No Alcohol August #NoAlcoholAugust #NAA

   August is time to consider participating in No Alcohol August.

    No Alcohol August (or NAA) is a month-long alcohol-free challenge. A cleanse that provides physical and mental-health benefits, not to mention the money that is saved not spending it on alcohol. It can also help some people learn if they have a drinking problem or not.

    Alcohol abuse is a leading global cause of preventable death and disease. Alcohol is ranked #3 in worst healthy substance after smoking and bad diet. This burdens our already overloaded health care systems. By just taking one month off a year, it can help people obtain health and well being goals that otherwise seemed unattainable.

    While drinking alcohol can be a fun and social activity, for too many it’s a cause of health problems and depression. NAA is an event that is aimed at helping people and our communities get healthier.

    From the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/:

• An estimated 88,000 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. The first is tobacco, and the second is poor diet and physical inactivity.

• In 2009, alcohol-related liver disease was the primary cause of almost 1 in 3 liver transplants in the United States.

• More than 10 percent of U.S. children live with a parent with alcohol

• In 2012, 3.3 million deaths were attributable to alcohol consumption.

• In 2010, alcohol misuse cost the United States $249.0 billion.

• In 2014, alcohol-impaired driving fatalities accounted for 9,967 deaths (31 percent of overall driving fatalities).

How to do it?

• Simple! Just don’t drink any alcohol for the 31 days of August
• Sounds easy, but for many this challenge is far too difficult.
•  Post progress and results on Social Media and spread the hashtags #NAA and #NoAlcoholdAugust. Examples: 
• How much weight you have lost! 
• How your mental health has changed. 
• How much money you have saved! 
• For any who struggle, please seek help from addiction counselors and speak with your doctor. 

How Our Bodies work, Part 2: Muscle Growth

Here's part 2 about growing muscle, a follow up to part 1 about getting fat: http://mattdruid.blogspot.com/2014/05/how-our-bodies-work-part-1-fat.html

Seems like everyone has their own opinion on how to grow Muscle.

I found there to be a lot of unproven, wrong scientific theories and miss-information out there about how to train so you can build muscle and get stronger.

It took a while to read a number of books and studies on the topic to weed thru the noise and boil it down to the facts.

In summary - to build muscle there are 3 things to do:

1) Weight Train.

By "weight train" - I mean - after some light warm-up sets, train with HEAVY weights to overload your muscles. If you can do 10 reps with perfect form, the weight is too light. You should train with a weight that you can't do 10 reps of. You shouldn't be able to complete more then 8 reps, better yet is 4-6. Do at least 3 or 4 sets of heavy reps - the more the better - up to 10 sets. Up your weight over time as you get stronger. Spend most of your time training on Compound Exercises that target multiple muscle groups, such as Squats, Bench Press, Chin-up, Shoulder Press, Bent-over Rows, etc.

Weight Training like this will cause micro-tears in your muscle cells - and your body will rebuild them and in the process make them larger.

2) Eat Protein

Meat, Chicken, Fish, Eggs, etc. Your body needs the protein and the nitrogen from these kinds of food to build new muscle after weight training. In fact, these are the healthiest kinds of food you can eat. A good Whey Protein shake/supplement after a good workout will help this repair/grow process. The reason Steroids cause muscles to grow so quickly, is because it enhances the chemical process taking part here.

3) Sleep/Rest

You don't grow in the gym, you grow mostly while you sleep. Get rest and let your body repair itself. Some athletes take a pre-sleep protein meal or supplement just before bed to try and help this process. I don't suggest you do that unless you are really training hard for some special event. Rest, sleep - and get back to the gym the next day. Also, you have to give yourself a nice couple weeks off training every few months.

That's it.

Some References:

• Bigger Leaner Stronger
• Whey Protein
• Muscle Growth Facts episode 1

"Must-Reads"

The following are books that significantly improved my understanding of the world and enhanced my mind, spirit and life.

Highly recommended "must-reads" to all others.

Personal Development and Self-Help:

• Dale Carnegie : How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936)
• Napoleon Hill : Think and Grow Rich (1937)

Politics and Economics:

• Ayn Rand : Atlas Shrugged (1957)
• John Lott : The Bias Against Guns: Why Almost Everything You've Heard About Gun Control Is Wrong (2003)

Health and Fitness:

• Gary Taubes : Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It (2011)
• Vinnie Tortorich : Fitness Confidential (2013)

How Our Bodies work, Part 1: Fat Regulation

Or - How people get fat and how to lose it.

How we grow:

• Just as we don’t think children are growing due to eating more food than they need, adults don’t grow/get-fat because of eating more food than they need.
• Just like all Animals, our growth (height/width, fat /muscle size) are all regulated by 1 thing and 1 thing only: Hormones.
• Not exercise
• Not eating more/less.
• We eat more because we are growing; We don’t grow because we are eating.
• Exercise can't help you lose fat, but it will help your cardio, and to grow and maintain muscles.
• Fat people didn't get fat because they ate too much and/or were too inactive.
• People get fat because of a hormonal imbalance that drives fat into fat cells. This can be caused by a number of reasons:
•  Eating sugar and grains (carbs) which cause enzymes and hormones to store fat.
• Genetic defect causing a hormonal imbalance, perhaps hereditary.
• Removing a female’s ovaries (which secrete an enzyme that inhibits the amount of fat stored).
• Which is also why women gain fat more easily after menopause.

How we use energy/calories:

• A calorie is a measure of energy.
• There is a balance between calories and our energy levels.
• Expend more energy, you’re going to eat more calories.
•  Expend less energy, you’re going to eat fewer calories.
• Eat fewer calories, and you’re going to have less energy.
•  Eat more calories, and you’re going to have more energy.
• Asking someone to expend more energy (exercise) while at the same time eat fewer calories (diet), is asking something ridiculous and unsustainable.
• Your body will demand the amount of calories (energy) that it needs to balance the energy expended.

How we can stay thin and healthy:

• Avoiding sugar and grains is the #1 thing to do for your health and appearance.
• What are Grains? bread, corn, rice, pasta, cereals, potatoes, etc.
• The worst types of sugar and grains we can eat are types that are easily digested, such as liquid: soda, beer, fruit juice.
• Beer should be thought of as "liquid bread".
• The more fat you have, the more your body will crave carbs.
• The key: Keep your blood-sugar/insulin levels down and your body will allow stored fat to be released for fuel. If those levels are up, your body won't let fat out of storage but will drive fat into them.

Why don't most people seem to know this information?

• All of this information was "Common Sense" and accepted in the world of medicine for hundreds of years.
• Only in the 1960s did Nutritionists start believing in the idea that a Low-Fat Diet was healthy for people and began pushing what they called "Heart Healthy" grains and low fat food, which modern science has proven to be actually unhealthy for us. That is also the time that obesity began to greatly increase in America.
• Keep in mind that agriculture has been around for less than 1% of the history of humans, and all our ancestors ate for 99.9% of our history was primarily meat and fat. So our bodies have not evolved to eat and digest these fat-building carbs we are eating today which wreak havoc on our bodies.

References:

• Fitness Confidential by Vinnie Tortorich
• Why We Get Fat and What We Can Do About It by Gary Taubes
• Grain Brain by David Perlmutter

Learning is awesome.

Learning is something only you can take the initiative to do; nobody else can "make it happen".

List the top things you have taken the time to learn and what have you done with that skill.

• Learned how to Scuba Dive and dove in the ocean. 
• Learned how to Ride a Motorcycle, riding in big runs and was welcomed into a biker group, getting a big patch for the back of my leather vest. 
• Learned how to Perform Magic and performed for a grammar school and block/birthday parties. 
• Learned how to DJ and headlined a party in Tokyo Japan, as well as playing in Mexico and flying out all around the Midwest. 
• Learned how to Program Computers and developed web pages, stock training systems, pinball and slot machine games. 
• Learned how to BBQ and slow cook Ribs to perfection. 
• Learned how to Shoot a Gun and befriended gun-rights leaders/academics/lawyers, who now represent me in a high-profile 2nd Amendment lawsuit. 
• Learned how to Start a Business and created a recording studio corporation in the Chicago loop. 
• Learned how to be a Recording Engineer from reading books and experimenting, yet I used to get resumes from people learning the same stuff in college. 
• Learned how to play Billiards and played in many tournaments, winning an MVP trophy one year. 
• Learned how to do Kenpo Karate and competed in tournaments. 
• Learned how to care for a baby and raising a very cute boy with mom. 

Look forward to learning more!

New Chicago Blackhawks Facebook Page

As a big Hockey/Blackhawks fan, I created a new Facebook page entitled:
"Chicago Blackhawks fans need to stop shouting during the National Anthem".

I encourage supporters to "Like" the group.

Here's the description:

A page dedicated to the cause of changing the disrespectful shouting/cheering during the singing of the National Anthem at Chicago Blackhawks games.

Founded by Blackhawks fans, for Blackhawks fans and other like minded people.

The inspiration for the page came from talking to local Chicago veterans at a VFW who have fought for this country and lost friends in war.

"Cheering at the end of the song is great, but during is ignorant. Ask them how they would like it if a bunch of people showed up and cheered during their mother's funeral". -- Chicago Vietnam Veteran 2011

The United States Code, 36 U.S.C. 301:
National Anthem

(a) Designation.— The composition consisting of the words and music known as the Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem.

(b) Conduct During Playing.— During a rendition of the national anthem—

(1) when the flag is displayed—

(A) individuals in uniform should give the military salute at the first note of the anthem and maintain that position until the last note;

(B) members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are present but not in uniform may render the military salute in the manner provided for individuals in uniform; and

(C) all other persons present should face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over the heart, and men not in uniform, if applicable, should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart; and

(2) when the flag is not displayed, all present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed.

The best way to make Skittles Vodka

Are you interested in drinking alcohol that tastes exactly like liquid Skittles?

If so, you have come to the right place.

There are a lot of different Skittles Vodka recipes out there on the net. I had researched at least a dozen recipes, each having minor variations and took what I thought was the best parts of each recipe to produce the best tasting, easiest to make Skittles Vodka.

Here we go...

Step 1: Get Supplies

5 Pints of Vodka
1 Large Bag of Skittles
5 Glasses
1 Funnel
Filters
Mixing Stick/Spoon

I suggest using Gordon's Vodka. It's a mid-grade vodka that's meant to taste good in mixed drinks. Don't think that spending a lot of money on vodka is going to make this drink taste better. Don't waste money buying vodka that's meant to be drunk straight, when in the end you don't want any vodka taste at all.

For the glasses that you will use to dissolve the Skittles, the rule is: The wider the glass the better. You can also use bowls. You want to maximize the amount of surface area that the Skittles are exposed to the vodka. This way, the Skittles will dissolve faster. If you have them, what is also nice is putting the Skittles into bottles you can shake.

For the filters, most recipes tell you to use coffee filters. Well, to put it bluntly, coffee filters suck. I started out this latest batch with coffee filters, but knew there must be an easier way. So after some experimentation I found that paper towels work great (I used Bounty). So, don't use coffee filters! Use a clean, white paper towel. In the pictures below, I was using coffee filters and I don't have a picture of the paper towels, but trust me, you will want to use paper towels, not coffee filters. It will save you at least an hour of time and aggravation. I have also read that Cheesecloth works good as a filter, but I tried it and it doesn't work well at all; cheesecloth is not fine enough and the waxy goo just goes right through it.

Note: Cleanliness is key! Always wash your hands before handling anything and make sure the equipment is clean. You never know who may be drinking this when you are done, so you want to be as clean and professional about it as possible.

Step 2: Separate the Skittles and add vodka

Pretty self-explanatory.

Step 3: Mix and Store

You will mix each glass for at least one minute, then wrap up the glass and let it sit. Repeat the one minute mixing every 8 hours, or whenever you get the chance. After 24 hours, give it a final mixing and it should be ready to go.

Step 4: Filter


So, you just dissolved the Skittles in the vodka, and are getting excited and ready to drink it right? Wrong! Now it's time for the most un-fun part of the job: Filtering. The dissolved Skittles leave a residue that you should remove. As mentioned above, do not use coffee filters. The use of coffee filters is so annoying that it's enough to make many people never want to try again. I found that using good quality paper towels works much better and faster.

Place a paper towel over the opening of a container and pour the vodka over it slowly. Let the vodka drain through the paper. If it goes too slowly (which often it does near the end) you can wrap up the sides of the filter, hold it in your hands and squeeze down to force the vodka through the paper faster.

The pictures above show coffee filters taped onto glasses, but this is not my recommended way of doing it. It takes forever. Next time, I'm just going to use paper towels, which is what I resorted to after waiting several hours.


Step 5: Use the funnel to fill up the bottles


Step 6: Drink!
This part is a tad trickier then you think. You will be tempted to drink a shot of this delicious smelling concoction. However, drinking it straight is pretty nasty. What you have on your hands is concentrated Skittles/Vodka syrup. To bring out the perfect Skittles Vodka taste, you need to pour it over ice and mix it with something. I mixed mine with Upper 10 (it's like Sprite) and it worked perfectly. It tasted like I had stuck a straw into a giant Skittle and drank it. Sprite should also work very well as a soda in the drink. I have heard about others mixing Skittles Vodka with Mountain Dew, 7-Up, Coke, Diet-Coke, Red Bull or fruit juice.

Good luck and enjoy!