Why Pessimism Sounds Smart, Why Your Fitness Tracker Might Lead To Weight Gain, And Why Bars Kinda Suck
Article Round-Up: 5.15.22
Enjoy this week’s round-up of articles, podcasts, and more from the web.
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“The Future of Fitness: Principle-Based Coaching vs Plan-Based Coaching”
Takeaway: The old model of diet prescription and blind adherence to mediocre fitness plans is ending. The new wave is principle-based fitness coaching, which uses the concept of first principles to design programs that are adaptive, flexible, and integrative for the individuals they are meant to help.
Takeaway: Optimism, by it’s very nature, requires faith in unknown, unexperienced future possibilities. That alone can make it seem crazy. Pessimism, on the other hand, is based in past experiences of what we know to be true. “This won’t work because it’s never worked before,” sounds pretty reasonable.
You can reinforce pessimism with facts and figures, while optimism is left with little more than theory and wishful thinking. But the reality is that optimistic creators and innovators have driven all of our advancement as a species. The world as come as far because of individuals who saw something that no one had yet seen.
Pessimism sounds smart, but optimism is smart.
Takeaway: From author John Maeda, “The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction. When in doubt, just remove.”
“…The opportunity lost by increasing the amount of blank space is gained back with enhanced attention on what remains. More white space means that less information is presented. In turn, proportionately more attention shall be paid to that which is made less available. When there is less, we appreciate everything much more.”
“Why Your Apple Watch or Fitbit Might Be Wrong About Your Energy Expenditure”
Takeaway: This is a research-heavy article, but table 1 at the very beginning gives you what you need to know. (Data nerds will enjoy the whole article.) Needless to say, it appears that the ability to accurately measure the number of calories burned during various forms of exercise was surprisingly poor across three popular fitness trackers.
This lends support to not putting too much emphasis on those numbers to drive your nutrition goals. (i.e. Splurging on dessert because you “burned” 600 calories at Orange Theory or Soulcycle.)
For those over 30:
“Why You Secretly Hate Cool Bars”
Takeaway: [Language Warning] When you’re young, you can’t wait for the weekend to head out to the latest cool bar in town. After you hit about thirty, the couch and latest Netflix docu-series seems too irresistible to pass up for spending four hours getting ready to overspend on cocktails you could just make at home. Read the authors hilariously (and sometimes brutal) honesty about #barlife.