort to get that.
Before even getting to the sonic feedback, the first day i felt like i was really changing my gait in order not to let the front of the sandal act like a shovel - a very weird feeling that disappeared in about two days. That was the quickest sandal sensation to dissipate. Then came the slapping.
Initially i wondered why i should be getting myself to try to conform to the requirements of shoes. But since the results are a gentler and softer stride, i'm not sure why that would not be a good thing. I'm pleased that over the past 6weeks, the shoes are progressively quieting down walking, and also running. There is still work to do.
There are many tips on Steven's web site about softening up the stride. These articles and discussions are also worth perusing.
What Else to Love What i really enjoy about the Xero's is that my feet are not in shoes. They sure got more vitamin d in august than likely they ever had since i don't know when. But meanwhile, they are still protected from the ground. I will only push my family so far, and they support me on so many things, that forcing them to swallow barefoot walking too, on concrete etc, all the time - it was just one too many. These sandals let me approximate that experience more than closed shoes do. And i'm learning new skills while stepping.
Death to Flip Flops The only other sandals i wear are vivo's Dopies. I do not run in doppies - they are effectively slip ons, without being flip flops. I've written about these elsewhere. The difference with Xero's is that i feel confident with the lacing that i can just take off - and have. Not something i can do in doppies, and i personally do not enjoy walking any distances in doppies.
But i do enjoy open air footwear - despite the usual questions.
The other day at an event colleagues asked me if i wasn't cold in them (it was 14C and raining; it's sept in the UK; normal).
My reply was, no, i'm not; i'm quite comfy. I was in fact giddy at the thought of not having to walk home in sodden shoes and socks; that my feet could move. And that indeed, during the event where there was carpet, i could take my shoes off discretely and move my feet even more. no re-socking.
Connected, but not Contacting. I'm still working on lacing - i have almost got it to the set it and forget it point. That's quite wonderful to slip on a sandal and know i can break into a run or just stroll. That's with the custom cut 4mm Contact.
I have not yet tried the 6mm Contact - i'm not quite ready to punch the hole and trim the sole, as it were, and i really do find the 4mm just dandy. When i try the 6mm i'll report on any difference in foot to ground feel.
They are a process, but that's cool. If you've been going from things like structured shoes, to Nike Free's to Vibram Five Fingers, you know that's an adaptation process, too. Xero's are one more, er, step in that process.
As said at the top, who would have thought sandals required such committment, but any skill does. A drum looks pretty durn simple, and while whacking it will get a sound, spending time to practice finger taps etc, creates some powerful expressions. Likewise it seems walking is a skill - and it is - we learn it; we practice it, and our shoes have really f'd us up (hence the cry of the wild for orthotics etc).
Going to Xero's is like respecting ourselves enough to want to recover our body's movements. Patience works. The best thing here is that *each* step we take, takes us closer to the perfect step rep. Xero's just let us know how our performance is going - and that kind of feedback is worth the price of a cheap lunch out for two, yes?
For a preview of what that will be like, just check out any of Steven's wonderful videos on the xeroshoes site. Though i confess i think my faves have nothing to do with lacing. For example:
Till then By all means, consider xero shoes - and if you found this article helpful, here's my xeroshoes affiliate link to use when you choose your xeros and feel the earth move.
(note about b2d affiliate links: if i don't test it, use it, like it, i don't endorse it)
Happy Trails - and please let me know how you get on with your Xero's.
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Huaraches - that's Sandals, right? For Running?
For those of us who have come of age on the miracle that is lateral, medial, anti-pronation, eva footbeds, mesh uppers etc etc, that more or less blare out that our feet are not to be trusted, and thank god almighty for orthotics, sandals may be the last thing one would think of as effective running kit. Perhaps even further away from possibility than a pure bare foot.
 |
| Tamahumara - From National Geographics report onbarefoot running research. |
But wait, this is different.
Xero Huarache's - Not your cousin's retread tire sandal
 |
| a Tarahumara huarache |
If visions of your elder backpacking counsins' huaraches of the 70's are creeping into mental view, set them aside. Those rubber soled behemoths would likely *not* have passed the twist test. Xero's definitely do.
 |
| the invisible shoes huarache |
New Soles. Once upon a time - about three years ago - the soles were simply cut from a sheet of Vibram outsole rubber. These kits can still be purchased, but the sized soles, the 4mm Contact and the 6mm Connect, offer particular advantages. For starters, the lace holes by one's ankles are pre-formed. They don't need to be punched into the sole, and they also have extra rubber around this area to ensure no lace is going to pull through the material on tying. Likewise the tread on the sole is designed to work with that size shape - there's a flow to the sole pattern. They also hold their shape better when tied - less flop.
The shape and texture of the sole is the brainchild of a collaboration with former running shoe design experts from rival major companies who shared a table in the home of invisible shoe maker, Steven Sashen. More on that in the following posts' interview with Sashen. For a preview, he demos and talks about the new soles in this youtube vid.
The new design also comes with a 5000 mile performance guarantee.
Mini Experience Review:
The question might be, if you're already doing the minimalist shoe thing, why think about sandals? For instance, i've been wearing one model or another of vibrams five fingers since 2008, pretty much 5 days out of 7, more recently interspersed with trail gloves, evo's or asics t'ai chi's. All full foot covers. And when not wearing shoes, i've well, not worn shoes, as per Mick Williamson's guide to actual barefooting.Steven Sashan posted on the barefooting blog about a year ago to the effect that, despite what Gray Cook has called the 'self-correcting' of stride that putting on five fingers (or going foot naked) is supposed to incur, Steven has still seen people at running events run in harmful ways and where they leave hating the barefoot experience.
Putting on Xero shoes, Steven gently implies, is a challenge to just how good your barefooting talent is.
Learning Experiences.
And that's pretty much what i've found. These sandals act like amplifiers of foot fall cock ups: hear them slap? it's you. Feel them catch the ground? More times than not, it's you. It's not the shoe; it's you. Well, me. It's me.I've been wearing these pretty much non-stop since mid august, as my colleagues will attest.
Each of the past six weeks had brought some new learning experience. I confess, i haven't always wanted a learning experience in each step i take, but it seems to be paying off.
So if you want to free your feet up even more than five fingers or trail gloves allow, and improve both your walking and running gait, and feel the world beneath your feet even more - without going total bare - then Invisible Shoes now Xero Shoes are worth the effort.
If you'd like to see what these learnings are about, here's at least a map of mine:
- Lacing
- Re-lacing
- Walking
- Running
- Re-lacing
Lacing Up - Learning experience one
Two pair of xero's came my way: the 4mm connect, custom cut, and a 6mm contact foot form that i would need to trim and hole punch for the lace between the big and next toe. The hole punch is included in all kits: it's useful for refeeding laces through holes, and necessary for making a hole in a custom kit. |
| sole and top and tie of custom cut XeroShoes 4mm Contacts |
Reader, i balked. I was super busy during the day, and when i got home the thought of facing learning a new way to tie a shoe and experimenting with tightness so it didn't fall off, never mind trimming another pair - yes, i quailed before what felt like an intrigued prospect. But finally time was made and the shoe'ing began. It began by grabbing said custom shoe and laptop for lace up video practice.
The shoes do come pre-laced but that just did not work for my head that had a very WTF moment (PhD means nothing before certain technological apparatus).
Also, on seeing one shoe modelled in a vid with what looked like paracord (turned out to be niteline), and having rather a lot of that with me, i abandoned the included laces and went straight to the paracord. Following a tip from one of the abundant videos, i trimmed out the core of the paracord for the between the toes bit to make it softer. While that works, i've since abandoned doing so.
Why do this? i like the look of the flecked cord better than the solid colour of the (yes softer which is nice) nylon laces.
Why Lacing is an Experience is on a couple levels:
First you're figuring out: do you want slip on and off tying or something that needs to be tied on and off each time you go? |
| custom: paracord in lieu of laces |
- Tension is important for keeping the shoe on the foot;
- knot placement is important in terms of keeping where the lace that comes between the toes lies.
It took the longest to get that between the toes thing just right. Not right and when running, i found the lace dug into the side of either toe. Interestingly a tie job could work well for running but not walking. Not right and when walking, it just bit. Blick. Likewise, having a knot to tie off the project fall on an awkward spot on the top of the foot can be uncomfortable. There's a fine balance of forces here, it seems.
There were a few times i felt like this huarache thing would be a failed enterprise. It was really based on the reviews on the invisible shoe forum and conversations there that encouraged me to think sticking with this would pay off. There was nothing particularly special about me that would make me an un-sandal candidate, so i figured i just wasn't in the zone yet and kept going.
Hence the lacing, relacing, walk/run, relacing bit above.
Who knew sandals took such commitment, eh?
Talking with another colleague i'd turned onto Xero's he said he'd had a very similar experience getting one with lacing but he too thought it had been worth it. He likes to run through streams and trails.
Learning Eperience Too: What's that slapping noise?
As part of getting the lacing to work, tension adjustments needed to be worked out to get the front of the sandal in particular sufficiently close to the foot through a stride without reefing on the top of the foot. That lacing is part of it. But so is the stepping.Now, as someone who's worn fivefingers for years, and nothing for sometime, i kinda thought i had an ok stride. But yup, these sandals are little amplifiers of imperfections. When walking and perhaps more so running - i can hear that i have these sandals on and not close fitting shoes.
Yes there is a way to walk that keeps the shoes far quieter. Yes there is a speed and shape to run that keeps the shoes much softer and closer to noiseless. And that takes effort to get that.
Before even getting to the sonic feedback, the first day i felt like i was really changing my gait in order not to let the front of the sandal act like a shovel - a very weird feeling that disappeared in about two days. That was the quickest sandal sensation to dissipate. Then came the slapping.
Initially i wondered why i should be getting myself to try to conform to the requirements of shoes. But since the results are a gentler and softer stride, i'm not sure why that would not be a good thing. I'm pleased that over the past 6weeks, the shoes are progressively quieting down walking, and also running. There is still work to do.
There are many tips on Steven's web site about softening up the stride. These articles and discussions are also worth perusing.
Every step you Take...They'll be Amplifying You
As said, every step with these shoes especially in the first few weeks (yes weeks not days) felt like a learning experience. I'd put on a pair of seeya's just as a break from that once in awhile. But as my stride and lacing and all get better i hear - well, less. That's a Good Thing.What Else to Love What i really enjoy about the Xero's is that my feet are not in shoes. They sure got more vitamin d in august than likely they ever had since i don't know when. But meanwhile, they are still protected from the ground. I will only push my family so far, and they support me on so many things, that forcing them to swallow barefoot walking too, on concrete etc, all the time - it was just one too many. These sandals let me approximate that experience more than closed shoes do. And i'm learning new skills while stepping.
Death to Flip Flops The only other sandals i wear are vivo's Dopies. I do not run in doppies - they are effectively slip ons, without being flip flops. I've written about these elsewhere. The difference with Xero's is that i feel confident with the lacing that i can just take off - and have. Not something i can do in doppies, and i personally do not enjoy walking any distances in doppies.
But i do enjoy open air footwear - despite the usual questions.
The other day at an event colleagues asked me if i wasn't cold in them (it was 14C and raining; it's sept in the UK; normal).
Aside: some of my fave comments with FiveFingers have always been "are those comfortable" - The temptation has been to reply "No, they're horrible; i am wearing them as a penance for thinking bad thoughts about people in elevators" - That's not nice is it? I mean - really the question is coming from someone who is interested and can't quite figure out how something like what they're seeing works. "Are those comfortable" is just social shorthand. I must hear the tone more and the words less...Likewise comments like "aren't your feet cold" "yes i prefer pain and suffering" - i mean when was the last time someone said about 4 inch heels "aren't those causing you years of pain, discomfort and a host of other horrible ills?" Sorry. i digress.
My reply was, no, i'm not; i'm quite comfy. I was in fact giddy at the thought of not having to walk home in sodden shoes and socks; that my feet could move. And that indeed, during the event where there was carpet, i could take my shoes off discretely and move my feet even more. no re-socking.
Connected, but not Contacting. I'm still working on lacing - i have almost got it to the set it and forget it point. That's quite wonderful to slip on a sandal and know i can break into a run or just stroll. That's with the custom cut 4mm Contact.
I have not yet tried the 6mm Contact - i'm not quite ready to punch the hole and trim the sole, as it were, and i really do find the 4mm just dandy. When i try the 6mm i'll report on any difference in foot to ground feel.
Recommendation: Buy
If you think you're mentally and spiritually resilient enough and patient enough to go to the Next Level of minimalist foot'ing, then you MUST try Xero shoes. They're cheap enough at sub $20USD a kit (with international vendors popping up) to try the 4mm and the 6mm versions, and give to your family and friends for pressies.They are a process, but that's cool. If you've been going from things like structured shoes, to Nike Free's to Vibram Five Fingers, you know that's an adaptation process, too. Xero's are one more, er, step in that process.
As said at the top, who would have thought sandals required such committment, but any skill does. A drum looks pretty durn simple, and while whacking it will get a sound, spending time to practice finger taps etc, creates some powerful expressions. Likewise it seems walking is a skill - and it is - we learn it; we practice it, and our shoes have really f'd us up (hence the cry of the wild for orthotics etc).
Going to Xero's is like respecting ourselves enough to want to recover our body's movements. Patience works. The best thing here is that *each* step we take, takes us closer to the perfect step rep. Xero's just let us know how our performance is going - and that kind of feedback is worth the price of a cheap lunch out for two, yes?
Next up: the b2d Invistible/Xero Shoes Interview
Yup, the affable Steven Sashen, Founder of InvisibleShoe.com and now XeroShoes.com kindly spent time with me in August to chat about the Invisible Shoes story while going through the madness of moving to a new building (not a kitchen table business anymore). Grace under pressure seems to be his Way. It was a pleasure contacting and connecting with Stephen, and i know y'all will dig the interview.For a preview of what that will be like, just check out any of Steven's wonderful videos on the xeroshoes site. Though i confess i think my faves have nothing to do with lacing. For example:
Till then By all means, consider xero shoes - and if you found this article helpful, here's my xeroshoes affiliate link to use when you choose your xeros and feel the earth move.
(note about b2d affiliate links: if i don't test it, use it, like it, i don't endorse it)
Happy Trails - and please let me know how you get on with your Xero's.
Related Articles
- Do your shoes pass the twist test
- Vibram Five Fingers Article Index
- Barefooting in Four Parts with Michael Wilkinson
- Train for the Sprain - proprioceptive awareness
- Sprint training as Slow/Fast Active Recovery
Thursday, September 6, 2012
28 day Fat Loss with the Modified v diet Pt 2: mc's exact shake concoctions
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In part 1 of this post on what Ken Froese and i describe as "the modified v diet" where one has one real food meal a day, and the rest of the day it's all protein powder and associated supplements. I noted in part one that i was rolling my own potions for the protein powder part rather than using the prescribed products from the Velocity Diet website, but was very much taking on board their guidance around amounts of Stuff and additional sups. You can again check the details of those recommendations at the Velocity Diet v. 3 site.
I offer the following descriptions of exactly what i had and what was in it, therefore, just as my *single* *iteration* of this diet/process - i'm not prescribing it as what to do - it's just what i did for 28 days. And while we're robust and can survive almost anything , markers of health, well being and cognitive performance seem to suggest i've not just survived but thrived on this approach - at least for this brief a period.
As also said in part 1, i'll talk about the adaptation process i have from my notes. For instance, i'm calling "28 days" of this approach "brief" - on coming off an all food all the time approach down to one real meal a day, that first weekend is, well, challenging and 1 day never mind 28, feels pretty durn challenging.
Double V'ing: Work out Day; Less Work Out Day. And so, for information, this is the approach i took. There are two versions folded in here: the main version takes into account full on training days 3-4 times a week, and then there is the non training version. Effectively that means a few less things drunk on non-training days.
Here again this diet mirrors most normal nutrition practices though it gets all sorts of names from carb cycling to calorie zig zagging to stuff i know i'm missing. But the priniciple is simple: working out more; take on board *some* more fuel to support that. Do so and fat burning also works better.
Ok, without further ado, this is what i adid. Details of specific products follow mixes.
PRE ANYTHING 5:30 am Before morning workout at 6am:
WORKOUT SHAKE in the 1L Eddy Bottle to sip during and at end of workout:
Faster Cardio Time: If i don't work out, i don't have the above - just the green tea with a half spoon of matcha mixed in, and if i'm going for a fasted cardio stint a la lonnie lowery, i'll add in the EAA's and maybe a g of creatine.
Breakie Shake (around 7:30, 7:45)
Time to break out the blendtec - for the ice mixing!
9:30 at work a couple times a week on a work out day usually: cup of coffee with shot of chocolate milk. I almost can't believe i did that. Strangely compelling. And yes, in as much as it is, there is the ocaisional shot of REAL food in the protein day, proving one can succeed at a diet without being totally OCD about it.
The LUNCH SHAKE
In a strane way this is the simplest and most surprisingly satisfying shake of the day. I think it's so satisfying because i usually have it while folks are having their real food lunch at work, and my simple low cal shake is lasting longer than their lunch, and i'm quite happy just to sip it. That's a surprise.
All tossed up in a blender ball bottle (these are awesome) - and another reason to shop at TrueNutrition - best prices on blender bottles. oh ya.
Mid Afternoon - Occasional
If i get peckish in the afternoon, i'll have
REAL FOOD DINNER around 6 or 7 pm
Oh wow, this meal - this food - gets my complete respect. It's so precious - the proteins - the veggies - the CONDIMENTS like hot sauce (remember the cholula! and thermogenic properties of chilli?), balsamic, olive oil, himalayan salt, mutlicolored pepper corns. WOW. Every bite is precious, savoured and hence enjoying the savoury. I have come to so appreciate seasoning to bring out the tastes of foods. I'm only sad at still how quickly that meal can be over even when really chewing that food one precious bite at a time. MM MM Good! what a gift!
If not eating oily fish, 1T Fish Oil Liquid after dinner; CoQ10 part two after dinner; R-Fraction Alpha Lipoic Acid before dinner.
Post Dinner Micro Fruit
Over the summer with the abundance of available from the farm fresh fruit, around 8pm, having some fresh fruit - like a sliced peach or apple is such a treat. And thanks to Ron Ipock from over on the Precision Nutrition forums, i've connected with Ceylon Cinnamon - fresh filed off a grater - it's a more subtle flavour than casia (the usual north american spice that passes as "cinamon") and again, does it ever make the flavours in fruit (and may other things) just pop.
And of course, there's the single natcho chip. I have a craving for the salty i think, and one chip is just fine by me.
If Hungry before Bed
Back to zero cal EAAs and L-Glutamine - and not alot as i don't want a lot of liquid in me before trying to sleep.
If i'm feeling really peckish, i'm happy to add in some coconut oil or almond butter and shake the heck out of it.
And for Sleep / Recovery
Zinc, Magnesium (glycinates), Co-enzyme B complex, 5-HTP, L-tryptophan for good measure. And this is all supposed to be simpler to manage than real food for 28 days, eh?
I like it.
Kenneth Jay of the new Kettlebell Institute introduced me to the Sun Warrior protein and i promised to myself i'd try it when i got to the states. IT has a terrific protein/amino acid profile, and claims suggest that it's highly bioavailable. And after a month of multi-uses in a day, i'm happy with it. When i say it i mean "rice protein" - not necessarily Sun Warrior. I'll also say i've now had both Chocolate and Vanilla Sun Warrior - i cannot taste the difference.
Indeed, what i do not know about brown rice protein is the difference between stuff that says its explicitly sprouted (sun warrior) and stuff that says nothing about sprouting (True Nutrition) as they have similar profiles and claims on absorption.
As an alternate to the Rice, I also tried pepto pro hydrolysed caseinate - an uber version of an all the rage protein kinda thing - and really, i didn't notice a difference. That's not to say perhaps there mightn't be one at some blood uptake level - i just don't know that i felt it in my performance in the gym at 6am.
And Caffeine?
I'll tell ya what i did notice: if i missed doing a caffeine pill. That's a little disturbing. I could really tell after a while that if i didn't take the caffeine hit in the AM the workouts did not feel as crisp. That kinda sux.
TMG
Just cuz that is part of a beverage Lonnie Lowery was sipping to stop from losing protein/going catabolic when doing his fasted cardio (along with the hydrolysed casein and citruline malate). In a capsule, it's cheap and easy to test. Can also get it as a bulk powder from some suppliers but i'm not ready to commit. And would i jump off a bridge if lonnie lowery said to? Maybe if i watched him do it first, and saw the data for the depth of water, current, displacement and anabolic benefits as with the TMG.
And the rest of the ECA?
Well that's interesting. In leu of the no-research-shows-this-stuff-burns-fat-really of Hot Rox in the V-diet, I explored old skool ECA I'm canadian: you don't need a passport to get either it or cold remedies in the Great White North.
I explored EC with very little and occasional A based on what i'd read with interest in Lyle MacDonald's Rapid Fat Loss handbook. That tome has more than i could go into here about the pros and cons of the approach, and i'd recommend reading it. What i also did in consultation with someone way more experienced than i in this approach is to get to a minimum effective dose for me. How did i figure that out? that's a good question. ECA is mainly to make sure in the event of metabolic slow down from reduced caloric intake and (in lyle's approach) reduced activity, the ECA keeps the metabolism from dropping - more or less. The help i got from this it is not what one might usually think: i don't think my metabolism ever slowed down: my calories weren't that low and i was very active, doing full workouts, and likely not really going ketogenic either.
So what the ECA seemed to do for me was, initially, in the first few days,
L-Glutamine is harmless, and potentially good, and when i get the natural lime flavour from True Nutrition it's a nice flavour hit to mask terrible stuff like unflavoured citruline malate or beta alanine or the horrible betaine hcl.
On the plus side, it's been used to help folks settle gastric issues, and there's one (one!) study so far that says if you're on it for a month, it reduces the intensity of DOMS. Likewise, folks in nutrition behind the CSCS have been saying for years, and now it's coming out of other places too that it's a good muscle cell volumizer, and keeping muscle volume up is apparently a Good Thing for those cells' health. Sure creatine has a cell volumizing effect, but it has other roles too, and i don't tend to take it to feel full. Now, John Berardi on his Get Shredded Diet has reommended that when cutting calories way back doing Creatine with BCAA's can stop one from getting all mean and nasty - so perhaps similar effects from a different angle
As for the EAA rather than BCAA's
I got turned onto these by Bioletic's MD Rick Cohen (of the cholesterol numbers translation) when my initial bioletics blood work showed i was surprisingly low in my essential amino acids. Since i'm actually interested in maintaining all of me, not just my muscles while low cal'ing in particular, i'd rather have the complete and very bioavailable amino acids.
That may just be me; your mileage may vary, but i'm happy and my body seems to be happy too. How do i know? Blood work at 6-8 month intervals. And tuning into my body more since doing the blood work to get the signs of what seems to be working and what doesn't.
Citruline Malate and Beta Alanine?
Just because? Actually over the past five years i've read and heard good things about both of them, and the price has come down on both, so why not give it a shot? especially when real food intake of Good Things is low.
ALA
There's an increasing amount of research about ALA not only as a thermogenic aid (what the hell isn't a thermogenic aid these days - see first para here for refs) - but also around insulin management and all sorts of good things for glucose to muscles when working out. Just take a look at the list of articles on this topic about insulin uptake. It's also got anti-oxidant qualities, and apparently can help decrease the rate of macular degeneration.
There are two kinds of ALA - stuff labelled just ALA and stuff called "r-fraction" ALA. The r-ALA is supposed to be more bioavailable and show better muscle test results - in rats. In either case, ALA takes about a month for its effects to show up, so taking it for a 28 day diet thing is really future-proofing.
Creatine Monohydrate
There's so much good research on this i'll not go into it here. Get the excellent creapure micronized powder and be happy. Again, being low on real food intake and so real sources of CM also lower than normal, seems a no harm no foul, could be a Good Thing. So low risk, low cost, get a few extra reps, protect my ATP. If that last sentence made no sense, skip it and just stop at "good thing" for now.
Green Tea
Well known now fat mobilizer. Great to do for fasted cardio with the BCAA's or EAA's and a hit of creatine - maybe that's just me. And that's only after i've had it on its own first for the flavour and warmth - and with a shot of matcha powder whisked in for good measure.
Iron?? Really?
Again, when away from food food, and as a gal, i just don't want my iron levels to drop. That way leads to fatigue and a host of other crap i can ill afford. In terms of absorption i like spatone because it's what ya might call food based, even though its naturally sourced iron-rich water. You can read more about how it works, here. Having done pre/post blood work with it, i think it's simple, great, and if i don't put it in a morning shake it makes an interesting shooter in the morning on its own when chilled in the fridge.
MISSING: CLA
I can't be bothered. It's in flameout (a velocity diet sup) but so what? the sources on CLA in the research are largely by the company that produces it and the amount to which it contributes to fat loss, i dunno.
90% of the supplements and proteins come from True Nutrition (formerly True Protein).
So Rice Protein, pepto pro casein, l-leucine, l-tryptophan, citruline malate, beta alanine. All TN.
I've dealt with them for five years; colleagues i trust have recommended them. We all keep coming back. Good value for good products to GMP standards. They are all variously flavoured with their premium NATURAL flavours (that means good sources for flavour and stevia for sweetening). Because EAA's (and BCAAs) taste like pants, i now get a double hit of flavouring. I also order additional L-Tryptophan - another EAA but the TN blend, while fabulous in amounts of EAAs overall for some reason is missing the tryptophan. and i like it - especially for sleep. No biggie.
If you order from True Nutrition and want a 5% discount on our order, my discount code is MCS110. Use it, and if i have X amount of protein sales credited to that code i get free protein - that hasn't happened yet - but if it does i'll give it to a local food bank or school lunch program.
The rice protein i aslo have i also have Protease added improve absorption as per this overview. Maybe that's silly since its so absorbable on its own and is not whey, which is where the tests have been conducted. But, that's what i love about True Nutrition: you can have it *your*way.
Other Bits
- Genmaicha Tea: Teavana
- sun warrior rice protein - amazon
- Matcha: Doi Organic through amazon, or in the UK, love me some Teapigs matcha.
- glucomanan - Now Foods - amazon
- Ceylon Cinnamon - Indus sticks, organic, amazon
- The E in ECA - cavedogs supplements in Canada
- Greens +, canadian version: London Drugs, Canada (bricks and mortar)
-- Greens RX (when in the UK) from bodykind (i kinda prefer the taste and darker greenness of this
- Fish Oil (Nordic Naturals), TMG, CoQ10, Vitamin D (Now 5000IU's), R-Fraction ALA, all from Swansons. Also got individual magnesium, zinc, 5-htp and co-enzyme b complex there, too. Again when not eating real food much and want to sleep, not messing around with the stuff that lets us recover.
- Caffeine - Prolab Advanced Caffeine with Chocamine and the new rage of green coffee extract too. From vitamin shoppe - (bricks and mortar). Thanks again to Kenneth Jay for recommending this one.
- Iron - spatone - amazon.co.uk
In terms of additions to protein, if you check the Velocity Diet site, you'll see that there's a lot of similar stuff going on here to what they suggest there. Where they have a lot of stuff pre-packaged like flame out that does fish oil and CLA combined with some other secret sauce, or their recovery drinks have the protein and carbs and electrolytes all pre-blended, i tend to like mixing up my own stuff. The one place i break that is usually on carbs and electrolytes. I like what Cytomax does in terms of carb/electroltye/special sauce blend. It's not necessary, but i just like it. That they don't put silica gel packets in their big jars bites, but i can add those myself.
Why i Blend. I like controlling what amount of beta-alanine or creatine i have when. I also like putting together my own ZMA - with the most aborbable versions of Z, Ma and B i can find - when i need it, i want it to work with the least amount of product being optimally effective. Some people (i can think of one right next to me), such blends finikityness drives them crazy. Understandable. But this is the way i roll, i guess.
Main point: you have options. You can do bit by bit mixes like this or get combo products. When getting combos, ZMA is a typical example, you may want to check for what kinds of minerals are used. Are they chelated, for instance? That is, are they put into a particular amino acid delivery form that allows them to be absorbed when they're delivered outside of food?
As per part 1, the above approach worked, and seems to continue to be working.
It worked steadily, not crazily, as the weight graph on part 1 shows, and works well within normal parameters. Just like when eating real food.
5-8 engagements with Fuel Ups beyond the Single Meal
As you can see from the above list of when i'd consume anything, there are 8 on a work out day and 5 on a non workout day possible engagements with fuel ups of one kind (no calories) or another (low calories) from supplements to whole food. One is not starving.
And to go back to Ken Froese's point from part 1, there is a certain simplicity to doing these low cal beverages during the day (effortless kcal control), and then really really (really) enjoying both the food and the company of a reasonable, tasteful, happy evening meal.
More on this restorative and pleasurable experience in Part 3. We'll also talk about the transition from food to - well - a lot less real food, and why doing that has been worth while, not only or even mainly now for the weight loss, but the attitude, and possible health benefits.
thanks for reading.
Part 1 - what is the modified v diet and what does it do for fat loss?
Part 2 - mc's roll your own modified v non whole food bits (you're reading that)
Part 3 - coming up (not posted yet): what's the process like going from real food all the time to once a day?
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| Need Some Big Powder Love for this 28 day protein fiesta. |
As also said in part 1, i'll talk about the adaptation process i have from my notes. For instance, i'm calling "28 days" of this approach "brief" - on coming off an all food all the time approach down to one real meal a day, that first weekend is, well, challenging and 1 day never mind 28, feels pretty durn challenging.
Double V'ing: Work out Day; Less Work Out Day. And so, for information, this is the approach i took. There are two versions folded in here: the main version takes into account full on training days 3-4 times a week, and then there is the non training version. Effectively that means a few less things drunk on non-training days.
Here again this diet mirrors most normal nutrition practices though it gets all sorts of names from carb cycling to calorie zig zagging to stuff i know i'm missing. But the priniciple is simple: working out more; take on board *some* more fuel to support that. Do so and fat burning also works better.
Ok, without further ado, this is what i adid. Details of specific products follow mixes.
The Shakes - Hand Rolled
By the way, in 28 days, at least for me, there are no cheat meals, no carb up meals, no nothing. Just follow the plan, stan. If your mileage differs, it differs. It just didn't seem necessary, and i didn't really crave it. And if i did a bit, well, ignored it. That's an option, too. More on such options experiences in part 3.PRE ANYTHING 5:30 am Before morning workout at 6am:
- -- 80 degree C japanese genmaicha green tea - nice flavour and fat mobilizer
- -- one scoop EAAs
- -- a teaspoon of L-Glutamine -
- -- bit of creatine
- -- one caffeine pill (it's 05:30!) as part of ECA stack - yes i experimented with this to find a minimal effective dose.
WORKOUT SHAKE in the 1L Eddy Bottle to sip during and at end of workout:
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| Camelback Eddy Bottle 1L - Super Sipping during workout. Awesome |
- -- 3/4 scoop of Brown Rice Protein Or you might prefer pepto pro hydorlized caseinate.
- - some citruline malate
- - a dash of beta alanine
- (citruline malate and beta alananine - great on their own - possibly very cool together)
- - a dash of creatine monohydrate
- - a bit of extra leucine - because i'm hedging my muscle building bets. It's like throwing a pinch of salt over the shoulder to add 500-1000mg
- - recently, TMG
- - a dash of cytomax (like 2-3g) - mainly as a bit of carb to help the creatine do its thing trusting that that work cited by John Berardi about creatine's uptake being helped by pro/cho is still true.
- - pour in remaining L of green tea
- - add ice, shake like mad, fill to brim with water
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| Will it blend Modified V, Oh ya Ignore the Fruit in here, this BlendTec WildSide is wicked on Ice, Cacao Nibs and all sorts of protein powder concoctions described below. And for those making real food shakes, it works for that too. Apple Demo |
Faster Cardio Time: If i don't work out, i don't have the above - just the green tea with a half spoon of matcha mixed in, and if i'm going for a fasted cardio stint a la lonnie lowery, i'll add in the EAA's and maybe a g of creatine.
Time to break out the blendtec - for the ice mixing!
- - Once more to the full scoop of rice protein,
- - a wee scoop of L-Glutamine - why the L-Glutamine in a moment.
- - trader joe's roasted flax seed
- - a drizzle of organic cacao nibs for flavour and of course other super food goodness
- - a scoop of either greens plus (canadian version) or greens rx - both similarly research validated
- - 2g of glucomannan - makes it more filling and add fiber - the actual v diet recommends fiber pills.
- A TMG pill (not thrown in)
- CoQ 10 (also swallowed as a pill 100mg qsorb)
- Spatone Iron Supplement
9:30 at work a couple times a week on a work out day usually: cup of coffee with shot of chocolate milk. I almost can't believe i did that. Strangely compelling. And yes, in as much as it is, there is the ocaisional shot of REAL food in the protein day, proving one can succeed at a diet without being totally OCD about it.
The LUNCH SHAKE
In a strane way this is the simplest and most surprisingly satisfying shake of the day. I think it's so satisfying because i usually have it while folks are having their real food lunch at work, and my simple low cal shake is lasting longer than their lunch, and i'm quite happy just to sip it. That's a surprise.
- - It's just a scoop of yes, rice protein powder - about 22 rather than 30g actually.
- - Then a hit of EAA's
- - some L-Glutamine
All tossed up in a blender ball bottle (these are awesome) - and another reason to shop at TrueNutrition - best prices on blender bottles. oh ya.Mid Afternoon - Occasional
If i get peckish in the afternoon, i'll have
- - EAA's
- - L-Glutamine
REAL FOOD DINNER around 6 or 7 pm
Oh wow, this meal - this food - gets my complete respect. It's so precious - the proteins - the veggies - the CONDIMENTS like hot sauce (remember the cholula! and thermogenic properties of chilli?), balsamic, olive oil, himalayan salt, mutlicolored pepper corns. WOW. Every bite is precious, savoured and hence enjoying the savoury. I have come to so appreciate seasoning to bring out the tastes of foods. I'm only sad at still how quickly that meal can be over even when really chewing that food one precious bite at a time. MM MM Good! what a gift!
If not eating oily fish, 1T Fish Oil Liquid after dinner; CoQ10 part two after dinner; R-Fraction Alpha Lipoic Acid before dinner.
Post Dinner Micro Fruit
Over the summer with the abundance of available from the farm fresh fruit, around 8pm, having some fresh fruit - like a sliced peach or apple is such a treat. And thanks to Ron Ipock from over on the Precision Nutrition forums, i've connected with Ceylon Cinnamon - fresh filed off a grater - it's a more subtle flavour than casia (the usual north american spice that passes as "cinamon") and again, does it ever make the flavours in fruit (and may other things) just pop.
And of course, there's the single natcho chip. I have a craving for the salty i think, and one chip is just fine by me.
If Hungry before Bed
Back to zero cal EAAs and L-Glutamine - and not alot as i don't want a lot of liquid in me before trying to sleep.
If i'm feeling really peckish, i'm happy to add in some coconut oil or almond butter and shake the heck out of it.
And for Sleep / Recovery
Zinc, Magnesium (glycinates), Co-enzyme B complex, 5-HTP, L-tryptophan for good measure. And this is all supposed to be simpler to manage than real food for 28 days, eh?
A word about the (possibly) a-typical Supplements
Why Rice Protein Powder?I like it.
Kenneth Jay of the new Kettlebell Institute introduced me to the Sun Warrior protein and i promised to myself i'd try it when i got to the states. IT has a terrific protein/amino acid profile, and claims suggest that it's highly bioavailable. And after a month of multi-uses in a day, i'm happy with it. When i say it i mean "rice protein" - not necessarily Sun Warrior. I'll also say i've now had both Chocolate and Vanilla Sun Warrior - i cannot taste the difference.
Indeed, what i do not know about brown rice protein is the difference between stuff that says its explicitly sprouted (sun warrior) and stuff that says nothing about sprouting (True Nutrition) as they have similar profiles and claims on absorption.As an alternate to the Rice, I also tried pepto pro hydrolysed caseinate - an uber version of an all the rage protein kinda thing - and really, i didn't notice a difference. That's not to say perhaps there mightn't be one at some blood uptake level - i just don't know that i felt it in my performance in the gym at 6am.
And Caffeine?
I'll tell ya what i did notice: if i missed doing a caffeine pill. That's a little disturbing. I could really tell after a while that if i didn't take the caffeine hit in the AM the workouts did not feel as crisp. That kinda sux.
TMG
Just cuz that is part of a beverage Lonnie Lowery was sipping to stop from losing protein/going catabolic when doing his fasted cardio (along with the hydrolysed casein and citruline malate). In a capsule, it's cheap and easy to test. Can also get it as a bulk powder from some suppliers but i'm not ready to commit. And would i jump off a bridge if lonnie lowery said to? Maybe if i watched him do it first, and saw the data for the depth of water, current, displacement and anabolic benefits as with the TMG.
And the rest of the ECA?
Well that's interesting. In leu of the no-research-shows-this-stuff-burns-fat-really of Hot Rox in the V-diet, I explored old skool ECA I'm canadian: you don't need a passport to get either it or cold remedies in the Great White North.
I explored EC with very little and occasional A based on what i'd read with interest in Lyle MacDonald's Rapid Fat Loss handbook. That tome has more than i could go into here about the pros and cons of the approach, and i'd recommend reading it. What i also did in consultation with someone way more experienced than i in this approach is to get to a minimum effective dose for me. How did i figure that out? that's a good question. ECA is mainly to make sure in the event of metabolic slow down from reduced caloric intake and (in lyle's approach) reduced activity, the ECA keeps the metabolism from dropping - more or less. The help i got from this it is not what one might usually think: i don't think my metabolism ever slowed down: my calories weren't that low and i was very active, doing full workouts, and likely not really going ketogenic either.
So what the ECA seemed to do for me was, initially, in the first few days,
- act as a diuretic - that seemed to stop very quickly.
- act as an intense appetite surpressant - nice - wasn't expecting that and was more intense right at first than enduring but still noticeable when not on it.
- caffeine (more than described here) gave a perk to the morning workout for sure. bummer.
L-Glutamine is harmless, and potentially good, and when i get the natural lime flavour from True Nutrition it's a nice flavour hit to mask terrible stuff like unflavoured citruline malate or beta alanine or the horrible betaine hcl.
On the plus side, it's been used to help folks settle gastric issues, and there's one (one!) study so far that says if you're on it for a month, it reduces the intensity of DOMS. Likewise, folks in nutrition behind the CSCS have been saying for years, and now it's coming out of other places too that it's a good muscle cell volumizer, and keeping muscle volume up is apparently a Good Thing for those cells' health. Sure creatine has a cell volumizing effect, but it has other roles too, and i don't tend to take it to feel full. Now, John Berardi on his Get Shredded Diet has reommended that when cutting calories way back doing Creatine with BCAA's can stop one from getting all mean and nasty - so perhaps similar effects from a different angleAs for the EAA rather than BCAA's
I got turned onto these by Bioletic's MD Rick Cohen (of the cholesterol numbers translation) when my initial bioletics blood work showed i was surprisingly low in my essential amino acids. Since i'm actually interested in maintaining all of me, not just my muscles while low cal'ing in particular, i'd rather have the complete and very bioavailable amino acids.
That may just be me; your mileage may vary, but i'm happy and my body seems to be happy too. How do i know? Blood work at 6-8 month intervals. And tuning into my body more since doing the blood work to get the signs of what seems to be working and what doesn't.
Citruline Malate and Beta Alanine?
Just because? Actually over the past five years i've read and heard good things about both of them, and the price has come down on both, so why not give it a shot? especially when real food intake of Good Things is low.
ALA
There's an increasing amount of research about ALA not only as a thermogenic aid (what the hell isn't a thermogenic aid these days - see first para here for refs) - but also around insulin management and all sorts of good things for glucose to muscles when working out. Just take a look at the list of articles on this topic about insulin uptake. It's also got anti-oxidant qualities, and apparently can help decrease the rate of macular degeneration.
There are two kinds of ALA - stuff labelled just ALA and stuff called "r-fraction" ALA. The r-ALA is supposed to be more bioavailable and show better muscle test results - in rats. In either case, ALA takes about a month for its effects to show up, so taking it for a 28 day diet thing is really future-proofing.
Creatine Monohydrate
There's so much good research on this i'll not go into it here. Get the excellent creapure micronized powder and be happy. Again, being low on real food intake and so real sources of CM also lower than normal, seems a no harm no foul, could be a Good Thing. So low risk, low cost, get a few extra reps, protect my ATP. If that last sentence made no sense, skip it and just stop at "good thing" for now.
Green Tea
Well known now fat mobilizer. Great to do for fasted cardio with the BCAA's or EAA's and a hit of creatine - maybe that's just me. And that's only after i've had it on its own first for the flavour and warmth - and with a shot of matcha powder whisked in for good measure.
Iron?? Really?
Again, when away from food food, and as a gal, i just don't want my iron levels to drop. That way leads to fatigue and a host of other crap i can ill afford. In terms of absorption i like spatone because it's what ya might call food based, even though its naturally sourced iron-rich water. You can read more about how it works, here. Having done pre/post blood work with it, i think it's simple, great, and if i don't put it in a morning shake it makes an interesting shooter in the morning on its own when chilled in the fridge.
MISSING: CLA
I can't be bothered. It's in flameout (a velocity diet sup) but so what? the sources on CLA in the research are largely by the company that produces it and the amount to which it contributes to fat loss, i dunno.
Sources for the Stuff
90% of the supplements and proteins come from True Nutrition (formerly True Protein).
So Rice Protein, pepto pro casein, l-leucine, l-tryptophan, citruline malate, beta alanine. All TN.
I've dealt with them for five years; colleagues i trust have recommended them. We all keep coming back. Good value for good products to GMP standards. They are all variously flavoured with their premium NATURAL flavours (that means good sources for flavour and stevia for sweetening). Because EAA's (and BCAAs) taste like pants, i now get a double hit of flavouring. I also order additional L-Tryptophan - another EAA but the TN blend, while fabulous in amounts of EAAs overall for some reason is missing the tryptophan. and i like it - especially for sleep. No biggie.
If you order from True Nutrition and want a 5% discount on our order, my discount code is MCS110. Use it, and if i have X amount of protein sales credited to that code i get free protein - that hasn't happened yet - but if it does i'll give it to a local food bank or school lunch program.
The rice protein i aslo have i also have Protease added improve absorption as per this overview. Maybe that's silly since its so absorbable on its own and is not whey, which is where the tests have been conducted. But, that's what i love about True Nutrition: you can have it *your*way.
Other Bits
- Genmaicha Tea: Teavana
- sun warrior rice protein - amazon
- Matcha: Doi Organic through amazon, or in the UK, love me some Teapigs matcha.
- glucomanan - Now Foods - amazon
- Ceylon Cinnamon - Indus sticks, organic, amazon
- The E in ECA - cavedogs supplements in Canada
- Greens +, canadian version: London Drugs, Canada (bricks and mortar)
-- Greens RX (when in the UK) from bodykind (i kinda prefer the taste and darker greenness of this
- Fish Oil (Nordic Naturals), TMG, CoQ10, Vitamin D (Now 5000IU's), R-Fraction ALA, all from Swansons. Also got individual magnesium, zinc, 5-htp and co-enzyme b complex there, too. Again when not eating real food much and want to sleep, not messing around with the stuff that lets us recover.
- Caffeine - Prolab Advanced Caffeine with Chocamine and the new rage of green coffee extract too. From vitamin shoppe - (bricks and mortar). Thanks again to Kenneth Jay for recommending this one.
- Iron - spatone - amazon.co.uk
In terms of additions to protein, if you check the Velocity Diet site, you'll see that there's a lot of similar stuff going on here to what they suggest there. Where they have a lot of stuff pre-packaged like flame out that does fish oil and CLA combined with some other secret sauce, or their recovery drinks have the protein and carbs and electrolytes all pre-blended, i tend to like mixing up my own stuff. The one place i break that is usually on carbs and electrolytes. I like what Cytomax does in terms of carb/electroltye/special sauce blend. It's not necessary, but i just like it. That they don't put silica gel packets in their big jars bites, but i can add those myself.
Why i Blend. I like controlling what amount of beta-alanine or creatine i have when. I also like putting together my own ZMA - with the most aborbable versions of Z, Ma and B i can find - when i need it, i want it to work with the least amount of product being optimally effective. Some people (i can think of one right next to me), such blends finikityness drives them crazy. Understandable. But this is the way i roll, i guess.
Main point: you have options. You can do bit by bit mixes like this or get combo products. When getting combos, ZMA is a typical example, you may want to check for what kinds of minerals are used. Are they chelated, for instance? That is, are they put into a particular amino acid delivery form that allows them to be absorbed when they're delivered outside of food?
Overview
As per part 1, the above approach worked, and seems to continue to be working.
It worked steadily, not crazily, as the weight graph on part 1 shows, and works well within normal parameters. Just like when eating real food.
5-8 engagements with Fuel Ups beyond the Single Meal
As you can see from the above list of when i'd consume anything, there are 8 on a work out day and 5 on a non workout day possible engagements with fuel ups of one kind (no calories) or another (low calories) from supplements to whole food. One is not starving.
And to go back to Ken Froese's point from part 1, there is a certain simplicity to doing these low cal beverages during the day (effortless kcal control), and then really really (really) enjoying both the food and the company of a reasonable, tasteful, happy evening meal.
More on this restorative and pleasurable experience in Part 3. We'll also talk about the transition from food to - well - a lot less real food, and why doing that has been worth while, not only or even mainly now for the weight loss, but the attitude, and possible health benefits.
thanks for reading.
Part 1 - what is the modified v diet and what does it do for fat loss?
Part 2 - mc's roll your own modified v non whole food bits (you're reading that)
Part 3 - coming up (not posted yet): what's the process like going from real food all the time to once a day?
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