Chronic CRONing

Egypt trip was exceptional in many ways from sights, sounds, and spices. Luxor's archaelogical sites were for the most part remained intact and retained it's grandeur despite its years and of course the looting that went on for so long and probably still going. The best buys are Egyptian cotton. Wow! Sleeping in 1000-thread count sheets is like sleeping on clouds! The towels feel like cocoon especially when it's cold getting out of the shower.

Ahhh... I've learned quite a few things ever since tracking calories, nutrients at the same time noting the effects it has on my overall mental, physical and spiritual well-being. I got the hang of using the several software for tracking calories/nutrients and after three weeks I just know how much I'm ingesting. I tend to over estimate which is good I suppose. It just got so tedious tracking daily when I could be experimenting with new recipes in my kitchen or writing about CRON-ictivities :)

I do think that doing something chronically just bores me so what I've ultimately done and is working beautifully and magically is keeping an average of calories per week. I eat anywhere from a low 500 and my max has been 1800. Even when we were on holidays, I ate far less than usual because when I'm busy with activities eating just kind of slips from my mind. BTW, I got into golf and golf kind of took over ;) I also do intermittent fasting during the week this means when I do it's completely unplanned. I let my body be my guide. I like those days because I can go on and on without having to stop and think of food. Once I'm done with my fast, I prepare a lavish, luxurious meal replete with ambiance, atmosphere, as well as aesthetics pulling no stops to whatever my eyes, ears and tastebuds fancy. Again lavish and luxurious mean something different to anyone. For me it's about creating a mood from how my food looks, to listening to music my ears want to luxuriate in and pleasing my palate with a raw gourmet feast. This is whether I'm alone or with company. A lifestyle of feasting and fasting can co-exist like yin/yang and so fulfilling on many different levels.

That's my rendition of the art of simplicity to doing CRON without being chronic about it. I will discuss this in more detail with later posts about doing something with too much consistency takes the fun and adventure out of living and makes me yawn. Surely don't want to pass on the yawn virus.

This current system works for me right now. I've been experimenting with different ways of eating, exercising and existing (always with something that excites me) for a very very long time so what works for me might not work for some.

I'll post about new things I add, integrate, delete, take out of my daily divine & delectable dining adventures as well as other things I do.

Okay, since adopting CRON, I went down about three pounds the last time I checked but then pounds don't really weigh on my mind (no pun intended) as I'm very happy with my physique. Height 5'5, weight between 110-114 with body fat percentage between 15-18 depending on the season sometimes time of the month. It's been consistently like this for years. I like having muscle definitions and not necessarily going for skinny rather more on the shapely side of things. CRON for me is just another way of putting more value to my daily nutrition. With the CRON tools, it really put the finishing touches to daily micro-macro nutrients etc. What I've noticed is that I just know when I'm not getting enough of certain nutrients. Once I start plugging in, there it is-my magnesium might be too low or way too much of something or other. The way I know is I start craving things that I've not eaten since time immemorial. As I've said, I eat no grains, legumes, simple and refined sugars and I'm high raw (flesh food are mostly sashimi or carpaccio). This can be challenging when traveling because of hygiene levels vary from country to country. Again, I don't stress over this as I'm not religious about it nor do I consider myself anal Annie. I will eat the cooked veges now and then especially when we are invited or certain restaurants who don't cater to raw Paleo etc.

Now on to exercise. My two to three intense workouts a week are always in a fully fasted state meaning I have not had anything to eat except water for anywhere between 12 to 24 hours sometimes more. Some of you might think woohoo that's too hard. Let me tell you nothing could be better than working out on a completely empty stomach. My breakfast are always varied but I do a bit of something prior to eating breakfast either doing my twice or three times weekly of hard core muscle work with short intervals of very high intensity not lasting more than 30 minutes. I go for a 30 min to an hour walk with my Max (our Golden Retriever) or doing a 4 to 10 minutes of Tabata Training (I do my own version which is 50 sec. exercise and 10 sec. rest see www.tabatatraining.com). This is a great way to get short bursts of intense activity that burns fat and so very effective. I don't do long cardio sessions as I believe this to be a total waste of time. I've gone this route and all I got for it was well loss of time. I do something physical each day and it always varies but it always has an element of fun whether it's intense weight training, dancing, hiking, sprinting, climbing trees even swinging on monkey bars and now I've added golf to my repertoire. I'm always trying something new to keep things fresh and alive!

I'm just as lean now as when I was doing cardio and exercising almost every day. Get off the those treadmills, cross trainers and whatever machines. High Intensity HIT as it's referred to is way more effective and keeps you burning fat throughout the day esp. if you exercise on a fasted state. The advantage is that you do it in less time, more fun because it's not tedious and you feel absolutely fabulous not spent post exercise. Doing long exercise sessions just stresses the body too much and not a life enhancing choice in my opinion. If you notice in most gyms, the ones that are constantly on the cardio machines don't look all that great. I won't even get started on marathons. Remember from the Greek Mythology, the first man who finished the marathon died in the end. That should be a learning lesson.

f you do some serious weight training you will be gasping for breath and to boot working many different muscle groups at the same time. Most people have no idea or have never ever experienced what real weight training is all about. If it's done right, it's one of the most powerful tool for vitality and staying youthful but it has to be done with high enough intensity and not chronically.

This is something that I've learned on a Paleo lifestyle. Think about it, when did our ancestors really go out and say "oh my it's time for me to do my daily grind of running around the forest to get rid of this extra blubber." They wouldn't have any blubber because they didn't have the luxury of eating to their heart's content. Eating is a serious matter; it could mean life or death. They had to forage for food and sometimes a risky activity where moving really fast is a must so as not to become some predator's snack attack. I'm not saying that we should all go back to living this way but mimicking the types of activities they did which was very varied as well as how they ate could alleviate some of the ill effects of modern lifestyle.

I've kind of droned on a bit here but I just want you to know where I'm coming from.

Some of you have emailed or inquired about doing CRON in France the land of food and recently freedom fries are consumed with much gusto. France is the 8th country I've lived in so actually this is not at all challenging despite all the supposedly temple of temptations that surround me. Of course, when they notice that I order two big servings of salads as an entree and main dish, then the questions start flying.

France is healthier than say the U.S. or the U.K. but I wouldn't say they are altogether healthy esp. the younger generation. Sadly, they have adopted the fast food lifestyle. Obesity are on the rise and from what I'm seeing lately, they're shooting in the dark still because the recommendations will not make a dent on the fat stats. There is such a huge gap in eating habits between the older and younger generation. This is partly of course with mass media influence and things coming into France a lot quicker than before such as all those fake and franken foods that the French are integrating quickly into their daily habits.

I will sign off for now. Will try to spice things up next time with more spring news from my side of the world. Oh yeah! The veges and fruits selection has certainly put a big smile on my face. My favorite tomato vendor is back after a very long cold absence. Tomorrow is market day in our village and it's suppose to be a sunny spring day. I look forward to seeing more familiar faces now that spring has sprung. I'm looking forward to the raspberries and blueberries lady. She's a character this one. When I look at her, I know the berries I'm eating have been loved and given much TLC ;) They are sooooo good! Words don't do justice to how good they taste.

Cheerios and bonne nuit all you beautiful souls!

GG