Exercise, Nutrition, and Health: Keeping it Simple | Jason Kilderry | TEDxDrexelU

Summary

The speaker shares a transformative experience from his struggle with polycystic kidney disease, leading to a mission to educate on health. He emphasizes the importance of understanding basic nutrition and exercise, criticizing the complexity and quick-fix nature of diets. Advocating for simple, evidence-based habits like consuming fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats, while limiting processed foods and sugar. He stresses the need for regular movement and the gradual implementation of healthy practices to form lasting habits.

Takeaways

• 🏥 The speaker had polycystic kidney disease and spent a lot of time in the hospital, which led to boredom and eavesdropping on conversations.
• 👂 A conversation about a patient's post-discharge meal plan at McDonald's sparked a realization about people's misconceptions of healthy food choices.
• 🤔 The speaker's negative attitude towards unhealthy lifestyle choices was challenged by the realization that many people lack proper nutrition knowledge.
• 💡 A pivotal moment occurred when the speaker decided to dedicate their life to educating others about nutrition and exercise to prevent chronic diseases.
• 📊 There's a significant number of people in the U.S. with chronic diseases, many of which could be mitigated by better lifestyle choices.
• 🍔 The speaker emphasizes the importance of making simple, fundamental choices in nutrition, like choosing strawberries over strawberry pop-tarts.
• 🥗 The fundamentals of a healthy diet include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats, along with variety in food choices.
• 🚫 The need to limit processed foods and refined sugars is highlighted, as they lack nutritional value and contribute to health issues.
• 🏋️‍♂️ Exercise is crucial, with recommendations to move for at least 30-45 minutes a day, emphasizing the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle.
• 📈 The speaker shares personal experience in coaching, illustrating the importance of gradual, sustainable changes in lifestyle habits rather than quick fixes.
• 👨‍🏫 The speaker's mission is to educate and instill lifelong healthy habits by simplifying nutrition and exercise principles, making them accessible to everyone.

Q & A

What is polycystic kidney disease?

Polycystic kidney disease is an inherited kidney condition where numerous cysts develop in the kidneys, leading to kidney failure over time.

Why did the speaker have a bad attitude towards some patients in the hospital?

The speaker had a bad attitude because he believed many patients were in the hospital due to poor lifestyle choices such as unhealthy eating and inactivity.

What did the gentleman say that changed the speaker's perspective on health?

The gentleman said he was going to get the fish fillet at McDonald's after being discharged, which made the speaker realize that people might not know better and need education on nutrition.

What is the significance of the proverb 'teach a man to fish' in the context of the speech?

The proverb signifies the importance of teaching people the fundamentals of nutrition and exercise so they can make healthy choices for a lifetime.

What is the speaker's goal regarding health education?

The speaker's goal is to reach as many people as possible to educate them on the basics of nutrition and exercise to improve their quality of life.

What are some of the chronic diseases that could be offset by better food choices and exercise?

Chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer could potentially be offset by healthier food choices and increased physical activity.

Why does the speaker criticize the advice given by some 'experts' on nutrition and exercise?

The speaker criticizes some experts because they often promote supplements and extreme exercise routines that lack scientific evidence and complicate healthy living.

What is the importance of sticking to the fundamentals in learning and applying health principles?

Sticking to the fundamentals ensures that the basics of nutrition and exercise are understood and can be applied consistently over time, leading to sustainable healthy habits.

What are the four basic nutritional principles the speaker suggests following?

The four basic principles are seeking out fruits and vegetables, choosing foods high in fiber, opting for healthy fats, and having a variety of protein sources, including meat if desired.

How does the speaker feel about diets and why?

The speaker feels that diets are often too restrictive and create a yo-yo effect, leading to unsustainable habits. They suggest focusing on sustainable nutritional habits instead.

What is the speaker's advice on how to implement healthy habits?

The speaker advises taking a baby step approach, gradually incorporating healthy habits into one's lifestyle to make them sustainable over a lifetime.

Outlines

00:00

🏥 Life-Changing Hospital Experience

The speaker recounts a pivotal moment in their life seven years prior when they were dealing with polycystic kidney disease. Their frequent hospital visits led to boredom, and they found themselves eavesdropping on conversations between nurses and patients. One particular conversation about a man being discharged after heart surgery, who planned to eat at McDonald's, deeply affected the speaker. The man's decision to get a fish fillet instead of an unhealthy option made the speaker realize the importance of making better food choices. This realization prompted the speaker to dedicate their life to educating others about nutrition and exercise to prevent chronic diseases, highlighting the need to reach over 315 million people in the U.S., many of whom suffer from preventable conditions.

05:00

🥋 The Importance of Fundamentals in Health

The speaker emphasizes the importance of sticking to the fundamentals in health and exercise, drawing a parallel to their experience learning martial arts. They argue that many health and fitness 'experts' complicate matters with unnecessary supplements and extreme exercises, often without scientific backing. The speaker advocates for simplicity in health education, suggesting that small, consistent choices in nutrition can lead to significant improvements in health. They encourage choosing whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats, while avoiding processed foods high in sugar and unhealthy fats. The speaker also stresses the need to move away from quick-fix diets and instead adopt sustainable habits that can be maintained over a lifetime.

10:01

🍽️ Transforming Nutritional Habits

In this paragraph, the speaker discusses the challenges of understanding nutrition due to the overwhelming presence of diets and conflicting advice. They explain how diets often work because they provide structure and eliminate processed foods, but they can also lead to a cycle of yo-yo dieting. The speaker outlines essential nutritional habits such as seeking out fruits, vegetables, fiber-rich foods, and healthy fats, while limiting sugars and processed foods. They also touch on the importance of not completely eliminating enjoyable foods but rather practicing moderation. The speaker highlights the need for increased physical activity, citing studies that show the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle and recommending at least 30 to 45 minutes of daily movement. They conclude by stressing the importance of implementing small, gradual changes to nutrition and exercise habits to create sustainable lifestyle improvements.

Keywords

💡Assumption

An assumption is a belief or acceptance that something is true or exists without proof. In the video, the speaker reflects on assumptions they've made that led to regret but also learning experiences. The assumption about the man going to McDonald's after heart surgery is a pivotal moment that changes the speaker's perspective on health and people's choices.

💡Polycystic Kidney Disease

Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is a genetic disorder characterized by the growth of numerous cysts in the kidneys, leading to kidney failure. The speaker mentions their struggle with PKD, which is a significant part of their personal story and the motivation behind their passion for health and helping others.

💡Eavesdropping

Eavesdropping refers to secretly listening to other people's conversations. In the script, the speaker uses eavesdropping as a form of entertainment during their hospital stays, which leads to the pivotal moment of hearing the conversation about the man going to McDonald's, illustrating the importance of this passive activity in shaping the speaker's views.

💡Nutrition

Nutrition is the study of the food that people or animals eat, the nutrients it contains, and how the body uses these nutrients. The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding nutrition to prevent chronic diseases and improve quality of life, using the McDonald's fish fillet as an example of a perceived 'healthy choice'.

💡Exercise

Exercise refers to physical activities that are planned, structured, and repetitive with the aim of conditioning any part of the body. The speaker advocates for regular exercise as a fundamental aspect of health, contrasting it with the sedentary lifestyle that contributes to various diseases.

💡Chronic Diseases

Chronic diseases are long-lasting conditions that are generally not cured completely and require ongoing management. The speaker discusses the prevalence of chronic diseases in the U.S. and how better food choices and exercise could offset many of these conditions.

💡Supplements

Supplements are substances added to a diet to enhance or balance it by adding nutrients. The speaker critiques the promotion of supplements by 'experts' as often not being evidence-based and part of the complexity that surrounds nutrition advice.

💡Fundamentals

Fundamentals refer to the basic principles or rules of a subject. The speaker uses the analogy of learning martial arts fundamentals to emphasize the importance of teaching basic, sustainable health habits rather than complicated or extreme methods.

💡Moderation

Moderation is the quality of being moderate, or keeping things within reasonable limits. The speaker discusses the principle of moderation in the context of diet, suggesting that it's not about completely eliminating favorite foods but limiting their intake.

💡Inactivity

Inactivity refers to a lack of physical activity. The speaker points out that the average American spends more time sitting than engaging in physical activity, which is a significant contributor to health issues like obesity and cardiovascular diseases.

💡Baby Step Approach

The baby step approach implies making small, gradual changes towards a goal. The speaker shares their experience of helping a client reduce their consumption of Snickers bars not overnight but gradually over 15 months, illustrating how sustainable changes are made.

Highlights

The speaker shares a personal story about struggling with polycystic kidney disease.

A pivotal moment in the speaker's life was overhearing a conversation about a patient's post-surgery diet choice.

The realization that people may not know better about nutrition led to a commitment to educate on health.

Highlighting the staggering number of people in the U.S. with chronic diseases that could be mitigated by lifestyle choices.

Discussing the prevalence of obesity and overweight individuals globally.

Criticizing the overcomplication of nutrition and exercise advice by so-called 'experts'.

The importance of sticking to the fundamentals in learning and applying health principles.

A memorable proverb about teaching for long-term impact is shared.

The simplicity of making better food choices is emphasized.

The speaker addresses the complexity and pitfalls of modern diets.

Essential nutritional habits are outlined for a healthier lifestyle.

The need to limit processed foods and sugars is discussed.

Moderation in diet is advocated instead of complete elimination of favorite foods.

The shocking statistics on screen time versus time spent cooking are presented.

The dangers of a sedentary lifestyle and the importance of regular movement are highlighted.

Practical advice on how to implement small, sustainable changes to dietary and exercise habits.

The speaker shares a personal anecdote about helping a client make gradual, positive changes to their diet.

Transcripts

at one point in our lives

we've made an assumption

an assumption

that we ultimately regret it

but we probably learned from that

assumption

i've made a lot of those bad assumptions

in my life i've learned a lot from them

but there's one that particularly stands

out that absolutely changed my life so

about seven years ago i was struggling

with the kidney disease an inherited

kidney disease called polycystic kidney

disease

runs rampant in my family so what

happened is i was in and out of the

hospital constantly and i got to tell

you something when you're in the

hospital that much it gets boring you

can only watch so many prices write

reruns you can only sit there and read

so many books so what i would do is i'd

grab my iv pole and i'd start walking

around the hallways my source of

entertainment was eavesdropping and all

the conversations the nurse were having

nurses were having with their patients

like oh that's interesting i never knew

that about cardiovascular disease next

room etc i'll never forget

one room that i came on i came upon

a gentleman was being discharged from

the hospital from what i could gather

from this conversation he had been in

the hospital for quite some time and he

had some sort of heart surgery

and the nurse said well aren't you

excited you're getting out of here it's

like i'm really excited she goes what

are you going to do

i'm going to take my wife out to dinner

she goes that's fantastic where are you

going to take your wife oh we're going

to go to mcdonald's

your wife is going to be pissed you're

going to mcdonald's oh my goodness so

i'm like i can't believe he just said

this how is the nurse going to respond

to this

and she said to him i don't know if

that's the greatest idea

and his response

is what changed my life

he said don't worry

i'm gonna get the fish fillet

good answer

so immediately grab my iv

walk towards that room you kidding me

i was really angry i kind of thought

about what he said

and all the time that i had spent in the

hospital dialysis units doctor's offices

all the people that i came across that

were struggling with disease

i had a very bad attitude towards these

people

because

i knew a lot of them were there because

the choices they made in the foods they

ate and in inactivity in their lives

but i was that was not a good thing for

me to do it's a very bad attitude

because my background is in health and

exercise science these people don't know

better and when i go back and think

about his response and he said don't

worry i'm gonna get that fish sandwich

he actually thought that was a healthy

choice he thought that was a good

decision

and that's when i said you know what if

i recover from what i'm going through my

goal

is to reach as many people as possible

to make sure

they understand the simple aspects of

nutrition and exercise and how they can

change our lives listen i want to change

a lot of lives with 315 plus million

people in the u.s that's a lot what's

interesting 117 million of those people

have one or more chronic diseases

that could have been offset

if they chose

better foods if they moved around a

little bit more

1.5 billion people are either obese or

overweight

listen i could talk statistics all day

numbers all day but i don't want to talk

about that there are many variables that

we can do to change this i want to talk

about one and that's how we get our

information and how to keep that

information simple listen we hear about

nutrition and exercise every single day

we see it on social media

output friends to dinner we talk about

it

news magazines whatever it may be we

hear about what's right what's wrong etc

and then you have all the experts all

right

i put that lightly experts okay

ultimately these experts are pushing

supplements

they're pushing extreme ways to exercise

etc often

they're making things more difficult and

often

what they preach is not evidence-based

there's no scientific literature to

support it

um hopefully they're getting something

out of it all right

but when we take away it's not simple

they're making things way too difficult

so i grew up in northeast philly i'm a

small guy i have a big mouth so i

figured you know what i got to learn how

to defend myself at one point in my life

so i started taking you know from very

early age i started taking some boxing

some karate a little bit of wrestling i

did this all the way up into my late 20s

and i saw a lot of instructors

and i'll never forget this one

instructor i had he was very very good

and the reason was he stuck to the

fundamentals we went in there every day

and we learned the same punches the same

kicks the same footwork i learned a lot

from him it carried over into me

learning those skills the rest of my

life and holding on to them now a lot of

the others instructors i came across

basically the first day we're going to

learn a couple you know punches second

day you're going to learn a flying jump

kick what flying jumpcake i don't even

have a punch and you're having to jump

off chairs no thank you

they didn't stick to the fundamentals

there's a great saying proverb i love it

feed a man a fish

you feed him a meal

teach a man to fish

and you feed him for a lifetime that's

what i want to do i want to feed people

for a lifetime with the fundamentals and

listen it's not that hard if you go to

shop right all right today i'm going to

eat the strawberries i'm going to put

down the strawberry pop-tarts

congratulations you made a fantastic

decision if you decide to get the

oatmeal over captain crunch that's a

terrible decision captain crunch is the

best cereal on the face

you see where i'm going

we can keep this pretty simple but

unfortunately what makes nutrition

specifically

so hard to understand so hard to grasp

is the diet out there

everyone at one point in their life has

been on a diet and unfortunately

diets make things difficult diet is like

religion nowadays you see something

about diet on social media every single

day on the news every single day and i

hate to admit this but they work

and the reason they work is there's some

set principles one it's structured it's

more structured than we normally eat

two they often eliminate processed foods

this is which is a good thing and they

often eliminate one major macronutrient

whether it's protein fat carbohydrate

and what this does we

intake less calories we're more

structured like i said so we see gains

we lose weight our blood work might be a

little bit better but ultimately the bad

thing about this is quick fix it happens

overnight and this is why we go yoga

diet because

they create boundaries

you can't eat certain foods so when you

have ice cream you have failed your diet

you've stepped outside that boundary and

that beats you up see and what happens

is you do it again and you do it again

to the point where you're not following

that diet and maybe some of the good

nutritional principles that diet has

and still

so that's why we yo-yos so much but

let's look at just some essential

nutritional habits that we can instill

into our lives when we go shopping every

time we've heard this time and time

again

let's seek out fruits and vegetables

let's seek out foods with lots of fiber

all right your oats your grains your

fruits your vegetables your dark leafy

greens but seek out healthy fats that we

find in healthy oils nuts seeds fish

avocados

if you want to eat meat that's fine

just make sure you have a wide variety

of it and we want to have a wide variety

of all the other foods we choose as well

meat gets a bad rap and it's ultimately

because an average american takes in

probably 72 times the amount that we can

actually absorb and use that is not a

statistic so please don't quote me on

that

you get what i'm saying so those four

basic principles we have seen in the

scientific literature of the evidence

for the past 50 years

that when you follow these it leads to

offsetting chronic disease increased

quality of life more vitality all right

we do have to be aware of the sugars

this is my son first time he had cake it

was like

i don't even know what it was like it

was he was pretty excited let's just put

it that way with that said we are these

sugars these refined sugars we have to

limit them processed foods that you see

at the end of the aisle at supermarket

we have to limit them there's no

nutritional value to this stuff all

right i'm not saying completely get rid

of it because listen my family's from

northeast philly if you told me that i

had to stop eating cheesesteaks you're

nuts cheesesteaks and hoagies are a food

group in my family all right

with that said let's just use that old

principle of moderation let's limit

these foods and then maybe one day yeah

you might want to emit them from your

nutritional habits but again we're all

human and unfortunately with these salty

you know sugary based foods that we like

we watch a lot of tv

and we watch a lot of terrible tv let me

tell you

so with that the average american is

spending nine and a half hours a day

plus

looking at their phone

on the computer or watching tv

the average american spends 160 minutes

in front of the tv a day but they spend

less than 20 minutes in a kitchen

preparing food martha stewart is pissed

if she found out you are only spending

20 minutes in the kitchen a day she's

not happy all right and what else does

this cost

inactivity

we're not moving

we're not moving at all

we need to get out and move

more all right because we have a lot of

things that ultimately just set us up to

sit down and sit down a long time

dr steven blair did a study looking at

the predictors of death the number one

predictor of death was low cardio

respiratory fitness aka

sitting disease we sit too much

yeah we have to get out and move more

i'm not telling you you have to run a

marathon all right i'm saying you need

to get out 30 to 45 minutes a day and

move all right walk your dog ride a bike

the american council sports medicine

says 30 to 45 minutes a day is what we

need to get now listen that's a reach

for many of us i coach athletes to do

5ks 10k marathons sprint triathlons etc

some of them don't do 45 minutes a day

of activity that is a goal that is

something you want to reach for you

maybe start off at 10 minutes a day all

right maybe 10 minutes in the morning 10

minutes at night but we the key thing is

with movement we want to do it

frequently frequently we don't want to

just walk our 30 minutes and then go sit

down for nine hours because what we're

seeing in the literature is

that 30 minutes is not as beneficial for

you when you followed it up by sitting

hour after hour after hour get up and

move now there are even treadmills at

work all right i listen i gotta i love

this idea we're thinking outside the box

you're walking at work but if you ever

watch these treadmills i kid you not

this is how fast the people are walking

all right that's not doing much for you

if you can't fit in 10 minutes in the

morning 10 minutes a night without doing

it while you're working you're booking

yourself too tight it's time to work on

some time management let alone basic

nutrition and exercise all right get out

move often now look that's it i told you

the basic principles of nutrition and

exercise very simple

how do we implement them how do we make

them last a lifetime when i first

started my health and sewing company 12

years ago i was very excited for my

first client i had 30 pages of paperwork

i had him fill out because i wanted to

know everything about this person and as

i'm going through i'm seeing a lot of

red flags okay

over 40 years old 50 pounds overweight

lots of medication high blood pressure

risk of cardiovascular disease because

it's in his family

and then i saw it i'm like oh well

here's your problem you eat six snickers

bars a day that's a lot all right stop

eating snickers bars pay me all right

if i would have done that though two

weeks later i leave him right back on

the horse and he would have ultimately

been maybe even six seven eight centers

so what i did over the next 15 months

is i gradually brought that out of his

nutritional choice 15 months later

he was eating two snickers bars a day

cut up into six pieces he was

implementing every single thing i just

told you about in small

doses we took the baby step approach all

right we didn't take the fast food quick

mentality approach i want to do

everything overnight now

when you would fill this stuff in small

steps

they don't become chores

they become habits and that's what we

want to instill we want to instill the

basic principles that i just gave you

you'll remember that you've heard a lot

of it before and then you just want to

do it the baby step faster so do me a

favor tell everyone thank you

[Applause]

you