1 hour
4 miles
12 donuts
2400 calories
It’s a 2 mile run from NC State’s bell tower to the Krispy Kreme in downtown Raleigh, a rush to eat 12 original glazed donuts, and a 2 mile run back. That, in a nutshell is the “Krispy Kreme Challenge.” But there are a few more numbers that really describe how crazy this event has become: 3,000 people signed up this year and were able to donate over $20,000 to the North Carolina Children’s Hospital. This is just the fourth time this event has occurred and the growth has been exponential each time. When you watch footage from this race, it’s hard to tell if you’re watching a marathon or a zombie flick. I rounded up some competitive eating tips the night before the race. I think they were pretty effective because I didn’t throw up at all, unlike a lot of the challengers. So here was my strategy:

• Drink a ton of water the night before, have a little in the morning
• Eat a huge amount of dense, but low calorie food, like salad or cabbage the night before to expand your stomach (it’d probably be a lot more effective if this was done for days beforehand)
• Eat something small the morning of: a banana is always a good compromise
• Eat the donuts in stacks; I used stacks of three
• Dunk the donuts in water (if that doesn’t gross you out too much)

I’m sure some people will take issue with the health aspects of this race. You know what? I don’t think it’s that bad. Sure, the running doesn’t offset the calories in the donuts, but it’s just one day. Some dieters even think that occasionally spiking caloric intake is an effective weight loss tool.

I finished in 1:03, technically not completing the challenge (you need to get in under an hour), but surpassing my expectations. I couldn’t even jog a single mile this time last year, so I’m pretty happy. And there’s always next year:

Krispy Kreme Challenge

Anyway, I started going back to the gym recently. Last night was the second time. I decided to do some biceps and back exercises. I also did a little bit of ab work, some riding on a stationary bicycle, and running. From my understanding, you lose muscle strength a lot slower than you lose aerobic fitness. But you still lose it…

I got back from the gym feeling a little stuffed up. It was pretty cold and rainy outside (I was wearing shorts of course) and I really didn’t want to get sick again. That fear was unfounded. I woke up totally cleared up. I actually feel fine, except for one small detail. I can’t move my arms below 90 degrees. Woops! I wonder if this is normal. I guess I’m just going to have to look like a robot for the rest of the day.

I speculated there that getting sick frequently is probably not necessary, a bold claim indeed. So it sure is a peculiarity that I became sick myself. There could be a lot of reasons that I got sick and I can only guess as to why. I was just returning from a bit of traveling (commercial flights are pretty good environments for the spread of illness) and I was returning from Wisconsin. And believe me, it was cold! There was even snow on the ground at one point and it was in November. I usually can’t even expect to get a good snow during the whole winter in North Carolina. Anyway, my cold could be attributed to the flight or stress or the temperature.

However, there are a few interesting notes here. The last few times I’ve gotten sick have been preceded by the same thing: lack of the sleep. I distinctly remember (and it helps that I write it down too) that the first signs of illness (usually a sore throat and mild congestion) start the day after getting 4 or 5 hours of sleep the night before. That’s not what happened this time! In fact, for the days preceding this cold, I was getting 8-9 hours every night.

Of course, there’s one other thing: my diet. I recently reintroduced dairy into my diet as part of a self experiment on acne. I got sick just weeks after I started eating dairy again. I have to say: I’m not really surprised. Surely, this could be a coincidence, but it is thought provoking to me. I’ll feel more confident about this connection, one way or the other, when I start experimenting again with Paleo next month.

I’ll leave you with an intriguing video about preventing and treating colds and flus. I don’t agree with everything presented here (especially skeptical of the hydrogen peroxide tip), but this guy does confirm some of my previous outlandish thoughts about getting sick . Enjoy:

Beyond that though, I had been putting a ridiculous amount of time into preparing my halloween costume, Xerxes from the movie 300. I shaved my head three times, went to the tanning bed (never thought that would happen), learned a great deal more than I cared to know about makeup, and of course, the hallmark of any great homemade costume creation, perused thrift stores and hardwore stores looking for something good.

I actually was quite pleased with the result, although it would have been nice to have been nine feet tall:

I think that understanding human evolution is the single most important step to understanding nutrition.

Here’s the thing. As I said last time, people misunderstand or reject evolution more often than not. While reading one reader’s comment on that post, I cringed:

Evolution is a response to the idea that adaptation will either kill us or make us better/fitter/more adapted. So, by eating grains, potatoes, and yes, even milk, I’m ensuring that my children can digest a wider range of foods than my ancestors could.

Wow! I don’t think it works quite that way. I felt that this reader was misguided, but understandably so. There is such a strong anti-evolution, even an anti-science, bias in this country that it’s amazing anyone learns anything about it at all.

I hope I don’t come across as a jerk for this post. I’m not an expert and I won’t pretend to be one. I just want to share my own understanding of natural selection.

I wrote a quick and dirty genetic algorithm. Genetic algorithms are specialized computer programs that mimic real evolutionary mechanisms to solve problems. Therefore, they’re a good way to show how natural selection works. My genetic algorithm attempts to simulate a small population (20) of organisms of the same species. Here’s how it works:

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What really causes acne?

Is it poor hygiene? Not getting enough sunlight? Touching your face too much? As you can probably guess, I think the real reason behind most acne problems is diet.

I’ve got a damn good hunch that diet is the real issue for most cases of acne. Certain experiences have made me feel this way: for instance, my face was very clear during one week. I didn’t have so much as one pimple. I broke down one night during that week and bought a small box of Junior Mints. Within hours, I had several zits. It was ridiculous. In general, I have seen a significant improvement in my acne since I started changing my diet. However, this could be attributed to other reasons and I haven’t documented this change yet, so I am now planning to go back and see the difference.

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The one thing I’ve learned that a blogger absolutely has to do is this:

Pay attention
Pay attention to the news. To other blogs. To your friends. There is blogging inspiration everywhere. And of course, pay attention to your readers. You probably have some good ideas of your own, but remember that your readers have their own interests. I’ve noticed that my best posts aren’t the ones where I’m rambling about my own ideas, but where I seek out and meet the needs of the reader.

Paying attention is the best way to choose a niche. It’s the best way to choose a topic to write about. Paying attention to social phenomena can have a huge payoff:

How Does a Bestseller Happen? A Case Study in Hitting #1 on the New York Times

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I’ve always wanted to make my own sesame chicken. I get sesame chicken almost every time I go to a chinese restaurant. Believe it or not, I actually find chinese restaurants good places to avoid grains and dairy. Dairy usually isn’t a problem at all; grains can mostly be avoided if you just stay away from rice and noodles. Anyway, I used this recipe:

Flawless Sesame Chicken

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Drum roll please.

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I was trying to emulate the type of meal that is usually served up at Kanki, a Japanese steakhouse. The stir fry part is pretty obvious. I fried zucchini, mushrooms, and precooked shrimp (probably a bad idea). I assume some people have never heard of swedes, or rutabagas as they are known in the US. They are root vegetables, so I was kind of worried about if this would fit under paleo. I definitely wouldn’t count it as a “grain” which is all I’m focusing on eliminating this month, but eventually it might have to be cut. I actually found a pretty good answer to my question here. Apparently, swedes have a much lower glycemic load than potatoes. So a swede is not par for the course on a seriously strict paleo diet, but it’s probably one of the best options as far as root vegetables go. The best part about swedes is that they have a much stronger, sweeter flavor than potatoes in my opinion.

Admittedly, these were a pain in the ass to cut up, but that’s probably just due to my inexperience with cooking. I haven’t had them prepared any other way, but mashed is awesome.