The path of consciousness... as it relates to fitness

MireyGal76

The path of self-consciousness… as it relates to fitness…
*note* this is not purely me… some of the categorization parallels Steven Covey and some parallels Dale Carnegie. It’s not new, but I was thinking of it as it relates to fitness… hope you enjoy!

Blissful Ignorance… you do what you want to do, eat what you want to eat, and are relatively happy. You’re not aware how what you’re eating affects your body. You’re not aware of what you eat every day, or how much actual exercise you do. You exist in blissful ignorance.

Ignorance… You still do all of the above, but now you realize that you aren’t really happy with it. You want to change, but have no idea HOW. You know you should be eating better, but this is what you’ve always eaten. You know you should probably get out there and do something, maybe go to a gym or something, but what? How? You haven’t got a clue! You want more, but just don’t know HOW.

Unhappily Incompetent, but trying… You’ve started to try and get better. You’re watching your food more, starting to get an idea about calories, and food composition… fat, protein, salt, sugars. But OMG there’s so MUCH to KNOW! You feel overwhelmed, and incompetent, but you are trying to get better. You’re walking more often, parking further, taking the stairs every once in a while. You’ve set a goal – a target weight, or maybe a clothing size… you are working, but feel so darn incompetent!

Unhappily competent… and still trying… You have the calorie thing under pretty decent control, you’re starting to understand what food is good for you and what isn’t. You ARE eating better, you ARE exercising, you ARE seeing some results… but it’s not good enough. You are striving to be better, and sometimes in the striving you don’t realize that you have pretty much got the actions under control, but maybe you need patience too. You have a level of competency, you’re not perfect, but if you stop for a second, you will realize.. Hey, I’m doing a pretty damn good job!

Happily competent Often associated with entering maintenance mode. You are doing the do. You’re running along tickety boo… you are eating well (for the most part), you may not be logging every single thing anymore (because you have a good idea of what works for you now), exercise is a part of your life now (and you get cranky when you’re not getting any). As far as things go… you’ve arrived at your destination and now you get to enjoy it! BUT don’t enjoy too much, because you can easily slide back into unhappily competent, or even blissful ignorance!

For me... I bobble between the last two... where are you?

kmorg22

Unhappily Incompetent, but trying… You’ve started to try and get better. You’re watching your food more, starting to get an idea about calories, and food composition… fat, protein, salt, sugars. But OMG there’s so MUCH to KNOW! You feel overwhelmed, and incompetent, but you are trying to get better. You’re walking more often, parking further, taking the stairs every once in a while. You’ve set a goal – a target weight, or maybe a clothing size… you are working, but feel so darn incompetent!

sunnyside1213

Me too.

MireyGal76

so the trick to getting to the next level is education... check out the forum responses by some of the more seasoned (and in good shape) MFPers... pick up books, look online.

see if you can "hire" a trainer for a jump start session at a local gym, to help you with a starter set for working out.

do some research... knowledge is power.

then start applying that knowledge. and remember... try one thing at a time... you don't need to go crazy with all the latest fads (cleanses, keytones, intermittant fasting, all the buzz word fads)... take something and work with it. take your time, enjoy the process.