Know thyself.
This simple 2 word phrase seems so obvious on its surface that an explanation appears worthless. Nevertheless, most people will never know themselves. Most define their identity by what others say about them, despite the fact that these "others" may be completely wrong.
While the above can apply to a long list of things in life, the issues of training and health are near the top.
How is it viable for an emergent system (that being a person who is greater than the sum of his/her complex array of parts) to follow the routine and diet of another, and in so doing, achieve the same results?
How is it that I, prior to entering college, was able to intuitively eat my way to borderline obesity, while my stick of a roommate in college can eat whatever junk he pleases and not gain a pound?
The answer: My system is different than his. What has no impact on him has a detrimental impact on me.
What I define as good and bad dieting and training practices are relative to my experience. I can't make a universal claim regarding what the good, the bad, the healthy, or the unhealthy is, because I lack the perspective to do so. I can only make conjectures based on my own experience, the experience of others, and, to some degree, relevant scientific literature.
This is why it's incredibly important for you to understand yourself. Be your own expert on what works and doesn't work for you. Doing so will require a lot of attention to nuance and self-honesty, but if you can manage to do it (I'm still trying), I believe you can see massive amounts of improvement in any dieting or muscle building strategy you come across.
If there's one key thing I've learned through my obsessive research, it's this: the people who know themselves best and know how they best respond to certain types of foods and training methods are the ones who often achieve the greatest amount of long-term success. These people commit to a lifestyle that works for them.
When you understand the aforementioned, it can begin to make sense why there are so many contradictory ideas out there about building muscle and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Someone finds something that works (almost perfectly) for themselves, and then they write about that something as if it's going to universally benefit everyone else. Beware the lure of anyone who claims to have learned some previously unknown universal and foolproof method for fat loss or muscle building or health in general. People waste money every day on some new shiny ab roller, juicer, pill, or DVD, that in the end doesn't work for them.
Keep this in mind the next time you're swimming through the confusing and turbulent sea of dietary and muscle building dogma.
P.S.
If you're interested in reading more about emergence and how it relates to diet and fitness, checkout this article by a guy named Anthony Mychal: Down the Rabbit Hole
No comments:
Post a Comment