I’ve often wondered about certain strategies gym goers employ. The one strategy that has vexed my mind is a ritual of sorts and a lot of people do it every day. You know if you do something every day and expect a different result, that makes you crazy rightJ. It is at like the Holy Grail, the very reason people come to the gym and try to eat right, it’s the difference between a good day and a bad day, it is the end all be all. It is stepping on the scale! Don’t try to pretend you don’t do it because we all are guilty, especially in a place where there are scales and we are trying to lose weight, gain weight or stay the same. But the very fact people are control by this instrument, this measurement of body mass can be alarming and skewed. The end all be all may not be “all” its cracked up to be.
Let’s back track for a second. What are we trying to do? Most people? Answer is losing weight. Statistics show the most common goal for any gym goers is losing weight. But that should really be the goal? The answer is yes and no. If you are 50 lbs overweight and you need to lose 50 pounds then I would say losing weight would be a great goal for you. However, if you are trying to lose 10-20 pounds, does it really matter what the scale says as long as your body fat changes? Of course not! I use to tell clients all the time; if I could have you weigh the same weight you are today and look 100% different, would it matter what the scale said? 9 times out of 10, the number didn’t matter.
Read the rest of… Josh Bowen: End All Be All (Tales of the Dreaded Scale)
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Mar 14, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
Aging and heroism. (Or Worse than Kryptonite)
Did you ever have one of those days where you get called on for a dramatic heroic act that will save the day, but as you step into the phone booth to change into your Superman costume, your mind goes blank and you literally can’t recall for a several seconds if you are Superman or Batman?
And then, after regaining your composure, start to really regret being Superman and grumble to yourself, “This s**t is getting old. They never ask the guy in the office next to me to do this sort of stuff. In fact, he’s at lunch now with the COO. That’s just so wrong! Next week I am going to say something about it.”
And then, as you are taking your time changing–it now takes 5-7 min to change at age 49– you get in a shouting match with some 19 year old who needs to use the phone, who calls you “Lame.” And that really ticks you off and you threaten to keep your street clothes on and not do your heroic deed until some older adult pulls the 19 year old aside and gives him his cell phone for his call?
And then as you are tying your cape, you realize you have love handles pushing out either side of the spandex Superman top. And you are just hoping you can avoid flying and let the cape cover your sides today? Or at least fly at an angle where others won’t notice and comment?
And you make a note to wear sunglasses in the future because you are embarrassed how you look in the Superman costume?
And then, finally, after waiting until now one is looking, you try to burst out of the phone booth but the phone booth door is jammed? You shake and jiggle it. And even do so strenuously but realize that even with your super powers, at this age, you aren’t strong enough to force open the door by yourself?
And so you get the attention of the 19 year old who you had a shouting match with and is now finished with his cell phone call and ask him nicely if he’d try to open the phone booth door from the outside? And apologize for losing your cool as he is smiling smugly to himself and opens the phone booth door for you with two fingers using his left hand?
And then you forget where you are and what you are doing and ask the 19 year old if he still has the cell phone he borrowed so you can check with Google Maps for directions? But he doesn’t have it, of course, because he’s given it back to the stranger who was trying to protect your feelings?
And you walk off dejected? But see a coffee shop and decide to get a latte and a pastry. But after you order remember you are in your Superman costume and forget to bring any money with you? And you want to point out that your Superman and this should really be on the house given all your done for the community over the years —and about to do today? But you decide that discretion is the better part of courage. And apologize and promise to come back later that day (after your super hero mission is complete, but you don’t say this….just thinking this to yourself)?
And after getting lectured by the manager about how he’s just trying to run a business and shouldn’t have to deal with “people like you” you walk out the door and even though you can’t remember where you parked and don’t have your keys anyway after the phone booth change, you are secretly pleased with yourself and feel like you FINALLY caught a break today because you at least got a free latte and pastry?
And make a gentle mental note to yourself that when you send your Superman costume to the cleaners this time to have them take it out two inches in the waist. Again.
If you answer yes, well, you are not alone. Me too!
By Nancy Slotnick, on Tue Mar 5, 2013 at 8:30 AM ET
Today I ordered my new drink at my new favorite coffee bar- Irving Farm. I keep wanting to call it Irving Farms, but that’s not the name. I discovered a few weeks ago that my drink is called a cortado. Thank G-d. I could never decide if I should order a wet macchiato or a dry cappuccino and I felt really stupid either way. Remember the old comic strip Family Circus? (I am dating myself now, and not in a good way.) There was one where the family was at a restaurant and the little girl asked her parents: “I want to get a burger and fries, but do I have to order the Little Miss Muffet?” That’s how I feel about contrived names.
Now when I order my coffee, I sound like a coffee snob. But that is appropriate, since I used to own a coffee bar. I usually get a wink from the barista and some beautiful latte art on my drink, as a nod to the coffee culture that we share. Or I just get a blank stare and an improvised macchiato (when I go to Indie in Lincoln Center.) Either way, there’s some comfort in finally discovering what I have been seeking.
On the opening day of my coffee bar, (that incidentally had a dating service for our customers,) May 29, 1996, it got a mention in Florence Fabricant’s column in the New York Times. She said that it takes a gutsy person to name a place Drip. That gutsy person was me!
The other day when I showed my business plan to a potential investor, who is also a creative type, he said: “The name is not very original, but I like the concept.” Actually, he wrote that in an email that was meant for his business partner and not for me to see. But in the flurry of the magic of Forwarding email trails, I got to find out what he really thinks. And I was totally proud. One of the problems with the name Drip was that people couldn’t figure out what the hell it was or what it meant. Doctors thought it was some twisted intravenous reference. It didn’t meet the Katie Couric 30-second test, but we were on the Today Show multiple times nonetheless.
So this time around I am trying to give my brand a name that explains what it is. There is so much marketing hype in today’s media world and so many ridiculously huge brands to compete with, that I try to keep it simple.
There’s just one thing. Matchmaker Café is an online dating site that sets up real dates in the real world through a real human. But we don’t have our own real café. Call me Miss Nomer. At least for now. But I have come to realize that the “Café” part of “Matchmaker Café” is actually my value added. In ’96 there was no online dating. There was no social media. There was just old-fashioned Café. And that worked.
So I am taking my show on the road. Looking for whatever homes will have my little café kiosk of love. Cafés, bars, retail stores, wineries, public plazas, Whole Foods? Just like Lucy from the Peanuts, I will be setting up shop to give out advice and to foster human connection in a new world where technology can be isolating.
I’m putting the Café back in Matchmaker Café. What’s the main reason? I’m lonely! I have a wonderful husband and son, and I spread love one client at a time right now. But I miss the serendipity of being “out there” where anything can happen. And I want to spread that magic to you.
So watch for me. Follow @MatchmakerCafe on Twitter and Like me on Facebook, and you will find out where I will be next. I could be coming to a neighborhood near you. If I do it right then a Café by any other name will smell as sweet. I hope as sweet as the Rice Krispy treats that we used to sell at Drip!
My dog is snoring beside me as I write this. She looks adorable sprawled out on my bed—she likes to put her head on my pillow. When animals do things that look human, we always think it’s great. I’m looking at her innocent sweet face, and I’m tempted to kiss her head.
But I won’t wake her up; she is very tired. She didn’t get as much sleep as usual because for some period of time over the course of the night, she helped herself to a leftover chicken. Or maybe it only actually took 5 minutes and then she enjoyed a deeply replenishing tryptophan induced slumber for 8.75 hours. I’ll never know.
I walked into the kitchen this morning, and the evidence was everywhere—the trash can tipped over, assorted garbage, mango skins, and the empty very clean roasted chicken containers were sprawled across the room—the cleanest garbage a person could ask for.
But I couldn’t believe it. Our dog is 10 or 11 (the family of a rescue never knows for sure) and has been with us 7 or 8 years (a middle-aged-woman never remembers for sure), and I don’t think there has ever been an incident of kitchen trash trespass. This was a little shocking—I stood staring for half a minute. For 10 of those seconds I actually even surmised that it was a raccoon who had done it. They have opposable thumbs you know.
So I tested my hypothesis by calling my pup to the crime scene. I didn’t warn her with my tone that this was a test (and may I just say that this was very canny and professional behavior on my part, very, very canny and professional at 6:47 A.M after staggering out of bed with my dream all around me still. I have had no formal crime scene training).
So she came wagging toward the kitchen but stopped on the threshold, head down, tail disappearing. Aha! She had done it. It was not a raccoon. Mystery solved. She slinked away to hide on my bed.
In this 8 minute video, people of varying faiths discuss forgiveness. I’m drawn to The Dalai Lama in the final 40 seconds who says, “Anger [doesn’t] help—only destroy[s] your own peace of mind. Deliberately, try to keep your mind more calm.”
Herein people are discussing forgiveness in far more serious terms than the sins of a beloved pet, but I feel it’s worth saying here that we practice first at home. What an opportunity to check-in with ourselves about our reactions. I ask myself here if I can respond rather than react in general, to perceived slights from others. What about when I’m kept waiting and it’s no one’s fault but a “stupid system” like traffic that has inconvenienced me AND caused me to be late? What about later today when I have to deal with roasted-chicken-carcass-dog-vomit in my carpet?
Read the rest of… Lisa Miller: Forgiveness and Triggers after Chicken
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Feb 22, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
Deep question. Even deeper than a Fortune Cookie fortune. Maybe.
If you were at a Chinese restaurant and your Fortune Cookie didn’t have a slip of paper in it revealing your “fortune,” would you complain to the manager and ask for a new cookie that has an actual “fortune” inside it?
Or say nothing and enjoy the cookie realizing your future probably has little to do with what’s inside a Fortune Cookie, and hence not feel cheated?
Or some other option….like refuse to eat the cookie while Googling on your iPhone about the meaning of receiving a barren Fortune Cookie?
I have a feeling your answer will say a lot about you in some weird “psychology test” way. I have nothing to back me up except a gut feeling.
And mild depression for being cheated out of my fortune with my last Fortune Cookie and a sense of defeatism for not saying anything about it–and worry that the cookie was trying to tell me something important about an impending terrible event that I am ignoring at my peril.
I don’t even want to know my real Fortune Cookie fortune now! ; )
I have driven over 300,000 miles in the last 6 years. It wasn’t until recently I started to feel the extent it was having on my body. I woke up one morning and my hip was killing me and my shoulder ached, I just thought it was from hard workouts. Possibly, but when I evaluated the situation I realized I am in the most amount of pain when I drive a lot of miles in a short amount of time. Having the knowledge of how the body works, I can understand and appreciate the havoc sitting can have on one’s body.
The fact is MOST jobs are now sedentary jobs, where people; sit at a computer, sit in meetings, sit in a car or airplane and basically sit on the rear end all day. I realize this is part of it, everything in this world has become technologically advanced where people are more sedentary in the work place than ever before. That’s ok. No, really it is, because I am going to show you how to overcome this (more on that later).
Here is a stat for you that you may want to sit down for: According to a poll of nearly 6,300 people by the Institute for Medicine and Public Health, it’s likely that you spend a stunning 56 hours a week sitting on your butt- staring a computer working or watching TV trying to think about work. That is a lot of time in one position. Let me tell you how much that effects your body.
Let’s start with the lower half first, when you sit your hip flexors and hamstrings become shorten (not a good thing). This can lead to improper movement patterns leading to pain in various regions of the body. Also, since you are planted on your butt, your body sees no use for your glutes or your core musculature so they become lengthen or turned off. This is also, not a good thing. Your glutes act as the powerhouse of the low body allowing you to generate the most amount of power. If you have faulty glutes the lower back must pick of the slack.Everyone with lower back pain raise their hand! Is this starting to make sense? I hope so. So the technical version of the story is lower cross syndrome, whereas your hip flexors and hamstrings become shorten and your glutes and core musculature become lengthen and nonexistent. This contributes to knee pain, back pain, neck pain and many other types of “pain.” “JB, all from sitting??” YES!
Now, let me complicate the situation a little more. You decide to workout and you go to the gym and you find your favorite 5 machines. What do those machines have in common, you have to sit! Oh no! What good does that do? Sure your chest and arm muscles may look tone, but you still have pain in your lower back. Not a good trade off if you ask me. But are you asking me? I hope so, here are some tips to not sit so much and correct some of our imbalances.
By Garrett Renfro, RP Staff, on Wed Feb 20, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET
The Politics of Food
In the last week one of the biggest stories in the business world, and likely at John Kerry’s house, has been the acquisition of the H.J. Heinz brand by Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital. The deal has prompted further speculation regarding industry consolidation. [WSJ]
The Heinz deal has spurred increased interest of a decidedly different kind for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI is now investigating the possibility of illegal trading resulting from the $23 Billion dollar deal. [NYT]
Another global brand has been drawn into the horse meat scandal which has been unfolding in Europe over the last month. Nestlé is the latest well-known purveyor to find itself playing damage control after two of its products, labeled as beef based, were found to contain horse meat.[NYT]
According to an article by Tom Philpott, corn fields are taking over grassland at a staggering rate, nearly 2 Million acres in 5 years. The expansion of “King Corn’s” domain has caused some, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture to question whether our nation’s corn and soybean dominated agricultural economy can long endure rising temperatures. In the article is a link to the Department of Agriculture report. [MJ]
By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Feb 20, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
Fraud alert
I am not a regular shopper at Whole Foods Market.
I like going there and feel better about myself when I do. But it strikes me as a sort of community among its regular shoppers—health conscious and committed to a lifestyle replete with Vegan dieters and Yoga instructors.
I just don’t feel like I fit in there and suspect they sense a fraud. Or at least a Kroger shopper who missed the turn for Kroger and is in too big a hurry to turn around.
It’s a little confusing for me and a little daunting too.
I experience the same sensation when I am at a hardware store. Just looking at my hands you can tell I have never been asked by a neighbor if they could borrow some of my tools. That would be a pointless and rude and embarrassing to me. Like asking the neighbor whose house is in foreclosure if you can borrow $20. Just a common sense thing it never occurs to anyone ever to do in any neighborhood I have ever lives in.
So bracing with my insecurities about neither being ever asked for direction to Rainbow Blossom, I confidently strode into Whole Foods Market.
So far, so good. No one seems to be whispering “Who is that man who looks like he still buys Wonder Bread and what is he doing here?”
No one asked me if I was lost and needed directions to the Taco Bell at the other end of the shopping mall.
I tried to look healthy and fit in. I mussed my hair and looked earnestly at a magazine featuring simple, austere, healthful living practices.
I noticed a lot of unhealthy and weak looking people shopping and wasn’t sure if they were here to change the way they look or if their pallid complexions were the result of too many glasses of strained carrot juice.
I picked out a low calorie dinner that I would love to have someone I know walk by and see me eating. And say, “John, I didn’t know you were into….” And I could smile –while chewing (healthy food is really easy to chew so this isn’t difficutl or rude to do—and give them an affirming nod that says “Oh yeah. I am a regular.” But not having to say it since that would be a lie.
Nobody I knew saw me and now it was time to leave.
I put a serious concentrated look on my face with just a hint of deprivation that sent the message, “I may have just eaten but I am nowhere near full. And I only pretended to enjoy those things that looked like au gratin potatoes but tasted like something that someone tried to make look like au gratin potatoes otherwise no one would ever buy them because they taste like the drained off juice from real au gratin potatoes but without the cheese or potatoes.”
In other words, I was fitting in.
Until I walked out the store exit and while standing in the alcove bent down to look at the free magazine section. After thumbing through a publication with pictures of the health food culture equivalent of really, really smart nerdy looking people. Except instead of having the excuse of having a stratospheric IQ or two PHds from MIT, they were just really fanatical about health food. And remote from me.
So I looked around to make sure no one was looking, grabbed the gigantic glossy and gaudy issue of NFocus magazine and quickly folded it under my arm and walked rapidly to my car. Hoping to escape before the Whole Foods fraud alarm went off or any of my newfound Whole Foods Market compatriots got my license plate.
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Feb 19, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET
We are so proud to announce that contributing RP (and No Labels co-founder) Lisa Borders has been named the new chairman of the Coca-Cola Foundation.
From the Atlanta Business Chronicle:
Hon. Lisa Borders
The Coca-Cola Co. Senior Vice President of Global Community Connections and Chair of The Coca-Cola Foundation Ingrid Saunders Jones will retire on June 1 after 30 years with the beverage giant.
She joined Atlanta-based Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) in 1982 and has held roles of increasing responsibility around the company’s corporate giving and community outreach. She has been chair of The Coca-Cola Foundation since 1991. Under Jones’ watch, The Coca-Cola Foundation has awarded more than $500 million to thousands of community organizations around the world…
Grady Health Foundation President and former Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders will succeed Jones on May 1.
Borders also was vice mayor of Atlanta and co-chair of the transition team for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. She is currently a trustee at The Westminster Schools, a board member at Clark Atlanta University, a member of the Board of Visitors and Board of Ethics at Emory University, and a board member of the Atlanta Downtown Community Improvement District (ADID).
If you spend enough time in a gym, you can hear the most creative questions and mis-truths in any field, anywhere. Any personal trainer that has spent their career in a gym setting, can recite the most compelling stories of clients/members and their beliefs of what is fact. I figure I could write a best seller, just by the sheer volume of misinformation about exercise and nutrition that is conveyed through media outlets and misinformed “experts.” This is not the gym goers fault, rather this is my problem and a problem I tend to overcome through education and factual information. “OK JB what is your point?” My point is there is a lot of information out there I would consider a myth. For example, that is possible to spot reduce. Not possible, next question! Another example, I can eat what I want and still have the body of my dreams. Kinda, sorta possible but depends on genetics and other hormonal factors but for most people, not possible. “Alright enough already, what is THE myth?” The king of exercise myths, the grand puba of misinformation…Lifting weights will make a woman bulky! That’s right, after doing this as long as I have; people, in particular women still believe strength training will make them look like a bodybuilder. Ain’t going to happen!
Now, I am not naïve to think women are not strength training in record numbers. Years ago, most women would join a gym and only perform cardiovascular exercises such as biking or running on a treadmill. Although great for the heart, this alone does not create the lean, sculpted bodies women are wanting and displaying today. It was always thought that women should not lift weights because it would make them bulky and look like a man. The traditional routines would consist of high repetitions, usually 3 or 4 sets with 30-60 second rest periods. Cardio usually would precede strength training. Group fitness classes such as Body Pump or “15 minute abs” would have mostly female attendance. In some clubs you would have “Women’s Only,” areas, full of selectorized equipment and cardio.
Women are displaying incredible results from strength training but the myth still exists. Keeping all things equal, let’s tackle the reason’s ALL women should strength train.
The Differences between Men and Women- YES! I know the DIFFERENCE but I’m not referring to our outer differences, I’m talking about what happens inside the body. As far as muscle goes; a bicep is a bicep and a glute is a glute, whether its on a man or on a female, anatomically they function the exact same. What are different are the hormonal levels that allow our biceps, glutes and all 600 some skeletal muscles to grow. You guessed it, testosterone. Loved by men, feared by women. That’s ok because men produce anywhere from 10-50 times more testosterone than women. YAHTZEE! Men can build bigger muscles than women (in most cases J). Now, does that mean women cannot build muscle, NO! It just means women cannot produce enough testosterone possible to build muscles the size of most males. Debunking the myth has begun!
Strength- Hence the name “strength” training. Picking up heavy things will make you stronger. What does that mean for most women and men for that matter, everyday activities can become easier. Picking up that 20 lb box and placing it on a shelf 2 feet above your head all of a sudden becomes easy. Pulling dog food out of your SUV and throwing it over your shoulder to take in the house suddenly becomes a breeze. Strength training makes you stronger, period. We all could use more strength, everyone, including you!
Body Fat- Most people reading this want to lose weight. Well actually you want to lose bodyfat. You are on a quest for a better physique, more toned arms, a tighter stomach and athletic legs. You cannot achieve that with cardio alone. You need something that packs a punch, something that creates results and gives you the body you have always wanted, you need STRENGTH training. Look at any professional woman’s body, such as Serena Williams or Jennie Finch. They strength train. They build muscle and thus reduce the amount of body fat on their body. In fact you burn calories, post workout, for up to 24-48 hours following a vigorus strength training day. You know how much post workout calorie burn you get from 30 minutes on the elliptical….ZERO! You want to keep your weight off without all the yo-yoing, start strength training.
Strong Bones- Best way to strengthen your bones? Drink milk! WRONG! Strength train. Women are far more susceptible to osteoporosis than men. Strength training will strengthen your bones, increase bone mineral density and delay any and all effects of osteoporosis. Research has found that weight training can increase spinal bone mineral density by 15 percent in six months. Have I sold you yet?
Disease Prevention- For cardiovascular health, strength training lowers ones LDL cholesterol preventing arteries from clogging up. Also, lowers resting blood pressure and helps the body to metabolize sugars better, warding off the signs of diabetes.
Self Esteem- The greatest benefit of strength training for a woman is the benefit of self gratification. The increased feel good hormone serotonin will allow you to feel better about yourself and have a sense of accomplishment. At the end of the day, this is what is about anyway, improving our bodies and minds but also improving how we feel about ourselves.
Let’s back track for a second. What are we trying to do? Most people? Answer is losing weight. Statistics show the most common goal for any gym goers is losing weight. But that should really be the goal? The answer is yes and no. If you are 50 lbs overweight and you need to lose 50 pounds then I would say losing weight would be a great goal for you. However, if you are trying to lose 10-20 pounds, does it really matter what the scale says as long as your body fat changes? Of course not! I use to tell clients all the time; if I could have you weigh the same weight you are today and look 100% different, would it matter what the scale said? 9 times out of 10, the number didn’t matter. 
