Learning Makes You Fat (3 simple things to avoid if you want to be fit)

"Idle hands are the Devil's playground" - God (I'm paraphrasing...and it may not have been him that said it...kind of like The Bible)

Society as arguably more worldly and has a broader knowledge-base than at any other point in history. Society is also fatter than at any point in history. I credit television for both of these revelations.

Obesity is not a solitary act; it is habits and tendencies and patterns, and if you want to lose weight, you best avoid these three (man)booby-traps:

Television watching - You want to talk about idle hands? The average North American watches an average 5 of hours of television per day...PER DAY! Never mind all of the trashy pop-culture and fast foods ads inundating impressionable minds, this is five hours of sitting on your butt. Rarely do most of us just sit and watch television, no no, that wouldn't be damaging enough. Not only do we sit, but we eat...and not only do we eat, but even worse, we snack. IF we just snacked on healthy foods, the calories would still amount to soggier backside meat, BUT at least we would get some food value. And if "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas. Once you body associates eating and TV watching, you're hooped. Instead, go for a bike ride, play a sport, or have a walk and take a picture of the sunset for your Facebook feed (the 'book eats that sh*t up).

Casual drinks - Calm down boozy, I'm not trying to pry the sippy-cup out of your shaky fingers. I'm talking about cutting out a soda with lunch, a juice with breakfast, and a wine with dinner. Sugar, sugar, sugar, FAT. A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips (this statement is actually true, by the way. Researchers have found that once fat cells are created in certain parts of the body, the cannot be destroyed, only grown or shrunk...BOOM! SCIENCE). Juice = 100 cals (or more), Pop = 100 cals (or more), Wine = 150 cals (or more). You could cut out 350+ calories per day just by substituting water for these other drinks. Not only could you lose (or not gain) 35lbs per year by making this switch, your organs, muscles, and brain will function better...your choice though, but that's none of my business.

Eating out - News-flash, it tastes good because it's been pumped full of fat, salt, and sugar...much like your heart. If you eat out, order in, take out, or get delivery regularly, you are begging for a(nother) freshman 15. The point is, unless the chef's hands are attached to your wrists, you don't know what is being put in to your soup/salad/chicken/steak/fish/rice bowl. Chefs are paid to make your food taste good so that you will come back and spend your money, don't bet on the fact that they have your heart health and your handles (of love) in mind. In addition to knowing what's in your food, you will be surprised at how much money you save, and how many more drinks you can buy for girls at the bar, just so you can go home alone at the end of the night (like usual).

It's simple scientistic facts really, and is hardly rocket-appliances. Worst case Ontario? You don't find out about Miley Cirus' new pubic-haircut until you go on your Twitter feed in 3 and a half minutes, you pee more, and you get a Sciatic condition from sitting on a wallet with more nightclub drink-receipts in it.

@BrendanRolfe

Image Credits
[1]http://www.demotivationalposters.net/image/demotivational-poster/small/0911/yoga-belushi-yoga-cigar-demotivational-poster-1257459936.jpg

How to control anxiety: Applications in athletics

Is anxiety a performance enhancer or suppressant? Is it common? Is it even manageable?

The answer is YES.

Anxiety, of varying levels, is extremely common in every day life, and even more so in elite level athletics. The activation of your fight or flight complex can enhance your performance, or it can act as a barrier if it becomes overwhelming. There are a number of tried and true techniques recommended by professionals that you might want try, should you find yourself overcome by nerves.

First of all, it should be noted that your feeling of anxiety is how YOU interpret your state of arousal. Some athletes refer to this state as being "pumped up". It is when "pumped up" meets "self doubt" that arousal becomes anxiety. Techniques including visualization, establishing cue-words, and routine implementation, have all been proven to increase an athlete's performance, and decrease their anxiety levels. Here is a brief synopsis of what each method entails, they are simple, yet require absolute commitment and repetition:

Visualization - This method is one of the most well-known and incorrectly performed techniques in Sports Psychology. Rather than just sitting cross-legged in the middle of a quiet room with their eyes closed, the athlete actually needs to immerse themselves in the sounds, smells, and feelings of a game situation. For example, if you are a basketball player, take 10 minutes out of your day to sneak into the gym and turn up a recording of game sounds in your headphones. Hold a basketball in your hands, close your eyes, and start by just breathing deep, and inhaling the smells of the gym. From there, play a game in your mind, from start to finish. Imagine yourself succeeding in every facet of the game, over and over again. Enjoy your imagined successes and think about how it feels to perform at your peak. If negative thoughts creep in to your mind (and don't worry, at first, they often do), open your eyes, take a deep breath, and start again. Be conscious of your body and maintain relaxed muscles and a calm mind. It is always best to perform these visualizations on your field of play, and with the potential game sounds playing. Because you have practiced visualizing so much, you can do this mid-game, right before you perform a certain skill, and you can likely do it with your eyes open, as you are performing the visualization in your mind's eye.

Cue Words - DOMINATE. That is the word that was written on the palm of my baseball glove. Before every single pitch, I had to look in to my glove to get the grip for my pitch. I would see DOMINATE, and it would give me a mind-set to focus on. DOMINATE was the word I selected, because it made me pitch aggressively to hitters. Rather than chipping away for the perfect pitch in perfect spot, I challenged hitters. Consequently, I had my best season as a college baseball player. When selecting your word, make sure it is one that triggers an emotional rise within you. It should illicit a positive response, and should immediately snap you in to a "zone". If you are going to use cue-words, ensure that you put it in a place that you are certain to look. If you have to search for the word, chances are you are going to forget about it, and it will not be useful.

Routine - Two-time NBA MVP, Steve Nash, is a career 90.4% free throw shooter. This is good. This is VERY good. In fact, this is the best of all-time. And when he gets to the free-throw line, he performs the exact same physical routine, every time: He ghosts the motion of shooting a free throw, (with no ball) twice, he licks his fingers (gross), he bounces it three times, and then shoots without a pause. He made 3054 out of 3378 free-throws in his career...that is incredible. Nash's phantom free-throw shots (performed with no ball) are referred to as motor-imagery. You can incorporate this in to any sport where there is a stop in play, and you have a moment to visualize the next skill that is to take place. 

It is important to keep in mind that these techniques are not a one-off, fix-all, guarantee. To the contrary, you must practice them with regularity to achieve optimal results (sound familiar Mr. and Ms. Athlete? I'm talkin' bout PRACTICE). Remember, while emotions like stress and anxiety have physical manifestations, they are still emotionally controlled. Control your mind and you will control your body.

@BrendanRolfe