The QLog

Mythbusters, Part 1: Your Body is 90% Water

Recently, I've heard three urban myths about the human body and I'm going to take the next few days to debunk them rather quickly.

Question: Your Body is 90% Water. True or False?
Answer: False!

Although I do have a background in biology, this is not needed to quickly think through this idea, especially if you ever have seen a human skeleton. Consider your bones. The human body contains many bones, some of them fairly large. The entire volume and weight of the human skeleton is much higher than 10% of the body. Additionally, every cell is has thousands of different carbon-based molecules such as proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, each performing a different function in parallel. Animals eat food for both energy and raw organic materials. If our bodies were only 10% carbon-based, then we would consume much less solid food at dinner and instead would be drinking more fluids to maintain that 9:1 ratio.

Yet, the human body does contain a very significant amount of H2O as it is about 60% water. What is true is that one should drink, on average, 2 liters (approximately 8 glasses) of water each day to re-hydrate due to a variety of biological functions. You can read the more detailed health recommendations on this topic from the Mayo Clinic here.   

Diet Day and 14 More Years!

If weight loss or fitness is a goal for 2008, then these two items might interest you.

1. National Diet Day is the Second Tuesday of January (today). No, this is not a day to pick a fad diet. Instead, it is recommended that you choose a long-term plan and adopt healthy lifestyle habits that includes a smart diet that you can sustain for many years.

2. The PLoS Medicine, a peer-reviewed open access journal, published a new study today that concluded that four very basic and easy behaviors could add as many as 14 years to one's lifespan. The evidence came from the EPIC-Norfolk Prospective Population Study which had a large data set of 20,244 men and women.

The four longevity lifestyle behaviors are:

• not smoking
• being physically active
• moderate alcohol intake
• eating at least five vegetable servings a day

If you are looking for some lifestyle habits to improve your life, these are obviously a good four to adopt today.

Here is the download citation for the full article:

Combined Impact of Health Behaviours and Mortality in Men and Women: The EPIC-Norfolk Prospective Population Study Khaw KT, Wareham N, Bingham S, Welch A, Luben R, et al. PLoS Medicine Vol. 5, No. 1, e12 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050012

Here is the link to the PLoS editorial on the article:

From Theory to Practice: Translating Research into Health Outcomes The PLoS Medicine Editors PLoS Medicine Vol. 5, No. 1, e15 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050015

Health, Wealth, and Stealth Goals

The most common resolutions each year involve health, wealth, and stealth. Resolutions are rarely measurable, time-bound, or planned, so it is no surprise that these rarely succeed. Instead, set some goals within these domains for 2008.

Heath Goals: Weight-loss goals are the most common via more exercise or a specific diet. I do encourage you to optimize your wellness; however, expand your scale and scope and focus on overall fitness. Multiple studies have demonstrated that short-term or temporary diets almost universally fail over time as these behaviors (such as severely reducing calories or only eating a single type of food) are not sustainable over time. Instead, choose new lifestyle habits that can be done for the next 20-years as daily exercise or consuming twice as many fruits and vegetables than you do now. Losing 15 pounds this year can be part of this plan; however, increasing your healthspan and lifespan will have a more significant impact.

Wealth Goals: The majority of these center around reducing debts, earning more money, and finding superior investments. I suggest picking one major wealth goal for the year from starting your own enterprise to getting a promotion. If you really can not think of a single wealth goal, consider becoming a million by December 31, 2013, and create a game plan of how that could be possible.

Stealth Goals: As children, we feel free to share are highest dreams, such as becoming President or flying the Space Shuttle. Stealth goals are often hidden as strangers, friends, and family might not understand the vision and regard it as mere fantasy or delusion as these are often grand and bold ideas that would force the individual to stretch further than they ever had before. If you have a stealth goal, kudos! First, work out a rough plan on how it could be achieved. Second, begin focusing one hour a day every single day.

Happy Winter Solstice (and Related Festivals)

I want to take a minute to wish you and your family a very joyous time during this season's remaining celebrations and feasts, including, but not limited to:

• Yule (Dec 22)
• Yalda (Dec 22)
• Festivus (Dec 23)
• Christmas (Dec 25)
• Boxing Day (Dec 26)
• Kwanzaa (Dec 26-Jan 1)
• Watch Night (Dec 31)
• New Year's Eve (Dec 31)
• Feast of Fools (Jan 1)
• Epiphany (Jan 6)
• Inbolic (Feb 1)
• Candlemas (Feb 2)
• Groundhog Day (Feb 2)
• And any other Holiday (secular or religious)

The Share Diet Plan

This is very simple and it is eatting with significance. Here is how it works:

1)      Pick one night a week and plan to fast that evening for the next 52 weeks. You should eat a healthy breakfast and lunch that day.

2)      Calculate the amount of money you would have spent on dinner for that night over a single year.

3)      Donate that sum to a charity that focuses on feeding others from starving kids to homeless shelters.

5 Plus 2

I’ve talked to over 25 dietitians and nutritionists over the past 18 months. So far, not a single one has disagreed with this 5 Plus 2 strategy: eat SEVEN servings of fruits and/or vegetables per day! The standard recommendation from the US Government is five per day. Most Americans have a hard time eating 35 serving a week; however, I challenge you to go beyond, especially during the holiday season where treats seem to lurk on every table. Instead, be healthier and strive for 49 serving every single week.

To learn more about the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables, check out www.5aday.gov

Productivity 101 (Day 47): Eat Less

“Eat not to dullness” - Benjamin Franklin

“We seldom repent of having eaten too little.” - Thomas Jefferson

I can not count the number of times I’ve heard people come back from lunch and complain, either publicly at a meeting or privately at their cubicle that they have a “food coma” due to eating too much. Of course, I think everyone can remember going to a party, celebration, or feast when they had consumed so many calories that we were tired and lazy the rest of the day.

On the short term, eating less overall calories, but more often (every 2-3 hours) will keep you more energetic and alert. Try to insure your portions are smaller at breakfast, lunch and dinner.  In between meals, avoid processed foods and sugary treats. Instead, focus on fresh fruit, vegetables, or items with high protein like a can of tune or a boiled egg.

The long-term benefit is simple: eating less will either help you lose weigh or maintain your current one.

Eating less is a simple productivity strategy that anyone can employee. Why not begin today?

Productivity 101 (Day 13): Play as a Strategy

Last Night, I spent the evening at the excellent Isthmus Jazz Fest on beautiful Lake Mendota at the UW Memorial Union Terrace in Madison, Wisconsin. It was an ideal mix of summer weather (cool breeze, clear skies, setting sun), amazing music (Roscoe Mitchell Quartet, Joan Wildman Trio, and Madisalsa), great company (old friends), and local cuisine (beer, brats, and ice cream).

We often hear about ‘work-life’ balance. One of the main goals of this balance is to find more time for enjoyable activities. A healthy life has a stable work/play structure where both are part of a feedback cycle. If used correctly, play is a great strategy to be productive.

Imagine if some musical piece had no empty spaces, no breaks, no rests…and was just one continuous solitary tone for 10 minutes. Would that be enjoyable? Wonderful music is dependent on the spaces between the notes, they have a symbiotic relationship. Likewise, effective work can be increased with concentrated play.

Little kids spend most of their waking hours playing. This has lead to some people to believe a false dichotomy where ‘kids play, adults work.’ I’ve talked to a few people who believe that almost all ‘play time’ is wasted time. Although the percentage of daily play is certainly higher for children, play is an essential part of human life at all ages. It is part of our mental and physical maintenance schedule! Without play, even the most productive people will eventually burn-out.

Here are four major ingredients that will help enhance your play:

Environment: There is a good reason that people choose to have their picnics at a park instead of a construction site. Remember that space\place is very important for maximizing your play.

People: Your family and friends are the most important people in your life. Play will increase your connections with all of them. Laughter is a wonderful thing to share with others.

Music: Since time immemorial, humans have loved to sing, play instruments, and dance. There is no known culture that does not celebrate with music. Music often can provide a context for any event. Set the tone and mood for your play with music that everyone enjoys. Be open minded to new genres as well.

Food: A friend of mine once told me that “without food, a party is really just a group of people looking for the soup line.” More seriously, sharing a meal is a powerful human experience. Good food always brings smiles.

Three Rules for Better Living

Tick-Tock! Somtimes our lives become too closely tied to clocks and calendars, resulting in the tyranny of ‘the schedule’ which dictates our lives when we should listen more closely to our bodies and minds. Here are three simple rules to live better:

·          When you are hungry, eat (healthy).

·          When you are tired, sleep (well).

·          When you are bored, create (wonders).