Try Something New

By nature, I'm a squeamish person when it comes to trying new foods.  In my 20's I first sampled Mexican food (now my absolute favorite). It was an 25 before I tried shrimp.  I was well into my 30's when I first tried sushi, crab legs, and an assortment of other foods that are ranked high on my go-to list.

And then there's Red Velvet Cake.  I finally broke down and tried it because everyone raved over it.  I avoided it because it looked like the cake had been soaked in pig's blood before being cooked.  It tastes just like normal cake, only it's red...what's the big deal?  Give me a yellow cake with chocolate icing any day!

Here's where things start getting strange for me.  I've taken a new client under my wing and we are exploring a new coaching topic.  My client is me...the topic is health.  However, this post isn't about that.  It's what I discovered along the path.

I love coffee.  As much as I try and avoid Starbucks, I just can't stay away because it's, to me, hands down, the best coffee out there.  I hit the locally owned shops on occasion, but no one brings it home like Starbucks.  I wish I didn't love it so much because I am unalligned with the CEO's open political views.  Sigh...  

So now I tie those two things together.  I'm (attempting to) eat primal based on Mark Sisson's book The Primal Blueprint.   He's got a killer blog called Marks Daily Apple as well as a great group on the forum.  I stumbled across something called Bulletproof Coffee, which I believe originated from The Bulletproof Executive (another great site).  The original version from Dave Asprey:

Bulletproof Coffee Recipe

• Start with 4-500 ml (2 mugs) of black coffee brewed with my mold-free Upgraded Coffeebeans.   (Why this is important)
• Add 2 Tbs (or more, up to 80 grams, about 2/3 of a standard stick of butter) of Kerry Gold or other UNSALTED grass-fed butter
• Add 2 Tbs (30 ml) of Upgraded MCT oil for max energy, weight loss and brain function (this is 6 times stronger than coconut oil, your next best choice)
• Blend with a pre-heated hand blender, shake really hard in a flask, or (best) counter top blender until there is a creamy head of foam. (It doesn’t work well if you mix it with a spoon)

However, Mark has hacked the recipe and come up with a new version...

 

Primal Egg Yolk Coffee

• 1 1/2 cup (350 ml) coffee
• 3 pastured egg yolks
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp of salt

I have to be honest.  I was a little taken aback by the thought of raw egg yolks in my coffee.  Remember, I'm the guy that was afraid of a bean burrito!!!

 

The first time I tried it I lost more than one yolk trying to separate them.  Then I remember watching my grandmother do it by hand.  Crack the egg, open it into your cupped hand, and spread your fingers slightly and let the albumin (egg white) slide out, while keeping a close watch on the yellow.  There's this white rope like tissue that connects to the yolk and I can only think of as the "umbilical cord" (I know, I know), and it can be left on, but I just can do it.  It usually requires some picking at to get off and for me, I just can't take leave it.

 

My dog loves the albumin or you can toss it in a pan for an egg white omelet, but if you're the kind of person that eats an egg white omelet, you're probably NOT the kind of person that drinks egg yolks in your coffee.

 

I put the yolks in my favorite Mickey Mouse coffee cup, dropped a K-Cup (Mocha Nut Fudge) into my Keurig and let it work it's magic.  It's not quite Starbucks, but it certainly beats the generic sludge that's at my office.  I added a spoonful of sugar (helps the medicine go down) and stirred.  To my surprise, upon busting, the yolks made my coffee look like I'd just put creamer in it, so reluctantly, I decided to give it a taste. 

 

WOW!

 

It was good.  REALLY good.  I almost went back for seconds, and if it weren't so messy, I would have.  I can handle the process once a day, but twice...not so much.

 

Mark Sisson noted on his site that " I don’t know if it was just an excessive amount of coffee or if the caffeine was potentiated by the phospholipids in the yolks, but I felt like I was under the influence of… something. Although it was a good feeling, a productive feeling, to be sure, I could see it getting out of hand if taken too far. This is potent stuff. A cup or two is probably ideal, at least for me."

 

He is absolutely right.  I get a huge boost on the days I add the yolks to my coffee and as someone that's focusing on health, that boost is just what I need to fuel a 2 mile run (stagger, stumble, or trot).

 

I highly recommend trying something new and giving this a shot.  Getting away from your comfort zone is extremely liberating.  (But I'm still not going to try beets!)

 

Be awesome!

 

Chris

Think About Your Thinking

I'm back.

Where did I go?  That would take entirely too long to write here, just assume I was abducted by aliens and they thought I was too weird and dropped me back off with a box of "new" Twinkies.

Where were we?

Oh yes...

I've spent the last few months immersing myself in strategic improvement...books, audio, webinars, websites, web groups, and most importantly, THINKING...and that, ladies and gentlemen, is the word of the day.

It's amazing when you actually isolate yourself away from everything and everyone, the quality of your thoughts goes up exponentially.  I found myself just today listening to an audio book (free plug for Audible.com) and my mind kept drifting.   When I caught myself, I paused the audio and listened to what I had to say.  That may sound silly at first, but sometimes part 1 of your brain is trying to communicate with part 2 and you have to pay attention or you're NOT going to be able to enjoy what you're doing (I'm sure there's some ego, id, and superego connections there, but I slept through psychology that day).

If there's one thing I've learned over the last few months, it's that you have to think about your thinking.  Make time specifically for you and your thoughts to spend quality time together with some method of capturing those thoughts.  Note:  Unless you're an artist, if you catch yourself doodling, you're doodling...not thinking.

If you're thinking of a solution to a problem, write everything that comes to your mind.  I'm a big fan of dry erase boards for this.  After I finish, I take a picture of the board with my phone and email it to myself.  BOOM.  I have a permanent copy of my notes (good camera on my phone).  You can also save a copy to Google Drive or other personal cloud storage site.

Thinking has become so important, that I have it scheduled on my calendar 3 times during the work week and early in the mornings on Sunday when it's just me and the dogs padding through the house.

It's amazing what a difference it's made in my life.  I no longer worry about anything.  That's what my thinking session is for.  I can always schedule an "Emergency Thinking Session" with myself and get isolated for 15-20 minutes when necessary.  My phone has a spot for notes and the only thing I keep is my Thinking List.  Sometimes when I don't have anything on the list for the day, I can contemplate the meaning of life, what I'm getting my wife for Christmas, or how to make a difference for someone else.

These sessions are 15 minutes long and I hold myself to that time frame so my mind doesn't wander to lunch or last night's episode of The Walking Dead.

Try it.  Let me know how it works for you.

Be awesome!
Chris