This Blog Has Moved to TheDreamLounge.net

Sorry, this blog has moved to
http://thedreamlounge.net

Sorry, this blog has moved to
http://thedreamlounge.net

Sorry, this blog has moved to
http://thedreamlounge.net





Sorry, this blog has moved to
http://thedreamlounge.net









Sorry, this blog has moved to
http://thedreamlounge.net













Sorry, this blog has moved to
http://thedreamlounge.net

















Sorry, this blog has moved to
http://thedreamlounge.net





















Sorry, this blog has moved to
http://thedreamlounge.net

























Sorry, this blog has moved to
http://thedreamlounge.net

ATTENTION- The Blog has Moved to TheDreamLounge.net

Hey guys, it's about time I moved to my own url and a nice layout. No more blogger clumsiness, were goin LA baby =)

See ya on the new blog. Here's the welcome post that explains the move further.

big thanks to the longtime readers!

-Dream

2 (modern) Dead Guys You Need to Look Into if you Haven't Already

1. George Carlin

This guy was absoluely awesome. I had the chance to see him perform live in high school as well. Wish I would have made an attempt to meet him face to face, but oh well.

His legacy as a comedian- yes he was hilarious- IMO covers up a much deeper person. Check him out at the following links.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_carlin

George Carlin videos

 2. Arthur Jones

Another highly underrated legend. Arthur Jones was the creator of Nautilus and Medx- elite exercise machines, and the first in the case of Nautilus.

He pioneered an entire industry- not to mention High Intensity Training- in the pursuit of exercise that WORKED and worked well.

His writings reveal...an absolute bad ass. Seriously, read this guys stuff and dive into the mind of a legend- a man who thought for himself, didn't put up with bull shit, and paved his own path.

*Arthur Jones lived in Central Florida for a good portion of his life. Unfortauntely I never had the chance to meet him, but Drew Baye did.

Find out more about Jones (and his writings) @

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Jones_(inventor)
and
http://arthurjonesexercise.com/
(check out bulletin 1, 2, the future of exercise, and god laughs).

hope you're all having a good weekend, expect the biggest peice of news from me in 3 years this week

-Dream

Some Cool Videos

AWESOME Video. About 5 minutes, simple yet amazing. Thanks goes to Chris @ http://conditioningresearch.blogspot.com/ for the find.

This follow up video from the same guy is *pretty* good. It helps dispell a lot of common myths, but he falls short at the end. Bascially hes heading in the right direction, but not quite there yet.

This last one is pretty cool as well (on nutrition). Simple, but nails it.

-Dream

The Mutant Child is Born- Video Blogging Combined with a Lay Report (nsfw)

Not long ago I exchanged blog links with Drew Baye. Instead of putting TDL in either the exercise/nutrition part of the links section, The Dream Lounge was placed in a new category alongside The Four Hour Work Week- Lifestyle.

Simple, yet a deep insight. Drew recognized that my blog was about a bit of everything....not just exercise and nutrition.

That's also how my head seems to operate in terms of what I want to blog about most of the time- a lot of everything. I've stayed focused on exercise and nutrition for so long due to the coming release of Dream Vitality (you can sign up on the newsletter on the right hand side of the page), but now it seems narrow minded to continue on with that to the exclusion of all else.

With that said, I'm still fascinated with proper exercise/nutrition, so you can relax now ;). But, I do want to get back into the dating advice scene a wee bit, and in a- and I know this sounds corny but it is- revolutionary new way.

What I recorded yesterday is me telling telling and expanding upon a classic "lay report" (which means I met some girl at a bar and brought her home that night).

To the furthest extent of my knowledge, this has never been done before. Simple, and hopefully helpful.

And oh, it's free of course. Check it out below, rate/comment/ask questions right here on the blog, or on the individual videos. Im here to help!

ps- video 1 is sort of an introduction to the series of videos I'll be doing like this so if you're a long time follower you can probably begin on video 2.

So, sort of long, but my main priority was to maximize the value. This particular experience was literally long, and filled with obstacles as well, which added to the length considerably.

Let me know wucha guys think, it's appreciated!

And if you were interested in reading the original report, you can find it here.

thanks

-Dream

The 21 Convention (2009) Wii Give-a-Way!

http://unitethecommunity.org

Dream- executive director of the annual 21 Convention in Orlando,FL- hosts a drawing to win a free Nintendo Wii, among other prizes.

Purchase a ticket at the above link by the end of May 2009 to be entered into the drawing. If you've purchased previously you're already set and ready to go! Just be sure to check your e-mail June 1st.

Contact the director of public relations for The 21 Convention at

Support@unitethecommunity.org

for further information.

Is it all in your head? (my 200th post!)

This isn't going to be an espeically long post, but it is something that needs addressing.

It's a phrase I hear all too often- and one I used to tell myself all to much.

It's all in my head

*in reference to exercise

This is something I've heard many people say, especially the *motivated* people who are interested in ultra endurance events such as marathons and triathalons.

They'll *train for an event like that, and whenever their body is SCREAMING at them to stop, they just brush it off and claim "it's all mental, I can do it!"

*By train I mean what they "think" is training, which in reality is less muscle mass, a weakened cardiovascular system, tremendous amounts of wear and tear...all for- unbeknown to them- an improved efficiency in motor skill for the specific movement they are training. And a temporary one at that.

As if they're a train chugging uphill in a fairy tale

"I think I can I think I can I think I can"...

And this is usually a good trait- if you're performing some form of high intensity training and trying to "beat" your instincts by resisting the urge to prevent deep muscle inroad.

But when you're engaging in aerobic/steady state activity, this behavior is nothing but a detriment to your health.

Ie- 100% NON productive exercise

The epitomy of this can be seen in this video.



The crowd cheers on, and the narrator glorifies and romanticizes the situation- meanwhile this woman is quite literally destroying her body and probably not far from the brink of death.

It's sad really, but I suppose were not too far off from the day when we look at that video and go WTF was she thinking? Why would anyone do that?

Anyway, this is my 200th post on The Dream Lounge.

Yippie!

Special thanks to the longtime fans, I appreciate it.

-Dream

Don't get stuck in the Void...

Guys, I have some seriously bad ass news and content to release this coming week- non exercise/nutrition related for that matter. Stay tuned, it will be free, 100% original, and brimming with value.

But in the mean time I'd like to ask, which side of the fence are you on?

Ever since I've started blogging more and more about exercise and nutrition, I've gotten increasingly more questions and comments on those topics. Obviously on the blog, but also in person, on facebook, e-mail, etc...

What caught my attention today however, was how undecided a lot of my friends are on major subjects concerning working out/eating and the like.


Now, before we go any further, let's set the record straight- I do NOT believe the world is black and white. Things are rarely as simple as they seem- notice the word rarely.


Rarely does not constitute “never”.


Some things ARE as simple as being “black and white”.


The world is a confusing place. People are confused left and right- just take a look at the economy, swine flu, gender roles, the fitness industry, dating...


Seems no one knows shit from shinola these days eh?


Well, high intensity training is an exception. You either understand it and practice it, or you don't. There is no in between, no “ya I do a little bit of hit stuff”.


Or even better... “ya I do it every few weeks”.

Or the best I've heard... "yeah, I tend to agree"

When I hear things like this- from friends no less- it demonstrates a lack of understanding. As Drew Baye once said (in reference to functional training)


“Anybody who disagrees doesn’t understand the subject.”


Is HIT dogmatic? No. There are a zillion and one ways to practice it, the point is ALL high intensity training styles follow certain guidelines and are therefore still proper exercise.


For example, proper exercise must be brief, intense, and infrequent.


As soon as you move away from this notion, exercise declines in effectiveness and efficiency. Or it becomes something entirely different, a la recreation vs exercise.

Proper exercise is also sustainable- meaning anyone of any age can do it- and safe (see previous point).

Again, as soon as you violate these guidelines, the value of exercise beings to diminish- rather rapidly for most people.
 

So for anyone who's “iffy” about HIT, quit acting like a little girl that doesnt know when to cross the street. You are either DOING IT, or not.
 

You can't “kinda sorta” do it. It's either correct or incorrect. If you find it incorrect, I suggest you read Body by Science- which you can find at any local book store.
 

Nutrition is another case where people are clearly scared to violate conventional wisdom- but then again, when are most people not?.
 

Take egg yolks (saturated fat and cholesterol) for example.
 

Do they have positive effects on your heart, neutral, or negative effects?
 

It seems few people have a stance, a firm one anyways.
 

Personally, I'm quite convinced egg yolks have a NET POSITIVE effect on your cardiovascular system- not to mention the rest of your body.
 

You can't eat enough of them. And of course, I'm referring to organic free range eggs- NOT eggs from chickens fed corn and soy their entire lives.
 

But what do most people do- from my limited perspective- that hear the unconventional wisdom that eggs are good for the heart?
 

They stray off in the middle- no man's land.
 

They'll eat a dozen eggs, but only 5 egg yolks- clearly still undecided about the effects of egg yolks on the body.
 

This isn't a rational decision- taking an unbiased look at the abundant research on the subject would point you in the "right" direction, one way or the other.
 

What leaves people stuck somewhere in the middle is emotions- societal programming. No different from HIT.
 

HIT has been around for ages, and is now backed by enough research and studies to choke a herd of buffalo. More importantly, it's entirely logical and rational.
 

Most of the “major guys” out there on HIT are only inerested in what's best for themselves, and clients. Few- if any- at this point have ties to any sort of dogma.
 

They look at what's best in a rational and logical light- as far from the realm of emotions as humanly possible- and make decisions accordingly. This is actually how HIT was started back in the late 60's early 70's.
 

Forget what everyone else does, look at the data and make an independent, clear decision. Getting stuck in the void is easily as bad- if not worse in some cases- as those doing the opposite of what's correct, irrespective of the subject/field.
 

-Dream

ps- not kidding about that free content coming this week. It's gonna be off the chain! =)

"Super" Diets

SUPER DIETS =D

Recently a friend who runs OutsidetheBoxExperiement has been trying a 100% Raw Foods diet- or extremely close anyways.


How's it working out for him? Well according to him, great.


From an outsiders perspective though, he's in the worst shape I've ever seen him in the years I have known him. I saw him less than a month ago and he was

• weaker
• fatter
• paler and more unhealthy looking

than I had ever seen him before. And I say these things as direct and factual observations, in no way are they intended to be verbal stabs or insults-nor am I ignoring the fact that these changes can come from other lifestyle choices, although the chances that they did are slim at best in his situation.


Anyway, it's pretty scary to see this happen to a friend-all the while claiming things like

• "feeling" strong
• His muscles have severely and visibly atrophied. According to basic exercise physiology, it's impossible to BE stronger with- substantially in his case- smaller muscles. The notion of "feeling strong" is a complete fallacy and a placebo effect at best, and self delusion at worst.
• "better endurance"
• Muscular/cardiovascular endurance is inseparably intertwined with larger and stronger muscles, again, a purely placebo effect or possible self delusion. Furthermore he has measured his "endurance" by running a mile and recording how he "feels" afterward. Not only is a "feeling" a horrible way to measure anything physiological, but this clearly demonstrates a gross misunderstanding of exercise and how the body actually works- in particular for ignoring the body's adaptation to a repeated motor skill such as running. I recommend this article for more information.
  
• lower body temperature
• This can occur for any infinite number of reasons and it is not an inherently positive adaptation. In fact this is not surprising considering how much muscle mass he has lost.
  
• varying ph levels (more alkaline is assumed as a positive change)
  
• The Ph level of your blood can not change. If it changes any measurable amount, you die almost instantly. The only measurable ph level is that of your urine, which is only a result of the foods you eat and has next to zero effect on your body's ph level. It can be dramatically altered by ingesting very acidic sugary foods, or very alkaline foods-all the while not affecting your blood ph. My friend has also stated " I think I’ve hit the plateau." when speaking about PH, which again lacks any scientific credibility since our PH level remains constant throughout our entire lives at all costs.
  
• *Increased libido function
• This is utterly ridiculous to directly link eating only raw foods- you might as well claim looking at a full moon makes you pop wood. Yet another imagined placebo effect.
  
• changes in blood pressure
• My friend has recorded changes such as 124 to 125 in systolic bp. This change being insignificant is an understatement, nor is it directly linked to "better" health despite conventional lore.
  
• weight loss
• This is surely one of the biggest mistakes my friend has made. He's lost 20 pounds, however I would bet my life on it that over 80% of that weight loss was lean muscle mass and corresponding tissues-right down to his organs shrinking in proportion to smaller muscles. This is the exact type of weight loss you do NOT want. Muscle is the most metabolically active and protective tissue in your body. You want more of it, not less. Furthermore he  is recording daily changes in his weight, which is utterly ridiculous. Everyone's weight changes from day to day, hour to hour depending on food/water intake, and what goes out. A .2 lb drop in weight from the day before is not worth recording for any meaningful observation.
•  "cognitive capacity"
• I hardly know how to comment on this daily measurement he's made eating raw food. He basically records his mood every day and believes its directly linked to eating raw food. Really, do I even need to expand on this?
  

I think the biggest error in his thinking though is that of "detoxing"-which is a cure all rationalization for any and all negative effects he experiences as a result of only eating raw. He's acknowledged losing muscle- albeit not as much as he's actually lost- but just attributes it to his body "detoxing" from all the harmful substances hes eaten for so long.


While your body getting rid of toxins from processed food is a real event, muscle loss is completely unrelated. In his case it's coming from not eating enough calories, not enough fat- overall and certain types-, and not enough protein (overall and complete protein). His body literally eats away at his muscle every day since it's so starved of vital nutrients.


His diet is primarily fruit sugar with a bit of fruit fat (avocaodo) and baby spinach. I really don't understand how his results are even a surprise to anyone.


Moving on, what have I said to my friend about eating raw?


Primarily just to read BeyondVeg.


BeyondVeg is a site dedicated to dispelling myths about super diets-such as the Raw Food diet.

It's run by people who have previously attempted different super diets, and are now interested in providing accurate information about the risks and detriments of those diets.

For instance, I am not a vegetarian, a vegan, or anything in between simply because I think it’s wrong to kill animals for food. I look at the facts and evidence regarding the nutritional value of animal and vegetable products, and make my selections accordingly. For the most part, manufacturers and farmers place so many “extras” into their products, that I think it’s healthier to abstain from eating those products as much as possible. My position is not born of a collection of feelings and rationalizations, but is rather based on
scientific nutritional facts and personal experience. 

And what is my position? Simply put, I mimic what the ancient "me" would be eating, best I can. This results in eating mostly plant food high in fat/protein, and moderate to low in carbohydrates. The animal products I eat such as eggs/red meat are of the highest quality I can find. Many foods I eat ARE raw, but not all of them. Man has been using fire to cook food very intentionally for hundreds of thousands of years, and much of the current evidence suggests that our brains were able to grow as a direct result of more protein in the diet (from cooking).

...

Going even further, I've done hordes of research on common "super diets". Everything from vegan diets, to vegetarian diets, pesco-vegan diets, alkaline focused diets, raw diets, and more (not going to name the even more absurd diets).


The biggest problem with these "diets"? They are just that-diets.


What is a diet?


For our purposes at this moment, an opinion-everyone has one, like an asshole =).


What do all modern "diets" have in common besides being- largely- opinion based?

• Only selected research is presented and credited in each diet. If counter evidence is presented it's dismissed, it's almost as if the people creating these diets are blind as bats.
• This is not unlike the modern "cardio" and aerobics movement.

• All of them promise "super" health-again like endurance "cardio" events that provide the false promise of being "ultra fit"-it simply doesn't exist. You can't be SUPER healthy like you can't be ULTRA fit. There is a set point-a genetic potential in the realm of being "fit" for example-and all you can do is approach that point. You can't eat a certain set of foods that ONE PERSON has decided is healthy and become SUPER healthy-that's pure grade A marketing bull shit at best, and ignorance laced with utter stupidity and a hint of arrogance at worst.

• For more information on why we can't be "ultra fit" (which mirrors why we can't be "healthy" beyond a certain point) check this video out by Doug Mcguff, MD where he talks about the does response relationship in exercise and how more of _______ will rarely be beneficial).

• Drum roll please... they all take small parts of the "diet" we are SUPPOSED to eat-as dictated by natural selection, evolution, and what was available over the course of ~2 million years- and amplify them in hopes of better health, and profit.

The reality is we have yet to find a way to substantially improve our "health" (in quotations since it's a grossly overused and misunderstood word, much like-god, good, "like", should etc) above the set point that is our birth right. People promising this are simply lying to you for a profit or are blinded by their own ignorance- or the ignorance of others in the case of my friend.


This is actually the major theme behind my upcoming book- Dream Vitality- that we are meant to eat certain foods and all you can really do is use your common sense once you know and understand what these foods are, which unfortunately isn't easy with the hordes of nutritional trash you find floating around the internet-super diets as a prime example.


In summary, stay the hell away from "super diets" and people promising you the world by eating THEIR way, as opposed to the way we ate for hundreds of thousands of years-millions if you count our ancestors.


Additionally, understand that "diets" that take specific segments from the paleo diet and try to capitalize on them are not doing anyone a favor, and are often hurting people more than they help-which also ties into the false notion of "something being better than nothing"-which means that eating a "raw food" diet for example is not really any better than a SAD (Standard American Diet).


Finally, stay away from crazy people that do excessively weird stuff-such as standing on mats to deflect WiFi and cell phone radiation, worry about breathing in steam in a hot shower, or craziest of all-believe we don't need to eat any food or drink any water. Ya, not kidding, there's a diet for that.


And to end the post, a special thanks- and quote- to David B who helped edit this post and provided valubale feedback.

The real point you’re trying to make is that people will try to sell you anything, and instead of buying into it because it sounds plausible, look at the hard evidence, use your brain, and make an informed decision instead of following conventional wisdom- aka not thinking

-Dream

I commented on my friend's blog-before writing/releasing this post- and he did not approve the comment. Since then he has updated his blog to reflect more nonsense- such as only being on the diet for 20 days while I know first hand he's done it for months now, and also not claiming that the diet is a "long term plan". Why the hell else are you eating to improve your health?

However I am hoping this post allows him to see the fallacies he's bought in to.

If you know anyone wrapped up and "passionate" about some new diet/fad, please direct them to this post or BeyondVeg.com

"Life is a comedy for those that think, and a tragedy for those that feel". - Horace Walpole

ps- sorry if this post was difficult to read at times, I had a lot of difficulty with the html coding of it and it did not turn out as edible as I had hoped.