If paleo won't fix it, you're probably going to die

I don't see any paleo man around here. Obviously, they strayed from the path...

Banksy Caveman Art on Amazon

 
If ______ won't fix it, you're probably going to die

It's not just paleo, but squats and fish oil, among other things. In the fitness and nutrition "community," we see the claims of "cure all" being made for the latest "it" food or activity, and while they rarely claim it explicitly, it's often implied or inferred, depending on where you are sitting.

The list of "the fix for everything" is long and mighty

• paleo
• fish oil
• squats
• crossfit
• kettlebells
• green tea
• clean eating
• alignment
• vegan
• vegetarian
• yoga
• a good steam
• vitamin d
•  

My short list is tongue in cheek, I hope you know. If I've given you the impression that none of these things can't, won't, or don't matter, that was not my intent. I eat pretty close to what many would describe as paleo, for one thing. I believe that it's pretty healthy, and will [God willing] lead to a long and healthy life without a walker, insulin pump, or severe memory loss.

Wait, I also drink some green tea, because I must have more problems than even paleo can't fix ..and I love kettlebells. ...but I do need some serious alignment help. It's bad.



Do you have any to add to my list? Something's gotta fix everything, I just know it!

Kettlebell hands

Friday was my first day back to Kettlebells Sport training, after a week or two break. I tried to make a comeback a few days before, but my hands hurt too bad.

It's important to remember that what you do to your hands today leads to the callus of tomorrow. ...or next week. You might make a blister today, but a callus is a delayed reaction.

My mistake was to assume that I didn't need to grind, scrape, cut, plane, or polish my calluses because I wasn't doing the work, but my lazy two weeks of no hand care led to calluses that were ready to erupt like a pent up volcano. Just ten warmup kettlebell cleans and the calluses immediately tugged and burned.

I'm trying to be less stupid, and more aware, so I stopped immediately and went on to my scheduled gym workout, and took the time to shave and polish my hands later that night. Between the rack pulls, cleans, and chinups, the calluses were a little tender, so even after I took care of them, they hurt. I had to take three more days off from cleans and snatches, and that broke my heart so badly that I took three more days off.

Finally, my hands were good again, and yesterday I was able to get in a good workout, BUT I could still feel it.

My Kettlebell Hand Care Tips

• Clean and/or Snatch regularly so your hands don't lose the 'armor' they've built up. When I do these exercises at least once or twice a week, I get fewer calluses and my hands feel great.
• If you need a break from serious kettlebell training, consider keeping some Snatching or Cleaning in your regular warmups, just for the sake of your hands and the training that you'll be back to in due time.
• If you've truly taken a break from it, get back into it slowly, and take care of any erupting calluses a few days before you plan to train again. Serious callus removal can leave your hands pretty tender.
• Sand, scrape, plane, polish, or grind your calluses regularly so they never build up. Don't wait until you see and feel them, but get on a schedule.
• If you feel burning hands or tugging calluses in training, stop immediately. You can still train, but use Swings, Jerks, and maybe the Half Snatch instead of the drop of a regular Snatch.
• Torn calluses and blood are to be saved for competitions, not training. If you tear, you lose a week or two of training, and there goes your competition.

 

Highly Recommended – February 17th, 2012

Do not expect any fluff, but if I think it's valuable, I'll post it up here, maybe with a blurb about why it's good. Just know that it's only here because I think it's good, even if I don't say it. Sometimes awesome stands alone.

awesome

Podcasts

Revolution Health Radio – Chris Masterjohn on Cholesterol and Heart Disease

Twice the Chris means twice the info. Chris Masterjohn joins Chris Kresser to talk the cholesterol myth, thyroid, and more. You SHOULD listen and learn. It's Part Three, but they sum up Parts One and Two, so just go for it.

Don't forget to subscribe on iTunes. Chris is awesome every week.


Jillian Michaels Podcast

I know, it's Jillian Michaels... But, despite The Biggest Loser, I've listened to her for years on the radio and on her podcast. On her latest podcast, dated 2/8/12, she talks about her latest DVD set, the program actually sounds good, AND she sound smart. She discusses two questions from a listener on bad fats and "the French," that I found pretty spot on. My only question to Jillian would be "Why would you come back home and go back to your same old same old if the French really have something there?" Why not take the French paradigm you discovered in Paris and make it your own? 

She often covers topics that are too touchy-feely for me, but what can you do? She seems very genuine and caring. I hope her TBL persona was just editing. :)


News (even if it's old news)


Sitting Down is Killing You – The third picture in the infographic is the keystone: How sitting wrecks your body. If your body didn't undergo those changes, you wouldn't have the other issues. All roads lead to Rome, all is fair in love and war, and sitting down is killing you.



Events

Paleo Summit, hosted by Underground Wellness

This is a free, online event, and filled with many awesome presenters. I'll be honest and tell you that some will come across as whack jobs, but that's because A, you haven't been assimilated yet, B, they aren't very good at presenting things without sounding like whack jobs, C, they are whack jobs. You will have to decide.

Why sign up and why listen? Whether or not you buy into paleo, primal, or ancestral eating, many of the things that these people spew talk about has grains of truth (pun intended). You might not need to jump into grain and gluten free eating, or want to live on grass-fed, Himalayan salt seasoned, free range bison offal, but I must admit that there is merit to including many forgotten foods in our diets, and reducing much of the highly processed and industrialized foods that society relied on.

Here are some of the ones I'm looking forward to:

• Mark Sisson – Mark has the most reasonable approach to a healthy lifestyle that I know and he puts it in everyday, easy terms.
• Chris Kresser – I listen to him every week already, and always learn something new.
• Denise Minger – smart and pretty. I like that.
• Mat Lalonde – smart and pretty. My wife probably likes that.
• Dallas & Melissa Hartwig – If I had a quarter for every vegetarian with hormone problems that asked me what to eat to lose weight and get healthy, I'd have laundry money for weeks!

Sign up here (scroll to the bottom and enter your email) and get all the updates, plus two free videos to warm you up! One of them is Gary Taubes, but despite his reporting with blinders on, there is some truth in this words.

BTW, if you sign up and do parts of the conference, please let me know. I'd love to have conversations about all this stuff and see what you think. I'm not a paleo hardliner AT ALL, so I want to talk about this stuff; good and bad.


Commentary

If you're a personal trainer or strength coach, don't tell women that they won't get big and bulky lifting weights, and then use Jessica Biel as your example of hot. She is very hot, but to the average woman who doesn't lift weights, she's bulky.

If you're a female who's afraid to lift weights because you don't want to get bulky, please know that Jessica Biel is naturally big and muscular, and you will have to find another way to get that hot!

Many women try to put on muscle and just can't do it. Others find ways to keep the excess muscle where it belongs. Either way, to enjoy a long and healthy life, free of stooping, slouching, and broken hips, you owe it to yourself to lift some weights or engage in resistance training, whether it's at home with kettlebells, dumbbells, or bodyweight or at the gym with deadlifts, squats, and bench press.

Your ancestors stayed strong, healthy, and standing upright via hard work. Your choice is to do that or train.

Later, people!

Cheesecake with orange cranberry walnut crust

I don't really like "stuff" in my cheesecake, but the crust is always fair game. Toppings are sketchy, but there are solutions; here, we have a regular cheesecake, in the style of a cream cheese pie, with a grainless crust of walnuts and orange flavored cranberries. A nice marmalade on the side lets those who will enjoy the topping, enjoy, while those who won't will be looked up with disdain by the rest of us...

This is not a diet food, this is a full blown cheesecake. If you're on a diet, eat less.

Cheesecake with orange cranberry walnut crust

If you can't find orange flavored cranberries, feel free to substitute regular dried cranberries, which are equally awesome, yet different. Search out an awesome marmalade, but I confess that most marmalades are better than no marmalade.

Do your best to find sour cream without thickeners and gums. It will spread easier over the hot cheesecake, while thicker ones will be harder to spread without tearing the cheesecake.

Now, go forth and bake!

Ingredients

The crust
1 1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup dried Trader Joe's orange flavored cranberries
1/4 cup sugar
4 tbsp butter, melted

The cheesecake proper
3 8oz packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup half and half

The sour cream topping
24 oz good sour cream, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar

On the side
A jar of awesome marmalade, like Bonne Maman's Orange or St. Dalfour's Kumquat
or, as we had in the morning, fresh blueberries


Directions

Preheat oven to 375°

In small batches, pulse the walnuts in a blender until chopped and semi-powdered. It's okay to have some chunks. Remove to a bowl and do the same for the cranberries. Go for chopped only, not powdered. Stir in the sugar and mix well. Stir in the butter and mix well, once more. Press into the bottom of a 10" spring form pan. Put the crust in the oven and cook for 10 minutes.


Reduce oven to 325° and allow crust to cool for 10-15 minutes.

Cream (mix until creamy...) the cream cheese and sugar using a mixer. If you must do it by hand, do it a long time and really try to get some air into that thing! Add vanilla and 1 egg, mixing well until smooth. Scrape down and repeat with the 2nd egg. Scrape down and repeat with egg #3. Add the half and half and mix well.

Pour the creamy filling over the crust and return the pan to the 325° oven for 60-75 minutes (check it at 60, please) or until the middle is jiggly, but no longer runny. The top may also become slightly golden, which is a good sign, but probably a sign to take it out of the oven, too.

In a separate bowl stir the room temperature sour cream and sugar together, mixing very well. It should be smooth and easily poured. When the cheesecake comes out of the oven, immediately pour the topping over the cake, and gently smooth it over the surface. Return the cake to the oven for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool to room temperature, then run a thin knife around the side to free it from the ring. Chill for about 3-4 hours before covering so it doesn't get condensation. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and chill for 3-4 more hours or until the next day.

Serve plain, with marmalade, or with berries.

Happy birthday, Stela!

The Gallery of Unusual Fruit #8

Tabata – I don't think it means what you think it means

"You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means." – Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride

A while back, I posted about Bodyweight Training and how it's morphed into routines that incorporate all sorts of external loads and resistance. These things aren't bad. Not at all. Just don't call it Bodyweight Training and you're good. But call it that, and you either limit yourself by sticking to "pure" bodyweight, or put a target for mockery on your back when you start to add bands, sleds, and weighted vests.

I didn't say it in the blog post, but if you choose to train for something (Kettlebell Sport, Surfing, Crossfit, Powerlifting, etc), rather than choose to train with something (kettlebells, bodyweight, barbells, etc), you might be better off. Hockey players train for hockey, they don't just "train with a hockey stick."

My flashback to that recent blog post is over, and today's blog post will be blessedly short and sweet as a result of all that wasted time on the past.

Tabatas

People love to do Tabatas for fat loss. Tabata front squats, Tabatas on the Elliptical, Tabata circuits, Bodyweight Tabatas, Tabata This!, Tabatas with eight different movements, Tabatas, Tabatas, Tabatas!

Question: What is the Tabata's purpose?
Answer: Increasing one's VO2max

The Tabata Protocol was developed as part of a study on increasing VO2max, nothing else. It has nothing to do with fat loss. In addition, the intervals were done on a Schwinn Airdyne bike, where you can really go all out. Pushups, front squats, the elliptical trainer, and swings just aren't the same. In fact, the tougher the exercise is to setup or perform, the more complicated the circuit, or the more skill it takes, the less effective it's likely to be. Pushups on three medicine balls, a circuit that changes exercises every round, or movements that are so heavy that you can only get in a few reps are typically poor choices for "tabatas." How many fewer reps will you get because you have to concentrate hard, get into position, or balance?

The protocol in the study was very specific; in each week they performed FIVE days of "tabatas," each day with 7-8 twenty second all out sets, then another day of steady state at a high level. Are you doing all that?

...that Tabatas are good for fat loss

I have nothing against intervals for fat loss, in fact, I encourage them. I don't, however, see fat loss value specifically in the Tabata Protocol – I think you can do better. ...unless you're also trying to improve your VO2max, of course.

Instead of Tabatas for fat loss, try:

• The Prowler
• Barbell complexes
• Eat less food
• Going for long walks
• Kettlebell swings
• Hill sprints or other intervals with a positive rest to work ratio

The Prowler – I think pushing and pulling heavy things is a very primal feeling. It's historically natural "work." It provides cardio and strength benefits AND little eccentric work, meaning less soreness tomorrow.


Barbell complexes – A barbell complex is using a barbell to do a circuit with it, usually without having to put it down. It will be fairly light, so you can do it fast and with a lot of reps, then rest and repeat for a few more rounds.

1. backsquat
2. overhead press
3. romanian deadlift
4. bent over row

Pick a weight that you can use for 10-12 reps on your weakest lift (usually the overhead press), but only do 5 reps, immediately moving on to the next exercise, 5 reps, next exercise, 5 reps, next, 5 reps, put the barbell down and rest 1 minute. Repeat for 3 more rounds. Next week, you can do more reps (like 6) or another set (like 5). Increase one of the other each week.


Eat less food – I'm not saying to do this. You may already be eating very little. But do look at your diet and be honest with yourself. If you're still eating ice cream and hamburger buns, look to stop that before worrying about Tabatas.


Going for long walks – Walking is a low stress way to add more activity. It doesn't wear you out or make you hungry for yet more food. Try some walking this Monday.


Kettlebell swings – Virtually everybody reading this needs more glute work, and swings are one the best ways to get that. It doesn't matter whether you swing like a Kettlebell Sport guy or an RKC, but swing you should. If you only have a light kettlebell, learn to go one handed, and switch before form is compromised. For those on the cusp, here's Neghar Fonooni showing you how to put some one handed work into the mix when the bell feels heavy.

The lighter the kettlebell, the longer the work set. When I use a 16kg kettlebell, I can swing for several minutes straight. There's nothing wrong with swinging a kettlebell for several minutes straight, just keep in mind that it's more like cardio, and less like an interval. For an interval effect, make sure to pick a weight that's challenging for you and your glutes!

For kettlebell swings, I tend to prefer timed sets, rather than reps. Try 30s two handed swinging, 1 minute resting, repeat 4-6 times. Or, if the bell is lighter, try 30s left hand, 30s right hand, 1:30 minutes resting, repeat 4-6 times. It doesn't have to be 30 seconds, just pick a time that's challenging for you without compromising form. When in doubt, set the bell down and use this new time as your interval time.


Hill Sprints and other positive rest period intervals – A positive rest period interval is the flip side of the Tabata, which has a negative rest period. A positive rest period is one that is longer than the work period before and after it. Thirty seconds of work with one minute of rest qualifies as a positive rest period. Twenty seconds of work with a ten second rest period is negative.

Here's a good article on the pitfalls of negative rest intervals (like a tabata workout) by Strength Coach Robert dos Remedios. It's a good read, but here's a quote from Dos.

I know that most people cannot do continuous high intensity sprint workouts for 30 min. etc. so we need more practical protocols. This being said my general rule of thumb is ALWAYS choose some sort of positive rest period. AT LEAST work with EQUAL work-rest periods.

I listed some of the best exercises for fat loss up above, but I think hill sprints are my favorite because they are safer than regular sprints, take no real equipment, they are a real test of mettle, and seem to be pretty self regulating.

Happy to not do tabatas?

How to do hill sprints

• Go to the base of a hill
• Sprint up the hill
• Walk down the hill
• Rest if necessary
• Repeat 4 or 5 times

Next week, go faster or add another sprint.


You have options

These are just a few of the many options for incorporating more "fat burning" exercises into your routine.

I remind you that only high level athletes do enough overall work to out exercise a bad diet. Focus on cleaning up your intake before you add too much extra output. Maybe Tabata Push-Aways?

Want more 'genius' from me? My current writing, blogging, and complaining is found at TheFitInk.com. See you there!

I'm feeling better and standing up again

I got sick last week, and I'm about back to 100% awesome. I'm able to train, but I still have to clear my throat and cough more than I'd like. I feel better than I have in months, despite the cold. Training has been great and very rewarding!

I'm also able to type again. I don't really advertise it, but I do about 90% of my typing standing up at a countertop or elevated work surface. At work, I get to hear "we'll make room so you can sit down" regularly. No thanks!

John Durant's stand up office experience

At Starbuck's I seek out the countertops and pub tables, when available. At work, we have standing computer stands in our showroom, so I often have options.

Sit vs stand calculator

It takes more energy to stand, as being sick will show you, than it does to sit. If that isn't enough to convince you that standing is healthier than sitting for your waistline, I don't know what is. It's also a lot healthier on the glutes, hips, feet and back, even if you are already svelte!

Although I'd love to stand all day, and burn 400 more calories, it's just not practical or even optimal. I try to sit when reading, stand when writing. As to last week's sickness/typing issue... Why not just sit down to type, you ask? Well, I must have an off button on my ass, because when I sit down, nothing gets done.

Here's one man's experience with the standup work plan over a year. The takeaway is to sit, stand, and move around. I have stood all day and then gone to the gym, no problem. I think that it comes down to level of fitness, other stress, other rest, and what your general level of activity might be. We are all different, so I urge you to play around with this stuff.

Do you use a computer a lot? What's your plan to sit less?

Why is it so hard to lose weight (and keep it off)?

Is the Big Mac to blame?

I think most of us realize that obesity isn't caused by just one thing, but there are many people "out there" who point to just one thing as the cause or the primary reason. Personally, I get very annoyed when someone says "counting calories doesn't work," because they are either wrong, lying, or misrepresenting. I wrote about that, here.

The list

Here's a partial list of reasons commonly believed to be the cause of obesity:

• carbs
• sugar
• high fructose corn syrup
• fat
• saturated fat
• gluten
• wheat
• eating too much
• moving too little
• eating too much and moving too little (aka calories in, calories out)
• food is too tasty and readily available
• fast food
• high reward food
• pesticides
• hormones (our own hormones)
• diseases (Hashimoto, PCOS, etc.)
• syndromes (Type 2 Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome, Leptin Resistance, etc.)
• more

As most of us can see, a lot of these things overlap (hormones and syndromes, for instance), but even some of the most brilliant people out there often look with blinders on, refuse to discuss the other aspects because they think it will confuse the issue, feel that the other aspects are insignificant, or possibly play games for more insidious reasons. Who can know for sure?

On his most recent podcast, Chris Kresser discusses how obesity is a multifaceted issue, where many things play their part. It is an excellent listen, and if you have a long drive or cardio session ahead of you, I encourage you to put this on your mp3 player or ipod. There is also a full text transcript, for those of you are readers, rather than listeners.

Sugar v calories v food reward

Some of you are familiar with the low carb, primal, and paleo worlds out there on the internet, so you get to hear Chris's good explanations on why there should be less controversy between Gary Taubes and those people who insist he's flat out wrong. He is wrong and right, but so are they. Only because it's never one thing. It's not just the calories and it's not just the high reward foods, just as it's not just the sugar.

Synergy can one day become a vicious circle

For those of you who don't follow that crap, this is an excellent explanation for how foods, hormones, calories, activity, lifestyle, carbs, etc all work together very well to keep you fit and lean. ...until they suddenly don't work anymore.

From there, they all conspire against you to make you fatter or keep you there. When you do manage to lose it, you might still be "broken," and your body does what it needs to put the weight back on because that's what it thinks it needs.

Who should listen

Everyone who's had trouble losing, felt urges to eat beyond their control, or regained it all or more should listen to this podcast.

There are truly things that are not your fault, but that doesn't mean you can't do something about it.

My First Kettlebell Sport Competition

What a great day! I competed in Kettlebell Sport for the first time. Although I've trained with kettlebells, and used the movements and exercises for years, today was my first time competing.

Jason Dolby, Galya Denzel, & Me

I'm pretty happy with my results, which was 76 reps of the Long Cycle with two 16kg kettlebells.

Chicken tortilla soup

Years ago, I learned to make matzo ball soup from a little book of easy soups. It was very easy, and I've since taken that simple recipe and converted it to chicken vegetable soup, chicken noodle soup, chicken pozole, and chicken tortilla soup.

Once you figure how to make this soup, just swap out the vegetables, spices, and extras to make the soup you want. Easy.

I don't eat many tortillas, so sometimes this is tortilla soup without tortillas. My kids like the tortillas, so I either fry up some strips or use some leftover tortilla chips. Tortilla soup was originally a "leftover" soup, so even chips that are a little stale are perfect for soaking in this soup.

chicken tortilla soup

Chicken tortilla soup

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

4-5 pound chicken
16 cups water
6 bay leaves
1 medium brown or white onion, peeled and quartered into wedges
2 stalks celery, cut into bite size pieces
4 carrots, cut into bite size pieces
10 allspice berries, cracked
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp cumin, ground
1 tbsp coriander, ground
4 yellow summer squash, cut into bite size pieces
1 tbsp paprika or mild, powdered chili
1 tbsp Mexican oregano

chicken & veggies

herbs & spices

Extras

tortilla chips
fried tortilla strips
red or green salsa
lime wedges
sliced avocado
sour cream
cubed cream cheese
shredded cheese
hot sauce

Directions

Rinse the chicken and place in a large pot. Cover with the water and bring it to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and skim off any foam that collects on the surface.

Return to a slow boil and add the bay leaves through the coriander. Simmer for about 45 minutes, until the chicken is falling from the bone.

Remove the chicken from the broth and allow it to cool enough to handle. Remove the skin and bones, saving them for bone broth, if you like.

Tear or cut the chicken into bite size pieces and return to the broth. Add in the yellow summer squash and simmer for another 15-20 minutes, until the squash is just tender. Remove from heat, remove the bay leaves, and stir in the oregano and paprika.

Serve with a variety of condiments at the table.

If using chips or fried tortillas, let them soak in the soup for a few minutes before eating. Top with cheese or some avocado cubes, and maybe stir in some salsa.

Enjoy!

Curried cauliflower soup

My friend Ashley came up with the original version of this awesome soup, then Galya and I tweaked it based on not reading the recipe fully before shopping what we had in the house.

Curried cauliflower soup

This soup is even better the next day, so feel free to make it yesterday, so you can eat it today.

4 servings


Ingredients

1 large head cauliflower
1 large tart apple (like a Granny Smith)
1 clove garlic (optional, but highly recommended)
1 tbsp garam masala (aka curry powder)
1 tsp turmeric (optional, but makes for a nice color)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp ghee or unsalted butter
salt to taste

Directions

Discard the greens and leaves of the cauliflower. Roughly chop the entire cauliflower, including the core. Peel, core, and chop the apple. Peel the clove of garlic, if using.

Place the apple, garlic, and cauliflower in a soup pot, with enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer and cook for about twenty minutes, until the cauliflower is tender. Blend with an immersion blender. Alternately, you can use a regular blender, just make sure to allow it to cool for a few minutes first, then blend it in batches.

Bring the soup to a slow simmer, and stir in the garam masala, turmeric, vinegar, salt, and ghee. Allow the soup to simmer for a few minutes. If necessary, add enough water to bring the pot to eight cups of soup.

Makes four, 2 cup servings, assuming you added enough water.


Nutrition

Per 2 cup serving – 120 calories, 3.5g fat, 21g carbohydrate, 7g fiber, 5g protein

One week away from my first competition

Next Saturday, I'll be competing in an IKFF Kettlebell Sport Competition in Santa Monica. It will be my first competition to even see, much less in which I participate.

Coach Jason Dolby giving me some pointers

I'm excited! I will be competing in the Long Cycle event, with two 16kg kettlebells.

For those of you who aren't kettlebell nerds, the Long Cycle event is when you do repeated kettlebell clean and jerks for ten minutes. You cannot set down the kettlebells, and the only rest is holding them overhead or "in the rack," which is the position pictured above.

If you are in the Los Angeles area next Saturday (January 21, 2012), feel free to come by and watch us all compete.

IKFF Competition
LEAF Performance Center @ Robot BJJ
2028 Stoner Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90025

I'm not sure of the competition schedule yet, but I believe they will be checking weight at 9am.

Speaking of weight, I need to be careful for the next week. I'm on the bubble of two weight classes and if I don't keep my appetite under control, I'll be competing against guys who are up to 20lbs heavier and potentially much stronger... The days of free eating are over. Until next Saturday.

Bodyweight Training – I don't think it means what you think it means

"You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means." – Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride

Last week, I posted about Clean Eating and it's antithesis; those who wish that "everything in moderation" is a valid argument. This week, let's look at a phrase that also sounds great, but actually means little: bodyweight training.

Bodyweight Training

The phrase "bodyweight training" brings to mind visions of body awareness, mastery of one's one physique, and some sort of fitness purity. While there is a certain awesomeness about using purely one's own weight and the Earth's gravity, there's nothing ignoble about using a dumbbell in addition to one's weight and the Earth's gravity.

If taken literally, subscribing to a "bodyweight training" plan is unnecessarily limiting. What if you can't do a pullup? What if you can't do an inverted row? You might add a resistance band, which is usually cool with the bodyweigh crowd, for some reason.

But wait, you don't even need a band, you can use a friendly helper to give you a little assistance, or just step up with a stool. Is it still "bodyweight" if you have a helper? A stool? A band?

Why are pushup handles, Swiss balls, weighted vests, and resistance bands cool for a bodyweight training plan, but you draw the line at a kettlebell or a dumbbell? Are these just technicalities or are they a slippery slope? What about a TRX or a Jungle Gym?

All good tools, but bodyweight equipment?

What about a sandbag? For that matter, a bodyweight purist should find that shoes are a fundamental problem that not even Vibram Fivefingers can solve.

If you're really strong, it can be challenging to find ways to make the exercise hard enough to do much more good. After you can do 50 pushups, is it really better to shoot for 75? What's the benefit? Sure, you can make them harder, and I like that, but if you really want to be stronger, there's not shame in using an external load, too.

If you're really weak or really overweight, it can be hard to do a pushup, but a dumbbell bench press can still be doable. Sure, there are pushups from the knees or at an incline, but while that's a fine exercise, it's hardly motivating to think you might be just doing those for the next six months vs getting stronger in the bench press. There's room for both...

Bodyweight training, like kettlebell training or crossfit, can become something of a religion. Don't let it be that for you. Choose the right training methods and tools for the job. Mix and match. Do build or use a program that mixes bodyweight exercises and calisthenics, but also adds an external load or resistance when necessary.

People who can do amazing things with the body are impressive. Balance, strength, and flexibility are cool, but sometimes people try really hard to do a bodyweight program, and leave the benefits of the other available tools behind.

Mastering your body means mastering the world around you, even if that includes an object. After all the world is full of them.

We are often told not complain about a problem unless you have a solution, so to that end, here's a "bodyweight training" workout program that use "stuff" that's not part of your body. In this case, it's a simple adjustable dumbbell set. This is a good home workout program for beginners, who rarely have access to a pullup bar OR a way to do an inverted row. Of course, you could always just buy a pullup bar, but are you already strong enough to do 10 pullups? Better buy a band, too. ;)

This adjustable dumbbell is good because it is under $40, it can be used as two light dumbbells or one heavier one, for very little extra money, you can add extra weight from local stores like Walmart. This solves the common problem of buying a pair of dumbbells that are too light and not wanting to spend the money on another pair of them (that will also soon be too light).




Minimal Equipment Workout


Warm-up (before each workout)
Joint rotations x10
Push ups plus x10
Glute bridges x10
Split stance rotation x10 times with each leg.
Wall Slides, 10
Jumping Jacks for 1 minute


Workout A

Warmup (above)

Training Circuit A

1. Pushups, AMRAP *
2. Reverse Lunges, 10 per leg
3. Dumbbell Two Point Row, 10 per arm
4. Chair Squats, 10
5. Standing Ys, 10
6. Side Planks, ALAP ** 
7. One Leg Glute Bridges, 10 per side
8. Bird Dogs. 10 per side

Week 1 – Do training circuit once and you’re done.
Week 2 and 3 – Rest one minute, then repeat the circuit one more time
Week 4 – Rest one minute, then repeat the circuit two more times, taking a minute in between circuits

*AMRAP – As many as possible
**ALAP – As long as possible

Remember, you need to alternate between A and B on seperate days, so skip at least a day, then move on to Workout B, below.


Workout B

Warmup (above)

Training Circuit B

1. Pushups (with hands elevated), AMRAP *
2. Split Squats, 15 per leg
3. Wall Slides, 15
4. Dumbbell Goblet Squats, 15
5. Front Planks, ALAP **
6. Two Legged Glute Bridges, 15
7. Standing Ys, 15
8. Reaching Lunges, 15 per side

Week 1 – Do training circuit once and you’re done.
Week 2 and 3 – Rest one minute, then repeat the circuit one more time
Week 4 – Rest one minute, then repeat the circuit two more times taking a minute in between circuits

*AMRAP – As many as possible
**ALAP – As long as possible

Remember, you need to alternate between A and B on seperate days, so skip at least a day, then move back to Workout A, above.

For more info on diet and some exercise descriptions, take look at the Beginners Kickstart over at JPFitness.com.

Do this program for a few weeks, adding weight to things like two legged glute bridges, chair squats, split squats, and lunges, if necessary.

Enjoy your bodyweight training!

Roland

Steel Cage Death Match – Taco vs Burrito

When I went on a diet, one of the first things I did was switch from the burrito to the taco. Here's why.

The Taco

Tacos al pastor

• corn tortillas are relatively small (and you can get the smaller, traditional, street taco sizes at Mexican markets)
• corn tortillas have relatively low calories compared to flour tortillas
• nixtamalized corn is a healthier grain choice than wheat
• self limiting corn tortilla strength means self limited filling
• easy to make at home
• the worst taco, fillings aside= fried/hard shell taco, which still can't compare to a flour tortilla

The Burrito

1650 calories? No more food for you! One day!

• flour tortillas are relatively large (even the taco sized ones)
• flour tortillas for commercial burritos are immense. A 12" store tortilla has over 350 calories, and they do not approach the size of a restaurant tortilla. I estimate them to be at least 400-450 calories.
• flour tortillas have relatively high calories compared to corn tortillas
• beans = farts
• rice = more empty calories
• Mexican rice and beans are often fried, and they use "healthy" oils and proclaim "no saturated fat," which likely means canola at best, SOYBEAN OIL at worst. Seed, bean, and grain oils are dramatically unhealthy.
• gluten in wheat makes for a less healthy grain than nixtamalized corn
• super strong wheat flour tortilla strength means it can hold a lot of filling
• it's hard to roll a good burrito at home
• the worst burrito, fillings aside = chimichanga, which is a deep fried burrito, often covered with extra cheese and sauce

My real life experience?

One typical burrito, without guacamole, at Baja Fresh. ~920 calories. It's about 110 more if you ask for guacamole, which I usually did. You can add 630 calories if you ask for it Enchilado style, which is pictured above.

Three tacos, with guacamole at Baja Fresh. ~620 calories (I ask for for just one tortilla per taco, since BF makes their soft tacos with two each).

Savings: at least 300-400 calories, plus burritos come with chips, while three tacos, a la carte, do not.

Eating three tacos, even with one tortilla each, is pretty satisfying. It looks like plenty on the plate, and takes time to eat. In the end, you're full, but saved hundreds of calories and ate healthier ingredients.

With the chips, calories saved are almost infinite. Who can even count that high?



The alternative traditional taco experience

There are many delicious and unusual options for the taco. In Mexico, the taco comes in more than the pollo, steak, carnitas, and ground beef that you see in Americanized restaurants. If you have the chance, venture to a taco place where you can get the tacos that Mexicans eat. These are the good ones. They are typically smaller, so you can either watch your intake, or just have more of them.

They come in many flavors, including the "normal" ones, but also in exotics like tongue, head, brain, and even very specific parts of the head. I skip these, with the rare exception of lengua. The always have the normal variety of meats, but with spices and marinades you've probably never had before. If you're squeamish, go for things that have "asada," "carne," "pollo," or "carnitas" in the name. Although delicious and of interesting textures, you might pass on the lengue, cabeza, and buche, for instance... When in doubt, ask, but ask what it is.

My favorites:

Taco al pastor – marinated pork, roasted on a spit like a gyro, then carved onto your tortilla.

Taco en pibil – fruit and chili (pibil) marinated pork. Some sort of secret sauce and marinade from the Yucatan area of Mexico.

Taco de adobada – again with the marinated pork! This is almost a grilled version of the "al pastor."

Taco de lengua – a tongue taco. I like to keep one in the mix, but just one. The rest are going to be more normal tacos.

Note that a lot of these little places don't even have burritos, which are pretty much an American invention, anyway. They probably laugh at you when you order one, too.


And the winner is...  the taco!

In the ongoing battle for good health and smaller waistlines, the taco clearly wins!

I think this is a chihuahua

Clean Eating – I don't think it means what you think it means

"You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means." – Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride

My wife doesn't appreciate the beauty and genius that is The Princess Bride, which is her loss and mine. Mine because I can't get easy laughs when I quote these guys, and hers because she probably won't appreciate it when I watch it the next million times, either. It's unlikely to grow on her. To not like this movie is inconceivable to me, but I wasn't fully convinced of her shortcoming before the wedding. I was sure she'd like it once she saw the whole thing, which may still be true, but she keeps leaving.

Like Vizzini's "inconceivable," there are many words and phrases that are casually tossed around in the diet, fitness, and nutrition world. Many have been so butchered that they've essentially become meaningless. ...or, at least the desire to get them right has waned.

I made a list of little fitness and nutrition terms and phrases that bug me, and quickly got up to about 10 phrases long, which is a little sad. I try to be a positive person, but sometimes you must vent, just a little. Sometimes the misconceptions around these terms are just honest mistakes, sometimes there's an agenda, sometimes it's a backhanded complement, and sometimes it's just bad grammar that seems to linger on. However I look at it, I am bugged, so here I go.

The first one of these terms is... Clean Eating and it's arch-nemesis "Everything in Moderation." I'm certainly not the first one to complain about these ones, but it's hard to resist starting here. I feel like it's the low hanging fruit on my list, but I'm just getting back from the Christmas break, so it's baby steps.

Clean Eating

Clean eating is a totally undefined and undefinable state. It means something different to everybody, but what it's said to indicate is a style of eating that doesn't feature poor quality foods and ingredients, there are no boxes and packages, and things like fast food are avoided like the plague – unless you can order a turkey patty and pretend that bun is whole wheat (um, don't ask, don't tell).

There's certainly more to it, but overall, the Clean Eating Specification is pretty vague in its specificity. To make matters worse, there's no one book, site, or resource to run to for the official Clean Eating program, although Tosca Roony and her Clean Eating library seem to lay claim to it (hint; they came later).

Steel cut oatmeal, fish oil, broccoli, skinless chicken breasts, and flax meal (not always in the same bowl) are the internet hallmarks of Clean Eating, as are the concepts that you simply can't be fat or get fat if you're eating clean. In fact, the internet says that eating clean when attempting to gain weight is the sure fire way to build muscle without loosing [sic] your abs. The only problem is that it's not true (I can so get fat "eating clean.").

Another big issue is that clean, itself, is not well defined. A vegan can eat clean, a low carber can eat clean, an "everything in moderation" person can eat clean, a paleo would say that only they are eating clean (some even shake their heads in sad wonder at the primal guys), and some organic, grass-fed paleos even look down upon their supermarket paleo brethren as they wallow in their conventional meat and veggie dirtiness.

The Clean Eating crowd certainly means well, and they are doing much better than most people eating a modern industrialized diet, but many live under the strange rules where you cut the fat off of your meat, only to cook the same meat in olive oil. Then, since butter is healthier than margarine, that's what you spread on your baked potato sweet potato. Iceberg is out, romaine is in. Why is table sugar evil, while powdered dextrose and maltodextrin are just fine as long as they are shaken into whey protein powder just before, during, or after lifting weights?

The rules go on and on, and while they aren't necessarily bad, they aren't magic, either. Trust me, just eating "clean" won't get you ripped unless you still eat fewer calories than you need. Looking for health? If you have gut issues, whole grains instead of white flour is a recipe for tummy troubles. Looking to add slabs of meat to your frame? Replacing the saturated fat from the burger patty you're not eating anymore with monounsaturated fat from olive oil or polyunsaturated fat from flaxseeds isn't helping anything.


Everything in Moderation

Don't get me wrong, I also don't take the flip side, where people actively mock those who follow a version of a Clean Eating lifestyle, because to them, it's just calories, calories, calories! ...and after all, calories are calories. If only there was an internet term for the anti-clean eating phenomenon... Oh wait, there is: My Plate! The USDA and myplate.org, does say eat what you like, but eat less of it.

problem solved.

Granted, no one is saying to eat junk all the time (not even the government), but they are saying that you can eat the junk, as long as you work them into your calories (and sometimes your macros), or maybe keep it to 10-20% of your calories for the week.

These Everything in Moderation folk are the people who figuratively shout out their epic cheat meals and free days all over Facebook, and when challenged by science or the suggestion that it might not be such a good idea, follow up with the classic mantra of "I eat ____, and I'm doing fine." What they are really saying is "not being able to eat _____ isn't fair."

Did you dad say life was fair? Life is fair, right? To be otherwise is inconceivable.

Christmas Gifts and White Elephants

If you're looking for something unusual to take to a White Elephant Party or give your food loving friend, here's my list of ideas, all food related and easy to get online.

I've got 4-5 cookbooks here, followed by a few gourmet ingredients that are sure go be a surprise!


Cookbooks

I'm going to tell you about the cookbooks, first. Not one of them is a healthy eating or diet cookbook. I don't really own many of those, so it's hard to comment on them. I do own Bobby Flay's Grilling for Life, which is a good father's day gift for dads who like to grill. It is a healthy cookbook (that's good anyway) and it's got some great tasting recipes that unsuspecting guests wouldn't even recognize as healthy. I love that book.

Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

This is a great book for someone who's new to cooking or moving out on his or her own. This was my go to book for cooking any cut of meat, any vegetable, or figuring out whatever cooking technique the other books failed to fully explain.

When I moved out on my own, people gave me The Joy of Cooking, but I always referred back to this book because it's easier to use, has better explanations, and good pictures. It's available in paperback or in a ring binder version, which lets it lay flat on the counter. I like that best. I love this book.


Best Ever Three & Four Ingredient Cookbook

I don't know about "best ever," but it's good and we own it. It's actually amazing how many great dishes they do with just three or four ingredients. The dishes are simple and tasty AND simple to make.

The pictures are good, too. I like cookbooks with pretty pictures.


Jamie's 30 Minute Meals

The most common complaint that I get from people who don't cook often is "I don't have time to cook." Jamie Oliver shows you how to make 50 complete meals, in 30 minutes each. He teaches techniques and organization, which we all probably need.

The recipes are real food meals, but this is no diet food. If your gift recipient is on a diet, then beware the calorie load. It's the learning experience, more than the meals themselves.

One huge plus is that Oliver is one messy chef, and even his presentation is messy. It looks delicious, splatters and all, and makes me feel better that I'm not so good at "clean as you go."



The Flavor Bible

The Flavor Bible is not a cookbook, but it's a great book for those who cook. It's a really big book on flavors that go great together. If you know someone who loves cooking and experimenting with food, I can't recommend this enough. Just look up some of the ingredients that you have on hand and you'll get quite a list of flavors and combinations that go great with it.

I use this book almost every day, as does Galya.



Gourmet Ingredients and Foods

Some of these foods are treats, but high quality, healthy treats. All of these foods are special in their own way, and deserve a place in your own pantry in addition to going under the tree. Might as well buy multiples and treat yourself to some of these amazing foods.


Truffle salt

I'm not a truffle expert, but if you've never had them, this could be a good starting point. Truffles smell amazing on things as simple as scrambled eggs! A little truffle salt is an easy and inexpensive way to try it out.

Exotic vanilla beans

Tahitian vanilla is a great gift for someone who loves to cook. This is really a lot of vanilla beans, so hopefully the person that you give them to will share a couple. Bakers will appreciate these beans, though. Tahitian vanilla is different from the ones you typically find at the grocery store. These are fruity and heady, and you can just stand there and breathe it in...

They will last a long time if stored properly, so send them this link, or maybe one for making their own vanilla extract or vanilla rum or vanilla vodka!


Real saffron

Each half gram of this saffron was made from the stigmas of well over 75 crocus flowers, all hand picked and dried in the same day.

Saffron is very expensive, and I don't use it often. That's why I love the way this powdered saffron comes packaged. Each half gram comes in four .125g capsules, which can themselves be resealed if you don't use it all in one day. This allows the saffron to last for a long, long time and still be pretty fresh and tasty.


The best chocolate, ever

Patricia started Choco-Vivo in her kitchen, selling at Farmer's Markets in Southern California, but she just recently opened her shop in Venice, CA!

Mayan Tradition is my favorite blend. It reminds me of mole, my favorite Mexican sauce.

“Tastes like Christmas” or “…like red hots”.  This is one of the most popular blends.  If you think you know what spicy chili and chocolate tastes like, you haven’t tasted this.  The depth of flavors from the various ingredients makes it taste like the mole of chocolate.  You’ll taste that cinnamon first and then those chilies will kick-in at the end.

These are the ingredients of Mayan Tradition, and the reason this is such an amazing blend.

Cacao nibs, Unrefined Cane Sugar, California Almonds, Ceylon Cinnamon Sticks, Guajillo Chilies, Pasilla Negro Chilies, Chipotle Chilies

Other Choco-Vivo bars (they are all good!)


Cacao nibs (also from Choco-vivo)

A cacao nib is the raw ingredient for chocolate.

When "they" say dark chocolate is healthy, it's the nib that's the healthy part of it. They are not sweet yet, because no sugar has been added. They are crunchy, nutty little guys that are good on a lot of things. Nibs are great ground up and used like cocoa powder, sprinkled on ice cream, tossed into trail mix, eaten as a treat, stirred into yogurt or oatmeal, blended in smoothies and shakes, mixed into a cheesecake's nut crust.

If you're going to go with nibs, I will once again recommend Patricia at Choco-Vivo. Patricia is a passionate craftsman of chocolate. She goes to Mexico and works with her farmers, who are craftsmen themselves. This stuff is carefully harvested, fermented, and dried, resulting in an amazing little treat. I've had the Choco-Vivo nibs and compared them to the ones from "health food stores." There's no comparison; these are seriously better.


Coconut

Coconut and coconut products are a health craze these days, and for good reason – they are actually healthy. Just beware that coconut flour is so good that you will still eat a whole pan of brownies, and healthy or not, that's a lot of calories. Don't think it's a free ride because it's healthy.

It might seem like a weird gift for some, but take it to a White Elephant Gift Party and explain to who gets it how awesome it is. If you have a health conscious friend or relative, coconut is a great gift, particularly because good coconut products and raw ingredients can be hard to find, locally. Shredded coconut found in stores, for instance, is often ruined sweetened.

Tropical Traditions is my favorite place to get my coconut products, although they don't carry coconut milk. :(

Coconut flour

If you're going low carb, paleo, or gluten free, this stuff is a life saver. Gal makes all sorts of stuff with it. It's so good I might have to tell her to stop.

Shredded coconut (and flakes and chips)

From shreds, to flakes, to chips, you get whatever size you need. Shreds and flakes are great for baking, but the chips are good for snacking or in a trail mix, sprinkled on cereal, ice cream, made into granola, or even eaten as cereal.

Coconut oil

The Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is the one that smells and tastes like coconut. It's amazing for cooking, and for imparting more of that great coconut flavor to your foods.

I also love their Organic Expeller-Pressed Coconut Oil, which has no flavor. I use this instead of normal cooking oils like canola oil and the other unhealthy seed, nut, and grain oils that we typically find in cupboards.

Both are amazing for frying, because you can really crank up the heat without smoking the place out.



Comments and ideas?

If you have any great ideas along these lines, please share!

Good morning

My goal of slowly getting my weight back above 200lbs was reached a few weeks back, and I continued things up to 203. Time to rein it in, so last Monday I stopped eating more and started eating less. I have never been an abs guy, but I can do with shedding a little bit of fat (and the wife returns on the 11th).

The plan

1. train for kettlebell sport
2. walk more
3. eat less junk
4. eat less food
5. lift weights twice a week

Numbers 1, 3, 4, and 5 are good to go. Number 2 made me look at my fitbit numbers. Not good. I gotta get those up, and fast. Not that I can lose a lot of fat before 3:05pm NEXT SUNDAY, but every gram counts. I use grams because they are smaller than ounces, so I have a much better chance. Plus, Gal speaks metric, so I hope she notices a few grams, at least.

In the past, Gal and I have joked like the fitbit was a little pet, and we have a responsibility to walk the little dude. So, after I noticed that I'd let my fitbit battery die, I charged it back up and looked on fitbit dashboard. I found that my numbers this last week were pathetic. This must change, so after my kettlebell sport training yesterday, I put some stew stuff in the crockpot and hit the road to Trader Joe's (rather than eat misc stuff around the house), stupidly leaving the fitbit on the base station.

Even after the walk, my numbers were bad, since the fitbit was still on the base station. It's frustrating, but good to remember that the record of the walk isn't the walk; the walk is the walk.

The positives were walking (of course), a podcast, not eating because I was smelling the food that wasn't yet ready, and noticing my feet have improved! While walking, I looked down at my feet, which infamously have pointed out like a duck's feet. Only they weren't like duck's feet, last night! Things are better!

Here, I stopped to take a picture of my feet, standing.

both of my feet

It's not the same as walking, but this is about the same foot angle, but with slightly less movement. And, since I also stand like a duck and tend to come to a halt with feet angled out (like a duck), this is a huge step up.

Gotta go. Time to walk the fitbit before it has an accident on my floor.

You don't always have to count calories

as long as you know that calories count.

One of my tools to help make people aware of calorie bombs is Chipotle Fan's Nutrition Calculator.

By clicking the options, you can see how simple choices make a meal better for your diet or better for a bulk! Try it. Put in your favorite, then start clicking to see how you can easily make it better or worse.

My dream burrito is 1080 calories, not including a beer, chips, and guac for dipping. By going with a bowl instead of tortilla, sour cream OR guacamole, and choosing rice OR corn salsa I cut my calorie load almost in half. I always remember to ask for extra veggies, and I end up satisfied and pretty full.

Even if you don't have a Chipotle near you, the concept is pretty sound for any burrito joint that can do tacos, burritos, or bowls. You might have to ask for something custom, but it's your dollar (or in the case of Chipotle, your ten).

people can lose weight by counting calories

including me.

In 2003, I dropped 75lbs by counting calories, so don't tell me it doesn't work.

It's frustrating to listen to a paleo, primal, or low carb podcast or read a book on the evils of sugar or processed foods, and hear variations of "as we now know," "as we see," or "as has been proven," as a precursor to "counting calories doesn't work." It does work.

Whether they are lying, being disingenuous, or merely lazy with their speech we may never know, but what they mean to say, or should say, is that counting calories...

• doesn't work for long because people get tired of it or get frustrated when progress slows
• doesn't work because the math doesn't always work, and they don't know how to manipulate things to make it work
• doesn't work because people might be eating the wrong things in the wrong amounts, leaving them hungry and unsatisfied
• doesn't work because people fail to realize that those formulas are estimates or starting points, and not exact

...and so they eventually stop counting calories, stop dieting, and become a statistic that's improperly used to show that counting calories doesn't work.

In the end, counting calories does work if you keep counting them and realize that all the formulas and values are estimates and starting points. Work with them, be willing to adjust them, and they can work for you, as my 75 pound weight loss shows.

Do I think counting calories is the best way to go about weight loss and keep it off? No, but not because it doesn't work, but because it tends to be unsustainable. I no longer count calories, except out of periodic and rare curiosity. For years, it was fun and comforting, but after a while, it got old, so I moved on.

Eventually, you should consider weening yourself off of counting calories before you flip out and give up. You've already developed the good habit of healthy levels of eating and exercise, so never stop, just find a way to do it that doesn't make you want to quit.

One of my favorite sayings is "always know your next plan before quitting this one." If you're getting restless with any diet, that's the best time to start reading your next nutrition book or to start asking questions. In the meantime, keep on keeping on.

Are you getting tired of counting? Are you afraid to start dieting because counting calories is such a pain in the ass? Do you feel like all diets are doomed to fail? Let me know what's on your mind.

Christmas is all around us

I hope everyone enjoys the Christmas season. I do.

I really like Christmas movies, but I typically dislike Christmas music. One of my favorite Christmas movies for adults is Love Actually, which contains my favorite Christmas song. It's a parody, which I hate, but it's a parody only because it's so over the top and "serious" in the movie. If it existed in the real world, it would be lame, yet here it is, the opposite of lame.

It's a similar phenomenon to Spinal Tap. Once I was driving with a friend and on our local rock station, a Tap song came on. "This song is so &%$@! stupid!," he said. I had to explain the Spinal Tap concept, after which he calmed down, but still failed to appreciate it without having seen the movie. The next song came on, and a few minutes into it he was shaking his head in disgust once again. "I don't think I want to see this movie." I quickly changed the station, but there was really nothing I could say to this song's defense; it had been Blue Oyster Cult.

Back to Christmas... Here's the low quality, too quiet version of Billy Mack's music video. Seen here and there throughout the movie.



If you want hi-quality music, try this one.

Here's the "making of" segment..., which I can't embed.

I think I'll watch it again, tonight.

If you haven't seen it. I recommend it. It's only $7.99 on Amazon, so toss it in alongside your other holiday purchases and bump yourself up to that $25 for Super Saver Shipping. You'll probably watch it every year.