# Why we must maintain our bodies Most aspects of living well require a healthy body: - The health of our body determines our ability to [think creatively](mind-creativity.md), [sleep](sleep.md), [have fun](fun.md), and [generally succeed](success-1_why.md). - Besides improving our [memory](mind-memory.md) from the extra blood flow, our brain actually *rebuilds itself* from exercise! Weight management is absurdly easy to understand, but challenging to do: - Dieting requires changing [complex mental habits](habits.md) over a long period of time. - It takes tremendous [self-discipline](success-1_why.md) to get past how *boring* exercise can become. - Unlike most other types of effort, there's simply no [creative shortcut](mind-creativity.md) to a healthy body. All effective diet and exercise programs change habits, which are naturally uncomfortable and frustrating: - People often obsess about calories because they imagine it takes more precision, but it only needs more [self-discipline](success-5_persevering.md) and [awareness](awareness.md) of those habits. - To avoid sabotaging willpower, get enough [sleep](sleep.md) to avoid extra stress. - Have a [creative outlet](mind-creativity.md) to avoid boredom that could lead to mindless eating. - If you're not losing weight from eating correctly or in severe pain while exercising, you aren't sticking with what you *can* achieve and burning out by trying to do too much over too small a period of time. Weight management may feel intimidating: - Many "health experts" are constantly [marketing](marketing.md) a specific system they imply is the only easy way to lose weight. - Most weight management issues are about [attitude](success-2_attitude.md): one of the best ways to succeed at diet or exercise is to imagine that you're helping out your "future self". Most [modern health issues](body-4_health.md) can be solved simply by eating correctly and exercising regularly. ## Metabolism is relatively straightforward Many claims and premises by self-professed health experts are contradictory or false: - They're trying to [sell a product](marketing.md), so they'll usually include the truth while [omitting key details](people-lying.md) that may make that product unnecessary. - For that reason, there's a *lot* of [misinformation](stories-storytellers.md). ### 1. Saliva, stomach acid, and bile digest food Saliva starts breaking down food. Stomach acid and microbes in the stomach dissect the food into usable nutritional components. Bile and microbes in the intestines break down anything that passed through the stomach. The large intestine and colon take water out of the remaining waste before it's expelled. ### 2. The components that were food go where the body needs it Carbohydrates become energy: - Carbs are converted into glucose, then the body's cells use insulin to process it. - The body digests simple carbs (sugars) first, but dietary fiber (often from fruits and vegetables) slows down the metabolism of simple sugars. - Complex carbohydrates (starches) such as grains digest more slowly because they're a chain of simple carbs. - The digestible parts of fiber and complex carbs are a steady feed, so the body can easily produce enough insulin without creating a "sugar crash". - The indigestible parts of fiber often go right through the body, often scraping (and therefore "cleaning") the sides of the intestines along the way. Proteins are building blocks for most of the body. Fats serve a wide variety of purposes including storing energy, insulating the body from harm, and helping synthesize/transfer protein. Salts are used to power muscles. Vitamins and minerals have a vast variety of small, specific uses. ### 3. The body converts extra components for another purpose or throws them out Extra glucose is stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver until needed, converted into fat, or discarded in urine. Extra proteins and fats are turned into energy to fuel the body. Our body fat is either white or brown: - White fat is what we tend to think of, and is a blubbery consistency. - Brown fat is denser and generally less risky to have, helps insulate us better, and tends to come from exposure to freezing weather. Surplus salts and some vitamins are discarded (water-soluble). Some extra vitamins are stored in body fat (fat-soluble). Any food still in the stomach when someone [goes to sleep](sleep.md) *will* get stored. ### 4. Anytime the body needs, it pulls from storage First, the body pulls from whatever's in the stomach. Then, it'll draw from a quick-access calorie storage reserve. Following that, it'll get rid of extra tissue it doesn't need (e.g., unused muscle). Finally, it'll use stored body fat. After over a day, the body will move into "starvation mode", where metabolism decreases. ## Irrespective of your body type, good diet and exercise are always within the same range Exercise on a daily or near-daily routine to increase heart rate: - Everyone needs 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week. - It's also framed as 20-30 minutes, 5 days a week because less exercise over more days creates better results. - The extra blood flow pushes everything through the body's systems faster. - Any built-up plaque on blood vessel walls knocks off as well from the increased blood flow. - Sweat helps push out waste products from the body. - Muscles burn 3 times as many calories as fat cells, so weight-lifting can intensify burning calories. - Along with increasing muscle mass, working out improves your skeletal structure. - Exercise is a *great* way to stay healthy, but has *very* little direct impact on weight loss. Eat enough calories to survive: - The average human needs ~2000 calories a day, though our bodies are capable of living with *way* less during times of [severe hardship](hardship.md). - If you're overweight, the ideal range is ~1800 calories a day, if at all possible. - More muscle mass requires more calories to maintain. - The quickest way to lose weight is to restrict calories. Eat the right proportions of each food group: - Dairy: 3 cups - Vegetables: 2-4 cups - Fruits: 1.5-2.5 cups - Grains: 5-10 ounces - Meat, Beans, Nuts: 5-7 ounces - Fats, Oils: 5-12 teaspoons - However, these *can* shift for long periods without any long-term consequence if you shift them again to something else later. Eat enough of all the body's essential vitamins and minerals: - You can get everything you need by routinely eating various vegetables and fruits with a steady input of meat (especially fish) and cultured dairy (e.g., yogurt). - Often, most food cravings that haven't been satisfied are often from the body wanting a specific trace nutrient. Keep body fat within a certain percentage range of your total weight (context-sensitively, males require ~2-17% and females require ~10-24%). Stay hydrated enough, since most hunger signals are often simply dehydration. Don't eat too much of any one thing: - Too much protein causes gout. - Too many carbohydrates cause diabetes. - Too much salt causes heart disease. - Too many fat-soluble vitamins or minerals can cause a vast range of problems. For this reason, every effective weight-loss system combines a few simple concepts: 1. Eat fewer calories, fat, protein, or carbohydrates than you need for weight maintenance. 2. Exercise more frequently to burn more calories than you're consuming and push out undesirable elements. 3. Distract your mind from eating via a conditioned response or alternative food choices. However, the details will vary depending on your goals: - To maximize performance throughout your day, eat 5-6 small meals to avoid a dipping metabolism. - The easiest way to lose weight is through intermittent fasting (not eating for at least 8 hours a day). - Another technique is with Alternate Day Caloric Restriction (ADCR), where you cut your calories 50-80% every other day. - Your body knows (or can be trained) toward various diet variations, but you'll often only know the correct one for yourself after experiencing them firsthand. ## Clarify your goals and habits There are profound differences between managing weight, fat, and health. Weight management is keeping body mass below a certain threshold: - Weight is easy to track, so many diets only measure weight. - However, weight alone doesn't account for health or muscle mass, so it provides the least medical benefits. - Further, muscle weighs more than body fat, so it won't show clear progress. Fat management focuses on getting rid of excess body fat, typically for the sake of image: - Fat management is more difficult to measure (fat calipers or ultrasound device instead of a scale), but it most closely reflects on physical appearance. - Fat management is far healthier than weight management, but *still* doesn't consider other factors like metabolism or nutrition. - It's worth noting that having photogenic abs require losing nearly *all* your body fat, irrespective of how many sit-ups you do. [Health management](body-4_health.md) is maintaining a proper healthy diet and exercise regimen: - Managing health focuses on maintaining or increasing energy and physical wellness far more than looking attractive or losing weight. - This approach is the least direct because it requires multiple measurements and tracking feelings, but is the longest-lasting and yields the most general satisfaction. - If you aren't sure which one to maintain, work on your health. Strength management is training your body for an athletic purpose: - Strength management is often very rigorous, and is directed toward a *very* specific purpose (usually for a sport). - It's not as popular because of how much work it takes, but is easy to measure and the most [fun](fun.md). - You'll likely be so focused on [succeeding](success-5_persevering.md) that you'll likely not notice you've lost weight and look good! Habits are easy to build, if you're patient: - Focus on small goals first, then move upward as you stay consistent. - For dieting, have a very specific physical goal (e.g., a bathing suit) and imagine it frequently whenever you get a food craving. - For exercise, prepare a simple cue that [triggers](habits.md) your activity (e.g., lacing up shoes, drinking a glass of water) and a simple reward (e.g., a piece of chocolate, recording your accomplishment), then look forward to those cues. No matter what, *always* take 1 day off every week: - Without a day to [rest from workouts](trends.md), your body will burn out. - If you don't give yourself a reprieve from dieting, you'll lose your willpower. - Your thyroid hormones self-regulate when exposed to consistent stress, so planning to "fail" is better than waiting for it to happen. - Make sure to regulate your portions on your day off, or you'll lose any progress you had made. ## Focus on the right things Work out and eat well for something beyond yourself: - Your physical appearance won't contribute to your attractiveness *nearly* as much as your [happiness](mind-feelings-happiness.md). - You can't fight your genetics, so ignore popular culture's push to change your image. - Instead of focusing on having a great body, focus on having a *[useful](purpose.md)* one (which is why it's called "fitness"). - You should have a specific goal for your new strength, endurance, or whatever. - You can offset most of the [hardships from aging](hardship-aging.md) by staying lean, muscular, and limber for as long as you can, and it's your responsibility to do it for [the people you love](people-love.md). Don't worry about setbacks: - Failing is natural, but you *will* succeed by continually [trying again](success-5_persevering.md). - Unlike most other forms of [success](success-1_why.md), physically changing yourself can effortlessly compound because the [habits](habits.md) give instant feedback, and you'll see results within a few days. - If it were easier, [modern society](body-4_health.md) wouldn't have so many overweight and out-of-shape people. Don't rush it: - You're trying to make permanent lifestyle decisions, so it will take some time to adjust (up to 60 days to see a positive effect). - Usually, people have 20+ pounds of weight they want to lose, but the recommended healthy weight loss limit is 2.5 pounds a week. ## Additional Reading [Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide](https://liamrosen.com/fitness.html)