Matt Metzgar

Fat Acceptance: A Bad Idea

By accident, I came across a blog about "fat acceptance".  The idea seems to be that some people are destined to be fat, and that this should just be accepted.  It turns out there are a number of these blogs all with similar ideas.

I found this to be both sad and troubling.  First, it's sad because being overweight is not an incurable condition, even though some make it out to be.  If a person wants empirical evidence, they can look at the National Weight Control Registry and find people who have lost and kept off weight for a number of years. 

Second, it's troubling because there seems to be a motive to spread this message of fat acceptance.    If someone is overweight and it doesn't bother them, then that's their own business to some degree.  But trying to convince others to accept their fatness does not sit very well with me.  With two-thirds of adults overweight or obese, the last thing people need is a message telling them to just give up and accept their condition.

I think most people want to be in shape - it's probably a natural human desire.  Given the choice between having a fat body and an in-shape body, would anyone really choose having a fat body? 

If you really wanted to argue it, you could say that being overweight has "externalities".  Everyone is an influence on someone.  If a person gets in shape, this tends to have a spillover effect on others.  I have seen this numerous times.  Likewise, if a person gives up on their physical condition, then this is likely to affect others too - in a negative way.

Losing weight is very possible.  If someone is doubtful of this, feel free to drop me a line.

Accountability

One thing I like about blogging is how it can be used for accountability.  Last year, I stated my goals on the blog, and it really helped to push me along.  Stating things publicly gives you a sense of accountability - nobody wants to be all hat and no cattle.

The same thing is happening this year again.  I am figuring things out quicker than before.  I honestly don't believe I'd be progressing at the same rate without the accountability factor.

It really doesn't matter if you're accountable to one person or a million.  Putting your goals out there can be a great way to increase motivation.

Deadlift Medicine

My lower back has been a bit sore from carrying stuff around due to my recent move.  Yesterday at the gym, I decided to do a lighter set of deadlifts to see what would happen.  Almost instantly, my back felt better.  And it feels even better than normal today.

You would think that resting a sore muscle would be the best medicine, but that's often not the case.  My back muscles were overworked from all the moving, but they were never really given a proper workout in terms of load and repetitions.  When I gave my back muscles the right stimulus, the muscles responded by becoming stronger and more functional.

Imagine a doctor prescribing deadlifts for lower back pain.  He might get laughed out of the building in some circles but that doesn't mean the advice is wrong.  Exercise can sometimes be the best medicine.

The Root of the Metabolic Syndrome

Here's a great article about how the metabolic syndrome develops.  Researchers have traced the problem back to insulin resistance in the muscle tissue as a precursor to whole-body insulin resistance.

What's interesting about this study is that all the subjects were young and lean.  However, some were already insulin resistant and others weren't.  This shows that the metabolic problems start before they are visible (in terms of body fat).

Want to predict what the young, lean insulin resistant subjects will look like in 5 or 10 years?  You can almost guarantee they will gain abdominal fat unless they change their diet and exercise.

At the end of the article, the authors state that exercise is the key to preventing all this.  Exercise is a important component, because it empties the glycogen stores of the muscle, but it has relatively small effects compared to diet.  A poor diet of refined carbs and sugar will overpower any exercise program and lead to insulin resistance in the long run. 

Standardization

One other insight I gained from the book, "Starting Strength", is the use of standardization for measurement.  In the program, you work with the same group of exercises and standardize the amount of sets and reps.  For example, the program calls for using 3 sets of 5 repetitions on most exercises.  When this can be completed with a certain weight, then next time you increase the weight. 

This takes the unnecessary complexity out of basic programs.  If a person does 5 sets of 10 with a certain weight, and then 3 sets of 8 with a different weight another day, it's difficult to measure progress.  Add in different repetition speeds and it's an even bigger mess.  Initially, I think it's better to just standardize things and focus on lifting heavier weights in good form.

There may not be anything magical about 3 sets of 5.  3 sets of 8 or 5 sets of 5, or some other combination may be equally as effective.  But the point is to pick a set-and-repetition framework and stick to it.

Strength and Mass

I watched WWE wrestler John Cena on tv the other day, and I thought, damn, he's big.  Well, I did some research and guess what: damn, he's strong.  Below is a video of him training in the gym.  Some quick numbers: 500 pound squat, 545 pound deadlift, and 400 pound bench press.

The Cart Before The Horse

I am almost three months into the muscle-building experiment, and I have made some progress.  I am up about 6 pounds since January 1st.  I won't claim that this is 100% muscle gain though - my waist has increased a little bit.

I think the big error I made in January and February was to put the cart (nutrition) before the horse (strength increases).  I was too worried about pushing calories in, rather than focusing on lifting heavier weights.

These last few weeks have been solid, as I have slowly moved up the weight in several exercises.  Along with this, I see some muscle growth.  And so I think that the whole concept of gaining muscle is much simpler than I thought, it's mostly tied to strength gains.  Right now, I am not forcing food but instead just letting my appetite guide me.  We'll see if this works over time.

One other mistake I made was to occassionally eat more junk food under the justification that I "needed the extra calories."  In reality, that's complete nonsense.  I don't see how poor food can help achieve any physical goal.  I've tightened up the reins and gone back to pretty strict Paleo eating.

The Excuse Factory

One behavior I see time and time again is the ability of people to create excuses.  For example, I've seen this in all kinds of work settings over the years.  One person says a certain change can't happen.  Yet if they leave the position and someone else comes in, then the change often magically happens.

People make a lot of excuses when they don't want to change.  I ran into this a good bit when I was teaching college also.  I would always start off each semester with what I called the "$100,000" question.  I asked the students that if they would be rewarded with $100,000 if they got an A in the class, how many thought they could accomplish it.  Almost all hands went up every time.  But of course, not everyone got A's.  So to me, it was primarily a motivation problem: they had the ability to achieve the goal, but the motivation wasn't clear or strong enough over the course of a semester.

This same problem of course happens with weight loss.  Plans are made and broken.  And if a person is called out on it, they will often fire up the "excuse factory" and continue creating excuses until they create a semi-plausible one.

I think it's better to be honest about these things.  If a person tries something and it doesn't work, well then just try again or try a different method.  There's no need to cover things up with a web of excuses.  It's really a matter of taking responsibility: each person is captain of their own ship. 

Trajectories

I think it is relatively easy to see a person's "life trajectory" once you get to know them.  I believe you can predict with a fairly high degree of accuracy where a person will be in 5 or 10 years.  This is good if a person is on a positive trajectory, but not so good when he or she is not headed in the right direction.

What's more difficult is to predict your own trajectory.  I think there are all kinds of biases and self-perception issues that make it difficult to predict your own future.  But a friend from the outside could probably do it pretty well.

What's even trickier, I think, is to change your own trajectory.  It seems to take a massive amount of energy to get things going in a different direction.  Maybe it's force of habit, I don't know.  But it all goes back to that simple saying: "if you always do the same thing, don't expect any different results."

The Carbohydrate Problem

Almost everything I've read shows the problem of body fat to be connected to carbohydrate.  Researchers slice and dice things, but in the end, it is all related to carbohydrates.  The sub-issues of glycemic index, glycemic load, total grams of carb, etc., all play a role (and are interrelated).  But if you have a body fat problem, you have a carb problem.  Maybe an exception would be if someone is high-dosing tons of bad fat (perhaps via fast food), but this would seem to be rare.

Individual experimentation is probably key for solving the carb problem.  Carb tolerance also changes over time due to aging, and is affected by exercise and conditioning levels.  Sugar and refined carbs benefit no one, and only the young and athletic seem to be able to abuse them and get away with it (in terms of low body fat).  But bad carbs will catch up with anyone in the end, and it's best to replace them with healthy fruits and vegetables.