Supplement Stack

Pruing a large number of supplements from the routine, what now remains:

• Twinlab D3 Dots
• Fermented Skate Liver Oil
• Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract
• Carlson Labs Liquid Fish Oil
• Curcumin C3 w/Bioperene
• Mega Red Krill Oil

Dropping multi-vitamins and many others seemed like a good idea, largely from reading research compiled here. What remains are only those supplements with the most solid supporting research. In humans, not rats. (Except for the Skate oil, that's for a very specific experiment.)

The Tumeric and Fish Oils have been a boon for my joints and they have a host of other benefits to boot. Garlic, also, is a top tier supplement for a broad range of impact. Here's a short list of some of the documented benefits of this stack:

• anti-inflammatory effects
• anti-cancer effects
• joint mobility
• alleviating cognitive decline associated with aging
• reducing lipid and plaque levels in arteries
• reducing triglycerides  
• anti-depressant effects
• improved cardiovascular health
• increase the expression of brown fat tissue

Daily coffee and two types of tea, both with curative properties. One homemade containing:

1 tsp Tumeric
1 or 2 tsp Ginger
1/2 tsp of Cayenne Pepper
Dash of Black Pepper

bring to a boil with a couple of cups of water and simmered for 10 minutes then strained with a Melitta filter. Very good for the throat.

The second tea is Spring Dragon Longevity Tea.

Before work-outs, a cup of whole milk mixed with 5g of Creatine and eat a banana.

The 5:2 Diet - Journal Entry

I've tried this for 3 weeks now, I've lost about 2.5 pounds a week. I have 8 more pounds to go to hit a target weight I've had for years and years. Looks like I'll nail that sometime in September.

Notes on the 2 days (Monday, Wednesday) that I restrict to 500-600 calories:

• I don't obsess over splitting up little mini-meals for treats and researching all the caloric possibilities. I give my mind and body a break from food, pick something simple that has minimal carbs: fish, meat, some veggies and eat one meal.
• I usually drink an extra cup of coffee those days and teas. Like this Spring Dragon Longevity Tea which I started getting into. It's awesome.
• Meditation before bed, after the day's fast, is amazing. Fasting seems to purify the mind in an odd way. Less random noise, more focus.
• Hunger is not a big issue. I don't dwell on it when it arises because it doesn't persist. I don't make it a big deal, it doesn't become a big deal. Worst case it makes me think of how I can pig out the next day on anything I want. Best case, it's the feeling of burning fat.
• I have more time and energy. Oddly enough.

Notes on the non-fast days:

• I weigh myself in the morning after the fast, it's always been good news. Even after indiscretions the day before that I thought the fast would never be able to eradicate.
• I don't wake up ravenous. It takes several hours to get hungry and when I eat, I get full faster. Before that, I enjoy the "lightness" I feel in my body.
• I mainly pick healthier foods, but mostly I eat whatever I truly want. And it feels like there are no consequences.

When I hit my target weight, I'll need to figure something out, because I am enjoying the "fasting." Maybe my body will come to an equilibrium. I hope so, I plan to continue.

Fitness Framework

It's been about a month since I started the routines in the last post (morning routines.) I couldn't sustain 5,6,7 and 8, so these have dropped from mandatory-habit-installations to optional-tune-up activities.

Mental agility will be addressed later, but I needed to flesh out my physical framework and get it snapped into place so that it energetically supports my other projects and activities. This habit installation approach is working pretty well, as long as I maintain flexibility in discarding what's not sticking and replacing it with something better. Sometimes stuff sounds good in my head but doesn't mesh with my personality in practice.

So what's been established and now requires minimal to no effort to sustain:

• T-Th-Sa: martial arts for a total of 5.5 hours (est. 2 years ago)
• M-Sa: morning routines 1-4 (est. 1-2 months ago)
• M-W-F-Sa: 30 minute evening walk, hot bath and stretching (est. 2+ years ago)
• Sun: not a damn thing. by design.

This adds up to about 9.5 hours exercise a week, or 570 minutes. Every country and organization has their own guidelines, but 150-300 minutes a week seems to be the median recommendation for the amount of exercise needed for robust health. Regardless, there are some improvements to be made before I can just put this on autopilot. These are:

1. Need to lose about 15 pounds still and this mostly comes down to diet. Not as in any particular diet, but improving my eating habits and perhaps exploring some intermittent fasting regimes. I also do well with additional protein. The tact here will be to become more conscious and take small steps, the first of which is keeping a daily food and supplement diary. 
2. Add interval training on M-W-F. 2 minutes warm-up, followed by bursts of 30 seconds and recovery; starting with 4 intervals.
3. Add strength training to supplement interval training. Basic functional body weight routine: pushups, assisted pullups, planks/roll-outs, squats, + one wildcard; starting with one circuit, 1 minute per exercise and add one additional circuit per week up to 4.
4. Add recovery stretches from Stretch to Win to routine after hot bath.

 With these tweaks, I think I can move on from focus on my fitness to other areas of endeavor while being supported by a solid baseline of physical vitality. I will reassess in six months.