I love exercise [most of the time], but it wasn’t always that way.
Social psychologist, Emily Balcetis, wondered why some people found it harder to exercise than others. Her research looked at how things like perception, motivation, goal-setting and decision-making might impact the way we experience exercise and weight loss. Since I’m quite familiar with the effect perception can have on our outcomes, I was eager to learn more about her findings.
In this informative TED Talk, Belcetis explains why some people struggle more than others with weight loss. One of the key factors, she posits, is vision. Her research shows how when it comes to fitness, some people quite literally see the world differently from others.
Here’s some interesting food for thought:
A person’s waist-to-hip ratio is highly predictive of how difficult they perceive exercise to be.
What’s this? A heavier, more out-of-shape person perceives exercise to be more difficult than a fitter person? Well, thanks for that flash of breaking news..
Okay, okay – so THAT part is not surprising, but here’s what is…
Motivation is the game-changer! i.e. For an out-of-shape person who was highly motivated to workout, their perception about difficulty of the exercise shifted. Specfically, those who were motivated saw the finish line as 30% closer than those who were not motivated.
Um…HELL YEAH! How cool is that?
The body achieves what the mind believes. Don’t believe me? Watch this 14 minute video to hear the full findings of the research.
My favourite line in this video was at the very end:
And when we find a way to make the world look nicer and easier, it might actually become so.
Apropos of everything, a quick status update on Project: Breaking a Trail to Prom: My niece sent me a text yesterday. She lost 5 lbs since starting this thing on January 1!
Keep moving,
xoxo nancy
my year of sweat 
“The body achieves what the mind believes” – words to live by, Nancy! Please share my congrats and encouragement with your niece. 🙂
Thanks Lisa, I absolutely will!
Woot! Woot! Your niece rocks 🙂
She does, Joanne!
Her coach deserves kudos too 🙂
I am thrilled for her! (And wishing it was so easy for me to drop 5 lbs!!)
Damn the young!! 😉
Amen.
I’ll bookmark this link so I can listen to it on bluetooth in my car. (I have another road trip to New Hampshire next week.) Thanks for the link. Sounds fascinating. I believe perception weighs into everything. As Dr. Phil says, “Perception is everything.” Even if the person’s perception does not reflect reality. It’s THEIR reality and that’s all that matters. (Loves me some Dr. Phil. 🙂 )
I so agree with Dr. Phil on this one! Back when I was with the software behemoth I used to tell my team, “perception IS reality at Behemoth” as a means of helping them understand the importance of their personal “brand” and how it would impact their career advancement.
Oh, p.s. she uses a couple of visual elements to help make her points so it might make more sense to watch versus just listen. Then again, you have a Sheldon-sized brain so you’ll be fine. 🙂
Point taken. As for a Sheldon-sized brain, I think not. But hopefully I’m a step above Penny. 🙂
A bag of rocks is a step above Penny.
Haha, poor Penny. But she’s doing better now. She’s a pharmaceutical rep. Believe it or not.
Maybe the haircut made her smarter. 🙂
A bag of rocks is a step above Penny. 🙂
Your niece is my hero. Tell her THAT.
I will, Andra!
Way to go niece!! Yay!! That’s exciting news! How wonderful!! I loved your post, too- the body achieves what the mind believes…yep, I’ve always found that to be true!! Such an excellent point! You’re fabulous! Thanks for the great motivation!! I loved this post very much! XOXO
She is just killing it, Kristin! I’m so proud of her!
Very cool video, huh? Glad you liked it!
I think that last quote can be used for just about anything… and probably should be. Why does everything seem easier after you start to tackle it?
If procrastination didn’t feel soooo comfortable we’d probably get so much more shit done. 🙂
Conceive it ~> Believe it ~> Achieve it! Give your niece a gold star!
Forget the gold star; she’s got that dress in her cross hairs!
I’m in a super lazy, winter hibernation, no work out mode. I love the way you just keep going for it! Very inspirational xo
It’s a must-dos kinda thing for me right now, Laurel. Partly because I’ve got those extra 10 lbs to ride myself of, partly because I’m trying to set an example for my niece, and partly because the mental break that exercise provides me from this mountain of work is so therapeutic.
Interesting video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
YAY for your niece!!! BRAVA!!!! Great post….motivational as always!
Pretty amazing to realize how much is totally within our control, depending on our state of mind. Very empowering!
the perception of exercise is an amazing thing!
If you switch your immediate answer from “I can’t do that” to “I’ll try that” or even better ” I can do that” then you already have much more chance of actually achieving it!!
awesome awesome news for your niece too 😀
I’m not doing justice to her research/findings because she really focuses on actual vision (as in sight) – and how different some people SEE things (like a finish line in a race). It’s a very compelling video. Amazing how our mind impacts a basic sense, like vision.
When i am not at work, i will have a look!
At least i will try my best to remember as it sounds interesting!
It is, Sam! I totally get the perception thing. I also get the motivation thing. But when she uses examples to explain how the mind impacts our vision – whoa – that was pretty cool. 🙂
i am intrigued!
I suppose it is related to how our self perception and mood affects what we see in the mirror. I know from personal experience how much that can vary!
It never occurred to me that it could affect other things too!
🙂
Have a watch later and tell me what you think. I’ve watched it 3 times since the beginning of the new year and I’m still scratching my head. 🙂
I will set a reminder on my phone 🙂
Awesome! Let me know what you make of it all.
I will do 🙂
I can’t imagine not exercising, it makes me feel ‘off’, physically and mentally, when I don’t do it. I made a commitment four years ago, and I’m still sticking to it. I had tried lots of times before, and it never stuck. Something shifted back then…
Same for me 2 years ago. When I don’t exercise for more than two days in a row, I feel like crap. Soft. Lazy.
This Janathon + training my niece has done a nice job of keeping me on track for daily exercise.
Great post Nancy, and great Ted video too! I can’t believe I had never even heard of them till a few months ago. I totally agree that our perception rules everything, but don’t always put that idea to work. I am still working on the glass is half full philosophy. 😀
Huge congrats to your niece and double kudos to her motivational Auntie!
I found the video pretty fascinating,, Lynne. Aren’t these TED Talks awesome? So much gold there, but so many to choose from, it’s hard to know where to start.
I’ll pass your congrats onto my niece! Thanks!
I think I’ll be reading your niece’s blog next 😉
I think that would be totally awesome. We shall see.
Countdown to prom with aplomb 🙂
Fingers and toes crossed.
Thought you might like this – the top video 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/user/thisgirlcanuk
OMG Linda!!! This is AWESOME!!
I just emailed the link to my niece. LOVE IT!
Just came across it on FB and thought of you – it’s great! 🙂
It is fantastic. I’ll have to watch again when my hair isn’t on fire (work stuff).
Ha ha, I look forward to hearing that story! I hope it’s not literal and you’re typing messages on here instead of dunking yourself 😉
Not literal. But sort of.
Hello 🙂
I have managed to surreptitiously watch the TED talk at work, it is interesting how the deciding factor is motivation. I would like to see their actual study because some of the trends looked vague but it is still interesting and borne out by empirical evidence.
By which I mean, when I am running, or walking with a purposes, I can walk / run quicker and more comfortably if I focus on one spot ahead of me. it allows me to at least feel like what I am doing is easier!
The bit about everyone’s perception being influenced by their own minds eye was interesting. When I studied systems, it was done from the assumption that there is no such thing as impartiality, and that everyone’s opinion / outlook / decision making process etc is influenced by their own world view whether they know it or not!
It also reminded me of being a child when I spent ages relentlessly questioning my parents about how I could possibly know whether what I saw was the same as what other people saw! I was obsessed with the fact that we could both identify a colour as red but how did we know that we were seeing the same colour, if we both identified it as red it didn’t matter but what if one of us was seeing something different in absolute terms. It worried me a lot that I had no way of knowing!! This made my head hurt a lot as a child…I probably spent far too long worrying about it to be honest…
only now I discover that I may have been right!!
Oh my God, Sam…what a fascinating child you were! I just laughed out loud reading this!
The brain is so remarkable. It holds so much power and so many secrets. Oh to understand how it works better…
Haha! I dont know what made me think that when i was a child, it did used to worry me a lot though 🙂
If we really understood how the brain worked, i think we could do just about anything! There is so much of it we don’t use, or use for things we dont yet know about!
Unless as douglass adams wrote, the unused percentage of the brain is mainly taken up with penguins…
hahaha! brilliant. Can you imagine? The 90% of the brain we don’t use just occupied by penguins. or kittens. 🙂
Hehehe i deel like 90% of my brain is filled with kittens!! Along with about 75% of the floor space i just needed to do insanity!!
Woot! Woot! You are an inspiration, Nancy! And I relate to the findings…working on building up my motivation right now. I think I’ve become hooked on walking/running and longer hikes, but the gym is still scary 🙂
Nature’s gym is as good as any indoor gym I know. Keep rockin it, Tiny!
Thanks for this one, Nancy. Got those tread thingies for my running shoes. Now just to get out the door. Peace, John
Move it! 🙂
That is very cool and it is so important to keep the motivation fresh. I am now on week 8 of running and eating really well in addition to yoga, which I am in the middle of a teacher training weekend that is kicking my butt, physically. At first the motivation for running and ab strengthening was weight loss but its been slow. Then I noticed that the ab strength is helping my yoga practice and also when I am doing nothing, like driving in the car, my whole body just feels more contained. Does that make any sense? So, I am seeing the motivations shift and I like it because it keeps me at it.
Congrats to your niece!
That makes total sense, Kerry. I often talk about feeling “soft” if I don’t exercise for a couple of days. Obviously my body hasn’t changed in composition in that time, but it does FEEL more mushy to me. When I’m in a consistent, challenging, workout routine, like I’ve been since Jan 1st, I walk around feeling tighter, stronger. Maybe it’s mental. Or maybe a combination of physical and mental. Whatever it is, it totally motivates me to keep going.