Thursday, December 4, 2014
buddha and the nervous system: detachment from stress & suffering via reducing threat
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i'd like to suggest that buddhism has a nervous system analog. In fact any systemic approach to the
world, like buddhism and my fave the Sedona Method that all feature "letting go," of desire in the former case and feelings in the latter, are really cognitive analogues to a cold shower: something that snaps us out of our threat/neurotic focus on the thing in front of us - often to the exclusion of all else in order to restore our peripheral vision, awareness of Other Stuff, alternatives, the wider view.
When we are less attached to something it's easier to see others, other ideas; when we are less invested in one position we are open to possibilities others might offer.
I am effectively likening stress to attachment. Let me try to break this down.
Ah ha!
Perspective is a metaphor, but a telling one relative to what happens via the nervous system under threat.
Our field of view - our peripheral vision - closes down when we're under threat. We focus on the salient thing in front of us: the tiger, the avalanche, the angry boss, the object of lust. With that focus, there is a phisiologic response that includes that narrowed field of view (and also audio shut down). We do not hear or perceive much outside that salient focus.
In a stressed state, what's more, with that narrowed often negative field of view, the salient bits that get through tend to be negative. We have a hard time perceiving positive occurrences when recalling our day, for example. We are physiologically as well as now psychologically attached to that stress/negative filter and focus.
Maybe he's doing breathing exercises.
Buddha was also around when folks were a lot more active - not living in a sedentary culture - like now.
Thus, for most of us sitting is not a change up; not a break and NOT the best way to deal with that stress/negative focus, yet this is the dominant posture of most of us reading this post. IF you're sitting right now and feeling stressed, consider getting up and doing some stairs or going for a walk.
We go do that walk or some push ups or something to elevate the heart if we are having a stress/threat (attachment to suffering/emotional) response in a non-physical context in particular (that is not being threatened by a bear), where we are still wired to respond by movement: getting our heart rates up will help blow off the chemical responses being triggered by stress.
Stress is a sign physically to fight or run away. If we get our heart rates up from movement, our hormones charging us up for a physical response can calm down because we are doing what we're wired to do. When we don't move, that's not listening, is it? so the signal gets sent again - our stress level increases (irrationally, but physiologically) - do we respond by moving?
A great way to help stop undue triggers/attachments is sleep. If we're tired/vulnerable/less able to react effectively, we also tend to have less resources to deal with stress, so it takes less to set us into that negative spiral. Get sufficient sleep, we have more resilience. Less attachment. Easier to be buddha.
Stress, after all, has a HUGE physiological component. We may cause our stress to get worse by dwelling on a situation cognitively, or by trying to rationalise away our feelings, but there's a cycle at play: are our hormones triggering a tighter focus on getting an appropriate threat response? or our lack of physiological resources upping our reactivity to smaller triggers? If we don't eat the nutrients we need to function in a balanced way, we don't have the chemical resources our systems require to process these stressors effectively. We are running on a chemical deficit. Heck even being dehydrated can make it harder to deal with stress. Fast food or lots of processed food that takes out nutrients are both great ways to put us at a nutritional deficit such that we're more vulnerable to getting into a threat response.
And stress, hormonally, is a threat response.
Consider if we feel stressed at work. Why? because we fear our job is under threat? our performance is being judged? we are being bullied and feel unsafe?
The simple equation here is that attachment to suffering may just be a threat response: where attachment is focus narrowed to the most salient target - our fear (or lust), and a belief that says must focus on this as my life/happiness/success/relationship depends on it. But does it? or does it just seem that way? How do we know? If we can't pull up - reduce the threat, the attachment, the emotional state - it's very difficult to "see" what's around us, to perceive the panorama
Reduce threat - reduce that hormonal response we AUTOMATICALLY restore a wider field of view; we can perceive options again - we are able to ask, for example, "what is the worst that could happen" - and work back from there.
This framing is not to say that having a threat response is not appropriate in some cases; it's not saying move to some la la state where everything is awesome when it's not - but sometimes we get triggered more easily than may be appropriate to the situation, we get too focused on the Thing rahter than on for instance what the sedona method calls Right Action.
My observation - and the research literature seems to back this up - is that we are more easily threatened/triggered/fearful when we are
- under slept
- poorly fed
- sedentary
just to touch on a few factors.
Circadian Syncing for Neural Support
Another factor i've been noticing lately is helping me feel more balanced/less attached and less easily triggered, and therefore more able to respond effectively without freaking myself out, is getting a big jolt of light in the morning. In other words, working with my circadian rhythms which also is a key to our hormonal processes- but more of that (and the amazing sunsprite) another time.
We have Bodies: work WITH them
The big point here is that we are physical beings, and our physiology has a lot to do with how we cognitively process our environments.
You may be able to think of times when things seemed so much easier when you were well rested or had been doing more walks or were eating healthier - if not, you may wish to give it a go.
that it's much much easier to think new ideas, to perceive options, when our bodies do not feel under stress - when we can therefore physiologically achieve a wider field of view - literally and metaphorically.
It is easier to deal with the tiger in front of us if we can perceive the tools/support around us to deal with that situation; when we're less stressed we can also respond less reflexively and more thoughtfully/lovingly
In other words, it's simply easier to be zen about the world around us, our lives, to feel less attached, less emotionally driven, when we reduce the threat response.
It's much easier to move out of threat when we have quality movement, rest and food
So if you are feeling stressed about work, short tempered with your family, in lust with something or person, consider your movement, sleep and food as places you can start to engage the problem. From improving these aspects, you may find it easier to relax, physically look up and around the horizon, breath and see options. From here it is easier to "let go" of the attachments, the feelings, keeping us in the hole.
In other words, we can give ourselves a better chance at enlightenment with quality rest, activity and food.
If you're feeling stressed/fearful/lusty right now - narrow focus - rather than wider view - which one of these three might you be able to tune in right now: movement, rest, quality food. Give yourself a week with one of them; see how you feel. My bet is your inner smiling buddha will emerge fairly effortlessly.
Thank you to Ed Cutrell for a lovely suite of conversations about Buddhism.
The concept of the Nervous System wired to detect threat or not threat was introduced to me by Eric Cobb D.C., founder of Z-Health. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
 |
| Walking Buddha Even the Buddha got movement to blow off stress (image source) |
world, like buddhism and my fave the Sedona Method that all feature "letting go," of desire in the former case and feelings in the latter, are really cognitive analogues to a cold shower: something that snaps us out of our threat/neurotic focus on the thing in front of us - often to the exclusion of all else in order to restore our peripheral vision, awareness of Other Stuff, alternatives, the wider view.
When we are less attached to something it's easier to see others, other ideas; when we are less invested in one position we are open to possibilities others might offer.
I am effectively likening stress to attachment. Let me try to break this down.
Stress = Attachment = Viewfield Narrowing (ie Focus)
In buddhism, as i understand it, suffering is the big issue - and suffering comes from attachment. Let go of desire; let go of suffering. We cause our own suffering. Suffering; joy - it's argued is all just perspective.Ah ha!
Perspective is a metaphor, but a telling one relative to what happens via the nervous system under threat.
Our field of view - our peripheral vision - closes down when we're under threat. We focus on the salient thing in front of us: the tiger, the avalanche, the angry boss, the object of lust. With that focus, there is a phisiologic response that includes that narrowed field of view (and also audio shut down). We do not hear or perceive much outside that salient focus.
 |
| fight, flight or freeze when under threat we protect the squishy bits that becomes our reflexive locus of concern |
Dealing with a Stress/Threat/Attachment Response as it happens
We often imagine the buddha sitting with his fingers up.Maybe he's doing breathing exercises.
Buddha was also around when folks were a lot more active - not living in a sedentary culture - like now.
Thus, for most of us sitting is not a change up; not a break and NOT the best way to deal with that stress/negative focus, yet this is the dominant posture of most of us reading this post. IF you're sitting right now and feeling stressed, consider getting up and doing some stairs or going for a walk.
We go do that walk or some push ups or something to elevate the heart if we are having a stress/threat (attachment to suffering/emotional) response in a non-physical context in particular (that is not being threatened by a bear), where we are still wired to respond by movement: getting our heart rates up will help blow off the chemical responses being triggered by stress.
Stress is a sign physically to fight or run away. If we get our heart rates up from movement, our hormones charging us up for a physical response can calm down because we are doing what we're wired to do. When we don't move, that's not listening, is it? so the signal gets sent again - our stress level increases (irrationally, but physiologically) - do we respond by moving?
Reducing Instances of Threat/Attachment/Stress
That's what to do to help blow off a stress response when it's happening, but how about reducing the likelihood of getting triggered into a stress or highly emotive state (anger, fear, lust, pride - any of these can get us tripping, narrowed focus).A great way to help stop undue triggers/attachments is sleep. If we're tired/vulnerable/less able to react effectively, we also tend to have less resources to deal with stress, so it takes less to set us into that negative spiral. Get sufficient sleep, we have more resilience. Less attachment. Easier to be buddha.
Resources to Deal with the Physiology of Attachment/Stress/Threat
One more way to make it easier to be buddha is to eat whole food so our necessary nutrients are stocked up.Stress, after all, has a HUGE physiological component. We may cause our stress to get worse by dwelling on a situation cognitively, or by trying to rationalise away our feelings, but there's a cycle at play: are our hormones triggering a tighter focus on getting an appropriate threat response? or our lack of physiological resources upping our reactivity to smaller triggers? If we don't eat the nutrients we need to function in a balanced way, we don't have the chemical resources our systems require to process these stressors effectively. We are running on a chemical deficit. Heck even being dehydrated can make it harder to deal with stress. Fast food or lots of processed food that takes out nutrients are both great ways to put us at a nutritional deficit such that we're more vulnerable to getting into a threat response.
And stress, hormonally, is a threat response.
Consider if we feel stressed at work. Why? because we fear our job is under threat? our performance is being judged? we are being bullied and feel unsafe?
Attachment as Threat Response
To bring this back to buddhism - Why do we fear an evaluation of our work, for instance? we are attached to our status and that may be at risk - unfairly or otherwise - from this evaluation? We are afraid to lose our perceived means of survival (income loss etc and can't perceive the options we may have)? We have a desire to achieve something we've invested in and thus are attached to that outcome ( eg i put in a grant proposal that takes months to write - do i get invested in wanting to see it come through? uh huh!) Our concerns about outcomes can narrow our focus to just that thing - we stop seeing alternatives.The simple equation here is that attachment to suffering may just be a threat response: where attachment is focus narrowed to the most salient target - our fear (or lust), and a belief that says must focus on this as my life/happiness/success/relationship depends on it. But does it? or does it just seem that way? How do we know? If we can't pull up - reduce the threat, the attachment, the emotional state - it's very difficult to "see" what's around us, to perceive the panorama
 |
| panorama view - disappears under threat comes back when we reduce threat (image source) |
This framing is not to say that having a threat response is not appropriate in some cases; it's not saying move to some la la state where everything is awesome when it's not - but sometimes we get triggered more easily than may be appropriate to the situation, we get too focused on the Thing rahter than on for instance what the sedona method calls Right Action.
My observation - and the research literature seems to back this up - is that we are more easily threatened/triggered/fearful when we are
- under slept
- poorly fed
- sedentary
just to touch on a few factors.
 |
| let the sunshine in - the earlier in the day, the better check out sunsprite.com to check your levels image source |
Circadian Syncing for Neural Support
Another factor i've been noticing lately is helping me feel more balanced/less attached and less easily triggered, and therefore more able to respond effectively without freaking myself out, is getting a big jolt of light in the morning. In other words, working with my circadian rhythms which also is a key to our hormonal processes- but more of that (and the amazing sunsprite) another time.
We have Bodies: work WITH them
The big point here is that we are physical beings, and our physiology has a lot to do with how we cognitively process our environments.
You may be able to think of times when things seemed so much easier when you were well rested or had been doing more walks or were eating healthier - if not, you may wish to give it a go.
A Wider Field of View: Houston we Have Options
The benefits from a creative, innovative perspective, and from a working with others perspective, is |
| winter sunrise - walkin' buddha knows sunshine helps keep it together - in a detached kinda way (image source) |
It is easier to deal with the tiger in front of us if we can perceive the tools/support around us to deal with that situation; when we're less stressed we can also respond less reflexively and more thoughtfully/lovingly
In other words, it's simply easier to be zen about the world around us, our lives, to feel less attached, less emotionally driven, when we reduce the threat response.
It's much easier to move out of threat when we have quality movement, rest and food
So if you are feeling stressed about work, short tempered with your family, in lust with something or person, consider your movement, sleep and food as places you can start to engage the problem. From improving these aspects, you may find it easier to relax, physically look up and around the horizon, breath and see options. From here it is easier to "let go" of the attachments, the feelings, keeping us in the hole.
In other words, we can give ourselves a better chance at enlightenment with quality rest, activity and food.
If you're feeling stressed/fearful/lusty right now - narrow focus - rather than wider view - which one of these three might you be able to tune in right now: movement, rest, quality food. Give yourself a week with one of them; see how you feel. My bet is your inner smiling buddha will emerge fairly effortlessly.
 |
| let go of attachment; perceiving the options easier with quality food, sleep movement and food image source |
The concept of the Nervous System wired to detect threat or not threat was introduced to me by Eric Cobb D.C., founder of Z-Health. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
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Saturday, October 25, 2014
Skin and Bone meets pressure cooker for awesome broth stock staple paleo or not it rocks - How to Make your Own
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This post is going to be a how to for making fantastic stock/broth - as well as some thoughts on why you might want to bother - regularly - both to make and consume it.
If you already know the pure and delightful Truth of Broth (or Stock) then please sing along with me, here. If you do not, have i ever got news for you - and fear not - this is going to be SO EASY AND FUN you’ll wonder where this food source has been all your life.
So let me begin:
Do you love food? The flavours? the textures?
Are you a bit of a techno geek? (anyone a little ocd in this regard - there’s love here for you too).
DO you like the idea of eating not only flavourful stuff but mmm mmm healthy too?
So my next question if you’re saying AMEN, mc, AMEN to any of these is:
Well do you make your own stock?
if the answer is “ah….” perhaps we may want to start with the basics:
If you eat meat, if you cook it at home, if you have bones left over that you’ve been throwing out or composting, i have news for you: these are the source of Awesome Goodness - and taste. rich wonderful soothing happiness can be yours - and you can feel better in yourself for getting EVEN MORE VALUE out of your meat (energy costly) purchases.
Stock/Broth (broth tends to have more meat in it than stock which is more bone, so if there's chunks of meat left on the bone?? let's not get hung up on terms) - is made from cooking up bones in water to pull out their nutrient goodness that just doesn’t come out of them when surface cooking meat.
There are some really nice overviews of the benefits of broth already online () that suggest even if some of the claims may seem to jump the shark, there's some home and science truths in there, as well. [the Paleo Leap detailed faq seems the richest. the whole9 bone broth FAQ, some good stuff on geletin and collagen via Dr. Axe and learn about GAGs and broth, too]
This stock is the basis of traditional preparations from chicken soup to rich gravy to anything in a recipe where anyone would suggest a disgusting bovril cube.
Here's the ingredient list of a Bovril Chicken Sachet in Oct 2014:
SALT, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, DEXTROSE, HYDROLYZED CORN PROTEIN, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, DEHYDRATED VEGETABLES (ONIONS, PARSLEY, GARLIC), CHICKEN FAT, TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SPICES & SPICE EXTRACTS, CITRIC ACID, COLOUR, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE, HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN/COTTONSEED OIL AND SULPHITES. MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF MILK INGREDIENTS
Do you see Chicken in this? What's the first ingredient?
Here's the Beef Sachet
SALT, HYDROLYZED SOY & CORN PROTEIN, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, SUGAR, MONOSODIUM GLUTATMATE, NATURAL COLOUR, YEAST EXTRACT (CONTAINS BARLEY), ONION POWDER, BEEF FAT, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, BEEF EXTRA, MALTODEXTRIN, SPICES, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE, NATURAL FLAVOUR, AND SULPHITES. MAY CONTAIN MILK INGREDIENTS.
What’s the solution? Going manual.
Stock is traditionally done up by bones in water for a long time on a low heat to get them to break down enough to release that goodness from marrow innards to releasing bone itself - and also extracting more goodness from the stuff left on the bones (tendons, bits of meat, fats) that usually gets tossed and lost.
8-12 hours is not uncommon for the slow cooking approach to bone broth. That's a bit much. I say, a bit much.
Now the pressure cooker for me was something when growing up was to be feared: used for canning jams, apparently the pot could just fly apart - or so we were lead to believe - with this little rocker on top of it pistoning back and forth, steam squirting from it “pressure cookers are dangerous - back away” - Fear.
But then i thought, now wait a minute: i’ve heard that about kettlebells, too, and it just takes some skills to use those safely. Perhaps pressure cookers are sort of the same.
Pressure Cooker or Kettlebell.
Que es mas macho?
Turns out pressure cookers have come a long way in terms of reliability of their seals, and the mechanisms used to suggest the heat can now be turned down to maintain internal pressure. Turns out pressure cookers are about the coolest cooking implement out there in terms of not just speed of cooking but the way they (a) reduce energy use big time for cooking and (b) maintain nutrients in the foods better than anything else. no kidding.
Pressurised steam gets really hot (120C rather than 100 [okay, 250+ rather than 212F])
- steam also transfers energy more intensely when cooking than putting the thing on a grill - by about 6x’s. So it’s fast - as steaming veggies shows.
That highly efficient fast energy transfer in the steamer can transform those veggies rapidly without damaging it/changing it (i.e. killng nutrients and taste) as much as air-based (oven) cooking (check out PC nutrient cooking facts - you may be surprised at just how awesome PC's are for preserving food value - esp. for big greens like kale or spring greens i am totally doing them in the PC now - 3 mins - done).
Now with a PC we’re combining the benefits of steam with even higher temperatures, which means that cooking times can also be significantly reduced.
Here’s how it goes:
What you Need - besides the pressure cooker
- whatever bones you like -
They all create something slightly different. For instance, chicken bones and skin can be pretty mild and not very gelatinous when the broth is done.
Red meat bones (lamb, beef)seem to be more punchy in their flavour.
I like to use a mix of chicken and beef bones. As i don’t eat as much red meat, but do have a local butcher, i can get a big bag o’ beef bones for a quid. This is stunning to me: when visiting pals in Seattle this summer, we went to an organic food co-op and two bits of soup bone from a happy grass fed cow were over 6 dollars. Uh huh. So yes, bones for a quid. From UK grass fed cows. Thank you.
Note on Chicken: it’s nice if you’ve roasted a chicken and you put thyme and rosemary inside the cavity - to leave those herbs in the carcass for the broth - nice flavours.
- veggies
really - here, it’s very simple - break up some older carrots, cut up an onion or so,
smash in some garlic (i like rather a lot) - leave the skins on as all this will be sieved out - and that’s about it for the veg. Some folks like to add cilantro etc. Ya go ahead. i prefer that fresh cut after.
other bits
- 5ml of cider vinegar - this helps get the stuff off the bones
- 30 ml of Red Boat Fish Sauce - this is a Thai fish sauce that is just anchovies and salt - and it’s used in lieu of salt - thanks to Nom Nom Paleo for this tip.
WHY Red Boat reason 1:- it’s the one Thai Fish Sauce i’ve found that doesn’t have sugar in it - if you find others you like that are just anchovies and salt, please let me know
WHY Red Boat reason 2: i’m really hesitant to put salt into a pressure cooker. Some folks do this with no problems, but if a bit of salt doesn’t dissolve i’ve seen it pit the floor of the PC - that’s only an aesthetic gripe perhaps - but i like my tools to be as happy as possible.
WHY Red Boat reason 3: compared to using salt, i prefer the slight taste difference of the fish sauce.
Put about 120ml of water into a cup and pour in both the cider vinegar and the red boat sauce - leave aside
That’s it for ingredients.
WHAT YOU DO:
Thinking ahead: how much bone-age?
You’re going to be putting bones and veg into this pot and covering it with water (a la top photo). The absolute MAX amount you want in whatever size PC you’re using is no more than 2/3 full. I prefer to go for enough so that when the bones and veg are covered it’s no more than the half way mark. I get about 2.5L of stock from that, (done in a 6L PC) and that’s more than ample for a week of fresh stock.
Once you’ve figured out Amounts,
BROWN THE BONES (about 10 minutes)
That means: put some olive oil in the bottom of the pot, get it up to a medium heat and put in the bones, so they can fit making good contact with the surface of the bone to the pot bottom, turning them every few minutes, to build up some brownness on the bone. Some people skip this step, but i think that’s sad: you’d be missing a really lovely flavour if ya don’t brown the bones. but you know - find out what you like.
Now take out the bones - put ‘em aside on a plate
next: degalze (wonderful term, eh?)
This is easy and just takes a minute or two
Put a little water (use filtered again for flavour) into the hot pot, and use a spatula or water - bamboo or silicon tools are groovy here - to scrape off the stuff that’s now at the bottom of the pot - get all the bits off. it’s easy to do. just watch for rubbing so vigerously you splatter your self - there’s hot fat in there!
Now we’re all set to go:
Put the bones back in.
Cover them with water.
Put in the veggies
Cover everything with water - again just cover - onions and carrots can float so just poke ‘em to make sure they’re floating as opposed to sitting high, meaning more water.
** Pour in the fish sauce/vinegar/water mix.
Check that all is covered and that you’re not TOO FULL (not beyond 2/3s - a mark many pots have inside ) better to be safe than sorry - so be careful here.
Check the gasket around the lid of your PC to make sure it’s seated correctly
Put the lid on.
Fire up the pressure cooker.
— On a stove - whether electric or gas - you can crank the element as high as you’d like here.
— On an induction hob: back off from full bore - medium high is usually great - going back to medium high give the PC time to get the whole PC nice and evenly hot inside rather than just stoking up the boil on the water. The heuristic here is find a temp so it takes at least 10 minutes for the PC to get to its HI pressure setting. Thanks for hippressurecooker.com here for tips on induction heating of PC’s
TIME ON HI
Once the PC hits hi (every PC is a little different in how it indicates its full 15psi, but that's what we're looking for: hi pressure) start the time for 50mins and back it off to whatever heat setting is required to maintain high pressure for the 50 minutes.
NOTE ON TIME - some folks like 30 minutes - yes that can work - but i like the extra time that i’ve found really takes the stuff off the bones and the bones become more soft, white, extracted. It’s up to you.
Once the 50mins is up, take the PC off the heat and let the pressure release on its own (called natural release method)
Once the valve says it’s ready to take off the lid, take off the lid.
For this stage, i like to move the whole pot into the sink because i’m going to be transferring bones etc to a sieve over the bowel i’m going to use to hold the broth, and from there out to the Compost or Trash for the left over bits.
SO - from the sink, open pot, get a spoon - again i like to use a spoon with a plastic head to avoid scratching the inside of the pot. you don’t have to - you can use stainless steel - i just prefer this way.
You can also use tongs to pull out the bones or you can be brave and just pour the whole thing into a sieve sitting in a bowl, lift out the sieve, and voila, your hot stock is there.
Do whatever you wish with the bones etc, and prepare to TASTE your broth. There will be a lot of fat potentially floating on the top that will later be skimmed off but right now (if you wish), inhale the aroma and enjoy a taste.
Stock SETTING - Pre Fridge
I like to put a plate on top of the bowl and let the broth cool before putting it in the fridge overnight.
A method to accelerate the cooling of the broth to get it into the fridge sooner? i bet i didn’t invent this - someone else must have thought of it - but i feel pretty clever - i fill a big mason jar with icy cold water and put that in the middle of the bowl.
I’ll change the water a few times - it’s cool to observe this energy transfer: 70degree broth with a 15C 500ml jar of water - both will get to the same temperature in how long?? When the stock gets to about 20C it’s ready to go into the fridge.
Setting - in fridge
let the stock do its thing overnight in the fridge. Cover bowl with a plate while in the fridge: as it does its final cooling the fat may form stalagtites on the underside of the plate - better there than a shelf in your fridge. With say Lamb in the stock, that lanolin can be quite the chore to get off.
SKIMMING
In the morning the fat will come to the top of the broth and form a skin (referred to as scum. blick) ; this skin can be easily peeled off with a big spoon, and then chucked. I’m sure some folks will find a way to make candles or something from this - i haven’t done that as of this date.
STORING
The stock can then be put into airtight containers.
Pending on the type of bones, the stock will be more liquidy or gelatinous. Neither state has an effect on taste; it may only indicate something about the amount of gelatine in the stock. If you want lots, those large beef bones are the ticket. Chicken skin going in with the caracas also seems to make some difference here.
Stock can be frozen easily in freezer bags or in ice cube trays and then into freezer bags for easy use, and kept that way for months.
Fresh, lasts without any second guessing for a week.
100g skinless cooked/smoked mackerel cut up into small pieces the size you'd like in a spoon
I like this for the protein and for the natural fish oil (over 2.5 g of omega 3 in 100g of mackerel) and the FLAVOUR and the warmth.
Tweet
Follow @begin2dig
 |
| making bone broth from scratch: yes you can and in about 70 mins rather than 12 hours or 7 days |
So let me begin:
Do you love food? The flavours? the textures?
Are you a bit of a techno geek? (anyone a little ocd in this regard - there’s love here for you too).
DO you like the idea of eating not only flavourful stuff but mmm mmm healthy too?
So my next question if you’re saying AMEN, mc, AMEN to any of these is:
Well do you make your own stock?
if the answer is “ah….” perhaps we may want to start with the basics:
Well what the heck is STOCK?
Oh, to be able to hold your hand, and look you in the eye and say “it’s wonderful!”If you eat meat, if you cook it at home, if you have bones left over that you’ve been throwing out or composting, i have news for you: these are the source of Awesome Goodness - and taste. rich wonderful soothing happiness can be yours - and you can feel better in yourself for getting EVEN MORE VALUE out of your meat (energy costly) purchases.
Stock/Broth (broth tends to have more meat in it than stock which is more bone, so if there's chunks of meat left on the bone?? let's not get hung up on terms) - is made from cooking up bones in water to pull out their nutrient goodness that just doesn’t come out of them when surface cooking meat.
There are some really nice overviews of the benefits of broth already online () that suggest even if some of the claims may seem to jump the shark, there's some home and science truths in there, as well. [the Paleo Leap detailed faq seems the richest. the whole9 bone broth FAQ, some good stuff on geletin and collagen via Dr. Axe and learn about GAGs and broth, too]
This stock is the basis of traditional preparations from chicken soup to rich gravy to anything in a recipe where anyone would suggest a disgusting bovril cube.
The Horror of Dehydrated Stock: Where's the Beed?
Indeed, this whole exploration into stock started for me when feeling a bit punk last year and thinking “consume would be good - how about getting a beef bouillon cube?” - and then reading the labels of said cubes. To quote a 70’s commercial “where’s the beef”? or Chicken. |
| Ew! what is that? MSG much? so called "stock" cube -don't do it |
SALT, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, DEXTROSE, HYDROLYZED CORN PROTEIN, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, DEHYDRATED VEGETABLES (ONIONS, PARSLEY, GARLIC), CHICKEN FAT, TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SPICES & SPICE EXTRACTS, CITRIC ACID, COLOUR, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE, HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN/COTTONSEED OIL AND SULPHITES. MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF MILK INGREDIENTS
Do you see Chicken in this? What's the first ingredient?
Here's the Beef Sachet
SALT, HYDROLYZED SOY & CORN PROTEIN, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, SUGAR, MONOSODIUM GLUTATMATE, NATURAL COLOUR, YEAST EXTRACT (CONTAINS BARLEY), ONION POWDER, BEEF FAT, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, BEEF EXTRA, MALTODEXTRIN, SPICES, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE, NATURAL FLAVOUR, AND SULPHITES. MAY CONTAIN MILK INGREDIENTS.
What’s the solution? Going manual.
Cooking Up Bones
AH but HOW go manual?Stock is traditionally done up by bones in water for a long time on a low heat to get them to break down enough to release that goodness from marrow innards to releasing bone itself - and also extracting more goodness from the stuff left on the bones (tendons, bits of meat, fats) that usually gets tossed and lost.
8-12 hours is not uncommon for the slow cooking approach to bone broth. That's a bit much. I say, a bit much.
Enter Technology: long live the Pressure Cooker.
My hope was that there may be a way to shorten cooking time for stock, and that something in the back of my mind said “pressure cooker”Now the pressure cooker for me was something when growing up was to be feared: used for canning jams, apparently the pot could just fly apart - or so we were lead to believe - with this little rocker on top of it pistoning back and forth, steam squirting from it “pressure cookers are dangerous - back away” - Fear.
 |
| que es mas macho? mc describing research while swinging 48kg - how hard can a pressure cooker be? |
Pressure Cooker or Kettlebell.
Que es mas macho?
Turns out pressure cookers have come a long way in terms of reliability of their seals, and the mechanisms used to suggest the heat can now be turned down to maintain internal pressure. Turns out pressure cookers are about the coolest cooking implement out there in terms of not just speed of cooking but the way they (a) reduce energy use big time for cooking and (b) maintain nutrients in the foods better than anything else. no kidding.
Quick Insight into How PC’s work
Ah even Peter Gabriel celebrates the wonderful power of Steam.
Raise pressure, we raise boiling point.
Higher boiling point, hotter by product of boiling, that is, hotter steam.
Raise pressure, we raise boiling point.
Higher boiling point, hotter by product of boiling, that is, hotter steam.
 |
| image from Pressure Cooker Diaries: how pc's work |
Pressurised steam gets really hot (120C rather than 100 [okay, 250+ rather than 212F])
- steam also transfers energy more intensely when cooking than putting the thing on a grill - by about 6x’s. So it’s fast - as steaming veggies shows.
That highly efficient fast energy transfer in the steamer can transform those veggies rapidly without damaging it/changing it (i.e. killng nutrients and taste) as much as air-based (oven) cooking (check out PC nutrient cooking facts - you may be surprised at just how awesome PC's are for preserving food value - esp. for big greens like kale or spring greens i am totally doing them in the PC now - 3 mins - done).
Now with a PC we’re combining the benefits of steam with even higher temperatures, which means that cooking times can also be significantly reduced.
Back to Broth: Pressure Cooker Meets Bone
SO instead of beef bones slowly simmering away in water at a low heat for 8-10 hours (called slow cooking for a reason), we now get bone broth done in a pressure cooker for, oh, all in, 70-90 minutes. Some people go for even shorter cooks, but in my experience, from the moment one turns on the heat, to when the lid is ready to open again we’re talking about an hour and a half.Here’s how it goes:
What you Need - besides the pressure cooker
- whatever bones you like -
 |
| Chicken carcass from roast chicken - great base for broth - include the skin and any herbs used in roasting |
They all create something slightly different. For instance, chicken bones and skin can be pretty mild and not very gelatinous when the broth is done.
Red meat bones (lamb, beef)seem to be more punchy in their flavour.
I like to use a mix of chicken and beef bones. As i don’t eat as much red meat, but do have a local butcher, i can get a big bag o’ beef bones for a quid. This is stunning to me: when visiting pals in Seattle this summer, we went to an organic food co-op and two bits of soup bone from a happy grass fed cow were over 6 dollars. Uh huh. So yes, bones for a quid. From UK grass fed cows. Thank you.
Note on Chicken: it’s nice if you’ve roasted a chicken and you put thyme and rosemary inside the cavity - to leave those herbs in the carcass for the broth - nice flavours.
- veggies
really - here, it’s very simple - break up some older carrots, cut up an onion or so,
 |
| Garlic, carrots, onions - enough for stock |
other bits
- 5ml of cider vinegar - this helps get the stuff off the bones
- 30 ml of Red Boat Fish Sauce - this is a Thai fish sauce that is just anchovies and salt - and it’s used in lieu of salt - thanks to Nom Nom Paleo for this tip.
 |
| Red Boat Fish Sauce; Cider Vinegar |
WHY Red Boat reason 2: i’m really hesitant to put salt into a pressure cooker. Some folks do this with no problems, but if a bit of salt doesn’t dissolve i’ve seen it pit the floor of the PC - that’s only an aesthetic gripe perhaps - but i like my tools to be as happy as possible.
WHY Red Boat reason 3: compared to using salt, i prefer the slight taste difference of the fish sauce.
Put about 120ml of water into a cup and pour in both the cider vinegar and the red boat sauce - leave aside
That’s it for ingredients.
WHAT YOU DO:
Thinking ahead: how much bone-age?
You’re going to be putting bones and veg into this pot and covering it with water (a la top photo). The absolute MAX amount you want in whatever size PC you’re using is no more than 2/3 full. I prefer to go for enough so that when the bones and veg are covered it’s no more than the half way mark. I get about 2.5L of stock from that, (done in a 6L PC) and that’s more than ample for a week of fresh stock.
Once you’ve figured out Amounts,
BROWN THE BONES (about 10 minutes)
That means: put some olive oil in the bottom of the pot, get it up to a medium heat and put in the bones, so they can fit making good contact with the surface of the bone to the pot bottom, turning them every few minutes, to build up some brownness on the bone. Some people skip this step, but i think that’s sad: you’d be missing a really lovely flavour if ya don’t brown the bones. but you know - find out what you like.
 |
| Chicken and Beef Bones in the pot with some oil to brown |
 |
| bone remnants post browning |
next: degalze (wonderful term, eh?)
This is easy and just takes a minute or two
Put a little water (use filtered again for flavour) into the hot pot, and use a spatula or water - bamboo or silicon tools are groovy here - to scrape off the stuff that’s now at the bottom of the pot - get all the bits off. it’s easy to do. just watch for rubbing so vigerously you splatter your self - there’s hot fat in there!
 |
| add a little water and then scrape gently to remove bone bits from bottom of pan watch for steam and oil spitting up at you. |
 |
| after de-glazing bone bits loosened off. |
Put the bones back in.
Cover them with water.
Put in the veggies
 |
| veggies laid in on the bones |
** Pour in the fish sauce/vinegar/water mix.
Check that all is covered and that you’re not TOO FULL (not beyond 2/3s - a mark many pots have inside ) better to be safe than sorry - so be careful here.
 |
| note water is just to 1/2 full mark here |
Put the lid on.
Fire up the pressure cooker.
— On a stove - whether electric or gas - you can crank the element as high as you’d like here.
 |
| Getting the PC to 15PSI on Induction Plate |
TIME ON HI
Once the PC hits hi (every PC is a little different in how it indicates its full 15psi, but that's what we're looking for: hi pressure) start the time for 50mins and back it off to whatever heat setting is required to maintain high pressure for the 50 minutes.
NOTE ON TIME - some folks like 30 minutes - yes that can work - but i like the extra time that i’ve found really takes the stuff off the bones and the bones become more soft, white, extracted. It’s up to you.
Once the 50mins is up, take the PC off the heat and let the pressure release on its own (called natural release method)
Once the valve says it’s ready to take off the lid, take off the lid.
REMOVING THE BONES etc FROM YOUR BEAUTIFUL FRESH STOCK
 |
| here's that same beef bone from the browning image above, post PC. Bone is white and along with tendon/cartilage notice how broken down, mineral goodness into broth |
SO - from the sink, open pot, get a spoon - again i like to use a spoon with a plastic head to avoid scratching the inside of the pot. you don’t have to - you can use stainless steel - i just prefer this way.
You can also use tongs to pull out the bones or you can be brave and just pour the whole thing into a sieve sitting in a bowl, lift out the sieve, and voila, your hot stock is there.
Do whatever you wish with the bones etc, and prepare to TASTE your broth. There will be a lot of fat potentially floating on the top that will later be skimmed off but right now (if you wish), inhale the aroma and enjoy a taste.
Stock SETTING - Pre Fridge
I like to put a plate on top of the bowl and let the broth cool before putting it in the fridge overnight.
A method to accelerate the cooling of the broth to get it into the fridge sooner? i bet i didn’t invent this - someone else must have thought of it - but i feel pretty clever - i fill a big mason jar with icy cold water and put that in the middle of the bowl.
I’ll change the water a few times - it’s cool to observe this energy transfer: 70degree broth with a 15C 500ml jar of water - both will get to the same temperature in how long?? When the stock gets to about 20C it’s ready to go into the fridge.
 |
| ice and cold water in jar, jar in broth accelerate cooling down to get into fridge |
let the stock do its thing overnight in the fridge. Cover bowl with a plate while in the fridge: as it does its final cooling the fat may form stalagtites on the underside of the plate - better there than a shelf in your fridge. With say Lamb in the stock, that lanolin can be quite the chore to get off.
SKIMMING
In the morning the fat will come to the top of the broth and form a skin (referred to as scum. blick) ; this skin can be easily peeled off with a big spoon, and then chucked. I’m sure some folks will find a way to make candles or something from this - i haven’t done that as of this date.
 | ||
morning Stock: fat skin (aka scum) on broth
|
The stock can then be put into airtight containers.
Pending on the type of bones, the stock will be more liquidy or gelatinous. Neither state has an effect on taste; it may only indicate something about the amount of gelatine in the stock. If you want lots, those large beef bones are the ticket. Chicken skin going in with the caracas also seems to make some difference here.
 |
| in this case, a pretty getaltinous thick stock, pouring into airtight container for fridge |
 |
| et voila! thick stock - 2.5L - ready to heat, eat, put back in fridge or freeze |
Example USE - Fish Soup
Stock can be used for all sorts of things: glazing meats making gravy, bases for soups, steaming veggies. Anywhere you'd usually use water in cooking, we can use stock it seems.
A recipe i've been loving in the mornings as a safe way to get my DHA/EPA from whole-food sources is fish soup.
100g skinless cooked/smoked mackerel cut up into small pieces the size you'd like in a spoon
- 2 ladels of stock
- a bit of unpasturised miso paste, for all the good little bacteria (i
like clearspring organic - keeps in the fridge, from japan (about miso))
- a bit of hot sauce to taste (i love me some Cambrdige Chilli Company Ghost Pepper no. 10)
- some wakame (dried little pieces of sea weed that reconstitute in the broth)
That's about it - now you can heat this back up on the stove or shove it in the nuker for 2mins.
Enjoy with a side of cooked kale and blanched spinach, with a bit of coarse ground salt.
Yum
Enjoy with a side of cooked kale and blanched spinach, with a bit of coarse ground salt.
Yum
I like this for the protein and for the natural fish oil (over 2.5 g of omega 3 in 100g of mackerel) and the FLAVOUR and the warmth.
One More Example: Broth for Lunch
A very similar recipe is simply to replace the fish with turkey and pop the whole thing into an airtight and leak tight container to take to work. We have a fridge at work, so that's where this container goes till lunch.
 |
| Prepping Lunch: stock, a couple shots Ghost Pepper no. 10, clearspring organic miso paste, wakame, chopped up turkey cooked the night before. Lid up, away ya go. |
There's something so civilised about a hot lunch, don't you think? Stock lets you have something home made, extremely tasty and filling - that double hit of protein - a bit from the broth and more from the meat - also has a high satiety value to keep us rolling through the afternoon.
Sunday Ritual: Making Stock.
Making stock like this has become a bit of a sunday ritual - it's easy to do, soothing, takes my head out of work, and provides something nice for the family for the rest of the week. With a pressure cooker and left over bones, rescuing some tired veggies, i'm reducing food waste, getting more out of an animal, and apparently doing something health positive too. What's not to enjoy?
Hope you'll let me know if you give this a go. And especially hope you'll find the taste place you love as you do.
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Losing Weight by Losing Weight Loss Want?
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Tweet
Question 1: Are any of you at a place where you'd kinda like to burn some fat, get a little leaner? sQuestion 2: have you been here before? where you've lost it, had it down for a bit but now you're back? Question 3: the scale therefore is a big part of validating progress: must weigh X; a good day is seeing scale go down; a bad day is scale goes up?
Ya, that's me, too -(loving that withings wifi scale...) except my mind is starting to change about the scale.
For context, here's my eating base line:
eat protein, eat greens each time i eat - have healthy fats during the day. that's about it as foundation.
For the past little while - 50 days - via the Precision Nutrition Lean Eating approach http://tinyurl.com/mcpncoaching) -
i've been doing two things:
1. Amping back into resistance, with endurance for active recovery, and intervals
2. and just focusing on, what to me have been some novel basics to add to the above greens/proteins/fats:
- eat **slowly** - that's a biggie
- eat to 80% full;
Here's what i'm noticing over the past 50ish days: weight is not changing at all. I mean. nada. it goes down it goes up - all within one pound, within any given week.
BUT girth measures are going down. Not rapidly, but unequivocally. Steadily. Weekly.
I have begun to use a tape measure each day i weigh in.
And we know what that tape / weight measure means, don't we?
Yup, there is a fat reduction that's happening and a lean mass improvement.
What's the big deal surprise about that, you may be asking?
Lots of people when they start trying to lose weight think they're not making progress cuz the scale isn't changing, but their measures are.
Absolutely.
But here's the deal: i'm not approaching this process to think "diet" or "i have to lose X pounds by Y" or that i have to eat less.
i'm just exploring a process.
See, about 22 m. ago i was as lean and strong as i've ever been. Took me about four months of training for a lifting challenge and being radical about food in order to make weight for this competition.
i used a pretty extreme approach - the "modified velocity diet" - (you can see that all on begin2dig here). I certainly proved to myself that one could both lose weight/burn fat AND get stronger at the same time. Bully.
The big PN approach/question is "and how's that working for you?"
I just got schooled.
Plain and simple, it wasn't working for me.
What i found was that after this amazing experience, the weight started climbing back up.
And yes, i believed that the expert knowledge is that one can't stay competition lean all the time BUT - but! Really?
I didn't feel great. It was like that comp kinda took the sauce out of me. Burnt out. Kept working out, but not with the vim.
Last year i switched from resistance to endurance training - just to explore that - spending a lot of time on the bike. I enjoyed it - maybe needed a break - and the bike was an interesting place to recover. My resting heart rate dropped in a big way, too. And so what? well
Didn't like the weight gain of 7-8 pounds from competition weight. On a small person that's not insignificant. It was a familiar weight, but not a desired one. In the past i'd always felt better about 5-6 pounds lighter. Again, for a small person 5 pounds ain't nothin.
And looking at my records, i could see that i have gone through a variety of strategies to get lean, to get to that happy weight. and that all of them have worked.
For about four months.
Zig
Zag
yo
yo
maybe again you think 5-6 pound - meh - big deal.
I think it's a sign.
What does that sign say?
"How's that working for you?"
This question could quickly be followed by the definition of insanity: to repeat the same thing over and over (try yet another lean speed attempt) and expect a different result.
The other strategy that PN proposes is "try the opposite"
The opposite of my previous approaches would be - stop going for a "quick fix" - i hadn't thought that's what i'd been doing - because since about 2007 my foundational approach is as above: greens and protein each feeding opportunity, healthy fats. But then i'd try eating only within an 8 hour window and that would work for awhile. or only eating one meal a day. with protein shakes the remainder. or fasting once or twice a week etc. And that all worked. Until it didn't.
Try the opposite - of focusing on weight loss
In this case, with the PN Coaching approach, opposite is letting go(*) of weight loss and focusing on a new relationship with food and movement practice. I've tried all the other sane stuff, so why not? The commitment is - you will achieve your results; but just let go and trust the process. The process is a year long. Not four months. Three times that - a year.
Giving Myself a Year
Taken from the perspective of a year, not seeing weight go down (not seeing it go up either) is easy. Given that i'm used to results in four months, i have a few four month cycles in this process. I'm not even half way through the first four months of this process.
And what i'm finding, as said, is this interesting shift to a new measure that i find i am coming to value more than the scale, and it's my myotape.
Wiring
Have you ever had a sprain - ligaments ripping? Have you ever broken a bone, too? Which took longer to feel like it had really repaired?
For me, it's been the connective tissue stuff, and it can be really depressing when it feels like it takes so long to get going back to strength.
But you know, we most of us get it: tendons have less blood supply than bones; it's longer for stuff to move around in that tissue to knit it back together, etc etc. It takes time; needs lots of rehab.
Turns out we may need to think about our bodies adapting to new food approaches in a similar way - that it take way more time than we think it does but the effects are more resilient when we take that time
New science suggests that there are reasons why sudden weigh loss is hard to sustain - or almost impossible, and that yo yo'ing is nearly inevitable - because our hormones (those pesky middle managers) take time to adapt to change too.
That also makes sense: if something happens in our bodies quickly - like getting freaked out or being without food, or say really extreme - having the air to our lungs cut off - our bodies will try to compensate to protect us.
Now imagine that we've been perceived to have been starving ourselves - that restraint relaxes - what are the messages going to be?
Hmm.
Slow Down: time to adapt.
So perhaps what i'm learning is to give my body time to adapt, hormonally, to some subtle changes in eating and moving.
Here's the thing: for a person who really does only have a few pounds to lose, and for plain health reasons has absolutely no need to lose them, that weight loss is not going to happen quickly.
The losing a pound or two a week, not on.
And right now, from the girth measures, it seems i'm reducing fat and putting on lean tissue. Nothing radical but not nothing, either.
That's kind of exciting.
Try the opposite - of the scale
The opposite says let go of the number on the scale and focus on what i'm doing
And there's a new measure for that. The tape measure.
In my oppositeness i'm not using calipers right now either. Just girth. the classic "is my ass getting smaller?"
And other things i'm noticing:
My relationship to food is changing: i'm eating slower. And with this i'm eating less, by not reflexively getting seconds - whether veggies and protein or not - just no on the seconds and not missing it.
There's hormonal reasons for that working, too.
I'm still trying to get the real feel of eating to 80% of full. But i'm noticing that i could likely stop sooner than i do. And i'm ok with just noticing that right now.
Because i saw something that gave me pause - that made me think this approach is actually having an effect that i would not have noticed.
I saw a video of myself from feb. Feb 14 2014, and i know exactly what i weighed that day from my geek records.
I weighed about 2 pounds in the second vid than i did in the first, but
personally, i think the second video looks leaner in the face.
Heavier but leaner (looking). Hmm.
So, as said i'm only into this process about two months. But i'm enjoying all these new perspectives, and how calm this approach is to just let go of (another pn focus shift) the OUTCOMES (i must weigh X by Y) and just learning and trusting the BEHAVIOURS - to get towards those outcomes. or not. Those may change from extentional (i weigh x) to intensional* (i'm getting leaner and stronger).
IT's feeling like an interesting experience, and i've been given a boost to say ok, yes, tending towards the right direction - i'm willing to keep exploring this.
SO to answer "how's that working for you"
the answer is "really well, thank you. different, but a good different...willing to keep going...better than the alternative"
SO far sane, calm, easy - all feels better than extreme, driven, wiped out.
Will keep you posted. Happy to take questions, too.
(*a little Montegue Semantics there)
ps - a related paper i co-authored about how scales work - or don't - called "there's no such thing as gaining a pound"
(*) and a note about "letting go" around goals.
Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Ya, that's me, too -(loving that withings wifi scale...) except my mind is starting to change about the scale.
For context, here's my eating base line:
eat protein, eat greens each time i eat - have healthy fats during the day. that's about it as foundation.
For the past little while - 50 days - via the Precision Nutrition Lean Eating approach http://tinyurl.com/mcpncoaching) -
i've been doing two things:
1. Amping back into resistance, with endurance for active recovery, and intervals 2. and just focusing on, what to me have been some novel basics to add to the above greens/proteins/fats:
- eat **slowly** - that's a biggie
- eat to 80% full;
Here's what i'm noticing over the past 50ish days: weight is not changing at all. I mean. nada. it goes down it goes up - all within one pound, within any given week.
BUT girth measures are going down. Not rapidly, but unequivocally. Steadily. Weekly.
I have begun to use a tape measure each day i weigh in.
And we know what that tape / weight measure means, don't we?
Yup, there is a fat reduction that's happening and a lean mass improvement.
What's the big deal surprise about that, you may be asking?
Lots of people when they start trying to lose weight think they're not making progress cuz the scale isn't changing, but their measures are.
Absolutely.
But here's the deal: i'm not approaching this process to think "diet" or "i have to lose X pounds by Y" or that i have to eat less.
i'm just exploring a process.
History to This Practice Change
i used a pretty extreme approach - the "modified velocity diet" - (you can see that all on begin2dig here). I certainly proved to myself that one could both lose weight/burn fat AND get stronger at the same time. Bully.
The big PN approach/question is "and how's that working for you?"
I just got schooled.
Plain and simple, it wasn't working for me.
What i found was that after this amazing experience, the weight started climbing back up.
And yes, i believed that the expert knowledge is that one can't stay competition lean all the time BUT - but! Really?
I didn't feel great. It was like that comp kinda took the sauce out of me. Burnt out. Kept working out, but not with the vim.
Last year i switched from resistance to endurance training - just to explore that - spending a lot of time on the bike. I enjoyed it - maybe needed a break - and the bike was an interesting place to recover. My resting heart rate dropped in a big way, too. And so what? well
Didn't like the weight gain of 7-8 pounds from competition weight. On a small person that's not insignificant. It was a familiar weight, but not a desired one. In the past i'd always felt better about 5-6 pounds lighter. Again, for a small person 5 pounds ain't nothin.
And looking at my records, i could see that i have gone through a variety of strategies to get lean, to get to that happy weight. and that all of them have worked.
For about four months.
Zig
Zag
yo
yo
maybe again you think 5-6 pound - meh - big deal.
I think it's a sign.
What does that sign say?
"How's that working for you?"
This question could quickly be followed by the definition of insanity: to repeat the same thing over and over (try yet another lean speed attempt) and expect a different result.
The other strategy that PN proposes is "try the opposite"
The opposite of my previous approaches would be - stop going for a "quick fix" - i hadn't thought that's what i'd been doing - because since about 2007 my foundational approach is as above: greens and protein each feeding opportunity, healthy fats. But then i'd try eating only within an 8 hour window and that would work for awhile. or only eating one meal a day. with protein shakes the remainder. or fasting once or twice a week etc. And that all worked. Until it didn't.
Try the opposite - of focusing on weight loss
In this case, with the PN Coaching approach, opposite is letting go(*) of weight loss and focusing on a new relationship with food and movement practice. I've tried all the other sane stuff, so why not? The commitment is - you will achieve your results; but just let go and trust the process. The process is a year long. Not four months. Three times that - a year.
Giving Myself a Year
Taken from the perspective of a year, not seeing weight go down (not seeing it go up either) is easy. Given that i'm used to results in four months, i have a few four month cycles in this process. I'm not even half way through the first four months of this process.
And what i'm finding, as said, is this interesting shift to a new measure that i find i am coming to value more than the scale, and it's my myotape.
Wiring
Have you ever had a sprain - ligaments ripping? Have you ever broken a bone, too? Which took longer to feel like it had really repaired?
For me, it's been the connective tissue stuff, and it can be really depressing when it feels like it takes so long to get going back to strength.
But you know, we most of us get it: tendons have less blood supply than bones; it's longer for stuff to move around in that tissue to knit it back together, etc etc. It takes time; needs lots of rehab.
Turns out we may need to think about our bodies adapting to new food approaches in a similar way - that it take way more time than we think it does but the effects are more resilient when we take that timeNew science suggests that there are reasons why sudden weigh loss is hard to sustain - or almost impossible, and that yo yo'ing is nearly inevitable - because our hormones (those pesky middle managers) take time to adapt to change too.
That also makes sense: if something happens in our bodies quickly - like getting freaked out or being without food, or say really extreme - having the air to our lungs cut off - our bodies will try to compensate to protect us.
Now imagine that we've been perceived to have been starving ourselves - that restraint relaxes - what are the messages going to be?
Hmm.
Slow Down: time to adapt.
So perhaps what i'm learning is to give my body time to adapt, hormonally, to some subtle changes in eating and moving.
Here's the thing: for a person who really does only have a few pounds to lose, and for plain health reasons has absolutely no need to lose them, that weight loss is not going to happen quickly.
The losing a pound or two a week, not on.
And right now, from the girth measures, it seems i'm reducing fat and putting on lean tissue. Nothing radical but not nothing, either.
That's kind of exciting.
Try the opposite - of the scale
The opposite says let go of the number on the scale and focus on what i'm doing
And there's a new measure for that. The tape measure.
In my oppositeness i'm not using calipers right now either. Just girth. the classic "is my ass getting smaller?"
And other things i'm noticing:
My relationship to food is changing: i'm eating slower. And with this i'm eating less, by not reflexively getting seconds - whether veggies and protein or not - just no on the seconds and not missing it.
There's hormonal reasons for that working, too.
I'm still trying to get the real feel of eating to 80% of full. But i'm noticing that i could likely stop sooner than i do. And i'm ok with just noticing that right now.
An unexpected AH HA moment
It's as said only near 60days in - so why am i writing this now?Because i saw something that gave me pause - that made me think this approach is actually having an effect that i would not have noticed.
I saw a video of myself from feb. Feb 14 2014, and i know exactly what i weighed that day from my geek records.
I saw another video of myself from Aug 26, 2014 after i'd been doing this approach for 40ish days.
personally, i think the second video looks leaner in the face.
Heavier but leaner (looking). Hmm.
So, as said i'm only into this process about two months. But i'm enjoying all these new perspectives, and how calm this approach is to just let go of (another pn focus shift) the OUTCOMES (i must weigh X by Y) and just learning and trusting the BEHAVIOURS - to get towards those outcomes. or not. Those may change from extentional (i weigh x) to intensional* (i'm getting leaner and stronger).
IT's feeling like an interesting experience, and i've been given a boost to say ok, yes, tending towards the right direction - i'm willing to keep exploring this.
SO to answer "how's that working for you"
the answer is "really well, thank you. different, but a good different...willing to keep going...better than the alternative"
SO far sane, calm, easy - all feels better than extreme, driven, wiped out.
Will keep you posted. Happy to take questions, too.
(*a little Montegue Semantics there)
ps - a related paper i co-authored about how scales work - or don't - called "there's no such thing as gaining a pound"
(*) and a note about "letting go" around goals.
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Tuesday, August 5, 2014
What if neither Paleo nor Gluten Sensitivity Exist?
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Is gluten sensitivity code for "i eat mostly processed foods - and i feel kinda crap" and paleo means "but now that i'm eating mostly whole food, wow, i feel so much better." But what if neither Paleo nor Gluten senstivity, per se, existed?
See, i'm guessing if we knew something about food - if we were really taught something about what FOOD is (hint: it's not just calories - calories is a measure - that's like saying gold is the same as ounces) -we'd stop saying we feel bad because of a condition (like gluten sensitivity) or better because we're eating paleo, like our ancestors.
But because we don't have simple simple knowledge about food (i don't mean protein vs carbs, or calories, i mean food), we are pushed to understand ourselves in terms of conditions, don't we? like "gluten sensitivity" where a solution is the "paleo diet".
I put gluten/paleo together, because, it you follow diet lore at all, you may also have noticed the strong connection people on the Paleo planet tend to assert about Gluten sensitivity - and the quest to banish grains, legumes and of course, donuts. Not bacon, just donuts.
Gluten Sensitivity Revisited The gluten sensitivity issue has been revisited of late. Turns out it's not really there (here's an overview of the study and here's a lovely discussion by TC Luoma about this change of tack).
And yet there are SO MANY folks who go paleo who say all their gluten woes and feelings have gone; they're healthy again, once they go paleo - in brief, lots of meat, and some fruit and greenery.
Fantastic. that response is likely real.
Paleo Plurality - Grains and Tubers are Real - Real old. But Paleo folk may also be talking kinda nonsense about legumes as part of their rebirth to eating better enthusiasm (as per brian st. piere's paleo overview)
SO i'm just thinking
maybe "gluten sensitivity" if we unpacked what's going on with folks' eating practices
may just be code for "i eat or have eaten mostly processed foods"
and
paleo - again if we looked at folks' real eating for a month or so - is code for "now i'm eating mostly whole foods, i feel better"
Just a thought.
My sense is that both are externalising practices.
If i have a gluten sensitivity then it's not my fault - nothing to do with me - that this is happening to me.
I don't have to interrogate anymore if i have anything to do with how i am: it's the disease.
Likewise going to a new practice with the fervour of the convert like Paleo as Truth again says it's because of something primal that is about our ancestors - nothing to do with me.
I'm still a little fuzzy there, but Paleo does say in a way this stuff - bread for instance - is bad cuz it's not what Generation Paleo ate and we haven't adapted so if you eat that, you're Bad; you're putting toxins into your system.
As opposed to - maybe the issue is amount rather than exclusion? It's something about me not having a very good model for my body? or about Food (perhaps see this post on calories vs nutrition), or about food and my body?
In other words, do we let ourselves off the hook too easily about conditions and diets without having a better handle on how to evaluate the degree to which any of these things are true for us? Are we missing a culture of science? and by science i mean understanding how to frame a question against an assertion and evaluating it?
eg: hypothesis:
apparently there's science to suggest that eating mostly processed foods means that i'm not getting enough nutrients and if i do that, these are the side effects: a,b,c
Experiment:
Ok i will test this claim by finding some unprocessed foods, and eating that for awhile and see how i do on those measures of a,b,c - i will seek some advice on how long i'd need to do that to see a change, figure out some strategies to build this experiment and go for it.
If i really wanted to understand just my response to all foods, i could go all out with an elimination diet and work my way back from there. I could get blood work around a variety of markers if i really wanted to geek out - or hell, i could even get genetic testing of my telomere length. I could practice eating slower; i could eat less.
We're COMPLEX SYSTEMS - many things will "work" - but what is real for us? what might be optimal for us? That's going to take time to explore, is it not, with so many variables?
(if you want to try an android app version of one eating experiment to eat a whole food protein and some kinda greens each time you eat (along with whatever else you want) let me know this week, and we'll get you in on the trial)
Maybe we need to learn about how to do fantastic, meaningful experiments of one, have more nuanced conversations with each other about practice - rather than get all zealy about complex systems - like us - where there's always more than one thing going on.
Let's find out more about OUR contribution to our state; let's help ensure our education systems, our engagement supports learning the know-how to do so meaningfully??
Just another thought
Thanks
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See, i'm guessing if we knew something about food - if we were really taught something about what FOOD is (hint: it's not just calories - calories is a measure - that's like saying gold is the same as ounces) -we'd stop saying we feel bad because of a condition (like gluten sensitivity) or better because we're eating paleo, like our ancestors.
But because we don't have simple simple knowledge about food (i don't mean protein vs carbs, or calories, i mean food), we are pushed to understand ourselves in terms of conditions, don't we? like "gluten sensitivity" where a solution is the "paleo diet".
I put gluten/paleo together, because, it you follow diet lore at all, you may also have noticed the strong connection people on the Paleo planet tend to assert about Gluten sensitivity - and the quest to banish grains, legumes and of course, donuts. Not bacon, just donuts.
 |
| hang in there - reason for this pic coming below |
Paleo/Gluteno - Neither Exist, much?
I also bring this connection between the supposedly gluten sensitive and the paleo particular because, well, neither may exist.Gluten Sensitivity Revisited The gluten sensitivity issue has been revisited of late. Turns out it's not really there (here's an overview of the study and here's a lovely discussion by TC Luoma about this change of tack).
And yet there are SO MANY folks who go paleo who say all their gluten woes and feelings have gone; they're healthy again, once they go paleo - in brief, lots of meat, and some fruit and greenery.
Fantastic. that response is likely real.
Paleo Plurality - Grains and Tubers are Real - Real old. But Paleo folk may also be talking kinda nonsense about legumes as part of their rebirth to eating better enthusiasm (as per brian st. piere's paleo overview)
 |
| The Real paleo dietS - plural |
SO i'm just thinking
maybe "gluten sensitivity" if we unpacked what's going on with folks' eating practices
may just be code for "i eat or have eaten mostly processed foods"
and
paleo - again if we looked at folks' real eating for a month or so - is code for "now i'm eating mostly whole foods, i feel better"
Just a thought.
Thought 2 Externalising responsibility?
hmm - if that's the case - that perhaps we just feel better when we eat more real whole food - what value does "gluten sensitivity" and "paleo" as a label give us?My sense is that both are externalising practices.
If i have a gluten sensitivity then it's not my fault - nothing to do with me - that this is happening to me.
I don't have to interrogate anymore if i have anything to do with how i am: it's the disease.
Likewise going to a new practice with the fervour of the convert like Paleo as Truth again says it's because of something primal that is about our ancestors - nothing to do with me.
I'm still a little fuzzy there, but Paleo does say in a way this stuff - bread for instance - is bad cuz it's not what Generation Paleo ate and we haven't adapted so if you eat that, you're Bad; you're putting toxins into your system.
As opposed to - maybe the issue is amount rather than exclusion? It's something about me not having a very good model for my body? or about Food (perhaps see this post on calories vs nutrition), or about food and my body?
In other words, do we let ourselves off the hook too easily about conditions and diets without having a better handle on how to evaluate the degree to which any of these things are true for us? Are we missing a culture of science? and by science i mean understanding how to frame a question against an assertion and evaluating it?
eg: hypothesis:
apparently there's science to suggest that eating mostly processed foods means that i'm not getting enough nutrients and if i do that, these are the side effects: a,b,c
Experiment:
Ok i will test this claim by finding some unprocessed foods, and eating that for awhile and see how i do on those measures of a,b,c - i will seek some advice on how long i'd need to do that to see a change, figure out some strategies to build this experiment and go for it.
If i really wanted to understand just my response to all foods, i could go all out with an elimination diet and work my way back from there. I could get blood work around a variety of markers if i really wanted to geek out - or hell, i could even get genetic testing of my telomere length. I could practice eating slower; i could eat less.
We're COMPLEX SYSTEMS - many things will "work" - but what is real for us? what might be optimal for us? That's going to take time to explore, is it not, with so many variables?
Experiment in a box : Self-Explorers; Explorers of Self
We're actually building apps (one called experiment in a box) to help students and well, anyone, create grounded experiments / claims in order to see if what the claims are, are true(if you want to try an android app version of one eating experiment to eat a whole food protein and some kinda greens each time you eat (along with whatever else you want) let me know this week, and we'll get you in on the trial)
 |
| let's learn how to make maps; be self-explorers |
Let's find out more about OUR contribution to our state; let's help ensure our education systems, our engagement supports learning the know-how to do so meaningfully??
Just another thought
Thanks
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Monday, July 28, 2014
Are you Hitting your Muscle Targets? How to Find, Feel and Fire your muscles for optimal performance
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Have you ever done an exercise and wondered if you're working the muscles involved with that movement? Is that hip thruster really firing the muscles in your butt and back of the legs, for instance? How about those dips? Getting the back of the arms? If we don't feel the movement, it doesn't mean it's not working, BUT it's nice to check that we're really engaging the fibers. It's a lot easier to do these checks when we know what movement the muscle makes.
Here's an example of how you can begin to check if your movement is getting the muscles you want to target.
The biceps doesn't just curl forward and rotate the forearm. We have this interesting double connection at the front and side of the biceps at the shoulder blade bone. From this we know that the arm is going to come up, and also tend to go to the side - so maybe 45 degrees between dead out to side and dead out front.
LIFT UP AND SLIGHTLY OVER: Ok, with wrist up and over, elbow bent and fist turned towards chest, imagine you're going to stretch to yawn, how you'd bring your elbow up for that, maybe stick out your chest a bit - do it slowly. Feel the muscle from the elbow to up into the shoulder.
We can move up to larger movements that engage more joints, too. If you're interested, here's a fantastic example about how to get the lower body bone movement working for the overhead press - just by exploring the skeletal positioning.
By working through the way the bones are moved around their joints - and optimising for that - not only does great muscular activation occur, great movement patterning begins, too.
So let's get the rhythms of the beautiful bones...
Thoughts?
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 |
| Effective Muscle Targetting? |
Find the Muscle*
First thing we need to do is get a kinesiology book (Manual of Structural Kinesiology -finally available in an ebook version [UK || US] is still my fave here). If you want to just look at the muscles and bones, i really like Muscle System Pro. Second, with these tools in hand, we need to check two things
- where the muscle attaches (at both ends);
- how it moves around what joints.
Lets take the biceps of the arm (biceps brachii). "Bi" gives us a clue that there's two somethings here, and when we look at the attachments we see that the top of the biceps attaches in two places - it has what are known as two heads (the triceps, back of the arm, you guessed it, has three heads, attaching in three places).
The biceps long head attaches coming up the outside of the main upper arm bone, the humerus, and through a groove there, into the shoulder bone, the scapula. You can imagine that means some part of that muscle will help pull the arm up and out at the side (abduction).
 |
| The long head attachment is offset from the front of the humerus and attaches into the scapula (shoulder bone) helping to bring the arm up and out to the front and side |
 |
| The short head attaches to the front but also over from the humerus helping to turn the humerus in and pull to bring the forearm up |
The short head attaches more towards the front of the body, but also on the scapula at what's called the coracoid process - many boney bits that jut out at all are called a "process" Attached to the front, gonna pull to the front.
 |
| biceps attaching to inside of radius |
Next bit is where does this muscle end? Intriguingly - the biceps ends up attached to the radius, one of the two bones in the forearm (the bony bit of the elbow, that's the top of the ulna; i always think of the radius as the thumb bone, because that's that it sits closest to at the hand end.). If you look at the picture you can see that attachment is kinda on the inside of the radius. So, if you had your hand lying flat palm down on the table and someone pulled up on the inside of your forearm, what would your wrist do? Turn over maybe?
Now we have three attachment points for the muscle, which means a bunch of actions are possible:
The most famous aspect of the biceps in weight lifting is of course the curl - elbow flexion - and yes we can see that bending the elbow is a big action that the biceps supports (it's not the only contributor).
 |
| Radius bone: thumb side of forearm |
Because of the way it attaches to the forearm, we can also see that it's going to be pulling the wrist up - into supination - hence the curl happens usually with a dumbell facing into the curl as the weight comes up.
ALSO with these two attachments, the bone, the humerous, turns in - internal rotation. So that's another movement to use in exploring this muscle.
Feel to Fire the Muscle
Now that we know what the muscle does, we can experiment with feeling it.
So let's try this sequence to hit all the movement points:
TURN WRIST IN: With your arm out straight (extended) Turn your wrist so that hand is up - make a fist if you wish - you can explore turning it up as far as you can. Feel the biceps just from doing that? The more you want to turn up and over at the wrist, the more you fire the biceps.
Super.
BEND ELBOW: Next, try the wrist turn while you start to bend your elbow, go 45 degrees, try it, 90, try it, keep going till you have your forearm close to touching your upper arm. Feeling greater squeeze in the biceps just from that?
TURN UPPER ARM IN: With your wrist up and over, arm bent, move your fist towards your chest to rotate the arm in.
 |
| Classic Arnie at the Gun Show: note right arm is more to the front than to the side. |
You may need to play with this a bit to find how high up to bring your elbow (likely not more than at 90 degrees from the chest) and how much to the side to bring it (45-70 degrees away from the chest) - all the while with the wrist turned up and over.
When you're rocking this you'll feel a big squish in the muscle - likely at about 45 - 60 degrees away from the chest.
Now what does that look like?
Example: The Gun Show: Optimal Contraction
Likely, the position you find yourself in for this mega squish of your big guns is similar to Arnie's right arm in the pose shown in actually both arnie pics in this post.
Notice that Arnie here has one arm right out to the side and one arm up in our wrist twisted, up but in towards the chest - and how the biceps in that arm (the right arm) are squished up more - and look more PEAKED.
Now you know why a gun show looks like this classic pose: that's the optimal position to get all three attachments working, in the maxed movements around the two involved joints to create the biggest flexed contraction of the biceps.
ISOMETRICS
Old school body builders like "Prof. Matysek" would find these kinds of positions and just squeeze them for time to create the necessary stimulation for them to adapt and grow (check out copies of the books here). In fact these guys' capacity to trigger an control a single muscle on command showed some pretty awesome sensory-motor cortex mapping/practice.
A word for this kind of fixed-position squeeze is an isometric - we've been looking at a flexion contraction (you can explore extension contractions too)
Isos (for short) are awesome to play with - and even better again if you understand how the muscle works and use that to find what can get it to turn on effectively. Heck, just going through this sequence with my left arm a few times has really made me aware of that muscle. Sheesh.
Now you have a map to start exploring whether or not you're really getting the most you can out of a movement.
More than one way around a joint
Important to note resistance training is optimal when it targets a range of movements. After all there are loads of movements for the biceps alone to hit the muscle in different ways.
But now you can figure out why a preacher curl bench for biceps will have the arm elevated away from the chest, pretty much at shoulder height - really working the short head attachment.
What moves might help work the long head - side attachment more?
In doing a curl how would you optimise wrist up and over while keeping the internal rotation of the upper arm.
Muscle Kinesiology is Fun: Exploring ALL your muscles in movement
You can work through each muscle and muscle group all day long. For the glutes for instance, you can
explore why lunges at 45 degrees are great for glute meds, rather than back and forth for glute max. Again, i love that Structural Kinesiology text for learning about movements and running these checks
 |
| structural kinesiology[UK || US] : great guide to find, feel and test the muscles of movement |
Likewise check out all the bundles in the hamstrings and their action and attachment - check the movements there.
This kind of unpacking of muscle action around a joint also helps explain why we may get sore in unexpected places - like squats killing the inner thighs (adductors)
Hope this helps you discover your body and lets you self-check if your practice is hitting the targets in your movement that you want - and also gives you a way to tune your movement for your self - what's YOUR best position for an optimal contraction of a given muscle? muscle attachment?
Bonus: It's all in the Bone Movement
One more observation: if we get the movement of the bones RIGHT, the muscle contraction takes care of itself. It's actually a lot more effective to think about the movement the bone movement than the muscle. We're really doing that above: what is the movement of the arm, when lead by the focus on what and how the biceps move.We can move up to larger movements that engage more joints, too. If you're interested, here's a fantastic example about how to get the lower body bone movement working for the overhead press - just by exploring the skeletal positioning.
By working through the way the bones are moved around their joints - and optimising for that - not only does great muscular activation occur, great movement patterning begins, too.
So let's get the rhythms of the beautiful bones...
Thoughts?
Note on Name: "Find the muscle" is also a drill Eric Cobb teaches in Z-health 9S: Strength and Suppleness - this is a technique to help bring attention to particular muscle fibers in a movement that may not be firing and to get them online. A coach does an assist to help the athlete check activation of all the fibers. In our case, we're stepping back a bit literally to find the muscle first before getting into activation of areas of the muscle.
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