Introduction [June 22, 2011, 4:34 a.m.]

Ok. So what are the basic guidelines for this course?

Metabolism is obviously a huge topic. On purpose I've defined a short timescale for the course, minimum entry requirements and a small workload. This means we won't be going into huge depth.

I have been researching this topic for years. I find that lecturing people on it doesn't work very well. Much better is to lead people through similar situations to those which taught me what I know. Basically help people walk in someone elses shoes. When people discover things for themselves they're more likely to understand it with more depth and know how to act on it.

I also prefer to teach people about their own bodies. Help them own their own lives. instead of making them dependent on my knowledge and expertise. So, my

goal in teaching this course is to empower people by teaching them little insights into their bodies that, in time, will help them understand the bigger and wider principles much better.

This course is a primer for future courses I am planning linking lifestyle and metabolism to diabetes type 2, heart attack/stroke and osteoporosis.

Now you know the purpose of this course. Let me explain some of the key terms and aspects we'll be referring to.

What is metabolism?

There are obviously in depth explanations . For simplicity in this course overall metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that sustain life. In the examples given we’re be referring to energy and its flow in and out of the body.

Unit of energy

I’ve chosen not to use a unit of energy. Mainly because I’m focusing on concepts rather than exact values. By using joule or calorie I would be implying the values I’m using were valid in the real world. That precision will come in time. For now the concept is priority so I’ll refer to energy instead of a specific unit.

Elements of a lifestyle

There are many. For this example I’ll focus on work, rest and play and their impact on energy flow in and out

Main Learning objective

This will be an analysis of the idea 'All work and no play makes jack a large boy'. It's a simple expanation that, from my research and observations, describe a common pattern in our lives. It's not a perfect description but we'll look at how it can lead to weight gain in many lifestyles.

Pace and length of course

This is intentionally a very simple and short course. I'm trying to remove barriers so I like the idea of a few very short simple courses that are easy to fit into your lifestyle. they may have a 2-3 week lifecycle of 2-3 weeks or less given what we have so far.

Where do I get my information?

This is a very esoteric subject. There's lots of information but if you look for specific evidence linking metabolism to lifestyle you'll find a lot of rumour, little fact. This is common in many aspects of the human body.

My training is through a levels and a degree studying physical education, sports science and a ton of related topics like biology, psychology and sociolgy. Basically anything related to the human doing something. I undertook my degree at Loughborough university because it has the most advanced sports science programme in the UK.

But my interest isn't sports per se. More the physical education aspects including 'teaching games for understanding'.

That's my training. What about this course? Well everything in the area of metabolism is equivocal. I have developed strong opinions overtime given the research I've made but I'd prefer to create discussion and let each person make their own decisions on truth and explore in their own way.

The information I present is therefore not presented as fact. Instead it's presented as a collection of information. It is for each student to explore the information and decide its validity and relevance.

I just wanted there to be a place on the web that this topic can be discussed openly without information being forced on us.