Low Carb Diet

Just this week, I finished a month on a new diet.  Well, it was more than a new diet, really.  It was more of a lifestyle change.  My weight hasn't been a problem for a long time.  This one was more complicated than that.

Let me back up a bit.  You may know the story--my dad had his first heart attack when I was 5.  I've spent my life in fear of the same and have exercised and eaten "right" ever since because of that.

Lately, I've been trying to be more proactive about my health.  I've seen my primary care physician, my cardiologist, my gastroenterologist, and my physical therapist.  I've consulted with a sports performance physician, a nutritionist, and a health coach.

The result was that I needed to make some changes. 

I gave up caffeine.  I know that doesn't sound like much but for me it was huge.  I start my day with a cup of coffee.  Strong coffee.  The stronger the better. 

It's a good thing that my friends over at Vienna Coffee Company make a tasty cup of decaf otherwise I would be stuck to stuff that doesn't have a lot of taste but is merely hot.

And I've switched to a low carbohydrate diet. Now this might not sound like much either but I have been a carb animal for most of my life. 

Breakfast?  Carbs.  Always.  Carbs on carbs.  Lunch?  More carbs.  I love bread, desserts, potatoes, and rice. 

Since age 5, when my dad had that first heart attack, I've followed a low fat diet.  Skim milk, nothing 

fried, no eggs, infrequent red meat.  And lots of carbs.

Medical science now tells us that we may have been wrong about it all.  That the low fat/high carb diet may not yield the results that we sought.  That high carbs may contribute to heart disease and 

good fats may help prevent it.

The bottom line is that I was consuming too many carbs and that it was bad for me.  It may not be the same for you.  You need to seek that piece of medical advice for yourself. 

But for me, things have changed.  For the past month, I have minimized my carbohydrate intake.  No potatoes, no rice, no desserts.  No dairy, no legumes.  None.  Not even my beloved Frito's.

Mostly cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, brussels sprouts, green leafy vegetables.  For a month, I've eaten at least a salad every day.  And lots of lean meat and eggs. 

I spend a lot more time in shopping and food prep.  I have always read labels but now look for carb grams instead of fat grams . To say this is a huge emotional leap for me is putting it mildly.  Suddenly, fats (good fats) are good for me.

It's been hard, especially on the bike. As I reset my system to burn fat (which all of us have plenty of) from burning carbs (which we need to constantly ingest), I was sluggish and more than once got dropped in a group bike ride.  A month in, it has gotten better.  I'm not there yet but I'm getting there.

For the next few weeks, I will gradually increase my intake of good carbs, avoiding simple sugars and refined flour.

None of this has been easy but I am convinced that it will help me be healthier and live longer.  

Little Eyes Are Watching

Last week, I wrote about the impact that educators can have on our lives and the influence they have on the adults we become.

Our lives are filled with episodes, mere moments really, that change us.  That make us who we are.  For better or worse. 

When they happen, we never realize at the time that our life just got changed. 

I've told the story here about how my high school football coach changed this underachieving youngster (me) by his words "if he works at it, he can be a good one."

From that single comment, delivered to someone visiting football practice who was asking about me, I developed a work ethic that has served me well.

Just this week, I watched a colleague talking to a young athlete.  I was on the other side of our clinic so couldn't hear her words. 

It seemed like (and later confirmed) my colleague was complimenting the girl's hair and then her sweater.  You could see the delight in the in the youngster's body language. 

Maybe she didn't get complimented often.  I know that my colleague is a wonderful lady herself and a positive role model for those athletes that she serves.

What I watched was just further affirmation of the influence we can have on others without even realizing it.

For some reason, my wife and I have watched a couple of movies in recent weeks that featured basketball coaches that did a lot of yelling.   They were successful so they probably did a fair amount of coaching too but I'm pretty sure nobody looked at those coaches and said "that's who I want my child to play for."

The last coach that I encountered around here that I didn't particularly care for got the attention of his players by stomping his foot on the ground. 

Acting like a 3 year old is what I used to think about when this coach would stomp his foot on the floor.  I've watched the youngest of my grandchildren when he is at wit's end about something.  He sometimes demonstrate the same stomp.  Where do they learn this stuff?

I wonder if that's how this coach wants to be remembered.  I doubt it.  He probably just wants to be remembered by this wins.

We must always think about the influence we are having on others, every moment of every day.  I try and take that attitude.  Every moment.  Every day.  

For me, it all started (in another story I've told too many times) when a buddy and I were doing something we shouldn't have been doing at about age 10 and a young mother watching us told her small child "don't grow up like them."  It changed me.  On the spot.

We tell our athletes that they should be role models, that little eyes are always watching you.   Well, they are. 

Watching how you act, how you run, how you play the game. Hearing what you say and how you say it.  Copying your mannerisms and your attitude.

What do you want to be remembered for?

Tribute to Educators Everywhere

Tom Rothwell died last Sunday.  He was 91.  He was also my junior high principal.

I'm gonna get right to the point of today's column:  Teachers, coaches, principals--what you do counts.  You are influencing young people in ways that you probably never know about.

I've spoken about my high school football coach, Bert "Chig" Ratledge (although he will never ever ever be anything but Coach Ratledge to me), and the influence he has had on my life.

Mr. Rothwell was the same way, affecting generations of young folks as an educator, principal, and coach.

He was also a family friend.  I have great memories of visiting his home in downtown Philadelphia, Tennessee.  He collected hand guns and I was fascinated by that.

He and my dad seemed to really connect.  They probably couldn't have been more different in a lot of ways.

Mr. Rothwell had a full head of regal hair as long as he lived.  I don't remember my dad without his male-pattern baldness.  Mr. Rothwell went to college while my dad finished only 6th grade.  Both served in the Navy in World War II. 

One was tall, the other short.  One was quick-witted and perpetually in motion.  The other one moved and spoke slowly and with grace.  Yet both were highly intelligent, passionate about a lot of things, and totally devoted to their families. 

His daughter Ann and I went to school together from kindergarten through high school.  She and I remain friends today.  A couple of years ago, Ann and her dad came to a concert that my gospel quartet did at a church in Sweetwater.  His presence there remains a memorable honor for me. 

I can remember being in his office as a 6th grader, my transgression long forgotten.   I'm sure I was trembling with fear.  As was common in that day, he had a paddle in the corner but that's not what frightened me. 

His disapproval was far, far worse than any physical punishment he could have dished out.  Such was the respect that I had for him.

And I wasn't alone in that.  I've heard the same story many times from others that attended Loudon Junior High School.

I had him as an 8th grade science teacher.  I'm not sure why he was teaching that class but it was during a time when I thought that it wasn't too cool to be a "brain."  I wanted to be a "jock."  He straightened me out with his expectations for me.

Interestingly enough, it was about the same age that my daughter had the same dilemma.  I'm betting that it was a teacher at Maryville Middle School that helped her get through that stage.

Mr. Rothwell coached basketball from time to time, but I never played for him.  Football was always my sport. 

Because of grandsons, he has been a fixture at Alcoa High School football games, always wearing a hunter's orange cap in the stands so those same grandsons could find him.

He called me Joebee for as long as I can remember.  He will be missed by many.

For you teachers, coaches, and principals:  When the hours seem long, when you think no one cares, when the job seems thankless, be reminded that you are making a difference in somebody's life. 

Your job is not always teaching math and grammar and science.  A lot of the time it's about building adults.  

Fitness 102

I got stopped in the parking lot just the other day.  "You've told us what not to do (bench press, et cetera), how about telling us what we should be doing?"

My question back to him was "what do you want to accomplish?"

"Live longer, stay healthy, protect my joints, maintain muscle tone."

Sounds like the same thing that pretty much everybody that exercises regularly wants.  So I promised this column.  On the spot.

What should you do?  Here's one man's opinion.  Nothing here is new.  I've listed all this stuff before. 

Exercise regularly.  Not just every once in a while.  At least 5 times a week.   52 weeks a year.  

Sound like a lot?  You gotta figure it in context.  One of my favorite cartoons says "what fits your busy schedule better, exercising one hour a day or being dead 24 hours a day?"

The strength of any fitness program is in persistence.  It's often not the person who works the hardest.  If you give it all you have every single exercise session, you're going to burn out or get injured or both.  It's not so much the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare but longevity breeds success when it comes to your fitness.

In other words, if you stay with it, it will work for you.

Find a partner.  Or partners. 

Two big reasons.  Accountability and competition.

Accountability.   If someone is looking for you to be there to join them in a workout, you'll make some of those sessions that you would otherwise have skipped. 

Competition.  You will work harder if someone is working with you.   It's just human nature.  You will try harder, go longer...just generally put more effort into it if somebody is along for the ride

Having a partner in your fitness pursuits also makes it more fun.  Maybe misery does love company but the camaraderie and friendly teasing that comes from a group effort makes the time go easier.

Find something that you can enjoy doing.  Maybe not every workout.  Sometimes you just don't want to be there but need to put in the time anyway.  

But playing games or doing what you enjoy makes any program sustainable.  Tennis, basketball, cycling, running (although I can't personally vouch for running--if you see me running, take off--something is chasing me).

It's got to have two components:  strength training and cardio training.  If you can mix the two, as with High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), then you may have found the magic formula.

I've said it many times before:  The most important muscle you have is that one in the middle of your chest (your heart).  You've got to work it to keep it healthy.  But to protect our joints so that we can stay active, you've got to mix in some strength training.  It's more important for the 50-something to lift weights than it is for the 20-something.

Just remember that every day, you've got to get your heart rate up and keep it there long enough to develop good heart health.

The "See" Muscles

Some of the most fit people in Blount County are women.  As I gaze across my desk (a countertop, really), I see a group of mostly women working hard in a CrossFit class. Nearby, a couple of guys are grunting under too much weight on a bench press. 

I've said it here before;  the bench press is just an exercise that I don't understand.  It serves very little useful purpose from an fitness or athletics standpoint. 

You might assume that an offensive lineman on a football team needs the ability to push forward against an opponent.  But any good coach will tell you (heck, even the few mediocre ones know this) that if you are pushing straight in front of you, you are already beat. An incline bench makes a lot more sense. 

I suppose that a program of heavy lifting that includes the bench press could be useful in building bulk in those athletes that need it.  It's just that too much bench press (indeed, too much emphasis on the front chest muscles) builds a muscle imbalance that inevitably leads to shoulder problems.  In my clinical practice, it is the source of most of the chronic shoulder problems and a good number of the acute problems that I see.

You've heard this before too, but what exercise does one young lifter always ask about when talking to another young lifter?  Yep--how much can you bench?

So when I tell an athlete that they are forbidden from doing the bench press, I've rocked their world.  

I might as well take away biceps curls too.

Oh, and about those biceps curls...they're pretty useless too.   Think about what sport huge biceps might be an advantage in.  Yeah.  Me neither.

But these guys I'm watching are all focusing on those "see" muscles so I guess there's something to those "see" muscles that males seem so intent on developing. 

"See" muscles?   Those that you see when you look in the mirror.  Biceps.  Triceps.  Pecs.  Maybe the abs.

What those lifters don't understand is that the muscles that you really can't see, those in the upper back for example, are just as important.

A lot of my patients, young and old alike, have shoulder problems.  And certainly not all of them are due to lifting weights improperly or to the bench press.

If you think about it, our world is in front of us.  Most jobs are performed with your arms in front of you.  Operate a computer as all or part of your work?  Then you spend a good part of your day with your arms in front and your shoulders rolled forward.

Drive a vehicle?  Same thing.  Stock shelves?  Think about it. 

What this leads to is the same thing as what happens to those that do too much bench press:  the shoulders roll forward with the muscles on the front of the chest being stronger than the muscles in the back of the chest, further contributing to that forward shoulder position.

The solution?  If your strength training program is the culprit, then do a lot more work on your upper back and the back of your shoulders.

If the computer is the problem, you've got to learn to do exercises that strengthen those same areas, particularly the muscles between your shoulder blades.  It's also important to take breaks throughout the day and stretch your shoulders up and back.