Vote to Change the System, Part 2: CHICKEN

This post is Part Two of a series of posts that summarize what is going on in our industrial food system as inspired by the movie Food, Inc.

"Everything we've done in modern industrial agriculture is to grow it faster, fatter, bigger, cheaper. Nobody's thinking about E-coli, type II diabetes, and the ecological health of the whole system." ~Joel Salatin

Do you like chicken? Do you know where the chicken you eat comes from? How it is raised? What it is fed? If not, you might want to start paying more attention.

Now, this is a good looking chicken!

Similar to the beef industry, only a handful of companies control the chicken industry. Two big names may sound familiar: Tyson and Purdue. After the near death of the tobacco industry in the south, the chicken growers moved in. Farmers who previously grew tobacco started to sign contracts with mega chicken production companies thinking they would be able to make a good living, and the chicken equivalent of beef production began. These farmers are not farmers anymore, they are "growers", and no longer are they in charge of their own businesses. They sign on with the big guns and have to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into chicken houses without any windows or light, into which they cram thousands of chickens. These chickens are fed low quality grain feed that is laced with antibiotics to "protect" them from the immenent infections they will contract in such filthy and cramped living conditions. They are raised and slaughtered in half the time (48 days) they were in the 1950's and they are twice as big. Their breasts are genetically modified to be bigger because that's what people *think* they want to eat. The chickens are so oversized and their muscle and fat mass grow so fast that their bones and internal organs cannot keep up; they fall down after trying to take a few steps, they can't breath, and many cannot fight off infection, even with the antibiotic flavoring in their food. Every day the growers have to go into the chicken houses and pick up the dead ones. The sick ones who aren't quite dead come slaughter time end up in the poultry section of your supermarket, and eventually on your dinner plate. The goal of companies like Tyson is to produce a large amount of food, on a small amount of land, for affordable prices. I suppose "affordable" depends on the context. If one can "afford" to make oneself sick by eating cheap food, then yes, it is quite affordable.

One grower, Carole Morison, shared her story in Food, Inc. She was contracted under Purdue and decided that she had to speak out because what these companies are doing is not right. The companies force the growers to make expensive upgrades for which they have to take out more and more loans, putting them farther and farther into debt and keeping the growers right where the companies want them, under their thumbs. Carole had the "old-fashioned" chicken houses that had windows; her contract was terminated when she refused to convert to the dark tunnel-ventilated houses. On top of the mountain of debt she accrued, she also developed a resistance to all antibiotics from inhaling them for so many years. A typical grower is $500,000 in debt and makes only $18,000 a year. How is this a good living?

Many of these companies, including the leading pork producer with the largest slaughterhouse IN THE WORLD: Smithfield, treat their workers as badly as they do the animals. Smithfield has to recruit people from the outlying areas because they've already burned through the people who live in town. They target very low-income areas and also hire immigrant workers whom they can take advantage of. They hire people who can't afford to leave and they recruit workers from Mexico who lost their jobs and businesses because of the corn industry in the U.S. The government turned a blind eye to this practice because it was cheap labor, but suddenly with the current anti-immigrant movement, they are cracking down- but not on the companies of course- on the workers. Eduardo Pena, a Union Organizer for the Smithfield employees says, "These people have been here for ten, fifteen years processing your bacon, your holiday ham, and now they are being picked up like they're criminals- and these companies are making billions of dollars". Our food system is not about food anymore, it's about money.

Okay, so with all of this negative information about the industrial food chain, I'll end this post with a video of Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms. He embodies what REAL farming is. He raises his plants and animals with respect and integrity. His entire farm is essentially self-sustaining, nature does what it is meant to do; cows eat and fertilize the grass, chickens run around and eat the bugs and worms, pigs get to plow through the mud under the oak trees. He realizes the connection between the health of the food we eat, our own health, and the health of the world. It's about respecting the natural cycle of where your food comes from instead of controlling it. "If we put glass walls on all the mega-processing facilities, we would have a different food system in this country," he says from his open air chicken processing station in his yard. I would love to have the opportunity to check out his farm in Virginia.



If you are in Oregon, I know of one farm who learned how to farm directly from Salatin, it's called Abundant Life Farm and they are located in Peacful Valley. I'm going to look into buying from them. Search farms in your area to find a good place to get your food!

Vote to Change the System, Part 1: BEEF

Last weekend we watched one of the best movies ever. It was horrifying, empowering, and inspiring all at the same time. Food, Inc. Now, I know that it came out a while ago, and it might even be shocking that I have just now gotten around to seeing it, but I read The Omnivore's Dilemma last year and knew that this movie would cover a lot of the same information. This was true, but I am so glad that I saw it and I think it is a movie that EVERYONE NEEDS TO SEE. For too long we have been in the dark as to how our food is grown, processed, and produced. We blindly eat what the government so kindly subsidizes for us in order to make it cheap, without knowing what, exactly, is in it. I'm not just talking about fast food either. We all know that fast food is one of the big contributors to our obesity, diabetes, and heart disease epidemics, but unfortunately the fast food industry is even dictating the quality of the food in the grocery store.



The food that most Americans eat today does not come from farms anymore. The pictures on the packaging have us believe that the milk comes from a quaint little farm in rural Pennsylvania where the cows roam free across the abundance of grass and clover and are happily milked by their loving farmer.. when in all actuality it is quite the opposite. Our food is coming from factories. No longer do the companies who produce our food treat our food with respect, therefore disrespecting the workers and and ultimately us as the consumers. It's not just about food either, it's about what we are allowed to know and talk about. You see, there are these laws called Food Libel Laws (also known as Veggie Libel Laws) that, in 13 U.S. states, make it very easy for food producers to sue their critics for libel (defamation). Remember back in the 1990's when Oprah was sued by a beef producer in Texas, after she heard about the conditions, for saying that she was scared to eat another burger? Well, luckily she is Oprah and she had enough money to hire the right lawyers and win, but the average person isn't able to do that. They will sue the average person. In fact, in Colorado, it is a considered FELONY to speak out against the industrial food industry. And what's worse, now there is the "Cheeseburger" bill (instated in 2005) that make it very hard for US to sue THEM. While I agree that people should be held accountable for what they do to their own bodies by their own freedom of choice (in other words, you shouldn't be able to sue McDonald's for making you fat), I do not believe that a law should protect the corporations who produce the poisonous food from any responsibility whatsoever. The bottom line is that people need to have available the correct information about their food and be provided with better health education. These massive industrial food mongers are in no way helping this to happen.

I am hopeful that the more people see movies like Food, Inc. and read books like Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation and Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma the more proactive we all will become with regards to what we are eating. Anyone in their right mind would make a change in their diet after hearing about and seeing where their food comes from. Take beef, for example: as the industry narrows down the amount of companies in charge of raising and processing the beef that is the most abundant in our food chain, the quality of the food along with the integrity of the companies quickly declines. In the 1970's the top five beef packing companies controlled about 25% of the market and there were thousands of slaughter houses all over the country, today the top four (Tyson, Cargill, Swift, and National Beef) control MORE THAN 80% of the market and there are only 13 slaughterhouses. In 1972 the Food and Drug Administration conducted 50,000 food safety inspections and in 2006 they conducted only 9,164. With this dramatic decrease in quality control and a subsequent decrease in quality, it's no wonder that we have had numerous outbreaks of E-coli 0157H7.

It all begins with how the cows are treated. The industry figured out the fastest and most profitable way to produce affordable meat for every American: cram as many cows into a CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feed Operation) as you can (this equates to miles upon miles of the most unsanitary conditions you can imagine) and feed them food that they are not meant to eat (corn) so that they can fatten up at an unnatural rate. Cows are herbivores, they are meant to eat grass and clover, not corn with ground up chicken or cow parts mixed in. Someone once said to me, "Cows will eat anything you put in front of them, how is corn unnatural?" my response is this- apparently humans will eat just about anything you put in front of them too, that doesn't mean it's good for them, in fact it will kill them just as feeding corn to cows will kill the cows! The only reason corn doesn't kill the cows (most of the time) is because they are pumped full of antibiotics to stave off infection until they are slaughtered just before the antibiotics stop working. If we let the cows live a bit longer, they would die from being sick. While in the CAFOs, your delicious hamburger meat is standing knee-deep in manure, it's own and that of the thousands of other cows that share the confined space. Their hides get coated in feces and then sent to processing where thousands of different cows and their poo find their way into your cheeseburger. Yum, E-coli. One partial solution to the whole E-coli thing would be to take the cows off of their unhealthy diet and feed them grass for five days; they are amazing creatures with powerful digestive systems, they would shed 80% of the E-coli bacteria in their stomachs. Instead of doing this (and keeping the cows clean) the beef industry decided to create another entirely unnatural solution: they add a "hamburger meat filler" that has been cleansed with AMMONIA to the meat in order to kill the harmful bacteria. This filler is in 70% of the hamburger meat in the U.S.

Once again, this isn't just fast food beef, it's the majority of the beef in the supermarket as well. Even if it has a different name on the package, remember- there are only four companies who control over 80% of the market. You see, the fast food industry controls how MOST of our food is produced, since they are the top buyers of it. McDonald's is the #1 beef purchaser in the U.S. and they want all of their hamburgers to taste the same therefore, all beef is produced with the same [super low] standards. McDonald's is also the #1 purchaser of potatoes and one of the largest purchasers of tomatoes, lettuce, and apples. Yikes. With such high demand for cheap food FAST, quality is a thing of the past.

We must speak out against this.

Step one is to KNOW WHERE YOUR BEEF COMES FROM.

Coming up next in Part 2: CHICKEN

Protest the 40+ hour work week!

Life shouldn't be as hard as it is. Our American society places upon us these expectations that are virtually impossible to fulfill. We are programmed to think that we must work ourselves to the bone day in and day out for the majority of our lives, so that we can "retire" (if you're lucky) when we are 65 and then really live our lives... if you're not too sick and doped up on 27 different prescriptions with 82 different side effects, that is. This is just plain WRONG. In fact, we are so indoctrinated with this mindset that if someone doesn't work AT LEAST 40-50 hours a week, they are considered LAZY by most other people. The thing is, we are MAKING OURSELVES SICK, and overworking ourselves is the foundation of it. You see, when you work 55-65 hours a week (let alone 40-50), sleep quantity and quality undoubtedly suffer, as does your eating habits (because eating healthy, home-prepared food takes more time), and also your level of activity drops off. Your stress levels begin to skyrocket because of fatigue, malnourishment, and inactivity so you are therefore less able to handle anything upsetting or stressful. Instead of doing things that would be good for your mind and body (like read, meditate, learn something new, or exercise), you are so damn tired and bummed out that all you want to do is to go home, eat some easy to prepare food (or even worse, take out), watch a movie (or even worse, television), and go to sleep. Then, the next day you drag yourself out of bed too early and not adequately rested and do it all over again. By the time the weekend arrives, you are so sick of your reality that all you want to do is go blow a bunch of the money you have risked your health to earn on alcohol and crappy food. And so the cycle begins. Pretty soon you are so completely out of touch with yourself, sick, overweight, and unhappy because of the large scale hormonal imbalances caused by all of this stress. And it all started with working TOO MUCH.

Sound familiar? You are not alone. This is America after all, so the vast majority of the adult population is with you. These are the same people who make up the statistics of sickness and disease- you know: heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, etc. Those statistics WILL represent YOU.. if you aren't careful. Some of you are probably such control freaks that you still workout despite your demanding work schedule, lack of sleep, and sub-par nutrition which includes plenty of grains (I'll go into to evils of grains on another post). Well, you people quite possibly might get sick and die sooner. You see, when you are literally running on empty and have hormones that are so out of whack that your body doesn't even know if it is daytime or nighttime, running 5 miles is the worst thing you could do for yourself. When we are exposed to stress and light (as in daylight- or artificial light when we should be sleeping), we produce the hormone cortisol. Most of us have elevated cortisol ALL THE TIME. Exercise is a stressor. So if you already have elevated cortisol from your busy, worker-bee lifestyle and then you hop on the treadmill for an hour, you are only raising that elevated cortisol higher. Too much cortisol equals DISEASE. Oh and it also makes you fat. Do you ever wonder why you exercise all the time yet you don't lose weight, and sometimes you even (gasp!) gain weight? You spend hours upon hours doing "cardio" and you still can't seem to shed that tummy. Well the answer to this dilemma is in your hormones. Your hormones are dictated by DIET, SLEEP, and STRESS. Period. So before you even think about working out, you have to get your sleeping and eating habits in serious check. Otherwise your workout could be detrimental to your health.

As a trainer I have been known to refuse to train clients when they come in after having not slept or eaten well because I know exactly what a workout will do to them and I don't want to be responsible for that. I have learned this after witnessing client after client completely BONK out in the middle of a workout, unable to finish- so now I just don't even go there. If I myself am sleep deprived, feel like my immunity is low, or am otherwise not functioning effectively, I SKIP THE WORKOUT. It has taken me YEARS to learn that this is okay to do- because just like our mentality to overwork ourselves for money, we also have this sick and twisted idea of exercise and how skipping it is just not an option unless you are deathly ill. Which brings me to another point- if you are sick, PLEASE don't be so selfish as to go out in public (work, the gym, or wherever) and INFECT everything and everyone you touch. Stay at home and do yourself and everybody else a favor and just heal yourself. Okay, that was a bit of a tangent... I will make my point now:

If you have any control over how many hours a week you work: WORK LESS. Spend more time with your family (especially if you have kids) and friends. What is the point of working so hard for your family if you are so sick and tired by the time you get to be with them that you aren't any fun to be around? Not to mention, working less (and the subsequent effects) will prolong your lifespan and improve the quality of said lifespan. Do things that make you HAPPY and make you THINK (like, don't just watch t.v. or waste time on Facebook). SLEEP MORE and EAT VEGETABLES. Drink LOTS of water- WATER, not water with some artificial fruit flavored sugar alcohol powder added to it because you, "just don't like water" (WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? Water is life!!) DRINK REAL, PURE, UNADULTERATED WATER. Only when you have created good sleeping and eating habits should you even consider working out regularly.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting more information on how to achieve optimum wellness.
But for now, let's just start with working less.

The world outside of myself...

The past three weeks I have been very much inside my own little world. I have been consumed in my own issues, decisions, emotions, and thoughts. And I'm OVER IT. While I recognize the necessity of taking time to check in with yourself and make sure you are headed in the direction you want to go, I am realizing (rather gradually) that the reason I have been feeling a little blank and uninspired is because I need to be a part of something BIGGER than myself. Something more than promoting wellness and helping individuals lead healthier lives (which I know is an important and noble thing), but something GLOBAL, something separate from what I do to earn money. Something that is selfless and truly making a difference for people who are in great NEED.

Last night we watched a movie called "War Child". It is a documentary about Emmanuel Jal, a native of Southern Sudan and a former child soldier during the civil war in the 80's and 90's until he was rescued by a British aid worker named Emma McCune. He now lives in the UK and has become a rap artist; he speaks and sings about his story and this is how he is healing from his unbelievable experience. He is only one of millions of people who have similar stories, and he is doing good by helping rebuild the lives of other young people like himself. He started a non-profit foundation called Gua Africa, Gua means Peace in Nuer, a tribal language of Southern Sudan (see above picture). Gua Africa is an effort to raise money in order to build a school in Leer, Emmanuel Jal's home village. Because of the 20 year civil war in Sudan, the children in this village and many others, no longer have a way to become educated. As an up and coming music artist, he has been able to support, not only his own family in Leer, but also young people in Kenya and Sudan who have been affected by the war.

I am going to become a part of this starting with setting up a monthly donation to the "Survivors of War" group of Gua Africa. I am also going to think of a fund raiser that I can organize and put on in Portland, similar to how people run a race for certain causes, but something more creative and fun than just running (although I did realize that although I have no desire to ever run a marathon, I would do it for something other than myself).

With all of that said, I have been thinking about my blog a lot lately: I am going to take it in a whole new direction. From here on out, this blog is not just about me in MY world, it's about me in OUR world. Stay tuned...

More Gluten-Free Goodness

As most of you (all 3 of you- 2 of whom are my sisters- who read my blog) know, I am an AVID follower of Elena Amsterdam and her gluten-free cooking website and cookbook. I think she is a wizard because she creates some of the most delicious recipes, so delicious in fact, that I no longer crave their gluten counterparts. Well, I have found another amazing woman and her extensive blog about gluten free cooking. She is the Gluten-Free Goddess and I am so excited to try some of her recipes. She is not Paleo like Elana, so not all of her recipes will work for me, but a lot of them will, and the ones that won't can be easily modified. I was on a search for some good soups and stews since it is getting cold here and we are experiencing an abundance of root vegetables like sweet potatoes and squash. Plus I am craving some good quality beef. So stew sounds perfect. Like this one:

I have just begun looking through her recipes and I can tell I could spend hours oohing and aahing at most of them while I try to decide what to make first.

I have been spending a lot of time recently focusing my energy on manifesting financial abundance. With all of that energy going out, some is coming back to me in the form of opportunities to make some cash. Most recently one of my clients asked me to be his personal chef, to that I said YES!!! immediately. How cool is that? I am not "qualified" by traditional standards, but I can cook and I cook healthy food, so it makes sense that one of my clients would hire me to cook for him. It's funny, because as a personal trainer, the hardest part is to get people to eat the right food because I'm not making those decisions for them, but now I am- muah-ha-ha-ha-haaaaa! Well, at least for one person...

I am working up a new idea- A BIG IDEA- that I don't want to go into yet because this one is super special. I have a lot of ideas, and it seems like I bounce back and forth from one to the next quite often, so this one- this one I am keeping close to me for a while until I am sure that I can make it happen. I will tell you one thing though: I am more excited about this idea than any other.

Food and Humans

As humans, more specifically as Western humans, our relationship with food is interesting. We no longer treat food as a drug, as our means of surviving and thriving. For example: Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is in no way about the celebration of the friendship between the pilgrims and the Native Americans, because we all know what really happened.. Thanksgiving is about FOOD (and apparently football for most Americans). Yeah we throw the family aspect and the opportunity to spend time with loved ones in there (which I will go into more later), but really, the entire day or weekend revolves around the food. Is there something wrong with this? In Paleolithic times we did not eat for pleasure, we ate to stay alive and we ate what was available to us in it's natural form. Therefore we ate things that were good for us, things that nourished us as we needed. Now, we as humans, eat for pleasure, and it's actually killing us.

About a month ago, Ramman and I took a trip to our respective hometowns to visit our parents and to just spend some time in two great cities: Seattle and Vancouver B.C. During this trip I realized that my love for certain restaurants or bites to eat had dwindled. Before we went I literally wrote out a list of places that I wanted to take Ramman to so that he could share the wonderful experiences of this food with me and thus share my memory of how delicious it was. Now, I didn't want to go too far off of our regular way of eating because I had been doing very well with healing my digestive system, so I was picking and choosing what might be tolerable but still enjoyable. Once we got to Seattle, none of the places I had initially thought of going to sounded good anymore and I realized that the only reason that I had wanted to go back to them was because of fond memories of eating the food and associations with people and certain times when I ate it. I said to Ramman, "It's funny, because all of my favorite places to eat don't sound good to me anymore because I ate differently back then." as in, I ate poorly, compared to now. The thought of an old fashioned, glazed Top Pot doughnut used to make me drool with anticipation until I could get my hands on one (they always left me feeling quite crappy, but the way it melted in my mouth was worth it).. but now the thought of them and how I will feel for possibly days after is enough to make me say no thanks. The one place we did go (besides Whole Foods so that we could make our own Paleo creations of chicken and broccoli) to have a HIGHLY anticipated "cheat" meal was Taste of India, my favorite Indian restaurant of all time, one that caused me to scoff at all other Indian restaurants. I had been talking this place up for 2 years to Ramman, but when we went, I felt like I would be better off without it. For nostalgia's sake we went anyway. We shared a couple of chicken dishes and some chicken naan and I was pretty disappointed that my memory of my favorite restaurant would continue to be just that, a memory. Needless to say I was a little miffed at myself for choosing naan and so-so chicken dishes with too much rich sauce and not enough chicken as my "cheat" meal. I didn't feel that great afterwards either.

My point is this: it seems that our relationhip with food is a very fragile one. It's okay to have fond memories of this treat or that meal, but when we eat it and feel a certain emotion, we then become addicted to that emotion and think that there is no other way to achieve that elated feeling. When it is in fact the emotion and not the food that we are enjoying. Being aware of this connection is very important, because you can then make the decision to have this experience, knowing exactly what is happening. My tastes for food have changed. I no longer crave foods that I know will make me feel like I've been run over by a truck 70 times. My health is way more important to me than the taste of Hot Lips Pizza. That's not to say that I will never have gluten or dairy again, but I know what I react to and how I react so I can make an educated, rational decision when it comes to what I eat, as opposed to an emotional one.

Two weekends ago we celebrated our 2 year anniversary and I had an entire day (well, 2 meals and a dessert) planned, all of it gluten free and refined sugar free. We splurged with the dairy and the higher ratio of carbs, but hey, it was a planned and well thought out experience:) Here are some photos of what we ate for dinner:

Chicken Parmesan made with almond flour, parmesan, mozzerella, and organic tomato basil sauce, greens and broccoli cooked in olive oil and garlic on the side. Oh, and of course some red wine.


The most delicious Chocolate Cream Pie EVER: made with almond flour and unsweetened coconut in the crust, 72% dark chocolate, agave nectar, and coconut milk in the filling, and well.. regular real whipped cream on top- couldn't resist.


These almond flour recipes are from the wonderful Elana Amsterdam. She makes eating this way EASY.

Until one is committed...

The past week or so I have been realizing again (because can never realize this too many times) just how much potential each human being has; how great the power of THOUGHT, DESIRE, and FAITH are. One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Jiminy Cricket: "When your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme." I have loved this quote since I was a little girl, and I have believed it too.. but since I've grown up and become an "adult" I have forgotten the powerful truth: ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. If you want something badly enough, you can have it, do it, or be it. You just have to commit to your desire and have the determination to make it happen and the faith that it will. As the famous polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said:

Until one is committed
There is hesitancy, the chance to draw back
Always ineffectiveness.

Concerning all acts of initiative (and Creation)
There is one elementary truth
The ignorance which kills countless ideas and splendid plans:

That the moment that one definitely commits ones self
Then Providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one
That would never otherwise have occurred.

A whole stream of events issues from the decision
Raising in one’s favor all manner
Of unforeseen incidents and meetings
And material substance
Which no one could have dreamt
Would have come your way.

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

I have already begun.

World Peace Day

Today is the International Day for Peace.. Did you know about this? I sure didn't. Is it really a "cease-fire" day? Was not one shot fired? Not one person killed by another in the name of war? Doubtful. Here is a documentary that was made by a man named Jeremy Gilly of Peace One Day. In it he tells his story about how he accomplished having September 21st declared as an International Day of Peace. But his journey goes far beyond that- he continued his quest to try and get governments around the world to actually CEASE FIRE.



And here's a video from Matisyahu's latest album "Light"::
It's about PEACE ONE DAY.

Inspired for LIFE.

Training has been going very well. I am still following all of Ido Portal's floreio workouts as consistently as he is posting them. When he doesn't post one I will usually do something else or go back to the beginning of his workouts and repeat them. This new variety of training has challenged me in incredible ways and I am very much enjoying it. I am able to do most of his "intermediate" skills and workouts now (I started at "beginner") but once in a while I am humbled by a new skill or combination and have to go back to beginner (like part of today's workout). I am not yet completely comfortable linking all of the moves together, but I am improving on the individual skills and linking a few together. This is hard stuff!

This is the workout I did on Monday: (it took 2 hours..)

Workout - Intermediate

Warm Up -

Mobility

A1. 5 min Joint Mobility

A2. Wrists Routine X 1 set

A3. Shoulder ROM and Stabilization routine X 1 set

A4. Ido's Squat Clinic Routine X 1 set

A5. Scapula Mobilization Routine X 1 set

B1. Handstand Body Line Wall Drill X 30 sec

B2. Handstand Straighten Into Line X 45 sec total work

Complete 2 cycles of B1-B2, resting 60 sec between exercises

(This is from the advanced workout, beginner and intermediate did not include the straighten into line drill)

Floreio
C1. QDR Rotational Push Ups -Beginner variation (hardest beginner variation) X 10-14 reps / 3 sets / 60 sec of rest
D1. Corta Capim Spin (beginner variation) X 14 reps / 3 sets / 45 sec of rest

Strength
E1. Gymnast's Extended Set / rest 180 sec / 3 sets(This consists of 4 different types of pull/chin-ups starting with hardest and working down to easiest, doing as many of each variation as you can and resting 10 seconds before moving to the next easiest.. VERY HARD)

Prehab
F1. Shoulder ROM and Stabilization routine X 1 set
F2. Scapula Mobilization Routine X 1 set
Complete 2 subsequent supersets of F1-F2 no rest

I went to Kaila's memorial last Saturday and left feeling incredibly inspired. It may seem weird to think that a memorial service can inspire you, but when it is in celebration of an amazing woman who led an incredible life- it makes sense. She started traveling the world when she was 15. She was a chef, a dancer, a photographer, a mother, and many other things. She knew many languages and had friends and communities that welcomed her all around the world. She was passionate about learning alternative medicine and healing; she was born naturally in her parents home, and she gave birth to her daughter naturally in her parents home. Most recently she was doing humanitarian work in West Africa, with her husband and little girl. They were living in a small village where she had built a well for the people who lived there, before this they had no clean water. I don't know how long they were there, but she and her husband had their wedding ceremony in the village honoring the traditional ceremony of those people. That was only in July. Hearing about her adventures and experiences connecting with people all over the world is only motivating me more to really make my own adventure happen; to make my dream a reality. She inspired people all throughout her life, and is still inspiring even though her physical presence is gone.

I made contact with a few farms in Belize where we can work for a free room and food. I spoke with one person on the phone (he lives part time in Canada and part time in Belize, smart guy) from Utz Kab Farm (Utz Kab means "Good Earth" in Mayan), and we actually committed to being there in mid-March to work on the farms for one month! Utz Kab is in San Antonio in the southern Toledo district, close to the Caribbean coast, and the other location is north of there in the central Cayo district close to the Guatemalan border. It is becoming real! Both places are all about sustainable agriculture and living.. they grow organic cacao, bananas, mangoes, oranges, coconuts (all of which we will be harvesting). We will also help build structures (cabins, fences, paths, etc.)- and there are LOTS of Mayan ruins, caves, rivers, and waterfalls close by. It is all coming together and becoming a reality, and I am so excited. The world and it's opportunities to help on a larger scale are beginning to open up. After Belize, the options are endless. I have a list of places where we can work/volunteer from farms to orphanages to guiding treks in the mountains. Next step: buying a one-way ticket to Cancun for March 1st, 2010!

Heartache..

Me and my sister Lindsey, Summer 2008

Death is profound. It’s like a whip across the back to bring you back to the reality of the mortal world. I have never felt the grief of someone very close to me dying. I have come close, but thankfully it hasn’t gotten past the doorstep. When my grandparents died, I was too young to really experience what it meant. I miss them now and I wish I had known them better, but I was minimally affected by their deaths at the time.

The death of K is the closest I think I have experienced. She was my friend Z's older sister. Z and I went to high school together and our group of friends spent a lot of time with their family. My older sister Lindsey was friends with K. As Lindsey said, we were mirror images of each other; I am Z and she is K… and when I think about that it just makes my heart ache even more. Today Lindsey and I wept together on the phone.. I just can’t bear the thought of losing my big sister, and I absolutely cannot imagine how Z must feel. I have absolutely no idea how painful losing a sibling, mother, father, or friend is. But I know that I will have to experience it at some point. I feel like that point is getting a little closer. Each death that I hear about is a little closer to me than the one before it, and this completely terrifies me.

Ramman says that to deal with the death of someone you have to have the realization that nobody really ever dies. Their physical body does, and that is what we are affected by.. but their spirit is simply moving on to another physical body. I do believe this to be true, but it doesn’t really make it any easier. You still have to grieve and mourn, and that seems like an incredible amount of pain. Eventually you heal, and you can move forward.. but the pain, the pain just seems like it would be unbearable.

My heart aches for their family.

Be Extraordinary.

ex·traor·di·nary-
a: going beyond what is usual, regular, or customary b: exceptional to a very marked extent

In the midst of a less than pleasant phone conversation with my mom a few weeks ago (oh, come on, we all have those kinds of conversations with our parents... right?), I took something she said a little too personally, as I usually do with her. She said something that to me implied that I was just average. She said that all throughout my life I was brilliant, I shined, I soared, but now, now I am just mediocre. Now, some of you might be saying, "Your own mother said this to you?!" but keep in mind that I am paraphrasing a bit (like I said, I took it a little too personally) AND my mom decided at some point in her adult life that being tactful, when offering feedback to her own children, is not necessary. She meant the best. She simply was trying to tell me to be extraordinary. And she's partially right, which is why I have this feeling of discontent and restlessness deep down in the pit of my stomach. I am not being as extraordinary as I can be. Which is why I am constantly day dreaming about ways to change my life. I don't mean completely change it, because most of it is wonderful, I just mean... create a better BIGGER picture for myself. This was my mom's way of saying DO THE BIG THINGS YOU WANT TO DO.

I moved to Portland just over two years ago. Before I moved here I was working as a personal trainer for two years at the Seattle Athletic Club in Seattle, my hometown. It was a great place to start out as a trainer and I have a few lasting friendships from working there. But I started to feel stagnant and I wanted to move forward. I felt moving somewhere by myself was something I needed to do (even though I had a lot of friends in Portland, which was another big reason why I moved), and I wanted to experience the fitness industry outside of my Seattle Athletic Club bubble. When I moved, I got similar jobs in Portland, but not before being unemployed for a month and a half. Needless to say I was elated to have two jobs and finally began to feel like I was settling in here. I was playing competitive Ultimate Frisbee and had a busy single girl's social life.. but I still didn't feel right. My health wasn't that great, I was eating poorly (compared to semi-high standards at the time), I was partying too much (again, high standards), and I was trying too hard to make romantic relationships happen because I was craving a real companion. Then I met Ramman.. and my whole world changed- for the better. He has contributed in HUGE ways to my evolution as an athlete and movement artist (I would have never called myself that before), my perspective of myself and my own power, and shifting my awareness of myself within this world. In other words: he has helped me open my eyes a little wider and pay attention to the periphery. I'm not implying that I would not have grown this much with out him.. he has simply helped quicken the process. As individuals, we feel empowered; together, we feel unstoppable. And so the evolution together continues.

I love helping people. And that is what I do. But I am getting tired of helping people the same way I have the last four+ years. I am quickly evolving as a personal trainer (I recently changed this title to "Movement Coach") and my theories and philosophies are leaking out where ever I go and whenever I speak.. sometimes to people who just aren't ready to hear it- but hey, who is ever really ready the first time they hear that they need to make some important changes in their life? I work in a gym, even though I don't completely believe in working OUT in a gym.. this is why I am unhappy professionally right now. Where I spend 20-30 hours a week does not directly coincide with the lifestyle I am trying to lead and teach others about. Sometimes I feel like my growth is being stunted while I'm at my job. But instead of hating every minute of being there, I am infiltrating. While I am here, I am determined to share my philosophies with as many people as possible.. I just have to do it rather quietly, as I might convince a few to quit the gym:) However, most people just smile and nod, and walk away thinking that I am way too uptight about gluten and pull ups... but maybe, just MAYBE, they took something away with them. Ultimately I want to either work for myself (hence, my and Ramman's attempt at creating Rip City Fitness) or a company (like Wildfitness or MovNat) that shares the EXACT same values and philosophies that I do. Not just some of the same ways of thinking- ALL. And to be able to spread this lifestyle (the Primal Lifestyle, that is) all over the world would be incredible.

The world is a very confusing and chaotic place and a lot of people are unhappy, unhealthy, and uneducated as to how to create a change in their own lives. This state of human beings is directly reflected in the state of the world. If more people (especially people in powerful positions) were in balance physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally... well, the world would indeed be a much better place. I am figuring out how I can continue with my personal and professional revolutionary momentum, travel the world, help people, and contribute to changing the world starting with the positive development of people of all ages; starting with each individual I come in contact with. This is how I am and will continue to be extraordinary.

Constant Evolution

Oh my goodness, I have been neglecting my blog big time! I have been putting more energy into the blog for our business: Rip City Fitness - and I just haven't had the time to do both. But now, after just over 2 weeks of not posting, I'm inspired once again to pick up the momentum. I have a feeling this might be a mother of a post...

These past two weeks I have been reading, eating, sleeping, researching, working, took a short trip, more reading, and of course TRAINING. (Now it's already 2 days after I started writing this post.. where does the time go!) Here's what I've been reading, thinking, and doing >>>

ALMOND FLOUR COOKBOOK: I finally got my hands on Elana Amsterdam's almond flour cookbook! It is incredible! I thought her website was IT, boy was I wrong. Her website is just the beginning. There are some duplicates of recipes from her website in her book, but the book has SO MANY others. I encourage EVERYONE to explore this method of gluten-free cooking. It has completely changed my perspective on eating gluten-free. When I went gluten-free I thought that I would either have to give up certain things for good (like pizza, cakes, etc) and settle for gluten-free versions that were just 'okay', or that I would 'cheat' with these gluten-filled foods and pay a huge price. NEITHER! Now, when I want something that is not exactly good for me (in it's regular form), I can have my cake (or pizza) and eat it too! These recipes are not bad for you! And they TASTE BETTER than the originals (at least to me and Ramman). I'm not saying that I will never have gluten again, but when I'm craving chicken strips, I now have a delicious, good for me, gluten-free option. This woman is a GENIUS.


CLEAN: I'm reading this book "Clean" by Alejandro Junger, M.D. and it is giving me a little hope for the American health care system. Just the fact that a Western M.D. like Dr. Junger even exists is inspiring, not to mention he has been extremely successful in helping sick people become well with his methodology. He has a very interesting story, in short: he was born and rasied in Uraguay, lived a very simple and healthy lifestyle there. He was very active and ambitious and ate very healthy food. They did not have all of this overly processed and poisonous food where he is from. At a very young age he decided he wanted to become a doctor and so he went to medical school (in South America). For his residency he moved to New York City and over the span of three years of rigorous training in cardiology, he completely lost touch with his physical and emotional self. He gained weight, was fatigued, ate crappy food, and became depressed without even realizing it. After he finished his residency he took a big risk and was thought foolish by his colleagues for taking a job in India where he would be working in an integrative medical clinic. he worked with Aryuvedic doctors, Acupuncturists, Naturopaths, Chinese doctors, etc. and during that time started to develop his own philosophy on being a doctor that largely went against traditional Western medicine. This philosphy is becoming more widely known as "Functional Medicine". Throughout this journey as a young doctor, he developed a method of cleansing in order to completely detoxify and reset the human body's ability to heal itself. Not only is it about physically detoxifying, but also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. This is profound, especially coming from an M.D. I am about half way through the part of the book that is necessary to read before you actually do the Clean program, which is 21 days long. It isn't a fasting cleanse, although it is a calorie restricted and elimation diet. I'm excited to see how my body responds to it and if I can once and for all heal myself of these chronic digestive probelms. It's all about reprogramming your body, mind, and spirit.

PAYNOWLIVELATER: This is a fantastic blog about Primal eating. The author (who calls himself Methusula) spends a lot of time and energy sharing with people not only how he prepares food and how physically we are a direct result of what we eat, but also the psychology and emotions surrounding food. He also uses himself as a test subject for experiments on physiological reactions to food, which can be quite entertaining. He cites A LOT of valuable references that have to do with the Paleo diet and primal living.

MOVNAT: When it comes to how to physically train your body to be it's best, Erwan Le Corre has nailed it thanks to his extensive research on George Hebert and Methode Naturelle. Check out MovNat for some serious inspiration for changing the way you train. The philosophies that he represents exemplify precisely why I train and what I want to train for. LIFE. It's not about looks- that is secondary; it is about mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical growth through movement, and also a connectedness with ourselves, our environment, and our surroundings.Check out this video of Erwan practicing what he preaches:
BAD ASS.


WILDFITNESS: (wildfitness.com)This is a company based out of London who has teamed up with Erwan Le Corre (I think he is a consultant or something for them). Their philosophy is directly in line with MovNat. They host fitness vacations in Greece and Kenya (right now at least, I can only imagine how they will grow), and the coaches also run classes and training in the parks back in London. I have convinced Ramman that he and I need to apply to be Wildfitness coaches. If they like your application and your phone interview, then they ask you to come to London to train with them so that you can coach either in Greece or Kenya. We could work part-time or full-time. This is a company I would love to work for.. I don't think I have ever thought that of any other company or business.

ADVENTURE: Still trying to save some cash for our Spring 2010 adventure to Central America. It's a little stressful at times when I think that we'll never be able to do it, I just have to keep the faith, otherwise it will never happen. I am thinking of this adventure as a catalyst for change: the time to quit march (and for Ramman to quit the Mac), the time to not have a home (temporarily), to feel uprooted and open to opportunities that we otherwise would not have seen, and really just a time to gain a new perspective on our own lives as they are now. I need this. Sometimes it is necessary to take a step away from the place you are in to really see what it means and where to go next. Plus, saving for this and actually making it happen is such a HUGE goal of mine, that when I actually accomplish it, I will realize even more that I can do anything I want to do.


VISITING FAMILY: Last weekend we took a four day trip up to Seattle and Vancouver B.C. We had a great time hanging out with friends in Seattle, my sister Lindsey, and even my mom. I won't go into it here, but the last year has been a little rough with my mom, let's just say she doesn't believe it's right for a couple to live together before they are married or at least engaged. And she doesn't understand that to Ramman and I, we already are at that level of committment and we don't need some sort of social standard to validate our loyalty or love for each other. I was a little nervous about how seeing her would go, but it actually went pretty well. She and Ramman got a chance to discuss their views (still different) and learn a little more about each other. I think it was a good beginning for the lines of communication to be more open. After Seattle we went to Vabcouver B.C. which was such a pleasant and relaxing trip. We stayed with Ramman's dad, Dave and stepmom, Melody. They fed us well and we slept a lot:) We had a lot of stimulating and inspiring conversations about energy, self-realization, and the power of the human subconcious. After this trip I am fully convinced that I can heal myself of my digestive disorders and manifest my own reality to what I want it to be. We also got to see Ramman's cousins Sene and Chi and Chi's wife Tara and three month old Nyha. It felt really good to be able to connect with that side of Ramman's family. Here's Ramman, Chi, and Nyah:


As you can see, a lot of thoughts, feelings, ideas, and reflections have been happening inside me recently. So much that I hardly feel like I have had the time to process most of it. Writing about it all definitely helps, so I will commit to getting back to writing more often. It's interesting how when we feel overwhelmed with things positive and/or negative, we tend to just freeze, unable to to get anything out or let anything else in. It's all about continuing to move and change and grow.. Constant evolution.

Floreio Art

I have been doing Ido's workouts for about 2 weeks and I feel like I have made some good progress with the movements and even linking them together a bit. Here is a video of me in my living room doing a little improvisational flow.. Remember- this is very early in my training of this art and so I am still very much a beginner:) This is very fun and a completely new kind of movement I have ever done. I'm excited for my potential and it just FEELS GOOD!

Finding words to describe this::

"...Sitting and waiting for the politics to fix this, it ain't gonna happen, they all sitting on their asses..." ~Emmanuel Jal



So I am here at march on a Friday night getting some extra hours in.. keeping in mind, every day, my goal for next spring. I was dorking around on facebook when I realized that the other day I found out that I could watch TED presentations online for free, so I clicked over to www.ted.com to have a look at the plethora of interesting videos I can watch. I see a picture of a handsome African man with dreadlocks and the caption: "Emmanuel Jal: The Music of a War Child". Click. About 14 minutes into it I am choking back the tears (because, remember, I am at work) as I watch him dance around the stage and listen to him sing praises to the woman who saved him, Emma McCune. This story moved me an a thousand ways. So I want to share it with you. His story is the story of so many other African children who have had every aspect of their simple lives brutally stripped away from them. It's a story that you and I can't even IMAGINE. A story that some people don't even want to hear because they don't know what they will do with such a tragedy. Emmanuel Jal has turned his painful experiences into a powerful influence to create an educational revolution in Africa. This is the kind of revolution I want to be involved in. When I hear stories like his or of people like Emma, I am affected at a very deep level; it's so profound that it shocks me, but it's uncontrollable. I know that this is part of the reason why I want to travel. I want to see how people live in other countries, and I want to help those that are less fortunate and have less opportunity than I do. Why else would I be riveted by books like "What is the What?" and brought to tears by one man's song about an angel who rescued him?

I think what I am doing with my life right now is noble. I am not after money, driven by material possessions or status, I just want to help people reconnect with themselves through being physical and taking care of their bodies. And it's not driven by narcissism either. What I teach people is focused on helping them function better as a human being; to wake them up from the inside out. The aesthetics of training is secondary; it's not just physical.. it's mental, emotional, and spiritual. I think that if everyone in the world were to do this, to really know and respect themselves, their compassion would spread outward and eventually the world would be made BETTER. Humans are confused now. And it will not take politicians or laws or traditional life-paths to create the change we need. It will require each individual to begin with him or herself. Only when we each look inside ourselves and make a change for the better will we have the ability to reach out to one another and spread love, courage, confidence, strength, and compassion. This is what I do. AND I WANT TO DO IT IN SO MANY OTHER WAYS. In other places if that's what I am driven to do. Or at home.. the location doesn't matter, nor does the vehicle. It can be done however you want to do it, whether it's building schools in Africa, creating sustainable organic farms in Central America, or coaching little kids sports. We each just have to choose to begin.

Okay, I'll try this again...

FLOREIO ART


This is a video of Ido Portal, my friend from Isreal who we (Ramman and I) met in May when he came through Portland on a U.S. circuit. He held a hand balancing workshop as well as an acrobatics conditioning workshop at CrossFit Portland and taught us lots of valuable training tools for achieving perfect handstands, among other things. He is now developing and posting (for free!) a training program for Floreio Art, the style of movement that he practices and teaches. I started his workouts today and was very satisfied with the difficulty of the beginner movements. I want to do this right, starting with the easiest versions and progressing through the levels as I get better. Floreio combined with Parkour and acrobatic training is going to keep me busy with incredible skill and strength development for a long time. And it is something that I am fired up about.

For the last two years I have lacked a true passion for my training. I have been training just for the sake of training. Ever since I quit playing Frisbee, I have been an independent athlete. Being on a team my entire life, I had goals, personal goals and more importantly a common goal. Now, I am by myself in this sense. And I think for the past two years I have felt a little lost… so I just trained. I have very much enjoyed getting stronger (exponentially!), learning some basic gymnastics skills, dabbling in rock climbing, diving into CrossFit, and experimenting with Parkour, but I have not focused on any one of these because I have not felt a burning desire to. The closest to passionate I have been has been for Parkour, but I have not dedicated myself to training hard for it because it HURTS. These knees can only take so much pounding now. Florieo is much the same kind of discipline as Parkour, and I think it will help develop the fluidity needed to be a good traceuse. But I also want to do Floreio for itself, not as a means to become better at something else. Floreio requires flexibility, controlled breathing, strength, balance, flow, dance, focus, and stamina, many of these things I neglect to train but wish to be good at. Now is the time to practice and become a master of movement.

Finally, I have a focus for my training. Seeing this kind of movement (Floreio and Parkour) is inspiring me to connect with a different kind of athlete inside of me. Not the power athlete, or the teammate, or the play-all-types-of-running-sports athlete, but an athlete who has a way of moving through space that is graceful, strong, meditative, controlled, and beautiful; an athlete who has complete control over and connectedness with her movements. It is just me and my body. Weaknesses are revealed and I am faced with challenges that I have avoided in the past. Strengths are made stronger but are also unable to cover up shortcomings. I am very excited to explore myself in these new ways; on physical, mental, and emotional levels. It is time to evolve as an athlete, person, and movement artist.

And the master plan includes training...

I just spent an hour writing a very meaningful and important (to ME) blog post.. and then I fucking lost it.

Thinking of a master plan...

I got to go home and eat my snack and take my nap last Friday. I never went on that 5k run... What I did on Saturday more than made up for it though. It was such an awesome weekend..

Friday night was spent master planning our adventure to Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. We have the route all planned out and we're even going to buy our one-way tickets to Mexico soon! For a three month expedition we figured out that we need $4000 each. This is a GENEROUS estimation, but better to have more than enough than not! We are going to find an organic farm in Belize to work on for free lodging and food through an organization called WWOOF. My friend Melissa is in her seventh month of travels in Central America and spent a few of them working on a farm in Mexico. I read about one farm in Belize that takes care of abused, neglected, and abandoned children. They grow food and have animals and the children go to school and live there. I would love to do something like that. We're planning on spending the first 2-3 weeks travelling around the Yucatan Peninsula seeing the Mayan ruins and caves there and then taking a bus into Belize. If I have extra money before or after the farm stay in Belize I want to get scuba certified. And after we've spent a couple of months in Belize, we will trek across Guatemala and flight back home from Chiapas, Mexico. All of this planning has motivated both of us- big time- to make it happen. It's going to be amazing. And I truly believe that it will change our lives for good.

Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market and loaded up on fresh veggies and even a whole salmon! We have an abundance of food:) After that we went to a 5 1/2 hour Parkour workshop put on by Rafe Kelley from Parkour Visions in Seattle at CrossFit Portland. It was super fun. And SUPER hard. I was glad I didn't do that run on Friday and even took the day off on Sunday too. We practiced a lot of the basics of Parkour: quadrupedal movement, going under things, vaulting over things, rolls and break falls, flying under bars, traversing across and climbing around on bars, and - oh yeah- running. We were so exhausted afterwards. It was well worth the $60 and is something I think everyone should do! After that we treated ourselves to an evening out with sweet potato fries, IPAs, and chicken nachos.. again- worth it. I hadn't had a gluten-filled beer in about a month.. delicious. We watched "The Octogon" with Chuck Norris and I slept incredibly well that night.

Sunday we went to our new favorite organic farm on Sauvie Island, Bella Organic, and picked close to 30 pounds of blueberries. Woah. Freezer is FULL. We will have blueberries and strawberries (from our last trip) for months. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and eating more (homemade this time) nachos and creating our master plan...

I'm feeling pretty good about my life. I have faith that Ramman and I can figure this shit out together and we'll look back on our crazy life when we are old and smile. Now that we have made a decision to go to Central America, we're going.. the journey starts now. After this adventure there will be many more, in all forms that life presents to us.. We are ready to focus our energy and follow our path, side by side:)

Shifting Energy

I need a snack and a nap. I'm at work until 5:30pm. It's 90+ degrees outside. I'm supposed to do a 5k run today. All I want to do is go home, eat a treat, and fall asleep with the fan blowing on me. Mmmmm.. sounds so nice.

Last night we celebrated the end of our first session of Ninja Boot Camp by inviting all of the participants and their SFs over for some food and a Kung-Fu movie. Lewis, Matt, and Bonnie were the only people who came, but we had quite a wonderful time with them. I love having people over. All of the thought and preparation that I put into making it a comfortable evening for everyone brings me joy. I made some delicious gluten-free brownies from Elana's Pantry and they were devoured. I love it when I bake something without flour, sugar, or dairy and people can't believe how good it is; that it's better than the "real thing".

After our lovely evening with friends and good food, I just had to go ahead and have a "freak out" (as Ramman likes to put it). Usually when I freak out it's related to money. I hate that. When I am stressed about money I have this constant pit-in-my-stomach feeling until I feel more in control of my financial destiny. But the thing is, I still have yet to REALLY be in control. And then there's the question how much control one should be trying to gain over whatever situation is causing distress. At what point does trying to gain control become completely detrimental to the very aspect of your life that you are trying so hard to control? This is what I feel is happening with me and money. And it's been happening my entire life. Was I born into this financial karma? Can I escape it? Ramman thinks there is some deeply rooted issue with my perspective on not only how to acquire money, but also the thought (and emotion!) that none of my dreams or goals can be accomplished without a great amount of it. In my mind one has to work work work and save save save to make things happen. To go on the adventure, to start the gym, to be comfortable... But the thing is, IT DOESN'T HAVE TO WORK THAT WAY.

Last winter we both read a book called "The Four-Hour Workweek" by Timothy Ferriss. Here is a guy, in his early thirties, who GETS IT. He has mastered the game of life by first recognizing that he didn't have to buy into to the norms, and then refusing to play in it. He teaches people about how create an automated income so that you can dramatically decrease the hours per week you work, while dramatically increasing the amount of money you make. This liberation allows you to experience life the way it should be experienced- all over the world, learning languages and unique hobbies and helping people in whatever way you want to. He is THE example of what people should be doing with their lives. Read it. I'm reading it again. And I will read it again until I GET IT.

VagaNation!

Who knew brown could look so good.

Last weekend was Potlatch. It's Wednesday now and I think I have finally recovered. What an amazing weekend. For three years (at least) I have wanted to play for Vagabonds; I wanted to wear brown, so after last year when my Vaga friends were wondering why I wasn't on the team I decided to just invite myself onto it. And I'm soooooo glad I did. This is an incredible group of people, not to mention damn good ultimate players as well. We finished the weekend 8-1 losing to Team Canada in the semifinals, and if it had not been a worlds year, it's quite possible that we would have won.

Potlatch is such a unique experience. What other sport would you spend an entire 3 days at one location, with over 100 other teams, camping out, playing games (other than ultimate), hugging opponents, jumping in lakes, "showering" in spigots, and completely forgetting about any other reality..? NONE. When you are at Potlatch, you are no where else. It feels so good to be surrounded by all of your friends, laughing for 3 days straight, and making new friends while you are at it.

I started this post on Wednesday morning but this week has been such a whirlwind that I am just now trying to get it out on Friday. The past two weekends quantify my ultimate season for the summer. Potlatch and then the beach tournament. Today I am leaving for Seaside, OR where some crazy fun beach ultimate and hanging out with friends is going to happen. Two years ago I went with the same crew (a bunch of friends from Seattle and a few Portland representatives) and this year with the addition of Jill and a few others, this weekend promises to be EPIC.

Last weekend I managed to stay away from gluten (with the very small exception of two bites of Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough ice cream, which was honestly a space out and a complete accident). With all the beer and crappy food around I was quite proud of myself, not because I didn't have any, but because I didn't WANT any (except for, obviously, the cookie dough ice cream). Often, when I go to these frisbee tournaments I come back with a massive carb hangover that lasts for like two days. This week i have definitely had a difficult time recovery from Potlatch, but I think it was more the running around in the hot sun all day for three days than it was the carbs. I managed to keep my intake pretty low and ate mostly protein. Same plan for this weekend. I get wrecked enough just playing frisbee now, I don't need to make it worse by drinking and eating too many carbs! It's crazy how sensitive my body is to carbs and processed foods now.. it feels good to not be desensitized to it; to actually know what it feels like to have an insulin spike and drop (it doesn't feel good).

Ramman and I are cruising with Rip City Fitness as much as we can. We just completed our first Ninja Boot Camp and next week we will start another. I've been training Schwa and a couple of other clients, so we're bringing in some extra cash, trying not to find reasons to spend it. My goal is to save all my money from what we are doing with RCF, and hopefully this fall and winter we will get a lot of people enrolled in boot camps and Ramman's acrobatic training course. As far as saving money goes, it has been easier to do than in the past now that I have an ACTUAL GOAL, not just a dream. The most current update of our travelling goal for next year is to leave in February/March for the Yucatan Peninsula and explore all of the Mayan ruins there and hike/chicken truck it into Belize. A 3 month adventure. Then we will come back to Portland, work and train for the spring, summer, and fall and then leave again in the winter for Southeast Asia for 3 months.. etc, etc, until we have satisfied our travel and adventure bug (which may be never..?) But then again, Belize... When we get there, we may not leave..

Treat yourself RIGHT.

Me, Robb Wolf, & Ramman

On Saturday, I went to the CrossFit Nutrition Certification which is put on by Robb Wolf. It was even more entertaining and informational than I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, I knew going in that I would learn a TON from this guy, but I figured I knew the basics enough to understand all of what he would go into. Let me tell ya- this guy is SMART. And extremely funny. I suppose he has to be, how else would 70 people sit through 8 hours of him talking about the biochemistry of food interaction with your cells. His main point, the point that he is trying to convince people all over the world of is: Gluten is THE reason people get sick. He proposes that gluten is at the root of all incommunicable, auto-immune diseases- and when you get down to the scientific facts of the properties of gluten and how the lectin essentially puts little holes in out intestinal lining (no matter who you are), it makes sense that disease would occur. (If anyone sciency is reading this, please don't rip me apart for summarizing VERY poorly, I have the notes from the lecture if you want to discuss.) Robb also believes that ALL people are intolerant to gluten on some level, whether they have apparent symptoms or not! I have thought this for some time, before I even read his work. What it boils down to for me is that I am now completely convinced and empowered to rid MY diet of this toxin for good. I'm not saying that I will never ingest it again, likely I will, but VERY few and far between. As many people who know me know, I struggle with a myriad of digestive symptoms (as does/did Robb Wolf), and I am ready and willing to pull the stuff out of my diet completely for one month to see how things change. I already avoid it at a level that others might think is extreme, but now I am kicking it all the way out. Stay tuned for updates on how my gluten-free, Paleolithic eating habits are treating me:)

I would like to convince everyone that I care about to go completely gluten-free for one month. I know that some people are hard to convince (like I was) that it's worth it to take it out of your diet. All you skeptics need to do is read some of Robb Wolf's work and then go visit a retirement facility, like the one where Ramman's Grandpa lives. Seriously. Go visit your Grandma or great Uncle, and if you don't know anyone who lives in one of those places (lucky you), go volunteer at one for a few hours. See what poor lifestyles lead you to. If you are not convinced to take care of yourself after seeing someone who needs to take 24 DIFFERENT pills a day who couldn't walk a mile in faster than 40 minutes (if they could even walk that far at all) and can't stop their hands from shaking, who eventually will need someone to wipe their ass for them, well then you're an imbecile. I am DETERMINED to NEVER, EVER, EVER end up in a place like that. When I die, I am just going to die (this is what Robb Wolf says of CrossFitters:)).. there will be no long, painful, drugful, drawn out process. Nope, not me.. I am going to live, live, live, and then just die. And I will be very, very old.

When we got home from the certification, Ramman received news that a friend of his had died. Keith Goodman, only 53 years old, was an influential teacher in the Portland dance community and Ramman had known him from his Capoeira group. The past few summers Keith has invited Ramman to teach at his dance camps and they had actually just wrapped one up the day before he died. Keith often taught and performed contemporary dance in which he would dramatically collapse to the ground. This is the way he ended his final performance. He was dancing with some of his students during a performance and at the end of the piece he "lowered himself gracefully to the ground", as his partner, Bill Flood, recalls. A very sad and premature, yet fitting ending to a beautiful life.

That kind of story reminds me how temporal life is. It also makes me wonder what could have been done to prevent his death at 53. IS it all diet related? Keith was a giving, loving, gentle, happy person. He was passionate about dance and teaching dance. He had a family. He was seemingly fulfilled with is life. Was what he had been eating his entire life the cause? Is diet the only factor? These are questions that need to be addressed and experimented with.

We are complex creatures and so many of the things we expose ourselves to, things we think are good for us, could be the very things that kill us. Avoid misery and sickness. Eat foods that come in their natural form. Use your body. Use your mind and heart. Treat yourself right.

Fight the Power.

The past two weeks Ramman and I have been getting up much earlier than usual on Tuesdays and Thursdays to run our "Ninja Boot Camp" at the Duniway track. When the alarm goes off at 5:45am it's pretty brutal, but once we get out there, breathe some fresh morning air and start moving around, it feels amazing. I know that our ninjas in training feel the same way too. We all show up a little groggy and fuzzy eyed, then we center ourselves with a 5 minute meditation, do some joint warmups, move into a more dynamic warm up with rolls, balancing on railings, jogging.. and then the wod.. Today I got to participate in the wod because it was a partner workout and we had an odd number of proteges. It wasn't too grueling of a workout but it was a perfect example of why one should do CrossFit style training: because I was ready. The time of day didn't matter. Whether I had or hadn't eaten didn't matter (actually, not having eaten probably helped). What the workout was didn't matter. I had to do it, so I just did. And it felt great to have already put in some training by the time 7:30am rolled around.

Latest thoughts on traveling: I figure if we each need to save $5000-$6000 to do the teaching English thing, why not just save that much and travel, sans teaching English, for 6 months. How awesome would/will it be to go to 6 different countries in 6 months?!?! I want pick 6 countries (that are cheap to live/eat in) that have something culturally that I am interested in learning. For example: Mexico: Spanish or Thailand: Muay Thai or Belize: Scuba Diving.. To spend a month in a country and choosing something specific to intensively learn, oh man, that would be amazing.

I've seen so many videos posted online about Neda, the young woman who was shot dead during protests in Iran. I've avoided watching the video of her being killed in order to selfishly spare myself from the emotions that would come along with watching it. I haven't had the courage to press play, for fear that what I would see would upset me an incredibly deep level. I didn't watch it BECAUSE I HAD THE CHOICE. I sit here in my comfortable apartment in peaceful Portland, Oregon, on my nice computer listening to reggae, choosing not to let disturbing images permeate my walls. Until today. I finally watched it. I decided that I can no longer protect myself from the gruesome details of our chaotic and corrupt world leaders and governments if I am going to refer to myself as anything even resembling a freedom fighter. Yes, seeing these images of innocent people's lives being stripped away at the whim of a sniper with a rifle and an order are extremely upsetting, but without witnessing the brutality and knowing what exactly is going on, how can I expect to be a part of the fight against it? And what about the people who HAVE NO CHOICE. It's in their cities, it's in their schools, it's in their homes, right in front of their faces. People, family members and friends, are being killed and brutally beaten right next to them and yet THEY KEEP FIGHTING. It's getting to the point that those of us who have the choice to live in a safe bubble, who have the choice as to what we expose ourselves to must FORCE ourselves to SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING. Because before we know it, it will be right in front of our faces and we won't know what to do.

Despite my liberal education and my alternative upbringing, I am politically ignorant. I am making the choice NOW to change my level of involvement in the fight for the greater good. I have always been on that level in my mind, but the fact that I choose not to read about or watch or listen to disturbing stories and images means that I am not fully dedicated to fighting back. I watch documentaries. I live as simply as I can. I try to make ethical choices when purchasing products and food. I do not support mainstream media. I do things on the surface that up until now make me feel as though I am doing my part. But now it's time to do more. Even if it is just reading, watching, listening.. It is KNOWING. And with knowledge you are armed.

So now I reach out to you who are reading my humble note. With all of the bullshit in American media, what are the best, unbiased, resources for learning what is happening world-wide? I'm assuming the BBC offers legitimate information.. What else?

Fighting the power..

Random thoughts from this week:

Belize.

I know I keep posting these pics of tropical places, but they are my

motivation to stay focused and make it happen!

(On Thursday)

What is with these allergies??? I've never had it this bad. It's taken me 4 days to realize that it's not a cold, it's just stinkin' allergies.. which feel the same, really. I'm tired, I can't sleep at night, my head hurts, my nose is runny, and my throat is scratchy.. pretty much the same as a cold- except it's not going away! I had/have certain goals for June that I wanted to accomplish as far as training goes, and this week has messed it up a bit. But today I am going to do something, maybe if I train it will help move this crap through and OUT of my system, and maybe I'll be able to to fall asleep tonight. Another reason why I would like to experience a different climate!

My goals for training included really working hard on my handstands, backbends, and muscle ups (by sticking to the schedule I devised back in May), and doing a lot of metcons and running to prepare me for Potlatch in 2 weeks and the beach tourney in 3 weeks. I want to feel strong running-wise for these tournaments so that I can play well (since I'm playing on really good teams) and so that I'm not COMPLETELY wrecked for 3 days after they're over. Doing that much running (Potlatch= 3 days, Beach= 2 days IN SAND) after not really running that much is just asking for some sort of injury or incredible soreness. So today I am back on the running/metcon horse, despite my runny nose and clogged sinuses. It's not a cold, so I'm pushing through this crap.

(On Saturday)

Thursday I did a great metcon that worked me but was also focused on my strengths:

4 Rounds for time of-

Run 400m (the Rip City 400- we don't actually know how long it is, but I think it is more than 400)

20 KB Swings

10 Pullups

I completed it in just under 20 minutes which was my goal (my exact time is in my wod book which is not with me at the moment).

Then on Friday I decided to do a metcon that would challenge some of my weaknesses:

From crossfit.com- "J.T."

21-15-9 reps of:

Handstand Pushups

Ring Dips

Pushups

This one was officially a painstorm for me at 29:25.. A far cry from Annie doing it in 9:49 here.. It was pretty brutal.. All pushing. Even though pushups are a strength of mine, after doing HS pushups and ring dips, the regular pushups felt like I had 100 pounds on my back. Good, hard workout. And humbling.

I am still feeling the effects of this allergy/cold thing. But besides a clogged head and a slight cough, I feel great. I am the perfect amount of sore:)

Last night we spent some time hanging out with friends and being social, going off the diet (the true meaning of diet: habitual nourishment) a bit, which was good for us. We find that we are most likely to "cheat" when we are out socializing at parties, etc. We usually "go off" of our clean eating once or twice a week and it seems to work well for both of us. It's amazing, though, how different I feel when I do go off. After spending so much time and energy creating a clean and smoothly running system, when I have a couple drinks and sweets, I really feel the difference the next day. A slight headache and a little more groggy than normal- but not bad. I'm just glad that I am sensitive to it now.. Two years ago I wouldn't have noticed- in fact I didn't!

I'm still planning on teaching English and travelling next year. I found a good program in Phuket, Thailand that is a bit cheaper than the other one I mentioned a couple posts ago. I can make it happen with about $3,000.. that's including airfare, food, a place to stay, the course, and some extra cash for emergencies. And that's considering airfare from Mexico or Belize, which is where I want to go first for like a month. Add on another $2,000 for after Thailand while getting a job and setting up living space in Japan or where ever I/we get jobs. So, I'm looking at saving between $5,000-$6,000 by next February... hmmmm... need to scheme up some more ways to make money and save it! I have never saved this much money, not even close, but I know I can make it happen! I want it badly enough..