Hi friends!
Here is your Tri-Tip Tuesday, where I share my thoughts on food, fitness, & travel. Please forward this to others if they may be inspired.
1: Why goal weights fail us
In the world of health and fitness, setting a "goal weight" is a common practice that I work hard on steering my clients away from.
Using a target weight to motivate your health goals is probematic for several reasons:
- Encourages short-term thinking - Incorporating and practicing impactful healthy habits is a life long thing. Focusing on only a goal weight suggests an end to healthy habits and a false finish line.
- Poor indicator of progress - Bodyweight doesn't distinguish between body fat, muscle, bone density, water, glycogen, or digestive contents. When new to a successful program, you may be able to burn fat, gain muscle, and completely change your physique, while staying the same weight.
- Mentally discouraging - You either get there and lose the drive, or don't get there and lose the momentum. People often underestimate the time it takes to lose weight. Our lack of patience hinders our progress more than anything.
- Goal weights are arbitrary - most people under estimate ideal weight by 15-20 pounds. A strong and healthy body weighs more than an undermuscled body. Your "ideal look" may actually require you to gain lean muscle mass rather than lose weight to create your sculpted look.
Instead of using a target body-weight, set goals based on behaviors, habits, and routines. For example, nutrition habit goals, weekly strength training sessions, daily step goals, meal prepping, etc. Dig deeper and use non-scale victories as your measurement of success. How has your confidence improved? How have your sleep, relationship with food, and stress levels improved? How are your clothes feeling? Are you getting stronger? Dig deeper and focus on the measurements that really matter.
2: Banning Lab-Grown Meat
Texas is the fifth state this year and seventh overall to ban lab-grown meat after Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation temporarily prohibiting the sale of cell-cultured protein. Texas joins Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Nebraska in enacting new laws this year; Alabama and Florida did so last year.
Although lab-grown meat isn’t sold in stores yet, it has been served in restaurants as "cultivated meat". Brands like "Wildtype Foods", "Good Meat", "Vow", "Mission Barns", and "Upside Foods" are brands to be aware of, some of which are challenging these laws in court.
Problems with lab-grown meat include potential concerns like contamination from growth media, unknown long-term effects, significant environmental impacts from high energy consumption, and high production costs that make it inaccessible to most consumers. Ethical issues, such as the initial use of animal-derived serum and the impact on traditional farming, are also points of contention.
Lab-grown meat is produced by cultivating animal cells in a laboratory. Although it does not involve the slaughter of animals, the cells used are still derived from animals (such as fetal bovine serum (FBS), a serum made from the blood of a dead calf), which is inconsistent with vegan principles.
Because of its blurred status, religious authorities are still debating whether in vitro meat is Kosher (consumable under Jewish dietary laws), Halal (for Muslim consumers, compliant with Islamic laws), or what to do if there is no animal available for ritual practices (Hindu consumers).
In vitro meat is still in its infancy and will continue to evolve. Stay vigilant and be aware off cultivated meat being masked as real meat. Ask questions, challenge food-labels, and support local ranchers to keep real food in our already broken food system.
3: The Swedish Prescription
In a landmark tourism marketing campaign, ‘The Swedish Prescription’, Visit Sweden has partnered with healthcare professionals to encourage travel as a form of wellness therapy. Sweden's health authorities have begun pilot programs where doctors prescribe travel for mental and physical well-being.
The idea is that changing your environment can heal your mind, and it is referred to as "destination therapy". Travel works by releasing dopamine (motivation & pleasure), serotonin (happiness & calm), and oxytocin (connection & trust), acting like a chemical reset for your brain. Say hello to reduced stress and increased creativity!
If you are feeling overwhelmed with burnout, anxiety, mild depression, trouble sleeping, or work-related stress, a 3-4 day trip into nature may help turn things around.
Yes, this may just be a direct effort for tourism...but I am all about it.
Make it a great week!
Christine Irene
NASM-CPT, Senior Fitness Specialist, Precision Nutrition Pn1 + Pn2 Certified, Certified Menopause Coaching Specialist, & Full-time Traveler
"Travel is not reward for working, it’s education for living." - Anthony Bourdain
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