Your Brain Likes you FAT

November 2019

Does your fitness checklist look like this?

·?????????Running Shoes with double gel sole – check

·?????????Branded dry-fit gear – check

·?????????Resolution to wake up tomorrow at 5AM, alarm set – check

·?????????Fitbit charged and armed – check

·?????????Gym Membership (annual payment to save 20% on month on month) – check

·?????????Exer-cycle at home to make up for “rainy day gym misses” – check

·?????????Tell everyone in the household that you are going to start exercising from tomorrow - check

If yes, then you are one among a tiny percentage of people who are actively thinking about fitness – with emphasis on the word “thinking”

However, achieving fitness is a totally different ball game.

Typically fitness, or, in layman terms –“losing weight” or “losing fat” is considered or, even firmly believed to be a function of the body.

“I get very tired when I run”

“My knees hurt”

“My ankle hurts”

“I have hormone issues”

“I have slow metabolism”

You have probably heard your friends throw a truck-load of excuses on how their bodies are not supporting their heartfelt desire to lose weight

Allow me to destroy the myth.

Your body simply does what your mind asks it to do.?

It is a slave to the whims and fancies of the ideas that come (and pass) through your brain

The punchline being – “Your brain likes you FAT”

Let me prove my point - vis-à-vis “losing weight”. All of us have experienced these situations in our lives

·?????????Situation 1 - Say you are riding a bike and you meet with an accident. You are about to fall to your side. Your brain calculates the situation and advises your leg to extend to prevent the fall. Your leg obeys instantly. The entire weight of the bike + momentum due to speed is now passing through your leg into the ground. Your leg experiences instant shock. Your knee joint could bust. Your calf and thigh muscles are subjected to high stress within a split second. You get up with a swollen ankle, sprained muscle, force-impact on knee joint and several other things. The pain is instantaneous.

·?????????Situation 2 – Remember the first day you went to the gym. You woke up in the morning, all pumped up about it. You hit the gym at 0600 Hours. You do 30 minutes of treadmill, 5 repetitions of biceps, chest-press, thigh-press, shoulder-reps and what-not. You walk out of the gym feeling like?Arnold Schwarzenegger. You experienced no joint pains, no muscle pains, and no pains of any sort. You breezed through the day feeling like feather floating through the wind. You went back home in the evening - still no pains. You hit the bed and within minutes you feel a light tinge in your back. Your calf muscle seems to be pulling your leg inwards. Within about 30 minutes you feel like your entire body is going to crash. The thought of hitting the gym tomorrow morning hits you. On one hand your body is screaming for help, on the other hand you are fighting the pain to wake up tomorrow morning to go back to the gym. In this case, the pain is delayed.

Remember these situations. We will refer back to them later.

Let us analyse the punchline of this article a little bit more – “Your brain likes you FAT”

Through centuries of evolution, the human brain has been deeply condition to take any and every step to ensure compliance to a singular objective – “Survival”

To enable survival, your brain directs the body to undergo several physiological changes. Evolution has also scared our brains about a hypothetical possibility of a famine or drought that could potentially cripple our food supply.

The brain is constantly aware of that fact and it strategizes its response accordingly.

Let us take a slight detour to talk about “food”

The body needs food to do many things. Food gives us energy to get through the day. It helps repair damaged tissues and cells. It helps maintain proper hormonal levels / chemical balance

Let us talk about the energy-giving and cell-repairing aspect of food.

Energy is derived from carbohydrates (or carbs). Carbs can give us instant energy to go through the day. Food items like Rice, Potato, Meat etc. when consumed, replenishes carbs in our body. Carb-rich food forms the central and major part of our diet.

The second element is Protein. The primary task of Protein is to repair body parts that have been damaged due to wear and tear. Protein goes to work when you sleep and repairs torn muscle, re-builds cells and stitches tissues. That is why you feel fresh after a good night’s sleep. You are practically waking up with a new body.

The secondary responsibility of protein is to provide for energy. However, Protein is not as capable as Carbs in doing that activity. A large quantity of Protein is required to do the same job that a few grams of Carbs can easily accomplish - hence the gigantic jars of Whey Proteins!

It is best to let Protein do its primary task.

The third element is Water. Water helps carry these essential elements through the body. Some of these elements need water to get working. Drinking lots of water is key to fitness.

Perhaps the most notorious element in our body is FAT – the villain of the story. It gets accumulated in the body without our consent. This is where the brain plays its wicked game

Fats, when burned, dissipate energy. If not burned, the fats are happy to dig-camp and stay inside your body for long periods of time. When your body-fat exceeds recommended levels, it starts showing up as ugly outward contortions of the body.

But why should your body build fat deposits?

Well, the answer must be sought from the brain and not the body.

Remember we talked about the brain’s natural instinct to plan for your survival. It wants to keep your body alive for as long as possible. Enter FAT – a handy safety deposit that can be cashed when food intake becomes scarce.

If you notice, fat deposits start showing when a person is into his/her teens. Until that point the brain is ascertaining if the person can make through the initial years. Once the prospect of long term survival is guaranteed, the brain goes to work

Why do lazy people get fat?

It is fairly obvious if you understand how the brain works. Since the brain is not seeing an active lifestyle, it does not care about converting the carbs into energy. Instead, the brain starts converting an increasing portion of your carbs-intake into fat. The brain is most happy when it is working towards its primary goal – Survival!

This fat is initially stashed into places that are not apparently visible. Your brain does NOT want you to see the skin contortions due to the fat storage. It tucks away the fat in places like – under-side of the thigh, behind your shoulders, back of the waist and so on.

Once those accommodations’ are full, the fat deposits start encroaching visible areas like stomach, chest, neck and such places. The question remains – Why is this happening?

The answer is simple. Your brain is planning for a “rainy-day” phenomenon. It is creating an imaginary scenario where you will run out of food and the FAT comes handy to keep you alive.

It actually sounds like your brain is doing a good-Samaritan thing. However, the problem is that the brain does not know when to stop. It keeps the fat-making factory running until your body can no longer handle it.

If not checked, the noble venture started by your brain can actually get you killed. More fat, means more body weight, more weight on the joints resulting is faster wear, more work for the heart to pump blood through the body because the blood vessels are constricted, extra pumping means extra blood pressure, hyper-tension, heart-attack and imminent death.

There are many ways to die, but dying due to obesity related condition is easily avoidable.?

Let us see how.

I hope you and me are on-board with the “mind-games” that is going inside our body. How can we get out of this?

Our brain is a like a self-learning computer program (AI geeks, don’t blush yet). The self-learning algorithm is built through a concoction of hard-wired genetic code (like “survival) and daily experiences. If you are fat, your brain is running the “survival” algorithm on repeat-mode.

All you need to do is break the cycle of the algorithm and re-program a new one. Easier said than done, isn’t it?

So, what are we actually asking our brain to do when we talk about re-programming? We need to firmly code these three postulates into our brain

1.???????We want to tell the brain to stop making fat

2.???????We need to tell the brain to burn extra fat (optimum amount of fat is fine)

3.???????We need to assure the brain that a food-scarce situation will never arise

I know I compared the brain to a self-learning computer program. Unfortunately we cannot type in the new program into the brain with a keyboard and mouse.

The brain needs to be taught in the only way it knows to learn – daily experiences. You need to let the brain draw its own conclusion. That is when the lessons (programs) get embedded in the brain for life.

You need to take your brain for a ride around the three postulates. Let us counter the postulates by inculcating these habits. We will try to reconnect the habits to the postulates in later sections.

I am listing these habits from my personal experience.

Kill all lofty dreams

Whenever we think about fitness, we tend to think at Olympic levels. Do you remember the fitness-checklist we talked about in the beginning? We want the best gear, best location, and best conditions to do anything related to fitness.

Costly gel running shoes, large donations to gymnasiums, getting up early in the mornings before sunrise because some self-help author said so, buying the most expensive FITBIT – these things can induce more guilt in your system than trying to help you with it.

Kill all lofty dreams. Kill them today. Kill them right-now

The shoes you have are fine. You can’t get up in the morning – fine. You cannot stick to your gym schedule – cancel the membership. You don’t have FITBIT – wear your regular wristwatch.

Don’t change your settings dramatically. Don’t start your fitness journey by putting a mountain of guilt in front of you. Use the lofty dreams as incentives and rewards when you reach milestones.

Titbit – I ran my first 10K marathon with my thin-soled Nike walking shoes. I bought my double gel running shoes as a personal reward for completing the run

So there we go. No lofty dreams means you are ready to start right now

Don’t change your diet

If you are eating something and you are alive – don’t change it. Don’t get swayed by fancy nutrition plans proposed by celebrity nutritionists on TV. They are good, but remember - you promised to kill lofty dreams.

Are you going to remember to soak 4 almonds every night and consume them first thing in the morning? I did that activity for one day. Then laziness took over.

Don’t do that. Don’t buy the gigantic jar of Whey Protein. Don’t stop eating fried food. Don’t make any change to your current diet.

I know the above statement would raise many eyebrows. Here is why I am asking you to not change.

Don’t give any hint to your brain that you are trying to change something. The brain is very susceptible to change. You change your diet for a day and your brain will reprogram itself to make more fat next day from your current consumption. Don’t give your brain a chance to do that.

That is the reason why fasting (to lose weight) is not a good idea. Fasting is a change in your diet plan and the brain can pick up on that really quickly. If you fast continuously, it is not called fasting. It is called starvation which is different issue altogether.

Don’t make haphazard changes to your diet. Whatever you are eating, stick to +/- 5% change to that diet. Don’t go all vegan from tomorrow. Don’t guzzle gallons of soda from tomorrow. Don’t go on an all-protein diet from tomorrow.

Let your brain think that nothing is changing. Let us sweep the carpet from under its feet really slowly.

Find 30 minutes in your day at the same time everyday

This could be a challenge for working professionals. I have heard many friends complaining – “I can’t find time”, “I have meetings in the evening” etc.

For the sake of your fitness, find a 30 minute window in your day. There is only one condition. That 30 minute window should be in the same time-period every day.

If you are a morning person – sanction the 30 minutes for yourself in the morning. If you are an evening person (like me) – set aside 30 minutes in the evening, say between 1830 and 2000 Hours.

It does not have to be accurate to the minute. The brain does not calculate time in minutes or seconds. It usually records phases of the day – like morning, afternoon, evening etc.

Don’t pick crazy hours – like 11 in the night or 4 in the morning. Keep the time window in your general awake-hours. Plan for 6-8 hours of sleep in the night.

By setting aside the same time of the day you are telling your brain that something is going to happen in a repeat-mode at that time of the day. Your brain must be re-programmed by repetition of daily activities that occurs on a schedule. Hence, it is very important to pick the 30 minute window at the same time of the day.

Decide on one type of cardio exercise

You have set aside the time, now to fix your exercise. Remember FAT can only be burnt by exercise. Finalize on one type of cardio exercise – like running, cycling, treadmill, swimming, squash, badminton or any other sport that requires rapid movement of your body.

Don’t shuffle between exercises. Don’t do running today, cycling tomorrow and treadmill the day after. If you fix running as your exercise, stick to it.

If your exercise is dependent on a partner, like badminton or squash – avoid it. Don’t base your schedule on a partner whose availability cannot be guaranteed.

You are telling your brain that you will be subjecting your body to a FAT burning routine every day at the same time in the same way. If you do multiple things, your brain can get confused. It will start treating it as recreational activity and use energy from daily (carb) reserves

This is when you get tired, because you used up energy that was meant to take you through the day. Real exercise should make you energetic or, at the minimum, not get your tired because it taps into the FAT reserve for energy.

Through this daily exercise routine, you are telling your brain multiple things.

You are telling the brain that this is going to happen every day, so get used to the habit. Within a few days your brain starts expecting this routine to happen and starts planning its energy management accordingly. In addition, your brain also has to get you through the day. So it uses carbs from your food to generate energy for your daily chores.

Since you did not change or alter your diet, the brain can now work with certainty about the calorie intake. It know how much food is going to come in and how much energy it needs to keep for you exercise routine.

A game of chess with your brain

As the brain realizes that food intake is not changing + fat burning exercise is happening, it gets assured that a famine or drought like situation may not arise. It feels confident about letting go of some of the FAT deposits for the new exercise routine

Your brain’s initial response to the new exercise routine would be to discourage you from doing it. The brain very cunningly masks its discouragement tactics in many ways. While there is nothing wrong with your body, it will generate signs to tell otherwise.

You may face shortness of breath, muscle pain, tiredness within few minutes of your routine. Remember, there is nothing wrong with your body. It is actually your brain playing tricks to discourage you from doing the exercise.

Don’t worry. We are here for the long haul.

Let your brain think that it has won today. If you run out of breath today within 5 minutes, so be it. Don’t push it. Come back again tomorrow and you will be able do 7-8 minutes before the brain wakes up to stop you.

On the third day you can do 12+ minutes - I guarantee that. Make small increments. Make increments that the brain cannot identify. Remember your brain cannot realize time in minutes and seconds – so squeeze in a few additional minutes every day.

Within 10 days, you will be running for 30 minutes without any problem. But don’t try to push your body to run 30 minutes on the first day. Remember situation 2 about the first day at gym.

Your brain started inducing the feeling of pain late in the night because it remembers that you will try to go to the gym in the morning. It starts filling your heart and mind with ruthless discouragement to prevent you from going.

Your brain is quick to realize that gym visit = burning of fat = problems in survival. Hence all the discouragement. In 99/100 cases, there is nothing wrong with your body. All the pain that you feel is make-believe. It is not real.

In the initial days focus on only running. Any distraction, like listening to music while running, could split the focus of your brain and prolong results. Your iPod is not going anywhere. You can listen to all the songs you want after your run.

Many people like exercising with a partner. If you are one of them, during the initial 30 days, don’t talk with your partner while running. Don’t try to match their speed. Find your rhythm and frequency and stick to it. Don’t accelerate or decelerate. All these minor things can send confusing signals to your brain and delay results.

Bringing it all together

How long should you continue this routine?

I don’t have an answer to that question, but I can answer from my experience. I felt my brain thinking differently in about 30 days. Your duration may vary, but it will surely happen.

I used to run every evening between 1830-2000 Hours. I have been doing it for 2 years now. Nowadays I run about 4 times in a week without sacrificing on the benefits.

I am 44 years old. Rather I feel 44 years young.

I am six foot tall and my recommended body weight is 78 Kgs. I used to weigh 105 Kgs two years ago. Today my weight fluctuates between 81-83 Kgs. I am blissfully happy.

Every day I feel a sense of restlessness when the clock ticks 1830 Hours. Something inside my body (maybe my brain) pushes me to go and run. I may have successfully programmed my brain to incorporate running as a normal activity.

I feel energetic through the day. I have dropped 2 pant sizes and 1 shirt size. I have inculcated a habit of carrying a refillable water bottle with me at all times. I drink about 10 litres of water every day.

I have made zero changes to my diet. In fact, my craving for food has increased. Because of the exercise my digestive system has also become more efficient in handling what I throw in. I eat sweets, I eat fried food, I eat vegetables, and I eat fruits – absolutely no discounts.

Inspiration and Incentive

What keeps you going?

Try to reward yourself if you reach a milestone. Let the reward be about something to do with your exercise. I bought my first double gel running shoes after I proved to myself that I could run a 10K marathon. Don’t spoil yourself with incentives for starting something. Instead use rewards when you achieve something.

While you are at it, inspire others too. Again, kill all lofty dreams. Don’t dream of inspiring all humans on the face of the earth. Set small goals and achieve it.

When I registered myself to run my second marathon, I decided I wanted to run it with my friends. But I cannot just pick them up on the day of marathon and push them to run. I had to motivate them 3-4 months before the D-day.

I can proudly say that I inspired +4 people to run the first marathon of their lives (my second marathon). I am contended with my achievement.

Set a target for yourself. If running is your exercise, lookout for marathon season (typically happens between Octobers – February). Try to complete the marathon without breaking the run. The sense of accomplishment from a job well done is un-paralleled. Go for it.

If you are a cyclist, look out for similar cycling events in your city. It is important to keep a stretch milestone to keep you going.

I also started the #oneminuteplankchallenge. I got my office colleagues to join me every day at 1130 Hours to do a one minute plank. We meet, we plank, we go – is our quick and easy mantra.

Our planking?endeavors?broke the internet (so to say). With more than 5 Million views, a group of 20 individuals from my office inspired the world to take up one minute planking as a fun + fitness activity.

For our team, planking has become a routine. It happens without prompting. Old-timers have left the organization, new-comers are filling in their shoes seamlessly. It is all happening like a well-oiled perpetual machinery.

Come 1-Nov-2019 and we will be completing one year of unbroken planking. We didn’t miss a single day through the year.

Hello Brain, how’s it going?

Remember the three postulates that we discussed earlier. Let’s see if we ticked the boxes.

Without changing diet and ensuring steady non-erratic supply, you have assured your brain that a famine like situation may not arise.

You programmed your brain through repetition of a simple activity over a period of time. You held your brain’s hand to let go of the extra fat deposits, while letting it retain some.

You made fitness a routine. You have programmed the brain to push you to exercise and lead a healthy and fulfilling life.

…in the end

Life is precious. Health is precious. Time is precious. All these things are at our disposal. We have every right to?mold?it in any which way we want

I am not a nutritionist. I am not a?dietitian. I am not a fitness enthusiast. In fact, I am, or rather, I was a very lazy procrastinator. I was always looking for the next Monday or the First day or next month or next year to start doing things.

If I can do it, you can do it too. Go ahead, inspire me, and inspire others.