Hey everyone,
I got instagram a few days ago. First impressions are that it feels like an upgraded, more friendly facebook. Also, its pretty exciting to find a bunch of people I haven't been in contact with for months/years. I'm mckendrytyler on instagram for people interested in following.
Poker went pretty horribly in Vancouver. The games were smallish, okay quality, and raked super high. I didn't connect too much with the people around, they were a bit more standoffish than usual, particularly considering I recognized a bunch of them. It felt like it took at least a few sessions to shake off the rust. On the last couple sessions, I was playing at ~70-80% of my max skill-level of last year in Sydney.
I've been in the "physical world" way more lately, with my inner-world quieting down. I'd like to write mostly about the physical body and eating as these are topics I've been contemplating/discussing the last couple weeks.
I've been doing way more physical activity over the last couple weeks. I've come to observe a few things from my experience and suspect they are generally true with others. First, I'd like to touch on diet and eating in general. Second, I'd like to provide some insights based on my experiences of being "weak" and getting "strong" several times over the last few years.
Newsflash: There are 5-10 large corporations that control ~90% of the worlds food supply. In the US 5 corporations control ~90%. They want profits, and will happily poison the public if it means more profits outweigh negative publicity. The food in most supermarkets is from these corporations. It is not good food. Most of the non-organic foods are horrible, most of the organic stuff is questionable.
As a general rule, organic > non-organic as a value proposition. What isn't realized is that the quality of organic foods varies immensely. There are several (100+) organic certifiers in the USA, and ~95 of them are owned by the big 5 corporations. These guys create organic labels that suit their agendas, and start stamping things organic.
There are some foods that aren't really worth buying organic. For instance, a study of samples of conventional avocados showed traces of pesticides in <1% and they are ~half the price of organic. Google "clean fifteen foods "for more info.
The best bet is to buy local organic produce. The food quality is better, and you take control away from the large corporations. As an added bonus, going to a farmers market is far more enjoyable than a standard supermarket. Farmers markets are everywhere. Typically, they open once/twice a week in small cities/towns and daily in larger cities. There is a second way to get organic produce from locals. There are options all over the internet to have organic foods delivered to drop-off points from organic, non-corporate farmers.
Its a relatively easy life hack. Right now, its only ~3% of grocery sales going through local farmers. I'd bet most of these people are athletes and/or high performing, conscious people. Why not make the switch? Better quality food for roughly the same price, while supporting local farmers. Easy game.
For the past couple of weeks I have been with friends in whistler, doing similar sorts of physical activity, and eating a similar amount. I seem to always be full. I really noticed this effect on a recent camping/hiking trip recently where I ate less and stayed full longer than my friends. Despite eating similar amounts and exercising similar amounts, I've put on ~7-8 pounds in 2 weeks. It's ~50/50 muscle/fat. Others have not seen similar gains.
I must be using less energy or using energy more efficiently. It's probably a combination of both. I think that there are a couple others factors at play too. I suspect my cellular function(for digestion and food->energy) are top-notch given several recent water-fasts, yoga, and eating habits. For eating habits, I tend to eat my food slower and chew more than others. I also use more spices and digestive aids. I tend to take cinnamon with any high sugar meal, turmeric/pepper/cumin and occasionally cayenne pepper with high fibre meals. I tend to have hot drinks(coffee/teas/cacao) following meals. I often add ginger or cinnamon to the hot drinks.
I'm not an expert on food. I'm an advanced intermediate. That said, I have several changes to implement. My over-eating habits are a huge spew. It leads to fat gain which doesn't serve much of a purpose unless I'm planning to hibernate. I should be bloated ~0% of the time, instead of after half my meals. Staying in the 5%-50% full range is optimal, while 10-100% seems practical. Also, I think light exercise 10-30 minutes after a meal would be +EV.
General thoughts on starting to get strong/fit; Start small, create habits, make it fun. Training super hard after a long break is a recipe for disaster. The muscles will need 3-4 days to recover, and they will be very sore. I don't understand why it's such a popular method. Are people afraid of being judged? Do they need to have a baseline? I've done both and recommend starting slow. When I say starting slow, it means going to ~70-80% of max capacity. The gains are comparable, and the recovery is way better.
I think my posts will become even less frequent here, i recommend checking out my instagram and/or new blog at
www.tylermckendry.com