The only reason I got into running is because I was a cheap ass student and I thought I was getting fat. I’d move away from home. I wanted to lose weight and I was thrust into another environment where I had the usual anxieties:
“Will people like me?”
“Will I fit in?”
“Will people think I’m ugly? Fat? Weird??”
I mean, of course I didn’t fit in and of course they all thought I was weird, so I suppose I should just get rid of those anxieties because that’s just my personality… but I was determined that I wasn’t going to be the fat one.
The smug zone.
I grabbed my trainers and started running in a bit to try and outrun the alcohol, Pringles and dark chocolate digestives that made up the mainstay of a weekend morning. The running was great (although I wasn’t any good at it), because I always came back from an early morning run/walk feeling totally in the smug zone. Only a select few were awake in halls at that time and I’d be able to tell them – even though they didn’t care – that I was such a healthy creature for going for a run before they’d even got out of bed. I’d proceed to have a nice healthy breakfast and spend the rest of the morning feeling like a really smug twat.
Looking back now, it wasn’t the physical act of running and walking that helped me to get a handle on my health. It was the smug zone. Why?
Well yes, the outdoors, the fresh air, the headspace were all helpful to setting my brain up for the day and that was probably a big factor. But I was also playing a role. I was playing the part of the “healthy runner”. I knew how I thought a healthy runner would behave; they’d eat a good hearty breakfast, enjoy their greens, get an early night and eat home cooked food. So magically, without any conscious thought, I started doing those things.
And it was THAT that got results.
Play the role of the smug twat.
The gym wants you to think that the longer you spend in there and the more intense your spin class is, the more weight you’ll lose. But the reality is, your body is more complex than that and the amount of calories you’re going to burn in the gym, is only going to be a tiny fraction of what you actually expend for the rest of the day. What will ACTUALLY help you lose body fat, is eating right, reducing and handling stress appropriately, drinking more water and getting a good night’s sleep.
For too long, weight loss has been dumbed down to “eat less, move more”, and while thermodynamics does boil down to that point, it’s really not as simple as hitting the gym and “earning” a donut.
What exercise DOES do for you, is improve your focus, your clarity your happy hormones. And the really magical thing it does is help you realise what you need to do to fulfil your role as future, healthy you… It puts you in the smug zone and THAT is where the magic happens. Because smug twat you, doesn’t overcompensate with chocolate after the gym. Smug twat you has a healthy meal and smiles while all your friends sneer at you watching you lose weight while you’re actually ENJOYING your healthy diet.
Smug twat you is the key to your weight loss success. Not your gym sessions. Exercise is a fundamental part of human health – we cannot ignore the benefits for our heart, lungs, brain, gut…basically every part of the body. And if we are to enjoy a long, healthy and happy life outside of supervised care, then we MUST exercise and stay active. But does it help us lose weight? Only if we use it to embrace our inner smug twat.
If you want to find out more ways you can unleash your inner smug twat, go ahead and take the Super Human Scorecard and start breaking down your barriers today to a leaner, happier, more successful you.