Running: A Fever

For our 200th episode I thought I would take you along on a typical day with me, from rising at 4:30 a.m., through my workouts and meals, through to the end of the day. My routine is very different than it was when I recorded episode #1. I wake up and get to the gym by the time they open at 5:00 a.m. Today I'm playing racquetball. I alternate racquetball and lifting weights. Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/200

What is good cholesterol, and what is bad? We're concerned about cholesterol because it has become common knowledge that too much can lead to heart disease, which is the number one cause of death in most of the developed world. But cholesterol isn't all bad. There is also good cholesterol, and if you have enough of that, your risk of heart disease actually drops! So what are the types of cholesterol, which is good and which is bad, and how do we get more of the good kind and less of the bad? Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/198

The original source for this topic is Dr. Anne Brunet, PhD, a video from the Stanford University YouTube channel. This is very much from an academic, research point of view. So not a big-picture view of what causes a shorter or longer lifespan. Some of it is actionable, but some is just research. specifically on 'model organisms' - animals that have similar aging profiles to humans. Mice. Worms. But very interesting in terms of some things that could have a big impact on longevity. Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/198  

38 countries have downloaded RAF in the last year. Sweeden has fallen to #5, they used to be #2. Australia has taken over the #2 spot and they are really coming strong. Germany is a surprise at #2. I would think it would be the UK or another English-speaking country, but I'm happy to have my German listeners. Welcome! And I'd love to hear from you. So what do we know about Germany? Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/197  

This topic was suggested by reader Hollie, who commented at http://RunningAFEVER.com/189: "Hi, I аm thinking аbоut lооsing weight. I dоn’t knоw whаt рrоgrаm I shоuld fоllоw. Whаt dо yоu think аbоut red teа рrоgrаm?" So, first I want to discuss red tea itself, then we'll get into what Hollie calls the "red tea program". Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/196  

A little expert information from my friend Robert Smith, RN, a specialist in dialysis, as we hike the Yellow Rock Trail at Devil's Den State Park. http://RunningAFEVER.com  

Today I take a peaceful relatively short walk at a new part of Lake Atalanta, peaceful Pleasant Ridge, which is more of a walk through the woods than a walk around the lake like the other loop I have taken in previous trips here. As I walk this lovely trail I reflect on my "old new strategy". This refers back to episode 70's "new strategy". At that time I was transitioning from a program of mostly walking to one of mostly strength training, with some evening cardio built in. My walks had lengthened to at a full five-point-screw-five miles, and I started only walking once every week or two. Meanwhile I would lift weights every weekday. That worked well for what I needed at the time. I built a lot of muscle in my first year of serious weight-lifting. But I was walking twelve miles a week at my slow pace. Weight 7-day Avg. (change since Jan 2018): 216 (-59) Total Distance (total since Nov 2017): 4.86 Miles (580.88) Steps: 12,318 Muscle Mass 7-day Avg. (change since Aug 2018): 147.99 (+5) Body Fat 7-day Avg.: 31%

Today I record from the traction machine, which may not be a first in the entire history of podcasting, but it is definitely a first for this podcast. However, you'll get to see it again as part of our milestone 200th episode coming up in a few weeks, including some video. Yesterday I was a bit of a grouch, because I did not get a perfect score on my biometrics screening. I was overweight by 3 pounds, and missed the waist measurement by an inch. My blood pressure was also high, but I will appeal that because only a few days prior, I had a great reading at the cardiologists office. In that visit he cut the dosage of one of my blood pressure medications in half. So I'll be able to use that documentation to circumvent the bad blood pressure reading. They use some pretty cheap equipment in the screenings, and there have been many complaints, re-measurings, and appeals due to bad blood pressure measurements. Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/193 Weight 7-day Avg. (change since Jan 2018): 217 (-57) Wor

I am in the final weekend before my annual biometrics screening to determine how much I'll have to pay over and above my insurance premiums for my health plan at work. So I am busy eating nothing and trying to burn as many calories as possible. I'm recording while walking on my treadmill. Since I'm not eating, I did not want to go out on the trail and find myself undernourished a couple of miles from my car. So that's why I'm here on the treadmill. Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/192 Weight 7-day Avg. (change since Jan 2018): 221 (-54) Workout time: 10 Minutes Total Distance (total since Nov 2017): 0 Miles (464.04) Steps: 6,120 Muscle Mass 7-day Avg. (change since Aug 2018): 152.65 (+9) Body Fat 7-day Avg.: 31% Daily Sleep Duration 7-day Avg: 7 hours 2019 Goal: 15% Body Fat

These are shoes specifically designed for weightlifting. They came in a nice box completely black except for the Adidas name and logo in white. This is the Adidas Powerlift 4 in blue, because I have chosen blue as my default color for 2019. Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/191  

The entire package comes in a black drawstring bag with the Mandrill Workout logo screenprinted on it, including their monkey face mascot. A card came inside welcoming me to Mandrill Workout and professing that "Bobo" is the founder. There is apparently an ebook instruction manual, which I have not read, but I'm going to, for reasons I'll get into. Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/190 Weight 7-day Avg. (change since Jan 2018): 223 (-51) Workout time: 0 Minutes Total Distance (total since Nov 2017): 0 Miles (464.04) Steps: 6,098 Muscle Mass 7-day Avg. (change since Aug 2018): 147.15 (+11) Body Fat 7-day Avg.: 31% Daily Sleep Duration 7-day Avg: 7 hours 2019 Goal: 15% Body Fat

Can you built muscle if you are over 50? Well, I'm a living example of that. I gained almost 20 pounds of muscle in a year, starting when I was 52. Supplements are a topic of high interest, and I did a whole episode on them: Episode 67 on supplements: http://runningafever.com/raf067-the-real-deal-about-supplements/   Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/189    

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired! I'm tired of my clothes not fitting right, of those nagging back pains. I know you know the feeling. If you're listening right now, you probably do. Have you experienced the yo-yo dieting effect? As you know, I've been preaching about avoiding that type of thing, about thinking about the long haul, the big picture. But once again I am facing a crisis. I have my biometrics screening in less than two weeks. Not the end of the world, I suppose, if I don't pass the waist measurement test that stands in for BMI which I definitely won't pass. Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/188 Weight 7-day Avg. (change since Jan 2018): 227 (-48) Workout time: 0 Minutes Total Distance (total since Nov 2017): 0 Miles (576.02) Steps: 2,892 Muscle Mass 7-day Avg. (change since Aug 2018): 158.27 (+16) Body Fat 7-day Avg.: 30% Daily Sleep Duration 7-day Avg: 7 hours 2019 Goal: 15% Body Fat

Does it sound too good to be true that Chocolate can be good for you? Should we be eating more of it? Why did several of the longest-lived people eat chocolate, sometimes lots of it, on a regular basis? We're going to answer those questions right now! My mom, superlistener Hank Davis, is an excellent researcher and found some great material for me today. How can YOU be a superlistener like Hank? All you have to do is engage. I love to hear from listeners and I would love for you to be an active and interactive part of the show. So contact me at mail@runningafever.com with your comments, questions, and suggestions. Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/187 Weight 7-day Avg. (change since Jan 2018): 227 (-48) Workout time: 0 Minutes Total Distance (total since Nov 2017): 0 Miles (576.02) Steps: 2,892 Muscle Mass 7-day Avg. (change since Aug 2018): 158.27 (+16) Body Fat 7-day Avg.: 30% Daily Sleep Duration 7-day Avg: 7 hours 2019 Goal: 15% Body Fat  

One of the philosophical considerations of increased longevity is the so-called problem of overpopulation. This is controversial and has been hotly debated by zero population growth advocates like Bill Gates and his parents, as well as conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones who propose that an elite group wants to limit population to themselves and a sufficient number of plebeian slaves. I don't really want to get into all that. But as a philosopher I am very interested in the topic abstracted from the debates. So today I'm discussing not a 10,000-foot view, but a 10,000 light-year view of proliferation of the human species. The popular debates going back several decades mostly assume that humanity has no resources outside of our home planet. But for as long as this debate has continued, there have been scientific theories about the true limits of human expansion, which include the entire universe, and the entirety of time. Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/186 Weight 7-day Avg. (change since Jan 2

Meal prep is a great way to eat healthy, check out this episode to find out why. Breakfast is important, and not really complicated. I have steel cut oatmeal almost every day. Steel cut oats are healthy because they have a high glycemic index and are a whole grain, and our bodies are wired to process whole foods. Only problem is it takes 30 minutes to prepare, and many of us just don't have that kind of time in the morning. I can shrink that time by 90 percent by preparing it in a big batch ahead of time. Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/185 AND check out the video at https://youtu.be/V3y_96waYH4  

Today I join my best friend and new dad Robert for my first visit to Lake Weddington. This is a not a state park, but is a "recreational area" which I believe is federally designated, because recreation.gov says it is part of the Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Recreation.gov claims to be a gateway to new adventures. So do NOT go there unless you are game for new adventures! Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/184  

Why do we need so much money? Why not go do a job I love that pays peanuts? Some of the jobs in which you can make a difference or pursue a passion are not the best paying jobs. For example, acting. The average member of the screen actors guild makes $1000 per year. Musicians? I know a little about this from personal experience. I never made any money to speak of playing my own songs. Orchestra players, unless they are in a big city, do not make enough to live on, and maybe nothing at all. Playing in clubs, if you play cover music and not your own, you can make maybe a few hundred dollars for a weekend gig. All this is before expenses, taxes etc. More importantly, all artists have to hustle to get work. Even if you make $50 per hour, the average for film and tv actors, you're not guaranteed to get those hours. Teachers make about $45K per year, and police officers make $39K. Suppose you are passionate about your religion and want to make a difference there? Priests in my diocese get room and board plus $1,000

Why women and men? You may not know this, I didn't for a long time --- but women have testosterone and men have estrogen. It is produced by the sex glands, the testes in men and ovaries in women. Men have 7-8 times more testosterone than women and produce 20 times more on a daily basis. What is it? Testosterone is a hormone. Hormones are chemicals that control bodily functions. In the past we have discussed other hormones, like the brain chemicals in episodes 139 and 150-154. We've also mentioned ghrelin and leptin which control appetite and fat conversion. This one controls some secondary sex characteristics. Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/182 Weight 7-day Avg. (change since Jan 2018): 223 (-52) Workout time: 192 Minutes Total Distance (total since Nov 2017): 5.51 Miles (562.96) Steps: 17,621 Muscle Mass 7-day Avg. (change since Aug 2018): 158.03 (+15) Body Fat 7-day Avg.: 29% Daily Sleep Duration 7-day Avg: 7 hours 2019 Goal: 15% Body Fat

Back in episode 140 I talked about the different kinds of fat, saturated, unsaturated, trans fat and omegas. I said that in general, saturated fat is bad because its consumption leads to a higher risk of heart disease. But there is at least one exception. Coconut oil. Turns out there are a number of benefits to the white waxy substance, some which may be very surprising. Read the full post at http://RunningAFEVER.com/181 Weight 7-day Avg. (change since Jan 2018): 223 (-52) Workout time: 192 Minutes Total Distance (total since Nov 2017): 5.51 Miles (562.96) Steps: 17,621 Muscle Mass 7-day Avg. (change since Aug 2018): 158.03 (+15) Body Fat 7-day Avg.: 29% Daily Sleep Duration 7-day Avg: 7 hours 2019 Goal: 15% Body Fat