Turn Fitness into a Game

Why will people put hours into beating a video game, but not minutes into beating the scale? Well, obviously the easy answer is that sitting on a couch is engaging but not physically hard. But maybe there's something to the lack of level-up competition that inspires people to devote hours to beat a new video game, but not any to beat their health risks from excessive weight and lack of fitness.

Thus, a new website and application seeks to change that paradigm. The Slimkicker Calorie Counter and Level-up Weight Loss Game is an online app designed to aid in weight loss and fitness by making it a game.

To be fair I don't know much about the site, and I haven't used it yet. But I learned about the idea a while back and was intrigued by the concept. Is it possible for an app to make living healthy, and fitness into a RPG game, where users earn points, and "level up' as they accomplish their health goals? For example, what if every time a user adds something healthy like veggies to their diet, or completes a workout, they earn points. Then, as they achieve more and more, they can be entered into challenges for the chance to earn prizes.

Sounds intriguing.

Sugar is the Devil

It's been about ten years since I began to seriously consider the negative effects that sugar can have on the diet and overall health. And, in that time the research has continued to reveal the negative, toxic, even lethal consequences that come with consumption of sugar. From the rise of high fructose corn syrup - and its ubiquitous presence in everything from bread to ketchup - to the shocking increased consumption of sugary drinks, sugar has nearly overtaken the American diet. And, for the most part, Americans are unaware and naive to the problem.

The basic idea is this - fifty years ago Americans consumed a couple teaspoons of sugar a day. Now, it's often one-hundred times that. So, while eating dessert is one thing - and even reasonable at times - Americans are consuming monstrous amounts of sugar. And, as Sanjay Gupta exposes in the following segment on 60 minutes, it is impacting far more than our waste lines. It's a factor in heart disease and cancer in ways no one ever imagined. And, it's simply not a factor in other populations the way it is in America. For example, forty years ago, we declared war on fat - and heart disease rates have skyrocketed. That's because the fat was replaced with sugar, and it's every bit as destructive, if not more so.

The basic facts of the case are clear. Sugar is absolutely no good. So, the daily consumption has to drop. Even a soda a day is too much. In fact, many doctors such as Dr. Oz have long argued that if you can or will only make one change in your diet, it's to cut out the soda. Start consuming more food and join SugarBusters. Interestingly, when most of our oldest citizens are studied and polled, one key factor in their diets is that it is surprisingly low on sugar. Cut back on the sugar.

Your life truly depends on it.

Sugar is the Devil

Coming off the winter holiday gluttony fest, I've been pretty much off sugar for two weeks, and the difference is so noticeable it's frightening. Most notably, and surprisingly, is the relation to the mild arthritis in my knees. And, I'm coming to the conclusion that white sugar - and its evil stepbrothers white flour and empty starches - are the source of much evil in the world of health.

My sugar consumption dropped significantly about nine years ago when I moved to Colorado and made a fresh start with diet and exercise. The first thing to go was high fructose corn syrup. That was followed by the elimination of more processed foods and sugars, especially white flour. Within six months, I had lost nearly twenty pounds and felt better than I had in years. Later changes involved a move to more all natural and organic foods.

However, my wife is a former - still occasional - pastry chef. And she's damn good.

Thus, during the winter holidays when there are a hundred dozen cookies in the freezer, I quickly regress into sloth and gluttony. And, during the past few years on a two-week winter break, I've gained 7-10 pounds while eating more sweets and starchy carbs. This year was no different, and as always after the first of the year, I cut the sugar leash. This year, however, I noticed a difference for the first time in my knees. In the past five years, I've developed tenderness behind my kneecap that our school trainer says is bursitis or pre-arthritis. As a runner this is frustrating. Several years ago when I switched to running on the balls of my feet, the pain was greatly lessened, and I thought I'd figured it out. Running that way doesn't bother the knee.

Yet, each winter my knee - especially the right one - flares up. The pain is greatest going down stairs, though even sitting down and standing up can be tender. I had attributed it to the cold weather, especially here in Denver. However, the pain really flared up in December, and has been lessening to almost an unnoticeable level in January. Yet, it's still cold and still damp, and I'm exercising more.

And, now I'm guessing the sugar was a key ingredient.

The basics of far too many health problems is inflammation. And sugary, starchy, empty carbs are a key factor in inflammation. So, consider doing a little sugar busting if you're looking for a way to ramp up the healthy living.

Just Say No to HFCS

If my students leave my class with one consistent piece of information not related to the study of English, it is to avoid consuming products that contain high fructose corn syrup. The issue is digression, or you might say a "rant," that occurs early in the year in my class as students come walking in with a soda, or worse, a Powerade (I wonder why they need an energy drink after a grueling walk from across the hall). I roundly (and good-naturedly) chastise them for putting such a toxic product into their body, everyone laughs and argues a bit, and then we move. The issue, however, never completely dies, as it comes up when we analyze an op-ed piece about it or we do a rhetorical deconstruction of the movie Super-size Me or when we have a class debate and write a synthesis essay about whether there should be a ban on endorsement contracts between soda companies and schools. Reasonably, it is an issue for which kids have interest and opinion.

I stopped using products with HFCS about six years ago, and the more I read, the more I am inclined to stick with my boycott and urge others to do the same. Simply by cutting it out of my diet, I lost fifteen pounds. Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen - Oprah's health gurus and authors of You: the Owners Manual - advise patients to end or at least radically limit consumption of the sweetener that, these days, seems to be in just about everything. One of the biggest problems is that it inhibits the body's/mind's ability to discern when it was full. That is why people can consume a 64 oz. Big Gulp. Realistically, the body is not meant to consume that much liquid, especially one made of sugar. Additionally, there is much research to note the connection between the rise of HFCS in foods and the rise in America's weight problem.

There is no doubt that we can all do a few small things to be a bit healthier. If you're looking for one small change, I recommend saying goodbye to HFCS.