Critiquing your life to optimization

Written by Ronnie Teasdale

Evolution has made it possible for species to adapt over time to the world around them. One living cell evolved to species in the water which evolved for species on land, which promoted tons of carbon dioxide from the exhalation of breath, which then spawned the growth of plants who through photosynthesis take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, which allowed for animals to eat the plants , which also spawned species that would eat the animals that would eat the plants….. and on and on and on.

Usually an animal living in its lifespan would not have to think about how it acted. It just acted naturally, because that is what it was designed to do.

The last 10,000 years have presented such a dramatic shift in environment that plants and animals have not been able to catch up to the environment.

-Tree species have not learned how to adapt to tractors mowing them down
-ants have not been able to adapt to insecticides sprayed on them
-Lake life have not been able to adapt to foreign bacteria being inserted from people taking their boats to different bodies of water without cleaning
-Lions, tigers and bears have not been able to put up with living in a cage
-Deer have no sensor that says “move out of the way of the speeding automobile”
-Insects can’t thrive in the awkward seasons created as a result of pollution

-And humans, We as a species are responsible for most of this dramatic change. We have invented fire,… We are the only ones who kill for fun, We put pleasure, comfort, and power above both the earth and human life. This will eventually lead to our extinction if things keep going in the current trend.

Let me tell you a story about a buck.

Imagine a buck (male deer). A big rack (on their head) means survival. The bigger the rack, the more testosterone the buck has, which means it is stronger and more able to protect and survive. The doe (female dear) is attracted to this trait of a big rack because protection of herself and the baby will be important. So the bucks with the biggest rack will be the ones who will be chosen to mate. This will cause babies to be born with bigger and bigger racks every generation. This seems good right? Well these racks take an extraordinary amount of fueling, they are heavy, and they will eventually get so big the buck will not be able to get close enough to a tree to eat the leaves. The process that once helped spawn the species has now been responsible for its death. This could extinct the whole species if it doesn’t adapt at this point.

Now back to humans. Our giant brains have caused lots of advancement in our species. We have conquered the world and spread our seed all over the place. But in the process we have begun killing not only our own by our own devices, but we have been responsible for the extinction of plenty of species (most of which would benefit the earth if were still alive). And we are on the verge of ending the human race as we know it. Our world is no longer suitable for the design that is “Homo Sapien”.

Our body processes are not used to the environment we live in. In a perfect world we would have to expend energy to hunt, find, cook and fight over food. We would be outside enough to get enough sunlight. The air we would breath would be pure. The ground we walked on would be living and good enough for bare feet. We would be able to live as a perfectly designed organism in a perfectly designed world.

So as much as I promote the “cave man” lifestyle. It is just not possible. We cannot train like a caveman, sleep like a caveman, mate like a cave man, breath the fresh air cave men had, eat like a cave man and live like a caveman . We have created a dirty world of havoc. And when it comes to the diet advice I give everyone in the gym the only way to know if it will work in your life is to try it. If it involves getting rid of something like gluten,… then I want you to try it for 30 days,… make a note of how you look, feel and perform. If you don’t notice a thing, then add it back in and also take a second note. At this point you can decide to either take the advice or not, depending on how it works with your schedule, budget, lifestyle, religion, needs, etc…. You must way the outcome with the circumstances.

So if you have a job that you work 17 hours a day, allowing you 4 hours of sleep. You must ask yourself if quitting your job and giving up the fancy car and expensive house is worth health, and happiness.

Or if you cannot sleep because of allergies… Do you choose to take antihistamines which could suppress your HGH,… or do you continue to try and sleep naturally because it is more restorative without the anti histamines?

Do you eat paleo because its the right things to eat? Or do you eat crap and become fat because it is more socially acceptable, cheaper, and easier?

This is all for you to figure out with your own life. Experiment.

I want to share with you my latest experiment and the results.

So I am usually against dairy. But I decided I was going to drink a half gallon of Organic, Grass-fed, Raw, Whole milk every day for two weeks. There are some benefits to drinking milk: Easy to consume, saves time, lots of calories, some say it makes you stronger and bigger. But the negatives I already knew going into this experiment:

-I am not a baby cow, so i shouldn’t be drinking milk
-Will make me acidic
-Will promote a mucus like state all over my body
-Decreases my bodies absorption of calcium
-Promotes Insulin production

But I am a busy guy, I wanted to see how the effects were on myself, maybe all of those calories would be better to drink since I do not always have time to go get or cook food.

The experiment ended yesterday after six days.

Day one I went and got milk, it was Labor day. I drank a 32 once glass container in a matter of a minute I think. It tasted awesome.

-Woke up the next morning had a tiny zit on my nose and forehead, never get those,…

Day two drank one 32once post WOD, and another just throughout the day. It was awesome to just open the fridge and replenish my body right after the WOD. It was so easy.

Day three-five was more of the same drinking habits.

-I am pretty sure my libido dropped dramatically
-I was having trouble sleeping and staying asleep.
-Workouts felt strong
-My body felt bigger, muscles felt pumped
-Also my acceptance of other milk products, like cheese in my foods increased
-My teeth started to hurt, at night, and all day long
-I felt acidic
-I was definitely eating less veggies, because the milk replaced meals that I would otherwise have veggies, I also noticed I didn’t crave veggies

Day six, Did “Murph”, drank nearly half a gallon after, I felt ok drinking it.

-My stomach for the rest of the day was F’ed
-My ass exploded on the toilet when I shit like 5 times, I was at the beach and was forced to leave and had to stop by two different places on the way home to destroy their restrooms.
-I farted a zillion times
-It sounded like somebody was churning butter in my stomach
-This made me generally irritated and ruined my day
-Things didn’t feel better till I got home and ate a bunch of bacon and short ribs.

…..So today (Sunday), I still have 2 half gallons in my fridge. Decided there was way more negative results that was associated with me adding Organic Raw, whole milk into my diet then the positives. So I will continue to recommend my clients against drinking milk, and will not really touch it again for the rest of my life.

I really wanted to finish the two weeks,… but there is no way I want to subject myself to more of that.

So when it comes to the things we educate you on here at CrossFit Mean Streets. The best thing you can do is try it. Yes we are all the same species. But some of us have different lifestyles, views, jobs, exercise habits, routines, that may or may not allow for certain things. Use your body as an experiment if you are not sure if something will work or not. We will always tell you to do things that we know are positive. The above experiment was me trying to add back in something I used to do, drink dairy -but cut out because of the obvious unaturalality(made up word) of it and the negative effects, as an attempt to make my life a little bit easier. I knew going in that it may or may not be negative. The experimenting I am telling you to do will all be motivated by what we know as positive outcomes. So please do not let my experience scare you to sway from the status quo. My experiment was actually me going back to more of the status quo and I was punished for it.

With that said I have found a farmer that sells organic Grass Fed Pork. I am going to try and hook us up with a bunch of pork belly (bacon) that is not cured or has no sweetener added to it. This is virtually impossible to find in any stores. So let me know if you have a desire to get some of this goodness…. Ill let you know when I can confirm the availability….. and you can all try my diet: POBAD….. Pound of Bacon a Day!

… Or you can always be the typical American Buffalo person. In that case we have this for you:

Today Now!: How To Thrust Your Fat Into A More Appealing Shape

WOD 9-13-10

Overhead Squat

3-3-3-3-3-3-3

or

Snatch Balance

5-5-3-3-3-1-1

CrossFit Mean Streets
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