Mark Bittman answering the question: Is Junk Food Really Cheaper? 

The alternative to soda is water, and the alternative to junk food is not grass-fed beef and greens from a trendy farmers’ market, but anything other than junk food: rice, grains, pasta, beans, fresh vegetables, canned vegetables, frozen vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, dairy products, bread, peanut butter, a thousand other things cooked at home — in almost every case a far superior alternative.

I’ve seen some footage of athlete’s using thick ropes for training. It’s always intrigued me as I get bored rather easily exercising. Here’s a nice guide for thick rope training.

I could really use something like The Schvitz in my life. Steak, steam and beers. Beautiful.

I was watching an interview with Arnold Palmer the other day and the discussion turned to his efforts at losing some weight recently. The interviewer asked what he was doing to slim up and he responded as follows (I’m paraphrasing from my memory as best as possible).

Well, I just pour a little less Kettle One in the evenings.

Let’s continue the theme of living like a caveman with this piece from the NYT. While I agree that there is some health benefit with the diet and exercise routines based off living like a caveman, you can’t deny the unintentional comedy in this piece. My favorite lines follow with my resulting commentary.

The one thing that Mr. Durant worries might spook a female guest is his most recent purchase: a three-foot-tall refrigerated meat locker that sits in a corner of his living room. That is where he keeps his organ meat and deer ribs.

Time for my own meat locker. Jesus this is amazing.

These urban cavemen also choose exercise routines focused on sprinting and jumping, to replicate how a prehistoric person might have fled from a mastodon.

A mastodon? Seriously, I just went to wikipedia to make sure they were talking about a dinosaur. They were. No longer will I be motivated to exercise so that I can keep myself trim. Nope, now I’m scared of these damn mastodons.

“He looks great,” Mr. Durant said. “You feel like he could, at a moment’s notice, charge at you and trample you.”

If this doesn’t make you want to consider this lifestyle, I’m not sure we can be friends. While most of my comments are in jest (please read the whole article; the author made it sort of a mockery), I do believe there to be some serious positive benefits out of this type of lifestyle. I’ve toyed around with the Vibram Five Finger shoes to get the physiological benefits of walking around barefoot and like what I’m finding out. The diet portion just makes sense. The Paleo Diet is based on eating only foods you can hunt or gather. It’s honest food, basically. The fasting period referenced in the article isn’t something I’ll support, FYI.

Anyway, I’m trying to move toward this style of life. Call me a caveman.

Is two a trend? If so, I’m spotting a trend that we should head back to our roots and start acting like cavemen/hunters again. The other day I saw we should be running like a hunter to remain injury free.

Back in the day, humans chased their food down by foot as opposed to fighting off soccer moms and dads at the local big box store. They ran over the river and through the woods, and they were less prone to injury.

For the full effect and some added fitness benefit to your runs, might I suggest some Vibram Five Finger shoes to stimulate the little muscles in your feet and legs.

Added to running like a hunter is eating like one. My friend Dean pointed out the Paleo Diet.

The Paleo Diet is a way of eating in the modern age that best mimics diets of our hunter-gatherer ancestors – combinations of lean meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits, and nuts.

Honest Food is the best term I’ve heard for the concept I’d like to make my own.

Honest food is what I’m seeking. Nothing packaged, nothing in a box, nothing wrapped in plastic. I eat meat, and I’m not keen on factory farms, so I either hunt it myself or buy it from real people who raise animals humanely. Likewise with vegetables and fruits and grain. I am a fan of farmer’s markets, eating locally and making good food from scratch. If you know how to cook, a good meal doesn’t have to be expensive.

I’ve had a healthy mancrush on Jamie Oliver for quite some time. I’m not sure I’ve ever been able to justify it without the simple, “he looks like a guy I’d like to hangout with (from his persona on TV)”, but the New York Times dives into what Oliver is doing these days with the eat healthy movement.

One thing the article really says to me is Oliver is doing more than telling us to buy local, eat fresh, etc he’s showing us how easy (and inexpensive) it is eat well.

He is not a diet cop; he’s about scratch cooking, which to him means avoiding processed and fast food, learning pride of ownership, encouraging sparks of creativity and finding a reason to gather family and friends in one place.

I have heard him say on his shows that if you want a piece of chocolate, have a piece, but just a little piece, not the entire block. So, he’s not preaching not to splurge a bit, but don’t go overboard either.

We came upon a table of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. “They’re a treat, there to be loved,” he said. “But start having them every day, job done.

My exercise routine has become dull and boring. When something becomes dull and boring in my life I either stop it or figure a way to make it more exciting. Knowing that I don’t like my pants fitting tighter (I swear it’s the dryer), I’ve started experimenting with a different method: tabata.

Tabata is a method of high-intensity interval training consisting of 20 seconds of exercise with 10 seconds of rest and you do as much of the exercise as you can in each of those 20 seconds. You’re to spend 4 minutes total doing the exercise. I’ve only performed weight exercises using this method and have found dumbbell bench press and thrusters to (feel) be the most effective (I’m considering trying some kettle ball exercises as well).

I’m just a week into this experiment, but so far I like the efficient use of my time aspect and the amount of cardio I seem to be doing while only doing weights.