The Behavior of Change
Thoughts and download from the week.
“Most frustration comes from not having a plan, or from not being open to changing when the plan you have fails.”
Eating Late
Every night it’s a struggle to not eat a snack after dinner and before bed. I know how much better I sleep, and therefore how much better I feel the next day when I don’t have a late night treat, and yet I fight myself on it every night.
Food is so good, it makes it so hard. It feels so right at the time, but I immediately regret it because I know I’m not going to sleep as well as I could have if I just listened to that voice saying “don’t do it,” “you don’t need it.” Instead of listening to the voice that says, “who cares,” “you deserve it.”
I used to think that if I just had something healthy and light, like a bowl of fruit, or something satiating, like protein powder mixed with soy milk, that it would be okay. But it’s not. It’s better than cake, or cookies, or ice cream, but it’s still not good.
Often times I rationalize eating something by convincing myself that I didn’t have enough calories that day, or enough of a certain macro, usually protein, to cover me for my workout. But it’s really just that, a rationalization to eat when I don’t need or want to.
If you’re reading this and thinking “wow this guy is tormented by food.” You’d be right. It wasn’t always like this for me. It started when I started training for triathlons a few years ago. Back then I always felt like I couldn’t consume enough calories to keep up with the long and hard days of training. There was no way, without a proper nutrition plan, which I didn’t have, to stay on top of the calories and macros I needed. As a result I always felt hungry and depleted. So I began over analyzing my food, and questioning what I was consuming with every bite. Even though I’ve been removed from that training style for a couple of years now, it’s taken time to undo that programming.
Tracking my food for 6 months helped. I learned that I was over-consuming fats, and under-consuming proteins (the latter of which I think was contributing to the feeling of being depleted). Balancing my diet, getting closer to the right amount of macros, has helped repair my relationship with food, but I know there is still more work to do.
But, no matter how much my that relationship improves, I doubt it will ever be easy. Because really, aren’t we all tormented by food in this country? Isn’t that why 70 percent of the population is either overweight or obese? And why everyone is always trying to lose weight and failing? I don’t think you can live in this country and not be tormented by food. Food in this country is available in endless abundance, it’s accessible everywhere you turn, and it’s extremely affordable. There is always an opportunity to shove something delicious in your mouth. Not something nutritious, but something delicious. Something ultra-processed, loaded with sugar, and of low quality, actually stripped of its nutrition. Something that tastes good, feels good, and hits all those sensory pleasure zones in your brain. No, we all struggle with it.
A rancher at a regenerative agriculture conference I went to said it best, “our addiction to convenience is killing us.”
So I wage the daily battle against food. Some days I win, some days I lose. I just try to string together more winning days than losing ones. Staying away from ultra processed foods, foods loaded with added sugar, fat, and sodium.
If there’s one thing that The Comfort Crisis brought to light for me, it’s that in this modern world you need to be actively fighting back the comforts that are all around us and making us sick. You can’t take a day off.
It’s an unfortunate thing, but if we want to achieve and maintain our health, it is going to require work, because the environment in this country doesn’t support a healthy lifestyle. It’s on you to create one for yourself.
10,000 Steps
I think 10,000 steps, when combined with a diet rich in whole foods and devoid of processed foods and added sugar, is actually a good number to strive for that can make you healthy and keep you there. The problem I see is that getting to 10,000 steps in a given day is really hard. I like to think that I’m very active. I workout for a minimum of one hour per day. I don’t have a desk job that keeps me tied to a chair for 8 hours or more. I spend 3 - 5 hours per days standing in my kitchen cooking meals and cleaning up after them. I walk my dog 2 - 3 times per day. On most days I do some type of yard work, that might include mowing the lawn, watering our flower and vegetable beds, or weeding. And still, most days, I don’t even come close to 10,000 steps. In fact, the Garmin watch I recently bought came set with a daily step goal of 7,222 (no idea where that number comes from), and I rarely even hit that number. The only time I hit this number is if I go for a run or a hike.
But I do recognize that on days when I hit that 7,000 number, or even better yet, I get up and over that 10,000 step number, I feel better. The difference is noticeable. My energy levels are better. My mood is better. I eat better. I sleep better. Everything is better. I’m just not convinced that 10,000 steps is a realistic figure for 99 percent of the population. For most of us, getting enough steps in would require a gargantuan effort. But I’m also not sure what is, or what other metric might be that could have the same benefits as 10,000 steps, but also be achievable.
No One Size… Many Sizes
We say there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to diet and exercise. That each of us are unique, and what works for you might not work for me. And what works for me, might not work for you. And that’s true, but we need to go one level deeper. Because, unfortunately, it’s even more complex than that.
What works for you is going to change throughout various times in your life. What works when stress is low, probably won’t work when stress is high. What worked when you were 25, doesn’t work when you’re 30, 35, or 40. What works when you’re catching a full night of Zzzzs, doesn’t work when your baby is waking you up multiple times per night. What works when you’re home, might be hard to replicate on the road.
That’s why, beyond any diet or exercise advice, you need to be vigilant about which situation you find yourself in, and adapt to meet it. You need to dial into the signals that your body is sending you.
Someone changes their life by going on the ketogenic diet, but after 6 months, they suddenly aren’t feeling well. It’s not working, and they’re constantly craving something sweet. Maybe it’s time to start incorporating some fruit. Or they’ve become tired of eating so much meat. Maybe it’s time to start eating more fish.
Or they always worked out in the morning, but now they start work earlier, and they have a longer commute, both of which are cutting into their morning workout. Can they wake up a little bit earlier to get in a workout? Is there time during lunch? At the end of the day? Instead of exercising 5x per week, can they squeeze in 3? Something, anything, just to keep the momentum and build on the habit.
There are so many examples, so many ways life is going to interrupt your plan, and I think that’s the problem that a lot of people face. They are unable to recognize why their routine is no longer effective, and rather than investigate why and make some changes, they throw the whole plan away and regress back to baseline, or worse, below it.
I think it’s very important to realize first that what’s going to work for you is specific to you. But second that you’re going to need to stay on top of it and manage it throughout different times in your life. The way I like to think about it is using a golf analogy (I don’t golf, but it works). I like to always stay as close to the pin as possible, so it’s never too hard to make my putt. What do I mean?
Let’s say I go on vacation where I’m sure to indulge in food I wouldn’t normally eat. Well I’ll try and keep at least one meal per day, but usually two, close to my normal diet when I’m home. This way, when I do get home, my routine hasn’t drifted too far off, and it makes it easier to ease back into my normal diet.
Let’s say that I have family visiting, and working out for 60 - 90 minutes isn’t possible without looking like I’m offending my guests. Rather than completely skipping my workout, I might just put together a 30 minute workout that keeps the routine and momentum alive for when my family leaves and I have my time back.
I’m constantly thinking about how I need to adapt my plan to fit the current situations in my life, always keeping the focus on staying as close to the pin as possible. Consistency is the key. Consistency is where progress is built. Figure out what you need to do to stay and consistent and not let life interrupt your plan.
Senate Testimony on the Health Crisis in this Country
I listened to Brigham Buehler, Casey Means, and Calley Means all on Joe Rogan talking about the testimony they gave in front of the Senate discussing the growing health crisis in this country. All three of these guests expressed some level of gratitude that they were able to present their case and lay out the facts about why and how we’ve gotten into such a mess. But the one thing I didn’t hear from any of them was anger or disdain for the fact that we even had to have a testimony to begin with. That no one that sits in the Senate has any idea about what’s going on in this country. That they are so unaware, or at least claim to be, of the fact that toxic food, plastics, and prescription drugs are murdering people in this country. They needed to hear it from a panel of experts.
Perhaps my view is biased because health, diet, food, exercise, longevity, and health span, are all things that I think about and read about on a daily basis. But holy shit, the health crisis in this country is the biggest issue we face as a nation, with ripple effects throughout every aspect of our lives. And the members of the senate don’t have a clue as to what’s going on, and yet they are the ones voting on bills, policies, and funding that directly impact the trajectory of this epidemic.
Maybe I don’t know how government and politics works, but my assumption would be that the people leading the country should know a little bit about what’s going on in the country before they get to lead it. I question how much these members actually pay attention. How many of them actually read. How they spend their free time, or any of their time, because time and time again, they are fucking clueless.
Perhaps it’s a product of the fact that some politicians have been politicians for decades. Decades! Spending their time campaigning, going to parties, and kissing the assess of the people that give them money. It’s outrageous and it’s becoming harder and harder to accept the extreme level of incompetence that exists in our government.
Three good podcast episodes
Joe Rogan and Diane Boyd - Diane K. Boyd is a wildlife biologist who has devoted decades to studying wolves. She is the author of "A Woman Among Wolves: My Journey Through Forty Years of Wolf Recovery."
Joe Rogan and Israel Adesanya - Joe sits down with Israel Adesanya, a mixed martial artist competing in the Middleweight division of the UFC. He is the subject of the documentary "Stylebender," available now.
Peter Attia and Anne Lembke - #321 – Dopamine and addiction: navigating pleasure, pain, and the path to recovery | Anna Lembke, M.D.