Your fat? It's all your mother's fault

A recent article published in the journal Eating Behaviors has found evidence that the development of eating related disorders (e.g. anorexia and bulimia, especially in females) is related to family factors associated with, or surrounding food. The main finding is that family dysfunction leads to eating disorder, but that the connection between eating disorder and family function was completely mediated by negative family food-related experiences (e.g., parental modeling, parental expectations, and teasing about food, eating, or being overweight). Interestingly, a close look at the data show that maternal effects appear to have slightly larger impact (remember these are girl research participants) than paternal effects. 

Especially with the major eating holidays just around the corner this made me think about my family food-related experiences. I asked myself what were they like? Typically and at key times when stress might be particularly high, or low, like Holidays? I asked myself about whether I thought these experiences led to my eating "issues" and fitness addiction? 

My upbringing was not an unusual one for a boy born in Philadelphia and later raised in South Jersey. School every day; play (sports or video games) after school; make every attempt to convince mom and dad I had done my homework, when in fact I had not even bothered bringing it home; etc. Both of my parents worked full time jobs, and my dad worked overtime just about every chance he could get. It's probably, no in fact it IS the reason that we had an in ground pool and I was able to play on the local ice hockey club, which cost a fortune (+ travel around the country). Neither of my parents have college degrees, they came from working class families and were hell bent on their kids going to college. My mom was a medium sized, blonde bombshell, not that she flaunted it, but I've seen pics and my mom was hot! My dad was a beast. there are few other words I could ever use to describe this man - but a beast. He was an ex-marine turned railroad laborer. He swung a sledge hammer or operated heavy machinery for a lot of his life. He hand hands like King Kong. I remember one day we were laying down railroad ties to serve as an outline/barrier to our garden. He told me to grab one, which I did after about 15 minutes of struggling with how to hold the damn thing and walk with it. He grabbed one in his left and one in his right. Stood up and walked off as if he was carrying to grocery bags! He was also ripped, like Men's Health cover ripped and diesel. Strong as an oxe, obviouly I worshipped him when he was alive. He was also kind of a dick. He would scare the shit out of my friends on a regular basis. One of my very good childhood friends actually stopped coming to my home because every time he walked into my house my dad would grab him by the shirt (usually with about a fistful of chest skin too) and pick him up off the floor about 1-2 feet and say, "What the hell do you want?!"  Then drop him and laugh... hahaha, some sense of humor eh?

They, my folks, grew up in an era where fitness was not fab, posh, or even existent outside of NFL'ers, ironman comps, and pro body building. Fitness was neither science nor fad for them; it was not even a thought (ok until Richard Simmons' explosion onto the scene). As kids without televisions, and nintendos, and such, they were forced outside to work and play. They lost weight the old fashioned way - outdoor sweat! (Unlike kids of today!)  They were not taught to eat healthy. Rather they were taught to eat; if it was on the plate you ate it - else you went to bed hungry. Kind of makes sense to me, actually. Even health related disease was not a concern - my mothers OB/GYN told her that is was OK to drink while pregnant (that it would alleviate the tension and calm the child) and to smoke. Smoking was thought to, and now known to, reduce birth weight. Well I guess for mothers, reducing the size of objects tearing apart your vagina sounds like a pretty good idea....but nowadays we frown upon it, I think, although I have been to several Liverpudlian pubs... hmmm. Anyhow....

So, obviously they learned - things change. Except when it came to food. Based upon this upbringing they were crazy eaters. We had the money to buy food and put it on the table and even have leftovers and that did not stop my mom and dad from saying - EAT UP BOYS AND GIRLS! A typical meal at my house consisted of: a meat (e.g., chicken, pork chops, meatloaf, hamburgers, and most items were breaded and deep fried, cuz we could(!)), at least 2 usually 4 different vegetables, a starch or two (e.g., potatoes and rice), bread, salad, and dessert. Every meal we had something for dessert. What's that? what's that you ask? Was I a fatto as a kid? Yes. Of course I was. I was a walking, breathing tird! When we sat down for dinner, which we always did together seven nights a week as a family (a great thing) we ate what we took and more. My dad would literally force us to eat more. "Come on! You can put down at least 2 more (fried) pork chops and some more green beans, I know you can!" Then afterwards, because of course I did it to impress him with how much I could eat, he'd shout "Jesus christ! Steve you eat like a truck driver!" No offense to Drivers, I have actually never seen one eat, mainly out of fear ;-) 

It was not until college actually that I changed my ways. I went on a long road trip to Daytona Beach, Florida with a friend of mine (that one who'd be picked up by his chest skin) and two females from one of our classes; I didnt know their names then, and still dont. Anyhow, on the way down - straight drive 24.75 hours - stopping only to urinate on the side of the road (much to the gals dismay), on this trip, I ate 3/4 of a 5lb bag of Mike & Ikes (you know, the world's greatest candy!) My friend so kindly said to me as we unshirted for the pool, dude - you're fat. Now this was probably a mate retention tactic on his part, as he was very close to mating the hotter of the two unknown females, but for some reason, at that very moment, those words struck a chord in me. I laughed, while angling my head down at myself - "I was fat!" How? When did this happen? 

This started me on a road to eating "disorderhood" - restrained eating as it is scientifically called. Where I monitor, binge, become addicted to exercise, and then stop and then start in a vicious circle of self-hate and exercise love. 

I now think back: What were the cues that made me eat the way I did, and think it OK to devour an entire Dennys Big Breakfast like it was a handful of peanuts? It probably was my family; there incessant desire for me to have what they did not. But I cannot blame them. They did not know. For me, it was me, my own doing. I ate, because eating fucking rules! I still love to eat and in a hot minute you might find me at the local Waffle House downing the pecan waffle supreme b-fast - that baby is about 6000 calories of no redeeming nutritional quality, but tastes like a gustatory orgasm! Brilliant, in other words. 

I wonder what people think about parental effects on their current eating habits? I constantly annoy my mom and sister now with the way I eat. My mom eats ok these days - but she doesn't weigh more than 99 lbs. But in general I watch what I eat. Try to measure serving sizes. Try to avoid dessert and sweets, replacing them with trail mix and dates. Anyone else have experiences like this? I realize that this is a huge theme in female development of eating disorders, but similar effects can and in my case have occurred in males. 

Anyhow, I gotta run. I have to make my pre-measured, low calorie, high protein and fiber, well-balanced afternoon snack before I go to martial arts :-)

What of Overweight Personal Trainers

So last night I was fortunate enough to score tickets to a local professional Ice Hockey team, and while I found it really difficult (as if I was murdering a family member) cheering for the home team and not the Philadelphia Flyers (who were not even playing), I did just that. However, in between periods and even during periods when play was slow (read as: no one was getting slammed against a hard wood board!) my wife and I began an conversation with a fella behind us. Primarily because this guy made it abundantly clear that this was his first hockey game, that he was taken here by someone he was training, and that his profession was a personal trainer. Obviously without halt my wife and I turned so quickly we probably caused permanent brain damage. An interesting thing about our turning so quickly. It's a psychological effect known as "Attentional attunement." You can do a few neat little studies to test this effect. For example, if you are a teacher or a tutor, then do this right before a big exam. Ask them to remember a list of words, say 50 or so. 30 of those words should be randomly selected words, the others should be related to tests, test anxiety, etc (e.g., words like: test, mark, grade, question, etc). Chances are if you students play along with this little experiment (and care about their grades) they will be much better at remembering these test-related words. The same is true with just about anything. Alcoholic 'hear' and remember more words that deal with, well ethanol injected liquids. Similar effects can be shown in people addicted to drugs and sex. It even occurs in relation to race perceptions, but that's for another post. When it comes to fitness (addicts) we are not immune. Put a group of people who care about losing weight into a lab and ask them to remember a set of words that include words such as fat, skinny, weight, calories, etc. Guess what words they remember best?  

So in the few minutes it took for my wife and I to recover from our minor head turning concussion, our eyes began to re-focus and what we saw was 1) amazing, but 2) not uncommon. There, sitting behind us was one of the largest men (& I dont mean muscular) I've ever laid my eyes on. He must have easily been 350, maybe more, pounds.  This couldn't be the guy pitching himself as the Personal Trainer, could it? Yes, it was. This is now the third time I've met a personal trainer that, well, is fat! This seems completely inane to me and makes me wonder how this guy could even get a client, let alone be allowed to graduates PT school. I mean, it's tantamount to being a Cracker Barrel regular who's profession is nutritionist - makes not fucking sense. I wonder about these people: why did they get into this profession? Where they once thin? Are they trying to battle their own issues with being overweight? Do they think they represent the epitome of fitness and thus people will be lining up around the corner to sign up for a PT session with them? Well I could never, in good conscious do such. I pay for my wife's PT sessions and we agree that we would not pay over $100/month to someone who did not "look the part" - you could be educated until you are blue in the face, but damn it, if you cannot practice what you preach then how I can I pay you? I couldn't. Not sure how anyone else feels... Could you pa your hard earned $$ to an overweight PT? Why? How? 

Fitness addiction is, what? Bad?

The first step is admitting that you are an addict. That is what I hear is stated at AA, NA, etc type meetings when confronting yourself with an addiction. Such addictions as alcohol, drugs, sex, etc are all seen as relatively negative, but why? Well aside from the damage that can accrue to one's body, the resulting outcome is typically an inability to function outside of the addicted substance/context. For example, the alcoholic might not be able to get out of bed and go to work with out that shot of whiskey in his coffee. The pot head might not be able to get through lunch without that one toke of the bong. The sex addict may not.. well actually sexual addiction sounds just fine and dandy to me, but apparently it can lead to disruption of relationships. Like, for example, when the sex addict decides to cheat incessantly on her husband with other men, women and children.

 

What about our dear old friend - fitness? Well some recent (or not so recent, depending on how you read the literature) findings suggest that fitness has the qualities necessary to create an addiction: it demands attention, a specific context or specific set of tools, and it can produce feelings of pleasure, euphoria and excitement. But being addicted to fitness - that can't be bad, can it? 

Well listed below are some of the common warning signs associated with fitness addiction. They are essentially the same as those listed for drug, sex, and alcohol addiction, but tailored to the fitness context.  

Some warning signs include:

• Turning down dates/social events/family events in order to work out
• Avoiding social situations for fear of eating foods that may interfere with training progress (similar to orthorexia)
• Social isolation
• A feeling of general worthlessness if you have not completed your workout for the day
• Only allowing yourself to eat after you have exercised
• Feelings of depression/irritability when cannot exercise or when you don't have a "good" workout
• Reduced drive to engage in activities formerly enjoyed
• Exercising for extended periods on a daily basis or several times a day
• Feeling anxious if a workout is missed
• Scheduling your day’s events around your workout session
• A fear of becoming injured and having to miss a workout
• Exercising in spite of injury, weather, or other factors
• Taking multiple exercise classes and then working out again at home
• Overexercising and then getting feelings of euphoria after a workout; needing increasingly more working out to reach your high

OK, so there it is - yes I am addicted to fitness/exercise. These symptoms can escalate into a full-blown bout of depression either through feelings of worthlessness built up because you cannot reach that next goal or through withdraw from not being able to get enough of the euphoric sensation associated with exercise. There are some differences with fitness addicts and alcohol, drug and/or sex addicts. Fitness addicts typically want people to know that they are fitness addicts. It's cool and accepted to be addicted to fitness. "Hey I had a great run this morning and later I will be hitting the gym to pump some iron", says meathead. "Oh my god, you are like, so fit, and your arms are so big", says ditsy waitress who becomes sex partner to meathead. But what about it? I don't mind. I like being addicted to fitness, as most addicts like being addicted to what they are addicted to. The difference - mine helps me stay fit. 

In all seriousness, it's a dangerous line to walk. The addiction can become so overwhelming that it affects families, lifestyle, even god forbid -YOUR SEX LIFE! And for fuck's sake isn't that why many people work out? OK, I am a perv, but in reality, I have read stories where fitness addiction has actually caused mothers to blow off activities with their children, husbands to forget anniversaries, etc. This addiction can really impact the way your life goes - positively and negatively. 

How do we get ahold of this addiction? How do we wrangle it up and wrestle to the ground? Well, if you are like me, you probably won't. But if you are like me, then you are just mildly addicted. See I only check off a few of the above warning signs:

1.Turning down dates/social events/family events in order to work out. This seems perfectly logical to me because most of my social events involve drinking heavily. Thus, it is a win-win situation - I dont drink and I get a good workout in.  I typically wont (cant) turn away from family events to workout, but will make plans for alternative ways to workout when away at family houses or gatherings. Most of my friends and family now just know I am going to be up and out running early, before most of them even wake up. 

2. Feelings of depression/irritability when cannot exercise or when you don't have a "good" workout. Probably more irritability than depression, but shite, this is how I respond to everything when I dont feel I have done "good." When I write a paper for a journal and it's rejected I get irritated. When I design and experiment that does not work - I get irritated. You get the point. Another issue, I think is just plain personality. 

3.Feeling anxious if a workout is missed. OK, this is a little neurotic, I admit that. Mainly I just get anxious when I don't know when my next workout will occur. So when traveling, if I have a plan for getting back to the gym upon arrival home, I am usually fine. However, when I get home and my toilet is flooded, my house has burned down, or my gym has closed down, taken my money and gone away - then I get pretty anxious. 

4.Scheduling your day’s events around your workout session. Well, not really. But damnit, ever tried working out after 9-5 work hour day - you can barely get in the gym let alone on a piece of equipment! So yeah, I try to schedule some things around my workout, mainly for convenience. Boy I am really making excuses here, eh? 

Well that about sums it up, the extent of my addiction. It's not yet debilitating, but well on its way, I am sure. I don't know that I am going to lose sleep over this, just yet. I like to workout. I married a gal who likes to workout. We are active and like it. I mean yes it does impede our social life once in a while - mainly because we don't want to diminish the results of our workouts. We like looking fit for each other, for ourselves. It's cool. If you are going to be addicted to something, why not make it be fitness right? Well to some extent this is correct or 'right' for us. However, I sometimes have to remind myself (& my wife): we are not professional athletes. We do not collect a paycheck for working out, as bad as that sucks, it's the truth. In fact, we give a large sum of our paychecks to be able to workout! Most of us will never be in the position of having a job where working out is part of your everyday duties. I don't make my living hitting home runs, throwing touchdown passes, scoring slapshots, or punching other blokes in the face. I am ok with that. And that is why I don't exercise more. At the end of the day its about balance. Everything in moderation. 

Anyone out there feel they might have fitness/exercise addiction? Anyone have any thoughts on whether they think it is an actual issue/disorder/debilitation? How does your addiction impede your life?

Now, if it's time, go feed your addiction and do a few extra reps just to say "up yours" addiction!

Travel Workouts: Take trainers, Clothes, and, food?

So this week/weekend I am traveling for a wedding up north and to complete my move to the Atlanta Georgia USA region. My wife and I are desperate not to allow these types of excursions to derail our exercise programs. So, every time we travel - be it for pleasure, work, or family affairs - we are certain to take our trainers and workout clothes. Seeing my workout shorts and favorite tank top in the suitcase invokes a sort of exercise guilt (probably unhealthy mentally, but...) and I grab them and will do something. Sometimes we just go for run - like yesterday. We ran about 3 miles, she then did some pushups and situps. She rules! I moved boxes... LOL!

However, in our recent excursion we added something else to our traveling gym attire - food. Yes food. We brought (and or bough when we arrived) the foods we have been eating at home. Now, don't get me wrong, we are not in the orthorexic stage of things where we have to eat everything raw, or know every detail of what goes into my food or even eat all organic - shit we can't afford that! But we are actively trying not to derail our diets and exercise progress while on holiday. To this end, we brought things like high fibre muffins, purchased cottage cheese (low fat, of course), and the like. This allows us to bypass what many family member keep on stock that is high in sugar, fat, etc. It allows us to maintain some semblance of control over what goes in our bodies.

I have obviously become accustomed to odd looks. I still garner a few when I pull out my rope suspension trainer (which I (in)conveniently forgot this trip). Now I get strange looks, when I open my suitcase shortly after arriving to put food items in the refrigerator. The looks are probably in distates - people feeling like "what my/our food is not good enough?" that is not the case. Rather, it's just we watch closely what we eat. It helps us to allow ourselves to drink beer and wine at the wedding without that guilty orthorexic feeling.

At any rate, my advice if you are trying hard to keep on track - when travelling, bring food. See if you buy food at the airport, like we used too, well you are in for a caloric treat (read nightmare!) the food items at the airport are loaded with calories, sugar, sodium, all that stuff you have been trying to avoid. The problem is not so much that these things are all that bad for you in moderation. No, in fact you need all of these things for survival. The bad thing is that sugar and sodium actually have addictive qualities. Thus, by allowing yourself to eat that plate of salty chips washed down by the milkshake - because you are on holiday - is like falling off the wagon and in some cases (my own included) this can spur a downward spiral of poor eating. I can remember getting to the airport and eating like this, then on the plane scarfing the nuts/pretzels or whatever they give you and the meal, then landing and well you get the picture. I would just keep eating. I was feeding my addiction, and it can get out of control while on holiday because even if you are going to the house of a family member, you are often times encouraged to overeat. Be careful. This can be the downfall. The start of something bad. Now, I am not saying you should watch what you eat at thanksgiving, christmas, etc - damn you should eat - just watch what you eat. And if you are travelling take some snacks - trail mix, fruit, cottage cheese, etc. That the things that you keep in your kitchen and ask if you can place them somewhere that you can easily get to them. Seeing those items you eat regularly at home will cue your brain - hey, I should be eating that cottage cheese - yes I do see the plate of donuts, but the cottage chees is already here, i would not want to waste my money, etc. So I, personally am more inclined to grab what I brought.

So, i gotta run to finish packing boxes before the rehearsal dinner where I will pigout royally, but wanted to impart this little tidbit of advice that is working for Aussy and I - when travelling, bring food!

What's up with your fat?

OK, so I have been writing on this blog now for over 1 month and not only am I having a blast (even though no one reads the damn thing), but also learning loads. Most interestingly, as I learn and investigate more and more about fitness and health I find my research interests veering in this direction (really I am a evolutionary cognitive neuroscientist, 1, 2). This stuff is becoming really interesting both at a personal and academic level. In fact, I am very close to co-authoring my first peer-reviewed paper on the topic of obesity. Thus, I thought it might be appropriate for me to discuss fat, or adipose, here. 

So, what's up with your fat? I think most people think fat is bad. That fat causes a plethora of metabolic disease, the most prominent being diabetes. I agree, I think fat is bad, but I also know that fat has gotten a bum wrap. Our culture has inundated us with 'fat free' this and 'low-fat' that, that many of us fall victim to the idea that eating any fat is horrible for us. Some people I know delude themselves (probably using self-deception) into thinking that the fat goes directly to their thighs within minutes after eating something fattening (e.g., and ice cream sundae... mm, that sounds really really good right now, but instead I will go make a bag of SmartPop = 100 calories and very filling, and NOT fat free). 

Fat is really not all that bad for you. In fact, if you are not supplied with fat in utero and during development your nervous system is severely negatively affected. Primarily the casing that protects the axon of neurons (the part that allows neurons, or brain cells, to talk to one another) does not develop properly and children born to "fat free" fanatical moms can experience a number of psychological, neurological, and neuropsychiatric disorders. In fact, the extent of that relationship is well under investigated and I would hypothesize it is partly involved in the sudden appearance of many "new" disorders (think AD/HD, for example). 

Fat also helps us old farts (I say at the ripe old age of 34, ouch!). Fat can actually help you lose weight. Fattening foods are more full-filling then low fat substitutes, which generally work to try and dupe your nervous system into thinking you are full, only to be back munching in an hour or so. If you are like me then fattening foods also make you "feeeeeel" good, too. Like, how do you feel after you down that cod and chips, ice cream sundae (there I go again), or hot wings.... mmmMMM. I feel psychologically wonderful after eating these foods. That is, until the guilt about eating all that fattening food set in and I realize how much fucking exercise I need to do to burn off all the calories (yes I have mental illness related to eating and working out too). 

But, there is hope. You can be fat and healthy. Seriously. A recent study (3) suggests that it is not how fat you are that matters in terms of developing obesity related illnesses, but how you utilize that fat. Take or example, the Sumo wrestler pictured above. Fat bastard, right? Wrong! Well wrong in our colloquial use of the term fat bastard. Yes he is fatter than the average  middle American. He is one big mother fucker. However, He utilizes his fat in a fundamentally different manner. Sumo wrestlers through rigorous eating regimes and exercise regimes (yes they exercise, about 8 hours per day! They eat the rest of the day), they actually assist their body to store fat subcutaneously (under the skin). This keeps the fat away from the vital organs - heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, etc - which are involved in obesity-related disorders. Neat eh? 

Now chances are you won't have this luck as Sumo's start their training very young and thus their body actually develops like this. This recent study suggests that for each of us, we have a fat "set point". Yes this is a new take on an old idea. The old idea, that everyone has a set point weight and if you go too far above (or below ) this individual set point you can get sick. The new idea relates the weight directly to the storage of adipose (fat) tissue. It states, succinctly, that each individual has a fat set point, or what might be called a "metabolic" set point. This is the point at which you effectively utilize fat stored in our body. Too little and you can develop diseases. Too much and you can develop diseases. The latter, the authors suggest, is related to a storage issue. Think if it this way: you have a determined amount of fat your body can store with little effect on your health. If you exceed this limit then the fat stores (of which you might be continuing to ingest) need to go somewhere. The hypothesis suggests that this extra fat, since it has no place to go in the individuals normal storage places, starts to find and store itself on major organ systems. Think of it like pouring yourself a drink. You set out a glass. The volume of the glass is your fat store limit. Now your pour a little liquid in, let's say beer for shits and giggles (and because it's about my favorite liquid beverage on the planet). If you pour that brewski down the center chancing are you will get a large head on your beer. If you keep pouring into that glass eventually that head needs to go somewhere. First it slowly moves upward toward the top of the glass (i.e. the top of your fat limit). Keep pouring and what happens? The head and maybe some beer spill over the top of the glass and onto the countertop, into your hand, etc. That is how I think of the fat spilling out over your fat store limit and the countertop or your hand is the rest of your body, the major organ systems. 

Now when this happens and people get sick (i.e. the beer is all over the countertop) we get all worked up and decide that this person needs to lose all the weight. This is where the idea of a metabolic set point comes into play. See, if we adopt the position that there are normal limits of fat store (under the skin) that vary individually then we can begin to design weight loss programs to target the set point instead of the ideal. That is, we can wipe the counter enough so that there's no beer visible (it might still be sticky, but shit we've got beer to drink and who has time to clean up that mess?) So rather than forcing people into weight loss programs that hold for them the ideal portrait of healthiness and fitness (e.g., a supermodel, or men's health magazine cover model) we hold for them an ideal that is personally tailored to their individual set point. This is the point at which, while still over weight in appearance, is actually a healthy point at which the major organ systems are not impacted by the fat. At this point the weight loss program may be further tailored to a longer term (as opposed to an acute - lose weight now or die) program. The authors suggest that this could increase the efficacy of such weight loss programs because psychologically you are giving patients 1) realistic goals to reach and 2) using individually tailored data.

So, can you determine what your fat/metabolic set point is? Well, not exactly. This is where more science is needed. See to determine your metabolic set point scientists need to understand the genetic mechanisms involved (currently underway in mice) as well as the individualistic, developmental experiences of that individual. So in the end, more science is needed and the likelihood of a "take this pill" to get think approach is not going to be as effective for long-term health. 

Thoughts welcome....

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