Water-Saver Toilet Ready for the Maiden Voyage

Ideally, we shouldn't be using expensive, energy-intensive municipal drinking water to merely dilute and lubricate our pee and poo. That is why I asked Santa for a composting toilet. Alas, Santa's elves apparently didn't know how to make one, or Santa got the follow-up letter from my sensible and hygienic wife. So, building a composting toilet will be a nice weekend project once the holi-daze is over and the wife approves my design. The fact is, while I've been eating almost 100% raw, I've got some top-choice-grade-A poo that would be perfect humanure. (You have to admit you're kind of jealous.)

In the meantime, I had to get rid of my antique water-wasting pooper, compost or no. 

The old toilet used ~5 gallon/flush. OMG!!

Old pooper used ~5 gpf.

The new one claims 1.28 gpf- HOORAY!

New Toilet--1.28 gpf.

But this is kind of talk is a bunch of poop. As my buddy John Robbins would say, "VOLUMES are what's important, not rates!"

What does that mean? It means it doesn't matter if you drive a hyrbid that gets 45 mpg while my conventional Honda Accord gets 34 mpg-- what matters is how many gallons we both use and how many less we'll use next year in order to accomplish the same amount of goals (or more). Continual progress!

In the same way, it doesn't matter how many gallons/flush my new toilets gets-- it matters how many gallons I end up flushing. Since my goal is to stay hydrated enough to pee once every hour (and twice during the night) that could mean the following volume:
OLD TOILET + WASTEFUL HABITS
14 flushes/day x 5 g/f = ~70 gallons/day!!!!!!

Since my pee is crystal clear, I don't mind following the old hippie adage, "If it's brown flush it down and if it's yellow, let it mellow." That means that, out of cleverness or guilt, I might flush just a few times per day:
OLD TOILET + HIPPIE HABITS
3 flushes per day x 5 g/f = ~15 gallons/day

But the new toilet could possibly use MORE VOLUME of water depending on my habits. If I'm a flush-a-holic...
NEW TOILET + WASTEFUL HABITS
14 flushes/day x 1.28 g/f = ~18 gallons/day

But with crystal clear, hydrated urine to be proud of...
NEW TOILET + HIPPIE HABITS
3 flushes/day x 1.28 = ~4 gallons/day

The new toilet cost me $106 plus I had to buy a new toilet supply hose, $7.50, since my old one was leaking.

The hardest part was un-attaching the old toilet and cleaning up the old caulk and wax ring. It shouldn't be called "installing a new toilet"; it should be called "scraping crud off of the floor...and then installing a new toilet."

Maximum handimanliness! Scraping caulk off the floor in preparation for the new throne.

Holiday Tragedy of '03

Merry Christmas and happy Solstice everyone! The days are getting longer, now! In the spirit of the holidays and the ghosts of Christmas past, I was hoping I could use this opportunity to raise awareness about America's number one poison-induced death--Carbon Monoxide. "Why now?" you ask, "Why bring attention to such a stupid/boring topic?"

 

Well, it's because I love you...and because the holidays usually means guests, and that means doors opening and closing, lots of showers running, loads of laundry, and lots of people cooking on stove-tops, ovens, and fireplaces-- all changing the pressure balance of the home. Simply put, it's a recipe for a ventilation disaster! If you're not fascinated by carbon monoxide, then just scroll down to the pictures of my Christmas breakfast. But if you care about indoor air quality and home performance, then read on and learn a bit about combustion safety. 

Back in 2003, the city of Chicago ran a huge campaign to get home's equipped with carbon monoxide detectors. It was a new technology and the manufacturers' standards weren't very established yet. So, when the holidays rolled around and folks spent their whole day in the kitchen cooking turkey with un-vented stoves, everybody's carbon monoxide alarms went off and everyone called 9-1-1 and EVERYBODY lived-- fortunate for the survivors... but unfortunate for us, because of our current CO-detection thresholds.

You've probably heard me say, "there is no such thing as a home that is too tight; but there is such a thing as in improperly ventilated home." Improperly ventilated homes and their appliances can cause super-serious health issues, not to mention energy performance problems. Carbon monoxide, or CO, is an odorless, tasteless bi-product of burning carbon-based fuel with insufficient oxygen. Normally, hemoglobin in the bloodstream transports oxygen to the cells of the body, but if one breathes in CO, it forms an even stronger bond with hemoglobin, and so oxygen doesn't get to the cells. Worst case scenario is you suffocate and die before you realize what's happening. It's no wonder they call it the silent killer. But few people realize that even small amounts of CO in the home can cause chronic head aches, diarrhea, nausea, fatigue, and a whole host of unpleasant health problems. Of the 200+ homes that I energy audited this year, about 3 had very dangerous CO levels when their homes were in a "worst-case-pressure" situation-- a realistic scenario during a busy day at the home.

Today, Carbon Monoxide detectors are designed to alarm at ~70 ppm (parts per million), way before death would be caused. However, they were also redesigned with the help of aggressive lobbying from over-loaded emergency responders so that they do NOT alarm below ~30 ppm. But non-zero ambient CO levels in homes are quite common and so low dose exposure over many hours can cause extensive health problems...and did I mention intergalactic diarrhea? 

The moral of the story is-- get yourself a carbon monoxide detector for 2011.  Then eat your persimmons in comfort and joy, comfort and joy.

Persimmons were on super sale this week and they are my FAVORITE food in the whole wide world. Thanks Santa. They'll be gone tomorrow for a 1400 calorie breakfast after a nice run in the snow.

Life is Too Short to Eat Green Bananas

I've noticed I'm NOT getting my ass beat by the cold weather so far, even though I we only keep our house at about 60F. I am finding that as long as I don't short-change myself on calories from fruit, I'm staying resilient to the cold and funk. However, our house has been so cold these days that my banana stockade for Y3K is NOT getting ripe. Dang!

A brown banana can either mean bruises or ripeness. These are bruised-- too green for my taste. 

While I wait for my bananas to ripen, I'm trying to 1) improve the energy performance of the home and 2) I'm having to buy a lot of expensive persimmons (which are the world's most delicious food), also mangoes, grapes, figs, or melons or I'm just having to eat green bananas. And we all know life is too short to eat green bananas.

Cincinnati's most exotic fruit for Cincinnati's most exotic dancer. My persimmon and my dance moves are my favorite.

Prepping to insulate and air seal my kneewall cavity for efficiency and ripe bananas.

Making sure to install air-tight plugs between the floor joists beneath the kneewall so I don't get ice dams on my roof or have to eat green bananas.

R38 fiberglass batts now insulate the ceiling of the room with bananas.

I've tried putting a few banana bunches on my supply registers to heat them into ripeness (by mimicking tropical conditions). This method has actually kind of worked, but supply air temperatures hit about 130F from my furnace so that's becoming a partially-cooked banana if I leave them on there too long. Plus, my cat hates the naners taking "his" spot.

After last week's snow, I can see I did NOT get ride of the icicles yet. This entire wall (back side of bathroom) still needs to be air sealed and insulated for optimum banana weatherization. If my bananas-on-the-duct are getting cooked, I can see why the uninsulated supply duct in my kneewall is literally cooking snow off my roof-- dang!

GOOD STORY-- BAD ENDING
For my two-hour commute Friday, I packed a lunch of a date/celery smoothie, a bunch of green grapes and a bunch of green-stem bananas. I ended up eating the bananas anyway-- GROSS! They left me so disappointed that I stopped at the grocery to see if i could find some discount fruit. Lucky for me they had just put out a ton of spotted (ripe) "reject" bananas for sale. They only cost about $2 for 12lbs!! That's $1 for 6lbs... $.50 for 3lbs...$.25 for 1.5lbs...~$.05 per banana!!!!

You gotta love the discount stickers

You can imagine what happened next. I overdosed. I ate 17 medium sized bananas between Yellow Springs, Ohio and Cincinnati.

Friday was my first OD on bananas.

Then something strange happened. The pendulum swung the other way. After 5 days in a row of being completely low fat raw vegan (LFRV) (minus one meal at my parents) I got VERY angry and hungry-- I think they call it "hangry".

I started craving the naughtiest foods I could imagine-- nachos, potato skins with bacon, bloomin' onions, etc, etc, etc. Cooked, greasy, slippery, deliciously-addictive fat!

Now, fat cravings should not come as a surprise to me, since, for my whole life, as a percentage of total calories consumed, my fat consumption was about 40-50% like most Americans...EVEN IF I was vegetarian or vegan-ish. Worse still, since going raw, for several months my fat intake was probably up near 70%! on some days, with all the nuts and avocados and oils I was eating.

I love nuts too much. I love the density of calories but I don't like percentage of calories from fat. Fruit has been a better source of energy for workouts and cold-tolerance.

That night, back in the 'Nati, we went out for my brother's birthday to a Mexican restaurant. I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. The beans and rice burrito I ordered was exactly what I was craving. But the strange thing is, I left the restaurant feeling more hungry than when the meal started and my belly was totally distended and bloated. And immediately-- the MUCUS! It felt like my throat and sinuses clogged up like I had a sinus infection.

Why did my body react so strongly and so painfully in spite of the good taste and my obedience to the craving? Lifelong addictions? Excito-toxins? My body going into self-defense mode? Bacteria cultures in my GI and blood becoming acclimated to raw? Maybe a combination of them all?

As I'm becoming more and more aware of these sorts of responses on a meal-by-meal, food-by-food basis, I am growing more convinced that if I could eliminate these sorts of physically-taxing episodes, then my body would better use all the raw nutrients more efficiently and spend it's energy on repairing itself of past damage done as well as recover quicker from workouts. 

I can't yet explain how I to stave off the "hangery" cravings. As I was banana-drunk-driving home Friday the only other thing I was craving was romaine hearts. So, maybe I'll try that, or just eat fewer green bananas.

Improving My Vision Naturally

Before

Not so good at reading without glasses.

After (in the ever so hopeful future)

Speed reading without glasses (or contacts) at 30 words/second.

I've heard tales of several people who have been able to cure their poor eye sight naturally. My goal is to do the same. Why couldn't it happen? Why are we suddenly acting surprised at new brain research that shows how plastic our brains can be if we can really train our mind power.

My lovely aunt in Nova Scotia heard about my quest to cure my eyesight and recommended the book The Program for Better Vision by Marin Sussman. I had no idea there was an actual program.

Here's some quick theory behind the book:

5 Common Misconceptions:

1. Poor vision is inherited.
2. Vision inevitably deteriorates with age.
3. Poor vision is caused by certain visual activities.
4. Weak eye muscle cause poor vision.
5. Seeing is solely a physical/mechanical process.

We can divide our life into three periods--
BIRTH---Period A) Naturally clear vision Period----Period B----Period C) Needing glasses--- DEATH

Period B) is called The Transition Period, and I can remember mine clearly. It was a mega-traumatic time of my life, readjusting to huge life extremes during my college years. It was emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically challenging. Part of the vision-healing process is rooted in working through residual gunk from my Transition Period.

This personal project will take several weeks of daily commitment to doing my exercises (~1/2 hr/day). There are about 8 different exercises, from physical challenges, to reiki, to visualizations, to posture. to meditation. I'm stoked!

What's the worst that can happen--I work-through passed trauma and develop X-ray vision? That's got its perks, too.

A Kale Lover's Body-Image (Are you a kale-lover lover?)

There's no dentally-clean way to eat/drink a pound of kale. When you do, you learn who your friends are pretty quickly. Here's a question you should never have to ask of your friends: Do I have something in my teeth? A true friend will have already told you before you have to ask, versus that stranger at the cocktail party, who lets you carry on and on about blah-blah-blah while they are awkwardly trying to figure out if those are broccoli florets or poppy seed muffins that got trapped in your fangs.

I don't have a chip on my shoulder. I really love my body, but I am attempting a complete retrofit, at a cellular level. Maybe I can cure my shoulder injury from the bike crash of '06 using the power of the world's greatest nutrition and mind power.

So, here's a question--
Q: When is it NOT okay to speak-up with a friend about body issues?
A: It depends on if it's a dude.

I was at a birthday party last week for a friend whom I hadn't seen in a couple of months. He pulled me aside and told me bluntly, "Buddy, you look like shit." He's not the type of guy who minces words, which I usually admire about him. But "ouch", I felt like the pinata. That's what dude-friends are for, right?

If you read my last blog post, then you realize the score is now:
Self-Image 99
Self-Doubt 1

So, I've decided to use this incident as an occasion to take stock about where I've come from physically and emotionally and what my goals are. The fact is, I've been feeling sooo good lately, I'm not that concerned about how I appear to others. In fact, I have been undergoing a serious detoxification process, with some ups and downs. However, I am hopeful that over the long-term, physical appearance will be an outward manifestation of good things happening within, both nutritionally and spiritually.

You be the judge:

2006. The old Chris. Tired of feeling tired. Quasi-vegetarianish. Job is kicking my ass. Poofy face. Poor skin. (Goofy highlights in hair)

2010. The new Chris. UniverseWoman-worthy. Facial poofiness has subsided. Next stop, get rid of dependence on glasses and cure separated shoulder. 

2007. The old Chris. First Triathlon ever. Feeling soft. Scared but determined. 155 lbs.

2010. The new Chris. 5 lbs less (150lbs), svelt, but packing way more attitude and speed.

I don't know, maybe at the birthday party I had just had a rough day, a dorky outfit, or was pale from reduced hours in the sun. In any case, day-to-day appearance just won't do as the best measure of the success of this raw food venture. For me, what trumps everything is how I feel how my athletic performance evolves.

If a picture tells 1000 words, then maybe some objective performance data can tell 10,000! Unfortunately, I don't have a lot-- just some local time trial results and a few races. Certainly, the 2011 season will be about collecting more data...without letting it ruin the fun.

I'm considering these as baseline numbers, by which I will eventually measure my progress this season: 

CYCLING
Cleves 16.4k TT- 5/19/09 25:43
Alexandria 40k TT 3/14/09 1:03:17
Alexandria 40k TT 5/9/09 1:00:49- (~4% faster than my first ride)

TRI
Tri 4 Joe (Sprint) 5/20/07 1:26:34
Tri 4 Joe (Sprint) 5/18/08 1:20:38 (~6.9% improvement over first year)
Tri 4 Joe (Sprint) 5/?/09   1:18:16 (~3% improvement over second year with an asterisk*)
To have raced at the same pace as the winner, I would have to go about 14% faster than my 2009 time. That's a LOT of ground to make up. BUT, (here's the asterisk) *my best time in 2009 was run *with a staple in my foot, which I stepped on coming out of the swim transition. The pain was so intense, I stopped to take my shoe off and brush my sock, which didn't help-- I didn't find the staple until the race was over. It hurt like a mother! I know I could have run a lot faster.

Other performance data I need:
Lactate threshold and VO2 Max- where does my body/vascular system perceive its limits for endurance?
Critical Power- can I go faster with less effort and less exhaustion?
Blood work- how is my iron, B12, yada yada.
Blood pressure
Stress levels
Resting heart rate

The Superficial Data...AKA-- The Stuff That Really Matters
Texture of skin-- is it getting smoother, less oily, less dry, quicker healing time, enough sun?
Eyes- are the whites getting whiter?  Is my eye-glasses prescription getting better or worse? Is my focus time getting quicker? Are my visualizations getting clearer and more powerful?
Shoulder- will it ever fuse back together?
Libido/fertility- This data will have to be for members only--paid subscribers. Just kidding. But seriously...to be continued.

Winter Off-Season = Pre-Season

I decided to take a week off of running this week and, you might say, a week off of training (except for a couple of Spinning and Pilates classes), but this scheduled rest is actually an integral part of my training and is challenging in its own way. But there is something about the season that makes rest and recovery seem natural to my body. Cincinnati winters normally kick the living crap out of me, emotionally and physically. But this year, I feel 180 degrees different. I feel good...like, really good.

The key to 2011 success...If it's too easy, go harder. If it's too hard, TAKE IT EASY. Well said, Johnny G

The temptation with a "periodized" training schedule is to believe that fitness gains only grow with increased volume and increased intensity. Because I feel so good, I want to keep ramping-up my training. But this, the experts say, is a recipe for burnout, chronic fatigue, and self-sabotage. Although my inner-rogue-athlete wants the "experts" to eat these words (because of my new X-factors), I'm afraid to jeopardize my progress this year, so I will acquiesce to my coach-- The point is not to peak in January but in September.

I have been consistently running about 30-40 miles per week, riding in 3-4 spinning classes (or road rides), 2 Pilates classes, plus strength sessions 1x-2x per week.  It's really surprised me, how good I feel at almost all hours of all days. I attribute these good feelings to two X-factors: #1, a new life outlook; #2, the raw fruits and veggies. 

X-Factor #2- The Raw Diet
I'm having more and more days that are 100% raw, but on average, it's about 75% raw. Always, breakfast is 100%, which I'm feeling really proud of. Alas, I'm still addicted to Chipotle burrito bowls. I just get bored with chewing. I feel like I'm grazing all damn day, getting blisters from peeling so many tangerines and bananas. How else am I supposed to get 3000-6000 calories a day?

The smoothies help. Susie bought me a new blender called the Ninja, which prides itself on being the $90 version of the $600 Vitamix. It felt like a safe investment. I've tried both, and can tell you the the Vitamix is superior, but the Ninja is light years better than the food processor I was using to make my smoothies. Basically, the food processor made tossed salads in cup--weak!

The Ninja doesn't distort the space-time continuum like the Vitamix, but it's effective and easy to clean.

Without my monster-green smoothies, I don't know how else I could have kicked the caffeine addiction. Here's my usual recipe:
1/2 lb of frozen kale
1 handful of strawberries
4 bananas
20 oz water

X-Factor #1- New Life Outlook
This will have to be addressed at more length in another blog.

Best "Exotic" Fruit in Cincinnati is from Kentucky

"How can I be 30 years old and eating my first persimmon? This is amazing!"

"Because, dear wifey, they keep these suckers hidden (and priced) amongst the exotic fruit at Kroger's. They are beneath papaya$, mangoe$, and $tarfruit." Don't you feel it's time for some stick-it-to-the-man and stickin it to his big gnarly fruit grid?

Because one of my favorite bike rides in Cincinnati goes through Persimmon Grove in Alexandria, Kentucky,  I got to wondering if persimmons could, in fact, be a fruit native to this area. More importantly, if they are growing locally, then where the heck are they? So, I'm gearing up for a good ol' fashioned persimmon hunt.

Some cursory research has led me to believe that persimmons can and DO grow in So-Oh and No-Ky.

The best time to eat persimmons is when the leaves fall of the tree and after a few frosts. That means NOW is harvest time! They look like orange tomatoes with a waxier skin. The flesh is soft like a ripe kiwi. A nice ripe one of the non-astringent variety has almost a creamy taste that just melts in your mouth and makes you want to keep your foraging spot a secret. Ooo dagg!

Best Vegan Meal/Appetizer in the 'Nati

Dayton and Cincinnati have been coalescing into one mega-city for the last couple of decades. I-75, which connects them is one hell-hole of a road. But one of the few benefits of my one hour commute is that I can stop at Cincinnati's best vegan/raw restaurant-- The Loving Hut Cafe.

This is an international chain of restaurants, operated by volunteers who are followers of "Supreme Master Ching Hai". Any more details about the chain than that, I almost don't want to know, since I have been eating here about twice a week and I don't want to ruin it by fining out that the "Supreme Master" is some kind of kool-aid peddler. Heck, maybe I've already drunk the kool-aid.


http://www.thelovingcafe.com/

Raw Veggie Delight-- Ooo dag!!

The raw veggie delight is my absolute favorite, which is reminiscent of an egg salad, but made with sea kelp noodles. It's noodly and raw and tastes like the friggin doge! I love it.

Besides, as my wife so wisely pointed out, "Why do all vegetarian options have to be shaped like T-bones or chicken drumsticks? What's with our culinary-culture's  obsession with meat shapes?" Therefore, I'm also proud to simultaneously be supporting the noodle-shape-imitation movement. (I even sliced a zucchini into a fetuccini-shaped meal for dinner yesterday--a-freakin-mazing!).

Sea kelp noodles are made from sea vegetables, so there are a ton of healthy minerals, but they don't have the caloric density I need. The cashew mylk dressing helps beef up the calories and makes it taste yummy. But, I'd have to buy several servings to qualify as a "full meal." That's why I often end up drinking down a pound of blender-ized dry dates for dessert (after they've soaked for a few hours).

Dates about to be liquified into my favorite pre-workout "ghetto-raid".

Love Force bread and bars are made in the 'Nati.

Another one of my favorites is the raw pizza. Of course, there is no cheese on this pizza. The crust-like substrate is a piece of raw bread called Love Force Bread, which is actually made locally (how cool is that?).

The toppings include tomatoes, avocados, olives, onions, "glued" to the bread with a pasty sauce consisting of sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, herbs and spices, and who-knows-what. They place the pizza on top of a pile of salad greens, which kind of sucks, because I'd really love to wolf-down an entire pizza box full of this manna from the gods. Again, it makes a really good appetizer, but just doesn't constitute a full meal in my world. Still, my hat's off to these guys. Everything that I've tried on the menu is delicious and beautiful. Nothing will disappoint a meat/cheese-addict on the grounds of taste.

I have only two problems with eating here:

1. It kills my confidence in the kitchen-- I get suckered into thinking that all my meals should be this ornate.
2. The dishes have too few calories for my goals. 

As I continue on this journey of learning and failing, I'm going to try to continue to keep my calories up around 3500-4000 per day and also to stop spending so much time in the kitchen. As 2010 comes to a close, I'm wondering if 2011 isn't about to become the "year of the banana." Could I really do it? 30 bananas a day?

Cold Turkey Coffee. Holy Cacao!

Speaking of Thanksgiving and "cold turkey" I've been off coffee for three months now--WOW! Still no regrets. My training and energy levels have only improved.

I'm wondering if I've recently discovered that raw cacao is like the opposite of a "gateway drug". Rather than lead someone to more dangerous addictions, it seems like it has a ton of potential as a coping mechanism for someone going off coffee. 

I thoroughly loved my addiction to coffee since college. I averaged about 4 cups per day. I just love the ritual. The aroma. The warmth. The food pairings. The buzz. The romance of a dimly lit espresso bar. The opportunity to meet neighbors. I also loved that Starbucks almost single-handedly made the global market embrace shade-grown coffee beans. How cool is that? Forests don't have to be cut down!

But there was a lot to NOT like. The energy crash. The stained teeth. The nasty breath. The shakes. The depression. The feelings of powerlessness without it. The expen$e!

The first couple of times I tried quitting almost ruined my marriage. My wife came home from work and didn't rinse out a dish or something, and I just started yelling at her. She was like, "what's the matter with you?! Did you try to give up coffee again?"

"Yeah"

"Well, get your ass back on again, please."

How does one argue with that? But funny thing that finally pushed me over the edge was truthfully the stink of my kitchen compost container when I let it sit too long with coffee grinds and the wrong combination of food scraps. GROSS! You know how pleasant or unpleasant smells conjure up powerful memories? Well, I was immediately flooded with lots of childhood memories of "scary grown-ups" with bad BO and nasty breath. And there I was, becoming one of those stinky grown-ups.

Getting off the "coffee-grid" just so happened to coincide with a book I had been reading called Naked Chocolate by David Wolfe. Now, I've never been a chocolate or candy-eater in the least, but it was just so strange that I had been having profound chocolate cravings like pregnant woman. I checked-out the book from the library because I wanted to see if I could find if there was something within chocolate the my body was asking for. I truly believe that cravings are a conversation our bodies are trying to have with us, and while it may not always be healthy to indulge the craving, it is always worth engaging in the conversation.


What I learned from the book:

• Aztecs used raw chocolate beans (cacao) as money
• King Montezuma consumed 50 cups of chocolate before spending the day at his harem
• Chocolate has lots of magnesium and most Americans are very deficient in magnesium
• The key to chocolate's nutritional power is in its raw form-- prior to excessively heating, processing, melting, chemicalizing, sugarizing, dairy-ladening, packaging, shipping...
• 100 grams of raw chocolate has 10,000 milligrams of antioxidants--that's 10% by weight!!! Twice as many as red wine! Three times as many as green tea! (To compare, processed chocolate powder has less than 1% antioxidant by weight)

There were pages and pages of nutritional information that I was finding too exciting (and too boring) to read. So I went straight away that night to nearest whole foods store and bought 1 lb. for $12. It felt like a total rip off but I tore into the bag. As bad as I was craving chocolate, I could only eat two handfuls of raw cacao beans. They had a pleasant aftertaste, but they were too bitter to really enjoy. So, I probably ate $1 worth of my new superfood, but it would have taken about 14 KitKat bars to take the edge off of my craving. So maybe, by some logic, it's a deal.

The real magic happened that night, and I'm not referring to the aphrodisiac properties-- I couldn't sleep a wink. I got zero sleep that night and I was only mildly tired the next day. Initially, I thought to myself, "Chris, you're a dummy-- you haven't had caffeine in months and then you had a bunch of chocolate in its raw form right before going to bed. Are you mad?"

Yes, that may have been a stupid decision, but according to Naked Chocolate, there is apparently very little research about the effects of raw foods with caffeine and/or its cousin theobromine. The belief expressed in the book was that cacao doesn't act nearly as wildly as a coffee-like stimulant in its raw form. That sounds crazy after my latest cacao binge.

For me it's not a matter of what the book said or any scientific studies. From now on, I won't be eating much raw cacao, unless I'm craving it. When I do, I will be balancing its bitter taste with some natural sweetness like dates or bananas in my smoothies.

As I write this, I'm enjoying a some killer Chocolate Energy Bars (or "energy turds" as my wife calls them). There's no real recipe, just the following raw ingredients chopped up in a food processor and rolled into balls:

• pitted dates, 
• chia seeds
• pumpkin seeds
• pecans
• cacao beans
• (Option for dried coconut and/or dried mango slices)

Raw cacao energy bars-- AKA "Energy Turds"

The Bootstrap Method vs. Barefit Method

I had a great 16 mile autumn run today and my "barefit" minimalist running shoes inspired a couple of new perspectives about globalization vs. socioeconomic localization and a world not addicted to fossil fuel or enslaved to dehumanizing work.

Will we "bootstrap" ourselves out of this mess or will we forget the laces and boots all together?

Let me first put it on record that this blog is a question about what our transition town of Cincinnati will look like, not an answer.

I had a "chance encounter" a couple of weeks ago with a fascinating man named Pat Murphy while doing energy audits in Yellow Springs, Ohio (one of the coolest towns in the mid-west). He produced the film titled The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil. It's an award winning documentary which tells the story about how when the Soviet Union pulled out of Cuba and the U.S. imposed a trade embargo, oil imports dropped by 50% and food by 80%!! The results effectively pulled the economic rug out from under the Cubans' feet. It was an economic disaster.

Looking back on it, the Cubans themselves call time "The Special Period". The Cuban economy is no longer based on fossil fuel prices made artificially cheap by government subsidies or environmental negligence. It's super-inspirational. But it begs the question-- can the transition happen without economic disaster?

I wonder if we can really expect to bootstrap our way to betterment through greenifying our current consumer habits. Will it look like ever-increasing fuel-economy for our cars? Do we just continue to pimp-out our washers and dryers and help the Chinese do the same? Is bootstrapping the same as an incrementalist approach to evolution? Or will changes be more punctuated, far-reaching, and paradigm-shifting? Will we recognize the new future and interdependence?

There is, in fact, a growing movement of futurists and designers who are devoting themselves to a reactionary approach that is bracing for the worst-- "designing for disaster", as if disaster, on some level, is simply inevitable. They are in Haiti after earthquakes, in Indonesia after tsunamis, in Africa during droughts. They see the current trend of "going green" as an underwhelming, misdirected effort, hi-jacked by advertisers, gadget makers, product lobbyists and politicians.

greenwashed crap

For many unemployed Americans, and others entrenched in the global-economy, disaster isn't such a far stretch of the imagination. It's practically upon us. And for those middle classers who have managed to stay employed, how many of us are happy working as cash register clerks and greeters and big box stores? How many are challenged and rewarded working on factory assembly lines or in cubicle-call centers as debt collectors? How many of us can actually afford organic food that nourishes our bodies and weans us off our over-medicated lives?

Below is a fun/depressing math exercise inspired by one of my heroes, Amory Lovins. It underscores how we drive in order to work and we work in order to drive.

The average American drives about 12,000 miles each year.
The total average cost of car ownership per year is $7,356 according to this cool calculator.
With a minimum wage job, earning $7.25/hr...
And counting "lost of hours of life" spent in the average daily commute to work...
We end up traveling 12,000 miles for a man-hour-cost of about 1200 hours of precious life.

...And don't we know a better way to go 10 miles/hour?


I can think of two ways.




It doesn't have to come down to disaster-based design.

Foam-a-home-phobia

Cincinnati is a mixed climate with extreme highs in the summer and extreme low temperatures in the winter. But, since my wife and I regard AC as more of a luxury, we are not big air conditioning people. We are way more concerned about keeping warm in the winter which we can't do without spending a ton of money and feeling really guilty about all the fossil fuel energy required to do it.

The wonderful thing about a 1920's craftsman/cape cod home is the predictability of it's energy sins. Cute as they are, they are little bastard children unfit for any performance challenge. They've got lots of problems...but at least we know where to find them--everywhere!

Look at my cute home.

Oh my gosh that's cute!

If you are thinking to yourself, "It needs new windows" You need to come back to planet Earth, take my class, and wean yourself off of the marketing teat of those window companies advertising on the back of public transportation. If you've taken my class, then you know how to do my Curb-Side Energy Audit in about 30 seconds and can name 4 of the 16 architectural features of my home that need to be addressed, and CAN be addressed with some foam insulation.

I've actually formed a great friendship with a guy who has access to a new formula of cavity filling foam and is open to alternative no/low-cost transactions and bartering. SCORE!

My stick-framed walls were built with true dimensional 2x4's in the balloon-framed style, which means behind the plaster and lathe walls there are stud cavities are open to the basement and they have no insulation. (It used to be a perfect getaway route for the mice we had until our cats learned to hunt like a pack of velociraptors. Although foaming the walls has immediate sex-appeal...NOT SO FAST.

There are several ISSUES to be concerned about:

• What do we do about existing knob and tube wiring in the wall cavities?
• How do we trace and stop the moisture issues at the roof/chimney?
• What is the home's Building Tightness Limit (BTL) and will we need to revise our ventilation strategy?
• What are the indoor air quality effects of the foam to be installed?
• Where will this foam go and could it damage anything?
• Do we fill the stud cavities from inside the home or out?
• What is the long term performance of this product?

I'm not quite foam-a-home phobic about these issues, but consider the following:

• knob and tube wiring was installed in the 1920's and is rated for 20 amp circuits because it can stay cool by dissipating its heat into the air around it. Insulating the cavities however would cause it to stay hot. There is a lot of urban lore out there that says insulating the cavities with K&T wiring is a fire hazard. I haven't found a lot of available information to substantiate these claims. Electricians have told me my house will catch on fire unless I rewire. Their bids range from $4000-$8000 to rewire my house. (Fear tactics from the fox guarding the hen house?) Insulation contractors have told me they can insulate without rewiring, but they won't pull a permit. Electrical engineers have told me I can insulate the cavities around the existing K&T but I would have down grade the circuit from 20 amp to 15 amp.
• The only thing worse than no insulation in the walls is wet insulation in the walls. Now, if this were dense-pack cellulose or even fiberglass insulation, that could be a major problem, but installing a closed cell foam, we would would hope that would be a much smaller problem. But we can hope on the one hand and $#!X in the other and see which one fills up fastest. Why hope? Let's just fix the roof first, regardless of whether this is open cell foam, closed cell foam, cellulose, soy or mushroom insulation.
• The Building Performance Institute (BPI) would say something like, "There's no such thing as a home that's too tight. But there is such a thing as an under-ventilated home." There is a quick calculation I will show you in a later blog that lets you know when your home has become under-ventilated.
• Insulating from the inside requires drilling holes every 16" in the plaster and filling the whole house with plaster dust. I'd drill them in the middle of the wall so I wouldn't have to climb a ladder to install the insulation or, more importantly, when I have to patch, sand, prime, color match, and paint, and paint, and paint those holes at the end. 
• Insulating from the outside requires taking off the cedar shakes and risking breaking them, or else drilling holes in the cedar shakes and risk breaking them, definitely breaking drills bits drilling through 3/4" of pine sheathing, patching, sanding, priming, color matching, painting, and paining the entire exterior walls of the home. 
• The long or even short term performance of foams has been mixed in many of my infrared inspections. I have seen some installations where foam was injected into stud cavities of walls only to shrink like a refrigerated waffle and leave air pockets of no insulation at all six sides of the stud cavity, making it very ineffective. I've also seen foam spray out of outlet covers and switch plates and beneath toe molding.

Even if we were swimming in money and answers and remedies to these issues, we would still NOT start our retrofit project here. Instead, AS ALWAYS, we need to start up high in the attic with air sealing.

When I say "air sealing", I don't mean what most people think. It has been my experience, in the thousands of homeowners I've visited with, that most of my clients have this bucolic image of Little Red Riding Hood skipping her way to the home improvement store and coming home with a satchel of baked bread and two or three tubes of caulk. They say, "Can't I just climb in the attic and do the air sealing myself?"

My answer is usually, "Yes, you could, It's not rocket surgery, but you need about 2-3 shopping cars full of foam and caulk (~$900 worth), and more importantly, to complete the job, you'd have to have the physical stamina to do something like the guy in the pic below, if you don't want to kill yourself, falling between the roof trusses."

The parallel bars are about as tricky to maneuver as 24"on center roof trusses when air sealing an attic. Olympic gymnasts make great insulation contractors.

Even without a gym membership, this guy is doing his exercises to become an insulation contractor. It's the most respected job in his eco-village. Everyone falls through the drywall ceiling at least once before they realize they have to spend more time on the elephant tusks training.

And don't assume that because your home was a custom-built McCastle that you don't have air sealing issues-- you're usually the worst ones of all with all your tray ceilings, built-in book cases, bulkheads, planter walls, and recessed lights.Air follows the path of least resistance, which is almost always upward through the home's cavities.

I'll keep you updated on the foam project, but FIRST AND FOREMOST:

1. it's a roof project first because durability issues are more important than energy bills.
2. it's a rewire project because I can't afford an electrician and I can do some electrical work. (I actually just finished the bulk of this project-- see the pics below and come to my house to see that I have not yet taken care of the chimney issues--YIKES!)

White ceramic knobs hold the black and white insulated "tubes" of the so called hot and neutral wire. They travel somewhat parallel to their load but always kept at a safe distance from each other. The yellow wire is a new 12 gauge Romex now serving their load. This circuit has been disconnected. What am I going to do with the $7,800 I just saved?

That's not good. Water damage to plaster above window. The root cause of this is very likely associated with the issues I describe in my blog"Saving the Planet by Saving Cincinnati's Obsolete Real Estate (AKA Troublesome Architectural Features)"

Sweet Tooth Gone Wrong

For a week or two after my first Ironman, my teeth ached like they were filled with cavities. I don't even have cavities, and I've practiced good dental hygiene habits. And I don't eat junk food...except when I'm on long workout. Has anyone else has had this experience? I wondered if it had to do with what I ate during the course of the race...I'm so ashamed of what I put into my body. Here's a pic of some of the stuff I consumed during the race.

Junk food eaten during a typical training weekend two years ago. I think I see a banana somewhere in there.

Since then, I've had a couple of achy tooth days here and there, usually after long training weeks. It brought to mind some of the research my mom was telling me about Weston Price Foundation, which my mom is a devotee of. They are very much sure of themselves in a couple of theories that stick out in my mind--1) that animal products are essential to human health, 2) veganism is the worst thing you could do to your body, 3) tooth health is an indicator of overall health. As much as I didn't want to believe what Satan was saying, I'm sure there is some shade of truth to #3 here...

It begged the question, where does one go to get real answers to nutrition questions? There's so much bull shit "science" out there and so many passionate charlatan diet-ists, lobbyists, and nutrition gurus looking to make a buck, that I've decide to just unplug from that grid.

When you think about it, all we ever really do is defer to what others tell us about food and nutrition. From the ads on TV, to the way the supermarkets are stocked, to the latest mono-food diets (grapes only with a side of a cool whip, really?) and roller coaster fasts. It's kind of like letting a psychologist with a comb-over tag along on your dates. How is a passionate romance ever going to catch fire amidst the constant deluge of theories?

"Now would be the appropriate time to kiss the female."

Instead, I'm trying to develop a deeper intuition around food, so that I can recognize the meaning of my cravings and the nuances of my nourishment. My body has its own intelligence if I just trust it, but instead I get caught up in asking for other people's hints. I feel like I just need to go make-out with my smoothies for a while and see if I can't get to home base without anyone's supervision.

My produce delivery friend, Randall, who is also one of my nutrition consultants asked me what my cravings were this week. I told him, "you know, I never really liked chocolate that much, but I'm craving chocolate incessantly."

His reply was awesome: "I have one rule about chocolate-- eat as much as you're craving...as long as it's the good stuff."

What a concept! Trust our cravings...with some trepidation and healthy respect for the effects. I suppose it makes sense that our body is a "feedback" system in communication with the one who feeds it. It's not a one-way relationship.

Biker Butt has Garlic Remedy

By the time I finished training for Ironman Louisville, 2009, I could have ridden the bike portion naked, or heck, even smuggled rusty railroad spikes across cobblestone streets on a Belgian border town. My butt had suffered hundreds of hours of saddle-time...and at great expense. The '09 season introduced me to my first ever case of hemorrhoids.

What's tougher than spelling hemmorhoids is enduring them. They didn't just hurt while riding, but they were keeping me awake with their itchiness. I remembered commercials from when I was a kid, where a cowboy would whistle for his horse and then jump spread eagle, landing his sweet man-spot right on the bridge of the horse. "Ouhhhh, my hemorrhoids are killing me." As a kid, I never even knew what they were, but I liked the commercial and I remembered the product. (Wow, the power humor in advertising.

Of course, there were some preventative measures that I neglected, like lubricants and fewer hours on the bike. If hindsight is 20/20,  then sight of my hind was hovering at 0/666. It's funny how this mostly invisible shadow of your body can move front and center to become a vanity issue.

My friend and fellow cyclist/small biz owner (massage therapist), Andrew, told me that he always got laughs at this when he would tell the Major Taylors Cycling Club, that there was an old remedy to stick a peeled garlic clove straight up the man-hole. They still give him hell for it. All I can say is that I am so proud that Andrew had the balls to ever try. He knows all kinds of natural remedies.

THE REMEDY
All I did was peel a medium sized clove, put a teeny bit of olive oil on it...and "swallow".

On the scale of discomfort, it was only slightly annoying--like the feeling of having a booger, and only for about one hour before I went to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, I felt no garlic intruder. In fact, I felt only that my hemorrhoid had subsided and was no longer itchy. When I did my daily number two later that day, there was no problem "uncorking the bottle." The garlic clove popped right out along with some really great humanure. 

I thought I had been cured once and for all. But unfortunately, all it would take is a bike ride or a long run to get the little devil to flair up again. Therefore, I had to do the garlic routine a couple of times per week whenever it bothered me.

Now that I've been focusing more on my running and re-inventing my relationship with my bike (post Susie's bike crash), I have had no problems in my nether-region. So, I try to stick to taking my garlic normally-- down the hatch rather than up.

Garlic is amazing.

Me at the zoo, with biker butt.

Everything is Connected to Everything... and so is Food

The autumn forest is one of my favorite place-times. The smells, the colors, the peace, the crispy air- aaahhh! My dear friend Randall, (AKA the produce delivery man), and I had a beautiful hike and a great time catching up on each other's lives at the famous Ault Park. We discussed everything from conspiracy theories to soul mates. And we high-fived a lot about the power of food and its relation to consciousness. Damn, I love food!

Until my emergency vegan phone calls to Randall last year, I had only known him as more of an acquaintance in the Cincy "green scene". But I always sensed this fiery soul would play an important role in my life. I called Randall because he is a "Health Food Minister". I didn't know what that was, but I knew I needed one. 

Last Thanksgiving was the day I decided to go vegan and it felt quasi-amazing to NOT feel utterly obliterated by creamy-twice-baked-cheesy potatoes and the rest of the binge-fest otherwise known as Tofurkey Day.  Yet feeling quasi-amazing is not the same thing as AMAZING. As Randall would say, "We're not here on this planet to tread water." And yet, I felt like I was sinking on many levels. In fact, with all the training I was trying to do and the cold/dark winter I was having to endure, and the spiritual quagmire I couldn't shake, winter 2009/2010 was straight up kicking my ass. I decided I needed some consultants.

Randall owns an organic produce delivery company that has become integral to my life and mission. It's called Paradise Found and you've probably seen/heard me reference him/it before.

Food is not only essential to my training and recovery; it's essential to my communion with all beings on Earth as well as to the sun and all of the forces and energies of the Universe. Each week Paradise Found delivers to my back door a "Surprise Cooler + Juice" filled with the freshest, most local, most vibrant food in the city. The fact that its contents are a surprise keeps me on my toes in the kitchen. The surprises also connect me to the seasons, i.e. I don't get watermelon in the winter but I get a lot of squash. It feels like Christmas morning every Friday when my newly stocked cooler is sitting on the back porch.

I make it my mission to let none of the fruits and veggies go to waste. Everything seems to find its way into a big-ass chopped salad or a rainbow or muck-colored smoothie. I still don't know what to do with the edible flower kits. Sometimes I gag when I eat them, sometimes they burn my tongue off, but I'm letting my body try it ALL. That's because one of the things Randall is helping me to do is to see foods for more than their tasty pleasurefullness. My body has cravings for feelings as well as flavors and the body can communicate what it needs. So, I'm learning to hear my body's cravings and I'm learning to gain a certain precognition of the subtle feelings that certain foods will leave me.

I still haven't mastered the logistics or will power required to swing this raw food lifestyle 100%, but I have to say that it is starting to feel friggin' AMAZING-- like my body is always on a vacation. According to Randall, my body is likely maintaining some of its defense mechanisms to see if I'm fo' real with this. Occasionally I'll have a leftover #$%# or a %#$$%# and my forgiving body will try to make use of that, but has to do so cautiously. I'd rather my body have an opportunity to slough off its defenses, be able to trust me to feed it the good stuff and I hope there is a continued gain in my physical and mental performance. Accelerated thinking and accelerated racing, baby! The sky is the limit.

Randall, if you're reading this, THANK YOU for doing what you do and for sponsoring me and this crazy project.

Vacation/Training Camp Re-Cap

I don't know that Bush hogging is, but I'm pretty sure we don't have it in Cincy.

Last week was a glorious training week/detox/relax/vacation spent on the beach in beautiful South Carolina with my lovely wife, Susie and another couple that are dear friends, Anastasia and Todd.

Back to the Beach, SC

I was so excited to enjoy some well needed rejuvenation in the form of lots of sleep, lots of succulent fresh food, some PDA with our friends' VitaMix blender, some PDA with my wife, beach bumming time, and some long beach runs.

The 12 hr car ride on the Saturday down there was physically taxing. Food choices along the main highways are slim to none outside of Subway salads. Good thing I packed lots of apples, mixed nuts, bananas, and dates. Still, that's a lot of sugary food for a guy who usually craves salty snacks. I caved in and bought some pretzels that my wife really likes and some salsa I had canned with my bro-in-law. Could it really be true that America craves beef jerkey/fireworks outlet stores more than living delicious food? I certainly see perks to living in an urban center like Cincinnati. We really do have it pretty good when it comes to healthy food options.

By Sunday morning, my body felt uncaged and ready to rock and roll!

Half-naked running means little room for snacks. Phew, I'm tired!

WORKOUTS
Sunday- 14 mile beach run; 80% AVG HR; ~110 minutes
Monday- 6 mile light run (no HR monitor), body surfing and beach bumming all day
Tuesday- 12 mile beach run; 85% AV HR, ~95 minutes
Wednesday- Daytrip to Savannah in thunderstorm
Thursday- 9 mile beach run; easy pace (no HR monitor), mixed with 10 x ~100 yard sprints + ~100 yard walks
Friday- 4 mile easy run+ Pilates led by Susie
Saturday- 12 hr return car ride home-- gross!

The raw diet was about 75% in full effect this week, which was better than I had guessed it could be while living with "others" outside of the familiar kitchen home. It was so easy using the VitaMix for breakfast and second breakfast smoothies. However, it was also easy because our friend Anastasia's health is gravely dependent on eating very clean, very fresh, very vegan, as she recovers from years of Adrenal Fatigue. She believes her condition has been caused by about 15 years of self-induced stress from school/work, Dr. Peppers for breakfast, among other personal reasons. You'd never know it, but less than a year ago, this beautiful 29 year old was being pushed around in a wheel chair! She still has a long way to go, but she's doing amazing! She runs, does Spinning, Pilates, Yoga-- the works!

MEGA BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE
1/2 avacoado
1/2 C raw organic oats
1 apple
1T hemp seeds
1 banana
2 dried/pitted dates
1 small handfull of raw nuts (pecans, almonds, Brazil nuts, and/or walnuts)
~2 C of filtered water

SECOND BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE (post workout)
1 softball size fistful of spinach
1 banana
1T hemp seeds
1T chia seeds
2C almond milk

NON-RAW MEALS
this week were all cooked in our own kitchen and prepared with TLC. They included the following:
1) Blackbeans and veggies with rice
2) Curried veggies with rice noodles
3) Lentils
4) Fall harvest Quinoa-stuffed acorn squash

OTHER RAW MEALS included
1) Cilantro brazilian nut pesto with jicama "rice" and tomatoes
2) Kale, carrot, cabbage, ginger, garlic, apple, nut, salad-palooza-mamma-jamma!

Killer Kale Salad will put hair on your chest and chase vampires away. It's simply amazing!

Todd's Quinoa-stuffed squash will caress the autumn cockels of your heart. In the winter, my feet get very cold and squash makes them feel better.

Curried veggies and potatoes. All ingredients came from my kick-ass produce delivery man at Paradise Found in Cincinnati.

Cilantro-pumkin seed-brazilian nut pesto with tomatoes and jicama "rice"

Goodbye South Carolina!