Month: July 2019

“In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves… self-discipline with all of them came first.”
–Harry S Truman

In the quest to be (extra)ordinary, the greatest challenge is overcoming self. It is in self-discipline.

Self-discipline is not taught in the schools of today. In my experience, the education system seems to work against it. Self-discipline comes with practice, and it comes with personal responsibility.

Sports can teach some level of self-disciple. (This is why I love the sport of wrestling.) Even in sports, however, self-discipline comes from within. Great coaches and teammates can inspire discipline, but it takes a conscious effort on the part of the athlete. No one other than oneself can make the decision to show up and give one-hundred percent.

Parents can teach some degree of self-disciple. The practices we demand in the home help to train the child’s self-discipline. Consequences are a must, if a child is to become self-disciplined. Our children learn by our example. If we want them to be self-disciplined, we must first hold them accountable, and, second, we must hold ourselves accountable. We must be self-disciplined.

We become self-disciplined with practice. Daily practice. Our daily routine—growth plan, exercise, reading, etc.—train our self-discipline and sets the example for others.

We can exercise self-disciple, as well, through the practice of SIDCHA (pronounced: sid-cha), i.e., a self-imposed daily challenging healthy activity (Josh Spodek). Select just one healthy activity that is difficult to do and do it with a challenging regularity (once a day or more). As this becomes mastered, add another.

Identify your weaknesses and strengthen them through appropriate action and accountability. If you want your children to be self-disciplined, make them your own accountability partner. Teach them by example what others are not going to teach them.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

“Discipline doesn’t enable you to do things. Doing things consistently makes you disciplined.”—Joshua Spodek

My wife were having this conversation last night (which was a few nights ago as this is posted) and, coincidentally, Dr. John Berardi (Precision Nutrition¹) posted on the topic the next morning on social media. I thought it presented itself as a Celestine Prophesy moment.

“Berardi’s First Law states: If a food is in your house or possession, either you, someone you love, or someone you marginally tolerate, will eventually eat it.”—John Berardi

Our kids—and, consequently, my wife and I—don’t always have the best dietary habits. My kids like my wife better than me because I have a greater capacity for saying “no” than she does (and a I yell—a sign of my need to work on my Emotional well-centeredness). Less nutritious snack foods are more likely to be in the house when my daughter goes shopping with my wife. My son gravitates to the most convenient foods—that which generally comes in a plastic wrapper. I’d like to believe that I am better than my family, but truth be told, I am not. The reality is we are nearly all like this. So, how do we manage this? We manage our lack of self-control by considering Berardi’s First Law.

Buy only healthy foods. Okay, this is nearly impossible, but…. We have choices when we shop. Avoid the impulse aisles. Shop fresh produce, meats, and dairy. If possible, shop local farmer’s markets and butcher shops. (Whatever happened to butcher shops?) Buy quality frozen—freshly frozen fruits and vegetables and foods with few added ingredients. Buy canned foods for things that need a longer shelf-life and/or can easy food preparation time (beans are a good example), but read the label. The less the packaging the more likely it is to be healthy (or healthier).

Make healthy options most convenient. Don’t leave sweets and junk food where it can be easily accessed. Put high-calorie foods where they are difficult to get to—top cupboard shelf way in the back, a garage refrigerator/freezer, at the back of the refrigerator behind the vegetables, etc. When we are hungry, we are likely to grab what is convenient and requires little-to-no preparation. Things to keep more accessible: hard-boiled eggs, vegetables like celery and carrot sticks, nuts, and, for the moments of greatest weakness, quality dark chocolate. Keep fruits out on the counter where they are easy to grab. Have berries on hand. Have Greek yogurt on hand. Know your weaknesses and provide a desirable alternative.

Plan healthy meals. This should go without saying, but healthy meals mean healthy leftovers. Healthy leftovers mean healthy, convenience foods. Eating more vegetables at mealtime will allow for more accessible vegetables on which to snack, as well as more flexibility in snack opportunities—if you are getting healthy vegetables at mealtime, there is room to indulge on occasion.

Plan snacks. This can be difficult with kids—especially teens and preteens who are going to want to eat when they want to eat—but it is not impossible. Build healthy habits! Planned snacking helps keep our calories and macro balance in check. Knowing what we are going to snack on ahead of time removes the impulsive eating. Good habits can be built in children by allowing them input into the planning process. Planned snacks can be delicious (as they should be). They can also be nutrient dense with restricted calories. Smoothies are a great example. They can be quite filling and include a good macro balance—adding protein, berries, and greens. They can even be a great way of sneaking some greens into your finicky eater’s diet. (Use powdered greens, if they turn their noses up at adding spinach or kale to the smoothie.)

Be a considerate neighbor. I am being a bit tongue-in-cheek, here, as I know that neighbors are being well-meaning when they bring cookies and such to gatherings or as a holiday gift. We should realize, however, that what is tempting for us is tempting for our friends. I both appreciate and despise when friends bring sweets to a gathering we host and then leave all the leftovers behind. Taking healthier options to gatherings not only gives the bringer the guarantee of having healthy choices, but also offers one’s neighbors better choices. Be that person who sets the high standard of health.

Make indulgence a special occasion. The occasional desert is fine. Indulge out of the house, though.  Want cake? Eat a slice of cake, but don’t have a whole cake sitting on the counter of your kitchen. Share a dessert at a restaurant. Have some chips on occasion, but buy a single serving package rather than a supersized bag that will tempt you from the cupboard. (Lay’s offers a fair warning when they advertise that you can’t eat just one.) Commit to only eating your favorite “unhealthy” foods at limited special events. Commit to eat overall healthy.

The popularity of the ketogenic diet and other similar low-sugar diets has made snacking healthier. You don’t have to be on such restrictive diets to benefit from the available recipes. Enjoy your favorite foods, just adjust grandma’s recipe a bit. Use sugar substitutes and healthy fats. Add protein. Make them foods that, should you over-indulge, will provide better overall nutrition. A healthy diet need not be boring an unsatisfying. Diet, we should remember, is a habit—not a self-inflicted torture in response to periods of over-indulgence.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

¹https://www.facebook.com/insidePN/

Physical Well-centeredness.

I saved Physical well-centeredness for last because it can easily be the dimension that gets the most focus—often to the detriment of the others—in our personal growth plan. We can easily become more abs-centered than other-centered. Physical well-being, is nonetheless important. I consider it to be the foundation, along with the Spiritual dimension.

Physical well-centeredness is more than diet and exercise. It is all things related to one’s physical being. On a very quantum-physical level the Physical and Spiritual become as one. Among the dimensions of well-centered fitness, it is possibly easiest to see how the physical dimension is affected by the other dimensions and , likewise, affects the other dimensions in profound ways. There is little we can do well without being well physically.

As an exercise physiologist, I write most often about exercise and diet because that is my focus area. I have a tendency to lean toward these being of greatest importance for physical health because regular exercise/physical activity and diet can go a long way toward combating most disease. It is also important, however, to consider the role of the physical environment—e.g., air and noise quality, living conditions, lighting, etc.—plays in our health. Thus, Physical well-centered fitness is living our lives to the best benefit of the physical self—doing all that most positively affects our physiology for health, performance, and physical appearance.

I emphasize exercise over physical activity because exercise is intended to improve one’s health, performance, and physical appearance. Physical activity is essential, and we must move as much as possible; however, physical activity alone does not necessarily move one toward that asymptote of Physical well-centeredness. Thus, we should exercise to become and remain functional. The impact will ultimately be seen in our Spiritual, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social well-centeredness, as well.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Emotional Well-centeredness.

Our emotional well-being, in my opinion and experience, is dependent upon our Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, and Social well-centeredness. I consider it a keystone dimension. When we are on track with the other dimensions, we are on more sound ground emotionally. When we are Emotionally well-centered, the other dimensions grow. These are all inter-dependent.

Gratitude is essential to Emotional well-centeredness. I often refer to an attitude of gratitude or grattitude (gratitude + attitude). I heard recently a discussion about a link between gratitude and depression. I have also learned about the importance of shifting my mindset from ‘have’ to ‘get’ from my friend, Andy Lausier (head wrestling coach at Davidson College; ‘The Grateful Athlete’¹). In other words, rather than “I have to___” one shifts the attitude to one of “I get to___”. This mindset has also led me to look at every event as an opportunity.

The Emotionally well-centered grattitude begins to view circumstances differently—more positively. An otherwise overwhelming circumstance becomes an opportunity for growth.

Emotional well-centeredness is never easy. It is the least stable of the dimension—and, hence, depends on the stability of the other dimensions and the effort we put into them.

A daily growth plan—including journaling, meditation, reflection, etc.—as well as an other-centered focus, regular physical and intellectual exercise, and strong social support, is essential to one’s Emotional well-being. Negativity, isolation, and time spent is non-productive (i.e., non-growth) activities are destructive to the Emotional wellness, and, consequently, negatively affects one’s overall well-centeredness.

I can easily struggle with maintaining my Emotional well-centeredness. A few minutes into my commute my morning growth efforts can be negated. Emotional well-centeredness require constant effort. It requires frequent “productive pause” (Jim Harshaw, Jr., “Success Through Failure”) to adjust the grattitude. If I am not well-centered across the dimensions, it will immediately present itself through my emotions. I am prone to negativity and anger—if I lose focus on others and on my physical and intellectual practice.

Grattitude requires little effort. However, it also takes very little to upset the balance. It requires a “why not me?” approach to the challenges that befall us. It takes calling challenges “opportunities”. It takes surrounding ourselves with supportive friends, maintaining our physical health, keeping the mind actively focused (providing positive input), and, above all, being other-centered.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

¹https://www.thegratefulathlete.com

Social Well-centeredness.

Humans are social beings. We do not function well in isolation. (Sometimes we don’t function well with others, either.) We need and desire the support and encouragement of others. We need community. I consider the Social dimension of well-centered fitness to be the pinnacle because it depends so much on the centeredness of the other dimensions—particularly the Spiritual, Physical, and Intellectual dimensions—as well as facilitates the other dimensions. (For example, what is the point of being other-centered when there are no others?)

As dependent upon social interaction as we are, I believe that there is no other time in human history that we have been so socially isolated. We are connected like never before because of social media and the Internet, yet these same tools are what further isolate us. As a professor, I am disheartened when I walk the halls or into a classroom and see every student staring at the screen of his or her smart phone. I am equally dispirited when I see a table of people at a restaurant (or in any opportunity to socialize) staring at their phone. It is like going to the river and having nothing to drink.

Social media also allows divides more than it unites. It does little to promote conversation—true heartfelt I-care-what-you-have-to-say honest discourse. It tends to group us with those who are most likely to give the thumbs-up emoji to all that we have to say.

Social media can be a great tool, if used correctly. I appreciate that I am able to connect and remain connected to people across the globe. I have developed relationships with people I have never met or might never meet via social media. I have reconnected with friends I have not seen for decades—friends from high school and college who, without social media, would be lost to the past.

Our approach to social media needs to be other­-centered. I am learning to use it as a tool to encourage, support, and to listen to others. Nevertheless, it is no replacement for face-to-face connections. We must make every effort to socialize in-person.

It is most important that we be present for those closest to us. (I am reminding myself of this.) I established a practice a while back with my wife, which we refer to as our “15-minute check-in” (or more often “sitting down”). It is a time in the day to sit and converse about all that has gone on in our day, challenges, and schedules. The glass of wine or beer that often accompanies these mini-dates isn’t always best for our body compositions, but it creates a more social rather than business setting. It is something to look forward to each day. We find it, likewise, important to set aside special time for each of the kids (e.g., father-daughter dates, father-son days, etc.) and to eat dinner together.

Community is important to Social well-centeredness. Honestly, I think we have lost some of our capacity for community. We don’t know our neighbors like in past generations. At social gatherings, we tend to gravitate to those we already know. I have seen a trend, as well, in how people respond (or, more accurately, don’t respond) to social invitations. It is almost as if people are hesitant to commit lest they get a better offer. Whatever the motivation, it does little to build community.

Social well-centeredness places a greater importance on the welfare of others above our self. It also allows one to be vulnerable.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Intellectual Well-centeredness.

I am a lifelong learner. As a university professor, I have had the goal from day one to never become “that professor”—the one whose course content is dated and irrelevant. Moreover, I don’t want to become trapped in what I “know”. Truth is constant, but our knowledge of Truth should not be. Knowledge is understanding, and understanding changes as knowledge grows.

Central to Intellectual well-centeredness is setting time aside on a daily basis for reading and other intellectual pursuits. If we know a lot, it is probably more and more of less and less. We know the outcome of this, right? We learn more and more about less and less until we know everything about absolutely nothing.

Read outside of your area of expertise. I would go as far as to say read outside of your area of interest. Broaden your interests. Prepare yourself to be able to interact with people who have interests that are different than your own.

Someone has said that to become more interesting show interest in others. We learn more by listening and being interested in others. We all know how uncomfortable it is to be in a “conversation” in which we can’t get a word in. I wrote in the preceding post about “allowing space for the soul to speak”. Here is an example of how our Intellectual well-centeredness builds upon our Spiritual well-centeredness.

Intellect is bigger than self. Hence, we all have much to learn. Sadly, the educational systems of today have diminished our capacity to learn for the sake of learning. Students, today, are more likely than ever to ask the question, “Will this be on the test?” This leads to an education that ends when the course ends and the diploma is received. It leads to learning just what we need to get by.

Intellectual well-centeredness is looking for every opportunity to learn something new—to grow Intellectually. Read. Listen. Watch. Do. Be ever-learning.

I recently discovered Kahn Academy. I dove back into the deep-end with Integral Calculus and a Programming course. It has been roughly 35 years since I have studied mathematics (excluding the statistics courses I took in graduate school). I have forgotten a lot. Programming? I use the open-source software R in my research, but I struggle to write my own functions and code. My last programming training was on Fortran in ’82 or ’83. I need a bit of a refresher!

I enjoy reading, but I don’t stick to my 30-minutes-a-day goal. I tend to justify it by the time I spend in class preparation and research, as well as doing things like Kahn Academy, but that is a poor excuse. Reading, as they say, “is fundamental”.

Intellectual well-centeredness also includes other activities that challenge the brain. We all spend some amount of time engaged in “mindless” activity on our electronics, e.g., smart phones. These activities should not dominate our time, but a certain amount of play can be useful when games are selected that exercise the brain—activities such as puzzles and word games.

We can all improve our intellectual capacity. Dedicating time for the pursuit of Intellectual well-centeredness is an essential component of personal growth and our understanding of and engagement in the world around us.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

I tend to write more often on subjects of exercise, in part because I am an exercise physiologist and that is what I teach. As such, I see myself drift easily away from my focus on the other dimension of my “well-centered fitness”. So, from time to time, I need to reflect and remind myself of these and recharge or re-center myself.

Spiritual Well-centeredness.

I define the Spiritual dimension as the reality that there is something greater than self. This means that I am not the center of the universe. The Spiritual dimension is other-centeredness.

The Spiritual dimension is not religion, although one’s religion can be a factor in their Spiritual well-centeredness. One’s organizational worship can work toward or against one’s well-centeredness. I, personally, believe this is why Jesus said:

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:21-23, NIV).

Personally, I believe in God and call myself a “Christ-follower” (albeit mostly unsuccessful follower) and this factors into how I live my faith Spiritually. I struggle with an emphasis in Christianity on “personal salvation”. Such self-centered faith can cause one to lose sight of what is the central message of Jesus’ teaching: love and sacrifice.

My faith is in John 3:16, but, more importantly, I cannot ignore the verse that follows: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17, NIV). My God (the God who is love) is bigger than the religions that claim him or my own comprehension of him. I believe this is an important understanding toward becoming Spiritually well-centered.

Spiritual well-centeredness is other-centered. It pursues the philosophy of “I am third” (i.e., my God is first, my family and friends are second, and I am third). It is “love your neighbor”. It is a “third way”. It yielding self for the benefit of others. It is not: “I am a (insert religious affiliation)”. It is not an absolute, rather it is a pursuit of an impossible destination. (I consider all of the dimensions of well-centered fitness to be asymptotes toward which we can progress ever closer to “centered”.)

I am learning to embrace a practice of “allowing space for the soul to speak”. This practice of the Quakers that I learned from reading books by Parker J. Palmer books. I am far (very far) from perfect in my practice, but that is what the well-centered approach is all about—pursuing kaizen or constant improvement.

Allowing space for the soul to speak applies to self, as well as others. Often listening to one’s own soul or heart is most difficult. It requires time and commitment to reflection and quiet meditation. It requires listening to one’s inner voice and the communications of the soul that might come from without. It requires a prayer that is not self-centered.

Allowing space for another’s soul to speak requires stepping back and yielding the desires of self to listen and to encourage the other to listen. This is a parenting skill that I lack, but am trying to develop. It is an opportunity in interacting with others, that is often missed.

I consider the Spiritual dimension to be a foundational dimension. I treat well-centered fitness (wellness) as an ever-expanding pyramid rather than as a divided pie, as wellness is most frequently taught. This dimension, along with the Physical dimension, provide the base upon which we build our Intellectual dimension. The Social dimension provides the peak of the pyramid, and I consider the Emotional dimension to be a sort of keystone as it both depends upon and supports the other dimensions.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
–Thomas Jefferson

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Yesterday’s post was intended to set the stage for today. Today’s topic is one that I have been battling with for some time. (I trust many have been battling with this topic.) It is one that may likely trigger the sensitivities of some, but I can no longer avoid expressing what, I hope, is a “well-centered” response.

Several times, I have been asked to comment, and I teach a chapter from David Epstein’s book, The Sports Gene (“Why Men Have Nipples”). I can honestly say that my respect for the question and my answer are ever-evolving. It is currently a hot-button topic in our society, and it is a multi-faceted question that is not easily answered. It is certainly a question that requires a “well-centered” discussion.

The question, itself, is not easily stated, as it situationally nuanced, but the broad question is “What defines ‘male’ and ‘female’ for the purpose of sport?”

I begin my lecture with the scene from Kindergarten Cop where the boy stands up and states: “Boys have a penis, and girls have a vagina”. I follow this with the statement: “Except when they don’t”. We precede to talk about XY and XX chromosomes, the SRY gene, testosterone insensitivity, and, of course, transgender athletes.

Many will use the argument that there is only male and female—that one is born one or the other. Personally, I take the biological approach and agree that there can be only male and female, but nature is not always black and white.

We begin with the title of the chapter selected by David Epstein, “Why Men Have Nipples”. His simple answer: “because women do”. Embryologically, we all begin as females. The genetic coding is complex enough without having to have entirely different code for male versus female (or different species, or that matter). Whether you believe a Creation story or a Big Bang Theory, genetics are a fact. (Personally, I don’t believe intelligent design and evolution have to be mutually exclusive.) The SRY gene kicks in at some point and development shifts toward the development of the male anatomy or continues the path of female development—except when it doesn’t. The result can be somewhere on a continuum of male-to-female. (I leave the specifics of this discussion for the biologists and geneticists to elaborate.) The result of changes to the genetic coding can result in females who have physical attributes more similar to males and vice versa.

For the purpose of sport, there can only be “male” and “female”. Gender fluidity is a difficult subject that can have no place in sports. I do not suggest that we should treat the idea of “gender identity” without sensitivity. I do suggest, however, that for sports classification, “Boys have a penis, and girls have a vagina”. I am a firm supporter of Title IX and of women’s sports. Allowing anyone who is physiologically male to compete against women (in a designated women’s competition) is unsportsmanlike, and, in some situations, potentially dangerous. I am a fan of women’s wrestling. I believe that women should have the opportunity to compete against women. Unfortunately, there are situations where the only opportunity is to compete against the men. I am fine with that. This said, I have difficulty with the idea of women competing against men in arenas such as mixed martial arts. The reason being more sociological than physiological. The idea of men being permitted to hit women for entertainment sends a horrific mixed message to young people.

Under no circumstances, I believe, should a male (i.e., a physiological male identifying as female) be permitted to compete against females (beyond the age of puberty) in the arena designated as a women’s sport—that is, a competition intended for women only. Allowing men to compete in women’s competitions defeats the very intent of Title XI and damages women’s sports.

Transgender is a reality that needs to be given a “well-centered” examination. It is not as simple as saying: “the athlete competes according to the gender on the birth certificate”. From a Title IX perspective, women get the short end of that stick. If we are to say that women who transition to male are required to compete as female, then steroid use in women’s sports should be legal, and, perhaps, recommended. If there are not strict guidelines in place for transgender female athletes, then women’s sports becomes essentially co-ed and biological women (for lack of an adequate distinction) are disadvantaged and soon pushed from the opportunity to compete.

Another issue to contend with is that of women with androgen insensitivity and/or XY chromosomes. This is actually quite prevalent in elite female athletes. It presents a challenging issue for classifying athletes. Caster Semenya from South Africa, who dominates in the women’s 800-m, is challenging the IAAF ruling that she must take hormones to lower her naturally high testosterone levels in order to compete. Personally, I liken this to excluding a basketball player from competition because he (or she) is too tall. We have to accept that sports have evolved to a point where the extremes of natural selection allow for some to have natural advantages over others in the arena of competition.

So, if we classify athletes on the basis of “boys have a penis, and girls have a vagina”, confirmation becomes a sensitive issue, but it can be dealt with respectfully. For example, most athletes have to undergo annual physical examinations by doctors to determine their health for competition. If the physician says the athlete is male or female, they can compete as such. (Of course, the stakes are higher at more elite levels of competition and fraud would need to be guarded against.) The question remains, however: What do we do about transgender athletes?

There are numerous reasons why one may transition. That is not an issue in this discussion. What is at issue is how we define gender for the purpose of sports competition. I, personally, believe it is as “simple” as asking three questions: 1) “Is the athlete fully transitioned?”, 2) “When did the athlete transition?”, and 3) “Are the athlete’s hormonal levels maintained within a normal physiological range?” The implications for these questions may be somewhat sport-specific, but they should always be addressed in the best interests of all the athletes affected.

“Is the athlete fully transitioned?” In my opinion, this is a no-brainer. It is no less a delicate subject for advocates of gender-fluidity. However, there can be no doubt that males have an overall physiological advantage in most sports over females. Simply identifying as female should not be permission to compete against women. Once a male has fully transitioned to female, nearly all of the physiological advantage is lost, though some physiological characteristics remain that could still affect the advantage the athlete has over biological females. This leads to my second question.

“When did the athlete transition?” When the transition occurs prior to puberty, there will be virtually no advantage for the athlete. When, however, the athlete transitions post-maturity, there is greater opportunity for unfair advantage. An athlete cannot change bone and muscle structure after it has been established. Thus, athletes who transition post-maturity warrant a more case-by-case sport-specific consideration. I believe this would be best left to the governing bodies of said sport, and clear and fair rules need to be in place. I would think a simple rule that the athletes should be one-year post-transition to compete is a fair starting point.

“Are the athlete’s hormonal levels maintained within a normal physiological range?” It is important that the classification of transgender athletes not be on the basis of genitalia alone. Hormones are a necessary part of the transition, and it should be expected that for most the levels will such as to maintain the physical attributed of the gender to which the athlete has transitioned. Transgender males are not likely to elevate testosterone levels high enough to have an advantage. Transgender females can, albeit likely rare, maintain higher levels of testosterone and, thus, maintain more of the male physicality. Simply, requiring that hormone levels be maintained to within physiological ranges should appease any such concerns.

It is unfair to assume that an athlete has transitioned for the purpose of gaining an athletic advantage. Why one transitions is irrelevant. How one’s transition impacts one’s abilities and rights to compete is the question at hand. It is a sensitive question that warrants a “well-centered” solution that is considerate of everyone. It requires an open heart, as well as an open mind.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!