"Don't talk about it, be about it" mentality

I think talking about it helps alot especially for beginners. Plus the more people you tell, the more it might help you because you have made a commitment.

On the other hand, every year I hear the same group of people talk about their weight loss plans and these awful extreme diets that never work and I just want to roll my eyes.

I fall into the talking about it group. I want to know what other people are doing and hopefully one day people will come up to me and ask what I did.

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I like that saying. Talk is REALLY cheap. After listening to endless people talk and talk and talk about "I have to lose weight, "I'm so fat," "how do I get rid of my stomach" and realizaing that they don't want a solution, they just want to talk, well, it's really easy to want to keep my mouth shut.

I read something about the Tao te ching...."The Tao that can be spoken is not the true tao." I take it as the more you discuss something and try to figure it out, the more connfusing if becomes and it's original message is diluted. You don't get the real good stuff trying to be conveyed by the message. You have to live the Tao (or "the way"), not talk about it.

Same with this. Talking about it leads to more talking and less doing. People can talk about different ways of exercising and eating and go around and around in circles and yet what do we constantly hear on this site? "I've tried every diet under the sun and I never lose weight. " I guarantee they talk about it all the time.

I guess for some it fulfills some need inside to talk about it because they know they are not going to do anything about it but UNCONSCIOUSLY they hope whoever is listening to them is thinking that they actually may do it.

Crazy stuff. I'm no professional but I am definitely a student of human nature. I watch and listen and I make my own conclusions. But I act and I do and I git 'er done.

However, I love to talk about fitness and good eating with like-minded people ie those who are actually doing it. I like to get workout tips and compare exercises with others. What I said above refers to the ones who do not much BUT talk. And, I get that some people are really not interested in fitness so I don't discuss that with them unless they ask and it has to be a serious question, not "How do you stay in shape? I'm so lazy and I love to eat." Ugh, just shut up.

I think that it means don't only talk about what what you want to do, you have to actually DO what you are talking about.

Do you think that its insensitive to talk about progress, goals, food with or around people who aren't on the same page?

Your friends' interpretation is fine, but so is yours. Definitely don't talk the talk if you cant walk the walk.

No one appreciates a bore, so as long as you are aware enough to know when people don't gaf about your health/fitness efforts, its OK to talk about what you are doing. Maybe something you say will inspire someone...

To me it just means if you're gonna talk a big game it better look like you live that way. Bugs me when overweight people talk about being healthy every January and fall off the wagon by Valentine's Day. To me that's just talking about it for notoriety not doing anything to change your circumstances.

That being said, I think it's really important to talk about your fitness journey. I don't talk about it much in conversations, but I have a fitness blog and post on social networking sites about my journey quite a bit too.

......Do you think that its insensitive to talk about progress, goals, food with or around people who aren't on the same page?

Keep it to yourself, because honestly,

If you're someone who truly busts your *kitten* to be as good as you can be at whatever it is you do, then I want to hear about it. I want to learn whatever I can from you. Doesn't really matter if I'm currently a stronger and/or more experienced lifter than you. If you're giving it your all, there is something I can learn from you that would be of use to me in my own training, so talk away.

If your only purpose for going to the gym is so you can check in on Facebook and act like you're working hard, then yeah, just shut up about it.

The paradox is that people who give it their all are less likely to initiate a conversation about how awesome they are than someone who takes a gym selfie a few times a week as evidence of their "hard work."

Maybe don't talk about it unless it comes up in conversation. I have some friends at work that are fabulously fit and healthy and I ask them questions all the time. It's nice to have someone to talk to (in person) about it when I am looking for an answer. But really most people don't want to hear me talk about my weight loss journey everyday. I do find I get a lot of support though.

Obviously, if someone is super passionate about something and won't stop going on about it - that can be a bit much.

That said...

I think talking about your goals, progressions, what works/what doesn't work is a very important part of the process. I personally enjoy talking about that stuff with my friends, and luckily I am surrounded by people that agree. Obviously we balance that out by talking about a ton of different topics, but just like I'd comment on a sports score to a friend, or a movie I saw, or some mutual experience we shared...Id comment about something that happened in the gym as well.