To lose weight you will have to become homo economicus for a while.

What is homo economicus?

The term homo economicus, or economic man, is the portrayal of humans as agents who are consistently rational, narrowly self-interested, and who pursue their subjectively-defined ends optimally.

To change yourself into a person who exercises and stays fit and slim you will have to be rational about your behavior at least in this area of your life. 

If we were perfectly rational creatures adverts for lottery tickets, doughnuts and booze would not exist. No human would smoke or overeat or bet on the outcome of a roll of a pair of dice. But we are not perfectly cool and rational beings.

Are we irrational are our actions irrational? 

I doubt it.  What we do even if it is not good for us meets some kind of need or want we have at that moment. I am not a behavioral biologist, evolutionist, anthropologist, sociologist, psychologist... so I will not put forward any opinion as to why we do things that don't appear to be good for us. However, they probably make sense to us at that moment. Even if they don't make sense we can certainly think of a reason for them to appear okay. To change to get what we "really" want we need to transcend ourselves at the moment of decision making. We also need to transcend ourselves while the urge to do what we do not want to do fades away. How to do this?

Subjectively Defined Ends

I am going to take the action that will get me to my subjectively defined end. 

What is a subjectively defined end? It is what you want.

Ask yourself this question What do I want? Not what any other person wants for me or wants me to do. But, WHAT DO I WANT?

What do you want?

This blog is about weight loss, getting fit, and staying fit. What do you want from your weight loss and healthy life? Be honest with yourself. 

I like feeling healthy and alert but close to this is looking good in well-cut clothes.  I like to wear tailored jackets and slim fit shirts. Pure vanity I know, but it is a strong driver for me. 

Pursuing your ends optimally.

That just means doing the stuff that will get you what you want. Will Kentucky Fried Chicken help me look good? Will a tub of Ben and Jerrys make me feel bright and alive. Will sitting on a sofa for 6 hours in the evening strengthen my bones and muscle, will it help me stand straighter? 

You will need to think about your food buying and eating. you will need to think about how you are spending your time. You will need to think about the thing you are doing now or the thing you are about to do. Now is the only time you can do something. So now is what is going to shape the future you.

You need to be rational.  You need to be aware of what you are doing now. Is this action in line with the pursuit of my want? If not, don't do it. Ask yourself what would be in line with your want, then do that.

 

It will become natural after a while

To change into the kind of person you want to be you will have to do what that kind of person does. For a while, you will really have to be on the ball. Be conscious of your thinking and be conscious of your actions. After some time your actions will, hopefully, automatically maintain your newfound slender, stronger self. Your thoughts will more naturally direct you toward good health. 

When taking up exercise. Just take-up exercise

 

When taking up exercise. Just take-up exercise

We often think we need to be tougher or have more willpower or have a really ambitious program. What we really need to do, is do something. 

• Something straight forward.
• Something simple.
• Something we can start doing now.

If I am a person who doesn't exercise the first thing to do is turn myself into someone who does exercise. What is something I can do 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 times a week that isn't going to kill me?

I do not have to go for a burn or work until exhaustion. I just have to do something. Get into a routine where exercising becomes my default my, normal.

I have decided to take up exercise.

The Exercise

Here's a scenario: You want to exercise regularly. But you have no experience of doing this. In school, you were a gym dodger. You decide to start exercise gently and simply. Simple is best, we can do and stick with simple. Simple needs little thought or preparation so presents fewer barriers to doing.

You have decided on walking every evening after work. Here is the plan: 

• Open front door.
• Put on trainers.
• Turn around
• Step outside.
• Close door.
• Walk.

Really simple actions. You don't need to change clothes, just on with the trainers and out of the door. (Dump your bags inside). No thinking

How the head can complicate the process with opinion and narrative.

I am so lazy I probably won't bother. 

What if I feel tired when I get in? 

 I really should be doing more like running. Walking is so lame? 

I could do this tomorrow.

It has been a long day. I am tired. 

I will never keep this up I know what I am like. 

What if it's raining?

It really doesn't matter whether you have a high or low opinion about yourself when it comes to exercise. Don't get into an argument with yourself. Just do what it is you said you would do. Where your legs lead your head will follow. It might take a while but your mind will catch up with your body. You are what you do not what you think about yourself. 

If you went for a walk you are somebody who went for a walk. That simple it doesn't require an opinion or personal judgment. Same thing if you sat on the sofa all night eating ice cream. you sat on the sofa eating ice cream. That doesn't. require a judgment either. it is what it is.

Here are some answers.

I'm so lazy I probably won't bother.

It doesn't matter what I think just get on and do the thing.

What if I feel tired when I get in?

Then I feel tired when I get in. Just go for the walk. 

 I really should be doing more like running walking is so lame? 

Blah, blah another opinion. I said I was walking, so I'm walking.

I could do this tomorrow.

...but I said I would do it now if I keep my promise I will get good at keeping my promises.

It has been a long day. I am tired. 

Yes, I am tired. So I will do this walk while I'm tired.

I will never keep this up I know what I am like. 

I don't have to keep it up I just have to do it now. If I do it, I will be someone who keeps things up.

What if it's raining?

Then I will get wet.

Do something.

Something, anything. Whatever it is you are doing now isn't working. If you are overweight and or sedentary take some exercise.

What exercise is a matter for you but whatever you decide, do it.

Do it badly. do it slowly, do it in bad mood, do it in a good mood, do it if you feel like it, do it if you don't. 

Losing Weight Means Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

Moving out of your comfort zone to lose weight. Get fit. And stay fit.

If you think changing what you eat may be annoying.

If you think taking up exercise could be uncomfortable.

If you think changing some habits will be an effort.

You are right.

Ask yourself how comfortable are you now?

Are there things about your life that make you feel uncomfortable now?

Are clothes too tight?

Do you feel unattractive?

Do you get puffed too quickly?

Are you already outside your comfort zone?

Or at least on the edge of it?

Is your own behaviour causing you unease?

How comfortable are you now?  

Treat unease or discomfort as information.

Make a choice about the discomfort you are going to feel.

Here’s a for instance:

You want to lose weight and improve your diet.

So, you have decided to cook a meal with fresh foods when you get home from work.

On your way home you start to think about the preparation and the time and effort involved. You are a little tired after work.

Scenario 1:

The idea seems like too much effort. So you decide to order take out food or get some fast food on the way home. How do you feel about yourself after? 

Scenario 1:

The idea of cooking still seems an effort but you go home and cook anyway. Nothing too complicated but in line with your goals. How do you feel about yourself after? 

Losing weight & getting healthy means change.

Change means doing things we are not used to doing.

Changing your behaviour to lose weight 

Probably will cause a bit of tension in you.

Decide! Which variety of discomfort will you have?

The discomfort of staying overweight and becoming more unhealthy.

The discomfort of changing your diet and taking exercise

Take your pick. 

The choice is yours. You have the power.

You can swap the discomfort you are used to.

For the discomfort, you are consciously choosing.

Feeling uncomfortable is unavoidable. 

Just choose the discomfort you are going to have.

After a while, it won’t be uncomfortable.

Life improves as we change.

What was uncomfortable once (going for a run, not going to the fridge when you're bored) can become your new normal.

What made you uncomfortable once could be the thing that cheers you up.

I find if I’m feeling flat a quick run even just 15 minutes lifts my mood almost instantly.

To sum up.

1. Treat discomfort and unease as information.

2. Accept feeling uncomfortable sometimes.

3. You can choose the discomfort to have.

I'm Sticking To My Diet but Putting on Weight.

 A  Reason to be Happy About Weight Fluctuation When Dieting.

When we exercise hard during a weight loss program we can still put on weight in the short term. Looking at the scale and seeing it not move or worse, go up a couple of pounds or a kilo can be a little disheartening. 

Don't worry, if you are genuinely sticking to your diet and working out it is probably water weight. Whether the exercise you are doing is cardio (such as running, aerobics or cycling)  or strength training. 

If we are exercising harder then we are used to or different from what we normally do muscle is forced to grow. As we exercise our muscle fibers become damaged and then grow back stronger and possibly larger. In doing this they get surrounded by and filled with water. Water is denser than fat so it shows up clearly on the scale. Don't worry about this effect it is what you want as you recompose your body. We want to lose fat, not muscle and more muscle is good. 

If you are performing any kind of exercise that requires endurance like running, cycling, or aerobics classes there is also another water-holding effect.  Your muscle will adapt to store more glycogen for the next activity. Glycogen is a fuel your body uses to produce energy. For every gram of glycogen your muscle stores, it also holds 3-4 grams of water. You want this, it means you can work out longer. It also makes your muscle bigger and gives you better definition. 

The water retention process will not go on forever you will not end up like a giant water balloon. There is a limit to how much water you will hold. Accompanying the weight increase could be a decrease in your waist size and a little more muscle definition. A good thing. 

Why I am Writing This.

I decided to lose a few Kilos. I was a healthy weight but had put on around 3Kilos (6LBS). The gym is shut due to COVID 19. A  shoulder injury was limiting some of the training I could do. So I decided to increase my running. Running had been a bit of half-arsed. Barely picking my feet up jogging with the odd 50 or 60-meter sprint. Nothing to write home about. So as the weight lifting was out I thought half marathon training alongside a diet would be a good idea.

Three reasons for this. 

1. Maintain or increase fitness.
2. Retain muscle.
3. I wanted to eat more than 2000 calories a day.

The upshot is even though I have a median calorie deficit of 600 calories a day over the past couple of weeks my weight is still the same (it went from 70Kilo to 69Kilo then back to 70). Looking in the mirror I can see a better outline on my abs, my waist measures 1/2 inch less, and my jeans are a little slacker around the waist. This is probably because the muscles being engaged the most are big ones. Glutes, quads, hamstrings, and abdominals. I know they are being engaged because they are still throbbing gently after yesterday's run. These bigger muscles retain more water weight than smaller ones like biceps. I noticed the same thing happening a couple of years ago when I began barbell squatting.

In Short, if you are in a calorie deficit. And if you are exercising enough to feel it. Upward weight fluctuation is probably water stored in muscle. Be happy things are moving in the right direction.

http://www.nutritionatc.hawaii.edu/HO/2002/135.htm

Delayed Consequences of the Food We Eat

There can be delayed debilitation, sickness, and unhealthiness from the food we eat. In our evolutionary past when we ate something that made us ill we left it alone after. Even now if we have a food that leaves us feeling sick we may never touch it again. Now, look at the world we live in. We buy food and eat food that we can guarantee is not going to make us ill. If  I eat a couple of jam doughnuts and drink orange juice I will be fine. I won’t feel sick, I won’t have the runs. 

But what about the cumulative effects of refined processed food? When will I be eating the slice of cake that pushes me into type 2 diabetes? What scoop of ice cream will be one that makes it hard to climb the stairs? What was the thing I ate that made my low-level inflammation chronic and noticeable? 

Our food is not poisonous. We do not have immediate or next-day feedback telling us that something is causing us harm. 

Making us less and less healthy... 

This delayed downside can only be countered by thinking about our wants. By knowing what outcome we want in life. By consciously consuming what will meet our needs over the long term. This may seem like hard work. But nowhere near as hard as having to dig it out of the ground with a stick or the possibility of being gored and dying from an infection. 

This abundance we have is wonderful. I shop and cook with my health in mind. It comes automatically after a while. It is not difficult once it’s a habit.  

We only need to act now

The words get in the way sometimes. A habit when we are performing it is a thing we are doing. (Stating the obvious Alex). Here is a definition ‘something that you do often and regularly, sometimes without knowing that you are doing it’ https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/habit

We do not have to deal with the whole habit, the repetitive compulsion, the big picture. All we have to do is notice the thing which we are doing now. This is why we need to be conscious when we are putting change into practice. We only perform one action at one time in one place. The question is: Is this action taking me to what I want? If the answer is NO, stop doing it. If the answer is YES, do it.

We are always doing something. Here is a scenario: you are sitting on your sofa watching TV. You said you were going for a walk or jog and it may be cold outside. Do you want to be on your sofa watching TV? (yes/no) You said you were going for a 30-minute jog or walk. Do you want to be going for a jog or walk? (yes/no) If you are conscious of sitting on your sofa you can stop doing it and go for the walk.  The yes and no at the moment do not matter. 

Whether you want to walk or you don’t. Whether you want to watch TV or you don’t.  Both are irrelevant. You said you were going for the walk. Are you a person who keeps their word to themself or not?

We do not have to fight an entire habit built up over the years. All we need to do is address that one action in that one place at that one time. The sofa habit will be weakened. The walking habit will be strengthened. More than that we can witness ourselves having power. We can see ourselves change. If we can do it at this moment in this place then we can do it again and again. We can change.

I can build a habit one action at a time