Motivation and healthy living.

A conversation between me and my friend regarding snowboarding. He likes to know how to jump higher.

Friend: So leg presses help build those muscles that help you jump? What if you get bulkier along the way and gain weight?

Me: Think of it in physics. The heavier you are (aka more bulky, more weight), the more energy requires u to jump.

Example:

Person A, weight 140 lbs
Person B, weight 150 lbs
Both can produce the same amount of power.

Which one can jump higher? Obvious it is A. He has more power to weight ratio.

Now, we know that muscle is heavier than fat (on an area basis). Is that mean it is a good sign when we workout and gain weight? That's a maybe.

The question is what kind of weight are you gaining? Is it muscle or fat? How can someone gain fat from working out? It has to do with lifestyle (eating junk food, not an active lifestyle etc.).

This is where the lifestyle and diet comes in. Overall, it is much better to lose weight (specifically lose fat). We all have too much of these bullky stuff in us from our diet..especially after Christmas.

There is more to it than that..you can go pretty hardcore...find out how much calories u eat..and how much you burn. Then you know if you are eating execess calories (which in turn the body store as fat).

....
This is the same principal in triathlon training as well. We can spend $$$ on getting our bike a few lbs lighter. But in reality, we can lose a lot more weight if we change our diet and our lifestyle. Less weight, same power = more power to weight ratio = more efficient = faster speed = better performance. (Side effect might include healthy body, feeling better about yourself...)

We have to treat our body like a F1 race car. It needs premium fuel. Not the crap we get from McDonald (even though Big Mac can taste so good!).

I don't find motivation in eating healthy and exercise for the sake of it (even I have a liver transplant and realize life is precious). To me, it is not a means to an end. I change my lifestyle simply b/c I want to build the best engine (body) for triathlon.

Funny how companies are marketing their fat burning exercise machine as fun. You can burn ___ more calories than walking or running. That doesn't make me workout. Even those sculptous abs and body shapes don't intrigue me. Show me something fun and exciting, and I am all gung ho about it.

Healthy living can be fun AND exciting.

This can be in various form. In my fellowship, I have a group of brothers and sisters join the same gym and rountinely exercise with each other. They love the social aspect of that. That's great. Have fun with friends and burn fat at the same time.

My snowboarding friend, who loves to munch on burgers, are slowly seeing the need to be healthier so he can snowboard better.

He is even considering doing a triathlon this year. Heh, he told me few years ago he will never run. :D