Just Start
My new audio book which I just started is titled “Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World Class Performers from Everybody Else” by Geoff Colvin. I just started the second chapter of the audio book, and I find it intriguing. The overall premise of the book is obvious but the data used to support the idea is fascinating.
In the second chapter titled “Talent is Overrated”, Colvin examines a study done with school aged children learning a musical instrument, who are judged by a performance index. They found that the children, who were categorized as being more talented than others, actually were spending more time practicing, on average the higher performers were spending about 9 x the amount of time a day practicing. Further they found that the way these children practiced played a significant role in how quickly they developed their “talent”.
This is a drastic oversimplification of what I have read so far like a game of telephone I’m sure I’ve lost much of the accuracy of what he writes, but Colvin is convincing in his premise. In the first chapter he describes a pair of young 20 something new hires at Proctor and Gamble who share an office, who are similar to many of the other bright young Ivy Leaguers that P & G hires; they aren’t anything spectactulr in fact many of their days are spent playing trash can basketball. They were known at P & G for being the least likely to excel in the company.
It turns out these underachievers were Steve Balmar, and Jeffery Immelt, both billionaires, and both at one point CEO’s of two of the most powerful companies in the world. The point he makes is that these men possessed something beyond just an intangible “talent”, but had a set of skills which allowed them to supersede the accomplishments of many men who were from the same pedigree, and who may have even been considered to be more gifted than these men.
It got me thinking about this entire process of losing weight, and the argument that people use that genetics determine whether you are fat or not. Unless you have some genetic disorder, or something like Prader Willy Syndrome the genetic argument is a cop out.
The real question is how bad do you want something, how much effort are you willing to put forth, and how determined are you to succeed.
I get frustrated hearing people talk about emotional issues which drive them to eat, or going to counseling to talk about food issues. If that works for you, great, but if you find yourself in the same place and out more money than you started with, then maybe it’s time to do the work.
In the beginning it’s hard, it’s really fucking hard.
At some point you have to be fed up with were you are, and how you got there, and just start taking the steps forward. Regardless of how much it sucks or how much you feel like shit, in the beginning movement is the most important factor.
Just do something anything, change 1 meal a day from the crap that we eat that makes us fat, to 1 meal filled with whole foods, and good protein. Do this for a month, and then change your diet to two clean meals a day, the momentum at that point will carry you past the beginning hurdles, eventually you will wake up one day and instead of having 1 good meal a day, you will be having 1 bad meal a week.
The things that we forget about the most “talented people” is that they still have to work at it, and their determination levels far supersede their competitors or peers. Unless you are a bobble head like Paris or Kim Khardashin who are known for being pretty and stupid, you have to work at everything.
Even bariatric surgery isn’t a quick fix, they still require you to diet and exercise, so what the hell is the point of the surgery? Why have yourself cut open when the actual weight loss is still done by you and your efforts?
The greatest athlete of my Generation is Tiger Woods. He dominated the golf world, and because he was unknown to most people for much of his life, it seemed like he came out of nowhere, the reality of it this guy has been working like a Marine since he was in elementary school, giving it his all and never being satisfied with mediocrity. In his first few years of golf he revolutionized how golfers trained for their craft, all of sudden PGA tour players started to look like athletes and not overweight white guys in bad pants. They actually added an entire trailer which goes every PGA event which contains workout equipment, that didn’t exist before Tiger Woods.
Skinny Young Tiger
Older Jacked Tiger
He also was the guy who was first on the range, and last off the practice green. He spent more time analyzing a course, and taking practice shots from the rough. He did what winners do.
Does anyone remember Phil Mickelson’s physique before Tiger Woods? His man boobs were almost as big as mine.
Over the course of many years Tiger Woods has honed in a specific skill through work, his determination to succeed drove him to achieve success. He might possess the raw “talent” to be a great golfer but it’s the work he put forth that has allowed him to become considered one of the greatest of all time.
So here we are, trying to overcome our personal battles with weight, most of us have been struggling with this our entire lives, at what point do you have to say “fuck it” I no longer want to feel this way, and I will do whatever it takes to get to where I want to be…
It has taken me years to realize that in order to make the progress I have, the road that I am on is just as important as the effort I put forth, but without the momentum to move forward and do the work the road I choose is meaningless.
If I wasn’t determined I would still be 443lbs.
So my challenge to those who are about to start their weight loss evolution, or struggling to find their way, I say to you just…start. If you start a race and come in last place there’s nothing wrong with it if you have given everything you possible can give, but if you don’t even start the race how will you ever know what is possible?
Start…
Start now…
And don’t stop until you reach what you have set out to achieve…
07/06/2011
9:00 AM Crossfit
Walking to Crossfit this morning I only had one thought in my head, “I hope we don’t do anything that looks like a squat”. I am now fully convinced it is not the facility or the trainer, I emit either a high pitch whine which can only be heard by the physically fit, or put off some odor which sends a signal to anyone I workout with the precise part of my body that is the most sore or tight.
AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) warm up today involved 10 body weight squats, and a farmers walk about 10 yards down and back. Liz told me I had 10 minutes to get as many cycles completed as possible. The first 2 sets of body weights squats were difficult, my legs were still tight from the day before, but by the final set they felt good, and looser than I anticipated. I was able to complete 13 full cycles.
We continued down this path of squatting with the actual heavy lifting portion of my hour. The Sumo Dead lift High Pull, its part dead-lift, part squat, and upright row. In a SDHP your feet are placed a bit wider than a regular squat, with the toes pointed more outward, you place your hands closer to the center of the bar about a thumbs length apart from one another. Starting with your hips lowered, and an upright chest, you have to drive your heels into the ground and power the bar up, pulling it up to your chin. If you think of pulling a rope in a game of tug-of-war your legs digging in to create the torque to move the opposing force, it feels similar; the driving action comes from your legs, with your arms acting like pulleys up to your chin.
I started with 95 lbs doing 2 sets here, then 1 set of 115 lbs, and 2 more sets at 115 lbs, each set I did 5 reps. This was the first time I did SDHP with weight, prior to today I had only done the bar.
From the Sumo Dead lift High Pull, Liz had me going into another AMRAP, this time for 12 minutes. The closing AMRAP was comprised of 5 ring rows, 10 box jumps, and 15 American Kettle bell Swings with a 35lbs Kettle bell. I was able to get 8 full cycles, 5 extra ring rows, and 2 box jumps before time ran out.
11:00 AM Ali, Washington Sports Club
When I finished at Crossfit I felt good, but knew I had an 11 AM session with Ali at Washington Sports Club. I jogged home, had a quick breakfast of a 4 egg omelet and some cheese, I also had an orange. I was able to get to WSC 4 minutes from the start of my session. By the time I was able to wrap both of my hands it was time to start the session.
We started with boxing. My fists were slow, yet I focused on getting as much pop as possible on Ali’s mitts. I was surprised to find that I was able to keep pace with his mitts, and made some good connection with my punches. From the boxing, he had me move into some abdominal work on a resistance ball.
I then was told to do 15 regular burpees with the addition of picking up an 18 lb medicine ball over my head when I stood up, and then tossing it straight back down. The burpees were followed by 30 reps of an overhead shoulder press holding a 45 lbs plate, which was followed by 15 3-count Mountain climbers where I had to pick up the 18 lbs medicine ball, stand up and then slam it back down. When the mountain climbers were finished I had to do 30 more overhead presses with the 45lbs plate.
Ali had me put the gloves back on, so we could do some more boxing. A good 12 minutes more of boxing, we then transitioned into some more abdominal work, eventually leading back to another cycle of burpees, shoulder presses, and mountain climbers.
We had one more quick round of boxing, this time doing 6 punch combinations. After the last punch was thrown I was taken over to the upright cable row machine, where I did 15 reps of 90 lbs standing cable rows. I then had to do 15 push-ups on a bench, 15 reps per side doing a planked dumbbell row, and 40 Russian Trunk Twists. This entire cycle was repeated one more time.
I had originally intended to do an hour of cardio, but after my session with Ali I was ready for some sleep. I wish I had gone home to get some rest, but I ended up going to Whole Foods because I didn’t have anything fresh to eat. I have to absorb that last line. I had to go to a grocery store because I didn’t have any fresh whole foods in my fridge, what the fuck? Next I’m going to talk about volunteering my time somewhere, I didn’t know losing weight would help turn me into a hippie.
Cook It Big Boy
The rest of the day turned into a day of cooking. I started with cooking my first whole chicken; I guess what I mean is my first baked or roasted chicken. Thanks to Anthony Bourdain and Thomas Keller, it turned out really well; there is an episode of No Reservations where Bourdain enlists the help of many of his celebrity chef friends to teach specific cooking skills. The segment which made it possible for this guy to cook a whole chicken well was brought to you by Thomas Keller.
The process is quite simple, the flesh of my whole chicken from the Humble Gourmand, which is a local organic food buyers club, was an appetizing color; it’s the healthiest dead bird I’ve ever seen. I first took some thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper to stuff the open cavity of the chicken. Then following Keller’s procedure I used a small piece of butchers twine to tie the legs, to the tail, and then pulled the twine back tightly using the neck as a tie off point, this helps compress the chicken, allowing it to cook more evenly. I also had to take the wings and fold them underneath the body; Keller says this is done to give the bird support while it sits on the cooking surface.
I then “liberally” salted the outside of the bird to get that crunchy skin, Keller points out that this should be done from some elevation above the bird so the salt will separate as you drop it. I also added some black pepper, and thyme. My oven was preheated to 435 degrees, and I cooked the bird for an hour.
What you see below is the goodness that I had for lunch, and dinner today. I love me some chicken.
I also cooked beets, steamed some broccoli, cooked some beet leaves in a sauce I made, marinated some pork for another day this week, and put together my lunch for tomorrow, the leftover chicken and a green salad.
It’s hard trying to overcome the convenience factor of eating processed foods, but what choice do I have, I can keep eating crap and stay fat, or take the time to feed my body what it really needs while I develop the body I deserve.
This is no longer about how I feel when other people look at me, or what I perceive people thinking when they see me, it’s about feeling better, and getting to a point where I am happy.
The chicken I had today only reinforces one thought; good things take time and effort…