Sunday Story…More Food

 

This is our last Installment on food…First was Eat Real Food. The Second was Eat less (NO!) sugar. And the third…Eat to Perform. And what I mean by that is you need to eat in a way that fuels your activity. Overeating is an epidemic. Not only does the Standard American Diet (SAD) contain Calorie Rich And Pathetic (CRAP) food, but we also flat-out eat too much.

What do you do in the course of your day? Maybe you work out for an hour, do a little walking around (take the dog out) and then sit around for 10 or 12 hours. Depending on your energy expenditure in that workout hour your calorie burn for the day isn’t 5000. But if you eat 5000 calories and burn 2000 you have a caloric surplus. Unlike a bucket that is full and will overflow, your body keeps all those calories for a rainy day. Our modern life never gives us a rainy day. We live in a world of overabundance. No one reading this (I am guessing) is in danger of forced starvation. If you miss a meal, it’s usually by choice or happenstance. The problem is you, as a human, have been hard-wired by millennia of scarcity to overeat when food is abundant because it won’t always be that way. But now it is.

You need to eat the right amount of food to fuel your activity level. And you need to eat the right food for your activity level. For that information, I refer you to my first two articles on food. But here it is in a nutshell…eat protein, some fat, and a little carbohydrate…source the food from sources that don’t carry labels…eat only enough to keep moving.

I know there are forces at work that are making this very difficult…advertising, preconceived ideas, emotional connections around food, and many others, but in essence, it is simple. Just not easy.

Living longer better is not about deprivation or scarcity or lack. It is about playing the Long game. If you want to be healthy and vital as you age (and you are going to age anyway!) you will find the road much easier if you eat in a way that serves your long-term goal.

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…More Food!

 The second of 3 pillars around food (#1 was Eat Real Food!) is Eat Like a Neanderthal! If we do the first thing (real food) there are still things we need to avoid on our path to a longer, better life. And I hate to tell you that you need to avoid sugar. And it isn’t going to be easy because sugar is everywhere and your brain and body are programmed to want it and love it.

 Way back in our ancestry someone got ahold of some honeycomb and found it delicious. Fortunately, there wasn’t honeycomb to be found on every corner. To get some was work and probably some pain (the bees aren’t giving it up without a fight!). But our brains and bodies knew this food source was rich in calories and a way to get needed energy in a small package.

Today the honeycomb is everywhere and in everything…spaghetti sauce in a jar? Added sugar. Some things are apparent…frosted doughnuts? Brownies? Full of sugar. But wait! It isn’t just the sugar…all those carbohydrates turn into sugar when your system gets through with breaking them down.

The answer to the problem is simple…eat meat, vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and NO sugar. Keep intake to a level to support movement and exercise but not body fat. Now you are going to start…what about…(fill in the blank…pasta, cake, etc.) and I am going to point you to what I just wrote.

This is not rocket science. But it is a big departure from the way most people currently eat. It will take some planning and effort…just like everything else in life!

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

 Sunday Story…Eat!

Real Food. 

There are 9 things you must do on your path to Living Longer Better…3 of them are physical, 3 of them are food or nutrition related, and 3 of them are mental or emotional.

 We’ve covered the physical things at great lengths…long, slow distance, lift weights, and go really hard and fast once in a while.  We could spend hours just on this topic.

Let’s tackle food/nutrition today. Food is simple. But our relationship with food is anything but simple. We are all carrying around baggage in regard to our eating.  Maybe you had to be part of the “clean plate club.” Maybe you were shamed when you ate certain things. Or you were made fun of when you consumed certain kinds of food. We end up with all kinds of weird head trips around food.

Here is the first rule of thumb around food…Eat Real Food! If it comes in a can, bottle, or box and it has a nutritional label it probably isn’t real food. Broccoli does not come with a label. That New York Strip? No label. Head of Lettuce? Again, no label. And don’t start whining about having to cook it. Cooking is not hard. Especially these days when you can put a few ingredients into a search engine and get dozens of recipes. Follow the instructions and see what happens. It really isn’t rocket science.

Start simple. Cook an egg, maybe some bacon and you’ve got a passable breakfast. Take some lettuce and a few more favorites (tomatoes, cucumbers, olives) add a bit of Olive Oil and some lemon juice, and Bang! It’s a salad. Open a can of good tuna (the exception to the things in a can rule!) and throw that on the salad and you’ve hit all the essential parts of a healthy meal.

I will expound on this next week.

Eat with intention, ease, and enjoyment.

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

Sunday Story…Your Heart

Loves you...Love it Back!

It seems more and more people are coming around to this idea that you don’t have to destroy yourself every day in the gym. This concept (crush yourself every day) has led many of us down the path of destroying our bodies. And as we age the price, we pay for that is just too high.

However, we still want to enjoy all the benefits that come from having a healthy, fit body…little things like the ability to perform everyday tasks (gardening, moving, walking) easily, or looking good both in and out of our clothes, enjoying any activity we want, and most of all aging in a way that serves our highest and best.

The biggest bang for your buck comes from heart rate training, long slow distance, or cardiovascular fitness. Although the time it takes is longer in duration the effort is nowhere near maximal. If you aren’t doing this type of training, start right now. A good heart rate monitor is maybe fifty bucks, and the app is free. Then go do something for about 30 minutes and don’t let your beats per minute go over 125. If it does, slow down and restart. You will find improvement happens quickly and with little effort. But you must pay attention to it and track it. If you can measure it, you can manage it.

There is nothing about this you can’t do at your current fitness level. If you don’t maintain good cardiovascular fitness the rest of your life can be very difficult.

Strap the monitor on and go for a walk. How hard is that?

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

 

Sunday Story…You Gotta Move!

Like the song says…you gotta move. A lot. Often. In as many ways, directions, and modalities as possible. You are human. You are designed to move. The human body is not going to do well sitting and doing nothing. Like your house or your car, if it isn’t being used for the purpose it was designed for it is going to fall apart.

 

As a group, those of us first-world denizens, have been lying to ourselves. We all wanted the “Easy” button. All you have to do is 20 minutes a day 3 times a week. All you must do is 10,000 steps. These are the “Easy” buttons. And although they are partially true they are not the whole truth.

 

The whole truth is much more complicated than that. You need to sprint occasionally. You need to carry some stuff for some distance. You need to climb a ladder, put some weight on your back, and pick up some heavy stuff. Maybe go swimming, ride a bike, run, walk, row…all of the above, and change it up.

 

I use a device that measures my daily “strain.” Strain is the cardiovascular exertion throughout the day. It is based on heart rate activity. The longer my heart spends at an elevated rate the higher the strain. I move a lot. I pick things up all day and put them in different places. Occasionally I demonstrate some movement. I am not talking about “working out.” I am talking about what my every day looks like. And guess what? My monthly strain shows 19 days of all-out strain, 10 days of strenuous strain, and only 1 moderate day. There were no light days.

 

So how does this affect the quality of my life? Stay tuned for that one!

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

 

 

Sunday Story…Own Your Experience

I recently spent some time in the doctor’s office for my annual physical. As you might imagine I am not the patient they are used to seeing. The physician and the entire set up is designed to treat sick people. It is not designed to help maintain and improve already healthy people. If you are sick, it’s the right place to be. If you are not…well, not so much.

 

Your body is a miraculous design. Your heart pumps gallons of blood through miles of thoroughfares 24/7. Your brain processes a huge amount of information, sorting and collating at speeds you can only imagine. You have muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage all working together just so you can get up in the morning. If you are reading this your mind and body are coordinating together in order for you to understand what you are seeing.

 

If something is broken, you should do your best to get it fixed. BUT if nothing is broken, then you are in charge of maintaining your machine. Just like the other machines in your life. Changing the oil in the car, having the HVAC system serviced, putting fuel in, are all part of life. It’s the same for your body.

 

Your doctor wants you to be well. It’s up to you to decide how healthy you want to be. There is a continuum of health from sick/unwell…to very fit and unwell. Your job is to find the place where you are fit, healthy and happy.

 

This is not an impossible task, but you are going to have to own your own experience to make it happen. What you eat, how well you sleep, your exercise regimen, your mental health practices, your relationships are all part of the complex process that determines the quality of your life.

 

You cannot abdicate your responsibility and expect your health and fitness to just happen. You must be proactive and work (everyday) toward optimum health and fitness. No one else can do it.

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

 

Sunday Story…Stress Kills

One of the most important and overlooked factors in your journey to Living Longer Better is stress. Stress will kill you if you don’t manage it properly. It’s sneaky and cumulative, each little piece adds more than just that piece. The next thing you know you are spiraling down into a morass of bad health outcomes and worse choices.

 

Here's the best piece of advice I can give you. It comes from HH the Dalai Lama… “If there is no solution to the problem then don't waste time worrying about it. If there is a solution to the problem then don't waste time worrying about it.”
 or to put it another way... “If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry.”

In other words, if you can’t fix it, then it isn’t worth worrying about, and if you can fix it…Fix it!

Way too often our stress is arising in our minds. It doesn’t exist outside of there. On the other hand, if the stress is arising from a very real problem, then seek the solution and implement that. If it doesn’t work, try something else.

A plan is one antidote to stress. If you have a step-by-step plan to implement it will go far in reducing your stress level. There are some other tried and true strategies you can use as well…meditation, communing with nature, a massage. Anything that allows you to get out of the noise in your head and back in touch with your heart.

Seek out harmonious relationships…with yourself first, the world around you, and the people around you. Harmony is the antithesis of stress.

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412