The Weak In Rock

So, I’ve written before about motivation.  I’ve touched on how much I hate that Nike appropriated a perfectly good motivational phrase - Just do it - as a marketing tag line.  Not because I necessarily hate Nike, but because I think whenever a good common sense phrase gets used to market a product it devalues the phrase and contributes to the increasing poverty of the English language.

But this quote really stood out for me from this entry on Nerd Fitness:

Have a reason.  A really good reason! You can’t just make up some shallow reason like “I want to lose 50 lbs”. You have to have a purpose, like being around for your family 20, 30, 40 years from now. If you don’t have kids, then maybe your purpose can be to get stronger or to run a marathon. Forget about your appearance in the beginning. All of that will come on its own, sometimes faster than you ever expected.

This is pretty close, if not spot on to how I’ve approached my own fitness and weight management goals over the past couple of years.  When I focus on how I look I’m easily discouraged.  Progress is slow, and sometimes very, very hard for me to even notice (see my earlier post from this morning about the value of running into people you haven’t seen in a year).  And I too was motivated a couple of years ago by this post on The Art of Manliness - Every Man Should Be Able To Save His Own Life: 5 Fitness Benchmarks A Man Must Master.  I’m not shy about saying that when I read that Art of Manliness post in 2009 and I felt shame.  I felt shame because I was pretty sure I would not measure up well against any of the 5 benchmarks.  Today, regardless of how I’m feeling about how I look (and I’m a vain person, unfortunately, so it does cross my mind a wee bit too often), I know I can measure up to any of the 5.

So, if you don’t have a reason, try Tony’s on for size.  If that one doesn’t fit, find another.  But make it a good one.

… and sick.

http://youtu.be/yDbocZ438f0

This is a pretty good report, especially for a mainstream, big network news program like Nightline.   I’d only say that looking for a single cause of America’s widening waistlines is pointless, because it’s all of the above discussed in this report that are responsible.  HFCS, overeating, eating edible food-like substances instead of food, lack of exercise… all of it.  Oh, and the ridiculous and increasingly discredited notion that a “low fat” diet is good for you or will contribute to weight loss and physical fitness, which we see the hack from Smart Choices repeating the mantra of in this clip.

I love the quote from Mark Bittman here, “If something is 40% sugar by weight what is it?  It’s dessert, not breakfast.”

Feeling a little down-trodden about your fitness or weight loss goals?  Here’s a suggestion - go spend some time with people who haven’t seen you in a while.  It will utterly alter your perspective on how you’re doing.

Yesterday I spent 11 hours volunteering at a charity golf tournament (I don’t golf, but I’ve been working at this particular tournament for 4 years now, riding around the course in a golf cart and helping to make sure the event goes off successfully).  Since I’ve worked at this event regularly for the past few years I’ve gotten to know some of the regular golfers, but these are not people I see at any other point in the year, for the most part.  So, there I am, standing at the registration desk and one after another folks are commenting on how much weight I’ve lost and how good I look.  And here’s the best part - asking me how I did it.  How cool is that?  Talk about positive reinforcement and motivation to keep it up.

Here’s another thing - I’ve been down this road before, and lost a significant amount of weight, but previously the remarks I’ve gotten from people were tinged with concern.  One guy I talked to yesterday, who has been told by his own doctor he needs to get into better shape or he’s headed for a lifelong prescription to statins and other pharmacological interventions, remarked that I didn’t just look like I’d lost weight, I looked healthier, happier and stronger than he’d ever seen me.  He actually made me promise to email him with a list of the books and blogs I’d been reading for guidance and information about the workout programs I’d been following.  This is a man who was really depressed about the notion of going on a “diet” and was thrilled to hear that such a thing had nothing to do with how I have gotten where I am.

You know, all this stuff can start to sound a lot like some obnoxious infomercial, but the reality is that there is no magic bullet.  There’s no one change you can make in your habits that will miraculously, and with no real effort, cause you to get more fit, more healthy and more strong.  But, if you really want it to happen, and it’s truly important to you, making the changes that are needed isn’t hard.

The funny thing is I’ve got a supportive family, supportive friends and lots of people around me whose comments and input have helped me, but there is something really striking about the reaction you get from an acquaintance, who you rarely see.  Your friends and family notice changes, but they see you every day, so they’re seeing the same gradual change you do.  Someone you only see once or twice a year… well, if they’re blown away… well, it’s just a rush.

Good morning, imaginary audience.

If you’re tired of opening up the newspaper (or virtually doing so on your computer) and reading horror stories about how everything you eat is going to kill you, here’s an article that should cheer you up:

Antioxidant found in red wine may counter the negative effects of inactivity

Yay.  Hurray for science.