How to make hard things easy, and lose weight too | Sameer Murali | TEDxWhitneyHigh

as a bariatric medicine physician my work really involves confronting the number one public health problem of our time and that is overweight and obesity like many people I tend to take my work home I've struggled with my own weight since I was in the fifth grade but on the bright side my personal and professional challenges have really helped me prepare for my talk today which is how to make hard things easier and lose weight ooh now I know that sounds like an infomercial but actually I believe that we can make any challenge including weight loss easier by applying three simple steps all rooted in human behavior so let's get started shall we step one what if I told you that I could teach you a technique that would make your grades better enhance your athletic ability boost your memory intensify your focus increase your creativity make you funnier improve your relationships and help you lose weight all within 24 hours guaranteed anybody any takers yeah well so before everybody rushes the stage let me tell you what I'm not talking about is the magic pill from the movie limitless but what I am referring to is something that you all already know how to do and that is sleep yes round of applause for sleep so we should be suspending about 36 percent of our lives asleep but a few of us do that actually four out of five teenagers don't get the eight to ten hours of sleep that they actually need yeah and this is really concerning because sleep is associated or lack of sleep is associated with some serious health problems in fact it can increase your risk of a depression by about five hundred percent when we go from seven to five hours of sleep at night we actually double our risk of an early death and a lack of sleep is also associated with weight gain because we slowed our mattel our metabolic rate down and we actually increase our cravings for starchy foods but skipping out on your sleep is not just something that's bad for your health it can be actually disastrous for others as well drowsy driving is associated with a hundred thousand accidents and sixteen hundred fatalities a year of the nuclear catastrophes of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island well they were caused by sleep-deprived workers and the Exxon Valdez oil spill yeah that was a guy who is asleep at the wheel on a twenty two hour shift so why is making hard things easier critical why sleep critical for making hard things easier because it's necessary for your brain to function effectively and efficiently when we don't get enough sleep our brain cells actually make protein products that don't fold properly and they stop they fill up the cell with garbage and essentially they cause dysfunction the net result is basically Extreme Makeover caveman edition so ask yourself do you need an alarm clock to wake up or do you need caffeine to stay awake if the answer to either use is yes well then you're probably not getting enough sleep now now is not the time to correct that but here are a few tips that might help you tonight so first thing is to budget for enough time for sleep so 7 to 8 hours for adults and 8 to 10 hours for teens second you should keep your bedroom dark and cool when you're sleeping and everybody's personal favorite last is turn off all screens at least one hour before going to bed I know everybody just rolled their eyes but trust me I'm a doctor at least at least my mom thinks I am step 2 something I commonly hear my clinic is doc I know what to do to lose weight I just can't do it now we all know that a caramel Frappuccino is not health food but yet we line up for it anyway we also may have important assignments to complete but we end up binging on Breaking Bad episodes now this is basically a brain divided against itself when the intellectual part of our brain that tells us what we should do is in mortal combat with the emotional part of our brain that tells us what we want to do now you might be thinking well that's just classic prefrontal cortex versus limbic system-- and you would be right yes pat yourself on the back so the key to making hard things easier is to actually end this mental tug-of-war and get these two forces to combine when what we should do and what we want to do actually come together now this is possible when we marry our intellectual goals with the fuel that drives our emotional engine and that is essentially personal relationships relationships will a tremendous amount of power in our lives in the brain the threat of social disconnection is processed the exact same as a threat against our survival essentially our fear of rejection is equivalent to our fear of death so remember this the next time you see a kid being bullied the physiological process that's triggered by this alarm impacts our heart rate our blood pressure cholesterol our blood sugar even our immune system so social isolator onic social isolation is not just a risk factor for risk factor for depression but actually it carries the same mortality risk of smoking bottom line making hard things easier is not something that we can achieve alone rather it is something that is a team sport unfortunately when we struggle with our weight we feel embarrassed or shameful and we don't embrace the team mentality instead we try to rely on willpower and then we end up breaking but if we relied on teammates we would benefit from the mutual support and positive accountability we need for long-term success the benefits of peer support and teamwork are clear one is higher self-esteem more confidence to kept to tackle challenges we have better quality of life as well as more line we live longer so how do we choose teammates what's the best way to choose them well first of all we should look for people who share our goals and challenges if I'm trying to lose 10 20 30 pounds well I don't need a buddy up with a bodybuilder rather it's probably sufficient to find some who has the same goal and actually needs to do the same amount of work to get there the second thing would be sincerity I may have weight-loss buddies I may have workout buddies to actually share my goals and challenges but if their idea of rewarding themselves is binging on a Cinnabon well we're going to have some problems and then finally I need people on my team who I trust and respect I may have dedicated team people on my team but if they're lying egomaniacs well the essence of teamwork is lost now where do I find my teammates NBA teams don't go cruising the mall looking for players rather they go to the NBA draft so similarly if I'm trying to lose weight well I should probably think about joining some kind of group based weight management program or nowadays I can download an app on my phone that encourages me to engage in healthy behaviors but I should look for ones that have a healthy and strong social media component whatever I choose to do I should really participate with the intention of looking for high quality teammates on to step three in the pro sports world we especially put we essentially pay billions of dollars to watch grown men play now compared to a aid worker in Syria this may seem like trivial work but actually playing as a vital human behavior when we play our brain is focused on the action at hand on the action itself as opposed to the outcome when Michael Jordan was asked what he was thinking right before he made a shot that won the Chicago Bulls six straight championship he said I wasn't thinking about winning or losing rather just making the shot a mine to play is essentially unburdened by the agitation that comes with being obsessed by winning or losing instead it is joyfully present in the action this is called fun playfulness and fun make us creative thinkers ecstatic winners and resilient losers ultimately that's probably why most coaches tell their players to play and to have fun in the weight loss world teams should get together formally to share their goals and provide each other with mutual support but this should be done with an attitude of play this is possible when we focus on actions that are directly in our control like for example sleep or exercise or meal planning as opposed to focusing exclusively on outcome based behaviors like weight loss now let me be clear it's okay to have a goal like weight loss but it's not okay to be a slave to it ultimately all players want to win but when they're faced with a string of losses the best players don't just fall apart rather they keep practicing they pump each other up and they eventually play hard in 1993 Michael Jordan put down his basketball and picked up a baseball bat suffice it to say he struck out a lot and when he was asked if you'd be upset if he didn't make the roster of a major league baseball team he said I'm just here to see if I can do it and have fun trying so instead of being captive by an all-or-nothing thinking and a number on a scale why don't we just have fun and perfect our behaviors and our actions in the company of our teammates and enjoy the journey in the end when we approach our challenges with a rested mind motivated by teamwork and sustained by play hard things do get easier every moment is a win and every challenge and adventure thank you

Channel: undefined

Views: 117,216

Rating: 4.8351412 out of 5

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, United States, Health, Biology, Friendship, Self improvement

Id: nSsNN3SF-bA

Length: 10min 51sec (651 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 07 2015