Fitness Philosopher

Look Before You Leap.

So, you've decided to begin a strength training program.

The gym down the street just accepted your membership application and the iron is just waiting to be picked up.  You've got the gym bag, clothes and shoes.  Your iPod is loaded and ready to play.  All you've gotta do is walk in and get down to business, right?

Sure.  But have you considered the following?

• What's your motivation for beginning?
• What are the emotional/mental obstacles that you typically contend with?  What do you do to overcome them? 
• If you're going to hire a fitness professional to guide you, what's your learning style?  What coaching approach works best for you?

These points may seem marginal -- nit-picky, even.  But avoiding questions like these - forgoing the  opportunity to consider their answers at the most basic level - will increase the difficulty of your journey.

Your approach to a healthy lifestyle doesn't necessarily involve getting to the gym first.  Honestly evaluate your current state.  Strive to understand your strengths and weaknesses.  Clearly define what motivates you.  Think about the means by which you'll overcome any obstacles you'll face.

Taking these factors into account will go a long way toward kick starting your journey. . . and keeping you on track to finish it.

The "Six-Way Teeter-Totter."

Reflect on this citation (originally written in 1937) as you work to master the habits of healthy nutrition:

The world is gradually going carbohydrate.  That is because there are more people than there have ever been before (one would like to add "or ever will be again") so there must be more food.  You can get about eight times as many calories from an acre of corn as you can from the flesh of pigs fed on this same corn.  Because of population pressure, certain sections of the world are progressively using more of the vegetable and less of animal materials.  This means that the carbohydrates, from sugar and cereals particularly, are increasing steadily in quantity.  One does not need to view this with alarm, but it is not amiss to point out that this tendency is not the best road to health.  Not that starches and sugars are harmful, but they are low in the essential we must have for good health.  If the proportion of carbohydrates is high then the amount of something else of greater importance is low.  Nutrition is a six-way teeter-totter.  Have you ever tried to balance such a device?

-- C. C. Furnas and S. M. Furnas, Man, Bread & Destiny: The Story of Man and His Food, 1937 as cited in Part Two of Gary Taubes', Good Calories, Bad Calories, 2007

Take home message:

1) Sugar and starches "are not the best road to health."  Do they serve a purpose?  Sure.  They provide a source of energy.  But protein and fat are also viable energy sources -- energy sources that keep insulin secretion in check.

2)  Food quality counts!  This topic is not as simple as "carbs are bad for you" -- it's the type of carbohydrates you're consuming that you have to be conscious of.  Regularly choose refined sugars and starches and you're inviting a host of health issues into your future.  Consistently eat carbohydrates that are low in sugar/starch and loaded with vitamins, minerals and natural fiber, and it'll have a significant (positive) effect on your body's function.

3)  Yes, it takes a significant amount of corn (wheat, soybeans, grass. . . ) to produce pork (chicken, beef). Don't feel guilty about the fact -- eat your protein!

4)  Nutrition is as simple as it is complex.  Stick to and master the principles before you worry about the intricate details and, often times, your health will take care of itself.

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***Many thanks to Gary Taubes for his work on Good Calories, Bad Calories.  If you're looking for a THOROUGH resource that was written with integrity and objectivity -- and with quintessential use of the scientific method as a means to try to unveil the truth -- this book is for you.  When I finish reading it, I may just consider it my "one-stop-shop" for all things nutrition.***

The Concept of "BEING."

"You only live once -- but if you work it right, once is enough." - Joe E. Lewis ________________________________

It's 7:30 pm on Friday and I'm traveling uptown on the subway, reflecting on my day . . .

Wishing I wasn't getting home so late. 

Hoping to see my daughter, smiling and awake, and regretting that I hadn't seen her all day.

Lamenting about not being productive enough in my free time.

And then I snapped out of it.  Why was I so discontent?  Why wasn't I simply accepting my day as it unfolded?  What was I trying to get back? 

And what was I losing as I spent my time thinking about it? 

What was I losing?!?!?  I was losing right now.  I was missing out on being in the moment.  I was missing out on truly living.

What does this have to do with training? 

Everything.

It has as much to do with training as it does with everyday life.

When you focus on letting yourself "be," there's no time for fear, contemplation, regret, excessive analysis. . . to get in the way of a pure, unadulterated, full-blown effort and experience.  (An experience that you can now gloriously reflect on.)

When you truly live in the moment and let yourself simply "be," you free yourself up to be the best you can be. . . giving yourself the opportunity to reach your highest potential.