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A friend of mine just had her annual check up and everything came back A-ok. She is actually about 1 inch away from having a perfect Venus Index score as well! In other words, girl is in great shape with a great body.

With that said she wants to lose about 3-4 pounds for her ideal Venus Index shape. She can run 10 kms in less than 50 minutes, she’s got great muscle development and is stronger than almost any girl I’ve ever seen in the gym.

Her check up numbers were great across the board and her cardiovascular fitness is at the elite athlete level.

So far this isn’t much of a story, now here is where it gets interesting. She told the nurse that she was interested in losing a bit more weight…at which point the nurse proceeded to tell her: you don’t look like you need to lose any more weight”…and “you’re in a healthy weight range for your height”…and then pointed out that “exercise can be addictive” and handed her body image pamphlets assuming she had some sort of psychological problem.

Of course all of this information is coming from a middle aged female nurse with about 40-50 extra pounds of fat to lose.

My friend just responded with a polite smile with no intention of heeding any of the nurses advice and warnings.

This is good example of how the established medical profession misses the point on issues of exercise and fitness.

First of all its difficult to take weight loss advice from someone who is overweight.

Second, doctors and nurses understand the relative range of what is generally considered a healthy body weight. But this is just a range and estimate for the mass population. Each individual will have a specific body weight that he or she will look their best at, and no doctors chart will necessarily show this. (incidentally that is what the Adonis Index and Venus Index are for…an indication of what we think is your best look for your height)

It’s unfortunate that even a nurse and doctor would discourage someone from trying to lose a couple pounds in an effort to look better and be happier with their body.

It’s as if the nurse had been trained to tell everyone to be happy looking painfully average and that it’s somehow pathological to want to look better than average.

Interestingly, the overweight nurse was much more worried about my friends intention to lose a bit more weight…whereas the physician who was in good shape himself thought nothing of it.

Perhaps a little personal envy and bias even crept into the nurses cautions and warnings to her.

Regardless of the source of the warning, this is still a good example of how mainstream medical professions are not a place to go looking for advice on achieving your best looking shape. It’s just not what they’re trained in.

Don’t let other people talk you out of shooting for your best look, because your best look is going to be a healthy look.

John

If you’re an Eat Stop Eater you’ve probably run into your fair share of people who think the way you are eating is ‘unhealthy’ or ‘not good for you’.

Get Your Annual Check Up Done

Dealing with persecution from people you interact with on a daily basis is difficult, especially when those people are you family and friends. Getting into arguments with them isn’t going to help, and trying to convert them to your lifestyle if they don’t want to isn’t going to help either. So what do you do?

Well for starters get an annual check up/physical. Get your doctor to test every measurable health marker possible including:

Total Cholesterol

HDL/LDL ratio

Triglycerides

Fasting Insulin

Blood Glucose

Blood Pressure

Heart Rate

Liver Enzymes

Etc…

Whatever you and your doc can think of.

With these numbers in hand you can show whoever you’re arguing with that you are in perfect health according whatever your doctor can measure. Beyond that as long as you feel good about yourself what else is there to say?!

If you feel good about yourself, and you’re happy with your lifestyle, and your measurable health markers from your check up/physical come back in good shape, then what else is there to say? You are as healthy as we can possibly measure.

If you’re being persecuted for your lifestyle being ‘unhealthy’ the only way to silence your critics might be to show them how healthy you really are and get them to do the same for themselves.

John

The FDA regulates the use of the words healthy and healthful with respect to diet. This represents a bit of a problem and that is: The words healthy and healthful must first be defined in order to regulate their use.

Does Anyone Actually Follow These Charts? Doubtful

The FDA in it’s infinite wisdom (note the sarcasm) has resorted to regulating the exact macro and micro nutrient amounts in a serving of a food item in order to allow the use of the words words healthy and healthful on their labels.

This of course is a futile attempt to regulate such an encompassing term. If you ate two servings of this food item wouldn’t it become unhealthy by their definition? What if you ate that food item with something else that didn’t fit within their definition of healthy? Is it healthy to eat these foods if you’re feeling sick or have an allergy to them? If the package says it’s healthy does that mean it’s healthy for everyone?

These are just the first question that come to mind when trying to regulate and control the use of the word ‘health’. The point is you can’t do it. Health has no meaning except for the one you personally assign to it. You can choose where you want to draw the line and what to include in your definition.

Brad Pilon and I attended (online) a nutrition workshop held by the FDA where they explained how they were regulating the marketing use of the words healthy and healthful and it was an eye opening experience.

In todays Phi Life podcast we discuss the FDA’s attempt at regulating these words and how futile it is.

Health has to be a personal definition that you alone come up with.

Listen to our podcast here on –> Defining Health

John

Brad Pilon and I have started a new podcast called Phi Life. You can find it every Wednesday from now on at www.phi-life.com

This is our weekly take on all things related to health and how it fits into your life, and how all the parts of your life will add up to your overall ‘health’.

“Health” is a very ambiguous term and means something different for each person. What you might consider to be healthy will be different from what I consider healthy.

From what I can gather the most basic definition of health has to be ‘the opposite of death’

From there we can all throw in our own personal touch as to what we view as a healthy life.

So Phi Life will be an ongoing discussion about the pieces of life and how they come together for the healthiest life possible.

We want to hear your feedback/questions/opinions at Phi Life as it will help us form and shape the ongoing discussions and research that goes into the show.

We’ll be getting a feed on itunes as soon as I can figure out how to do that.

First episode is live www.phi-life.com

By all means leave comments for us at Phi Life.

Enjoy

John

I saw a recent headline in the newspaper suggesting the flu shot caused a rare neurological syndrome in a patient. The headline said “Flu Shot Hell” and there was a miserable picture of a woman with an eye patch on.

Probably the worst place to look for health science info

The headline and the picture would have you believe that she assuredly got this problem from the flu shot. But as you read through the article you will notice that it’s based on conjecture and anecdotes and no facts from the medical community.

In short, they present the sensational argument form the ‘victims’ side without presenting the facts about the situation.

A quick browse of the web and a skip over to wikipedia can give you a good start at realizing that the condition this woman has is highly treatable, has never been definitively shown to be caused by flu vaccine, and has a regular occurance rate in the population that seems to be unaffected by vaccines.

So once you get a bit more of a balanced story you start to see that the newspaper is a highly biased one sided argument that is designed around sensationalism, fear mongering and tugging at your emotional heart strings with seemingly no regard for accuracy of facts.

I can tell you that the newspapers have got every story dead wrong that I was ever involved in. Likewise many of my colleagues from academia have had similar experiences. In fact in many cases the story they portrayed was the complete opposite of what truly happened.

When it comes to health, diet and fitness I would never use the newspaper as a resource, it’s simply not a credible source. And we don’t have to because we’ve got the interweb.

Instead of referring to a middle man (journalist or columnist) you can now use the internet to go straight to the source. Health care professionals including physicians of all kinds, surgeons, nurses, dieticians, fitness coaches and trainers, and top researchers in all fields have free blogs and podcasts that can inform you far better than any journalist can.

As a general rule, when it comes to matters of scientific facts about health, I would view the newspaper only as a resource to see what misinformation and spin the rest of the population is being fed, but never use it as an actual credible source of any information. Incidentally this is also why the newspaper industry is dying a rapid and miserable death, and will be all but extinct within the next 5 years. (yes that is my bold prediction)

John

If you knew exactly how long you were going to live and had no choice to change it, would you still follow a ‘healthy’ lifestyle?

After all, what is the point of health foods, healthy lifestyle choices, exercising, dieting anyway? If you engage in any of this you must have some sort of end game in mind.

My assumption is that your goal is to live as vigorously as possible for as long as possible. A more poetic way to say it would be:

“To die young…as old as possible”

No matter what you believe, there is one fact we all must face: We are all going to die.

And unless something miraculous happens in the next 30-50 years in modern medicine we’re all going to have to accept this fact.

So, given that you simply cannot live forever, all you have left is a choice of how you would like to spend the time that you do have.

This is where the concept of living a ‘healthy’ lifestyle comes into question.

Can you prove that the things you do and the way you choose to live will actually enhance the quality of your life (if not the length)?

Will eating raw foods do this? will eating low carb do this? Is interval training required for this? what about functional training?

Is stressing about all of this actually going to be worse for your overall quality and length of your life more than any benefit a diet or exercise routine could have had?

I went to a conference on aging a back in september and the 2 take home messages I got were as follows:

1. If there is going to be anything that can extend the length of our life beyond the current average, it’s not going to be a new style of diet or exercise. (we already know what to do as far as diet and exercise is concerned)

2.  The oldest people on record have only one thing in common…a low stress/laid back outlook on life.

I’m sure there are some risk factors you can reduce with your diet and exercise habits. But in general there is no proof that they will ever help you live longer than what we would expect based on current population data.

So the next step is living vigorously for as long as you can. And that is precisely what I am trying to do. One of the major keys to this is balancing the effort put into diet/exercise/lifestyle with the stress that these choices bring.

I’ll add in what is necessary but nothing more.

From what I can gather, simplicity is one of the basic tenets of achieving vigorous health for a lifetime. If I can simplify the things I need to do then I’m doing a good job

For example: with food it is just calories in vs calories out + variety. Any rules beyond this add unnecessary stress with no proof of benefit.

(The only caveat I will add is that intermittent fasting might very well be the most beneficial way to reduce calories)

If I’m making things too complicated then I’m not only adding unnecessary effort and work but I’m also adding unnecessary stress.

I’ll have to borrow another quote from Einstein because he said it so well:

“make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler”

This is my basic philosophy on health and wellness.

So what is your end game?

John

Albert Einstein has been attributed with defining “Insanity” as the following: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

I feel like this is what most people are doing in the gym and with their diets on a regular basis. It truly is insane to expect a noticeable change in your body without a noticeable change in the way you live your life.

If you do the same workout (or no workout at all) and eat the same amount of food, how can you possibly think there will ever be a change in your body.

Every day I go to the gym I see the same people hopelessly slaving away on treadmills and other machines, and week after week, month after month they look exactly the same. They don’t look any leaner, they don’t seem any stronger, and they don’t look any happier about themselves.

It’s truly insane.

The diet/fitness industry also helps feed this insanity by hiding the truth about how to really change your body which is very simple:

1) Progressive resistance training to build muscle

2) Calorie deficit to lose fat

Instead of making a real change that can have real results, most people will fall prey to the gimmicks and scams of diet/fitness industry marketing that never produce a real change…and the cycle of insanity will continue.

I totally see how people just give up and believe it’s impossible to lose weight or build muscle if they keep reading about new diet programs and workout programs that never address the real cause.

I guess for some people the insanity is still easier to deal with than real change.

But if you want to change your body then you’ve got to start changing something…anything…

For the few who are willing to make a change I suggest starting small. We easily become a slave to our routine and the first step to making a change in your body is to change your daily routine. This could be as simple as getting your morning coffee from a different coffee shop. Or eating something new for dinner that you’ve never tried before.

Obviously neither of the changes mentioned above will actually change the look or shape of your body by themselves, BUT they will help you break your daily routine and teach you  that there is another way to live your day.

From there you can start changing other things like the amount of time you spend active/working out, the amount of food you’re eating, or the amount of time you spend reading about changing your body but not doing anything about it.

Whatever it is, something’s got to change (if you want to see your body change)

So what will you change, or what have you changed?

John

A comment on one of my recent blog posts described my views on nutrition and fitness as contrary to what everyone else is saying.

This commenter also said it required a “leap of faith” to follow my idea’s for weight loss. (which happens to be Eat Stop Eat and simply less calories in than out)

My solution for weight loss is simple, but most fitness/diet marketers cannot sell such a simple solution.

Instead the diet industry is constantly constructing complex routines and programs for you to read about and hide the truth of calories in vs calories out.

In short, my solution puts me outside of the ‘group’…therefore following my lead seems to require a ‘leap of faith’.

This is not surprising considering the concept of ‘groupthink’ and how it can lead a mass of people further and further down the wrong path. This is precisely what happens in the diet and fitness industry, and especially with respect to the concept of weight loss being nothing more than calories in vs calories out.

A major reason that many ideas and concepts never gain mainstream popularity is because of ‘group think’.

Groupthink is when you ignore people with opposite or challenging views, and seek out people with similar views to validate your own beliefs.

When it comes to health/nutrition/fitness groupthink is EXTREMELY common and can end up holding progress back.

From a nutrition stand point there is a definite groupthink position around the concept of self medicating with food, and special weight loss eating patterns. This groupthink position is that there is a correct way to eat that includes the right foods, the right eating pattern, the right way to prepare the food and so on.

And that this way is ‘correct’ for EVERYBODY.

It is both difficult and risky to take the opposite position and say that food is just food, and that eating for ‘health’ or weight loss is actually a matter of simply eating less food no matter what the food is.

Read that last sentence again. “eating for health or weight loss is actually a matter of simply eating less food no matter what the food is.”

In modern western societies where overeating is a problem for so many people, simply eating less no matter what the food is could very well be the only answer you ever need.

If that sentence bothers you, you might already be in on the current “groupthink” of the nutrition industry.

What about these other concepts of nutrition groupthink such as:

• Eating Breakfast is essential for health and metabolism

• The concept of good foods vs bad foods

• That there is one correct way of eating for all people

• That the food we are eating is more important to health than scientific medical progress

Groupthink involves seeking out other people who share your opinions on a certain topic, then as a group you begin to defend your position against alternate view points, no matter how credible or logical.

The point is that groupthink can close our eyes to other possible solutions to our problems, and in the worst cases keep the true problem (and therefore the true path to the solution) completely hidden to us all together.

If the groupthink is what got us to our current problems, by definition it can never solve them.

Breaking away from the group is almost assuredly your first step towards the true solution to almost any problem.

John

When I was a kid the Mr Men books were the best ones in the school library. Maybe because they were small and square with big pictures and very few words, or maybe it was how simple the message was.

If you’ve ever seen a Mr Men book you’ll know what I’m talking about. There is Mr Strong, Mr Topsy Turvy, Mr Happy, Mr Tickles and so on.

Each one of them is defined by one thing. Mr Strong is strong, Mr Happy is happy.

Obviously you are more complex than a Mr Men character but where do you draw the line as to what defines you?

Do you allow your eating pattern to play a role in your definition of yourself?

Do you allow your workout routine to play a similar role?

For example you might hear someone define themselves as a paleo bodybuilder, or a vegan powerlifter, or a locavore runner.

It seems like people have a need to fit into some sort of community and have a thirst for definitions of their own identity. And this is precisely where the diet/health/fitness industry can take advantage of you and offer you a new definition for yourself (at a rather expensive price).

In most cases the industry will hand you a vague and ambiguous term that has little meaning once you take the time to inspect it with any real inquiry and depth. Each identity comes with a full list of books you must read to be labelled a true version of their group along with lifestyle practices that only the truest of the true will follow.

A rational view of each will reveal that they are nothing more than clever marketing gimmicks that people cling to because of the apparent human need for a personal definition and a group or crowd to identify with.

As long as you allow fitness and nutrition industry marketers to influence the definition of who you are, you will always be susceptible to purchasing the next gimmick or fad.

So how do you define yourself when it comes to diet and exercise? (please leave a comment if you feel so inclined)

I’ll start:

I eat whatever food I happen to want at that moment and do so mostly because i like eating all kinds of food, and for the goal of maintaining my waist to shoulder ratio (AI ratio).

I workout with weights for the purpose of building and maintaining my AI ratio as well.

John

As you can see from the comment section in my previous post there is a huge disparity in opinion of how much I weigh.

The answer is 188lbs.

As I am writing this post (wed dec 16th) I’m 184lbs. <– normal fluctuation in water/food content.

The point of this exercise is to show you how pictures can be deceiving and how bodyweight is a difficult thing to picture for many people when viewed online or in a magazine. Things like lighting, posture/pose, and skin tone can all affect how someone will appear in a picture.

Think of magazine ads or websites that promote before and after pictures…you really can’t tell how big or small someone is without seeing them in person.

Proportions also play a big role in determining how big or small someone looks.

For a given height and bodyfat percentage each person will have a very predictable bodyweight based on weight training experience and given a known food/water intake at the time of the picture. (I was 188lbs in this picture which was taken sunday evening after a good day of eating, as of monday evening after a day of fasting I was down to about 185.5lbs)

So when people say the scale doesn’t matter they are wrong. <– incidentally this argument is usually only made by people who don’t like what the scale says (on both the high or low end)

The reality is that the scale is a very good predictor of health/size/proportion at any given height.

For those of you that asked, I don’t know my bodyfat percentage and don’t bother using any calculators to find out. I’m just interested in the look/proportions.

Thanks for participating and as I drop even further I will update more pics.

John