When you are unsure of the main character's motivations, you tend to keep watching the movie.

When you imagine more than one way for him to resolve the main conflict, you want to keep reading the novel.When you interpret the songwriter's lyrics in more than one way, you're more likely to listen to the song again and again and again.Ambiguity in entertainment keeps things interesting - and when you're doing the deep thinking needed to interpret profound quotations.Take the use of "another," for instance, in Marcus Aurelius's observation that "it's a wise man that learns one thing from another." Is it supposed to refer to a person or a thing?While you can make an argument for either, interpreting it as the latter gives the saying more gravitas. That interpretation implies an interconnectivity in life that's rather comforting.That interconnectivity is so true that it's often an element of this column. That's because for you to find optimal health and fitness, you must find a way to interweave working out and eating right with family commitments, job commitments, community commitments, and your social life.In short, as committed as you may be to optimal health and fitness, there's no way with that it can be your sole focus.And it doesn't have to be - if Marcus Aurelius is really right, that is. Then, all you need to do is learn how to "learn one thing from another."That's why this week's column will elaborate upon a study published this winter in the journal Scientific Reports about the correlation between excessive sugar intake and Alzheimer's disease. While readers of this column are unlikely to ingest sugar excessively or suffer from any form of dementia, there's one rather interesting development from this research that a wise man can learn from it.Not only did the research performed at the University of Bath in Australia find that excessive blood sugar damages an enzyme that counteracts the type of inflammation found in the early stages of Alzheimer's, but it also suggested that you have a "tipping point" - what The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language defines as "a critical moment in a complex situation in which a small influence or development produces a sudden large or irreversible change" - that causes this to occur.The concept of a tipping point can be applied to virtually every facet of your health and fitness. If you keep it in mind when you decide what foods to eat or not to eat; where, when, and how long to work out; and whether or not to get up early or sleep in late, it can only improve your levels of health, performance - and happiness.Allow me to share two examples where I've exceeded my personal "tipping point" and suffered because of it.Two columns ago, I wrote that once every two or three years I have a bout of Irritable Bowel Syndrome that can force me into the fetal position for 45 minutes. The cause? Too many "good carbs" - like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, salad greens, soy products, and high-fiber cereal - in too short a time.The fact that many of these foods contain fermentable carbs is part of what makes them "good." The high amount of fiber in all of them is part of what makes them "good."But combine pounds of fermentable carbs with 150 or so grams of fiber in a relatively short period of time, and the outcome goes from "good" to "bad."Why? My personal digestive tipping point has been reached, which leads to a bloated discomfort and occasional and painful cramps.About the time I was penning the IBS column, I experienced a few weeks of subpar bicycle rides. The rides were supposed to make me a stronger for racer. Instead, they made my legs feel rubbery, not painful exactly, but certainly incapable of producing maximum power.No single ride was responsible.It was the calmative effect of pushing to produce a near-maximum effort four times a weekly, however, that took my legs' ability to recover and then get stronger well past the tipping point.After you hit the tipping point in any type of workout, the only remedy is a combination of rest and recovery, two things that I usually don't do well.But luckily for me, I felt so bad one Saturday that it scared me into riding really easily or not at all until Wednesday and going to bed almost an hour earlier than normal. On Wednesday's ride, I did give a few near-maximum efforts, but about half of what I normally do on a typical "hard" midweek ride.After two more easy days, I raced a five-mile uphill time trial.My time was 40 seconds faster than in 2016, good enough for third place, a little bit of money, and - more importantly - peace of mind.So be a "wise man" and learn from my mistakes. Recognize when you're approaching the tipping point before you actually get there.