Phase Frame

In my opinion, the copper IUD is the best form of contraception for long term relationships. Here are some of the benefits:

1) Totally natural sex (no condoms)
2) She gets the health and emotional benefits of having semen in her body
3) Non-chemical / Non-hormonal: you’re not changing her body’s chemistry
4) Non-emotional – doesn’t change her emotional state
5) Do it and forget it: a one time, non-surgical placement that’s good for 10 years
6) One time cost: about $400 if I remember correctly (that’s $3.34 per month)
7) Reversible: if you decide you want more kids, you can have a doctor take the copper IUD out
8) As effective as any other form of birth control

On that last point I can back it up with the following evidence:

- the only two times we’ve not used birth control of any kind, I’ve gotten my partner pregnant.
- since she got the IUD, I’ve orgasmed inside her at least 300 times, and she’s gone through about 32 ovulations, with no pregnancy

That seems like a solid argument to me.

Now the really interesting thing is that growing up I never heard about the copper IUD. I heard plenty about the pill and the condom. You know why? Follow the money.

Part of the joy of being a man is being able to know what needs to be done, and just doing it. Cranking it out. Not thinking too much about it. Just recognizing what needs to be done, and doing it.

One night this past week my town got 8 inches of rain in 12 hours. To say that it wrecked havoc on the homestead is an understatement. There’s erosion all over the property and my driveway washed out (it’s a long stone driveway).

As a father, I got to show my kids what a responsible man does. And I let them get involved. I told them that they could help daddy outside if they wanted to, and shortly after walking out the door, they eagerly came out to see what was going on. I told them that there were some problems that the rain had caused and that we were going to fix them. I showed them the problems (and eroded driveway). And then showed them the pile of stone that was going to fix the problem. Then I let them use their little shovels to help fill the wheelbarrow with stone. Then we wheeled the wheelbarrow over to the “problem” area. Dumped the stone. And the kids used their rakes to spread it out.

I basically walked them through the joyful experience of seeing a problem, identifying the solution, and doing the work to fix it.

The point here is that a man with PhaseFrame takes pride in the responsibility he has over himself and his environment. He recognizes when work needs to be done, and he does it before less significant things. He doesn’t wait for the baseball game. Or for a moment of inspiration. He just gets up off his ass and does it and does it as good as he can.

In a long term relationship, women respect men who just do things. It helps them admire you. The less you have to verbalize, or moan or groan, before or after, the better.

So start now: identify the things that need to be done in your environment, and go do them. It’s one of the best habits you can develop.

Just as school starts back up, both my kids have colds. It’s that season.

I take a few pre-emptive measures against colds.

My daily school-year routine is:

1) 1 Scoop Trader Joe’s Super Red Powder mixed in water
2) 1 Zinc supplement tablet per day
3) 1 high quality multi-vitamin like this.

As soon as I feel a cold coming on, or if my kids have one, I ramp things up with the following:

4) Eliminate sugar from diet and drink (no bread/pizza indulgences either)
5) Take 1 Zinc + C losenge every 4 hours
6) Trader Joe’s Super Red Powder mixed in water (1 scoop in the morning, 1 scoop at night)
7) Zicam

Bonus Reader Tips:

- Use garlic liberally, put it in everything you cook

Note: There is also a Trader Joe’s Super Green Powder mix, but through experimentation and ingredient research I’ve come to firmly believe that the red is superior at fighting colds.

Week 3 in the Phase Frame Workout Plan is going to be the last ramp-up week before we start kicking things into a higher gear. Week 1 was a warm-up. Week 2 was an introduction to doing things intensely for a short amount of time, although the reps were low enough that you may not have felt any burn.

This week we’re going to introduce you to a little burn. Don’t let it dissuade you. Push through, because this is where you start gaining strength.

Challenge of the Week

Push through the burn. Develop this habit. Let your mind conquer your body.

Nutritional Plan

- Healthy meat and veggies and berries
- Try to buy meat that was raised in natural conditions rather than feed lots
- Drink water
- Enjoy a beer on the two intense workout days.

Suggested Meals

Breakfast: Toastless French Toast
Lunch: Salad with turkey breast
Dinner: Treat yourself to some well prepared duck. It’s my favorite meat. The best of beef and chicken in one.

Suggested Workout Plan

*This week we up the intensity by sticking with the same exercise longer, to the point of near, but not quite failure. If you get to a point of exhaustion and need to take a break to hit these numbers, take the break. But don’t move on to the next exercise until you’ve completed the total number. If you don’t feel any burn on the last few, add some more reps until you do feel the burn.

Monday: Spend 10 minutes cycling through these exercises as many times as you can without stopping (you may feel exhausted, but push yourself): 20 pushups + 30 jump squats + 30 chair dips + 10 Pike Shoulder Presses + 60 seconds of plank

Tuesday: Start your day with 1 set of 20 burpees. Push through to the end, even if you have to slow down and go in slow motion. Hit that number.

Wednesday: 30 minute walk

Thursday: Take a break

Friday: Spend 10 minutes cycling through these exercises as many times as you can without stopping (you may feel exhausted, but push yourself): 20 pushups + 30 jump squats + 30 chair dips + 10 Pike Shoulder Presses + 60 seconds of plank

Saturday: Go for a rigorous hike or do some other fun activity like Ultimate Frisbee (preferably through a forest, with all the amenities like streams and mountains)

Sunday: Take the day off

Next week, we’re going to push our bodies. If you’ve made it this far, you’re committed and you should start seeing results, both mentally and physically. Reward yourself by spending a little money to prepare for next week. You should look into buying a quick install pull-up bar system like this one. Also consider buying two dumbells for an exercise we’re going to do called lawnmower. Early on, you might want to start light (25 lbs) even though you’ll progress very quickly. I currently pull 70 lbs on the lawnmower. When I started several years ago, I was only doing 30 lbs.

Our society has demonized fat. People assume that all fat creates heart disease. The mental model most people have is a plumbing one: fat clogs arteries and then your heart stops working, and then you die.

But this is so far from the truth, and causes millions of people to live unhealthy lives. Because what’s killing Americans is a lack of healthy fats and natural foods. Low-fat diets are incredibly harmful because they are ultimately a low-nutrient, insulin inducing source of chronic inflammation, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, etc.

There are only two risks with fats that you need to be aware of:

1) Manufactured fats are very harfmul, so avoid manufactured fats (margarine, fried foods)
2) Natural fats (beef, butter, coconut milk, etc.) should be consumed in high-nutrient contexts

Natural fats are the most efficient and optimal form of energy that our bodies are built to use. Fat satiates. It satisfies. It actually keeps us from putting on fat by allowing our bodies to enter into a low-insulin, high-metabolism state. Risk #2 is only dangerous if you’re eating alot of natural fats and filling yourself up, without getting additional nutrients. Because fat satisfies us so well, if you drink 70 grams of fat (a can of coconut milk) you will feel full for a good 10 hours. But this may keep you from consuming proteins that your muscles need, or vitamins and nutrients that are only found in various greens (spinach, kale, etc.)

What you should know about fats:

- Natural fats should be the primary source of calories in your diet
- You should not eat fat exclusively in isolation from protein and vegetable nutrients
- Your body’s natural maintenance systems for cleaning your arteries depend on fats
- Low-fat diets increase risk of numerous diseases and leave the body in an unnatural state
- There is historical documentation of people dying from insufficient fat consumption (research “rabbit starvation”)

Growing up, grass was just this green stuff that I had to mow. That’s all it was to me.

Lately, I’ve been learning about grass. When you come to depend on grass for your family’s food (grazing animals) it opens your eyes to a whole new world. Grass is a remarkable thing. Incredibly hardy. Incredibly resilient. Incredibly efficient. Incredibly low-maintenance. A great biological technology.

I like to think of grass as an adaptive solar energy collector. The blades of grass literally act as solar panels that collect the sun’s energy, which you can then transform into a different kind of energy: food. This energy, along with soil nutrients, can produce all the protein and healthy fat that your family needs. It’s such a simple, efficient, beautiful system. Gives me chills just thinking about it… and an immense sense of awe.

But most aren’t using grass to feed their families. Most people use grass to create a pleasant environment around their suburban homes. Still… grass is grass. And follows the same basic rules no matter where it is used.

Here are some things I’ve learned about grass that might help you understand grass better and help make decisions when mowing the lawn:

1) The length of the roots of most grasses track the length of the blades of grass. What does this mean? It means that the lower you mow your grass, the shorter the root system, and the slower it grows.

2) If you want healthy, robust grass, keep the length between 3 and 5 inches (mow at 5 down to 3)

3) If you want to minimize mowing, by minimizing growth, while increasing exposure to drought and burn, mow it as low as possible. The lower you mow your grass, the shorter it’s root system becomes, decreasing its exposure to both underground moisture and nutrients.

4) If you want the lowest maintenance law possible, find out what the native grass species are, and pay the extra cost to seed your lawn with native grasses. Sure, your lawn may not look as uniform or as emerald green, but these grasses will require a lot less fertilizer and a lot less water.

5) If grass struggles in your yard, adding 3/4 of an inch or organic material (good quality top soil, compost, etc) will do wonders and make fertilizer unnecessary.