LA Times: Scientists: Carbs, not fat make you fat

Paleo is not inherently low carb. It is more about food quality than quantity (versus a weighed-and-measured approach of The Zone Diet). Several high caliber endurance athletes have switched to paleo and continue to get alot of their fuel from carbohydrates. That said, the majority of us walking around could use being on the lower-carb side of the equation. There was an interesting article in the LA Times a few days ago about this. It serves as a good crash course in the metabolic process for dealing with the three main macro-nutrients: protein, carbs and fat.

Here is my simple logic test for what is wrong with out diet: in the last generation, we have consumed drastically less fat and yet we continue to get fatter as a nation. All those 'low-fat' processed foods just contain more sugar or artificial sweetener (which spikes your insulin just the same since the taste buds taste sugar and stimulate the appropriate response). Check out the article and maybe try going all of January without gluten. While not fully paleo, it will be a step in the right direction.

Hat-tip Crossfit Football

Operation: Dallas

The flights to Dallas have managed to escape Dallas the last two days and Heathrow managed to finally open a second runway (after 4 days without any precipitation). There are even some seats opening up on indirect flights to Dallas (some via LAX, now THAT would be a long day).

The bottom line is that it looks like things should proceed as planned. If not, I will have a pay-per-view fight with  British Airport Association Chief Colin Matthews

Here is how it would look:


IF HE DIES, HE DIES

Get Me Out of Here

The local weather is nasty. Heathrow has been shut down for two days even though we don't have any new snow. The streets are covered in ice and the tube is running with severe delays across most lines with some not running at all because of an improvised strike.



Normally I wouldn't worry as my flight out is not until Friday, but the temperature doesn't get above freezing all week and this is Christmas Eve we are talking about. Not a lot of room for error. Because of a nasty skiing addiction, I normally ask those around me to pray for snow in the mountains, this year I ask for benign weather in London.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Vicarious Adventure: Glacier Park

This is my last weekend in London for the year before a much needed respite back in the states. I likely won't do anything exciting or noteworthy (Crossfit Christmas dinner tonight is about it), so I will leave you with this post from Aaron Teasdale about wandering through the remote reaches of Glacier Park in northern Montana. Its a fairly quick read and the pictures and descriptions are beautiful. 

Hat tip Adventure Journal

The Top 10 Adventure Stories of 2010

I'm a huge fan of Outside Magazine. They have an app for iPad, so I should be able to get my fix more immediately now and from a truer medium than a computer screen. That said, their blog has an interesting post from yesterday, which is their favorite stories of the year. Check it out here. It's chock full of links that you could spend days clicking around on.

Hard to pick a favorite, but if I had to, I'd go with Hendrik Coatzee paddling the Lukuga River in Congo. Spoiler: he was killed by a crocodile. Now that is an adventure. I also appreciate that it all seems to have been done purely for the sake of adventure, not fame or some faux-altruism that is so popular these days.

Weekend Update: Exhaustion Edition

I'll spare the details, but here is the executive summary: 24 hours of travel for 48 hours in Dallas. I acquired 6 hours of total sleep and an iPad for my troubles. It was good to touch base with everyone at NTR HQ and even get to make a few unexpected, social guest appearances.

I'll be home again in 12 days or so. Platinum status here I come.

Links and Video

Urban Meyer is Stepping Down? Again? (Deadspin and ESPN)

Sexiest Woman alive (according to one magazine: Roberta Mancino) says skydiving naked isn't that sexy (Outside Online). From her interview on the new Conan show.

Does travelling in and of itself add value? Also, the ideal commute time is apparently 16 minutes. I disagree. (Freakonomics at NYT)

The Daily Bike for yesterday's Adventure Journal is just a cool picture of the Dolomites. Just a cool picture (Adventure Journal)

AND the coolest rope swing of all time (Adventure Journal). See video below or click the link for back story.

Euro stories.

The Economist has two articles looking at the costs of breaking up the euro and why some countries may do it anyway

Interesting post by David Beckworth looking at Poland versus the countries that adopted the euro.

Scotland: Oops! And more videos

Snow and ice here in London caused my airport-bound train to be redirected last night, so I missed my flight to Edinburgh. I'm pretty disappointed, but c'est la vie. Since I won't have any fun scottish/MovNat updates, here are some cool videos that were on my blogroll today:

And as the TSA stuff continues to grab everyone's attention, this is the strangest story I've heard yet: a 52 year old woman in a wheelchair showed up to the airport in only her underwear to simplify things. They still subjected her to a one hour pat down. Too strange to be made up. 

This wingsuit video is a little too long, but still amazing.




A climber in Canada had a rock fall on his head and crack his helmet. He was leading and his first piece of protection pulled out when he fell, so he fell about 60 feet or so I think. Broke his ankle and generally jacked him up. The Canadian Search and Rescue (SAR) team wears GoPro helmet cams. The result: you get to see a badass high elevation rescue on a cliff side. Rescuers are cool as a cucumber.

Cool, Short Backcountry Ski Movie

This is the third in a three episode series about traveling the world and skiing. The shots from the Canadian backcountry are breath-taking and definitely stoke that impulse to join them. Watch the fullscreen HD version on vimeo


Freshfield Icefield: A Skier's Journey Ep3 from Jordan Manley Photography on Vimeo.

Hat/tip Teton A/T Blog

Need a 4 minute vacation?

Hard to believe this is actually a form of marketing. If only they tried to sell other beers this way. For
backstory click here


Miles Away - Years Around the Sun from Nath Mallon on Vimeo.


Hat/tip Adventure Journal