I’ve been working out for nearly three months now, all the while watching what I eat a little more carefully and staying committed to a pretty regular and fairly vigorous workout: 25 minutes on the elliptical trainer, 25 minutes on the treadmill (briskly walking for 5 minutes, jogging for 15 minutes, then cooling down for 5 minutes), a 10-minute ab workout (mostly from pilates class) and some quick weights if I have time. I’ve been doing this 3-4 times per week and have noticed that I’m feeling in much better shape.
The only issue is that, well, I haven’t really lost any weight. The weight loss in the past three months has been equivalent to a dehydration weight loss…about 3-4 lbs. That’s frustrating. At one point I stood on the scale and had actually gained weight! Talk about discouraging!
The most frustrating part for me was that, in my ‘younger days’ (I hate that I just said that), I could lose 5 lbs in a week of watching what I was eating and doing light exercise. When I graduated from university in 1999, I had put on MORE than a freshman 15…in 3 months by just cutting down my carb intake (not Atkins-level, though), I lost 50 lbs and was a svelt 145 lbs (I’m 5′9″ and rather large framed, so that is skinny for me) and wore a size 6. I was able to more or less maintain that weight for many subsequent years.
But something happened to my body and it doesn’t respond like that anymore. I consulted with a personal trainer who told me I need to workout 5-6 days per week, do 300 minutes of cardio in total (and not running, necessarily, but walking, etc.), a more rigorous weight routine and really, really watch what I eat (the carb thing won’t work anymore, I need to think about lowering fat, too). Then, I can probably lose 5-10 lbs per month (depending on how well I stick to the plan). WTF?! 5-10 lbs?! For all of that? Ugh.
The reason I’m telling you this is not because I need more weight loss tips or anything (although they are always welcome), it’s because I realized that my changing body and it’s resistance to diet and exercise is a good metaphor for how the world of marketing has changed.
Just like I can no longer take for granted that my body will respond to the same routines it responded to in 1999, businesses have to adjust to the way the market responds. Many businesses fall into the trap of having something work in the beginning, then formulating it so that it’s done the same way for subsequent years, then wonder why it doesn’t work anymore.
I just got back from meeting with many awesome peeps at Zappos.com in Las Vegas. I already knew I hearted them very much because of how much of a delight they made shopping for shoes online. As a busy woman who loves shoes, but has no time to shop, Zappos has been awesome. But amongst the many awesome things Tony Hsieh told me about the company’s philosophy, one of the most awesome was (paraphrased):
“One of our core principles is to embrace and drive change. Change happens. It’s inevitable. For us, it seems it happens every couple of weeks. We lead a culture of experimentation rather than one of strict processes. This way, we can always be responsive to the rapidly changing needs of customers, vendors, employees and our many other partners.”
This is a company with 1700 employees that is on track to make $1 billion dollars this year - not a scrappy little startup, so this outlook is significantly risky. Or is it? Tony’s approach to business is much like Agile Development: small, incremental iterations - but done smartly, towards a goal of creating the ultimate customer happiness. In fact, they also embrace failure in these iterations - as learning opportunities - and don’t let these setbacks stop everyone from continuing to come up with more ideas.
When I joked with Tony about them not being ISO 9000 compliant, he asked, “What’s that?” He seriously hadn’t heard of it.
Measurements aren’t dead and strategic planning isn’t either, but focusing too much on processes can keep one from being agile enough to embrace opportunities and a changing marketplace along the way. The irony of ‘playing it safe’ is that it can turn out to be the biggest risk of all as you watch smaller, more agile companies zoom past you.
So if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to responding to the changes in my body and most likely realize that I have to embrace the fact that I probably won’t be 145 lbs again and be okay with that.
10 Comments
Zappos bullshitted you or else you just over stated the facts. They have 600 employees and brought in $135 million in 2007. That’s a far cry from having 1700 employees and potentially earning a billion dollars in 2008, especially if the country hits a recession.
http://hoovers.com/zappos.com/–ID__112806–/free-co-factsheet.xhtml
I like shoes too but I prefer to buy them up close and personal, which is a good thing because I purchase so much stuff via the Internet that I should join a 12 step shopping program.
You CAN get your old body back! I’ve spent the past year doing it. But, yes, as we get older it doesn’t happen as quickly. The trainer was correct: I’d say cut back on the cardio and add more resistance training. I do 30 minutes of cardio 4x a week (treadmill at highest incline, elliptical..), and a half hour of resistance training (floor, stretchy band, weights). Eat smarter: 5-6 smaller meals a day.
I am back to the weight that I had in my late 20s with a stronger body (oh, I’m 55)! There have been huge improvements, though, in other parts of my life that cannot be measured by clothing size or a number on a scale: greater confidence, clearer thought, a sense of joy and accomplishment.
Again.. focusing too much on the finish line can obscure the opportunities along the way.
The long and the short of it: exercise does NOT promote weight loss. It doesn’t. It’ll make you fitter, but it won’t cause you to lose weight. Do you eat not long after you work-out? I bet you do because most people do. By doing that you are replacing the calories you burned during exercise. Don’t worry it’s perfectly natural, but it’s also going to guarantee you will never lose weight due to exercise.
Try NOT to eat after exercising. It’s extremely difficult. The reason is obvious: we have adapted to replenish nutrients after physical exertion. There is only 1 thing that causes weight loss: caloric restriction. Specifically, the restriction of carbohydrates in your diet. That’s right, a low carb, high-protein diet. Atkins is just a marketing term, but the underlying concept has been proven time and again to be the most effective way to lose weight and keep it off. What’s more, it’s been found to be the healthiest way to eat. Human beings are not adapted to consume large amounts of carbs. Only when we became civilized about 40K years ago did we start eating so many carbs. That’s not enough time to evolve. We are adapted to eat a high-protein, low-carb diet.
Now, you can do one of two things at this point: you can either poo-poo what I - and the medical establishment is increasingly saying - or you can actually look into this. If you want to lose weight and be healthy, might I suggest you stop listening to the agricultural industry - a HUGE lobby group, with huge influence, that has been very effective at promoting carbs as healthy. Look into what I’ve said. Email me if you want to discuss it further.
For anyone else who … um … didn’t know what ISO 9000 was: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_9000
Re: “focusing too much on processes”
Surely it is not that you shouldn’t focus on processes per se, but rather that you should focus on the process by which you manage change. To go back to your analogy, you seem to have a process by which you try things to lose weight, measure the change, then judge whether to continue that or try something new. Surely an increased focus on this process would help? For instance, at what point do you decide a fitness routine isn’t working? Just as one person can’t try every diet/exercise combination all at one time, so too an organisation can’t try every change all at once. Some process is needed to decide on what changes can be made and how to assess them.
Personally, I put on 3kg within 3 weeks of the end of the hockey season without any change in diet. I’m now back to the weight that the zone diet tends to stabilise me on (8kg more than my low for last year) - heavy exercise for at least an hour every 2-3 days will get me back down where I want to be, but its just too hot right now. Restricting carb (and protein) intake has its limits - I eat so little now that it is embarrassing when I go out to dinner with friends and struggle to eat a normal sized meal, yet I’m still 10kg heavier than when I finished my first degree. The metabolism just adapts. Do organisations have metabolisms? Are there some organisations that are so stuck in their cultures that nothing short of major surgery will change them?
Hey Kerry,
I don’t know if that is a focus on process, or an agile approach to trying new things, seeing what works and what doesn’t and then executing. I have worked for alot of companies that have spent too much time planning and not enough time doing…that’s what I mean about process.
But I think we are saying the same thing.
I like the metabolism metaphor…but I think it is the market that changes…
Awesome tips, Keith, thanks! I usually don’t eat after exercising and you are totally right about the wheat stuff. I haven’t had a loaf of bread in my house in 7 years…but my bad has been eating that bread they bring at restaurants…and I eat out ALOT.
Thanks for the hope. I’m trying. It’s totally harsh. I’m not so good at the weights stuff and am naturally VERY muscular, so I tend to bulk up with weight training (not tone down), so I have to watch out…even at smaller weights at high reps.
But the smaller meals a day makes awesome sense.
Thanks for looking into this, Mike. I don’t know what interest Tony would have in lying to me. Plus, I got their numbers from the HR person and their sales from observing an internal leaderboard (and by eavestropping in on a staff event they didn’t know that I was at). I have a feeling the Hoover’s numbers are either off or they are calculating something different.
Work on resistance training that involves your own body weight. Different muscles in your body are more easily trainable and so using artificial weights can lead to all sorts of disproportionate bulk.
Pushups, dips, pullups, situps, squats, leg raises, done slowly and methodically, paying close attention to form, and with assistance if needed (like those pullup things that you kneel on the counterbalance so you don’t have to lift your own bodyweight), are much more effective for me personally.
I’ve also been hitting the heavy bag at the gym… again, not for speed, but paying much more attention to solid form and that’s been very effective.
You’re also supposed to switch up workouts every 3-4 months.
Also, I’ve seen a lot of people lose weight getting into regular swimming routines.
One other thing… stress keeps pounds on. If you are stressed, your body may think you’re in some kind of emergency situation and it stores fat in times of distress. Make sure you’re not overstressed either.
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