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A better way to think about losing weight

December 20, 2016 By Frank Beard Leave a Comment

One of the reasons that we struggle to lose weight, I believe, is that we often attempt to do it using an ineffective framework.

I’m not talking about the wrong diet, the wrong tips and tricks, or even the wrong form of exercise, but rather the way we think about weight-loss.

When we set a goal weight and focus on reaching it through temporary strategies, we fail to address the reason we got fat in the first place: the way we live our lives. Nor do we learn the necessary long-term behaviors to avoid regaining the weight we lose.

Obesity is a primarily a lifestyle-induced state of affairs; and by following the traditional framework, we treat the effects and ignore the problem itself.

But there is a better way.

THE PROBLEM: GOAL WEIGHT

When many of us begin our weight-loss journeys, we do so with a certain number in mind. Maybe it’s what we weighed when we fit into “that pair of pants”, or what we weighed before we began gaining weight. Whatever the reason, we make the number the goal and search for strategies to reach it.

Diets. Fitness bootcamps. Maybe even something from one of those gimmicky books or “documentaries” that suggest we’re suffering from too many toxins (we’re not) and a lack of green smoothies. (not that either)

Even if we do settle on a seemingly reasonable strategy, it’s doubtful that we’ll sustain it in the long-run. After all, there’s a perception that successful weight-loss is characterized by grit, determination, and a degree of suffering. We buckle down and begrudgingly follow a plan in order to reach that magical number on the scale. Do you want to live like that for the rest of your life?

(And before my bodybuilding friends harass me for including “paleo” on my comic: I understand that many people enjoy following the paleo diet in the long-run—which is great—but the proponents of the diet camps often promote their diets as The Solution For Everyone when that’s clearly not the case)

Some people eventually reach their goal weight, but many never do. Most diets fail. And while some people experience initial success, many regain the weight and fall into a repetitive habit of yo-yo dieting where they lose, gain, lose again, and gain again. It’s enough of a problem that many people have given up and decided that they’re helpless victims of factors outside of their control—things like genetics, environment, and addictive, unhealthy food.

But the trouble isn’t that we’re incapable of losing weight, it’s that we’ve been attempting to do it with a flawed framework. This strategy, which I refer to as goal weight, is based upon a misunderstanding of the problem itself.

Here’s what I mean.

Extra weight isn’t something that “just happens” like when we catch a cold, nor is obesity a disease that’s transmitted through air, fluids, or contact with other obese people.

Obesity is primarily a lifestyle-induced state of affairs. The extra weight we struggle against—even though it may be affected by factors outside of our control—is a side-effect of the way we live our lives. I’m talking about our assumptions, mindsets, and the resulting behaviors. Things that we actually can change. This may require a degree of effort, but only in the sense that habits are stubborn and and honest introspection can be challenging.

Diets and bootcamps don’t fix the problem. They focus on the effects. The goal weight strategy would have us endure a plan until we reach a specific number on the scale, but then what? Are we going to stay on the diet forever? Do the diets and bootcamps teach us what to when we’re finished? Probably not. These plans may deliver weight-loss, but not the behaviors and mindsets needed to maintain it. When finished, we return to a lifestyle which largely resembles the one that made us fat in the first place.

That’s the most significant problem with the goal weight approach, but it’s not the only one.

How do we know that our goal weight is even realistic? How do we know if it’s what’s best for us?

A person might say that his goal weight is 165, but really: what does that even mean? The scale doesn’t measure health. Nor does it tell us about the quality of the life we live. This isn’t to say that there’s difference between 400 and 165, but rather that a person’s goal weight may not be his best weight.

Think about it. Why 165? Why not 170, 180, or even 160 or 155? Is it because 165 reflects an nostalgic time from a few years ago? A favorite pair of pants? Or perhaps it’s just a number that’s considered “acceptable”.

We need to remember that our weight—as I’ve mentioned—is primarily a lifestyle-induced state of affairs. This means that for each of us, different weights will require different day-to-day behaviors.

I could probably squeeze a few large pizzas a week into my life and manage to stay around 180 or 185, but I can’t do that and remain at 160. It just doesn’t work. Likewise, a person may discover that his goal weight requires behaviors that he doesn’t enjoy. Or he might discover that the life he actually enjoys living results in a weight that’s lower—or higher.

The point is that we don’t know. Unless there’s a specific reason why we need to be at a certain weight, the goal weight strategy is based around an abstract number.

We can’t assume that’s what’s best for us.

THE SOLUTION: BEST WEIGHT

Instead of searching for temporary solutions to reach a goal weight, wouldn’t it be better we focused on living the healthiest life we’re comfortable living and accepted whatever number shows up on the scale?

That’s why I propose thinking about weight-management according the best weight framework.

I’m not the first to come up with this idea, nor am I the one who coined the phrase; the naming rights belong to Dr. Yoni Freedhoff. As he wrote in Vox, recently:

If you want to succeed with long-term weight loss, it’s crucial that you embrace both reality and imperfection.

Remember, too, that your best efforts will vary. Your best when facing a challenging time in life will be different from your best when everything is hunky-dory, just as your best on your birthday, or on a vacation, or at a holiday meal will require indulgence.

The truth is there will come a point where you can’t happily live any better — where you can’t happily eat less and you can’t happily exercise more — and your weight, living with that life, is your best weight. In every other area of our lives we readily accept our best efforts as great, and we need to do that with weight and healthful living too.

This solution gets to the root of the problem rather than attempting to alter the effects. It keeps us focused on what matters: the way we live our lives.

People who use the best weight framework will focus on cultivating healthy, sustainable mindsets and behaviors. That’s because they’re playing the long-game rather than looking for a short-term fix. They also recognize that weight is a side-effect of the way they live their lives, and they can avoid harmful weight-gain my living their lives in a way that doesn’t cause it.

Of course you might be wondering: what if someone’s best actually keeps them overweight?

That’s why I included the flowchart in the above picture. I promote best weight as a cyclical feedback loop that enables us to be adaptable and responsive. If a person honestly believes that he’s living the healthiest life he can live, and his weight plateaus at a level that he’s not comfortable with, then he’s going to reflect on this and reassess the situation. Perhaps he can do better. Perhaps his priorities have now changed and he’ll focus on healthier behaviors than were previously acceptable. Or maybe he’ll just accept that this weight is his best weight.

Regardless of the outcome, a person who’s honest with himself and follows this framework will be in a far better situation than someone who’s always on the lookout for the One True Diet.

And let’s be honest: the people who aren’t struggling with their weight—your friend who runs marathons, or that family member who always raves about healthy living—it’s not that they’ve found the right diet, life-hack, or set of tips and tricks; nor is it that they’ve discovered some elusive secret that nobody else knows.

They live their lives in a way that doesn’t produce serious weight-gain. That’s it. And we can do the same by internalizing the best weight framework.

It works for me, at least. I rarely step on scales, and the goals I set have nothing to do with reaching or maintaining a certain weight. If I achieve my fitness goals, eat a healthy diet that I enjoy, avoid lifestyle-induced illnesses, and feel good about what I see when I look in the mirror, then who cares what the scale says?

Just remember that it takes time. Success in this area is about playing the long-game, reflecting, reassessing, and making continual improvement when possible. Embrace the journey, enjoy being a lifelong learner, and step outside of your comfort zone and embrace new experiences.

Figure out what’s really best for you, and do it.

Did you enjoy this? Am I wrong? Leave a comment and let me know. If you think it’s great, I always appreciate shares on social media.

Myth No More: Discovering healthy options at the NACS Show expo is easy

December 13, 2016 By Frank Beard Leave a Comment

Click here for a PDF of my feature article from the November 2016 issue of NACS Magazine.

Not only did I speak at this year’s NACS Show in Atlanta, but I searched the exhibit halls looking for the best, most innovative products. In the style of my “30 Days of Gas Station Food” experiment, I wanted to see what better-for-you products were available from the vendors.

The result? I discovered a fascinating story about KIND working to modernize the Food and Drug Administration’s definition of ‘healthy’, found a lot of fantastic products, and probably spent a bit too much time at the RedBull booth.

Check it out.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLtcX3iDEeM/

30 Days of Gas Station Food: A man’s journey to debunk the myth of eating out

December 12, 2016 By Frank Beard Leave a Comment

Challenges aren’t excuses

November 14, 2016 By Frank Beard Leave a Comment

Typical KCMSD: they even put the wrong suffix on my name badge.

Having been a teacher as well as a fat guy, I’ve noticed some parallels between education and weight-management.

I taught middle-school science for a few years after graduating from Drake University. My classroom was in the lowest performing school of an inner-city district that’s earned a reputation for chronic underachievement. As you might imagine, this presented some unique challenges.

My senior year of college. — 2007. Senior year of college.

It’s not just that I’ve had countless objects thrown at me, been shoved into a desk, been told to “fuck off” more times than I can count, or that I was forced to devote large portions of instructional time to managing the behavior of a small number of students at the expense of the rest.

The problem was that every day was a battle against the effects of issues beyond my control. Things like generational poverty, inept and ineffective district leadership, and deeply-ingrained norms of behavior that were hostile to the learning environment.

But despite the challenges, I always demanded the best from both my students and myself.

I worked hard to bring my “A” game and to find ways to help my students succeed. When they struggled to understand kinetic and potential energy, for example, I opened Rollercoaster Tycoon and “hired” them as consultants to fix my faulty theme park rides. When it became obvious that there was little to no money for classroom supplies—even though the district had plenty of money—I used my own. I was also the only teacher in the district who sent students to the Greater Kansas City Science and Engineering Fair.

I held everyone to high expectations. That’s because no matter where my students came from, what they dealt with at home, or how little support we received from the school and the district, I knew they could succeed in the classroom.

What kind of teacher would I be if I didn’t?

franktfasmall — 2008. First year of teaching.

But appeals to individual effort aren’t particularly useful when discussing the systemic, root causes of the problems that my students faced. Nor do explanations like “lack of effort” explain why low-income students have lower educational outcomes than their wealthier counterparts.

That’s why we have very different conversations when discussing solutions for groups and individuals.

With groups, we focus on large-scale, systemic problems, and we propose solutions that will ideally influence individual outcomes. That’s why folks who work in public policy focus on generational poverty, the lack of access to quality medical care, and improving crime-ridden neighborhoods. It’s why they seek ways to ensure parents have access to jobs with good pay and benefits.

But just as individual solutions have limited utility for group concerns, systemic concerns aren’t particularly useful when discussing individuals. It’s not that they aren’t relevant; it’s just that there’s no realistic reason to dwell on them since they’re beyond our control.

I couldn’t control what happened to my students at home, and I couldn’t change how poorly managed the schools were, but I could try to influence behaviors and mindsets. I could also focus on mine. To toss in the towel and point the finger at systemic problems was to admit a defeat that, although probable, was not predetermined.

And that’s what bothers me about the discussion surrounding weight management.

If some best-selling books and supposed experts are to be believed, obesity isn’t a lifestyle-induced state of affairs that we can change by modifying our behaviors, but rather a condition that’s predetermined by issues outside of our control. And it’s not the individuals who spin a narrative of partial truths and blatant nonsense; even some of the best, most well-regarded experts write about this issue in a way that conveys a sense of helplessness.

An uninformed individual might conclude that it’s silly to even attempt to try to lose weight. Why bother, right? You’ll just gain it back.

But this is no different than telling a low-income student he’s wasting his time trying to better his life. Why go to college? Don’t know you know that your future has largely been determined by the income of your parents? Oh sure, there’s exceptions, but they’re just that: exceptions. There’s a good chance that you’ll arrive at college in need of remedial classes, and if you do manage to graduate, you’ll probably earn less than your wealthier counterparts who have the exact same degree.

Thank god that’s not the strategy we take!

But it sure is a popular approach when discussing weight-management. We point to the overwhelming failure of diets, misrepresent metabolic adaptation and its layman phrase—starvation mode—to suggest that regaining weight is inevitable, and we point fingers at the addictive nature of certain foods as if we’re helpless to resist. We stretch the truth and find every excuse to rationalize why we’re doomed from the start.

Take a look at this passage, for example. It’s from a new weight-management book that I noticed at Barnes and Noble yesterday.

It’s been four years, and I’m still waiting for this “starvation state of emergency”.

When one of my students arrived exhausted after staying up late babysitting her teenager sister’s newborn child, I didn’t let her use that as an excuse. It was an obstacle in her way, for sure; but I refused to let her sleep through class. She’s better than that, and I told her so.

Which is why I’m not impressed when people play the excuses game.

They cite statistics about the failure of diets as if they’ve unearthed some groundbreaking kernel of wisdom, but the teacher and cynic in me knows it’s not that simple. Many diets are laughably absurd in the first place, and many folks who attempt more-reasonable plans don’t even stick to them. I’ve watched friends and family members do this.

More importantly, however: dieting has never been a wise strategy for anything other than short-term changes. Of course it fails! Dieting is to weight-management what ‘drill-and-kill’ test preparation is to education: a temporary solution that fails to position people for sustainable, long-term results.

But our choices aren’t limited to “diet or remain overweight“.

If you want to see results, then change the way you live your life.

Instead of living a lifestyle that causes weight-management problems, learn to live the healthiest life that you can comfortably sustain. Critique your behaviors: identify bad habits, unproductive mindsets, and determine which changes will produce the most benefit. Learn about nutrition. Work to develop a healthier relationship with food. And as for exercise? Explore various types of physical activity until you find one that you actually enjoy—even if it’s walking. We’re born to move, and I believe our lives are better when we do.

I don’t deny that there’s challenges. If losing weight was easy, then obesity wouldn’t be an issue. The rapid increase in nationwide obesity rates beginning in the early 1980’s also suggests that there’s more to the story than a sudden crisis of willpower.

But there’s always people who will turn challenges into excuses.

That’s nothing new.

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Why “30 Days of Gas Station Food” matters

October 17, 2016 By Frank Beard Leave a Comment

I’m in Atlanta this week at the NACS Show: the convenience-store industry’s premier event.

If you’re in attendance and wish to contact me, please use this form. I typically respond within the hour.

The subject of healthy living, it seems to me, is often made unnecessarily complicated.

Ever since I lost eighty pounds and discovered a better way to live, I’ve paid close attention to the conversation and debates. Instead of a general consensus about what healthy living looks like, there’s a lot of conflicting opinions.

The messages from the diet and weight-loss industries are a perfect example. Drink a bunch of green smoothies, says one person; carbs are your problem, says another; and let’s not forget the current detox fad that probably isn’t going anywhere anytime soon—despite having no scientific basis. Millions of Americans also watch a reality show where morbidly obese individuals are paraded around and subjected to unhealthy diet and fitness regimens that, it turns out, cause long-term damage. This is the same show that promoted a fitness celebrity who sells “diet pills” even though no such thing exists.

And let’s not forget the Food Pyramid: a framework that millions of us learned about despite being beset with numerous problems. Or the confusion that arises from never-ending debates about which diet is the One True Diet.

Regardless of who or what is the primary cause, however, it’s undeniable that folks are often confused and misguided.

Can you blame them?

Even c-store industry research has noticed this state of affairs. The Hudson Institute revealed as much in “Health & Wellness Trends and Strategies for the Convenience Store Sector”, a 2015 report:

Yet, the definition of “healthy” to consumers can be a variety of things. Healthy eating means low carbs, high protein to serve as energy source, or even gluten-free for health or general dietary reasons. This variability transfers to labeling checking as well, as there are also a varied number of items that consumers “fact check” on labels.

But a few dominant narratives have emerged, and there’s one in particular that concerns me: the idea that healthy eating does not take place when “eating out”.

Mention this to your friends and family. Tell them that you’ve “stopped eating fast-food” or “stopped eating at restaurants and decided to prepare your own meals,” and they’ll probably nod their heads and congratulate you for having made a wise decision.

I suppose I can’t fault them since the narrative is all around us. There’s movies like Supersize Me, of course, but there’s also a subtlety that slips under the radar. It’s the friend who says she gained twenty pounds after joining her coworkers for lunch at a local restaurant for a few months, or the family member who says he’d lose weight if only he could stop eating at McDonald’s and Arby’s. The implication is that “eating out” is bad for our health.

But there’s just one problem.

It’s not true.

A person can be completely unhealthy while shopping at upscale grocery stores and preparing their own food—if they buy the wrong things and consume too much. Restaurants, gas stations, and fast-food are no different.

Besides, eating-out is a rational choice in our modern way of life. We work long hours, have busy schedules, and some of us work multiple jobs. There’s also folks like me who have abnormal travel schedules. I travel four to five days each week, visiting locations all around the United States. This means that I often can’t cook my own meals—despite the fact that I enjoy doing so.

Do our on-the-go, busy lives mean condemn us to diminished health and increased waistlines? Is that the price to be paid?

Of course not.

But the narrative suggests otherwise, and I’ve watched as folks beat themselves up for something as simple as stopping at a c-store on their lunch break. They think they’ve done something wrong. Something unhealthy.

That’s one of the reasons why I conducted this experiment. I wanted to empower others by helping them understand that healthy eating is not dependent upon 1) where they purchase their food and 2) whether or not they prepare it. It can even take place at a gas station—if folks purchase nutritious food and consume a reasonable amount.

Interestingly enough, I discovered that the c-store industry is working hard to innovate and put healthful food in front of their customers. If you’re at the NACS Show this week, I’m speaking Thursday morning at 8:00am in Room A314. I’ll tell you all about it.

Was my experiment a success, though?

Yes. Absolutely.

If you followed my daily updates on Reddit’s /r/loseit, kept up with the media coverage, monitored my Instagram feed, or listened to the Convenience Matters podcast and read my recent article in NACS Magazine, I think you’ll arrive at the same conclusion.

More importantly, however, are the responses I received from people who followed my journey. One fan regularly goes on long road trips, and she says that I inspired her—that I helped her to remember that she’s the one in control of her health. Spending long hours on the road doesn’t mean that she’s doomed to make unhealthy choices.

Healthy living can involve purchasing a veggie tray at a Kwik Trip, a container of celery and peanut butter from HyVee Gas, or a low-calorie breakfast sandwich from Kum & Go. It can also be as simple as a pack of mixed nuts or a few hard-boiled eggs from Love’s Travel Stop.

It doesn’t have to be complicated.

It’s about each of us making intentional, wise, and nutritious choices. It’s about living the healthiest life that we’re capable of sustaining in the long-run; and the question of whether we shop at upscale grocery stores or regularly eat on-the-go is largely irrelevant.

But perhaps it takes a crazy guy who eats at gas stations for a month to get the point across.