This article by Vox media got me thinking about obesity and all the baggage it carries (no pun intended) in western culture. Dr Jason Fung is a doctor in Toronto who’s treatment of obesity goes against traditional methods. He took a tremendous amount of heat for a tweet which appeared to "fat shame" two speakers at an obesity conference. Some of the blowback came directly from Yoni Freedhoff - an obesity doctor who I greatly respect. There is little debate about the current state of obesity in the world. A recent article in the Guardian even suggested that China is now experiencing an obesity crisis. Not only is it on the rise, it seems to be accelerating, especially among youth. As a result of this epidemic an explosion of profit seeking endeavours have appeared. From the Atikin’s diet to the Wheat Belly movement, there is a plethora of information - most of it not so good - on how to lose weight and prevent diabetes. My favourite is The Glueten Lie where a religious history professor just tells everyone to chill out about the foods we eat because nothing is going to kill us. Just eat in moderation he suggests. The reality is that we really don’t have any solid evidence pointing out why we’re getting fatter and fatter. When science can’t help us, pseudoscience usually takes its place. We’re not sure why life arose on this planet so religion fills the void. We can’t really grasp the reasons why people commit terrorist acts so the conspiracy theorists give us the answers we need. The same is happening with obesity. We just don’t have any solid evidence to suggest a weight loss plan - and more importantly - keep fat off. Nobody argues against the idea that we’re moving less and eating more, but the obesity crisis seems to have a very loose correlation with physical activity. There’s a portion of the population who can move less, eat more and have a healthy weight which inevitably puts a kibosh to any theory suggesting we need more exercise. Fung contends that it’s insulin that’s the culprit. More specifically it’s insulin resistance that causes us to have difficulty maintaining a low weight. This is a result of constant eating during the day which sends our insulin levels on a roller coaster ride. By fasting and simply not eating, we’ll lower our insulin levels making us more sensitive and therefore improving our body's ability to burn fat. On top of that, well we’re not eating so we can’t overeat! Freedhoff and company take a more traditional view towards the causes of obesity. He feels that calorie intake should be lower than calorie expenditure in order to lose weight. One can increase their calorie burning rate by exercise. Move more, eat less. This is by far the most popular means to treat weight loss. Here’s the paradox - both ideas work. It seems silly to me to flame each other when there is no credible evidence suggesting that one theory is better than the other. I get where Fung is coming from when he points out the irony of obesity doctors being overweight. Freedhoff counters with more of a cultural rebuttal believing that obesity is increasing because we don’t empower the obese to help themselves. If you’re looking for advice on losing weight, be careful what you read. The human body is extremely complex and treating it with a simple black and white diet program is risky. Throw in the fact that we’re living busy and complex lives and you have a recipe for failure. It’s important to find a program that fits with your lifestyle and commit to it. Check out my blog on commitment if you’re not sure how important that aspect is.
In a world filled with instant gratification and abundance of choice, commitment to a long-term goal becomes much more difficult to achieve. This is especially true for young people who are trying to find their way amongst all this noise. Yet, there are plenty of people in this world who are quietly committing themselves to dreams, goals and aspirations with a humbleness that is inspiring. It’s important that educators highlight these individuals whether they’re from the past or present. Students often get confused with the subtle difference between contribution and commitment. They may feel like they’re committed to school, a sports team or a club but in reality they’re only contributing to it. Here’s the difference: When you have bacon and eggs for breakfast, you’re reaping the rewards of animals who have provided a source of nutrition through contribution and commitment. The eggs? Well a chicken contributed to your breakfast. And the pig? Well he committed to it. There are those who approach a goal with full effort, but carefully walk the line. When the going gets tough or motivation isn’t there, they put their efforts elsewhere. Commitment on the other hand is when you leave no exit. Achieving your goals is the only option. Burn the boats as the saying goes. We should approach our goals like pigs on a breakfast plate. If you start down the path and it doesn’t feel right, then clearly you’re not committed. Terry Fox was pulled of the road near Thunder Bay, Ontario. While he was being wheeled away from the hospital, journalists stuck a mic in his face and asked him how he was doing. His voice cracked as he whimpered “I have a tumour in both my lungs, but if there’s anyway I can get back out there, I will.” Terry set a goal greater than himself. When it was ripped away from him, it wasn’t the tumour in the lungs that bothered him so much. It was the inability to achieve his mission - to run across Canada for cancer research. Terry ran like a pig. Throughout history there are plenty of people who committed to a cause no matter the cost. Churchill standing up to Hitler alone, Jesus spending his 30s spreading the word of God and Nelson Mandela’s struggle to end Apartheid are just a few examples of a commitment to something grand, noble and more important than the individual. As educators we need to take notes from history to inspire our students to commit to an idea greater than themselves. When you are doing something for someone else and leave no exit, magical things can happen. It no longer becomes about the goal, but instead about the journey. Terry fox only finished 50% of his goal yet there isn’t a Canadian who would give him a ‘D’ for his effort. Today’s education system supports failure. Why don’t we use that to our advantage and inspire students to leave no exits and take a leap of faith towards their goals. Steven Pressfield named resistance as that powerful force that prevents us from making art. It manifests itself in many forms including friends, alcohol and fear. I contend that fear is the biggest contributor to lack solid artistic production in your life.
You haven't written that book because you're afraid of the effort required, the ridicule of your peers and costs of failure. Here's the thing: Somewhere along the way we've been told that art has to be a published book or a youtube video with a million hits. Sure it's nice when those things happen, but the reality is not doing art is far more detrimental to your health than making art that society deems unworthy. It's art because it pushes the boundaries and limits of you and your vision of the world. When you overcome the resistance of fear, you'll soon see that banging away on your craft can fill a massive void in your self actualization. Who cares if it's bad? Just finished the first book on my Kobo - Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.
A straight forward no nonsense leadership book backfilled with intense combat tales of Navy Seals in Iraq. It was really interesting to see how they transformed their war stories into leadership training. Nice to see some practical approaches for the average person who reads military books! Here's some key take aways: - Be a humble leader. Take all the advice you can get. - Own leadership. Admit to your mistakes right away and have an action plan to fix them. - Discipline = Freedom. The more you discipline your lifestyle, the more freedom you're granted. Seems a bit redundant, but the theory is that if you're disciplined enough to wake up in the morning and workout, the more time you will have during the day. The more disciplined your diet, the healthier you will be (and the less damage you will do if you cheat). - Lead yourself out of a job. Enable people to lead themselves. Have their back and offer a high level of autonomy. Teams should be able to survive on their own in times of distress (like combat). - Lead up and down the chain of command. The challenge with leadership is making often unwelcome orders doable and committable. Don't sugar coat things. Just explain the WHY behind it. - Lead from the front. The best form of leadership is getting dirty with the team. Don't get too caught up in the details (they use leading a patrol from the front or back) but stay on the same level. Lead from the middle of the patrol so that you're keenly aware of whats going on up ahead and behind. - Know your role in the whole pie. Understand where you fit into an organizations strategic objectives and adjust your leadership accordingly. Are you a gamer? You probably are whether you know it or like it. In the open, games are competitions between people, groups, organizations or countries. Doesn't really matter, as long as it is a competition. In schools, we compete based on grades. It's a measuring stick and the carrot at the end of the stick is the belief that higher grades equals future success.
This of course, is totally wrong. Competition should be based on ideas, not grades. In the real world it's your idea that wins over another division, group or company, how much you remember about the process of the idea. Students should be assessed based on their grit, ingenuity and ability to communicate. In the end ideas win the day and being able to teach students how to grow them from conception to reality is the best way we can help. Here's the video version of my presentation slides from my grit talk on Monday. Slide notes are attached! Hot of the heels of my recent talk on grit, here's a video made by a Michigan high school teacher. Students need to learn the point of school, and it ain't grades. Gravity waves are the missing link to Einstein's equations. This is the best explanation I've come across. Brian Greene is awesome, you should read his books! Finished a podcast with Joe Rogan and Mark Sisson from Mark’s Daily Apple. He’s all about the ‘Paleo’ lifestyle. His big point was to reduce the amount of training you do and become fat adapted. He rarely pushes himself with training an is able to maintain low body fat. Sprints, heavy weights and long slow cardio are his workouts. Apparently he’s just loving life this way. The only issue that I can see with this potential glorious lifestyle is the absolute crazy discipline required to become and stay fat adapted. I’ve heard the same echoed from Dom D'Agostino about saving time and working out less. He apparently only lifts 2 days a week and does zero cardio and is able to maintain a 230 lb low body fat frame. Again, I’m thinking that the discipline required to keep your diet on check would kill the average person. I had a couple of beers after hockey last night. I enjoyed it and will probably do it again. In theory, this would kick me out of ketosis. To sacrifice beers with buds is going too far for me! You really need to find a balance for your lifestyle. It seems reasonable to believe that these guys who are fat adapted and workout less seem to fully enjoy their lives. On the other hand it seems radical for the average office monkey who wants to still enjoy after work drinks. There’s probably huge benefits to becoming fat adapted. Stay fat adapted is another animal altogether!
Running is the best. Honestly, it’s simply the best way to activate those endorphins that keep us coming back to fitness and a healthy lifestyle. No matter how you feel before a run, afterwards it’s always worth it. Long and slow, short and intense, your bodies ability to recognize exercise is amazing and it rewards you with a high that’s on par with drug use. So why don’t more people do it? Hard to say really. Running culture is one the most welcoming, friendly and supportive atmosphere’s one can experience. It’s on par with joining a church! No matter how big, small, slow or uncoordinated you are, a running group would be more than happy to have you as a part of their team. Heck, even the lanky, uber-fast ‘elites’ are excited to see new runners at their clubs. Running groups have coaches that will help you set realistic goals on an achievable timeline. What’s really cool is that you can apply the same goal-setting strategies to other aspects of your life. In an era of instant gratification, we want results that are evident in the short term. Running is hard, but the results show up fairly quickly for those who stick with it. Especially if you surround yourself with friendly, supportive and encouraging people. When’s your next run?
This post comes from my slight obsession with Tony Robbins. If you watch his informercials you may laugh. They’re cheesy, even he admits it. Most educated people brush his ideas of as woo-woo and classify him in the same category as a televangelist. Yet, 30 years later he still relevant and has helped people who are uber-celeberties like Opera, Clinton and various other high profile people. His reputation is so mixed that sometimes he’s not even allowed to mention the high-profile people he works with. Is his ‘gift’ of empowerment based in actual physiology or are we indeed being wooed? My guess is that it’s probably a mix of both. Tony Robbins plays on our emotional states. He fires our emotional engines and turns us from a low state of energy to a high one. And, when you’re feeling good, the world is yours! He uses extreme experiential learning to change our behaviours and patterns. Tony’s seminars involve keeping people together for 50 hours and take place with beautiful backdrops like Hawaii. It’s a turbo charged emotional cleanse! More importantly, for most people it works. Having a overwhelming positive experience can lift even the most troubled spirits. The trouble is - like Fox Mulder would say - I want to believe. The people who attend his seminar believe in what he has to offer and are very open to change. In essence, skeptics need not apply. Most intellectuals would be able to pick apart his ideas easily. Too simple, too easy. Here’s the weird thing: He’s still very very popular. So popular in fact that he can still sell out his seminars very quickly. One would think that 30 years later people would wise up to his ways. Maybe he does have a gift? Part of the reason I’m a believer is that I kind of want to be like him. Sure, I don’t think that I’d sell out stadiums, but man I’d love to be a professional speaker like him. To be able to get up and motivate people to greatness is an amazing talent. I’d love to do it. Is that why everyone loves him? No idea, but in the meantime, I’ll keep drinking the kool-aid that is Tony Robbins. Minecraft is an immensely popular adventure game for computers and tablets. Although the tablet version doesn’t talk to the computer edition, it still boats an interesting gaming atmosphere. We use MinecraftEdu regularly in science class. Not only is it an instant motivator, much of the games core functions integrate with the science curriculum. Throw in the need for teamwork, problem solving and leadership and you have a rich educational experience. Just like most technology, Minecraft is just a tool. Some educators forget this and assume that it can be used to teach new concepts like some sort of interactive textbook. Our science class uses it to reinforce learning. Since most of the students are familiar with the game, there is little to be learned. Instead we send them off into the virtual world with a set of newly learned skills and evaluate how they are used. An easy example is biomes. The students identify the common characteristics between real deserts and Minecraft deserts. They seek to improve the ecological experience by adding animals and materials that make the work more realistic. Check out the short video below to find out how Minecraft can be a valuable tool in the class. An article in the Saturday Star uncovers the truth (or lack of) behind the common misconceptions in fitness. Here’s what they are and here’s what they said: No Pain, No Gain Totally false. Fitness experts say pain is a sign something is going wrong – maybe it’s your form, or you’re pushing yourself too hard. Whatever the case, it’s not a good thing. “The idea of negative, harmful pain being positive is never true,” says Trotter. Feel the burn! Sometimes true. There’s pain (bad) and then there’s that burning sensation that often accompanies a workout (not necessarily bad.) It’s fine to push yourself to the point of fatigue during exercise, says Robichaud. You are what you eat Mostly true. If you’re opting for cake instead of broccoli, you’ll definitely feel different after. But experts say the truth is more nuanced that this cliché. “If you’re eating foods that are heavy and fat-laden, and sugar-laden, you are going to feel heavy and you will develop fat on your body,” says Robichaud. It never gets easier, you just get stronger Sometimes true. This cliché depends on the situation, says Trotter. A beginner runner, for instance, might run 5k in 40 minutes. “In a year, hopefully you can run it in 30 minutes, and that’s going to feel like what you’ve done in 40,” she says. “It’s easier – because you’re more fit.” When you’re pumping iron, things get easier as you strengthen your muscles. The only bad workout is no workout Totally true. All three experts the Star spoke with agreed with this cliché. “Any movement, even if you just go for a walk and get yourself out of that sedentary mindset, is better than nothing,” says Joanne. What do you think? Isn’t this what the core axiom of all fitness should be? You should be working out to fatigue, eating healthy and working out frequently. These tenants are common knowledge even among the uninitiated (love that word). Fitness and good heath are all about lifestyle. If you’re not wiling to make a 100% long-term commitment to improving your health than it likely spells doom. In a world of endless choice, it is ironic that the ‘choice’ of working out is easy, but the act requires much more energy and commitment. As Jocko Wilnik says: Discipline = Freedom. Get after it! Read the full Toronto Star article here.
Can you learn creativity? Is it possible to develop the creative prowess of a Rembrandt or the elegant equations of Einstein? Some educator and entrepreneurs think so. The entrepreneurs behind tech start-ups are convinced that you can turn creativity into a process (I sarcastically see no connection between coding and processing creativity). By developing a system of points or brainstorming methods, you can create an original piece of work ranging from a new app to a hit Vine. How is it that they do this? One common way is with a Design Sprint: Define - What is the problem, issue or question? SKETCH - Flush out your ideas in an orderly and time stressed environment. Critique - Whats good or bad? What can be improved? What do you wonder? Prototype - Build a simple mock-up. KEEP IT SIMPLE TEST - Try it out. Pitch it to your target audience. Most people fail in the last two steps. Great ideas are lost in the minds of people every second of the day. Having the effort to prototype and test it often separate the millionaires from the dreamers.
21 century skills have become common outcomes of our modern education system. It’s amazing to see how many educators are embracing the idea of developing self-directed learners instead of focusing on filling kids heads with knowledge. In an environment of endless information it’s important to have a mature and critical filter to find the right information. Even today after years hammering the idea of critical research into kids, many still just ‘Google’ a question. It’s easy, why wouldn’t you? Teachers need to be especially critical when it comes to kids researching on the internet. Time and energy need to be spent on proper ‘Googling’ techniques including using filters and recognizing appropriate links. As tech savvy as kids can be, they still fall down when it comes to putting the required time to research! Even one class focused entirely on surfing the net can yield great results. The ultimate goal for teachers is to be able to say “I don’t know the answer to that. Why don’t you go find out?" I gave up on going to the gym over a year ago. Best thing I’ve done. After an initial investment of about $1500, I had myself a decent home gym including a commercial treadmill, rower and pull-up/dip/boxing station. While I wouldn’t call the basement Goodlife Fitness, I found that my workouts were just as (probably more) intense than at the gym. Why? The gym is a cult. Every gym is a little different, but you can be guaranteed that you’ll have your stereotypical people no matter the gym. The meat head, the hot chick, the tries too hard and the elliptical monster will all be there in full force. It never really bothered me too much. Everyone I met at the gym was friendly and generally unjudgy. Still, I felt that it was important to conform to the gym norms if I had any chance of fitting in. You know, simple things like don’t lift too much, don’t stare, don’t hog the equipment and for goodness sake don’t do anything extreme - like handstand push-ups. Having shed the burden of a gym membership, I have found that I need to be more self motivated. That’s made easier by the fact that I can walk down the stairs or throw on a pair of running shoes and go outside instead of packing up and commuting to the gym. Most importantly, I can workout at an extreme intensity without anyone judging me. If my form sucks, I can work to fix it at my own pace. If I want to try a heavy lift, well I can go for it and not be scared to fail - or look silly. Headstand push-ups? Well, I’m getting better... Here in this the beginning of the 3rd week of January is where once optimistically forged resolutions begin to fade. People who undoubtably stone-faced promised at the start of the year to give up sugar, exercise more, be less selfish, or try something scary likely find themselves back in their old habits. I sure hope not, but according to statistics you're likely doomed.
Why do we then put ourselves through such misery if we know it will probably end in failure? Us humans are a resourceful bunch. We have the ability - for better or worse - to frequently re-evaluate our behaviours. This is an important adaptation because it provides a way to benchmark our performance against the norm. This gives us feedback to help adjust our patterns to improve our ourselves in relation to the collective. In short, we learn to fit in better. Fitting in is important because it keeps us from being an unwanted outlier. We really want to be liked by others. When we're obese, angry or selfish we stand out and are susceptible to being judged. For most of us, we just want to be the best person we can be so we take a stand to make changes. However, our dreams fade into darkness when we realize that the changes we want require much more effort than we can muster. Besides, we were not that bad before, right? Making change is hard, sometimes excruciatingly hard. It requires commitment and most importantly, grit. In all things worth doing the pain and darkness of the effort almost always give way to the better. We just need to recognize that our brains are powerful deceptive. Our imagination can powerfully propel us to a glorious vision where our dreams are realized. The reality part of our brain doesn't often kick in until the real pain begins. Good luck.
By Patrick Van Horne & Jason Riley This book is a summary of a course conducted by the US military to train marines for modern urban combat. The goal is to have soldiers recognize events BEFORE they happen rather than wait and react to events. The example used in the book is an IED. If you imagine an IED explosion on a timeline, you have all the events leading up to the blast, then the blast and all the reactions that take place afterwards. If you consider the blast a bang, then we need to live ‘Left of Bang’. Recognizing the signs and symptoms of violence is possible with the appropriate knowledge. - Always establish a baseline. What does normal look like? What should people be doing? - Look for anomalies. Things that don’t seem to fit the baseline. - When you identify an anomaly, you should identify at least THREE different domains before you act. - Domains are Kinesics, Biometiric cues, proxemics, Geographic, Iconography, Atmospherics - Living left of bang takes practice, lots of it. Experts usually develop +10 years of practice. - Visit public spaces to observe people. Take note of the their body language below the neck - Be prepared to act when you observe an anomaly. Remember nature wants you to run, fight or freeze. -Running is best! - When required to fight, attack with extreme violence. - Condition Yellow! Be on semi alert at all times. Note where exits are and possible lines of attack. - Condition Red is active engagement in a situation (something is happening!) - Condition Black is over reaction. Your stress level and central nervous system are extreme and your ability to properly react is in jepordy. - Not your levels of situational awareness. I’ve been dabbling in the art of ketosis since the start of the new year. It’s not my first crack at it, probably 3rd or 4th. I’ve always struggled to keep my energy levels up while ‘low carbing’. For those not familiar with ketones, you can think of them as alternative fuel source for your body. Normally we use glucose to power our brain, muscles and essential organs. Glucose can be easily obtained from, well, most foods in the western diet. Anything with carbs will give you glucose. When your body is starved of glucose it switches to this ancient back-up plan of burning fat so you won’t die (easily anyway). Most of us have a good amount of fat to spare, so the body is happy to do this. The challenge is when you start to get into the single digits of body fat that there’s an issue. Your body is smart enough to know that the fat reserves are low and it begins to slow your metabolism to a crawl. This unfortunately leads to unintended weight game. What an amazing and annoying adaptation. Why cut out carbs? To lose weight is the most common reason. Carbs add up fast and your body loves to store any excess as fat for a rainy day. The other reason is to maintain decent insulin levels and prevent the massive ebbs and flows of energy levels. I’ve personally found that with my schedule, it’s nearly impossible to eat small frequent meals throughout the day. Instead I end up skipping breakfast, having a massive lunch (carb LOOOOADED) and well rounded dinner. What hurts me is the lunch. After fasting for breakfast, I’m borderline hypoglycaemic and the big lunch just destroys my energy levels. I’m asleep by 1:30. Not good when you’re responsible for educating tomorrow’s leaders. So hear I am. 4th time’s the charm! I have to admit, after listening to Dom D’Agstino (ketonutrition.org) on the Tim Ferriss (4hourworkweek.com) podcast, I was convinced to try it again. Apparently he deadlifted some astronomical weight (like 400 lbs) while in ketosis. I learned that calories are hard to come by and I likely was in an unwanted deficit. Thus my energy levels sucked. Especially in the gym. As of now, I’m doing well. No afternoon crashes. The gym is hard because my body has hardly any glycogen to work with, but I’ll keep at it for another few weeks. If you're interesting in following me, stay tuned under the Keto tab above. |
Time to reinvent yourself!Jason WoodScience teacher, storyteller and workout freak. Inspiring kids to innovate. Be humble. Be brave. Get after it!
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