Author: armstrong.wou@gmail.com

“I wish I was as fat as I was the first time I thought I was fat.”—Chris L.

How many times do we tell ourselves: “I want to get back in shape”?  For most, that is probably more correctly stated: “I want to get in shape.”  My friend’s statement, above, is profoundly accurate (I mean for most all of us, not specifically my friend).  If we really tracked ourselves, we would see that our fitness lives (and, likely, our “well-centered fitness”) is a rollercoaster ride of ups and down—generally ending overall worse than when we started.  This need not be the case!

Last week, we had a discussion in a programming meeting at my work about (among many things) adding an exercise and aging class.  I am adamantly opposed to the idea for numerous reasons.  For one, I teach exercise physiology and we cover the effects of aging on exercise (I actually discuss it in several courses).  For another reason, we offer a course in Lifespan Adapted Physical Activity.  I could go into more of my arguments, but let me summarize them as “the fundamental principles of exercise do not change because of age or limitation.”  Aging should not be considered an inevitable disability or decline in ability.  It is true that there is a level of decline that comes with aging that is linked to physiological changes, BUT the most significant declines are the result of inactivity, not time itself.  Thus, in my humble opinion, any changes to the exercise prescription because of “disabilities” that result from the aging process should be treated as necessary adaptations.  And this is merely a reflection of the individualized nature of exercise prescription.

So, if you are using age as an excuse for being (significantly) fatter or more out of shape than when you were younger, you’ll get little sympathy from me (with the exception of legitimate medical conditions).  Now, this is not to say that we need to get crazy with exercise and neglect our work and families.  I personally have no desire to put the effort into diet and exercise that would be required for me to be in better shape than I was in my 20’s and 30’s.  (I’d like to get to the conditioning level I was in before marriage and kids in my early forties—and maintain indefinitely.)  I should also be clear that specific exercises are not age specific—rather they are ability-specific.  I see no reason for a healthy person to not squat, for example.

Defying the “inevitable” decline in fitness should be the goal.  Imagine maintaining most of your peak level of fitness for the rest of your years.  I tell my students that my goal is to go back to my high school reunions in proportionally better shape than everyone else.  Thankfully, I have quite a few classmates who make this more difficult, but overall maintenance is all that is required.  The majority of our friends and neighbors are going to significantly “let themselves go” over time.  Many (perhaps most) will come to the conclusions my friend, Chris, did in the quote above.

The basic principles of exercise (the bioenergy systems that provide energy for muscle contraction, overload, progression, specificity, etc.) do not change over the lifecycle.  Dietary principles do not change (though metabolism might—thus, requiring fewer calories to maintain body composition over time), and “calories in v. calories out” is still the most important factor in weight management.  Motivation (or lack thereof) and consistent effort are the primary reasons we see a “yo-yo” effect in our fitness levels.

Diet is not a short-term approach to losing weight.  Exercise is not something we do to get “back into shape”.  Diet and exercise are serious lifelong habits we practice across the lifespan.  When we take the short-term “fix what is broken” approach we will inevitably find ourselves wishing “I was as fat as I was the first time I thought I was fat.”

If we are not in the shape we want to be in, then do something to get back on track and stay on track.  If we are in shape, we just need to keep doing what we are doing.  Indeed, maintenance is actually easier than getting into shape.  Getting in shape—e.g., improving the functioning of a body system or improving one’s physical appearance—requires overload (i.e., stressing the body system to a level greater than that to which it is accustomed).  Maintaining requires little more than continuing with what is working—that is, maintenance exercise which requires less effort than it takes to get into “shape”.

So, pursue and maintain your (nearly) best you.  Don’t settle for less.  When I say “be your best today; be better tomorrow”, I am not putting a time-stamp on this.  You can continue to improve yourself over your lifespan.

Carpe momento!

“It is the idle man, not the great worker, who is always complaining that he has no time or opportunity.”—Orison Swett Marden

Lack of time is a lousy excuse.  Yet, we use it quite frequently.

There is an old adage: “If you want something done, ask a busy man (or woman).”  There is truth to this.  Busy is not “over-scheduled”.  Multi-tasking is often a cover for idleness.  The “busy” person is the effective person.

If one wants to be a busy person—the “great worker”—one must cut the waste.  One must eliminate the things in the day that rob one of his or her effectiveness.  Remember: “opportunity costs”.  When we remember this, there is so much more we can do.

I teach a course in exercise motivation and adherence.  Of course, barriers to exercise is a topic for discussion.  Among the greatest of these is time.  We often have time for everything but exercise.  Nonsense.

If time (that is lack of time) is your excuse—for not doing anything you should be doing—you need to evaluate how you are using your time.  Years ago, I worked with a fitness salesperson who had a pretty good skill at convincing people they needed a gym membership.  One thing I learned from him was how to counter the “time” excuse.  His approach was to ask the person to examine his or her use of time.  It is rare that someone is actually using all of one’s time with full effectiveness.  In short, we waste a lot of time watching television, surfing the Internet, scrolling (or trolling) social media, etc.  Of course, we have to work, eat, sleep, spend time with family, and other necessary/important things.  We can, however, manage our time more effectively.  It is all a matter of priority.

Stephen Covey wrote much about importance and urgency in time management.  Rory Vaden, author of Procrastinate on Purpose) refers to “productive procrastination”.  He adds a third dimension—significance—to Covey’s matrix.  He suggests that, beyond prioritizing for efficiency, we prioritize according to how long something matters (e.g., “opportunity cost”).  After all, everything we do will be done at the expense of something that is left undone.  Thus, we do what is most impactive for us and others.  We carpe momento!

Time?  We have the time we make for what is most important.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

“Work hard. Through determination and self-focus and discipline, you can accomplish anything.”—Kimberly Guilfoyle

Efforts to post daily to this blog puts a bit of a strain on the channels of inspiration.  I asked friends for some, and among the replies was a reminder about discipline.  I was told that, “You may be having trouble with inspiration… but what you do have is more important… you have discipline.”  It was the inspiration I needed to write… well, what I am writing…, and the encouragement I needed.  I welcomed it as a compliment, as well.  (Thanks, Josh!)

When we lack inspiration, discipline and determination prevail.  We just have to keep at it—whatever we are doing.

I am not sure that anything profound is going to come from this, but the practice of self-discipline always makes us better.  And, so, I write….

Discipline comes from doing.   Perhaps, our greatest obstacle is the first step.  If you have something to do, start.  Thank action and results will follow.

“Discipline” has become a bit distorted in the discussion of parenting.  Teaching our children to be disciplined is a good thing.  Discipline is not punishing bad behavior.  Rather, it is the necessary rewarding of good behavior.  Discipline and integrity are related.  Integrity is defined by Webster-Merriam as “firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values.”  Likewise, discipline is self-control.  These are learned qualities.  I am grateful to have been taught and to have learned to be disciplined.  Thus, I seek to teach my children the same.

Discipline is practiced by doing that which is difficult.  According to Joshua Spodek, “discipline doesn’t enable you to do things. Doing things consistently makes you disciplined.”  Spodek coined the acronym, “SIDCHA” (pronounced: sid-cha), which is a self-imposed daily challenging healthy activity (see my post “SIDCHA”, August 2, 2016).  For me, the challenge to continue writing and posting daily to this blog (thank you, Andy!) has become a bit of a SIDCHA for me over the last year.  Exercise is another discipline.  Diet—i.e., heathy eating—is a discipline.  There are many ways in which we practice daily discipline and self-control.  There are certainly many areas in which we need to develop disciple.  Baby steps.

I have personally found that discipline comes from being challenged and welcoming the opportunity.  Seek the opportunity!

Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

Carpe momento!

“With self-discipline most anything is possible.”—Theodore Roosevelt

Image: “Rocky”

I saw a report today from a recent article in the American Journal of Epidemiology (Smith, Ma, Glazier, Gilbert-Ouimet, & Mustard, 2017*) examining “The Relationship Between Occupational Standing and Sitting and Incident Heart Disease Over a 12-Year Period in Ontario, Canada”.   It is only one study, but, apparently, standing for work is now bad for you.  You might want to rethink the standing desk.

I should have seen it coming.  After all, we are quick—maybe too quick—to jump on bandwagons in health sciences.  Carbs are good.  Now, they are bad.  Fats are bad.  Fats are good.  Eggs… well, you get the picture.

No doubt that sitting all day is not good for one’s health—for many reasons.  It stands to reason (pun intended) that standing for prolonged periods would be unhealthy.  Circulation is impaired (blood tends to pool in the legs).  This can add stress on the veins in the legs.  The heart has to work harder (less blood returns to the heart, so the heart has to beat faster).  I’ll avoid the physiology lesson.  Personally, I never fully understood the standing desk craze.

Sit or stand for work?  Doesn’t matter so much.  What is important is that we move as much as we can.  At work, we need to take frequent breaks to walk a bit (but not to walk to a smoking area).  Outside of work?  Move.  Physical activity is extremely important to those of us with sedentary jobs.

Whether you sit or stand for work at your computer, there are things you can do:

Exercise.  Join a gym.  Walk, jog, bike, or whatever you “enjoy”.

Don’t be “lazy”.  Make yourself more active.  Walk when you don’t have to—e.g., park farther from the store, office; walk or bike rather than drive; etc.

Don’t sit when you can walk.  If possible, have meetings on the move.  Walk and talk.  If your business has a company gym.  Meet while you exercise.

“Exercise is medicine”, says the American College of Sports Medicine.  Exercise is not sitting or standing.  Exercise is planned physical activity for the purpose of improving one’s health, performance, and/or personal appearance.  If you really need a healthy way to work on your computer, try a treadmill desk.  Of course, there are cheaper and less trendy ways to get physical activity.  It is possible to plan exercise, no matter how busy your day.  No need to go to extremes.

Be creative in finding ways to get your blood circulating.  There is nothing inherently wrong with standing desks.  Like any desk, keep good posture—even standing at a desk can lead to posture issues.  Just move often.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

*https://www.google.com/search?q=treadmill+des&oq=treadmill+des&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.11719j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Image source: https://www.ergotron.com/Portals/0/Images/screens/4M74WrauC7Y_sc

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month—as if consideration of children with cancer (or any disease) and their families should (or could) be limited to a single month.  I get it.  We try to give special focus to specific diseases that afflict children and adults—and we try to share the calendar.

There is no childhood disease that is easy on a child or the family.  Cancer, however, is especially difficult.

I am late in sharing my thoughts on Childhood Cancer Awareness, but at a friend’s request, I am going to try my best.  I say “try”, because I no direct experience.  We can watch from the periphery as families struggle; we can offer support; and we can contribute (as we should) foundations that support research and children battling cancer; but we can only begin to understand the struggle.  We can only imagine the hurt they feel and know that these are wounds that never heal.

I want to say something to my friends who have faced the struggle, but I know that there is nothing I can say or do that will help.  In the last few years, I have had several friends from high school who lost their lovely sons to brain cancer.  I never felt more helpless than when I struggled to offer some amount of comfort.

No amount of love can replace the love that was lost.  All I could during their struggle was to love the best I know how and to hold my own children just a bit more tightly.  It reminded me of the importance of living in the moment–carpe momento!

We can hope for the best and pray for the children and families while the child undergoes treatment.  At best our support can be minimal.  What we can do to best help is to support research.  According to the National Cancer Institute, “In the United States in 2017, an estimated 10,270 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed among children from birth to 14 years, and about 1,190 children are expected to die from the disease.”  Most common are leukemia, brain cancers, central nervous system tumors, and lymphomas (www.cancer.gov/types/childhood-cancers).

Sadly, the money for research is limited.  Contributing to the fight to prevent another child from suffering is the best we can do.

For the families in the heart of the fight, your emotional support can be as beneficial as the financial (and it is an expensive burden) support.

For the children?  Help them have the best childhood they can under the circumstances.  I particularly like the work of Chelsea’s Closet.  The Chelsea Hick’s Foundation here in Oregon provides costumes for monthly dress up parties for seriously ill children in local hospitals (http://www.chelseahicksfoundation.org/chelseas-closet/).  Help provide wigs—there are numerous organizations that support this.  Above all things, kids need to have as much fun as they can.

Joey and Christopher, the sons my friends lost, taught me a lot in their short live.  Despite the obvious pain they experienced, they always had big, broad, infectious smiles.  They showed me that despite the suffering in the world, life is to be lived to the fullest.  Not a moment of life is to be wasted.  Celebrate every moment.

If you are so inclined, give a gift to help prevent such loss for future families.  I have seen too many families face the battle with cancer in their precious children, so my heart tends there.  If you have nowhere to give, consider giving in memory of Joey and Christopher:

http://www.christopher-court.org/

https://www.jfccf.org/

Sometimes—okay, most of the time—my responses can be somewhat curt.  I don’t really mean them to be, but it is always easier to speak before I think.  Easier, however, is not always wiser.  I need to keep working on bettering myself. 

I am by no means an expert on interpersonal skills.  I took a course as an undergraduate college student in the early ‘80s, but I am really more of a hack who is making it up as I go.  I need help.  The best thing to do when one needs help?  Ask!

My wife is probably the most frequent victim of my insensitivity.  It is easiest to offend the ones we love the most—primarily because we tend to let down our guard.  So, I struck a deal with my better half.  When one of us says something careless (more often it is me), the other is to respond: “Is that the second draft?”  In other words: “I believe you might want to reconsider what you just said.”  We hope doing so will serve to 1) lighten the mood when things could otherwise turn south quickly, and 2) educate us in how our words can hurt without knowing.  Rather than being offended and harbor anger, this tactic allows humor to relax what could be a tense situation and open (rather than close) communication.

It is too bad that our brains aren’t programmed like our computer software to alert us to impending errors.  Microsoft Word tells me when I misspell a word or make a grammar error.  My brain rarely takes the time to careful consider and edit the words before telling the tongue to “send”.  Herein is the wisdom of increasing the time between the stimulus and the response.  That extra fraction of a second in which we allow the wisdom centers in our brain to consider what we are about to say can make all the difference in our relationships.  Taking time to think before we react allows us to process what we are about to say before we say.  Still, we are human—self-centered humans—and we are prone to saying stupid things.  When we do we need the support of others.

Vince Lombardi said: “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”  If we work at improving our communication, we will improve over time.  We will certainly slip up time and again, but owning our mistakes will go a long way in keeping our relationships healthy.

On the receiving end of another’s words, we need to be less sensitive.  There is a push in American culture to put the blame on the offender and take no responsibility as the offended.  When we are offended by another’s words, we can 1) let them hurt us, 2) throw them back, or 3) hand them back gently and afford the offender the opportunity to rephrase.  Of course, they might choose not to rearticulate and hurl their words back at us.  In this case, we are wise to walk away.

There are many lessons one can learn from the movie, What About Bob?  Bob’s wisdom on the matter of people who don’t like us (or treat us as such) is: “You know, I treat people, as if they were telephones.  If I meet somebody I think doesn’t like me, I say, “This one is temporarily out of order.”  You know, don’t break the connection.  Just hang up and try again!”

So, as we attempt communicate our feelings, we must try to edit our words carefully.  If someone says something that hurts us, let’s first give them a chance to edit their words.  If that doesn’t work, “just hang up”.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

Carpe momento!

“Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.”–Lance Armstrong

Pain is a natural perception in the body.  It is a message.  It is there as a protective measure.

Pain prevents injury.  It is part of our neurological wiring and is part of the fight or flight response.  Genetically and psychologically, we all have differing pain thresholds.  Understanding our pain is, thus, important.

There are differing views among exercise professionals on the phrase “no pain, no gain”.  Some say that one “should not feel pain when they are exercising.”  To a degree, they are correct.  However, if one is not feeling some level of discomfort—i.e., “pain”—one is not overloading the system.  Pain, after all, is telling the body “This is more than we are used to doing.  Be careful!  We don’t want to get hurt.”  Nevertheless, we are in control of our pain tolerance.  Yes, we don’t want to push ourselves to the point of injury, but, unless our brain is “wired” to have an extreme tolerance to pain, it will shut us down before we push too far.  (Of course, this excludes stupidity when it comes to training technique and/or exercise selection.  If there is a breakdown of technique because of fatigue and one begins to feel pain, pushing the body further lacks common sense.)

Pain is known to be modified by our emotions.  Athletes, in particular, have a greater capacity to endure pain.  Competition intensifies this ability.  On the other hand, stress can make greater worriers of some, thus lessening the tolerance for pain.

Pain during exercise is natural, and one’s tolerance can be improved with training (the overload principle applies).  Pain, after all, is an “experience”.  Signals are sent to the brain, and the brain decides how to respond.  There are genetic factors and sensitivities to neurotransmitters to consider, but, individually, we are (almost) all capable of improving our pain threshold and, thus, push our levels of tolerance.

This is one of the many benefits of youth sports.  As my son’s coaches have often told the boy’s: “There is a difference between having an ‘owwie’ and being ‘hurt’.”  The kids learn to tell the difference.  They also learn, in the process, to deal better with adversity and the “pains” in life.  Some will call it “mental toughness.”  Young athletes also learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.

I think of when my children were toddlers.  When they fell, or bumped themselves, they would almost always look at us for a reaction.  If we reacted with fear, they responded by crying.  If we controlled our reaction, they would usually get up and go on their way.  I still see the look in my children as they have grown older.  It is still a process of teaching them.  Without allowing them the opportunity to get bumps and bruises, they might never learn to deal effectively with “pain”.

The spectrum of what causes us “pain” is broad.  We need to let ourselves experience pain so we can effectively deal with it.  Otherwise, we have a long list of terms we can use for what we might become.

Pain in life is inevitable—unless we avoid it.  Pain, however, is one of the first signs that we are growing (or about to grow).

In this post, I have written more to the Physical dimension, but discomfort must be felt Spiritually, Physically, Intellectually, Emotionally, and Socially, if one is to grow toward “well-centeredness”.  Shielding ourselves or our children in “bubble-wrap” does no one any good.  We must let “pain” happen.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

“There is no coming to consciousness without pain.”–Carl Jung

A pastor friend, Bob Hyatt, shared a pie-chart on Facebook the other day that I really liked.  The heading was: “What the LORD requires”.  The slices were roughly 30% each for “do justly”, “love mercy”, and “walk humbly with God”.  The final 10% was “more cowbell”.  Now, if you are young or just live with your head in the sand, “more cowbell” is a reference to the classic ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketch (April 8, 2000) with Christopher Walken spoofing the recording of the Blue Öyster Cult song, “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper”.  It is considered one of the funniest ever SNL sketches.  Personally, it is one of my favorites.  I can’t hear the song or see a cowbell without smiling.

So, the LORD requires “more cowbell”?  I would say Bob made a perceptive, albeit intent on humor, observation, here.  No doubt that God wants us to live our lives justly, mercifully, and humbly, but he wants “more cowbell”, too.  In other words, we should live life fully and enthusiastically—with a smile on our face.

If I could start every day with the meditation that “the LORD requires that I do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God, and give it more cowbell”, I am going to have a great day.  I am going to treat others better, and I am going to love life.

“More cowbell” is what we all need.  “The Bruce Dickinson”, played by Walken, admonishes Gene Fenkel, played by Will Ferrell, to “explore the studio space”.  After annoying his band mates, Fenkel delivers an impassioned speech in which he declares that Dickinson’s stature lends a great deal of weight to his opinion about the cowbell part and that, the last time he checked, there weren’t a lot of songs that feature the cowbell. He would be doing a disservice to himself and every member of the band if he “didn’t perform the hell out of this.”  To me, carpe momento might just be translated, “more cowbell”.

So, when you go about your day, live justly, mercifully, and humbly, and give the world more cowbell!

Image source: NBC.com

“’And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.’”—Mark 2:22 (NIV)

There are a number of interpretations of the parable of the new and old wineskins in the Gospel of Mark.  One approach is to look at is as a parable about growth or learning.  We are often—frequently—resistant to change and new ideas.  It is certainly harder to change when we hold on to our old ideas.

I have written thoughts before on “thinking outside of the box.”  I have struggled with the notion of constructing boxes.  Boxes are limitations—often self-imposed limitations.  As Walt Disney admonished us, we have to refuse the existence of the box.  Of course, growth cannot occur when we can’t see beyond the walls we build.  I believe this is what Jesus tells us.

New wine stretches the wineskin as it ferments just like new learning expands the mind and stretches our framework of understanding.  New wine explodes the old wineskin.  Thusly, growth can come only when the recipient is open to change.

It is quite simple, really.  If one seeks growth, one must be open to having one’s previous knowledge and understanding challenged.  It is impossible to teach new ideas to someone who is set in his or her ways.  Impossible.

This is not to say that all our old ideas are outdated or of no use.  These are the foundations of new knowledge.  We just can’t be chained to our knowledge.  New wine.  New wineskins.

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.”–John Maynard Keynes

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”—Martin Luther King, Jr.

With the recent hurricane Irma in Florida, we have all seen the videos of scores of blacks looting local stores.  Today, I saw a similar series of photos of whites looting.  I am not sure these photos are specifically related to hurricane Irma.  It doesn’t matter.  The point is looting is wrong.  Looting is stealing.  It is wrong to think that looting is a racial matter.  Stealing is a crime—whoever does it.

My immediate thought to my friend’s posting was to recall the words from Dr. King’s powerful “I have a dream” speech.  Apparently, we are not yet to the point in our history in which people are judged only by the content of their character.  It is a sad reality.

It is a reality that needs to change.  It is a reality I pray will change.

Good people are being categorized by the actions of bad people.  Good and bad have no color.  Character has no color either.

Today is a short post, because there is little that needs to be said.  A tremendous amount or work is needed to be done.  Words aren’t needed.  Action is demanded.

Carpe momento!

Image source: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/kids/photos/articles/History/M-Z/mlk-jr-08.jpg