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In the past, the human brain size peaked about 10,000 years ago and has been shrinking ever since.  What happened 10,000 years ago to instigate brain growth into brain shrinkage?  We’ll cover that later, but in short it was a change in diet.  For 240,000 years, give or take, we ate a certain way.  Then for the last 10,000, some of us switched…which caused our brains to shrink.    

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First to define intermittent fasting, this is consciously eating your daily food within a set window of time, usually 6 hours, and not ingesting anything but water during the other 18 hours.  Fasts can be any duration, but effective daily fasts are usually 18 hours.  Periodic 24 hour, 72 hour, and even longer fasts can also be done for varying reasons and additional benefits.

The first case we’ll consider is the carbohydrate eater.  They hear about fasting and its benefits and want to try it.  The problem with fasting on a carbohydrate based diet is the insulin roller coaster that the body gets into, with massive spikes and troughs and it is anything but a stable sustainable strategy.  These ups and downs of insulin and blood glucose cause major hormone fluctuations and put many of the other body’s systems into a roller coaster as well, including bouts of extreme hunger, maybe even “h-anger”, and hitting troughs of fatigue mid day. In fact, the hormone roller coaster stresses the homeostatic processes in the body to the extent that it can release a significant amount of cortisol.  Cortisol is the anti-stress hormone released when you are, well, stressed.  Its job is to reduce inflammation, which will be present from the high blood glucose, and it does this effectively when secreted in short bursts.  But chronic high levels of cortisol are horrible.  They begin to cause adrenal dysfunction, and cortisol is antagonistic to testosterone, so testosterone levels will plummet and stay low in a chronically stressed, i.e. a chronically carbohydrate fed state. 

Moreover, if you are fasting, you can very well put yourself into a caloric deficit.  Some folks think this is great.  They want to lose weight.  A caloric deficit is where they think they want to be.  But this is very problematic in this circumstance because the body will easily slip into starvation mode due to the constant spiking of insulin levels and the lack of energy available to the cells. 

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One bite at a time. The next four (or five) challenges are going to be a back-to-back four-part (or possibly five) Capacity Challenge series, each building on the previous. Part 1 – Understanding Metabolism, is a continuation of Challenge #23 – We are what we eat.  In this approach, it will allow us to do a much deeper dive into a topic as we can do it in stages.  I am very much looking forward to seeing how this rolls out and look forward to your feedback on these grouped Challenges of the same category.

Back in 2016, I happened to find myself hanging with a group of special forces (SF) soldiers and the topic of diet came up.  This was a stereotypical group of very fit men.  I was just getting myself back on track with my fitness after my retirement from the military ten years prior.  I had taken up power lifting a few years earlier but just started to dial my diet in.  Two of us realized that we were both on a ketogenic diet.  As hipster as this sounds, this was years prior to the keto fad starting.  I had done “keto” for a little over a year at that time, though I don’t think I was calling it that.  It was initially Mark Sisson on Joe Rogan in January of 2016 that got me started on modifying my diet from the SAD – the standard American diet.  I think he refers to his diet as the Primal Diet.  Later in September that year, he had on Kris Kresser talking about his book the Paleo Cure, which I also read, and bolstered my diet experimentation.  The SF soldier asked me how my breath hold time was since I started this diet.  I told him I hadn’t noticed or even tested it and thought nothing of it.

Months later that summer, my family and I were staying at a vacation rental with a pool.  I was swimming in it with the kids, doing laps underwater, and I noticed that my breath hold time was noticeably longer than I would have expected.  It reminded me of that conversation, and I needed to figure out what was happening.

In biochemistry, specifically in cellular metabolism, there is something called a respiratory quotient.  This is the ratio of how many oxygen molecules are required to metabolize a macronutrient into ATP, compared to the yield of carbon dioxide at the end of the metabolic process.  I realize that’s a lot to compute, so I ask you to bear with me here.  We’re going to dive deep.  ATP, or adenosine triphosphate, is the body’s usable energy, and carbon dioxide is a waste product in the process of breaking down macronutrients into ATP.

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As a young single adult, traditions didn’t really hold much meaning.  Now with children, I find myself digging up old nuanced rituals and traditions that I didn’t even realize were occurring at the time but were retained in the memory bank.  I wake my kids up with the same song my mom woke me up with, and I tell my kids, “You’re going to wake your kids up with this song one day!” 

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“A fight is going on inside my heart,” he says to the boy. “It’s a terrible fight between two wolves. One is evil. He is full of rage, jealousy, arrogance, greed, sorrow, regret, lies, laziness, and self-pity.”

He continues, “The other is good. He is filled with love, joy, peace, generosity, truth, empathy, courage, and humility.”

The grandson thinks about this for a few minutes, and then asks his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replies, “The one I feed.”

I was driving my children to Jiu Jitsu and got into one of our deeper conversations.  I asked them if they understood the long-term consequences of speaking negatively vs. being complimentary.  At their young age it is common to insult and put their sibling, or others down in an attempt to raise their own status.  It has counterintuitive results, so it’s odd this would be an innate and instinctive strategy.  I walked it through with them.  If they insult their brother to friends or family, behind his back, I asked if they thought that would ever get back to their brother.  They thought it probably might.  Then I asked how that would make their brother feel to know you were talking trash about them behind their back.  They said they would feel sad and mad.  I asked what they might do in response.  They said talk trash about their brother.  And thus we end up in a negativity spiral.  It could even be referred to as a circle of vengeance.

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Years prior in 2003, I would meet Janick Gilbert in Jarvis Lake, Alberta on the Search and Rescue Technician selection.  It is a grueling 17 days of proving your worth and competing for a spot on the year long course to become a SAR Tech.  Janick, who was born and raised in Quebec, didn’t speak a word of English.  But at the end of the 17 days, both he and I would be 2 of the 13 chosen from the 30+ candidates.  When we met again in Comox at the start of the SAR Tech course, Janick had learned to speak English…and it turned out, he was a card! 

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Over the Christmas holidays I received a very interesting email from one of our C4 Challenge followers. The email came after I had posted the agenda for our online video call and indicated that one of the questions we…

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And so began my talk on “why not me”. I spoke to my belief that the common unifying characteristics amongst all of us in that room were compassion, disciplined minds driven to provide and protect by being the first in/last out, and wounded souls from our experiences with tragedy and death. Speaking from my own personal struggle with PTSD, I knew the traumatic toll on mind, soul, heart, and body that a professional career on the front line could exact. Cumulative traumas and moral injury may be encountered. Symptoms of PTSD may manifest, and the feeling of an ever present darkness on the mind and soul might ensue. These men knew that. They were here, off work, away from loved ones, battling their own darkness and working to regain control of their lives. 

So began my involvement with the ten men of Cohort 66 in their 5.5 day intensive experience with Project Trauma Support (PTS). This is a program targeted towards first responders (law enforcement, corrections, fire, paramedics, and military) that have given everything in their service to others and are currently battling the symptoms of PTSD. It’s a rich, mentor assisted, and physician led program to rediscover strengths, regain purpose, develop an understanding of the PTSD journey, and forge a connection with the vibrancy of life.

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Over the years my wife and I have tried almost every iteration and option out there for calendars and schedules to coordinate our individual, home, family, and professional lives. Many “kinda” worked and had plenty of flashy bells and whistles. The electronic and online versions came with the promise to make our lives more efficient and productive. But, all fell short. 

The one tool that stuck for us and has stayed the course has been our paper, Bullet Journal style, agendas. If you are unfamiliar with the Bullet Journal, it is often described as a “mindful practice designed as a productivity system” for organizing your day, month, and year. 

Since we adopted the concept of the paper Bullet Journal, my wife and I have each had one for every year for the past 8 years. A new one is started every December, for the upcoming year, with minor modifications and updates made with how the bullet journal system is applied to us individually based on how we have evolved and what has worked, or not worked, over the past year.

More important than the system used though, is the superpower that my wife and I have gained from working together to craft, plan, and interconnect our lives.

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A fascination with the sun, moon, and the stars. I know it began when I was kid playing outdoors, shooting my sling shot, following brooks and streams ever upwards in the Rockies, and sitting and sleeping outdoors at night mesmerized by the brilliance of the nighttime sky. The magnificence of the sun, the majestic moon, and the magical stars my background and my ever present companions. This fascination was later augmented and further solidified while learning advanced navigation in the military. Practical lessons and earned experience gained while developing a deep relationship with these celestial bodies.

As a Patrol Pathfinder (PPF) in the Canadian Armed Forces, I was trained to be an expert navigator by map/compass, GPS, and by reading natural signposts contained within the winds, the woods, the terrain, and the skies above. Personally, I know I took this to the next level compared to most of my peers. I couldn’t help but do so given my inner drive to understand and connect with my natural environment and hone my capabilities as a navigator no matter the circumstance. So much time spent outdoors in rough, remote, austere environments in every different weather condition imaginable. All of this awakening in me the primal drive to always be aware of the messages ever present in my natural surroundings to anchor myself in location and time.

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To date with the C4 Challenges we have addressed directly the foundational pillars upon which real, authentic men are forged, armoured, and sustained. Noble mascul…

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Today, this interaction is drastically different. Most likely a text is sent to a friend. This is followed by a round of back and forth messages to figure out the where and when. After all is settled, navigation to the destination is achieved by simply entering the location into an app on our phones. While driving to the destination, Siri will be voice activated to update our friend on our progress and how late we are going to be. While driving, we will hear multiple dings and alerts from our phone and we will not be able to stop the temptation to glance at the screen to see who just emailed us or if there is a message on a favourite social media app. We will then park where we’re told to by our phone and walk head down, phone in hand, following the prompts to turn left or right while checking in on news, likes for a recent post on social media, or if we have any new followers on our instagram account. Once we bump into our friend, we will engage in conversation, but it will be quickly interrupted by the vibration of the apple watch on his wrist and him pausing the conversation to take a quick glance to see the alert. This then will be followed by a quick apology and a statement that he unfortunately has to return an important call and that we should meet again soon.

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There are many benefits to effectively used technology. Smart phones have the ability to provide instant communication and connectivity. Navigation is made easy. Pictures can be taken on the spur of the moment. Music can be downloaded instantly. Questions can be answered by a quick look on a search engine. Emails and messages can be sent from literally anywhere. Everything you need apparently available and imbedded in one small, portable, immediately accessible device that must be carried in your pocket always and everywhere. But there’s a cost to convenience.

Design and content creators are well aware of what is necessary to pull users into habitual use of their products. Apps are created to provide ease of use, convenience, “must” haves, and features toted to simplify every last challenge and problem in ones life. All of it aimed at breeding dependency. Over a short period of time our world has been transformed into one filled with smart phone addicts. It is almost ubiquitous. Constant hits of dopamine from likes, alerts, and notifications stimulate the user day and night. Smart phones are designed to be addictive in every way. Of course they are! This is how profits are created and market shares secured.

Now take a step back and consider the potential collateral damage from cell phones to our health, vibrancy, memory, concentration, and ability to connect with the world around us. Smart phones are powerful, EMF radiating devices that are being carried in pockets next to our reproductive organs and are constantly being placed next to our brains. For very obvious reasons, frequent exposure to radiation in these areas is not contributing to our health. It is well documented that frequent cell phone EMF exposure is a contributing cause to mitochondrial and cellular damage and is a causative factor for cancer.

Completely separate from this is the danger from data harvesting, surveillance, and control that is being exerted by big brother through these smart devices. But, that is a topic for another day and we will dive into personal cybersecurity in a separate challenge.

Now step back and take a look at your own use of your smart phone. Is it carried with you always? How often do you check it? Can you resist the “ding” of a notification and not look at your phone immediately? How many apps do you have notifications turned on for? How many apps do you have downloaded on your phone? Do you have your cell phone on 24hrs a day? Do you answer work calls after hours? Does your work expect you to be instantly available via your phone or computer? When you have a lull in your day do you instinctively pull out your phone? Do you feel panicked if you forget or cannot find your phone?

What do your answers to these questions tell you about your relationship and habits with your smart phone?

There are so many ways to tackle this issue. A few will simply toss their phone in the lake and just walk away. Others will feel too overwhelmed, throw their hands up and say it is all just too much and change nothing. Many will say it is a non-issue. Ignorance is another default. Most will just trudge on saying their dependence is not an addiction, but rather a necessity of their “busy” lives.

I know you, since we are on this C4 Challenge journey together, will consider, address, and tackle the addictive potential of smart phones head on. We have much to learn from each other on this topic, especially with the different demands of our professions and our roles as providers and protectors.

Personally, I view and employ my phone as a tool. Nothing more. I control its use and work hard to mitigate any risk it has on my health while taking advantage of the benefits it affords. Some practical things I have learned and do are as follows:

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The care with which this email was crafted is obvious. He had taken time amidst the significant demands of his every day to write out his thoughts and insights with his own earned life lessons. Contained within was not only an argument for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) but also a challenge for me.

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Life is so amazing and truly miraculous this way if you are open to listen. Over the past couple of years my wife and I have been considering BJJ. It has been in our awareness with life presenting sign posts quite frequently. We have listened to podcasts by Robb Wolf and his wife Nickie on Jiu Jitsu and the life altering impact it has had on their entire family. A close neighbour is highly skilled at BJJ as a result of his work in a tactical police unit and it has often entered into our conversations. We have heard stories from many friends and acquaintances who have started the BJJ journey.

My wife and I have wanted to engage in learning a new skill together. But, when we researched local BJJ clubs in our area we were always left wanting.

As an adult learner, I know how I learn best. Focusing on fundamentals is everything. Learning from experts is key. Staged progression in a controlled environment is required for rapid development and is necessary to avoid injuries. Integrating practical application from the start is vital to provide context. My wife and I did not want to be thrown into an environment of the “deep end” to flounder unnecessarily and risk injury along the way. In our rural environment there just didn’t seem to be any options. So, the idea of BJJ has been just that, an idea with no further action. Until now.

All of these BJJ synchronicities with podcasts, friends, and this nagging “gap” in my own psyche linked together with my friend’s email.

Here’s the email:

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