Month: September 2019

It is easy to be confused by the flood of information that circulates about weight management. For a long time, the mantra has been “eat less; move more”. Some, however, challenge this. So, what is one to believe?

I believe in the K.I.S.S. principle when it comes to exercise. This is not to say that the physiology of exercise is inherently simple.

On the surface, “eat less; move more” is merely a reflection of the caloric balance equation (calories in v. calories out). This is quite simple, but also complex. It suggests that weight management is as simple as counting calories. It is not. (But, it also is.)

Caloric needs are the net effect of basal metabolic effect, the thermogenic effect of food, and physical activity. Basal metabolic rate (BMR; the energy required of the body to maintain bodily functions) is not perfectly static and can vary because of far too many variables to worry about. Thermogenic effect of food (usually 5-10% of the daily caloric needs) also varies according to the food combinations being eaten. It is also too challenging to waste excess energy on (pun intended). Physical activity is the variable over which we have the most actual control, but it also not measured perfectly. We can estimate our daily energy expenditure, but it will always be at best just an estimate. So, we must look at caloric needs as an average over time. We should think about calories relative to the average body weight. If our average weight is going up over time, we are hypercaloric. If we are losing weight, we are hypocaloric. If we are maintaining weight, we are, then, eucaloric.

“Eat less; move more” is not mutually inclusive. It is actually possibly detrimental to think as a such. Often one who is seeking to lose weight judges progress according to the scale alone. If weight is not changing such people cut calories more and ramp up the exercise. This isn’t always beneficial. The result is often weight loss, but not necessarily productive weight loss. It is mostly water, and often muscle weight.

The maintenance of muscle mass is most important to effective management of body composition. This requires effective exercise (i.e., resistance training) and adequate calories to fuel performance. In such a case, the mantra might be stated better as “eat appropriately; move effectively”. The principles of specificity and progressive overload apply. Depending on the starting point, the necessary changes to caloric intake and/or expenditure will vary. If one is overfat and under-muscled, a modest caloric restriction can permit fat loss in addition to muscle gain. In such a case, the scale is going to be a poor indicator of body composition changes. If one is lean and muscled, calories should be carefully managed to affect the desired change—a modest increase to support a muscle gain and a modest decrease to body fat.

Because there are numerous factors that affect BMR on a daily and long-term basis and the calories expended during exercise are not regularly measured directly, counting calories is only minimally effective for weight management. It can be tedious and effort can be better served focusing on portion sizes and macro balance. Counting portions and considering day-to-day changes in activity afford more consideration.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

“If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”—Thomas Jefferson

There is not much that needs to be said of the above quote. I don’t necessarily wholly buy in to the notion of “think and grow rich” (Napoleon Hill). There is much to the idea of positive thinking—though I prefer “possibility thinking” (Robert H. Schuller)—but success requires more than just thinking. Success requires action—the type of action that goes beyond that which we are accustomed to doing.

I try to think in terms of the “overload principle” (in order for a body system to adapt it must be challenged to a level greater than that to which it is accustomed). That is, if we want to become something we have never been, we have to be willing to do things we have never done before. So, today, we have to ask ourselves: “Am I doing anything today that I couldn’t do yesterday?”

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

“Only gratitude will allow you to appreciate the grind of your athletic journey.”—Andy Lausier

I saw this meme: “Exercise? I thought you said ‘Extra fries’.”

We tend to perceive exercise (and often the many elements of life) as something unpleasant. Of course, it shouldn’t be totally “pleasant”. It is, after all, work. The key is to “appreciate the grind”.

The day the idea for this post presented itself, Andy Lausier (The Grateful Athlete¹) shared the concept of graded fun (and idea he got from Steve Rinella). High grade fun is “challenging, hard, and even brutal in the moment, but when it’s over you realize it was one the greatest experiences of your life.” Low grade fun, on the other hand has no lasting impact. Coach Lausier tells his athletes that “high grade fun should sound like the following statement, ‘This is one of the hardest things I have ever done….and I love every second of it.’” When I get these “Celestine Prophesy moments” (as I call them), I pay attention.

I exercise. I see exercise as a high grade fun (though not always a 10 like I should). I tell my students that exercise is like the man who is hitting himself in the head with a 2×4. When asked “Why?”, he responds, “Because it feels so good when I stop.” The point is that exercise is not fun, but for the remaining hours of the day, it makes us feel better.

I find exercise a great analogy for life. As such, like exercise, life should be an expression of high grade fun. We tend to go through life looking for “extra fries” rather than those things which are hard but satisfying. It is a great life when we can seize every opportunity in every struggle with gratitude and enthusiasm. This is what I mean when I tell myself to “carpe momento”.

Low grade fun provides only momentary satisfaction. Why ask for “extra fries” when you know that the after the first few the gratification will be gone?

High grade fun may suck in the moment, be in the end any pain subsides and the gratification and memories last a lifetime—and often urge us on to the next greater challenge.

Don’t be (dis)satisfied with extra fries. Challenge yourself and embrace the grind—the opportunity to grow and experience profound gratification. Push the limits and enjoy the sense of accomplishment.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

¹https://www.facebook.com/thegratefulathlete/?__tn__=%2Cd%2CP-R&eid=ARDPqCn8houmo_m_DllLsO1N_HOH0c0tnVFAeIJvi_lVAgB1hJacpMdHsaLEOyn2uLUqaHRqj0UCoPze

“Anyone can wrestle until they are tired.”—Cael Sanderson

If wrestling in high school taught me anything, it taught me that my greatest strength (perhaps my only strength in wrestling) came from my capacity to out-endure my opposition. This lesson has continued to affect me years after my final season ended.

The (extra)ordinary in life are not always the most successful. Most often they are the most persistent—the tenacious. Just as “anyone can wrestle until they get tired”, anyone can succeed at that which is easy. Jordan Burroughs claims that “discipline, focus, endurance is what it takes to be the greatest at this sport” (i.e., wrestling). This is true for life. We face different challenges—opportunities—in life. Some are more overwhelming than others. Persistence, endurance, and tenacity lead to triumph. We will all grow weary, but the strong reach deep within to wrestle beyond the tired. The more we overcome the perception of fatigue, the less tired we will be—the more successful we will become.

“There’s no glory in climbing a mountain if all you want to do is to get to the top. It’s experiencing the climb itself – in all its moments of revelation, heartbreak, and fatigue – that has to be the goal.”–Karyn Kusama

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

“That’s why I kept wrestling – I’m too dumb to realize I can’t win, so I keep wrestling until I ultimately succeed. I’m pretty dang stubborn.”–Rulon Gardner

Sometimes it pays off to be too dumb to realizes we can’t win. If we keep working—stubbornly—we can succeed. Hard work can defy the odds (or the perceived odds).

“Can’t” should challenge us. “Can’t” should inspire us. “Can’t” should definitely not defeat us.

If you know who Rulon Gardner is, you know his stubborn ignorance paid off. In 2000, Gardner defeated Russia’s unbeaten (for 13 years) Aleksandr Karelin to win the Olympic gold medal in the Men’s Greco-Roman Super Heavyweight Division. We all have how Karelins to defeat. Be stubborn.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Image: https://news.theopenmat.com/international-wrestling/upset-century-rulon-beat-karelin/58179

“Do not waste time dreaming of great faraway opportunities; do the best you can where you are. Open your petals of power and beauty and fling out the fragrance of your life in the place that has been assigned to you.”
–Orison Swett Marden

Find Purpose in what you are doing here and now and seek to constantly better yourself. One of the hardest truths to swallow is that we are where we are supposed to be in this moment. Tomorrow may be different (and will hopefully be better), but now is our time to be (extra)ordinary.

Be grateful and impactful in this moment.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

“When the mind has once formed the habit of holding cheerful, happy, prosperous pictures, it will not be easy to form the opposite habit.”–-Orison Swett Marden

Our state of mind is shaped by our habits. Bad habits can be corrected. Our mindset can be directed to an attitude of gratitude—grattitude—if we consider it important enough. It just takes effort.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

A friend, jokingly, commented the other day: “I eat therefore I run”. I know her too well to know that this is really the case, but this is the case for many people who exercise solely for the purpose of burning calories. (Years ago, I actually calculated the minutes of cardio I had to do to burn off a sleeve of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies—I ate and I did the work.) The ideal relationship between food and exercise, however, should be: “I run therefore I eat”. In other words, our diet should fuel our performance.

Of course, we have to consider caloric balance. Exercise can often lead to weight gain (i.e., increased fat weight) because we convince ourselves that we “earned” the food we are eating. This leads to over-estimation of the calories we are expending and an underestimation of the calories we are consuming.

The caloric calculation should be on the front-end of the meal planning and should consider macro balance, as well as nutrient timing (meal planning). This is not to say we bring back the ideal of ill-conceived “carbo-loading” (which brings to mind the episode of The Office in which Michael Scott loads up on fettuccini alfredo right before a 5-k run). Thankfully, sports nutrition has advanced over the last 30 years.

Caloric calculation also should be based solely on a straight “calories in equals calories out”—i.e., relying on the digital output on the treadmill at the gym and the food labels on food. Caloric needs are a bit more complicated—involving a less-than-static basal metabolic rate, the thermogenic effect of food (the calories expended digesting and absorbing the foods we eat), as well as physical activity. At best, we can make an educated guess (short of living in an exercise physiology laboratory) about our caloric balance. Over all, what is complicated is quite simple, if we consider overall changes in weight relative to the calories consumed. And, really, counting calories is quite futile when we realize that we are estimating the actual calories in the foods we eat and that what is absorbed from the foods is quite individualized and circumstantial.

When we exercise with the attitude of “I eat therefore I run”, exercise becomes a form of punishment. Conversely, “I run therefore I eat” allows performance to be the reward. When performance is the reward, it is easier to be more conscientious of what we put into our bodies.

Of course, we can allow ourselves some room to let our diet affect our exercise—to have a “I eat therefore I run” mindset. I presume that we all enjoy food. It is okay, from time to time, to increase our exercise in response to our occasional over-consumption. I often refer to my increased exercise around the holidays as “preemptive caloric expenditure”. It is okay to do a little more exercise to counter our “guilty pleasures”. Over all, however, our minds should be focused on performance—not punishment.

I like food. I like sweets and I like beer. I can enjoy these in moderation, and I find I make better choices when I base my decisions on performance. I am not going to waste calories on bad food/drink. I don’t want to feel like I have to “run” because I ate a crappy donut—that is just punishment on top of punishment. I will, however, have no quilt over a dessert that astounds my taste buds and satisfies my senses.

Shift your mindset to enjoy food as fuel for successful exercise and physical activity. Let food fuel your growth and success.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Like Sisyphus, we all have our rock(s) to roll up the hill. We all approach the opportunity with different attitudes (or should I say grattitudes). As an educator, I see these daily. I also see that our approach is often a product of our upbringing and our community. But, despite our parents, teachers, administrators, coaches, politicians, etc., we are responsible for how we approach the challenges of this thing called “life”.

Some simply choose to just give up and refuse to roll the rock up the hill. As such, we remain forever at the bottom of the hill. In some regard, there are pockets of society that encourage this—”you can’t do it; let someone else” or “you shouldn’t have to do this”, etc. The result is neither success or failure—stagnation instead of growth.

Some demand that the hill be removed. This is increasingly apparent (to me, as an educator) with the growth of “lawnmower parenting” and what I would call “lawnmower educators”. This is less a choice of this type of Sisyphus and more of a habit that is unwittingly developed. We grow to expect that any and all obstacles in life should and will be removed in life.

Others, knowing that the task is challenging, seek or accept help with the desire to acquire the capacity to continue of their own accord. In my 21-plus years of teaching at the collegiate level, I have had numerous students who, coming out of poor academic situations, have recognized the magnitude of the challenge before them (both the size of the rock and the grade of the hill), accepted their deficiencies, sought help, pushed their share of the weight, and overcame. All of these have gone on to do more with their education than they ever imagined.

Some stubbornly go it alone. Capable? Perhaps, but certainly determined. Some may not need the help—having been challenged my smaller hills and rocks along the way. Others simply have faith in themselves. Some need help but refuse or don’t know to ask and, thus, get stuck at the bottom eternally pushing with little to no progress.

Then, there is the Sisyphus who lives for the challenge—who awakens each day enthusiastic for  the opportunity that lies before them. Such people thrive on the challenge. They understand that growth comes from the challenge. They see the “overload principle” at work in life, so they pursue the bigger rock and the bigger hill.

Self-efficacy is rarely an inherent trait. It is learned. As such, we all have a hand in the success of others. In life, we benefit society little by removing the obstacles. Likewise, we benefit little if some are left to struggle at the bottom with rocks that are overwhelming. This is also not to say that we should add unnecessarily to the burden (that is, we should push against the effort; though we should provide greater challenges where warranted). We benefit society by allowing just enough of a rock and hill to stimulate growth. As parents, teachers, administrators, coaches, politicians, etc., we need recognize the benefit of effort in the growth of society. Personally, I believe we benefit more by allowing our young to struggle than by lessening the obstacles. Minimal help (with an appropriate “overload”) is better than removing the challenges. Our children are much more suited to the role of Sisyphus than we give them credit.

The “curse” of Sisyphus can be seen as hell or as opportunity. It is a matter of perspective. It is a matter of choice. It is also a habit that is taught.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

“In the United States in 2019, an estimated 11,060 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed among children from birth to 14 years, and about 1,190 children are expected to die from the disease. Although cancer death rates for this age group have declined by 65 percent from 1970 to 2016, cancer remains the leading cause of death from disease among children. The most common types of cancer diagnosed in children ages 0 to 14 years are leukemias, brain and other central nervous system (CNS) tumors, and lymphomas.”–National Cancer Institute

Before we where pink in October, let’s remember the kids and wear gold and gray in September for Pediatric Cancer Month.

I have watch two families lose children to pediatric brain cancer (and others who have, thankfully, survived other cancers, e.g., leukemia).  Years have passed, but the bright smiles on the faces of the children remain forever in our memories.  I learned to appreciate life from Christopher and Joey, and so the foundations formed by their parents (100% goes to pediatric cancer research) have a special place in my heart.  As you consider pediatric cancer, this month, consider giving money to the following or another foundation of choice:

https://www.christopher-court.org/

https://www.jfccf.org/