Is correlation causation?

The post I wrote last week got a good amount of positive response. I'm glad people enjoyed it. From what I noticed a lot of people seemed to agree with my assertions. It seems pretty evident that following the steps I laid out will accomplish the goals I set out to accomplish. Notice a few things: at no point in the post did I even mention the idea of "calories" or quantity. I only addressed the "what" and "how" and a little bit of "why". Not "how much". "How much" is kind of irrelevant, isn't it? From a physiological stand-point, quantity comes after the "what". Water will flow down-hill regardless of how much water you pour. There is a very consistent mechanism that makes it so: gravity. Olive oil will separate from vinegar regardless of how much you pour of each (this logic doesn't apply in the microverse where atoms do funny things; I get that.)

In chemistry there is also something known as "energy of activation" and that kind of applies to this. If there is not enough stimulus to create a reaction, then the reaction won't take place. So yes, a little of this or that won't propagate the inevitable reaction that should take place, but everyone is different in the "how much" department. So one person can eat a bag of sugar and be fine while another gets insulin-resistant just by walking down the soft-drink isle. Think of this like Death-by-10m. The first couple of intervals are a breeze. Then, all of the sudden, the stimulus is just too much and it hits you like a brick to the head. The overwhelming sensation comes on without warming even with a good bit of recovery. This is how your hormones function. The difference between not enough and too much may not be noticeable, but once you're overwhelmed, it's irrelevant.

Lesson: don't play with fire. If the adiposity reaction is working against you, then you need to eliminate the stimuli that are propagating the physiological reactions. It's pretty simple on paper, now it's just a matter of application. That part is entirely up to you and I can't help you there. That goes a bit beyond my pay-grade, but I feel like there are enough intelligent people among you to effectively apply the logic I lay out if this is applicable to you or someone you know.

Here's my idea of the most adiposity-inducing meal:

A jelly donut deep-friend using sweet batter in vegetable oil, slurped down with some cola. - Is the calorie-count even relevant? Pretty obvious, huh?

I'm a huge Dmitri Klokov fan.



So I'm driving this morning and, for some weird reason, I pop on NPR. Like clockwork, this story comes on: A Dire Sign Of The Obesity Epidemic: Teen Diabetes Soaring, Study Finds.

The entire segment was presented as if obesity is the CAUSE of diabetes. Obesity is not the CAUSE of ANYTHING. It is an outcome! It is also associated with other issues, like diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol. Thus making it a risk-factor, and nothing more. We can't see inside of people without tools and cuts, but if we see a person who is obese, we can also make other assumptions about one's physical state of being. Personally, I am against this because most people are so misinformed that it's useless. There are so many popular preconceived notions and assertions that people make about obesity that it's hard to rifle through it all. One of the biggest things is that it's treated as a psychological dysfunction rather than a normal physiological function. As if it's caused by people not being able to stop eating.

So if diabetes isn't caused by obesity, but rather correlated to it, what exactly is being treated?

This is the equivalent of treating emphysema by trying to cure bad-breath, disregarding the fact that smoking cigarettes caused both of those issues.

I'm going to leave it at that and let you all come to your own educated conclusions.

Here's a guy who helped a lot of people though: Dr. Bernstein.


Goal: Learn to use your glutes.

In addition to back bridges try side clams: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc-8G9SZvuc&feature=relmfu

focus on the hips.

Do back bridges and clams for 15 reps at a time. Let's say a good 10 sets. Put it together any way you like.

Enjoy!