LaraStar's Journal, 05 Oct 11

Quite interesting. Makes sense, doesn't it? 

This used to be part of the management training I used to do.... There are 4 states of mind 1. Conscious competent - you KNOW you are good at your job - or KNOW you are good at making food/exercise choices. 2. Conscious incompetent - you KNOW you are not good at your job - or KNOW you are not making good food/exercise choices (usually a new employee or someone just starting their weigh loss journey. 3. Unconscious incompetent - you are UNAWARE that you are crap at your job - or are UNAWARE that your food/exercise choices are bad. (the very worst place to be - it is not until you recognise that you are not good, thatyou can start doing something about it) 4. Unconscious competent - you are UNAWARE that you are good at your job - or are UNAWARE that your food/exercise choices are good. What you are describing is the journey from an Unconscious Incompetent to a Unconscious Competent. On the face of it, arriving to the position of being an Unconscious Competent, SEEMS the ideal position to head for - BUT it is easy to fall back to being a unconscious incompetent, without realising it - hence people who loose weight and then put it on again. Conscious Competent is the "ideal". You KNOW the food values / calories, the benefits of exercise and types of routines that will be beneficial etc. In the workplace and around the supermarkets in the gym etc, you see lots of people who are Unconscious Incompetents. 

Incompetence is the worst in so many ways..lol! What about naturally slim people? Surely they must be subconsciously competent. When I watch them eat, they don't seem to think about what to eat or how much. This is how I would like to be, but I am aware that I might have to be more conscious of my eating for the rest of my life. 

I think upbringing and genes / body make up has a lot to do with "naturally" slim people. You see it all the time - slim parents, with slim children or young adults. Fat children with fat parents. You will probably find "food" is not a major focus in their upbringing and exercise (not necessarily formal)) is. Re genes / body make up - there has been various research on things like brown fat cells (if you have them - your usually slimmer) recently there was something else about the way our body processes food. I can't remember exactly - but the gist was, slim people's bodies convert food to energy, whilst fat people's bodies convert it to fat. So the conscious bit is only half the story - however for us "fatties" who haven't got the benefit of genes/ body make up the Conscious bit is really important. 

I think genetic influences are overrated. Fat parents usually have fat kids because they pass on their bad habits. They bring up their kids on junk food, it makes me really mad when I see toddlers eating crisps or being fed on McDs. It sets them up for a life of health problems and misery. 

Interesting blog. Lara, I've been trying to switch those destructive habits to the unconscience Competent because I'm tired of having to spend most of my waking life thinking of food. But even after 7 months I am finding this harder than actually following Atkins. Changing the brain is so much more difficult. Skinny: My sisters and mom are the naturally slim type, but I'm the only one in the family with different genes. None of them have ever been fat, just me. My mom wouldn't allow sweet cereals or sugary foods as I was growing up, so the first thing I did when I got a job of my own was to buy a box of cookies crisp cereal. So even having good eating habits ingrained into me during childhood could not overcome the attraction of sugary treats for me.  

Icymaiden...Have you had a break from tracking in the last 7 months? I did for 2 weeks when I had no access to internet or scales. It was very interesting. During this time, I didn't obsess about food. I didn't know how many calories I was eating but I was aware of what a normal portion size is, one of the most useful things I have learned on here. And I always chose the healthiest options. I only put 2 lbs on which came off after one week back home. This makes me think that my brain has changed a lot already. Yours has probably too. I was also brought up in a healthy food environment. All food home cooked, rarely any snacks. I learned later on to use food as a substitute for all sorts of things. Not anymore!!! :) 

I did take a tracking break in June when I went camping. I planned pretty well, stuck mostly to low carb (not 100 percent though) and I came back after a week only gaining a pound. Not sure if all the extra exercise had something to do with that, or good planning. I didn't obsess about food while I was camping, but prior to the trip I was more obsessive cause I wanted to bring the right things with me.