Why Am I So LAZY!?

Why am I so lazy?

Homo sapiens (that's us btw) have been on the planet for around 300,000 years according to fossil and DNA findings. For the majority of this time life was extremely challenging with constant threat from hunger, disease, weather and predators. We now live in a much safer world where the majority of us are able to go about our lives without constant fear for our lives. Although this is true, and has been for some time, we still have many physiological and psychological traits that are reminders of what life used to be like for us. Our fight or flight response is evidence of this but perhaps most notable of all is our natural tendency to be LAZY. 

Being lazy is about taking the easier route and is deeply ingrained in our subconscious. We spent at least 290,000 years of our existence facing a constant pressure to preserve energy to last us through draughts, famines and harsh winters so it is no surprise that when faced with doing something energy consuming like taking the stairs vs energy preserving like taking the lift we will in most cases take the lift. Energy preservation drives innovation and has shaped the lives that we live. It is an integral part of what makes us human. So rather than calling yourself LAZY, call yourself HUMAN!!

What's the problem?

So being lazy is a natural human thing. It has served us well through the years by helping us preserve precious calories and has driven us to invent energy saving devices like chariots (I love my chariot), bicycles, trains and cars. But times have changed. We live in a world where on the whole we have too many calories, so much so that it is killing us en masse!! So now we need to train ourselves to let go of the human instinct of energy preservation and instead focus on the BURN!!!

How do I change?

It's all a state of mind. If your mind is smart enough to subconsciously avoid the stairs then it is definitely smart enough to consciously choose to take them, and after lots of repetitions of conscious choice it will eventually become subconscious (Ironic since moving behaviour to subconscious behaviour is a way for our brain to preserve energy!!!). You just have to change the narrative in your mind and look for the opportunities to get that BURN. Where once we scoured the earth for food in order to not die from malnutrition or starvation we now need to scour the earth for stairs and gyms to burn energy so that we don’t die from too much energy!! (Of course we could eat less but who wants to do that!!?)

Activity isn't the only energy burning hack

Walking to work, taking the stairs, going to the gym. These are all ways to actively burn more calories in a given day. But did you know that you can also burn more calories through the foods that you eat? The food groups we love the most are fat and carbohydrates. These are also the energy sources most EASILY digested. One of the big reasons we find them so delicious is that they give us lots of energy very quickly without it costing us too much energy to consume. Protein on the other hand is very expensive in terms of energy to break down and digest and fibre is basically a massive rip off where you actually get zero energy!! So switching your carbs and fats out for harder/impossible to metabolise food sources will help you burn more calories (+ give you loads more nutrients and minerals and gut health)

Conclusion

You are lazy because you are human. Don't be harsh on yourself, it is a deeply ingrained human instinct which is hard to brush off especially when you are facing other adversity in life like jobs, families and general mental health. Being lazy is fine and if it's the path you want to stay on, more power to you. However, if you want to live a longer life with a substantially reduced risk of developing most diseases then choose the path of most resistance. Start small and build up. You will soon find yourself a fiend to the dopamine release a good exercise session gives you, a hit so strong it will have you coming back for more and more!!