45 Days More or Less on the Warrior Diet

I have more or less kept to this diet. Basically I under eat during the day and overeat at night. It was kind of difficult the first few days, but my body adapted pretty easily.

Did I notice any changes? The only changes that I have noticed are that I don’t crash after my former mid day large snack. I have more of a steady stream of energy through the day.

I also noticed I lost about 5 pounds which is of a little concern since I am already skinny. I stopped doing jiujitsu in that time too. When I saw my teacher after missing 2 months he said that it looked like I lost muscle.

I still seem to have a little bit of fat around my waist. So if I lost muscle then that is no good and then I should change something.

Basically my diet has been like this:

  • Breakfast: A grapefruit
  • Lunch: A banana and some nuts
  • Mid day snack: Yogurt and a banana
  • Dinner (around 7pm): I pretty much eat whatever and quite a bit.
  • Late snack (9-11pm)

It’s nice not spending a bunch of time preparing food either. I have been eating less wheat as well. I have a toothache, so I was going to try to limit for around a month or so foods high in phytic acid: stuff like nuts, beans and bread.

Update…

Since then I have been doing a fast on every Sunday. I start at 10pm on Sat. and don’t eat till 7pm on Sunday.

30 Days on the Warrior Diet

Yesterday I started a new diet – the Warrior Diet. I felt like I was eating too many carbs like wheat and oats and having a mid day crash after my large snack (yogurt, granola, a peanut butter sandwich and fruit). Also despite all the exercise (yoga, jiujitsu, judo, push-ups, pull-ups, running steep hills) I was doing I still had a little bit of fat around my midsection.

So yesterday I just snacked through out the day on fruit, vegetables, nuts and yogurt. Then around 7:30 I started eating. I ate quite a bit and then a few hours later I ate quite a bit again. The Warrior Diet has 20 hours of under eating/fasting and 4 hours of over eating.

I felt a little light headed at times throughout the day, but I never crashed mid day like before. I like the idea, so I am going to try this out for 30 days and if I like it I will continue.

I discovered this diet after watching some videos on Rhonda Rousey. I was asking myself why I was so interested in this person? Maybe part of the reason why was she lead me to this. She said she eats a diet that is a mix of the Paleo and the Warrior Diet.

Hershell Walker also has a diet kind of similar in that he eats one meal a day and just snacks through out the day.

10 months of jiu jitsu

It’s been around a total of ten months that I have been practicing jiu jitsu. I have been going about 4-5 times a week. Things have been going pretty good with it. I have done around 7 months in a row since I hurt my knee in my last update.

Since the last time I blogged about it I feel like I have learned a fair amount. I find that I have to do stuff over and over again to learn. It takes a while for it to sink in. Since the last time I have learned a few new chokes and joint locks. And then probably what I learned more of was just the movement and the little positioning details.

You notice that you learn when the new white belts come into class without experience. It’s hard to see what you learned. But since they have little experience it’s often easy to submit them. And that feels good for a change since I am the one usually tapping out. So at the moment I have two stripes on my white belt.

My teacher said something funny along the lines that if the old Ian walked in the door you would be able to kick his ass. I think he said that after I was discouraged about this big strong guy with less experience made me tap out.

For awhile I was thinking that I must get a blue belt at least. I wrote in on my wall to visualize then decided that wasn’t best. I still want to get better and get a new belt of course, but more importantly I want to have fun learning jiujitsu. That’s my focus. To enjoy the process. Have fun.

I remember my teacher saying something cool to another student – who is at a similar level to me. He said to him “see it as more of a game and less of a fight.” Another student in my class – a purple belt said he liked jiu jitsu because it has depth. My teacher said something like that too. It’s not a fixed or dead martial art it’s evolving and growing. There is always something to learn.

Your Psychology on Time

According to Stanford professor Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd writers of the book The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life we all carry around a certain perspective on time that affects our psychology. It can help explain why we think the way we do, do what we do and how we act they way we do.

You can take their ZTPI test online to determine your own perspective on time. Some people are more living in the moment types, others make to do lists, some reminisce more about the past and so on. We all are a combination of different time perspectives. Take the test to find out yours.

This is what they envision as the best time perspective for those living in the west.

  • High in past-positive time perspective
  • Medium high in future time perspective
  • Medium high in present-hedonistic time perspective
  • Low in past-negative time perspective
  • Low in present-fatalistic time perspective

Find out what your psychology on time is with this test and/or read this book.

Chances are you won’t, but here’s how to change

The chances are 9 to 1 that you won’t change. The book Change or Die covers three main examples on how people and companies changed including health, business and prison punishment.

Here’s the formula on how to change.

  1. Relate. Find a teacher. Someone who will inspire you.
  2. Repeat. Learn and practice the new skill.
  3. Reframe. The new teacher helps you to think differently about your situation.

Even when their life is on the line most people will not change. Doctors orders and a threat of death will only temporarily cause people to change, but then they are soon back to their old habits of overeating and no exercise.

Most criminals and addicts also will not change, but this book tells us about one successful program in San Francisco that effectively prepares ex-criminals for the real world.

From Change or Die by Alan Deutschman

Get a foam roller

I was first introduced to the foam roller in Jiujitsu class. They’re awesome. I suppose there are other ways to use them, but I have been using them primarily as a massage tool. Since I have been doing rehab on my knee I have been using the foam roller to massage my legs and IT band.

According to my therapist IT bands are pretty tough to stretch. So the foam roller is an awesome tool to loosen up those tight IT bands.

You can use them for your legs, shoulders, back and so on. I recommend getting one to help sooth your aches and pains.

If you’re not in it for fun then you’re dumb

“If you don’t do this shit for fun, then you’re dumb
Too many people trying to be the freshest one…” – from Bicasso’s rhyme

I heard this at a pretty good time. In one day two arrogant dudes asked me if they could use my mic. I said no. These dudes were all about stroking their ego’s cause they thought they could out beatbox me. You know what they probably could. But after some reflection I decided I didn’t care cause I am not in it to be the best one. I do it because I like to do it.

The thing with hip hop is people are always trying to outdo one another. But in the words of a student I had once, “Why does it always have to be about being the best?” Bicasso’s quote is about motives. Why get into something just to be great at it or to be the best?

I think the number one thing is to do something because you want to do it. If you just care about being number 1 then I think you care too much about what people think. Which reminds me of something Wayne Dyer said. He was paraphrasing someone else and he said that many of the greatest thinkers had one thing in common and that’s that they were independent of the good opinion of other people. They did what they did because they were connected to it.

It’s got to come from the inside.

Fuck Women, Marry your Art

I am speaking for myself, yet I imagine someone else could relate to this too. I studied art in university and I had a good friend named Ken Kozchnitski (spelling?). And near graduation we would talk about art and about being artists and about the dream of being a self employed artist. And the one thing that he said that I remember was that, “You have to marry your art.”

You have to commit to it. You can’t have a backup plan. And in the words of Seth Godin your “art” can be a number of things (see below). It isn’t just limited to fine arts, performance arts, etc.

I am thinking out loud now and well, primarily talking to myself. It’s about wanting something more than a woman. Something more than getting laid. It’s about investing in yourself and not in someone else. Why not direct your frustrations towards something more meaningful?

You got to get on to the big stuff. See the big picture and your place in it. Why am I here? You answer that. If you answer there’s no meaning to life then well that’s how you see it. And that looks a little grim to me. I remember a quote by the painter Francis Bacon that basically said “meaning” is what you give it.

Fuck Women, Marry your Art

This could be interpreted in a number of ways. Am I hurt? Rejected? Sure I have been rejected. So what are you going to do? Stop investing in women/someone else. Invest in yourself. Invest in what you know you can control and do.

I came across the MGTOW on the web recently. And what I read was interesting. Marriage is pretty good for women. The courts and law systems rule in their favor. Watch the underlining themes in some popular American movies and in television and there are a lot of themes where the women is in control. She’s the boss and she’s going to get what she wants. The man is there to cater to her.

“I love Jiu Jitsu more than my wife”, said my Jiu Jitsu teacher. And I bet some of you – most likely female, think that there is something wrong with that. However, that was the funniest and most authentic sounding thing I ever heard him say. That’s passion.

I know a lot of women who judge me for what I am and what I do and for what I don’t have (lots of money). I am an artist/street performer and proud of it. However, I know there are some women out there that basically compare me to a bum. Like some before who said, “Why don’t you get a job?” Bad advice, at least for sum. It’s great advice if you want to be like everyone else.

The truth is most people don’t know what they want. Most people just think like everybody else. And sometimes that’s fine and well it’s easier, but when it comes to what you are going to do with your life, you should listen to yourself and not to others.

Like the women I met today who said you can’t do that (street performing) for the rest of your life. I said to her that reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Eric Sermon, “Don’t let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do.”

I can make art for the rest of my life. In fact I will make art for the rest of my life. And you can keep your job working for someone else (and making them rich) in the rat race, but I am going to keep working on my art and investing in myself.

“To marry is to halve your rights and double your duties.” – Arthur Schopenhauer

Check out Seth Godin’s book, Lynchpin

3 months of Jiu Jitsu

I got hurt about three weeks ago. I hurt my knee, so I haven’t been going. I’ll be taking a month off as well. I didn’t see a doctor, but I am guessing I tore my meniscus. I am thinking it is a minor tear as I am slowly feeling better. Small tears usually heal fine without surgery. So we are resting and out of the jiu jitsu game for now.

It’s hard to see your progress as I was continually sparring with people with far more experience. I did get a chance to see my progress though when I sparred with someone with less experience. I remember there was this big dude who was new that was around 6 feet or so and weighed probably fifty more pounds than me.

I was able to submit him with an arm bar one time, not get submitted myself and generally dominate the rest of the match. So I guess it’s true what they say about it that the more skilled (and in this case weaker) can dominate the lesser skilled (and stronger).

Other progress has been I got my first triangle choke submission on someone. Other than that I have been getting pretty beat up, so this break will be good and when I go back I am going to approach it differently.

I had been getting too many injuries and some things didn’t heal and just got re-injured, so I have got to step back. I figure it is limiting me, so then I should limit it. My idea is that I am going to continue going 3 or 4 days a week, but not spar every class. Perhaps just spar one day a week or only when I am comfortable with it and then just do the technique the other times.

But that’s starting next month in March if my knee is better. Right now we are icing it still and starting to get more mobility back.