"Mens sana in corpore sano." - Juvenal
The above quote, "a sound mind in a sound body," expresses one of the core values one should have, if one hopes to lead a successful life. Today I want to say something about the "sound body" portion of the equation. There are really three keys to getting results while trying to build a sound body, which, if you read my previous post, you can see is something I am focusing on right now. Results so far have been good, and I'm getting to the point where my opinion on the topic may have some value. Anyway - three keys:
1) Train - every day - as hard as you can
I keep detailed records of my training activity each day, and I have been able to go through those notes, and offer some suggestions based on my experience. Lift weights every day - every day - until you can't lift any more. I have dozens of different exercises to choose from each day, although the foundation of them are complex exercises that work the bigger muscles of the body, like deadlifts, farmer's carries and squats. Change it up every day - some days I go for a smaller number of reps and sets lifting as much weight as I can, and some days slightly lower weight in as many sets and reps as I can do. I never do the identical set of exercises on any given day, as giving your body a new and unexpected challenge each day seems to be the way to build useful strength and physical capability. While weight lifting is by far the most important part of building a strong, fit, useful body (and I am now lifting for no less than two hours each day) it is also useful to work cardio, stretching, and various sports and activities into the workout schedule. When your head hits the pillow at night, you should have nothing left.
2) "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." - Michael Pollan
This statement, I think, sums up a common sense eating plan. As I noted in a prior post, for about a year I followed a pure vegetarian diet. I no longer do this, as I'm not sure that it can support my nutritional needs while I am engaged in a very heavy amount of physical activity. However, vegetables are still the vast majority of what I eat, especially the green leafies, and the legumes for protein. I'll also eat eggs, and high quality meats from time to time, for the protein and the sheer enjoyment. Most important is this - no fast food, nothing processed, nothing you didn't make yourself, as Mr. Pollan, from the quote above, said - "nothing your great-grandparents wouldn't recognize as food. This is particularly important if you are training as hard as you should - because you will eat a lot more - a lot more - when lifting hard and heavy, you need to make sure that what you put in your mouth is only the highest quality fuel.
3) Get your ZZZZZZZs
There can be no doubt that getting adequate sleep allows your body to rebuild, develop, and grow, and that sleeping well is absolutely necessary to good health. For years, I took pride in the fact that I only needed four or five hours of sleep per night, thinking that it allowed me to accomplish much more with my time. The result, though, was that I was not as effective while awake, and lost a lot of time to illness and other manifestations of poor health. Now, my body needs a solid eight hours, and I make damned sure I get it. In doing so, I find that I have more than adequate energy for my work, my training, my family, and all the other things I love to spend my time on.
Train hard, eat well, rest up. A simple plan that yields significant benefits. Other than losing weight, increasing muscle mass, having more energy, normalizing my blood pressure, reducing my resting heart rate from 95 a year and an half ago to below 70 now (I am 43 years old), completely curing my acid reflux, I should also note - I haven't so much as suffered one day from even a cold or flu in months now.
Its never too late to start on the road to good health and strength.
Thank you for reading,
Tim
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Sunday, September 30, 2012
A Nod to Vegetarianism
Thanksgiving Day 2011 was a banner day for me. I cooked, and then ate and drank myself silly with my family. Ham, turkey, pumpkin pie, and all of the other good stuff that goes along with Thanksgiving dinner. I also enjoyed about half-a-pack of post-prandial cigarettes, and I don't remember how many nice glasses of scotch. I was stuffed, full, fat and happy.
Until the next morning. I woke up with an hellacious hangover, heartburn, cottonmouth, and some sort of borderline allergic reaction that made it difficult to breathe. When you think about it, none of that should have been any surprise. After all, I had a twenty-six-year pack-a-day cigarette habit, and had been eating and drinking, really, whatever the hell I felt like, in any quantity that pleased me, for my entire life. On top of that, or rather, because of it, I was taking four medications for high blood pressure, three medications to facilitate lung function, and a pill to take care of my constant, daily heartburn. I weighed 270 lbs.
Not healthy, to say the least.
On that day, the morning after Thanksgiving 2011, I quit smoking. I also decided to do something about my weight - right then and there. What I did about it was to go on a strict vegetarian diet. Starting that morning, I ate only plant-based foods - and frankly, not very many different types of them. My diet consisted of almost exclusively the following:
Red cabbage and green cabbage - I had heard that they were good for dealing with stomach problems, and without a daily pill, my heartburn would ordinarily set in by 10:00 a.m.
Spinach and kale - green leafies, which are always supposed to be good for you.
Potato, regular and sweet - leaving aside the references to the sweet potato as a super food, these are just things that I had always loved, and was going to continue to eat, hell of high water.
Whole wheat bread and pasta - on occasion, just to satisfy the carb addiction.
Carrots, broccoli, romaine - again, all healthy sounding things, and all things I liked anyway.
Mushrooms - every variety you can think of, as they add fantastic flavor to every dish.
Water and sometimes coffee - no milk, no soft drinks.
It wasn't really that hard. I ate as much as I damned well pleased, and never felt very hungry - at least not after the first two weeks, as I adjusted to my more limited, meat-and-dairy-free diet. The only struggle was cheese - which I loved with a passion, and consumed large quantities of varieties most people have never even heard about.
During that time, I did a lot of reading about vegetarian diets, vegan diets (which I suppose mine was, strictly speaking), and learned that there are those who swear by them, and those who conclude they are decidedly unhealthy. All I can offer up are my results - unscientific, and based on a sample size of one. As of March 1, 2012:
My weight was down to 205 pounds.
My waist measurement went from 48 to 40.
My blood pressure returned to normal, and I was able to stop all of the medications.
My breathing problems completely abated, and that medicine, too, was stopped (although I'm sure giving up the cigarettes had something to do with this.
I quit taking heartburn medication, and only felt the slightest bit of heartburn when I consumed alcohol, and at no other time, no matter how much I ate.
I started sleeping through the night, and eight full hours, for the first time in decades.
All in all, it was an amazing transformation in my lifestyle. But, not all was perfect. While I had lost a lot of weight, I had also lost a lot of strength, and wasn't really any closer to the physical specimen I wanted to be. For want of a better term to describe it, I found myself "skinny fat;" that is, having lost a lot of weight, but not really improved in terms of muscle tone.
Also, I hit a plateau on weight loss, and I still had weight to lose, actually. From March 1 until about two weeks ago, my weight stayed the same - 205 - and while I didn't gain, I didn't lose.
So, the internet to the rescue again. I went back to reading, and found advice which seemed palatable to me on the website of one Victor Pride, called Bold and Determined, which is linked to on my blogroll. Based on some of the things he had to say, and some of my own investigation, I have re-made my diet (again), and also instituted a program of cardio and heavy weight lifting, in conjunction with a few nutritional supplements.
I plan to write about this experience as it happens, describe my diet and exercise routine in detail, and hope be able to evaluate each segment of my new plan for effectiveness in the process.
While its been only two weeks so far, I can note this - visible increase in muscle mass, increased endurance, better fitting clothes, and more energy.
Wish me the best, and comments are welcome!
Tim
Until the next morning. I woke up with an hellacious hangover, heartburn, cottonmouth, and some sort of borderline allergic reaction that made it difficult to breathe. When you think about it, none of that should have been any surprise. After all, I had a twenty-six-year pack-a-day cigarette habit, and had been eating and drinking, really, whatever the hell I felt like, in any quantity that pleased me, for my entire life. On top of that, or rather, because of it, I was taking four medications for high blood pressure, three medications to facilitate lung function, and a pill to take care of my constant, daily heartburn. I weighed 270 lbs.
Not healthy, to say the least.
On that day, the morning after Thanksgiving 2011, I quit smoking. I also decided to do something about my weight - right then and there. What I did about it was to go on a strict vegetarian diet. Starting that morning, I ate only plant-based foods - and frankly, not very many different types of them. My diet consisted of almost exclusively the following:
Red cabbage and green cabbage - I had heard that they were good for dealing with stomach problems, and without a daily pill, my heartburn would ordinarily set in by 10:00 a.m.
Spinach and kale - green leafies, which are always supposed to be good for you.
Potato, regular and sweet - leaving aside the references to the sweet potato as a super food, these are just things that I had always loved, and was going to continue to eat, hell of high water.
Whole wheat bread and pasta - on occasion, just to satisfy the carb addiction.
Carrots, broccoli, romaine - again, all healthy sounding things, and all things I liked anyway.
Mushrooms - every variety you can think of, as they add fantastic flavor to every dish.
Water and sometimes coffee - no milk, no soft drinks.
It wasn't really that hard. I ate as much as I damned well pleased, and never felt very hungry - at least not after the first two weeks, as I adjusted to my more limited, meat-and-dairy-free diet. The only struggle was cheese - which I loved with a passion, and consumed large quantities of varieties most people have never even heard about.
During that time, I did a lot of reading about vegetarian diets, vegan diets (which I suppose mine was, strictly speaking), and learned that there are those who swear by them, and those who conclude they are decidedly unhealthy. All I can offer up are my results - unscientific, and based on a sample size of one. As of March 1, 2012:
My weight was down to 205 pounds.
My waist measurement went from 48 to 40.
My blood pressure returned to normal, and I was able to stop all of the medications.
My breathing problems completely abated, and that medicine, too, was stopped (although I'm sure giving up the cigarettes had something to do with this.
I quit taking heartburn medication, and only felt the slightest bit of heartburn when I consumed alcohol, and at no other time, no matter how much I ate.
I started sleeping through the night, and eight full hours, for the first time in decades.
All in all, it was an amazing transformation in my lifestyle. But, not all was perfect. While I had lost a lot of weight, I had also lost a lot of strength, and wasn't really any closer to the physical specimen I wanted to be. For want of a better term to describe it, I found myself "skinny fat;" that is, having lost a lot of weight, but not really improved in terms of muscle tone.
Also, I hit a plateau on weight loss, and I still had weight to lose, actually. From March 1 until about two weeks ago, my weight stayed the same - 205 - and while I didn't gain, I didn't lose.
So, the internet to the rescue again. I went back to reading, and found advice which seemed palatable to me on the website of one Victor Pride, called Bold and Determined, which is linked to on my blogroll. Based on some of the things he had to say, and some of my own investigation, I have re-made my diet (again), and also instituted a program of cardio and heavy weight lifting, in conjunction with a few nutritional supplements.
I plan to write about this experience as it happens, describe my diet and exercise routine in detail, and hope be able to evaluate each segment of my new plan for effectiveness in the process.
While its been only two weeks so far, I can note this - visible increase in muscle mass, increased endurance, better fitting clothes, and more energy.
Wish me the best, and comments are welcome!
Tim
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Pissed On by a Debt Collector
Strangely enough for a lawyer in our day and age, one of the things I care a great deal about is - wait for it - the LAW. It is particularly important to me that those of us who try to live within its limits, actually understand those limits. To that end, this is a re-post of something I wrote a while back, but recent experiences with a few of my clients indicate to me that the points made bear repeating:
The other day, I was prowling the halls of the 11th Floor of the Daley Center, where many small claims cases in Chicago go to die. While I was standing outside a court room checking the call sheet for one of my cases, a woman approached me, and asked how she could check in for the case. I told her to go see the Clerk - but she needed more details. You see, she was told by the attorney for her credit card company that if she didn't show up in court that day, HE WOULD HAVE HER THROWN IN JAIL!
Now, it bears mentioning that, her case was up for return of service - in other words, it was her very first court date. There was absolutely no chance that she could have been put in jail. This is just another of the sleazy tactics being used by debt collection attorneys to scare the hell out of the debtors they are trying to
So, to set the record straight:
1. Civil debt, in and of itself, can not lead to jail time.
2. Lawyers that tell debtors that they are going to put the debtor in jail should be disbarred.
Now, there are of course situations in a civil case when a debtor could be locked up, but they center around being found guilty of contempt. For instance, if a judgment has been rendered against the debtor and the debtor refuses to answer the questions about assets that would allow the creditor to try and collect, they could be found guilty of contempt.
In short, if you don't have a judgment against you yet, don't let some lowlife debt-collector threaten you. The threats are empty, and under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, illegal. As a citizen, you have a moral obligation to tell this kind of bottom-feeding scum to go straight to hell.
Stay strong in your endeavors to protect what is yours, for your own good and that of your family.
Tim
What the Hell is the Murphy?
"Murphy," or "Murphy game," according to the New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English - "a swindle involving a prostitute and her accomplice, usually entailing robbing the prostitute's customer."
The natural question is, then, why would I call my blog "Cut of the Murphy?" The obvious answer is that like the "Murphy man" who wants his "cut" of the take, hopefully readers will come here from time to time for their requisite portion of whatever it is I have to say (and my name is Murphy, see?)
But in truth, the reason for the name is somewhat more significant that just my half-assed attempt to be clever. Consider the poor victim of the Murphy game; he thought he was about to get a little fun, a little action, maybe get a bit of wholesome sinning done, and instead, he got cracked on the head and had his wallet lightened.
Now, consider us all: born into this world so full of promise, so open to possibilities, heads full of dreams and ideas about the good life, our good lives, and all of the things we'll see and do and accomplish. Then, whack! right upside the head. Every one of us, and I mean every last one of us, has felt that headache, the rug being pulled out from under us, the sequence of tragedies, disasters, annoyances, setbacks, and things big and small that seem to get in the way of our quest for that little bit of amusement, that small sense of accomplishment, that thing that makes us feel rewarded for all we did (or maybe just intended to do).
I've sure as hell noticed this, and I'm sure you have, as well. And if you are a thinking person, and you almost certainly are, you must spend time thinking about how to avoid the bad, and get your share of the good, and do those two things on a more or less regular basis. I think about it a lot, and that's what this blog will, hopefully, be about. There are a lot of things that one needs to know, and see, and do, and feel, and understand, in order to progress in their pursuit of the good life. In the end, they say that life is about the journey, not the destination, and I'll be using this space to write about my journey, and the things I think you need to pay attention to along your journey.
It is my hope that by writing about these things, I may come to understand the world I live in, and myself, just a little bit better. While I'm not arrogant enough to assume my words could do the same for you, I also hope you'll at least find something useful, or something that makes you smile, somewhere along the way.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you'll feel free to comment at any time, on any post. I look forward to hearing from you.
Tim
The natural question is, then, why would I call my blog "Cut of the Murphy?" The obvious answer is that like the "Murphy man" who wants his "cut" of the take, hopefully readers will come here from time to time for their requisite portion of whatever it is I have to say (and my name is Murphy, see?)
But in truth, the reason for the name is somewhat more significant that just my half-assed attempt to be clever. Consider the poor victim of the Murphy game; he thought he was about to get a little fun, a little action, maybe get a bit of wholesome sinning done, and instead, he got cracked on the head and had his wallet lightened.
Now, consider us all: born into this world so full of promise, so open to possibilities, heads full of dreams and ideas about the good life, our good lives, and all of the things we'll see and do and accomplish. Then, whack! right upside the head. Every one of us, and I mean every last one of us, has felt that headache, the rug being pulled out from under us, the sequence of tragedies, disasters, annoyances, setbacks, and things big and small that seem to get in the way of our quest for that little bit of amusement, that small sense of accomplishment, that thing that makes us feel rewarded for all we did (or maybe just intended to do).
I've sure as hell noticed this, and I'm sure you have, as well. And if you are a thinking person, and you almost certainly are, you must spend time thinking about how to avoid the bad, and get your share of the good, and do those two things on a more or less regular basis. I think about it a lot, and that's what this blog will, hopefully, be about. There are a lot of things that one needs to know, and see, and do, and feel, and understand, in order to progress in their pursuit of the good life. In the end, they say that life is about the journey, not the destination, and I'll be using this space to write about my journey, and the things I think you need to pay attention to along your journey.
It is my hope that by writing about these things, I may come to understand the world I live in, and myself, just a little bit better. While I'm not arrogant enough to assume my words could do the same for you, I also hope you'll at least find something useful, or something that makes you smile, somewhere along the way.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you'll feel free to comment at any time, on any post. I look forward to hearing from you.
Tim
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