Four Things

A couple of careers ago, I had occasion to make one of those color-your-own plates with a group of folks.  Drawing is not my forte (although I do make excellent stick figures), so I went with words on mine.  I chose a set of instructions for life from something I was reading at the time that quoted Angeles Arrien:  Show up; pay attention; tell the truth; remain unattached to the outcome.

These principles apply to fitness as well.  (Well, yeah, fitness is a part of life…)  Here’s how:

Show up.  That workout isn’t going to do itself.  Since getting started is often the hardest part, this direction comes first.

Pay attention.  This instruction applies in several ways.  One is about mindfulness in general.  We want to be aware of what we are doing, tuned in and present.  Another has to do with form.  Taking the time to do whatever we are doing with proper form makes everything more efficient and helps prevent injury.

Tell the truth.  Again, this can work a lot of ways in fitness.  For one, it is okay to say when we really hate an exercise, whether we have to suck it up and do it anyway or we can find an alternative that gets us similar results.  This is also the place where we get to confront obstacles and find alternatives.  Maybe the truth is that we always manage to find an excuse to go home after work instead of working out, but that we can do better if we hit the gym early in the morning.  Maybe we eat too much ice cream not because we lack self-control but because we don’t want to deal with the fact that we’re stuck in a job or relationship that is bad for us.

Remain unattached to the outcome.  This one is tricky, because a lot of fitness is about outcomes.  I think, in this context, this is about process goals.  We trust that if we do the work, things will change.  That means we don’t freak out when the scale doesn’t move as fast as we’d like or when yoga turns out to be a lot harder than we expected.  We use it to manage our emotions so we can keep doing the work.

We can use whatever we have to get where we’re going.

Monday Workout: Four!

This week, we have a shorter series of exercises that we’re going to go through four times.  We get in the habit of using a particular format and our bodies get used to it.  Shaking up the usual from time to time helps us stay on track to make progress.  The cardio minute can be any heart-rate-raising exercise.  In the studio, we usually use the Xiser, but jumping rope, running in place, mountain climbers, step  or jump ups, or even burpees would work fine.

1 min cardio
plank jacks	20
squats	20
YTA	10
ball slams	20
rows	20
kickbacks	20
quadruped	10

Friday Reading Report: Protein

Americans, in general, are obsessed about protein.  Someone we know or love or both, like a friend or kid, goes vegetarian, and we freak out—but how will they get enough protein???

Here’s the deal:  unless you or someone you know happens to be food insecure (i.e., unlikely to get enough food to prevent malnutrition/starving), the odds are very very slim that daily protein needs are not going to be met.

Don’t believe me?  Here is some math to compute Recommended Daily Allowance.  Keep in mind that the RDA is intended to meet the needs of most people, meaning that many of us don’t need even the full RDA.  The RDA for adults ages 19 to 50 is .8 g of protein per kg of body weight.  The average American, according to the internet, weighs 80.7 kg (177.54 pounds).  That Average Jane/Joe would need 64.56 g of protein per day.  If she/they/he is in fact average for an American, actual protein intake is about 100 g per day, or well over the requirement.

What if Jane/Joe is a child?  She/they/he does need slightly more grams of protein per kg of body weight (1.52 g/kg for infants to 6 months old, 1.5 g/kg for babies up to 12 months, 1.1 g/kg for toddlers 1-3 years old, .95 for children 4 to 13, and .85 for teens 14 to 18).  Still, this goal is totally manageable and almost always surpassed by Americans who have sufficient food at all.

If Jane/Joe is an athlete, she/they/he probably still doesn’t need to increase protein intake.  Muscle activity is first fueled by glucose and fatty acids.  Protein is essential for rebuilding the exercise-damaged tissues in their new, stronger iterations after weight work, but again, the overages built into what we already eat take care of any additional needs.  Specifically supplementing for protein often just results in too many calories, which turn into fat, which in turn impedes performance.

The deal is the same if Jane/Joe is pregnant or lactating.  Usual intake covers additional needs.

If Jane/Joe is a vegetarian, the impact on her/their/his protein intake depends on what kind of vegetarian.  Lacto-ovo vegetarians can relax, as can the tofu-lovers:  animal sources of protein and soy are complete proteins.  Vegans have to do a tiny bit more thinking because it’s not enough just to have protein; we need to ensure that we get all the essential amino acids our bodies can’t make.  Plant sources of protein, except for soy, don’t have them all in a single source, so vegans have to choose complementary protein sources (i.e., two or more protein sources that between them contain all the essential amino acids).  The good news is that this isn’t hard.  Remember our friends rice and beans?  They have an important message for us:  combine a grain with a legume and get complete protein.  That means peanut butter on bread works.  Lentil soup with crackers, beans and tortillas, pasta with beans, rice and black-eyed peas, and garbanzos with sesame paste (hey, I call that hummus, myself!) all work.

There is some evidence that older adults (those of us who have passed that half-century mark) can benefit from a slightly higher protein intake (about 1.5 g/kg of body weight) to improve muscle mass, strength, and function, boost immunity, wound healing, and bone health.  The theory is that we are less efficient at digesting and absorbing protein as we age, so we need more to work with.  Again, Jane/Joe probably doesn’t have to worry or even strive to meet that goal.

So yes, we need protein, but no, we don’t need to worry about getting enough unless we are vegans or people with general food insecurity.