Arrogance and Humility - Rodger Federer

[For the holiday season I'm offering a free month of health coaching. That's 13 months for the price of 12. Book a call here to learn more.] 

Sometimes I think the history of health and nutrition can be summed up in one word: arrogance.

When I was growing up, we were told that margarine is preferable to butter. We now know that all margarines sold in the 1980s and 90s contained trans fats. Trans fats are known to be highly unstable. Consumption of trans fats increases our risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.

But in the 1980s and 90s, these were the “heart healthy” options, the “safe” alternative to saturated fat in butter. There is now no doubt that this was completely backwards - dairy consumption (dairy has the highest percentage of saturated fat) is associated with a lower risk of heart disease. There is no evidence that eating more saturated fat is bad for you.

The frustrating thing is that most of the data in the papers I’ve cited (published in 2022 and 2015) was available even in the 1970s. It’s one thing to get it wrong; we all make mistakes.

But some people were pushing incorrect information on the public as if it had the weight of scientific consensus. How could this have happened?

Short answer: Arrogance.

A given scientist has a pet theory that he or she fights for to the exclusion of all other theories.

Sometimes the most vocal and charismatic scientists end up on government panels that decide the national dietary guidelines. And they ram through ideas that would have sounded crazy just a few years earlier.

Saturated fat in particular stands out. Archaeological evidence shows that prior to 12,000 years ago humans were hunting and eating very large animals - megafauna such as mammoths and mastodons - which would have been much higher in saturated fat than any of the animal foods we eat today. Telling a species not to eat what turns out to be the food that it evolved to eat (or at least a large percentage of that food) takes arrogance.

But arrogance is a trap into which any of us can fall.

Consider the upcoming holidays. Do you have a plan for how you’re going to navigate them? Are you going to relax and just eat what you want throughout the holiday season? No judgement if that’s your decision, but is it the right decision for you? The holidays is a long time - from the end of November to the beginning of January. That’s a long time to go off your nutrition and fitness routine.

Are you going to just indulge some days and stay strict with yourself on others? What does that look like? Do you have a plan? How are you going to hold yourself accountable to that plan?

And what about after the holidays? How are you going to be your healthiest and happiest self in 2023?

Most importantly, given what we know about misinformation in the field of fitness and nutrition, do you think you can do it on your own?

If you answer “yes” to this question, consider the case of Rodger Federer.

There was a time when it was indisputably the case that Federer was the best tennis player out there. He had been at number one for a long time, he was a brilliant tactician, he had mastered every skill a tennis player needed. 

But Federer still had a coach. 

The coaches couldn't play tennis better than him. Most of them had been professional tennis players but never a world number one. So why did he need them?

Federer knew that in order to excel one needed something other than skill: Humility. 

The humility to know that there are others who have worked with every type of player, faced every kind of hardship and could offer a series of options to deal with any circumstance.

There's a word for such a person: a coach. 

Coaches provide accountability and motivation, the two elements that we know are most key to success. 

Federer had the humility to accept that coaching was the best way to meet his goals. Do you? 

If you're ready to make 2023 the year where you figure out your own personal recipe for health and happiness, please do book a call. 

Warm regards,
Sameer. 
sameerdossani.net