Healing old pains

Monday was a really great day for me. My godfather is in town for a week helping my mom help my dad recover from a neck surgery. Mo was already there so Mistress and I stayed for a steak dinner. Mistress bbq'd steak and I bought desert. Worked out for them and us since the a/c is still out at our place.

I came home around midnight and putz'd around for a few moments with the dog and surfing cable and caught the last few minutes of United 93 about the September 11th hijacking. I have avoided any movie about 9/11, the live feed I watched and the subsequent replys of WTC coming down are more than I need for the rest of my life. It is still so raw for me, believe it or not.

I think I have mentioned in the past that that day changed the paradigm of my life in fundamental ways.

In September 2001, I had not had sugar or caffeine for over five years. I was a powerlifter weighing 225 pounds and starting a diet for a body building show I was doing around Thanksgiving. On the 11th, a Tuesday, I was several days into a fishing trip in Montana with my dad and godfather and couple other guys. I had just toured Little Bighorn as part of a historical military exercise and was staying at a military base in Helena on the 10th and 11th.

I was trying to get the gang out the door, it must have been a bit after 7am and we were dawdling. I went to turn off the tv and Bryant Gumbel came on with a special announcement saying a plane had hit the WTC. I called everyone in and thought out loud that it must have been a plane malfunction. Something similar had happened not long back.

As a camera showed the plumes coming from the building, I saw the second plane in the background. I knew then and I don't know how that this was something much more than pilot error. We all stood agape as the second plane hit the WTC in real time. Man.

I remember sitting down and saying, "My life will never be the same." I then asked my godfather for a cup of coffee and a candy bar. My demand was almost as unnerving as the tv, I had been eating nothing but chicken breasts and ground beef for four days as part of my contest diet. I had relented to a few beers on the river but unmoved with taunts of sugar and espresso, up till that minute. Everyone knew how long I'd been off those items and to drink two cups of coffee and three candy bars was profound. Needless to say we sat there for about an hour. I could have sat there all day and would have if at home. But we decided that it was best to let the process play out and console ourselves by fishing.

I realized that day on the river that my life was too much time spent in the gym. Between work and workouts I spent between 80-85 hours a week in a gym environment. Even the running I had done outdoors became a treadmill chore because of the desert heat. Mentally I dropped out of the bodybuilding contest. How could I be so vain at that moment? I decided I couldn't exercise in a gym any longer and thats the spark that turned me back towards my dreams of competing in endurance events, eventually triathlons. I also decided my life needed more variety and I added carbohydrates back into it. I went from 80% protein to a 40/30/30 plan, denying myself nothing with moderation.

By the end of the day, we had to drop my dad off at a state level military meeting, he was the third highest ranking officer in the state. By the end of the week, my brother was gone for a year, as a member of the first guard unit called to service in the GWOT. The fishing trip ended with my godfather and I saluting my father as he lifted off a tarmac in a heavily armed gunship to prepare his soldiers for the unknown. I flew out, trying to explain to the guards in the airport that hemostats to pull out fish hooks were not dangerous and should be allowed on the plane. They were.

I didn't have a son then. I had been married for quite a while and had a business that had started a few years earlier but I was ready to go back into the service. I looked into it but they didn't want me at the time. I had been out five years and that was too long for them at my age and job ability, Infantry officers are a dime a dozen.

With the changes I made to my diet and exercise and stress, I lost fifty pounds getting the anger out of me at what had happened to my country and the politics that came after. I was preparing my body for the combat I felt would be placed on me, but the call never came, even when I called them.

With all things the pain lessoned and I put on some much needed weight. Mistress changed too. She had been adamantly opposed to kids but less than a year later she was pregnant. I think I can blame 9/11 for her change too. I sometimes selfishly wonder 'What If' that day never happened. Would I be a father? Would I have done an Ironman? Would I have the balance in my life with work and nutrition that I did not have then?

Watching just twenty minutes of United 93 pulled this out me just now. I do not think I can watch it all, yet. I have a "9/11" CD of saved videos, images and articles from the internet that I saved for my son. To show him what really happened as opposed to the revisionist views that I knew he would be taught in school. I don't want to forget, nor think I ever will. People remember where they were when Kennedy was shot, or when Challenger exploded. I remember 9/11 just as clearly.

Thanks for reading something I had to get out of me before bed.

Sitting is Active Recovery?

When you watch the local news tonight take a gander at the southwest and you'll see its now pretty hot. Not officially hot, that happens when the ten day forecast is nothing but 110+ degree highs and 90 degree lows. On the flip side I did hear that Aspen's Ski Lodge will be open this weekend for Fathers Day. Last chance to hit the snow!

I have been a good boy, if not a bit lazy. Last Saturday I went to a triathlon and volunteered. Just doing my part and it was enough to wipe me out the rest of the day. It made me a little worried about training.

Since Ironman and the whole liver & kidney failure thing, I drink about a gallon of water a day, if not more. Since Saturday, no matter how much I drink I can't get my urine to clear out. It goes from tea to yellow but as of yet it hasn't been close to clear. So to be honest I have been giving myself a forced rest. I may try to do a little something today just to test the color of my next #1 but nothing to hard. In the meantime I have been trying not to exert myself too much and drink as much fluids as I can. Sittings enough right?

I figure its going to cost about eight grand out of pocket to cover the hospitals, doctors, tests and travel I will have to do this year to get my Rhabdo under control. That's a tough pill to swallow, but we have to believe that in the end, I will have all the answers I need to live a healthy and productive life. Its an investment in my future.

I have received two of three tests from the Seattle clinic that I can do at home. I have to follow some routines for a couple weeks before I can complete them and send them in. A third test will be coming soon. Then it looks like a trip up there.

I really hope all of you in the midwest are okay and sorta dry. My thoughts are will all of you.

The Big Dozen

Mistress and I have been married 12 years today. Longest relationship I've ever had over three months. I couldn't have married a better woman for me and though like all marriages there are the idiosyncrasies and ups and downs, I have earned a long leash of trust from her. Even when I say I will be back from my workout in four hours and she says, "See you in five," and thats when I get home.

So what did we do for our anniversary? Well we sent Mo over to Grandmas for the night and we went to a high end steak place for dinner. $250 later, I felt pretty damn good and not full at all. Mistress felt a bit full and tipsy. I didn't drink any booze but created my own drink with orange juice, 7-up and cranberry juice, she had a some great Merlot.

The meal was okay, not spectacular. We had crab stuffed mushrooms that were massive and some ravioli for appetizers, she had a 8oz filet and I ordered a 18oz prime rib. It was bone in and I ate about 12 oz which was perfect but the thing was huge. It was thicker than my index finger is long, about three inches. The side for the main meal was a gnocchi, truffles and crab meat which I was not a huge fan of, but Mistress thought was tasty. For desert the restaurant gave us a free slice of very good triple chocolate cake with Happy Anniversary written in chocolate on the plate. Nice touch.

When we got done with dinner, we tried to make it to a movie, but we were in between all the showings. Instead we went home and watched a great movie I rented for her called Stardust. A little quirky but full of fun. A bit like Princess Bride which is her favorite movie.

Mo gets back soon. I am off to do the grocery's for the week and then a 1500 swim/ 30 mile bike brick. My legs are still beat from the great 60 I rode yesterday at 19.5 mph.

I'll have a new holiday M-Dot picture going up before New Year so stand by.

Flipping Pies

I got an email from a friend, a personal trainer, who was sending out his defensive strategies for Thanksgiving. He asked for some feedback on what has worked for us receiving the message and he would share them with everyone else.

Here was my contribution. I am interested in yours...

I think a lot of families remember us (guys in particular) as “ravenous, eating contest with Uncle Bob teenagers”, not the triathletes we are today. It takes supreme effort to maintain control at the family gathering but I always treat the snack table as a run aid station. I don’t stand at the table I walk or run through. I grab something to drink, something to nibble in one hand and then gone, just like a race.

During the meal, just try to stay under the radar. Make the plate look full by spreading everything around.

After all that effort to maintain control during the meal it can all fall apart at the end when we leave. Everyone is offering leftovers and that’s when you ‘give in’. Ask everyone else to take their share first and then take everything offered, especially slices of pie and cake. Don’t hold back. You will get claps on the back for finally indulging yourself as you walk out the door loaded down.

Then as soon as you pull into the driveway, throw it all in the garbage can beside your house. Every last bite. You don’t eat all the calories and your family will think they finally broke you down.

Successful dinner

I forgot to mention that I made a full dinner last night without starting a fire. Mistress did open the back door for smoke but nevertheless it went well.

All off the top of my head I floured and pan fried pollock, then took them out and made a white wine sauce in the pan using the remaining crusties, adding lemon and basil. I made rice and added canned mushrooms and chicken broth instead of water. I also did a saute of zucchini and squash and a little red pepper.

sticks and sporks

Do you have a preference to how you eat? Its not silly. Do you have a favorite drinking cup, coffee mug, fork, spoon or knife?

I will admit that my eating preference is to use my hands or two pieces of bread. In the Infantry you never really had a place to sit and eat a hot meal with a table and a plate and utensils and all that high flaunting stuff, so it was not uncommon for most of us to put the entire meal between two pieces of bread and stuff it in our faces as fast as possible so nothing fell to the ground. Oh the heady days of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and tapioca pudding between two slices of whole wheat.

Most of the food I ate was MRE's and even though it came with an adequate spoon it was not something to pride yourself on and I would spend spare moments in stores looking for the perfect spoon to eat with. (I'm not alone here) It had to be long enough to snake it into a buddy's pouch of Chicken Ala King but have a big enough bowl to get a decent serving of food on it. Sometimes I still catch myself looking for the new perfect spoon at outdoor retail stores.

I do have two favorite spoons right now. Super Spoon and Sporkzilla. Super Spoon is almost spatula like in its appearance but has got me through many nights of chili and soup. My most favorite is Sporkzilla. Sporkzilla is a titanium spork from Snow Peak. You may laugh but this spork is highly prized by backpackers, they even write reviews about it. My only concern with this reviewer is that he seems a bit of a princess. What guy spoons the milk out of his cereal bowl or finishes soup broth with a spoon, you slurp it up from the bowl for crying out loud. And you don't rely on a spork for eating meat which brings me to my next much ballyhooed utensil.....

The Stick.

There is perhaps no better way to eat than off a stick. Oh you can buy those cheap wood skewers or use chopsticks, for eating purposes a good knife is considered a stick. But nothing is more manly. The thrill of eating an apple by knife blade. The satisfaction of eating grilled chicken and vegetables off a long sharp rod. Even sushi is perfected by using chopsticks though easier with just the hands. Oh heck even eating ice cream off a stick is pretty cool. I have eaten just about everything off a stick. I had bat on a stick. It was a fruit bat so I got my protein and my vegetables in that meal. There is nothing better while backpacking or on a mission than eating squirrel, rabbit, snake, deer, grubs (big fat white marshmallow size grubs) , pancakes, biscuits, turtle, fish, squab (thats Scottsdale for pigeon), fruit, veggies, shrimp.

Look. People plan elaborate parties around fondue pots which means you dip food into a sauce using a-pause for dramatic effect-yes thank you a stick. I went to a wedding that had sushi and a chocolate dipping fountain. I used the same set of chopsticks for both. (Hey I disinfected them with my glass of Glenlivit).

Children learn at a young age to toast marshmallows and bread around campfires using sticks they found around their campground. Its ingrained in us and then we get all discombobulated with rules and etiquettes when all you really want to do is forgo a little civility and slurp from that bowl or tear something with your hands and shove it in your mouth.

I believe my (perhaps) over analyzed eating solutions are just another way of staying young having fun with food.

Can you relate?

Such double speak

Science, Dan Brown and now it seems James Cameron can disprove the foundation of Christianity but can't decide if a effing multi-vitamin is good for you.

My basic problem with this report is that doesn't describe the study, how many and what demographics were in it or how long it lasted. It takes three specific vitamins along with a diet and then becomes a wide sweeping generality.

To begin with Vitamin A and beta-carotenes are essentially the same pro-vitamin though the process is chemically different. One major difference is that pill form beta carotene has been linked to increased death rates in people already predisposed to prostate and lung cancer. This isn't new to those in the research and cancer communities.

Vitamin A and Vitamin E are both fat soluble vitamins which means that if combined with a low fat diet, which is the other side of this study, then benefits of these two vitamins are decreased along with a decrease in basic physiological functions like ovulation which is another part of the study.

To make claims against three, extremely well researched compounds, and then generalize that anyone taking any multivitamin has a 5% greater chance of dying. C'mon! Maybe people who take multivitamins are more physically active than those that don't and that the higher mortality is from increased outdoor activity. Maybe the study used geriatrics.

Coffee is good for you one week, bad the next.
Red wine is good for your heart but then your an alcoholic.
Dark chocolate is good for you but it makes you fat.
Exercise increases the quality of your life, unless its running because Jim Fixx died of that.
Driving is good time management but it increases your chances of dying on the road.
I also heard that research is the number cause of cancer in lab rats.

Don't through your endurolytes and flintstone chewables away yet. Keep that tub of powdered carbs close. Next week it will be something else.

From The Times

February 27, 2007

Medical backlash over health foods

Nigel Hawkes, Health Editor

Two of the most popular products in Britain’s vast health food industry come under attack today, as scientists cast doubts on the benefits of vitamin supplements and low-fat dairy products. Research published today suggests that regular consumption of a wide range of vitamin pills, taken by more than ten million people in the UK, may actually increase the risk of dying, while eating low-fat dairy products could make it harder for some women to conceive.

The vitamin study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, overturns earlier research suggesting that vitamins A, E and beta carotene could protect against heart disease and cancer.

But far from helping, the new study says, the evidence is that taking vitamins, either singly or as part of a multivitamin pill, actually increases mortality by 5 per cent.

The scientists, based at Copenhagen University Hospital, who carried out an in-depth analysis of research involving more than 200,000 people, conclude that the “public health consequences could be substantial”.

A second study in the journal Human Reproduction, by researchers from Harvard Medical School , indicates that the rush into low-fat foods, driven by fear of heart disease and obesity may also have consequences for fertility.

The researchers found that women eating normal amounts of low-fat dairy products stood a higher risk of failing to conceive. Their diet appears to be implicated in a failure to ovulate, which is responsible for 12 to 15 per cent of cases of infertility. Women who ate whole-fat dairy products suffered fewer cases of this form of infertility.

FTC drops the supplement bomb

The Federal Trade Commission put the hammer down on supplement companies that make false claims on products, with fines totaling $25 million dollars.

The biggest hits were on the popular products: Xenadrine EFX, One A Day Weight Smart, CortiSlim and TrimSpa.

All well known companies. All well known brands. Maybe even you have tried them based on the 'WOW' factor of the ad or commercial.

Nancy, and I and many others have long asked and educated our readers to be proactively conscious about what supplements they use. Its a jungle out there.

CH. 3: No Accountablity

Chapter 3: Supplement companies lie.

In Chapter 1, I gave the illustration how a well marketed company can publish a self produced study stating they were better than the competition and you should buy their brand. In Chapter 2, I described a watershed moment in fitness history with passage of the DESHEA Act of 1994. This chapter will describe how and why companies can fabricate outlandish claims and not be held accountable for them.

First let’s sort out the difference between a prescription drug and a supplement. A prescription drug, lets say Prozac, must go through several years of modeling, study, scrutiny, human trials and then approval by the FDA. It takes hundreds of millions of dollars to conduct this research and a decade or more to get FDA approval. Once approved for usage, ongoing and rigorous testing is conducted to ensure every single pill has exactly the exact amount of ingredient as is prescribed on the bottle. The consumer can be sure that every 10mg Prozac pill in existence has exactly 10mg of Prozac in it.

Supplements are a different animal, because there is no regulation. They can make any claim they want. For example if two friends, decided to get into the supplement business all they would have to do is incorporate a business for selling. If their only product was Vitamin C this is how they could make a million dollars. Step 1. Go online and purchase bottles and a pill press. Step 2. Go to Costco and buy as much Tang Breakfast drink as they can hold in their cart. Step 3. Pour all the Tang in the bathtub, add water, mix and then let dry (3a. Drying in an oven is faster). Step 4. Press bathtub Tang into the pill press so they have a uniform shape and size. Step 5. Put 60 pills in every bottle because that’s what it will say on the label that was printed off the iMac on the kitchen table. ‘Organic’ is a good selling word to use on label. Step 6. Market bottles for $10 each on a website. Step 7. Start counting the cash. If the bottle says each pill has 200mg of Vitamin C, as long as a pill has on average somewhere near that number, then no problem. One pill could have 1mg, another 150mg, another 400mg.

Of course all these supplement companies want to make profit. If you look at the amount of money that is dedicated to R&D versus marketing and advertising you would probably vomit. Part of this marketing is to create a result and then fund a study that backs it up, (see Ch. 1). Part of this is to confuse the consumers using terms such as “Manufactured to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standard. Another trick is to use similar sounding terms associated with prescription drugs, Pharmaceutical Grade as opposed Pharmaceutically Manufactured.

One product, name withheld, was rocked a decade ago because an outside agency found it to have almost no nutritional value associated with its claims and it’s marketing violated guidelines of guarantees. They are still one of the biggest supplement companies in business today, with the same product name but a completely redesigned and different ingredient composition. They are widely recognized by consumers as one of the best. I have used it very recently myself.

What if I told you a widely successful supplement company, ‘Company XWY’, until it was recently sold, cornered the market on protein powder with the exact same powder sold by another company as a ‘generic’. It was made in the same plant, in the same batches and driven to different packaging and distribution locations.

I will not tell you that all supplements are crap. Most legitimate, high profile companies understand that today’s consumers are so much more educated those ten years ago. You will no longer see ‘Powdered Deer Horn’ listed in ingredients as a muscle builder, guilty of using that product. Consumers because of the DESHEA Act have the ability to choose what they want to take and they are very choosey. The product better work or act like it does.

There are some supplement manufactures that do legitimately follow the GMP and FDA guidelines for their product. When you take them you will notice a dramatic difference between them and similar products you have used in the past. To maintain those standards takes considerable money in processing and complete honesty in purity and testing. They can not compete with the hundreds of millions of dollars larger companies put into advertising. They lose shelf space and distribution rights because they would focus on quality instead of quanity.

For basic health supplementation I am very choosey. Its generally speaking a toss up on everything else, based on taste and preference to consistancy and mixing. I confess I take gels and gu's more based on taste ands consistancy rather than scientific evidence of results. Just by reading nutritional labeling its easy to recognize well tested ingredients.

If you think what your using now works, don't change it. It's better to take something than nothing. But begin to look past the marketing or position on the shelf and begin to challenge the brand. Is it the best you could be using? Not because "doctors reccommend" or "#1 selling brand in America" research the company, do they make the product or does someone else? If someone else, what else do they make and what is their reputation.

CH 2: Supplement For All Mankind

Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DESHEA)

A dietary supplement is a product intended to enhance a person’s health by introducing one of the following ingredients to the body: a vitamin, a mineral, an herb or other botanical, an amino acid, a dietary substance to increase total caloric intake, or a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract, or combination of any of those ingredients. A supplement must be ingested and is not represented as a conventional food or as a sole item of a meal or the diet. Ingredients in dietary supplements are not food additives, and therefore do not have to undergo a pre-market safety assessment approval process like those required by the FDA for food additives and prescription drugs.

Way back in the early 1990’s the FDA tried to take a bite out of the supplement industry by regulating all supplements. It was part of the plan by the administration to create a Universal Healthcare System. Red flags went flying, supplement companies realized not only would their products double or triple in costs, but a blanket of federal scrutiny would demand proving the claim listed on the package. Dietary supplement companies countered that their products are derived from natural ingredients and therefore should not be patented.

The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DESHEA) of 1994 was ostensibly passed so that the average American could still afford their daily multivitamin and not have to get a prescription for their Gatorade. Imagine having to go to a pharmacist for your Hammer Gel or most likely having to pay $3 a pouch. Politicians said at the time, “Science has shown that optimum nutrition is essential for good health and performance, to prevent disease, and to restore health.” Talk about a political slap in the face to the FDA!

Private business wins because the DSHEA Act limit’s obstruction to marketing and promoting. The government wins because of all the taxes generated from a $40 billion a year industry. The public wins because they have free choice of products, wide availability and ultimately they can control their own health and disease prevention.

Next Chapter: How can supplement companies legally lie to the public?

CH 1 : Supplements-Accelerade's Misleading Study

I have a healthy skepticism of all supplement companies and working in the fitness industry has given me a certain amount of inside information on how products are developed, produced and marketed. I am going to start a short course on supplement education so the rest of you can walk with open eyes. It will probably take a few chapters but want to start with busting the biggest fraud going on in the endurance community-Accelarade is better than Gu or Gatorade or Powerbar.

I have nothing against Accelerade they are just big fat liars. It's okay though because 95% of the supplement companies are, thanks in part to the DeShea Act of 1994. But you can't open a running or tri magazine lately without multiple pages dedicated to Accelerade saying they are 15% more effective than Gatorade for endurance sports.

What isn't on the pages is that their publishing results from a study THEY funded. Click the study link and scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page.

These are the excerpts of the study that pertain to my debunking.

At 15-minute intervals throughout these rides, subjects received a CHO gel (Gu Energy Gel^®, Gu Sports) or CHO+P gel (AccelGel^TM, PacificHealth Laboratories, Inc.), which were matched for carbohydrate content (CHO = .15gCHO per kgBW; CHO+P = .15gCHO + .038g protein per kgBW).

No differences between CHO and CHO+P trials, respectively, were observed for VO_2…heart rate…RER…blood lactate…blood glucose…or ratings of perceived exertion…which were obtained following 30 minutes of riding. However, subjects rode 13% longer… when utilizing the CHO+P gel…than the CHO gel…

Remember, their study is based on 30 minutes of riding with energy intake every 15 minutes. I assume that would be at minute zero and minute fifteen.

So here is the problem with their study. Accelerade points out that they matched carbohydrate content but fail to mention the total calories were not the same. Don’t you think if their going to claim “subjects rode 13% longer” they would also point out those people took in 21% more calories. The Accelerade testers ‘ate’ more.

On the most basic level, (nutrition content and make up aside) the more energy (Calories) that a person takes in, the greater the amount of exertion that person produces. For example, think about all the times you went for a run and felt it was not as good as it should have been because you didn’t have enough to eat for breakfast.

CHO intake only (GU gel). Changing pounds to kilograms (1lb = 0.4535kg) to fit their scientific model; a 200 lb. male equals 91kg. 91kgBodyWeight (BW) x .15g CHO per kgBW equals 13.65g CHO intake. Multiply 13.65 g times 4 Calories per gram that equals 54 calories of GU taken every 15 minutes or a total of 108 Calories for the total test.

CHO+P (Acclerade). Starting with our 91kgBW subject x .15g CHO per kgBW equals 13.65g CHO intake. Multiply 13.65g x 4 Calories per gram, that equals 54 calories of Acclerade. NOW ADD .038g protein per kgBW, which for 91kg equal’s 13.80 calories per serving, for a total of 67.80 calories every fifteen minutes or a total of 135.60 Calories for the total test.

A difference of 21% more calories taken in during the test. In essence they are saying, “In our test, sponsored our own paid scientists on staff and reported by our multi-million dollar a year marketing department, when you give a cyclist 135 calories of our product they will ride longer than if you give them 108 calories of someone else’s.”

The next chapter will discuss how supplement companies can legally lie to us about their products.
_____________________________________________________
More Info: I was e-mailing with a friend about this study and he made two good points:

"The studies a flawed in a few ways. Too small of a group to start with, and therefore too many other factors can affect the results.

However, they did show an improvement in one study and better fluid retention in the other. Exactly why? I do not know? And neither do they.

"It is not possible, however, to discern if it was the protein, sodium, or combination that added to the osmolality that significantly increased fluid retention with CP compared to CHO.""