A Better Way To View Health & Fitness

Most people view health and fitness in an unhelpful way. They expect motivation to stay high, results to be linear and themselves to always be in control.

These three analogies explain a better way to understand fat loss, behaviour change and long term fitness results.

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Most people massively overcomplicate health and fitness. They view it like a maths problem to solve, a punishment to endure or a battle against themselves. You should eat this, avoid that, train harder, stay motivated, never fail. Then when things do not go to plan they assume something is wrong with them.

Over the years I have found analogies are often a far better way of understanding the process. They simplify things and make people see what is actually going on. I often find myself repeating the same few examples with clients when explaining results, behaviours and metabolism. Below are three of my favourites –

Why You Should View Health & Fitness As A Garden? –

Your health and fitness naturally changes over time whether you pay attention to it or not. Left alone for long enough, things usually become harder to manage. The goal is not perfection, but learning how to maintain and shape this area of your life in a way that works for you.

Plants, trees and grass grow on their own accord regardless of what your views are on them. Vegetation when left to itself has a tendency to overgrow and become inhospitable with weeds and stinging nettles etc. If you have left your garden for a while or are addressing it for the first time then it will take a longer and a more concerted effort to get it into order. Once sorted, it takes regular maintenance to keep it functioning, but generally it is not that hard to maintain it. A garden is a garden, you do not have to make it nice, it is you who will enjoy it’s benefits and you who will miss out on it’s potential if choose to avoid tending for it. The great thing about gardens is that there are many ways you can arrange it and can choose how much time to put in, from dedicating your life to it or just doing the minimal to make it functional. You are not born a gardener, you have to learn, practice and then continue to care for it over time. It is about creating a place that you can use and enjoy as you see fit. 

It is the same with health & fitness, it affects you whether or not you think about it and your body in the modern world will become a mess if it is not given time and attention. You do not have to focus on your health and fitness. It is both you who gets the benefits of it or lives within the limits it may have on you. Life is easier and more enjoyable if you have developed this area.

Key Takeaway

Health and fitness is not something you “complete”, it is something you maintain and shape over time. You decide in what direction and what level of input your will give it.

Why Should You View Behaviour Change Like Riding A Horse? –

Your body and behaviours are not fully under conscious control. Hunger, habits, cravings and emotions all influence your actions, often before you even think about them. The goal is not to force yourself into perfection, but to gradually learn how to guide the process more effectively.

A good analogy for this process is to think about riding a horse. The horse represents your body and behaviours while you are the jockey. However good you are at riding, you are never totally in charge of the process, the horse still has a mind of its own. For many people when they try to change shape it is like they are on a very unruly horse for the first time ever. It can take time to learn how to ride and direct the animal but with practice anyone can become skilled at it. 

Examples of this interplay include when you binge eat because of low blood sugar (body), if you eat badly only when around friends (behaviour) or when you cut out junk food and resist cravings at the start of a new regime (You).

Key Takeaway

Your body and behaviours are not fully under your control, but they can be trained and guided over time.

Why Should You View Your Metabolism Like Surfing A Wave? –

Fat loss is not a smooth, predictable process where motivation stays high and everything goes to plan. Hunger, energy levels and cravings naturally fluctuate during a calorie deficit, especially as body fat drops. The better you understand this, the less likely you are to panic or blame yourself when things get difficult.

Linked closely to this is viewing your metabolism as a wave, which we have talked about previously, and imaging yourself as a surfer trying to get to shore. 

Viewing it as an ocean wave shows that your metabolism is not fixed nor constant but it is changing and unpredictable. The greater your calorie deficit or the larger amount of body fat lost the bigger the wave becomes. This means your hunger increases, your motivation weakens and your energy levels become much more variable. You may find the wave gets so big it crushes you and knocks you off the board. This could mean you binge for a few days, quit your exercise programme or maybe you get sick with a cold.

At this point you may become demotivated and question why you cannot stick to the plan, you feel down, guilty and angry.  But does a surfer really feel guilty for a wave knocking them off the board? Why not blame the wave?  

It is wrong to think that you are just in charge of your metabolism. Surfers fall off waves all the time, just gather yourself and jump back on the next wave when you are ready.

Key Takeaway

Fat loss becomes harder the bigger the calorie deficit and the more body fat you lose. You are not in total control of how your body reacts, rather you must adjust to what it is telling you. Falling off track is part of the process, not proof you failed. 

What Does This Mean For You

Often the biggest problem in health and fitness is simply having an unhelpful way of viewing the process. People blame themselves, expect things to be linear or think they should somehow stay perfectly motivated and be in control all the time.

In reality, this area is much more like a skill. You learn, practice, adjust and get better over time. The better you understand what is actually going on, the easier it becomes to work with yourself rather than against yourself.

That is also why coaching helps. Often it is not more knowledge people need, but help making sense of the process and sticking with it long enough to get results. 

Summary

• Health and fitness is easier when you use helpful mental models

• Your body and behaviours are not fully under conscious control

• Fat loss is naturally variable and unpredictable at times

• Results come from learning, adapting and staying consistent over time

• The goal is to work with yourself rather than against yourself

Photo – A photo from my surfing metabolism video, me on a horse and an enjoyable time destroying a overgrown garden a few years ago – 

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