Yes. I know 2012. You are going to go out a conquer the world! Trailblazers! Write the "Great American Novel". See the WORLD. Own your own company. Be either a lawyer, a doctor, a CEO - you knew that when you were 12, living under your parents roof.

Well, congrats and good luck on that. In the meantime you may need to work in an office like the rest of the unwashed masses and do the old "9 to 6" (it's not 9 to 5 anymore, there you go that's LESSON ONE!), and while you are in the office toiling with the pathetic nobodies like me, here's my TOP 5 things you should know about working in an office.

1. Shut The Fuck Up. Now I mean this in the nicest way possible, but you need to learn from Uncle Sean here. I'm an outspoken douche at times with my friends. Sometimes they find me amusing. Sometimes it means you get unfriended on Facebook because of a municipal worker who thinks that reducing taxes is a BAD IDEA because it means less tickets to Bruce Springsteen for him and his family. I get it. You can be bold, brash and funny with your friends but let me be clear:

THIS. DOESN'T. WORK. IN. THE. OFFICE.

Oh, your co-workers will think you are a hoot. Your boss? Not so much. I'm speaking from experience, people. Keep your head down, do your work, pipe up only when asked or if you actually have a good idea tell your boss, so he can claim credit for it. He will like you for that.

2. It's Not About You. It's About Your Boss. It took me years to figure this out, and scientists in Cambridge have discovered a revolutionary new secret: "Figure out what your boss wants - and do it."

Lets imagine your job was putting together TPS reports (Testing Procedure Specification, which describes the testing procedures and the testing process). Your boss hammers you about putting the cover sheet on his TPS report:

See now this works out well with Shut The Fuck Up (STFU). What did the drone do wrong here? He should have said, "Yes, sir. I will fix that right now!"

That's it. Less headache from a boss giving you a hard time, and most importantly: Everytime you get that TPS report don't forget the cover sheet. Become the cover sheet go-to guy. Make the best damn cover sheets anyone has seen. Let Bill from the other cubicle keep making the mistake without his cover sheets and you will look like the smartest damn cover sheet maker in all the city! Will this make you the CEO someday? NO CHANCE IN HELL. But what it does mean is that you don't have anyone bothering you, which is what most office drones want. STOP BOTHERING US! LEAVE US ALONE!

3. Often, You Will Be Smarter Than Your Boss, Get Over It. There are some bosses who will be smarter than you. But more often than not if you walk into a hospital, the nurses who have been working there for 20 years are going to know more than the wet-behind-the-ears doctor who just graduated medical school. Some bosses know they have talented, smart subordinates and let us do our jobs with minimal guidance. They are great bosses, and very rare. Other ones...not so much. Your best option is just do a good job and never, ever, show up your boss. Always have his back. Never talk smack about your boss to coworkers. Why? Here's another secret:

Your coworkers talk smack about you to the boss: It's called "Character Assassination".

Because you failed to STFU, and didn't put together the TPS reports right, your coworker who does everything the boss says and keeps their head down then gets their yearly review where they proceed to tell the boss everything you said while they weren't around.

Oh, yeah. Which brings us to point number four.

4. Your Co-Workers Are Not Your Friends. Be cordial. Be friendly. You can talk sports. You can talk shopping. You can talk about how your girlfriend snores like a chainsaw. But, don't sit down and tell them about the strip club you visited or all the pot you smoked at Burning Man. If you work with people long enough you think they are your friends. Sort of like how the Stockholm hostages felt with their kidnappers. If you understand point #3 above, that your coworkers are going to back stab the fuck out of you every chance they get with your boss, then you should be able to figure out what to NOT TALK ABOUT because they will tell your boss. And this does bring me to point #5...

5. Your Co-Worker Probably Will Be Your Boss Someday. Oh, I know Trailblazer - YOU WILL BE THE BOSS! But, until that time that the CEO of the company glides down from his office and taps you on the shoulder to take over, more than likely you will have to work your way up to the top or hope that Daddy gives you a nice job as an executive. Until that time, you will be a drone like the rest of us, and more often than not you will see Susan from the cubicle around the corner, is now your boss. And she hates you because she couldn't stand you because of the jokes about why every stripper you met is "going to medical school", how all Democrats are Socialists, and that your boss is such a moron, and "you could run things better".

Bottom line is that you always want to treat your coworkers well. You never know when they will be your boss and the last thing you want is the guy who has a grudge deciding on giving you a raise next year. Or, your coworker could go to a new department and when that new team leader position opens up - who does he or she pick to take charge? Goofy Gus and his crazy stories about getting hammered with his "boyz" at Lana Lounge or Good Gus who works hard, watches his coworkers backs and is friendly to everyone?

Good luck class of 2012! I know you aren't to be like the rest of us. You are destined for greatness! But if you do end up as a corporate hack, just watching the days go by and humming "Loverboy" songs at 4pm on Fridays, then just remember my advice. Good luck!

Life is funny.

As I get older, I start to notice things differently. When you are a kid, or even a teenager, or even a so-called "adult" in college, you don't notice the little tricks that business owners do to fleece you from your money.

One example was a local Italian deli that I was at the other day (not Fiore's, who I love!). They were selling Boylan's soda, and I wanted to buy a orange seltzer that they had. They were making my sandwich, and I asked the cashier how much was the 12 ounce seltzer.

$2.50.

Two dollars. Fifty cents. For orange flavored seltzer water. Normally I don't care. But I started to think about it. I mean, really? It costs THAT much? I was expecting maybe $1.25, at the most. Frustrated, I put the water back into the fridge. It really wasn't the PRICE but to me it was just absurd they would charge that much for such a tiny drink. Instead I walked a few blocks on my way home with my hero, and stopped in a local bodega, bought a can plain seltzer (not Boylan's) for $.85 cents. I'll spend my $1.65 somewhere else.

Another example.

I work out at the CrossFit. Often, I will grab a bottle of the 23 ounce Poland Spring sport bottle at a deli. They charge me $1.75 for a bottle. I don't really think about it until I looked at FreshDirect, and they charge $12.69 for 24 bottles: $.52 per bottle! I ordered two cases of those and keep them in my fridge. Insane in the membrane! Insane in the brain!

A third example:

Coffee. I drink coffee in the morning at work, and now that I embraced more Paleo-style eating, I drink it black. I used to HATE black coffee, until I realized that Dunkin Donuts coffee is woefully average. You don't realize this until you stop pouring cream and sugar all over it. Bottom line is that a cup of coffee now is $3.25 for a large cup at my local NYC Dunkin Donuts. Instead I started making my own coffee, with my french press, and even buying "cheap" Costa Rica or Puerto Rico coffee at $7 for a 1/2 pound. It's fantastic. I bring it to work in a 16 ounce Thermos. I can make about 15 thermoses of coffee, or 3 business weeks. If I bought Dunkin everyday - that's $45 bucks. My way? $7, plus whatever electric costs i'm paying to boil water.

This isn't some new concept. The idea that you can save money buying in bulk isn't something novel. But here's my "million dollar idea" that does with what I wrote.

Now there are other apps out there that allow you to scan barcodes & find the lowest price on the web. But think of it more like how FourSquare works. Lets say you go to a local deli, and know that cans of Coke are $.75 cents. You enter that into the FourSquare app. It uploads it. Everyone using FourSquare if they look for Coke, know that XYZ deli sells Coke at $.75 each. Now taking it further, imagine all the bodegas in town were linked that way, by manual entries by the users. Aside from the obvious ways it could be manipulated, you could have a map of where you can buy food or drinks.

Now I know some of you aren't going to walk 7 blocks to save $1. But, lets say next door to that Italian Deli uptown I knew there was a bodega which sold the same exact Boylan soda for $1.25. I think most people would do exactly the same thing as me. You could do the same for beer. Lets say you wanted to know the cheapest place in town to buy a 6-pack. Or maybe a bottle of Grey Goose. Most places I know (aside from specials) pretty much keep the same price of their liquor or beer.

A good example was Hoboken Vine versus [left blank on purpose]. I would go to LBOP to pick up a 6 pack of Corona. Cost? $12. Then one day i'm in Hoboken Vine, which is 2 blocks away from my house and Corona six pack was $9. Why would I ever go to LBOP again? Even other things at Hoboken Vine were cheaper, like Grey Goose or Ketel One.

At the end of the day, you just start to notice this. There has to be a way that social media needs to combine with SAP-style inventory. An easy way for consumers or business owners to scan inventory and let the world know. Stopping popular businesses to gouge the consumers because they either don't know (or don't care) about it. There has to be a better way.

Happy Friday Folks. If you are like me and need something to make you smile today, watch the above video. Or, come join me down at Mulligan's tonight at 7pm when when have Flyers vs Penguins on with sound at 7:30pm. We had a big crowd at the bar last Friday to watch Flyers beat the Penguins for Game 2.

Also Phillies will be on tonight at 10:15 when they play San Diego Padres.

He's been housebroken for years. Oh, sure he had his famous "accidents" when he was a puppy (sorry Randy), and has been great since he was 8-12 months.

I often get random emails from French Bulldog owners. If you want to email me, its philly2hoboken (at) gmail.com. I figure it will be fun to share with my readers my emails that I get, along with my advice.

Of course I want to clearly state for the record:

I only have Rocco as my guide, and my advice should be taken with a grain of salt. I'm not advising people about gallbladder surgery, but about how to deal with their French Bulldog pooping in their homes.

I know that some holier-than-thou expert is going to read my advice and have an opinion or their own. Feel free to email me if you must. My training came from reading books, my own experience and the wisdom of my two sisters, who will remain nameless because they said if I wrote their names on my blog they would kill me.

So. Today's letter is from "Sarah" who wrote:

"Hi we have a great puppy named Zoe;) she is 4months old and the cuties thing ever! We all adore her , lol Zoe has a very hard time being house trained.. We take her for long walks hook her up outside in the yard. Soon as she comes in she pees everywhere and poops lol. We are tring so hard with her. We give her treats when she is outside and uses the bathroom.. But for some reason she just keep going in the house. We don't want to get rid of her, but if we are not able to fix this soon she is going to have to go to another home. We are buying a new home in a few months and we cant have this issue any more. ANYTHING you could help us with will be highly appreciated ;)) thank you so much!"

After reading this letter I really hope the owners don't "get rid" of Zoe because she's not housebroken. That's so sad. But, here's what I told Sarah about how to deal with Zoe:

"Ok, here's the problem, as far as I can tell:

1. Your dog isn't associating "outside" and "inside". It's just "outside" to Zoe.
2. You hook her up outside in the yard? Frenchies really shouldn't be outside very long, especially alone. They are companion dogs, they like being near you. I hope you are outside with Zoe while she's hooked up.

OK, so how to fix it.

First off, you need to be on your dog like a hawk. LIKE. A. HAWK.

This means when Zoe is inside someone needs to be on point watching her at ALL TIMES. I used to take Rocco with me around the house, on collar, and a leash - with the leash tied to my belt. I did this for about 3 weeks.

When I had to take a shower, or a nap or I couldn't watch him like a hawk - he was in his crate. The crate was filled with his favorite bedding, and toys and was only big enough for him to sleep, not walk around. Go to a pet store with her, and someone can make sure she has the right sizes crate. It should be a crate, not a cage.

Some people think crate training is mean. It's not, especially if you make it a place that Zoe wants to sleep. So keep the crate open, and accessible. Take away all other beds and places she would sleep, and the crate should be her new "bed". It's hard, but there are books on crate training and I would suggest that you read up or just check the
internet for advice. Rocco never whined much - except when he had to pee.

So, you have the crate and your whole family is on "ZOE WATCH" for the next few days. While watching Zoe, you basically want to imagine that her bladder is the size of a thimble (well, not REALLY, but its small). If Zoe starts sniffing around, that's when she gets scooped up and taken outside.

When I first had Rocco, I used to walk him every hour on the hour. I'm not kidding. EVERY. HOUR. Now, of course this may not be realistic with your dog, but I would suggest at least every 2 hours that Zoe is getting a 10 minute walk. If you guys are at work or doing something - she should be crated, not left alone and especially not left in some kind of cage where she can walk around and poop or pee.

So you should basically have it. Zoe never leaves out of your sight. Crated when Zoe is out of your sight. Watch for signals like sniffing and scoop her up and bring her outside. If she's good for 2 hours, its "walk time" until she pees or poops and then back inside (with lots of rewards and belly rubs!). Also I used to go to sleep at 11pm, set my alarm for 4am and walk Rocco when he was about 2-3 months old. Then go back to sleep for another few hours. Zoe is 4 months so "should" be good to "hold it" for 8 hours, but since she doesn't understand inside or outside, I would suggest at night to stop any water after her final feeding (7pm?).

I know you may think it sounds like a lot, but you can do it!

It should only take you 6 weeks or so. Maybe even sooner. But the old adage "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" will apply here. Rocco hasn't had an accident since he was maybe 8-12 months. He's going to be three in July.

1. When you take her out it should be a "walk" not a "lets open the back door and let Zoe out". Walk away from your house, until she (at very least) pees. I had Rocco out for 30 minute walks until he peed, and then I was back inside.
2. Sleeping at night, keep her in the crate. Not your bed. You can keep the crate by your bedside. This is all dependent upon the dog, and if she barks or whines. If you give in, you're screwed for the rest of your life because Zoe will know that whining and barking means she will get her way.

Philadelphia Phillies Club of Hoboken meets at Mulligan's to watch the Fightin's take on the Mets AND we have Flyers playoffs hockey at 7:30! All the games will be on at the bar, and we will have SOUND ON for the Flyers/Penguins game.

Our bar specials will be in effect for the entire game, $2 drafts of Yuengling & Bud Light.

My entry about scotch was: "The Alpha Alcoholics. All other drunks tremble in their presence. I pee in my pants a little when a customer orders it."

Yes, I am now a scotch drinker. Fear me.

Interestingly enough, I have tried quite a few scotches over the years, and still have a lot more to try, but I just wanted to write a little bit about what I have tried, and my suggestions to the budding Don Drapers of the world on what I would suggest trying if you wanted to finally stop drinking your fruity drinks and man up. Plus, since I have been doing the Paleo Diet, I have been trying to figure out lower carb ways to get drunk. Scotch works well.

What scotch I like and what others like will vary. For example, I don't like very peaty scotches. A 'peaty scotch' is one that has a strong smoky flavor. Also I prefer scotches that are a bit more sweet. Lastly, a note about ice. The purist scotch drinker will tell you that ice has no place in a scotch drink. That's their perogative. I'm sure they drink their coffee black and their steak rare. They like to wear kilts on St. Patrick's Day and think that scaling Mt. Everest is a lifelong dream. The purists will never wear white after Labor Day and...well you get the idea. My attitude is that you drink your scotch how you like it and anyone that tells you different should go fuck themselves.

If someone were to say to me, "Sean, I want to try scotch", the following would be the first three I would suggest based on two factors. One, drinkability. Two, price. I'm not going to suggest someone new to scotch to run out and buy a $185 bottle, unless they want to invite me over and try it together, then you know where to reach me.

Macallan 12: It's bronze color and smooth finish make it a fantastic drink to look at and taste. Once you start drinking this you understand what Frank Sinatra meant when he said, "I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day."

Oban 14: It's a pale golden color and has a slightly smoky flavor, along with a sweet edge to it. Easily one of my favorite scotches, and is perfect to drink on it's own, while meeting with the Mohawk Airlines sales reps and trying to close the deal (that's for you Mad Men fans).

The Balvenie Doublewood 12 Year Old: Created first with a traditional oak cask and then matured in a sherry cask. The doublewood can be a bit rough at first, but I have found for the price, and with a few cubes of ice it's a nice entry level scotch.

OK, so lets say you tried my three entry levels and are ready to advance to Level Two Scotchaholic. Of course with Level Two, it means you will be spending a bit more money, but hopefully not going crazy, but also getting into scotches that you probably want to have after a nice big steak from Raoul's or The Strip House. You probably will see a pattern to my choices, with Macallan on the next list. Why? Well, because it's simply the scotch you can't go wrong with. Sort of like pizza. Yes, there is terrible pizza in the world, but most pizza places can make a fairly eatable pie. If they can't - they won't be in business for very long. Same is true in a way for Macallan, it's just the one scotch you really can't fuck up.

Anyhow, here's the next three I would suggest:

The Macallan Fine Oak 15 Years Old: The 15 year old Fine Oak matures in bourbon and sherry oak casks, which creates "lingering finish with hints of awesome, sexual prowess and manliness." I would suggest having one of these and then going to hit on the waitress or stewardess. You know that is what Don would do.

The Macallan Fine Oak 17 Years Old: What? Its only 2 years older than the 15, so it must be exactly the same! No, not really. There's a definite difference here, and if you can find it for around $100 a bottle, it's worth it.

The Macallan 18 Years Old: Fantastic scotch. Really great if you can find a bottle for less than $150. Really something you should reserve for special occasions. I would rather save $50 and drink a Macallan Fine Oak 17. But i'd rather drink this over Johnny Walker Blue any day of the week.

Also if you find yourself in an airport, look for the Macallan 1824 scotches. They are only available in Duty Free stores, and are outstanding. Plus they are a full liter instead of 750ml. I got to try the 15 year old Macallan 1824 "Select Oak" which cost £42. There's also the "Whisky Maker's Edition" for £64 and "Estate Reserve" at £117, which i'd like to try one day.

Does this cover all the scotches? No way. I have tried many others and didn't list them. Like Johnny Walker Blue. Is it worth $200? Not even close. Would I drink it again? Absolutely, it's quite a good blended single malt. I'd just rather spend money on other scotches.

1. It's sort of like a "smart" Atkins diet. Basically it says "OK dummy, here's what makes you fat: sugars and carbs. Don't eat refined sugars and carbs. Eat everything else." So you can nit pick and question "IS THERE SUGAR IN KETCHUP?!", and count calories if you want. The bottom line is just avoid wheat, dairy, rice, beans/lentils and sugar and any product that is made with those ingredients. Eat meats, veggies and fruits to your hearts content. Don't worry so much about fat. Fat doesn't make you fat. Carbs and sugar makes you fat.

2. It's an easy diet if you plan. It's difficult if you don't plan and/or have food/leftovers in your fridge. There were a few nights where it got late, I didn't have food on hand and suddenly...I'M HUNGRY!!! I would get like Taco Truck tacos (without shells), add in a veggie or fruit, throw in a handful of nuts and - that's dinner.

Also along with the "planning" part is the time part. Most of my dinners took at least 20 minutes of prep (chopping, etc) and then time to cook, etc - and usually was a solid hour of 'dinner'. That really cuts into your time. By the time i'm home from CrossFit and showered it was 7pm. I have to walk Rocco, which is another 20 minutes. Then make & eat dinner, and I was done by 8:15 to 8:30. Then you have maybe 2 to 2 1/2 hours of whatever to do until bed.

3. I'm frankly amazed how everyone I met has zero willpower. You mention not eating dairy and I always get the same reaction, like I told the person they had to take cold showers for the rest of their lives. "Whhaaaattt? No dairy? No cheese? No yogurt!?"

Also on a related topic. Try not eating dairy for 30+ days and then eat something with milk, and watch your body's reaction. For me it was cramps and some quality "toilet time". A bit TMI, but really makes you wonder if we were meant to drink cow's milk.

4. Believe it or not the hardest part of the diet wasn't the alcohol restriction. I was fine. There were a few times where I would have liked a beer or a glass of wine, but for the most part, it wasn't hard to give up drinking. The only problem I did have with giving up drinking was my social life (and lack thereof) was basically zero. You ask your friends to do something that doesn't involve getting a drink and you hear crickets on the other end of the phone - or replies by text of: "That sounds like an option" and never hearing back from them again for a week.

What was hard was "missing food". Like missing that big cup of coffee with cream and sugar. Or pizza from Grimaldi's. Or getting a cupcake from Sweet.

5. I think it's sustainable, and do-able as a normal diet. I plan to continue it, but the big problem I can start to see is 'cheating'. I plan to resume drinking. I plan to have foods that have rice in them. I'd like to avoid wheat. I'd like to avoid sugar. But I guar-an-tee you I will be walking down the street with a box of cupcakes and run into someone who is going to be like, "OOOH! That's not on the DIET!"

Willpower is one thing, like I mentioned before, and that willpower is basically going to be focused on reducing the bad foods that I mentioned above. I hear from my friends all the time how they eat so well, and then watch how they check into Foursquare to places where I know they aren't ordering something healthy. Or I ask the same people "Keep a food log for ONE WEEK. Just one week. Write down EVERYTHING you eat or drink. Then you will immediately see why you can't lose weight."

I love the people who do eat 95% right but are out drinking 3-4 nights a week and claim "It's just wine! That's good for you!". It's good when you have one glass of wine, not a bottle of wine. Trust me, cutting out alcohol was probably the #1 reason why I was able to lose 2-3 pounds a week.

So, that's it. My 'final weight' was 211 pounds from 222. 11 pounds in 6 weeks. Only had 1 true "cheat" meal which was my birthday on Feb 12th. Otherwise I stuck to the diet, and I do have some "before and after" pictures, but not sure if I want to put them up on the web. If you shoot me an email at philly2hoboken (at) gmail I will share them with my friends and answer any Paleo-centric questions you may have.

I went to Marea with my family. It was out of this world good. I have been to a lot of great restaurants over the year, but this one takes the cake.

I actually was pretty paleo friendly ordering the fixed price meal there and getting a fish appetizer (and nearly choking on a fish bone) and having the steak for dinner (normally I wouldn't order a steak at a seafood restaurant, but this sirloin was highly recommended - and best I have had in years!).

But didn't stay so paleo with my fusili with octopus and bone marrow.

And then brown sugar gelato covered in rum & espresso. Heavenly. It was

Once a year, it's a birthday. Gotta celebrate. It was quite enjoyable and felt like a nice reward for myself after sticking to the diet. My weight is down to 212 today. Jeans fit very loose and I need a new belt.

Not sure how my weight I need to lose now, really. Being around 210 would be my ideal weight. The Paleo Challenge ends on Feb 22, so I have about 8 more days of staying on the plan.

Crossfit is good. A friend of mine posted this article on my wall, "Inside the Cult of CrossFit". It was a reprint of another article from Men's Fitness back in October 2011.

It's 'somewhat' fair article but sensationalizes the Crossfit a bit. To me, Crossfit is kind of like joining a sport. You have a group of people who work out together to get stronger at what they are doing. If anyone played an organized sport they would recognize this. I was in crew in high school and I remember running up and down stairs until I was ready to throw up. I remember running track and my legs would be wobbly, you run until your lungs were burning.

Somehow...the author equates Crossfit to a cult. That's a bit absurd. It's no more a cult than your local high school football or basketball team is a cult.

I think people get so amped up about CrossFit because (like he wrote) it fun to be back in great shape. You want to spread the word, and say, "This works! Try it!" - so you try to tell your friends about it, and are enthusiastic about getting your friends to join.

Like anything else, you get what you put into it. And if you go overboard in any sport you can hurt yourself. So I listen to my body, record my workouts and the next time I try a workout see if I can do better. The whole "NO PAIN NO GAIN" thing that the writer tries to make the reader believe is bullshit (at least in my opinion). Certainly people push themselves, and people do get hurt, but I think that would be true in any sport - Crossfit is the sport of fitness. Every class is led by an instructor, who is often watching what you are doing and offering advice on how to do it better.

I think the big issue I have with anyone working out or if they are trying to lose weight is "overtraining". People go overboard with exercise in the desire to gain muscle or lose weight. That's the quickest way to hurt yourself. Crossfit is no exception, and the author's examples in his article about Crossfit are examples of people who have no idea what they are doing, and this could have happened to anyone playing any organize sport - or working out on their own.

Crossfit to some is a "fad". Most people who say that never tried it and simply don't know what they are talking about. I definitely encourage anyone to try the free class in Hoboken which is on Wednesday night or Saturday night.

View Larger Map

Looks like they are right behind City Hall and only a few blocks from Zeppelin Hall Beer Garden. NJ.com has photos of the place from 2008 here.

I told friends I started the diet for two reasons. One, I felt like my old diet plan was good, but most of my weight stabilized, and I wasn't really losing or gaining weight. Two, I wanted to see if there was a major difference in my Crossfit gains while working out.

Now, I did ramp up my Crossfit a lot. I went from 3-4 days a week to 5 days a week. Now each class is 'only' 45 minutes, and we focus on various muscle groups that each class is basically unique. So i'm hitting all body parts, rarely repeating exercises and some days we are doing strength and some days we are doing conditioning. It's good and I like it - plus I am seeing decent, if not grand improvements in my strength and conditioning.

The Paleo for the last week, I am starting to hit a slight rut with my cooking. When I first started I was excited to try new recipes. Now, I get home from the gym and want to eat without having to cook for very long. Most of my dishes take at least 30 minutes prep time and cook time, if not longer - especially if I forgot an ingredient, like i'm missing a certain spice, herb or vegetable.

Oh, here's my million dollar idea, after cooking Paleo for a month. Someone needs to come up with a compact spice line (similar to this - but maybe smaller and more choices for the random spices, so you have 30 spices available, not 15. Also the ability to change names on the bottles). Most spices, like that from FreshDirect or in your local store, are in 8 ounce bottles, or a 1/2 cup. I don't know about the rest of the world, but I have spices in my spice rack which could be over 3+ years old. I'm not talking Oregano or Basil, but the random spices for the "one time I made this dish..." kind of spices like saffron or cumin.

Spices aren't that expensive, really, at $3 for basil or oregano. Maybe more 'exotic' ones can be $4-5. I know saffron can be ridiculously expensive.

You know what the problem is? Not the price - but the size. Wouldn't it be nice to have a whole spice rack, compact, that costs $1 per spice, each in a glass vial about 3-4 ounces? Certainly you can get larger, more commonly used spices if you wish. My spice cabinet is overflowing with spices and often finding the coriander or chili powder involves me taking out about 10 different spices before I can find it.

My idea would be a compact spice rack, with small vials (like test tubes, and lids) of each ingredient, and keep the price low, but the quality high (from packaging to content). I would surmise these are your 15 "basic spices" that every chef should have on hand.

15 spices - $15 dollars instead of paying $50-60. Plus every year you could replace your whole spice cabinet for $15 to have fresh spices on hand every year. Most people agree that ground (not while) spices should be replaced every 6 to 24 months, and will lose flavor after six months.

So think about your marketing. You are selling the idea that you will always have on hand fresh spices, at a low cost, and market it online. Plus, once someone buys your bottle packaging, you can just sell them the spices in a plastic bag, which they can just refill into your special, well crafted bottles.

The only problem would be getting the word out and marketing it. There's lots of places to buy spices online. The key would be figuring out a way to distinguish yourself from the pack. I would think that Fresh Direct could do something like that....now only if I had a contact over there...

Back to Paleo...

I think it's a good diet, and easily do-able by anyone. The key is being prepared. The second key is getting rid of any 'cheat' foods you have in your home. Paleo makes a big deal about rice, wheat, beans and sugar as the 'bad foods' to avoid. It's nearly impossible to avoid them when you want something fast and on the go. We talk about sugar being the reason why our society is so overweight, but we have to think that empty carbs from wheat and other sources have to come into play here. Plus the explosion of gluten & celiac diseases certainly lends credibility to this.

The problem is just convenience to preparing and eating. But i think that's true for any diet, and not just Paleo.

For those keeping score at home, i'm down to 213 pounds. 4 weeks and 8 pounds, about 2 pounds a week, so I think that's healthy. My jeans are fitting great, and starting to see serious ab definition. I'm thinking I should be 210 by the end of this. Anyone getting married in 6 weeks and you need to lose 12 pounds (the healthy way?)?

The Good:

1. It's much easier than I thought. I remember on my old diet it was very repetitive and after three weeks I was DYING for diversity in my meals. It's fairly easy to plan, since I started with a few paleo-centric cookbooks to plan out my meals.

2. I was already kind-of-sort-of doing a good diet Monday thru Friday before I started paleo. Brown rice, sweet potato, meat, vegetable etc was already part of my meal plan, but I probably cheated a lot more than I should have. With the Paleo Challenge from Crossfit, I paid $100, and will get $50 back if I complete the plan for 45 days. So there's a financial incentive to stick to it. Plus, if i'm chosen as the (male) winner I get what's in the pot. So far I have been adhering to the rules, and haven't cheated (as far as I know - zomg! that balsamic dressing had 1 milligram of sugar in it!!).

3. If you plan out your meals for the week it's easier. Where I would run into trouble is when I didn't plan my dinners out well enough and then be missing an ingredient (where's my coconut milk!?) and then be stuck. Fortunately, I kinda learned a few quick meals to make over the years which aren't that exciting but do the job. And, i'm always game for a steak and sweet potato dinner.

The Bad:

1. I don't feel "amazing". I thought maybe after a few weeks my energy levels would soar, and i'd be sleeping great. My sleep still sucks, but I think (not sure) my snoring must be reduced since I did lose 7 pounds and alcohol makes snoring worse. Rocco isn't complaining that i'm keeping him up.

2. Crossfit "gains" haven't nearly improved like I would have liked. I have gone to Crossfit since Jan 9 about five days a week, except for last week when I hurt my shoulder. I thought maybe i'd see (by now) some serious strength increases, but i'm still feeling weak in most classes, and still doing beginner weight levels. In our last "Fight Gone Bad" workout I scored a 170, and probably should have been around 200. I know these numbers probably don't mean anything to you, but they aren't good. The top end people are scoring 300+. It's still early on this, but now have to start re-thinking what i'm doing wrong here. I got the diet down, and been attending all the classes - I may need to hit my condo gym after class and just work on weights on my own. I'm definitely getting fitter, no doubt, but not sure if i'm getting 'stronger'.

3. I still miss pizza, sandwiches and alcohol. I would be lying if I said i'd do Paleo for the rest of my life. I don't have cravings for those things, it's more like a wistful remembrance of how good they were. I would (hope) that once the diet ends I can just do it during the week, and on the weekends try to "cheat less". Maybe try to keep two "meals" over the weekend where I can have a Fiore's roast beef or one meal is a personal pizza from Grimaldi's. Plus, making plans with friends where you cannot drink is nearly impossible (at least with my friends) - "Hey! Want to see a movie? Hello? Hello?"

That's about it. Bottom line is that the diet works, i'm halfway through it, but really will see where I am around day 45 before I give it a thumbs up or thumbs down.

One thing I learned with diets like this is a simple motto, "Don't sweat the small stuff."

For example, years ago I did a real hardcore diet, which had me eating every 3 hours, but was vague on details. So I kept it simple, and by week 3 of eating chicken, chicken, chicken, steak, chicken, chicken, chicken I was ready to die from "food boredom". I wanted to be good but was dying for something different to eat, and I wasn't a very good cook that could just "whip" up a dish.

With the Paleo diet, it's much easier. I have a cookbook to guide me, plus i'm being less strict, especially when it comes to the 'small stuff', like condiments or dressing. For example, like using 'A1 sauce' on steak. I'm not drinking a half-gallon of it every meal, but adding some on the side to have with a steak isn't going to derail the diet. Deciding to have garlic bread with pasta and meatballs would derail the diet. I still haven't had bread, pasta, sugary snacks or drinks or alcohol. I feel fine.

I have had a few temptations, but since i'm eating regularly, and also drinking plenty of water (this is often forgotten in diets), I don't have any real hunger pangs for bad foods.

Current weight is 217 pounds. Losing 5 pounds is no big deal, and that's "water weight" to me. I don't necessarily have a target weight goal, maybe 212 or so would be good, but don't want to lose muscle weight there, more interested in reduction of bodyfat.

Crossfit last week I was there for 5 days. Only had one setback on Thursday when I slightly hurt my shoulder. I left class early rather than risk doing more damage.

Onwards and upwards!

I'm sure you heard the old news by now about Paula Deen. What a shock. Eating crap her whole life and gets diabetes in her 60's.

Paula, and she defended herself and her cooking by saying things like "I'm not your doctor" and "practice moderation".

Let me lay out exactly what's wrong with that attitude and exactly what's wrong with our society when it comes to food.

1. We are surrounded by bad, but convenient food options. Try to eat healthy on the road.
2. We are all weak. You, me, everyone.
3. Food is like a drug. You get pleasure from eating. Bite into a doughnut. Slurp that coffee with cream and sugar. In your brain, the endorphins explode with delight.
4. Most chefs at any major restaurant can easily tell you that they slather food with butter, salt and sugar. They spike food to make it even more delicious.
5. Most of the processed foods in the worlds have far too much sugar and salt.

So the problem is - we are a trapped society, unless YOU make your own meals. The problem with making your own meals is time. Yes, some meals can be made quickly. But even last night when I decided i'd like to just have a steak & baked sweet potato, it still took me 90 minutes to get it completed. I didn't have steak on hand - so I had to walk to Garden of Eden to buy it fresh, along with the sweet potato. I baked the sweet potato at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. The steak was fast, about 5 minutes cook time, and another 10 minutes of 'rest' before I eat it (let the juices settle).

Now that i'm doing the paleo diet, i'm not going to turn into some born again diet freak shouting from the rooftops that we should not eat breads, pasta, sugars. I love bread. I love pasta. I do plan to eat them again. But i'd like to be a lot more moderate, in the future, about how I do this.

I was at work the other day and someone was telling me how they 'eat in moderation', but 'mostly healthy' and they 'hit the gym all the time'. Meanwhile this was clearly someone overweight. I have no doubt if this person kept a food journal they would quickly realize that they were not eating in moderation. Here's the new rule for eating in moderation: "You get three 'cheat meals' a week". That's it. So imagine you eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, 7 days a week, or 21 'meals'. You can eat poorly on only three of those. I would bet you dollars to doughnuts that anyone who says "I eat in moderation" cheats at least 8-10 times. Or, at the very least, have no concept of portion sizes or any concept of what is really healthy. They eat Yoplait yogurt and think it's healthy, while they are guzzling down 30 grams of sugar each serving. Do you know how many grams are in a teaspoon? It's 4. 30 grams is 7.5 teaspoons of sugar. Think about that before you have a yogurt for breakfast and think you are eating "healthy".

Also, It drives me crazy to walk by the gym and watch someone on a treadmill or stationary bike or cross trainer with a "US Weekly" magazine and doing some kind of easy going "la la la la" workout thinking they are just burning away the calories from yesterday's dinner of salad, chicken and 1/2 cup of ranch dressing (*on the side!).

You want to lose weight, it's the EASIEST THING ON THE PLANET TO DO. You don't need special diets. You don't need Weight Watchers. You don't need Nutrisystem. You don't need shakes. You don't need Atkins or Paleo. No special pills. No exotic drugs or fruits that are claiming to be a "breakthrough of science". If you use steroids or HGH, you are a fucking loser and you know it (especially if you are a trainer).

You need to do two things:

1. Eat healthy. Real foods - meat, vegetables, fruit (keeping sugars here in check). No refined sugar. No breads. No pasta. Trust me, you can live without them.
2. Exercise. I don't care if it's Crossfit, or whatever, you need whatever gets your heart beating and you are breaking a sweat. You need to do this more than 3 times a week. At least 4 if not more. You don't need to do it more than 30 minutes. Even if you are out there, jogging, for 20 minutes which breaks a sweat that is a million times better than on a stationary bike for 1 hour pedaling at 2 mph.

That's it. Not that hard. Am I God's gift to exercise? Nope. I'm like anyone else. I'm weak. I said this earlier. But we all know what we need to do, right? I'm trying to do something different and see if I get results.

So what's stopping you?

What has surprised me most after a week of eating Paleo, is how my food cravings have been fairly low. I fully expected to be "dying" for cookies or candy or cupcakes by now, and really it's been a non-issue. Also I have found this diet to be fairly easy, thanks to Robb Wolf's book The Paleo Solution.

It already has a 30 day mealplan in the book. So I have been following it nearly to the letter. I haven't had any refined sugar. No wheat. No grains. No rice. No dairy.

So far it has been smooth sailing.

My Crossfit workouts haven't dramatically changed. I still get gassed real fast like I used to. I am hoping that after a week on real food that I see faster gains. I went to class five times last week, and plan to go five times this week, whereas in the past I usually went 3-4 times a week to Crossfit.

What has surprised me is how I tell people what i'm doing and the (mostly) negative reactions to it. You try to explain to people the plan and there's a tremendous amount of resistance. No bread? Not even wheat? No cheese??

Listening to people fret over the idea of not being able to eat their favorite foods anymore sort of reminded me when I quit smoking cigarettes. I remember when I quit smoking, how "drinking wouldn't be the same", "watching football wouldn't be the same", "a cigarette after a meal wouldn't be the same".

But once I quit, you got used to it.

Whatever the same pleasure receptors we have in our head for cigarettes must be tied to food. No doubt. That's why it's so hard to "diet". Plus if you look at most everything out there - there is sugar in everything. Or salt. The goal of the food industry is to pack sugar and salt and spike food like Marlboro spiked nicotine into cigarettes. It makes it really hard to quit, doesn't it?

I weighed myself yesterday. Started at 221 last week. I'm down to 218. 3 pounds in a week. Usually that's water weight. I don't have a goal for my weight, to be honest. I mean people put far too much stock into their weight. I'm just concerned about my mid-section, around my hips, stomach which seemed to retain the majority of my weight. Plus, I have zero interest in just losing weight if it involves losing muscle too. I took a 'before' picture with my camera (shirt off!) and will post that at the end of the 6 weeks.

My only issue with this diet is ONE thing. No alcohol. It's not about drinking, but it is about being social. I had two events to attend last weekend, one on Saturday, and one on Sunday. I didn't attend either. It's not fun being the sober guy in a bar when everyone else is drinking. And I didn't want the temptation to "just have one".

Also, coming up with idea to do things with your friends that doesn't involve drinking is a bit of a challenge. Movies? Hang out and watch TV? I gotta start thinking about things I can do on the weekend besides hanging out with Rocco or this is going to be a looooong five more weeks.

1. Salmon with pecans and rosemary.
Grab a filet of salmon, coat a baking pan with coconut oil, top the salmon with pecans, rosemary and some sea salt, cook at 350 for 12 minutes. Fan-tastic. I'm not a fishy-fish guy and normally do NOT eat salmon, but this was the bomb. Simple to make and fast!

2. Burgers
There are a billion burger recipies out there. I found one and it converted me from allrecipes.com Chris' Bay Burger:
1 pound ground beef, 1 tsp basil, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 1/2 tsp salt, pepper - cooked in olive oil on the stove (a grill would be perfect, of course) - left off the buns, just grabbed onion & tomato and wrapped it up in red leaf lettuce.