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Nerds Shall Inherit the Earth!

May 31, 2013/2 Comments/in Geek Culture /by TheJerd

Editor’s Note: A few weeks ago Brian Kehs, host of the Keys to Running series and your resident running aficionado here at the Jerd, asked me if I watched the TV show “Survivor“. When I told him that reality TV wasn’t really my thing, he asked if he could write up his thoughts on this season’s winner and I told him sure! That was almost three weeks ago.

So without delaying even further, here are Brian’s ultra-timely takeaways from the “Survivor” season finale that aired three weeks ago!

Sometimes the Nerds do Win

Survivor Nerd John Cochran There’s something kind of wrong (okay, really wrong) writing about the TV Reality Show “Survivor” for this site, but something happened this past season that made me sit up and take notice.

John Cochran (or simply Cochran as he was known on the show) won the show. A self-described and honest to goodness nerd actually won the million dollar prize. He didn’t just win the game, he utterly dominated the game. There were zero votes cast against him at the last tribal council, and he was the obvious and clear winner. That’s right…

The nerd won.

So, how in the world did this happen? How is this even possible? This is a game that is owned by jocks, athletes (sometimes professional), ruthlessly cunning strategists, and some of the most vicious people you can imagine. In the reality-TV world of “Survivor“, the meek shall not inherit the earth. Let’s take a closer look and see how he did it.

“How Many Calories Should I Eat?” Part 1

May 29, 2013/16 Comments/in Health & Fitness /by TheJerd

If there is one question health and fitness coaches hear more than any other it is – “How many calories should I eat?” (Followed closely by “Do I really have to watch what I eat and workout? Can’t I just take this supplement instead?” But that’s an entirely different article!)

It doesn’t matter if you hate shopping in the Big & Tall stores for your clothes, if you’re a mom wanting to lose that post-pregnancy weight, if you are tired of being the super skinny kid, if your doctor told you that you need to lose weight before your heart explodes, or if you woke up and just weren’t happy with what you saw in the mirror.

Whatever the rationale, you want to make a change and you’re not alone! Look, every day thousands of people make the decision to start eating better and changing their weight… there’s a reason the diet industry is a $20 billion per year juggernaut, and there’s a reason why you’re here looking for tips on how to join our team of aspiring real-life superheroes! You see, the average “dieter” makes four attempts a year top lose weight. I will let that sink in… on average, people that want to lose weight make a concerted effort 4 times a year! Now, let’s assume that they all succeed on the 4th attempt (which is most definitely a bad call) that means 9 months of the year was spent doing it wrong! (And a good portion of that time was probably spent wasting time on fad diets)

Why?

Because those thousands of people have absolutely no clue what they’re doing!

Don’t be discouraged, it’s perfectly understandable; there are so many variables to consider:

Is “low-carb” the way to go?
What about the food pyramid?
Is gluten really evil?
Why do donuts taste so good?
Do I eat 5 small meals a day or 2 huge ones?
What is this juice diet everyone is talking about?
Should I be taking supplements?
Can I eat before bed or not?
Do I count all of my calories?

Now we have talked about the basics of eating right in the past, but that is obviously is just the beginning. Today we’re going to dig a little deeper, but in the interest of not biting off more than we can chew (see what I did there?) we are going to limit the conversation to calories and what they mean to you!

An Interview with Olympian Nick Delpopolo

May 23, 2013/4 Comments/in Interviews /by TheJerd

Nick Delpopolo - Judo I’ve been lucky enough to have had the pleasure to train Judo (albeit very poorly) with 2012 Olympic Judoka, Nick Delpopolo on several occasions. I’ve always been immensely impressed by his work-ethic, humbleness and willingness to go the extra mile when teaching and I thought he might have some wisdom to share with my loyal readers; so I went out on a limb and asked him if he would be willing to take the time and talk about Judo, fitness and what motivates him to compete…

Luckily, he agreed and not only did we talk about violently throwing people on their heads, but also Starcraft, Game of Thrones and Snake Plissken. That’s right aspiring Jerds, this Olympian is a giant geek!

So let’s see what makes Nick Delpopolo tick, shall we?

The Jerd – “Hey Nick, thanks for sitting down with me today! I wanted to thank you for taking the time to talk to our readers about yourself. So before we get into me winging questions at you, would you mind telling the readers, who might not be familiar with you, a little bit about yourself?”

Nick Delpopolo – “Well, thanks for having me Jeff. I really appreciate the opportunity! My name is Nick Delpopolo. I’m a 2012 Olympian for the sport of Judo; I’ve been doing Judo for the last 20 years of my life and I am aiming to be the first make gold medalist in that sport for the Unites States.”

The Jerd – “That’s awesome! So 20 years huh?”