First, a few basic observations:
1. America has a SERIOUS obesity problem, among other "diseases of civilization" (diabetes, heart disease, etc.). Watch this video, it's super scary.
2. Poor diet and lack of exercise clearly play a role in these problems.
3. Many (I'd venture to say most) people who attempt to exercise regularly and eat strict, healthy diets do not succeed in the long-term.
Something is just not working when it comes to people's attempts to be healthy. The problem is not a lack of effective diet and exercise programs... in fact, there is an overabundance of programs and many of them are effective. The problem is not genetics... the increase in rates of obesity has happened far too quickly to be attributed to genes. Lastly, the problem is not simply a lack of motivation, or will power, or positive thinking (ugh - Positive Thinking and Other Harmful Advice), although those are convenient ways of explaining away people's failures. People can have the best reasons in the world to get healthy and still struggle to maintain their diet and exercise routines. There must be something deeper going on here that is causing healthy behavior to sputter out. And as an expert in everything (with a specialty in behavior) I feel that it's my duty find out.
In behavioral science, when studying any behavior, the starting point is this: To understand (and ultimately to influence) behavior, you must understand its context. To give you a better sense of what is meant by this, I'll use a metaphor. Think of the event that we call "fire." Typically, when we think of how fire starts, we think in simple, mechanical, cause-and-effect terms like: "The fire was caused by the woman striking the match on a rough surface." But we don't truly understand fire until we understand the context in which fire occurs. A more complete description of this event would be to say, "In the presence of oxygen, the match is struck on the rough surface and fire occurs." The context here is key. If you don't consider the context of oxygen, you have an incomplete understanding of fire. And if you're having trouble lighting a fire, this means that you could get stuck on trying to improve the matches and completely miss the real problem.
So how can behavioral science and its fancy fire metaphor give us a better understanding of why people struggle to maintain healthy behavior? Well, we can start off by noticing that the problem is seemingly straight-forward, and so are the solutions: If you are overweight, then start exercising and eating healthy, and you will lose weight - end of story. And yet, here we are, with the highest rates of obesity in human history, still struggling to "fix" the problem. This tells us that we are missing a crucial piece of the puzzle, which I'm willing to bet is hidden in the context surrounding weight loss and diet. We are trying to start a fire without any oxygen in the room.
If you stop and consider it, the average person's experience with trying to diet and exercise sounds kind of like someone trying to start a fire in a room with no oxygen. The individual sets out to exercise and eat healthy, starts with a lot of energy and motivation, tries hard, persists for X amount of days or weeks, but slowly, the healthy behavior begins to fizzle out and eventually stops altogether. Then maybe at some point down the road they try again, push themselves harder, change up their approach, use different programs, different techniques, but in the end the healthy behavior again fizzles out. And when all is said and done, they walk away blaming themselves (or their genes) for not being able to make it work.
So let's take a look at the context surrounding diet and exercise. To get a better sense of what that is, we need to ask the following questions: What is healthy behavior (dieting, exercising, etc.) being used to accomplish? When someone begins engaging in healthy behavior, what are they hoping it will do for them? What will it help them get more of? What will it help them get rid of, or get away from? What we're really asking is: What are people's "reasons" for engaging in healthy behavior?
For most people, the reasons are pretty straight forward: Looking better, feeling better, living longer, etc. In all honesty, these seem like pretty great reasons. These are the reasons that are advertised on commercials and the covers of dieting books. But are these reasons really why people try to diet and exercise? I'm not so sure. Let's stop for a moment and ask... Why do we really care about looking good? Well, because we don't want to look bad. Because if we are overweight, others will judge us and think less of us, and that is embarrassing. Why do we really care about feeling good? Because the alternative is feeling sick and lethargic. Why do we really want to live longer? Because we're afraid of dying an early, and possibly painful, death. Crouching behind each one of these seemingly positive reasons, there is a dark, fearful counterpart, sucking the oxygen right out of the room.
You might think that I'm just being cynical, and that the positive side of these reasons are really why people diet and exercise, but don't take my word for it (even though I'm an expert in everything). Consider for yourself what the typical conversations about diet and exercise sound like. It's not very often that you hear a conversation about diet and exercise that sounds like this: "Hey Jim! Just started a new diet today.... Can't wait to have more energy and mental clarity in a few weeks!" or "Got a new gym membership last week..... my back muscles are going to be super toned in a couple months!" or "You have to check out this new healthy food I discovered, it's so delicious and the texture is incredible!" More times than not, the conversations sound something like this: "Look at my legs... I look gross... I have to get back on my diet," or "Ugh... I feel like crap.... I need to start exercising again," or "Yup... salad for lunch again.... I'm on a diet... I wish I could eat what you're eating."
Notice that these hidden reasons we're talking about all have something in common: They are all about getting away from something, whether it be body fat, social disapproval, sickness, or death. This is important. It turns out that when it comes to behavior, there is a big difference between behavior that is about getting "away" from something and behavior that is about moving "towards" something. Years ago, the field of behavioral science discovered that when a behavior is about getting "away" from something, for example something dangerous or frightening, the behavior tends to be rigid, inflexible, erratic, and difficult to shape or maintain. Picture the behavior of a rodent running for its life, being chased by a larger predator. It's going to frantically run, crawl, kick, and climb until it is no longer being chased, and then it will likely stop as soon as it is out of danger. On the other hand, when behavior is about moving "towards" something desirable, it tends to be smoother, more flexible, and more easily shaped and maintained. Consider the same rodent searching for food. It's movements are going to be slower, calmer, and more flexible as it follows it's sense of smell, explores, and moves from one potential food source to another.
And that's not all. There's another problem, a uniquely human problem, that goes along with making health-related behavior about getting "away" from something. Human beings don't just try to get away from direct, immediate threats like predators. We also try to escape from things that are made dangerous through thinking and language. Things that aren't directly harmful or threatening right now in this moment, but are considered "bad" or socially unacceptable. Like fat on our bodies, for example. Your body fat is not likely to physically harm or kill you in this moment in the way a predator could. It is considered "bad" because of what it can do over the long-term, and because of what society says about it. It is the idea or thought of "being fat" that we are really running from. And there's something weird that happens when our behavior is about getting away from a thought... the behavior can actually serve to remind us of the very thing we're trying to get away from.
For example, if your reason for exercising is because you consider yourself to be "fat," and want to get away from being "fat," then whenever you stop and consider why you are exercising, you'll be reminded of your fat. If you are dieting and avoiding certain foods in order to get away from being "fat," then every time you pass on those foods you will be reminded that you are doing so because of your fat. In essence, the thing that you are exercising and dieting to get rid of, becomes the central feature of your exercise and dieting. And so your dieting and exercising will be a constant reminder of that thing. This is why diet and exercise often feel like a form of self-punishment. And worst of all, if you do the dieting and exercise and the weight doesn't go away, then you're left asking "Well what the hell is the point of all of this exercise?!"
As long as diet and exercise continue to be "about" getting away from things like fat, social disapproval, and the threat of illness and early death, they will continue to be "about" those very things. They will be like all "away," escape-oriented behaviors: rigid, erratic, forced, and difficult to maintain. They will be based on, and reliant on, fear and shame. They will essentially become about running away from yourself and your own body as it is in the present. And there's no treadmill that goes fast enough for that.
So what is the alternative?
To run towards something.
If you read accounts of early explorers encountering human beings that were untouched by modern civilization, they are always described as being in excellent physical health. Lean, muscular, agile, and resilient. Their health did not come from planned, regimented exercise routines. It came about as a side-effect... a byproduct of engaging in activities that required, and resulted in, physical strength. And I'm not talking just about hard, miserable labor. In Herman Melville's novel "Typee," an autobiographical novel in which he describes his experience of being held captive by a tribe of Polynesian islanders, he describes these islanders as being incredibly fit and healthy. However, to his surprise, he found that they engaged in little to no "hard labor." They spent their days walking, foraging, climbing trees to obtain food, swimming, fishing, dancing, and occasionally engaging in brief scuffles with opposing tribes. Their good health came as a byproduct of doing things that were natural and enjoyable. These islanders would probably either laugh, or cock their heads to the side in utter confusion if they saw a "civilized" person engaging in exercise.
Our mistake is that we approach physical health in the same way that we approach emotional health, by trying to force the desired end result to happen, rather than engaging in things that allow it to happen. To get to physical health and well-being, we need to stop trying so hard to get to physical health and well-being. Instead, we need to create a context that ignites our interest and sense of play, and engage in things that are fun, meaningful, and enjoyable, and that *as a side effect,* result in better physical health. If we take a lesson from some of the most physically fit and healthy people out there, you'll often find that that they approach their exercise as play, or simply as a means of getting to some more meaningful or important end. Athletes who train to be better at the sports that they play, dancers and gymnasts, people who engage in their exercise not to burn fat but to achieve a faster run time, a higher rep count, or to master a new, difficult routine.
It's time we stopped "working out," and started playing. Whether it be playing a traditional "sport," hiking or running a local trail, or climbing trees in your backyard. And if you want to go the modern gym or exercise equipment route, then find playful workouts to do or make your workouts into play. Shop around for the most interesting or challenging workout you can find. And when you've gotten bored of that, find another one. If you're going to run, don't make your run about how much fat you'll burn, but instead ask "how much further or faster can I run this time?" or "what beautiful scenic location can I run at today?" or "what new, unplanned route can I take on my run?" Don't make your exercise about getting away from your own body as it is in the present, but about making your body stronger and more capable, so you are better able to play.
Ever since beginning to approach my exercise as play, I rarely do the same workout twice in one month. If I'm working out with traditional equipment like weights or a pull-up bar, I try to model every move that I make after activities that are more fun or natural (Example: while doing pull-ups, trying to simulate the activity of climbing by switching up the movements rapidly or intentionally making the bar uneven). I've acquired, or pieced together in my garage, workout equipment that seemed fun or interesting (Example: Human Torque Training - Steel club exercises). The goofier and more playful the workout, the better. If I get an eye-roll or look of embarrassment from my wife, I know I'm on the right track. And the best part about all of this, is that it has absolutely nothing to do with burning fat, making my body appear a certain way, or any of the other standard health reasons. If I walk past the mirror at some point and notice some kind of positive change in my body, BONUS! Awesome. But not really the point. On to the next workout...
When taking a look at dieting in particular, an important piece of context surrounding healthy eating that absolutely destroys people's desire to eat healthy is that our modern, common sense notions of "healthy" and "unhealthy" eating are completely upside down. Around 10,000 years ago, after surviving for millions of years on nutrient-dense fatty meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, human beings transitioned into the age of agriculture, and began to rely heavily on cereal grains as a cheap, high-yield food source. Cereal grains (like wheat, rice, barley, oats, etc.) are basically the fruits and seeds of domesticated grasses (yum!) and are really meant to be eaten by grass-feeding animals who have evolved to be able to digest them well. Because we did not evolve to eat these foods, they cause inflammation in our gastrointestinal tract, leading to a number of health problems. They are also very high in carbs, leading to constant spikes in insulin levels (the real cause of obesity). The context is key in dieting as well as exercise. In the context of a diet high in GI disrupting, insulin-spiking cereal grains, it is next to impossible to lose weight and achieve optimal health. Being that the Standard American Diet is completely centered around grains, once again people are attempting to light a fire in a room with no oxygen.
I could go on about grains and evolutionarily-informed diets for days, being that I am an expert in everything, but there are other bloggers out there that have already done an amazing job covering this in detail (I highly recommend Primal Blueprint - marksdailyapple.com as a definitive guide to an evolutionarily- and scientifically-informed diet). I'll just say this: If you want to eat healthy, don't make it about counting calories and cutting fat, make it about seeking out the most nourishing, delicious, real food that you can find and afford. Make it about treating your body in a loving way by giving it what it really needs and wants - and taking the time to research and think about what the human body really wants based on it's evolutionary history. Your body does not want cereal grains meant for grass-feeding animals. It does not want refined sugar or unhealthy, processed vegetable oils. It certainly does not want synthetic, artificial food products. Rather than making your dieting about restricting "bad" foods, make it about seeking out real food, and then really experiencing and appreciating that food. Incidentally, it turns out that when you slow down and actually taste your food more fully, real food just plain tastes better. Don't buy prepackaged diet-program meals or just eat the one "healthy" food you're familiar with every day like you're serving some type of prison sentence, make eating into play by trying different recipes and different (real) foods that you've never tried.
When I eat "healthy," I define that as simply eating according to what my body really needs and wants, according to our evolutionary history - healthy fats, meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Even more importantly, I approach my healthy eating as play, just like with exercise. My cabinets are literally bursting with weird cooking gadgets, and my counters are covered with recipe books. I tote containers of homemade nut butters, jerky, and bricks of homemade chocolate (Neat fact: jerky and chocolate are not "unhealthy" if you make them yourself using real ingredients and minimal sugar) to work for snacks each day. And unlike the foods on a typical diet plan, I actually look forward to eating them. I don't eat "healthy" as some type of self-punishment, or because I have to. I eat the things that I eat because I want to... it is a pleasure to eat these foods, and even a privilege - keep in mind that bread and grains were the primary food source of poor, impoverished, oppressed, and malnourished populations for thousands of years and meats, fruits, etc. were a luxury available only to the wealthy. I consider myself lucky to not have to live on nutritionally bereft and GI disrupting cereal grains!
Maintaining good physical health can actually be very easy for people who live in industrialized countries and who are somewhat financially stable. That may sound arrogant, but that's only because our current dieting and exercise efforts have been made impossible by an unhelpful context. We have been trying to ignite healthy behavior in a room with no oxygen. We have been trying to exercise and change our eating habits with the sole purpose of escaping from our own bodies, from social disapproval, and from illness and death. Attempting to start and maintain healthy behavior in this type of context turns that behavior into a torturous, shame-driven battle against our own bodies. And even worse, it makes 2 things that are supposed to be enjoyable - physical activity and eating delicious, real food - into a chore! Diet and exercise need a new context to hang out in. One that is full of oxygen. They need a context that is playful, challenging, and about loving your exercise, your food, and your body rather than trying to run away from them. When diet and exercise become about the things you want to run towards, rather than the things you want to run away from, your healthy behavior will ignite, and it will burn effortlessly.
