76. salutogenesis
What are the origins of health? Aaron Antonovsky sought to answer that question in his 1979 book entitled Health, Stress and Coping. In it, he introduced the term salutogenesis, which places emphasis on the elements that promote health, rather than the factors that strip it away and cause disease (a.k.a. pathogenesis). It’s a radical departure from the “pill for every ill” ideology we’ve all become accustomed to in the traditional healthcare model. Much like myself, Antonovsky rejected the theories of the “traditional medical-model dichotomy separating health and illness” and instead figured that one can only exist in the absence of another.
Today, more than ever, the majority of people seem to only be worried about not getting sick, rather than taking actions to optimize health. Unfortunately, if you continue to think this way, it’s important to understand the fundamental truth that you’re never going to be able to get healthy by doing the same things that made you susceptible to poor health to begin with. Perhaps, it’s the hypnotic narrative of fear perpetuated by daily body counts on the “News” that keeps you holding on to the current medical model. Yet, it is not your savior and it was never designed to make you well to being with. It’s time to start to think differently. The origins of health aren’t rooted in medications or vaccinations, they come from making the right decisions that work for you and your biology.
To illustrate the fundamental difference between the current pathogenetic medical model and the idea of salutogenetic model, let me ask you this. Say, your friend entrusts you to take care of their plant while away on vacation. While they’re gone, you see the leaves starting to turn brown. What do you do? You can paint those leaves green, or you can give the plant what it needs? (Here’s a hint, it’s not electrolytes!) I’m assuming, that since it’s not 2505, your first thought is to give the plant water. The browning of the leaves is a symptom of something not right with the plants biology. Painting the leaves green is akin to taking medication to “solve” the problem, yet only serves to mask the symptom.
Taking the analogy further, think of yourself as the plant. Are you giving yourself the proper things you need to thrive? Do you know what they are? Or do you wait until things start to breakdown, and then search for medications to suppress they symptoms of your faulty lifestyle? This isn’t meant to be harsh so much as eye-opening. Remember, I can’t make you change unless you want to.
You came into this world with only one responsibility, and that was to take care of yourself. Somewhere along the line, most of us surrender our power to a system that seeks profit over health, that manipulates our understanding of what health is, how it’s achieved, and maintained. Staying within this mindset keeps us looking in the wrong direction. We are continuously looking forward in time for the latest medication or vaccination to save us. It’s a faulty and dangerous premise. Instead, we need to look backward to the past, to see what made us strong enough to prevail thousands of years to get to this point where our health is crumbling. I’m a firm believer in the salutogentic model of health as it seeks to define the origins of health. Those origins fall directly in line with the ancestral approach I have successfully applied with my clients in the past, and will continue to use it with anyone who wishes to break free from the tragic paradigm that is the modern “healthcare” system. It’s time to change the way we think. Sometimes a step backwards can be a step in the right direction.
75. dialogue over dictates
To initiate change, dictates need to be replaced with dialogue. Over the past few days, I have tried to illustrate the issues we’ve been confronted with over the past few months without telling anyone specifically what I think needs to be done do to improve anyone’s health and safety. I firmly believe that no one can be forced to change if they aren’t ready to, no matter how much information is thrown at them. However, I want to be part of the discussion that changes your life, that allows you to create a greater sense of awareness about the world we are living in, and ultimately helps you achieve a healthier life.
The best way to help people find greater personal motivation in their journey is to avoid demotivating their interest by simply telling them what needs to be done, and instead invite them to look at the world from a different perspective, with the hope that it can pique their interest. I have shared many things that have been contradictory to the prevailing “wisdom,” not because I have a political agenda, but because I truly love what I do and want everyone to gain from my passion. As I encourage others to look at things differently, I understand that it can be tough to take the first steps outside of what you’re comfortable with. I get it change is hard. People tend to resist taking on new ideas or behaviors more so because they’re crystal clear about what they’ll lose by changing, but uncertain about what they’ll gain in the process. It’s tough, albeit necessary in these times.
When it comes to creating change, we all tend to overvalue what we’re losing, while undervaluing what we’ll gain. It’s understandable that we don’t eagerly embrace alternatives, yet I think it’s time we start a dialogue about how to move in the direction that seeks to optimize our health instead of cowering in a corner waiting for the status quo to be saved.
74. xyz
On a scale from 1 to 10, how well do you understand how zippers work? …. Okay, next question. How does a zipper work? Describe in as much detail as you can, all the steps involved in a zipper’s operation. If you’re like most people, you don’t work in a zipper factory and have little to say in response to the second question. You don’t really know how zippers work. So, here’s another question, on the same 1 to 10 scale, please rate your knowledge on how a zipper works again. I’m assuming it’s less than your first answer.
Why do we assume a higher level of knowledge? Well, the simplest answer to that question is it’s the easiest and most energy efficient way to go about our day. If we had to know all the inner-workings of everything we encountered to get through our day, we would never make it past cooking breakfast without wanting to go back to bed. It’s not a bad thing to have so little detailed knowledge about how things work. For the most part, it’s necessary. We learn from previous experiences we’ve had an apply that going forward without having to apply additional thought. This allows us to focus on only what we need, while filtering everything else out.
The problem comes when people start speaking or spreading information as though they they worked in our proverbial zipper factory, without actually ever stepping foot in one. Unfortunately, just because someone reads a post about YKK, doesn’t make them an expert on the subject. Just because someone can regurgitate facts, doesn’t make them capable of putting concepts together across genres, in an effort to deliver a broader picture. Just because someone prefers a zipper, doesn’t mean it’s better than a button It may just be that prefer the zipper because they can’t figure out how to use a button.
The world we live in is driven by emotion and fueled by abstract bits of information woven into a narrative to justify that feeling. In an effort to simplify the message, the complexity of details gets lost as conflicting narratives emerge. If you don’t work in the “factory,” it’s very easy to become susceptible to people who seem like they do, and say things you like hearing. We all want the best advice possible, but with no real understanding about how the “factory” is working, how can you really discern whether it’s information or misinformation used to further a narrative.
It should seem alarming that everyone is now an expert in the health field and has “facts” to back it up, yet, these people have no real concept of health or how to achieve it. It’s fucking dangerous in more ways than one because these are the people whose voice is often the loudest. We all have our areas of expertise, but on most subjects (specifically health), the majority of people only dive deep enough to string together shallow bits of information, while in reality what we know is little more than a feeling of understanding that we really can’t unpack. Attaining real knowledge is hard work, that is why most people just rearrange their prejudices and call it learning.
72. just a thought
Yesterday, through the introduction of a friend, I met someone for the first time. As she approached, I saw she was wearing a mask, so to be polite, I asked if she would like me to put my mask on so we could sit down and talk. “No, I don’t think it’s necessary.” I agreed, I didn’t think she needed her’s either, so she took her mask off and we proceeded to have a great conversation.
In the small community of people I interact with, I’ve found that none of them really care about the “safety procedures” of social distancing or the need to wear a mask. And to be honest, I’m fine with that because I don’t find the merit in doing so either. Before the Karen’s and Kevin’s jump down my throat because my mouth is exposed, let me explain myself.
Everyone I surround myself with is deeply entrenched in the health, fitness, research, nutrition, functional medicine, and the strength and conditioning world. They are not IG influencers searching for likes or part of the Dr. Oz tribe that likes to lead you down the yellow brick road of bullshit. These people are not average in anyway. They are the people you look for when you want to improve your health or get in shape because the government guidelines on health you’ve been following haven’t worked. They are people I respect, because they place their health as a top priority in their life. I’m assuming this is strange to hear as it sounds like some type of cognitive dissonance. They want to be healthy, yet they don’t follow the guidelines or wear a mask?!? GASP! They must be crazy, right?
No, they are not crazy. Nor do I think they are dangerous or careless. How could they be? They are the best at what they do and it shows. They, much like myself, stopped listening to the “wisdom” the government was shoveling in our direction many years ago, and it’s subsequently the reason why they have acquired the health they have. If these people aren’t worried about the biggest health crisis of our lifetime, maybe we should start to ask why, and take on some of their practices so that we can get on with life. Perhaps the “information” you’ve been hearing on the News isn’t the best advice to lockdown your health in these uncertain times. Just a thought.
70. covibesity
The News is full of information about how to not get sick, yet rarely provides any information regarding what you need to do to actually improve your health. Whether it’s due to sheer ignorance, or scare tactics meant to keep you tuned in, neither is helpful for creating a healthier and safer you. There needs to be more emphasis on the foundational things we can do to bolster our health.
A study entitled Individuals with obesity and COVID‐19: A global perspective on the epidemiology and biological relationships was recently published in the Journal of Obesity Reviews. It goes in to the affects of COVID-19 on those who are obese, stating that obesity increases the risk of death by nearly 50%! You would think with news like this, we would hear more about what can be done while we all sit at home and wait for a vaccine besides order take out and shelter in place.
Anyone who has been into a Wal-Mart lately will know that obesity problem may be just as large as the actual pandemic itself. The US has some of the highest obesity rates in the world, with the US government data showing more than 40% of Americans as obese with the trend rising. According to the World Health Organization, “obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally, with at least 2.8 million people dying each year as a result of being overweight or obese.”
Assuming there is a correlation, why isn’t this being talked about? Probably because it’s easier to sell you a vaccine than it is to ask you to change your lifestyle. Unfortunately, the study also mentioned the vaccines being developed to address the COVID-19 “will be less effective for individuals with obesity due to a weaker immune response.” And, don’t think that because you don’t consider yourself obese, you’re safe. Metabolic derangement can happen at any size and is the leading cause of obesity! The need to talk about the small things to improve health is becoming more and more important as time goes on. However, the we wait to gather this rather obvious information, the more at risk we become.
With poor health being endemic during this pandemic, what more do you need to hear to put your health first? There is no easy button for achieving better health. Not a vaccine. Not a mask. Not social distancing. Health is cumulative. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to reverse any damages done to your body, and with that will come an increase in your susceptibility to COVID19, as well as whatever else 2020 decides to throw at us. For better or worse, a lot of us were given months to get our priorities in line, to lose weight, improve our sleep habits, focus on a little bit of exercise, and reassess our lives. With the information that you can’t simply wait the virus out until a vaccine comes along, hopefully you can use the remainder of this gift of information and time to work on improving your lifestyle.
67. lions, tigers, and bears. oh, my!
The news has been nothing if not a promotion of fear, alarmism, and anxiety. There is no real mention of how to actually take care of ourselves or how to improve our health. Why? All we get are message reminding us to social distance, wear a mask, stay inside, and hold out for a vaccine because this virus is so bad. Maybe it’s so bad because no one has any clue of what it is feels like to be healthy. But the facts are that Corona disproportionately affects the metabolically challenged and immunocompromised the most, a.k.a. the least healthy among us. Not surprisingly, both of these conditions can be exponentially impacted with positive lifestyle changes. Yet, we hear nothing of value, just how bad it’s getting.
At the beginning of each News broadcast, you’ll hear these frightening statistics — 800,000 deaths and 24,000,000 cases world wide! (Lions, tigers and bears OH MY!) Why not tell people that around 95% of the cases are mild, with only 3% being serious, and less than that being deadly? Why is fear the best option? Newsflash, it’s not. Stress induced states of mind lower our immunity, but I’ll play the game. Here’s some scary statistics: globally, 60 million people die every year. Locally, the latest mortality report from the CDC stated there were roughly 3,000,000 deaths in the United States in the year 2017. That breaks down to around 650,000 people dying from Heart Disease; 600,000 from Cancer; 80,000 from Diabetes; 50,000 from Suicide, just to name a few. And the scariest fact about that is these things are largely preventable! Where are the daily updates for these? Why has Corona been chosen to be the “crisis” that it is? Better yet, why are you waiting until now to think about your health?
health is an act of rebellion
Albert Camus once said that “the only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” That’s pretty good, but Robb Wolf took that sentiment and mixed it into one more fitting for our current health crisis by saying “the only way to deal with an unhealthy world is to become so absolutely healthy that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” As an armchair rebel and habitual line-stepper, I like both. As a Health & Performance coach, I’m partial to Robb’s take as it fits my narrative on prioritizing health above all else.
The idea of improving health is, and ALWAYS will be an active process. Yet the way this crisis is being handled has left me with no patience, like an out of work doctor. Simply distancing yourself by sitting in your house while Taco Bell gets delivered by DoorDash is not in any way a pursuit towards improving health outcomes because you decided to wear a mask when you answer the door. We are trying to solve the wrong problem. If we’re so worried about the transmission of poor health, why is it legal for someone right next to me to light up a cigarette and blow it in my face.
Personally, I thought this whole ordeal would be a wake up call for health challenged people. I’ve had clients too afraid to leave their house because they might contract the RONA, yet they’re at home in their jammies taking peanut butter shots to the head, thinking they’re going to be safe because they wash their hands and wear a mask. The main problem is still being missed.
Let me lay it out. HEALTH IS CUMULATIVE. It is affected by everything you do — from the way you think, what you put in, on or around your body, and even the environment you find yourself in. Dr. Terry Walhs said it best; “Your genes load the gun, and the environment pulls the trigger.” Meaning you are born healthy (most likely) and you have the power to keep it or destroy it by the choices you make. Whether by food, or alcohol, or poor sleep, or stress, or toxic burdens, or a combination of all.
You would think that because everything we do affects our health, something like a gym would be an essential business. NOPE. People are going to jail for trying to improve themselves….
So you see, it is an act of rebellion to be healthy these days. Take Atilis Gym in New Jersey. In May, they decided to defy the government mandated shutdown and open their doors to the public who wished to get their workouts on. Obviously, Big Brother, doesn’t like blatant acts of defiance so the owners were given citations for every day they remained open until their eventual arrest yesterday. In the interim (between May and the arrest) to deter this rebellious activity, the government went so far as to try to shut the power off to the building, but that didn’t work because the gym owners paid 3 months in advance. Next, the authorities had the plumbing to the gym turned off, which caused the place to flood. The gym closed for a day of clean up and was opened up the next. The following attempt to stop the gainztrain was to hire a locksmith to come in the middle of the night to change the locks on the door. The gym owners found a solution by TAKING THE DOORS OFF the building and making it a 24 hour fitness facility. More gym access is better for everyone right? WRONG! The owners were arrested shortly after this on the ground that they were not operating their business within the proper guidelines for COVID-19 safety.
It is arguable that they were practicing outside of the guidelines, so there may be precedence. In the two months they fought to be open, they limited the amount of people in the gym at any given time, ask for distancing within the facility, had everyone to clean up after themselves, and DIDN’T REQUIRE MASKS. The funny part was that NO ONE contracted the virus who attended the gym. While their methods were contradictory to what the CDC has been telling everyone, what they did seems to have worked. Maybe the government doesn’t know everything.
As anyone in the Iron Game knows, if you’re waiting for the research you’re behind the curve. It can take as long as 30 years in some cases for certain techniques discovered in the basement of the dirtiest gym to come out in research papers. That aside, we should all have the freedom to choose whether or not we put ourselves at risk. It seems crazy to think that liquor stores, marijuana depots, gun stores, Mc-FUCKING-Donalds are considered ESSENTIAL, yet the once place where you can go to actually improve your health is closed.
Our health has become an act of rebellion, but should it be?
Like many countries, Norway order all gyms to close in March to prevent the spread of the RONA. But unlike every other nation Norway decided to use their free time effectively and not binge on Netflix and Quarantini’s. Norway funded a study to determine whether the closings of gym were really necessary.
The study was a 2 week randomized trial of almost 4000 participants — half had access to the gym, the other half did not. Ages ranged from 18-64, and all were stated to not have any underlying health conditions. Those who were invited back into the gym were met with enhanced safety measures that required hand washing prior to entrance, a minimum distance of 3 feet of separation when doing floor exercises, 6 feet within higher intensity classes like Spin, and NO ONE WAS REQUIRED TO WEAR A MASK. You may think there is going to be an apocryphal ending here, but no. There was no difference in transmission rates between groups. In fact, only one person contracted the virus during the whole study, and he got it from his workplace.
The take away here is that the risk of transmission does not seem to be increased by going to the gym. I guess the argument to this is that most gym goers are relatively more concerned with their health, thus healthier overall. However, isn’t that the point!? Also, comparatively, the obesity rate for Norway vs. the U.S. is 3% to HEAFTY 30%. So again, that may play a part in it all, which just harkens back to my soapbox rantings of the past. Anyway, all this begs the questions, why not let people go to the gym? The risk of infection in the community is seemingly so low that the benefits are outweighed by the advantages. We can’t stay locked down forever. And we are going to be in this for a long while, so why don’t we stop making health so fucking hard to accomplish.
Link to study — https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.24.20138768v2
take responsibility
Disney World opened up recently. Their guidelines were pretty standard. It required people to wear masks while in the park, UNLESS you were eating. It isn’t hard to tell where this story is going… What happened was everyone at the park said “No problem, I’ll just keep eating all day so I don’t have to wear a mask!”
Has there ever been a better analogy for the current state of American values?! People want to stuff their face all day, so that they don’t have to wear a mask, yet stuffing their face all day makes them more susceptible to a virus that they need to be protected from by wearing a mask. What am I missing? I thought this whole Corona situation would be a wake up call for people, but it seems like they’re just asking for limes. Either way, the hilarity of the situation is only weighed down by the tragic nature of it all.
Disney has since closed the loophole, and instituted “safe zones” for eating without a mask. Alternatively, America has not closed their mouths — neither in opposition to wearing a mask or putting down their hotdogs for healthier options.
While I am not a fan of the mask, I understand that we are all in this together, so I’ll put the mask on while I’m grocery shopping or if I decide to spend my entire unemployment check on a day at Disney. I’ll honor the fact that there is a time and place for wearing a mask, but I IMPLORE you to hone the fact that you should not be a good host for viruses.
Please understand that there are two sides to this equation — viral avoidance (mask wearing) and staying immune strong (healthy lifestyle). We all need to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for both.
why can’t we get better info
Why is it that the only thing we hear about how to protect our health during this pandemic revolve around external precautions? Social distancing, masks, quarantining. There’s no ethical reason behind the lack of advice regarding diet and lifestyle. Unfortunately, it all comes down to the financial interests of large corporations who DO NOT have your health, or best interests in mind.
Bolstering health is relatively simple. Eat whole, unprocessed foods. Get outside in the sun. Move as much as you can. Sleep like you’re on vacation. And connect as much as you can with the people you love. Yet, none of this is talked about. Instead, we have things happening like governments deciding the best choice for our health is to CLOSE NATURE (beaches) while they leave McDonald’s open.
We were in a health crisis before this pandemic came around — obesity, heart disease, diabetes. It seems to me that if we had been having the correct conversations about health PRIOR to this, it wouldn’t be as bad. Wearing a mask is not going to make everything okay because all you have to do is remove it and shove some waffles in your mouth. What ever happened to wanting to be resilient in mind and body?
Part of this is taking ownership of the issues at hand, but I understand that most people only listen to headlines. Unfortunately, headlines are driven by corporate interests, not the wellbeing of the public.
The financial health of large industries, is more important than your individual health or longevity. As a matter of fact, the food industry directly objects calls for healthier guidelines. An example of this can be seen in a health report by the World Health Organization — composed by a panel of 30 experts from 22 countries. The conclusions were commonsensical: too much sugar and fast food are unhealthy. NO SHIT!! However, despite this obviously being sensible advice, a protest against these findings arose within the food industry. Actions by the Snack Food Association, Wheat Foods Council, Corn Refiners Association, International Dairy Foods Association, the Sugar Association, and many others, called for ceasing all financial support of the WHO by the United States. This was based on the grounds that the report was garbage science, not founded on any concrete scientific consensus.
There’s a reason we aren’t getting quality information regarding health and it’s because the narrative is directed by those who seek profit.
Don’t worry about my mask, if you got Cheetos in your grocery cart
Don’t worry about my mask, if you got Cheetos in your grocery cart.
Please do not outsource your health concerns. They start with you and are an accumulation of all the decisions you make. The burden of health starts with each one of us. This is not to say we shouldn’t be respectful and wear a mask while in public during this time, or cover our mouths when we sneeze. However, it is everyone’s responsibility to make the best decisions regarding our individual health — e.g., eat better, move more, go to sleep earlier, and finding ways to mitigate stress.
Obviously, I’m biased, as I am the center of my own universe. Maybe she was buying Cheetos for the birds or homeless. Either way, I think we need to be clear on the subject of securing our health first.
Anytime we’ve flown anywhere we hear the familiar instruction to secure our own masks before attempting to help others in the event of there’s an emergency. We’re supposed to do this because in times of crisis, securing ourselves first, allows us the freedom of greater safety. Without securing ourselves, we are more likely to be impacted by the unknowns of the situation, ultimately leading to negative outcomes.
What does all this mean?
Take complete ownership of your health. Those most affected by this virus are the ones who are metabolically challenged, overly stressed, have preexisting conditions or a litany of other issues. The majority of these issues come from years of poor choices. Because health is cumulative, we all need to start making better choices.