Day 2 of the Fitness Summit is about to kick off in couple hours, and I wanted to get you a note before I wander down to get my re-heated, prepackaged American fries and yellow stuff on a plate that they are rumored to call eggs.   The coffee is quite good though.

You may be rightfully wondering why I would subject myself to such a low quality breakfast.

The answer is that I am testing out my metabolic flexibility to lower quality foods.

Yep.  Sounds nut-ball I know, so let me explain.

For the past 4 years the Fitness Summit has been at the same hotel – which is epic, except for its breakfast food-like items.

Every year it is the same fire drill of 1-2 workers behind the counter getting swamped by 20-75 hung over fitness professionals eager to get some food and caffeine sources.

And every year it is the same deal – a prefabricated meal that is reheated by some heating element in the back (there is not a kitchen) served to you on a ceramic with plastic silverware.

I opt to do this to myself.   Nobody put a gun to my head and told me to order it up and watched me eat it.  I could bring my own food or fast.  Both are great options; yet, I opt to test my system this way.

My goal is to add in a bit of distress – lots of interactions, tasty adult styled beverages, fun conversations, and perhaps watching Greg “Knuckles” run and jump over Alan Aragon’s head at 2 am like a krazy bad-ass bearded kangaroo.   It all adds up to some stress – plus the food-like substances.

If I can handle it and do great, that is evidence that my body is more resilient.

Yes, this is a crude test, but it is not super in-depth testing.

My goal is to expand my ability to turn a wide variety of foods into fuel under different conditions (stressors) AND still perform well.

No, I don’t do this all the time.   In this case, it is a once a year test.   A vast majority of the time, I eat the highest quality of food I can get, more veggies, protein, and all the “good” things.

Imagine you bought a super fancy Ferrari F40 and drove it around town at 35 mph.  At some point you have to take it out on the track, or a deserted highway in Montana and open it up.    Test the limits.

Your body is the same way.   If you are taking care of it, training’s great, eat good food, using some supplements if needed, keeping your stress moderate, you should be performing at a higher level and thus able to take a few “insults” here and there.

We will see how I do.   I feel pretty confident it will be just fine.

Think how you can add in a few distress sessions to get a rough marker on your progress.

The goal is expansion of capacity; not restriction all the time.

Testing resilience,

Dr Mike