During our nutrition discussions in the back pit, I frequently hear about friends, family members, coworkers, and others consistently pushing those around them—particularly those individuals trying to be healthy—to eat foods that will derail their health efforts. In a very strange, twisted kind of way, some people seem to get off on watching other people engage in activities that are bad for their health. It makes these individuals feel good about their poor choices. Sounds twisted, huh? Unfortunately, it is rampant, particularly in medicine. I hear about it all the time and watch it happen. And every time it does, I repeatedly hear the Beastie Boys screaming in the background during these encounters.
Listen all a y’all it’s a sabotage!
Back in the 1999-2003 when I was roaming the hallways of my university, I spent a decent amount of time at the gym. In my junior year, a member of the new pledge class of my fraternity asked if he could workout with me. He got very into it and saw incredible gains from his program. We will call him Johnnie. Johnnie was also a funny guy and we got along well. I was several years ahead of Johnnie in the lifting game, and he was working hard to catch up with me—so much that anytime our fraternity chef Dennis made a desert or recently purchased another box of Chipwhich ice cream cookie sandwiches (yes, these things exist and they are a full week’s worth of garbage packed into each cookie), Sammy would bring them to my room, dangle them in my face and to try to get me to eat them. I would hear, “Coooooolin, don’t you want one? They are delicious.” He was indeed trying hard to derail my nutrition so that he could catch up with me.
While Johnnie was merely joking, and it was always a good laugh, this happens often in the real world. Instead of trying to build others up, we instead tear them down to match our internal hollowness. Instead of avoiding envy and mimicking the masters, many people would rather tear down or derail those around them, particularly those of us trying to be healthy and achieve our goals. Sometimes the offers for deserts or junk food may come from a good place, but more often than naught, Beastie Boys should be playing in the background:
I can’t stand it. I know you planned it!
1. A patient receiving chemotherapy with high-dose steroids, artificially putting her blood sugar into a diabetic state was offered cookies and cupcakes during her infusion…Sabotage!
2. Nutritionists telling overweight individuals to keep counting calories, cut fat, and eat a bunch of foods that leave you hungry all day long…Sabotage!
3. People giving cookies, cakes, and other sweets to people trying to lose weight…Sabotage!
4. Friends and family members telling you repeatedly, “just this one time” when you know it will absolutely not be just one time…Sabotage!
5. Academic exercise researchers and physical therapists telling you to resistance train at home using 2 pound weights then writing dozens of negative papers describing the results…Sabotage!
6. Walking into a not-to-be-named local maternity hospital lobby and the first thing you see is a table selling cookies and fudge of every flavor when everything a woman eats during pregnancy goes to the developing fetus…Sabotage!
7. Coke and Pepsi owned vending machines selling sugar water and candy at our government-run, tax payer funded hospitals…Sabotage!
You’ll shut me down with a push of your button
But, yo, I’m out, and I’m gone.
It further illustrates why it is so vital to surround yourself with positive people that help to push you to be a better person (to yourself and others) as opposed to continual efforts to derail and sabotage you. Keeping it together is hard enough when we have people supporting us, and nearly impossible when those around us engage in sabotage. While we must avoid the squirrels, ignore the naysayers, surround ourselves with beauty, and ignore the ugly, we cannot avoid our colleagues at work. However, we can at least be honest with ourselves about their twisted efforts. While this all may sound cynical, we know it’s true and very present in our lives. Much like the above article on chemicals in the environment, “the best offense is a good defense.” These people are not going anywhere, and as society continues to demonize the masters of their craft, who we once looked up to as role models, expect this to only worsen with those society-wide efforts to tear down instead of build up.
Giorgio Vasari wrote books praising the masters of his time and Plutarch wrote about the character of the greats of antiquity. Nowadays, if you want quick notoriety, you put people down on social media. A famous popular example from my childhood was when Tanya Harding hired a hit man to take out Nancy Kerrigan’s knee. If you can’t beat them, then beat them down! Modern day gladiators are all around us, who make their living beating others down, just more so mentally and emotionally these days. We have the choice of surrounding ourselves with saboteurs or positive promoters. Just don’t expect hospitals to be free of the former…
While I am not necessarily saying these individuals are all sinister—in fact, some may think they are actually being nice—many just have a bit of hollowness inside and simply do not want you to be “better” than them, and that includes being healthy. The best thing we can do is to simply check out of their bizarre competition and ignore finite games and instead keep playing the infinite games. Just as there will always be a devil on one shoulder, you will find an angel on the other: our sit down sessions at the EOC are full of positive, nurturing individuals that strive to help those around them and motivate one another to stay on track. I am lucky enough to be part of these sessions, and can benefit from the infectious positive nature of these individuals. Are you surrounding yourself with the same type of people and are their actions trying to help you or sabotage you?
The next time someone tries to sabotage you, heed the advice of the Beastie Boys.
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