The Life Ledger

Fitness is a way of life.

My run today was great. I wandered off the Greenway’s a ways, and followed a dirt trail for about 10 minutes. There is something to be said for running trails. Besides the feeling being alone with your thoughts, the uncertainty of the ground can strengthen your ankles. Flowing over the ground lost in the music on your player. I love running to ska or punk. For those would like to try trail running, I would suggest taking a partner for safety. It’s something that takes abit to get used to, and in my case I would only have to push through 50 yards of woods tops to get help. If you do decide to run some trails there are some tools that can help you track where you go.

In fact this run wasn’t for getting ready for my race. I specifically kept it slow in order to get loose, and warm up my body for sparing that I knew was coming in karate. After 15 minutes of bull in the ring, I am officially a brown belt. Boy am I tired… Time to soak the feet and relax for awhile. Not that I mind, it’s a beautiful Spring day here.

And spring is here in full force. New green as far as the eye can see. And Yellow. As if a huge bag of cornmeal had burst open, dusting everything. On the cars, windows, roads. This past Tuesday oak pollen created clouds so dense they looked like smog hanging over the highway. While my white running shoes are bit yellow after today, my sinuses amazingly don’t seem to mind.

One of the most noticeable benefits brought on by my weight loss is the change in allergies. Before I used to be congested from March to May then September through October. Weather changes meant breaking out the sudafed or other drugs, buying so much bet their stock went up a tick. And even then the drugs didn’t do what was expected. What should have wired me, knocked me out. Nyquil seemed like sugar water.

So allergies was one of the primary reasons I started my running in winter. Contrary to what my wife may think, winters here aren’t that bad. Hat, gloves, and decent sweatshirt take care of most days when running. Only a few required me to break out a ski mask. And I had been able to get about 3 months under my belt before the seasons changed and the yellow dust started to replace the snow. I can remember running up a hill, realizing I was following a 2 inch wide bare spot in the trail and surrounded by pine pollen. 20 minutes later I was home, and still no reaction. It was great motivation to keep it up.

I still get hit a little now and then. Rapid weather changes for instance and one tree that I haven’t tracked down yet. But it’s no where as bad as it has been. Walking to the car, I don’t flinch seeing it yellow tinted. I just smile and think about when I should wash it. Waddle on friends.

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New Year’s Resolutions are like spam, dreams of financial gain or weight loss without form to re-enforce their promises.

In writing a previous post I had the above epiphany. It was to be my closure, but it struck a chord. It is simple, memorable, but with more than a grain of truth. So after some discussion with Cris, decided to give it a story of its own.

So why am I having a hard time writing? Both Spam and New Years Resolutions are common enough in our culture. Maybe it’s because no one really takes either one very seriously. The average person gets 7 or more pieces of spam a day. And experience shows how few people actually believe them, all being sent unread to the digital trash. Can the same not be said for New Year’s Resolutions? Look at how long most people keep them. I was making my first resolutions at age 10, only to be broken within 3 months.

There are similarities though in how they play with our psyches. Both encourage the impulse for a quick fix, but usually only end up helping someone else. How healthy do you think your retirement fund is going to be if you chase after “pump and dump” stocks? Or are you expecting that inheritance from a mysterious prince? It’s easy enough to ride that horse to death, so I’ll stop.

So why do we then lie to ourselves about future changes in actions, when we refuse to maintain the needed willpower to follow through? Maybe my google-fu is weak but I couldn’t find any research on how long people take to decide on their resolutions. But in the beginning of December, co-workers usually starting asking each other “what are your resolutions for next year”? Most of the time, people get that look of concentration, do a cursory self evaluation, and choose the least painful thing to promise. So few put actual thought into these “life changes”, requesting more time for serious contemplation.

This is why Cris and I both advocate that people should instead plan out their goals, approaching them as an integral part of life. Usually the same whims that lead you towards fitness are those that can cause you to stumble.

I hate the first of the year.

Okay, that’s a bit harsh.

What I hate is how many people set themselves up for failure. Sometime after the holiday ham and before the midnight bubbly, the average American takes this long look inward. Maybe it’s that change in the last digit of your checkbook. Or the lengthening days that hint at the coming promise of spring. And just as the moon pulls at the sea, we make those same resolutions as last year only to be foiled a few months down the road. And we are used to the cycle. We see those same articles dusted off : Most common resolution, First to go, How long can you last? ….. Sorry, that last sounds abit like spam.

And in droves We the People stimulate the economy: our gym memberships, exercise equipment, fad diets, IRA contributions, increased savings at the Banks. Companies love that financial shot in the arm. They know that very few people keep their resolutions because…

Exercise:
Off to the gym we go, shiny new gear in the trunk. Wait, everyone else seems to have gotten the same deal! Packed parking lots, queues for machines, and not enough clean towels just made my 30 minutes at lunch become 2 hours! After work is even worse. Can’t go outdoors because I’m above the 39th parallel. Anyways, I don’t remember being this sore last year when I started up.

Savings:
It’s time to improve my retirement savings plan. 10% into the 401k, plus 100 a month into an IRA. Hmmmm….. The bills from Christmas just came in. I know, I’ll start next month. But then that’s Valentine’s Day. Oh and taxes, can’t forget Uncle Sam. I’ll try to remember to start this up again in May.

Diet:
Oy, after all that holiday food I need to lose some weight. Time to diet, I’ll try those pills I saw on TV. Shoot, George brought in left over Christmas cookies. Maybe after the Superbowl because Sam always makes the best wings. One or two chocolate hearts aren’t going to hurt. What the hell?! Why aren’t I losing weight!?

So your motivation drops, and with it the focus of your resolutions. With no visible forward progress, you got frustrated and decided to try again in another year. So I say to you, be contrarian in the timing of your resolution. Pick a time that is away from birthdays and holidays. It could lead to a greater chance of keeping it.

So you have taken those first steps: Catching your habits, Drinking water instead of soda, Exercising 30 minutes everyday, Saving 50 dollars every paycheck into your 401k. And you are seeing progress! Slimming of the waist or interest earned, it inspires you to do more. Each time you have a decision you spend more and more time trying to figure out what to do. And you look for more and more aspects of your life to improve.

First let me offer you a whole hearted congratulations. It’s definitely motivating to see progress made. In the second part of this series I’d like to offer a few warnings. It may seem odd to read, but let me explain.

To start with, its easy to have conflicting goals. Wondering how this would happen? A common example is saving of money while eating healthier. Simple economics dictate that fresh fruit and vegetables often costs more as well as being much better for you. So instead of trying to min-max where you search the Best solution, aim for a solid 90% towards your goal. In fact my personal belief is that perfection is an impossible thing to grasp. Also these conflicts can also arise from poorly defined goals and steps.

At the same time, there is also the problem of to many paths and cascading results. Like a grand master chess player or Deep Blue you look ahead to see how your current decision influences what you can decide later. But unlike chess, Life doesn’t have a clear winner. There is no checkmate in which to defeat Mother Nature. The more you try out think, the less actual action you take. Because if you spent 5 more minutes to figure out how to raise the end potential 1 more percent, you can loose it all. Cause see, all those possibilities are just that. Potential, until you finally act.

Lastly, making changes in one’s life can make you tired. At least for me it does. Trying to be aware of every little thing. Watching for those things you can improve. Remembering those new habits you are trying to create. The body, mentally and physically, is used to the old rhythms in life. When you deviate, you add stress until the newness wears off. A great example are all those that flock to the gym with “life changing resolutions”. You know, when parking during January and February is impossible to find. But how many keep at it? By changing too many things at once you can stress your body too much. What happens usually is you get “sick”. Could be a cold, sinus inflection, or more. By keeping those Conscious Acts slow and steady you prevent to much of a shock to your system.

So to wrap this up, I would say I’m a big fan of moderation. It was living in one extreme lifestyle that caused problems in the first place. It would do yourself no good to swing so far the other way that you cause problems yet again.

Or even worse, revert to your old ways.

Continuation from yesterday

I want a new scale.

My wife and I went to Bed Bath & Beyond and looked at scales.  Of course, the one I want is $100 and appeals to my geekier side - it gives % body fat via induction, % muscle mass and body water, stores daily information in memory - the computer in this scale could probably have launched a shuttle in the 60’s.  Immediately, I snatched up the box and clutched it to my chest, headed for the checkout counter and planned my evening programming the scale and setti…

Wait a minute.  Isn’t this how I used to eat?

What a shocking realization that was.  I used to make impulse food choices based on cravings, then spend my meal planning out the next two days’ lunches and dinners based on cravings I wasn’t able to satisfy that day.  Now I realize I’m doing the same thing with purchases.  My scale’s not broken - it may not launch the shuttle, but it gives a digital readout every time I stand on it.  (I have a psychological, albeit cynical, problem with a scale made by a company called Thinner, but that’s another story altogether.)  I can certainly afford to spend $100 on a nice scale, but that’s not the point - just like I used to be emotionally eating, at that moment I was emotionally buying.

I put the scale back.  I put my financial fork down.

I started reading The Simple Dollar and I Will Teach You To Be Rich, two fantastic personal finance blogs, after completing the Optifast program.  They became part of my daily exercise routine - get up at 5:30am, grab my water bottle, ride my stationary bike for half an hour and read my RSS feeds.  I started realizing the same behaviors that led to unhealthy eating - emotional eating, impulse eating, eating based on cravings, not setting goals and limits - also translated to unhealthy spending.  I started paying attention to my spending habits and was stunned at how often I would make an impulse or emotional purchase, confusing “I want” or “I crave” for “I need.”  Just like I had established long-term goals and short-term limits in order to shape new eating behaviors and habits, I found I needed to do the same for my spending habits.

Thus, the new paradigm was born - my body is a bank.  This new paradigm has already been beneficial to me in at least two ways:

1. I no longer have an emotional attachment to weight loss.
   Before, when I would look at myself in the mirror and the numbers on the scale, I would become overwhelmed with the need to lose weight… and promptly eat a 12″ Subway sub.  I thought of myself as a loser, stupid, incapable of making lifestyle changes, which made me even more depressed and overwhelmed, and even more unlikely to change.  If I’m a loser anyway, what’s the point?    

   Now, I look at my physical health in an objective manner - I make deposits (eat healthy foods, drink water, exercise) and withdrawals (eat comfort food, drink coffee); I earn interest on the deposits I make (lose weight, get more sleep, feel better).  Just like my bank account, my body is an investment which has clear cause and affect relationships with choices I make.  No longer am I a loser - now I am a choice maker with the power to affect my fitness.

2. I can use financial goal-setting strategies to control my fitness.
   There doesn’t seem to be any cohesion to weight-loss strategies - no over-arching, consistent, step-by-step advice for losing weight and leading a more fit lifestyle.  All I read is this person’s top 15 tips for weight loss, that person’s top 5 tips for exercising more, a third person’s list of foods to eat, another doctor’s list of foods not to eat that directly convtroverts other lists - there’s no consistency, no clear way to proceed.  

   Look at the finance advice out there, though, and it’s a different story.  Instead of this person’s top 25 different purchases to make on your credit card and that person’s top 10 bills to pay first, you see consistent advice and strategies.  A short synopsis of some strategies that I have already adopted include (I will write more on these later):

1. Calculate your net worth.
   Fitness is about more than physical health, and physical health is about more than weight.  Your bodybank net worth should include information like your moods, your stress level, your % body fat, your waist size, and more.  It is imperative that your bodybank net worth evaluation include something positive.
2. Set a budget.
   In general, building an investment account requires spending less than you earn.  Similarly, building your bodybank account will require consuming less calories than you burn.  Set a concrete budget of daily calorie allowance, and split that budget equally between at least 4-5 meals per day.
3. Set goals according to achievements.
   It’s easy to set a goal like “lose 20lbs” or “exercise 30 minutes a day” - it requires no effort and no investment to make nebulous statements, and likewise requires no effort and no investment to fail at achieving them.  Instead, set your goals to practical, every-day achievements you would like to accomplish.  If you fly frequently, set a goal to fitting in the coach-class seat more comfortably.  If you have a small child or dog, set a goal to keep up when they run and play hide & seek or “keep the ball away from the human.”  Whatever your goal is, it should be attached to an achievement you are emotionally invested in - when you reach this goal, you should feel a major sense of accomplishment.
4. Track spending and investments.
   In order to reach your goal, you need to track your daily activity to ensure you are on track.  Every calorie, every glass of water, every minute of exercise, every step on the pedometer, every hour of sleep - any data that are important to your new fit lifestyle should be recorded.  Doing so is a daily reminder of your budget and goal.
5. Control impulses with the 10-second rule.
   Take some time to evaluate food cravings - are you actually hungry, or are you emotionally hungry?  Are you craving broccoli because you lack vitamin C, or are you craving a hamburger because you need emotional comfort?  I find if I drink some water and involve myself in busywork, 9 times out of 10 I’m not craving that hamburger ten minutes later.

Which brings me back to the scale.  It seems like a trivial thing to draw a line in the sand over, but I have to start somewhere.  Over the next few days, I will be applying the lifestyle lessons I learned from my weight loss experience to my finances.  It may take me several months of saving a nest-egg in a high-APY savings account before I buy that scale, but it will represent my last impulse buy and my first purchase based on choice and reason.