340. crystal clear
Whenever you try to implement change, a tension arises. The rational part of your brain knows what needs to be done, but the emotional part doesn’t want to do the hard work.
For change to happen you need both parts of your brain on board. If you only instruct the rational part of your brain you’ll have an understanding, but no motivation. If you only appeal to the emotional part of the brain, you’ll have passion, but no direction.
The rational part of your brain is the part of you that knows exercising before work is a good idea, so it sets the alarm nice and early. It has a clear vision of what it wants and the best way to get there, but unfortunately it’s a poor motivator. The best shot at getting your emotional brain on board is to be specific as possible about what needs to happen, otherwise the passion for change will fade.
“Lose weight” isn’t very clear, but “wake up at 5am, put on shoes, go to the gym, do 4 sets of squats and pull-ups” is a crystal clear instruction.
“Be more productive” is not clear either, but “sit down at the desk, open up a word document, set the timer for 20 minutes, and start writing all the words bouncing around in your head until the time is up” is another crystal clear instruction.
Both examples allow for small tasks to be repeated right after another, adding motivation to keep moving forward.
If it’s clear and easy, motivation and direction come into alignment effortlessly, allowing for change to happen. As soon as clarity is lost in vague statements, real change stands no chance.
322. improve your health
There is an entire industry devoted toward biohacking. Much of the time it serves as a distraction from focusing on the fundamentals of improving health. Rather than getting overwhelmed with all the opinions centered around hacking different aspects of your biology, just work on the basics. You could spend thousands of hours researching the best bio hacks and not come up with a better recommendation to improve your health than to eat whole, unprocessed foods, get outside in the sun, move a lot, sleep like you’re on vacation, surround yourself with loving relationships, and practice a bit of gratitude for everything you experience. You can put all the money you save on gadgets and expensive supplements into building a life that lets you live and capture health how you’re supposed to.
77. pillars of health
With all the noise coming from the media’s glorification of the impending mythical antidote, we seem to be losing touch with what was necessary for humanity to achieve a level of health that allowed us to arrive at this pivotal moment in history. Contented with the fact that Big Pharma will have an answer to the consequences a lifetime of indulging in desires will ultimately bring, most people no longer value the fundamental principles of health. The main message being delivered is that your health no longer needs to be your responsibility. It’s tragic. Unfortunately, I can’t save everyone, yet, for those that choose to take responsibility for their health, I want to share my fundamental pillars of health.
Wholesome Nutrition - What you need to eat will largely come down to your individual goals. It is important to understand that there is no perfect diet for all people. We all need to find what works best for us. A good place to start is to look at how your ancestors ate. Try to recreate it with the freshest, least processed, locally sourced, and most nutrient dense products you can find. Eat both veggies and vegetarians for the best health.
Functional Movement - Movement is more than exercise. It is the acquisition of strength to do what you need to do on a daily basis, and the mobility that grants you the ease to get in and out of necessary positions. The easiest way to improve your functional movement, without a gym, is to sit on the floor while you watch TV instead of the couch. You’ll constantly need to move and shift positions which will stretch different muscles, and then you will need to use those to get up, which over time, can improve strength.
Sleep Optimization - Sleep is underrated. Prioritizing rest and recovery is key to optimizing health. Without it we are unlikely to think, act, move, perform, or make decisions to the best of our abilities. The body thrives on consistency so follow a schedule. As the sun starts to set and bedtime gets closer, turn off unnecessary entertainment and dim the lights to mirror the outside environment.
Stress Management - While stress is necessary for adaptation and growth, if it becomes chronic, as in today’s society, there can be negative consequences, like a suppressed immune system. Knowing that you control how you react in any situation — that you choose, how anything affects you — will allow you to approach life differently. If you choose to take responsibility for your actions in all situations, you will have less stress and more time to appreciate the things you enjoy.
Digestive Health - You are not what you eat, but what you can absorb. The bacteria in our gut outnumber the cells in our body by a factor of 10. Their health can impact not only our nutritional input, but also our mood and immune health as well. The only way to improve your digestive health is to find a diet that works for you. If you’re not consistently shitting a 4 on the Bristol Stool Scale, you’ll need to change some aspect of your diet or lifestyle.
Efficient Detoxification - There is no such thing as a “pure” lifestyle in the 21st century. We have to be vigilant with what food and products we put in, on, or around our bodies because a majority of them have chemicals that aren’t tested by the FDA, as they trust companies to “self regulate.” Start with looking at the ingredients of everything you use and compare them to the EWG.org database, replace the most toxin ones. Oh and juice cleanses are bullshit. You need a certain amount of amino acids to efficiently detoxify, which are woefully deficient in fruit.
Resilient Mindset - Mindset is the most powerful thing we have. It is able to have a positive influence on our world and manifest change in ways we never thought possible. Stop focusing on the negative messages you hear all day and instead practice gratitude. Start a grateful journal today to change where your focus lies. Get a pen and paper, and write down 3 things you’re grateful for today. Repeat this everyday.
Community of Support - We are tribal animals. We were never meant to exist in solitude. To thrive, we need to find an environment with like-minded people in pursuance of similar goals, where we can connect with those who challenge us, as well as support our decisions to grow. I invite you to be a part of my tribe.
Maybe I missed the memo, but I don’t think these are being talked about by any mainstream source as a way to achieve a better quality of life. I’m assuming because they require taking responsibility for your own health and that’s not a money-maker for pharmaceutical companies. Regardless, they are what I have used to transform my own life as well as those I have worked with. It may take a little bit of effort, but they are the foundational principles of health that can save you from a reliance on the “sick care” system.
more exercise isn’t the answer
Why do most people choose to exercise? I assume it’s deeper than simply making an attempt at being healthy, and more along the lines of wanting to lose weight to look good naked. That’s fair, I TOO want to look good naked. HOWEVER, I am here to tell you not to fall prey to the simplistic mantra of “calories in, calories out.”
More exercise isn;t the answer in your quest for a sexy body. Multiple studies carried out by health and fitness experts have concluding that exercise doesn’t really result in much weight loss(1,2). A study from Harvard University, reported that exercise alone was not adequate for preventing weight gain in people who are already overweight(3). Furthermore, after 8 weeks of your favorite aerobic exercise, you’ll hit a plateau, where continuous work will not bring you any further progress AND may even cause you to lose muscle while storing more fat.
None of this is to say that we shouldn’t be exercising, but relying on it to get you the body you want without addressing all other aspects of your lifestyle is misguided. The reason why certain exercise protocols — specifically, resistance training — are implemented when it comes to transforming your turnip shaped body into one made for selfies is that it helps RETAIN MUSCLE while cleaning up the diet is largely responsible for the reduction in fat mass. Both are necessary for the best results, but neither will give you the best results on their own.
References in link
think outside the box
When I ask people what they’re doing to create a healthier lifestyle, most respond with some variation of “moving more and eating less.” While that’s helpful, it largely misses the point. Health isn’t only about finding ways to incorporate exercise into our lives, just as it isn’t all about cutting calories. This line of thought only seeks to change our appearance, as how we look on the outside is how we’re judged.
To genuinely improve our quality of life and overall health, we have to go beyond the current narrative — “move more, eat less.” We need to start thinking about things like fixings our sleep habits, starting a grateful journal to mitigate stress, finding a healthy recipe to cook and enjoy with someone close, buying house plants to improve the air quality in our homes, or go for a walk after a meal to help with your digestion and get some sun.
Health is cumulative. Choosing only to battle with the symptoms of a poor lifestyle — e.g., the expansion of your midsection — will never lead to an optimal life.
what’s more important — diet or exercise?
What is more important — diet or exercise? Should you prioritize diet at the expense of exercise, or eat whatever you want and move as much as you can?
If you want to be healthy, lean, strong, live a long time, and continue to do the things you love throughout your life, then a foundational focus on nutrition is the best choice. We’ve all heard that you can’t out exercise a poor diet, and it’s true. Everything we shove into our mouth eventually becomes part of us. The macronutrients — protein, fat, carbs — and micronutrients — vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals — are the building blocks for our muscles, bones, tissues, and organs. Poor choices in nutrition, lead to poor structures in our body, ultimately giving way to degeneration.
But wait… I thought exercise is supposed to fight against the aging and degeneration process!? Yes, you would be right by thinking that, but again our bodies are made of what we put into our mouth. While you can eat like shit and exercise those extra calories off to give the outward impression of healthy body, your internal processes are not able to keep up with the demand as they don’t have the necessary nutrients to elicit proper repair and recover of all the exercising you’re doing. By trying to out exercise your poor dietary choices, you are effectively burning the candle at both ends. And because I’m fancy, I’ll quote Lao Tzu by saying “the flame that burns twice as bright, burns half as long.” In other words, you’re not doing yourself any favors by going off the rails with your diet and trying to make it up with exercising more.
So what should you eat?
Nutrition should be individualized to the person and unique to their goals. If you want to know more reach out. To get you started here are a few tips everyone can agree with and incorporate:
Eat whole foods (you don’t have to shop there, just stop buying processed foods)
Eliminate all vegetable oils from your diet (Soybean, Corn, Cottonseed, Canola, Rapeseed, Sunflower, Sesame, Grapeseed oil)
Shop on the perimeter of the grocery store (the center is full of deception disguised as food)
If it comes in a box and you can’t pronounce ALL the ingredients don’t buy it (this is the deceptive fuckery)
Woman Drops 100lbs in 6 Weeks Going Strict Paleo, Eating Only Meat Scavenged from the Pack of Wolves She Runs with and fasting on Sundays!!!
If you’re even mildly paying attention you’ll have come across a headline, book, podcast, commercial or some friendly “advice” from a friend telling you exactly what and when you need to eat (and/or not eat), how to exercise, which supplements to take, how to sleep, etc. All you have to do is follow the protocol and you’ll lose the weight, feel better, cure a disease, be in the best shape of your life, and walk on water. Plenty of success stories, testimonials, google reviews, before and after transformation pictures are easily found to prove if such and such program worked for their fat ass, it can work for you too! And, this shit works.
With a multitude of “proven results” from seemingly contradictory claims, what exactly is working? One programs claims you can eat enough carbs to put an elephant into a coma, while another says that simply walking down the bread isle will knock you out of ketosis. One doctor says you can live with a pack of wolves, eating only meat, while another says anything other than consuming vegetables will give you cancer. One coach says cardio is king (gag!), while another says you should only move if it’s to pick up another weight. Supplement recommendations are all over the place. And, if you aren’t intermittent fasting, you obviously don’t care about your health.
This is all very confusing.
You do your best to take time to consider all the input from everything you’ve read, heard, seen, and try to put together that “perfect” program that works for you. You’re going to have your own success story… Woman Drops 100lbs in 6 Weeks Going Strict Paleo, Eating Only Meat Scavenged from the Pack of Wolves She Runs with and fasting on Sundays!!!
That headline is very appealing… How could that NOT work?
Well, probably because each individual program works for a reason — be it, specific macros, calorie counting, intermittent fasting, cardio or weight regimen, etc. Hobbling together a program you think will work is probably the best way to get lost in the hype of one thing or the other. Soon you’ll find your inclinations for the feral way of life waining. Or that fasting on Sunday’s interrupts your new Zoom drinking party.
So, what’s the point?
As a Personal Trainer (gag again — I fucking hate that classification, someone please ask me why so I can rant), I’ve been privy to working with 100’s of people during my tenure in this industry. All different. All wanting some result they saw on TV or in a magazine. All thinking it’s just a matter of fitting the right pieces in place and you’ll be an IG BootyStar. I’m here to tell you that, YES, it can be that simple, but rarely ever is. Very few people follow through on the simplest of things.
It’s not about willpower. It’s not about sacrifice.
It’s all comes down to figuring out WHY you want to be the END result you seek. Most people I’ve dealt with come to me because they want to lose weight, but being thinner is rarely the reason they want to lose weight. It’s generally much deeper and harder to uncover or admit to themselves, and certainly their trainer. It’s generally something like they want to look good naked so they can be attractive to their spouse who has lost attention, or they got bad results from their doctor and if they don’t change their ways, they’ll die long before they see their kids grow up.
Heavy shit.
So, how do you lose 100 lbs? By being honest with yourself and finding the real reason WHY you want to change your life. Revisit that WHY every time you want to stop or give up.
This is not the last time I’m going to say this… NARRATIVE is FUCKING EVERYTHING. We are the stories we tell ourselves. You want a better life, tell a better story. (More to come on this)