It doesn’t take willpower to lose weight and be healthy. It takes knowledge of how to work your own body.
In my post How to Use the Scientific Method for Superior Health, I made a comment I’d like to clarify. I said “Your body, your responsibility.”
I hope you didn’t roll your eyes when you read that. I meant something completely different than the popular view that people who are overweight just aren’t trying hard enough or using enough willpower.
It Doesn’t Take Willpower to Crack a Safe
Learning your body is like cracking a safe. Say your body has a 10-digit code you should use for optimal health. There are literally 10 billion combinations that could be right for you. For a lot people, 0123456789 works. OK, great. When that doesn’t work, we start grabbing at other numbers at random.
This website says try 0213456789. Damn, didn’t work.
This doctor says 1230456789. Shoot.
1234567890? Oh my gosh, I’m never going to get this!
But when you start listening to your body, it’s like this:
When we can listen to our body, it shows us the exact combination. Unfortunately, we still have the mindset that we need sheer willpower to try every recommended combination until we find the one that works for us. Most of us never find the optimal combination this way.
“It’s not that hard, you just have to work at it”
How do you know, not-that-helpful person giving advice? Taking care of our bodies is a unique experience unlike anyone else’s.
For example, I will never be a pro baseball player. No matter how hard I train, how much willpower I use, or how much money I spend, I will never have the ability to play pro baseball. It takes a certain amount of natural ability to be able to play at that level in addition to the blood, sweat, and tears.
But people with a natural ability to play sports may say things like “It’s not that hard, you just have to really want it and work at it.” Bullshit. No matter how good I get, I will never get to that level.
Being fit and healthy seems like a singular goal, like being a pro baseball player. You’ve got these ripped dudes telling you “Work hard and you can look like me.” Diet gurus that still tell you “Calories in vs. calories out.”
And worse, the people who put an MD after their name just to say “Take garcinia cambogia, you will lose weight or your money back!”
I’m sick of trying all these one-size-fits-all “combinations” that don’t fit me. I’m tired of failing at someone else’s diet and then feeling like I just didn’t have enough willpower to see it through. I’m finally ready to work smarter, not harder.
How to use your Food Journal to Crack the Safe
I created the Bite Me Food Journal to finally put that proverbial stethoscope to the safe. To crack a safe, you have to listen to one number at a time, learn it, then move on. I feel the same way about learning the body.
If you try to change too much at once, you will be overwhelmed and won’t be able to really hear what’s going on. The Food Journal allows you to get an idea of the current combination you are using. From there, you can start tweaking and listening, learning as you go.
After reading this, you may already know what you’d like to experiment with first. If so, great!!
If you don’t know where to start, go for some quick wins with daily goal setting.
A food journal is a great research-backed tool that can help you crack into your body’s own code. Download your Bite Me Food Journal today and get started!
The safe example really captures how I think about figuring out my own health. What do you think of the “cracking the safe” analogy? Write in the comments below and let me know! I really love to hear from you!
Beautiful and informative blog.
Thank you for writing this awesome post. Really it’s very helpful for my children. I shared this post my friends and family members also. Once again thank you so much
This is a beautiful post. And a great idea. It is fun and special to explore different parts of ourselves. With children we need to teach and learn. So much can be learned from their limitless minds where imagination never ends. What a great way to connect with our inner child as well. Thank you for sharing this idea.