Bucket List: How You Feel/How You Look/How Strong You Are

I will be the first to admit that I am not that strong.  Really, I am not (at least not as I am writing this post today), and it is embarrassing sometimes when you have guys (and some gals) next to me at the gym throwing around a lot of weight.  Many of these people weigh the same or less than me but somehow they just seem to have more inherent strength! They have approx the same build as me but for all intensive purposes are much stronger.  So that leads me to a topic that I have thought about for some time now.  How you feel vs. how you look vs. how strong you are.  These three buckets, seem to sum up everything from what we are eating in our diet to how we are progressing at our fitness level.  They also make up many of our goals to achieving optimal health and wellness.  Let's take all three and break them down, then bring them back together to summarize.

How you feel - 

How you feel is usually the least of the three that can be seen first hand by others.  However, it 'could' in theory be the most important to many people.  In my opinion, how you feel is directly related and shaped by what you eat.  This can be completely subjective to food specifically even without any exercise at all!  Case and point of why following a lifestyle which allows your body to maximize the nutrients you are putting into it is important.  If you don't, you will experience the age old feeling of our bodies trying to purge unwanted items or feeling sluggish after a large meal (food coma anyone?).  I recall in my past when I would struggle with heartburn after a heavy meal.  Or the nose dive my body would take after eating a huge bowl of pasta and the inability to even get off the couch.  Since following paleo, I feel better than I ever have before.  I have constant and consistent energy with no sugar or carb crashes.  My mind is sharper and more focused.  Believe me, you will feel the same too if you choose the same lifestyle! 

How you look - 

How you look is the probably the first thing that gets noticed about you.  I know I know, we live in a world which has become more and more focused on what's on the outside.  This is apparent with many advertisements, marketing campaigns, and societal perceptions.  I do want to make the point here that a person can look like they are in good shape but feel miserable because they are not paying attention to how they are eating or how they are exercising.  If you can keep your carb intake to 50-60g or less per day and eliminate processed foods from your standard diet, you WILL be on the path to improving how you look (and how you feel).  As you develop a consistency, your body and self image of how you look will continue to improve - hence giving you additional motivation to continue with even more rigor.  You will see the weigh come off as fast as 2-3 pounds per week!  As this is happening how you look to yourself and others will drastically improve. 

How strong you are - 

This one is tough for me because as I said earlier, I have a long way to go.  However, I think the order in which we have listed these will always make this bucket the last one for 'most' people.  Of course there are those of you out there who live and die by the PR's you set in your crossfit gym and I can completely respect that because no doubt they are very important for progress.  However, although I am looking to challenge myself and break through the barriers of strength, I am more interested in developing muscle mass which will play into the previous all three buckets.  As you make your progress you will be increasing the amount of weight you can lift, BUT before that, you will notice your muscles developing and being more defined.  Mentally this will make you stronger because physically you know you ARE stronger.  The caveat here is also tying your strength back to your nutrition.  When you are in a situation where your body needs to perform, it will only perform as good as what you are putting into it.  The paleo lifestyle is geared to put the body into the best workout ready position so you can maximize the time spent exercising. 

Summary 

This post is a lot about the psychological mindset as people go through their journey of change.  Far too many of them are concerned with so many other things regarding their well being.  An example of this is supplements.  Sure some of them help but are you really looking at the bigger picture?  Concentrate on these three buckets and prioritize what's important to you.  It may take some time to gain confidence in one or two or even all of them.  However, if you invest the time and energy to keep these as a focus for the goals you hope to achieve - progress will certainly follow!!!