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Intuition tells us what we want to hear; pursuit of real knowledge leads us to the limits of what can be expressed mathematically. Beyond that lies the unknowable.

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With exercise we discipline and perfect our body; with study we discipline and perfect our intellect; with meditation we discipline and perfect our desire.

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A set of links to follow up.....stream of consciousness thoughts....

New York Times article suggesting that bariatric surgery is the only truly successful way to lose obesity. She contradicts herself when, after noting that the obesity rate in America has gone from 15% to nearly 40% since 1976, she notes studies suggesting that obesity is strongly inherited. Among other things, it cites food cravings as a reason people who lose weight put it back on.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/19/health/obesity-genetics-surgery-diet.html

 

Yet, with bariatric surgery, patients begin slowly putting on the weight again. Given the relative novelty of the procedures and their rare use, definitive data does not yet exist. But it appears that weight begins to return after as little as two years. By year 5, they have regained 44% of initial weight loss.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/benefits-of-weight-loss-surgery-diminish-after-5-years/

Likewise with food cravings, there is evidence that they are modifiable.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181211190021.htm

Anecdotally speaking, I remember clearly in my youth that the smell or sight of a hot hamburger or warm Cinnabon used exert a huge attraction. In 1997, I returned to vegetarianism and also gave up all foods that had added sugar for taste. By 2007, I found the smell of cooking beef to be revolting and no sweets had any effect on me at all. Interestingly, when I subsequently started eating limited amounts of ethically raised meat, the appeal smell of cooking flesh returned almost immediately. Yet, no cake, cookie, or candy has any effect on me.

We wonder what is the solution to the obesity epidemic and focus on the high the failure rate, but we rarely those who are successful. The National Weight Control Registry, http://www.nwcr.ws/Research/default.htm, tracks individuals who have lost 30 or more pounds and kept them off at least 1 year.  Of these successful individuals, 78% eat breakfast every day, 75% weigh themselves at least once a week, 62% watch less than 10 hours of TV per week, 90% exercise, on average, about 1 hour per day. I suggest we study those who are successful to see what they are doing right.

 As for diet, once again anecdotally, I see it almost every day. In the grocery stores, observe the carts of the obese and those of people who are not. Likewise, my work place has a cafeteria with several venues for food. There is a noticeable difference between people at the grill, which only offers fried food and grilled red meat, and at the Subway or salad bar. Maybe the failure rate of dieting is so high because the advisors are wrong. I have noticed how addictive foods can be: there is no moderation in candies, sweetened baked goods, and sugary beverages. It is all addictive poison. This appears to apply to fatty foods also. Nothing fried is ever in moderation. At one time, I measured 26% body fat, obese for men. I have kept it off since 2005, in part, with the conviction that sugar is the enemy, frying renders everything poisonous, and all red meat demands exceptional respect.

Maybe the solution to the obesity epidemic is so far out of the conception of our advertising-shaped culture that we can no longer envision it. The "you deserve a break today" world paradigm is hedonism and materialism. It makes us obese in mind and body. Marcus Aurelius understood this when he listed the advice from people for which he was grateful: "Not to waste time on nonsense. Not to be taken in by conjurors and hoodoo artists [advertisers, motivational speakers] with their talk about incantations and exorcisms [anything that can be sold]...Not to be obsessed with quail-fighting [football] or other crazes like that. To hear unwelcome truths....To write dialogs as a student [study and write upon those studies]. To choose the Greek lifestyle--the camp-bed and the cloak." This last item is pivotal: simplicity and rigor in life, studies, and exercise.

 

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Jack Daniels calls time off from running due to injury a "setback". He identifies their cause as an error in judgement in training. Seeing the positive side of setbacks, he notes that they have a positive effect on the runner's attitude. While a runner often become depressed while experiencing the setback, he/she usually returns to running with heightened motivation. This enthusiasm can lead the runner to become injured again by returning to previous running mileage and intensity.

My setback was the first in three years, an unusual healthy period of time for a recreational runner. I attribute this to a holistic approach to exercise. In my previous setback, I discovered the split squat. This movement provides a strong stimulus to peripheral muscles in the leg and along the kinetic chain to provide greater stability while running. I ran without issue until my experimentation with zero-drop and minimal shoes. However, I do not think that running in shoes made with this design philosophy caused my current setback. Rather, the particular model I chose is extremely light and, I believe, unstable for my needs.

As with previous setbacks, the extra time and energy I have from not running gives me opportunity to increase my strength training. My knowledge of this form of exercise was mostly gained in the 1980's. I have learned a lot from re-focusing on strength in the era of the Internet and YouTube. My technique in the dead lift has improved dramatically. I learned about the split squat. I have also become convinced of the advantages of combining strength and cardiovascular training to create a more holistic approach to training for health.

Honestly, the setback experience has not been completely positive. I've manage to put on roughly five pounds over the many months. This has a strongly negative impact on my self-image and sense of well-being.

When thinking about the conflicting emotional currents that I've experienced in this Setback of 2018, one moment stands out. An older non-runner remarked at one point during my long down time: "Well, you are getting older...", expressed with emphasis on the verb. Yet, I have watched my non-running peers, often while predicting my eminent demise from running by injury, get knee and hip replacements, pacemakers, or succumb to the universal expanding waist line. I've found the remark to be somewhat taunting and exceptionally motivating. My non-runner friend completely misses the point of all the physical activity. Getting older mandates the activity, it does not provide an excuse to quit it. In our society, the remark becomes an invitation and a challenge: "Give up what you're doing and come get old like us. It's easier. Come be mediocre with us." I train because the alternative is too terrible to contemplate.

 I have said it before: what we associate with getting older is nothing but the accumulated effects of lives spent poisoning ourselves with poor nutrition and completely inadequate amounts of exercise. Miraculously, these effects are reversible, but are best avoided altogether.