Everyone Already Knows the Answers

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I started chatting with a guy on the chair lift the other day. He asked me if I took off from work to be there. It was mid-day on a Friday. I told him I work from home, so I didn’t have to. I just skipped out for a few hours. When he asked me what I did for work, I told him I run a blog.

“That pays the bills?”

“No,” I laughed, “but hopefully one day it will.”

He asked me what the site was about, so I explained the focus on health and self improvement, which prompted the question, “Are you a psychologist, doctor, nutritionist? What qualifications do you have to give out this advice?”

“No credentials,” I said, “just a life long devotion to the cause, and 10 years working in the healthcare system, where I learned everything we do wrong.”

“Right, treat the symptom, not the cause. My doctor has me on a statin for high cholesterol, and high-blood pressure medication. He’s been telling me for 10 years I’m pre-diabetic, and every time I go back to him he says the same thing. But I keep telling him, this is my new baseline.”

“It might be,” I said, “but the problem is if you do end up with diabetes…” He cut me off.

“I’m not going to get diabetes. I know what my problem is. It’s the three beers I drink before bed. It’s the three brownies and Cheez-its I had for dinner last night. It’s not every night, it’s not all the time, and I’ve really cut back, but I know if I cut it all out, I’d definitely get rid of this belly.”

“But I’m happy,” he continued, “I’m having fun.”

Everyone knows but no one wants to do it. It’s this idea that prompted me to write this piece the other day talking about how the formula is always the same. It’s always the same, beer, brownies, and Cheez-its are bad, and everyone already knows it. But very few people act on it. Not until it’s too late.

The number one reason I hear and read about that makes people finally focus on their health is a health scare. Number one reason. I’d say the number two reason is for their children. I don’t know if there’s a third. Very few people wake up one day and just decide to do it for themselves, which is a shame.

But the problem as I see it is that drinking beers, eating brownies, and snacking on Cheez-its might sound fun, and it might make you happy when you’re doing it, but I have a hard time believing that it’s more fun and creates more happiness than doing the opposite. That it creates more smiles in the longer run compared to being healthy.

I can only speak from personal experience. I’ve been devoted to my health for more than half of my life. And during that time I’ve drank, I’ve done drugs, I’ve stayed up late, I’ve eaten shitty foods enough to know what it all feels like. But I’ve spent many more hours not drinking or doing drugs. Getting a full night’s sleep. I’ve eaten many more meals full of whole foods rich in vitamins, fiber, and other nutrients. And hands down, 10 out of 10 times, the latter is what has made me happy and have fun. And the more dialed in I’ve become over the years, the greater the returns on happiness have been.

If you’re just waiting until you have a health scare, until you finally cross that threshold from pre-diabetes to full blown diabetes, then you are wasting time feeling below optimal. You’re not feeling as good as you could be feeling, which might not seem possible to you, but I promise you it is. If you are allowing alcohol, added sugars, and highly processed foods to occupy a full time seat in your life, then you are allowing those substances to reduce your vibration. You are letting them keep you down.

Life is short, and you only get one. Don’t wait until you have a health scare or until having kids wakes you up. Start making the change now. Every day is a good day to try.

The Behavior of Change

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Not eating before bed

Not eating before bed remains the hardest thing for me to do. I just love a little go bed go night night treat (that’s what they’re called in my house). But eating before bed, no matter what it is, has the biggest impact on how I sleep, how I feel when I wake up, and whether or not I’m able to to achieve my physical goals. Mainly, maintaining a certain weight, and keeping that small pocket of fat at the bottom of my belly at bay.

So it’s a real conundrum and a real battle for me. I know that if I can string a few nights together without having that bedtime snack, that I’m going to see and feel the results I want. But, I also know how much I enjoy those after dinner treats.

I have a few things I try to do to avoid snacking at night. First, I try to make sure I get in all the calories and macros I need throughout the day. This helps to limit my cravings at night. It also helps limit my ability to rationalize having a snack. I’m very good at convincing myself I need more food because I didn’t get enough calories, or protein, or fats. In particular after a hard training day. Along these same lines I try to make sure I have a balanced and substantial dinner that isn’t going to leave me craving more in a couple of hours. I’d rather overdo dinner a little bit, than leave myself hungry for food before bed.

Also, I look for signs that I’m just trying to eat. There are two signs that I always notice in myself. First, whenever I go to the kitchen looking for food but nothing appeals to me, I know I’m not actually hungry and I’m just looking to eat. Because when I am actually hungry it’s only a matter of moments that I’m putting together a plate with everything I want. Second is when I start telling myself I don’t care. The conversation in my head usually goes something like, “you don’t want to eat that, it’s going to negatively impact your sleep and your goals.” To which the glutton in me responds with, “I don’t care.” Well I do care, so I know that’s not the voice of reason, that’s the voice of someone bored looking for a treat.

But if I’m really needing something, I might mix some protein powder (usually casein) in water. Soy milk if I’m really getting crazy. Also, I’ve recently been on a milk kick. An 8 oz glass of whole milk can usually do the trick (I’ve been loving this A2 milk that supposed to be easier on digestion). Milk also works if I wake up in the middle of the night craving something. A teaspoon of CALM in 8 oz of water is another good trick. Something about the molecular make up of magnesium tends to settle med down.

But the hardest nights are the ones when my fiancé goes for a snack. On those nights it’s almost impossible not to join her in her indulgence. Luckily, she doesn’t do it often, so when she does I usually just cave and indulge with her. Just another reason why it’s important to be on the same page as your partner.

I love food. I love eating. I love eating all throughout the day. But at some point I have to put a lid on it, and I find that shutting it down a few hours before bed offers me the best results.

Workout Journal: Diet

I’ve had another realization recently that everyone’s approach to weight loss is the same. It doesn’t matter who you talk to or who you listen to, but its always the same. I had this realization while listening to Ethan Suplee on The Joe Rogan Experience.

When you ask someone what they did to lose a shit ton of weight, it’s never this big complicated plan that they undertook. It’s always the same.

I cut out sugar and refined carbohydrates and replaced them with fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. I only eat lean protein, and I exercise. It doesn’t matter what types of fruit, or what types of exercise. The key is just in eating those whole foods, eliminating the other ones, and starting to make yourself move for 30 - 60 minutes per day in some rigorous way. It’s basically what Ethan Suplee did to go from 550 lbs to under 300.

It is really that simple and it really is the same for every single person on the planet. Now how they convince themselves to make the change, and how they get themselves to commit to it long term, what their reason for the change is, that might all differ. But even that seems to be a pretty uniform thing. Someone has a health scare. They do it because they are a new mom or dad. They set a goal to run a race, climb a mountain, and need to get in better shape to do it. They’re incentivized by a work program, or their friend group. Or maybe their kids convince them. Whatever it is, it doesn’t really matter. They all represent a shit in mindset that says I want to feel better for X reason.

Some people might follow a certain diet, like paleo, keto, carnivore, or Whole360. But again, that doesn’t matter. You don’t have to follow a name brand diet. Because the foundation of all of those diets is that they are devoid of processed foods, added sugar, and refined carbohydrates, and they are loaded with whole foods and lean protein. 

So whether you accomplish that by only eating meat. OR eating a lot of healthy fats. OR eating a lot of raw nuts, it doesn’t matter. The formula is the same.

Eliminate added sugar, eliminated refined carbohydrates, and eliminate processed foods and the weight will fall off, and you will immediately start to feel better. 

My fiancé got diagnosed with stage IV metastatic breast cancer last April. Immediately upon finding out we cut sugar and refined carbohydrates out of her diet (cancer consumes sugar at a rate 100x normal cells). Within two months she lost nearly 20 lbs, and she only weighed about 116 lbs to start. Her mother, at my fiancé’s nudging, recently did the same thing. She stopped putting agave in her coffee throughout the day, and replaced her morning toast with fruit. She’s down 6 lbs in less than a month. She’s in her 70s. My father who’s 66 did it as well. He cut out all the junk, all the added sugar, and he’s lost over 30 lbs and is now shopping for new clothes.

The formula is the same. It doesn’t matter your gender, your ethnicity, your age. You just have to find your reason and your motivation to do it. And what better reason is there than to feel happier, more energetic, and clear minded. I don’t know of any.

Artificial Sweeteners II

My unflavored LMNT electrolytes came the other day and they taste like nothing. Which I guess shouldn’t have been surprising but it was. Based on how strong the flavored varieties were, I assumed that the unflavored would still carry something. But it’s got nothing.

It just made it even more apparent to me how powerful artificial sweeteners are. We’re talking about less than a tsp of powdered mix crammed with an overwhelming amount of flavor.

That tells me that the stevia extract they’re using, an artificial sweetener that’s purported to be natural, must be refined down to the most potent parts to achieve such an insane level of taste in such a small amount.

Which tells me, or reaffirms to me, that this shit is not good for you! It’s certainly not good for me.

I always wonder why companies have no balls when it comes to this stuff. I mean LMNT is selling electrolytes. Presumably their market is people who are active, hence why they need to replenish electrolytes, and therefore health conscious. Couldn’t they do away with the “flavor” and sell something that’s actually purely good for you, without the add garbage?

Couldn’t they just stick to selling unflavored? I know why they wouldn’t, money. But it would be nice if one day a company stood up and said, “I don’t give a fuck if our growth is slow, or we never become rich, we’re going to stick to our principles and grind it out.”

Unfortunately that never happens anymore. And I guess I’m asking too much of a company that packages sodium, potassium, and magnesium, and sells them for ~$1.50 per. It just reiterates to me the fact that everything is better when you do it yourself. And in particular when it comes to what you put into your body. Only you can control the contents. Thinking someone else, or a company for that matter, cares as much as you do is pissing into the wind.

Artificial sweeteners can’t be good for you

You know how I know? Because they taste so damn good. When I was buying vanilla whey protein powder, I looked forward to drinking one, sometimes two, shakes everyday. But when I switched to flavorless whey, it became more chore than enjoyment. And now a few months after switching, it’s the rare occasion that I even drink one.

For a brief period I tried to make my shakes taste better by adding pure cocoa, coffee, or even drips of honey, butt nothing compared to the Stevia leaf extract they were adding to the powder.

Recently I’ve been drinking LMNT electrolytes. I bought the chocolate variety box. Chocolate chai, mint, and raspberry. They too contain Stevia leaf extract, which once again has made a powdered drink the highlight of my day, which has also triggered me to switch to unflavored. It just can’t be good for you.

I love food. I love to eat. I eat mostly real foods in their whole natural form. Yet there is not one food that I crave the way I crave these artificial drinks. Medjool dates would be a close second but as delicious as they are they don’t evoke the same visceral obsession as artificial sweeteners. How could that be good?

Whether its Stevia, date sugar, or monkfruit sweetener, I just can’t picture a scenario where it’s benefitting your health.

So I’m sticking to real food, real flavors, and unflavored processed food. I don’t think I can go wrong.