Tag / fitness

by Nathan Coumbe

AI, politics, and your health

Several people have sent messages to me over the last year asking why I talk about politics or artificial intelligence if I’m “just trying to be a health coach…” The implication (or outright criticism) is, “You should focus on exercise and nutrition because that’s what health is, not AI or politics.”

As someone trained in the Deep Health model of coaching (thanks, Precision Nutrition!), I respectfully disagree.

Human health is multidimensional. It’s not weight loss, V02 max, bench press numbers, meal plans, or whatever “maxxing” fad happens to be circling the web right now (in fact, it’s almost never those things). It’s a holistic combination of numerous facets of your life that all influence each other.

Your health is a system, and like any system, a change in one part affects the whole.

The Deep Health model has six dimensions:

  1. Mental: How focused are you? How well can you learn? Are you so overwhelmed you can’t get anything done?
  2. Emotional: Are you in control of your emotions? Can you express them well?
  3. Existential: Do you have a sense of purpose or meaning in your life? Do you feel fulfilled most days?
  4. Environmental: Is your environment safe and secure? Is it clean and sanitary? Do you have what you need to survive and thrive?
  5. Relational: Do you have rich, rewarding relationships in your life you can rely on? Or are you lonely? Being abused?
  6. Physical: How well do you eat and move? How do you feel day-to-day? Are you chronically ill (as I am)?

Notice I saved physical for last—not because it’s less important, but because I want to emphasize how important the other aspects are. All these dimensions are interconnected, which means that they can all influence your physical health.

Which brings me back to why I talk about AI and politics.

If you worked for the federal government in the United States and were unceremoniously fired by DOGE in 2025, this affects your health. Lack of income, loss of meaning (a lot of which comes from our work), the uncertainty of how you’ll pay your bills or feed your kids—just like that, you’ve had your mental, emotional, existential, and environmental health negatively affected.

If you had your health benefits slashed by cuts to Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act, your physical, environmental, and emotional health have been negatively affected.

If you’re constantly being bombarded by the bullshit scare-marketing coming from the AI CEO tech bros telling you they’re going to kill off the human race, but they can’t do anything to stop it…

Or if your boss drank the AI Kool-Aid and is hounding you to ship more work, faster, with less care or craft, you’ll be incredibly stressed mentally, emotionally, and probably environmentally (because you’re constantly worrying about your job).

I could give you several dozen more examples, but you get my point.1 Each of these “non-health” issues affects your well-being, and they can all affect your physical health.

You might not be able to eat well, or get to a gym, or go for a walk, or do anything “healthy” after being mentally and emotionally (or God-forbid, physically) assaulted all day.

If you believe health is only about how much you lift in the gym or how much protein you get each day, then yeah, I’m out of line.

But that’s not what health is, and that’s not how I coach. You are a multi-dimensional, incredibly complex creature whose physical health is affected by so many things outside of nutrition and exercise. A good coach (which I like to believe I am) recognizes that and works with you to manage all aspects of your health, not just the physical.

So I’ll keep writing about AI and politics—and all sorts of other things too—as long as they keep affecting your health.

  1. And that doesn’t even include our Health Department cutting programs to keep us physically healthy, a decision that has led to viral outbreaks, explosive diarrhea, and death. There’s politics affecting your health again! ↩︎

by Nathan Coumbe

What Successful People Do Differently

You’ve probably looked at someone who was in great shape and thought to yourself, “Man, I wish I could be like him.” 

Maybe this thought crossed your mind soon after: “If I really enjoyed hours at the gym and grilled chicken and broccoli every night for dinner, I’d be fit too.”

Here’s the thing – fit people don’t necessarily enjoy spending 3-4 hours a week at the gym or eating simple, similar meals over and over again. It’s not a matter of enjoyment. 

What they do is subordinate their cravings, emotions, and desires to a higher value system they establish for themselves. 

People who are successful at anything do the same thing. Albert E. Gray said it best when he wrote:

“The successful person has the habit of doing the things failures don’t like to do. They don’t like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose.”

–Albert E. Gray

“Whoever said this was going to be easy?”

One of the most important lessons I learned from Dr. John Berardi of Precision Nutrition is that when making change for your health and fitness goals, you are going to be tired; you are going to be hungry sometimes; you are going to be in a crabby mood and not want to do what is good for you. His response: “whoever said this was going to be easy?”

Successful people, whether they are successful in health or fitness, or successful in their families and careers, are just like you and me. They have the same cravings, the same desire to say “screw it all” or “I don’t want to do that” or “I’m scared I might fail/they might laugh at me/they might say no.” The only difference is they make the choice to act anyway. 

They are able to do this because they want something more than the resistance is telling them they want in this very moment. They begin with the end in mind and act proactively, rather than living in and for the moment, reacting to whatever whim, craving, or feeling comes their way during any given moment. 

This way of living–of choosing to do things that failures don’t want to do–can all be traced back to fundamental principles of effective living. They are embodied clearly and coherently in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. Successful people subordinate their fears and momentary desires to values, principles, and a desired end-goal. They “begin with the end in mind” as Dr. Covey writes in the chapter about Habit 2. 

They don’t WANT to do it either.

A successful sales person probably doesn’t want to make another cold call and face the very real possibility of rejection. But she does it anyway because the end she has in mind might be a full sales pipeline, a good income to support her family, or the growth of her business (perhaps all three and more). She’s just as scared as anyone else; she still feels the butterflies in her stomach when she dials the number; but she chooses to act rather than react to the feelings of the moment. 

You are a successful person already because you have the ability to do this with every task, project, and goal in your life. Realize that it’s all a matter of choice based on the end-result you desire. Envision the end you want to achieve, hold it in your mind in the moment of choice, and make decisions based on which outcomes get you closer to the end you want.

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by Nathan Coumbe

Why are you REALLY doing that?

Years ago, the Toyota Motor Company created a system called “The 5 Whys.” It is a problem-solving technique that helps drill down to the root cause of an issue–in their case, manufacturing problems.

It’s also an excellent personal technique to help you figure out why you are doing, or attempting to do, just about anything.

Why do you want to lost weight? This is now an almost universal goal. If your answer is to look good at the beach or to feel better, you’re probably going to start binging the first time you see a pack of Oreos at the supermarket.

Why? The motivation from those bland, generic reasons are extrinsic (outside of yourself and your reasons for being) and, well…bland and generic. They have no real meaning to you. So try the “5 Whys.”

Why do you want to lose weight?

“So I’ll be strong and fit.”

Why does that matter?

“When I am strong and fit, I’ll be able to accomplish more with my body.”

Okay, and?

“When I can do more, I won’t tire out and break down like I currently am on a regular basis.”

Okay, why does that matter?

“When I am more resilient, I’ll be able to serve others better and longer: I will be able to go up and down stairs without passing out, or help my friend declutter her garage without hurting myself.”

And why is that important?

“Because I feel like service to others is one of the main reasons I’m here…”

Wow! Just like that you now have a deep, intrinsic purpose for losing weight and getting strong. You don’t only want to look good at the beach: you want to serve others at a higher capacity because it’s one of your values.

Now, when you see those Oreos or feel like skipping your daily movement session, you’ll remember that you are striving to serve others.

Your motivation doesn’t have to be service to others, of course. This is highly personal to each of us.

Think of a goal you want to achieve in some area of your life: physical, financial, family, career, personal development, social, or spiritual. When you have a goal, start asking why it matters. Drill down until you either determine that the thing you want is hollow and meaningless or you find the real motivation to accomplish it.

Find the real reasons for what you want in life. You might surprise yourself.

*Note: I first learned about this while being coached by the folks over at Precision Nutrition. I want to thank them for giving me something I can now spread to others.

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by Nathan Coumbe

Are you as effective as you could be?

Here’s a story:

A man is walking through the woods alone when he comes upon a lumberjack hard at work. The lumberjack is sawing with all his might through a very large tree, and the man can tell this worker is exhausted.

“How long have you been at this one tree?” the man asks.

The lumberjack replies, “About 4 hours now, and I’m exhausted.”

The man watches for a few more moments and realizes the saw has become rather dull from overuse.

“Why don’t you stop to sharpen your saw?” the man suggests to the lumberjack. “You will probably finish in half the time it is taking you.”

“I can’t stop,” replies the lumberjack. “I’m too busy sawing.”

This story is where Dr. Stephen R. Covey got the name of his seventh habit “Sharpen the Saw®” in his monumental work, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

In essence, most of us feel we are too busy to stop working long enough to revitalize ourselves in ways that would make us even more productive when we returned to work. We think the only solution to more results is more work. This, of course, leads to exhaustion, stagnation, and burn-out.

“The human organism needs an ample supply of good building material to repair the effects of daily wear and tear.”

–Indra Devi

What are you doing each day to supply that good building material you need? There are four dimensions to life–physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual–and each ones needs its own raw materials.

For the body: eat right and be active! This does not mean strict diets or multi-hour workouts 7 days a week. It means sensible eating and regular, quality movement throughout the day. I personally recommend Precision Nutrition for their quality (and free) resources, as well as their more expensive coaching options. Here is an article they released today on the benefits of small amounts of movement throughout the day rather than big workouts and nothing else each day.

For the mind: read. This is the simplest, smallest thing you can do each day to rejuvenate your mind and unleash your creativity. If you read only 10 minutes a day at an average speed, you will read approximately one book each month. 12 books a year will change who you are as a person. Start with this reading list here.

For the heart (social/emotional): read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. No other book will help you improve your relationships with others and develop the self-awareness needed to effectively conduct yourself in the world than this one.

For the soul: you don’t have to be religious or pick up a copy of religious text to rejuvenate your spirit, but you must invest in your soul somehow. Read inspirational literature or biographies by great thinkers and leaders who inspire you. Go for a walk outside (social distancing, of course) without music or podcasts or social media, and listen to the sounds around you. Let your mind wander when you do it.

Give yourself the right stuff today to keep your saw sharp.

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*Note: I do occasionally use affiliate links on this blog, which results in a small commission for me if you purchase something. However, I only recommend products in which I truly believe.