Sunday, August 18, 2019

Beard Care Tips

I had a lovely, pretty, woman, walk up to me yesterday; she held up her hands up to her waist level, palms up, as in a presenting fashion, and she said to me, 'your beard makes me happy.' That was nice. 

very natural very Celtic

 Here are some notes on large beard care. I will start with the basics, with the proviso that this is from my perspective, which is that of a man of northern European ancestry (Celtic, geographically Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). This data is important as my beard was red, typical and common phenotype of my tribe, and is somewhat curly, corkscrew shaped curls, etc. My beard is now white, again, a genetic factor. 

How often do I wash my beard?: in my case, often, as I live in a hot climate that is often humid. Just necessary in that environment. When the weather is cooler I wash less often.

Washing: often I use just glycerin soap, sometimes I use Dermarest brand shampoo, has no colours, works great. I normally finish with hair conditioner, just the inexpensive type, such as Herbal Essences brand. 

I towel dry, then gently brush through with a de-tangling brush.  I let the beard air dry, though in winter I will sometimes use a hair dryer on low setting. 

I occasionally will apply beard oil. I use two types; Honest Amish or Alberto V05, the purple one as the beard is white. Both of these products are inexpensive and both work well. 

Other tips: I never shave below my chin or shape the upper part of the beard with a razor. This creates artificial lines that just don't look good in my opinion. In the case of shaving your neck, that again just does not look good, it causes a thin wispy beard as you grow your beard longer.  

I will 'shape' the beard with a wahl clipper about once every two months. I brush the hair as straight out as possible, i.e. out from my cheek at a 90 degree angle and then with a careful hand trim the hair ends. 

That is my basic beard protocol.

Link: Finding the McCains

© 2019 Barry R McCain

Monday, August 5, 2019

Hoy A La Parrilla

Me gusta la carne de res y prefiero la carne de res ... pero aquí estoy hoy asando y fumando una gran paleta de cerdo. Usted ve, el precio en el lugar donde compro, fue muy, muy bueno. Entonces, compré un enorme paleta de cerdo con hueso. Fumaré lentamente el cerdo. Lo cocinaré hasta que la temperatura interna esté entre 92 y 97 grados centígrados (197 a 207 grados Fahrenheit). Y tengo un hermoso día de agosto para cocinar, no demasiado caliente, solo cálido, con un maravilloso cielo azul sobre mí.
 


hoy, a la parrilla, habrá una paleta de cerdo con hueso. Lo fumaré por varias horas. cerca 10 -12 horas. Usaré madera de nogal americano (hickory en inglés). Es un buen día para fumar carne. 9 pounds, i.e. 4.08 kilos de carne.




 9 libras de carne de cerdo ... a la parrilla.


 El viejo maestro de la parilla, completo con barba sin peinar. (fenómeno de la barba de la mañana).

Enlace: Encontrando a los McCains

© Barry R McCain 2019

Lúnasa, en Castellano

Lúnasa 2019... Castellano


Lúnasa es uno de los festivales más antiguos que tenemos en las Islas. En la ortografía gaélica moderna, es Lúnasa, la ortografía gaélica más antigua es Lúghnasa, en gaélico escocés, lùnastal y en luanistino gaélico manés. El festival marca el final de la temporada de crecimiento y la llegada del otoño. Lugh está presente para bendecir la cosecha y garantizar su protección.

 
Lugh

El festival se observa en Irlanda, Escocia, la Isla de Man y en toda la diáspora del pueblo gaélico. La etimología de Lúnasa es del antiguo gaélico Lug (el dios) y násad (asamblea). Lúnasa es el comienzo de la temporada de cosecha. Lúnasa se ha celebrado durante más de tres mil años. Tradicionalmente, se celebra el 1 de agosto y los días circundantes. Este es el tiempo entre el solsticio de verano y el equinoccio de otoño. Lúnasa es uno de los cuatro festivales de temporada gaélicos, junto con Samhain, Imbolc y Lá Bealtaine.
Cuervos y cuervos tótem animales de Lugh

Lúnasa se menciona en la literatura gaélica más antigua y era antigua incluso en los primeros tiempos cristianos. El festival lleva el nombre del dios Lugh, quien es uno de los antiguos dioses del Gael. Lúnasa incluye ceremonias religiosas, concursos deportivos, emparejamientos, visitas a pozos sagrados y árboles de hadas, y días especiales de mercado. En la antigüedad, el festival incluía la degustación de los 'primeros frutos' y las elaboradas fiestas, el sacrificio de un toro, las porciones de arándanos y un juego ritual y baile donde Lugh toma y protege la cosecha para la gente de las tribus.
 
Una imagen precristiana de Lugh de Francia

Lúnasa disfrutó de una gran popularidad hasta bien entrado el siglo XX, pero se desvaneció a mediados de siglo, ya que la modernidad y su materialismo asesino de almas pusieron énfasis en estas viejas costumbres ... pero, afortunadamente, Lúnasa ha visto un gran renacimiento en los últimos años. Los festivales, ferias y actividades de Lúnasa están creciendo en popularidad. El festival y los eventos relacionados sobreviven bajo diferentes nombres, como Crom Dubh Sunday, Garland Sunday, Bilberry Sunday, Mountain Sunday. Lúnasa se ha incorporado al ritual cristiano con San Patricio reemplazando a Crom, en la peregrinación a la cima de Croagh Patrick el último domingo de julio. Crom Dubh y Crom Cruach son denominaciones post cristianas, dos de las muchas nominaciones de Dagda. En parte de la tradición, Dagda también está presente en Lúnasa.




En el mito irlandés, Lúnasa comenzó como una fiesta fúnebre y una competencia atlética para conmemorar la muerte de Tailtiu, la madre adoptiva de Lugh. Las leyendas nos dicen que murió de agotamiento después de limpiar los campos de Irlanda para la agricultura. Tailtiu era la esposa del último rey Fir Bolg de Irlanda, antes de la llegada del Tuatha Dé Danann.




Disfrute de su Lúnasa ... Es el momento de comer un plato de carne y algunas de las frutas y verduras de la nueva cosecha, cocinar un pan y verter la cerveza. Este es un buen momento para tener un pequeño incendio en el pozo de fuego esta noche. Recordamos a nuestros antepasados ​​en tales ocasiones. Y vierta el primer sorbo de su libación en el suelo para honrar al viejo Lugh. Siempre es algo bueno que hacer.

Enlace: Encontrando a los McCains

© Barry R McCain 2019

Thursday, March 28, 2019

The Beard

Big White Beard 

The men in my family have a tradition of wearing beards... long, white, beards.  I am fortunate to have photographs of some of these ancestors.   And, here are a few photos of the evolution of White Beard Speaks; keeping up the tradition of the tribe. 



Yule 2018

John Wilson Davis (my great grandfather)
Robert C Tweedy, a great great uncle

George W Tweedy



Typical Celt, Red Beard Blond Hair 1976





Big White Beard back when it was Red circa 1978



Ole Miss days 1982



Beard 2015





Ouachita Mountains Summer 2017


February 2018



Link: Finding the McCains

© 2019 Barry R McCain
 

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Intermittent Fast, Coffee, and Ketones

Will coffee break your Fast?  Let's find out shall we.

I am doing several consecutive days of intermittent fasts. Nothing grandiose, just one's run of the mill 18 hours of not eating. Ah... but coffee, will coffee interfere with my Ketones?  Will my ketone level drop if I drink two cups of black coffee in the middle of my intermittent fast? 

I have read that the coffee will do this, yet others that research this issue say it will not.  So I did an experiment upon myself to find out. I made two cups of excellent black coffee (Gevalia, Traditional roast, made with a Melita drip system).



At 8:30 AM my ketones circa 3.0, this is while fasting with no breakfast today. At 9 o'clock AM I drank one strong 8oz (24ml) coffee. I waited 30 minutes and again tested my ketone levels using a strip. Post coffee my ketones tested at 4.0. So, there was no effect upon my ketone level from my black coffee. The rise in my Ketones most likely from being further along in the fast.



There you have it. For me at least, drinking black coffee during an intermittent fast had no negative effect upon my ketone level.

I have been in strict Keto well into 10 months now. It has been an interesting and rewarding path. I am doing more fasts to enhance autophagy, which is greatly increased during the fasting process.  Autophagy increases circa the 16 hour time span. I have done the odd 'Dry' fast, which is no food or drink, including no water as well, they are the most effective. But, a quality of life issue, sometimes I want my morning coffee and that's that.  

© 2019 Barry R McCain     

Saturday, June 30, 2018

Keto: Scales, A Useful Tool


My scales... 

Trust... but verify.  You are eating only 20 grams of carbs a day.  Are you really?  Let's find out.  

Weigh the foods with carbohydrates and confirm how many carbs you are eating.  It is too easy to allow your eyes to be the judge rather than a food scale.  I discovered this the hard way one day on my Keto path.  And... it is usually those almonds in my case.  

I keep my Keto levels at 1.5 to 6 mmol/Ls.  I measure using Keto urine strips.  I do know they are not the most accurate method of measure.  A Keto blood meter, more accurate I am told, but those meters are expensive and the strips even more so.  So, I use normal Keto urine strips and they work well for me.  

One day, after some 'low carb' eating I noticed only a trace amount of Ketones from my Keto strip.  I investigated.  It was frustrating to be sure, so I got out the old kitchen scale, popped some batteries in it... and set out to track every carb I ate for the next few days.  

What I discovered is, it is very easy to allow the carbs to creep up on you unless you keep an accurate carb count, using an accurate scale.  30 grams of almonds... come in at 5 carbs (using a brand I often eat).  Now, 30 grams of almonds is less than you would expect.  It is 1/4 cup by dry measure.  It is very easy to eat much more than that.  You pour yourself a couple of palm fulls, next thing you know you are at 20 carbs, then add to what veg you ate that day, and maybe a Miller Lite (3.2 carbs), and pretty soon you are pushing 30 carbs or worse.  

It was not only the almonds that caused my carb creep.  Using the scales I found several other low carb foods, that when I actually weighed the serving size, I found issues.  That 1/2 avocado came in at a whopping 12 carbs.  Even my beloved Brussels Sprouts and fresh red tomatoes, where too high in carbs in the amounts I had been eating.  Low carb foods are good, but Do Not use Super Sized Servings. 

I took action to get back to a firm Brutal 20.  The affect of measuring all carb foods by weight grams was instructive and effective.  I could have the same foods, just not in the quantity I had been eating.  After a day my Ketones were back at their normal levels.  Kitchen food scales are inexpensive and accurate. 

Use a good kitchen scale to measure your carb intake.  If you do, you will stay under the Brutal 20 carbs and have success.  The scales are inexpensive, easy to use.  You can calibrate using Standard American Measure or Metric.  I use Metric as I find it more precise and I am able to use finer units of measure.  The scale can zero out the weight of any plate, cup, etc., so only  the weight of the food is measured.  Easy to use and clever. 

Barry R McCain on Amazon  

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Keto: the Brutal 20

Gary Cooper circa 1950
A man's average weight in the 1950s was circa 166 pounds.  A man's average weight in 2018 is circa 196 pounds.  Men were more healthy and looked better before the great shift to the 'modern American diet' in the 1970s.  One way, perhaps the best way, to return to dietary sanity is to go Keto and this means grinding those carbs down to the Brutal 20.  This method of eating is very traditional and old fashioned, it is based on a diet of vegetables and meat. 
 
Normal size man 1950s

I find Keto easy to do myself. I began eating Keto almost three months ago. My initial reason was a neurogenesis protocol for health reasons, but I can say that I enjoy the added health benefits on Keto. Namely, my tummy is flat and I enjoy all my old clothes fitting me well again. That trying had to look like Gary Cooper phenomenon (or in my case more like a fit Father Christmas).


My technique is simple, I count how many carbs I eat a day and cut them off when I reach 20.  I use an accurate food scale to count the carbs.  I find a digital scale useful.   I use metric units of weight measurements instead of the US Standard units, as they are simpler, and I can do finer increments of measure with metric units.  I measure the food in grams.  Most scales allow you to switch from US Standard to metric. 

typical lunch, 'my' slaw and country style rib, 3 grams of carb
So, if you want to eat some almonds and yet stay under the coveted Brutal 20 grams... weigh your serving size. 30 grams of almonds comes in at 5.92 grams of carbs. One Miller Lite beer, 12oz, comes in at 3.2 grams of carbs. 50 grams of raspberries comes in at 5.97 grams of carbs. 50 grams of  'my' coleslaw is only 2.92 grams of carbs.... by my I mean made with no added sugars. And for that treat, 70 grams of an off the vine fresh tomato is only 2.74 carb grams. 


Many of the foods I eat now are carb free, or have little or nominal amounts of carbs.  This includes the wonderful Manchego cheese (0 carbs), the various cuts of beef, pork, and fowl, I enjoy.  Salads are an easy metric, just weigh by grams any vegetable that includes carbs and total up the carbs.  Most other items, such as olives, have the carbs per serving writing on the can or package.   The goal is to stay as close to 20 as you can get.  I do occasionally, exceed 20... but only by a couple of grams, so on some days I will come in at 22.5 or so, and on other days, I will come in at well under 20.  

I have been on this regimen and in Keto for almost three months and it is going well.  I do stick to the Brutal 20 rule.  I measure my Ketones via the urine strips.  I measure early afternoon each day, and clock in between 1.5 to 6 mmol/Ls.  So, the magic is working.  

Keto is simple, do not complicate it.  Just measure carbs, keep them under 20.  
Dionysus

For you wine lovers, if you select the right brand, vintage, etc., there are some great wines that are very low carb... Malbec, Pinot Noir, Carbernet Sauvignon, and similar wines, are very low carb, circs 3 carb grams per 5 oz serving. You have to research which ones, as some wines, usually cheaper ones, are high carb, so do your research and choose well. A Spanish dry sherry, a Jerez, is under 1 gram per serving and is a particular favourite of mine. So, the gods are indeed kind.


© 2018 Barry R McCain

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