#usually i like to think i am extremely well adjusted to what my health entails. usually lmao.

[jvzebel-x]

🦋

[mensbodybuildingtips]

Does CrossFit Work?

All the awesome kids are doing CrossFit these days. Does it function? Should we all come to be 'WODKILLAS'?

' CrossFit will not just change your body,' an acquaintance told me, with a glint of fire in her eyes, 'it will change everything-who you are, how you view the world, what you think is possible.'

I'm a huge follower in the life-changing power of being fit, however she was being a little bit also significant also for me. I seemed like I was being hired for a crusade or trip, not an exercise program.

This kind of talk prevails among the CrossFit group, which is growing at an exponential rate these days. Is it whatever its followers-no, believers-claim it to be? Does it truly change simple 'exercising' right into something transcendent as well as sublime?

Let's find out.

What is CrossFit?

In situation you in some way don't already understand, CrossFit is a high-intensity workout program that focuses on carrying out a selection of toughness and also cardiovascular exercises, ranging from push-ups to sprints to clean as well as jerks.

The workouts are typically incorporated to 'Workouts of the Day,' or 'WODs' as the started call them, which are frequently brief (regarding HALF AN HOUR) as well as incredibly demanding. Efficiency is tracked and also placed to encourage friendly competition and procedure progress.

For instance, here's exactly what a CrossFit workout appears like (this set is called the 'Fran'):

Do the complying with as swiftly as possible:

Three rounds, 21-15- and 9 representatives of: 95-pound Thruster Pull-ups

But CrossFit is more compared to just getting in an exercise. It's the society that has made it so popular. Check it out:

Brilliant advertising, that's for sure. ( I wonder if CrossFit's founder, Greg Glassman, has reviewed this book?)

But does CrossFit live up to such claims? Does it warrant the hype?

I don't assume so. Let me explain.

CrossFit Does not Reach Re-Define the Meaning of Fitness

The Oxford English Thesaurus defines fitness as 'the condition of being healthy and healthy and balanced.' And fit is defined as 'in great health and wellness, due to the fact that of routine physical exercise.'

Using these thesaurus interpretations, we can gauge our fitness level in several means:

By testing our muscle strength.

By testing our cardiovascular conditioning.

By testing our body composition.

By testing our flexibility.

By testing our metabolic health.

Thus, as we get fitter...

We become stronger.

We become better at managing the cardiac tension of physical activity.

We come to be leaner and extra muscular.

We become more flexible.

We improve our body's capacity to use food for fueling and restoring itself.

Well, in CrossFit lingo, fitness has a various, a lot more short-sighted definition-one that Glassman invented, which he claims is the very first 'purposeful, quantifiable means' to specify the word:

' Raised job capacity across broad time as well as modal domains.'

So essentially, inning accordance with Glassman, you're as fit as you could do CrossFit. Creative and also convenient. But silly.

You're not as fit as you could do CrossFit.

Case in point: watch some CrossFit video clips on the internet or head into a CrossFit gym and also you'll see a great deal of weak, obese, inflexible individuals that assume they're Spartans due to the fact that they can do 30 kipping (counterfeit, foolish) pull-ups or finish the 'Murph' and after that make a quick browse through to Uncle Pukie's.

These people are not fit.

Now, I do not say that to cloth on individuals that aren't in wonderful form. I respect any individual that places in job to boost their health and fitness, despite their existing condition.

But I AM ragging on the unfit CrossFit snobs that believe that because I'm not a component of their 'WODSQUAD,' I'm physically substandard in some way.

Wait a 2nd ... I can out-lift, out-run, and out-stretch you, and also I'm bigger as well as leaner than you ... but you're exclusive due to the fact that you could strike Olympic raises with bad kind as well as do air crouches up until you puke?

CrossFit Isn't the Ultimate Way to obtain Fit

With that out of the means, let's discuss really obtaining fit, starting with a simple proposition:

An activity is as reliable for physical fitness as it develops strength as well as aerobic endurance, and improves body make-up, adaptability, and also metabolic health.

Simple enough, right?

Well, if you've ever been pitched on CrossFit, you were probably hit with numerous buzzwords:

Functional fitness

General fitness training

Full-body workout

Metabolic conditioning

General physical preparedness

The chatter usually comes down to the case that performing a wide array of exercises is the most effective way to accomplish overall physical fitness and also a visual body. That a typical exercise program just can not perform like CrossFit can.

Well, CrossFit does have its merits. The exercises are difficult and entail doing genuine workouts, as well as you will see results if you stay with it.

But it isn't really the finest method to obtain fit.

Let's first appearance at research study on what takes place when you combine toughness and also cardiovascular training.

Researchers from RMIT University functioned with trained professional athletes in 2009 and located that "combining resistance workout and cardio in the very same session might interfere with genes for anabolism." In nonprofessional's terms, they discovered that incorporating endurance and also resistance training sends out "mixed signals" to the muscle mass and harms their capacity to adjust to either.

They additionally located that cardio prior to the resistance training subdued anabolic hormonal agents such as IGF-1 and MGF, and also cardio after resistance training enhanced muscle cells breakdown.

Several various other research studies, such as those carried out by Kid's National Medical Center, the Waikato Institute of Innovation, and also the College of Jyvaskyla (Finland), came to same final thoughts: training for both endurance as well as toughness at the same time hinders your gains on both fronts.

Now does this mean CrossFit won't improve both toughness as well as endurance? No, naturally not. If you want to obtain huge and solid, or if you want to optimize your cardio ability, scientific research states that CrossFit isn't the best means to do either.

Thus, it's no surprise that many CrossFitters aren't specifically muscular or strong, and also have mediocre cardio. Actually, the only CrossFitters I have actually known that had remarkable strength, size, or cardio were adhering to a standard weightlifting as well as cardio program in addition to doing CrossFit.

In my experience, both in my own training and also in collaborating with numerous others, the most effective method to both construct stamina as well as improve cardio endurance is to different weight training and cardiovascular exercise.

That is, adhere to a conventional strategy to improving fitness.

CrossFit and Overtraining

Part of the CrossFit culture is taking 'no discomfort, no gain' to a whole new level. Training to the point of outright fatigue makes you a 'warrior.' Puking after a workout is a vaunted sacrifice to the gods of gainz.

Well, unless you get on drugs, this is a fast lane to overtraining, which can lead to severe problems. It could become persistent, which is a progressive onset of overtraining signs like general fatigue, depression, restlessness, anorexia nervosa, loss of desire to work out, as well as a lot more. Or it can be intense, as well as in extreme instances, deadly.

A male called Makimba Mimms was awarded $300,000 in damages from a neighborhood CrossFit fitness center and his fitness instructor for injuries he endured during a CrossFit exercise in 2005. Those injuries consisted of rhabdomyolysis, a problem where seriously and rapidly harmed muscle cells is released into the blood stream, which can cause kidney failure.

The Workout of the Day, or 'WOD,' that nearly killed Mimms was relabelled the 'Makimba' and categorized as a youngsters's workout. Har har. Poor taste in jokes apart, nobody is unsusceptible to rhabdo.

For instance, in January 2011, 13 football gamers at the University of Iowa were hospitalized with rhabdo after doing a workout that consisted of 100 squats with 50% of their one-rep max. It wasn't a CrossFit exercise, however was similar in that it had them doing compound lifts for high representatives and also under severe fatigue.

Here's the simple truth of the issue:

If you're out medications as well as you're educating to complete physical fatigue multiple times weekly, and particularly if your workouts include weight training, you're mosting likely to wind up overtraining. It's only a matter of time.

 CrossFit and Injuries

One of the very first points I observed concerning individuals I recognized doing CrossFit was mostly all of them had gotten pain. Strains, drew muscle mass, even torn ligaments.

I had not been surprised. Why? For a couple reasons.

The safety of the CrossFit workouts depends a lot on the trainers. If a rookie is going to execute a compound lift like a deadlift or squat, or an advanced Olympic lift like the nab, he had much better recognize precisely what he's doing. If the coach hasn't educated him best kind, or pushes him to move a great deal of weight or go to outright failing (which is typical in CrossFit classes), the chance of injury goes way up.

Unfortunately, nevertheless, an excellent trainer could just do so a lot. CrossFit features a raised threat of injury built right into it. Exactly how so?

Because CrossFit has you aiming to strike hefty Olympic lifts when you're worn down, which is a recipe for injury. Research has actually revealed this with the squat: as exhaustion sets in, create invariably worsens. Interestingly enough, our understanding of series of movement also alters with fatigue-what feels like all-time low of the squat really isn't really.

If you're tired out, you should not be trying to execute heavy weight-lifting exercises, and also especially not huge substance exercises like deadlifts, squats, as well as Olympic lifts.

Don't believe me?

' The problem concerns tiredness and going to failing,' states Stuart McGill, Ph.D., a teacher of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. 'Some exercises contribute to this as well as others are not.' McGill puts Olympic lifts in the 'not' category.

' Duplicating activities where form is compromised with exhaustion actually does not fit the viewpoint of Olympic lifting to decrease injury danger and also boost performance.'

This is one of the reasons the American College of Sports Medication advises at the very least 3 minutes of remainder between hefty weightlifting sets (1-6 reps).

So, you're not assured to obtain injured doing CrossFit, yet you're at a greater danger of injury if you follow the routine protocols.

Unsurprisingly, minority people I recognize that have been doing CrossFit for any purposeful amount of time without obtaining harmed are knowledgeable weightlifters and insert proper remainder periods between heavy collections of lifting.

So Should You Do CrossFit?

The solution to this concern really relies on your goals.

If you're seeking to obtain trimmer and also have some enjoyable, then CrossFit isn't really a poor choice if you have a great train and know exactly how to avoid overtraining and injury. People likewise like the affordable atmospheres as well as sociability of CrossFit gyms, which is totally understandable.

But if you're aiming to maximize strength or muscle gains, or maximize your aerobic capability ... CrossFit is not the optimal selection. You'll do better adhering to a proper weight training or cardio training program.

[herrunawaystories-blog]

10 THINGS I LEARNED (SO FAR), 100+ DAYS AFTER I WENT ABROAD

March 23, 2017: “The things that don’t kill you, only make you stronger”

A dramatic title! Or for some particular reason I might “just” be a dramatic person. So first of all, it took me more than 100 days later to finally write a post and have the courage to test my English-grammar-skills. It’s honestly “a climb” to improve my not-so-but-I-guess-okay-capacity to communicate with the German Language and the fact that I’m not entirely certain with my current English Grammar. But hey…I love writing and before this post comes up, I’d probably read it a couple of times to spare myself from more embarrassment.

Grammatically speaking… This post is not (really) about noun-verb-connections. It’s about something more scary: ADULT INDEPENDENCE 101. Let’s RECAP, 100 days ago, I flew to Germany to work and (to see the world), but honestly more on the work and study part. Yes… I know the studying part is quite endless. I too, actually wonder, when will it end but since the answer is at the moment blurry…I’m still studying at 26. (And I’m curious why mom and dad find it so great?)

So, when you decide on something massive, like moving out from your parents’ house, 6, 444 miles away, on your own, thinking that everything is going to be okay, I’m sorry to tell you that it’s NOT. I’m not a mean person, in fact I’m telling the truth. But it’s NOT that all BAD either. There are of course some perks and surprises. But hey that’s just the way life is, a balance of good and challenging experiences. And so, for one, I wrote all of my experiences and in congruence to that, 10 things that I learned about life, now that I’m so far away from all of the things that I was once used to.

IT’S HARDER TO SPEND YOUR OWN INCOME. I never really had the chance to fully understand this understatement. My parents would usually sponsor my financial deficiencies and I honestly don’t have to worry. I mean everybody knows how difficult dealing with your own money is. And now I find it more difficult to whether I’d buy something that I really (really) want or sparing it for the future. I’d die of wanting to buy something out of lust and find myself deciding to return it and just walking away from it while repeating the Mantra “Do not return”.  It’s funny how my brain tells me to get it and how my conscience tells me otherwise. But 100 days later I’ve gotten used to it. One thing that I learned is: “Do not indulge on small, petty things. Save your money for the best, most important and unexpected occurrences of your life”.

THE ART OF BUDGETING IS KEY. It is the ultimate key of survival albeit wherever you are. But then you have to make new adjustments every now and then, depending on your needs (and not distinctly according to what you only want). But the most important aspect is that: “You make it all fit in. You make it work. And you stay firm.”

LONELINESS IS A CHOICE. This word is sad enough as a word. (LOL). That’s probably one of my many concerns before deciding to work outside my country. But the gift of time changes one’s illusion about life. You see time is an endless element and when a person uses it wisely, a lot of things can happen in a day. I guess, what I’ am trying to imply and what I had probably been doing this past four months, is using my time here in Germany on a happier scale and not on the depressive part. You can be physically lonely but you don’t have to feel alone. In the same way that you are not the only person on an island (unless you literally are) and that possibilities and opportunities towards reaching out are always abundant.

TO TRAVEL IS ALWAYS A GOOD INVESTMENT. You’d be surprise of how things are vastly different but still beautiful from one country to another. And I’ve been to only 2 European Countries and I want go further and experience more: the sights, the people, the culture, the food and so on. Diversity is more to what my camera can capture. And I wished I can do better and share it with the people I love at home. Personally, I think it is better to invest on good memories than buying an expensive signature bag that can only fit basically 3 to 5 items.

A LANGUAGE IS THE SOUL OF THE COUNTRY. I have to be honest, I learned German to be able to work here in Germany and as communication medium between me and my colleagues and also my patients. Which is basically the purpose of the course. But now that I’m really using it as part of my daily life I have to say that I understood more than just what the person is saying but also how they feel. The emotions strike through me: happiness, sadness, fear, excitement, loneliness and more. I finally understand now, that the language of a country is the fabric the holds its culture together: how the people of a place express their nationality, their traditions and their customs. And yes…I love every bit of the German Language the same way I love my mother tongue and the same way I was able to get through with my English Grammar.

THERE’S MORE OF YOU THAT YOU DON’T KNOW YET. It’s funny how you thought that you already figured yourself out and discover that you can actually do more. Made me smile that I’ve been trying new things and eventually find out that I’ am capable, I find it amusing and that I never thought I can do something like that. I mean, COOKING by the way. There’s actually more, like not eating rice 3 times a day, 7 days a week. That’s a compromise that I find so hard to accomplish. And 100 days later, here I’ am still alive and writing how ridiculous it is to be able to adapt to such change. One more example, I never thought I’d sweat at 10 Degrees.

INSURANCE IS IMPORTANT BUT D*#@ EXPENSIVE. Maybe I’m just too grown up and that I find myself day dreaming about my future. Not that 3-to-5 years-kind-of-future but the one that’s too far away, when I’m all wrinkly with gray hair kind-of-future. I still however find being ensured very important, I just never expected that insurance companies would also secure a good price. But I learned… and it’s fine. All things in life, those that are important cost more. And you should never be frugal when comes to these things. Health is still more important than Versace.

THE TIME ZONE DIFFERENCE IS A BRAIN TWISTER. Well you wake up and the people back home are eating lunch. You just finished lunch and the people back home are about to sleep. You’re about sleep and they’re at the peak of breaking dawn. And here I’ am counting the hours thinking if they are working, sleeping or watching whatever. Time is already too confusing for me and the Time Differences make it worst. I arrived here last December and I’ am 7 hours late than my parents in the Philippines and this coming spring I’ll be only 6 hours late. Why? I don’t know. The geographical explanation is too broad for me. Or maybe I wasn’t paying attention in school back then.

SOME THINGS JUST TAKE TIME. Is it just me or I just learned a lot of things about time? It’s to versatile. It can stretch towards extremes. It can be too fast or it can be to slow. Sometimes you chase after it sometimes you wait for it. But with adaptation it requires all measures. But what’s important is, you take (your new) life one day at a time. You work accordingly, sometimes you need to hurry up because time is almost up, sometimes you take work lightly while there’s still time. Also, every person has their own respective time. You can’t compare your clock value with other people. The situation, like people is always different, slightly the same but never exactly identical. That’s why you can’t pressure yourself with what or how fast others can achieve something. Things happen perfectly according to one’s own time.

FAMILY IS STILL EVERYTHING. Well apart from bigger dreams and greener Pasteur, I personally decided to go beyond boarders not just for me but for my family. It entails sacrifice with almost everything (that includes basically numbers): Distance, Time, Currency and an infinite amount of love that surpasses every challenge that I encountered so far. And it’s not just me… I’m sure somewhere not too far from where I’ am, there’s a Filipino who feels the same. And I’ am actually proud and happy because it is our innate nature (as a Filipino), without obligation to still find the heart to help without anything in return. And to share what you have, to the extent that you have less than what you gave, has always been difficult. And it’s funny because we still do it anyway.

And about the photos, I always wanted to shoot (with my camera) in the woods. But not as little riding hood, though the concept would have been epic. So, we went to this little town called Bastei, and hiked all the way to heaven. Just because it everything was heavenly at the top… Hoped you like the photos as much as like taking them.

And now that I’ve written 1,655 words in this article, then I think it’s already sufficient and also close to boring.  I shall therefore end this post with day dreams and may fluffy unicorns navigate your way to the most colorful rainbow.

[cristinajourdanqp]

I Went From Having an Invisible Illness, Being Overweight, Depressed and Tired To Enjoying Robust Health!

It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!

Looking back, I have always had thyroid issues though I had no idea what that meant in my teens and twenties. It apparently runs in my family, though with rural Alaska medical care in the 70s, you were lucky to have a doctor available, let alone a dentist. Even as I grew older and moved to the city and then to college in Arizona and life in many other places, I was always just not well. Though I managed to live and work and play fairly normally, I would occasionally have days that I could not get out bed, so I attributed it to depression or other more readily identifiable causes like depression.

I eventually married and went through two pregnancies in my early 30s, fairly normal and with healthy babies. After my second child, my mental and physical health really started going downhill, though it wasn’t really visible other than weight gain and some fairly severe post-partum depression. With the benefit of hindsight and research, what was probably mild Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis in my youth turned into full-blown Hashimoto’s after the stress of pregnancy, childbirth, nursing and raising two small children.

I was officially diagnosed in 2006 with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis after a therapist I was seeing for depression thought to order some tests. My levels weren’t that high, and I don’t even remember what the endocrinologist said to do about it, just that I had it and it had to do with my thyroid, and that someday my thyroid would fail and I’d be put on medication. He advised eating better and exercising, but with no specific plan. Ok. I just went about my life in the usual way, raising two small kids and easing my way back into the working world while doing all of the usual life things of home maintenance, the kids’ sports and school schedules, marriage, work and other family obligations. The Internet wasn’t that prevalent then, and I just accepted my diagnosis and prognosis and went about my life the best I could.

The years went by and I gained more and more weight. I would “diet” occasionally, have a little bit of success, then fall right off the wagon. I’d tried all of the fad diets, Weight Watchers, etc., and even went sugar-free and even gluten-free a few times in the past with great results, but again, fell off the diet wagon every time. I had been active most of my life with running, college intramural sports, tennis, hiking, long-distance biking, canoeing, camping—nothing ever really stopped me from being active, even being overweight or tired through most of it. I even put myself through almost three P-90X workouts in a row (shoutout to Mark Sisson for his episode – little did I know he’d be so instrumental to my life later….). My weight didn’t budge, though I got some nice muscle under my chub. I thought I was eating fairly well at that time, too, low fat, whole grains—the usual “good diet.” At the beginning of the third cycle of hard-core exercise, plus moving some furniture, I herniated a disc in my back and that put an end to P90X and extreme exercise.

In the meantime, I was getting sicker and I didn’t understand why. I was 50 pounds heavier than my normal pre-pregnancy weight. I was depressed, moody, lethargic, overweight, exhausted, and I always felt like I should just try harder to find the right medication to take care of it, or cut out the fats, or just exercise more. It seemed like each day was a monumental effort to get through, and I know I missed out on a lot of activities with my kids when they were little.

By 2013 my diagnoses were:

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. This is an auto-immune disorder where your immune system attacks the thyroid, which untreated can lead to multiple issues and eventual thyroid gland failure.

Bipolar disorder and depression/anxiety. The manic-depression was actually the hypothyroidism/hyperthyroidism that characterizes

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, but I didn’t know that at the time so I went on multiple and many medications over the years, thinking that nothing was working for me and this is how it was and would be for me forever.

Migraines and headaches. This entailed emergency room visits and even a brain MRI. I went to a neurologist and was put on a migraine medication that ultimately gave me kidney stones, two of which had to be surgically removed. The medication didn’t help at all so I eventually gave up on it and since then, no more kidney stones! An expensive experiment. Now, if I have a gluten exposure—instant migraine and the root cause of them.

GERD, bile disorder and esophagitis. I was put on a medication and at my first out-of-pocket charge of $400 for the med, I decided I’d go with the heartburn instead. I’d had bloating and discomfort for years, and did the usual OTC meds for that. An EGD thankfully showed no celiac disease but did show chronic inflammation.

Asthma and chronic bronchitis requiring an inhaler

Chronic fatigue

Restless leg syndrome

Hyperlipidemia

Osteoarthritis, joint pain and stiffness

Chronic tendinitis in wrists

Adult acne

Early menopause at age 40

Brain fog

Around this time I had also lost half of my hair—thankfully I have thick hair so it still looked ok even though it was falling out in clumps.

For seven long years I went to the endocrinologist, got my thyroid (TSH) level tested and was always told it was “normal.”

In August 2013, after my last visit to the endocrinologist who had “managed” my Hashimoto’s for seven years, I finally hit the wall with my frustration over not being able to control my own body. I had had my first full-blown panic attack around this time as well. My medical record states the doctor actually thought it “was unlikely patient has significant thyroid disorder.” My TPOAb (Hashimoto’s marker) was 629.5 IU/ml (normal is to just eat right and exercise more and wait until my thyroid failed and then be put on medication. I even begged to be put on Armour NDT or something to just try it, even though my TSH was normal. He refused. I fired him and, at the end of my rope, finally got on the internet where I found the book I felt saved my life, “Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the The Root Cause” by Dr. Izabella Wentz, which had just been published. Finally, someone who had suffered like me!

I jumped right in to the Hashimoto’s protocol—which is basically Primal, and though it was a super hard transition off the SAD and meds, I lost 20 pounds in the first 21 days and over the next three months, lost 25 more, and never looked back. I gave up gluten, grains, started eating way more fat and vegetables, minimal fruits, got off all of my medications and resolved almost all of my health problems, in particular the depression—it’s amazing to live without it! Without reading The Primal Blueprint (until a bit later), my diet and lifestyle had evolved to fit the model of ancestral health naturally.

During the initial transition, I had gathered all of my medical records, made a summary of them chronologically, made a spreadsheet of my labs and discovered by myself that while I have always had “normal” TSH levels, I don’t convert T4 into the more usable T3, and my symptoms fit that profile. I found a holistic leaning CNP that agreed with my diagnosis and was willing to prescribe the proper NDT medication to address this and literally 20 minutes after taking the first dose, my anxiety, which had reached panic attack levels, disappeared. I now know that when my anxiety creeps up, it’s time for a thyroid medication adjustment.

I eventually read Elle Russ’ Paleo Thyroid Solution, which is a great resource for thyroid sufferers and explained a lot of what I was going through. I do still have the occasional Hashimoto’s flare days, when I simply cannot get out of bed, but it’s down to 1-2 times a year—and usually after I’ve let non-Primal foods into my diet. A far cry from being how I lived my life on a daily basis. It took ten years from diagnosis and many endocrinologists, naturopaths, nurses and internists later, but I finally have found an integrative medical doctor who helps me with the right medical care for Hashimoto’s. I was gratified at our first intake appointment that she did not change one thing about my diet which was already Primal! She commented on my robust health and I was never more proud of myself for getting myself from my sickest days to the point of actual robust health!

Today, after my all time high of 213 lbs, I keep my body at a comfortable 165 lbs (I’m 5’5” and age 49). My Hashimoto’s is stable and after initially cutting my levels in half by eating primally, I go a bit up and down and now rely on my physical and mental states to determine how well I’m controlling it through my food plan. I don’t have a CrossFit-type body, but I do have a body that takes me through my days without pain or suffering, as long as I stick to the Primal way. I no longer have depression, anxiety, GERD, acne, my hair grew back, I sleep like a champ and my brain fog is better but not all gone—hey, I’ll be 50 this year, what can I say! My weight, despite four back surgeries for disc herniations, a labral tear repair in my hip, a broken ankle and a shoulder surgery (the osteoarthritis still rears its ugly head), has remained stable at 165 lbs since 2013. Even when I am unable to exercise, I maintain my weight, mood and general good health simply by eating and living Primally. Today, I enjoy riding my bike, walking my dogs, working out at my property mowing grass, hauling logs and brush and doing simple Primal workouts in my basement. I have a goal of someday being super muscle-y but since I feel so much better than I did before, I’m ok with my body now. My clothes always fit and I can live and do what I want to physically, and that’s more than enough for me.

My children are now 19 and 16, growing up and moving on with their lives, and with extra time on my hands I started looking into being a health coach. I’d followed many “diets” related to primally eating—mostly the Hashimoto’s Protocol, the Bulletproof Diet, the Whole30 plan, the Auto Immune Protocol plan and Paleo among others—but truly, the lifestyle I developed and live dovetails totally with the Primal Blueprint—I was living it before I really even knew about it! My heritage is Inuit/Alaskan Eskimo so it makes complete sense now that I live best on fats, meats and vegetables and berries! I know this lifestyle works for me and am excited to share it with others like me, who have suffered needlessly with auto-immune disorders that aren’t treated properly. I know you can take your health into your own hands and live the way nature intended – PRIMALLY! I recently became certified as Primal Health Coach and am living proof that good health can be had with minimal effort and suffering and I’m excited to begin my journey of helping others to robust health!

Want to make fat loss easier? Try the Definitive Guide for Troubleshooting Weight Loss for free here.

[milenasanchezmk]

I Went From Having an Invisible Illness, Being Overweight, Depressed and Tired To Enjoying Robust Health!

It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!

Looking back, I have always had thyroid issues though I had no idea what that meant in my teens and twenties. It apparently runs in my family, though with rural Alaska medical care in the 70s, you were lucky to have a doctor available, let alone a dentist. Even as I grew older and moved to the city and then to college in Arizona and life in many other places, I was always just not well. Though I managed to live and work and play fairly normally, I would occasionally have days that I could not get out bed, so I attributed it to depression or other more readily identifiable causes like depression.

I eventually married and went through two pregnancies in my early 30s, fairly normal and with healthy babies. After my second child, my mental and physical health really started going downhill, though it wasn’t really visible other than weight gain and some fairly severe post-partum depression. With the benefit of hindsight and research, what was probably mild Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis in my youth turned into full-blown Hashimoto’s after the stress of pregnancy, childbirth, nursing and raising two small children.

I was officially diagnosed in 2006 with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis after a therapist I was seeing for depression thought to order some tests. My levels weren’t that high, and I don’t even remember what the endocrinologist said to do about it, just that I had it and it had to do with my thyroid, and that someday my thyroid would fail and I’d be put on medication. He advised eating better and exercising, but with no specific plan. Ok. I just went about my life in the usual way, raising two small kids and easing my way back into the working world while doing all of the usual life things of home maintenance, the kids’ sports and school schedules, marriage, work and other family obligations. The Internet wasn’t that prevalent then, and I just accepted my diagnosis and prognosis and went about my life the best I could.

The years went by and I gained more and more weight. I would “diet” occasionally, have a little bit of success, then fall right off the wagon. I’d tried all of the fad diets, Weight Watchers, etc., and even went sugar-free and even gluten-free a few times in the past with great results, but again, fell off the diet wagon every time. I had been active most of my life with running, college intramural sports, tennis, hiking, long-distance biking, canoeing, camping—nothing ever really stopped me from being active, even being overweight or tired through most of it. I even put myself through almost three P-90X workouts in a row (shoutout to Mark Sisson for his episode – little did I know he’d be so instrumental to my life later….). My weight didn’t budge, though I got some nice muscle under my chub. I thought I was eating fairly well at that time, too, low fat, whole grains—the usual “good diet.” At the beginning of the third cycle of hard-core exercise, plus moving some furniture, I herniated a disc in my back and that put an end to P90X and extreme exercise.

In the meantime, I was getting sicker and I didn’t understand why. I was 50 pounds heavier than my normal pre-pregnancy weight. I was depressed, moody, lethargic, overweight, exhausted, and I always felt like I should just try harder to find the right medication to take care of it, or cut out the fats, or just exercise more. It seemed like each day was a monumental effort to get through, and I know I missed out on a lot of activities with my kids when they were little.

By 2013 my diagnoses were:

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. This is an auto-immune disorder where your immune system attacks the thyroid, which untreated can lead to multiple issues and eventual thyroid gland failure.

Bipolar disorder and depression/anxiety. The manic-depression was actually the hypothyroidism/hyperthyroidism that characterizes

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, but I didn’t know that at the time so I went on multiple and many medications over the years, thinking that nothing was working for me and this is how it was and would be for me forever.

Migraines and headaches. This entailed emergency room visits and even a brain MRI. I went to a neurologist and was put on a migraine medication that ultimately gave me kidney stones, two of which had to be surgically removed. The medication didn’t help at all so I eventually gave up on it and since then, no more kidney stones! An expensive experiment. Now, if I have a gluten exposure—instant migraine and the root cause of them.

GERD, bile disorder and esophagitis. I was put on a medication and at my first out-of-pocket charge of $400 for the med, I decided I’d go with the heartburn instead. I’d had bloating and discomfort for years, and did the usual OTC meds for that. An EGD thankfully showed no celiac disease but did show chronic inflammation.

Asthma and chronic bronchitis requiring an inhaler

Chronic fatigue

Restless leg syndrome

Hyperlipidemia

Osteoarthritis, joint pain and stiffness

Chronic tendinitis in wrists

Adult acne

Early menopause at age 40

Brain fog

Around this time I had also lost half of my hair—thankfully I have thick hair so it still looked ok even though it was falling out in clumps.

For seven long years I went to the endocrinologist, got my thyroid (TSH) level tested and was always told it was “normal.”

In August 2013, after my last visit to the endocrinologist who had “managed” my Hashimoto’s for seven years, I finally hit the wall with my frustration over not being able to control my own body. I had had my first full-blown panic attack around this time as well. My medical record states the doctor actually thought it “was unlikely patient has significant thyroid disorder.” My TPOAb (Hashimoto’s marker) was 629.5 IU/ml (normal is to just eat right and exercise more and wait until my thyroid failed and then be put on medication. I even begged to be put on Armour NDT or something to just try it, even though my TSH was normal. He refused. I fired him and, at the end of my rope, finally got on the internet where I found the book I felt saved my life, “Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the The Root Cause” by Dr. Izabella Wentz, which had just been published. Finally, someone who had suffered like me!

I jumped right in to the Hashimoto’s protocol—which is basically Primal, and though it was a super hard transition off the SAD and meds, I lost 20 pounds in the first 21 days and over the next three months, lost 25 more, and never looked back. I gave up gluten, grains, started eating way more fat and vegetables, minimal fruits, got off all of my medications and resolved almost all of my health problems, in particular the depression—it’s amazing to live without it! Without reading The Primal Blueprint (until a bit later), my diet and lifestyle had evolved to fit the model of ancestral health naturally.

During the initial transition, I had gathered all of my medical records, made a summary of them chronologically, made a spreadsheet of my labs and discovered by myself that while I have always had “normal” TSH levels, I don’t convert T4 into the more usable T3, and my symptoms fit that profile. I found a holistic leaning CNP that agreed with my diagnosis and was willing to prescribe the proper NDT medication to address this and literally 20 minutes after taking the first dose, my anxiety, which had reached panic attack levels, disappeared. I now know that when my anxiety creeps up, it’s time for a thyroid medication adjustment.

I eventually read Elle Russ’ Paleo Thyroid Solution, which is a great resource for thyroid sufferers and explained a lot of what I was going through. I do still have the occasional Hashimoto’s flare days, when I simply cannot get out of bed, but it’s down to 1-2 times a year—and usually after I’ve let non-Primal foods into my diet. A far cry from being how I lived my life on a daily basis. It took ten years from diagnosis and many endocrinologists, naturopaths, nurses and internists later, but I finally have found an integrative medical doctor who helps me with the right medical care for Hashimoto’s. I was gratified at our first intake appointment that she did not change one thing about my diet which was already Primal! She commented on my robust health and I was never more proud of myself for getting myself from my sickest days to the point of actual robust health!

Today, after my all time high of 213 lbs, I keep my body at a comfortable 165 lbs (I’m 5’5” and age 49). My Hashimoto’s is stable and after initially cutting my levels in half by eating primally, I go a bit up and down and now rely on my physical and mental states to determine how well I’m controlling it through my food plan. I don’t have a CrossFit-type body, but I do have a body that takes me through my days without pain or suffering, as long as I stick to the Primal way. I no longer have depression, anxiety, GERD, acne, my hair grew back, I sleep like a champ and my brain fog is better but not all gone—hey, I’ll be 50 this year, what can I say! My weight, despite four back surgeries for disc herniations, a labral tear repair in my hip, a broken ankle and a shoulder surgery (the osteoarthritis still rears its ugly head), has remained stable at 165 lbs since 2013. Even when I am unable to exercise, I maintain my weight, mood and general good health simply by eating and living Primally. Today, I enjoy riding my bike, walking my dogs, working out at my property mowing grass, hauling logs and brush and doing simple Primal workouts in my basement. I have a goal of someday being super muscle-y but since I feel so much better than I did before, I’m ok with my body now. My clothes always fit and I can live and do what I want to physically, and that’s more than enough for me.

My children are now 19 and 16, growing up and moving on with their lives, and with extra time on my hands I started looking into being a health coach. I’d followed many “diets” related to primally eating—mostly the Hashimoto’s Protocol, the Bulletproof Diet, the Whole30 plan, the Auto Immune Protocol plan and Paleo among others—but truly, the lifestyle I developed and live dovetails totally with the Primal Blueprint—I was living it before I really even knew about it! My heritage is Inuit/Alaskan Eskimo so it makes complete sense now that I live best on fats, meats and vegetables and berries! I know this lifestyle works for me and am excited to share it with others like me, who have suffered needlessly with auto-immune disorders that aren’t treated properly. I know you can take your health into your own hands and live the way nature intended – PRIMALLY! I recently became certified as Primal Health Coach and am living proof that good health can be had with minimal effort and suffering and I’m excited to begin my journey of helping others to robust health!

Want to make fat loss easier? Try the Definitive Guide for Troubleshooting Weight Loss for free here.

[watsonrodriquezie]

I Went From Having an Invisible Illness, Being Overweight, Depressed and Tired To Enjoying Robust Health!

It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!

Looking back, I have always had thyroid issues though I had no idea what that meant in my teens and twenties. It apparently runs in my family, though with rural Alaska medical care in the 70s, you were lucky to have a doctor available, let alone a dentist. Even as I grew older and moved to the city and then to college in Arizona and life in many other places, I was always just not well. Though I managed to live and work and play fairly normally, I would occasionally have days that I could not get out bed, so I attributed it to depression or other more readily identifiable causes like depression.

I eventually married and went through two pregnancies in my early 30s, fairly normal and with healthy babies. After my second child, my mental and physical health really started going downhill, though it wasn’t really visible other than weight gain and some fairly severe post-partum depression. With the benefit of hindsight and research, what was probably mild Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis in my youth turned into full-blown Hashimoto’s after the stress of pregnancy, childbirth, nursing and raising two small children.

I was officially diagnosed in 2006 with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis after a therapist I was seeing for depression thought to order some tests. My levels weren’t that high, and I don’t even remember what the endocrinologist said to do about it, just that I had it and it had to do with my thyroid, and that someday my thyroid would fail and I’d be put on medication. He advised eating better and exercising, but with no specific plan. Ok. I just went about my life in the usual way, raising two small kids and easing my way back into the working world while doing all of the usual life things of home maintenance, the kids’ sports and school schedules, marriage, work and other family obligations. The Internet wasn’t that prevalent then, and I just accepted my diagnosis and prognosis and went about my life the best I could.

The years went by and I gained more and more weight. I would “diet” occasionally, have a little bit of success, then fall right off the wagon. I’d tried all of the fad diets, Weight Watchers, etc., and even went sugar-free and even gluten-free a few times in the past with great results, but again, fell off the diet wagon every time. I had been active most of my life with running, college intramural sports, tennis, hiking, long-distance biking, canoeing, camping—nothing ever really stopped me from being active, even being overweight or tired through most of it. I even put myself through almost three P-90X workouts in a row (shoutout to Mark Sisson for his episode – little did I know he’d be so instrumental to my life later….). My weight didn’t budge, though I got some nice muscle under my chub. I thought I was eating fairly well at that time, too, low fat, whole grains—the usual “good diet.” At the beginning of the third cycle of hard-core exercise, plus moving some furniture, I herniated a disc in my back and that put an end to P90X and extreme exercise.

In the meantime, I was getting sicker and I didn’t understand why. I was 50 pounds heavier than my normal pre-pregnancy weight. I was depressed, moody, lethargic, overweight, exhausted, and I always felt like I should just try harder to find the right medication to take care of it, or cut out the fats, or just exercise more. It seemed like each day was a monumental effort to get through, and I know I missed out on a lot of activities with my kids when they were little.

By 2013 my diagnoses were:

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. This is an auto-immune disorder where your immune system attacks the thyroid, which untreated can lead to multiple issues and eventual thyroid gland failure.

Bipolar disorder and depression/anxiety. The manic-depression was actually the hypothyroidism/hyperthyroidism that characterizes

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, but I didn’t know that at the time so I went on multiple and many medications over the years, thinking that nothing was working for me and this is how it was and would be for me forever.

Migraines and headaches. This entailed emergency room visits and even a brain MRI. I went to a neurologist and was put on a migraine medication that ultimately gave me kidney stones, two of which had to be surgically removed. The medication didn’t help at all so I eventually gave up on it and since then, no more kidney stones! An expensive experiment. Now, if I have a gluten exposure—instant migraine and the root cause of them.

GERD, bile disorder and esophagitis. I was put on a medication and at my first out-of-pocket charge of $400 for the med, I decided I’d go with the heartburn instead. I’d had bloating and discomfort for years, and did the usual OTC meds for that. An EGD thankfully showed no celiac disease but did show chronic inflammation.

Asthma and chronic bronchitis requiring an inhaler

Chronic fatigue

Restless leg syndrome

Hyperlipidemia

Osteoarthritis, joint pain and stiffness

Chronic tendinitis in wrists

Adult acne

Early menopause at age 40

Brain fog

Around this time I had also lost half of my hair—thankfully I have thick hair so it still looked ok even though it was falling out in clumps.

For seven long years I went to the endocrinologist, got my thyroid (TSH) level tested and was always told it was “normal.”

In August 2013, after my last visit to the endocrinologist who had “managed” my Hashimoto’s for seven years, I finally hit the wall with my frustration over not being able to control my own body. I had had my first full-blown panic attack around this time as well. My medical record states the doctor actually thought it “was unlikely patient has significant thyroid disorder.” My TPOAb (Hashimoto’s marker) was 629.5 IU/ml (normal is to just eat right and exercise more and wait until my thyroid failed and then be put on medication. I even begged to be put on Armour NDT or something to just try it, even though my TSH was normal. He refused. I fired him and, at the end of my rope, finally got on the internet where I found the book I felt saved my life, “Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the The Root Cause” by Dr. Izabella Wentz, which had just been published. Finally, someone who had suffered like me!

I jumped right in to the Hashimoto’s protocol—which is basically Primal, and though it was a super hard transition off the SAD and meds, I lost 20 pounds in the first 21 days and over the next three months, lost 25 more, and never looked back. I gave up gluten, grains, started eating way more fat and vegetables, minimal fruits, got off all of my medications and resolved almost all of my health problems, in particular the depression—it’s amazing to live without it! Without reading The Primal Blueprint (until a bit later), my diet and lifestyle had evolved to fit the model of ancestral health naturally.

During the initial transition, I had gathered all of my medical records, made a summary of them chronologically, made a spreadsheet of my labs and discovered by myself that while I have always had “normal” TSH levels, I don’t convert T4 into the more usable T3, and my symptoms fit that profile. I found a holistic leaning CNP that agreed with my diagnosis and was willing to prescribe the proper NDT medication to address this and literally 20 minutes after taking the first dose, my anxiety, which had reached panic attack levels, disappeared. I now know that when my anxiety creeps up, it’s time for a thyroid medication adjustment.

I eventually read Elle Russ’ Paleo Thyroid Solution, which is a great resource for thyroid sufferers and explained a lot of what I was going through. I do still have the occasional Hashimoto’s flare days, when I simply cannot get out of bed, but it’s down to 1-2 times a year—and usually after I’ve let non-Primal foods into my diet. A far cry from being how I lived my life on a daily basis. It took ten years from diagnosis and many endocrinologists, naturopaths, nurses and internists later, but I finally have found an integrative medical doctor who helps me with the right medical care for Hashimoto’s. I was gratified at our first intake appointment that she did not change one thing about my diet which was already Primal! She commented on my robust health and I was never more proud of myself for getting myself from my sickest days to the point of actual robust health!

Today, after my all time high of 213 lbs, I keep my body at a comfortable 165 lbs (I’m 5’5” and age 49). My Hashimoto’s is stable and after initially cutting my levels in half by eating primally, I go a bit up and down and now rely on my physical and mental states to determine how well I’m controlling it through my food plan. I don’t have a CrossFit-type body, but I do have a body that takes me through my days without pain or suffering, as long as I stick to the Primal way. I no longer have depression, anxiety, GERD, acne, my hair grew back, I sleep like a champ and my brain fog is better but not all gone—hey, I’ll be 50 this year, what can I say! My weight, despite four back surgeries for disc herniations, a labral tear repair in my hip, a broken ankle and a shoulder surgery (the osteoarthritis still rears its ugly head), has remained stable at 165 lbs since 2013. Even when I am unable to exercise, I maintain my weight, mood and general good health simply by eating and living Primally. Today, I enjoy riding my bike, walking my dogs, working out at my property mowing grass, hauling logs and brush and doing simple Primal workouts in my basement. I have a goal of someday being super muscle-y but since I feel so much better than I did before, I’m ok with my body now. My clothes always fit and I can live and do what I want to physically, and that’s more than enough for me.

My children are now 19 and 16, growing up and moving on with their lives, and with extra time on my hands I started looking into being a health coach. I’d followed many “diets” related to primally eating—mostly the Hashimoto’s Protocol, the Bulletproof Diet, the Whole30 plan, the Auto Immune Protocol plan and Paleo among others—but truly, the lifestyle I developed and live dovetails totally with the Primal Blueprint—I was living it before I really even knew about it! My heritage is Inuit/Alaskan Eskimo so it makes complete sense now that I live best on fats, meats and vegetables and berries! I know this lifestyle works for me and am excited to share it with others like me, who have suffered needlessly with auto-immune disorders that aren’t treated properly. I know you can take your health into your own hands and live the way nature intended – PRIMALLY! I recently became certified as Primal Health Coach and am living proof that good health can be had with minimal effort and suffering and I’m excited to begin my journey of helping others to robust health!

Want to make fat loss easier? Try the Definitive Guide for Troubleshooting Weight Loss for free here.

[ellesdunn-blog]

Professional Contexts - Laser Cutting

Optional Session

When deciding between 3 optional sessions to partake in during Professional Contexts (Laser Cutting, Print, Wacom Tutorials,) I began by researching a number of practitioners and their work in Laser Cutting and Print. As I have already worked with Wacom Tablets, I decided to rule those sessions out as I wanted to learn something completely new.

Practitioner Research

Angie Hoffmeister

Angie Hoffmeister is an artist who produces works using the drypoint print making technique. Drypoint is the technique of using a hard-pointed needle or sharp metal to incise an image onto a plate, usually metal. Ink is then applied to the plate and run through an etching press with a piece of dampened paper to produce a print. Hoffmeister’s work features distorted layering of imagery, produced by running the plate through the press a number of times which produces an intriguing and dynamic style.

Anila Quayyum Agha

Anila Quayyum Agha is an artist who utilises the laser cutting technique to produce large scale, intricate installations made from sheets of steel. The idea is a simplistic one, using sheets of laser cut steel and creating a cube from them with a bulb installed in the centre to create interesting shadows. I found these particularly interesting as I had not considered how laser cutting could be used to create 3D pieces and had rather initially considered a 2D product.

Laser Cutting Session 1

Laser cutting is the process of producing cut materials using a laser cutting machine. Laser cutting works by directing the output of a high-power laser to cut materials following patterns and designs most commonly produced in Adobe Illustrator. The laser cutting machine can also be used to produce engravings on materials, as well as cuts, which gives the technique versatility and means interesting results can be produced.

In the first session, we were introduced to Laser Cutting and shown some of the results the technique can produce and given a health and safety induction into the 3D workshop. The session was particularly eye opening as I had not previously been aware of just how much the laser cutting machine was capable of and seeing Kostos’ design work was extremely inspiring as he showed us a large variation of work. The images below show the Health and Safety induction and the demonstration we were given on the laser cutting machine.

The images below show some of the example work we were shown, mostly produced by Kostos. 

 Further Practitioner Research

Eric Standley

Eric Standley is an American artist who uses the laser cutting technique to create intricate and delicate pieces of layered paper art. Standley’s artwork was particularly inspiring to me as I enjoy producing hand cut paper cuts and am aware of the issues cutting intricate designs by hand can entail. Standley’s work opened my eyes to the possibility of producing a paper cut using the laser cutting machine in order to obtain a higher detail and delicacy in the work. The 3D element to Standley’s work is also extremely well developed and impacting and is something I would like to consider implementing in my own work in the future but will probably not be possible during my first attempt at laser cutting.

Gabriel Schama

Gabriel Schama is an American artist who utilises a laser cutting machine to aid his production of intricate, mesmerising 3D pieces from layered laser cut pieces of wood. Schama produces both abstract and realistic artworks from his laser cut work that are highly detailed and thought-provoking. Schama’s highly detailed abstract work opened my eyes to the possibilties of the work I could produce using the laser cutter, similarly to Eric Standley’s work and portrays the versatility of wood as a material for my work.

Design Development

After researching practitioners that use laser cutting to produce pieces of work and the materials I can use, I began to sketch out ideas of what I could produce on the laser cutting machine, below are initial sketches of said ideas.

Laser Cutting Session 2

In the second Laser Cutting session we were given a tutorial in how to make and prepare designs to be laser cut, and a masterclass in using Adobe Illustrator which I found to be extremely helpful for more than just producing the laser cut designs.

Design Development

After the second session, I began to develop the lightning bolt sketch I had previously designed, into a vector design to laser cut in the final session. Initially I had wanted to have it completely cut out but after beginning to design it, decided to incorporate engraving into the design as well. I wanted to create a design that was simplistic and clean that would be effective on a small scale so that the laser cut wood can be turned into a keyring or pin badge in the future, with this in mind I used a polygonal style to decorate the insides of the lightning bolt.

Laser Cutting Session 3

In the final session, we each laser cut our designs into our chosen materials, as my design was quite small at around 8cm in height, I decided to cut my design into both plywood and perspexs. When laser cutting, Kostos talked us through setting up the design to get laser cut and adjusting the different settings for cutting compared with engraving. As my design included both cuts and engraving, the two elements were produced in illustrator as different coloured lines so that the laser cutting software could determine that they were for different techniques. 

The images below show the laser cutting in progress and the final product. 

Overall I am pleased with the outcome of my first attempt at designing for laser cutting as I think the detailing compared with the size of the end product works quite well. The sessions were extremely interesting and inspiring and opened my eyes to more possible outcomes for my design work in the future and laser cutting will most definitely be something I will experiment with more in the future.