Andrew MacNaughton #2: Health vs. Fitness, Challenging Fixed Beliefs, Diet Experimentation, and How Sacrifices For Healthy Living Aren’t Really Sacrifices

I catch up with my old-time triathlon compatriot Andrew MacNaughton, who retired from the pro circuit a year before I did, which made him that much smarter back in 1993-1994. This show is a wild ride covering a huge array of health, diet, and peak performance topics.

Most of the insights have application to all health enthusiasts, but we get a little technical here and there talking about sophisticated training matters, such as Heart Rate Variability (don’t worry, my BradBeat HRV App at the ios store is simple and user-friendly, as is this GOY Podcast episode about HRV.) Andrew kicks us off with the sensible but minimally respected premise that “Health and Fitness don’t really intersect much” and off we go. Andrew talks about his precise experimentations with different kinds of diets, and how your eating patterns might line up with your body type. We discuss the dangers of holding on tightly to rigid beliefs and the benefits of thinking critically and remaining open-minded. This is especially relevant when reflecting on “scientific studies” being the end-all. As we’ve seen so many times, a study can be devised to achieve just about any conclusion, especially when there are special interests involved!

We talk about the pleasures of racing shorter distances where you can go faster and feel like an athlete instead of just “endure.” At the end of the show, we get a little revv’d up with some emphatic admonitions to make healthy choices, reject the horrible cultural influences toward laziness and indiscriminate dietary standards. Andrew proposes that making “sacrifices” such as getting up for an early workout, or cutting pizza and beer out of your diet, don’t really need to be seen as sacrifices, and are best viewed as choices. Conversely, when you fail to achieve the bare minimum respectable standard for food choices or exercise output, you are making the ultimate sacrifice of your health, because you are most certainly headed on a journey of pain, suffering, and accelerated demise. This show will get you thinking and hopefully get you focused to make some changes in your basic diet and exercise habits for healthy living.

TIMESTAMPS:

Health and Fitness don’t intersect very well. [04:38]

In general, health is diet and sleep, while fitness is fitness. You can choose one or the other. [09:26]

Age is not really a factor when you are in your 20s but as you age…… Andrew felt he didn’t rest enough. [13:20]

There shouldn’t be a need to urinate in the middle of the night. [18:28]

Diet success is dependent on body type. [20:21]

Some vegetarians are carboholics and could probably make healthier choices. [26:55]

In trying new diets, it often seems they are good for a while, and then they are not as great as you thought. [28:52]

There are seasonal variations. [30:04]

We have to continue to be on this quest.  The information is constantly changing. [34:45]

How does the training differ in preparing for a race for six weeks or 24 months? [38:01]

Going fast is more fun and harder than going long and slow all day. [41:20]

The 60-year-old body just cannot do what the 20-year-old body can. [45:16]

If you can hit this very low baseline of two and a half hours a week of very moderately paced cardiovascular exercise, you have an A+ in cardiovascular health. [49:23]

Jump up and down 20 times a day and you preserve your bone density and decrease your risk of breakdown. [53:45]

Andrew’s daily routine is effortless.  He changed from “have to” to “want to”.  He does nothing that isn’t fun. [57:50]

Dehydration gives you a bad attitude. When it’s hot and humid, you have to go a little bit slower. [01:01:35]

What are you sacrificing by not being as healthy? What foods that you believe are too great of a sacrifice to give up? [01:07:10]

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