As a typical American teen, Iâm guilty of this. Iâve tried as many fancy, trendy diet trends of tomorrow that I could get my sticky fingers on and only felt worse about myself after all of them. Not because I was looking to become healthier per se, but instead just look a bit, well, better and thatâs why none of this ever works. Itâs not that the smoothies arenât filled with spinach or the pills donât burn fat in our intestines, it is our mindset that is playing the biggest trick of them all. Just look at French people who presumably eat white banquets and cheese all day and Americans with their $2k Peloton and Atkins protein processed 30 calories bar. You would think that the French have turned into the Americans but no, the French have always stayed healthy, it is the sneaky American consumer and marketing tactics that are the problem. No wonder Americans spend on average $1500 on weight-loss diet meds, gear, workout regimes, equipment, meal plans and the dreaded supplements per year!
95% of diet fail and with the rise of social media, there is even more pressure to obtain seemingly impossible beauty standards for men and women. The problem with weight is that we immediately think of someone who is bulky and fat as unhealthy and skinny and obviously beautiful as healthy. Until you look at the scale and their insides. Canât judge a book by itâs cover youâre absolutely right. One thing for sure is that you cannot change your height, so letâs get that out of the way.
As much as it is about eating and moving around, it all starts in the mind. If you constantly comparing yourself to those skinny freaks who eat sticks of broccoli and live miserable yet seemingly beautiful lives online, you will turn into them. You canât change where you come from, your height, or skin color but you sure can change your perception, persistence, diligence and mindset which matters more than you think.
Iâm not advising you to go on a cleanse to rejuvenate the soul or kiss a Buddha on the cheeks. That nonsense unless you like it. Might as well take an Atkins pill that includes the same chemicals as cocaine.
The Food Thing
Americans are the most obese people on the planet. 70% of us are either overweight or on the verge of obesity. This brings major problems besides the useless factor we only consider, appearance. With a slight tick in BMI and overall body fat, you have a higher chance of practically anything going wrong. Cardio vascular disease, heart attacks, diabetes, stroke, spending more on more weight gaining products and a multitude of other health dilemmas that donât even need to be considered to convince you that eating more than you need to is more than bad, it is deadly.
Yet, that doesnât bother us tough divided Americans. We love to consume all we can and feel the pressure to take advantage of that 1 for 2 free donut special or else feel like we are waisting money. From game days to happy hours, we are constantly munching on something throughout the day without realizing that you were full 6 hours ago.
Finally scientists are proving that the time of day is more important than what you eat after all.
Ketos Do Fast
Iâve always followed the keto diet. It is a meal plan/lifestyle that originated from the blue-zone regions of the world, Greece, the Mediterranean and some parts of Japan and Italy follow it as well. Itâs not a diet, itâs a lifestyle, something us Americans canât wrap our heads around since we demand strict schedules and results ASAP.
Instead of associating food with weight, the keto regimen emphasizes eating whole healthy hearty fatty foods found in salmon, avocado, nuts, berries and fiber dense foods such as oatmeal and rice. These foods not only keep you satiated for longer, they lower your insulin which gets higher every time you eat, boost your brain power and immune system.
Eating at all is not what we are striving for. Too much of anything is bad. Moderation is key. Diets donât work because Americans resemble them. Sticking with whole, unprocessed sugar and carbs, eating smaller portions, drinking water before and after a meal-not in between to flush it all out and feel hungry again and sticking to exercise as a part of feeling good for your mind, soul and some fun never for the purpose of burning off food will make your life easier. When you adopt the ketogenic diet, instead of burning carbohydrates which are glucose, you are taping into your fat in your body diminishng it as it is getting burned, not the sugary food you just ate.
This type of lifestyle aligns perfectly with intermittent fasting as well for ultimate super powers never results.
If youâre in it for a quick fix, might as well eat cheeseburgers for the rest of your life. It ainât gonna happen honey. Be consistent and patient. Thatâs all it takes.
Time>Food
Keto now fasting? This is lot of regimes and plans to follow at once that sound like death diets again. I thought you are going to make our lives easier?! I will, just stick with me for the next 8 hours, youâll see what I mean.
I follow a 16:8 window which means I eat for 8 hours and fast for 16 hours. This sounds atrocious like we are starving ourselves but if you sleep for 6â8 hours lets say already, all you have to do is drink water, black coffee or seltzer to keep you hydrated and full for the next 8 until you can eat. It sounds worse than it is and feels better than it sounds. Not only fasting allows you to burn fat while you are lseeping and waiting to eat, you will appreciate your next meal more by in fact eating less. The less you eat, the less hungry you will become. If you are looking to loose weight after banishing your New Years goal last week, look no further than the timing of your meals. I go to sleep 8 hours after I stop eating. Iâve naturally become accustomed to being satiated and full before bed in a light not heavy non-breathable way that allows me to burn fat instead of having that food sit there all night in my tummy not digesting properly and affecting my peaceful Hawaii dreams. To boost your metabolism, naturally eat less and feel fine, feel more energized, become a morning person-if you choose to and get in a heathy headspace, adopt a ketogenic diet that focuses on foods that grow form the ground not a factory and the timing of your next meal which will bring immense success beyond that stupid nonsense scale.
Nothing matters besides your mind. With a clear and healthy mind, shedding that weight will be easier than resisting that chocolate cake you even still have on Keto!
Standing Still
For much of history, human beings needed to be physically active for most of the day in order to keep themselves safe against predators, hunt and gather food. These days with Postmates only a click away and staying home for most of the year in sweats, not only Americans have gained 25% more weight in 2020, we are becoming unhealthier in the wrong way.
You would think that we are healthier these days getting in our daily dose of cardio for 50 minutes as opposed to our ancestors simply walking at a light pace on their feet all day. Yet, until recently, movement for the sake of âgetting exerciseâ is a relatively new phenomenon in human history professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard Daniel Lieberman notes.
âWhen I go to these [remote African tribal] villages, Iâm the only person who gets up in the morning and goes for a run. And often they laugh at me. They think Iâm just absolutely bizarre. ⌠Why would anybody do something like that?â
We presume since we sit down all day we might as well confess we are smoking a pack of cigaretes. Not exactly the same but can certainly be as detrimental to your waist, belly and mind in the long term. But what is even worse is the regimented exercise. We are too exercised as a society!
We buy those fitness trackers that say we are a tad close to our goal of 5k steps a day on a treadmill and still canât seem to loose the weight. Quick reminder, your results will be the result of focusing on 80% food, 20% exercise, something our ancestors never took into account as they encoproated Vitamin D and C from walking naturally into their lifestyle,similarly in teh blue zones of the world. The only place youâll find an Equinox on every street corner is in America, most notably LA and NY where they arguably have the best food in the country.
âIf you actually look at what our ancestors do, they walk about 5 miles a day, which turns out to be, for most people, about 10,000 steps,â Lieberman says.
We are not only moving less, we are waisting more time on achieving less. Keeping your muscles engaged why standing up and moving a tad is all that you need. Go ahead and hop on that elliptical but never feel obligated too. Thatâs already crossing the unhealthy threshold mindset. Yes, running is really bad for your knees and you donât need to go all out in a 60 hour cardio session to see better results than a 30 minute walk. Your mind will be more relieved from a walk instead and your wallet too.
So how can we fix our behavior?
There are gyms, Zoom yoga sessions, a $71 billion dollar weight loss industry for a reason. If only we ate when we were hungry, spent less time on the treadmill and drank more water, everything would be fine right?
Unfortunately, life is a bit more complex than that. After all, if you donât work hard for something, you wonât feel gratified! Above is just the surface level of it. If you really want to uncover why you are feeling a certain way, save thousands and get the truth into why you arenât achieving your health goal, look no further than your seat.
Interrupted Sitting
I recently purchased a standing desk for $800. I know, a bit pricey but certainly a great investment since health is wealth after all! As it turns out, it is so unnatural and strange to sit a lot. We werenât programmed to do this and our ancestors would think its crazy we are turning into the hunchback of Notre Dame sitting all day staring at a screen bleeding your eyes out.
There has been proven scientific research that the more you sit, the more likely you will be disabled after 60, die earlier, suffer from heart disease, cancer, diabetes and from other heath related consequences simply for not moving your muscles every so often. This isnât just at work, looking at how much you sit at home, commuting, watching TV, is pretty staggering! Pay attention to the small habits, not big once in a while ones that donât matter.
Small purchases throughout the year equate to that one big once a year vacation you take after all.
Once In AÂ While
At the start of quarantine, I set up a timer on my desk when I got reunited with my childhood desk again. Never thought I would come back to staring at the carvings of my bf and the moldy fruit rollup in the drawer, but memories are special after all. Once I did a deep clean as the corona virus experts would approve of, I started to set up the timer to ring every 20 minutes when I would get up do a squat or two and sit down.
Nothing fancy.
After I was annoyed with squats, I transitioned into the standing desk. It was sayonara to the childhood desk by mid June! Now I not only ditched the timer and the fruit rollup, I was standing all day, getting in 30k steps instead of my forced 9k walking around 12th avenue 7 times. Yes, I counted. As Daniel states, âjust getting up every once in a while, every 10 minutes or so just to go to the bathroom or pet your dog or make yourself a cup of tea, even though youâre not spending a lot of energy, youâre turning on your muscles.â
Being healthy doesnât have to be fancy. Donât fish out on a new $1500 Mirror to do some pilates or even join a Zoom session to check out your butt in the mirror. Doing free, simple 30 second changes will help save years off of your life. Be patient and in it for the long term. Thatâs where the real change happens.
Stressful Sleep
The thing about weight loss is that it usually abolishes sleep and stress, just focusing on food and the number on the scale. Sleep and stress are the two factors that control your hormones the most, satiety and mood which in a nutshell, are your life.
Those cool yet stupid gadgets such as the Fitbit, Apple Watch, Halo and Bose Earbuds can monitor your Zzzs, all products that Iâve been guilty of buying and sure they help monitor how many hours you get, temperature, blood pressure and crazy metrics but in the morning and middle of night, only make you more paranoid and hence, not able to sleep!
By now, especially during quarantine when I havenât been able to sleep as best I thought I would, I ditched them, sold them to some skeptic like I was on CraigsList and started focusing on my cues of tiredness, instead of charts of craziness.
Thereâs so much scientific warnings that individuals should get 8+ hours of sleep to perform at their best but how much stress is behind that?
Everyone is different. Who says you canât perform at your best and feel rested at 6 or 7? Since I had nothing else to worry about as a teen stuck at home, sleep became one of them. Believe it or not, there is no evidence that people sleep less today than they used to because of technology. It is our brains that are impeding us from doing so!
Sleep is another one of those examples of how we make people exercise. If you tell somebody theyâre not getting enough sleep and they actually are getting enough sleep, you just make them stressed ⌠that elevates cortisol. Cortisol is the hormone thatâs about arousal. Cortisol prevents you from sleeping. And so we get into this kind of vicious circle.
As Lieberman writes, âSo, while itâs true that people who donât get enough sleep, that can be a problem, getting three, four, maybe five hours of sleep a night can be detrimental and itâs an issue ⌠if youâre getting six, seven hours of sleep and you feel fine, I think we should all relax and stop being so uncompassionate to each other.â
It turns out that people who live in places where there is no electricity and there no iPhones and thereâs no TV, turns out they donât sleep any more than the average American. Itâs up to you to decide what you want to control your thoughts, brain and habits. No one else can take the best care of you than yourself.
Takeaway
This article was full of vital information that I hope you take into consideration the next time you enjoy a meal, buy a meal kit or put you head down (hopefully gently) on the pillow tonight. Trust me, you donât need as much food as you need, dig into the good fats not saturated or gibberish ingredients and polysatured fats that no one understands, make movement a priority throughout your day not a part of it and sleep how much you want to feel rested not how much is recommended or forced by society. Donât make your life more difficult.
Get back to the basics with everything. That will make your mind clearer and life more enjoyable.
I hope you learned something and feel better than when you started.