Inscriptions on the Soul and Forgetting to Remember

     Ample evidence of suffering in the world is readily available.  Some authors suggest a description of trauma as a sort of "psychical fracturing."  Others describe an individual's Self-World in terms of struggle, wonder, and mystery.  Where, then, do trauma and suffering find themselves in relation to one's Self-World or identity?  Some suggestions may be archetypal daemons, dissociation, or repression.  This lecturette does not seek to ask "why" or "how", but rather "what now?"  What are the hopes and obligations of the clinician and the client under the circumstances as they have been presented now?

     Ah yes, it is that time of the semester.  Where grad students grow out scraggly beards, live for the wee-hours of the night, have an i.v. drip of coffee, and a steady diet of junk food.  Of course, today was the day of the 16th annual University of West Georgia Student Psychology Annual Research Conference (SPARC).  Some of my seasoned readers may remember discussions of this last year.  Again this year I presented, though it is difficult to provide a pinpoint answer as to "what" I presented on.  The simplest solution is to provide you with the (above) description of the presentation I provided for the conference schedule and of course links to the presentation and corresponding lecture transcript.

The Simplest Diet You'll Ever Need

     It should be no surprise to anyone that the No. 1 New Year's Resolution each year is to lose weight and that right about this time of year millions of people (who have undoubtedly failed at this resolution) are trolling the inter-webs hoping to bandwagon aboard the latest and greatest miracle fad.  I won't lie, a few such things have caught my attention as well:

• 11 Most Destructive Nutrition Lies
• Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 of Produce
• No-Brainer Nutrition for Triathletes

     Before going any further, let me reiterate that I'm not here to sell anything to anyone or to flaunt a zealous fanhood of certain methods, ends, sports, and authors.  That includes the USDA's MyPlate.  Rather, I firmly believe that rules are born of principles (applicable to much more than nutrition of course).   Those principles begin with the sharing of information, hence the title of my previous blog about being an "open source" athlete.  The proverbial "source code" to these kinds of things should be freely available, which, they mostly are; subject of course to the manipulation of business marketing and sales pitches.
     If you've read much of my writing on nutrition in the past you know that I've spanned a pretty broad spectrum of experiments, fads and fashions, trials and errors.  What I have found quite interesting is that regardless of the diet "plan" I was adhering to my body weight stayed about the same (+ or - 5 lbs) so long as I retained the same daily activity level (both recreational and non).
  The later part of this post with get into some more specific aspects and findings that I've discovered in my own research (subject of course to my personal dietary and exercise habits and lifestyle).  But for now, I'll present you with three simple rules principles:

• Listen to  Your Body
• If you're hungry, eat.  Understand that its an uncomfortable process for the body to consume itself for energy (e.g.: losing weight).   When you want to eat something, ask yourself if you're "hungry" or "bored."  If something "sounds" good, then you're probably subject to more psychological romanticism than physical need of nourishment.
•  Do Your Own Homework
• Be it a phone call to your doctor (hint, hint, nudge, nudge), searching the depths of the internet, reading medical journals, books, or magazines; it will be helpful to draw your information from a variety of sources.  Most of all, keep a track record of your successes and failures.  Nothing will give you a more individualized database than a case study of your own body. 
• Don't Eat **** That Doesn't Grow!
• This is probably the best one-liner of dietary advice I have ever heard.  Of course, this tends to run on a continuum more than a binary, but  you can figure that out for yourself.  Basically, if you can't (at least theoretically) kill or harvest it, you probably shouldn't be eating it.  Much to the chagrin of carb-haters, potatoes and rice probably aren't going to kill you.  When it comes to bread and pasta, that's up to you.  A half-gallon of ice cream to chase your McD's Dollar Menu buffet? (you get the idea).  The only caveat here is that even the most seasoned dieter must (I demand it) admit that "junk food" still tastes good.  Whether you'd like to admit it or not, an occasional small reward can do quite a bit of good.  Though, again, "occasional" and "small" are operational definitions that one must decide for themselves.

Further Reading:  Some Findings about Dieting and Climbing

Climbing and Cheating: A Tidbit for Motivation

     Several months ago I made one of many trips to Escalade Climbing Gym.  The gym has a bulletin board above the water fountain on which I noticed this article tacked up and it immediately drew my attention.  I made a note to myself to write a blog post on the contents.  Yesterday, I was at Escalade again and while using the restroom -- a promising source of inspiration of course -- and noticed the same article tacked to the bulletin board above / behind the toilet.  This reminded me to look up / research the article and do a little write up on it.
     The article is short and worth the read, but the meat of it is Tom Hanson's wise words -- " There is no cheating in climbing, only lying."  To further get the point across:  Most of us [climbers] are climbing for an audience of one:  yourself.  If you want to pull on draws and fall your way up a sport route, and then tell yourself you redpointed it, the world is going to keep on spinning.  You're only kidding yourself, unless you record it on [insert your favorite forum, message board, or social media] ticklist, which is not illegal - just kind of lame.  Its not cheating; in other words, its lying.
     If further explanation is needed, insert Carolyn Parker's shorter and sweeter coverage of the same topic.  "Is it cheating?"... "It depends on what you claim you did."  In the world of climbing... there is not a stop watch or referee, our world is all we have, honesty and integrity are paramount.  If ever an ascent was misrepresented it is always found out.  Then your ascent and your integrity will always be in question.  "Is it cheating?"... "If you have to ask, then it is."

Lacan, Levinas, and Trauma

     Recently I presented a powerpoint on Lacan and Levinas for a course on Trauma.  While I had heard the names before, prior to ~2 weeks ago I had never looked into the works of either Lacan or Levinas.  Needless to say, then, that this was quite the task to try and compile these two notoriously dense thinkers with an exceptionally difficult "Subject" (pun intended).
     Typically I like to accompany publicly shared presentations with their counterpart essays to fill in details.  However, I'm not certain (yet) where my research in this (trauma) course will take me so I'll go ahead and post the presentation; which you can view here.
     Acknowledging my preferences and biases, I'm certainly not a well-polished (Lacanian) analyst, and do like [proverbially] slinging the ontological mud when it comes to philosophical matters.  For all the density and "headiness" of a Lacanian-Levenasian take on trauma, I do see some pertinent principles.  For example, the Lacanian notions of Mirror State/Experience; but rather applied across a life span rather than explicitly undertaken in infancy.  Also, the Levinasian principle that The Subject never "is", it is never "being", rather, it is constantly "becoming."  Those are probably the two biggest sticking points for me throughout this project and that I find most relevant to trauma work.

Send Text Messages (email) from a Linux Terminal

     I made the switch from Windows 7 to Linux about a year and a half ago.  Since then I've wandered through a handful of different distributions.  I started with Linux Mint and have grown very comfortable with Arch Linux over the past six months.  This isn't a post comparing and contrasting different "flavors" of Linux -- though that might be a good endeavor in the future -- but rather a nifty little process of sending text messages (via gmail) from my Linux terminal (command prompt).  The following are the steps involved; though they are distro specific to Arch, the same concept can be applied you distro of choice (Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, etc...).

First, you'll need to download a small application called "mailx", so enter a terminal and ...

$ sudo pacman -S mailx

...then do some configuring for the application (can also use "gedit" or "vim" or your text editor of choice instead of "nano").

$ sudo nano /etc/mail.rc

Delete the contents of the file and add the following:

set sendmail="/usr/bin/mailx"

set smtp=smtp.gmail.com:587

 set smtp-use-starttls

 set ssl-verify=ignore

set ssl-auth=login

set smtp-auth-user=YourEmailAddress@gmail.com

set smtp-auth-password=YourGmailPassowrd

The basic process is something like this ...

$ mailx 10digitphonenumber@carrier.com [enter]

Enter message subject if desired [enter]

Enter message body

Press [Ctrl+d] to send

Alternatively its a bit more sleek and simple to just do...

$ echo "message contents" | mailx 10digitphonenumber@carrier.com 

There are also other arguments you can include; such as...

$ echo "message contents" | mailx -S [Message Subject] 10digitnumber@carrier.com

$ echo "message contents" | mailx -c [Carbon Copy recipient] 10digitphonenumber@carrier.com 

$ echo "message contents" | mailx -S [Message Subject] -c [CC recipient] 10digitphonenumber@carrier.com

Voila!  Your recipient will receive a text message from your Gmail address.  Here is a list of carriers and their respective message clients:

• Verizon: 10digitphonenumber@vtext.com
• AT&T: 10digitphonenumber@txt.att.net
• Former AT&T customers: 10digitphonenumber@mmode.com
• Sprint: 10digitphonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
• T-Mobile: 10digitphonenumber@tmomail.net
• Nextel: 10digitphonenumber@messaging.nextel.com
• Cingular: 10digitphonenumber@cingularme.com
• Virgin Mobile: 10digitphonenumber@vmobl.com
• Alltel: 10digitphonenumber@alltelmessage.com OR
• 10digitphonenumber@message.alltel.com
• CellularOne: 10digitphonenumber@mobile.celloneusa.com
• Omnipoint: 10digitphonenumber@omnipointpcs.com
• Qwest: 10digitphonenumber@qwestmp.com
• Telus: 10digitphonenumber@msg.telus.com
• Rogers Wireless: 10digitphonenumber@pcs.rogers.com
• Fido: 10digitphonenumber@fido.ca
• Bell Mobility: 10digitphonenumber@txt.bell.ca
• Koodo Mobile: 10digitphonenumber@msg.koodomobile.com
• MTS: 10digitphonenumber@text.mtsmobility.com
• President's Choice: 10digitphonenumber@txt.bell.ca
• Sasktel: 10digitphonenumber@sms.sasktel.com
• Solo: 10digitphonenumber@txt.bell.ca

Beyond Vegetarian: Part 2

     Throughout the last couple years I've gone through several stints and various incarnations of Tim Ferris's "Slow Carb Diet" (ala "The 4 Hour Body").  Recently I've been feeling the season's ripe for change and have taken another look at my notes from the book.  These days you can find a copy on Amazon for about $10 used.  If you're looking for the quick rundown of what the "fat loss" section of the book offers, a good summary cheat sheet can be found here; and the same site provides long list of other summary / cheat sheets (link here).
     This time around I've taken the most minimal approach I can while still employing the principles found in the book.  The book states that one's fitness is dictated by (varying degrees, but more or less) 60% diet, 30% exercise, and 10% drugs.  I've opted not to employ and supplements other than whey protein.  One of my favorite points of the book is the distinction between exercise and recreation.  Basically, recreation is whatever you do for fun, be that some sort of physical activity (of various degrees) or not.  On the other hand, exercise is done with the specific intent of energy consumption (calorie burning, hormone production, etc..).
     So, this incarnation involves several things for me that have some moderate changes from what is prescribed in the book (fitness and dieting should always maintain a degree of plasticity to adapt to one's intent of implementation:  goals, duration, etc...).  Below are the practices I've implemented.

Slow Carb Diet:
     This is actually easier to list foods that are not "approved":  fruit, grains, starch, sugar, and liquid calories.  This diet consists of eating a lot of legumes (beans / lentils), lean protein, eggs, and vegetables.  For more reasons as to "why"... read the book!  For me, a typical day would look something like this:

• Breakfast - Coffee (black), 1 scoop whey protein, 1 whole jumbo egg
• Lunch - ~200 calories worth of beans / lentils, 4oz fish or chicken, 2 servings of fresh vegetables.
• Mid - Afternoon - ~200 calories worth of bean / lentils, 1 serving fresh vegetables
• Dinner - ~200 calories of beans / lentils, 4oz fish / chicken, 2 servings frozen vegetables
• Late Night - 28g nuts, 1 serving frozen vegetables
• *Unlimited green, non-starchy (corn, peas) vegetables -> the nutritional benefits far outweigh any extra calories.
• *The book advises that if you're truly (physically opposed to psychologically) hungry, then one more slow carb meal (See Lunch and Dinner) won't be harmful in the long run.  Indeed consistency maintainability are key to long-term success.
• Cost:  The book has a quick grocery list for one week totaling < $40.  When I went on a grocery run the other day I found that to be pretty accurate.  You may spend a bit more to get stocked up, but you'll spare a few groceries if you eat out and on cheat day.  All in all, I'd say that things balance out as long as you're modest in your eating out and budget appropriately for your weekly binge.  One more thing, don't buy the junk food with your groceries or keep it in the house!

Cheat Day:

     The book recommends taking one day off per week to go wild; with some caveats for "damage control."

• Keep a log of food cravings throughout the week - indulge one day / week
• 1st meal of the day should be clean, normal slow carb meal.
• Heavy caffeine (mild diuretic) throughout first part of day.
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon with each "junk" meal.
• 90 seconds of exercise before and after (w/in 90min) of each junk meal.
• Drink plenty of fruit juice throughout the day.

Other Procedures:

• 90 seconds of exercise each morning upon waking.
• 30 grams of protein w/in 30 minutes of waking.
• 30 minutes w/ ice pack on neck in the morning.
• This is easier to deal with than cold showers / ice baths.  There has been some debate as to its effectiveness especially if someone is eating hot food / drinks and taking hot showers.  However, I look at it this way, if the temperature and duration of your showers and hot beverage consumption stay about the same, you're still getting a lower "net" body temperature throughout the day.
• Add cinnamon (saigon preferably) to coffee.
• Drink plenty of ice water and green tea (decaf) throughout the day.
• The easiest way to accomplish this it to take an empty milk or fruit juice jug, fill it with hot water, add the tea bags and some lemon / lime juice, let it brew / cool, then stick it in the fridge and drink it throughout the day.
• Add lemon / lime juice to drinking water.
• Lots of herbs and spices (particularly garlic) with food.
• 30 minutes w/ ice pack on neck before bed.
• 1 gram of poppy seeds (sleep aid?) before bed.
• Avoid artificial sweeteners.

Now, lets see if this bad boy can fly!

Diet Update: Beyond Vegetarian

     Another time, another change; variety is the spice of life, right?  Speaking from a behaviorist standpoint it takes anywhere from 10 sessions to 7 weeks to "integrate" new patterns of behavior.  Be this diet or exercise, consequently this is also the approximate time it takes the body to get used to patterns (integration) and plateau (i.e.:  no longer a stimulating challenge).  I've finally hopped off the (semi)vegetarian train and found myself seeking an old ally.  But first, a recap of my mostly-vegetarian adventures.

• August 2013 - Begin Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian Diet
• September 2013 - Eggs removed from diet
• October 2013 - All dairy except Whey Protein removed from diet
• Early November 2013 - Attempt to eat as little cooked and as much raw food as possible (within caloric limits)
• Late November 2013 - Stop supplement intake (other than Whey)
• December 2013 - Diet Soda (and artificial sweeteners) removed from diet

     Now, there are some finer points in here that I'll probably get into in later posts, but the bigger picture is that this was a good 5 - 6 month run and I was fairly satisfied with the results.  If I recall correctly, I lost a couple pounds in the early stages but gained them back.  My overall body composition (much to my surprise) stayed about the same was when I was eating meat.  What I did find exceptionally comfortable about this diet is that it evolved into a series of healthy preferences rather than stringent rule and lists of "thou shalt not..."  For example:

• AVOID artificial sweetners
• PREFER vegetables
• PREFER not to eat meat, eggs, or dairy
• but do on rare occasions, or social gatherings
• PREFER to eat a lot of fruits, nuts and vegetables
• but do eat some grains / starch (sweet potatoes, wild rice - not pasta / bread)
• PREFER to eat mostly raw foods - (or soaked rice / lentils / bean)
• but do cook own food on occasion or eat out
• some processed and semi-processed foods are still good (granola, whey, nuts, salsa, hummus)
• however there's something ironic about tofu (e.g.: super processed soy ... "stuff?")

     But all in all, I had to face the facts.  I make no attempt to hide the fact that I was a "lazy" vegetarian.  Meat still tastes(ed) good, but it was simply easier to dice some fresh vegetables than it was to scrub a George-Foreman Grill.
     My theory of small daily cheats was also a bust, but not totally.  I still had some cravings for junk food and the occasional bender but they were much fewer and far between.  When eating as described above I found that I did have garbage food cravings but they were much more mild, say a single candy bar or a single bag of chips rather than a whole pizza and a half gallon of ice cream or something ridiculous like that.  What seemed to work well was to not sweat the small stuff now and then; however, one has to be very judicious in deciding how frequent is too frequent and when "small" is no longer small.
     I also found that after I stopped drinking diet soda that I paid more attention to my physiological hunger rather than statistics and numbers.  Rather, I ate when I was hungry per the above guidelines; not when a prescribe plan said I could / couldn't.  That factor seemed to make things very sustainable.
     In case you have considered trying a vegetarian(ish) diet or even have a vendetta against them, there is some good information available here; titled "Beyond Vegetarian."


Ah yes, I mentioned an "old ally", stay tuned for Part 2.......