The hogs are looking younger!  What do you think?

Well Hog followers-

Last night we had our monthly gathering around the mud hole.  Harry landed in Calgary only an hour before and I am heading out in a few hours.  We found the only hour that was possible this month to meet and made it happen.

And so this will be brief.

Harry, Dave, and Brian continued into the negative this month.  Each lost weight over the holiday season.  Brian lost 10 in the first week (losing all that El Salvador water) and maintained that lost through christmas.  Dave continued steadily building his healthy lifestyle, exercising four to five times per week, and shrugging off the tasty treats of Christmas (although I know that was not easy to do).  And Harry also brought in a loss after spending the holiday season in Pheonix and fighting off a cold.

Brian did claim the victory and will make it known on the hog helmet!  He also earned himself a free dinner courtesy of the other two WILD HOGS!

Best of luck this month to you all.  See you when I return!

This month began with a discussion about an elephant.  An elephant, a rider, and terrain.

You might remember, Dave (Dad) struggled last month but was very motivated to get back to top spot.

So I went looking for information that might help.  My line of inquiry, “WHY DO PEOPLE DO THINGS AGAINST THEIR OWN SELF INTEREST?”  In other words, why is it that we fail to do that which we know we should?  And just what exactly ticks inside those who do make it happen?

I came across some research that separated three factors of our behavior- the rider (conscious control), the elephant (unconscious control), and our environment (the terrain).

Let me digress for a moment because this is important. This month actually began with a Wild Hog dinner at Earls including the stunning Wild Hog-ettes!  The hogs had a chance to commiserate their trials and tribulations and tink glasses to their triumphs- a needed congregation of minds and hearts at this point in the challenge.

The story within this story is however the melding of social fun and healthy choices.  What?  No seriously, I assure you it can be done.  You have no idea how often I hear, “I’m not sacrificing fun for health.”  So take note.

Before they went for dinner they had researched the Earls menu (available online) looking for their best options.  Around the dinner table, these details and the three wild hog couples supporting one another in their meal selections.  The point here being that they did not need to order the fettucini Alfredo and sugary beverages to have a good time.  And neither did anyone feel the pressure or place the pressure to abandon wise choices for the sake of their own comfort.  Health was the focal point- and I had great joy from this changing moment.

There is something to be said for the value of social support in guiding our behavior.  If we can improve our environment, make the terrain less treacherous, then we make it easier for the elephant and ultimately the rider.  And to further that point let me share an example about coaching as an environmental modifier as told to me by Ken Low (www.actionstudies.org).

Teachers were taught a new mandated instruction method but failed to integrate this into their classrooms.  Attempts were made over and over again to improve the quality of the courses that the teachers took hoping to increase the implementation rate.  Only 15% were able to successfully utilize the new method.  After more investigation, it was found that most teachers wanted to change, however the frustration of integrating the new method was so great, 85% of them quit trying.  It wasn’t until a coach was placed in the schools to help them overcome their frustrations integrating new skills into old habits, that the implementation rate soared to 95%.  According to Ken Low and his research on human striving, there are six critical points that need to be overcome and at which experienced support will help people:

• Rough start
• Reality of effort
• First defeat
• Fatigue of plateau
• Start and stop cycle
• Good is good enough

I am learning this framework developed by Ken Low, and in a broader context than health, but as I spend time with this material, I can’t help but see the similarities with how FitMetabolism is trying to help people accomplish a healthy lifestyle.

So back to the elephant.

Here is the key.  Most behavior change concentrates on the rider.  We define success based on how successful the rider is, and usually in a short time frame.   Often we submit, as the teachers did, and just give up.  Our expectations are highly linear.  We have previously discussed this being more of a longterm adaptive path, and this makes sense when we include acknowledging our unconscious habits and the environmental matrix we function in.  Imagine trying to master an elephant!  Sometimes the elephant will get what the elephant wants.  And its in the trying to understand the elephant, go easy on the elephant, accept we are more than the rider, but we are actually the elephant too (meaning we can overtime recreate our habits with repeated practice), that will take us further and make us more aware of the terrain we choose to walk on and when.

Here is the link to the document if you are so inclined.

www.thersa.org/projects/social-brain

My outcome of this inquiry is that people don’t do what they know they should because we look for solutions in the wrong place (just try harder, figure it out for yourself, maybe its genetic, etc) and then when we realize how difficult it is we give up.  This is by no means the full answer.  There is always more to the story.  But I know that if we allow ourselves appropriate time and surround ourselves with supportive friends and experienced mentors and coaches, we will be more likely to find success.

Now that we have gone over how the month began, I suppose you’d like to know how the month ended.

Let me tell you that it was our most interesting.

We start every meeting the same.  Often before words, the twenties are discarded onto the desk, and the Hogs place their bets on collective monthly weight loss using tiny blue post-it notes.  Dave (dad) guessed that Brian and Harry maintained and overal 10 pounds were lost between all three.  Brian was more optimistic guessing a total of 18 lbs lost between all three.  And Harry, well Harry guessed that the result would reveal a collective weight gain of 3 lbs.  Huh?

I went to El Salvador missing a week of our meetings and Harry and Brian went the week after I me.

You can read about our adventure at www.blog/stepperhomes.com

In El Salvador we were limited to the food that was graciously provided for us.  Breakfasts including buns, rice, and beans.  Lunch, the same each day, peanut butter and jam sandwiches.  As Brian reinforced how we all felt about that, “I’d rather eat dirt than another peanut butter sandwich!”  And dinner, a variety of different meals, some deep fried.  But we didn’t go to relax and enjoy food.  We went to serve those less fortunate by building them a house.  Harry and Brian were sure that they were going to lose weight there.  Theoretically they did, although the scale didn’t reflect that.

All these sandwiches, buns, rice, and beans, loaded water into their bodies.  Brian actually gained 8 lbs of water.  The science here is that an increase in the % of carbohydrate eaten will often lead to a temporary storage of glycogen which is accompanied by 3 times the amount of water.  The 8 pounds of water only added 5 total pounds so overall he technically lost 3 lbs of body fat.

He was obviously relieved to see those numbers measured at FM after being completely alarmed by his home scale.  Especially because Brian started out the month right on course.  He lost 6 lbs in the first couple weeks.  So with his trip he came out with a 1.5 lb loss overall, however, 9 lbs of total fat loss.  I expect Brian to shed that extra water rapidly as he settles back into his routine so his scale weight reflects the fat loss.

Harry also gained water but only a couple of pounds.  He lost 2 pounds of scale weight while in El Salvador and a total of 3 lbs of fat.

For Harry the month didn’t start out quite as well.  Maybe its the curse of victory?  After winning last month, Harry’s first week was a picture of blind complacency.  He wasn’t really sure why his weight increased, but we looked through his food records and it wasn’t too difficult to understand.  We had a small chuckle about this and he came back the next week swinging two pounds lighter!  Overall this month Harry lost a total of 4 pounds and 6 pounds of body fat.

So what about Dave (dad)?  Did he do it?  Well, after our interesting elephant discussion, I received daily text messages about how he ‘wasn’t afraid of no elephant’ and how he was ‘dominating the elephant’ and so forth.  Not sure he totally understood the concept but it worked.  He dug up some serious will power.

Our standard of accuracy to the diet template is 80%.  Results should happen every time with that, and if not, then it really wasn’t 80% or physiology is adjusting and we need to change the template.  The point is we never expect perfect.  This is a philosophy for living and as such there needs to be some defined room.  But dad was literally 99.9% this month.  He was right on and it paid off.  He lost a total of 10 lbs and 13 lbs of fat.  He reclaimed the prize.

Brian, however, won the $60 wager much to his liking. “I need this money boys!”  15.5 lbs total were lost this month (even though 28lbs of it was body fat).

So far, the cumulative weight loss for the wild hogs is 70 pounds.  We are passed the half way point with approximately 20 lbs remaining for each Hog.  My prediction is that we achieve this by March leaving the last couple of months before the contest completes wide open, where maintenance will be imperative for victory.

We are approaching Christmas, and I will tell you that the Hogs are not worried.  They have developed the knowledge and experience necessary to navigate the holiday terrain- it won’t slow them down.

The gauntlet has now been thrown- Brian you are winning that helmet next month!  And don’t tell us you don’t even like the helmet anyway- that doesn’t matter.  We want your name on it!

January 14th is our next month end.  We are squeezing the meeting in at 6pm Friday night and then they are going for dinner afterwords.  The deal is that the winner will not have to pay.

There are all kinds of small motivators here.  They drum up whatever they can…

November 16, 2010

Is anyone curious how these hogs have been?

In month one, each hog was the same; born of the same mold.  They were eager.  They were excited.  And the weight loss flowed easily.

Comparatively, this month, the true individual journeys began as each hog diverged onto their own separate path.  That being said, each hog had a very different month, different attitude, and ultimately a different short term outcome.

Now, let’s remember that creating a healthy lifestyle is a lifelong process.  And if we take a snippet of that lifetime and only judge success from that we won’t be accurate in our judgement.

Our mainstream perception of health, however, is that it’s a state of being.  You are either healthy or you’re not.  You are either on the straight and narrow or you’re way off track.  Enter the magic bullet and quick fix mentality aimed at getting you back on the path.  (By the way, this drives me absolutely bizzerk.)

But what if health isn’t a state of being, defined as a linear black and white path?  WHat if it is a process whereby success is defined to include difficulties and ‘failures’?  What if we accept that the path is messy, twisty, including normal lapses in motivation and disruptions in routine (as long as we resume the forward motion)?

Would we be less harsh on ourselves and more likely to stay committed to the journey?  If so wouldn’t we be in a better position to deal with this longterm?

In John C Maxwell’s ‘The Maxwell Daily Reader,” he quotes a wise philosopher who commented that an eagle’s only obstacle to overcome for flying with greater speed and ease is the air.  Yet if that air where withdrawn and the proud bird attempted to fly he would fall to the ground instantly unable to fly at all.  He goes on to say that this same law, that obstacles are conditions to success, applies to the human life.  According to Maxwell, life free of obstacles would reduce all possibilities to zero.  So allow problems to motivate you toward greater creativity and strength.

Now with that in mind, let me share the various paths these hogs took this past month in order to illustrate several key FitMetabolism philosophies.

Harry

Harry is actually on the straight and narrow.  He is moving forward at a smooth steady pace.  He went away on a vacation that included several social pressures but was able to ‘micromanage’ his way through it.  He chose his night of participation and simply bowed out of the rest.  He swapped in a few treats for parts of his regular meal and kept his intake approximately the same.  He said, “We have 5 choices to make each day (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner).  Its up to us how well we do with this.”  True.  He has the equation down to a science at this point.  And this month he was the clear winner.

Brian

Brian also went away.  But approached it differently.  He had decided before he left that maintenance was his benchmark for success during this trip.  He exercised daily, he ate well throughout the day, and he relaxed and enjoyed the vacation mode of the evening.  He accomplished his goal of steady weight.  And really there is nothing wrong with that compared to what could of happened to Brian admittedly in the months prior.

So we have seen thanks to Harry, that despite vacation, weight loss is still possible, with the right mental focus.  But we can also choose to maintain our weight using exercise.

Brian feels pleased about his month and I think he should from a sustainable lifestyle perspective, however, the stakes are higher at this point with this being a competition in which his success is also crucial for Harry and Dave.  And that’s my push, Brian we need you in the game!

Dave

Dave struggled this month.  There is no other way to put it.  His routine shifted, work ramped way up, he had a small scare with low blood sugar, and he found himself losing grip of his self-discipline.  In the wake of his struggles, and the emotional defeat, he found it increasingly difficult to get back on track.  He passed up the helmet this week, writing, “First month easy, second not so much.”  I am confident, and I have every reason to be, that Dave will respond with vigor and tenacity from this month.  I’m excited for month three.

This also allows me to highlight how the journey is individual, in that everyone follows a different time frame to these very normal events arising out of the human condition and the social media influence.  Cookie cutter or un-monitored programs miss this mark.  Expertise in science and the human condition pertaining to healthy living, as in a Fm coach, equips people with the capacity to adapt as needed to the changing landscape and ride the bumps smoothly.

Craig Rieger and I were talking last week about how people are so wrapped up and drawn into the media culture of health that when we say, “this is about changing your lifestyle,” they respond with, “ok great so for how long?”

The answer is forever.  FOREVER.   And forever is a good thing, or easier to comprehend when we consider that a healthy lifestyle involves struggle.  And so it is for that reason that we have structured this experiment to span 8 months and continue the year after.

We continue.  In response to this month, I felt that it would be important for the hogs to spend more time together, supporting one another in their quest.  And so these hogs are about to start exercising officially once per week together as part of their normal routine.  I believe this will serve them well.

Stay tuned for month three as we lead into the holiday season!

-Jackie Stepper