Ten years ago, I was 40 pounds heavier and sedentary. Every time my daughter shows her baby pictures I cringe. I believe running and later, at the suggestion of a friend, triathlon saved my health and eventually my life.

As I started my athletic journey, I learned to apply the principles of my business to improving my body composition. The same principles I use to maintain a profitable business I apply to managing my body composition.

The five principles:

1. Know your place. Where are you? This sounds simple but for me it requires the daily snapshot of weight, BMI and body fat percentage.
2. Know your goal. Where do you want to go? It is reasonable and maintainable?
3. Practice moderation. Radical changes in business and your personal life are often met with equally radical responses and failure.
4. Create institutional knowledge. What works for you? What science and habits are you going to retain?
5. Determine what is most profitable. For me, the biggest caloric bang for my time and effort is running. It is the one thing that makes it the easiest to manage my body composition.

All of this starts with my first rule which it is keep it simple. I keep it simple by:

• Shopping on the outside rectangle of my grocery store. Veggies, fruits, dairy, and meats.
• Eating organic first, local seasonal second and all others as my last choice.
• Avoiding sugar outside of training.
• Embracing fats; nut butters, olive oil, coconut oil.
• Eating smaller more frequent meals throughout the day.
• Cooking six nights per week and eating out at healthier restaurants.
• Not eliminating any food groups. I love a glass of great Cabernet and I might pair it with a nice piece of dark chocolate.
• No longer rewarding myself with food. A great workout does not merit ice cream at night.

This past week I joined my niece and nephew to watch the original Oliver Stone film, Wall Street. Two things we had to explain to them; that the brick against the character’s ear was an original cell phone and why everyone in the movie was thin.

In a culture of huge serving sizes, those of us focused on body composition have become significant outliers. Last week someone ask me if I had been ill because of the change in my body composition. I am trim, but compared to most of the people living in Indiana, I look thinner than most.

As people perceptions change of what is normal weight, the pressure to look “normal” increases. I can’t tell you how many people offer me seconds at events with the suggestion that I could use some food. Sometimes, no thank you is not enough and my family steps in to reassure people that I eat very well.

In business, you see the same asset inflation. More is better to most people. More debt (most people refer to this euphemistically as leverage), more equipment, more volume, more time at work and sometimes more profit (rarely a function of the more is better principle).

Body composition continues to evolve for me as I continue to apply new principles of business, conditioning and nutrition. Like my business, I will focus on managing my assets in a way that fits my goals and my values.