April 15, 2018
Mindfulness vs. Tracking: Can you ever stop tracking? We all know what to do. The problem is doing it. When it comes to losing weight and exercising daily, can you ever stop tracking? In this article, I share the reasons behind my recent 10 pound weight gain and discuss mindfulness vs. tracking when it comes to maintaining healthy behaviors. Why I Started Tracking As those of you who have read our bestselling book, The Longevity Plan, know, that when I hit my health crisis a number of years ago I had to drop 30 pounds. Fortunately, the weight loss happened effortlessly. I didn't even have to track. I could be mindful. The reason why weight loss was effortless and I didn't have to track was because there were no temptations. But upon returning to the US, tracking was the only thing that helped me to maintain the health I found in the Longevity Village. Thus, to maintain my health and weight loss, I became a tracker. I tracked everything. However, a few months ago, something changed... My 10 Pound Weight Gain This Winter I grew tired of tracking every piece of food I ate. Getting on a scale everyday also wasn't any fun. No longer did I want to count my daily steps or record every workout. After more than four years of tracking everything, I needed a break. Given the healthy routines I had built over the years, as well as the lessons I learned in China's Longevity Village, I was sure that I could make the right intentional decisions and practice mindfulness when it came to diet and exercise. Instead of tracking every morsel of food, I let mindfulness guide my food intake. I tried to listen to my internal food cues to know when I was hungry. Every bite was chewed thoroughly to extract each flavor. I ate slowly. And I was grateful for the food I had. With this mindfulness approach, I reasoned that moderation in all things is good and a little bit can't hurt... By the time spring arrived, I got out the scale. I had expected to see the same weight I have maintained for more than four years. To my horror, the scale read 10 pounds heavier! I was sure the scale was wrong. Sadly, other scales confirmed the 10 pound winter weight gain was indeed real... During my 4+ years of tracking everything, my weight never varied by more than two to three pounds. Now, after just taking a month or two off from tracking, my weight shot up 10 pounds! How can this be? What Went Wrong? Like most Americans, I had lost my internal cues of feeling full. I needed environmental cues. By tracking, my iPhone app told me when I was supposed to feel full. And with this environmental cue removed, I ate more than my body needed. I also cheated a little bit in what I ate... Of course, it didn't help that I have two copies of the "Fat Gene" (FTO variant gene). The vast majority of people in the US with just one copy of the "Fat Gene" are doomed to a life of being overweight. For those of us with two copies, our obesity fate is almost sealed... I should have know better. Study after study has shown that if you don't track your food it is next to impossible to maintain your weight loss. I wanted to believe that being intentional and mindful would work for me in the US. But it didn't... I clearly knew my purpose for maintaining my weight loss. I wanted maximal energy. I didn't want to take medications again. And I wanted to silence my Alzheimer's gene (ApoE4). So how did this 10 pound weight gain happen so fast? The Problem Was that Tracking Was No Longer Fun After analyzing my failure, the problem came from changing the tracking app I use on my iPhone. For more than four years I have used the "Lose It" app. My favorite part of the Lose It app are the lifetime statistics. For example, I love to see how many calories I have burned over the years skiing, mountain biking, or running. It is like a contest to see which sport will win. The reason why I switched is that Lose It doesn't track t...
