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This is purely just ranting from my head. No direction and no research done.

Over the last six months to a year I have changed my diet, lifestyle and general habits considerably.

• I am eating a LOT less meat, from at least 10 meals a week (often more), down to just two or three.
• I am no longer consuming milk, and have cut my general consumption of dairy products down a lot.
• I am eating more fruit and vegetables, and generally trying to stay properly hydrated at all times.
• I am exercising more, specifically weight training.
• I am drinking far less alcohol than I used to, and less regularly too.

As an example, nowadays when I drink alcohol, I really feel it the next day. I used to be able to go out and have at least 20 standard drinks in a night, often many more, and as long as I’d had a decent glass of water before bed I would feel fine the next day. Nowadays I can have a half a dozen drinks and the next day my head is killing me.

Obviously our habits, traditions and general day to day living as humans are brought on by the way our ancestors have lived their lives. Are humans, for example, only able to consume large amounts of alcohol with large amounts of meat? Is it possible that only people that drink milk are able to “handle” smoking better? If you consume predominantly fried foods, is your body able to cope with energy drinks better? Will they have the same affect on you as they do someone who has a diet made up of more fruit and vegetables?

I’m sure there are plenty of foods, drinks, activities and habits that are linked. Complimentary foods if you will.

I think the way that I feel physically is also due predominantly to the fact that I am well hydrated most of the time. It’s like I’m setting a high standard for my body. When I go and have a big night drinking, I’m very dehydrated and by body tells me this by giving me a throbbing headache the next day. After a decent mountain bike ride it will often do the same as I’m usually unable to drink enough water during that time (I can only carry 3 litres with me).

It’s interesting. Not bad, not good, not anything subjective. Just another one of those things I’ve come across and still haven’t figured out what it really means or where it’s relevancy fits in to my life.

I posted up about six weeks ago about sleeping without a pillow. At the time it was something that I was just trying out to see how it goes, but I have to say – after the six weeks my neck feels like it used to as a kid!

It’s more flexible, I feel as though I sleep better, and my back in general feels great. No more minor pain here and there.. All just from ditching the pillow!

At first I did have to ask myself – “Is it good to sleep without a pillow?” however after doing some research, and applying common sense – I strongly believe that it is. How did we sleep before pillows?

The fact is that most pillows aren’t even designed to the contours of your neck. Babies aren’t given pillows when they are young so they develop a straight spine. Obviously as an adult ours aren’t developing as much as a child, but every little bit helps.

Give it a shot sometime – worst case scenario you don’t like it. All I know is my neck feels great at the moment!

Did you know that the colour in fruit and vegetables come from chemicals called antioxidants? Antioxidants are found predominantly in plants, and in some animals that eat these plants and store a small amount of antioxidants in their own tissues.

While using the sun’s energy via photosynthesis, plants generate simple sugars, then later create complex carbs, fats and proteins. During this process, things can go wrong and free radicals can be created, which are potentially harmful to the plant. Luckily, plants are able to shield themselves from these free radicals, and then absorb them to protect themselves. This shield is made of antioxidants, which will block and “consume” these free radicals.

Antioxidants are typically coloured because of this process – the chemical property that absorbs the free radicals creates colour.

Some common colours are red (lycopene), yellow (beta-carotene), and orange (crytoxanthins), although there are many other shades, and some are completely colourless.

Humans also generate low levels of free radicals throughout our lives. These can be from all sorts of things, however exposure to the sun, exposure to industrial chemicals, or a poorly balanced diet are common factors.

In humans, free radicals cause our tissues to become rigid – similar to ageing, when our bodies become stiff and less agile. Cataracts, hardened arteries, cancer, emphysema, arthritis, and many others forms of illness have been proven to be assisted by uncontrolled free radical damage.

Unfortunately, we don’t produce our own shields against free radicals (like those in plants), as we do not perform photosynthesis, so we must source them from elsewhere. In it’s purest form, our only option is in plants.

It is amazing, and as I grown older I am seeing it more and more – when something is “right”, it just falls into place perfectly. Humans, like most animals, are attracted to bright colours. We were being encouraged to eat these antioxidants since we have been on this planet, without even thinking about it. The only problem is that nowadays we’ve lost that attraction to what is good for us.

A while back I read about sleeping without a pillow. Now while searching around the net, most people want to try it for all sorts of trivial reasons – like growing taller. I just wanted to give it a go to see if it felt any more comfortable.

After sleeping two nights without a pillow, I have to say my neck feels great!

Obviously the information that I read on that net was taken with a pinch of salt, however I have read a few times that sleep without a pillow is meant to be good for your posture. After both nights I have had very minor lower back pain. The good thing is that it’s not spinal pain – it’s muscular pain. I believe that my back is working from hips to head to keep my body straight, rather than just using a pillow to relax.

With that said, common sense dictates that humans were meant to sleep without pillows. It just makes sense. Do animals sleep on pillows? No, they just make themselves comfortable with what they have in nature. It’s not like I’m giving up the mattress any time soon, but if things keep going the way they are, the pillow might be out of my life before long!

So I never really set any goals for myself, but this changes today.

As a cyclist, I’m pretty much “all legs”. Big quadriceps and gastrocnemius (thighs and calves), but not much else!

From everything I’ve read, I’m probably too active to become “massive”, and I don’t ever really want to look like that anyway. My plans are just to build my upper body strength, and my core strength for when I am riding. When I jumped on my downhill bike last week I really noticed how weak I was in my upper body nowadays – it really takes a lot more strength to throw that bike around.

So the plan? I want to be able to do 20 chin ups in a row. At the moment I can do about three. In the past I’ve just “done chin ups”, with no real direction. Now I have my number, and I’m on my way there. To build core strength I’m going to continue on with my yoga. While I’d like to do it every day I realise that I need to be realistic about it, so the plan is to do it at least three times a week, for around 30 minutes each session. I like the idea of not having to use any equipment to do these exercises, hence the chin ups and yoga.

Talking to a few different people about goal setting – it is almost unheard of. Obviously athletes and very driven business people set goals all the time, but everyday people like you and I never really seem to set themselves goals for day-to-day life. We just keep plodding along with no real direction.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how long it will take me to reach my goals now. It might be ages, but at least I know where I’m heading!