Priceless things according to Ange

 

Me, still chasing a heavy snatch with good form at 44yo - 120#s

 

I recently had a birthday, I did absolutely nothing for the day but reflect. It was glorious and mundane and in hindsight I wish I‘d spent the day seeking out some sort of adventure.

 

But….another year in the books! This year was….dare I say it…quiet. Ray and I decided to become entrepreneurs in 2015, each year since it has been action packed chaos and the learning was endless. I was at a point where I would wake up and ask “what will I learn today or wonder how I will my ass get handed to me today?” And the day never disappointed! Until recently….it has been quiet. Don’t get me wrong we’ve had the usual twists and turns, honestly they were kind of repeats and it wasn’t that history was repeating itself because we hadn’t learned the first go round, it was just a part of this job of selling fitness.

 

Our first few years here felt a lot like spinning tires in mud. We had the gas pedal of life pressed to the floor and saw a few victories, a lot of failure, a lot of doubt, a lot of setbacks, a lot of ruthless, cut-throat experiences and a lot of what we do best….work. It was a whirlwind of chaos, we didn’t think too much about it, we just handled it. We had faith in ourselves, our vision and our work ethic.

 

I share my experiences because even if you don’t own a business, they are relevant to life. You see I am currently a tad bored because dancing with the chaos of what I wanted….a successful gym, paid off. Most people are in love with the victory, but not the fight. And this is the most simple and basic component of life: struggle determines success.

 

My experiences running a business can be relatable to personal goals in sometimes we hang on to a goal too long, or we let go too soon. How do you know? When the process no longer serves you or your health. Regardless of how far away a goal seems, or how slow (or even impossible) forward progress feels... if the process of pursuing it makes you better, if it enhances your life, instills discipline or gives you instruction you know you need, then the goal is worthwhile.

 

If you're meeting that goal, exceeding it even, but the process is meaningless, destructive, or pushes you in a direction that doesn't serve you, then it is a bad goal.

 

Quitting shouldn't be about how close the goal is, or how immediate or visible success is- it should be about how much value is in the path it is forcing you to walk.

 

And this is what I've come back to over the years. The quality of the process. And asking myself to measure the importance- not of the goal- but of one more step on the path towards it.

 

If you’re new to me you might not know I quit a high-paying executive level job when I was 40. Just quit. I was making $120K a year, benefits, retirement, the whole deal. I hated every day of my life. The struggle was very real, the success was a thin veil. At one time the job served me well, I don’t think I ever “loved” the job or had a passion for it, but at one time I was very good at the job, I was experienced and had good insight and made sound decisions regarding what was entrusted to me. When I decided to take on the task of running my own gym in 2015 my executive level job started to no longer serve a purpose for me except the paycheck was a huge financial security net. I am extremely thankful we had that income because owning our own business didn’t earn us any take home money for several years.

 

I walked away from my high-paying job without one single regret, or doubt, and to this day I do not miss it. I walked away from this job not feeling entitled for something better, but wanting something extremely different and not scared of the work or the process it would take to get there. I will continue to choose things I need to do, things that make me better, things that I need- those have tended to lead me to milestones that have had real value in my life.

 

When I was 20 I found myself doing some really hard shit. Mentally hard. Physically hard. And exhausting. The most work…to that point in my young life…my young, sheltered, little ass had ever done.

 

I was dirty, sweaty, my feet hurt, I couldn’t wear my contacts, my scalp was itchy from having my hair pulled back and not getting to wash the sweat and sand off my scalp. The days were hot, and the nights were cold enough to shiver.

 

My canteen smelled like chewing tobacco, and every MRE I had was chili mac (I despise this disgusting creation).

 

All I wanted to do was quit. Go home. Look cute. Sleep in. Take a hot shower. Eat a peanut butter sandwich. Watch nonsense TV and never…and I mean never smell CLP again.

 

“No one cares, Ange”….the wise, yet simple words of my Pap Brown. I was complaining to him on a pay phone in the middle of nowhere, on a collect call he had accepted. “Ya gotta be harder then woodpecker lips if you’re gonna make it in life, kid.”

 

Ugh….this guy and his stupid sayings. I just wanted him to say come home, quit, it won’t matter, you’re just a girl, do girl stuff. But he’s trying to make me feel…responsible. Ugh….this guy…I should’ve called my mom.

 

But I knew why I called him. And I knew that whatever he said was the best advice. You see my mom is a mom….she tries to fix stuff, shelter me, baby me. And my dad says stuff like…gee I don’t know what to tell ya, that’s a tough decision. But my pap…now that asshole would give it to you straight. He never sugar coated a turd and pass it as candy; he’d give it to you straight and that, that was why I called him that day.

 

I was blessed to serve 8 years in the Marine Corps on Active Duty and serve another 11 years as a Civilian Marine. I had some great experiences, some great leaders; I also had more horrible experiences and horrible leaders. The great leaders I can remember broad strokes, simple things. The horrible leaders, I can tell you detailed stories to include the date and weather.

 

A reflective list of practices learned over the last accumulated 44 years of my life

 

I shall title it...Priceless things according to Ange

 

You don’t have to beg extraordinary people to be...they just are...the rest of them...you deal with, they eventually rotate out.

 

Problems are part of life, not life, but they are not to be avoided.

 

Greatness doesn’t go on sale, there are no short cuts to greatness. Greatness costs what it costs....Only one way to earn an EGA.

 

Commitment doesn’t have anything to do with your feelings. Life spins on, with or without you. You’re only special to your mom.

 

You can’t have a pain free life. Self-help is predicated on peddling addictions to silly rules and mantras: get up earlier; now get up even earlier; get up so early there is no point in going to bed; don’t talk negative to yourself; fast in the morning; now fast in the afternoon; now fast in the evening; now fast for 18 hours; now fast for 7 days; don’t eat gluten; don’t eat nightshades; eat sticks of butter. They never address the underlying issue: you’re being lazy about your goals and don’t want to do the work to be successful.

 

Most of life is about cleaning. From your feet to your rifle to your rack.

 

People want to start their own business. But they don’t want to take risks, piss people of, fail, devote insane hours to something that won’t make any money for years.

 

Leadership is about respecting your team and working for them. What you do trumps anything you say.

 

Time is of the essence...shut up, move and work.

 

Being in charge means failure is your fault and success is for your team to claim.

 

Respect is earned by your actions, and there are consequences for any actions, even good intent.

 

And the best for last...vet your circle. If they run when there is a storm instead of standing arm and arm with you...let them run. If you aren’t sure if they should be in your circle...add some adversity and see where the day takes ya.

Comprehensive Eating According to Ange

I wish I could find the most comprehensive way to present the only question people want the answer to – what is the best way to eat? The very short answer to this question is, what you can eat consistently.

Consistency trumps intensity, which is an extremely simple concept. A concept that should be applied to everything in life, not just diet. But intensity is a great story for social media (run an ultra, write a book in 90 days, lose 100#s in 6 weeks) and consistency is boring (lose 100#s in 3 years, write a book in 3 years, etc). Consistency is a dirty word in the world of plethora we live in.

Most people, at least those who care about what they put into their body and aren’t drinking mountain dew like it’s a race to get their feet chopped off, know the basics of eating well.

Most people who eat fairly well will ask – why do I still have “all this fat”, why do my joints hurt, why do I have bloating, why can’t I sleep, why don’t I have more energy….you get the gist.

The answers can range from fairly simple, to uber complicated. For instance, “why do I have all this fat” could be coming from a woman who is 5’5” and weighs 140#s – she is a nice healthy weight, but perhaps she would be happier with the appearance of her body if she had more muscle, her problem isn’t “all this fat” but a body composition issue; or it could be semi-complicated like she has a disordered perception of the size she should be. We obsess over the number on the scale, and weight is total mass: bones, skin, organs, blood volume, muscle and fat. Fat is….well, fat. Losing weight can include losing bone density, muscle, and organ function, no bueno.

Other times the answers to these questions are much more complicated, and need some medical intervention. Like a man who is doing everything right, or at least most things right like working out, keeping alcohol to a minimum, attempting to get sleep but still struggling to lose his gut and even developing a solid c cup perhaps his testosterone levels are low, and all the sunshine, broccoli and barbells in the world won’t help him without some medical intervention. Maybe we have a woman who has low thyroid function and no matter how much cardio and starvation she applies she’s still adding fat and needs medical intervention. Or maybe you have a slight food allergy to milk and even the butter that was used to cook the eggs you ate for breakfast are causing bloating.

What to eat can be a tricky question that involves a lot more then the actual food.

I get asked what I eat, and I hate answering this question for a number of reasons. One because I know if I share what I eat someone will try to mirror my choices and it may not, for a variety of reasons, fit their lifestyle or even nutritional needs. These reasons can include, but are not limited to: they don’t like the taste of the foods I eat, they don’t have access to the foods I eat, their schedule doesn’t allow them to eat foods at the same times I eat, and of course – their needs just might be different then mine. I am a 130# woman – I am a rather smaller human, I know people smaller – and whew if ya smaller then me my heart goes out to ya, shit is hard as a smaller human - you might need to plain eat MORE then I do.

But if I am going to be a good steward for health, fitness, wellness and sound nutrition then I need to help bang the drum of WHAT nutrition actually is. Most of the time people hear “sports nutrition” and they think of lean athletes on magazines, or professional athletes, or some complicated nutrient-timing, weighing and measuring every morsel of food and cutting edge supplements. But every human is made to move, therefore every human is an athlete who should be eating well. BUT! Every human isn’t a high school kid, or an elite 20 something, or a professional athlete, or a guy with a construction job that is laborious, or a mom with a full-time job and two kids. Every human IS different, so every human is going to have different needs.

Keep it simple and work on the basics is HARD-IO. It is easy to get into a dietary dogma – if you have an ailment that includes pain, or have some fat to lose and eating in a specific way, especially a convoluted and complicated way we tend to wrap ourselves around this method/behavior like a boa constrictor going in for the kill. Human brains love puzzles, and diets have been presented over and over again on social media as a secret puzzle. Someone selling the secret rituals, inaccessible fruits and herbs from far off islands, and magic powders that cost as much as a car payment from the pretty smiling woman who shows pictures of herself fat and unhappy, and now she is vibrant and chasing around her kids and dogs in they yard.

You feel a sense of euphoria, like you figured out the Holy Grail. But adhering to the Holy Grail is near impossible, it is expensive, hard to adhere to in social situations and generally…plain doesn’t work….intensity.

Basic can be consistent. You can eat a basic meal almost anywhere, but finding a gluten-free, legume-free, vegan meal anywhere will leave you eating at home alone or left out of most social situations.

People are naturally polarized; nutrition isn’t the only thing that brings out a creed of faith in humans. I “almost” have a masters is in Global History, and a minor in Ancient Middle East; I have read hundreds of books on conflict and it all starts with: this guy looks more like me then that guy, so that guy must be evil. That’s just what humans do, rack, stack and group each other – it is biology.

Significance and contributions is always the human dilemma, it’s why humans have anxiety. We are hard wired to worry about personal significance and contributions. Anxiety issues are higher then ever because of the openness and readily available amount of information the Internet has brought to us.

Evolution is not destiny, it is a choice, so is de-evolution. I worked for the DoD for years as an Anti-terrorism Officer; one of the questions we worked on every single day was “Why do we humans, remarkably social animals with extremely large brains, spend so much energy on one thing--deliberately and systematically killing other members of our species?” Biology is the answer. It emerges in several disruptive ways. We need to acknowledge this if we want to save the world, our world, we cannot let biology govern our decisions --biology is not destiny.

This is why our diets are so hard in 2022 – biology tells us to relax, be chonky…don’t waste too much energy and store energy (lounge and snack). The problem with this biological trait is in 2022 we have the Dunkin Donut bacon and egg donut sandwich available 18 hours a day, Burger King’s pizza sized burger, The Big Gulp which is 44 ounces of soda with a free refill and any creation the mind can create at Sheetz available 24 hours a day. These high calorie foods set off all sorts of bells and whistles in our mind saying I’m here to PAAAR TAY! They make us feel good….temporarily. And they change our taste buds. Remember when you started feeding your infant – you only fed them the veggies because as soon as they got a taste of the fruits the veggies were spit out in refusal…biology. Again, biology is the answer, awareness is the fix.

We are not daft and dumb creatures who think these high calorie treats and constantly lounging are good for us. We must also have to not be so daft and realize these extreme food choices are “intensity” the same way only eating broccoli and tofu is “intensity”. There is a hundred choices and levels in between. Intensity is the “Good Story” for Instagram….nothing more sensational then a 115# gal in leggings and a crop top eating a triple ice cream cone claiming #macros or an obese guy shoveling the pizza size burger into his gullet while slurping down the Big Gulp for time. Both of these scenarios create controversy and “war” – which on social media turns into significance and contribution – we can all recognize these are the wrong kinds of contribution and significance, but it doesn’t make it any less true that this is what captures our attention.

I don’t ever suggest strict diets for anyone (outside of the fighters who come to me for help who need to make weight), it is hard for me not to fall into a routine of going off on a diatribe of macronutrients, seed oils, micronutrients and circadian rhythms when talking food to people who inquire. It never fails to surprise me how an 18 year old kid who lives off of BK, Sheetz, cereal, pop-tarts and Bucked Ups has an Adonis like figure. How is this possible? A combination of youth, a lot of activity, and good genes. Unfortunately, that does run out and a poor diet will catch up you, and most athletes understand they need to eat for performance. This is a typical diet for kids these days and giving them a complicated diet that prevents them from eating any of the aforementioned foods creates non-compliance…a null and void, don’t waste the ink scenario.

I have worked with hundreds of people on dietary choices to help them reach fitness goals over the years. Most of them are sadly unsuccessful, you see it is easy to sit down with me for an hour, or do one of my group challenges and logically hear the consistency and awareness theory, yet when this isn’t your constantly daily feed and life gets in the way and stress takes over. Well a snickers will solve all your problems of the day…yet the problems keep stacking up. And the mocha frappacino at 3pm gives you the boost of energy and sugar to make it through a dinnerless busy evening of one event after another and you find yourself in the “coffee” drive thru Monday-Friday and on Saturday to “relax”. Well these are your consistent habits and your health and body will reflect them. The biological intense side of you cries to “give up meat and sugar and run a marathon”…..which will leave you exhausted, hungry and broken in a few weeks. The real answer here is instead of the snickers…take a walk to shake off the stress. Instead of the mocha frap, grab a protein shake or learn to say no to too many evening activities so you can have dinner and get to bed at a reasonable time. Not intense, and not sensational….so people believe this won’t work.

OK, so here it is….after all that I know you still want to know….Ang what do you eat?

Here are some of the most frequent questions I get asked about my food choices. Let’s be clear before you read any further….I’m not a hater on any “diet” in the land of obesity I applaud anyone paying attention to what they put into their body; I am however opposed to making food a religion. You see your beliefs are the least interesting thing about you. Your identity shouldn’t be so tied up in your food choices you have to live in a straw. Your food choices will change through the years, don’t burn bridges with people over gluten or coconut oil….mmmkay, trust me on this one.

I am opposed to humans being so obsessed with food choices they forget the most important thing about food….food gives you energy to do the life thang. You’re not supposed to spend all your days calculating what to eat and how to burn it off….refer back to “food is not a religion”.

Do you eat organic and/or seasonal vegetables and fruits?

Ideally these are the best choices; pragmatically making these choices might not happen for most. Organic might be too expensive for your budget or you might not have access to seasonal fruits and veggies. In the Ross household we eat all the veggies and fruits – frozen, fresh, organic, non-organic. I’m just not convinced organic and seasonal fruits and veggies matters more then your nutritional needs.

Do you count calories and macros?

I have never tracked calories and I do no not track my macros much anymore. I have an established food base I stick to and I have saved to memory quite a few food’s macros.

I stick to basics on the daily - 150 grams of protein per day (for my 130# body) and the rest is filled in with veggies (prioritized) whole grains, and healthy fats.

If I gain weight I asses how many treats I’m having…usually too many. If I lose weight it’s usually from a few extra runs I added in. Both instances are off the normal course, once corrected (if needed to be corrected) my weight will balance out.

Also noteworthy, I weighed and measured food meticulously for years for physique goals. I can eyeball 4 ounces, 2 tbsp and a 1/4 c like a champ. I do not recommend for a novice to unabashedly guess what 2 Tbsp of peanut butter looks like…cause I can guarantee….sadly….you’re wrong.

These are skills from years and years of practice. They now let me control what my body looks and feels like without much angst, planning or hassle.

Do I fast?

No, not anymore. I did intermittent fasting (IF) circa 2012 for about a year. I chose fasting because of the flexibility it gave me with packing food when I commuted to work and had a long schedule. It was much easier to take one meal and a few snacks then 2 meals and snacks. I also read there was a large cellular benefit to IF, and seeming how at the time I wanted to live forever I gave ‘er a go.

I would stop eating about 6pm and not eat again until noon the next day. I was hungry and would curb my hunger with coffee. With a dreadful job that left me relentlessly bored drinking coffee became entertainment and I found myself drinking copious amounts of coffee.

Fasting became a game and I would “see how disciplined” I could be by extending my fasts…with more coffee.

As you can imagine coffee is not a food group and after a few months I found myself extremely fatigued and surprisingly, with all my calorie control, my body was squishy.

If you workout hard your body needs fuel, if you don’t provide the fuel your body will feast on its own muscle and organ tissue, preserving fat as it believes it is in a famine, leaving you…squishy.

Extended fasting and excessive caffeine consumption will have your body dumping high levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, signaling belly fat storage.

Clearly I was not good at intermittent fasting, and just because I wasn’t good at it doesn’t mean it won’t work for you.

I do know…for a fact, that fasting is less beneficial for women, especially menopausal women. Why? Hormones.

I also know that basic fasting: not eating after 6pm and then eating again when you first wake up - is very beneficial and is in-line with your circadian rhythms.

The same benefits associated with fasting like autophagy is actually better regulated with exercise then fasting.

Do you eat artificial sweeteners?

No, I don’t like their taste. I am not opposed to them one way or the other, I just do not enjoy them myself.

Do you eat red meat?

Yes, but I treat red meat as a fat, and not as a protein source, the same as I do with nuts. Red meat contains a lot of dietary fat, and I will easily go over my fat macro if I eat a lot of red meat. But I enjoy a good burger.

Do you drink alcohol?

Yes, but very limited. I enjoy drinking alcohol…I love the chemical sigh it gives you. I have a very active mind, nothing like two drinks to chill the fuck out. However, I am aware I won’t sleep good and I probably won’t feel the best the next day so I save my alcohol for once a week and keep it limited to my two drinks.

What supplements do you use?

Hydrate and Recover by Wilderness Athlete for minerals, and BCAAs and protein powder. I think there is a lot of benefit to Beta Alanine for endurance activities and creatine to prevent muscle fatigue and help with recovery but I don’t take them regularly.

Are you low carb?

No, I eat roughly 200-250 grams of carbohydrates a day. When I trim back on carbs I do have a leaner appearance, which I like better, however I am more tired and fatigued throughout the day. I don’t like ONLY having energy for my workout and then having to slog through the rest of the day, counting down the hours until bedtime. I’d rather have some extra fluff and energy to be an energetic, present wife, mom and business owner, then be a lean sloth.

There it be – the comprehensive diet plan according to Ange.

What you know about them shoes and feets and shoes and feets and feets and feets and feets?

 
The foot and toe biomechanical role is, in my opinion, under valued and invisible in the most common cases of pain, and injuries. Let me preface this post with I am not a podiatrist, an orthopedic, or a physical therapist. I’m just a lil ole personal trainer whose been doing and seeing some good, the bad and the super ugly for a lil bit.

The feet are the foundation to our wonderful body, they are the roots to our proverbial tree. Having big toe mobility (being able to independently move) is essential for proper toe off in walking, running and stabilization.

If you take your shoes and socks off what do you see? Are your toes lined up together like chicken cutlets in a tub? Is the big toe is veering in towards the second toe? Can you wiggle your toes independently (one at a time, much like you can with your fingers)? Can you spread your toes far and wide from each other? If you can do the ladder two you’re in good shape. If your toes resemble the first two – you have some work to do for them feets!

 

The Meyer’s Line is a straight axis line that on a functional foot goes from the center through the big toe joint and through the center of the top of the big toe. When the big toe is angled toward the second toe its role in providing support, controlling pronation (the arch) and facilitating forward propulsion is greatly reduced and at risk for bunions.

The big toe is soooo important to human movement…it is what makes up bipedal!

The big toe steers the body, stabilizes you while standing, or bases you when you lift, and project you forward when walking and/or running. When the big toe is out of commission (atrophied or a bunion) a slew of problems can be created – and a lot of problems, although originated in the toes and feets, show up elsewhere (hammies, hips, knees, ankles). The body is one big kinetic chain, which means no body part functions in isolation.

 
Not all toes are created equal, at least not in terms of foot stabilization and forward propulsion. The big toes are the only toes that have their own set of control muscles and tendon insertions.

 
When we walk or run the toes begin to dorsiflex (tilt upward) this action turns the foot arch into a rigid lever and also creates possible energy, as the plantar fascia is being stretched. As the toes push off the ground they release the energy from the plantar fascia pushing you forward. We spread our toes wide making our feet a wider based surface, just like when you do push-ups and you spread your hands wide for a big base and larger control of stability, when we do stabilization movements (squat, deadlift, etc).

 
Too narrow of a shoe negatively affect the toe’s ability to be used for this movement. The whole point of us being Bipedal is our big toe! And these shoes cramp and put the toe to sleep and out of commission!

 

The more narrow the shoe, the less power the foot has inside the shoe because the muscles are doing less work.

OK, so a wider toe box and room for the toes to splay – got it. What about cushioning? Cushioning is going to depend on your sport and your foot’s current condition. If you are walking around on Hoka’s you cannot just take them off and go to a minimalist shoe. This would be like if you worked for years up to a max back squat of 300 pounds, and then took 5 years off and did nothing then one day walked back into the gym and loaded the bar with 300 pounds and attempted a back squat. You’d get hurt. Your muscles would not be able to support the weight – they atrophied and need to be strengthened appropriately. Same with the feetses. If you are walking around in squishy shoes your foot muscles are atrophied and need strengthened, and just like any muscle it takes time. How much time? Well just like all muscle development, everyone is different and varies.

 
If you are running distance you need the cushioning. Cushioning shoes can reduce peak ground contact force. Which minimizing stress absorption on a long run is key to maintaining energy.

 
For heavier athletes the more compressible foam essentially “bottoms out” reducing the cushion significantly and at this point creates an extremely unstable base/land for the foot (ankle twisting and pronation). The foot itself needs to be appropriately strengthened to properly absorb and distribute the load. For heavier runners a stiffer shoe, or a shoe with a lower cushion to help build foot strength and shorter runs is recommended….but I ain’t yo momma….so do as you please.

 
There is no evidence minimalist shoes reduces injury risk. Long-term injury rates are the exact same between minimal runners and maximalist shoe wearers. This is a very specific subject – everyone will follow some basic guidelines, but ultimately the best shoe for them won’t be the best shoe for the guy or gal beside them. Biomechanics and these wet biological bodies we slide around in for roughly 80 years are constantly changing and need constant accommodations. What is good for one, may not be good for all, what is good today, might not be good tomorrow.

 
OK…so what are the basics? What should be the minimum needs we look for in a shoe?

 
First, you need to decide what you want the shoe for? Running trails, running on the road, long distances, shorter distances, lifting weights, walking, etc. Let’s take a look at what you DON’T want in any shoe. We’ve already determined we don’t want a narrow toe box – and again this is going to be narrow to YOU. Everyone’s foot width is different and you will also find the longer you wear a shoe with a wider toe box the more your feet will spread. Spread is good!

 
The next thing you do not want in any shoe is toe spring, the “curved” design is the latest innovation. The toe part of most shoes, especially newer sneakers, bend slightly upward; this is called toe spring. It makes stepping more comfortable and easier. It also weakens the feets and opens you up to common and painful foot related problems. The more toe spring, the less work the foot is doing. If the foot does less work, it has less endurance, just like all muscles.

 
A common issue is plantar fasciitis. When the toes do less work the ligament does more work then it is necessarily designed to do. The plantar fascia was not evolved to do this much work, as a result the fascia becomes angry and irritated, and can take a very long time for the inflammation to cool off. Please note if you develop plantar fasciitis you will have to let the inflammation cool off before you can address what caused it, and some honest feets strengthening work. The best option for footwear when dealing with plantar fasciitis is a stiff, and padded shoe – think of fascia as skin, if you were to burn your thumb pretty bad you would not only want to wrap it with cushioning but also have a stiffer protective cover over it so the thumb wouldn’t absorb pressure if you accidentally hit it off of something. Same with the fascia in your foot – it needs some cushion and stiff protecting until the burning (inflammation) goes away. And just like an actual burn, the more severe the burn is, the longer it takes to heal. The difference with a burn on the skin is you can visibly see if it is healing or being reinjured. You cannot see ligaments.

 
How to fix plantar fasciitis permanently: have a good plan of attack for identifying WHY your plantar fascia got inflamed. Shoes, running/walking gait, weak toes/bunions – and address them head on…or face a repeat of the injury.

 
Toe spring isn’t all bad, there have been some potential benefits. There appears to be a reduction in certain biomarkers of damage and fatigue but its important to also note that the combination of cushion and curve encourages heel striking and an increase in stride length and decreases cadence, which is generally a negative for runners. You don’t want to heel strike, when you heel strike you are landing with your knee outstretched, in the most vulnerable position, absorbing impact, regardless of how cushy and squishy your shoes are, the PCL is getting hyper extended over and over again with force. I’m not saying if you have cushiony shoes with toe spring you will necessarily heel strike. I know a few runners who run with big squishy Hoka’s and their toes are pointed to the sky and they maintain great form- I will also add they are gifted runners and have run well for decades, they themselves are light weighted bodies, and they practice running a lot.

 
Us juicy, wet, biological creatures don’t ALL follow a particular pattern – there are some serious generalization and a lot of adaption when it comes to pain, injury prevention and fixing.

 
A little recap:

 
Squishy, narrow shoes and lifting are not a good combination. A good minimal shoe with a large toe box and a sole without cushion are best. Converses are horrible, Vans are terrible…although they look fleek (are we still using fleek?) they are very narrow and the sole is too rigid with little to movement.

 
A cushioned, big toe box shoe will likely provide the most benefit to distant runners.

 
A wide toe box with minimal squish is better for a larger, heavier runner and these runners should keep the ground and pound on their bodies to a minimum.

 
A wide toe box, minimal to no squish is good for cross training. Nike MetCons are popular, but although they do provide wider toe box they have a significant toe spring which creates an off balance in trying to create a strong foot base (toes splayed and gripping the floor)

 

I wear Xero shoes – and I don’t get paid to tell you that (I wish I did…anyone know how I get sponsors?) Now let me tell you my personal journey with Ange’s feetses – again all antidotal (my personal experience).

 
As a kid I was told my feet over pronated and I was sent for orthotics. These arch supports never fit in any shoes correctly and I essentially never was able to use them. The thought of “your feet are wrong” was born and I hung on to this thought most of my existence. My thought process was always my feet are “wrong”, never “I have the wrong shoes”.

 
When I joined the Marine Corps my shoe drama continued with boots. The fancy, narrow shined up and looked amazing Jungle Boots were the only boot I wanted to wear. These narrow boots looked ah-mah-ZING in uniform, all shined up, tight and commanding – but they crushed the top of my foot to such an extreme I’d lose feeling in my foot, which sounds fine…except you also have zero dexterity to actually…ya know walk. So I was mostly reduced to wearing the ugly, clunky, hot BCGs, they were fat and wide…convincing me once again that my feet sucked.

 
Fast forward a few years I am running for distance. I usually just pick up a pair of shoes that are on sale and I can tromp around the store a few times without them nagging or rubbing. Knee pain is born, and I am frequently rolling my ankle, sometimes scott-free and sometimes with a linger of pain. I chalk it up to weak ankles and “getting older knees” and don’t have the budget for the fancy shoes. I tape up my knees and truck on.

 
Unfortunately, I break my foot running from a rolled my ankle. As I heal up the only shoes I can wear comfortably are flip flops, fast forward 3 months and my foot is healed up enough to attempt work shoes (wearing high heels) and narrow sneakers and much to my chagrin these shoes squeeze and burn pressure points into my feet. I have little balance in the heels and am terrified I will roll my ankle again. Now looking back on this jaunt through memory lane I was a daft ass mother fuawker….narrow shoes hurt my feet and my response was not to find a wider, better fitting shoe but to adapt Cinderella’s step-sisters attitude and blame my big wide foot and keep jamming it into tiny ass shoes…..oooooffff. Youth is wasted on the young.

 
Fast forward a decade and I am having all sorts of hamstring issues and lots of nerve pain in my hips. I take video of myself deadlifting and see a shift in my lift. This shift was from tight glute muscles but it wasn’t the glute that was having issues, it was a constant biomechanical corruption from my feet. I massage the glute, do activation exercises, tens, bands, theragun. Nothing fixed the issue, but I did find some relief, but the cat came back the very next day….

 
Then I start trail racing and cannot hang on to my toenails for the life of me (lost all my toe nails at the Rachel Carson in 2017 and again at Trailfest 2021…cute huh?) Of course in this day and age all you have to do is say a word and your social media and google blasts you with ads, so I stumble upon an article about toes and minimal shoes.

 

I have tried minimal shoes in the past. Do you remember the fancy toe shoes, did you have a pair? I had mine around 2009….I ran a Tough Mudder in them, I was like a declawed cat on the side of slippery, muddy mountain. I kept losing my balance and actually gave myself whiplash, because my head kept snapping back so hard each time I unexpectedly fell….oooof ….have I mentioned the youth is wasted on the youth?

 
So I wasn’t particularly interested in heading down the path of minimal shoes, I mean I’ve read Born to Run and my first reaction to that book was…..we aren’t primal creatures anymore. We have evolved significantly, and even if our bodies have not….our environment SIGNIFICANTLY has. We don’t run and walk on grass and the Earth’s soil like we did in our cave days. We live in the land of the Concrete and Asphalt Dragon, our feets are not designed to take a hammering running on these surfaces, Caballo Blanco.

 
But taping my feet, arch supports and more cushioned shoes were not fixing my knee or glute issues. I came to the conclusion that my former self might not know everything about minimal shoes and I should research again. I started digging a little deeper then just “a guy wrote a book about his antidotal experience” and put minimal shoes on and hope for the best, to transitioning smartly to minimal shoes. I identified immobility issues in my big toe and some callouses on the tips of my toes from shoe squishing. I found an invention called toe spreaders, massaged my toes and feet, and actively spread them from each other, I was mindful about using my foot when I stabilize and pay attention to gait when running.

 
I have been wearing my minimal shoes for about 10 months now, however I will not wear them to run long distance on the road (and I’ll be honest those days are mostly over anyways), but I wear them for every activity now. I am happy to report I do not have any pain when I run, and I am able to lift with a better base (no shift from tight muscles over reacting from misuse of biomechanics in the feets).

 
I’ve had such success with these shoes I have to ask myself….why do people buy these squishy, curved shoes? And of course the answer is obvious. Because they are comfortable! And that’s what us humans do….seek comfort. Just like sitting on the couch versus standing. It’s comfy! You have to live somewhere between “comfort will kill you”, and I live in 2022 and find your happy medium for your wet, biological body to slide around. Happy sliding!

I have been obsessed with wearables and their ability to provide a better look at recovery, recovery readiness and energy systems for a little over a year now.

My obsession started with my training for Trail Fest, which was a three- day trail run through Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Horseshoe Bend, each night was spent sleeping in a tent and each day was spent navigating roughly 10-13 miles of elevation, and various terrain. Trail Fest training presented several challenges for me: how to recover in a short period of time, how to push regardless of said recovery, and doing a sport I had never done before.

First and foremost, I had never trail ran, and although I found trail running exhilarating; your brain is constantly engaged making decisions as to where to plant your next foot step as you navigate rocks, mud, and various terrain and how to navigate uphill and downhill; it was EXHAUSTING! Trying to figure out the right shoes, hydration and energy before, during and after the runs and fitting my regular weight training….was challenging.

I bought several pairs of shoes and this is a whole other blog post. Shoes are drama! Hydration - enter Hydrate and Recover by Wilderness Athlete –I slobber all over this product because it is amazing, it tastes great, has minimal sugar and a boat load of minerals, salt and BCAAs.

I struggled with recovery, I wanted to continue to lift weights but my legs, specifically my feet and calves were brutalized each run and when I would do Olympic lifts I didn’t seem to have any explosiveness and well….that’s how you do Oly lifts…with explosiveness.

I started paying more and more attention to the data my Apple Watch, which up to this point my Apple Watch let me know when someone was calling or texting me, and I could play music without having my phone on my person. I started out simply tracking the actual runs (and run is a loose term….there was a lot of walking) I was doing. Looking at the elevation, my pace, my heart rate, although at this point the only thing heart rate meant to me was the higher the better, as it showed I burned more calories during these sessions. Up to this point burning more calories meant a more fruitful training session! Ooooffff, so cringe-worthy.

Enter in a random podcast I hear about Heart Rate Variability (HRV). And a whole new plethora of information was born to me. I was obsessed with my HRV – the higher the better. And with Apple Watch, before the upgrade, you could game your HRV with the Mindfulness App. You’d do a 60 second breathing meditation and it would give you your HRV reading. While you sat there in a near state of slumber your HRV would (most of the time) climb. And this would make me feel accomplished…this would make me feel…perfect. And secretly we are all dying to be perfect and surprisingly we are all actually dying…not today, but that is how this journey ends.

I venture into HRV pandemonium…and I am not joking. If you were in my life from April, 2021 until recent you had to listen to me talk ad nausea about HRV. I am going to give you the real abbreviated version: HRV is the amount of time in between heartbeats, theoretically, higher the number the stronger your resilience. However, us being crazy biological creatures nothing is that simple. Tracking HRV is complicated to start; the best reading being first thing in the morning when you wake up, a 5-minute reading while you lay completely still.

Wearables use Optical Heart Rate Monitoring (OHRM) a method called photoplethysmography (PPG)…yikes on those big words, right?

PPG is a technical term meaning “shines light into your skin and measures the amount of light that is scattered by blood flow”. I am really watering down this process but I might have already lost you, so I’m trying to keep this simple. Theoretically when light enters the body it will scatter in a predictable patter as the blood flow dynamics change, as such with blood pulse rates and blood volume (heart rate and blood pressure). How does it work? No one really cares…so I’ll save you the pain. However, these patterns are based of metrics of population. What does THAT mean? That means all patterns – my pattern a 44 year old woman, at 5’5” weighing 132#s with body fat of 18 percent with relatively good fitness is measured against a 6’4”, 28 year old male with a body weight of 185#s and body fat percent of 12 percent and even better fitness and a 300# man who is 50 years old with a body fat of 50 percent and no fitness capacity. AND surprisingly….HRV is hardest to read in athletes and sick people….go figure.

Wearables use heart rate focused technology that is generally run through several algorithms based on activity types – these are activities with known Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) scores that are then fine tuned with user input data (height, weight, age, maximum heart rate, etc) other sensor data (temperature, elevation) and derived user data (VO2 Max, respiration rate). Things that impede data: accurate maximum heart rate for activity (we about to get into that), body weight (make sure you keep this up-to-date in your wearable…it matters!), and sensor connections (frequent drop outs, Apple is famous for this).

MET calculations is equated to population norms – not YOUR norms. Heart rate data is extremely prone to external influence, use of stimulants (caffeine, pre-workouts) prescriptions (beta-blockers, weight loss pills, hormone therapies, etc) drugs (alcohol, THC, etc), metnal stress, sleep status can affect your readings.

Soooooooo…..is the data the wearable providing garbage? Well yes, and no. Nothing can ever be simple when it comes to us biological creatures – which is why fitness and exercise science although infantile to medicine science, should be treated exactly the same….carefully and with someone who is educated AND experienced.

I recently switched from my trusty Apple Watch that I had for four years, and was familiar with interface and had a bunch of fancy apps for sleep and HRV and Heart Rate Zones downloaded to a Polar Vantage M2 that has a completely different interface. I immediately started to notice stark contrasts in data.

First was step counting. I roughly do the same activities each day, so I know on a Monday-Wednesday I am taking about 12K steps, on Thursday I become a slug (I don’t coach) and only get about 8K steps. So when I was at 15K steps at 3pm on Monday I raised an eyebrow. Did this mean Apple was stingy with the steps or Polar was abundant? Polar tracks movement, so when I gesticulate and talk (this means I flail my hands around a lot when I talk….I’m an animated mother fawker, I have a great impression of a fruit fly….please don’t hesitate to ask to see it) I’m accumulating steps even though I’m only flailing in place….but movement is movement? I really don’t have a good answer for this.

I next noticed my heart rate didn’t get quite as high on my Polar watch as it did with Apple. Polar is a cardio based fitness watch. It has a Cardio Trimp load based application – and as best I can tell this means in the world of Polar cardio based workouts that are longer then 20 minutes are king, everything else is…well everything else.

The piece of the Polar data that had me filling out a return form, and talking to anyone who would listen to me try and work through the wickets of what I actually needed/wanted in a wearable was the readiness score. Polar was consistently telling me I was in “Maintaining” mode with my training through the week – and this would infuriate me, I train hard, I’m exhausted (like taking a nap mid-day) and can feel I am being too taxing on my energy system and this ballsy bitch on my wrist is like….MAINTAINING…..

And I should add I train to a program – it is not, nor has it ever been, based off data from the wearable.

After about three days of discussing this and researching it (I literally had to charge my phone 3 times a day I was spending so much time looking anything and everything I could find on this up)…..I’ve come to the conclusion….I don’t give a fuck what my readiness score on my Polar says or what it had said on the Apple. I’ve rocked and rolled around in this body long enough to know what is going on. With the Apple Watch I used the app Training Today; and it would tell me I was a 1 out of 10 and I would train, or not…the data didn’t impact training decisions.

Alright…what do we do to help determine recovery, readiness and use our energy system smartly? Do we throw these wearables in the trash? Save our money and never buy one? What??

I asked myself this question just last night. Did I spend $200 on this Polar watch for nothing? I’ve come up with: no. I like when I go for a run, hike or bike ride knowing how far I have gone, and my pace, so a device with GPS is needed. I like knowing my heart rate during a workout and I like having the visual graph of how my body responded to the stress. But to use the data for recovery and readiness I need to establish my own maximum heart rate.

Wait…Ange, did you just say ESTABLISH YOUR OWN MAXIMUM HEART RATE…..ooooffff..

Yea I know….ooooof is right? Well let’s take a look at WHY….and yea, I’m so sorry…this is my first blog post back at it and this is so technical and boring…..but I know the people who want to know this information will appreciate it. If you aren’t into recovery, readiness or use of your energy system this will be of little interest to you – stay tune, I will make a blog about something you do find interesting!

Why you don’t want to use the standard maximum heart rate formula. The standard maximum heart rate formula is 220 minus your age (IE. Mine would be: 220-44=176) . This is a SIMPLE formula and it was established in the early 80’s…I think 1982, but don’t hold me to that, and it is based off of a population wide meta-analysis – which means people of all sizes, ages, races, fitness capacities, prescription taking, medication using people – the ENTIRE groups median was taken to establish a “good guideline” for maximum heart rate.

68 percent of the people in the median fell within this standard range of 200-age, BUT……plus or minus 10 bpm!!! And the other 32 percent fell completely out of the range.

You don’t have to be a scientist to know that 32 percent inefficiency means…trash data.

Age and fitness status matter. Younger athletes with a greater fitness capacity can have lower maximum heart rates, and older athletes can have a higher maximum heart rate, and both are normal. But if you go with a 20 year old, there maximum heart rate could be 200 bpm, but that same 20 year old could be an endurance athlete and there actual maximum heart rate is 170. You can have a very fit 45 year old and the 220-45=175bpm maximum heart rate, but this athlete can easily see 195bpm without distress. Facts matter.

And a plus or minus 10bpm is a BIG DEAL! If you have ever done zone training you know 10 bpm can easily determine an entirely different zone. Which let’s be honest, if you don’t train in Zone 3 as the program prescribes will you die? No..at least not for non-compliance of the programming (let’s re-establish we are all going to die…the last two years have reminded me I need to remind everyone they are going to die…there is no bulletproofing yourself from death, you CAN ensure the ride is a little less….hospital spent to a large degree..but you’re going to die.)

Let’s be real honest here – we don’t need to know, we like to know. Because again recovery, readiness and using our energy systems wisely MATTERS….a lot.

So we determine our OWN heart rate maximums. But again….we biological creatures can’t be simple. We actually have to determine our maximum heart rate zones for different modalities. Le sigh….I know…I know. I felt the same way…but then I also got excited because….data.

I highly recommend you do your own maximum heart rate test for each modality (running, weight training, cross training, cycling, etc). My heart rate differs drastically when I run to when I lift weights, it is on the higher end, in my typical Zone 4 for running and when I lift weights I stay in Zone 1, even when pushing heavier weight loads.

Keep track of these numbers and you can change them manually in your device. This will help you create accurate reports of your activity, ranging from more accurate calorie numbers, and workload. And you can track calories consumed in a separate app – I still do this and I can tell you the macros of just about any food. It’s just good “math” to add up how much you are consuming – we live in a plethora and it is easy – especially if you train a lot in zone 4 to over eat.

Nowhere (yet) can a wearable measure the load weight training puts on your body. Weight Training does not have a fixed load like running (where every repetition (step) is essentially the same) and heart rate is a poor proxy for output on weight training. Wearables, to date, cannot accumulate Central Nervous System (CNS) fatigue. What is CNS fatigue? It is loosely defined as the brain’s inability to actually send sufficient signals to allow for full (or nearly full) activation of the motor neurons. If the signal for motor neurons is reduced or the motor neurons themselves becomes less responsive this is considered CNS fatigue. In layman’s terms the athlete has an inability or reduced capability to create maximum tension, and a reduced ability to perform explosive/high skill movements. This is why sometimes you can pick weight up effortlessly and sometimes it is glued to the floor.

How do you predict CNS fatigue? Unfortunately, you don’t, it is generally one of those things where you start lifting and everything feels heavy. And your emotional feelings have nothing to do with your CNS. There have been many days I haven’t felt like training – felt fatigued and drained – and was able to push big loads. CNS fatigue is very different to peripheral fatigue.

EEEP….this was so long. I’m going to end this….If you have questions!! Please ask! I’m passionate about helping everyone workout in ways they love, and find stimulating….without killing them faster, or making them a useless person in their real life. Energy systems matter! Exercise enhances life – it isn’t life, unless you are a professional athlete.

Until the next time….keep moving, and eat your veggies.

10 things committed athletes have to do to be successful.

I see folks in and out of our gym every day. We have an eclectic crowd of people from the hard core lifters, martial artists, spin junkies, and group exercise enthusiasts. Everyone is welcome at PoF. 

Once in awhile one of the group exercise or spin junkies will wonder over to my weight training floor or over to the mma side and take a class but they'll rarely come back.

You see you can flirt with group exercise classes without committing anything more than an hour. But if you're going to weight train or do martial arts you have to live the lifestyle in and out of the gym. You have to commit to being an athlete. And the commitment is more than being a fitness enthusiast and the hour you spend in class.

I came up with a list of 10 things athletes should commit to outside the gym to be a successful athlete. 

1. Stretch likes it is your full time job and it will pay you in dividends. If you don't stretch your muscles they will shorten and pull on...well, everything: ligaments, joints, other muscles and bones. You don't have to become a yogi but find 10 good stretches and do them frequently. If you're 20 and you cannot do a bridge, you're in serious trouble. 

2. Eat.  You can't be an athlete and survive on a 1500 calorie diet.  Protein and movement are metabolic. So many people have painted themselves into tight food choice boxes and they don't eat. Or they've been told to exercise more and eat less to the point they have no energy and a tanked metabolism. You can't repair muscle tissues with magic. You repair muscle tissues with amino acids from proteins. Carbohydrates provide energy and fats provide hormone function and joint lubrication. You need a balance of these three macronutrients; and let's not forget...we need food to live. Period. 

3. Successful athletes don't mind being "big". They don't worry about six packs abs, or thin thighs, or being a size 2 or 4...or whatever. Sometimes you have visible abs, sometimes you don't. You're self worth doesn't hang on these aesthetics and a magical thing happens when you stop obsessing over them...they appear.

4. Athletes don't get wrapped around the number on the scale. They focus on the number on the bar. The scale tells you how much your skin, bones, organs, fat, muscle and hydration weighs. Trying to decide if you're "fat" by this machine is insanity. You want dense bones, healthy organs, and good hydrated skin. Your body will literally cannibalize  your organs and bones when you starve it. Like I said, you need food to live. 

5. Sleep.  You may not need 8 hours a night. But if you're trying to function on 3-4 hours a night and wonder why you're a walking zombie and don't have motivation, try getting more sleep. Your sleep is more important than TV or the Internet. 

6. Stretch...it's so vital it needs a double mention. 

7. Gear. If you need knee sleeves or a weight belt buy a good one. They make these things for a reason. They're investments in your long term fitness health. 

8. Rest days.  A dedicated athlete understands rest is part of the program.  Cardio is not as muscle taxing as the breaking down of muscle tissue weight training causes and demanding your body repair it IN conjunction with everything else we do in a days time. Gains aren't lost on programmed rest days; there made. 

9. Clinics. Committed athletes make time to go to clinics to work out any links or flaws in their have form. This is can be a frustrating process. It can mean dropping down in weight in certain lifts or even starting over. But if you're using your body mechanics incorrectly or need to work on flexibility you have no other option to fix it or you will get hurt. 

10. Committed athletes know when they're the big fish, and find a new pond. If you're the strongest, smartest person in the room...find a new room or you severely limit your growth potential. It's a huge ego booster to be the best in your group, it's naive and foolish to think you can't get better; or worse...shouldn't.

. 

Oh noes! The 2014 defective verdict: "Seek professional medical advice."

I visited the doctor today. I was apprehensive and anxious…going to the doctor is not something I have made a habit of doing. I had demonized the medical community for years. My need to be perfect and the medical community never meshed well.

As a civilian I have mostly avoided the doctor because I am not entirely fond of mine, but I also have been too lazy to seek out a new one. She told me once when I went to her for my annual blood work that I should stop lifting so heavy. She doesn’t personally know me or my relationship with the iron but I did hold it against her. She didn’t get too excited when some of my blood work came back on the higher end of normal and that infuriated me. You see my need to be perfect has alienated a lot of medical advice I have gotten and had prevented me from seeking medical advice for years.

I have realized that I am never going to be perfect and striving for that is asinine. I am dying…not today…but that is how this journey will end – understanding that is comforting to me, and no longer threatening. I’ll do everything I can to prolong my life…and my sanity…and I am tired of self-diagnosing off the Internet…because the Internet always says I have cancer, and I think it is set up that way so you GO SEEK PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE.

Alternative medicine can be great, but it is largely dangerous. Herbs and essential oils are not regulated. And now that the dietary dogma has been lifted off of me I see that it is foolish to try and cure a thyroid with Wild Yam Tincture - and actually when I read that I shake my head at that craziness.

There are some great things about alternative medicines. One of my favorites is massages. Massages were the only relief I got from the bursitis in my shoulder; well that and quitting bench press. Which was what the doctor had advised when I was under treatment and I refused and kept benching for three years, it wasn’t really the massage – it was a combination of quitting, getting the knots worked out and not re-inflaming it.

Finding medical solutions on the internet is a convoluted process you need to be aware of. You have someone blogging about their personal experience but you don’t know all the variables. And mostly you don't know this blogger - it could be a nine year old for all you know. You have to take into consideration that their experience could be a one-off or was it even a legit ailment to start with or just one of those body flukes? A body fluke is when you show symptoms of something and then even if you didn't do anything it magically disappears. We've all had this happen to us in some form or another. How do you know this person didn't just have a body fluke, rubbed some coconut oil on it and drank chamomile and wola they were cured? You don’t. You can also have someone writing a blog for sensationalism and blog hits…you just never know.

No one wants to hear “seek medical advice from a medical professional”. That means waiting and no one in 2014 is good at that. You have to wait for the appointment, you have to take time off work and rearrange your schedule, pay your co-pay and of course you have to tell your doctor everything that is happening so they can work with you on a diagnosis and treatment plan and that may not fit your “urgent” needs. Or even worse….you get a referral to a specialist; which means more waiting.

Doctors aren’t perfect but the great aspect about a doctor is there are a lot of them out there and available to you. I agree it isn’t as fast as going to google and typing in your symptoms and reading seven blogs, WebMD and Live Strong then taking your self-diagnosis figuring out the typical treatment plan then typing that into Google and finding the holistic, home remedy or alternative treatment you can do yourself. The hard cold fact is that sometimes what ails you needs a professional diagnosis and treatment.

Yes, a healthy lifestyle that includes eating nutritious foods in appropriate quantities, exercising daily, getting ample sleep, and refraining from too much stress, caffeine and alcohol are great approaches and good measures for health. They will do nothing but improve your health journey, but we are a complex organism and sometimes we need a little more than good foods and essential oils.

Being proactive in your medical care is taking care of yourself in the aforementioned health approaches, and even researching your ails but consulting a medical professional shouldn’t be shunned and it is. We are getting away from medical science and evidence based treatments the more popular blogging and the Internet become. We can’t forget the Internet is free and that anyone can post. There is a plethora of advice and information out there and not all of it is safe or accurate.

I know that someone will want to argue their horrible experience with a medical doctor and how they found salvation in going Paleo or going Raw...I'm actually really happy for the individual who found relief, however you cannot be 100% sure that your diet fixed you and you cannot be 100% sure that advising someone else to do the same vice seek treatment is safe. So stop it.

I've been infuriated with doctors myself, nothing will make you want to pull your hair out more than being in the Shock Trauma Unit of Baltimore's largest hosptial, surrounded by the best medical team and they are telling you that your husband is imagining spleen trauma. My husband ruptured his spleen in a unconvential (not heard of yet) way and this caused a lot of grief and waiting. The head doctor came with his disciples 12 deep and we had a nice chat where he did all the listening and I did all of the talking. If I would have sat back and just accepted their diagnosis it would have prolonged him getting treatment - it was a huge pain in the ass, it was the most stressful thing I have ever gone through but still....they were the only people who could help him. Sometimes you have to embrace the suck with medical treatment....like I said we are complex organisms.

If you are adversely against medication then discuss that with your doctor. I’ve been to my doctor three times this year: once for my annual, once for the flu and now today for a new aliment and she didn’t offer me drugs at any of these appointments and if I wasn’t comfortable with something she prescribed I would have discussed it with her.

I saw a FB post where a woman claimed to have healed her bulimia with fasting. This is baffling to read but I know that there are a lot of folks out there that are trapped in their dietary dogma and believe this woman in fact healed herself with a fast. Bulimia is a serious mental illness that needs to be medically treated – fasting only fuels her mental illness. The problem here isn’t the food, but her relationship with food.

I see dietary advice being dealt out in abundance on various FB pages (and mine used to be one of them) about different medical afflictions and how to cure them with various demonization of foods, herbs, kombucha and sunshine. Yes, sometimes it is the food – most of the times it isn’t, and it is wise to check with a medical professional to be sure – and if you don’t like what they tell you seek another opinion or do what you think is best for your health. It is after all YOUR health; you can do what you like with it.

My best personal advice for everyone out there is to stop getting medical advice from the Internet and take care of yourself and this includes the occasional unplanned trip to the doctor and your routine medical check-ups.

Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Bones!

The back bones connected to the hip bone, the hip bones connected to the thigh bone….do you remember this song? Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Bones!

Our bodies are this wonderfully organic and adaptable machine, almost too adaptable. Everyone I talk to lately is suffering from an injury – some are debilitating and some are just nagging. This got me thinking about how magical and wonderful the human body really is.

Unfortunately and fortunately the human body adapts when we are injured. Unfortunately because this causes other anatomical problems and fortunately because we can still function and be productive. Pain medications are almost detrimental for some – we go to the orthopedic specialist and they give us a shot of cortisone and magically that sore shoulder is “100 percent”; we pop 800 mg of ibuprofen and magically that nuisance in our wrist is gone! But then all the sudden your neck and jaw bone start to ache, or your elbow starts to ache and feels like it is on fire…but I didn’t even injury my elbow! What is going on?

Dem bones, dem bones, dem bones, dem bones!

Anatomy has always…and I mean ALWAYS…made my head hurt. WHAT ASSHOLE CAME UP WITH THESE NAMES!? Why can’t the tetanic contraction just be called a painful spasm? Or a plexus be called knitted? Oh that’s right….we can’t have a cult without fancy jargon. A short…very short…lesson on muscle connections. Our bodies have 250,000,000 muscle cells and 420,000 motor neurons. A motor neuron pairs up with a bunch of muscle cells to make a muscle fiber. The motor neuron is the messenger that runs back and forth between the Central Nervous System and the muscle fiber relaying messages…like contract – or for laymen like me…SQUEEZE. Or relax. One single muscle can be a number of motor units – and they all work together, when the muscle needs to do work the Central Nervous System sends out stimulating electric messages saying DO WORK! If your neck needs to do work it is going to rely on some of the muscle fibers from your shoulder. One central area….all dem muscles.

Nerves – they are everywhere!! Your Lumbosacral Plexus is a nerve plexus (knit) where your spinal nerves intersect. They work the muscles in the lower body, such as calves, knees, groins, thigh, abdomen and lower back. This is where an anesthesiologist would perform a nerve block for the lower body. So one central area….all dem nerves.

Bones – they support and protect organs and produce white and red blood cells and store minerals. They come in all shapes and sizes and a complex structure. Your bones have all sorts of tissues inside them: marrow, endosteum, periosteum, nerves, blood vessels and cartilage. Bones are amazing….a matchbox size of bone can support nine tons! That is four times the amount that concrete can. Dem bones, dem bones, dem bones.

I broke my foot last May and I found ways to keep training. I did one legged burpees and other exercises bilaterally. This was amazing that I adapted to this pain – I have done this with every single injury to date, I hurt my shoulder – I test out different exercises to see what I can do and then I just do them. Hyperextended my elbow…test out different exercises to see what I can do. Again I find this amazing because I have given birth twice and both times I cried, screamed and even threatened to cut people if they didn’t give me drugs. You would think that the idea of having a whole new human being to love, care for and call my own would have been enough to keep me focused – but threaten my mental health with an injury and the possibility that I can’t train and I am the terminator.

It’s all connected…just like the song we learned in pre-school taught us. So what can we do about it? Stretch, strengthen, massage and manage your pain….all appropriately.

Stretch…if you are over 30 and not stretching I don’t know how you are a productive human. Seriously, stretching for me was no longer a should-do and a must-do once I pushed 30. If you are young get in the habit of stretching – it is a very hard habit to develop and it fucking sucks developing it just because you are injured. Nothing sucks worse than working out and getting your muscles warm, the blood and adrenaline flowing and then saying fuck you stretches, then cooling off and trying to scrape your sorry ass off the floor/bench/couch and then hobbling around for three days all cause of your lazy inability to create a new habit (and when I say you…I mean me).

Strengthen…but do it the right way – if you have an injury and you still want to train, but if you are unsure of how to train the right way with an injury go to a physical therapist……..I SAID A PHYSICAL THERAPIST….not a personal trainer…sorry but they are not trained to deal with injuries. A Physical Therapist attends school for about 6 years and is required by LAW to be licensed. If your personal trainer who has their Level I (or Level II) Certification with XF or there online certificate from AFAA is telling you they know injuries they are full of shit and you should run away. The lines should not be blurred between medical treatment and personal trainers. A personal trainer or coach is there to design you a safe workout program and teach you proper form. Nothing more.

Massage…….I can’t tell you enough how much massage saved my fitness career – I get one at least once a month and more if I am hammering away on a goal. Massages have been hands down the best muscle therapy for me personally. I don’t believe in chiropractors – sorry. I think it is pseudoscience.

Manage your pain – if you get a cortisone shot and your orthopedic told you to rehab for 6 weeks. Rehab for six weeks. Just because the fire was put out by the medicine doesn’t mean the smoke is cleared. Pain is your bodies way of saying “hey asshole, don’t do that” – your body really does know best. Our bodies talk to us all the time, we just have to listen. If you are tired that means rest, or sleep not pound coffee, NSAIDS and hit it hard. I can’t explain enough how stressful lifting is on the Central Nervous System. Add in lack of rest, injuries, pain meds, caffeine and mismanagement of stress and you are asking for cumulative injuries.

Dem bones, Dem bone, Dem bones….be good to them, you only get one set.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-motor-unit.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-lumbar-plexus.htm

Not naive...open minded.

A few things that got brought to my attention after my last post that I'd like to clarify.....I’m not here to change the world….I’m working on myself. I used to think that I could change every person I came into contact with…now I realize I can only control myself, and my reactions to others. And keep an open mind.

I don’t want to change that black man who walks into the room and the first thing he thinks about is his color. Why do I need to? Why does he need to? I am sure he is proud of his color. What I want to change about myself, and raise my daughters to do…and if I’m lucky…bring it to someone else’s attention, is that being different is GOOD. Celebrate differences. If we were all the same – life would…suck. What I want my daughters…and for myself….is to determine if a person is someone we want to spend time with based on their personality, intellect and talents. If we want to further know someone based on these attributes, not the color of their skin, their gender, their hair color, their jean size, their jean brand or their sexual orientation.

Discrimination doesn’t just come in color or gender – it is largely social too. People can base whether they friend you on if you live in the right house; your parents (or you) have the right job; youmake the right amount of money; buy the right clothes; and have the latest styles and fashions. This is particularly sad to me.....and oh so shallow.

I was asked if I have ever felt discriminated against in my job. I think the presumed answer was going to be no, because I am a white female that has above average aesthetics I’ve been to college and served in the military. But the answer is hell yes!! I work with a population of largely 45-65 year old men, of all races, who have retired from a branch of the service and were generally officers. I just hit 35 this year and I have been in this civilian job for the last 7.5 years. From the get go I was dismissed by certain folks because I am young, because I am a woman, because I am attractive, because I didn’t retire from the military, and sometimes even because I was enlisted. The fact that I was a Sergeant that served “only” eight years in the Marine Corps has become my “dirty” secret. And it is largely thought that I got my current position because I am an attractive female. I was even told that once at a conference. And let me tell you…sometimes being told you are “pretty” is an insult. Nothing takes the wind out of your sails like someone telling you that you are unqualified because of your birth year and ownership of a vagina. I wanted to put on a parka and wipe all the make-up off my face and be an invisible, ugly person. For a long time it really made me think…way too hard….about what I was going to wear to work, who I was going to be seeing that day, if they would take me more seriously if I had a pants suit on vice a dress. If I wore my hair up versus down did it make me look to young if it was styled this way or that. I eventually….and it took way too long to come to this conclusion….realized that these issues were THEIRS, not mine.

 I WAS hired because I was young, my boss got tired of hiring folks who were coming into the profession with a “I’m retired, I just don’t want to move to Florida and die yet” attitude. He wanted someone who had some passion and spunk, and hadn’t been beaten down by politics yet; had faith and hope that the world could change!

Is it the same as being racial discriminated against? Feck no, I’m not trying to compare it. That wasn’t the point of my previous post either. My point is BEING DIFFERENT IS GOOD!

Like I said I will NEVER change the world…I can change myself, and I continuously try to. I can “attempt” to raise my daughters to the best of my abilities with the knowledge that I have now.

Going from one extreme of hatred to tippy toeing around a race or gender is not going to fix the problem. It will only exacerbate it. And I would personally think this would be insulting to someone. It’s hard for me to even say how I feel about my personal situation - I got hired over someone that was retired with more experience because of being young, will it ever be seen that I got the job because I would have more longevity, passion and ability to go further in the career position? No, it will always be contrived based on being a young, attractive female.

 

How can we fix it? Well we can’t, I can’t. We can only worry about what WE do as a person in charge of our own actions. I know I will not look at a man who is homosexual and ass-u-me that he is weak because he has on female clothing or his gait is not that of a heterosexual man. I know I will not look at a Mexican woman and ass-u-me that she is stupid because she may not understand English. I will not meet a 20-year old intern and automatically ass-u-me that they don’t have valuable feedback or perspective just because they are “only 20”. The list goes on and on my friends. This reminds me of the meme that a fish isn’t stupid just because it cannot climb a tree. (Am I killing you with the meme's yet?)

Embrace being different, recognize that there are going to be folks who are NOT going to embrace your difference and that is NOT your problem. Love YOU, be good to you; work on being a better you – whether that is reading more books, traveling more (travel is one sure what to kill bigotry) 

or just stopping and talking to someone you normally wouldn’t. Be open minded – I didn’t say naïve…just open minded.

Slippery Slopes, race and gender domination.

I recently watched a video on FB of a teacher….or maybe she was an instructor (eye of the beholder) that was performing an experiment with her class on race domination. There was a white girl who cried and blubbered and screamed in unfairness to the experiment….and yes, I am being judgmental with my words I use to describe her actions and she did make a point for the video but wow, was she just crazy train. Anyways, the point of the video (and I am grossly over simplifying the meaning here) was that anytime a person of any race other than white walked into a room it was the first thing that was noticed.

I have a good friend who told me this once; that the first thing that he felt when he walked into a room was that he was black. In my inexperienced mind I thought this was “dumb”….I thought that was HIM projecting HIS issues on the folks in the room. As a much more seasoned human being I see that I was being an asshole.

The comments on the post were even crazier. People were commenting that the teacher was empowering folks of race to cry for indiscrimination…and I am rephrasing the comment to make it “polite”.

It got me thinking…WHY is there race domination to the point that in 2013 a black man walks into a room and it is the first thing he thinks about? It led me on a journey to a book (and National Geographic five part series) “Guns, Germs and Metal”. I will wrap a quite lengthy book and five hours of TV into one word….geography.

I definitely recommend you watch the TV series – the book is dry, but actually more palatable if you watch the TV series first. My daughter….god love this baby, she is her mother through and through…and she picks up on every damn word that slips out of my mind…wants to start a revolution to kill the Disney Princesses. After discussing with her, her plan to revolutionize and destroy Disney, I got to thinking after watching Aborigine tribes…and even the tribes that are still around today in New Guinea….why did the male sex become a dominant gender and why does my little female warrior need to make a plan to destroy Disney and it’s gender discrimination?

Sydney designed this meme that said everyone is a princess regardless of what Disney tells you; and my question to her was WHY do they have to be princesses? I mean, I don’t want to be a princess. Why can’t it just be all bodies are good bodies? WHY does it have to be gender specific? Men have the same body image issues as women. They just aren’t AS conditioned by the media and culture to be as self-conscious about it. They still are conditioned by the media, but not nearly as much as women.

Where in history did we move from an egalitarian structured society to a society with male structured societal roles of power and leadership roles? Yes, yes, I know there are plenty of women in powerful positions and leadership roles. Just like there are a lot of people of other races outside of white that are successful…..it still is a fact that a black man walks into the room and that is the first thing on his mind. It is still a fact that people will make jokes about a woman being president and we will go to war every 28 days. It’s still there….it is becoming more of an elephant in the room and something you shouldn’t talk about…….but it is still there.

Why do I see (mostly) women trying to become as small as possible? Why do some women put so much pride into being small, petite, pretty, and attractive to the masses to the point where it is self-destructive? And remember…I am asking these questions about general women, if you happen to be a self-empowered bad ass woman than carry-on, I’m not trying to fit all women (or men) into a box, but you also know from sitting in that position that you are not the majority. Where did this COME from? I have feeds on my FaceBook of vintage pin-ups and the whole goal of this genre is to have a “Barbie doll like” waist, large boobs, long hair and enormous amounts of makeup. Makeup to give you “flawless” skin, pouty lips, and large curvy shaped eyes. All with the goal of sex appeal. Not that there is anything wrong with this, I myself did a pinup ‘esque look for the Marine Corps ball I just attended. Again all bodies are good bodies, and more importantly it is YOUR body to do with as you please. Even if that means self-destruction for no other purpose than to look appealing to complete strangers, I am not here to destroy anyone’s happiness, if these things make you happy, by all means carry on. If you perhaps ask yourself, yea, maybe I am not doing some of this for myself but for some sort of acceptance than maybe you have the same question.

How and why did the male gender evolve to be the dominant gender?

It appears that the male gender domination came with agriculture….I’m still doing research on this (and trying to finish Guns, Germs and Steel so perhaps there is an explanation in the book I haven’t come to). One of the most popular theories I have read was that men were the hunters, and although gathering provided most of the food that a tribe ate when agriculture came about and having a food surplus allowed for trade skills and crafts, the men were in an advantageous position to take their hunting skills and translate them into skills of war, conquering other tribes, the start of slavery, and politics.

Among the more ill-informed things I read……“men are naturally more aggressive” “men were the protectors of their family and had to be strong” “because men have the courage and willpower to confront danger and hardship”

First off, back in da day, it was not uncommon for a woman to be pregnant and not know who the father was – she was part of a tribe, therefore the baby was received as a member of the tribe. There wasn’t much “protection of the family” by a gender specific role. It was the tribe looked out for each other as a whole, and if shit went down then it was a gene pole clean up….the strong survived, and this included men and women. “Men are naturally aggressive”….this really kind of cracks me up, this quite possibly could get the most ignorant statement I’ve read today award. “Men have more courage and willpower to confront danger and hardship”….OK I stand corrected….THIS is the most oblivious thing I’ve read today. Women aren’t genetically inclined to like the color pink, want to wear skirts, bake, clean house, primp their cleavage and wear more face paint than a Cherokee Indian by nature, this is strictly nurtured into them by their surroundings and the feedback they get from media, their culture and peers.

Men aren’t more aggressive than women – if you still believe this I invite you to spend a day with me and my husband and you can rationally deduct which one of us is more aggressive by nature. He can naturally be more destructive faster with his aggression than I but give me a few extra minutes and I can fuck a bunch of shit up too. My husband is by nature much more docile than I am and he is much more forgiving as well. That isn’t science – I know, if you want science you came to the wrong blog.

Men aren’t designed to endure hardship more than women –during hunting and gathering times the women were the gathers while the men went off to hunt. Hunting only brought in so much food – it took days to track an animal and one animal provides only so much meat. The gathering that the women did was a more lucrative food supply. Watching an aborigine woman cut down a sago tree and turn it into food will make your shoulder muscles ache and this was a process that took several days and once a tree was completed another would be started so that they could continue to eat. For hours on end, day after day, a woman would process a wild sago tree into dough, physically exhausting work….all just to eat. Eat or starve….sounds like hardship to me. I’m going to wrap up my thoughts on gender specific domination in a quick paragraph. After a teeny bit of research, my opinion is strengthened that racism, classism, and sexism are mutually constitutive systems. I don’t think one exists…or came to be…without the others. Therefore it came about with agriculture and agriculture was a product of geography. In short, men aren’t smarter, stronger, or better than women in any way. I know some women will spout off that women are a better gender because we can make babies. Well not really, a woman grows a baby, not makes them, and it still takes a man to make a baby. If there were no men the lands would be just as barren of babies as if there were no women.

I also know that most men will argue with me on the stronger piece and hell some asshole will want to debate the intellect piece too. But it just isn’t so. There are plenty of women that these inexperienced and unenlightened men can point to as examples of weaker and dumber – I will definitely agree with that. But it isn’t because of their sex, it is because of choice, and media/cultural/peer provoked exposure. Given the chance a male baby and a female baby raised with no gender expectations could be physically and mentally equal – just as a white baby and a black baby would be physically and mentally equal. There are those that are born genetically stronger and/or smarter – woohoo genetics – but race and sex doesn’t decide these factors.

In summary…..long live the Disney princess….wait….that can’t be right…..