So I recently completed 21 days with no caffeine. That’s no green tea or cacao for me. It was hard in the beginning. But I realized just how powerful these things are.
You just don’t realize.
Until you stop. Then you’ll see. The 2nd day was the most difficult for me and then it got progressively easier.
But now I have since been drinking tea over the last 3 days, but each day I am drinking less as I see how it is affecting my sleep.
You sleep better without caffeine.
The first day back on caffeine I noticed the effects. Adrenaline. More stress from cortisol. Faster, stimulated, a little more flighty and scattered and more positive feeling.
I also thought I looked better.
It’s a mixed bag.
But once you’re in the habit you don’t notice. It’s the usual and then you might start drinking more and more.
I love green tea.
Before the fast I was drinking a lot of green tea – like for half of the day. I noticed my sleep seemed deeper not on caffeine. I slept better about 90% of the time.
The internet would still eff with my sleep if I use it too late. That’s my next fast.
Previously I’ve done 1, 2, 3, 4, and a 5 day fast.
Day 1 I felt a little less energy and a bit more moody.
Day 2 I felt a lot less energy, very foggy and hungry.
Day 3 and beyond was better.
The good they say (of no caffeine)…
Better sleep
More grounded
Less scattered
Less stress
Less anxiety
I agree with pretty much all of these now. Anxiety I don’t think I get much, but I can see how other people may be affected.
The bad (of no caffeine)
lethargy
depression
headaches
complexion?
dullness
I didn’t get any headaches this time although I have in the past when I went off caffeine. But I definitely felt lethargy and definitely in the first few days.
I found myself more grounded feeling but I bit more depressed feeling actually. On the other hand I felt a little more dull. Towards the end of my 21 days I was asking myself if I was starting to feel more positive. Not sure.
I also noticed my complexion didn’t seem to look as good without caffeine. Actually green tea contains more than caffeine, but also theanine, theobromine, catechins and other stuff.
I also didn’t eat cacao which I don’t everyday because I’ve noticed that is definitely addicting and stimulating.
I think the effects of fasting from green tea and cacao is subtle. I think you will notice how it affects you if you go off of it for a long time and then go back on it.
Initially I was only going to do this for 7 days, but it turned into 21. I think I will do more cycling in and out of using tea in the future as well as varying the amounts I consume.
The effects of it felt quite noticeable after the 21 days and again interrupted my sleep. It also tends to go hand and hand with using the internet for me.
Before I tell you about my fast I’ll tell about my day at the beach today. So I’ve been disciplined lately about going to the beach to walk barefoot in the sand to strengthen my feet.
I was tired from the previous week of fasting, but it was sunny and I am doing 30 days of this at least despite haven’t slept well for the last 3 days. After I got a few food items from the market I rode out to the beach and complained the whole way about the damn wind blowing in my face.
I guess I start losing it when I get tired… complaining, etc.
Then I get out there try to lie down for a bit and decide to take out my mushrooms I bought so they can get some vitamin D too (you know they absorb D like we do? Paul Stamets told me so).
And they stank like these kinds sometimes do when they are wrapped tight in plastic. Hate that smell! So I continued complaining to myself, lied down in the sand for a moment until a big gust of wind blew a bunch of sand in my face.
Then I got up, and I dropped my stinky mushrooms in the sand, picked them up and continued down to one end of the beach. After I got to one end I turned around to go get my bike to head back home.
Then WTF…
As I was walking back all of a sudden something big hits me from behind and my arm.
It was fucking hawk!
It wanted my mushrooms!
I couldn’t believe it. This is a big bird. It’s like twice the size of a crow maybe more.
That’s what I get for complaining!
After he hit me he kept circling above and watching me. I thought he was going to come back. He must of smelled those mushrooms.
I looked it up and maybe it’s called a black kite or honey buzzard and looks kinda like this.
And you know what? I should have just given them to him because they smelled so bad that I threw them out later!
So that’s nature it’s natural state is starvation.
Ours too, but…
It’s supermarkets and comfort foods nowadays. Yet, when you start going back 100 years, 200 years ago, etc. your ancestors were starving at times just like that bird was.
In reality we are all scavengers, just times changed for many of us.
Wow, I got bum rushed by a big ass hawk.
5 days no food.
Previously the longest I ever fasted was about 4 days a couple of months ago. But Sunday I finished 5 days without a bite of anything to eat. I did all right, I just drank tea and lied down when I felt tired.
The last time I did the 4 days I was going for 5 days, but started feeling sick and quit and then made a soup, but was fine.
I will probably post a video about my 5 days in the future, but I did alright then Sunday night I ate things seemed okay but didn’t sleep well again.
Then last night I don’t know… But I got really sick like thinking I was dying sick. I threw up my dinner which was pineapple, grano padano cheese, spinach and fried eggs.
All things I ate the night before without a problem.
So I don’t know why.
That cheese though I think didn’t taste right to me. It was a different kind than I bought last time.
Saturday night the last night of my fast I slept like 4 hours (that time partially my fault for listening to a podcast late at night), then like 5 hours on Sunday and then like 4 last night after like 2 hours of nausea and then finally throwing up.
I don’t know if it was bad food that I ate and a combination of fasting changing my gut or making it more sensitive or the dairy?
Yet earlier in the day I made a curry dish with raw milk, cauliflower, cashews, mushrooms. etc and I was okay.
Plus aged cheese contains almost no lactose so maybe it was bad cheese or you know the pineapple the second time wasn’t so fresh tasting it kind of had that smell like the mushrooms did a little – like it was aging
I don’t know what’s going on though it seems like the food I am buying recently is going bad fast. Maybe I will stop going to the cheap store.
Even this morning my stomach was a little sensitive. On my second cup of tea I started to feel a little nausea so I just went back to water. Since I’ve had a few meals now and seem to be okay.
5 days.
I did it. Hoping for a good night of sleep tonight.
Going to bed hungry is tough. However, days 2 and 3 of this fast were fine for me and I slept well. It was that last night listening to that podcast that disrupted my sleep.
That’s what you get for staying up later on the computer or even listing to a podcast in the bath. You stimulate your brain when your body wants to sleep. My fault.
Perhaps this is part of the reset button of the fast. Let’s see how I feel in a few days.
Despite being difficult there are a lot of benefits to fasting. And more so to prolonged fasts like 5 days or more:
Decreased inflammation
Increased autophagy (which decreases as you age)
Increased stem cells
Increased growth hormone
Increased vascular growth factor
Increased fibroblast growth factor
I have injuries to heal (the above reasons) that’s why I did it.
But people fast for different reasons. Lots of science out there.
Weight loss
Neurogenesis – reduce alzheimers risk and improve brain function
You’ll live longer and healthier if you do it and it’s the same with other living forms: yeast and mice
Valter Longo has a 5 day fasting mimicking FMD diet that’s steeped in science. His stuff is pretty interesting. I might try that in the future or some sort of longer term calorie restriction.
Some of his studies were with cancer patients doing the FMD diet 5 days a month. That would be easier than no food of course.
I think it’s good to cycle in and out of fasting.
It’s like regeneration and renewal.
So I am experimenting. I have done 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 day fasts and alternate day fasts, but really I think if you want results, well it depends on what results you want you have to make it a part of your life.
I went walking today at low tide on the sand and after I looked at my foot steps. They were rather duck footed (more than I remembered).
So I googled:
how to fix duck feet
The guy said they can be caused by flat feet or tight hips/glutes. One of my feet is flatter than the other and I’ve noticed lately over the last few years that my hips and pelvis area has become more creaky, tight or sore especially when I roll on them.
How to fix FLAT FEET (if you have flat feet you probably want to watch it!)
Been rollin on my feet with my tennis ball in a sock and aluminum water bottle (works good for massage).
I realized…
My feet are a neglected part in my workout especially considering it’s a weakness. I’ve had quite a few knee injuries.
I need to work on them more.
Ian’s upgrading his workout!
Need to level up my feet.
For a long time I’ve done squats for my leg workout, but they don’t do much for your feet. Lately I’ve been doing box jumps where I’ll jump up on a bench or some platform 1-2 feet tall and then step down. Then do that 40-50 times.
And more recently frog jumps with my hands clasped behind my head.
It’s pretty good.
It will work your glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves and maybe feet a little. I like them better than squats as squats hurt one of my knees (not the more recently injured one though).
It hurts the one that also has a tight sore hip.
So got to fix that hip and THOSE FEET.
MASSAGE.
And as I am writing this I am standing on my tennis ball.
It’s really good for foot massage actually. If you put it in a sock it won’t roll away.
It’s kind of interesting how your feet (foundation) can affect your whole body. I used to wear orthotics as a kid, but those don’t work.
I need to strengthen my foot.
Also the flatter foot my right one is more difficult to balance on like mentioned in the video.
Back in high school basketball I used to do a lot of toe raises. And probably had stronger feet then.
Considering this fact that the foot is the most distal part of the lower extremity and acts as a support point through which the body maintains its balance, even minimal biomechanical changes at the support level can affect postural control strategies. If a change occurs in foot alignment, the pelvis changes its position in order to maintain the body’s center of gravity.
I was listening to the Joe Rogan podcast the other day and I learned that the question “where are you from?” is considered a micro aggression.
Fuck you whoever came up with that. Some retarded American SJW.
GO GO GO.
I understand why you did, but it’s really stupid.
I’ve lived in 7 US states, in 4 other countries (7+ years) and traveled quite a bit. Where are you from has been part of my story.
Even if you make it some rule you won’t change what they are thinking.
I’ve lived in Asia for more than 7 years total. And then after around 6 years I went back to the states and I remember asking some people this question.
Where are you from?
And they’d get all touchy and say, “AMERICA“.
No kidding.
To me it’s a conversation starter right up there with how are you?
The whole thing has to do with race.
But isn’t this like the pot calling the kettle black?
The person who has issues with this question has them because they think this is about race, but what if I was the same race as them?
So for them to get offended by me is them taking my race into judgement too.
“Ohh, another stupid ass white boy who thinks I am from Mexico or Asia. No muthafucker I am AMERICAN!”
It’s just a question.
Get over it.
Even if you try to control what they say you didn’t change their mind. You just censored them.
If you were really clever maybe you could start a conversation with them.
No one seems to get offended here in Asia when I ask that question.
When you live in another country people ask you that question too. And let’s say you are white. Some people are going to assume that you are American even if you are not.
I’ve known some people from other English speaking countries that were offended by that.
And some of those people are going to be offended by the word “America” too. I used to say the USA and then many would say, New York, Los Angelos?
Sometimes it could be about your race, but so what… You are not going to change anybody by censoring them.
Is it possible to heal your meniscus naturally without surgery? That’s the question I will answer in this post. Surgery is an option, but you will soon find out that there is some risk involved with that.
I have had a number of knee injuries from sports and tore my meniscus two times in BJJ. I didn’t do surgery on it because all of my research suggested that it was a risky move.
So I took natural, alternative and some definitely non-mainstream approaches to healing and treating it.
So I put some of that research here (in regards to surgery) and a ton (in regards to healing) on a site I made called Healiscus. DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and even if I was you shouldn’t believe everything I say because you should know that the 3rd leading cause of death in the US is medical error. You have to do ample research to determine the best course of action for you.
Now…
In this post first I’ll focus on the studies and outcomes surrounding meniscus tear surgeries. Then towards the end I’ll touch on some treatment tips and there’s an FAQ too.
If you are a big thinker and you want to heal your meniscus (ideally without surgery) so you can get back to your game then this is probably for you.
And you might want to read this if you are considering surgery.
If your tear is in the red zone it has a chance to heal. And if your tear is in the white zone then you are out of luck and you probably need a partial meniscectomy to “fix” it.
But is it really that black and white?
There is some truth to that to say that the white zone is not vascular.
But to say it can’t heal there…
Not true.
In fact here is a study that says cells were able to migrate from the red zone to the white.
Explant studies revealed that migrating cells were mainly confined to the red zone in normal menisci: However, these cells were capable of repopulating defects made in the white zone.
And you have to consider, how did it grow in the first place?
How did it grow in the 1st place?
You’re not getting the most up to date information when you consult your ‘average’ orthopedic doctor.
You’re not getting the best medical advice or attention you could receive. It’s not up to date.
You’re getting OLD information and practices.
Conventional medicine.
How many years do you think it takes for medical findings (science) to reach practice?
You’ll soon find out.
Do you want to heal your meniscus without surgery?
Chances are you can.
However, if your tear is displaced or it’s completely torn in half then maybe you do need surgery. If it’s catching or locking then maybe you do need surgery.
Although that ‘could’ also be inflammation from trauma and not just a piece of torn meniscus.
I’ve torn my meniscus in judo and jiu-jitsu 2 times (according to the MRI). Aside from that I’ve had countless injuries from snowboarding, basketball and even drunk bike riding at 2am in the morning 20+ years ago.
A torn MCL, fractured arm, fractured clavicle, fractured finger, torn cartilage, torn rotator cuff, dislocated finger, bruised tibia and ribs, and plenty of undiagnosed injuries.
And maybe you too.
So how does your knee feel now?
Does it feel like someone sliced up the inside of your knee with an x-acto and then kicked it?
Are you limping?
Well, I can teach you how to heal it (most likely without surgery) and/or if you decide to get surgery I can even help you recover faster and better from it.
The most common ‘fix’ for a torn meniscus is a partial meniscectomy.
And…
Chances are if you get a partial meniscectomy that you will develop osteoarthritis (OA) in that knee.
One source suggests that if you cut out as little as 10% of your meniscus that it increases joint stress by 70%. Your chances of developing arthritis increase exponentially the more they remove.
If you remove part of your meniscus then you change the biomechanics of the knee.
Some people can quickly return to sports and activity within a few weeks after partial meniscectomy.
Like Bigjitsenergy…
A partial meniscectomy often removes the symptoms (pain) now.
“Nearly 63% of knee meniscus surgery patients developed knee arthritis in the meniscectomy knee within 8 years, on average, following surgery. Compare this to the opposite knee that was not operated on: 28% developed arthritis in that same time period.”
Here’s another…
“Early after surgery, 92% of patients had excellent or good results, in term of knee pain, swelling, ROM, squatting, but at a mean of eight years after surgery, only 62% of the patients rated their knees as excellent or good.” – Source
92% said they felt ok after surgery, but then 8 years later 38% didn’t.
Your odds of needing a knee replacement in the future increase 3 fold when you get a meniscectomy according to this study.
Yeah, but what about a ‘partial’ meniscectomy?
“Partial meniscectomy, the most common orthopedic surgical intervention, is recognized as a strong risk factor for knee OA.” – Source
“However, meniscectomy is not ideal because it disrupts the normal anatomical structure and function of the meniscus.” – Source
Any sort of meniscectomy (partial or full) removes the torn bit before it has any chance to heal.
And of course they’ll tell you that it won’t heal…
But you should be very careful about what any orthopedic surgeon tells you because you are likely getting dated information and practices.
What about meniscus repair vs. partial meniscectomy?
Is repair better?
Yes, it can be. Definitely lean towards this if you are thinking surgery.
But know it is not without risk.
And many surgeons will not decide what treatment they will do until they go inside your knee with a scope. So even if you lean towards repair many will not be able to guarantee you that they will do a repair and you could wake up with less of a meniscus.
In the BJJ forum on Reddit someone commented on their stitches.
“Meniscal repairs have a higher re-operation rate than partial meniscectomies, although they are associated with better long-term outcomes.” – Source
Meniscus repair failure rate?
In this study the failure rate for 25 year olds and older was just 15%.
In this study 96% were said to regain their pre-injury activity level.
It is mentioned here that in one study the failure rate was 29%.
And the weird thing is that many doctors may only try the repair surgery if you’re of a certain age or if the tear is in the red zone.
But if it’s in the red zone why even try to repair it?
It doesn’t make sense.
They say your meniscus tear won’t heal because there is no blood flow to part of the meniscus and tears in the red zone have a better chance of healing.
So if it could heal there why even mess with it?
IDK.
But doctors have financial interest$ to mess with it. Your torn meniscus is no tragedy to him – it’s probably money in the bank.
Your doctor is biased like everyone else including me (and more on me later). And while he may be good at using that trimming tool…
BZZZZZ…
There goes your meniscus…
You’re not getting the big picture when you go see an orthopedic surgeon for your knee.
You’re getting a particular orthopedic ‘surgeons’ view on how to fix your meniscus which is routed in dated practices.
Most orthopedic doctors look at the body as if it’s a living organism machine which is just part of it because unlike a machine you are alive.
They don’t all agree and they don’t all use the same practices to surgically repair your meniscus either.
There’s not necessarily one way to heal your knee, but he is likely practicing one way.
And he is working for a slow changing institution – MEDICINE.
Even if you find a great surgeon working privately he still has to confirm to certain ‘standards’.
Medicine like education, government and religion is slow to change.
“Changing clinical practice is a difficult process, best illustrated by the time lag between evidence and use in practice and the extensive use of low-value care.” – Source
And I can guarantee you that the medicine and treatments for a torn meniscus will be very different 50 years from now.
DO YOU THINK I AM TALKING NONSENSE HERE????
Check this out.
“A staggering 36,000 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are published each year, on average, and it typically takes about 17 years for findings to reach clinical practice.” –Source
17 years.
Like I said…
You’re getting ‘old’ medicine.
Old beliefs and old practices.
I can’t say all orthopedic surgeons will do you in and mess up your knee.
You may have good luck and get a great surgeon.
Some people do.
Yet many people don’t.
Here’s another study…
Do you know the search related to feature on the bottom of the Google search results page?
Look how these people faired after meniscus surgery.
This is like a study in itself.
Those blue links are what people are searching for.
These ones stood out the most to me.
knee pain one year after surgery
knee pain two years after surgery
You read above that the chances of getting arthritis after partial meniscectomy are fairly high and that there is a sizable chance of repairs failing.
And what that image just showed you was another metric of what might happen if you get surgery.
Can you heal the meniscus naturally without surgery?
As you can see surgery isn’t going to necessarily ‘fix it’ and in fact it’s possible that it will make it worse.
Those doctors may have told you “it can’t heal”. And it may be slow or difficult to heal, but you can regenerate cartilage and you can boost your bodies ability to fix itself, but you’ve got to intervene and most likely change some of your habits.
How long does a torn meniscus take to heal without surgery?
That entirely depends on the severity of the tear and what you do or don’t do to help it heal. It could take any where from a month to a year or more to fully heal. You can’t be passive. It’s also possible that the tear may only partially heal.
Can a meniscus tear heal on its own?
Yes, it’s possible however, your best bet is to take action and do a complete rehab program that covers all angles (see below for more).
A severe tear may not be able to heal well on its own. But I would be very skeptical of any doctor that states, “it can’t heal”. It’s possible that it could get worse with re-injury or it’s possible that it could get better with time.
Here’s a study that shows that 37% of the people with defects in their cartilage showed an improvement and 31% showed a worsening.
Can you walk around with a torn meniscus?
Yes, sometimes you can, however it’s advised that you take it easy initially for a least a few weeks and totally minimize movement as lots of movement may cause further injury and then progressively add motion.
If it hurts stay off it.
Can a torn meniscus get worse over time?
Yes, it could. If it’s a severe displaced tear then the tear could get bigger. On the other hand studies show that some people have asymptomatic tears. In other words they had tears they didn’t even know about.
Green tea (especially matcha) and cacao have some things in common. And these can be used to help heal your injuries, burn fat, increase strength and kill cancer cells.
But it’s probably going to take large quantities.
Green tea contains something called EGCG.
And this study says (if I understand correctly) that EGCG found in green tea helps grow new bone.
If it can help bones and skin maybe it can help cartilage.
Matcha since it’s the whole plant is considered by some to be 3x higher in that compared to normal green tea.
Also…
Green tea and cacao both contain epicatechins which are said to be good for arthritis, building muscle strength and burning fat.
Yet the amount in both is much lower than in supplement form. I’ve heard doses ranging from 150mg to as high as 500mg (said Tailormade Compounding) of epicatechin will show some results in strength and fat depletion.
I’ve read that some studies show that consuming 150mg of epicatechin could improve your strength (possibly grip strength) by 7%.
Maybe if I consume that much my judo and jiujitsu game will improve since your grip game in grappling is so important.
Or if you’re a carpenter it might improve your hammer game.
I read a cup of green tea contains about 10mg.
So you would have to drink 10-15 cups of green tea or maybe 5 cups of matcha.
Matcha might contain 3 times as much. So a cup might get you 30mg.
Cacao is high in epicatechins too.
Cacao powder is the best form.
So can you eat a bunch of chocolate?
Cacao (not chocolate) is what is good for you. Chocolate contains sugar and milk+.
Milk chocolate contains the least amount of epicatechins.
A dark chocolate bar might contain 46mg.
“…these effects are ‘markedly reduced’ when the chocolate is consumed with ‘milk’ or if milk is incorporated as milk chocolate.” – Source
As a test one day I ate the whole box of these cacao bits (95%) as an experiment which is a total of 60 grams and the next day I felt kind of hung over.
But that’s probably not epicatechin.
There’s caffeine and theobromine and other things in cacao.
I’ll have to try it again sometime.
I do think it’s kind of addictive so I don’t eat it everyday and I sometimes vary the amount because if I eat the same amount everyday and then suddenly stop I feel withdrawal.
So maybe supplementation with epicatechins is the best way to get high consistently high quantities.
I love green tea and drink it everyday.
I probably easily drink 10-15 glasses a day recently although I reuse the tea and probably get 5-6 small cups out of the same tea so maybe not close to a 150mg of epicatechin.
And recently in the same day I will drink both matcha and green tea.
Recently I haven’t but in the past I would pour off the first cup to reduce the caffeine, but when you do that you also reduce the epicatechins and phenols.
How does cacao compare to green tea?
Green tea is an infusion and cacao is a whole food.
This PDF says cacao has 3 times the phyto chemicals, but it’s not an equal comparison.
A more equal comparison would be cacao vs. matcha powder. Matcha is green tea leaf powder.
This test for judo is called “shodan” shinsa. Shodan is the first level of the black belt in judo. I did this test in Fukuoka, Japan yesterday.
In America and at least where I started judo at CCSF there is a different ranking system for belts.
white>green>brown>black
And brown belts have 3 degrees. And then of course black belts have varying degrees going upwards of maybe 9 or so degrees.
But in Japan there is only:
white>black
There are no colored belts between white and black.
And…
To get a black belt or even the next level of black belt you have to do a test. And this test varies for adults and children. For adults you have to compete and fight against others who are also competing for a black belt.
It’s a single elimination competition which means if you lose once you’re out. And you have to accumulate enough points and your first time that is 4.5 points which means you have to win like 4 or 5 times in a row.
If you don’t you can try again at the next competition.
I did this in Fukuoka yesterday. I probably wouldn’t have but my dojo where I got the cultural visa to stay in Japan encouraged me to do so.
I get a lot anxiety and anticipation and all the fears like: getting hurt, this isn’t that important, why should I do this, I am going to lose, I’m not good enough – all those fears that other people get.
But amongst all those negative thoughts and feelings – actually most of the time it’s a feeling – kind of like public speaking or a performance if you have ever done that.
But I try to inject into my mind some positive thoughts too like:
“You’ll probably win or learn something” which was true.
But when the fight starts the feelings are gone and you are in the moment.
I did win two and I did learn something about the rules and about how I can work on my tani otoshi counter.
Getting a black belt isn’t the ultimate goal. The goal is to learn and have fun doing so. Although I am not sure it’s always fun, but 99% of the time it makes me feel better.
Like the competition it would have been easier to just say no I don’t need to do this because I have done that before with jiu-jitsu competitions, but I knew that if I did it I would feel better.
It’s just about pushing through those fears and discomfort.
I am also happy that I got a couple of throws because I am better on the ground and have about 4 times the amount of experience and hours doing BJJ than I do judo tachi waza (throws).
There is another competition like this in November and I will probably do it because I started it so now I feel like I have to finish it.
Occasionally some people will win 4 or 5 matches in a row and get the black belt, but my friends tell me more often than not it can take 2-3 times.
I know one that said it took 7 times as a teen, another 4 times and another who actually won 6 in a row on his first time for shodan, but then said for yon dan (4th degree) it took him 3 or 4 times.
Judo is actually called “the gentle way”
Haha… really?
Yep, but it doesn’t look or feel gentle most the time. But what is meant by that I think is finding the opening for a move or submission or where the opponent is off balance for a throw. Like in the pic above in the thumbnail to this video.
I threw that guy with an osoto gari.
He was stronger, probably weighed more, more aggressive and a bit spastic, but I found the path of the least resistance and threw him there and that’s judo – finding and seeing the openings and then capitalizing on them.
The idea is that there is something therapeutic in the atmosphere and it’s a safe place to go and get yourself together. There are other places like Santa Barbara and Ohai, California come to mind, usually populated by upper middle class people with more time and money than they know what to do with in which a culture of healing also retains…
The concept in all of these environments seems to be that one needs to complete his healing before one is ready to do his work. This form of thinking… is a form of resistance.
What are we trying to heal anyway?
The athlete knows the day will never come when he wakes up pain free. He has to play hurt. Remember the part of us we think needs healing is not the part we create from. That part is far deeper and stronger…
The part where we create from can’t be touched by anything our parents did or society did.”
Taken from THE WAR OF ART – Steven Pressfield
I heard about this book many, many years ago first from Seth Godin in the book Linchpin and just finally got the audiobook. It’s good.
I hate Bank of America and I finally closed my account there after many years and here is why.
1. They charged me like $12 a month if my balance goes below a certain number like maybe it was $1500 or $2000 or if I don’t make deposits in it monthly over $250.
Like don’t you guys make enough money?
2. They have extremely high withdrawal fees abroad. I withdrew money in Japan ONE TIME and they charged me like more than $37 ($5+$5+$11.05+$16.54) in fees for one withdrawal.
3. Seems like they require a phone for verification. I really hate this. Isn’t email enough? Some other sites do this too. I don’t have a working phone now. And I got locked out of my account for 3 days until I finally got a hold of customer service.
4. They have no 24 hours call service and really SLOW WAIT TIMES. I had to stay up late until like 2am here in Japan to contact their customer service. Then they make you hold for 30-40 minutes and listen to their annoying advertisements. They do say they will call you back, but if you don’t have a number you are out of luck.
There is also no chat. There used to be, but not now.
5. While in the USA they locked me out of my account and not let me withdraw money from a different ATM. So then I have to go back into online banking to verify it’s me. One time I even went into a Bank of America branch when they did that and one time they said you have to go into online banking and change it.
So then I have to go somewhere else where there is internet (home) and log in and verify that it was me. And then go back to the ATM to get money.
6. After waiting so long online to talk to someone then I get asked like 5 minutes of questions to verify my identity based on public service records.
I got asked how old my mother and father where, where I went to college, where my father owns land, what model vehicle I used to own, addresses where I used to live, etc. All in one call so I can just log into my account.
7. They charge money to transfer money from one bank to another. Other banks don’t.
Finally my account is closed there and I just unsubscribed from their “promotional emails” as a day after they confirmed my account was closed they sent me some junk mail.
Last month I kept track of my receipts where I am currently living here in Fukuoka, Japan. I wanted to see how much I spent on groceries. I was thinking that I spent about the same or maybe a little less.
Well, it seemed like things cost about the same as they do in San Francisco where I was living before Japan.
So how much did I spend?
Well, I spent about 30,000 Yen which is about $270 USD. That’s about the same amount that I would spend in Trader Joes in San Fran.
I think next month I can lower it. I might try to get it down to about $200. I think the most expensive things that I was buying was nuts. MMMM, I love nuts, but I will try to cut it down and see what happens.
Also I found a cheaper store for some things, so I could probably shave off a few more Yen.
What sort of food “can’t” I find here?
No complaints, really, but I will try to compare this to Trader Joes where I used to shop mostly in San Fran. There is a slightly different selection of fruit and vegetables. The fruit selection is smaller and at the moment it’s mostly apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries, cumquats, grapefruits, etc.
I think what you don’t get is all the international foods stuff like: hummus, guacamole, Thai spices, salsa, Italian foods, a bunch of different chips, etc. I don’t remember seeing anything like power bars and the like. I remember at Whole Foods there was nearly a whole aisle for these.
It’s mostly just the basics. There are some organic foods too.
This is just based on where I have been shopping mostly at this place called AEON Max Value. Which is funny cause AEON is also a company in Japan for teaching English too. But anyways I think there are probably places out there where you can get more international foods probably, but I don’t know where they are.
I have no problem eating the basics as that is what I usually do anyways. My diet didn’t actually change much since I came to Japan.
I am mostly vegetarian and eat:
vegetables: cabbage, spinach, sprouts, broccoli, etc.
sweet potatoes
eggs
nuts and seeds: almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds
rice flour
milk or occasionally yogurt
rarely-occasionally chicken or seafood
I had no problem finding those things. Some other things I have been eating since I have been here are miso, soba noodles and daikon radish.
In the video above I give some prices. Here are some rough estimates of costs:
Milk=$1.50 a pint
Yogurt=$3
Sweet potatoes=$2-3
Almonds=$5
Walnuts=$5
Soba noodles=$2
Miso paste=$3
Daikon radish=$1
Cabbage=$1.50
Sesame seed flour=$1
Chicken=$1-3
Eggs=$1.50-2
Shrimp=$2-3
Lastly there is not much for cheese. I tried this one “cheddar cheese” but it didn’t quite taste like cheese. There are a few options, but don’t expect much.
