10:10 Talk

Take Care of Your Heart

If you've been to my crib or more specifically our "campaigner room" (study), you've no doubt noticed the plethora of healthy magazines (I can't remember the name of the movie that made fun of the word plethora - but it makes me go out of my way to use it sometimes). We have Runners World, Men's Health, Cyling (and they throw in their Mountain Bike companion mag), Competitor Southeast, Outside, and Backpacker. For the girls who want something just for them, there's Health and another one, Fitness.

Too many fur sure as I'm never able to read more than a tenth of the material. Mostly they just sit on the coffee table until they're about 6 months old, then I chuck 'em. One magazine however has risen to the top for me such that when it arrives, I go through it within a day - Outside.

For a guy or girl that digs the outdoors, it's the best. While looking online at Outside.com to find an article to share with you from the June issue (which isn't there), I found a classic piece on heart health. When you get 5-10 minutes, please scan through it cause I think you'll find at least one nugget of useful info.

The Owner's Manual: Your Heart

7 Hidden Ways to Get Better Sleep

You've heard me preach about getting enough sleep and how I absolutely, positively HATE to wake with an alarm clock (those things aren't natural). That's why I loved this Sparkpeople piece on sleep by writer Christine Seymor. I'm just bummed that she doesn't put her mug shot on her page.

Go From Restless to Well-Rested in No Time

My comfort zone got rocked

In my last blab, you heard me talk about comfort zones. In particular was my "Olympic" comfort zone where I prefer to maintain a fitness level that would enable me to complete an Olympic distance triathlon right now if I had to without suffering too much bodily harm. Another CZ mentioned was the amount of body fat I'm willing to carry around. If you recall, my number is 15. In other words, I'm OK with 15% of my body weight being fat. Or so I thought I was.

While walking in to visit one of my accounts recently at the Florida Mall in Orlando, a shoppers Mecca for sure, I came upon a huge double-wide-like trailer with the Blue Cross Blue Shield (big health insurer in Florida) logos. Turns out they were doing free health screenings. Because of a recent blood pressure reading that was a bit high, I wanted to stop in to have it checked again.

I signed in and within two minutes I was called into one of the little offices. A plump little nutritionist (she obviously liked nutrition) took my blood pressure. My systolic number (the one on top) was still a little high. Need to work on that. She asked how tall I was and how much I weighed. From this she calculated my BMI (body mass index - a number I find pretty useless) and recorded it along with my BP results.

Finally, she used one of those hand-held body fat measuring devices to measure my fat. Consistent with my home scale, it had me at 15.3% which she wrote down, and then she handed me the brochure with the measurements and assured me I was doing fine. And I was fine until I re-read the brochure on my way home that day.

In the section on body fat percentage, it listed the ranges for men:

< 3% health risk 4-8% extremely lean 9-12% lean 13-20% moderately lean 21-30% moderately obese 30+% obese

Can you guess where my discomfort originated? What rocked my comfort zone? I'M NOT LEAN. I'm only "moderately" lean. "You're whacked" some of you are thinking. Maybe so. But where does my whackiness come from? Where did I get this belief that 15% body fat is the magic number?

I arrive at this number from two sources. One is the fitness expert whose advice I most trust - Covert Bailey. So I went back to one of his books "The Ultimate Fit or Fat" and to chapter 4 on body fat percentage. To my surprise Covert says "we believe that men should try to keep their body fat to 15% or less. A man with 19% body fat isn't going to die tomorrow. But that much body fat suggests that fat is slowly settling into his arteries. He is at risk for future heart attacks, strokes, and kidney disease. He isn't sick, but he may be more vulnerable to illnesses."

He goes on to say "For women, we recommend no more than 22% fat" and for the same reasons as for men. In both cases, Covert has given us the highest a person should have to be healthy. He points out that these numbers are not carved in stone as there are ethnic differences, but they provide a reliable guideline.

The other source I referred to that has helped me arrive at my 15% number is the mirror. I definitely start to notice a little noodling/jelloing/jiggling around the middle when I get just slightly above 15. So where am I going with this? And who can I drag along for the ride?

To 12% or less that's where. Girls, your number would be 18%. Why would we do this? Cause that's where maximum health is. "And how do you plan to achieve this result" you ask? Well that will be the content of parts 2 and 3 and however many parts it takes to make it whole. But that doesn't let you off the hook just yet. Before anyone undertakes a fitness goal, it's best to record where you are. Right now.

For that I've always used a "personal biography". It's on the training program page of the 10:10 website (click here). If you have a body fat scale (mine is a Tanita), then you won't need to record your wrist or forearm measurements. If you don't have one, just use the formulas at the bottom to manually calculate your number. Use a tape measure or string and a yardstick (that's 4 feet) to get your measurements.

You know how to record your weight. Your body fat is your weight multiplied by the % body fat number you calculate. Try to visualize what that fat would look like on an examining table. Or how large a container it would take to hold it? Kinda gross isn't it? Some fat's a good thing. In theory I have enough body fat to keep me alive for 52 days without eating. While I have skipped a meal here and there, I've never forgotten to eat for 52 days. Maybe I'm carrying a little too much luggage? Ya think?!

Some of us are going to need more time to get there, but so what? The important thing is to get on track. Time will take care of itself. Now print out that biography and have some fun with those measurements. Stay tuned for part 2.

CRP is not an abbreviation for pantry food

Like many of you I have at least one risk factor for heart disease. Because of that, I've been very deliberate and outspoken about living a lifestyle that will help avoid the potholes of bad cardio health. We're all pretty familiar with the topic of blood cholesterol. HDL (good) and LDL (bad), total cholesterol, and perhaps you know about triglycerides (fats in your blood). As a point of reference we should shoot for an HDL number that's >40, LDL <100, and triglycerides <150. If you've had any blood work done, you were no doubt tested for each of these.

There's another blood indicator that's gotten some attention recently for its ability to predict heart disease: CRP. That's short for C-Reactive Protein. From the American Heart Association website I learned that "C-reactive protein is one of the acute phase proteins (don't ask me what that means) that increase during systemic inflammation. "Inflammation" is the process by which the body responds to injury or an infection. Laboratory evidence and findings from clinical and population studies suggest that inflammation is important in atherosclerosis (ath"er-o-skleh-RO'sis). This is the process in which fatty deposits build up in the inner lining of arteries. It's been suggested that testing CRP levels in the blood may be an additional way to assess cardiovascular disease risk. A more sensitive CRP test, called a highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) assay, is available to determine heart disease risk."

The reason the CRP thing is significant is that there are examples of people with acceptable cholesterol and tryglyceride levels but high CRP that get heart disease. I wonder about guys like Jim Fixx and what his CRP level might have been.
He was the author of the 1977 best-selling book, The Complete Book of Running, and is credited with helping start a fitness revolution by demonstrating the health benefits of regular jogging. The disconnect occurred about 7 years after publishing the book when he died of a massive heart attack after his daily run on Route 15 in Vermont. Jim was 52 at the time. A little research reveals that not only did he have a bad personal history (he weighed 240 and smoked two packs a day when he started running at age 35), he came from a family where men had poor health histories (his dad suffered a heart attack at 35 and died of one at 42).

"Where are you going with this" you ask? With this new awareness, I pursued how I could have my CRP measured. Typically one would go to their family doctor, the doctor would order the blood test for you, you pay your deductible, and the insurance company sorts it all out. Problem for me is I don't have a family doctor (I'll get around to it someday), and I really don't want to spent the time or money on a doctor's visit. The solution? There's a new breed of health service that will enable you to order from a menu of diagnostic tests.

Because of an encounter with one of their representatives, I recently used a company called GHI Medical to order the cholesterol and CRP tests. Cost me about $165 and I had to order the tests over the phone from a customer service rep. They emailed me a "work order" which I took into my local LabCorp office. They drew some blood, had it tested, sent the results to GHI who later emailed me the results. They also discussed the results with me on the phone. Because none of my numbers put me into a risk category, no further action was needed. Their website is http://www.ghimedical.com/tests.asp.

Another option referred by one of my fit friends is Direct Laboratory Services http://www.directlabs.com/index.php. They have a much more user friendly website and their pricing is a little better so I'm inclined to recommend them. Their # 1 test is the "Comprehensive Wellness Profile" or CWP for $89. You can combine this with the CRP-hs for $49. The CWP includes a number of tests in addition to the cholesterol test (lipid profile), so you could save a few bucks and just order the lipid profile for $43.

Armed with the results of your lipid profile and a blood pressure reading, you can go to the American Heart Association website and complete their risk assessment. The site will capture and store your data which you can update with future test results. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3003499. It's pretty cool and it did indicate that I'm at moderate risk in one category, total cholesterol. Guess I'll be pounding a little Red Yeast Rice along with some of my other fit friends to drive this number down.

If any of you follow through and order a test from either of these companies please send me a note with your comments on how it went. I challenge you to become familiar with your numbers. While many of us can rattle off some of our race times, we're clueless about some of these other health predictors. As Dr. Mercola likes to say "take control of your health!"

Your weight doesn't matter?!

I thought I'd briefly touch on a point that I re-read on the Top 25 Fitness Tips by Covert Bailey. If you could see me through your computer, you'd notice that I'm pointing now at all the women on this list. It's my perhaps chauvinistic belief that you guys, I mean girls, are more guilty of this. The girls in my home will boast on occasion that they've lost some number of pounds, and they now weigh this. While those reports may be good news, it's not always the case. The message here from point #4 of the top 25 list says "Throw away your scales. Measuring your body fat is a better indicator of health than your weight".

Let me give you a recent example of what I'm getting at. I just finished training for and running a marathon. No need for applause. It's really quite a selfish endeavor (for me, at this point in my life) that's wreaks of excess, but we'll save that for another time. After finishing this program my body weight was down 6lbs. Great news? I'll be the first to admit that I have some fat depots on my frame, mostly around the belly button 'cause that's where we boys like to keep it. Girls, you know where you keep it - you remind us of it all the time. It would have been great news if all of those 6lbs were body fat.

They weren't. When I stepped on my body fat scale the day after the race, to my surprise, my body fat percentage hadn't changed. It means that while I did loose some body fat, I lost more lean body mass (bones and muscles) than fat. What does this mean? I can expect even more sand to be kicked in my face when I go to the beach. It also means my "engine", i.e., lean body mass, just got smaller. Smaller engines require less fuel (hear that as lower metabolism or our body's fuel requirements).

That's why you can hear 30 somethings brag that they still weigh the same as they did in high school. But eventually their engines will shrink to a point that if their diets remain constant their bodies' have no choice but to start storing all the excess fuel. It's a gradual, insidious process that no one can avoid. As time marches on, our ratios move in the wrong direction. Then we start leaving our ideal high school weight behind. Welcome to your 40's.

Now don't be discouraged. The process can be avoided. It's called weight training. Building your engine. With my race now over, you can expect to see me in the Huge gym more often. Training to stay in the "15 or less" club. Girls, your goal is the "22 or less" club. Those numbers being your body fat percentage. While you could argue that the numbers are arbitrary, I'll make three points. First, Covert said it. Second, you truly are healthier and less prone to disease if you're a member. And third (girls), you might actually get excited about this years' new bathing suits.

I wish I could dive into my Ronco vegi-matic speak and tell you about the amazing deal that 10:10 Wellness is offering on the latest body fat scale. I can't, so go find one yourself. Just make sure it can calculate your body fat percentage as a result of stepping barefoot onto a scale that can measure you. Mine is a "Tanita", cost me about 60 bucks, and I step on her daily. Your actual % number will fluctuate quite a bit throughout the day based on how much liquid you're holding, but if you check it first thing in the morning you'll get a reliable figure to track.

Listen To Your Equipment

We're deep into what's unofficially called "cold and flu season".  I truly don't know why these maladies escalate in winter, and it really doesn't matter.  That's because our bodies can succumb to these invasions any time of year.  At the very least they make us feel like crap.  At the worst, they knock us flat on our back for several days.  That kind of disruption to our routine can be hugely inconvenient and expensive.  Can we avoid it?                                                                                                                                       

If a body is well nourished, rested, and free of stress it shouldn't get sick.  Can we agree on that?  I'm not talking about the highly contagious infectious diseases like TB or the Ebola virus - just the ordinary colds and flu and stomach bugs that come into our worlds.  A strong, healthy, body will swat these away every time.  If you truly can't buy into that then find that little red "x" at the top of your email program now, and I promise I'll empathize with you the next time you get the funk.                                                                                                                                                                              

Believing that your body is equipped to handle these minor disturbances is the start.  The next technique/habit/practice, if you want to stay healthy, is to listen to your body.  Sounds too simple.  Stay with me - if you want to stay healthy.  The vehicle you drive is equipped with a multitude of gauges that will notify you if something is wrong.  The vehicle you live in (your bod) is similarly equipped.  Actually, our bodies throw off many times more indicators than our cars.  Problem is most of us are either not consciously aware of our warning lights, or we choose to ignore them.  What happens to your car when you ignore that "change oil" light?  What happens to your body when you ignore the "virus present" light?                                                                                                                                                                              

We're not going to avoid contact with germs.  As we've talked about before, exposing our bodies to germs, is how we build resistance to them.  So we know we're going to get exposed (which is better than us exposing ourselves.  Sorry, couldn't resist that one).  Let me use a real world example.  There's a trade show I attend every year in January in Orlando called "Surf Expo" where retailers in the surf market come together to buy goods for their stores.  Because of the timing, and because I shake hands with millions of people (or at least 50), it's absolutely certain that someone will deposit a bug on me.  For a lot of years, I never acknowledged this, and for most of those years, I brought home a cold.  Is there an event or time of year when you often get sick?  Hmmm.  Pay attention.                                                                                                                                                                                       

Let me "clinically" dissect this situation.  You can do same for yours.  Trade show = stress.  Stress from a trade show about surfing?  I can already hear you laughing, but let's pretend.  Trade show food  = crap.  Trade show parties/dinners = less sleep time.  The day after such parties, sometimes the body is expending more effort repairing the liver than fighting germs.   Because of the hand shaking and possibly air travel where airborne viruses circulate, a bug is introduced to your now compromised defenses.  Voila!  You're sick.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

The same ingredients can be assembled at any time of the year to produce sickness.  Unfortunately, because of our over-committed, busy lives, we feel we're not in a position to take care of ourselves.  Mom's especially.  Well either you obey your warning lights or you get sick.  What exactly are those warning lights?  Your body will signal when something's wrong.  But if you're not listening, you won't hear them.  Kind of reminds me of people who say their prayers aren't being answered.  "I've been praying about X, but God's not answering" you've heard people say.  You gotta slow down and listen.                                                                                                                                                                              

Some of the obvious cold symptoms are sneezing, coughing, and an irritated throat.  At the first sign of any of these, take massive action!  Drink a half gallon of OJ a day.  Double your dose of Mangoni Liquid (sleazy commercial plug), eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies, cancel some commitments (better now than later), have some chicken soup (there's real science now that says this helps), and go to bed early.  I take "Cold-eeze" lozenges and echinacea, but I know there are plenty of similar over the counter defense remedies so use 'em.   And the hardest thing (for me) - don't exercise, or if you do make it mellow.                                                                                                                                                             

Ever stood up on an empty stomach and got that light-headed feeling?  What if you get that feeling when you stand up and your stomach's not empty?  Warning light.  Ever get a full night's sleep, but feel sleepy the next day?  Warning light.  Ever make a bathroom deposit that's significantly more ''viscous" than normal?  Warning light.  If you're normally upbeat and eager to take on the day, but are lacking energy and motivation?  Warning light.  If you train with a heart rate monitor and find your normal heart rate increased by 10 beats/minute or more?  Warning light.  Lack of appetite?  Headache?  Upset stomach?  Blurred peripheral vision? Warning lights.  If you listen to your body, you can add to this list.                                                                                                                                                                                     

What I'm suggesting with all this could be compared to the "Purloined Letter", Edgar Allan Poe's detective story about a letter stolen from the Queen by one of her political adversaries which was used for blackmail.  The bright detectives searched every conceivable hiding place in the suspect's hotel room but found nothing.  Later, an even brighter young detective found the letter in plain view - disguised but within anyone's sight.  Our bodies send signals that are within sight of our senses.  We can be so busy taking care of our body (exercise, supplements, organic foods, doctor visits, etc.) that we fail to recognize the obvious.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Listen to your equipment.  It'll tell you what it needs.

The Cure for High Cholesterol -- Hint It is NOT a Drug

Though conventional wisdom says I should have high cholesterol because of genetics (both parents have high #'s), I've avoided it for the same reasons that Dr. Mercola mentions here.  However, 10:10 Wellness does endorse and sell a supplement (Red Yeast Rice) that has definitely reduced cholestorol counts for everyone who's used it except one. 

What's your payback ratio?

A number of years ago, I had the opportunity to work for Mars, Inc.  You know, M&M's Chocolate Candies, Snickers Bar, Skittles Fruit Candies, etc. (did you notice my proper trademark usage - very important to the Mars family).  I was employed with them in a number of different sales positions.  A comment I often received from others in the sales profession was "that's not selling, everybody loves your stuff".  When you consider competitors like Hershey and Nestle, combined with the fact that we were always challenged by last year's sales figures and the company's expectations for growth, you can imagine why these comments made me a bit prickly.

That said, it was an unbelievable career time, and the thing I probably miss the most are the smiles I received when I'd tell someone I sell candy - and good candy at that.  One of the other things that I loved about this time was how the company encouraged us to take risks.  "What risk could be involved in selling candy" you ask?

Well, if you look at a typical grocery store or chain, where I spent most of my time, you can expect to find a candy section that stocks items every day of the year.  In addition, we have the holidays which are all enormous candy selling opportunities where retailers will devote large chunks of real estate to the most consumable commodity in the building.  Halloween, Christmas, Valentines Day, and Easter had all the candy guys fighting for space and dollars.

In addition, if you're really good, and really aggressive, you can create other merchandising programs based on some other theme or event.  NASCAR would be a good example as Mars now sponsors two cars, one for Snickers and one for M&M's.  Though given an allocation of race tickets, selling NASCAR themed promotions was like shooting fish in a barrel.  A better example I can recall was the 50th birthday of M&M's.  And here's where I get to that risk thing.

Retailers know that consumers are going to buy candy for special occasions.  It's a completely different proposition to ask for display space and inventory dollars from a brand that's having a birthday.  To accomplish our merchandising and sales goals, we'd have to come up with a program that would entice our customers. 

We might offer discounts on the product to encourage sell-in and a reduced price and additional monies for displaying product off the shelf.  We'd have creative display stands and signs (merchandising materials) that would hopefully entice the consumer to purchase some product.  In the case of the M&M's 50th, we created tiered displays that were supposed to look like birthday cakes.  For added measure for these kinds of programs, we might include some on-pack coupons to counter price resistance.

You're thinking the wellness guy's on a really weird tangent aren't you?  Here's the point.  If we wanted to create these incremental programs, and as I said, Mars encouraged this, we would have to submit a "payback plan".  That plan would include all of the estimated costs of implementing the proposed program.  In addition, we would have to estimate the incremental dollars that would be generated by the promotion.  From these numbers we could generate a ratio of the incremental dollars divided by the estimated costs.  A payback ratio of 3 to 1 or better was good.  Anything less would hopefully involve a lot of volume.

We can apply this concept to our health and wellness.  I'm gonna pull a number out of my, er, what I mean to say is I could estimate than in the coming year, you spend $500 on doctors visits, pharmaceuticals, and over the counter drugs to treat sicknesses that come up in the year.  So your goal for the year, and let's assume you achieve it, is to never get sick (or sick enough) to require any of those things I just mentioned.  In addition, you spend $250 for a gym membership and $250 for supplements that improve your vitality and immunity.

You've already calculated in your highly trained mathmatical minds that that's a payback ratio of 1 to 1.  Not going to get you promoted?  In the short term, I suppose not, but wellness is a long term proposition.  You keep that sort of thing up and in just a few years you'll see the costs associated for not investing in yourself.  Been to a 20 or 25 year high school reunion?  If so you know what I'm talking about. 

Let me boil it all down to this.  Like my friends at Mars, I'm encouraging you to take risks.  Not stupid risks like weekend warrior trips where you do more than you're capable and earn a trip to the ER.  Risks like signing up for a running race in Montana or Alaska or Boston.  Risks like joining some cycling nuts who will ride from Florida to N. Georgia in April (join us) or like my friend Shelly who just took a bunch of novice riders to Tucson, AZ for a 109 mile ride to raise money for the Leaukemia & Lymphoma Society.  The owner of a local sandwich and ice cream shop just hiked the entire Appalacian trail.  It was an adventure he'd always wanted to do, and by golly he "just did it".  Some of my more experienced soccer mates have made tournament trips all over the country and even Germany.

Got any adventure dreams?  Dreams that the mere thought or discussion of produce an adrenaline rush?  That's where you should be going.  "Dude, I've got a really demanding work situation going on right now" or "I'll do all that when my kids are older" or "we'll plan that when we have a little more money" or you fill in the blank.

There'll always be reasons to wait.  You can probably think of several reasons not to.  If your adventure muscles are flabby, then you just start small.  In no time, you'll find yourself growing into bigger and bigger plans.  The investment of time and money into your adventures will reward you many times over as the enthusiasm, excitement, and fun of your escapades spill over into every part of your life.  You'll be a lot more intersting to talk with at parties, you'll have some killer photo albums, and if you're an internet geek, you'll have a really interesting blog.  You may earn a few scars (tatoos with a story), you might backpack in non-stop rain, you could get your vehicle stuck somewhere, you may stay in some really seedy motels, and you may come back to work with some fires burning (I've enjoyed all of these). But you'll seldom look back with regret.

Like Tim McGraw tells us:  "live like you were dying". Are you in?

Just go to sleep

Hello my fit friends,

If you'll allow me, I'd like to touch on a "low hanging fruit" item of wellness. It's something that few of us get enough of, some of us have more trouble getting than others, we all talk about wanting to get more of it especially on the weekends, and it's something that makes us feel and perform better. Sounds like I'm about to introduce Dr. Ruth doesn't it?! But because you read the subject line, you know I'm talking about sleep.

I love sleep. It's so completely restoring. Don't you feel amazing when you wake in the morning after a good night's rest? Isn't it great to go the whole day without talking about how tired you are, or longing for a nap? Conversely, don't you hate the sound of the typical alarm clock? Don't you hate seeing double on your computer screen around 2pm? Ever had someone pull a prank on you as you nodded off in an afternoon meeting. I once "woke" from a nodoff to find my head and shoulders generously sprinkled with salt. Real funny.

What I like so much about sleep is that it has enormous benefits (clinically proven), but it don't cost nothing! In 2006 The Institute of Medicine issued a report that confirmed definite links between sleep deprivation and increased risks of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack and stroke. Some scientists are also investigating connections between insufficient sleep and depressed immune function. I don't know about you, but the only time I ever get sick is after a time of increased stress and reduced sleep. But I don't need reams of data to prove its effectiveness - I can feel it myself!

The largest study of sleep duration and mortality followed over one million participants for six years. Those who slept about seven hours had the highest survival rate, and those who slept less than 4.5 hours had the worst. Nine hours of sleep or more each night was also associated with a higher mortality risk, however. Sloths die young.

So how much is enough? Conventional wisdom would say we need 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. Wanna know the poor man's (that'd be me) method of determining your sleep needs? Wake up without an alarm. "Are you freakin' kidding me?" you ask. "I'd never get to work on time".

Keep going to bed earlier each night until you find your drop off time that ensures you wake up naturally without the annoying gong of an alarm clock. Now for many of you, that recommendation is going to result in a conflict. If for example you need to wake at 6am to get your program off to a good start, then you need to be cutting wood by 10pm. While there are nights when we can fall asleep in 5 minutes or less (because we didn't sleep enough the night before), it usually takes me about 30 minutes to fall asleep. So in my case I'd want to be in bed by 9:30pm. Why are you laughing? You can do this.

Here's where the biggest competitor to 10:10 Wellness comes into view. Some of you think I compete with GNC, The Sports Authority and the like with the products I sell. Actually, I'm competing with the television, the Internet, and all those other time consumers (notice I didn't say wasters - wouldn't want to offend anyone who spends time watching completely useless and unproductive material). Oh crap, I think I just offended somebody.

Having just thrown your TV under the bus, Dr. Mercola points out in one of his articles that before the study, scientists had speculated that excessive TV viewing, entertainment and computers would top the list of sleep distractions. However, what they found is, a combination of long hours on the job, a too-far commute and living in an area that forces people to drive anywhere to get anything is the deadliest of them all. Not an easy fix if this is your challenge. What I can say is that with a better night's sleep, you'll absolutely be more productive on the job. Which should enable you to cut back some hours.

For some tips on ways to improve your sleep habits check out Insufficient Sleep at Mercola.com. And make plans to fire your alarm clock. And don't expect me to answer your emails or phone calls after 9 o'clock - I have a recurring appointment.

Will the market correct obesity?

Hello my fit friends,

I'm sure you're as bummed as I am about the number of Americans who are overweight or obese. Have you heard how the Europeans spot the American tourists? We're the fat ones. Many of you have joined me over the years to encourage others to adopt fitness, and I've tapped the keyboard more than a few times to coax people into action. Unfortunately, we can scream fitness 'til we're blue in the face, and I can type 'til my fingers bleed, but neither is going to reverse this trend. Until we're hit in the wallet, we aint gonna change.

So how exactly would "the free market" cure obesity (and I'm not talking about those tasty samples you get at Sam's Club on Saturdays)? Well the medical and scientific communities are just beginning to discover the long term consequences to possessing excess adipose tissue (that's fat). Diabetes would provide the best current example as it's been positively linked to obesity. As the costs of these consequences come more into focus, pricing policies will drive people away from the habits that lead to it. This assertion is going to ultimately draw us into a political discussion - never the intention of my writing - but it's an unavoidable consequence of the dilemma faced by our nation.

Maybe some of you have heard of some examples of the market coming into play here. In 2002, Southwest Airlines, one of the most profitable carriers out there, implemented a solution to transporting oversized passengers. At the policies tab of their website you can read their "Guidelines for Customers of Size". It states:

"Customers who are unable to lower the armrests (the definitive boundary between seats) and/or who compromise any portion of adjacent seating should proactively book the number of seats needed during initial reservations. This purchase serves as a notification of an unusual seating need and allows us to process a refund of the additional seating cost after travel (provided the flight doesn’t oversell). Most importantly, it ensures that all onboard have access to safe and comfortable seating."

Is this unfair? Of course not, just as UPS charges me more to ship you a heavier order, Southwest charges more if you're using more real estate on their plane.

Let's look at another example, life insurance. Life insurance companies are basically oddsmakers. Their actuarian tables and formulas can predict with statistical reliability the likelihood that we'll buy the farm at a certain age if we possess a certain inventory of physiological and genetic traits. That's why it sucks if you have a family history of disease - you will pay more for life insurance. This is a crock, but we'll save that discussion for another time.

So as it were in 1960 a 43 year old male paid no more for a life insurance policy if he smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. Today, this same 43 year old male would pay between 4.7 to 5.7 times more for the same amount of insurance. Overwhelming scientific evidence has documented the effects of smoking on our health. So if you choose to smoke, you can plan to spend 500% more for your policy because insurers have calculated their exposure. They don't really care if you smoke. They just have to make a living and cover their bets; and because other life insurance companies want your business, they'll do their best to offer a similar policy for less money. The free market in action.

Now here's where this gets dicey. Do you think the government should provide life insurance to every American? To most of us (I hope), government provided life insurance would be preposterous. What if instead the government simply regulated life insurance? What if they passed a law that every American, regardless of their health or history, could obtain a policy for a set price? If this occurred, and I'm a life insurance company, it just means I have to now factor in my entire insured population and spread the cost (or risk) across that entire population.

So now the 43 year old triathlete, who spends what some would call a small fortune on healthy foods, supplements, and exercise, is now paying the same for a life insurance policy as Joe Sixpack who's 50 lbs overweight, enjoys smoking cigars, and has discovered watching football on TV to be his preferred exercise. Does that sound fair to you?

We're already seeing this scenario when it comes to health insurance coverage. Because I'm self-employed, I have to go into the "market" to obtain health insurance. If you work for an organization that provides your insurance - you're not truly in the market - as an individual anyway. Because of God's grace (and a lot of really good habits) my family and I enjoy fabulous health which reduces (though not nearly as significantly as the life insurance smoking example) our cost. And because we're not in a pool with others, aka group coverage, we don't have to assume the risk of its unhealthy members.

As a positive result we pay what some would call a ridiculously small amount for health insurance. Since we're very poor consumers of health care, Blue Cross Blue Shield makes out like a bandit as virtually all of our health care expenses come out of our pocket, i.e., we're below our deductible.

So we can see that the market already has an effect on what we pay for health insurance, and as we mentioned earlier, the price of health insurance will correct for those factors that drive up cost. When the science catches up, you can be sure that the companies will "penalize" for obesity. Now I'm not suggesting for a second that we discriminate against the obese. People should be free to eat whatvever they want whenver they want. Taco Bell's gotta keep that shift employed for the 4th meal, and I don't want to see super size value meals at McDonald's slapped with a sin tax.

However, I do encourage those pricing practices that reward my good behavior. The flip side of this coin is that those with bad behavior will be punished. It's apparent how this applies to pricing health insurance. If the cost of every individual's health insurance were not spread across a group, and people had to pay more for their risky behavior, some people would be forced to change.

As the concept of universal health care coverage is being proposed again, I hope we see how this is wrong for America. Maybe its right for Europe and Canada and Cuba - but not the USA. We're a country of go-getters who are willing to work hard to get ahead. Yes, I'm willing to pay my fair share of taxes so that the poor and destitute can have adequate medical coverage. But don't ask me to subsidize the poor choices of my fellow countryman. I don't ask them to pay for my multivitamins, Muscle Milk, omega 3, race registrations, running shorts, etc.

All we can truly do is control our own behavior. So keep it up. Keep walking or running, cycling or swimming. Keep hiking or lifting, spinning or rowing. Do your yoga, pilates, aerobics, or whatever you enjoy. Don't be like the one God mentions in his 3 minute interview "who lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health" (http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/).

And while you're at it - be sure to bring a friend.

Are you in?