When Did I Get Fat?

I love numbers.  Numbers are beautiful because they don’t really lie.  They simply present the fact although it’s up to you to interpret those facts correctly.  I love crunching through them and seeing what useful information I can find.    I suppose that’s one reason why I’ve spend much of my life working on optimization related technology, because this field is all about using numbers to make stuff better.

I apply this same love of numbers to my life (much to the annoyance of my loved ones on occasion), and especially to my health.  I love tracking stuff and seeing how I’m doing compared to last week, last month or last year.  I enjoy looking at the nutrient breakdown of my day and then comparing it to my mood that day.  Sometimes you get useful insights and some times you don’t but the numbers are always beautiful.

last weekend I sat down and charted my own weight against various events in my life just to see what had made a difference and what did not.  The results were interesting although pretty much expected.  Four events stand out.

[Read more...]

A Story In One Meal: Tim Ferriss 4 Hour Body Diet Vs. Healthy Eating

This entry is part 11 of 15 in the series 4 Hour Body Diet

I was making dinner the other night when it finally hit me, I knew EXACTLY what the difference was between eating healthy and the Tim Ferriss 4 Hour Body diet.  However, before I let you in on that little secret, I need to fill you in on a bit of background.

My amazingly super awesome fiancé and I moved in together in January, right around the time when I was finishing up my first experiment with the 4 hour body diet, and we’ve been making an effort to cook more meals at home, something we’ve found to be fun and healthy.  Back then, one of my favorite meals to make was a a few shredded pieces of chicken breast, tossed in a pan with a few pieces of chicken sausage and then stir fried with cajun seasoning.  I would then add a bit of fresh greens and maybe some sliced up tomatoes and serve it up hot from the pan!  Yummy! [Read more...]

The Most Important Part Of Your Day Is NOT Breakfast

they sleep like each otherI’ve been experimenting with various health initiatives for around a decade now.  I’ve tried going vegetarian, I’ve tried going vegan, I’ve done the low carb thing, I did no gluten for a while, I experimented with paleo, I’ve quit caffeine, I practiced for a marathon, I focused on sprints and on and on and on.  I didn’t do any of these things because I had to, I’m in great shape as my doctor tells me on my annual physicals and I’ve never had a physical problem in my life.  Instead, I do them because I enjoy them.  I like experimenting, I like figuring out what works and what doesn’t.  I do the same thing in my professional and personal life, experimenting with new techniques and styles of living.  Luckily for you all, you get to benefit from the results without doing the experimentation yourself.

Now here’s the most important thing I learned in 10 years of experimentation.  The single most important part of a healthy life is not a what you eat or how you exercise, it’s how you sleep.  That’s right, sleep is more important than nutrition, calories or exercise.  It’s more important than running laps, not eating candy or lifting weights.  In fact, it’s the most important thing you can do for your health.

What Is Sleep?

I’ve experimented with a wide variety of sleeping habits, from sleeping only 4 hours a night to sleeping 12 hours, from waking up with the rising sun to waking up with an alarm clock.  I’ve tried different sleeping temperatures, different mattresses, white noise generators, low light environments, reading before bed, day time naps, lucid dreaming and more.  I even experimented once with not sleeping at all for a couple of days (not a good idea by the way).  Here’s what I learned:

Without Enough Sleep…

  • I am lethargic during the day which makes it difficult to exercise
  • I am prone to bad judgement which makes me more likely to snack and overeat
  • I tend to make mistakes in my work which make me less productive
  • I behave badly.  I snap at people, I’m unfriendly and I’m essentially an all around jerk

In other words, by missing sleep, I sabotage my efforts at being healthy, friendly and productive.  So, let’s go over what I’ve found to be the best ways to enhance your sleep.

  • EIGHT hours – Yes, you heard me, EIGHT!  I know you like telling your friends about how you kicked ass last week by working hard and only getting four hours of sleep a night but that’s a one time thing.  In the long run, you need a good 7 to 9 hours of sleep every single night.  Sure, some people can get by on less and some people need more, but those folks are the exception and, statistically, it’s very unlikely that you’re the exception.  Sleeping less for more than one day in a row makes me cranky while sleeping for more hours than 8 or 9 tends to make me feel sore all over.
  • No work – You need time to unwind before bed and work is too stressful to be relaxing.  Try to find something where you can disengage from a lot of stimuli and let your brain drift off.  Listening to quiet music works for some people.  For me, a good book or a quiet conversation with my girlfriend about nothing in particular is an excellent way to fall asleep.  I’ve also found meditation to work but I’ve never had the strong interest in meditation to keep up with it.  Finally, I’ve found that a simple period of 10 minutes spent listening to quiet music and thinking about the events of the past day to be useful as well.  The trick there is not to stress yourself out by rehashing issues you had that day.
  • Do something physical before – No, not right before sleep, but before that period of relaxation I just talked about.  Do something that requires a lot of physical energy right before you start relaxing for sleep.  There’s an obvious choice of activity of course, since you’re already in the bedroom (I’m talking about sex in case you’re just now waking up and having a hard time guessing!) but if that’s not your cup of tea (and why the heck isn’t it?!?!) then a quick 10 minute workout, a good walk or a short run will also do.  The point is to get your body tired before you try to get your brain to relax.
  • Routine – Yes, I know it’s boring but routine is actually good for your sleep patterns (emphasis on the pattern).  Go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time each morning.  I try to get to bed at 11pm each night and wake up at 7am the next morning.  Yes, even on weekends.
  • A well equipped bedroom – I’ve experimented with white noise generators and found them to be very useful.  I think we evolved in an environment with a lot of noise, even at night.  So trying to sleep in a totally quiet environment makes us more sensitive to the smallest of disturbances.  By contrast, when I’ve slept with white noise generators, a passing train wouldn’t wake me.  Also, make sure your mattress is the right type and firmness for you.  I like a softer mattress but tastes may vary.  Finally, make sure you’re wearing the right clothing (or lack thereof) and using the right covering.  Our bodies are very sensitive to temperature and being too hot or too cold can make a big difference.
  • Stop drinking at least an hour before bed and no caffeine or alcohol at least 3 hours before bed – All of these things will wake you up in the middle of the night for a trip to the bathroom.

These are the most important items I’ve found to guarantee a good night’s sleep.  And since a good night’s sleep is the most important thing for a healthy and productive life, I think they’re worth working on.

###

If you have your own tips and trick for sleeping well, please email them to me or add them in the comments.  I’m particularly interested in various supplements that people have tried as this is one area I’ve not experimented with.

How To Stop Overeating

Liz's Wedding Shower - Candy BuffetI saw this great story on Mark’s Daily Apple the other day. It was all about why people don’t give up the foods they like even when they know they’re unhealthy. It was interesting reading but it didn’t really answer the bottom line question, why do people eat when they know they shouldn’t? Forget specifics like why do people still eat gluten or carbs or whatever the bad nutrient of the week is, why do people overeat in general? Why do we load up on the calories when we know better? Even more importantly, how do we stop this from happening?

This is a problem that I wrestled with quite often. Even these days, after losing all the weight, feeling so much better, feeling healthier and being happier, you can put me in front of a Sizzler’s all you can eat steak and shrimp buffet and, 13 plates later, I’ll be regretting my poor decision making skills. How many of you have done the same thing? How many times have you told yourself, “today is the day I start eating healthier” only to find yourself at noon time scarfing down a big mac, fries and a milk shake? It’s odd, even though we know we shouldn’t and even though we felt so resolved and strong when we made the promise to eat better, we still find ourselves eating crap only a few hours or days later.

Enter The Economist

Dan Ariely is a behavioral economist at Duke University. He studies why people make irrational decisions in fields such as finance, politics, ethics and health. By the way, if you’re interested, I would highly recommend that you pick up his book, Predictably Irrational, it’s fascinating reading and highly entertaining.

One of Ariely’s most interesting experiments was around decision making when we’re excited. The experiment in question actually revolved around sexual decision making but it’s quite applicable to our own overeating issue. In the experiment, Ariely asked a group of subjects to make decisions regarding their sexual preferences. He then asked them to make the same decisions while they were in a state of arousal. Surprisingly (or not, depending on how honest you are with yourself), people made bad decisions when excited. For example, people who said they would never be willing to have unsafe sex were more than willing to do so when excited. What’s the point? The point is making a decision while excited is a bad idea. This applies to food just as much as it applies to sex.

Make The Decision Now, Not Later

When I’m at Sizzler’s staring at a plate of shrimp, my brain is not thinking about health. Well, let me correct that, a portion of my brain is thinking about that but another portion is overriding it with the thought of “MORE SHRIMP NOW!!!!” Remember, we evolved in an environment where food was scarce. It makes sense that our brains are extremely motivated to get more food at all costs.  Eating as much food as possible was a survival instinct, and like most instincts, it’s extremely difficult to override. So the point at which you find yourself eating too much is already too late to make a good decision.

The trick is making the decision ahead of time, before instinct takes over. For example, Ariely recommends keeping a condom with you if there’s a chance you’ll be having sex. That way you don’t need to think too much about getting one and there’s less chance of your basic instincts overriding your better judgement. In other words, it’s easier to fight your instinct for “SEX NOW!” when the condom is in your pocket as opposed to when it’s two rooms away. This is similar to leaving your credit card at home when you go to the mall. You make the decision not to spend ahead of time as opposed to when you’re all excited about buying something you can’t afford.

How Do We Apply This To Food?

I’ve found several very good ways to apply this method to food:

  • Tell my friends ahead of time that I no longer want to go to buffets – This means they don’t suggest them and I don’t get excited about them. In essence, I’ve made the decision not to go to buffets ahead of the actual decision point when I might be excited about unlimited food. I’ve done the same with fast food by the way.
  • When I go out for lunch, I take a single 5 dollar bill with me – It’s very hard to overeat on 5 dollars. At best, I’m going to get a small sandwich or maybe a taco or two. Without a credit card or more cash, I’ve made the decision to not eat too much in advance, before being faced with a cornucopia of unhealthy choices.
  • At home I don’t keep any readily accessible foods – Food at home needs to take a while to prepare. That keeps me from making a stupid spur of the moment decision to eat a whole bag of Doritos. Instead, I keep ingredients, or things that need to be prepared to be edible. That way the instinct for “FOOD NOW!” fights with the instinct of “IM LAZY!” and laziness usually wins. ::
  • Don’t go to the kitchen – This is silly but effective. If you’re like me and work in an office environment where free food is available in the kitchen, how about minimizing the time you spend there? For example, I brought a large water bottle to work. I fill it in the morning and it lasts me all day. This eliminates at least two or three water trips to the kitchen, which makes me less likely to snack on the free candy available there.

These are all examples of ways in which you can make the right decision ahead of time. By doing this you lower the odds of being overwhelmed by the “MORE FOOD NOW” instinct and regretting your decisions.  Remember, it’s not shameful to make a bad decision when excited, it’s just human instinct.  Instead of resolving to “be stronger” just “be smarter” and out think your instincts in advance.

Happy Eating!

###

Thank you to whoever shared a link to 60 in 3 on facebook.  The publicity was greatly appreciated and I hope your friends enjoy the articles.

What’s Wrong With The Paleo Lifestyle?

CavemanA couple of weeks ago I wrote about an incident I had with a friend who was trying to follow the Paleo lifestyle. I mentioned that I had a few objections to the whole paleo idea but that it really didn’t matter since it was a healthy lifestyle anyway. Naturally, a few of you asked what were my objections to this lifestyle, so…

Now, before I give the details, I do want to emphasize that I think the paleo lifestyle is perfectly fine and healthy. I would gladly recommend it to others, especially as part of an overall lifestyle like Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint. So I don’t want to hear any flames in the comments about “dude, you just don’t get it. Also, you suck! Hur hur!” If you want to discuss this post that’s great. I love comments and I enjoy responding to them, but please keep it civil.

Will The Real Paleo Please Stand Up?

So, what’s my issue with paleo? Primarily, it’s one of historical accuracy. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever been to a renaissance faire? For those unfamiliar with this phenomenon, a Ren Faire is a place where people recreate the middle ages / renaissance by donning old style clothing, eating turkey legs, watching jousts, saying a lot of “M’Lord” and “M’Lady” and strapping on swords. Sounds neat, and it actually is quite fun. However, this isn’t really the Renaissance. If it was, most of these people would be poor peasants. They would live a miserable life of hard labor and die at a young age. They would start having kids in their early teens and most of those kids would die before hitting puberty. Their clothes would be unwashed and they would go for days or weeks without a shower. They would also have lice and variety of other diseases and did I mention that at any time a nobleman might ride by and kill, rape or conscript them into his armies? Doesn’t sound so pretty anymore, does it? The truth is that the Renaissance Faire takes this time in which most people lived rather miserable lives and romantacizes it. They show us this age as we would like to live it, not as it was really lived through.

The paleo lifestyle is a bit like that.  It imagines some sort of tall, muscular caveman, striding next to his tall, muscular swim suit model of a mate, eating steaks, sprinting after prey and lifting heavy weights.  It uses this image in order to justify a diet which is allegedly what we “evolved to eat”.  Unfortunately, this simply isn’t true.

  • If you assume that cavemen ate a lot of red meat, that’s just plain wrong.  You can’t hunt big animals without tools and tools are not part of evolution.  Our bodies didn’t evolve spears or bows, that’s learned tool usage similar to plowing and reaping, which the paleo lifestyle seems to abhor.  Without tools, the best you can hope for is the occasional bit of carrion.  So forget that juicy steak.
  • Speaking of that steak, cavemen didn’t have fire.  Unless fire starting is some kind of evolved trait then you better start eating your food raw.  By the way, raw food eating does seem to have health benefits, so I suppose this whole “eat what we evolved to eat” does have some merit, but again, that’s not what paleo preaches.
  • Speaking of raw foods, what about rotting foods?  That’s right, cavemen don’t have refrigerators, nor are they very squeamish.  So start eating those rotting fruit and vegetables now.  Oh, and don’t forget to mix in a little dirt.
  • Milk?  Forget about it!  Cavemen don’t keep cows and cave bears are surprisingly hard to milk.  So that primal cheeseburger you just ate is wrong on several counts.
  • Did I mention the bugs?  Oh yes, bugs!  Check out where our close ancestors, the great apes, get a lot of protein.  They eat bugs.  Juicy, slimy grubs and insects, filled to the brim with healthy protein.  Doesn’t that sound yummy?

Get the picture?  The paleo lifestyle is to “eat what we evolved to eat” what the Renaissance Faire is to actually living in the Renaissance.  It’s a cleaned up, romanticized version of something that wasn’t particularly clean or appealing by our modern standards.

That Said…

And yet, even with these objections, I would still recommend something like the Primal Blueprint.  Why?  Because it:

  1. Tells you to stay away from junk food.
  2. Tells you to add some fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet.
  3. Gives you tips on eating in moderation.
  4. Tells you to get some kind of regular resistance exercise.
  5. Tells you to challenge your heart.
  6. Tells you to get some sleep.
  7. Tells you to avoid stress.
  8. Shows you how to change your lifestyle in the long term.

And these my friends are 95% of what a healthy lifestyle is all about.  If you want that last 5% then sure, you can eat some bugs, start consuming raw meat and add the occasional rotting vegetable to your diet.  As for me, 95% is good enough! :)

How To Start A Healthy New Life

Start LineSo now that we’ve gone over the whole healthy life pyramid, where do we go?  Even for those of us who are relatively healthy, what’s the next step?  How do we get from the here of not so healthy to the there of being healthy?

There are two answers to this:

Big Bang Theory – No, this isn’t just a sitcom about nerds.  The big bang theory essentially says that you turn your whole way of living upside down in one day.  You commit to a radically different life and go after it 100% from day one.  You’re going to start exercising, eat healthier and be more active starting and all of it will start TODAY!

  • Advantage – Making this sort of radical life change is probably going to generate results very swiftly.  You’ll see significant weight loss within the first week and improvements in your health within a month.
  • Disadvantage – You’re probably going to fail.  Sorry, but big bang efforts rarely succeed.  Honestly, how many of your new years resolutions have you kept?  And yet, even with this track record of failures, you expect to succeed on a totally different lifestyle?

The Gradual Theory – Take it easy.  Implement small changes, one or two at a time.  Stick with these changes until they become a habit and then move on the next change.

  • Advantage – Much higher chances of success.  This method is what worked for me and I think it’s the best one out there.  For the record, the “60 in 3″ in my blog title refers to the fact that I lost 60lbs over 3 years.  Yes, THREE YEARS.  Sound like a lot?  How about the fact that I kept all of that weight off, I’m still healthy, I just ran a marathon and I’m incredibly healthy?  How many people have stayed that successful with their health efforts seven years later?
  • Disadvantage – Results are slow and, if you’re impatient like me, you don’t want slow results.  You want low blood pressure, fast running speed, the sexual stamina of a horse and the figure of a Greek god all within 2 weeks.  Well, you’re welcome to try the big bang theory if you want, but this being my blog, I’m going to recommend the gradual approach.

So, What To Focus On?

If you’re just now starting on the gradual approach, I would recommend picking 1 or 2 of the following suggestions and then trying to stick with it for 30 days.  See if it works for you over that period of time.  If it does, stick with it and pick up another little habit.  That’s all you need to do over the first 2 to 3 months, make little changes that together will add up to a lot.  Remember that the specific item you pick depends on your own lifestyle.  For example, if you currently don’t drink a lot of soda then picking the item that says “no drinking soda” is pretty silly, don’t you think?

  • A 30 minute walk every day – No skipping days, got to do this EVERY SINGLE DAY
  • No fast food – No going to any restaurant where you order at the counter.
  • Eliminate your liquid calories – If you have a soda habit, switch to the diet version.  If you like your lattes, try them with no sugar or switch to black coffee.
  • Eliminate meat from your diet twice a week – Spend two days a week with no meat.
  • Eliminate dinner twice a week – Yes, go without having a large dinner two days per week.
  • Eliminate candy and other sweets six days a week – Pick your candy day and make it the only day of the week that you can have sweets on.
  • Get better sleep – Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep on 5 days a week.
  • No junk food – If it’s stuff that comes in a plastic bag with pretty colors on the outside, how about you not eat it 6 days out of the week?
  • Go on a bike ride – A least three rides per week for at least an hour each.
  • Try a hike – Once per week, try going somewhere with a few hills and walk up and down them for at least an hour.

Any of these habits is a great start towards a healthy life.  Just keep in mind that these are not an excuse to do worse in other parts of your life.  For example, just because you didn’t eat meat today doesn’t mean you can eat a whole bag of Lindt chocolate truffles.  The point here is not to do something good which is outweighed by something bad.  The point is to keep the rest of your life the same while slowly improving one specific aspect.

So there you have it, pick one of these and get started!

###

By the way, for those of you who are already living a relatively healthy life, this approach works just as well.  Figure out a small change and implement it.  Make it a habit and then move on to the next small thing.  As for me, this month I’m working on improving my running speed.

Step 3 – How And Why To Lead An Active Life

Woman Walking White Dog on Beach Last week I talked about eating healthy. Honestly, that’s the best and easiest thing you can do for your health. However, eating healthy on its own will not get you 100% there. It’s more like 40%. Today, we tackle another 30%, being active.

No, being active does not mean exercising; we’ll get to that in the remaining 30% of this health trip. Being active just means leading an active life. It means not spending every evening on the couch and every weekend in bed. It means hiking, dancing, playing sports, riding horses and plenty of walking. Being active means turning your life from a sedentary one into an active one.

Bang For The Buck

But wait, doesn’t exercise mean being active? Is doing a bit of walking really better than an hour of jogging? Well, if all you’re going to do is a bit of walking then yes, I suppose, but if you’re really going to turn your life into an active life then no, exercise doesn’t even come close. Let me demonstrate.

Jogging is one of the most calorie intensive exercises out there. Jogging for an hour will burn somewhere between 600 and 1000 calories depending on your weight and speed. By way of comparison, walking for 15 minutes will only burn 50 calories. Sounds like the jog is way better until you add in the stairs instead of the elevator, the additional 30 minute walk in the evening instead of TV, the bike to work, playing soccer with friends on the weekend, tossing the Frisbee to the dog, walking over to your coworkers cube instead of emailing them, doing a bit of gardening and cleaning your house instead of hiring someone to do it. When you add all those together, they’re actually far better than any job and far more enjoyable too (except maybe the house cleaning part). This is the best part about being active, it’s a way of exercising without feeling like you’re forced to exercise. Even better, it’s good for your wallet and for the environment.

I know it seems intimidating at first, how the heck are you going to turn your life around with all this activity, but you have to trust me on this, I’ve been through it and it’s awesome! Once you add activity into your life, you’ll never look back. So with that, let’s take a look at a few ways we can make your life more active.

Use Your Feet!

The best and easiest activity you can add to life is walking. Amazingly enough, walking does in fact get you places and, considering traffic and parking, it can sometimes get you places quite quickly. For example, I can drive to the book store in 5 minutes and spend 5 minutes parking or I can walk there in 15 minutes. I can walk 5 minutes to the train station and take a 45 minute train to San Francisco or I can drive there in 40 minutes and spend 20 minutes finding parking (argh! I hate SF parking!). I can spend an hour after dinner chatting with my girlfriend while watching TV or we can go for a lovely walk and have a much better conversation. I even had a boss who taught me that the best 1 on 1 meetings can be had while taking a leisurely walk around the office building.

Every time you sit down, every time you get in the car, every time you relax on the couch, stop and think to yourself, could I be doing this walking? Could I use my feet instead? And if it’s a bit far, consider biking.

Stop Paying People To Exercise For You

Ahh, if only we could pay people to exercise for us and still reap all the benefits. Wouldn’t that be an awesome world? I would rent out my jogging to every overweight coworker and help them work off the lbs while making a bit of pocket cash. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work this way. When you pay someone else to do a physical activity for you, they benefit from the exercise AND they take your money. Sounds bad, doesn’t it? And yet, people do it all the time. We pay people to wash our car, mow our lawn, trim our hedges, walk our dog and clean our houses. Now granted, some of these activities are not so fun and others may require skills or tools you don’t have, but most of them don’t.

Walking your dog is a pleasure, not a chore. Mowing your lawn and working on the yard is an incredibly rewarding hobby, not a hassle to be pawned off on some poorly paid laborer. Even washing the car can be fun, especially if it occasionally devolves into a water fight with your significant other. (Not saying this ever happened to me…) Stop looking at these activities as a chore and start looking at them as an opportunity to be more active while also saving a bit of money.

Get Active Hobbies

For most Americans, their number 1 hobby is watching TV. Their number 2 hobby is surfing the web and their number 3 hobby is watching TV again. This is pretty sad, especially when we’re talking about kids. There is a wonderful world out there to be explored and enjoyed. There are hills to be hiked, soccer games to play, baseballs to swing at, forests to explore, lakes to swim in and plenty of off-the-beaten-path spots to make out in and bring a bit of romance back into your life. Most of these hobbies require zero money and almost no special knowledge or skills. On the contrary, many of these hobbies will actually give you an education you can’t get anywhere else.

For example, 7 years ago, when I first started focusing on my health, I became an avid hiker. Since then I try to hike at least once a week. I’ve become an expert on weather patterns, wildlife, edible plants and reading terrain. I now know the layout of the San Francisco Bay Area far better than I ever did before and I’ve also learned quite a bit about the history of this area. All this while spending zero money, burning through a lot of calories and having a ton of fun.

Last week we hiked Portola Redwoods park and it was terrific time. Towards the end of the hike we spotted a little creek and just sat there, right next to the water. I held my girlfriend, we chatted as we enjoyed the running water and laughed as my dog tried, and failed, to catch the bugs hovering over the pool. It was a moment I will never forget and one that I doubt you can replicate at home, while watching the latest episode of House.

###

So yes, being active won’t just make you healthier, it will also enrich your life with experiences, knowledge and lessons that will last a lifetime. Now would you still rather go jogging?