Well, it finally happened: after almost six months of regular weekly updates, I found myself completely unable to complete another in-depth nutrition post for this Tuesday. Between traveling all week (last week’s post was written on planes), an inopportune redeye flight, and successfully fighting off the resulting sore throat with sleep and real food, I was simply caught short.

I apologize.

Meanwhile, if you’re curious about what all the recent to-do about “food reward” is about, and wondering just what “food reward” means in practical terms, this recent article will be instructive: Why Snack Food Is Addictive: The Grand Unified Theory of Snack Appeal.

And if you’re wondering why you might not want to start binging on carbs despite several recent articles in the paleosphere, my classic series beginning with Mechanisms of Sugar Addiction might be interesting to you.

However, as I am an overachiever, I do have several things to give you this week and an important question to ask, and the first is a reminder: diet and fitness are not an end in themselves. Yes, a healthy, strong, capable body will help us live longer—but why bother? What good is more life if we just spend it sitting in an office chair or on the couch? And what good is strength and endurance if all we do with it is push weights around a gym, or ride bicycles that go nowhere?

Here are a few pictures of my winter. Perhaps they will inspire you.

We skied from mountains to valleys…

…and to lakes.

We skied under clouds and storms…

…and under the sun.

We skied steep chutes…

…and deep powder.

There were waterfalls…

…and beaches…

…and sunlight refracted through snow crystals.

These pictures are just echoes: triggers for memories of all the time I’ve spent in the mountains with my friends, skinning uphill for hours, soaking up the view from remote mountaintops, enduring both blizzards and searing sunlight in order to enjoy those perfect turns through virgin snow.

And what will you do with your newly-earned health?

(Thanks to Jeff G. and Brett P. for the photos with me in them.)

Reading For When You’re Stuck In Uncomfortable Seats: Melissa Joulwan’s “Rollergirl”

It turns out that paleo dieters don’t just write books about how they eat and exercise. You already know about my novel—and it turns out that Melissa “Melicious” Joulwan, most famous in the paleosphere for her oft-linked list of paleo recipes, wrote a greatly enjoyable memoir called “Rollergirl” about…the revival of roller derby as a DIY, athlete-controlled sport on flat track, and her own transformation from bookish, mildly obsessive Austin hipster to hard-hitting, butt-kicking athlete/bombshell.

I’ll point you to Amazon for the summary and a grip of positive reviews, to which I’ll add that it makes solid travel reading: breezy, upbeat, and inspiring. And as a man, I’m thrilled to read an account of female empowerment that doesn’t make me feel like I need to slap on some painfully astringent aftershave, grill a steak, fix my truck, and climb a mountain to stop myself from lactating. The world needs a lot less therapy, and a lot more Roller Derby. Well done.

“Rollergirl: Totally True Tales from the Track”, by Melissa “Melicious” Joulwan

(Government-mandated legalese: We traded each other for copies of our respective books.)

Tell Me: What Do You Want Me To Write About?

Don’t worry, I haven’t run out of topics: all that happened this week is that I ran out of time. But I get many of my ideas for articles from talking with my readers, especially my regular commenters, and I want to know what YOU want to know.

So: if you have a question that you’d like to see me answer, or a topic you’d like to see me address, leave me a comment below!

Live in freedom, live in beauty.

JS