Archive for July, 2009

Paleo Diet, My FAQs

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

I do get asked a lot of questions frequently (regarding this diet).  Here are some…

Q: So how does this diet work exactly?
A: They call it “un-weighed, un-measured paleo” meaning you can eat as much as you want of paleo foods.  Apparently Ann-imal has nicknamed this plan “all you can eat paleo.”  The super hardcore CrossFitters try to follow the Zone diet (portions and proporitons) and only eat paleo foods along the way.  That sounds significantly more challenging.

Q: And paleo foods are?
A: You know, I’m not sure I’m being 100% loyal to true Paleo philosophy, but I follow what they tell me at the gym.  It’s basically meat, vegetables, eggs, nuts (but not peanuts), seeds, fruit, and NO SUGAR.  The other noteable restrictions are no dairy (except cream), no legumes (beans, peas, peanuts).  I don’t really understand the no legumes part, but I go with it (most of the time).  You’re not supposed to drink booze either, but if you do you should drink wine or tequila since everything else is made from grains, and grains are VERBOTEN.  I drink wine from time to time, and last night I had my first beer in two weeks.

Q: Why are you doing this?
A: Well, I think thie minds behind CrossFit are really onto something – I think they’ve got fitness figured out.  Since all the CrossFit nerds claim that eating Paleo will make you feel better and improve your athletic performance, I thought it was worth seeing what all the hype was about.  They also say it is the perfect diet to help you lose fat and gain lean mass.  Peer pressure also played a little role in the decision – like my friend Patrick who is a health/fitness nut and has given up sugar, and my cousin Greg who did the same.  Both of them had very positive things to say about the experience.

Q: Are you trying to lose weight?
A: No, I was fine with my weight, but I also know that studies generally suggest that skinnier people live longer, so if I lose fat, it’s fine with me.  In the first two weeks I’ve lost about 5 pounds.  I kind of wish I weren’t losing weight so quickly, but it’s hard to eat enough to keep that from happening.

Q: How do you feel?
A: I have to admit I feel pretty good!  The nicest part is that my energy level feels pretty constant all day – no post-lunch lulls.

Q: So what exactly are you eating?
A: I’ll get to that in the next post.  Here’s one example though…

Food Court Paleo

Food Court Paleo

M. Ward at the 40 Watt in Athens, GA – 7/27/09

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

mward

This was my first show at the 40 Watt.  I’ve never even spent much time in Athens.  From my brief spin through town it seems like a fantastic town, and the venue is a near-perfect size with a very cool vibe.  Too bad it was on a Monday night and I didn’t get home ’till about 1:30 (Thanks Tom for driving, and for the ticket!)

I’ve seen M. Ward once before.  Oh, I just realized I could go dig up my review from that show.  Here it is:

M. Ward (Solo) at Bimbo’s 365 Club.  February 3, 2007 Got there in time for the last couple of songs by the opener: Victoria Williams.  She sounded like Cindi Lauper’s retarded cousin.  Apparently she’s pretty well known among musicians, and I’ve since found out she’s got Multiple Sclerosis, so I feel kind of like a jackass for ripping on her, but the point is I did not enjoy her songs and I enjoyed her chatter between songs much less.

There was a long break before M. came out (aside: does anyone know M’s full first name?).  The long break was annoying – I mean it’s a SOLO show – it can’t take you that long to get ready.  Well, he came out and was tearing it up on acoustic guitar – the guy is really a very talented guitar player, which I hadn’t realized from listening to the albums.  So he wraps up this long tasty solo and then gets going with the songs.

The songs were good, but not great.  Problem 1) this was a sold-out show, so it was packed and we were standing on a crowded floor.  It is tough to stand for that long to listen to really mellow songs.  2) I think he was excited to be playing to such a large enthusiastic crowd, so I think he put some extra energy into his guitar playing.  The problem with that is that many of the songs thrive on the subtleties that exist in the songs.  Those subtleties were gone (and I missed the band on a lot of the songs).  Finally, I thought I knew a decent amount of his catalog, but he played a lot of songs I didn’t recognize.  He closed the set with “undertaker” and recorded 3 guitar loops that looped on top of each other as he left the stage – that was really cool and very pretty.  We left during the encores. Bottom line – I would only see him again if it were in a venue where I knew I could sit down.  It’s not good standing up music.

Given that previous experience, I was worried about this show.  I was afraid that he would again put too much energy into his mellow songs and spend too long rocking out on the guitar.  Well, he opened the set with a few mellow numbers (including “post war” which is one of my favorites) and then he proceeded to turn it into a rock concert (he had a full band this time).  Strange thing was, this time it worked for me.  Maybe it was because I knew what to expect this time, but I really enjoyed it.

Show was extra special because he came out and did one encore.  He really gave the vibe that he’s a “one encore” type of guy.  The house lights even came on for a few seconds, then they went off again and he came back out for a second encore.  It felt like a true second encore – the way it’s supposed to feel.  Like M had no choice but to come back out and try to appease the roar of the crowd.  His second encore was “Vincent O’Brien” and it was great.

I was bummed that Zooey didn’t make an appearance (I heard she DID sing one song with him in NC the night before), but she wasn’t on the bill so I hadn’t gotten my hopes too high.  I now wholeheartedly recommend M. Ward’s live shows (as long as you know you’re going to get a rocker and you won’t hear too many of those mellow songs you love).

p.s. Sorry i don’t have a crappy picture of the show to share here.  There were signs posted all over saying the artist had requested ABSOLUTELY NO PHOTOGRAPHY for the show.  Near the end of the set I held up my iPhone anyway, and like magic, before I could take the picture, there was a hand on my shoulder connected to a dude telling me (politely, but firmly) “no photography.”  It was kind of eerie. And here’s the full setlist (thanks again to Tom):

–Unknown
–Fuel for Fire
–Post War
–Hold Time
–Poor Boy, Minor Key
–Poison Cup
–Stars of Leo
–To Save me
–One Hundred Million Years (?)—I didn’t know the name of the song, but made a note that it was a new one. I think it was this one, but I can’t say for sure.
–Fool Says
–Big Boat
–Guitar intro/Fisher of Men
–To Go Home
–Requiem
–Chinese Translation
–Rave On
–Roll Over Beethoven
–Magic Trick (encore)
–Vincent O’Brien (encore)

Paleo Diet, Day 14

Monday, July 27th, 2009
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My stanard breakfast, give or take the avocado

Estimated number of eggs I’ve eaten in the past two weeks: 48+

Estimated strips of bacon: 40+

Am I tired of this breakfast: not yet 🙂