Welcome To The Starting Line
This program is what you need to know, and what you are going to learn.
Understanding Energy and the Law
There is no magic pill to fix weight problems. It’s demanding work to change yourself. It’s easy to be what you have always been. We don’t blame the flower seed when it doesn’t bloom. We work the soil and change the environment, so it grows. There is no hope to change until you face something literally life changing. Otherwise, we just rebound back to old times.
This is pivotal to knowing where to start. Whether it’s losing weight, gaining muscle, or developing sport-based skill, we need to know the ins and outs. Not understanding CICO (Calories In/Calories Out) is the biggest misinformation scheme ever. The law of thermodynamics is energy cannot be created or destroyed only transformed. This is a scientific law, not theory. We exist in a world where we follow the law. Thus we all obey. If the law is broken, please let scientists study it.
TDEE is Total Daily Energy Expenditure. This is the amount of energy [Calories- The energy raises temperature of 1 g of water through 1 degree C] you need to stay the weight you are right now. This includes energy for your heart to beat, digest food, or otherwise live. This is not a perfect calculation. It could be a few hundred calories off or the food you each is not as “honest” as it could be. Do not hold this as God speak. It’s an idea to get you to center and know where you are. Think of it like planting a marker to orbit nearby.
As we eat, we convert the energy (calories) into what we need now and what we can store.
When we consume energy in a surplus, it is stored in fat cells. This energy would be used later. This is a survival metric your ancestors needed to survive without ample daily food. The inconvenient convenience is we don’t starve the same way we use to, but we did not evolve away from this trait
When we consume energy in a deficit, it is released from fat cells. Our bodies still need to continue to perform, and the law of thermodynamics will force your body to use this energy up. The more it depletes, the leaner your body becomes.
The food you eat is obviously the calories in; exercise is the calories out. There is the thought to just work out constantly and spike the amount of energy used. Try out training a bad diet, you are in for a disaster. Just go check how many people posted this challenge on YouTube. No one gets through it without a ridiculous amount of effort. Will Tennyson, Erik the Electric, and Ethan Harold have all tried it. They all were miserable for their efforts.
Align the goal posts, warm up your leg.
Setting goals are important. We still need to find the starting point and get directions. Much like traveling in life, how far the destination and what resources are available are crucial? We shouldn’t charter a jet to visit your neighbors or try to drive to the other hemisphere. Saying you’re going to lose 100lbs in 6 weeks is utterly insane. The amount of torture you must suffer through will never be sustainable. It may outright kill you. The plan is to develop an environment where the goals can bloom. Absorb the fact that it will be tough and must be realistic.
The reality is… safe sustainable weight loss is about 1% of body weight per week. For example, if you were 200lb male looking to get to 180lbs safely. It would take about 10 weeks. ([200lb-180lb]/ [200lbs *1%]). Can it be done faster? Yes, but it is exponentially more difficult on the body. Drastic changes in diet and exercise can be hazardous without caution. It’s like removing a leg cast and then told to sprint a marathon the next morning. Most people are not ready but can prepare to accomplish difficult things.
Movie to watch to motivate-Brittany Runs a Marathon- “One Block”.
Sustainable weight loss is a slow process. I used to hear stories about it taking 8lbs of force to rip off a human ear, but if the pressure gradually increases slowly, it can hold quadruple the weight and remain intact. In 2013, Johnny Strange lifted a 32lb keg attached to his earlobes. Another example is the boiling frog concept of slowly turning up the temperature. The frog would just jump out of boiling water, but if the water temperature softly increased over time, the frog would not perceive the danger and be cooked to death. These are graphic depictions, however, it helped me understand a slow steady process. If you like the cliché tortoise and hare fable, then use that too.
Working out is not a chore, but a celebration of what you can do. It’s a way to expand your knowledge of accomplishment. It can feel just as powerful getting a perfect squat for a PR to getting promoted, or any career and family goals. It’s weird to think about that way, but you are important too.
Smart goals. Goals need a bit of intelligence to ensure progress. So the corporate teaching around SMART goals becomes helpful.
The goal must be
1. Specific
Instead of I want to lose weight, set a number. Instead of I want to get stronger, instead I want to bench 225lbs.
2. Measurable
Feels do count for something. There is no better joy than feeling good. Instead of only focusing on subjective feelings, try to have something to track data on what you are doing. It ensures you still are moving on the right path. By creating a stat to follow you can empirically note changes towards or away from goals
3. Achievable
Is it even possible to do what you want? Like a goal of 2% body fat, will probably kill you. It can happen, but why go to a full body shutdown for a few beach pictures.
4. Realistic
It is possible to lose 20% of your bodyweight now. Cut off your leg and boom! You are down a bunch of weight. But will that improve your life?
5. Timeframe
Set a date and hold yourself to it the best you can. If the goal becomes too much or unrealistic, you can realign to get closer but not achieve the full goal
Draw the map to where you are going
Begin to assess if the journey is possible. Take a moment to be honest. The journey will have tough days and change is hard. Consider how far you must go and be proud to make it halfway. You can always start again. It’s like stopping to get gas. The car will take us so far before it needs added resources.
Gather your forces
Begin to work around your main contacts. Work with your family and ask for support. Look to groups to join to keep you focused on the goal.
Adjusting due to headwinds
As we go, the road can meander. Other feelings and overall wellness may bring us off the path. Obstacles will occur. They must for change. However, the obstacles added to the fire, become the fire, and help it burn brighter.
Plan and plan again
We plan for months and months and then improvise once we get hit in the face. Snap back to reality. If we really think about the process, being healthy is a life goal and that goal can change. Think of what you want to improve and once you accomplish it, you might want to change it up. For example, Jordan retired from basketball to play for the White Sox and then back to the Bulls. He challenged something difficult for himself then allowed himself to adjust as time went on.
Where do I go?
There are a lot of options out there to train. Whether it’s a traditional gym to walking classes to Zumba to HIIT workouts, there are options. Do your research on what is within reason to travel. Do they have the equipment you need? Can you build out at home? What are the pricings for memberships, promotions, and offers? This is where baby steps and patience work in your favor.
1. Planet Fitness
Get a lay of the land on your visit. As an associate walks you around, ask about any machine that’s odd or confusing. They can knock out a rep or two and show you. Then ask, what else can it do?
No one is looking at you. There is this notion that all eyes are on you when you work out. Just do your work, most people are also scared they are being watched. Therefore beginner people look around. It’s really a self-serving function. They look to see who is looking. Dress comfortable and effective for the workout style of your choice. If anything, people stare when they are jealous.
Go in with a plan. Know what you are working on before you go to the gym. Please don’t float around. It wastes your time.
Quick plan
1. Warm-up/pre-exhaust
2. Compound movement
3. Corrective movement
4. Unilateral movement
5. Isolation (if needed)
2. HIIT Studios
Listen carefully and start slower than you expect. The high intensity is a lot to overcome and can be quite humbling. No need to go from 0-100 really quick but monitor yourself to be under the full request of the instructor. They might just be pushing seasoned members harder. Ask about regressions and if they don’t have them, they are bad instructors.
3. Yoga Studios
Check bathrooms, vents, and corners of the studio. I used to clean studios for a free membership. They can get gross quick with high moisture and subpar ventilation. Much like HIIT, go at your tempo, even if you feel you fell behind. It may take months to progress. Be kind to yourself and just listen.
4. Powerlifting Gyms
Could be from beautiful campuses to dirty dungeons. Both have their place. Ensure they have equipment you need or be sure to ask how to adjust to your specific goals. This can be a wonderful place to learn mechanics of good lifts and can be a place of utter nonsense depending on the staff.
5. Spin Classes
Set the seat is at hip bone height (top of the pelvis) and seat distance is the distance of your extended fingers to your bent elbow. You can adjust for comfort from there. Be patient again as you adapt.
In fitness there is a counterpoint to everything said. The weird part is every answer is kind of right and kind of wrong. Take it all with a grain of salt. Focus on your goal and listen for people who share the same goal. This does not mean follow them blindly, but you can learn to take the positive things/cues/examples you like and incorporate the elements into the mix.
Nutrition
Get a food scale and a food tracking app. I was told throughout my youth to get good at math because you won’t always have a calculator. Jokes on them. There are now dozens of smart apps to track food intake and plenty of things that track calories burned. The calorie burned apps are all overzealous but consistent. Track to see if you burn more over the same time instead of holding the number as absolute. It isn’t.
Workouts
Find things that you enjoy. If the toughest workout modality was boxing and you hate boxing, don’t box even if it “burned” more fat or whatever. Your best bet is to find a sport or activity that is super fun, and you still have fond memories of. I still work on basketball, even though I don’t do anything more than shoot around. I’m up, sometimes outside, and moving around naturally. I enjoy the time so much and it is not a chore to shoot around.
If you have an animal, walk them more to start. I bet they would love that too. Simple walking is arguably the best thing you should try to do with your body. It’s one of the reasons we evolved to what we are today.
As good as I get if I lied to myself
Fitness lies/truths
It depends on logic. If a trainer claims there is an ultimate exercise for bicep curls, then they are not the brightest. There is an optimal one for you and it depends on what you are doing and not doing as well. Sometimes high rep ranges, sometimes low with higher intensity, tempo changes, or lagging muscle intention are all ways to get better and adjusting to those other ranges/exercises can help get you to your goal. They should ask, what have you worked on today? What are you trying to do? What exercises do you avoid?
Most of the crazy workouts are not the best anything, but a way to get hurt. There is always a way to progress. It may just be the unsexy things you have to do. If you bench all the time, try dumbbells, try incline bench, try flies, try push-ups, change speed, superset, and so on.
Merge into traffic
First few weeks are overwhelming to say the least. You might get upset if everything doesn’t fall into place immediately. It’s okay. There is always resistance to change. Without it there is no consistency at all. If everything changed all the time, it’s pure chaos. However, we can guide ourselves into new things. You have changed things about you from your past. You don’t put your foot in your mouth like an infant anymore. Though we symbolically do this all the time. We changed and can change again.
Can I have a bite?
When discussing macros, this isn’t the crazy macro game of chugging oil to reach certain percentages in a diet. This was more to point out the quick things we should all know.
i. Protein 4 cals/1g and help with muscle development, hair growth, and nail growth.
ii. Carbs 4 cals/1g and help as main source of energy
iii. Fats 9 Cals/ 1g and help with hormones
In the end…
Goals are tough to achieve. Be kind, be adaptive, and keep going. You might not make it to a particular finish line, but it can help get you further than you thought you could go. I finished an 8-month weight loss journey because losing weight impacted a lot of my strength goals. I didn’t feel as good and losing weight was no longer a good option for my overall health. I proceeded to take a few months off and restart with all my added information. Getting past the plateau was easier because now I was prepared for things I did not know before. Hope you get to learn a lot about yourself during this process.
