“Know thyself”, (γνῶθι σεαυτόν), was the famous phrase inscribed at Delphi. What a beautiful idea… unfortunately beneath its seductive simplicity I have found the realities to be that much more complex.

First of all, we are really bad at knowing ourself. See my review of Gilbert’s Stumbling on Happiness for more details on this.

Second of all, I’m beginning to suspect that the human mind operates at a more advanced level than is leaked to us through our consciousness. On his blog James Altucher alludes to this phenomenon, in kind of a sideways way, when he speaks of “honest mistakes”.  But really I believe that we are plotting and calculating and we trick ourselves – in order to make our plans plausible to other people, though ulterior motives operate at a subconscious level.

If anyone has any details on this, like reading (besides Freud please), please let me know.

Anyway,  I have noticed a few things about myself when it comes to dieting: I am beginning to understand my values.

My #1 value in food is convenience. I am not a foodie who will go make a 3 hour trek in order to eat some marginally better pizza.

My next value is not being hungry. My next value is taste.  After that, price.

This is just how I act.

(I also love to snack. And I hate cleaning up.)

Even if I want to subscribe to the slow-carb diet I know myself too well and I know that I will act according with my values

(This is a really ambiguous concept that I feel is poorly communicated by the personal development gurus: Steve Pavlina, Tony Robbins, etc. They say if you want to change your live, change your values. But that’s BS. Our values are how we act and feel – not how we wish we acted and felt. So it takes repeated observation of yourself, and the feedback of  more objective outsiders,  to help discover your values. )

(Sometimes I have enough willpower to act according to my ideal values but it’s sooo variable.  If I’m having a bad day, stressed, didn’t get enough sleep — any one of like 50 things could go wrong and then my willpower is gonna be shot).

So the solution for me is to create an environment for myself where I naturally act according to my ideal values.

1) Protein shake first thing in the morning, it’s an easy process.

2) Prepare black beans in bulk and store them in fridge so it’s EASY for me to snack when I want to.

3) Do not buy any candy or carby foods because I will eat it.

4) Take beef jerky with me when I am going out because I love to snack and if I am feeling hungry I WILL sacrifice the integrity of the diet to fulfill my immediate hunger.  So I can supplement a meal with some jerky, for example.

I hope this is helpful to some people and I would love tips to help me grow in my quest for fitness excellence!

(ps, not gonna include a rant about how the popular culture in america looks down on dieting and eating consciously, though that’s the only way (for most people) to get a sick bod…. just gotta play them, be like “oh yeah i eat whatever i want” & make fun of people who diet…full on hypocrisy. whatever, we’re all fucking hypocrites anyway)

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