Life adapted to the beach or the cooking pot?

Last night I met up with perhaps the most famous biologist on the planet, PZ Myers. How? He was just hanging out at a bar in town. Couldn't believe my luck! I brought up all my evolutionary nutrition ideas to him.

In case anyone's interested (does anyone read this blog?), PZ was fond of this recent article of Wrangham who wrote Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human.

The book, by the way, pretty much shuts down the raw-foodist movement suggesting that cooking was absolutely essential for our species to get along in the world.

Also, I brought up archaeologist Curtis Marean's suggestion that "humans adapted to a life on the beach" eating shellfish and gaining omega-3 oils to form bigger brains.

PZ raised his eyebrows and said something like, "Humans are just too opportunistic to have been that limited in diet."

He went on to discuss amylase gene copy number variations of which I found fascinating. Nature article about it here.

New Year's Health Resolutions

If I was a rational human I wouldn't wait until New Year's Day to make a health resolution. But like most humans I know, I'm not very rational. I'm really emotional. My habits largely depend on how I feel.

Every morning before work I hug my pillow for as long as possible because it feels good and procrastinate getting ready for the day. My resolution last year to get up early and jog daily lasted less than a month.

My resolution to make healthy lunches and take them with me to work died much sooner than that. Why go through the trouble when I could easily settle for a cheap, big greasy burrito at mid-day.

After work? Forget exercise. I'm taking kids to dance, cheer and jiu jitsu. No time to make a balanced meal for dinner either. I've got homework. Kids, we're having pasta again. 

The obvious is that what I need is discipline. Easier said. The idea of punishment and reward feels like jail. And no matter how rational it is, rationalization can always take over. No, what I need is some kind of inspiration to eat better and motivation to exercise. 

Maybe if I played a sport. When I used to play sports I was a lot more determined. It's the competitive nature of it all. 

Maybe if I took up a class. Nothing pushes you more than when you are graded for progress. If not a class, then maybe a trainer.

Maybe what I need is a friend. A friend who makes goals with you keeps you in check. And keeping him or her in check helps motivate too.

Whatever my method, my resolution is to bring my health back. I've gone for too long being the all-knowledgeable nutrition writer, but not so much the doer. I get sick often enough, my cardio has suffered tremendously and I have noticed some atrophy and muscle replaced by flab. 

Right now I'm sure I'm just seeing the tip of the glacier of what is my bad health. And it's time to turn this ship around.