Getting Past What Holds You Back with Baby Boomer Weight Loss Expert Scott 'Q' Marcus
Today’s memo is in reply to a subscriber’s question.
My answer was immediate: [Read more…]
We wrote down what we ate on cave walls. You couldn’t figure out the carbs or proteins in a Wooly Mammoth by looking it up on the internet. No sirreee Bob! Kids today have it too easy.
Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, but one of the more significant changes in health monitoring is the explosion of fitness apps of every stripe. As of last year, there were more than 45,000 fitness-related apps in the app store, giving one the ability to monitor how far he walks and with what intensity, calories consumed and burned, even heartbeat and sleep patterns, all from the convenience of code in your phone.
In the not too distant future, we will look at Fitbits and other wearable trackers in the same manner as we would observe a woman wearing a bustle today. Tomorrow’s apps will be woven into our garments, creating smart clothing and “wearable tech.” At any moment, one can be aware of everything from blood pressure to the amount of salt in her sweat.
Not only will it allow one to adjust his or her patterns for enhanced health, but also we will be able to predict incidents such as heart attacks BEFORE they occur, giving one the ability to go to the doctor in advance of collapsing on the street. Medical information could precede the trip to the hospital, so that upon arrival, potential treatments could be tailored to the specific circumstances in advance, saving precious time and lives.
Privacy issues yet to be worked out, that’s all well and good. However, all is not rosy in “app-alachia” as there are some pretty silly fitness apps available currently, providing insights and assistance into all facets of one’s physical, mental, and emotional health. [Read more…]
Last week in this space, I posited the theory that, with almost seven out of ten people overweight (including over 30 percent obese), the reason most people don’t stick with their diets long enough to reach goal weight is because they give up when the pounds don’t drop “fast enough.” Logically, that makes no sense. After all, a slow weight loss is still preferable to no weight loss, which is the inevitable result when one throws in the towel altogether.
Of course, the motive for quitting isn’t rational; it’s one of two emotional reasons. The first reason we are so desperate to speed diet is that we fear motivation will vanish before we reach our goal, and we’ll end up spent, frustrated, and still fat. That is born of the false belief that motivation leads behaviors. Last week, I explained how motivation follows behavior and therefore we can motivate ourselves whenever we desire by engaging in behaviors. Due to limited space, I couldn’t address the second reason we quit, which I’ll do today.
is complicated, but in part due to the fact that “fat shaming” is still accepted, even when so many other tactless slurs are now considered loutish and vulgar. The humiliation and guilt of being overweight casts its sufferers as lesser and out of control. The overweight are recipients of ignorant, countless wagging fingers — in person and throughout the media — proclaiming boorishly that if they possessed better willpower and a stronger moral character, they’d be thin. Condescending, hurtful, and hateful messages are hurled without end.
They are the end result of a chain consisting of thoughts which lead to feelings which lead to actions. If you wish to change the actions long-term, you must change your internal dialog first. [Read more…]