Middle Management (guest post).

by

Wrote A Blog About It. Like To Read It? Here It Goes.

Here I am.

MizFit’s slice of the universe.

And, strangely, I am using that to gauge my overall coolness. Why? Well, because this is obviously the cool kids table, and she invited me to pull up a chair.

This is intriguing for me though. My site is pretty cut and dried. My research and opinion (after all, some giant percentage of everything is opinion, right?) is out there for the world to see.

But I never really talk about me.

That’s all about to change. Right here, right now.

I want to use this first blog post to introduce myself, and let you peek in on this dude who is unapologetically himself. The Middle Manager.

Hi. My name is Ben. And I have a MizFit problem.

Bumbling Band Responds, “Hi Ben!”

Seriously though, I am a former fat guy.

I rocked the scales at over 300 pounds (that’s over 1/8 of a ton, someone pointed out at work). Now I hang around 200 or so, depending on whether I am building or burning. I played football and baseball in college (25% football, 75% baseball) at about that weight, so I feel pretty good being 11 years removed.

I struggled for long time to lose that weight. Which seems funny to me, because for years, exercise and nutrition had been hammered into me as an athlete. It just goes to show you that knowledge is cool, but action is much better.

I had a lot of trouble putting that knowledge into action. That was, until a fell and broke an office chair during a meeting at work. Plopped down. Chair broke. Blob on the floor.

Lotsa laughing. At, not with.

I had literally hit bottom (pun kind of intended).

Needless to say, I didn’t pay much attention to the content of that meeting. But two phrases caught my attention. Grow the bottom line, and cut the fat. It was like a bolt of lightning from clear blue skies.

To back track slightly, I am very analytical by nature (Meyers-Briggs ISTP). I think in concrete terms. I tweeted recently that I have a Rubik’s Complex – I have to solve the puzzle.

It seemed obvious to me that I should be able to take all I know about fitness, and construct a method that made sense to me based on the economics, business and statistics gunk rattling around in my grey matter.

And thus, Middle Management was born. (I really should put some of this on my own site, huh?)

It all begins with supply and demand. Your body has a certain demand for calories. Your total supply of calories is how much you eat and burn during exercise. When supply exceeds demand, you have a surplus, and you gain weight.

When demand exceeds supply, you lose weight. Pretty straight forward. Calories in, calories out. That is the foundation. Everything else builds from there.

Of course, using some of my own little tricks and things I adapted from stats, econ and business, I lost over 100 pounds.

The site itself began with me not wanting to use a thumb drive to carry my thoughts and research around. I decided to just stick it out there on the “web.” After some time, a few folks started to find it (maybe Google smoked me out, who knows?), and ask questions. So I just decided to formalize it, move to where it is now, and grow it from there.

I focus on 4 pillars at Build Muscle and Burn Fat with Middle Management.

Mindset, Metrics, Metabolism, and Momentum.

I believe everything starts with your mindset. I learned in football a long time ago that where the head goes the body will follow. And that is absolutely true about fitness goals. You have to have a concrete vision of where you want this journey to go. Know your starting point. Know your ending point.

I also think you have to measure your progress. It starts with your “primary” metric – for most of us it is our weight (that’s a whole different post). But it can go deeper (where does the rabbit hole lead?)

I know MizFit talks about intuitive eating here. And I agree with her. But I want to give you a little bit of different spin. I sat in Econ 101 as an undergraduate, and I distinctly remember hearing the professor say, “come on, this is intuitive.” And my first reaction was, sure, if you’ve been doing it for 20 years.

I am an intuitive eater now too. That’s because I have measured enough stuff to know about how many calories are in what I am eating. (Side note: I am not always a healthy eater. I indulge. But I don’t necessarily OVER indulge. I “intuitively” know when to shut it down.)

To get to be an intuitive eater, I think it takes some practice.

And I encourage you to practice by keeping track. What do most successful weight losers have in common? They journal whether that be a blog, or it is a more traditional (is there such a thing anymore) journal. You don’t even need to write calories or anything else in there. If you just write down all that you eat, you will see the obvious changes you need to make.

(What do I write in my journal? I am neurotic. It’s a spreadsheet. I write down everything.)

When I talk about metabolism, I am talking about the calorie balance equation.

Sure, metabolism is complex, but I honestly believe everything you need to know about it to change the numbers on the scale is in that equation. There are all kinds of ways to make that equation work in your favor – low carb, low sugar, high protein… I don’t really advocate one over the other. I think you have to use what works for you. And that takes some testing and tweaking over time.

Momentum is just that. Moving in the right direction. You keep making progress (even when you don’t). Hit a little bump in the road? Put on 2 pounds this week (after you’ve lost 20 overall)? You didn’t lose momentum, and it’s not the end of the world. You just took a slight detour. Saw some sights. Keep driving forward.

That, of course is a rough outline of my philosophy.  For me, the rabbit hole can get quite deep.

What else is cool (or not, depending) about me? I have a beautiful wife and two outstanding young boys (3 years and 1 year in May). I sometimes moonlight as a little green frog.

Internet full time? Nope. Not even close.

So why do a guest post?

It’s a great question. One that I am still trying to answer. Would I like you to surf on over and check out the site? Sure!

But it is bigger than that.

I spent a weekend at FitBloggin. And I realized that I loved the community. Getting to know people who have fought the good fight and won, people who were in the middle rounds, and people who had just gotten to the ring.

The community.

And you know what? They welcomed me in with open arms, bloggless as I was. And, sure, they wanted to know about Middle Management. But they also wanted to know about ME.

So, here I am, telling you about me. And it’s not easy.  I am not wired internally to be all that open (which is probably why I have a site and not a blog). But, as with all things, you have to continually challenge yourself to grow, and this is my challenge. And I accept.

What else would you like to know?

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Comments

  2. Hmmmm. So I wonders if Intuitive EXERCISING will ever make it big?? And wait, I don’t think there is enough paper in my journal to log all those pieces of Teddy Grahams that attacked me yesterday. FAIL! ooops. FAIL! ooops.

    I met Ben at Fitbloggin and he is cool as hell.

  5. I like that you’ve incorporated your knowledge of economics into your understanding and philosophy of health… fitness and nutrition work great if we correlate them to the stuff we KNOW.

  6. Inspiring writing, good points. I’m taking away the ‘M’s today. Got to middle manage my momentum currently. Took a slight detour. This post inspires me to get back in the car at a minimum and at least aim toward the road. But no spreadsheet on the dashboard!

  8. Met Nen at Fitbloggin– he is one awesome guy. I’ve been following the scenic route for about a month and am starting back on the journey–thanks for phrasing what some would call failure as a detour or scenic route– great way to keep it all in perspective. Great guest MizFit!!

  9. Thank you all for the great comments… as MizFit can attest, I was a bit nervous; when it comes to my personaly stuff, I am better face to face than in writing (IMHO). (could be the shots @MrsFatAss refers too).

    @YumYucky – thank you, but not as cool as you! 🙂

    @POD and @AJ – You have to take those detours occasionally to live life. Just remember to find the highway again!

    Thank you all again!

  10. I love this guest post! I see you on twitter but did not know your story. So glad to know you a little bit more and congratulations on the weight loss!

  11. Awesome share Bennyboo! (we bonded at fitbloggin so I can call him that). I think the coolest thing is how you applied your “business way of thinking” to get you the results you wanted. We all need to find what works for us and how we ‘each’ are internally wired. Good for you!!!!

  12. Wow, someone else on the planet knows Myers Briggs!!! ESFP here! I’ve seen you thru the blogtweetvine but had no idea your story! Good to know, good to know…great post!

  14. Loved this post. I got a bit bummed reading yesterdays about intuitive eating because all the comments were from people that ‘get it’. From years now of trying to ‘diet’, my intuition is shot – all my body asks for it sweets and bready things. Made me smile and have some hope that I need to work on intuition – I can do that.

    Im so sorry you felt that way as there were quite a few comments (and many personal emails) from readers who are still struggling and TOTALLY why we plan to do a podcast about it and Im going to do mroe posts and share my TRIAL(S) and ERRORS along the way to where I am today. LORDY there were many. Carla

  15. Man, I love what you said about momentum. Took a detour, saw some sights, keep driving forward. Awesome. Exactly what happened to me over the holidays. I expected it, I saw it coming, and I swerved off the road for a bit, but got right back on track and things are moving in the right direction.

    Powerful post. Thank you!

  16. Good point about “intuitive” needing practice. I think that’s where I initially misunderstood “intuitive eating,” because I was confusing it with “compulsive eating,” and heaven knows I don’t want to go back down that road. I think that for me, it would be more of a “health autopilot” state, in which I don’t have to think about or struggle with “what” or “how much” anymore, yet still be where I need to be health-wise.

  17. THANK YOU! Thank you for all of the kind comments, and I am glad you enjoyed my story and my post. If you see me on twitter, stop in, say hello! And maybe, one day, Carla will have me back for an encore… 🙂

  18. Amen about momentum! I’m so glad that I am finally to the point where those little detours are no big deal. It’s so refreshing to be on (mostly) auto-pilot.

    I think it’s interesting that you say you are not hardwired to be open. I didn’t get that impression at all from fitbloggin!!

    You are a very special guy and stuff.

  19. Great post! “To get to be an intuitive eater, I think it takes some practice.” Truer words were never spoken. Sadly the spreadsheet method took me a little farther away from this.

  20. Wonderful Story, Wonderful Post, Wonderful Man!!!!! I Totally agree with Thea!!!! You were open, honest, and KIND from the first Hello at #Fitbloggin!!!! I Look forward to learning more FROM you and ABOUT you!!!
    Love Ya Lots, COOL KID 😉
    Dr. Mo

  22. Excellent article, Ben! Great idea for guest post, Carla.
    I found out this morning that I need bi-lateral knee replacement, so my weight loss will be done almost exclusively with restriction of calories. I’m not happy, but I am Embracing the Detour.
    I’ve subbed to you, Ben, so I will look forward to walking with you on my journey.

  23. Interesting post. I am also someone that is going from having a site to now writing a blog and getting involved in the community. It is a tough transition and the blogging community is about building relationships genuinely. A site sometimes can be impersonal and blogging can sometimes feel to personal.

    Anyways both are fun.

  24. (Forgive me, I’m a bit “tardy to the party” in the words of the Real Housewives)

    Great post Ben! Thank you for opening up and sharing your story. It was wonderful meeting you at Fitbloggin and can’t wait to follow along on your successful journey!

    Thanks for sharing the guest post Carla 🙂

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