However, when it comes to being good to your feet and making the right choice for your body (i.e. going barefoot) yet still being protected from all of the dangerous stuff in our man made environments (glass, nails, other nasty stuff) barefoot shoes are the way to go.

The vast majority of shoes that people wear today are overbuilt. It’s like people are walking around with Sherman tanks on their feet. Augmented with the latest four letter technology (AHAR Heel Plugs anyone?) and buttressed by incredible amounts of support (front, back, arch support, lateral support) these shoes are capable of withstanding serious punishment, all with the goal of protecting our poorly designed and ill equipped feet.

Moon boot or absolutely essential injury preventor?

It’s a wonder humans ever managed to make it to the top of the food chain with such serious evolutionary calamities like feet attached to our bodies.

Notice the difference in foot strike between the Tarahumara Indian runner wearing thin sandals and the American Ultrarunner wearing more typicaly thickly soled running shoes. One is shock absorbing and one is transferring energy. Which do you think puts less stress on the joints?

We believe that the human body is designed intelligently. It doesn’t make sense that the most dominant terrestrial animal somehow has the worst possible design for a foot in the whole animal kingdom.

Below are a few of the up start companies that are expanding the barefoot shoe market.

If you’re looking to make serious changes to your body shape and your overall physical capability we highly recommend getting a pair of minimalist shoes.

Feelmax

Vibram Fivefingers

Vivo Barefoot  

One shoe that is supposedly part of the barefoot revolution is the MBT.

MBT stands for Masai Barefoot Technology. The funny thing is that even though the “barefoot technology” is provided by our feet themselves, these shoes seek to re-engineer the supposed barefoot mechanics of Masai runners. Hence they look like moon boots.

Barefoot shoes should get OUT of the way of your natural mechanics, not seek to replicate them.

That is all for now folks.

Happy Barefooting!

- Casey

MSG stands for monosodium glutamate. MSG is a neurotoxic flavor enhancer that is added to most processed foods.

“Neurotoxic” is doctor-speak for something that can damage and kill neurons, the cells in your brain that transmit and receive signals.

= YUM??

Why is MSG in my food?

Monosodium glutamate is added to food in order to “enhance flavor”. It tricks your brain’s pleasure pathways into getting you to eat more.

How does MSG work?

MSG separates into sodium and glutamate ions very rapidly upon contact with water (ingestion). So rapidly in fact that it can spike the levels of glutamate circulating in your blood. It then circulates through the blood stream until it reaches parts of the brain unprotected by the blood brain barrier or another glutamate sensitive tissue (kidney, liver, lung, spleen, testis, cardiac).

How dangerous is MSG?

VERY DANGEROUS. No exaggeration here.

Glutamate is a known excitotoxin. Excitotoxicity occurs when receptors for glutamate are overactivated.

Overactivated glutamate receptors let lot’s of calcium into a nerve cell. This in turn switches on all sorts of enzymes that can do damage to a cell’s structure. Here’s a short list of enzymes that get put into hyper drive by MSG consumption.

Phospholipases – these enzymes cleave off parts of the cell membrane

Endonucleases – these enzymes cut the bonds found in DNA

Proteases – these enzymes break down protein structures in the cell

This is SCARY. MSG consumption literally triggers your brain cells to self destruct!

Because MSG is an excitatory toxin, even chronic low level doses of MSG lead to neuronal damage, especially when those neurons are in a developing youngster.

Studies in rodents have confirmed this for years, and you need only take one look at our society today, with a quarter of young boys on Ritalin, to know that it has an effect on humans too.

There are over 1000 studies on record that used MSG to cause negative effects in the test subjects (usually mice, rats, and monkeys). Here’s the short list.

MSG has been used to purposely create obese and pre-diabetic test animals, as well as to trigger epileptic siezures, create ischemic strokes and destroy cell tissues.

MSG is known to increase the desire to eat more food faster and more frequently.

MSG is known to increase insulin levels and increase fat storage.

MSG is the likely culprit behind the explosion in ADD, ADHD, Autism and Aspberger’s Syndrome in this country. These four conditions strike the same percentage of males vs. females and have similar characteristic traits. In 1940 Autism was only known in a handful of cases worldwide. ADHD and Autism didn’t even exist as diagnoses. MSG was introduced to our Food Supply in 1950. Since that time, the rise in ADD, ADHD, Autism and Aspberger’s has matched the increase of MSG in our diet.

Many parents are worried about the mercury content of vaccines as a cause of Autism. The evidence supporting this point of view is quite flimsy, and one of the main papers that supported this hypothesis was just retracted by the journal that published it. Here’s another fact that puts more of the blame squarely on MSG. One of the main characteristics of Autism is a heavier brain. Mercury does not enhance cell tissue growth, but instead represses it. Glutamate, on the other hand, stimulates rapid cell division and tissue growth. Glutamate can easily cross the placenta from mother to developing child too. It is an approved additive to vaccines.

Here’s another scary detail. Food manufacturers are not required to list the amount of MSG they add to their food products. However, it has been found that 0.6% MSG added to food is ideal for making people eat progressively more and faster. In a daily intake of 4.4 pounds of food and drink that would amount to 12 grams of MSG. 12 grams of MSG is lethal to a 2.2 pound rat.

Are you ingesting 12 grams of rat poison EVERY DAY!?

Yet another wonderful reason to leave the processed stuff on the shelves where it belongs instead of in your kid’s stomach.

A word to the wise, you might not even be safe if you’re buying vegetables. A fertilizer called Auxigro was approved for use a few years back, and it contains 30% MSG. This stuff is sprayed over entire fields! If you’d like to pass on the excitotoxin with your salad, simply buy organic.

How To Tell If A Product Has MSG In It

You might see labels that sport the “No Added MSG” badge, but this does not mean they are free of MSG. Companies are allowed to use the “No Added MSG” badge when they don’t directly add in the crystalline powder. There are a whole HOST of ways, however, that it can still be added to a food product.

These ingredients are RED FLAGS warning you to never buy the product.

Always contain MSG

• monopotassium glutamate
• monosodium glutamate
• glutamate
• glutamic acid
• gelatin
• hydrolyzed protein (any any type)
• autolyzed yeast
• yeast extract
• yeast food
• natural flavors
• sodium caseinate
• calcium caseinate
• textured protein
• soy sauce powder
• beef flavor
• citric acid

OFTEN contain MSG or create MSG during processing

• “flavorings”
• “natural flavors”
• “seasonings”
• soy foods
• nutritional yeasts
• protein powders
• malt flavorings
• Carrageenan
• Maltodextrin
• Malt extract
• Natural pork flavoring
• Citric acid
• Malt flavoring
• Bouillon and Broth
• Natural chicken flavoring
• Soy protein isolate
• Natural beef flavoring
• Ultra-pasteurized
• Soy sauce
• Stock
• Barley malt
• Soy sauce extract
• Whey protein concentrate
• Pectin
• Soy protein
• Whey protein
• Protease
• Soy protein concentrate
• Whey protein isolate
• Protease enzymes
• Anything protein fortified
• Flavor(s) & Flavoring(s)
• Natural flavor(s) & flavoring(s)
• Seasonings (the word “seasonings”)

MSG Synergists (presence indicates MSG present)

• disodium guanylate
• disodium inosinate

None of this is new information either.

Click this link to watch  the 60 Minutes special on MSG that aired back in 1991. We knew a lot back then about how bad MSG is. Usage has only continued to rise.

Check out these YouTube video newscasts about MSG as well.

MSG is a toxin. As per usual, the USDA and FDA are so impotent that they can’t even touch the issue.

Once again, you have to take charge of your own health. The food companies won’t make it easy either. It’s on you to make a choice to be an informed consumer. We’ll be right there with you.

Fight for your health,

- Casey

Sources
http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html

Fallon, Sally, & Enig, Mary. Nourishing Traditions Pgs 49-50 (2001).

http://truthinlabeling.com/Jack_Weston%20A.%20Price%20speech-22.htm

http://truthinlabeling.com/

He, Ka., Zhao, Liancheng., et. al., Association of MSG intake with overweightin Chinese Adults: The INTERMAP study. Journal on Obesity, Vol. 16, August 2008.

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

“A Report on the Toxic Effects of the Food Additive Monosodium Glutamate” Presented by John Erb to FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives.

Here are the ingredients needed. Very simple. Insanely delicious.

~2 large avocadoes

~6 dates (soaked for 2 hours)

~1 Cup Cacao Powder

~1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Blend them all together and you’ve got a thick, creamy, chocolatey spread. Feel free to make it your own and post your modifications in the comments sections.

Suggested (but untested) additions:

- Coconut flakes

-Agave syrup

-Almond butter

-Stevia Powder

Enjoy!

- Casey

In case you missed it, here are the ingredients and approximate amounts. Feel free to make it your own.

~1&3/4 Cups Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

~1/3 cup Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

~4-5 cloves garlic, smashed, sliced, and finely minced

~3 Heaping TBSP of your favorite mustard (I prefer Stout or Stoneground)

~5 TBSP of Pumpkin Pie Spice

~Salt & Pepper to taste

~4 TBSP Raw Honey

Mix ‘em all up until emulsified and you’re done. Should make enough to fill a standard salad dressing container as in the video. (Told you I had excellent eyeballing skills

Enjoy,

- Casey

Reprinted with permission from Franson Family Chiropractic. Dudes, read this post too.

Lesson #27

Hope you’ve enjoying a spectacular 2010 so far.

I don’t know about you, but I’m going to try as hard as I can

to make this year my best year ever.

In order to do that I’ve been looking back on 2009

to see what valuable lessons I’ve learned, so I can better

help you achieve your health, fat loss, and body transformation goals.

I hope you do the same and leave your best lessons from 2009

in the comments section below, maybe you’ll help someone

avoid learning their lessons the hard, slow, and painful way.

IMPORTANT NOTE: True Learning results in behavior change,

if there’s no behavior change it’s just fact collecting,

which does not accomplish anything.

I know this because I’ve spent a lot of time “fact collecting”

with nothing to show for it.

Applying just one good lesson from 2009 will matter so much

more than memorizing your lessons and thinking about them.

1.  You don’t have to do it on your own – as a matter of fact

I think it’s impossible to do it on your own.

2.  Your imagination is your most powerful, exiting, and

fun workout tool.

3.  Shoes are bad!  You don’t see tigers running around with nikes on, do you?

It’s like wearing big rubber casts on your feet.  Our feet lose 40% of their muscle

when we wear conventional shoes, and then we injure ourselves with our weak feet.

4.  A person can make amazing change in their body in a relatively short amount of time

(it’s all relative but I’ve seen amazing things from our clients after

just 1 workout, 2 weeks, 12 weeks, 1 year etc).

5.  “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”     
-John Wooden

6.  Eating good (healthy, tasty, satisfying) food takes practice and planning

but it is absolutely worth it.

7.  Commitment and persistence moves mountains and transforms bodies

8.  Moving & Exercise can be hard work or it can be fun,

either way it is absolutely worth it.

9.  Change starts with desire, but goes nowhere without awareness.

10.  Mindset is everything

11.  Modeling is an awesome tool for life – if you want something

you don’t know how to get, just find someone who has

what you want and do what they do.

12.  The human body adapts to it’s environment, what’s your

environment?

13.  Shoes are bad!!  If you haven’t read the book Born to Run

by Christopher McDougal, read it.  Turns out we’ve been

wearing big rubber casts around our feet and

we are suffering for it.

14.  Mediocrity isn’t fun, exciting, or fulfilling

15.  Constant improvement is fun, exciting, and fulfilling

16.  There is no ONE solution.

17.  Change is  80%Why  &  20%HOW.  There are so many ways

to accomplish any goal or dream, if you’re not seeing progress your WHY is too weak.

Strengthen your WHY and you can do a lot more.

18.  Your body can do things it’s never done before if you

just give it a consistent chance.

19.  Big muscles burn more calories than small muscles

(i.e. use your core muscles: your butt, back and abs during exercise)

20.  The Lat muscles FEEL GREAT when you get them

stronger and more functional.

21.  The Glute Muscles are SO Awesome – Having

a stronger butt is unbeatable.

22.  “Mastery comes from the hips.”

-Dr. Michael Luan

23.  Sometimes, all you have to do is ask.

24.  Wishing really hard doesn’t achieve what you want.

25.  Having a clear vision and working really hard towards it achieves what you want.

26.  Good chiropractic is even more amazing than I ever imagined

27.  Climbing trees is fun!  It’s an outstanding workout too.

28.  “Nothing great is ever achieved without enthusiasm” – Ralph Waldo Emmerson

29.  You should always have your knees bent, It makes you athletic.

Only lock your legs out if you want to rest, store fat, and stress your bones and ligaments.

30.  How do you know if you know something?  IF YOU LIVE IT, YOU KNOW IT!

31.  Education for knowledge’s sake is pointless.  Education is about ACTION.

32.  We always get answers to the questions we ask, so the quality of your life

is determined by the quality of questions you habitually ask yourself.

Bad questions: Why can’t I lose weight?  Why does my life suck?  Why can’t I make any money?

Good questions: Why is my life so awesome?  Who loves me and who do I love?
How can I lose weight and enjoy the process?

33.  There is an infinite amount to learn about any subject.

34.  Everything that you want to do has likely been done before in some way.  You don’t

have to reinvent the wheel, save yourself time and hassle by getting a coach or modeling what works.

35.  Doing what you know is more important than knowing what to do.

36.  It does not matter where you are right now, what matters is which direction you’re going. . .

37.  You’re either growing or you’re dying, it’s impossible to stay the same.

38.  You can learn something from everyone.

39.  Changing your paradigm (your thought patterns and perspective through which you view

the world) can change your world fast and painlessly.

40.  So many of our decisions and actions are subconscious and habitual, if we want to

make awesome change we have to become hyper aware of our process, unlearn the things

that are limiting our growth and learn new habits that will empower us.

41.  Our perception of this world and our lives is one big distorted reality,

so we might as well change our story and distort reality in a way that supports and empowers us.

42.  “For me, all I know is that I know nothing.” -Socrates.

I’ve decided that staying open to new knowledge, new perceptions, and new experiences is essential

for constantly improving my life.

43.  We are all in this together.

44.  Get accountable, a partner (You’re awesome Pfeifer!),

an accountability buddy makes it fun, but more importantly, they help make it happen.

45.  It’s impossible to be grumpy when you are in a state of gratitude.

46.  “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.” -Vince Delmonte’s Dad

47.  All you have to do is share the love and you’ve got nothing to worry about.

48.  Cars and sitting in general is TERRIBLE for your back.  You have to take steps

to minimize the damage or it’s going to be trouble.

Thanks for reading, now drop your gems in the comments

below to clarify your thoughts and to help someone get some insight.

You only learn something if it results in a behavior change,

so when you get your hands on a profound lesson, apply it.

Now Get Out There and Show 2010 What You’re Made Of!

Fight For Your Health,

Andrew Araza

Finally got a pair of Vibram FiveFingers over the holidays. I’ve been tearing around the mountains in them a bit, but really put them to the test on New Year’s morning at the Los Gatos Resolution Run.

I hadn’t run 5 miles at a pop in quite a number of years before this, but I nonetheless managed to maintain a 7:35 pace for the duration.

Most impressively, I had absolutely zero pain during this run. I can’t remember the last time I ran and it didn’t hurt. The Vibrams allowed me to use my feet as they were meant to be used (i.e. as highly sensitive proprioceptive appendages instead of bludgeons). The Vibrams instantly put me into muscular dominance instead of depending on joints and soft tissues to literally absorb trauma. I would highly recommend them to anyone that is suffering from chronic pain, of any sort.

My adventure with these “shoes”, if you can call them that, is just starting, as is my re-education on how to properly use my feet. Stay tuned.

- Casey

The New Year’s Resolution is dead. It hasn’t ever existed for that matter. If it did, we’d be the
fittest instead of the fattest nation on earth. We’d also all be millionaires. And I’d have a
girlfriend.

No more sweeping life changes saved for January 1st. Let’s talk about picking good fruit from
well-tended roots. Let’s talk about real change instead.

Real change never results from a ritual once-yearly tip-of-the-hat to self improvement.

Real change is the result of a daily commitment to constant and never ending improvement.

Real change, whether it be of body, mind, or spirit, comes when the desire to have that change
overpowers the stagnant forces of acceptance and comfort.

Real change comes when being fit feels better than any food can taste.

I recently had a phone conversation with a boot camp prospect. When I asked her what she
wanted to accomplish she answered “I want to lose 30 pounds! In a week and a half!”

We both forced a chuckle at the end of that statement. But behind the strained laughter lay a deeper undertone to the conversation. As I listened between the lines I came to a number of realizations.

1. Paying homage to physical fitness once a year is a ridiculous tradition. When are we going to
   choose to make it a permanent priority? Even more so, what is it going to take for physical
   fitness to be a baseline for living instead of a doctor-recommended prescription for surviving?
2. When Mrs. Jones makes a comical quip about her weight immediately after expressing how
   unsatisfied she is with it, what she’s really saying is “I’d like the results, but I’m not willing to
   put in the effort.” Or in other words, “I’ve been here before, and I’m just sticking with the
   pattern so I can say I tried.” Mrs. Jones will convince herself that she’s OK with her current
   physical condition because the real solution to the problem is too painful to confront. The pain
   of being overweight isn’t as painful as accepting the fact that she’s lost control of that part of
   her life.
3. People will readily convince themselves that they can do it on their own. Sometimes with the
   most insane reasoning, if you can call it that! For example… “I just got a new pair of Skechers
   ShapeUps, and my knee pain and back pain all went away, so now I’ll be able to get back in
   shape and lose 30 pounds.” Really?! You let yourself gain 30 pounds because you didn’t have
   the right pair of shoes?
4. Most people set negative goals. These are very hard to accomplish. They often include the
   words “stop”, “eliminate”, “lose”, “no”, “won’t”, and “bad”.
5. Mrs. Jones is afraid of all the things she’s put off doing because she is overweight. For years
   and years Mrs. Jones hasn’t budged. She stopped growing, learning, and searching for new
   experiences because they required her to put herself out in the world. She imagines everyone
   judging her. Being overweight was her crutch, her shield, her self-erected barrier to happiness.

We’ve all been here in one way or another, using a problem as an excuse to stop progressing.
I’ve done it. But I’m working on it. Diligently.

We’re all afraid of something. But fear is no reason for inaction. If anything, fear is our
compass, telling us where we need to go.

Now, back to resolutions, goal setting, and picking good fruit.

Most resolutions that people pass are restrictive and prohibitory in nature. People resolve too
often to NOT do something when what they really need is a plan of action TO do something
they’ve been avoiding.

Restriction, elimination, prohibition, cessation – these are all negative ways to go about
accomplishing a goal, but by their very nature are exceedingly difficult to maintain because they
are all centered on deprivation.

What we need to do instead is ask better questions. Some of them might look like….

Where do I want to be 6 months from now?

Will I be happy with myself the way I am now in 6 months?

What do want to build/improve/create/nurture in the next 6 months?

How can I do it AND enjoy it?

What will my life be like when I accomplish this?

How am I going to feel when I accomplish this?

As you ask these positively framed questions, remember, you deserve happiness, greatness, and
peace – don’t settle for satisfaction, mediocrity, and the status quo.

Ask yourself what fruits you want, and then get busy tending the roots.
Be specific too. Identify your goals and be specific about what you want. The more clarity you
can bring to identifying your goals the more likely you are to accomplish them.

For every fruit (goal) that you identify, write down 3 things you can do to create a lifestyle that
will support the changes you need to make. Make one of them something you can do today in the
next 5 minutes. This is important. Taking some form of action immediately to accomplish your
goals, no matter how small, will set a healthy precedent.

Action is the mother of all progress. Take it and reap the rewards.

If you found this post thought provoking, please, share it. Send it to a loved one, or spam it to
your entire office! Hit the Digg button at the bottom of this page and help inspire commitment to
constant and never ending improvement.

Be an initiator. People all around you are waiting for a spark. Be that spark.

Happy New Year To All. Let’s make this decade amazing. And get me a girlfriend.

- C

• 2 Organic Garnet Yams
• 2-3 Organic Granny Smith Apples
• 2 Cups Organic Cranberries
• Raw Butter
• Cinnamon, Nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 400^o. Spread raw butter across base of lasagna baking dish.

2. Peel and slice garnet yams into half inch thick quarter circle slices. Put 1 layer down in baking dish.

3. Slice Granny Smiths to 1/4″ thickness, layer on top of Garnet Yams.

4. Add second layer of yams, second layer of apples.

5. Spread cranberries across top.

6. Add small flakes of butter across the top of the dish, spaced apprximately 1-2″ apart.

7. Sprinkle with cinnamon and a small amount of nutmeg.

8. Cover dish with foil, bake 35-40 minutes or until cranberries pop easily and yams are soft.

9. Remove, let cool 10 minutes, serve warm (works well as a cold leftover too).

There you have it. Easy. Healthy. Nutritious. Delicious. Enjoy!