My evolution to “things natural” started way before it was fashionable because I have never been a fad person or a follower. All my life I have never understood, or felt, this thing called “peer pressure.” Not as a teenager, not ever. In my opinion, that is a crock of you-know-what. In 1986 I was working in the printing industry – my artist days, as I like to call them. I was a keyliner (page designer), if you even remember that term. We printed up a quarterly newsletter for the local chiropractor, East Detroit Chiropractic. I would read the articles and ads as I worked on the layouts, and I was eager to understand what chiropractic was all about. I had a brutally painful neck problem from bending over light tables and art tables all day, so off I went to Dr. Koukles. It turned out that he shared my passion and philosophy for athletics and conditioning, and he was firmly in the natural health camp, so he is still my chiropractor today.

At about that time I started to look at the food I was eating. I had pretty much always been thin – terrifyingly skinny as a kid – but had put on some “soft” or what I call “inflammatory weight.” Within a few years I was eating rather healthy, or at least what I *thought* was healthy at the time. I was a cyclist, racing mountain bikes and doing track and road training. And we were taught to, yes, carb-load. Endurance athletes need tons of carbs, they say. Far more than the average person! So I raced, and ate “healthy,” and loaded up on carbs before weekend rides or races. Healthy included cutting out the sugar (good), cutting down on meat (bad), and substituting those “healthy” Healthy Choice meals (bad) for junk food when at work each day. I was drinking bottled water, Evian, as soon as it hit the shelves in the U.S. I looked pretty buff and everyone thought I was such a health nut.

In 1996 I got very sick – an assortment of symptoms that I won’t get into here. How can a young, well-conditioned athlete get as sick as I did? The solution for me from the medical specialists was drugs and tests and more drugs and more tests. That lasted a very short while for two reasons: 1) the drugs made a nightmare of my metabolism and the side effects were not acceptable, and 2) I had no tolerance for short-term, easy solutions that glossed over the underlying issues. I wanted to know what was causing the problems, and then, what solutions were available to get rid of those problems.

I tossed the pharma garbage – never to return again – and explored other alternatives such as massage, chiropractic, holistic health, homeopathic remedies, more meat and …… still I carb-loaded. I was an endurance athlete so I had to eat lots of carbs, or so I thought. Then I discovered Atkins and started to flirt with that philosophy. So I began cycling carbs – in other words, I was being smarter and cutting back on them at times. I was eating carbs when I felt I needed them, but sometimes cutting back drastically on them. I eliminated virtually all processed foods. I had chucked pop (soda for some of you) back in the late 80s or early 90s, and I thought the good alternative was diet Coke. I didn’t drink a lot of pop, but usually one a day. All that aspartame.

Things seemed to get better, but then in 2003 I got really sick again – out of the blue, and this time much worse. This whole event – and it was an event – took me straight back to Atkins, where I tweaked and modified my diet into what would essentially be a “light” version of the Mark Sisson primal diet. I still did not quite give up wheat and grains, but fat started to become a staple of my diet and processed foods were nixed entirely. About that time I started to do intermittent fasting without any such planning – it just occurred because I was busy and running around all over the place. For instance, on Saturdays and/or Sundays, I’d jump from my morning gym workout to the Harley to meet up with friends to ride all day – and sometimes I was going between 18 – 24 hours without eating. And I discovered it made me feel great. So on some days I’ll eat more, smaller meals, and on other days maybe one big meal, and nothing else for 18+ hours. I never plan anything; I just take it by the day or hour. I take advantage of my busy schedule to fast, and if I am home all day I may eat a lot. I like the “confusion” and change this offers my body. And again, just as with exercise, it never gets boring.

Oh yeah – and my cycling? I don’t race anymore – not since 2003 and that illness – but I do distance rides, or lots of medium-range rides. No stamina problems whatsoever. I pity those poor endurance athletes who think they need all of that nutritionally deficient pasta to keep riding. And so many cyclists I see out on the trails are 30-40 pounds overweight, or more. I’ll wake up on a weekend day, do a 20-40 mile road ride, not get home until 1pm or so, and not eat anything until afternoon. On a longer ride I’ll stick some food in my bag — trail mix, fruit, or the occasional carb (Clif brand) bar.

Mark Sisson’s “primal eating plan” is about the best framework out there for laying the foundation for what to eat. No soy or wheat, low carbs, and limited grains. One thing I have done recently is swear off soy altogether. I never had it much, but once in a blue moon I enjoyed a tofu meal at my favorite Asian bistro, or a veggie burger. I eat very little grains or wheat, no processed anything, no toxic processed oils, drink almost no pop (a diet Vernors or diet Coke maybe once per month or less), and no sugar. There is a “primal” substitute for just about everything you enjoy right now.

As an example, I was watching the Food Channel last night, and a host on one of the shows went to Philadelphia to eat at a famous Philly Cheese Steak dive, and his goal was to eat its signature 4-pound Philly cheese steak sandwich. Gobs of bun, a ton of good meat, onions galore, and a whole lot of entirely disgusting cheese sauce. Yes, those Philly cheese steak sandwiches, that are supposed to be so good, are buried in a trashy, disgusting, heavily-processed cheese sauce. He ate the whole thing, nearly getting sick, while the crowd cheered.

The sandwich looked disgusting. That is how I have come to view food like that over the years. I do not desire it and therefore I miss nothing. I do not want sugar, pop, candy (except dark chocolate and Godiva), cakes, chips, snacks, bagels, and other junk. There are no food demons that I have to fight, and that’s because I eat so much great food. And that’s the great thing about the primal eating plan – eating good food and being satiated by fat.

This morning post-gym, I decided to make a better, healthier KDC cheese steak. I had some ultra thin-cut chip steak that I cut up into small pieces and put aside. I sauteed onions, fresh mushrooms, and red peppers, and added about five spices. When those were ready, I added diced-up grape tomatoes and got those hot. I dumped that mixture in my plate, and threw the chip steak into the pan with all the drippings from the sauteed veggies. It took about 1 minute for that chip steak to get medium rare. I dumped the steak pieces on top of my pile of sauteed veggies, and then I topped that off with freshly shredded romano cheese and fresh-chopped parsley.

To sum things up, here’s a nice quote from Richard Nikoley at Free the Animal:

So, many may have noticed that I’ve upped my carbohydrate considerably over the last few months. You can consider it another self experiment. After all, it’s a long time I’ve been writing that Paleo is a dietary framework, a foundation. It’s not a prescription. It’s principles that are to be applied individually, and so the dietary makeup is going to differ individual to individual. But what if it also differs depending upon where you are? Are you fat or lean? Are you diabetic or borderline? Are you hungry all the time or never hungry?

And he nails it. This is about taking a healthy food foundation and modifying it – constantly – to customize your lifetime diet for your needs, and to accommodate your desires. It is a learning process, and for me it is also about constant change and experimentation. Everyone can start with the basic principles and make that dietary framework work for them.

I have been on my “journey” since I opened that chiropractic newsletter back in 1986, with big changes in 1996 and 2003. I have more energy, now, than I have ever had in my whole life. People at the office often joke that I “bounce off walls.” And I am at my leanest weight ever, while retaining a lot of muscle mass. I was about 97 pounds wearing size -0- pants post-high school, when I started bodybuilding. I am 112 right now, wearing sizes in the range of 1 -3.

My next post on this will round up some of the great resources on the web for the primal (or paleo) lifestyle.

Yet here’s the nutritional information:

Chicken, Southwest
Chicken Breast Meat With Rib Meat, Water, Seasoning [Salt, Maltodextrin, Spices, Garlic Powder, Chili Pepper, Paprika, Onion Powder, Carrageenan, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Natural Flavoring, Mixed Triglycerides, Yeast, Modified Corn Starch, Corn Syrup Solids, Yeast Extract, Alginates (Sodium, Calcium And/Or Ammonium), Cellulose, Calcium Chloride, Sodium Benzoate Used To Protect Quality, Not More Than 2% Silicon Dioxide Added To Prevent Caking, Soybean Oil], Modified Food Starch, Sodium Phosphates Soy Lecithin (Used As A Processing Aid).Contains Soybean .
Beans
Pinto Beans, Partially Hydrogenated Soy Bean Oil (With TBHQ And Citric Acid Added To Protect Flavor) , Salt.
Sauce, Red
Water, Paprika, Modified Corn Starch, Salt, Onion Powder, Tomato Powder, Spices, Garlic Powder, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Malic Acid, Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Silicon Dioxide As An Anticaking Agent, Ascorbic Acid, Citric Acid.

The message is avoid healthy fats but come to Taco Bell and eat processed foods, GMOs, carbs, and chemicals – along with partially hydrogenated everything. When people wake up to the fact that fat does not make you fat, they may actually begin to get healthy (and thin). Fat is not only good for you, and necessary for your body’s many functions, but saturated fat is healthy and necessary. It is grains that you must avoid. By the way, my diet is approximately 60% (or more ) fat. I’ll be discussing that in some upcoming posts on the primal nutritional lifestyle.

Adding to the insanity is this revelation that people now deep fry Coke. This habit emerged, of all places, from state fairs.

Abel Gonzales Jr. flavors his batter with Coca-Cola, deep fries it, drizzles Coke fountain syrup on it, then tops it all off with whipped cream, cinnamon sugar and a cherry. Gonzales’s creation won for creativity at the second-annual Big Tex Choice Awards Contest, beating out such delicacies as deep-fried macaroni cheese and deep-fried Cosmos.

I’ve liked the Vibrams ever since I first saw them, maybe a couple of years ago. I finally tried to get a pair while I was out west last month, but I had no luck. I thought, of all places, some retailers in Durango or Park City or Ouray – all swanky enviro-outdoor-hipster towns – would surely have them. In fact, most people in the outdoor/mountaineering shops never heard of them. Odd, I thought. I found one guy in a Durango store who did know of them, and he sent me to the one place in town that did sell them – Backcountry Experience. I tried them on, but it turns out that my size wasn’t in stock. I am fixing to get the “sprint” model. Mainly, I’d like to do workouts in them, and also light trekking and walking. And beach running when I go down to the fabulous beaches in St. Augustine, FL or Kiawah, SC.

I have always been a barefoot person, so I think I’ll have little trouble adjusting, other than enduring some sore muscles as I start to run in them. People mock me because I wear sandals until November (in Michigan) and I roll them out again in early April. Okay, but I won’t wear the Vibrams on my Harley.

You see, I have this wonderful opportunity to work out on weekdays, any time from late morning to mid-afternoon. The building I work in is located in the dead center of downtown Detroit, a place which bustles on weekday afternoons. Thus I have the perfect starting point. I am very fortunate that I have the flexibility to take off for an hour to an hour-and-a-half and get my workouts in. I have been doing this particular workout for four years. I jokingly refer to it as my lunchtime decathlon. The only limit I set is that I do not do this workout when it hits above 88-90 degrees. I’ve done it in November, and in the rain, but 90 degrees in the afternoon sun is a bit of a stretch.

The Detroit River. That's Windsor, Ontario across the way.

Each downtown workout of mine is different – no two are ever the same. But they are all essentially interval-based. My interval times differ each time out, depending on how I feel, what I did the day before, and how much time I have to play around. As I said, I never plan or strategize ahead of time. I usually make up my mind as I head to the locker room or out the door. Also, I venture into various areas of downtown and the surrounding areas so that I keep things interesting and new, and I never get bored. Following is a photo tour of what a typical lunchtime decathlon might look like. I do this workout routine from one to three times per week, depending on the weather, my work schedule, and all of my other workouts and activities.

The first thing I might do is head toward East Jefferson and aim for the trail along the Detroit River. I get a good view of Windsor, Ontario (above) and head down toward General Motors World HQ.

If the fountains aren’t too crowded I’ll run agility through them, from end to end.

Along the way there are many cement seating areas where I can do jump training, or plyometrics, to develop explosive power and lower body strength. The toning effects that go along with that are pretty good, too.

Then I run along one of the river walk detours, usually sprinting on the uphill bridges.

Then I head toward Hart Plaza where there are lots of obstacles and tools for plyometrics and power intervals.

Then I am back on the river walk, headed the other way toward Joe Louis Arena.

Along the way I do plyometrics on the cement blocks that line the trail, which differ in height. I do forward jumps, side jumps, and occasionally, backward jumps on the shorter blocks.

Here are some more plyometric tools. I’ll do many repetitions of jumps on and off these blocks.

Then I head to the street behind Cobo Hall where I do some short sprints and walk a bit after each one to recover.

After doing sets of explosive plyometrics, I’ll jog backwards up the short, grassy hills, with my weight on my toes, to work the hamstrings and calves.

Then I do a high-speed sprint toward the Cobo steps.

Then I light up the stairs. These steps are wide and low, so I do two at a time, powering and sprinting my way up at 100% effort. At the top, there is usually a horde of employees sitting outside eating their lunch, looking at me like I am some kind of a nut. I am just warming up for the next set of stairs I will encounter.

Then after several stair intervals I do several hurdle jumps.

Sometimes I have an audience. The cops will occasionally park and watch me. Sometimes I get a whistle or two (it’s my legs). It sure beats a taser.

Then I head toward my favorite destination – Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings.

Stairs, glorious stairs. There are eighteen sets of stairs all the way across.

Sometimes I run the entire set, sometimes I sprint up at top speed and walk down (the most common way), and other times I walk a consistent pace with no intervals. These stairs are steep and challenging. And they sit directly in the sunlight, offering no shelter from the afternoon sun.

Then, in between each eighteen flights of stairs (one full set), I may hit the cement plyometrics right across the road. These are fairly high, and they are difficult after a few sets of the Joe Louis stairs.

But I must say, I own these puppies. Only twice in four years have I seen others attempting to run or walk them. Both times, they gave up. It’s just me and the stairs, and the Joe Louis security team watching me.

Then I ditch into the woods at the riverfront. I do running plyometrics on these high rocks.

Then at the end of the river walk, I hit this plyometric playground. I usually sprint the whole thing, in a circle, and then do plyometric jumps from level to level, and back down again.

Then I may do a light jog all the way back toward the GM world headquarters.

Then I run a long sprint down this empty corridor, off the river walk, heading back toward Hart Plaza.

There are several zig-zag paths in this area, and I run them at about a 60-70% effort.

Then I head down into the Hart Plaza bowl to run those stairs. These are wide, not-so-steep stairs that beg to be tackled two at a time, in long strides at full power.

I’ll blast up one end and walk across to the other side and jog down.  I’ll typically do 5 – 10 sets of these. I typically attract an audience of homeless guys.

Then I do a few sets of the higher stairs in the middle of the bowl, and I run back through Hart Plaza to do some jumps on those cement planks in the center.

Then I drop down into the “gallery” and run stairs that go every which way.

Then I run back through a maze of brick trails and do a few sets of plyometrics on these cement benches, along with some push-ups.

Then I head toward East Jefferson, back to the office.

I wind down by doing a slow jog or fast walk through this quiet section.

No, that police wagon is not waiting for me. Then I take a sharp left to my favorite plyometric section. First some power jumps using the bench.

Then the made-for-me plyometric boxes.

In all, there are thirty-five of these, meaning thirty-five more jumps for me.

Then I cross East Jefferson.

And do some agility moves through the barrels.

Then I arrive at the office.

And step inside. Another great workout finished. Shower and back to work.