The opposite end of the spectrum

The other day I posted about an up and coming ELITE high school athlete. Today, I am headed to the opposite end of the spectrum after viewing a TV show on The Learning Channel called 'Big Medicine' which is a show about a father/son surgeon team who perform beriatric surgeries.

Let's begin.
Disclaimer #1 This could be long.
Disclaimer #2 I will not hold back.

This show begins with a story about a 500lb+ woman and a 730lb man who want gastric bypass and through the show they find out that their insurance will not cover their surgeries.

The woman was figured out to be consuming 6000 calories PER DAY. I repeat 6000 CALORIES PER DAY. This is not a physical issue, this a mental and emotional issue.
Newsflash #1: Having a surgery to shrink the size of your stomach will not solve the ROOT issue!!! The person will not be any different mentally or emotionally in the next 48 hours after the surgery because there was NO PROCESS. The process is what changes people. With no process, there is no change...only quick fixes (which are the easy way out and to readily available today). By the way, the doctor made an interesting statement..."whatever the client tells you they are consuming, they are most likely consuming 75% MORE calories than they are telling you." WOW. How does this happen? Denial. Depression. In the above cases, food becomes more than addiction...it becomes a MEDICATION.

All of these patients need to have a psychological evaluation. Newsflash #2: They are ALL messed up psychologically. Newsflash #3: The doctors who perform these surgeries need to have a psych evaluation!!

In this case, TRUE mental and physical transformation will be FORGED ONLY through physical transformation which is through hiring a trainer to change habit patterns and be held to EXTREME accountability. Will this be hard? IT WILL BE THE MOST DIFFICULT FRIGGIN' THING YOU WILL EVER DO. Will it be worth it? YOU'RE DANG RIGHT IT WILL BE WORTH IT. Take away: The only way to OWN transformation is to go through it.
Without a doubt, I believe that a person who is not willing to learn the meaning of accountability and discipline and apply it to their lives, will not be truly transformed.

American society has become extremely pathetic and apathetic. People just refuse to care of themselves anymore. Looking back at our ancestors--only in the last 30-40 years has our health spiraled out of control. What are the causes of this? Some of this is my opinion and some of this is fact.

1) sugar -- fake sugar / candy / low fat (they have to put something in it to make it taste good)
2) white flour
*these two alone eliminated from your diet would solve most of the problems.

3) nutrient value in food declining at an astronomical rate due to less crop rotation and therefore depleted soil. You would have to eat 20 heads of lettuce today to equal the nutrient value of 1 head of lettuce 25 years ago. WOW!

4) technology -- information age part 1. Majority of the population commutes to work in a car for 30-60 minutes SITTING, 4-5 hours at work minimum in the morning SITTING , 30-60 minutes eating lunch SITTING, 4-5 more hours at work in the afternoon SITTING, commutes home 30-60 minutes SITTING, eats dinner 30 minutes SITTING, moves to the couch to watch on average 3-4 hours of TV per night SITTING, then moves to bed for 7-8 hours of SLEEPING. Things that make you go hmmmmmm.

And 'they' say that 'exercising' (I will define exercise in two different terms shortly) 30 minutes 3x per week is going to off set all of THAT? LET'S GET REAL PEOPLE!!

This is where that algebra I learned may come in handy...
Using the MININUMS of what I stated above:

20 hours of the average person's day is spent completely SEDENTARY / NOT MOVING / BARELY ALIVE / NON VIGOROUS ACTIVITY ...you get the picture

The other 4 hours per day may be spent who knows doing what.

That means that out of 120 hours Mon-Fri / 100 of them are forming atrocious habits. And if that is happening 5 days/week, I highly doubt there is a different habit on Saturday and Sunday.

sheesh we've only made it to #4.

5) technology -- information age part 2. Computers / home video games / iPods / cell phones and text messaging. This one is mainly directed at the kids' generation. I am GRATEFUL for all of the above. I own all of the above. However, I use them 95% for business purposes. Video games / Computers and DVD players have become the 'new babysitters' for kids. iPods and cell phones ....well this will say it all: a young lady I know sends 4000+ text messages per month. That's just on the sending part, how many is she receiving? I might total around the 500 mark for the YEAR. Not only does this have to do with state of health physically, but what about the state of communication between people in future generations? I thought email was impersonal.

6) The diet industry. Books/infomercials/products anything to hit the hot buttons of overweight consumers...95% of it is MIS-INFORMATION--which means they are not telling you the WHOLE truth.

7) The restaurant industry. What used to be a plate is now a 'platter.' The RDA (which is a joke because it is so outdated) determines serving size. 1 pancake (1 serving) should be the size of a CD. How big and how many pancakes does one get served at IHOP or Perkins? 3 the size of the PLATTER, on top of the omelot with buttered toast and sugar jelly.

8) The snackfood industry. Low fat, low sugar. Low fat = HIGH SUGAR. Low sugar = HIGH SATURATED FAT. Candy bars, chips, pop. 'They' are adding chemicals to these foods to keep you buying more both in quantity per purchase and eat more in quantity per serving. Lay's tag line 'betcha can't eat just one'. You're dang right because they are adding chemicals that alter your brain function to EAT MORE!

9) The magazine / fashion industry. Newsflash #4: The models on the covers of magazines went on extreme diets to attain that body for that specific photoshoot. They DO NOT look like that year around. 99% of all magazine covers are airbrushed as well. Let's look at camera tricks: Lighting can change the way a person 'appears'. Tanning can alter the person's look. Wearing different types of clothing can change the appearance (horizontal stripes vs. vertical stripes). Hey, we all want to look good. Understand though that a lot of times you are aspiring to something that will not be achieved without EXTREME discipline and also sometimes drugs, eating disorders, surgery, make-up artist, professional light and camera crew. Disclaimer: THIS DOES NOT GIVE YOU AN EXCUSE TO AVOID GETTING IN THE BEST SHAPE OF YOUR LIFE.

10) Plain laziness. We have it all. We have it all at our fingertips. From our computers, we would never have to leave our house being able to buy ANYTHING that we need or want via the internet.

I'll stop at 10. 10 is a good round number.

Final thoughts on 'exercise'.

I mentioned above that 'they' say that 'exercising' 30 minutes 3x per week is a good target. I'm here to tell you that will get you JACK SQUAT! The key word being 'exercise' which 'they' usually refer to as WALKING. Sorry folks, walking is the most overrated form of exercise there is. Your body adapts, oh in about 2 days to it. You MUST STRENGTH TRAIN. This does not mean using 3lb pink weights (Ladies you WILL NOT get 'big bulky muscles'). You also must do INTERVAL TRAINING with some type of resistance. If you must walk I recommend purchasing a weighted vest from http://www.x-vest.com/ where you can buy a 40lb vest and incrementally increase the load 1 lb at a time. You see 'their' exercise and my exercise are two COMPLETELY different ideas. Theirs means the absolute minimum to hopefully help you avoid heart attack up until the age of 50. I am talking LABOR that will allow you to put more life into your years and your grand kids and/or future grand kids. If you want to know more you will have to come visit me at my studio Kinetic Edge Fitness in Woodbury Minnesota where 'beatdowns' are delivered without apology (and I say that in the most LOVING way ;).

Saddle up and ride.