Tuesday, May 24, 2016

it's going to be a dry june...

Since college, roughly ten years ago, I probably haven't gone a full week without an alcoholic drink.  The combination of a varied social life, an appreciation for good alcohol of many sorts (including actually making beer, wine, and liquor), and high-pressure jobs, has led me to enjoy many drinks over the years.  And I don’t regret those years and those drinks (well, most of them…), but I do realize that it is costly, a glut of empty calories, rough on sleep, a detriment to muscle recovery, and in general, bad for overall health.  Particularly as I try to optimize my health and running in preparation for an intense race this August, I want to make a drastic change, and challenge myself.

So for the month of June I’m going sober…kind of.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

cutting caffeine - part 1: background and basic thoughts

I am a healthy guy.  I care about what goes into my body, though with an approach that takes mental health into consideration as well - meaning, if it's going to cause me considerable stress to not consume or do something, I probably won't worry about it.  That said, my two primary vices, as with most Americans, are booze and caffeine (I'll tackle booze in another article, some day).  My caffeine consumption is by no means serious, but my addiction is strong; a morning without caffeine finds me with a dull headache in the afternoon, and a pounding one the following morning - because of this I don't go many mornings without.  My thoughts on this are extremely conflicted, since I know there are few long-term physical downsides to moderate caffeine consumption, but I always wonder if I would be better without it.  Here are my thoughts:

Saturday, May 7, 2016

my go-to green

Some people have a hard time eating the same thing every day – I’m not one of those people.  5 out of 7 days each week my green smoothie is the exact same.  It’s simple, consistent, and delicious.  But, it’s Not sweet; after drinking these for years, my green tolerance is high.  For newbies, consider changing the initial 1C water to 1/2C water and 1/2C pomegranate or acai juice (high in antioxidants) to start, or just add more berries.  Ingredients below are in the order that I add them.