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Great links for the weekend!

Ammi — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 21:00:23 +0000

Here’s the final links for the year. This year I will be taking a different approach. In the past I have continued to write throughout Christmas and New Year but this year I am going to take a break from writing so this is the last article until January.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas break and find time to relax and spend time with your families.

A pre-Christmas warning. UK women are apparently the “fattest in Europe”. Don’t join this growing population of obese women by overeating too much this Christmas. Remember, moderation is a great thing. A little of everything – you don’t need to eat the whole cake yourself in one sitting.
That said, we do like a treat at Christmas and if you like chocolate then perhaps you could try this very special chocolate recipe from Dr Davis.
The Washington Post brought the attention of the general populous to the fact that deaths in triathlons should more often be attributed to panic attacks than health issues.
Of course, if you are doing triathlons, you may well want to ensure that you are as efficient as possible with your running. Chris Beardsley has reviewed a research paper looking at factors that affect running economy in distance runners. It could save you a fraction of time.
A few weeks ago I linked to an article about kombucha and noted that I’d never heard of it before. Katie of Wellness Mama soon after had a guest post on Everyday Paleo that explained exactly how to make kombucha. I may well experiment with this next year.
I didn’t know much about Paula Radcliffe, other than knowing that she is the most famous British marathon runner. Chris recently read her autobiography and it seems that it is the perfect lesson to all women everywhere in why weight training and good diet are important if you want to do any sort of endurance activity.
Intermittent fasting has been given a new boost by John Berardi. John experimented on himself after years of being a “six meals a day” man and saw some astounding results.
Excitingly there have been some new breakthroughs in our research techniques so that scientists are now able to understand better the changes on our DNA might be impacted by environment and diet. Specifically the scientists are looking at the epigenetics of heart failure but this could have much wider application over time.
The scientists have actually been doing quite well recently, since they have also decided (at last) that protein and not sugar activates the cells responsible for keeping us awake. Perhaps the fact that the scientists are writing about this means that the dietary advice will slowly change for how to get people out of their mid-afternoon slump (even if we do consider that the mid-afternoon slump was probably originally caused by sugar in some form at lunchtime).
I swear by hip thrusts and was excited to read a testimonial that is completely different. Perhaps I can use this testimonial to convince anyone who is not already convinced of the importance of the glutres for general athletic performance.

So lets all join hands, forget our disagreements and relax together for the festive season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHIIzcWqsP0

(From The Daily Otter) Milo, one of the hand-holding sea otters at the Vancouver Aquarium, was diagnosed with lymphoma in August 2011. He’s undergoing chemotherapy treatments. This video clip shows him taking a break from his treatments, hanging out with Tanu.

Great links for the weekend!

Ammi — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:00:02 +0000

Here’s this weekend’s links.

Something interesting to kick us off this week. Why do we find it so hard to learn a new language when we don’t recall how we became so good at learning our own language? Why is it easier to learn a language when you are living in the country where it is spoken? A great article went up on the University of Cambridge website a month or so ago about implicit language learning. It’s the way you learn the most “complex and subtle regularities” of the language.
Tony Gentilcore put up a random article that explores the way women undermine each other about their figures. If you are starting to look good I’m sure you’ve experienced people starting to comment on “surely you can eat anything” and “you’re so skinny”. The comments on his article are as interesting as the post itself.
I often shy away from articles about how to squat or how to fix problems with the squat. However, I did quite like this one thanks to its simplicity and readability. Do you think those are the right hints and tips or would you have included something different?
This was an interesting piece on Robb Wolf’s site. Someone wrote to him with a bit of a success story about testosterone levels improving as part of his changes made with Paleo living. If your partner (or you, for my male readers) is suffering reduced testosterone levels then take a read.
I got a laugh from this, but mostly from the fact that they’ve used an Orang-Utan, not a Chimp. Anyone who is a fan of Terry Pratchett will be particularly amused by it. (OOK!)
This is a fascinating bit of analysis that has been done by Ned Kock on the China Study data, breaking down into gender differences to see if the difference between female and male longevity is due to a difference in their diets.
Great article here from Bret. He got in touch with 14 female colleagues and got them to tell him their favourite glute exercises. Are your favourites on this list?
Sometimes I wish I had someone about to apply this logic to my life. I could see it applying to the washing, the ironing, the cleaning, the cooking… just a shame it would cost so much.
I’m changing my entire life to try and get away from stress. It does nasty things to me but nothing as dreadful as this.
With only a week left until Christmas and if you are looking for last minute presents for the woman in your life who lifts (or if you think your partner hasn’t got any hints you could print this article out and leave it lying about) take a look at these gift ideas. Dear Santa, I’d like a Prowler, a glute-ham raise and a weight vest. Oh, and the space to keep/use them. Please?

This is very cute. Cats and dolphins do mix. There really isn’t anything else I can say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPHuJvs8aws

Great links for the weekend!

Ammi — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 21:00:00 +0000

Here’s this weekend’s links.

Finding a way to cycle in some lighter training every once in a while is crucial when you’ve been training for a while. As Jason Ferruggia says, this only really applies once you’ve been training for 3 years or more but then you need to remember that your body can’t take a hammering all the time. I achieve it by using Hepburn cycles, natural cycling within the training programme, others take regular rest weeks. What do you do?
There’s a good easy-read summary on Iron Man Magazine about why excess carbs can result in gaining fat. It’s perhaps overly simplistic, but as an understandable starting point it is well worth a read.
This is great. An interview with Christina Ricci who, it turns out, was as much trying to surprise and shock people when she said some of those “shocking” dark things in interviews as a teenager. I can sympathise. I used to be quite similar in my teens, saying things I knew would shock, just for the sake of it.
Plenty of people on the Paleo forums and blogs like to complain about doctors. In particular about how they often seem to speak with authority on areas where they clearly aren’t an authority. Personally I do have quite a bit of sympathy for them. We expect General Practitioners to have the answer to everything, they work long hours and the only way for them to stay up to date on the latest discoveries since they left University would be to go home from a long day at work and spend a few hours reading medical journals. I struggle enough to keep up to date with the latest changes in the tax world, and I’m expected to turn to specialists at any time with a big firm behind me concentrating on reading the details and giving me the important summaries when I need to know, so I do try to give them a bit of slack. However, a cartoon from Dilbert did make me laugh because it summarised some of the complaints about doctors perfectly.
Here’s a nice article from BodyBuilding.com about Arnold, the competitor, looking at what it was like to be training as one of Arnie’s peers.
Last week I had a couple of links about insulin. Here’s one more from Jame Krieger trying to dispel some myths about insulin. The reality is that insulin is there to serve a good purpose but it gets such a bad reputation that sometimes we have to be reminded about what insulin really does.
I’ve found you some very sweet instructions on how to pick up a baby red panda in five easy steps.
I’m so behind with my reading that I found out about the Women’s Climbing Symposium after it happened (about a week after it). However, Hazel Findlay has started doing some writing for the British Mountaineering Council and did a great article about the state of the ‘female climbing culture’ in the UK as part of her thoughts on the (at the time) forthcoming symposium. Are you a female climber and, if so, do you feel like an exception to the rule on the rock-face or do you see women climbing everywhere?
There was a guest post by Jason Seib put up on Everyday Paleo explaining what Paleo isn’t. It’s a far tidier summary of the fact that Paleo argument that it isn’t a diet so much as a way of eating than I’ve ever managed. Perhaps a good one to share with Paleo-sceptic friends (if you still have any).
T o finish up, here’s a final cute picture. How often are you told by a catering team (say, you’ve given them a dietary preferences list before a conference or party) that gluten-free food will be provided and then get let down?

Having done a Vibrams video a few weeks ago, this is a video I particularly enjoyed showing Confessions of a Barefoot Runner. I’ve not yet moved to going completely barefoot and I was particularly interested to see the section crossing gravel. Rough, old gravel with just the odd large and lumpy rock are the one surface I still struggle with on my walks in my (now almost worn through) KSO Vibrams.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n21gAbXpXGA

Great links for the weekend!

Ammi — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:00:56 +0000

Here’s this weekend’s links.

I struggle a little with weight loss. My weight naturally sits at a certain point and to drop it below that I have to take an almost obsessive approach to what I eat in order to drop to a different set-point. Peter on Hyperlipid has done an interesting piece about getting through weight loss when it gets hard. It chimes with me and agrees with some things Robb Wolf has also said on his podcasts about getting through the set-point.
This is a fascinating article that was published on The Guardian. A researcher spent a year living in Greenland with the native people, moving from some of the remote groups as well as the more “urban” societies there. In this article he explains some of what he experienced during the year. I also found another article about the same research trip on The University of Cambridge website, as the researcher works in the anthropological linguistics department there.
There are penguins wearing sweaters! Yes, ladies and gentlemen you (perhaps) heard it here first. There’s a more serious message here too, which is that the sweaters are made by volunteers to help save the lives of penguins who have had their feathers damaged in an oil spill and need a temporary solution to stay warm until they can have their feathers cleaned. But my they do look adorable.
I had never before considered the possibility of cooking food in a thermos flask but it seems ingenious. Saves money on fuel and could also be a way to prepare fresh food at the start of a day out and have it edible at the end of the day while still on the road without having spent hours up the night before preparing it.
I don’t think I’d ever thought about the importance of quality of life to cancer survivors, but it seems that it is one of the things “as keenly discussed as cancer survival in years”. It makes sense I suppose. If you know that on survival your quality of life will be dreadful then how much motivation will you have to fight the cancer in the first place?
A brief break to show you some cute otters.
Here’s a nice article from 70sBig entitled “Training the Big Cat”. The Big Cat is actually a woman and it’s a great article by her coach. The classic story of a woman starting out as a beginner and now achieving something amazing in competition, despite having started out as hypermobile.
Several weeks back Stephen Guyenet posted up an article about the way the brain controls insulin action. I’ve only recently found the time to read it and it really is interesting, especially after the diabetes series I did. See what you think too.
Staying on the theme of insulin (and also from Stephan), the first part in a series on what causes insulin resistance.
I’ll finish this week with some inspiration – an interview that Krista Scott-Dixon did with Felicity Aston. Felicity is on an expedition to cross Antarctica solo. If she is successful she will be the first woman in history to cross Antarctica alone.

Take a look at the sole entrant to the 48kg class, it’s the first couple of minutes of this clip. I wish someone had been teaching me to lift when I was this age.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk62XszVCcM

Great links for the weekend!

Ammi — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 21:00:54 +0000

I’ve got two questions for everyone:

What topics do you want me to write about next year? Are there any burning research questions that you wish I’d look into but don’t seem to have done yet or that you think I should revisit?
Do you have any n=1 experiments you would like me to try as part of my stopping work exercise at the end of this year? To remind you, I’m moving from a full-time desk job with plenty of stress, teaching violin and piano at the weekends, training at my powerlifting, trying (and failing) to squeeze in cycling, playing in orchestras and not getting much time to myself except when I go on multi-day walks for my holidays when I work for a walking company. I’m going to everything without the full-time desk job. If there’s something you would like me to monitor then let me know what it is and how you think I can monitor it (eg. stress and body fat – measure with waist measurements and callipers over the first month after I stop; quality of sleep through observation). This is a golden opportunity for us all to learn and I’ll give full consideration to all suggestions. However, please note that I’m not able to get blood-work done and if there is something else suggested that I don’t feel able to do, I’ll see if there is a different way I can manage to measure it.

Have a think a either drop me a comment or send me an email through my contact form.

Now on to this week’s links.

Those of you who enjoy serious hiking and mountaineering, do you think you are in danger of becoming a MAMIL one day? That’s a Middle-Aged Mountaineer in Lycra!
I’m not a computer gamer and I’m a bit of a gamer sceptic, but it seems that there is some hope for them if you suffer from Parkinsons.
I’m not sure I believe that this big chap is really terrified of puppies but it was a great excuse for someone to put together some photos of gorgeous puppies.
Getting injuries can be a real bother. Do you train? Do you take a complete rest? How do you deal with it? Even worse, what happens if you have a competition or some other active event coming up? The start of injury has set me back a bit before although fortunately I’ve not yet suffered from anything too bad and a few days off training with a slight change to my training approach and choice of exercises has been enough for me so far. However, Gwen Sisto gave herself a nasty injury soon before a recent competition. In a recent post she shared how she dealt with the injury and went on to do a great performance in the competition.
I was interested to read recently that a new study has claimed that mobile phones do not cause cancer. It’s interesting to put this alongside previous studies and concerns and I suppose the “right” answer has to be moderated by practicalities. In the modern world people expect you to be available all the time. I make a point of not being available all the time but even then I still find myself making calls on my mobile a few times a month just to make sure things keep moving. Are you an excessive mobile phone user or do you use yours sparingly?
Please excuse my ignorance but what is Kombucha? I’d not come across it before and then Seth Roberts wrote a post about a guy who used it to great effect on his bees and then, with similarly impressive effects on himself and his wife. All I can find is that it is some sort of fermented culture grown in tea.
Staying with fermentation for a moment, Chris at Conditioning Research shared a link a little while ago to an article about how probiotic yoghurt works. It turns out that it doesn’t put good bacteria into your gut but instead alters gene expression of the existing microbes in the gut, turning some of their functions on or off. This could explain why yoghurt is also so good for treating vaginal and throat infections since it should come into contact with the bacteria in those areas when applied to them.
Those of you who own cats (or, to be accurate, are owned by cats) will probably appreciate this little picture.
I find that I’m not using as many bathroom products as most people my age. To start with this was just because I’ve always been stubborn – if others always did morning facial routines then I wasn’t going to do them on principle. However, the switch to paleo diet made a noticeable difference which I’m only aware of when I go on a long walking trip and end up eating all sorts of non-paleo foods for a period of time. At the end of those trips I find myself with all the complaints that most people my age start to get. It seems I’m not the only one who has realised that paleo-living means not only ditching the wheat and sugar but also finding you can ditch some other things from life. Now I just need to ditch the stress.
How many people who read this blog have arguments about taking over more than their fair share of the bed? In our house I blame the fact that Chris is rapidly gaining a massively broad powerlifter physique – he takes up far more than his fair share of mattress space and duvet coverings by default – but then I will frequently wriggle past the boundary line and steal bedclothes in search of warmth. It seems even Calvin and Hobbes suffer from it though.

I know there have been several cute or silly links already today but these pygmy hedgehogs are just so absolutely cute and adorable that I couldn’t not share them with you all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7LRZkIjtl8

Great links for the weekend!

Ammi — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:00:32 +0000

Things are getting more and more crazy as I wind up (definitely not winding down) to the end of the year. Several projects at work have deadlines before Christmas and there’s the added list of things to make sure are properly handed over before I leave. As a result you might notice that some of my Thursday posts aren’t up to their usual standard but I’ll do my best to keep it going with some interesting pieces for you all to read.

I hope you all have a good weekend – here’s some links to read in between the many other things I’m sure you are all doing.

Mike Whitman wrote an interesting piece for Bret Contreras’s blog recently outlining some muscular overload training that he sometimes uses with his athletes. See what you think.
I may be giving up my desk job for a life of relative financial poverty but for some women their earning potential is an important thing. If it matters to you then you might want to consider the impact of taking your husbands name. I was quite surprised when I read this piece about studies looking at the impact of taking your husband’s name.
We should all ensure we have some fun and a sense of achievement at the end of each day. I’m a great keeper of lists because I can cross things off and feel I’ve achieved something at the end of the day. Here’s a light piece about accomplishing things every day.
Staying on that sort of theme, there was a particularly nice piece on Positively Present during that period immediately after Steve Jobs died when people were putting up inspirational Steve Jobs quotes. It’s not long and I recommend it.
Bret Contreras has got some new glute exercises. Check them out on his blog where he’s put up a couple of videos to explain them.
Melissa McEwan pulled together some pieces about research into the sex-lives of hunter-gatherer societies. It seems that they have sex far more often than the stressed societies in our Western societies. Is it the stress, the food, the time spent rushing about doing unnecessary things?
This is a totally cute photo of an ocelot kitten. It still needs to grow into its paws, eyes and ears giving it the sweetest overgrown look.
Here’s a great article that actually goes quite well with today’s video too. It’s looking at the question of why people can’t individually control their toes and you, open-minded readers that you are, have probably already guessed the answer. You can if you teach your toes to move.
If you have body piercings and are struggling to drop body fat then you might want to consider removing them.
Krista Scott-Dixon did a great review of Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint recently. I’ve not got it yet and I really am tempted.

While I was away walking I got question after question about my footwear. Really I should just carry a little information leaflet and hand them out as I go. I don’t mind the questions but after you’ve had a few you start to find it slows you down!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYxyo_9DQOg

Great links for the weekend!

Ammi — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:00:27 +0000

When I logged back on post-holiday I found that last week’s links post hadn’t gone out. It claimed it had missed it’s scheduling.

So that you don’t all miss out on the links I’d gathered together I now give you….. “last week’s links post”. (Whoops.)

*****

I’m away on a brief 4 day walking trip over the weekend. I actually left yesterday so this is a timed post that I’ve pulled together in advance. I hope it has a little bit for everyone in it.

Have a lovely weekend everyone. I’m hoping I’m not getting drowned right now, although I get pretty wet most Novembers when I do walking trips – it’s the nature of the British weather unfortunately.

I don’t want to worry any pregnant women out there, but you should probably be aware of some studies, highlighted by Don at Primal Wisdom, suggesting that a high fat diet may decrease blood flow to the placenta. Decreasing blood flow to the placenta is then linked to stillbirths. If this is relevant to you, I would recommend that you take the time to read the actual research papers to see if you agree with them.
This article by Doug Brignole on Iron Man Magazine is something I’ve been sitting on for a while waiting for a good time to share it with you all. As such I might dig it out again sometime, but in the meantime I’ve decided that to withhold it any longer would be wrong. It’s a fascinating insight into the horrendous mental journey that people go on to get ripped for a bodybuilding (or, in reality, a Figure) contest. It is entitled That Deep, Dark Place and truly describes that mentally tough place that the most dedicated figure builders work through in the final few weeks of losing as much body fat as possible.
Seth Roberts, our n=1 guru, did a great write up of someone else’s experiment, taking a long list of supplements which seemed to succeed in reducing depression. I found it interesting because Chris and I have ended up with a long list of supplements to try and keep us going until next year. Just as this article, we have particular reasons for each supplement that we take and helpfully this article also explains the reasons behind each article.
I like Ewan McGregor. Sorry everyone, but that’s just how it is. Not in a “Chris Hemsworth in Thor drool-worthy” way but more in an “appreciative of some good characters” way. So in case anyone else out there feels the same way, here’s a funny interview with him which includes an amusing anecdote about being naked on stage.
I just love the fact that Peter’s daughter (that’s Peter at Hyperlipid) is being used for some interesting diet experiments. Experiments that include her reactions to 90% cocoa chocolate vs. traditional candy-style chocolate and, in this clip, banana vs. 90% cocoa chocolate. Even better is his admission that her favourite food is a puree of pig heart casseroled in red wine. Sounds awesome and I hope Peter shares the recipe one day.
Tee hee hee. This snake is just a bit silly…
I was intrigued to see some articles from Nia Shanks documenting her training and nutrition on a normal day. I guess I was particularly interested to see that she takes a similar food approach to me – almost warrior-diet-esque in that we both eat for the first time in a day when we are hungry which could well be the middle of the day. That approach has been working well for me for some time now although I have also noticed that, the greater my stress levels, the earlier in the day I need to start eating. Right now I probably break my fast at about 12.30pm and then have a few small meals throughout the afternoon and evening. When I did my day in the life analysis back in the summer, I was just eating the one meal at about 8.45pm each evening.
This was a great article that Chris wrote a few weeks ago, reviewing some research on the 400m race – that distance which is neither long distance endurance nor short distance sprinting. For some reason it really fascinated me and I thought it might be of interest to a few of you too.
I started with pregnancy so I’ll end with it too. Here’s a lovely piece from Cassandra Forsythe that highlights a story about a woman who ran the Chicago marathon this year while nine months pregnant. Take a read and be inspired. While a pregnant woman who has never done something like this before would probably be best advised not to start running marathons 8 months into their pregnancy, this is certainly inspiration for any pregnant woman who has always been active not suddenly to put away their running shoes, lifting gear or whatever their activity involves.

I can’t remember if I’ve shared this video with you all before. If I have, apologies, although I’m sure those of you who like my cat videos will enjoy it again. This is a very silly box-obsessed creature.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_AbfPXTKms

Great links for the weekend!

Ammi — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:00:22 +0000

It has been one hell of a week of ups and downs. On the up, our kitchen looks lovely and we have a new boiler (I’m actually typing this while sat in a nice hot bath – the first hot wash I’ve had at home since Tuesday morning’s shower). On the down, this has really tested our ability to survive in our current lifestyle without killing each other when we put this kind of extra stress in and we made some interesting discoveries – a post to follow.

It was all worth it though. Thanks to Woody, Tommy, Les and Curtis for their hard work. Here’s some photos to prove it:

Before:

Before - the hated greens and white plastic and a hint of dodgy floor

A bit more kitchen with the dead oven

My “kitchen” during the week

The orange bucket was my washing up station, there was counter space for 1 pan or bowl off the electric temporary hob.

Dinner bubbling on the two-ring hob

Well there's nowhere to sit and eat, but I've got the essentials!

The finished product!

Shiny with a new washing machine too!

How clear is it that Chris had an equal part in choosing the colour scheme for this kitchen?

Here’s the links for this weekend.

With the way things are going in the blog-world we are all becoming self-sufficient scientists. We read the studies and other people’s articles summarising studies and then carry out n=1 experiments on both ourselves and our families to find out what health improvements work for us. To ensure we’re spending our time on the best n=1 experiments though you need to know which studies and research are worth believing in and which are perhaps a little dubious. You may also want to get a good unbiased view of the idea before you embark on anything radical. As a result many of us who have never studied sciences (knowing how to read and archaeological site report just isn’t the same) are finding that we need to be able to pick apart scientific studies, understanding where they may be flawed and getting a good handle on when someone may be writing a particularly biased article about a study. Various bloggers have provided articles guiding us on how to read technical research but a recent top ten tips from Jade Teta was particularly useful since it brings a lot of the bigger articles together into reminder points for us.
Speaking of misinterpreting studies, the media are particularly good at doing this. Their aim is usually to make the most attention-seeking headline, even if it stretches the interpretation of the study a little. Anyway, a there was a recent study into the contraceptive pill and relationship satisfaction which actually draws some interesting conclusions but which the media got completely wrong. Take a read of an article on Scientific American to better understand what the study was actually looking at.
I am agnostic about CrossFit. I don’t do it, I can’t see that it would suit me in my current circumstances, and I’m too addicted to the big weights. However I appreciate that for some people CrossFit is the answer. Whatever your view is on CrossFit it might be worth taking a look at Confessions of a Crossfit Coach where Mike gets some of his irritations with CrossFit out of his system in parts one and two. There’s a few amusing points in there.
I’ve seen a lot of people writing about the TV show “I, Caveman” which Robb Wolf participated in. It looks like it was great fun and a fabulous reality check on what it is really like living out in the wild. I’m hoping that at some point they put it on DVD with European Region settings so that I can watch it (or show it on UK TV which someone can record for me – I don’t have TV at home, just a DVD player). Anyway, I was particularly interested in Kurt Harris’s article about it since Kurt was focusing on the hunting, the atlatl and the thrill of the hunt and the kill by Robb. I’ve got myself a Black Widow catapult which I am fully intending to use next year once I’ve stopped working to hunt rabbit, pigeon and squirrel (there’s no point in getting squeamish, this is life we’re talking about). I can’t wait to see how I react to my first kill. Will I feel squeamish or will I just feel proud?
Crikey! I’m writing a lot today. Here’s a brief break from the words to see some very very very very cute photos of an otter. One, two, three, aaaaawwwwwwwwww!
Richard Nikoley has been working on pulling together a manifesto – it seems to basically be a manifesto of how to approach living a health life, mentally, physically and within society. There’s some great points in it and it has been through a few incarnations now since he has been putting each version on his blog and actively seeking feedback from people of changes to make to it. By version three it is certainly looking punchy and effective. See if you agree with his points.
I like to keep my house tidy – it makes my feel both physically and mentally rested. I’ve always struggled to explain that to people but it seems I am not alone. Someone else also thinks that clearing clutter helps inner calm.
I’ve drowned everyone in a lot of information this week so I’ll probably drawn this to a close with some light entertainment from Calvin. Pretend I’m Calvin and everyone still working hard on a day job next year is his Dad. Sorry, I just couldn’t resist it.

This video did the rounds while the Blackberry network went down across the UK and Europe the other week. Personally I thought it was really funny though many others didn’t. I guess the Ronnies are an aquired taste, probably more amusing to an older generation of British people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI

Great links for the weekend!

Ammi — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:00:15 +0000

I’ve been cycling home from work a few days each week and got a shock when the temperature suddenly started dropping this week. On top of that they are threatening snow next week and in the same week we’re getting the boiler changed so we’ll find ourselves very cold. Thank goodness work have some nice showers. I think I’ll be staying at work for everything except essential sleep next week!

For those looking towards a warmer weekend and week (and for those snuggling under the duvet for warmth), here’s some links to give you some entertainment.

Chris and I have been working on trying to assist our stressed-out digestive systems through use of enzymes, probiotics and HCl. However, for anyone who hasn’t thought about their gut health before you could kick off your reading with this Bodybuilding.com article.
Melissa McEwan did something interesting recently about a research article linking women on a raw vegan diet with amenorrhea. It doesn’t surprise me although my understanding was previously that it was more closely linked to total calorie intake than the specific nutrient intake.
For anyone new to Paleo or Primal, Robb Wolf recently did a “What is the Paleo Diet?” post and Mark Sisson did a “How to go Primal: for parents” article (which is obviously focussed a bit on the children issue.
This is hilarious. I can’t really say more – just go and take a look!
I found Sumoman’s theory about certain facial types predicting body type fascinating. It’s not something I’d even thought about considering before. What do you think? Is there some merit in it?
Apparently we women are actually the tougher sex. Researchers think that our X chromosome is a reason why our immune systems are tougher and we don’t succumb to man-flu. Perhaps we should all be a bit more understanding of our men this winter when they get what we would consider to be “piffling little colds”.
Mark Sisson had a particularly lovely real life story a few weeks ago. Inspirational for all the women reading this blog that it will most definitely still be possible to look awesome when you are in your fifties. Don’t hope it can be true – know it!
This super recipe for tuna burgers is Paleo despite coming off a site I follow that has nothing to do with Paleo. It’s just a shame that fresh tuna is so prohibitively expensive for me.
Anyone with a cat will probably sympathise with Simon in this little Simon’s Cat shortie. It’s a definite classic for the cat lovers out there.
I have to sypathise with the author of this post that the old Good Housekeeping Cookbook was fantastic. It was on my mother’s shelf as well and while I used gift vouchers from my 21^st birthday to by myself the new anniversary edition, the old one was fractionally more practical (although some of the step by step diagrams on how to do things like fillet fish are slightly better now). Anyway, macaroni cheese is one of those staples that I miss too. I think you would have to be honest in saying that this recipe is very borderline Paleo, but if you are desperate for macaroni and cheese this is better than the traditional recipe.

Great links for the weekend!

Ammi — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:00:09 +0000

I got a shock when I realised (or remembered) that my calendar at work has a “weeks remaining” feature and that I only have about 10 weeks left before the new life begins. Despite that, there’s a lot to get done in the next 2.5 months and a lot of things I could get wrong if I took my eye off the ball, so it’s full-concentration ahead.

On a separate and very happy note, at least 3 of my and Chris’s friends have had their babies in the last two weeks (Laura, Ceri and Simon). With others also mentioning friends and relatives who are now slightly overdue or have just had babies it seems that new arrivals are top of the agenda. Congratulations to everyone who has just had a new arrival and don’t forget the worthwhile “Healthy Baby Code” which is well worth looking up.

For those who aren’t preoccupied with busy lives or new babies, here’s this weekend’s links.

I’ve not tried racing or sportives on my bike yet. I’d like too and Chris’s brother has provisionally challenged me to join him on a 100 mile sportive next year. I’ve shied away from women-only sportive events too. However after a read of a recent article on Road Cycling UK about a cycletta event (women-only sportive-type event) I must say that I’m tempted to try that.
I really enjoyed an article by Krista Scott-Dixon on Precision Nutrition recently. While the article was great and I totally agree with the concept of emotions affecting hunger levels the thing that really chimed with me was what she’d got angry about. I too get upset and irritable when someone tells me that they are losing weight eating 2,500 calories a day. I love food but I’ll put weight on if I go much over 1,500 on a regular basis and most of the time I have to keep it lower than that!
Is a higher-pitched voice the way to get male attention when you are a woman?
I love some of the entertaining material Tony Gentilcore writes for his blog and a recent article, the Tale of Two Gym bags was an absolute classic.
Here are 16 fascinating facts about sleep shared on Naturally Engineered recently. There were all sorts of things on there I hadn’t known about before.
This is a lovely cartoon. You’re not lazy, you’re just a mammal.
It is starting to become clear that potentially the reason those on the Paleo diet don’t experience the same extreme levels of PMS is because of the wheat elimination. It looks like those who only eliminate the wheat still get this benefit. Quick! Share the news with your female friends!
Lots of my friends are just reaching the end of their pregnancy. For those of you who are also going through pregnancy, Cass Forsythe is still running her Fit Pregnancy series and the interviews are well worth reading to get some mental support for what you are going through.
Dr Brendan Burchell believes that the rise of PCs in the workplace is to blame for the rise in stress and anxiety among employees. Speaking as someone who frequently returns to my desk after several hours of back-to-back meetings to find emails complaining that I haven’t yet responded to emails which came in during the same period that I was away from my desk I can quite understand how this happens…
Perhaps one way to counteract that workplace stress is to at least remain mobile and, to that end, consider a standing desk. How many offices would really allow that though?

I’ve been looking forward to seeing Puss in Boots at the cinema for a while. The trailer certainly looks like there might be a few good one-liners included:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55gmAtakjJ4

Of course, if Puss in Boots disappoints then Immortal looks like it could be good fun too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VdONYkKFmQ

Now I just need to find a weekend when I actually have time to go to the cinema.