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I had a conversation with a friend the other day about health and why it’s important.  He’s known me for a long time and he was wondering why I was spending so much time and effort on my health.  In his mind, it seemed like a pointless waste of time.  His argument against a healthy lifestyle came down to two facts:

• First, a healthy lifestyle does not guarantee you a healthy life.  You still have a chance to develop diseases like cancer and you can still be the victim of random occurrences like a car accident.
• Second, he pointed to stories in the news and in our circle of friends of people who lived a long and healthy life despite an unhealthy lifestyle.

His first mistake was overestimating the effort required to live a healthy life, but that’s a topic for another post.  However, his bigger mistake was a remarkable misunderstanding of statistics.

Statistics

Let’s understand something, being healthy does not GUARANTEE anything.  Just because I eat well and exercise does not mean I have a contract with the universe that says “this person lives a healthy lifestyle and therefore they will live a long and healthy life.”  The opposite is also true, just because you live an unhealthy lifestyle does not mean you void your body’s warranty and are guaranteed to have a heart attack at a young age.  You might in fact be one of the few who smokes two packs a day, eats 2lbs of bacon every morning and still lives to a ripe old age. There are no guarantees in life but there are statistics.

Each time you make a choice in how you live your life, you change the statistical likelihood of certain things happening.  For example, if you go to college your are statistically more likely to earn a high wage.  Is this guaranteed?  Absolutely not.  People will always point at success stories like Bill Gates who made billions despite being a college drop out.  Unfortunately, he’s the exception and not the rule.  If anyone points Bill Gates out as a reason to not go to college, tell them their ignorance of statistics is the reason why they SHOULD go to school.  Statistically, you are in fact more likely to make a higher wage if you go to college.  The same applies to health.

Health Statistics

Are you guaranteed to get cancer if you smoke?  No, not really.  Are you guaranteed some kind of cancer immunity if you live a healthy lifestyle?  Again, not really.  However, statistically, your chances do vary based on your behavior.

Let me use a simple example.  Everyone knows what dice are, right?  Roll a standard dice and you get a number between 1 and 6.  If a person with a healthy life style rolls a 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, they avoid getting cancer.  For a person who smokes and has many unhealthy habits, those numbers change a bit.   They need to roll a 3, 4, 5 or 6 to avoid developing some type of cancer.  (By the way, these numbers do not represent actual studies, they’re just picked to illustrate a point).

Is the person with a healthy lifestyle guaranteed a long life?  No, there’s always the chance they could roll a 1.  What about the person who lives an unhealthy lifestyle, are they guaranteed some disease?  No, they could easily roll 3, 4, 5 or 5 for the rest of their life.

However, given a choice between a dice roll where a 1 means you die and a dice roll where a 1 and a 2 means you die?  Which one do you pick?

The Statistics of Sexual Performance

Here’s another example for all you guys out there who think health doesn’t matter.  Every time you want to have sex, certain things have to occur within your body.  Blood needs to flow in order for you to be able to perform.  Improper blood flow means impotence.

So each time you want to have sex, you’re rolling a dice.  In order to avoid impotence, you need to roll a 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6.  However, extra layers of fat and a heart that’s completely out of shape are going to negatively impact your ability to perform.  So if you’re out of shape, you’re going to make your roll with a die that has the 6 replaced with an extra 1.

Sure, you might make that roll every single time and a healthy person might roll quite a few 1’s.  However, given a choice, which die would you like to roll with?  The one that has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 on it or the one that has 1, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 on it?

Yes, Your Life Can Be Reduced To Simple Numbers

There are no guarantees in life, but there are a lot of statistics.  Not all of these statistics can be relied on and a lot of them can be interpreted in different ways.  However, what seems certain at this point is that a healthy lifestyle means your statistical chance of health issues ranging from cancer and heart disease to impotence and broken bones is reduced.  It’s not a 100% guarantee but it’s certainly worth while.

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Yes, healthy people can die and unhealthy people can live a long life.  However, on average, healthy people will have a healthier and longer life than unhealthy ones.  That’s why I choose to be healthy and that’s why you should too.

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There’s a new poll out from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The poll asked 500 people about the calorie contents of their food. Care to guess the result? If you guessed that most people don’t know what’s in their food, you’d be right. You can find the article on the CSPI site here.

Don’t Eat What You Don’t Know

I don’t go to restaurants unless I know what I’m eating.  For local restaurants, that means asking them what they put in their food and how they prepare it.  For chain restaurants, it means not eating there unless they publish their nutritional content on their premises.  On premises means right there where you eat the food, not on the website.  Website nutritional info is great mostly for regretting what you just ate and doesn’t really help you make an informed decision when you order.

Let Your Voice Be Heard

If there’s a restaurant that does not publish nutriotional information then tell them you won’t be eating there anymore and then tell them why.  Enough of these opinions will make a difference.

Make Your Vote Count

I’m not a fan of big government.  I don’t think government should tell us what to do or how to behave.  I do however believe that governments have a role to play in making sure we have enough information to make an informed decision.  So I support government efforts to force restaurants to display nutritional information.  Let you congress man or woman know that you’d appreciate this sort of information and that your health is more important than lobbyist dollars.

Read Those Labels

Once you have the information, don’t forget to use it.  Information is useless if it’s not used.  Read it and then base your food decision on it.  If enough of us make healthy food choices, maybe restaurants will offer more healthy options.

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I know people who will spend hours researching the best shampoo for their pet or the best school for their kids.  Why not spend a little of that time researching what you’re eating?  The results may surprise you.

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Still on antibiotics for my eye. However, no more pain, my vision is back to normal and my eye doesn’t look like I’ve been awake for five days. Overall, a major improvement. And one reminder from my doctor to all of you, if you’re on an antibiotic prescription for some infection and you start feeling better, that does NOT mean you can stop taking the antibiotics. Go through the whole prescription, just as instructed. Otherwise, you risk reinfection by more antibiotic resistant bacteria.

And with that, some interesting articles from this week:

On a sad note, this first article from the Washington Post shows that for the first time since an epidemic in 1918, we’re seeing life expectancies drop. Take a look at this article. Three of the top four reasons for this drop are lung cancer, emphysema and diabetes. Three mostly preventable issues caused by personal life choices such as smoking and poor activity / exercise habits.
@Washington Post

For you Atkins devotees out there, here’s an interesting article from our friends down under at the Syndey Morning Herald. This article shows that you can still eat a high protein diet without consuming an excess amount of meat. This is one of my main two issues with many Atkins followers. First, they think all carbs are bad. Second, they think all protein is good. This is simply not true.
@Sydney Morning Herald

From the Denver Post we have this entry about getting the most out of your personal trainer. I think there’s a lot of valuable information here. Trainers can be an amazing resource if used right but they can also be a dangerous waste of money if they have poor skills, communicate badly or are inadequately trained. Research your trainer ahead of time and make sure you communicate exactly what you’re looking for.
@The Denver Post

Looking for a low impact workout that increases flexibility without being high in stress? Check out this article from the UK Herald that talks about Tai Chi and its benefits. It’s not exactly cardio or even resistance training, but it can still have a positive impact on your life. Remember, quite often, it’s the little things that matter. A 30 minute walk a day, or a session of Tai Chi, could have an amazing effect on someone who is completely inactive.
@The UK Herald

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The title of this post is a paraphrasing of a famous quote by Warren Buffet, the famous investor who’s one of the wealthiest people in the world today.  His point is that lots of things can be measured, but unless those measurements have meaning, then they’re useless.

How Do You Measure Your Health and Fitness?

What are you using as a measurable metric of your health and fitness?  That is, what number do you keep track off to see how well you’re doing fitness wise?  For almost everyone I talk to, the answer is probably weight.  Everyone keeps track of weight, including me.  Unfortunately, for most people, the ONLY number being tracked is weight.

We use weight to measure our success in controlling eating.  We use it to measure our success at exercise.  We even use it to measure our overall health, with people who weigh more being considered less healthy.  Well you know what, weight in and of itself is totally useless and if you’re using weight as the sole measure of your fitness, you’re making a big mistake.

What’s Wrong With Using Weight?

• No account for height - Do you really know how much you should weigh?  My wife is 6′ tall, how much should she weigh compared to my friend who is 5′2″?  How much more weight should your body carry per extra inch of height?  Do you know the ideal weight range for your height?
• No account for gender - On average, women have a higher percentage of body fat while men have a higher percentage of muscle mass.  So should a man and a woman, both 5′10″ weight the same?  Should I at 5′11″ weigh less than my wife at 6′?
• No account for muscle mass - Here’s the worst part about weight.  It can actually tell you you’re doing well when you’re getting worse and vice versa.  That’s because muscle is dense and fat is only a small percentage of your body.  So losing weight could mean losing muscle and that’s a bad thing.  If I stopped working out I could lose weight.  Sounds odd but it’s true.  As my muscle mass shrank, my body would weigh less assuming I controlled my eating.  So my weight could go down but my overall health and fitness would decrease.  If you started exercising, you might actually gain a bit of weight or at least stay at your current weight because the muscle you’re adding weighs more than the fat you’re losing.  However, you’d be far healthier, fitter and slimmer with the added muscle and reduced fat.

So Weight Is A Bad Measurement?

Not completely.  In general, weight loss does correspond with increased fitness and health.  However, if the only measurement you use is weight, then it’s meaningless since there could be a whole lot of other things going on.

What Other Measurement Should I Use?

• BMI - I’m not a big fan of BMI since it doesn’t take muscle mass into account, but at least it’s more accurate than weight alone.  There are numerous websites that can help you measure this.
• Body Fat % - A much more accurate measurement of how good the composition of your body is.
• Resting heart rate - Measure your heart rate when you wake up after a good night’s sleep to see how well your cardiovascular system is doing.
• Active heart rate - Measure your heart rate after 3 to 5 minutes of cardio exercise.
• Strength - There are a variety of these.  For example, see how many barbell presses you can do at a rate of one every two seconds.  For men, do these with an 80lb weight.  For women, a 35lb weight.  There are numerous other strength and flexibility tests.  A personal trainer can help you with these tests.
• Cholesterol and blood pressure - Have you had your physical this year?  If not, why not?  I’m a big fan of staying away from the doctor’s office and I try to avoid the “there’s a prescription drug for every minor issue” mentality that a lot of people have, but I do strongly believe in a yearly physical.  During this physical your doctor can help you check on a variety of health measurements.

So Which One of These Should I Use?

Ideally?  All of them.  Now before you panic, keep in mind that you don’t need to track them every day.  In fact, that would be a little crazy.  Realistically, you should track these monthly or even yearly.  For example, I track my BMI and weight once a month.  I track my heart rate measurement and do my strength tests every 6 months and I have a physical during which I find out my blood pressure and cholesterol once a year.  That’s a pretty minimal amount of time required to get a very detailed picture of how well I’m doing health and fitness wise.  I know people who spend far more time than this every month balancing their checkbooks, tracking their friends on Facebook and catching up on the latest episodes of Lost.  Are those things really more important than your health?

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Our nation is obsessed with weight.  We see it as the holy grail of health when it’s really nothing more than a paper cup filled with misleading data.  Combine it with a few other measurements and it might be helpful but on it’s own it’s pretty much useless.  So stop treating your health as a one dimensional subject that can be measured with a single number.

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It’s 1:45pm here in California.  I just came back from a beautiful 30 minute walk.  How about you?  Have you had your walk for the day?  If so, then good for you.  If you haven’t, why not?

I don’t have time for a walk

That’s a pretty poor excuse.  During my 30 minute walk, I made two business calls and one personal call which I had to make today.  If I wanted to, I could easily fill up the 30 minutes with business calls.  Heck, I could go walking during any number of conference calls and still contribute.  Besides, everyone needs a break once in a while.  How about spending it walking instead of sitting on your butt?

It’s too cold outside

Take a jacket.  Besides, the cold will do you good.  Cool air forces your body to spend extra calories in order to keep warm.  Unless there’s a snow storm outside or you’re somewhere like the Arctic, then it’s not too cold to walk.  And if there is a snow storm outside then find a place where you can walk indoors.

It’s too warm outside

Take your jacket off, or just walk a bit slower.

What’s the point of walking anyway?

It’s good exercise, it keeps you active and it’s a refreshing break from work that will allow you to be more productive when you come back.  In fact, a simple walk every day is one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself.

I have uncomfortable shoes

So fix that.  Buy shoes that look good enough for work and are comfortable enough to walk in or bring an extra pair of shoes to work that you can put on for your walk.  Stop letting your clothing make your decisions for you.

I’m too busy

Really?  If so, why are you spending time reading this site?  We all waste quite a bit of time every day.  Why not use some of it productively by taking a walk?

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Stop coming up with excuses and start living a healthier life with a daily 30 minute walk.  Now why are you still reading this site when you should be out there walking?

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Ok, so the pirate workout is a bit of a joke, but for those of you inquiring about my health, turns out everything is ok and I will not need to wear an eyepatch. Seems like I managed to scratch the surface of my cornea and that scratch got infected. So there was a whole lot of pain but nothing that can’t be fixed and no permanent damage. I’m staying indoors today because the medication makes my pupil dilate and that means that bright lights hurt a lot, but I should be ok by tomorrow. In fact, after my follow up appointment tomorrow, I’ll have a few things to share with you about my latest medical experience.

In the meantime though, being cooped up at home reminded me that I have some new home gym equipment which I haven’t mentioned on 60 in 3.

Soft Weights

Being a bit accident prone (my injured eye was caused by a clothing accident. Don’t ask!), I’ve been looking for weights which are softer and less injury causing. I’ve also been looking for something I can throw around much like a ball but with greater weight. In short, I was looking for a Medicine Ball (also called a kettle ball or kettlebell although those are slightly different).

What Is A Medicine Ball?

A medicine ball is a ball, usually made from rubber, with a handle on the side. The ball contains a weight on the inside which makes it far heavier than your normal rubber ball. In terms of usage, the ball can be used just like a dumbbell.

What’s So Good About A Ball?

• Softer - That’s great for people who injure themselves frequently like me. I can drop this on my foot and it’s far less likely to break a toe than an equivalent weight dumbbell.
• Built in handle - The handle on the ball makes gripping easier. You can put it around your wrist and not focus as much on the gripping of the weight.
• Maneuverable. Because of the strap plus the shape of the ball, it’s easier to do some exercises without banging yourself with the weights as you would with a dumbbell.

What’s Not So Good About A Ball?

• Weight is not adjustable - You need a different ball for each weight, unlike some adjustable dumbbell sets where you can add or remove weights to suit your need.

Can These Replace Dumbbells?

No. Both dumbbells and balls have their place in a home gym. However, I do think these are great to have for some exercises. They’re relatively cheap which means you can get a couple of sets for a low cost. I’d recommend getting some of the lower weights in these rather than dumbbells and then working out with both.

Is There A Recommended Brand?

I got mine from Ball Dynamics, the same people I got my exercise ball from. I’ve found them to be reliable and very competitive on prices. You can find their website here. As usual I would like to note that I am not affiliated with Ball Dynamics in any way. I don’t get paid to recommend them or any other product on 60 in 3.

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I like trying out new things, and these new balls were a lot of fun. The exercises are similar to dumbbells but different enough to keep things interesting, plus the cost was very low. Give them a shot, maybe you’ll find something that you like.

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It seems like I managed to injure my cornea yesterday.  Currently at the ER trying to see how serious it is.  Therefore, there will be no 60 in 3 post today.  Hopefully, everything is ok and I’ll be able to post again tomorrow.  Potential post topics for tomorrow are “exercising with an eye patch”, “How to run when you have no depth perception” and ” workouts for pirates.” 

Wish me luck.

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