Why are so many of our assumptions completely wrong?

Let’s talk about that.

Everyone know the old saying, don’t assume anything or you’ll make an ass out of u and me.

How often your lizard brain is making assumptions for you?

And what if they’re all wrong?

A textbook example might be about distance and velocity and two vehicles travelling at a 90 degree angle.

Your mind will automatically makes an assumption about how long it will take your car to reach the intersection and make it to the other side.

assumption | əˈsəm(p)SH(ə)n |

noun  1 . a

thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof: 

The assumption is made in a fraction of a second, when you see a truck approaching in your peripheral vision, and glance down at your speedometer, then back up at the traffic light.

You are travelling 50 miles an hour and the light has 5 seconds left to countdown.

Do you have enough time to make it?

But let’s leave that life or death situation for now.

Let’s focus on tiny assumption.

Let’s say, we all assume in America that the water that comes out of our tap is clean and safe to drink.

I certainly don’t run any tests before I open the faucet. It’s safe to assume you don’t either.

But when I lived in a small town in Mexico, the water was not safe to drink.

Just about everyone, locals, expats and tourists, assumed the water was was not clean, meaning it was untreated.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tell us that “Drinking contaminated, or unclean, water can make you sick with diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain.”

Luckily, there is a simple fix: boil contaminated water, use a filter, or chemically treat the water to remove bacteria.

No problem, right?

Well, it turns out everyone in this town was making the wrong assumption.

📖 “Assumptions are made and most assumptions are wrong.”
Albert Einstein.

The real problem with the water went back hundreds of years, and it was much, much deeper than surface level bacteria.

The harsh reality: arsenic in the water.

A natural metallic element that contaminated the ground water during centuries of mining in the region.

You cannot boil metal out of water.

This is what that assumption could have cost you in the long run. According to the local NGO Caminos de Agua:

These extremely hard-to-remove contaminants are closely linked to dental fluorosis, crippling skeletal fluorosis, chronic kidney disease, cognitive development and learning disabilities in children, skin disease, and even various cancers.

Entire generations are being plagued with the negative impacts of arsenic and fluoride in their drinking water…

We All Assume We Know More Than We Do

📖 “The way to keep yourself from making assumptions is to ask questions.”
Miguel Angel Ruiz

Ask yourself: Do I fact check my own assumptions?

Redheads are at greater risk of sunburns and prone to anaemia.

Searing seals the moisture inside a piece of meat.

Mussels and clams that do not open can be fully cooked and safe to eat.

What about you?

How many of your assumptions that are obviously ridiculous as soon as you stop to think about the facts?

Jocks are dumb.

People don’t change.

Everyone is inherently good, and knows right from wrong.

Ask a friend about a common assumption or misconception they had as a child?

If nothing else, realizing how nuts lots of these myths are will get you a good laugh with a friend.

There are zero cases on record of children being killed from poison candy or razor blade spiked apples.

Crime in the United States is down in the last 30 years, since a peak in 1993. This includes gun crime and homicide.

And now back to our actual topic, dieting.

Here is my all time favorite myth to bust: Thanksgiving turkey makes me sleepy. It turns out turkey does not have exceptionally high levels of tryptophan.

But we are all very tired after Thanksgiving dinner.

It turns out we are tired because most of us are over eating at holiday meals.

How I Lost 20 pounds at 40 eating 200 Cheeseburgers a year

What’s your one food that you love so much you could never give it up?

What about your spouse or kids?

I think it is safe to assume everyone has a deal breaker when it comes to dieting.

Is there something that is just so delicious even the thought of eating less, let alone quitting, makes you turn around run screaming from the thought of another diet?

On my way home from high school, there was a McDonald’s at the exact halfway point.

I was not a particularly athletic kid.

I played sports. But I was not too tall. Not very strong.

If I had to choose one word to describe my teenage physique, it would be scrawny. I was skin and bones.

But I had one special skill.

I could eat.

My mom used to say I had a hollow leg.

I would finish dinner, then go next door to see what the neighbours cooked.

I am ashamed to admit I chose my high school girlfriends based on the quality and quantity of snacks in their cupboard and food in the fridge.

I was the undisputed champion cheeseburger eater in our friend group.

I once ate 22 cheeseburgers in under 10 minutes.

If I am being honest, I am still proud of this gross accomplishment 25 years later.

I am not exactly and epicurean, but I blogged about food for a few years.

In my 30s, as a hobby, I started posting on social media under the corny handle at Evan Eats Toronto.

I was not trying to be a professional food blogger.

I was just hoping for a few free lunches.

I ran a marathon exactly once in my 30th year.

But for my 35th year, my only fitness goal was too bench press more than my weight.

On my 36th birthday, I benched 5 reps at 194 pounds.

I high-fived the guy spotting me. Mission accomplished.

I remember thinking I would celebrate with a few friends, a few pints of draught beer and a burger.

But when was the last time I had actually weighed myself?

A month ago? Maybe more…

I stepped on the scale and watched as it tilted all the way. Even as I adjusted it past 195 pounds. The scale did not budge.

It finally balanced at 198 pounds. I am five ten, on a good hair day. Five nine after a visit to the barber.

The suggested weight range for my height is 149 – 183… if I stand on my tippy toes.

I was not quite obese, but I was on my way.

But I was not about to finish a marathon.

I was just hoping for a few free lunches. Mission accomplished.

By any measure, I was 15 – 20 pounds over weight.

I started reading everything about dieting like a mad man.

I did all the diet trends. I went keto. I went paleo.

I even tried drinking light beer and near beer.

I do not recommend. I did no carbs. I at one portion of protein with two portions of greens and a single glass of red wine.

I stopped eating breakfast and fasted till noon.

But I have always loved breakfast.

Apologies are due to everyone I saw at the office on those sad, hangry mornings. Sorry.

So what finally worked for me?

How did I actually lose the weight without going on a so called diet?

Remember at the start of this long winded and ham fisted article, when I brought up are assumptions about speed and velocity?

Well, the truth is I am very bad at math. Always have been.

If I don’t actually calculate a number, there is a 100% chance I’ll get the math wrong off the top of my head.

This means when I ballpark, or estimate things, I might be off. Way off. Like a country mile from reality.

I found my solution skimming a blog post: many grown men do not actually need to eat 2000 calories a day.

That is an assumption. I was shocked.

The harsh reality is 2000 calories is a lot more than many of us need to sustain a healthy weight.

I downloaded a calorie counter and started religiously keeping tabs .

I had not changed my diet much since high school, other than the failed week long attempts at fad diets.

I ate basically the same amount at 40, as I did at 30.

When I finished the marathon, I weighed 176 pounds. I was running about 60 miles a week.

It turned out I had been eating 2200 – 3500 calories a day.

I was totally inconsistent.

My metabolism was out of whack.

The only sure thing was that I was over eating.

The only thing I did consistently was consume more calories than my body needed.

So I stopped making assumptions, and I started counting calories.

You can use an online calorie counter like this one, and take notes on your phone.

I kept a calorie journal of everything I ate.

If I put a teaspoon of sugar in my coffee, I added the 16 calories to my journal.

A McDonald’s cheeseburger has 263 calories. A bagel and cream cheese has about 430 calories.

I did nothing to my exercise routine.

I continued to eat bagels, but not so often.

I still eat cheeseburgers 3-5 times a week.

But I stopped ordering french fries. I still drink beer.

After counting calories, I found that I was able to lose about a pound a week eating 1900-2200 calorie a days.

I am 40 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall, and weigh 178 pounds.

And I feel fine.

🌊 My mission: I will teach you how to do LESS.

I believe everyone can learn to earn, save, and sleep well with financial freedom.

Thanks for reading.

I write copy & content. I teach courses. I show up everyday.

But I do LESS. Learn. Earn. Save. Sleep.