Someone asked me recently what the single biggest reason is for people being overweight and out of shape. I think they were hoping for a simple answer like "the industrial food system" or "sedentary lifestyles" but my real thoughts on this are a bit more complex.
The problem is not the unhealthy food, or the inactive lifestyle, it's that people choose the unhealthy food and inactive lifestyle. Day in and day out, millions if not billions of people simply make really crappy choices. And I certainly count myself in that number. Even when training and eating really well I still spend an embarrassing amount of energy every day fighting cravings and petty rationalizations for skipping exercise and pigging out.
So the real question is what is at the root of the poor choices? Everyone knows the facts, too much junk and too little exercise makes you fat and sick. But we plunge on anyway.
A lot has been written recently about emotional eating and food addiction. There's a lot to validity to those ideas, but I don't think that's why the majority of people are making crappy choices. In my mind the essential problem can be boiled down to the following principle. I call it the Peak Condition Conundrum.
"Being out of shape and overweight* is the result of a number of small pleasures throughout the day, pleasures that when added up, result in a massive displeasure; the displeasure of not liking or being comfortable in your own body.
*(You small percentage of ectomorphs out there can substitute "underweight" for "overweight")
Conversely, being in trim, good shape is the result of countless small pains throughout the day, pains that when added up result in a larger pleasure, the pleasure of looking and feeling great in your own body."
So, in short, when it comes to your body, small pleasures add up to large displeasure, while small pains add up to great satisfaction.
We need to be honest with ourselves. It is an honest pleasure to eat a piece of fudge. It is nothing but wonderful to lay in a warm bed and skip a workout. We shouldn't try to deny that. Saying no to a delectable dessert can truly be painful, and exercising is nothing short of volunteering for discomfort and misery.
It makes perfect sense that so many people would choose the path of small pleasures. But this road leads to some dark spaces. Poor body image, low self confidence, a diminished quality of life and indeed, a shorter life. But the path of small pains, sweat, and sacrifice is also a hellish ride, and only offers up its treasures to those who commit to it for the long term and do not waver.
All in all, it's an absurdly unfair situation. Either way, you're going to be in for some serious mental anguish. Suffering is the price of admission to the human experience.
The question that only you can answer is which pain will you choose? The thousand little cuts of saying no to the sloth, sugar, salt and fat that surrounds you, or the one large misery of an unhealthy body that doesn't do what you want it to do?
It's wrong to think that there's a "correct" answer, but it's also wrong to think that there isn't a choice at all. The choice is happening as we speak. Everyday you are making it in dozens of different ways, whether you realize it or not. The majority of the world is making it in one direction, we on the PCP are trying to make it in the other. So take comfort, either way you won't be alone!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
The Chemical Compound You MUST Start Eating!
If you pay even a bit of attention to the news you will have more knowledge about food than a scientist would have 100 years ago. You know that food has calories, you know about fats, carbs, proteins, you've heard of good and bad cholesterol , antioxidants, omega 3 fatty acids, saturated and unsaturated fats, fish oil supplements and every vitamin from A to Zinc.
But I find people consistently miss one of the most basic elements of food, and one that can help them make much better choices than knowing there's so many milligrams of folic acid per serving.
Give me an H! Give me a 2! Give me an O!
If you want to have a diet that supports your body and keeps you slim, you need to EAT YOUR WATER.
Drinking water is nice, but not as important as you may think (the 8 glasses a day myth has been shattered for years now). Eating water is where it's really at.
What do I mean? Let's consider a table with 3 carbohydrates on it.
Exhibit C: A plate of crackers
A cracker is about 3%.
So to get your 100 calories out of a potato you'll also consume a the equivalent of a half cup of water. The crackers, however, are essentially giving you that 100 calories "dry".
Ever gone camping? You'll remember that the most annoying, heavy thing in your pack was your water. Considering it's a 0 calorie element, water is absurdly dense. It fills you up. In other words, for the same number of calories the potato will make you feel more satiated and full than the plate of crackers.
Processed foods have a lot of problems. They are filled with additives, sugars, and salt, but just as important is that every step further away from the source food sees an evaporation of the water that is so abundant in natural foods. A potato is a source food that is 2/3 water. Bread has gone through one step of processing and comes in at 1/3 water. A cracker has gone through an extra step of processing and ends up with almost no water content.
When people stop eating processed food they often remark how incredibly full they feel. PCPers will often complain around week 2 and 3 of simply not being able to get all the food down. And yet they continue to lose fat. This is all because they've started eating their water.
So forget about all the fancy micronutrients and ask yourself the simple question, "how much water is in this food?" To put things in perspective, check out these numbers.
Water Percentage of some unprocessed foods:
Apple - 84%
Avocado - 81%
Banana - 76%
Carrot - 92%
Grapefruit - 90%
Red Bell Pepper - 91%
Strawberry - 91%
Tomato - 97%
As you can see, natural foods will usually have a water content around 80% or higher. Eat more of foods like the ones above, and less like the ones below!
Water Percentage of Highly Processed Foods
Beef Jerky - 3%
Milk Chocolate - 30%
Popcorn - 13%
Potato Chip - 2.5%
Pretzel - 8%
Pizza Crust - 25%
Twinkie - 65%
Remember, the body that is going to eat these things is also made predominantly of water. It's 75% of your brain, 75% of your heart, 86% of your lungs, and so on.... Eat foods that have at least as much water in them as you do, and you'll see the fat come off and the energy levels rise. This is not an academic exercise. You can try all this advice in real time with one trip to the supermarket. Get out there and make better choices TODAY.
But I find people consistently miss one of the most basic elements of food, and one that can help them make much better choices than knowing there's so many milligrams of folic acid per serving.
Give me an H! Give me a 2! Give me an O!
If you want to have a diet that supports your body and keeps you slim, you need to EAT YOUR WATER.
Drinking water is nice, but not as important as you may think (the 8 glasses a day myth has been shattered for years now). Eating water is where it's really at.
What do I mean? Let's consider a table with 3 carbohydrates on it.
Exhibit A: A potato.
Exhibit B: A few slices of bread
Exhibit C: A plate of crackers
These three items have about the same number of calories (around 100). But when you look at their water content you'll see a very different story.
A potato is 80% water.
A slice of bread is 35% water.
A cracker is about 3%.
So to get your 100 calories out of a potato you'll also consume a the equivalent of a half cup of water. The crackers, however, are essentially giving you that 100 calories "dry".
Ever gone camping? You'll remember that the most annoying, heavy thing in your pack was your water. Considering it's a 0 calorie element, water is absurdly dense. It fills you up. In other words, for the same number of calories the potato will make you feel more satiated and full than the plate of crackers.
Processed foods have a lot of problems. They are filled with additives, sugars, and salt, but just as important is that every step further away from the source food sees an evaporation of the water that is so abundant in natural foods. A potato is a source food that is 2/3 water. Bread has gone through one step of processing and comes in at 1/3 water. A cracker has gone through an extra step of processing and ends up with almost no water content.
When people stop eating processed food they often remark how incredibly full they feel. PCPers will often complain around week 2 and 3 of simply not being able to get all the food down. And yet they continue to lose fat. This is all because they've started eating their water.
So forget about all the fancy micronutrients and ask yourself the simple question, "how much water is in this food?" To put things in perspective, check out these numbers.
Water Percentage of some unprocessed foods:
Apple - 84%
Avocado - 81%
Banana - 76%
Carrot - 92%
Grapefruit - 90%
Red Bell Pepper - 91%
Strawberry - 91%
Tomato - 97%
As you can see, natural foods will usually have a water content around 80% or higher. Eat more of foods like the ones above, and less like the ones below!
Water Percentage of Highly Processed Foods
Beef Jerky - 3%
Milk Chocolate - 30%
Popcorn - 13%
Potato Chip - 2.5%
Pretzel - 8%
Pizza Crust - 25%
Twinkie - 65%
Remember, the body that is going to eat these things is also made predominantly of water. It's 75% of your brain, 75% of your heart, 86% of your lungs, and so on.... Eat foods that have at least as much water in them as you do, and you'll see the fat come off and the energy levels rise. This is not an academic exercise. You can try all this advice in real time with one trip to the supermarket. Get out there and make better choices TODAY.
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