Phase 1 of the Reprogramming Process

Phase 1 of the Reprogramming Process is all about making the simple, yet effective decisions that will (most likely) make the most significant improvements in your health. This means putting into practice the dietary and lifestyle principles that have been tried and tested, proving themselves to be key components of a healthy lifestyle for the human population.

The thing is, while it may seem like dietary and health advice is an awful mix of conflicting information, if you can look past the media battles and to the core ideas of most scientifically supported diet or fitness plans, these competing camps often have more in common than they have differences. It is to these commonalities that we all know to be true that Phase 1 aims to grasp and put into practice.

Remember, Phase 1 is all about keeping things simple. This involves the implementation of well-established principles that have been consistently shown to produce results. We don’t want to do anything fancy yet, as we want our full attention on that which has been proven time and time again to be an effective method for addressing poor health in our population.

Moreover, understand that these basic principles arise directly from the biological design of the human body – that is, they come directly from the science supporting both the evolution of the human body, along with what we understand about its anatomy and physiology.

Ready to jump in? Here are the three design principles supporting Phase 1 of The Reprogramming Process:

1. The human body has been designed to eat a large variety of real, whole foods. By consuming real, whole foods the body receives the nutrients it needs to maintain proper functioning while additionally providing this energy in a form that the body can effectively process.
2. The human body has been designed to move. By moving the body regularly throughout the day, occasionally throwing in some higher intensity stimuli, the body is able to more effectively utilize energy and function optimally.
3. The human body has been designed needing a proper balance of stress and rest. When the human body is stressed, it understands that it needs to improve so that it can overcome this challenge in the future. However, when the stress stays for too long, the body begins to break down as it struggles to keep up with the load.

Putting these key principles into basic practices, Phase 1 of your own Reprogramming Process begins with establishing these basic practices in your life:

1. Eat real, whole foods and avoid industrial not-so-foods
   • By consuming real, whole foods the body receives the nutrients it needs to maintain proper functioning while additionally providing this energy in a form that the body can effectively process.
   • By avoiding industrial not-so-foods, the body is free of the burden of high doses of energy that are dumped into the bloodstream. Moreover, the body remains free of the burdensome chemicals that accompany this dense load of energy.
2. Regularly move your body
   • Aerobically – Longer duration effeorts at moderate intensities allow the body to tap into its fat stores as a source of energy. This serves two primary purposed:
     1. The body is able to work through any excess fat accumulation as this fat is released to be utilized as a fuel source
     2. The body receives a signal to improve its ability to utilize fats as a fuel source, improving its ability to maintain fat homeostasis, overall.
   • Dynamically – Varying styles of movement ensure that different metabolic and muscular systems maintain ability to function.
3. As we add in the occasional physical stressors, we also focus on avoiding chronic stressors
   • too much of highly stressful exercise can be received by the body as an extra burden of stress
   • neglecting recovery efforts does not allow the body to improve once it has received the stress signal

See, I told you it was simple. To get started, all you need to think about is:

1. How to choose real, whole foods while avoiding industrial not-so foods
2. How to move your body regularly, occasionally throwing in high-intensity physical efforts
3. How to balance out with recovery-focused efforts and how to relax your body and mind, overall

Be careful though, as we don’t want to get carried away thinking that this idea is overly simplified. Although this may sound too basic to devote the time and energy, there are important reasons for beginning with this dedicated time. These reasons include:

• Although eating a diet based on real, whole foods and moving your body sounds basic, the results of these two practices can be remarkable.
• Even though this may sound simple, the implementation of these two basic steps can be quite the undertaking. Switching out your diet for one based on real, whole foods is going to be a challenging process in and of itself, and building habits based on increased movement will be an additional challenge.

For these two reasons, I once again urge you to focus on this one particular phase while you are getting started. Unless you have achieved a stable real, whole foods diet with habits in place for routine movement and exercise, then chances are that any attempts to move forward with your Reprogramming Process will likely result in several steps backward.

What to expect during Phase 1 of your Reprogramming Process

Expect to spend anywhere from weeks to months in Phase 1, and understand that this time frame is completely dependent on you – your body, your habits, your lifestyle preferences, etc.

They say that it takes 21 days to form a habit. That means that if you start right now and do everything perfectly for the next 21 days, then maybe you’ll start looking towards Phase 2 in just a few short weeks. If this is you, congrats, you’re a rock star.

As for the rest of us, we all know that any lifestyle change can be a monstrous task. While we’d all like to think that we can just implement any change we desire into our own lives and to sustain that change, the reality is often (maybe even always?) rather different.

Overthrowing decades worth of a diet based on industrial not-so-foods and replacing it with a diet based on real, whole foods – this is going to take some time. Understand that this is okay – that you don’t have to get everything perfect right now. Right now, all you have to do is make the decision to get started – that is, to take an action that works for you to take you in the right direction.

Once you have made the decision to get started, then we can dive into the real work. For this, I have a number of options for you:

First, Your Health, Reprogrammed is set up to provide you with the information you may need during Phase 1 of your own Reprogramming Process.

1. The Reprogram Your Mind page is focused on the process of making healthy decisions, which is the central idea of The Reprogramming Process. As long as you are making healthy decisions, then you are making your way through your own Reprogramming Process.
2. The Building a Healthy Diet page is focused on helping you understand what it means to eat a healthy diet. This page will provide you with the basic knowledge needed to make healthy decisions – that is, to make it through your own Reprogramming Process

Getting Started With Phase 1

The material contained on Your Health, Reprogrammed will help guide your through Phase 1. However, at the end of the day, you have to understand that your success is entirely up to you. It is your decisions that will lead you to a life of good health or a life of poor health and, potentially, that modern disease diagnosis. You are the one guiding yourself through your own Reprogramming Process.

Implementing a real, whole foods based diet in your own life can produce remarkable results. By adding in regular movement and the occasional high-intensity workouts, you may find that the pay-off may be all that you need for your Reprogramming Process. It could very well be that all that it takes for you to achieve a state of good health is ignoring all of the nutrition debate and instead just eat real food and move your body more regularly.

Or, it could be that you see remarkable results, yet find yourself eager for greater results. If that is the case, you will find yourself ready to enter Phase 2.

But, before we get anywhere near Phase 2, we have to first establish a solid foundation in Phase 1. Here’s how we’re going to make that happen:

First, we have to get specific as to what it means to eat a diet based on real, whole foods. Now, although the concept of a real, whole food may seem obvious on the surface, I have found that when it comes to making the right dietary selections, people aren’t actually so great at knowing real, whole foods from industrial not-so-foods. This is in no way any individual’s fault – it’s just that our society is so far removed from any dietary wisdom that we are going to have to go the extra mile to get back to the basics. To get started understanding how to Build a Healthy Diet, refer to the following articles:

A Guide to Choosing Real, Whole Foods

Practical Advice for Avoiding Industrial Foods

Second, we have to understand the role that movement and exercise play in the Reprogramming Process. While we all understand that exercise is something that we should all partake in because of its health benefits, I have found that many individuals’ perspectives on exercise can use some great improvement. The thing is, while we often view exercise as a time-consuming, strenuous, and often unpleasant period of time, exercise can, and probably should be viewed differently for optimal benefit.

The Reprogrammed Approach to Exercise

When to move towards Phase 2

Once you have established these key practices in your life and have begun to reap the rewards, then you will be ready to begin Phase 2. This second phase is all about figuring out the details that work best for your own life.

For example, it may be that some real, whole foods have serious negative impacts on your body due to your own genetic makeup or life circumstances. If this is the case, Phase 1 (i.e. moving towards a diet based on real, whole foods) may leave you with some lingering pain, bloating, or other symptoms of food allergies or intolerances. If it is the case that you give Phase 1 a solid shot and still have some lingering issues, I recommend some trouble-shooting, such as elimination diets or Whole 30, where you take the time to figure out which foods are disrupting your body’s ability to function optimally. If this is the case for you, we’ll cross that bridge down the road.

Or, maybe you have made it through Phase 1 to a point where your diet is based on real, whole foods and you are feeling fantastic – but now you want more! This is a common response to going through the process of understanding the significant impact that diet and lifestyle factors have on how you feel. While a diet based on real, whole foods is very likely going to help you feel amazing, there is always another level of performance.

If this is the case for you, I will help guide you to some resources in Phase 2 to help you optimize your health.

Or, it could be that you make your way through Phase 1, establishing a diet based on real, whole foods and establishing exercise and regular movement in your life – and you may feel like your Reprogramming Process is complete. It could be that keeping things simple is all you and your body need in this life, and if that’s the case, then Phase 2 may never be a serious part of your Reprogramming Process.

A final note before we get started

I understand that lifestyle changes can be scary. The idea of giving up your favorite foods may make you run for the hills. But here’s the deal. Giving up your favorite foods is not going to kill you. Instead, what you will likely find is that making the change over to a diet based on real, whole foods results in a 180 in your taste buds. That’s right – the new you could very well end up disliking the foods you so strongly desire today.

Or maybe not – maybe you’ll always love fudge sundays or chocolate chip cookies. Maybe you’ll always have a special place in your heart for that one breakfast cereal. Maybe some of your desires are hardwired, and no amount of time and effort is going to change them.

So here’s the deal – I’m not going to tell you that you have to say goodbye to these foods forever. What I am going to tell you is this:

It is in your best interest to dive into Phase 1 headfirst. It is in your best interest to stick to the process and minimize any deviations. It is in your best interest to temporarily let go of your short-term desires in the name of achieving the ultimate goal that is a healthy body.

Once you have made it through Phase 1 and Phase 2, then I assure you that it is fine to consider the term moderation. Because at that point, you will be a new you, a you who is free of dependence on industrial not-so-foods and capable of making these sorts of decisions – a you who is free to decide to eat the occasional piece of cake, or to avoid baked goods entirely.

But, please, leave these decisions up to future you. Until then, current you has your own massive undertaking – to begin Phase 1 with the decision to take this chunk of time seriously.

Speaking of decision-making… This decision-making process plays a central role in the Reprogramming Process, so it is worth digging into as you get started.

I encourage you to head over to the Reprogram Your Mind page where you will find more answers to how you will complete the Reprogramming Process.