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Cha(lle)nge

Granted, Oprah has limited credibility when it comes to diet and nutrition. Her struggles with weight and fad diets are well documented. Nonetheless, she is an incredibly influential person in the United States. In April of 1996, for example, Oprah mentioned on her show (discussing mad cow disease in Britain) that she would never eat another hamburger. The beef manufacturing industry immediately launched a lawsuit claiming that Oprah's comment had cost them $11 million. That's influence! If an off-handed comment stings big business to the tune of $11 million, you have power to make change. About a month ago, Oprah had Michael Pollan on her show to discuss the film Food Inc. and the food industry in the United States. It's pretty eye opening stuff with lot's of shock value. Hopefully it will bring about a transformation in the American food system and the way people eat.

As for my own personal transformation, I believe I am starting to see some of the benefits of eating like a cave man. Instead of weak and hungry, I feel clean and light. Without going into too much detail, my digestive system is operating very smoothly. My skin is clearing up. I feel like my mind is getting sharper. This could all be a placebo effect, but I'm starting to feel like I think I am supposed to feel. I went for a Crossfit workout this morning and I felt really good (way better than last week). I've been trying to lift the prescribed weight in my workouts whenever possible now, too, as opposed to taking the faster, easier route with less weight.

I started tracking my workouts digitally, as well. You know, save a tree. I made a simple form in a Google spreadsheet and saved the url on my blackberry. Now, I just type in the info at the end of the work out (which is actually harder than it sounds) and my spreadsheet table is updated automatically. I can track my progress over time (much easier than the paper method) and access it online from anywhere. A tad geeky, perhaps, but what can I say? I post pictures of food online, too.

Jer

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