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Managing Energy, Not Time for Weight Loss and Metabolism

Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz have taken a very interesting approach to engagement that we have found very useful with our clients. They assert that without the right quantity, quality, focus, and force of energy we are compromised in our activities.

And to be fully engaged, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused, and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interest. One step toward managing energy, not time for weight loss and metabolism is to be fully engaged.

Once we made the decision to develop this course online, Butch laid out a timeline to have it ready in three months. The entire process took longer then he had anticipated. He was working from first thing in the morning to some point late in the afternoon when he would reach a point where he could only stare the screen.

As modules were being recorded, he started working on the course delivery software and realized that the original format we wanted would not be available. This change in format also meant the entire course structure would have to change.

And to top it off. Our main computer crashed.

Almost everything was recovered but all progress ceased for several days. And you want to know why? Because an event that happens only about once every three years occurred. Butch got sick.

Even though we have used these concepts for years, like anyone else in todays busy world we can get overwhelmed by events and feel the same stress as everyone else. But, we also have the tools to recognize where the problem is and make repairs.

Throughout the course we give several examples of the interdependence of psychology and physiology. The brain and body are very much the same thing, […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:33-07:00September 14th, 2015|Weight Loss & Metabolism|Comments Off on Managing Energy, Not Time for Weight Loss and Metabolism
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Specific Adaptation, Weight Loss and Metabolism

The most significant rule of human physiology is the SAID principle, or our specific adaptation to imposed demands.

This means that when a stressor effects us we specifically react to it. If it is repeated over time then we will continue to adapt over time.

So every time we take a step we are practicing our walking form.  If we have good form, we get really good at good form, but that also means if we have bad form we get really good at bad form.

Walking is easily the most important movement in our lives. This is because we do lots of reps everyday, it involves our entire body, and we don’t have to think about it.

But what happens if I have an injury that requires a cast. It could be a cast on the lower body such as the ankle or the upper body such as an arm. In either case, the way I walk for the next six or so weeks has now been changed. In that time I will probably take between 1.8 to 2 million steps with bad form.

It only takes about two hours of stimulation to start making a permanent change in our brain. Of course as we have already learned “the greater the load the greater the learning.” So, if I felt pain with every step I took, the increased stress would produce change even quicker.

Now, lets look at a different type of stimulus. Advertising. How long does it take to reach enough stimulus to change the way we look at ourselves?

Remember, when I was 119 pounds and ate everything in site? I self identified as being just a normal person. However, once I became a trainer and I self […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:33-07:00September 14th, 2015|Weight Loss & Metabolism|Comments Off on Specific Adaptation, Weight Loss and Metabolism
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The Mental Observer Weight Loss and Metabolism

Once we understand more about how the body functions under stress and what happens when the load exceeds our resources, we want to learn to recognize these effects in our thinking.

When our prefrontal cortex is in charge we call this our logical mind. It is able to thoughtfully consider information and render a decision. It tries to maintain order through strict discipline, sometimes trying to motivate us with threats, promises or hurtful language.

If our goal is to lose weight and we believe that starving ourselves will achieve that goal, then it becomes the duty of the logical brain to starve us. And as long as stress does not exceed glucose, then it remains in charge.

When our amygdala is in charge we call this our emotional mind. It is able to short-circuit logical thought and react to stress and danger immediately through the fight or flight mechanism.

Like the logical brain, it is also trying to keep us safe. But even if our logical mind believes that starving us will equal weight loss, the emotional mind is only concerned that we are starving and wants to eliminate the starvation threat.

What is important to recognize is that they are both representations of ourselves, and they both want the best for us. But we need to understand they both exist and each has value.

So the point of this lesson is to introduce you to the idea of the Observer. The Observer is our ability to sit back and observe the actions of both the logical mind and the emotional mind without judgement. Just understand they both exist, and that they both have valid claims to our well being.

In 1938 Walt Disney released a cartoon called […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:34-07:00September 14th, 2015|Weight Loss & Metabolism|Comments Off on The Mental Observer Weight Loss and Metabolism
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Stress Load Weight Loss and Metabolism

What is load? Well, when I ask that, most people say something like ‘how much something weighs’ but the definition we are talking about here is ‘a source of pressure.’

Let me give you an example. We will use a barbell bench press. Probably everyone listening to this has either performed a barbell bench press or has at least seen the mechanics and knows what I am talking about.

When a person performs the bench press the amount of weight on the bar is the load. So far in this example the weight on the bar meets either definition of load, it could be the weight of the plates, or the pressure it provides to the person lifting.

So, one way I could increase the load is to add more weight right? Or, maybe I can change the way the lift is performed. I might slow the tempo of the lift. Now, we have increased the pressure of the load, but the weight is the same.

Now, maybe I wanted to increase the load again. This time the weight stays the same, the tempo remains slow, and now I have the person count the reps backwards, by 3s starting at 21. We have just raised the load again without altering the weight.

This increase in load can have three possible effects on the nervous system. The first is that the stress was insufficient for the body to register any meaningful reaction, we would call this a neutral response.

Second, the stress was too much and the body has a bad reaction such as pain, or decreased performance which we could see here as a decrease in range of motion. . We would call this reaction negative.

Third, the stress was enough to […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:34-07:00September 14th, 2015|Weight Loss & Metabolism|Comments Off on Stress Load Weight Loss and Metabolism
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Stress Weight Loss and Metabolism

Take a minute to look at this list and consider what they all have in common:

  • physical injury lack of sleep
  • workpoor diet
  • family dynamics driving cars
  • watching the news violence on tv

You guessed it. They are all sources of stress. And in combination they can be overwhelming and result in suboptimal performance or chronic conditions.  When we think of stress responses the first things that comes to mind are the symptoms of acute stress, like we would experience in a car wreck. These include:

  • Acceleration of heart rate and respiration
  • Inhibited digestion
  • Constriction of Blood Vessels
  • loss of hearing
  • loss of peripheral vision
  • But many of us walk around everyday with symptoms of chronic stress which we may not recognize at first. Symptoms of chronic stress may include:
  • memory problems
  • inability to concentrate
  • seeing only the negative
  • constant worrying
  • depression
  • moodiness
  • aches and pains
  • frequent colds
  • eating more
  • sleeping too little
  • using alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, or food to relax
  • nervous habits
  • low stomach acid
  • chronic fatigue
  • low metabolism
  • tight muscles

So, people decide its time to get in shape. They decide to start dieting and exercise, and a few days or weeks later they are not sticking to their plan, and they feel they have failed.

But the reality is they simply had too much stress in their lives and when the brain has to choose between survival and performance, it will always choose survival.

When the body is stressed it produces a physical response. There is a cascade of hormones that activate the sympathetic nervous system responsible for fight or flight, while deactivating the parasympathetic nervous system responsible for rest and repair.

This response originates with the nervous system, specifically the limbic portion of the brain and that includes the amygdala which brings together sensory input, memory, and emotion. This is important because the amygdala is responsible for keeping us safe by […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:34-07:00September 14th, 2015|Weight Loss & Metabolism|Comments Off on Stress Weight Loss and Metabolism
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Cue, Behavior, and Reward for Weight Loss and Metabolism

A critical skill to develop during the contemplation phase is to understand cue, behavior, and reward.

Normally, we focus on a behavior that we want to change. Maybe its smoking, or drinking, or binge eating.

But what we usually do not take time to consider is the cue that triggered that behavior. For example, earlier Butch said that during the paleo years any time he was offered a soft-drink at a friends house he would accept.

Eating and drinking do not happen magically. They require conscious thought to control the movements, and it took a decision to initiate those movements. For Butch to drink those soft-drinks he made a conscious decision to do so.

But he did not just walk around drinking those drinks all the time, so what cued his behavior? All our conscious behaviors are cued. Sometimes by routine, social interaction, stress, or the day of the week. But there is something that triggers the behavior.

Once we have determined the behavior we want to change we need to identify what cue is triggering the behavior to begin with?

So what triggered Butch’s soft-drink behavior? Well, to really answer that question lets go back a few years. In 1997, Butch moved to California. He had been a recreational gambler for a few years always winning or losing a hundred dollars or less.

But on the way to California, he stopped to gamble on the river boats in Louisiana. And came out ahead by a couple hundred dollars. Then when driving through Arizona he stopped by a casino and turned that money into a six hundred dollar gain.

Then as he describes it “when the interstate split and one lane went to San Diego, his car just magically followed the other […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:35-07:00September 14th, 2015|Weight Loss & Metabolism|Comments Off on Cue, Behavior, and Reward for Weight Loss and Metabolism
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Contemplation about Weight Loss and Metabolism

The defining characteristic of the pre-contemplation stage was that you were aware you had a problem or behavior you wanted to change but you were not willing to research or discuss the problem or possible solutions.

In the contemplation stage you are willing to research your problem, and discuss the problem or solutions with others. However the contemplator stills feels they do not yet have enough information to act.

In some cases people may become chronic contemplators in which case they get stuck in the information gathering phase and never move on to action. You may have heard the term “analysis paralysis.”

Contemplators walk the line between wanting to change and the fear of failure. Ambivalence is understandable because we are all creatures of habit and on some level we all fear change.

Contemplators have a tendency to substitute worrying for working. They want to be sure they have made the very best choice, or selected the very best strategy so they continue to gather information waiting for the magic moment to act. Guess what? The magic moment may never come.

Contemplators do this because it is easier to wish for change than to put in the work to create a change.

For contemplators, just wishing for change will not create change, they have to take an active part.

In this module we will provide the information you need to confidently move you through contemplation and into the preparation phase.

The more you learn about how your brain and body responds to stress, and how to gain the skills to effect those responses, you will naturally gain confidence in your ability to create change and achieve your goals.

This is an excerpt of the RESOLUTE online weight loss and metabolic repair course inspired by the […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:35-07:00September 14th, 2015|Uncategorized, Weight Loss & Metabolism|Comments Off on Contemplation about Weight Loss and Metabolism
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“Not” Thinking About Weight Loss and Metabolism

“Not” Thinking About Weight Loss and Metabolism

As already discussed, precontemplation is the phase in which we wonder if there is even any hope. Is it even possible to make a change? When it comes to weight loss most of us that are in precontemplation are here because we have tried a calorie restrictive diet in the past and ended up gaining weight.

At this point it may be helpful to look at restrictive dieting as the problem, and our weight is just a symptom. In fact, this is the case for almost everyone who comes to us for weight loss.

Minnesota Starvation Experiment

Probably the most important, yet seldom mentioned, study of weight loss took place in 1944. It was called the Minnesota Starvation Experiment. The United States government anticipated that at the conclusion of World War II, there would be thousands of people in Europe and Asia that were suffering from famine as a result of the war.

In order to determine how best to rehabilitate them they commissioned a study using conscientious objectors. From a group of 400 volunteers, they selected 36 healthy men of similar characteristics and cut their daily calorie intake from 3200 to 1800 calories for 24 weeks to induce a famine-like state, while maintaining a 3000 calorie a day workload.

Before going further, I just want to point out that many calorie restrictive diet programs today call for even less calories than the starvation experiment did, while also asking participants to workout in excess of their daily calorie […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:36-07:00September 11th, 2015|Blog, Weight Loss & Metabolism|Comments Off on “Not” Thinking About Weight Loss and Metabolism
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Sleep time for Homo Urbanus

Sleep and Fitness

The function of the parasympathetic nervous system is rest and repair or sometimes called rest and digest.

During slow wave sleep the body relaxes, breathing becomes more regular, blood pressure falls, and the brain is less responsive to outside stimuli. The pituitary gland releases growth hormone, which stimulates tissue growth and muscle repair.

In a study with the Standford men’s basketball team. They slept ten hours a night for five weeks. The results were that the freethrowing percentage improved by 9 percent, the three point shooting improved by 9.2 percent and their 80 meter sprint was faster.

REM sleep is to the mind what slow sleep is to the body. REM sleep is when your brain dreams and reorganizes information. Your brain clears out irrelevant information, boosts your memory by connecting the events since your last sleep to your previous events, facilitates learning and neural growth.

One of the ways it repairs the brain is to remove toxic proteins from its neurons that are the by-products of neural activity when you are awake. Unfortunately, it can only do this when you are asleep. And when the toxic neurons are not removed they wreck havoc on your prefrontal cortex effecting cognition, creativity, problem solving and inhibition.

Sleep deprivation means you can’t recover physically, your immune system weakens, and your brain becomes foggy.

Sleep deprived individuals are at increased risk of viral infections, weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, mental illness, and death.

One of the ways it does this is by raising the stress load on the body and the cortisol levels. A lack of sleep helps break down skin collagen making you look older by reducing the elasticity of the skin.

In men, not enough sleep reduces testosterone levels […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:36-07:00September 10th, 2015|homo urbanus, sleep|Comments Off on Sleep time for Homo Urbanus
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DISCLAIMER: Results may vary. Consult your physician before beginning any exercise program.
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