Above: Could he really medal in any event in the Olympics? Dr. Paul Zehr would say so.

Ronen sent me this neat-o article on the physiological basis of Batman. Don’t take it too seriously; it’s just some light-hearted conjecture (real science, of course) on Batman’s physical abilities by an associate professor of kinesiology and neuroscience. Enjoy.

I’ve taken a nod from Scott and installed a Skribit widget on my sidebar.  It’s the nifty little box that says, “What topics would you like me to write about?”

I’ve no shortage of topics to blog on (the time to write; that’s another story…), but most of my blog topics come from the day-to-day conversations, Q and As, and discussions I have with clients, friends, and colleagues.  I thought it might be interesting to see what topics you folks out there in cyberspace are interested in.

It’s a cinch - just click on “What topics would you like me to write about?”  A box pops up prompting you to enter your suggestion.  Type it in, click submit, and voila!  Alternatively, you can vote up other suggestions if someone else beat you to the punch and asked your question already - just click the little vote icon after the question.

So, if you’ve got a question or something you’d like me to rant about blog on, go right ahead.

*** Warning - Spoilers ahead! ***

Pixar’s Wall-E is cautionary tale; not just of the environment and planetary stewardship, but personal stewardship as well. Although a work of fiction, the film is scattered with reminders of how lack of movement and poor diet (and lack of self-responsibility) can lead to obesity and early death in real life.

Some takeaway lessons from the film:

1) Use it or lose it:
Over the course of 700 years (and many generations) of overfeeding and sloth, the nomadic human race has not only grown fat, but has lost most of its bone and skeletal structure. In fact, the average person has lost the ability to stand (which makes for a funny scene when Wall-E accidentally knocks “John” over).

All’s not lost, however; humans regain their ability to stand and walk (somewhat unbelievably, but hey, it is an animated film) and farm and fish - more on this later.

2) Drinking your calories is a bad strategy:
A perennial in top ten fat loss tip lists is not to drink your calories; i.e., don’t drink caloric beverages as it’s all too easy to consume hundreds of calories (and sugar) without realizing it. The future humans in Wall-E take this to the extreme with drinkable meals (pizza?) served up in 7-11 Big Gulp-sized cups.

3) The less you move, the less you’ll move:
The human body, made up predominantly of third-class levers, is designed for movement. Often, pain (and immobility) occur from disuse. The classic example?

Your job becomes all-encompassing and you forego exercise, thinking, “I don’t have the time or energy.” Over time, the muscles in your back begin to atrophy and you start to experience back pain. This new development makes you less inclined to move around at all (much less exercise) since even bending over causes discomfort, so subtly, you begin to curtail your general activity. All the while, of course, your lower back muscles continue to deteriorate (the pain increasing accordingly). Before long, it hurts to walk. You begin to walk differently, placing more stress on your knees. Then, one day, you start to notice a painful ache in the lateral side of your right knee…

Physical therapists call this “The vicious cycle of pain.” Pain from disuse atrophy makes you less inclined to move, which further exacerbates the atrophy, which further exacerbates the pain. The solution? Use your body. Better yet, lift heavy things.

4) There is a silver lining:
The humans eventually return to Earth, harkening a return to subsistence farming and the consumption of real food - and progressively get skinnier and skinnier (according to the credits). It’s notable that the skinniest incarnation of human is the one depicted as fishing for subsistence. Is it possible Andrew Stanton recognizes the impact of food selection on obesity?

Mr. Stanton’s motives aside, the point still rings true: If you go back to eating real food and moving around once in awhile, there’s still hope, no matter how far overfat you are. Hey, if Manuel Uribe can lose 55% of his body mass (about 670 lbs) through diet and exercise alone, I’d say there’s hope for everybody.

P.S. - While I hate to admit it, I liked Wall-E a great deal, and not for the reasons listed above (my wife always says I’m a sucker for great design).

An unintentionally funny pic by way of Dr. Eades:

And leaves and berries. Don’t forget the nuts and seeds too.

This should make me happy, but it doesn’t. Hypocritical? Read on…

Why isn’t a health and fitness professional happy that the government is taking steps to outlaw junk foods in schools? Because I believe in free will. And (paranoically) I believe that having government compel you to do something is the first step in losing what few true rights you have left. Or, stated differently, would you feel the same way if they were banning baseball instead of junk food?

From a less philosophical and political point, here are the main problems with creating “health directives”:

1. They may be based off of misunderstanding or misinterpretation of science.
Can anyone say “cholesterol?” Reams and reams of studies and millions of dollars’ worth of science have yet to vindicate the hypothesis that dietary cholesterol contributes to heart disease, and yet your doctor will still advise you to limit your egg consumption to less than 6 a week.

2. They don’t go far enough to solve the problem.
In the article, the legislation would prohibit drinks that include more than 35% of calories from sugar. It’s a start. However, allowable drinks like fruit juice and skim milk are still sub-par choices - fruit juice still being high in sugar and skim milk (as Scott Kustes so rightfully points out) being a processed food, since milk in nature contains all of its milkfat. Limiting snack food sizes to 180 calories is useless, since kids can just buy two bags of chips instead of one.

This kind of legislation is akin to placing wad of chewing gum on a leak in a dam. Sure, it looks like you’re doing something and may even make you feel better about yourself, but are you really doing anything meaningful to solve your problem?

3. They may not actually be done in your self-interest.
Scanning the article, you may notice this little snippet:

Under the new rules, developed with intense involvement from the American Beverage Association and other drink and food manufacturers…

Who, I’m sure, have your best interests in mind.

I’m all for improved quality of life and better health for everyone. But I don’t think we need Big Brother forcing us to conform to his version of what’s healthy.