June 18, 2007

If you travel anywhere in Asia, you will see entire open air centers filled with street merchants selling everything from tea to noodle, beef to steamed vegetables and all of it tastes great! When I was in Malaysia, I would eat my breakfast, lunch, super and snacks mostly from street vendors. I remember I could eat my fill (I eat a lot) for the equivalent of about one dollar Canadian, at these prices, why bother going to the grocery store and preparing your own meal?

Be careful though

Sanitation at these places does take a back seat though, I can say I never got the stomach flu or food poisoning considering I was surrounded by begging stray cats and dogs that looked abused full of scars. I avoided any type of foods that where sitting for any extended period of time, instead, going for the freshly prepared meals that, although I had to wait, where probably the safest thing around. Drinking cups where basically rinsed with water before being given to another customer, never saw any soap being used but when your in the middle of nowhere, food is more important then sanitation. Sure, I could have eaten at restaurants, and I did do a lot of that, but nothing tasted as good nor was as cheap as hocker centers.

Tips to avoid sickness

Always have the street vendor cook a fresh meal in front of you, anything sitting for any extended period of time is a time bomb waiting to explode in your stomach. If you are in doubt, stick to dry foods as they tend to have lots of salt in them to kill off bacteria. Always follow your instincts, if you believe something isn’t good for you then, well, don’t buy it! Also, don’t return food if you don’t like it as it may insult the street vendor and you aren’t getting a refund anyways. You will most likely see the same group of street vendors, and they do talk to one another, if you becoming a pain, expect to have some extras in your food to keep you away in the future or to teach you a lesson. I also never drank water, stick to either unsealed bottled water, hot tea or a soft drink (at last resort). In the third world, drinking tap water from any source is asking for trouble. To be honest, I never washed my hands before eating at these places, I always figured that no matter how dirty my hands get, at least I know where those germs are from relative to a shared bucket of water or communal water source from the ground with the only exception being if I shook hands with somebody earlier in the day.

Tips to gain you extras with street vendors

Sure, a street vendor may charge you 1RM for a super, when he asks for the money (usually upfront), give them a bit extra… not only will they be surprised but you can be sure you will get extra special treatment the next time you visit them along with an extra large helping. To you, an extra 20-50% above the local price is pennies on the dollar but to some of these vendors, it can mean a profit at the end of the night or extra food for their family back home. This also works well in Mexico and in Japan by the way.

The Bottom Line

Street vendors are entrepreneurs just like magazine barons or real estate developers, treat them with the same amount of respect and it will go a long way towards making your meal in a far off destination that much better.

Testosterone Nation (also known as T-Nation) is a hard core bodybuilding community that has some very interesting articles about improving your health and pushing your body beyond its natural limits. This past week, they interviewed Stan “The man” McQuay who is an up and comer leading a new generation of bodybuilding physiques. I hope the days of more muscle at any cost once again get replaced by aesthetics and symmetry of a by gone era.

Stans Background

According to Wikipedia, Stan was born in Japan from an Irish father and Japanese mother and spent most of his life in the San Fernando Valley as a youngster. After one of his friends was sentenced to 25 years in jail for killing a person and wounding another, he swore off gang related activities and got into college, this lead him into bodybulding. His height of 5 ft 7 is the average height of most bodybuilders and started competing on stage at the insistence of friends starting in 1998. He graduated from college as a personal trainer which is booming since he began to acquire cover shoots for various magazines around the world. He won his IFBB Pro Card in the Lightheavyweight division in the 2006 NPC Nationals at the age of 34 after 10 years of hard work and dedication in bodybuilding.

Interview Highlights

• isn’t looking to compete directly against the mass monsters @ up to 300 lbs
• stick to training methods that work for YOU and rotate them to induce maximum shock value, sometimes train to failure, other times doing pyramid sets
• when training to failure, use machines, not free weights unless you enjoy hospital visits
• leg extension require very good form for maximum effort (sames goes with all exercises to avoid injury)
• starts off days knowing what body parts need training in the gym
• hits abs directly 3x a week (abs are trained by other exercises as well)
• using too much weight with abs leads to too much bulk (for bodybuilding)
• diet is 75% of how you will look
• posing routines are exhausting because you must maintain muscle control and squeeze throughout your body for a few minutes while controlling your breathing and looking relaxed
• chest and back work symmetry takes lost of study to accomplish properly
• pull-ups isn’t an exercise performed often by bodybuilders but he believes they help in creating separation
• works delts (shoulders) directly but never performs forearms isolation exercises
• training myth he found to be false include high reps to burn away fat before a contest
• mass phase (off-season) is up to 210 while contest phase (in-season) is at 185
• uses BCAA, Metabolic Drive (protein) and Raspberry Surge drink after workouts
• taking a break from cover shoots to concentrate on personal training business (famous client includes Dr. Dre)

The Bottom Line

Bodybuilding is a very healthy and beneficial activity as long as it isn’t taken to extremes… it’s also great to see Asians beginning to make inroads into the sport as well!

References
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1610650
http://www.stanmcquay.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_McQuay

Health.com has written a rather interesting article about odds of dying from any particular disease during any given year to help put into perspective our fears of catching them. I have put next to them, lifetime odds and preventative steps you can do RIGHT NOW to increase your odds for the better. Keep in mind that although there is a strong genetic component to some of these diseases, lifestyle has also has a huge influence not only acquiring them but their overall effect on your body (severity of the condition).

Bird Flu: this year (almost zilch), lifetime (almost zilch)

For all the media hype in the past few years that we will be hit by the next Black Plague or Spanish Plague, nothing has happened (yet again). Governments have been stockpiling medicines and vaccines whose effectiveness is less then promising, big businesses have had to develop contingency plans using high priced consultants and large scale public unrest (stress) has been hashed out. The truth of the matter is that although your chances of dying from Bird Flu should you acquire it are pretty high, it’s the acquiring part that is statistically near zero. So far, it has only spread from bird to human and not human to human. So far, it has killed people rapidly but they where living with their livestock. So far, major outbreaks affecting dozens of people have all been isolated in third world countries where modern medicine isn’t as widespread. Well, now you know how to avoid getting it. One caveat is that if you should be so unfortunate to acquire Bird Flu, it’s still a genetic lottery whether you will pull through or not at this point.

Find out more about Bird Flu @ http://myfoodcount.com/healthylife/whatis/avianinfluenza.html

Breast Cancer: this year (1/680), lifetime (1/8)

Just about every week, there is a new fund raiser to support breast cancer, you can now buy products who send a pittance of their profits towards the fight as well. The truth is, breast cancer only has a 10% mortality rate after five years of diagnosis and out of the 122 000 000 women in the United States, only 178 000 will be diagnosed. Put another way, you have a 0.1% chance of developing breast cancer this year. How to cut your chances? Easy, stop drinking alcohol which increases your risks by 21%, avoid hormone therapies and get regular mammograms. Diet and exercise also play a major role in avoidance, keep in mind that 90% of ALL cancers are completely avoidable by lifestyle choices.

Find out more about Breast Cancer @ http://myfoodcount.com/healthylife/whatis/breastcancer.html

Heart Disease: this year (1/42), lifetime (1/3)

One of the more easily preventable diseases out there, Heart Disease is predominantly a cumulative couch potatoes disease lead by a lifelong avoidance of proper nutrition, exercise and generally taking your body for granted. Alcohol consumption and smoking habits are also big risk factors.

Find out more about Heart Disease @ http://myfoodcount.com/healthylife/whatis/coronaryarterydisease.html

Osteoporosis: this year (1/101), lifetime (½)

More people are diagnosed with an osteoporosis-linked hip fracture every year then the totals of breast, ovarian and uterine cancer. Osteoporosis is also one of the more easily preventable diseases out there as well, regular weight training, proper diet and limit alcohol consumption which acts as a leaching agents throughout your body. Remember that bones grow and strengthen based on the stress exerted upon them, this is why one of the larger problems with extended space travel is that astronauts loose their bone density very quickly. Osteoporosis is also treatable with drugs, but if you can avoid them with their associated side effects by hitting the gym, aren’t you worth it?

Ovarian Cancer: this year (1/5440), lifetime (1/69)

Ovarian Cancer is still a silent killer, by the time people go see a doctor and get diagnosed, it’s often too late. As such, Ovarian Cancer has a 50% mortality rate after 5 years of diagnosis. If you feel yourself full more then a third of the month and have abdominal pain with bloating, ask to get a CA-125 blood test to check for Ovarian Cancer, especially if you have a strong genetic predisposition (ei: somebody in your family suffered from Cancer).

Find out more about Ovarian Cancer @ http://myfoodcount.com/healthylife/whatis/ovariancancer.html

Factors outside of our control

The above statistics can all be influenced by environment. If you breath in toxic air, bathe in polluted waters and drink / eat contaminated products then you are best to move because the chances of you acquiring any disease shoots up exponentially. Lifestyle doesn’t only include diet and exercise choices, it also includes where you live choices.

Sobering, the double meaning

The reason why I gave this article the title Sobering Disease Statistics is because, alcohol consumption is a risk factor for not only the diseases listed above but a host of other ones. Sure, there are studies as to the benefits of red wine that come out every year around Christmas time but grape juice has even more of the detoxifying agents in them without the detrimental effects of alcohol leaching. If you can remain sober for the entire year, you are not only saving yourself a small mint but also improving your life. For guys, alcohol also lowers your testosterone level for a few days AFTER consumption, which over time, decreases muscle mass, increases fat stores and leads to mood swings.

The Bottom Line

The good news is that living based on an optimal life plan leads to both longer life and disease avoidance.

References
http://www.health.com/health/article/0,23414,1623415,00.html