Why Scientists do what they Do

When you try to visualize what a scientist looks like and what a scientist does on a day to day basis what comes to mind?  You may picture a person in a white lab coat pipetting a tiny amount of liquid, peering through a microscope, or operating some type of foreign looking machine in a small, dark, old room.  You may also think of someone staring into a computer screen while making graphs, tables, charts, and figures out of large amounts of data that the vast majority of us cannot even begin to understand.  Pop culture tends to portray scientists as individuals who are of high intellect but are otherwise out of touch, unemotional, uncool, rigid, and over analytical (think Sheldon on the CBS sitcom Big Bang Theory).   What probably does not immediately come to mind when you try to picture a scientist is an artist, entrepreneur, story teller, adventurer, or businessman!  However, these descriptors are just a few of many that apply to many scientific researchers:

Passionate ~ Discovery ~ Explorers ~ Love of Learning ~ Artists ~ Creative ~ Independent     Entrepreneurs ~ Communicators ~ Curious ~ Higher Purpose ~ Contributing to Greater Good               Idea Generators ~ Problem Solvers ~ Story Tellers ~ Businessmen ~ Persuasive Teachers ~ Tireless Dedicated ~ Perseverant ~ Deep/Insightful Thinkers ~ Imaginative ~ Competitors

In my last post, “The Plight of the Post Doc” I outlined many of the sacrifices a post doctoral researcher makes and the obstacles they must contend with to maximize their chances of transitioning into a research faculty position and then turning that into a successful academic career.  At the end of the article I questioned why anyone would want to pursue a career in basic science research when the pay is so little, the job security is so poor, and the demands are so high. 

Scientists are more than just nerds in lab coats.

There are many reasons why people are drawn to careers in scientific research and the answers are different for everyone, yet with a closer examination there are several characteristics common to the majority of scientific researchers including:

1. Following your Passions:  Think about something that you are very passionate about, so much so that some of your friends and family may think you are borderline obsessive.  When you think about what this obsession is, some type of hobby, leisure time activity, or sports team probably comes to your mind.  One of the last things to come to your mind is probably your job.  On the other hand, for many scientists, their passion is their work!  There aren’t many jobs out there that allow you to combine your passions with your work but that is exactly what a career in research can be. 
2. Becoming an Adventurer/Explorer:  The thrill of the hunt, the beauty of a newly found lake or stream, a new city to explore, or a country to visit.  All of these activities garner excitement and part of this excitement comes from discovering something previously unknown to you.  For a scientist, completing and analyzing the results of a recent experiment can be as exciting and exhilarating as discovering something new.  Sometimes when the scientific discovery is novel and substantial enough, it establishes an entirely new frontier of human knowledge.  You are not only discovering something new to you but something that is new to everyone ON PLANET EARTH!
3. Life Long Learning:  Learning does not or should not stop at the end of high school, college, or midway through your career.  Researchers never need to worry about their jobs being repetitive and boring because there will never be a time in their careers where they know everything they need to know,  because that does not exist.  As a researcher you are constantly being challenged and if you do not adapt you will be left behind.  Basic science research also allows you to follow your curiosity, ask thought provoking questions, and seek answers to why things are the way they are.  This curiosity extends well beyond the borders of research labs, spilling over into numerous facets of life.  The majority of scientists are really interesting people.  They oftentimes are highly interested in, and educated on, world events, local happenings, and other cultures (science is very ethnically diverse).
4. Being an Artist:  Art and science are typically thought of as being on the opposite ends of the spectrum when in reality they are oftentimes a blend of one another.  Creativity, control of one’s work, and independence are all characteristics that you might associate with art, but you can also associate them with science.  Science requires you to be creative in your experimental design, development of new ideas, and sometimes even in your explanations of new data.  You also generally have control of your own work.  One of the biggest complaints that artists have is that the studio has the last say in what their product is going to look like.  Basic research scientists do have a peer review process for publication and a rigorous review process for grant funding, however, their work is first and foremost dependent on the direction they want to take it.  Of course, it almost always comes back to someone else providing the support for you to complete that work, but the idea is of your own creation. 
5. Being an Entrepreneur:  The ability to take risks and the willingness to fail and start over are traits of most scientists.  So many of the things you attempt to do, or ideas that you think are a home run, are going to end in failure.  You must have the ability to persevere and try and try again until it works for you.  In science there is also a great deal of competition.  As in the highest levels of sport, you are competing against some of the very best and brightest minds in the world.  There is no such thing as a big fish in a small pond.  In science there is only one very large pond and that pond includes scientists spread across the United States and in countries around the world such as Australia, Korea, Japan, Canada, England, France, Sweden, and South Africa.  If competition and the race to discover something new before someone else excites you, then science may be appealing to you. 
6. Communicating and Teaching:  For people who like to communicate, teach, and share ideas, basic science research regularly provides these opportunities.  Scientists have numerous opportunities to share their knowledge in professional and community presentations, classrooms, small group discussions, and in the written word.  Basic science researchers must also be able to “tell a good story,” not only to sell their ideas in the first place, but to explain the impact and importance of them after their results become clear.  Admittedly, this is one area in which many scientists struggle.  Even the best thinkers and writers sometimes struggle to make the transition to good oral communication, particularly if you are shy or working in a foreign country.  However, good communication is the key to helping others understand what you are so passionate about and appreciate why it is important, so you will find that that most successful and respected scientists are those that are the best story tellers. 
7. Contributing to the Greater Good:  Today’s problems will be tomorrow’s solutions with the help of good scientific research.  There is a higher sense of purpose in knowing that your work will one day contribute to the curing of disease, understanding of a physiological phenomenon, or improve someone’s quality of life.  Along with contributing to the greater good, there is also a sense of community and respect among researchers.  Whether you are an epilepsy, obesity, sex hormone, or cancer researcher there are many opportunities to get together with other people that are equally as passionate about the science as you are and share ideas, criticisms, and advice about one another’s work to strengthen the potential for future discovery and breakthrough.  It is very fulfilling and rewarding to be able to communicate with other like-minded and passionate individuals.

 Colleges love to talk about how their diverse set of curricula helps to develop a well rounded education and worldview by exposing their students to a variety of topics that they otherwise would not be exposed to.  While this is true, going to school to become a scientist accomplishes this goal to a far greater degree.  Graduate school and scientific research teaches you how to think.  It requires you to develop the thought process and thought patterns to analyze almost any situation you may come across in life.  Your ability to analyze, dissect, and improve upon not only scientific research but pretty much any topic in the world (even if you don’t completely understand it) is an invaluable skill to have.  Basic science researchers practice their craft (analytical thinking) every day and are quite good at it.  Although most people are not aware of the broad skill set that scientists have outside of their expertise in a specific discipline, I feel it is important to recognize the many other aspects to their training and profession that can translate to outside careers. 

There are multiple reasons why I personally no longer have a desire to pursue a career in scientific research, but I know that keeping up with and disseminating the findings of new and exciting research studies will be a key to my future success in the health and fitness industry.  I know many people (myself included) cannot understand why some people would take up such a career with all of the associated pressure, stress, and struggles to succeed.  However, it is important to remember that scientists are more than just nerds in lab coats working in dark rooms on obscure facts.  They are super talented and hardworking people who are generating our knowledge of the universe surrounding us, whether it is space, earth, biology, physiology or a myriad of other specialties within the sciences.  So, whether or not you think someone is crazy for choosing a career in scientific research, stop and think about all of the contributions they have made to the world around you.  It is definitely more than meets the eye, and is a profession that should be highly respected even though it is often misunderstood.

Todd M. Weber PhD, MS, RD

The Plight of the Post Doc

How does this sound........you go to post secondary school for 10 to 12 years, accumulate tens of thousands of dollars of debt, postpone several major adult decisions such as purchasing a home, getting married, and having kids, and take limited to no vacations.  By the time you are in a financial position to have kids, your biological clock has nearly “timed out” adding more stress to your already stressful life.  To give yourself the best chance of future success, you also made the sacrifice of moving thousands of miles from home, friends, and family to pursue your dream of higher education and at the same time knowing that you will most likely never be able to find a job in your future profession within a four hour drive of where you grew up.  You typically work ~50-60 hours per week; however, some weeks with looming deadlines demand you work greater than 60 hours/wk

As with many professions of today, work life and home life are one in the same.

You constantly feel like you should be working and feel guilty for taking evenings and weekends off.  You have limited to no job security as your current position is guaranteed for about two to three years.  Depending on your productivity, along with luck/circumstances that are somewhat out of your control (i.e., grant funding) after two years you may essentially be fired and have to move to another city and in most cases an entirely different state and region.  To cap it all off, despite your 12 years of higher education, and hundreds of acquired technical, analytic, and reasoning skills, federal government pay scales from which most scientific postdocs are paid dictate you make no more than $41,000/yr to start your career!  Is this starting to sound like a pretty good career choice?  Well.....

This is the Plight of the Post Doc!  The hard work, dedication, and sacrifices required to become a postdoctoral researcher are not unique to the basic science career disciple.  Many professions demand putting off major adult decisions and making sacrifices in order to receive the (years of) training necessary to become successful in that profession.  The difference, however, between these careers and a career in basic science research is largely financial as the sacrifices made to pursue those careers are, by in large, worth it.  Medical doctors, surgeons, lawyers, physician assistants, MBA’s, accountants, and financial planners receive a level of compensation that makes all that hard work and sacrifice worth it.  None of these professions start off at $41,000/yr, job security is based on performance not circumstance, government funding, or grant cycles, and the opportunities for promotion and the ceiling for financial growth are much greater in careers outside of basic science.

In addition to medical knowledge, laboratory skills are vital to the success of a post doctoral researcher.

The best and worst advice you can give your 18 year old son or daughter is “to figure out what you love to do or are interested in and pursue it to the highest degree.”  This advice is completely solid if you make one qualifying statement and that is figure out what you love to do or are interested in and pursue it to the highest degree if you can get a worthwhile return on investment and make a living doing so.  What if your son or daughter is really interested in philosophy and more specifically the musings of 18th Century Kant and pursues it to the highest degree (PhD)?  How much will it cost him/her to complete this degree?  What are the career prospects for this degree?  How many different types of jobs require a PhD in philosophy?  And can you make a living studying the 21st Century relevance of 18th Century Kant?

Basic science research is the lifeblood of the biomedical industry and is a highly worthy cause.  It is where great discoveries happen and where the groundwork for drug discovery, patient care, and an increase in the health and quality of life for individuals is founded.  So many of today’s routine medical practices were yesterday’s basic science discoveries!  But with that being said, one must ask the question “why in the world would anyone want to pursue a career as a basic science researcher?” when the pay is so little, the job security is so poor, and the demands are so high.

Next week I’d like to share with you why, despite these unpleasant circumstances, scientists still do what they do.

Todd M. Weber PhD, MS, RD

Just Adding to the Confusion!

This morning the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a national environmental health research and advocacy organization issued a new report detailing the dangers of eating fortified cereal and snack bars.  In their report they identify 141 products (out of 2,550!) they perceived to be over-fortified, by their own standards this indicates the products contain a meager 30% or more of the adult daily value for vitamin A, zinc and/or niacin.  Only one of these three elements needed to meet their 30% threshold so if vitamin A was elevated but zinc or niacin were not, the cereal still made the list.  My response to this new “study” is really!!!!?  Are you kidding me?

Not exactly a kid's first choice in a breakfast bar or cereal!

If you look carefully at the EWG list you will notice that 11/23 cereals contain the word “bran” in their title and 15/23 contain the words “bran” or “whole grain”.  Not exactly the type of cereals that kids typically eat!  In addition, perhaps the EWG has already touched upon the topic, but isn’t it far more dangerous to take vitamin and mineral supplements on top of the nutrients we receive in our diets (1,2)?  Why focus on breakfast cereals and bars?  In today’s cereal article they provide the reader with numerous qualifying “could cause”, “can cause”, “can impair”, and “can result” statements, yet to the best of my knowledge, to date there is no hard scientific evidence linking cereal consumption to any of the toxicities, damage, or developmental abnormalities that they appear to be intent on scaring us all into thinking we might contract from feeding our kids breakfast cereals.

The health and wellness industry relentlessly tells all of us that we need to be consuming more vitamins and minerals for optimal health.  And to a certain degree, maybe they are warranted in doing so as less than 10% of Americans meet their daily nutrient requirements (3).  It also appears that Americans are listening to the health and wellness industry’s relentless chatter about our inability to meet the daily recommended nutrient intakes as greater than 50% of Americans now take some type of vitamin or mineral supplement (4).  Many of us are not meeting our daily micronutrient recommendations while on the other side of the coin many of us are exceeding recommendations.  However, for the vast majority of us, our micronutrient intake will neither kill us nor provide us with the fountain of youth.

Nearly 70% of Americans are overweight or obese (5).  Fortified cereals and bars not only help Americans meet their micronutrient requirements (6) but they are also an invaluable aid in calorie management.  In children and adolescents, regular breakfast cereal consumption is associated with a reduced likelihood of being overweight (7).  In general, breakfast cereals are not calorically dense and offer a healthy, cost effective, and convenient alternative to meals that we otherwise could be eating.  If breakfast cereals are so bad for all of us, what are we supposed to be eating, bacon and eggs?  Oh, that’s right we are often told that these options aren’t good for us either.

Congratulations EWG, you have done a great job of raising a caution flag in an area of nutrition that is really actually quite safe.  Your press release makes for great Internet fodder but does it actually help any of us eat better?  The headlines of the upcoming days are going to be how cereal is bad for us.  Most of us will not take the time to recognize the severe limitations of your “study” and will instead conclude that maybe we shouldn’t be eating cereal.  All of the anti-grain promoters will say, “see I told you grain is bad for you”.   I have to applaud you on your ability to further confuse the consumer and to give us all another reason to throw our hands in the air and say why bother!

Todd M. Weber PhD, MS, RD

 References:

1.  Bjelakovic G, Nikolova D, Gluud C. Antioxidant supplements to prevent mortality. JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association. Sep 18 2013;310(11):1178-1179.
2. Miller ER, 3rd, Pastor-Barriuso R, Dalal D, Riemersma RA, Appel LJ, Guallar E. Meta-analysis: high-dosage vitamin E supplementation may increase all-cause mortality. Annals of internal medicine. Jan 4 2005;142(1):37-46.
3. Krebs-Smith SM, Guenther PM, Subar AF, Kirkpatrick SI, Dodd KW. Americans do not meet federal dietary recommendations. The Journal of nutrition. Oct 2010;140(10):1832-1838.
4. Gahche J, Bailey R, Burt V, et al. Dietary supplement use among U.S. adults has increased since NHANES III (1988-1994). NCHS data brief. Apr 2011(61):1-8.
5. Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Ogden CL. Prevalence of obesity and trends in the distribution of body mass index among US adults, 1999-2010. JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association. Feb 1 2012;307(5):491-497.
6. Fulgoni VL, 3rd, Keast DR, Bailey RL, Dwyer J. Foods, fortificants, and supplements: Where do Americans get their nutrients? The Journal of nutrition. Oct 2011;141(10):1847-1854.
7. de la Hunty A, Gibson S, Ashwell M. Does regular breakfast cereal consumption help children and adolescents stay slimmer? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity facts. 2013;6(1):70-85.

What's in Your Exercise Toolbox?

Recently I completed some part time work with a health promotion company that involved conducting a series of biometric screenings (height, weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure).  Over the course of these screenings I interacted with some very fit, lean, and healthy individuals as well as some very overweight, unhealthy individuals.  Meeting with such a diverse population made me really start to wonder, why is one group of people thin and fit while the other group of people is overweight and out of shape?  What makes these groups so different? 

Obesity is oftentimes blamed upon socioeconomic factors:  proximity to fast food, level of higher education, earnings potential, location of residence, and length of commute to work.  However, during these recent biometric screenings, these factors did not seem to be the primary culprit.  I say this because the individuals I screened all worked for the same company, and although they performed numerous different jobs, in a sense their careers were all fairly similar.  In addition, the majority of the individuals I worked with earned a similar amount of money, and all lived in the Denver metro. 

Admittedly, I do not have statistics and demographics on these people to be 100% certain that these important socioeconomic factors are not different among this group of individuals.  If I did have all of their demographic information, perhaps I would see some of these socioeconomic factors contributing to whether a specific individual was lean or obese.  However, I would like to propose an alternative hypothesis underlying the reason as to why these two groups of people were so different.  This hypothesis is not based on empirical data but is instead based upon the numerous conversations I had with hundreds of people over the course of the recent month.

The most striking difference I saw between fit, healthy individuals, and unhealthy individuals was the number of skills in their “exercise toolboxes”.  In my vernacular, an “exercise toolbox” is the sum of all the abilities, skills, and tools used/required for an individual to be physically active.  The fit, healthy individuals that I screened reported that they oftentimes went on hikes, mountain biked, swam, road biked, biked to work, walked their neighborhoods, lifted weights, monitored their activity levels with a Fitbit accelerometer, or were an active member of a gym.  In general, the unhealthy population reported being in more of a transitory period where they were meaning to increase the amount of physical activity they performed but had yet to do so and weren’t really sure ‘”how” to do so.  I believe, for the most part, the unhealthy population is lacking the skills and tools to become more physically active, not necessarily the ability or the initiative.  The bottom line is, the healthy population tends to have a larger exercise toolbox than the unhealthy population.

How many skills and tools are in your exercise toolbox?

In addition to the high levels of activity the lean individuals performed, they had also developed skills and strategies to remain active in the face of adversity.  For example, let’s say that you are a regular runner and use it as your only form of exercise.  Eventually you find yourself with a running related injury.  Now what??  Do you quit exercising and take it easy until your injury heals?  Do you try to stretch and alternate between heat and cold and battle through the pain because running is all you know how to do?  Or do you find another mode of exercise to maintain your fitness while you do what’s necessary to get your injury healed up?

In the case of a runner with numerous tools at his/her disposal the following options are viable (depending on the injury, of course): swimming laps, running in a pool, stair climbing, walking on an incline treadmill, rock climbing, riding an exercise bike, rowing, or circuit training with weights.  These are all skills that must be learned or developed; however, this description provides an example of someone with a great exercise toolbox.

If you do not have access to a gym's equipment, can you make do in the park?

So, what about those individuals from the health screenings that finds him or herself overweight or obese.  As I mentioned above, so many times these individuals tell me that they know what they need to do, they just are not doing it.  I think this logic may apply more to nutrition (eat more fruits, vegetables, and lean meat) than it does to exercise.  Anyone who has ever been in a fitness center of gym knows that 90% of the people performing resistance training DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING (regardless of age or current fitness status)!  I give them a tremendous amount of credit for being in the gym, but I am amazed by the way they contort their bodies, tug, pull, and yank on equipment without severely injuring themselves.  The vast majority of overweight/obese individuals have no prior experience with resistance training and cannot just walk into a gym and feel comfortable being there, let alone with how to use the equipment.  The same idea holds true for cardiovascular equipment.  Many of us know how to turn on the machine, but how fast should you go and for how long?  How many days a week is necessary?  Should you alternate with sprints and rest?  There are so many questions that need answers.  Again, these skills must be learned, developed, or taught by a trainer, nutritionist, or friend. 

Performing a pull-up in the park can replace a lat pull-down in the gym

It is very important to keep in mind that there is nothing wrong with not knowing the first thing about exercise.  In fact, I think the majority of the people in the US today don’t know any more about basic exercise than they learned in Physical Eduation class in school growing up.  But, identifying activities that interest you and that you are willing and excited to learn about is the key to establishing those first tools into your toolbox.  Don’t limit yourself to just the traditional running and lifting weights, think outside the box!  Also, it is important to understand that there is nothing wrong with asking for help, searching on the Internet, hiring a coach, or buying a book to help you learn about a new activity.  Very few people can teach themselves how to play an instrument, so why should you have to teach yourself how to exercise.  It may be intimidating to ask for help or try something new (especially as an adult), but obtaining new skills and finding new passions makes it all worth it.

Someone with a great exercise toolbox has all the skills and knowledge necessary to be able to perform numerous different types of activities and also knows how to adapt to numerous different circumstances (injury, travel, weather, time, etc.).  No matter how large your toolbox or diverse your skill set there is always room to add new skills and explore different forms of physical activity.  If you are bored with your current routine, I encourage you to seek other new and exciting forms of physical activity.  You may not need to know how to swim or kayak now, but it may be a useful skill to add to your exercise toolbox for a later time.  When you do need it down the road, you’ll be ready!

Todd M. Weber, PhD, MS, RD 

Fitness & Nutrition Priorities: Where do they Fall?

If I asked you to tell me what the most important thing in your life was, what would you say?  Most likely your answer would involve your spouse, kids, family or job.  How many of you would say fitness or nutrition is the most important thing in your life?  Fitness and nutrition is important to the vast majority of us, but how many of us truly make fitness and/or nutrition one of our top priorities?  How many of you could also rate yourself as your top priority?  You know what we call people who always make himself or herself their own top priority?  Selfish!  There is a certain stigma to putting your own needs ahead of others.  Yet, putting ourselves first is exactly what we need to do when it comes to our own fitness and nutrition. 

Where do Fitness and Nutrition fall on your everyday priority list?

Everyday we have tens and even hundreds of things that are required of us to just make it through the day.  If we were to create an itemized list of some of the activities we perform on a daily basis and the importance of each of those activities it might look something like the list shown below.  The top of the list (starting at #1) would be the most important item and the importance of each item decreases as the list continues until you reach the bottom of the list and the least important items.  Note: Importance does not always equal time consumption.  Some of the least important activities (i.e., watching TV) are the most time consuming for some people, so don’t just order your list by the amount of time you spend on any one given activity.

1. kids
2. family
3. work
4. driving
5. grocery shopping
6. watching television
7. watching sporting events
8. watching movies
9. Internet surfing
10. Facebook
11. Twitter
12. Instagram
13. walking dog
14. laundry
15. eating out/entertainment
16. cleaning house
17. exercising
18. shopping
19. reading
20. video games
21. reading blogs
22. yard work
23. cooking
24. dentist appointments

In this list, exercise is ranked 16th and cooking comes in at 23rd.  Fitness and proper nutrition are not required to make it through the day and are therefore oftentimes put on the backburner while we put out our other daily fires.  Before long fitness and proper nutrition become “long term goals” rather than daily necessities.  Many of you have to get yourself ready for the day, get the kids ready for the day, take the kids to school, pick them up from school, take them to extracurricular activities, help with homework, and make dinner...........all this without even mentioning outside work responsibilities!  Fitness and good nutrition are not required to get through the day and is thus continually moved down to the bottom of our “to do lists”.  Now I realize that some sort of nutrition is necessary to get through the day because we all have to eat, but for many of us making it the best possible nutrition IS NOT a top priority.

Most of us want to be thin and fit, but as stated above we oftentimes do not prioritize fitness and nutrition high enough on our “to do lists” to achieve the results we desire.  When our fitness and nutrition priorities and time spent exercising and meal planning do not match the expectations we have set for meeting our ideal body weight and fitness level, big-time frustration ensues because goals are not being met.  On the other hand, some individuals make fitness and nutrition his/her top priorities and achieve great fitness and nutrition results, but other parts of their lives may suffer.  We only have so much time and capital to put towards daily tasks and putting exercise and nutrition first and second may come at the expense of friends, family, work, sleep, and other fulfilling activities such as reading.  It is a delicate balance, but surely one that we can achieve with some careful thought.

As a nutrition professional, I often hear about how mothers, fathers, and other caregivers put the needs of others ahead of, and at the expense of, their own needs.  I am sure you have all heard the saying that “one must love oneself before loving another”.  One must also take care of his/her fitness and nutrition needs before being able to help others.  Fitness and nutrition are basic needs, not extravagances for the sake of pleasure.  Watching out for your own basic fitness and nutrition needs does not have to involve time consuming marathon training, intense Crossfit workouts, or eating gourmet home cooked meals.  Rather, it means incorporating physical activity into your daily lives and eating balanced meals at home, work, and on the run.  Once you have met your own basic fitness and nutrition needs, you will be better prepared and equipped to help those around you.  

If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to make a priority list to see where exercise and nutrition fall for you.  I’m not asking you to put nutrition and exercise first and second on your list, but for most of us it wouldn’t hurt to be aware of where they do fall and to try to move them up a few spots!

Todd M. Weber, PhD, MS, RD

Identify Obstacles, Not Excuses

As a society, we like to make excuses.  We have reasons why we don’t get certain things done or why we don’t accomplish certain tasks.  We are a society of “well buts”.  Well, I would have gotten that done, but.....................  To oppose the “well, but” attitude, the health and fitness industry oftentimes forces the mantra of “NO EXCUSES” upon us.  To them it does not matter what is going on in your life, nutrition and fitness must be your number one priority.  Although this type of no excuses philosophy does have merit for some individuals and some people do respond to it, the no excuses mantra is a bit too harsh and militaristic for my liking.  The no excuses mantra fails to consider the complexities of an individual’s life.  For example, how many children do you have, what are their ages, what are their activities/requirements, what type of profession are you in, how many hours do you work, what type of culinary skills do you possess, what kind of nutrition and exercise knowledge do you have, what is your stress level...........the list goes on and on.  Instead of ignoring the complexities of an individual’s life by perpetuating the “no excuses” mantra, why don’t we take a slightly different viewpoint?  Let’s identify obstacles, not excuses!

Identify Obstacles, Not Excuses:  when obstacles inevitably come up, work on finding solutions!

By definition, excuses are an “attempt to lessen the blame attaching to (a fault or offense)” or to “seek to defend or justify”.  The implications of an excuse is that it is your fault and you are to blame.  When people are fat or overweight, they tend to feel really ashamed of themselves.  People will often tell me that “I know I am fat” or “I know what I should be doing, I’m just not doing it” and “I need to be better”.  There is a tremendous amount of guilt associated with being overweight or obese and there SHOULD NOT BE.  Being overweight or obese IS NOT A REFLECTION OF YOUR CHARACTER.  It may be a reflection of what you have been doing, but it is by no means who you are as an individual.  The blame that society places on overweight and obese individuals (if they would just eat less or move around more) and the guilt that overweight and obese individuals feel (I am weak willed and ashamed of my weight) leads us down the road of excuses and justifications.  No one wants to be to blame for something they feel like they are not in control of.  It is only natural to come up with an excuse. 

As a society, we have come up with a number of different reasons that we can blame for our condition without implicating ourselves.  There are numerous theories and proposed causes of weight gain including highly processed foods, sugar sweetened beverages, the fast food industry, reduced fat oxidation, menopause, hypothyroid, slow metabolism, poor genetics, endocrine disrupting chemicals in our food supply and environments, medications, injuries, disabilities, pain, food addiction, a lack of time, our built environments, stress, cortisol, leptin, insulin, antibiotics, gut microbiota, low birth weight, and so on.  On some level, all of these factors do play a role in weight gain; however, when they are viewed as excuses, they promote victimization and do not help us live happier, more fulfilled lives.

Instead of the “no excuses” mantra of many health professionals, I would like to reframe the issue as identifying obstacles, not excuses.  By identifying obstacles (and not excuses) we remove the victimization, stop focusing on what we cannot control, and identify the obstacles that we can control.  These obstacles are definitely real and they definitely contribute to whether we lose or gain weight; however, by identifying and characterizing these items as obstacles and not excuses we know what we are up against and we can come up with a gameplan for defeating them.  If you see a road closed sign, do you turn around, give up, and go home, or do you find an alternative route to get to your destination?  We are faced with many obstacles in our lives and some people have many more obstacles and a steeper, more daunting challenge to get to the top than others.  That is a biological fact.  But you must have the courage, confidence, and stamina to create a path, stay on course, and when you get knocked off course and need to adjust, improvise and continue on your way. 

The “no excuses” philosophy of nutritionists and trainers is good intentioned but fails to consider the complexities of 21st century life.  Identifying obstacles, rather than excuses, removes the blame from the individual and thereby releases them to focus on what they can control.  Losing weight is hard enough without having your doctor, nutritionist or personal trainer reinforce the blame you are feeling.  Once we can all accept (health professionals and clients alike) that there is no room for the blame game, shame, or excuses we will all be better off.  Identifying obstacles, problem solving, and personal empowerment are the keys to weight loss.  The next time you find that you are struggling, identify the obstacle, not the excuse, create a gameplan, and crush that obstacle!  I know you can.

Todd M. Weber, PhD, MS, RD

There is a Diet Book for Everything!

There is a diet book for everything and to some degree every diet book is based on exactly the same principles (more on this below).  The pictures of the diet books shown below is by no means an exhaustive list, but represents the many types of diet books marketed today.  In general, these diet books fall into the following twenty categories (reading left to right on the picture):

1. Good Calories versus Bad Calories
   
2. Paleo/Primal Diets
   
3. Detox Diets
   
4. Brain Foods
   
5. Raw Foods
   
6. Juicing
   
7. Ultra Metabolism/Secret code
   
8. Food for your Body Type
   
9. Anti-Sugar
   
10. Blood Sugar/Glycemic Index
    
11. Anti-Grain
    
12. Anti-Fat (Omni Diet)
    
13. Optimal Nutrient Distribution
    
14. Calorie Counting
    
15. Specific Food Type
    
16. Big Food/Food Addiction
    
17. pH Based Diets
    
18. Fasting/Alternative Day Fasting
    
19. Superfoods
    
20. Another Country’s superior food patterns (not pictured here)

There is a diet book for everything imaginable, yet they are all essentially the same.

These 20 seemingly different diet types can be summarized as having two primary properties: 1) they attempt to maximize micronutrient density (high amounts of vitamins and minerals) and/or 2) reduce caloric intake.  Micronutrient density has ZERO impact on weight loss;  however, in general, if you consume foods with high micronutrient densities (fruits and vegetables) you will be reducing your caloric intake.  For example: there is nothing inherently special about the “juicing diet” that will automatically lead to weight loss.  For those of you unaccustomed to “juicing” it involves placing fruits and vegetables into a blender and blending these solid foods down to a liquid and drinking said liquid.  Juicing proponents claim that “juicing” is beneficial for weight loss due to the associated high intake of vitamins and minerals found in the fruits and vegetables you are consuming, when in reality, weight loss is almost 100% due to a reduction in the number of calories you are consuming, not a magical property of micronutrients.

When you stop and think about it, how many calories can you possibly consume if you were to only eat fruits and vegetables (which is what many of these diets tell you to do in one way or another)?  If you were to eat an entire 32 ounce bag of baby carrots you would be consuming 1320% of your daily value of vitamin A, 110% of your daily value of vitamin C, 88% of your daily value for dietary fiber, and 88% of your daily value for potassium.  You would also be consuming 385 calories or to put it another way, 135 fewer calories than a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with cheese (which by the way is only 7 ounces by weight with a bun compared to 32 ounces of carrots).  If you follow the juicing diet strictly, it is virtually impossible to eat enough calories to maintain your body weight.  Negative caloric intake, not micronutrient content is the key to losing weight while juicing and this theme holds true for most fad diets.  Maintaining this weight loss is another story and is dependent upon long term dietary adherence, something that is nearly impossible for most fad diets.  Dietary adherence is another complicated issue that we will save for another day.

If you are an avid reader of my content (which I hope you are) you will notice what you may perceive to be a tired theme for my articles: energy balance.  Provided you are in a negative energy balance, it does not matter what type of diet you choose to eat you will lose weight.  Low carbohydrate, high-carbohydrate, low-fat, high-fat, high-protein, or any of the 20 diet types listed above, provided you are in a negative energy balance you will lose weight.  I realize there are many biological, psychological, and social factors that affect what you eat, when you eat, how much you eat, and why you eat.  These factors definitely play a role in energy balance, but energy balance is still the ultimate guide and the ultimate decider of whether you lose weight or gain weight. 

As long as there is a demand for diet books, publishers will continue printing them and making money from them.  I do not know what the next diet craze will be.  Maybe it will be the “aquatic diet” where we only eat food from the oceans, maybe it will be the “small game diet” where we only eat squirrels and rabbits and vegetation they typically eat, or maybe we will eat the “tree diet” only consuming foods that grow on trees such as almonds and various fruits.  Whatever that diet may be, know that it is only going to be another passing fad.  Energy balance is here to stay!

Todd M. Weber, PhD, MS, RD

The Building Blocks of Your Nutrition and Health

This week Energy Balance Nutrition Consulting (EBNC) is officially releasing its new logo.  The EBNC building blocks represent one of the key principles of our company: simplicity. 

Energy Balance Nutrition Consulting (EBNC) Logo: The Building Blocks of Your Nutrition and Health

Wooden building blocks are among the simplest and earliest toys for infants and toddlers to use to help them explore their environments.  No directions are required, there are no jagged edges, every piece is interchangeable, you do not have to know how to use them.  No special tools or knowledge is required.  There is no right or wrong way to build and explore.  The blocks are intuitive and simple.  The blocks also represent the first step in being able to build something bigger and better.  Once you master the building blocks you can move on to something more fun like Legos!

Legos are "advanced' building blocks.

The nutrition principles at EBNC are like building blocks: extremely simple.  The EBNC principles beg you to go back to the basics and back to the fundamentals of nutrition.  Some have suggested that the nutrition concepts put forth by EBNC are too simple, that people already know what I am trying to teach them.  Isn’t that part of the point?  Everyone claims they know how to eat, but if everyone already knows how to eat then why do we have so many self-help diet books (not to mention that they are on the best-sellers list!), why are ~70% of us overweight or obese, and why are so many of us frustrated by the way we feel about our bodies?  I believe it is because we are too concerned with the trees rather than the forest, that we are paralyzed by micromanaging our nutrition rather than focusing on the big picture, that we are distracted by the cacophony of information marketed and advertised to us rather than the important items, the fundamentals and basics of nutrition: energy balance!  You cannot build a house without first laying the proper foundation.  If you can master energy balance (the building blocks) the rest of your nutrition will be easy to get right.

Todd M. Weber, PhD, MS, RD