Scott Abel Blogs

2008-07-01T07:41:00.000-07:00

Obsession and Passion: Becoming the Craftsman

Well I wanted to go in a specific direction with this month’s Blog, but reality seems to have me backtracking a bit each month. Several people have joined or contacted me just within the last week who have full blown eating disorders as a result of competition in the past. Given we are in the heart of competition season I would like to address further elements of approach to goal achievement which may help some people see the bigger picture or at least begin to question their own participation in a given process.

I’m often contacted by people asking me how I got to where I am and what they should study or read to get there as well. The answer is that there is no knowledge that will bring someone to this point of perceived success. The truth is knowledge is one of the bigger deceivers out there. The best coaches are not the ones who know the most ‘stuff’, but the ones who are the best at the craft of coaching. And this is the answer to that question.

I became a craftsman at a young age in my pursuit of this ‘thing’. The defining factor was not what I knew or learned from books, but rather my passion for the pursuit. As a matter of fact, of my colleagues whom I respect the most, are the ones who also started out with a passion as a powerful entity that drew them to the right places, at the right time, for the right reasons. Passion leads to becoming something else, something entirely greater and building upon itself. Passion leads to becoming ‘a craftsman’. And a craftsman is defined in the dictionary as ‘a highly skilled artist’

And this unfortunately is what is missing in our industry; and that is the art of artistry itself. That is what I would like to discuss this month.

First it is necessary to distinguish between passion and obsession. It is possible to think of both of these on parallel but different roads, or more importantly as maybe a part of a continuum that extends from the ego to the spirit.

Obsession

In and of itself the problem with obsession is that of the attachment to the symbols of achievement or progress and the symbols of success. Obsession concerns itself mostly with externals. Because of this it also induces a certain amount of perceived pressure to endure or perform. So many times people undergo a chosen process, and up being concerned and attached to what they will and can get from it rather than what it adds to their sense of being. Obsession begins the process of constantly looking over one’s ‘ego shoulder.’ With obsession, there is a constant measuring of everything, a constant assessment and judgement of all aspects of process. Rules are viewed with rigid right and wrong assumptions. Good and bad are often assessments based only on the attachments to the symbols of the process or success. So a person is ‘good’ and ‘right’ if they have checked off their three hours of cardio and weighed every gram of this portion of carbs, this portion of proteins etc. It all represents the ‘deserving’ of the thing that is sought after. And yet this ‘right or wrong’ assumption is merely arbitrarily placed in one’s head. But with obsession there comes to be an emotional component of rightness and deserving that has little to do with reality, and a lot to do with want and need. Obsession is steeped in ‘want’ and ‘need’. It bears little fruit in the end, even if it finds what it seeks. All obsession tends to do is reinforce that very need and want to continue. This is far different from passion.

Passion

Passion is far more invested in the personal sense of real self involved in any endeavour. Passion is more correctly in tune with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm literally means “The God within” Passion is for the spirit of doing a thing. The nature of that carries with it the logical conclusion of success of that very thing. It took me a long time to realize this difference between myself and others. I never actually ever ‘trained’ to say, have a bigger arm. Each arm day represented a journey for me to know myself and as such I knew the bigger arm would be the natural result. I did not ever doubt that about the process. A process done with passion has no need to judge and see right or wrong or good or bad. There is only a result. There is no failure because all results have meaning. A result either takes you toward or away from your goal, or replaces that goal with another because your passion allows you to switch gears as you go. Obsession does not.

Passion allows for constant learning. Obsession merely follows process only for the sake of doing so. If an obsessed person has their process interrupted, they are thrown off, agitated, disrupted, and feel a sense of loss. A person of passion feels none of these ill effects because passion IS the process. I just took, as I often do, 5 days away from training and diet. There is no attachment to them. My craft, my passion, is what I do. It can not be lost by simple interruption, because how can you lose what you are, or who you are? It’s because many people do not have a handle on these two aspects of their identity that they are susceptible to perceiving weak obsession, with strong passion and determination.

Yet often, people near the completion of a task will often claim they cannot wait for it to be over with to breath easier for a bit. But what happens? Instead of breathing easier and calmly and satisfied from a passion seen to its conclusion, they now feel at completion, a sense of emptiness, anxiety, loneliness, and void. They were not nourished by experience because they became obsessed within it. This happens a great deal. The whole ego judgement of the event takes over the actual joy or curiosity that began the event to begin with. And then what usually happens is a seeking of yet another process to undertake. Passion is usurped by undertaking challenge for the sake of reward or validation. Passion undertakes challenge because it is the extension of the real SELF. When approached with an inner sense of true passion, the completion of any undertaking is always a reason for celebration and joy. Outcome has little to do with true passion.

Fulfilment is the means and the ends with passionate process.

And these are huge differences in how someone becomes a craftsman. As Abraham Maslow put it “a musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he be at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be” Only passion can unfold and manifest a greatness that is strived toward.

But with obsession, this concentration on parts at the expense of wholes, leads to a mentality of right/wrong, good/bad, instead of endless options. Innervation Training, The Cycle Diet, and many other creations and programs were born of a passion not influenced of right and wrong, but only by information gained from a passionate doing of the thing. Once obsession becomes the nature of the process, no matter how much intelligence guides it, it is limited. Once the art of what is uniquely individual is removed from process, meaning is lost, and that is why there is a sense of loss at completion of an undertaking. It is also why so few people actually achieve and maintain their desired goals.

The craftsman is passionate about his craft, and the projects within it. This way passion is expansive, and geometrically so. The craftsman doesn’t follow any ‘specific’ set of written instructions because the nature of the task at hand determines his thoughts, motions, and potential. And this alters and changes the task at hand for him. Passion makes personal what seems impersonal. Obsession keeps it impersonal in terms of rules and recipes to follow. 3 hours cardio regardless of biofeedback is obsession, not passion.

The true craftsman is spiritual in process whether he defines it that way or not. And there is nothing robotic about process that is spiritually driven and passionately grounded. It begs the age old question, who is more complete from process, the carpenter who builds a whole table from scratch; or the labourer in the factory who attaches the same table leg to the same table on the assembly line over and over again? The craftsman is attached to the work because he has invested himself in it. It, the work, represents him, not the results or the assessment made by others. The result of the work is therefore representative of the creative process, and what someone is creating is the true SELF. This is how I coach. So many people are missing the purpose behind their undertakings. This is sad in a world that offers fewer and fewer chances for expressing and finding that passion of that expression.

On a grander scheme, the divorce of art from process, from technology, is completely unnatural, and for most it will be felt, in terms of that disconnect of meaning from results. Obsession adds little to learning and empowerment. Building a body for example means being a craftsman, a carpenter if you will. Does the carpenter obsess over his tools? A carpenter uses tools as an extension of his work to accomplish a finished project of creativity. Building a body is not a survival mission. It is not a war you wage with inanimate iron, or against the bathroom scale, the calories, the grams, the percentages. This is to lose focus on the creative possibilities of self-expression. The passion express, is decidedly Tao, or is at least one of the principles in the Tao of Scott Abel.

What is wrong with these insane approaches to results is that they are not connected in any real way with matters of the spirit and the heart. The body created by obsession over these component parts is the illusion of craftsmanship at the expense of the creativity. Creativity is within anyone who wants to tap into it, to find their nature or soul so to speak.

All this dogma of science and pseudo science has it all upside down. Creativity, originality, inventiveness, intuition, imagination, these are often outside the domain of science, but within the reach of passion. Rationality and logic and reason are necessary but limited, especially within the obsessive approach. Our industry is a reflection of this absurdity. If a ‘rationality’ factory is torn down but the rationality that produced it is left standing, then that same rationality will simply produce another factory. So the obsession with dietary fat as the enemy, is replaced with an equally absurd obsession with carbohydrates as villain. Everyone talks about systems of logic and rationality but so few actually understand them.

Beyond Obsession

The Tao of goal fulfillment is self-rewarding if the goal of the aspirant is one of direction. Then passion is endlessly self-fulfilling, whereas in contrast, a life devoted to gain and reward is full of pitfalls and suffering. Prosperity is measured not only in dollars or results but also in the joy of participation. Intention of directed passion has everything to do with growing. Intention as my new book discusses is all about concentration and focus, not about thinking and measuring. Intention with passion is self-direction. There is no doubt that the accomplishment will be achieved. There is not so much striving after it as there is ‘anticipation’ of it. This, unlike obsession becomes a part of character. Razor-like focus, not on rules, or guidelines but on the craft itself is expanded to all aspects of life. Then as passion and intention develop, there can be no selection of ‘this’ or ‘that’ as being more important than the other. It is all the same, whether one is bench pressing a new personal best, or merely peeling a potato. Even digging a ditch, every single shovelful is equally important to the goal of the ditch and the commitment to the activity is absolute and total. We know this creates in athletics what is known as The Zone.

The Zone

Intention leads to what is known in athletics as The Zone. All actions become spontaneous and even effortless. The body stops being thought of as a “me” and becomes just another object in the picture. In baseball, hitters in The Zone report at the time the baseball to seem like the size and speed of a beach ball. There was just a sense of ease and non-effort and flow. This is the Tao of non-effort, or trying by not trying. Obsession with symbols of success like calories, and grams, and percentages, and fancy charts and graphs, is too much trying and not enough experiencing. The craftsman knows that experience is never forgotten. There is no goal to be achieved. There is only the present moment. Only right now: The one-pointedness of mind and absolute intention. Clarity takes over and stops time. There is the absolute exclusion of everything except that pinpoint of focus. I have witnessed and experienced this Zone many times in my career. Passion and intention. That is the Tao of craftsmanship. The way of the heart, the way of the mind, and the way of action is actually accomplished via the pathway of surrender to it; not the endless ‘trying’ to control it. The pathway of the craftsman is so counter-intuitive to our society.

Lots of people write me and they want to know more resources for information. And yet as Einstein said, information is not knowledge. Often those obsessed with results accumulate ‘data’ with the intellect but it does not ripen into subjective experience. Sometimes the realization is that the intellect is no longer a useful tool but is now the barrier (paralysis by analysis)

The craftsmen knows it is really simple to follow both paths simultaneously...This is Tao, the way of the heart, and the way of the mind, which is the way to having, knowing, and being the higher self. The question that begs is, what if you let go of your obsession of want and desire, right here, right now, and instead put on the tool belt and began to practice your craft?

As I have quoted many times, “real winners forget that they are in a race; real winners just love to run”Some of you will get, many of you will not.

Arnold as the prime example

Many competitors say to me, but I have a competitive instinct. I “need” to compete in order to satisfy it or I feel lost. Untrue. This is the classic disconnection that requires obsession and pursuit, not for fulfillment but for its illusion. The key word is “need” But passion is a form of inspired competitive instinct. It’s just that the instinct does not ‘need’ an opponent or a stage to play itself out.
Look at the biography of Arnold Schwarzenegger. To many, he represents the American dream or so many other aspects of success. But underlying what he accomplished was simple and profound passion.

First Arnold had to overcome a countryside mentality and learn a new language. Then he had to travel to the big city and establish himself in Europe. But all the while his dream began to be, America.(which meant learning yet another language) His passion knew it would lead him there, the only variables were when and how. Arnold used passion to master everything he touched. He owned the bodybuilding world of its time. He was indeed bigger than the sport. But his passion saw possibilities and options beyond another inch to his arm, or another Olympia title. His passion led him to real estate, then to movies where he was laughed at for his thick accent, weird name, and total lack of acting skills. Yet he became in his time the top box office movie star and most recognizable face and name on the planet. And yet his spirit, ignited by passion, still did not rest there. With a keen political interest Arnold has gone on to become governor of “Callyforneeah” I can’t think of a better representative of the difference between passion and obsession. Passion never ends. And the craftsman employs it to master the craft at hand. Obsession, doesn’t entertain possibilities; it just circles itself on an endless hamster wheel of process, because of need and want and desire.

I had to laugh when I heard about a thread on some website recently that asked “if there is life after competition” Only an obsessive personality could take that seriously, because the truth is for most, there is zero life within competition. Not the kind of life lived with passion and possibility anyway. I think Arnold’s life answers the question in spades. It depends what you are made of, passion, or need.

Become the craftsman. Decide, what is my craft? Call on your passion. Fuel it with possibilities. There are no limits. The past cannot remember the past, and the future cannot generate the future. This is the Tao of now. A surfer never rides behind the crescent of the wave, or far in front of it. There is only the current wave that rises in the now, and then fades. This is the Tao of the craftsman. It is to be so absorbed in a passion that time loses meaning. That is where YOU really live, and that is where and how you find happiness and fulfillment.

Again, some of you will get it, some of you will not. Some of you will rail against it. And that is fine as well. I welcome your comments on my forums.

2008-05-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

The Tao vs. Ego Approach to Climbing Any Mountain

Many of you have written me asking me if I would continue to address my interpretation of Tao, or my following of Tao. I would be happy to do so. A long time ago, before I even knew anything about the Tao, I was actually quite already in tune with it. This is something I would eventually have to lose in order to rediscover later. Indeed there is a verse of Tao Te Ching that tells us, often we lose by what we gain, and we gain by what we lose. This was certainly true of my journey that was at one time on a good and pure and truthful track. But the journey was sidelined, corrupted, altered. My truth was being lost by the more I gained. Competition, status, recognition, and other lures of the ego replaced what at one time were virtuous simple pursuits. It took me a long time to gain that purity and simplicity back again. I certainly lost by what I had gained.

But before that time when things went awry, I remember reading and following the exploits of Sir Edmund Hillary, and his conquering of Mount Everest. When he was asked “Why did you climb Mount Everest?” I remember to this day the chills and meaning I got from his answer. I just got it. Many did not. Many were criticizing his answer as flippant, arrogant, trite, and evasive. And of course people attack what they do not understand. I related to the answer deep inside myself. I just got it. I didn’t need to study it or contemplate it. It was whole and entire and yet decidedly Tao. I think back on that answer often now and would like to share with you something about the meaning behind it. When asked “Why climb Everest?” Hillary answered in all manners of Truth, “Because it is there!”

Now before I get into this, let me tell you. If you have not ever seen or witnessed an event like an Everest climb, go out and read or see video of someone who has accomplished it. It is described by all as ‘life changing.’ Many people have died and will die trying to scale Everest. Most will report seeing God or their version of creation by attempting the feat. All are changed in some way. For many it is where life meets death and vice versa, and from that, real meaning springs forth, not from the mind, but from somewhere else.

I am going to discuss the Tao approach to climbing mountains. The truth is we all have mountains to scale in our life. So I will use the word mountain and mountain climbing in the most literal but also the most metaphorical way that you can envision. And I am talking about real mountains. I am not talking about the ego’s creation of mountains from molehills and the need for drama that people seem to manifest to feel ‘big’ within themselves. I’m talking about struggles that will define you as a person. Whether this is dealing with intense grief from a loss, dealing with the loss of a long term relationship, battling yourself or watching someone you love battle terminal illness; all these things I think could fall under the metaphorical category of mountain climbing.

Another side of that humanness in all of us, are the mountains that we choose for ourselves to climb. So I will use mountain climbing literally, and interject as well with contest dieting and training as a smaller version of smaller climbing when appropriate.

So there are the mountains that we choose to face in life, and then there are the mountains we find ourselves facing. The first thing to acknowledge about a Tao approach to mountain climbing is the mountain is the teacher, we are its students. The ego tends to get that backwards and I will address this. The test of anything is its potential for us to learn from it. The tasks we chose (the workout, the program, the mountain, the field of study) are tested themselves only by the satisfaction that they bring to our being. If process produces tranquility then it is right for you. If it disturbs or disrupts then either the process must change or the mind will need to change. The test of the usefulness of any process is always someone’s own mind; someone’s own heart. The problem to address is falsehood. So many people feel ill at ease even in peaceful process and so many more like in my Industry say “I love competing” yet an obvious observation is that the process of competing brings only disruption and not tranquility of mind and spirit. This is the most common falsehood I see in my industry, especially among Figure competitors. They are climbing mountains for the wrong reasons. Therefore the result will only bring dis-satisfaction.

In every non-problem or circumstance where we choose the challenge, normalcy allows for endless possibilities and promises to greatness; not for what is accomplished, but for what is discovered. And for those mountains we must face and climb that we do not chose, the solution lies within that very problem. It is only now a mountain because we have not faced it beforehand. But beyond the solution to the problem of that mountain climb, lies something greater. Too many of us stop at only seeking solutions. How will I get over this? Why did he/she do that to me? What will I do now? What we fail to see is the other side of that mountain climb. Beyond that solution, lays possibilities. Beyond the solution there are truths and powers that we miss because we seek only solutions. Beyond the solutions lies transcendence. This is the real gift of the mountain climb. So now let me break down the actual mountain climb. All of us should be able to identify ourselves as climbers within the scenario. To do so honestly will be enlightening to all aspects of your being.
So the question begs not only “why climb a mountain”, but in terms of process “how”, to climb mountains?

The Ego Climber and The Tao of “The Path”

A mountain needs to be climbed with as little effort as possible, and without desire. Non-effort is a part of effort. We all need to learn the contradiction of a phrase like “trying hard to relax.” The reality of the climb then is determined by your own nature. I have borrowed from my own Industry of performance and coined the phrase “Spiritual Workload Capacity.” I think all of us can benefit from memorizing that phrase as a starting point to process. So how fast you climb any mountain has a lot to do with this. If you become winded, you slow down. If you become restless, you speed up. Simplicity. You climb the mountain in balance between restlessness and exhaustion. All matters of process require balance. This is Tao.

When that balance is accepted, by not comparing to others for example, then the climb can continue. With the balance assessed within yourself between restlessness and exhaustion, then you stop thinking ahead, and realize the uselessness in doing so. Once that is accomplished and accepted, each footstep on the climb now is something unto itself. The footstep in the process of the climb is not just a means to an end now, but a unique event unto itself. Each step allows the opportunity for a different feel, different feedback, and unique perspective. From each point and footstep along the climb observations become apparent. This rock looks loose, what a great view of the water, the air is a little thinner, this plant is new at this point. These are things we ‘should’ notice along any climb anyway but we do not as we become ever focused on results or solutions, ‘that’ top of ‘that mountain’. So we make the actual climbing insignificant because the ego tells us it is.

But to live only for that future goal of the acquiring that mountain top is shallow. It has no meaning. As we will see, goal fulfillment is only self-rewarding when the goal is discovery. In contrast, a life devoted to ‘gain’ is full of pitfalls, misery, emptiness and suffering. Climbs start to equal suffering.

So by focusing on the mountain peak and the summit our rationalizations of what is important takes us over. But these are illusions. We forget the nature of the mountain itself. It’s not the top of the mountain that sustains life; it’s the sides and the valleys. Things only grow in these places along the climb. There is no life at the top. And yet, there can be no sides of the mountains without the tops. The top defines the sides and their nature. This is a lot like attaching importance of sets/reps/loads in training without experiencing the biofeedback that they provide. We create these constructs and then arrogantly forget their overall context.

We forget the nature of the climb and the mountain. Yet any effort that has self-glorification as its only final goal will at some point, end in calamity. When you try to climb a mountain to prove how big you are, the size of that mountain prevails. You almost never make it and if you do, you are negatively imprinted by that experience. Some people develop the ego mantra to ‘stop telling your ego about the size of that mountain, and instead tell that mountain about the size of you.’ While that is motivating dogma to be sure, it creates a duality of conquering that is also an illusion. If you view the climb with fear from the bottom, then you are captured by ego, if you view it with arrogance from the top, you are on the other side of that same ego equation. Both represent meaninglessness. The victory of any climb viewed as ‘conquering’ is then hollow. From here, like most competitors, in order to sustain the ego’s perception of victory you have to prove yourself again, and again, and again, in some other way. Usually this means finding another mountain to climb, even if you have to create one in your own head, and in your own life.

With the ego climb and ego climber there is that need to fill a false image. We end up fearful that our image is not only not true, but will be found out, so we keep proving, proving, proving, by climbing, climbing, climbing. This just induces a state of spiritual and physical exhaustion.

Our mountains overcome us.

They seem bigger now than they actually are. Physical strength and stamina is now not enough to accomplish the climb. Intellectual motivation is also just not enough. The climb itself has now created its own demons in the ego. Now many of us cannot conquer issues that were not even present just down at the bottom of the mountain. Binge eating for competitors post-contest, etc. These all become huge ‘issues’ separate from the climb. And even though we have the intellectual capacity to overcome them, we still cannot. It is no longer enough. We have lost by what we have gained. Why? The problem is that people undertake a journey and hold only their own purposes in mind, such as seeking solutions and not entertaining transcendence. By doing so they create the self as some fixed entity. The mountain then is now ‘serving’ some selfish purpose of need and want. The climb reflects that in that it now creates more problems than it solves.

The Tao approach sees the mountain differently. The real climber, who ‘experiences’ the summit does so because he seeks it out differently. The real climber does not see himself or the mountain as fixed entities. Both become a level of experience that serve and transcend each other. It is said it is better to travel than to arrive. But this is incomplete. The Tao climber sees that travelling and arriving are the same. They happen at the same time, and they create each other along the way. As you climb and travel that mountain, you arrive simultaneously somewhere new with each step: Somewhere that could have only been arrived at, by travelling and arriving a moment earlier somewhere else. Only when the mountain becomes intensely appreciated, can each step of the climb within it, become “The way” “The Path” which is the definition (if there can be one) of the Tao.

Climbing then becomes an act of devotion. It is no longer about conquering mountains but instead submitting to them. The climber acknowledges, accepts and embraces the mightiness of what is before him, not ahead, but as traveller and arriver now. The mountain, the game, the situation, the circumstance, the contest, are all something else entirely. The sanctity and specialness of that unique mountain climb is now also infused and becomes a part of the climber himself. They are not separate. This new spirit of the climber enables him to endure far more than physical strength or intellectual know how could accomplish on its own. This is the Tao of pursuit/non pursuit, effort, as non-effort. There is no conquering because there is nothing there to be conquered, only to experience and know about.

Struggle, discipline, survival, become something else; not measured against the ego, but absorbed in the Spirit; forever travelling and arriving at the same time with each footfall of the climb. This is empowering. Competing and conquering is NOT!

Reducing the journey, the travelling, the arriving, the whole process to sets/reps/grams/calories/winning/losing/periodizing performance/ does more to negate the spirit than to embrace it. When every-thing becomes a ‘thing’ to rail against rather than an active part of the climb, the meaning of each footstep is lost. The Tao of enhancing spiritual workload capacity is stagnated. With the Tao approach to mountain climbing, freedom from process allows for acknowledging freedom within process. Creativity is awakened here.

The Ego Climber, The Ego Competitor

To the untrained eye, ego climbing and self-less climbing look the same. Both types of climbers place one foot in front of the other (both perform sets and reps) both stop the climb when they are tired. Both proceed when rested. But there is in fact a huge difference. As a coach I have witnessed every nuance of this difference all along its continuum. This difference is what creates the post-contest, post climb, post event, post circumstance, fall and emptiness that fill people with depression, angst and other negative influences.

I have seen clients not even place in a contest but embrace the discovery that the event made available to them; and I have seen those who win shows all the way up to pro status, while their lives crumble all around them.

The ego climber is like an instrument, of and from the climb that is out of adjustment now. The ego climber neglects what a Tao climber acknowledges. The ego climber does not rest when tired. He misses the importance of each footstep, misses the views along the climb. His steps become faulty but he climbs anyway. This is how and why many people actually die trying to scale a mountain. The ego climb kills them. This is much akin to the set/reps/ and calories worshippers who follow ridiculous advice and void experience at their own expense. A Tao athlete would never endure the protein only, 3 hour cardio rituals of contest prep, not because they couldn’t, but because they would see it for what it is and refuse to. If the climb does not serve “THE” purpose, then it does not serve any purpose.

And if, at this point you think the climb is still about the mountain peak, or the stage, or the trophy, or the validation at the end, then you are sure to suffer the slings and arrows of this mentality of weakness.

And so the ego climber continues with his blinders set on discipline. The ego climber looks up only to view the climb that awaits him; but what is ahead is the same view of the same climb as last time he looked two seconds previously. It’s the same for contest prep when tomorrow is going to be a repeat of today, even though it doesn’t have to be. Nothing is gained. Nothing is learned. Nothing is absorbed. Spiritually, workload capacity is a non consideration as the ego climber climbs now merely to finish climbing. There is no sense or justification to it.

The ego climber continues to go too fast or too slow. There is no reliable biofeedback to determine pace because relevance is gone. The ego climber fails to acknowledge the conditions and the environment on the mountain, the altitude, the slope, the air, the ground: Just like the absolute dieter who fails to acknowledge biofeedback cues and maintains the same calories deprivation, denial, endless cardio, all because the journey has become only a footnote to being a slave to the process. The servant has become the master.

Mentally the anguish of the separation of the climber from himself is easy to observe as a coach or bystander. The out of synch and disconnected climber or contest dieter will talk about ‘something else’, ‘somewhere else’, ‘anything else.’ I see this all the time. Off season athletes talk about looking forward to the next ‘diet.’ Dieting athletes talk about their next ‘off-season.’ They are not spiritually absorbed in process but are instead obsessed with it, and possessed by it.

The ego climber, ego competitor, is obsessed with ‘here’ but is not truly actually ‘here.’ He is not present except in ritual. Indeed he now rejects what is here and seeks what is instead, ‘over there.’ The climber just wants to be further up the mountain. Nothing else. But when he gets there now with this mentality of exhaustion he will be just as unhappy because that will be his new ‘here.’ So that just creates in his mind another and different ‘there’ to get to.

Just like the contest dieter who at 8 weeks out, after dieting for some six weeks, just wants it to be closer, but at four weeks out, that closer is now ‘here’ but he can’t stand it; and instead seeks the new ‘there’ of two weeks out and so on. He no longer is on The Path. In the process now the climber hasn’t gathered any psychic momentum. He instead just feels the power of that mountain winning over the ego.

Yet the irony of the Tao approach is what is missed by the ego climber and ego dieter. They miss that what they now are seeking is all around them, but they reject it simply because it ‘is’ all around them and therefore can’t be right. They miss that the ‘there’ they seek is actually ‘here’ and always has been. And they would have been able to capture it and build from it and absorb it had they only truly been witness to their own experience of it along the way. Their way. The contentment of right here, right now is the surest and most secure footing available during any climb. But these ego climbers and ego competitors can’t see it, so they can’t have it. So instead they keep seeking what is outside themselves, supplements, deprivation, and denial. Surely ‘suffering’, must make the ego more deserving they think.

Yet suffering just leads to more and more ‘wanting’ in the ego. Now the ego wants what was perceived as normal only a short time ago, before the mountain, before the contest. So because of the ego pursuit the endless circle of emptiness and striving continues. Maybe the answer is now on top of that next mountain? Yes that must be it. Maybe it was my climbing equipment? True enough. Maybe it’s that ‘new and other diet’ a harder one at that. That is the answer. It’s always ‘out there.’ And by following that logic the ego climber and ego dieter get more and more out of step, out of synch. And then every step, every workout, every meal, every day, is now an effort. It exhausts him even more physically and spiritually than before. He now longs and pines for what was normal only a short time ago. He wonders if he can ever really again know what ‘normal’ will feel like if he has it. He has lost his Way. There is no Tao when self-glorification is the means and ends of pursuit.

As I note in the preface to my new book, a quote by Paul Eldridge, “A man who has pedaled twenty-five thousand miles on a stationary bicycle has not circled the globe. He has only garnered weariness.”

All this disconnection to self, because goals are plotted and imagined as distant and external, instead of ignited within and actualized as a growing flame, where the mountain, the workout, the diet, the circumstances are all a part of the soul’s journey of travelling and arriving. It is right here, not ‘out there.’ All the while people kid themselves, telling themselves it’s all about the journey, but they don’t walk that talk.

There is no winning or losing in a Tao pursuit; there is only discovery from and within process. To the Tao climber often “those who learn to walk away, live to climb another day.” No one on a true path would endure insanity for any external reward. Those on a Tao path realize if a climb is meant to be or not. They know that sometimes what is gained is far less meaningful than what is lost. So within that mountain climb what is acknowledged is that the Tao is the spirit of the valley in the climb. It is not and never will be the acquisition of that mountain top. The valley sustains the life and the mountain and the climb. So what any person can learn climbing any mountain or at the completion of any contest prep, is that there is no meaning at the top, or upon completion; except for the meaning you gathered in getting there. If you gathered weariness and separation that is what you will inherit. Emptiness.

Enrichment and growth lie in process and The Path. To serve a purpose, a climb needs to have a purpose. That purpose is always discovery; enhanced spiritual workload capacity is the result. This is where enrichment lies. It’s not in the trophy, the placing, the pats on the back, the title, the kudos. No, instead it is that inner spark, acknowledging itself for its own sake.

No one can sustain living on a mountain summit, and no one can sustain contest form. It is not an identity. You are not a mountain climber or a bodybuilder. You are instead a person who does bodybuilding or climbs mountains. You are a person experiencing what cannot be sustained because of the human call to do so. It is a call to grow from experience. It is a call to actualize that all of it is part of you, and you are a part of all of it. You become the process. The process becomes you. Process is not something you blindly follow. It is something you deeply feel. This is the Tao approach to mountain climbing.

Why do you climb the mountain? Because it is there.

For this Blog even more than most, some of you will get, most of you will not. My hope is that more of you will open yourselves to your own experience of mountain climbing, whatever form it may take.

I welcome your comments on my forums

2008-04-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

Exposing the Ideology of Nutritionism: A Glimpse at a Bigger Picture

Well I am not sure how to begin this month’s blog. A proper investigation of the topic at hand could take several Parts, but I will try to at least get some ideas started so that many of you can begin to at least question your questions and perhaps being a process of thinking differently. One of the more key tenets of a Tao- based understanding is that if you are not finding the right answers, then you are not asking the right questions (within yourself).

Another key aspect of modern brilliance is the non-acceptance of reductionist science as ‘truth’ in and of itself, and that wholes are always greater than the sum of their parts. The modern tendency toward ‘isms’ is categorizing many useful practices in ways that end up amounting to no more than ideologies masquerading as truth. In this sense there is no such thing as Tao-ism. It cannot be surmised in that way as a category of truth, thought, or practice. It is a much greater and more profound whole than what can be captured even in discussion. For some of the more ethereal topics in life, mere discussion or delineation is a mode of reduction that negates its own wholeness. (For example trying to explain ‘love’ without context)

To make matters worse the modern trend has been to accept as truth what is anything but. I have been speaking a lot lately about paradigm blindness and its associated ‘isms’ Of these, scientism and within that, nutritionism are two accepted ‘truths’ that are as arrogantly employed as all of their previous ancestors which over time were proven either false or at least faulty. The modern issue now is that nutrition study has turned into nutritionism, an ideology all its own, which does not stand on truth. And the same can be said of science, now becoming ‘scientism’ a false ideology that influences application, thought and practice based on little else but interpretations of questionable science of questionable scientists. These are now huge industries. Industry has a need first and foremost to perpetuate itself. Industry is selfish, not self-less and that should always be kept in mind when consuming ‘information’ or propaganda in any form from any industry. Tradition, which was faulty in and of itself, has now been replaced by scientism, which is just as faulty, when context is not considered. As an example I would like to address in greater depth the notion of ‘nutrition-ism’ in this month’s blog.

In recent years at the top of the academic chain there has been a shift away from reductionist thought and toward looking at whole patterns rather than component parts. This is decidedly Tao as well whether labelled as such or not. Science is still employed within that mode of investigation, but it more appropriately places science back as the horse before the cart within inquiry and investigation. The move is away from mechanistic reductionist approaches to more quantum understanding that focuses on relationships, contexts, flow, rhythms, connections etc. We see and know that the body is more than a machine; it is more complex than what reductionist science would have us think. And yet the beauty is that within that complexity lays the simplicity that allowed man to flourish and adapt as a species.

A study of nutrition can yield very specific answers to very specific questions, and yet at the same time alienate us further and further away from our own nature. This is what Marx referred to as ‘alienation from species being.’

It should be noted that food and nutrition are different things, yet a study of one or the other is inclusive of both. And herein lays the problem of context. Man is much more than sum of his parts. It is ironic that as science and nutritionism replaced culture and tradition in the last 30 years, man has become more and more ill and less healthy because of it, and not in spite of it. We need look no further than our own industry of health and wellness to notice the irony and the falsehood of nutritionism. A recent long term study showed that over a period of 5-7 years, the group that gained the most unwanted fat and became overweight, was the group that qualified themselves as ‘chronic dieters.’ Those who ate freely manifested less weight issues, metabolically, physically, and more importantly mentally and emotionally.

So lets’ get to it then. What is this ‘nutritionism’ that I am talking about? Nutritionism as an ideology has as its core many pernicious myths. One is that what matters most is the nutrient and not the food; another is that the purpose of eating is to promote a very narrow concept of physical health and wellness. And yet the irony of this science is that it has produced the most unhealthy and unwell consumers among its believers. Everyone following a western diet mentality now seemingly ‘eats for a purpose.’ In our industry it can be to get lean, get ripped, compete, or off-season to bulk up, to gain muscle etc just to name a few. But much is lost in this quagmire of ‘purpose.’ And the key thing lost is the connection of the dots to awareness and health. There comes to be a disassociation between mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of health and wellness connected to food.

The ideology of nutritionism like most ideologies produces a duality in thought and process. Food becomes associated with good/bad, healthy/unhealthy, positive/negative, fattening/not fattening etc. And yet this duality itself produces more problems than nutrition science solves. Reductionist science can never encapsulate or address metaphysical forces so important as vitality, vitalism, wholism, and the connection of these parts to overall wellness and completeness. In original cultures across the globe there was no such thing as an unhealthy diet, until the modern western diet and western thought associated with it, replaced traditional cultural thinking. A common thread throughout my new book is to use ‘diet’ as an example and illustration of illusion. And the point I make consistently is that “it is not about the diet!”

There are hundreds of references of traditional diets that were varied by region and culture. All of them prove the context of the quantum nature of food and disprove or upset the nutritionism approach to defining ‘healthy diets.’ There have been culture diets, of high fat, low fat, no fat, high carb, low carb, low protein, plant protein, meat only, plant only, dairy free, dairy based, and the list the goes on. While nutritionism reductionist science attempts to explain these diets ingredient by ingredient it fails to explain why all of these diets had less heart disease and other modern ailments associated with them, than the modern western industrialized diet.

While everyone out there seeks a ‘diet solution’ the truth is there isn’t one, because there is no diet 'issue' to begin with. Nutritionism has created diet issues along with its many myths and fallacies that keep on alienating man from his own nature.

I can get people lean and ripped on any number of the above diet specifications; yet I consistently receive questions about my ‘diet approach’ where people want me to categorize menus according to the fallacies of nutritionism. And yet one of the most basic aspects of a Tao approach to anything is simplicity.

Is it not ironic that modern man, the so called smartest creature on earth, is the only species on earth that needs professional guidance in deciding what he should eat, and how he should eat it?

Orthorexia and Hunger

Nutritionism as dogma tries to emphasize a falsehood that there is a right food to eat, and a wrong food to eat up and down the food chain. As I said culturally this has been disproven. A low fat diet is just as viable as a high fat diet, yet both contain their opposites as well. In other words a low fat diet implies, a high carb diet, while a high fat diet implies a low carb diet and so the duality of mental turmoil continues. All of this confusion negates the fact that all through time the most motivating factor of food and culture was hunger and pursuit of more food. Man was motivated by a biological sense of hunger; he had to do something about and respond to this. This led to man being nomadic, inventive, creative and omnivorous.

This is the quintessential nature of man. Hunger is good; hunger is a cue of fat burning in most cases; hunger used to be a motivating factor to action. Hunger = motivation in the natural state of man. Indeed many dictionaries will define ‘hunger’ in metaphysical terms. (say, a craving for satisfaction or achievement) This is correct.

The biological imperative of eating based on hunger was part of a greater context. Man had to procure food, prepare food etc. Entailed within this was an understood appreciation of man as part of the food chain; not above it, but an integral part of it. As we became more alienated from this truth, the industrialization of food, and now nutritionism has perverted our sense of hunger. Now hunger is perceived as something to be avoided or unnatural or intolerable. And yet it could be argued that a constant sense of controllable hunger is a measure of health and wellness. But as nutritional expert Susan Allport put it, “hunger is now a much less agreeable condition than being overweight.” I have seen this in our industry of cosmetic fitness my whole career. As much as people ‘want’ cosmetic appearance, they cannot resign themselves to the fact that this will necessitate adapting to dealing with a sensation of persistent and consistent hunger, which is actually natural to all animal species.

My conversations with other experts in my field have yielded a frustration for many coaches and experts over people who buy into the whole nutritionism dogma that there is a diet out there that will give someone the body they desire, with no hunger or appetite for wanting more. This is of course an illusion and a falsehood.

On the other hand the consequences of believing in this dogma of duality of diet mentality is that many people will settle for metabolic issues, fatigue, ill-health etc, in exchange for cosmetic external effects. And ‘effects’ and results are not the same thing. The consequence of this mentality and obsession with dieting for results often manifests in what is known as orthorexia. I see this manifestation of ill mental health frequently in my industry.

Simple orthorexia is an unhealthy obsession with eating, or with healthy eating. This is a psychological issue and represents the ramifications of modern ideology of nutritionism and diet mentality. Any obsession is not good for psychological health and worrying so much about food and eating is just not mentally healthy. And as we will see this is a cultural phenomenon, mostly related to the ideology of nutritionism.

The irony is that putting science and scientism in charge of diet protocol and ‘rules’ of healthy eating has produced the mental context of anxiety and confusion over the most basic proposition of a biological imperative which was meant to be enjoyable.

When food systems are studied in their broader context what is revealing is the mental ill-health that current vogue nutritional ideology has induced in so many consumers. What I have noticed my whole career in the cosmetic end of diet application is now backed up by research that goes beyond nutritionism to consider the broader contexts of its ramifications. Notably, there is an inverse relationship between the time people spend worrying about nutrition and their overall health and happiness. It is sad that more important criterion for happiness and wellness get squeezed out of the mental process at the expense of preoccupation with food; good/bad, right/wrong guilt/reward, fat/thin etc.

The French Paradox

By example the study of various cultural paradoxes of eating habits and food represents the limits of nutritionism and scientism toward broader understandings of ourselves and the food chain. For example, Science thought that everything was explained by examining the Eskimo diet and reducing its 'effects' to Omega 3 fatty acids and heart health. Yet this did not explain the almost total lack of anything green in their diets, and the resultant lack of various fibers and vitamins from plant life. And yet they were heart healthier than consumers of the modern accepted ‘truths’ of nutritionism. And there are hundreds of other cultural examples as well, where food staples were limited to a preponderance of specific food stuffs.

Moreover, the heart health of the Eskimo has not been duplicated in western society merely by introducing the new magic bullet of the 21rst century, the Omega 3 fish oils. So we have a modern paradox. Actually we have many that studies of nutrition, separated from the food chain cannot adequately explain.

In the 80’s there was a great deal of attention paid to the concept of the French Paradox of diet and food in modern culture. Now that attention is once again swinging back toward studying wholes and patterns and connections, the French Paradox is being revisited for clues and truths about culture, diet, and nutritional dogma. Of course we must keep in mind that the French Paradox represents the traditional aspects of eating of the French before the “Mc-Westernization” of industrial food production and consumption across the globe. The label of French Paradox was not a label the French gave themselves but rather named by American nutritionists who could not understand or explain in ‘nutrient-speak’ how a culture who enjoy their food as much as the French and merrily indulge in so many nutrients and foods deemed toxic by American standards; could also have substantially lower rates of heart disease and related illnesses.

Perhaps there is something more Tao about the ‘enjoying’ of food in the first place.

Keep in mind that the French are also known for being heavy smokers of non filtered cigarettes and we have another mystery paradox as well. A strict observation of content of French traditional diet shows a lot of trim French people eating a lot of saturated fat washed down with bottles of wine.

Researchers have tried to explain the paradox of leanness and health by, you guessed it, trying to isolate food stuffs and reduce the diet to specific ingredients to find that magic bullet for health and wellness. Nutritionism simply cannot explain the French paradox.

Yet in a broader context we see that the French traditionally eat in a much different way, and with a much different attitude toward foods then we North Americans. Some of these behaviours and attitudes are that the French seldom, if ever snack. And while they seem to eat what dogma determines to be unhealthy they also eat smaller portions and spend a significantly longer time eating as well.

In other words they dine and savour and appreciate food. The mental and emotional connections to food go far beyond nutrient components, and constituent parts and instead toward an appreciation of food as a cultural and biological indulgence of pleasure for its own sake. We see this as well in other parts of Europe and the world. There is an emotional comfort with food that is healthy. It is not reflective of disconnection but more an appreciation of abundance.

In Italy there is actually a phrase for this that basically has to do with the ‘slowing down’ of eating, and appreciating life, and food as a reflection of that. Traditional country side Italian and Mediterranean lifestyle embraces a respect for slowing down the day in order to appreciate the day, and celebrate it with food. If there is a paradox at all it may lie in the way we eat in western culture without regard to any context for food and a total disconnection of it beyond a reflection of want, desire, need, and indulgence.

In western culture the negative behaviours of eating for emotional comfort is created in fact by a culture that removes emotional comfort from the meal to begin with.

Food is more than nutrition. Nutrition is greater than the component parts of any given food stuff. This is the Tao appreciation of wholeness and abundance. It is not taken for granted but celebrated. Most traditional cultures have embraced this almost by nature. We are now so divorced from food, as food, that the western diet is now composed of ingredients and attitudes toward actual food that are counter-intuitive and emotionally fragmenting.

Paul Rozin, psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania does a lot of work in the area of ‘nutritionism’ and study. In one experiment he showed a group of North Americans a piece of chocolate cake and asked for a response. The top response was the word “guilt.” Yet when the French respondents were shown the same picture the top response from them was “celebration.” We have a lot to re-learn about our relationship to real food, culture, and our part in and of the food chain.

And as I have said before ‘unlearning’ is quickly becoming the new learning paradigm.

It would be quite easy to formulate an argument on behalf of mental nutrition, emotional nutrition, and spiritual nutrition, all from an attitude and act of food consumption. It may not only be ‘you are what you eat’ but it may be more importantly true that ‘you are HOW you eat.’

In another experiment the French were asked when they stop eating and they responded “when I am full.” Yet the American responses were more along the lines of ‘when my plate is empty’ or ‘there is no more food.’ As I have been preaching for years, western society pays much more attention to external cues than to internal ones and in the process many have even lost the capacity to determine satiation from biofeedback. Hunger becomes an opinion based on portion size and what the gut is used to rather than actual biological hunger and feedback. Combined with the disconnection and divorce of our selves from the mental, emotional, sociological, ecological, and cultural connection to real food and it is no wonder that reductionism has led to more ill-health than actual health. This includes mental and emotional as well as physical health.

We have lost our connection (Tao-truth) that food is a product of labor and our relationship to nature. Food is instead now a ‘product of industry.’ Nutritional science is as well. Yet some stark truths speak to the falsehood of nutritionism and our loss of cultural perspective.

When I was at the movies on the weekend, I took a gander at the large size popcorn bag, which by the way had free refills. Without a biological perspective and nuance toward nature it is quite easy to devour and enjoy that large size bag of popcorn. I do it myself on a regular basis. But let’s examine that from our biological connection which illustrates our own alienation from our connection to real food, and instead to industry. Imagine that same size bag of popcorn filled from bottom to top with sliced fresh apples and raw baby carrots. I am sure none of us would come even close to finishing even half that bag. Yet as consumers of the mentality of western diet, we eat ‘till the food is gone, or the bag is empty’ As a psychological image is this not an amazing testament to our own alienation?

A mere choice of real food, naturally made, would have us naturally stop eating way before overeating and way before gluttony. Gluttony is a ramification of our own alienation away from food as meals, and meals as connections; instead, to food as ‘diets’ with perceived consequences.

So the French Paradox may itself be upside down. It may in fact if anything be a North American paradox, which is represented by an unhealthy preoccupation with ‘nutrition and diet’ rather than a healthier perspective of ‘food and meals.’

The difference in the attitude toward food is the difference of one cultural group, embracing the ‘joy of living’ (joie de vivre) while the other group tries to control their ‘fear of dying.’ Indeed we do not just ‘consume’ the foods of our culture, but we ‘consume’ mentally the attitudes toward our food in culture as well. This is the unhealthy paradox of nutritionism.

Food is just one more example of the opportunity to embrace life rather than to reduce it to component parts. The latter is part of the disconnection of self-awareness I discuss in my new book; a disconnection that so many of my clients suffer. The message of nutritionism is to eat for a purpose, for good health, to get lean, to gain muscle, to look pretty or handsome; yet all of these reductionist approaches to a biological imperative have alienated people further and further away from a natural joy.

This joy is toward a Tao approach to a mentality toward food, instead of nutrition.

In fact food is but one representation that is in itself a powerful form of communion with other people, other species, nature, spirituality, recognition of abundance, appreciation of grandeur etc. (was this not the original notion of Thanksgiving?)

There is a reason food tastes good, and sex feels good. They are so because of our biological imperatives to propagate the species and survive. Hunger also arguably serves a similar purpose. Somehow these have been removed from overall context in day to day living. And that context is a connection to nature, our own, and in the general sense.

As it mutates, we seek to get back what is lost and disconnected, emotional comfort from food, intimacy in sex etc. Just like with sex, for many dieters, food is now so restricted and rules-oriented. The disconnection to it creates a sense of lust instead of love: A sort of “Food-Porn” mentality if you will toward aberrant indulgence, bingeing, sensory titillation etc.

So in the end health and wellness may be, and to my mind is for sure, not about ‘a proper diet’ but more importantly about a ‘proper mental approach to diet.’ And I don’t even like using the word diet. My new book addresses this from a mental, emotional, and spiritual context.

I get attacked often for my approach of warning that science is often dogma just dressed up nice and sexy. I believe it was Einstein who said that there is more religion in science than people know. Just a few years ago the top supplement manufacturer in our industry was sued over its fat burners and the various claims surrounding them. Seems this company threw around some big bucks for Universities to do ‘studies’ on the benefits of its product. The problem was there were numerous ‘studies’ that showed their own paid-for research yielded the product to have no effect or even a negative effect. Of course none of ‘these’ studies made it to publication.

There is a lot more going on in the research arena than you can accept as knowledge or truth. This is why I was happy to see the comment from a professional career epidemiologist Gladys Block, a professor in the School of Public Health in Berkeley. As a recognized accredited expert in this exact area, she had this to say as she nears retirement. “I don’t believe anything I read in nutritional epidemiology anymore. I’m so skeptical at this point.” I am sure that comment, while a breath of fresh air to me, probably caused her a certain amount of grief from her colleagues.

I’m reminded in any area of study of the quote on statistics which is especially relevant in these days of scientism, or the ‘appearance of science.’ People say to me all the time, “well Scott, statistics don’t lie.” But the old adage which is just as true today is that, “statistics don’t lie, but liars use statistics.” If you are getting all of your information from industry sources of books, magazines, and websites, then of course you are getting schooled in propaganda and ideology.

As usual, some of you will get it, many of you will not.

P.S.

This month’s blog is motivated by my e-mail Inbox. Now that contest season is on, I am receiving a disproportionate number of e-mails from people suffering metabolic damage and psychological consequences of the ‘diet mentality.’ The truth is nutritionism caters to people who grow up with ‘guilt consciousness levels.’ By adapting this diet mentality, they have another vehicle to exercise the illusory quest of ‘perfection and control’ yet they end up with neither.

This 'diet' mentality merely serves as another vehicle to measure and concentrate on guilt and reward mentality. It becomes a permutation of their whole life. It becomes a mentality that is difficult to escape. Many of you are suffering.

“It is not about the diet.”

A few have even written me, and have expressed concern that I may be disappointed in their ‘disordered eating’ and that they can not compete because diet obsessive compulsive disorder has taken them over. Since many of you who read my Blogs are not members of my Forums or my client let me make this perfectly clear.

I am way beyond the point of needing or wanting clients who ‘represent’ and especially in a contest format. I will not use clients that way, nor should clients allow themselves to be used that way.

My goal is the health and happiness of my clients first and foremost. If competing is a part of that, wonderful. But if competing is damaging to that, then my emphasis is what is best for the client’s well-being, not just present but long term!

I hope this Blog sheds some light on why so many of you struggle with a diet mentality that creates illusion, anxiety, disconnection, from rules and regulations. Often these rules and regulations, of ‘eat this, not that’ are more destructive than constructive.

The ideology of nutritionism which disconnects us from wholeness and comfort with food is certainly partially responsible for a failed mentality of good health and wellness.

To repeat, some of you will get it, many of you will not. I welcome as always your comments in my forums section.

2008-03-29T15:13:00.001-07:00

Well I'm posting this up a few days early. This month's Blog is taking a different direction but as always the goal is to serve the greater good. So below is an article that I have written that has been sent to various sources. No one has chosen to publish it. This is disappointing to me. Yet at some degree it speaks to the reality that denial is still the order of the day in our industry. No one wants to address the negative sides of physical pursuit at the expense of wellness. But since I see it so often, I feel compelled to do so.

Below is an article I wrote that joins the parallels of extreme contest prep diets to a study done on semi-starvation way back in 1950. The similarities are spooky to say the least. I hope in good faith many of you will present this to other people, sites, Forums, or correspondance as an educational notice of potential self-destruction from adhering to absolute contest-prep approaches. Sometimes folks winning is in reality a losing proposition. I have also included references at the end for further investigation.

Metabolic Damage among Figure and Bodybuilding Competitors: an unflattering but real issue reflective in Dieting Studies

I have been in the fitness and bodybuilding industry now going on my third decade. My coaching experience extends to all levels of competition, professional and amateur alike. With the explosion in Figure Competitions there has also been an explosion in what I have termed “metabolic damage” which I have seen ruin individuals as competitors; their physiques, and their lives as well. Most of this is due to bad contest preparation advice and what I have termed “absolute deprivation diets” The dialogue on that can wait for another time and I have entertained it in Blogs and previous articles. The topic of this article is more to the point in examining all of the potential devastating ramifications of Figure Girls and bodybuilders working in absolute calories deprivation states, trying to “starve off fat” with crazy diet schemes and rigid diet rules that may lead to the winner’s podium of a contest, but with devastating long term consequences as well.

A short time ago I came across the work of Dr. Garner, whose main study of focus is in the treatment of eating disorders. In a book, Handbook for Treating Eating Disorders, (1997) Dr. Garner makes some salient compelling points and speaks some direct truths that reflect also my experience and concern with short and long term damage in the arena of the physical culture which has been my professional life for a long time now. As a matter of fact the known observations of one key relevant study so closely parallel what I have sadly witnessed in real life experience, that it necessitated me to write this. The conclusions are strong and impactful. I hope for a change they get some attention.

Dr. Garner’s key assessment in looking at the data and the people is “that prolonged and severe diet restriction can lead to serious physical and psychological implications” (1997) This statement alone reflects what I have seen in the Bodybuilding and Figure industry especially in the last few years with the explosion of Figure contests and ill advised diet strategies in the “pre-contest” period. It seems many, even so called 'experts' in this industry understand very little about the biology of weight control and regulation even though dogmatic and pseudo scientific presentation would lead intellectually naive competitors to believe otherwise.

In a land mark study more relevant today than ever, especially with the craziness I am witnessing in the Figure Competition world, Garner cites the Minnesota Experiment by Keys et all, 1950, as a powerful illustration of the effects of restrictive dieting and weight loss on behaviour and well-being.

The Keys et al study was known as the effects of “semi-starvation” of diet study. Truth be told by looking at the data, the calories restrictions and food restrictions imposed were far less limiting than what is going on in the Figure and modelling and pageant and bodybuilding world as it currently exists. This is the first point which should be made absolutely clear.

Next this study selected men as subjects. My findings and numerous others are that women suffer in greater magnitudes of the consequences that will be listed here, for varying reasons due to hormonal and other elements associated with gender distinctions. But it should also be noted that the researchers went out of their way in screening potential candidates so that those selected tested the highest in levels of physical and psychological health prior to undertaking the experiment.

This makes what transpired over the course of this “semi-starvation” experiment even more worrisome. The fact is that what I see from many competitors and former competitors in pageants or Figure or Fitness and bodybuilding, is that many that now come to me from hearing about my work with metabolic damage will never have a sane relationship with food again. The results of the Keys et al study and Dr. Garner’s conclusions as well, shed light on the effects of prolonged restrictive dieting.

Summation of the Minnesota Study

Basically the men followed a specific restricted diet of about half their usual calories for a 6 month’s period. The results you will read about were evident in as little as a 25% loss of bodyweight, far less than what most bodybuilders and Figure girls end up losing generally speaking. And as well, half the level of usual calories is also not nearly as restrictive as some of the insane diet practices adhered to currently in the world of physique competition.

The study also included a very important follow up and re-feed period. The findings here represent exactly the same scenario as exists in post contest eating behaviours in the Figure and Bodybuilding Industry. This will prove useful as well for reasons that will become apparent.
But to make a long story short and cut to the chase, as you will see, these men experienced dramatic physical and psychological and social changes, and these changes persisted well beyond the re-feed stage. This is more than just a parallel coincidence to what happens with Figure competitors and bodybuilders in post contest time frames as a result of extreme dieting. The question then is, just how dire were these repercussions?

Categories

Attitudes and Behaviours Related to Food

During the course of the study, the subject’s preoccupation with food became an obvious issue. Concentrating on things other than food became more and more difficult. For most of the subjects, food took over conversation, reading, daydreams, night dreams etc. Things like menus and cookbooks were themes of fascination and intense interest, where previously the subjects elicited no such interest in these matters. Since this study was in 1950, I’m sure with advent of cable and food networks as well as the internet, such a fascination could soon lead to obsession in quicker order. As a matter of fact I have witnessed this exact process among contest dieters previously unaffected by food, now obsessed by it. As I have said in previous articles and Blogs the problem here becomes an obsession that also leads to various compulsions as will also be addressed below.

To reiterate despite little interest in food or food preparation prior to the semi-starvation experiment, over 40% of the subjects became enthralled or obsessed with all aspects of food and preparation, not only during, but after the experiment as well. This post experiment period reflects what I have also observed in post contest eating behaviours which I will expound on further.

2) Many men began strange hoarding behaviours as well. They started collecting things they couldn’t afford with no reason why, and hoarded other meaningless items as well. This behaviour is also seen in anorexics as well as even in rats put on starvation diets. (See Crisp et al 1980, as well as Fantino and Cabanac 1980) More recently other behaviours such as outrageous spending have also been noted among severe dieters (Crisp 1980) representing the compulsive aspect of what I have observed over 25+ years in the dieting bodybuilding and Figure competitor. This represents the flip side of the obsession induced over diet control. It is also a sign to my mind of a changing psychology toward ill health, and a manifestation of a lack of control of compulsive forces induced by severe diet restriction.

3) The men also began to obsess over the actual timing and eating of the food, planning an almost ritualistic approach to meal timing. Concordant with that, the use of salt and spices skyrocketed. Just as I also see in the physique competitor arena tea and coffee consumption also blew up to obsessive dependency proportions. Men became so dependant on this version of stimulant use that the men had to be limited to 9 cups of coffee per day! I see this reflected often in Figure and bodybuilding competitors as well.

Also remember this study was 1950. In this day and age many are compounding their dependency on stimulants with abuse of various forms of ephedrine on a massive scale that I would prefer to not address beyond an acknowledgement of its specific abuse. Furthermore gum chewing also reflected a need to deflect hunger. One man was chewing up to 40 packs of gum per day. As with Figure competitors and bodybuilders as well, many go beyond gum to smoking and other negative habitual behaviours.
There seems to commence an individual need to try to trick or deflect hunger even in irrational contexts. In my industry multiple chemical solutions are also involved such as thyroid medications and other stimulants or amphetamine like substances over and above the usual choice of fat burners etc.

These 1950 reactions to the diet are beyond close coincidences to the pre-contest diet tendency of many to begin a path of destructive obsessive/compulsive tendencies in order to see a diet through to completion of “contest day” The problem for me as a coach is that there are far more destructive choices and alternatives available today vs. the 1950’s diet subjects. A quick warning is that expertise to diet instruction should always be chosen over absolute or vogue approaches.
This study also reflects that these destructive behaviours persisted even after the 12 week re-feed period.

Again, this is often where I see the most damage in post-diet Figure and Bodybuilder competitors who have reported a complete lack of control over food, post contest, and a corresponding sense of guilt and self-hate, of new and unhealthy proportions far beyond just “cheating on my diet”

Binge Eating

Many of then men in the Keys et al study could in fact tolerate the diet, but many others experienced a complete breakdown in self control. As stated above just as reflected in the modern physique competitor where body image becomes self image, the resultant binge eating behaviours led to self-hate, and self-disgust afterward. This guilt/reward duality tends to become a means of self-defining over time based solely or predominantly on resisting hunger or adhering to absolute eating regimens. As I have witnessed especially among Figure competitors this begins that path to never having a sane association with food again.

Food starts to take on immense emotional meaning beyond sustenance. The tragedy here is the tremendous emotional energy toll that this mentality takes on an individual. Many former and current Figure competitors report constant emotional and mental exhaustion that they fail to see related to their new emotional relationship to diet and food. This is one of the more worrisome psychological ramifications of metabolic damage associated with “get contest ready at all costs”

For the men in this study the binge eating started to represent a vicious circle of behaviour followed by self-hate, again reflective of what I see so often in the competitive cosmetic physique industry. Binge eating would ensue, followed by emotional upset, often accompanied by physical nausea. Then the individual would regain a sense of self-control, along with negative self-chastisement, and then resumption in the same circle of behaviour.

Many reading this will acknowledge “Oh my, that’s me!” Unfortunately many people fail to connect the dots between physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of any undertaking. Simply becoming aware of this can go a long way to help breaking the cycle of it. In other words, “how’s that workin for ya?”

Post Diet Ramifications

In the re-feed period following the diet in this study, even after 12 weeks of refeeding the men still complained of increased hunger even following a large meal. I see this as well all the time in physique competitors post contest who use a “mentality” of off-season to offset serious compulsive eating behaviours. On the physiological side of this equation, something I experienced myself in the early days of contest dieting, once a diet has run its course, the satiety or “I’m full” centre of the brain seems to malfunction in various degrees of intensity.

For instance after my first contest in 1983, where I lost 50 lbs in 10 weeks, I regained 45 lbs in 4 days, and I continued voracious eating behaviours for some time afterward. While I learned a valuable lesson, this path to metabolic damage has for others not only continued but intensified mostly because of the appeal of women’s magazines. The explosion of Figure contests often places unnatural metabolic demands on many women who take up the contest challenge, but whose physiologies are not resilient enought to endure it.

I’m not sure if this malfunctioning on the satiety centre is physiologically or psychologically based or both, but the body is almost responding as if food may never be available again, and the compulsion to eat goes beyond a mentality of fullness. This is certainly reflected by the men in this study, as well as the modern competitor world and even among pageant competitors who have written me regarding their metabolic damage and psychological eating issues; all of which seem to be induced via the competitive environment.

As an example from this study and something I experienced as well back in 1983, one volunteer ate immense meals of 5,000-6,000 cals but started “snacking” behaviours within one hour post meal. As I have also seen among male competitors and a few females, where pharmacological aids were used, one man in this 1950 study ate to the point where he needed aspiration and hospitalization for several days. I have seen this too often to count in competitors hospitalized within the week or month following the contest as a result of the systemic stress of constant eating, weight gain, osmotic rebound, and breathing issues. The body is just overwhelmed by post contest out of control eating and drinking beyond rational levels. More than one competitor has actually torn his stomach lining from sheer volume of compulsive food intake. Such is the price that many pay, reflected in the subjects of this study.

At this point in the article, and reflection on this “semi-starvation study” does any of this sound like normal or sane consequences to any athletic pursuit?

This experiment also illustrated certain patterns of binge behaviour that I also see paralleled in the modern competitor. Most of the subjects as well as post contest individuals find the weekends to be particularly problematic without that ritualistic schedule to adhere to. With fewer distractions on the weekend many could not stop eating, consuming as much as 8,000-10,000 cals and eating not just beyond fullness but to almost complete incapacitation. This is more common than many are led to believe. Unfortunately the diet industry wants to entertain only the equation of calories and grams while trying to ignore the costs to incomplete advice that should go beyond the physical.

Many are suffering in silence and self blame not realizing these attitudes and behaviours are actually diet induced. As I have always said, and the Keys et al study reflects, for every absolute calories deficit diet, there will be an equal and opposite binge. The consequences of this can be devastating long term, not just in bodyweight but in well-being both physical and emotional.

As the Keys et al study points out some men did indeed return to a normal eating regimen and psychological health, but often it was months and months after the study. The issue for me is that with “competitors” there isn’t a long enough break to regain mental health because many now associate the only way they can be “in shape” is to go back to an “on-season” deprivation diet. So they pick a show and repeat the same destructive force again, going deeper and deeper into the point of no return both metabolically and psychologically. Many Figure competitors write me in their 20’s who are constantly ill, depressed, suffering, but the only time they “look good” is when they feel worse.

This is a sign to get off that hamster wheel. To any people reading this, if this is you, then you need to make some serious accounts of yourself and why you are pursuing diet and competition. It may lead to your own ruin, not your benefit. This whole sequence leads to a Yo Yo diet scenario backed by starvation techniques, metabolic shut down, and post contest depression and eating which repeats itself over and over.
What the Keys et al study closely reflects of the new era of competition is that habitual dieting can lead to various eating disorders as well as what I refer to as “dis-ordered eating” As Garner notes, "this study should temper speculations about primary psychological disturbances as “the” cause of binge eating” (1997) (see also Polivy and Herman 1985, 1987; Wardle and Beinart 1981)

Emotional and Personality Changes

To me as a coach the most disturbing trend in the Fitness/Figure and pageant world where such insane diets are followed are the consequences of emotional and personality changes that ensue and take over and often forever change the individual. This is not to be understated and should be stressed, is the result of extreme starvation type diets so readily followed in the pageant and Figure competitor world today.

Just in my geographical area alone there are crazy no carb, 400 calories “protein day” diets, and diets where 7- 9 lbs of broccoli or green beans are eaten every day for weeks at a time. Again, these “coaches” do not seem to understand the first thing about the biology of weight control. This is most unfortunate as many trainees will adhere to whatever is put in front of them out of a strange and perverse sense of loyalty and fear.
I will say for the record it is not difficult to starve someone in to contest shape, and make up for catabolism with anabolics and other pharmaceuticals. They may win a show, but they will certainly lose long term. The old win a battle, lose the war analogy.

In the Keys et al study we must remember that the candidates for this experiment were also the most psychologically healthy and robust prospects going in to the experiment. (Garner 1997) In other words these candidates were selected as to be “better suited” than normal or average people to endure and tolerate the effects of this semi-starvation diet protocol. However, the conclusions for these psychologically healthy men were actually quite frightening. Most experienced “significant emotional deterioration” as result of the semi-starvation. (Which we must remember was far less absolute than many contest and pageant diets as they currently exist) Some suffered emotional consequences so severe that it interfered with daily functions. Just as witnessed almost en masse with the modern physique competitors, depression and mood swings were the most common observed and reported consequences of the diet as it progressed.
Even though this was 1950, it duplicates what is seen among the modern competitive dieter. For most competitors, family members report just “wanting it to be over” and also report having to walk on egg shells because of the unpredictability of their loved ones on the diet. On the flip side, my experience is that the dieters see the loved ones “just don’t understand” which is a faulty perception or rationalization at best. They do this in order to continue to see the path through to its conclusion, called “contest day” even though the destructive signs are visible on many levels, not just physical. Often these mood swings can have violent tendencies and outbursts where anything from physical displays or verbal hurtful rantings manifest from virtually minor or no provocation.

As Garner stated referring to the Keys et al study, “irritability and frequent outbursts of anger were common” (Garner 1997) Many competitors reading this will nod an embarrassing affirmative to this experience if they are being sincere and honest. The important point to make is that the men in this study just like most male and female competitors in the physique and pageant world, “had quite tolerant dispositions” prior to the experimental undertaking. Extreme diets can definitely induce unwanted personality changes for short term and long term.

Another reported change from the Keys et al 1950 study which I also witness in the competitor field is both tremendous nervousness and apathy as the diet progresses. Some participants reported extreme emotional disturbances during the course of the study; often to “psychotic proportions.” I have seen an explosion of this particular manifestation and the point in pre-contest diets where many start to self-medicate with anti-anxiety, anti-stress, anti-depressant medications and the like. The unknown truth reflected in the Keys et al study is that these emotional disturbances would more than likely be eradicated with a return to a normal and sane diet approach.

In the Keys diet study one man in response to the stress actually and consciously chopped off three fingers. This does not seem so far fetched given the new evidence of trying to medicate stress, when the causes are non-medical. We have seen this in wrestler Chris Benoit and actor Heath Ledger. The point of the Keys et al study is the reality of diet induced personality and emotional changes beyond mature tolerance. This must not be underestimated.
For the men in this study standardized testing revealed significant increases in depression, hysteria, and hypochondriases. One man with only a 10 lb weight loss experienced “gross personality disturbances” The point to be made here is that it is not a matter of extreme weight loss that precipitates these changes, but rather extreme dieting without end.

Many good relationships I have seen come to an end as a result of undertaking competition and the emotional toll of extreme diets and training regimens that take place in an absolute sense, of extreme diets and mentally exhausting training rituals. Notice I used the word “rituals” rather than protocols. Truth be told the rituals of endless cardio are a waste of time, but to the extreme dieter,that time mentally and emotionally keeps them away from free time which would be otherwise occupied with food temptations.The extra dulling activity also exhausts them further in to an emotionally apathetic state. This makes it easier to avoid acting on food compulsions at least till contest stresses are over.

Social Changes

One of the most common social ramifications of extreme dieting illustrated in the Keys et al study as well as the modern competitor environment is one of withdrawal. Many competitors make a choice to be more socially isolated and withdrawn even from loved ones, and including their own children. Because many acknowledge their new short fuse from extreme diet, they choose to remove themselves from potentially exhausting interactions. The costs to such isolation behaviour over time can lead to personal resentments and repressed hostilities among loved ones. Many competitors will escape to a world of the competitor sub culture, where interaction is seemingly stimulating rather than threatening. Pre-occupation with various media replaces family time etc.

Many also just like in the study report diminished sexual appetite. The only appetite the mind entertains after prolonged extreme dieting is an appetite and desire for food, and a pre-occupation with it as previously mentioned. This tends to over ride other instinctual impulses, which of course can have a marked effect on social and relationship health.

Cognitive and Physical Changes

One of the first and most noticeable cognitive changes as the diet study went on was obvious impairment in concentration, alertness, comprehension, and judgement. Of course this is also reflective of the competitor diets as well. The judgement impairment is particularly note worthy as it can lead to behavioural choices that affect others and lead to long term regrets.

The one contrast of these side effects of the extreme dieting is the exact opposite of what takes place in typical athletics. In real sports and competition arenas athletes become increasingly focused and alert during preparation for competition. This is an interesting point to contemplate as such cognitive skills break down in extreme diets.

As the extreme diet wore on the subjects in the Keys et al study suffered sleep disorders, dizziness, headaches, gastro-intestinal disorders and discomfort, and hypersensitivity to noise and light. They also suffered reduced strength, not just workout strength, experienced hair loss and a decreased tolerance to cold. Every single one of these symptoms I have seen reflected in competitors that have come to me exhibiting these ill effects of extreme diet while preparing for competition. As a matter of fact I have witnessed many competitors’ male and female who suffered every single one of the above mentioned debilitations all at once! This reflects a general breakdown of systemic function.

Once again it begs the comparison to traditional sport since those in the cosmetic arena of competition are supposed to be representing health and wellness and fitness, at least that was the intention of the founding fathers of this industry. The irony is that the end result is the exact opposite of represented intention. Many competitors in this industry do not realize until too late that they do not have the physiological constitution to endure contest prep in a manageable healthy way.

Traditional sport prepares athletes to be adapted and adaptable to the specifics of competition, and they become more mentally and emotionally prepared for advancing. That is an understandable aspect of athletics. What we see here, in the competition arena as reflected by the Keys et al study is a breakdown of mental and emotional capacities rather than a strengthening of them.

Metabolically the changes were clear that the subjects in the study experienced a slow down of the body’s physiological processes. There were noticeable decreases in body temperature, respiration, and BMR. I have addressed this aspect regarding metabolic damage in previous articles as well as referring to Wilson’s Low Temperature Syndrome, that so many Figure competitors go through. At the end of the Keys et al semi starvation study the men’s BMR had dropped by a whopping 40% from normal levels. The body is an incredible adaptive machine, especially when it comes to lack of energy intake.

Other recent studies have also illustrated a reduced metabolic rate even among dieters who do not have a history of dramatic weight loss. (Platte, Warner, Wade, 1996) The point to be made here is to focus that it is an aspect of “dieting,” and not weight loss that has these tremendous consequences.

One of the observations made during the re-feed process was that metabolism and BMR was sped up most efficiently by very high calories intake. Consuming large amounts of food (not binge eating) “caused” a sharp increase in energy burned through the metabolic process” (Garner 1997) Just to mention this also backs up the major contentions of my Cycle Diet (see Cycle Diet DVD 05) that relative deprivation of calories combined with well timed re-feeds of lots of calories within a short time period of hours will effect metabolism in a positive way. This is of course far different than post contest binge eating that is mentioned previously in this article.

Those that tried to raise calories only slightly in order to still adhere to a diet, did not speed up metabolism.

Conclusions

Whether you label it “semi-starvation diet” or “extreme dieting” or “absolute calories deficit dieting” or “contest dieting” or any other name, especially within the physique contest arena, the consequences to such dieting are dire and long term. Not only that, but the consequences extend well beyond the physical and metabolic. The result is not just seen in terms of bodyweight rebounds and food preoccupations but lead to all areas of psychological and social functioning as well. (see also Pirke and Ploog, 1987)

The Keys et al study illustrates how human beings whole psychological, physiological, and metabolic systems will orient toward food as a survival mechanism inherited from our ancestors, where the drive for food was indeed an element of survival. “All other systems of survival become subordinate to the primary drive toward food” (Garner 1997) The most important thing to note as a result of this study and many others that deal with regulation of body weight (not body fat) is that the “diet” was unsuccessful in overriding the body’s preference to defend a particular weight. (In this case an absolute calories deprivation diet which reflects as well in the modern physique and pageant competitor)

What this means is that although lower weights can be achieved it is unlikely to be maintained or sustained as a result of extreme diet choices. Furthermore, expert diet advice and practice, complete with an understanding of selectively timed re-feeds is the only way to establish and maintain not just weight loss but fat loss long term. Extreme diet methods still followed in the name of cosmetic contest preparedness is reflective of metabolic damage and psychological catastrophe in both the short and long consequences of extreme diet approaches.

My goal is to educate and inspire toward big “C” elements of Coaching. For many a little awareness can go a long way for rational people to cease and desist a mentality of extremes when it comes to body image and contest preparation. Such practices, whether they come with “expert” advice or not are self-defeating strategies to the physical and mental and emotional well being of the unaware practitioner who is led to believe that suffering is a part of healthy body maintenance.

As a physique transformation specialist in my third decade I can tell you whole heartedly that suffering seldom leads to fulfillment.

Metabolic Damage is a real issue for the modern competitor, in areas of cosmetic physique display like Figure, Fitness, and Bodybuilding and Pageant competitions. I went back to the Keys et al 1950 study of semi-starvation and its consequences because it eerily parallels what I see going on in the competitive side of our industry. By all means compete. But embrace the rational side of you which tells you it should lead to fulfillment and not devastation. There are experts out there who know the more intelligent, less extreme routes.

If you find reading this you exhibit some or many of these warning signs of your diet, then you should consider talking to a real expert and getting real expert advice. There is a difference between the biology of weight control and the science of fat loss. I sincerely hope many of you will read this article with an open mind and reconsider your diet protocol if any of this reflects your own experience.

But as usual, some of you will get, and many of you will not.

References
1) Abel, Scott The Science Behind the Cycle Diet (DVD 2005) Best of SWIS Symposium
2) Crisp, A.J. Anorexia Nervosa: Let me Be. London: Academic Press (1980)
3) Crisp, A.H., Hsu, L.K.G., and Harding, B. “The starving hoarder and voracious spender: Stealing in anorexia nervosa. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, (1980), 24, 225-231
4) Garner, D.M. (ed) “Psychoeducational Principles in the treatment of eating disorders” Handbook for Treatment of Eating Disorders, (1997) New York: Guilford Press
5) Fantino, M., and Cabanac, M. “Body weight regulation with proportional hoarding response in the rat” Physiology and Behaviour, (1980) 24, 939-942
6) Keys, A., Brozek, J., Henschel, A., Mickleson, O., and Taylor, H.L. The biology of human starvation (2 vols) (1950) Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press
7) Pirke, K.M., and Ploog, D. “Biology of human starvation” in Beaumont et als, eds. Handbook of eating disorders: Part 1: Anorexia and bulimia nervosa, (1987), pp 79-102.
8) Platte, P., Wurmser, H., Wade, S.E., Mercheril, A., and Pirke, K.M., “Resting metabolic rate and diet- induced thermogenesis in restrained and unrestrained eaters” International Journal of Eating Disorders, (1996), 20, 33-41.
9) Polivy, J., and Herman, C.P., “Dieting and bingeing: A causal analysis” American Psychologist, (1985), 40, 193-201.
10) Polivy, J., and Herman, C.P., “Diagnosis and treatment of normal eating” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, (1987), 55, 635-644.
11) Stunkard, A.J., and Wadden, T.A., eds, Obesity: Theory and therapy, 2nd edition, 1993, New York: Raven Press
12) Wardle, J., and Beinart, H. “Binge Eating: A theoretical review” British Journal of Clinical Psychology, (1981), 19-20, 97-109.