The Reprogrammed Systems Approach is designed to help us all understand how our decisions impact the health of our own bodies.
It begins with an understanding that the human body is a complex, dynamic system, itself made up of many underlying complex sub-systems. To address problems related to the dysfunction of such a system, there is a need to approach the entire system as a whole.
This is in contrast to linear, reductionist approaches traditionally used to solve health-related problems. These work by targeting a handful of specific mechanisms by using precise measures. This traditional approach often fails to fix the true problem because it often ignores the numerous other workings of the system, instead only focusing on what can easily be measured and addressed.
With our systems perspective in place, we can move forward addressing how we can make healthy decisions in our own lives. By understanding how our decisions directly impact the systems supporting the body, we can make decisions that lead to healthy, well-functioning systems, essentially Reprogramming our own bodies for good health.
Understanding the Approach
This approach to understanding healthy decisions is based on a broader concept used in systems engineering in which the body is modeled as a black box. A black box is a system in which minimal information may be known; yet, by testing inputs to the system and measuring outputs, a great deal of information can be learned about that system.
This enables us to make decisions without a complete understanding of physiology, nutrition, and other related topics. Even without any knowledge of how your body works, you can implement well-established dietary and lifestyle principles (inputs) and optimize for best health-state (outputs) by experimenting with how your body responds to specific inputs.
To improve upon this first step, the approach can become even stronger by additionally working to uncover some of the basic mechanisms driving the system. With this additional knowledge of how your body operates, an individual can make better guesses as to what inputs may result in the optimal outcomes.
Overall, by using the black box approach, we can view the body as a system with unknown inner workings, yet still have power over controlling its health.
Then, if so desired, we can gain greater control over the functioning of the body by doing some work to learn about its inner workings.
This plays out as a two-step process for learning to make healthier decisions:
Moving Forward
Unfortunately, at this point in time, it is difficult, if not impossible, to simply be told what is best for you. Although we all love quick fixes, it is just not possible to get quick answers with immediate rewards - at least, not to the degree that is always necessary to effectively address the extent of our health issues.
This means that you have some work to do if you want to achieve an optimal diet and lifestyle for your own body.
What this does not mean is that you need to jump in headfirst into the ocean of information that is everything related to healthy decisions, especially if you are just getting started on your health journey.
Rather, I actually ask that you do not jump straight into the complexity that is unraveling the black box, and instead begin in a place that is much simpler. This simpler starting place is based on 3 key practices, derived from the scientifically validated principles, and that tend to lead to a healthy human body. You can find these simple strategies here as The Key Principles of The Reprogrammed Systems Approach.
Only once these well-established principles have been established in your own life, then any remaining factors contributing to your own poor health will have to be unraveled.
To get started, head over to check out those Key Principles.
To receive all of the information related to unraveling the black box that is your body, be sure to sign up for The Reprogrammed Newsletter using the link at the bottom of the page.
When you sign up, you will also receive your free Guide to Building a Diet Based on Real, Whole Foods, a step-by-step guide that will show you why and how to implement the first key principle in your own life.
Then, make sure to keep your eye out for the weekly newsletter that will take you through the principles underlying the Reprogrammed Systems Approach, including:
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- Deep dives into specific topics related to The Reprogrammed Systems Approach
- Challenges that will take you step-by-step through your own Reprogramming Process
Finally, feel free to head to The Blog to read through content related to all things Reprogramming.
Remember the big picture
Understand that, as you go through this information, the goal is to build up your own version of The Reprogrammed Systems Model. You will start by understanding the basics of the model (Approach 1). Then, over time, as you understand more information and gain more experience with practices in your own life, you will make your way through to Approach 2, which involves a deeper understanding of your body.
Overall, the Reprogrammed Systems Approach is designed so that you can make it your own based on what works for you. I will provide you with some tools and resources you may find helpful, but at the end of the day, how you take in and use the information is up to you.