David Goggins US Navy SEAL Iron Man

The whole "interview" is outstanding and motivation.  An excellent example of sacrifice, service and athleticism.

Here are the notable quotes that really hit me or moved me personally.

• To test my soul, to see what I’m all about.

• That’s when you know.  That is the only time you can find out what the human body is all about.  What you’re made of.  Limits to myself, limits to the human soul.  Everyday I’m trying to see if I have limits.

• I don’t just train for an hour or so,  I train until it somethin’ is uncomfortable.  Then that is when you know who you really are.

• My life doesn’t have a finish line, so when I cross the finish line of the ironman, it doesn’t matter.  I know in two or three weeks from now, I’ll be doing something else that provides me more pain.

• I believe everything, you know, I try to do is defined by excellence.   But I don’t think I can reach excellence myself, because the standards of my life are really higher.  So I don’t think I can reach it, but I try to every day.

• You have to be a good individual first, before you can be a good team member.

• I’ve done a lot of things that I though was impossible, but nothing is impossible anymore.

Ketosis and Fat Loss

Robb Wolf's podcast 125 had a lot of great information about fat loss and fat intake. Here are my two highlights regarding beginning fat loss and further links of my own.  There are a lot of other good stuff in that podcast, but unrelated to my topic here, so check it out.

Disclaimer:  I am not a doctor, nurse or any other health care provider licensed or otherwise.  This is my personal plan and research through the power of Google.  Consult with your doctor or nurse before attempting anything I post.

1) Ketosis

Essentially this changes the way your body uses energy from glucose to fat.  [Normally our primary energy source is glucose.]  For those who are fat like us, this is a good thing and results in the body uses our fat stores as fuel, instead of glucose.  It requires a strict diet of limited carbs (mainly veggies, almost no starch), low fat and high protein.  Supplementation is probably best to achieve this.  This wouldn't be the diet to go on forever, but it would be something good to do when one wants to lean out.

2) Supplements

To maintain proper protein, particularly for those who travel a lot or are really busy, whey protein is probably a good thing to get and helps with maintaining protein intake.  Also, BCAA (branch chain amino acids) help with the synthesis of protein.  These two items, whether eaten from food or supplements or both, will help the body maintain muscle or even build muscle, while using fat stores as energy.

These are the two I like: Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard Natural Chocolate or Vanilla .  The BCAAs I'll get are here.

They recommend 1 gram of protein per body weight and 30-40 grams of BCAA daily.

20 in 30 Challenge

Three of my buddies are attempting a 30 day challenge.  The ultimate goal is to lose as much fat as possible in 30 days.  We coined 20 in 30, in hopes to lose 20 lbs, but any safe amount of fat loss we will be happy with.  Over the next month there will be additional posts on what happens and different strategies or equipment we use.

Cheers!

Minimal Shoes. The Perfect Fit. Big foot!

The search continues.  I wear a size 12/13 US or 46/47 UK.  Depends on the manufacturer too, which can vary.  Brands tend to be fairly consistent in the barefoot/minmal shoe area, since the cuts are vastly different.

Merrell Trail: Wide ... Still not big enough for me.  Thanks for the effort and I can't wait until I can fit into one of your shoes again.  I really liked this brand before I went minimal, but no I cannot settle for a cramped toebox.

New Balance ... this was one of my all time number one shoe company.  I bought a lot of NB shoes over the years.  When you introduced your minimal line of Minimus shoes, I had to try.  I started with Minimus 10, but the toebox was too cramped for my taste and no wide version was available.  Then almost as an answer to my thoughts, Minimus 00 came out.  And a wide version exists!  I am still evaluating these shoes in my home.  The fit is very nice at 13 wide, but the sole still has a very shoe feel.  What I mean is that I am raised off the ground and definitely feel like I am walking on rubber.

Vivobarefoot still is my main shoe in both dress (Dharma) and casual (Neo).  Great fit and toebox.  Practically zero underneath feel but still very protective from regular rocks and average parking lot walking.  In the mail are some Ultra Pure for some great summer time wearing.

Water proof shoes. Dry feet. The Outdoors

By Kitty Terwolbeck

I came upon the perfect answer to keeping your feet dry in the outdoors.  It was so simple and easy to implement.  It would not cost a lot of money or require high-tech or expensive equipment.  Below is a synopsis of what I read, provided over at BEDROCK & PARADOX.

Don't.

That was the answer.  Don't attempt to keep your feet absolutely dry.  That is what I discovered.  Your feet will inevitably get wet either from the elements or from perspiration.  If the thought of a river or rain or whatever is so worrisome and you want your feet to stay perfectly dry, then just don't go.

Typically the answer was waterproof shoes.  The hard fact was that your shoe would have to be as long as your body to never let water in.  Once water could get over the height of your shoe, game over to your dry feet utopia.  Likewise if you are working up a sweat, waterproof shoes tend not to let your feet dry out either.  So don't worry about keeping the water out.

Dry your feet out mid-day if they get wet in the AM.  Wear your dry socks in the PM when you are done for the day.  If you are day hiking, then you can change your socks when you get back to the parking lot or at home, no problem.

Socks.

Socks are the key.  Have spares.  Use wool.  Even in my Coast Guard Auxiliary training I was taught wool was the best for warmth and hypothermia.  This I would recommend to go to the original article, scroll down to the sock section and read it.  Below are my proof thoughts and experiences, but they aren't many yet.  So read up from a more seasoned person.

I own a pair of  injinji and they are recommended as also a good base pair for cold weather or to protect your toes.  Originally I bought them for my FiveFinger shoes, but when I went to other minimalist shoe brands I tossed them aside.  Now I can use them again.

Darn Tough look like a great idea and I am going to get some soon.  They are a thinner wool sock, making it easier and smaller to use than a think wool.

Smartwool or REI brand wool socks are great too.  I like to use them for winter socks outside and lounging around the house.  The are comfy and warm.

The Perfect Shoe. Barefoot. Eliminating back pain.

This post is a long read, so below is a summary, but feel free to read the whole thing.

Summary
Barefoot shoes provide some protection and safety from the elements and allow you to go about your daily business (No Shoes = No Service).  Additionally, your feet and legs are allowed to operate in a more natural fashion, eliminating back pain, foot fatigue and toe constraints.  FiveFingers were my initial entry into this world, but I prefer Vivobarefoot and Barefoot Merrell shoes for the ease of use, superior odor control and their ability to blend in as normal shoes, even though they are far from normal.  

By pyoorkate

It has been about 3 years (can't say exactly) since I have started my barefoot shoe journey.  Unfortunately I cannot say I remember exactly how I discovered these type of shoes either.  It could have been an internet stumble or an ad from a magazine.  I was the first in my immediate circle to purchase Vibram FiveFinger shoes and this was back before they were popular.  That is my trend in life, to be a trend setter without knowing it or I am a trend pioneer, which I think I fall more in to the latter category.

I respect FiveFingers because it brought me into the barefoot community, but alas I have not been a huge fan of their line of barefoot shoes.  Due to the years of wearing conventional shoes, my toes have a slight inward curl and the bones in my toes fatigue when wearing  FiveFingers (or something I think are my bones).  Not to mention that even after becoming accustomed to wearing them, there are times when they are hard to put on, like when I am tired in the morning  If you need to go in and out of the house but need to take your shoes off while inside, it can be a drag to take the time to put each of your toes in their individual compartments.  Last but probably the worst reason I gave up... they smell.  I've tried various ways to clean them, wearing foot powder but none got rid of the smell..  When the wife complains about your smelly feet and only complains when you have been wearing FiveFingers then there is an issue.  For those reasons I gave up barefoot shoes and suffered (and I do mean suffer) in conventional shoes.

Then I discovered Earth Shoes.  My parents quickly told me about how these have been around forever and were big with hippies.  While these are not barefoot, they offered an alternative to regular shoes.  I could buy them in office friendly styles, which was a huge plus, since I work 5-6 days a week and can work 18 hours in the day.  I needed a dress shoe that could muster as long as me.  However, they were not perfect.  Especially in the toe box.  I do not consider myself to have wide feet, but always felt the toe box of ever shoe that I have worn up this point to be too narrow.  Which I believe is why my toes have curled inward a bit.  Eight hour days were fine, but long days or long drives, Earth Shoes could start to feel uncomfortable.

Again I was on the search again for an office friendly shoe.  I was determined this time to discover a barefoot variety.  Then I discovered Vivobarefoot.  Their dress shoes look normal (sorry Earth, while your shoes are not bad, they due look weird).  After a few months of wearing my new Vivos at work, I found myself wanting to wear them outside of work.  With pants they look ok, but in shorts or in the gym, they don't quite fit.  So I took the plunge and bought myself a pair of Neo Running shoes.

By Operatic Runner

On a casual day I can wear these to the office (the match our colors) and I can wear them for every day use.

Now I am in the process of updating my whole shoe collection to barefoot designed shoes and donating my old shoes to charity.  I also purchased the Merrell Trail Wide.  I had to get the wide version as the regular version was way too narrow.

By t feustel

My next challenge is to find boots and uniform shoes for the USCG Auxiliary that are barefoot.

Reflection of 5 day juice fast

I broke my juice fast with some good friends to a meal at Red Lobster.  I felt seafood would be a good protein to start consuming and I knew I could get some vegetables.  Those delicious cheddar biscuits were no longer so delicious.  I remember being able to eat a whole basket and want more.  Now I didn't even eat a whole biscuit.  The coconut shrimp was probably the food I enjoyed the most.  The salad was also very satisfying.  Typically on a juice fast most people say the crave vegetables more, which I believe is more subconscious than anything else.  I have always enjoyed vegetables for the most part, but would say I enjoy them even more now.  Particular the crisp fresh taste of a slice of cucumber, that really made the salad great for me.

The rest of the weekend I had a few servings of juice per day and enjoyed a few things I could not have throughout the week.  I had a burger and some fries (twice actually) and homemade pizza.  The burgers were really good and I truly enjoyed them, but my appetite had definitely changed in terms of quantity.  I am not just talking about capacity (ie shrinking stomach) but satiety too.  Same goes for the fries, I didn't eat them all, where usually I would usually want a second serving or steal some from someone else.

Overall, I would recommend a juice fast to most people.  It resets the taste buds a bit and helps to re-prioritize food.  Of course, there are the other benefits of juicing, as in the increased amount of nutrients to repair and heal the body.

Cheers!

PS. I lost 5 lbs too, which was a nice benefit.