Reprogramming your health is about consistently making the healthy choice. It is about deciding that you want a healthy body, and then consistently performing the actions that align with this decision.
As we all know, this is the hardest part of any lifestyle change. It is easy to get motivated to change, and it is easy to tell your friends all about all the magic that is about to ensue. It is easy to see the goal, write out a plan for how to get there, and get excited for the results.
It is so incredibly hard to take consistent action every single day – to do the hard work that must be done to achieve the results.
This post is not about the secret to how to make the right decision. We’ll save that one for another day. Right now, I want to discuss something that I believe is equally important.
Showing up and doing the hard work is tough, but nothing is worse that showing up, fully prepared to follow through with the right decision, only to stall out when it comes down to what that decision actually is. So with that, today we will aim to tackle the question, What does it mean to make the healthy choice?
A Framework for Healthy Choices
When it comes to making a decision there are a large number of factors that the mind takes into consideration. For the purpose of this article we will focus on one component: knowledge.*
A knowledge-based decision is made up of two parts: a goal, based on the ultimate value and desire, and a method of achieving that goal.
Some familiar (but maybe not ideal) examples…
I value being thin… so I eat fewer calories OR … so I exercise twice as hard
I value convenience… so I eat cereal for breakfast OR … so I’ll pick up fast food on the way home
I’m sure we’re all familiar with this sort of framework, as we make decisions based off of how we understand an action to lead to a goal on a regular basis. For example, I understand that if I keep putting in the hours at my day job, I will continue getting paid. I understand that if I put in hours producing quality content, I may be promoted and get paid even more.
The problem is that, when it comes to healthy decision-making, many of these goals and corresponding actions are not exactly in alignment. That is, many of the commonly held beliefs surrounding healthy choices may not lead to the best decisions regarding actions that will lead to our desired results.
For example, exercising twice as hard is probably not the best method to achieve and maintain our ideal weight (as I have learned first hand), and aiming to eat less has arguably created more problems than it actually ended up fixing (as can be heard in the innumerable voices fed up with the diet industry). And yet, a key concept ingrained in today’s society is the idea of eating less and exercising more if we want to lose weight.
It’s clearing up these misconstrued health-related concepts that we must work on today with the Reprogrammed framework for making healthy decisions.
Remember, the ultimate goal central to the Reprogrammed Systems Approach is good health, and so our decision-making framework follows as such:
I value being healthy… so I (take this action)
In a sense, this means busting down some health myths. But, more than that, it involves working on defining what a healthy decision means for ourselves, along with what the wisest method of filling in that action may be.
Making the Healthy Choice
Health is a concept that has been over-stretched and, in my opinion, rather abused. The concept of “good health” has been applied to a large number of concepts, many of which have nothing to do with health but instead with ideological principles.
If we are going to make decisions based on the value of health, we need to make sure that we are crystal clear on what the term “health” really is.
While there are a number of perspectives from which we can view health, The Reprogrammed Systems Approach views health from a biological perspective (as we are indeed biological organisms). The health of any biological system has a great deal to do with its ability to maintain homeostasis – that is, the ability to maintain a state of dynamic equilibrium over time – and so it is to this balance that we look when discussing good health.
Homeostasis often has to do with the ability for a system to gather the resources it needs to perform the functions it needs to survive. In order to accomplish this task, the system must be able to understand its needs. It does this by different forms of communication. For example, as you hold your breath, carbon dioxide builds up in your body, and the body sends out a pain signal from your lungs along with a strong neural signal to gasp for air. In this way, the body communicates its needs (the release of carbon dioxide and the inhalation of oxygen) to you in a form that is has been given via the power of natural selection.
A second example is blood sugar concentration. It is of utmost importance that blood sugar concentration stays within a tight range. If blood sugar drops too low then systems that need sugar as a source of energy (e.g. the brain or red blood cells) lose their ability to function and the organism is in immediate danger of death. If blood sugar rises too high, then the body is in immediate danger of the toxic effects of high concentrations of sugar. Because of this, the body constantly senses and responds to blood sugar concentration, communicating with the brain (and in turn, you) when it needs an action performed to correct for the deviations in blood sugar (e.g. hunger).
Remember, your body is a complex, biological system, and therefore has a network of intricate systems designed to control your body’s energetic states. Your body knows how to get energy when it needs it (by initiating hunger), how to use excess energy when it has too much (by initiating movement or thermogenesis), and how to balance its energy demands over time – that is, your body is programmed to maintain homeostasis.
Of course, the core problem at hand is that the modern human body does not do such a great job with energy homeostasis, and a result is the build-up of excess energy in the bloodstream, in fat stores, and as ectopic fat deposits (i.e. fat stored in places where fat is not typically stored). This energy dysregulation is what is at the center of modern disease, and it what must be addressed if we are going to to create healthy bodies – bodies that are capable of regulating themselves and maintaining their own state of homeostasis.
The Unhealthy Modern Body can be defined by an inability to maintain metabolic homeostasis (energy dysregulation)
This dysregulation is the reason I am here writing this post for you, so that we can make decisions that help, not hinder, our own body’s ability to maintain metabolic homeostasis. The problem with the modern world’s decision-making framework is that it uses outdated and oversimplified information that ignores this completely. It is not that these frameworks are built on wrong information, but rather, that the traditional decision-making frameworks are over-simplified and miss the bigger picture that is the complex, dynamic network that is the human body.
To bring back the previous example, when it comes to weight loss it is common to think about food in terms of calories. While it may not necessarily be a bad idea to think about the caloric content of food, the truth is that food is so much more than calories. Food contains information that sends signals to the body. Food provides nutrients to support the functioning of the body. If we make decisions based solely on caloric content, we ignore the fact that the body receives information and resources form our food, and therefore we miss the big picture that is the body’s behavior (for more on calories, visit here).
A second common example is making decisions on saturated fat content. While it may be true that saturated fat negatively affects one specific variable related to heart disease (LDL), the overall impact on the body is relatively safe, especially when we compare it to the serious dangers of the alternatives (e.g. polyunsaturated vegetable oils and refined carbohydrate) (for more on SF and LDL, visit here).
If, instead of over-simplifying concepts to focus on individual variables, and instead were able to make decisions based on a deeper understanding of the body as a complex system, maybe we could achieve some better results?
If we could understand how the many novel, industrial factors present in the modern world directly impact the ability of our body to take care of itself, we could make decisions that are aligned with the overall health of the body. That’s what we are going to work on with this Reprogrammed decision-making framework.
How does an action lead to good health:
To get started with our decision-making framework, I want us to focus on one basic question:
How is this action going to impact my body?
Remember, if a human body is healthy, it is able to take care of itself. It does this via a complex, dynamic communication system, with each cell, organ, and organ system in constant communication with one another. So, when asking how an action will impact the body, we should really be thinking about how an action impacts the ability for the body to communicate and take care of itself. We do this by thinking about the signals that each action is sending to the body:
What signal is this action sending to my body?
– is this a signal for energy storage or utilization?
– is this a pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory signal?
– is this a growth or breakdown signal?
Second, when making a decision, it also helps to consider the actual physical substance that is going into the body. The human body is made up of cells, tissues, and organs. The health of the body is dependent on the health of these components, so when we make a decision we must consider how our actions impact the physical state of the cell, tissues, organs, and systems as a whole:
What am I physically putting in my body, and how will it affect the overall state of the entire network?
– does this put an over-abundant load of energy in the bloodstream or in fat stores?
– does this deprive the body of energy it needs to function?
– does this provide my body of the resources it needs to function?
Now, whenever you make a decision that could affect your health (which, let’s be honest, happens all day every day), I don’t want you to have to sort through a long list of questions. The list of possible questions for each category can go on and on, and having to answer a long list of questions just to know what to put in your body isn’t going to lead you anywhere beneficial.
Instead, we need a concise framework for making a healthy decision that will only take seconds – one that you can employ as you go throughout your busy day.
To accomplish this I have designed a framework based on The Reprogrammed Systems Model. This framework is made of two or three questions you can ask yourself to help you sort through the various impact that any choice may have on your body.
The Reprogrammed Systems Model: A framework for making healthy choices
As discussed above, the two primary types of questions we should be asking ourselves involve:
- What signal is this action sending to my body, and how will it affect the overall state of the entire network?
- What am I physically putting in my body, and how will it affect the overall state of the entire network?
To clarify these questions even further, the Reprogrammed Systems Model focuses on two primary forms of signals:
- Macro signals – how does this decision impact the bulk flow of energy in my body?
Does it send an overabundance of energy into storage? Does it deprive my body of energy? Does it provide my body with the energy it needs to function optimally? - Micro signals – how does this decision impact my body’s ability to communicate? Does it negatively impact the ability to communicate a state of distress?
By focusing on these two primary forms of signals, we can envision how any action may lead to different outcomes for the energetic state of the body.
For example, macro signals involve how an action may lead to an overload of energy in the bloodstream, an abundance of energy headed towards fat storage, or energy headed towards storage in dangerous locations.
Meanwhile, micro signals involve how the action may impair the body’s ability to signal that it has been harmed in this way. This is important to understand because, remember, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing to send energy into storage. A healthy body is capable of understanding (through it’s complex communication network) that it has stored excess energy. A healthy body in this abundant energetic state will simply act to counter this state (e.g. eat less or move more for the rest of the day).
However, an unhealthy body is incapable of understanding that it is in this abundant energy state, and will continue to act in a way to take on more energy.
This is why it is important to consider how our actions impact both the actual flow of energy in the body, along with the body’s ability to respond to that action, creating the desired end result later on.
By focusing on these two types of signals, we can impact the health-state of the body to a great degree. By relying on the body’s ability to take care of itself, we can take leaps and bounds down our path to good health.
For more on macro and micro signals and the corresponding environmental inputs that lead to poor health, check out The Reprogrammed Systems Model.
Taking an Additional Step in the Decision-Making Process
For some individuals, a focus on energy signaling may not be enough to achieve larger health goals within a reasonable length of time. Moreover, for many, the modern, industrial world has overridden the body’s ability to take care of itself, which means that it may be up to the remarkable capabilities of the Human Mind to make some decisions for the body, as a whole.
If this is the case for you, it may be beneficial to add in a second component to your decision-making process. Yes, this may make it a little more time-consuming to make a decision, but if this is where you are at in this point in time then embrace this part of your journey.
If it is the case that you have a significant amount of weight to lose, or if it is the case that weight loss does not come naturally when focusing completely on energy signaling, then there is a need for a secondary thought for additional control over end results:
What is the total amount of energy I am putting in my body?
This question gets into how we can use our conscious minds to directly influence the state of the body. For example, if weight loss is a goal of yours, this question gives opportunity to consider whether the action you are about to take may lead to excess caloric consumption.
However, we must be extremely cautious with this secondary question, and so I urge you to take the order of this framework seriously.
When deciding whether or not to perform an action, putting our attention on that action’s potential impact on the macro and micro signals is what will likely have the most significant on achieving long term health. If we can align our actions with the overall ability of the body to maintain metabolic homeostasis, then the body will be able to do the hard work for us, allowing many secondary goals (e.g. weight loss) to occur naturally and thus be maintained.
That action’s direct impact on the final goal comes secondary. This means that if you are aiming to lose weight, the decision is first in regards to the macro and micro signals that this choice would likely lead to (e.g. how does this choice lead to the overall metabolic health?), and then to the ultimate caloric aim (e.g. does this food contain too many calories).
This potential conflict is to be taken seriously, as the tendency to focus on caloric content over the systemic effect of the food is arguably one of the most significant factors leading to this modern disease pandemic. When our choices ignore the impact of a food on the metabolic state of the body, it doesn’t matter if a temporary calorie deficit is achieved. Remember, the body has an incredible ability to make its own decisions – if it thinks that it needs more energy even when we can look at the body and clearly know otherwise (i.e. when an overweight individual temporarily loses weight an the body perceives this as famine), then it is going to respond with action that leads to the correction that it understands is necessary (i.e. hunger and a strong desire to eat; low energy and weak motivation to move)
Instead, it is important that our priority is making decisions that reprogram the body to a state of metabolic homeostasis. If extra weight loss is desired, then the total energy consumed should be considered, as long as it does not disrupt the first thought process.
If I lost you here, I’ll make it clear with some examples below.
Putting the framework into practice
Here’s how this is going to work. Using the full power of the model is not something that I expect you to be able to accomplish right way. There is a learning curve that goes into using the model in a way that is most optimal for you as an individual. Understand that this is part of the Reprogramming Process – that getting to know your body and its interaction with the environment is the process for building a healthy body in the modern, industrialized world.
To help you out during this process, I have described the key factors that have the most impact on the body’s macro and micro signals. By beginning your Reprogramming Process with special attention to these key environmental inputs, you can make large leaps forward on your path to good health. See Environmental Inputs: Answers to What Drives Energy Dysregulation, Metabolic Dysfunction, and Modern Disease for more.
To finish up this article (and clarify the tricky concept above), let’s see how the framework plays out in practice with some important examples.
Beginning with the original framework for healthy decision-making, now aligned with the Reprogrammed Systems Model framework:
Make decisions by focusing on signals:
I value being healthy, so I choose foods that don’t spike my blood sugar.
I value being healthy, which requires some fat loss, so I choose foods that keep my insulin levels low.
I value being healthy, so I choose nutrient-dense foods that allow for good health of my cells.
Make decisions with weight loss as a sub-goal:
I also value being a healthy weight, so I choose to eat smaller portions.
I also value being a healthy weight, so I choose to aim for higher nutrient-density.
I also value being a healthy weight, so I choose to be mindful of caloric content.
Decision making is tough. Coming up with complex methods of making a decision isn’t necessarily helpful (okay, it needs to be real, whole food, but nutrient-dense, and also low-cal, and I need to count out the calories but make sure I’m in my macro range and…)
Since success comes with making decisions as simple as possible, I want to leave you with a super simple decision-making framework to get you jump-started:
I value good health, so I choose real, whole foods.
For more on why this focus on real, whole foods is a great place to begin your Reprogramming Process, check out the Reprogram Your Diet page.
For more on the Reprogrammed Systems Model, check out the summary or go through the entire walk through.
Notes:
*Refer to the mind model for more information on decision-making.