You may be asking yourself…what the heck is a meme? The word meme is derived from a branch of Psychology called “Memetics”. Memetics is the study of human behavior BASED on certain psychological beliefs. In other words it is the study of mental habits. If I believe that I am a fat, and unattractive slob, even though it may not be true, it becomes a reality in my own mind. Take for example the victim of Anorexia Nervosa. Although their body fat level may be fatally low, they think and believe that they are fat. They live in an alternate reality that is fueled by their own flawed thinking. Essentially memes are lies and excuses. They may contain an element of truth BUT they can be altered by you. They can be changed.
Now you may be asking the question…well what does this have to do with my fitness and nutrition goals? The answer is a resounding: EVERYTHING! Do you know that YOU have memes? Yes, you have memes that are good and bad. Here are some examples of memes to help you better understand this article.
“I can’t find the time to exercise…I am just too busy”
“My genetics have pre-disposed me to be fat…there is not much I can do about it”
“I am just naturally lazy…it is hard for me to get motivated to do anything!”
“I would like to eat healthier, but I don’t have time and it is too expensive”
“Nobody understands me…that is why I fail”
“I am too old to exercise”
“I am too important of a person at work to allow time to exercise”
“Eating healthy is boring”
“I am entitled to eat unhealthy…I’m an American” (This is more of a sub-conscience meme)”
“I would be healthier but I don’t have the support of my family”
“I am too tired to work out after my job…I just want to crash”
I guarantee that many of you reading this are saying to yourself, “yes that is me” or, “well, yes they are excuses but they are true!” Would I offend you if I told you that none of these excuses are rooted in truth? Memes have a terribly insidious way of convincing you that they are indeed truthful. Let’s take the time excuse for example. In a recent study performed by the American College of Sports Medicine they found that the number one excuse for not exercising is time. People feel like they don’t have enough time to exercise but what the study found is just the opposite. People HAVE the time but they don’t MAKE the time. Simply put it is not a priority to them. This clearly show’s what a meme is…these people firmly believe that they don’t have the time to exercise but REALITY shows that they indeed do. So to clarify…the meme is: “I don’t have the time”, but the reality says: “I don’t make the time”. My friends there are a huge difference here! Memes are nothing more than false mental realities that we create for ourselves…they are not rooted in truth!
So how do we change our current thinking (meme) patterns? In my next blog post I will give you a step-by step program that you can use to dissolve your current memes. I assure you that you must dissipate your current memes if you ever hope to change your physical and nutritional lifestyle. I have seen people succeed by changing their memes and I have seen people fail miserably because they don’t take the time to correct the mental before the physical. In fact it has to be that way…mental before physical. I think you can sense the truth inherent in these words. Remember my friends; life is good…stay tuned for next week’s installment.
