Month: September 2019

One baby step at a time.

“When we are sure that we are on the right road there is no need to plan our journey too far ahead. No need to burden ourselves with doubts and fears as to the obstacles that may bar our progress. We cannot take more than one step at a time.”—Orison Swett Marden

Progress is taking the step forward that you didn’t take yesterday.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Progress is a journey.

Success is a journey. This might seem a bit cliché, but it is. Maybe we don’t use paper maps anymore, but most of us plan our trips using GPS. Indeed, GPS might even be the better analogy. Many navigation apps, after all, alert us to detours and promptly offer alternative routes. As such, achieving our goals requires a plan and a willingness to adapt our strategy, when necessary.

We often want to believe that success in a straight path to our destination. Consider, however, the last road trip you have taken. Did you follow the map (or GPS) precisely? I doubt it. There were likely stops for fuel, food, and (certainly) bathroom breaks. Perhaps you even detoured to take in local attractions (tourist sites, scenic overlooks, giant balls of string, etc.). On longer trips, you probably had an overnight stay at a hotel/motel. The point is that we didn’t drive non-stop and we didn’t stick precisely to the directions, but we ultimately got there. Flexibility probably also made the trip more enjoyable. (Trips are never entirely pleasant when we take the “Phoenix by sundown” approach.)

At some point, the road you are taking had to be constructed. If you haven’t noticed, roads are rarely without hills and turns. Roads are built to be safe and to minimize expense. Where possible, obstacles are removed and the road is as flat and straight as is economically possible. Some roads wind though the valleys and climb/descend mountains. (I always enjoy driving through states like West Virginia in the fall.) Engineers will, however, cut and fill where they can—sometimes tunneling through a mountain or forming a bridge over a valley.

Our best approach to goal setting is to realize that, in most cases, others have gone before us. Rarely do we blaze new trails, though it may seem at times like we are on the Oregon Trail. We don’t “go west, young man” without a plan or knowledge of what lies ahead.

If we have no destination, we will never know whether or not or when we have arrived. Hence, our goals need to be “SMART” [i.e., specific, measurable, achievable, reasonable (although, per Coyte Cooper, “not reasonable by normal expectations”), and time-bound]. We also need to monitor progress via pre- and post- (and, perhaps, interim-) testing.

Last I checked, no one has perfected teleporting. Progress is never easy. It requires effort. If you are looking for short-cuts, there rarely are any. Plan the fastest and most effective path that will get you to where you are going.

MapQuest, Waze, Google Maps, Trip Advisor, AAA, etc. We often seek qualified guidance on our journeys. We don’t often trust the shady-looking guy on the street corner for directions. (Many don’t even stop for directions.) We should do our research and seek qualified guidance (i.e., coaching) on our growth journey. The challenge is in discerning what directions to follow. Generally, if the guide is offering an unbelievable short-cut, it is pretty sure that you are likely to end up on a canoe trip in Georgia (a Deliverance reference; no offense intended to my Georgia friends). Plan your course wisely, won’t hear banjo music. Enjoy the journey and welcome the effort.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Image source: Deliverance; https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/burt-reynolds-had-deliverance-line-quoted-him-constantly-1140468

Carb selection.

If you are trying to lose fat, you will ultimately need to cut carbohydrates. The more you have to cut, the harder it will be. Harder, but not impossible. The key is to choose wisely—to choose nutrient dense options.

I have been testing the Renaissance Periodization Diet App (RP Diet App) to shed some pounds and to have the experience to bring to my classroom. Overall, I have having great success. Last week, though, I didn’t lose much (though the days surrounding my weigh-in days were actually lighter than my official weigh-in). As a result, the app cut my carbs for this week pretty significantly (to 30 g per day—I should note that I also requested a more aggressive approach). This presents a challenge when the app calls for 5 g of carbohydrates for meals. Thus, I am looking for carbs that will fill my stomach and sustain me through to the next meal. This means less fruit and no more oatmeal. Five grams of carbs, by the way is as close to nothing as you can get. I don’t plan to keep to this for more than a week, but it will be an interesting experiment.

So, what is 5 g of carbs?? Beginning with high-density carbs, that is approximately 0.7 oz (0.2 medium) banana, 0.2 oz (0.2 slice) wheat bread, 0.7 oz of black beans, 0.3 oz (0.1 cup) quick cooking oatmeal, 0.9 oz (about 3 large—I measured) grapes, or 0.5 oz of cooked pasta. Among the low-density carbs, that is 1.4 oz (0.2 medium) green apple, 1.2 oz (0.2 cup) blueberries, 2.6 oz (0.5 cup) strawberries, 2.1 oz (0.5 cup) cantaloupe, and 2.1 oz carrots. Compare these to vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, and mixed vegetables, of which you have to eat 3 oz to get 5 g of carbs. Leafy greens like spinach and arugula barely register on the RP Diet App. (The app doesn’t show that the macro has been met until 6.5 oz of spinach or 4.5 oz of arugula. Lettuce registers at 7.5 oz. That is a lot of greens!) So, salads it is! Preferably, I would also suggest supplementing a protein shake with some Super Greens to boost the nutrients. (The brand I use is about 8 g of carbs per heaping scoop, so a half scoop puts me in the range of 5g.)

Cutting the carbs, short-term, is a good way to cut the calories. Maintaining the proteins at approximately 1 g per pound of body weight will help sustain muscle and provide more satiety to the meals. Some fat is essential (especially to add flavor to that arugula salad). For me, that has been 5 g post-workouts and 15 g for the rest of my meals (70 g per day). Personally, I need food in my belly to be satisfied. The bulk of the fiber rich foods help.

As you can guess, there is no room for sugary foods when carbs are tight. You just have to suck it up and eat your veggies!

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Coachable.

“Average players want to be left alone. Good players want to be coached. Great players want to be told the truth.”—Nick Saban

Nick Saban coaches football. (He coaches football extremely well.) I would hire him as a CEO.

Greatness is not genetic. Greatness is indeed a willingness to hear the truth and to act on it. Greatness is a work ethic.

The above quote can be applied across society. “Players” could as well be “employees”, “students”, etc. I would even go as far as to substitute “players” with “leaders”. Even great leaders have at sometime been led (and the truly great continue to seek the mentorship of other coaches). Great leaders want to hear the truth.

If we want to be truly (extra)ordinary at what we do, we need to be coachable, and, moreover, we have to be open to—that is, openly seeking—the truth about our performance. We all have weaknesses, in addition to our strengths. We must seek continual growth (kaizen) in all dimensions of our lives.

Seek mentorship from those who will be honest with you. Be honest with yourself. Accept (i.e., seek) “constructive criticism”.

Each year, as a faculty member, I am required to observe another professor’s teaching and to be observed in one of my classes. While I appreciate the input, it is rarely constructive. It is more an exercise is patting one another on the back. As such, it is a waste of time. At a previous institution, I received a two-page review of one of my Anatomy lessons by my department chair. I thought I gave a pretty good lesson until I read his evaluation. It was the most rewarding observation/evaluation I have received in 20-plus years of teaching. He made me a better teacher by being truthful.

I try to give the same focus to my students. I see exams not as evaluations of what my students know. Rather, I see them as opportunities to educate them on what they don’t know. It is often hard to accept by students who have been taught by teachers who seek to protect (instead of  build) their “self-esteem”. I see it as preparing “greatness”. I hope it moves the student from average to good to great.

Seek the truth about yourself. Jack Nicholson was wrong. You can handle the truth. Be (extra)ordinary!

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Image: https://yellowhammernews.com/time-nick-saban-chewed-press-conference/

Consistency.

There are things we want to change…yesterday. We want to lose body fat, build muscle, change habits, etc. Change, however, takes time. Moreover, change requires consistency of habit.

Consistency is not, necessarily, doing the same thing over and over. As we change, we need to change incrementally—“baby steps”. We tweak our changes, as needed. Consistency is not constancy.

Change is progressive. It requires specificity (the body make specific adaptations to imposed demands). It requires overload (the body system require a stimulus greater than that to which is accustomed). Most importantly, it requires time and effort—a plan.

If our efforts are slowed, we don’t need to jump ship for another. Unfortunately, many of us will be swayed by the latest diet or workout and never see consistent and significant change. This said, it is often difficult to know if we are on the right path. If, of course, you are not seeing signs of improvement, then a change might be warranted. Once, however, we find a diet or exercise program that seems to work, we have to stick with it.

One cannot successfully lose body fat on a diet plan that is less than 7 days a week. You can’t lose weight spending 6 days in a 500 kcal daily deficit and eat a 3000 kcal “cheat meal”. Likewise, we don’t create habits by on-again off-again behavior.

There will be plateaus. The body, after all, seeks to maintain homeostasis. Body weight, for example, seeks to maintain a “setpoint”. (This is why it can be difficult to gain muscle, just as it can be difficult to lose fat.) Patience and wisdom are needed when we hit plateaus. Most often the necessary changes are small—e.g. a slight adjustment in macro balance, an increase (or decrease) in training volume, more rest, an increase in activity, a small decrease in calories, etc. If the changes are too great, we risk further failure.

If just starting (a diet, an exercise program, a healthy behavior, etc.) give it some time. It takes at least 6 weeks to establish a habit. Remember, too, that results may come quickly at first—as the body responds to the initial stimulus. This is why any diet or exercise program seems to work—initially. If you like the program you are trying—and it seems to be effective—stick with it!! Be patient. Let change happen. Remember lasting change does not happen overnight. Body fat is lost a pound or two per week. Muscle is gained slowly (usually less than a pound or two per month). Cardiorespiratory fitness and performance improves more slowly the more fit one becomes. On average, a 2- to 3-month endurance training program can improve VO2max by 15% (range: 2-50%, depending on a range of variables). In other words, progress in almost always going to appear slower than we desire. Trust the process.

“But change must always be balanced with some degree of consistency.”—Ron D. Burton

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Do better than this.

“Whenever things go a bit sour in a job I’m doing, I always tell myself, ‘You can do better than this.’”—Dr. Seuss

There are two ways one might take the above quote. One might say, “The grass is greener somewhere else.” The other commits to making the grass greener. I suspect that Dr. Seuss meant the latter.

I propose that, no matter how the job is going, we always tell ourselves, “You can do better than this.” Of course I would propose this, because I remind myself daily to…“Be your best today; be better tomorrow.” It is essential. It is how we become (extra)ordinary.

Carpe momento!

 

Not training is hard.

“Training is hard. Not training is harder.”—Unknown

The above meme is for all of us. I believe this to be so the older I get.

I see many people who look much older than their age—and as many who look much younger. Too many of us complain of aches and pains that we blame on aging. Such people expect this as a part of aging. I disagree. Train. Train hard. Slow the aging process.

Don’t fall into the misconception that exercise changes as we age. We will undoubtedly slow a bit as we age. We will slow more, however, if we fail to do anything—or do the wrong thing. “I am too old to…” is a poor excuse. Inactivity will undoubtedly slow you down.

Don’t think that simply “moving more” is enough. Physical activity—e.g., walking more, taking stairs, etc.—is great. Keep moving. Consider, also, what you are doing (or not doing) for exercise. Cardio is important (for the heart, in particular), but it is not enough. Diet, alone, is not enough. Maintain healthy eating habits, of course. Lose body fat—if necessary. Most importantly, maintain (or, ideally, gain) muscle mass to preserve work capacity. A healthy heart, after all, has to have a reason to pump and something to which to pump.

Training should be hard. The time remaining in the day will be less hard. Not training makes the rest of the day harder. It is our choice.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!