Pull Yourself to Better Posture

One of the chronic conditions that modern Americans (and many of our foreign friends) are suffering from is poor posture. Never in history have so many people been faced with such long hours of constant sitting, and it is affecting more than our waistlines.

The real damage caused by chronic sitting is our inability to move properly when we finally realize that we NEED movement in our lives. We have chronic back and neck pain that are compounded when we start to exercise and realize that we have limited range of motion. Most types of exercise require good posture BEFORE you can properly perform the movements. Running, biking, swimming, weight lifting, and even yoga can actually be more harmful than helpful if the proper steps are not taken to rework posture.

The best way to keep your body moving well is pay attention to your posture from the beginning. Given that most of us, regardless of current activity levels, have some sort of postural limitations, here are a few approaches that are safe, effective, and that you can start doing today:

1) Breathing. Learning to breathe properly can have a huge influence on maintaining good posture, so check out my previous article, Why Your Baby Moves Better than You, to learn about a great breathing exercise.

2) Stand. The more you stand, the better posture you will have. This can be done at the office, around the house, or in transit (walking).  By staying on your feet more, you will help your body to relearn how to hold itself properly. If you do this, make sure that you wear flat shoes. The less sole, the better (and barefoot is preferred when possible.)

3) Massage. For those of you who can afford it, regular massage can help to loosen tight muscles and realign joints. Certain types of massage are posture-based such as Rolfing or Heller Work, but others can be helpful too, including trigger point therapy and hands on muscle therapy. If you cannot afford professional massage, I would still recommend learning how to use self-massage techniques to release common areas of tension. The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook is a great source for this. Once you are set with your massage, you have to do the next one (stretching) to make it count.

4) Stretch. We can all stretch more, and it does not have to take that much time. You may already have a few stretches that you know and enjoy doing from time to time. Start doing those 2-3 times per day (makes for a nice break from the computer) and you will be on your way to less tension and better posture. Some of my favorite stretches are the Lying Twist, the Prone Press-up, the Hip Flexor Stretch, and the 90/90. I like these because they help to lengthen those areas that are most affected by sitting.

5) Pulling Exercises. This is going to be important for anyone who is involved in weight training or is interested in starting. I highly recommend including strength training in your weekly routine if you have not already. Strength training produces a wide variety of benefits, including increases in bone density, strength, power, and energy and potential decreases in fat, joint pain, and muscle fatigue. When we look at strength training in regards to posture, there are a few key exercises that can be especially beneficial. Deadlifts, Single Leg Deadlifts, Rows, Pull-Ups, and YTWLs are all great movements in working your postural muscles.

Each of these steps can have a positive effect on posture, so start incorporating some today. I have listed these in the order of importance and convenience. If you can do nothing else, just learning to breathe better will change how you sit at your desk, hold tension, and carry yourself. If you can then find ways to not sit at all, wonderful! Standing and walking are almost always beneficial. For some of you, massage, stretching, and strength training will be needed to create lasting changes for the better. However, one without the others will be not nearly as effective. If you only stretch without massage or strength training, the muscles will be limited in their ability to stretch and have no reason to maintain their length. If you only go for massage, you will quickly tighten up again as you have not re-established length or strength. 

We all sit too much, but let’s see what we can start doing today to make a difference in how that sitting will affect us over the next 5, 10, 20+ years. The sooner we start, the easier the road will be to regain our posture and our ability to move. 

Let's Get Serious!

Something that I try to always provide through these articles is action items. I don’t want to just throw out a bunch of information and leave you wondering how to apply it, so if you look back, you will find that I usually end each article by explaining what your next step should be. This implies, however, that you will take action.

We can know everything in the world about health and fitness, but without action, the knowledge is meaningless. In a newsletter I received this week, one of my mentors asks a pointed question of all of us, “Are you serious?”

As the video shows, if you have been thinking about changing your life and want to get healthy, then it is time to get serious (note: I do not necessarily support Todd’s nutritional advice, especially if fat loss is your goal). Stop wishing that you felt better/looked better/moved better and start taking action to make it happen. We each have the power to create the lives and bodies that we want, but it means getting serious about your goals. It means putting yourself first, planning ahead, and knowing what you want. It means figuring out what steps you need to take to get from where you are right now to where you want to be and starting on the first step today. Living healthy and happy does not happen overnight, it takes years of consistently moving toward a greater goal. We all have days that we fall off track, don’t want to get out of bed, feel that we deserve that slice of cake, don’t have the energy to cook, but it is those people that remember their goals and are dedicated to what they want to achieve that will come out ahead in the end.

Today, reflect on your goals and whether you have taken the steps necessary to achieve them. If not, what has stopped you? What else in your life has been more important than your goal? Should it be? Do not let the unimportant take control of your life. Every day you should wake up knowing what you want to achieve and be prepared to stay on course as best you can. This is what success is all about and what it means to be serious.

So, are YOU serious?

It Takes a Village to Raise Success Rates

Research has indicated that 50% or more of people who make a conscious effort to lose weight will end up regaining and possibly surpassing their starting weights. While there are a number of different factors that play into this, one that is often overlooked is how one’s social network influences behavior.

Your Network

They say that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with, and this doesn’t just apply to personality or wealth. Those five people will also have a significant influence on your health and weight as well. This is easy to understand if we think about it. If your spouse, friends, and co-workers eat terribly, do not exercise, stay out late, and drink heavily, what do you think the likelihood is that you will eat right, go to the gym every day, get in bed early, and stay clear of alcohol? Not very likely.

Besides the influences these people have on our daily behavior, they also influence our perception of what is normal. If you think about Americans in general, we can see that our perception of “normal” when it comes to health has moved further and further away from what would be considered optimal. It is “normal” to have a belly. It is “normal” to become sick in the winter. It is “normal” to have someone in the family that is diabetic, or who has had a heart attack. These things would not be normal in many other countries, but for us, it is what we know. It is what we see every day from those closest to us.

Below is a video that goes more into how our social networks influence us. It is 18 minutes long, but if you have time, it is fascinating to watch.

 What is most interesting to me about this is just how important our networks are in everything we do. We like to think of ourselves as independent and in control, but we come to realize that everything from our emotions to our actions to our weight is highly influenced by those people with whom we choose to interact.

How to Overcome

Let’s bring this back around to the 50% failure rate in attempting to lose weight. One of the first rules of sustained weight loss is to make changes in your lifestyle. Weight loss means nothing if you have not set up the structure to support healthy living, and one of those structural supports is your social network. This, however, is the most frightening of all the lifestyle changes. What if the only way you could stay healthy was to cut ties with someone you are very close to? This is something that most of us would not be able to do, and I believe this has a significant influence on those that rebound.

Luckily, there are ways around cutting ties with everyone you know if you are to stay healthy. The most important of which is your willingness to ask for help. If you are going to try to lose weight and keep it off, start by telling those closest to you what your goals are. If they care about you, they will help. They may even join in your quest and make some lifestyle changes of their own! You have to be open though. You have to be willing to explain how important this is to you and that you cannot do it alone. These people should be your cheerleaders, your team. With their support, you can achieve anything, but without it, it will be almost impossible to sustain those changes you have made.

If you have a health or fitness goal, take some time to think about what exactly you want to achieve, why you want to achieve it, and what you will need from your friends and family if you are going to be able to sustain those achievements, e.g. no more bringing donuts into the office. Next, write down your goal and post it where you and your household can see. Finally, take action to tell those you interact with what your goal is, why it is important you, and that you would like their help. As I said, if they care about you, they will be there for you, and you will be on your way to sustainable results. 

Read The Label, Then Put it Back

If you struggle with what you eat, or you are unsure what is even healthy, I highly recommend spending some time learning how to read nutritional labels. For many, just looking at the nutritional content of a given product before buying it can be enough to completely change one’s eating patterns. Today I want to break down what information we can derive from labels, and why 90% of the time, if it has a label, you shouldn’t be eating it.

Main Page Info

If we look at a standard nutritional label, there are a few main numbers that can tell us a lot about what we are about to consume. Below is a picture to help guide us through this process.

Let’s start at the top, as this is the most important information to have: serving size. The nutritional information on the label means nothing if we do not know the amount of the product we are referring to. For example, this label is for a midsized Gatorade bottle. You can see that the serving size is 8 fl oz (fluid ounces), but that there are 4 servings per container. Drink labels are most commonly misinterpreted because we think of a drink as something we have all at once. Most people would not think to buy a Gatorade but only ¼ of the bottle.

So serving size is first, followed by the number of servings in the container. Next we have the Calories (and on some labels, Calories from fat per serving). In my opinion, this is the least important information on the label. The nutrients that make up these calories will be MUCH more meaningful in regard to how your body responds to the product than total calories.

Next is the breakdown of the macronutrients. We start with fat, which is usually broken out in a variety of ways. On most labels, we will see the saturated fat content and the trans-fat content. On some other labels, you will also find the amount of monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, and even the amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 fats.  The more info the better.

Below this is cholesterol, which, if you read the series on fat, is not nearly as important as once thought. Sodium will usually be provided as well and can be an important number to watch if you have high blood pressure. Processed foods and restaurant foods tend to contain an outrageous amount of salt, so be careful!

Next are the total carbs and another breakout, usually including fiber and sugars. This can be important as sugar is rarely beneficial to one’s health. Fiber on the other hand tends to be very beneficial. The higher the ratio of fiber to total carbs, the better. What you will discover, however, is that the foods that have the best ratios tend to not have any label at all, i.e. vegetables!

The last number we see is for total protein. Protein is essential for optimizing performance and health, so protein content will be important. As with carbs, however, the best place to find protein does not tend to have a label, i.e. fresh cuts of meat.

Once we get through the macronutrients, there is usually some indication of micronutrients (vitamins & minerals). This, unfortunately, tells us very little, as there are hundreds of different vitamins and minerals that are important to include in our diets. Even if we do care about the given vitamins and minerals, we are still only given the percentage of the recommended daily value based on a 2000 Calorie diet. This tells us nothing about the optimal value of such nutrient or the requirements for those individuals with caloric needs other than 2000 Calories.

With the information provided on a generic food label, we have some indication of the breakdown of the food and can form a vague opinion on whether this product will facilitate or hinder our goals. However, there is one more section on most nutritional labels that will tell us infinitely more about the quality of a food product than anything these numbers can: the ingredient list.

What is this Stuff?

The ingredients are listed in order of weight, so there is more of the first ingredient by weight than the last ingredient. When you start learning to read ingredient labels, it becomes harder and harder to find anything that has a label that you would want your body using as fuel.  Let’s come back to our Gatorade example and see what else we can find out.

After our first look, we might already be thinking that Gatorade is not the best thing to be drinking just based on sugar content. As we see, if we drank the whole bottle (which is what most people do), we would be taking in 56 grams of sugar (daily recommendation is no more than 20 for women and 35 for men)! Now if you are an athlete who is looking to optimize performance, this may not worry you (especially if you plan to have it post exercise with some protein). So it’s not THAT bad, right?

Let’s break down the ingredients list and see what we find. First, we have water—good stuff. Second, sucrose syrup (pure sugar), but we could have expected that. Third, glucose-fructose syrup (aka high fructose corn syrup), and this is where things get dodgy. If you don’t already know that high fructose corn syrup is bad news bears, then we will have to save that for another day. Basically, fructose acts much differently in the body than glucose and can lead to rapid weight gain, making it very hard to lose unwanted fat. For the athlete, this is still not optimal because fructose is not as readily used for energy as glucose. Fructose must be first processed by the liver, which slows down the absorption and in excess will lead to issues with insulin sensitivity. Next we have citric acid, probably not terrible in small amounts, but this is one of the reasons many soft drinks and sport drinks can lead to tooth decay, with the acid leading the way in breaking down your enamel.

Now we come to the oh-so-transparent “natural flavors”. Here is the definition of natural flavoring from the Code of Federal Regulations:

"The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional."

This means that a given plant or animal product is broken down in a lab, and through a variety of techniques, is left tasting a desired way. Regardless of what you had hoped to eat, you may be ingesting the derivatives of yeast, bark, or animal by-products. This may or may not worry you, but the fact is that it is a toss-up when it comes to knowing what is in that food. The next three ingredients are different types of salt which we already know is in our Gatorade. What you might not know is that monopotassium phosphate has a duel role in life: as a food additive and as a fertilizer. I’m not sure if this is good or bad, but it is interesting to know. Last but not least, Red 40 and Blue 1. What the heck are those?! These happen to be just two of the many artificial food colorings that are used in foods. Red 40 is produced from coal, Blue 1 from plant oil. Both of these have been linked with hyperactivity in children.

There you have it. Who knew a simple drink could have so much going on. When we start to look at these things, we begin to see a picture of what we are actually consuming. Gatorade in the end is this: water mixed with a potentially helpful sugar (if you are participating in an athletic endeavor), a fat-producing sugar, a tooth-decaying acid, an unknown animal or plant derivative, salt, a fertilizer, and some hyperactive coal & oil.

Read the Label

What we start to find when reading labels is that we MUST look at the ingredients first, nutrients second. I always assume a product with a label is harmful unless proven wrong. Once label reading is a habit, let’s also recognize that food is not just something for our taste buds to enjoy. It is the fuel that that tells our bodies how to feel, look, think, and act. Every time we eat we have an opportunity to increase or decrease our potential. We can give our body what it needs to thrive, or we can leave it struggling to survive. We are not just reading labels for fun, we read them because every food item you chose to eat will have a direct and powerful influence on your life and health. Start by looking at labels and you will see that it is hard to find anything that you really want to use as fuel.

And it’s okay to put it back—your body will thank you.