Fitness Levels as an Extension of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Samuel Johnson once said, “Exercise is labor without weariness.” Fitness is important in maintaining a healthy body and mind. Even though many of us know the benefits of fitness to ourselves, employers, and country we still seem to fail at maintaining a reasonable fitness routine in our daily lives. The difference between those who engage consistently in fitness and those who attend for a few short months following New Year’s Day may be based in intrinsic and extrinsic goals. 

Do you want to get in great shape or do you want to look great? These are fundamentally two different questions that lead to different kinds outcomes. Fitting into the right size clothes to receive praise from others is an extrinsic motivation while improving fitness and ability is more intrinsic. The vast majority of people are extrinsically motivated and rely on others approval to maintain interest. Without constant approval they soon find themselves on the couch eating Cheetos.

We can find some early underpinnings about fitness values in high school where social acceptance is a key component to our socialization. A study of 500 9^th and 10^th graders engaging in physical education found that those who are intrinsically motivated and sought fitness knowledge did better on fitness tests than those who were not integrating fitness knowledge due to extrinsic factors (Lodewyk & Zan, 2013).   

Not much change when students go to college. Of those who were involved in fitness programs, the ones who were focused more on competence and health did better than those focused on appearance (Sibley, 2013). The intrinsically motivated group maintained better aerobic ability, strength, and body fat composition when compared to the outward motivated participants. 

We now know that high school and college students are more fit when they engage in activities for their intrinsic enjoyment. According to a study of peace keeping Norwegian soldiers stationed in Kosovo the basic variables of intrinsic motivation was part of the 1/3 of soldiers that improved upon their fitness during these times (Drystad, et. al. 2007).  

Intrinsic motivation focused on improving ability and fitness was significantly more motivating than showing off to others. As a matter of fact, showing off to others was a short-lived strategy and seemed to come along with a plethora of excuses to engage in non-healthy activities. If you are going to get into shape then you should consider your reasons for doing so and how much effort you are willing to put forward on those goals without the need for social approval. 

Drystad, et. al. (2007). Physical fitness, training volume, and self-determined motivation in soldiers during a peacekeeping mission. Military Medicine, 172 (2). 

Lodewyk, K. & Zan, G. (2013). Fitness-specific epistemic beliefs, effort regulation, outcomes, and indices of motivation in high school physical education. SD Journal of Research in Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport & Dance, 8 (2). 

Sibley, et. al. (2013). University students’ exercise behavioral regulation, motivates, and physical fitness. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 116 (1).

Eating Breakfast Doesn't Lead to Weight Loss

Eating breakfast has been associated with weight loss for years. Conventional wisdom is that by eating breakfast you are boosting your metabolism and this in turn encourages greater weight loss throughout the day. Recent research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition thwarts that concept by showing that skipping or eating breakfast has no noticeable effect on weight loss. 

Previous studies found more correlation than causation. Correlation indicates that two variables are associated but doesn’t really say in depth how associated they are. Causation helps to show that variable A causes variable B. In science causation is a stronger connection and level of analysis than a correlation. Without causation it is possible that other compound factors are involved in the findings.

A total of 283 participants engaged in a 16-week program. Participants were healthy overweight or obese and were between the ages of 20-65 years old. Depending on the overall group, the participants were assigned to either skip breakfast or eat breakfast. The researchers hoped to find a change that resulted in weight loss. 

Instead researchers found that there was no noticeable difference between those who ate breakfast and those who didn’t.  Those who skipped breakfast lost −0.71 while those who did not lost −0.53. Statistically these are so similar that it doesn’t make much of a difference. Skipping or eating breakfast doesn’t really make much of a difference in weight loss. 

This doesn’t mean skipping breakfast is something we should do. It only means that it doesn’t contribute significantly to weight loss. The lower calorie consumption may have a difference in total weight loss and it is important to reduce bad calories while increasing good calories. Good calories come from fruit, vegetables, nuts, fish, and various kinds of meat. 

Fitness enthusiasts are still left with the total calorie count. According to the Mayo clinic it takes approximately 3,500 calories to lose a pound so cutting 500 calories a day out of your diet will help you lose around a pound a week (1). Losing weight and getting in shape are two different but associated things. Go ahead and reduce portions, swap high calorie/low nutrition foods for low calorie/high nutrition foods, and eat a variety of foods for nutrients.

Dhurandhar, E. et. al. (2014). The effectiveness of breakfast recommendations on weight loss: a randomized controlled trial. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Retrieved June 6^th, 2014 from http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2014/06/04/ajcn.114.089573.abstract

The Benefits of Drinking Green Tea for Fitness Health

People who work out often reach for supplements. The problem with many supplements is that they can damage other areas of your body even though weight loss is increased and muscle building enhanced. Some supplements may cause heart attacks, hypertension, joint damage and more. However, green tea is a great supplement for fitness buffs and those who simply want to eat for better health. Implementing green tea into one’s diet helps in many things that range from weight loss to working memory.

There is no such thing as a wonder drink but certain types of tea can be beneficial across various aspects of one’s health. Green tea is known to have an effect on weight loss, cell resistance, cholesterol levels, working memory, blood sugar stability, and fighting cancer cells (1).  The benefits of green tea are solid and help the body in multiple ways. 

Green tea is known to reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels (2). Research indicates it lowers risks of cancer and heart disease. By drinking three cups of green or black tea a day the total risk of a heart attack is lowered by 11%.  Don’t be afraid of those herbs.

There are some differences though. Green tea as a drink and green tea as a pill can be two distinct products. Green tea as a drink is generally unprocessed and therefore contains the variety of benefits while green tea as a pill sometimes is most beneficial as a weight loss supplement (3). 

Health food stores offer green tea in pill form that has not been processed. Most green tea pills keep the catechin EGCG which still maintains the health benefits of the product (4) even though some of the benefits may not be available. They also maintain other positive effects so the pill form is still a strong alternative if you don’t like the actual taste of the tea or live a fast paced lifestyle. 

As a weight loss product green tea works well. It can counter the sugar to fat storage, stimulates metabolism, and encourages muscle building (5). The overall use of green tea as a fitness supplement is positive with few side effects. You can find green tea pills in most super markets, health food stores, pharmacies, and online.

Three Rules to Eating for Weight loss

You want to eat right, lose weight, and improve your health but seem to be having a hard time reaching your goal. Pumping it out on the stair stepper everyday will only do so much if you don’t think about your eating habits. Making a few adjustments to your diet will go a long way in achieving your fitness goals without wasting hours. The three simple rules are:

1-Cut back on portions.

2-Reduce white bread, refined pastas, and crackers.

3-Move to low fat dairy and reduce portions.

The vast majority of Americans are overweight due to lack of physical exercise and poor eating habits. Poor eating habits are the main cause of increased pants size and poor health above and beyond exercise. The amount of calories still takes the lead position in weight loss. No fitness training plan is complete without adjusting the food you are eating. 

We all love bread but many conventional breads don’t love us back. White bread, white pasta, white rice, crackers, pretzels, and other finely processed grains will damage your weight loss prospects through high carbohydrates (1). Whole grains provide the right ingredients due to the grain not being crushed and the nutrients removed. Look for whole grains, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta as alternatives (2).  

Cream, milk, butter and cheese will damage your weight loss achievements. Lower your dairy consumption and switch to low-fat alternatives. Dairy products contain milk sugar that slows down weight loss and generates a strong insulin response (3). You can use low-fat varieties such as skim milk, low-fat yogurt, and low-fat cheese while still getting the calcium you need (4).