Is INFObesity Keeping You From Better Health?
Do the INFObesity Evaluation exercise below to find out what it is, if you have it, and what to do about it!
What is INFObesity?
We all want better health. If we have it, we want to keep it. If we need it, we desperately want to get it, and too, then we want to keep it.
Better nutrition fuels better health. So we seek and share information about better nutrition. And we seek and we share. And we seek and we share…
And we’ve become INFObese.
Whereas obesity is the disease of too much fat, INFObesity is the disease of too much information. Today, INFObesity afflicts us all, regardless of our current health status.
To be clear, information itself is not the problem and all information is not bad or wrong, in fact much nutrition information today is good quality. Like fats, some information is essential; it helps enable optimal functioning. However, like fat, too much information is unhealthy. It overwhelms, weighs down, and interferes with the optimal functioning of the body and mind. And this is why INFObesity, which attacks both the healthy and the unhealthy, threatens us all as the leading health issue of this century.
Ok Ok I get it, I’ve got it, I am INFObese… so what can I do about it?!
It would be so INFObese-enabling of me only to share the problem, to coin a phrase, to raise awareness without giving the tactical advice needed to combat INFObesity. Well, I refuse to be part of the problem — so you bet I have a solution. Here’s the cure to help you stop your infobesity, right now!
STOP INFObesity With This Ashley Koff Approved (AKA) Exercise.
Grab a piece of paper.
Draw a Bull’s Eye with five circles (you know like a dart board)
In the center, write “ME TODAY” because this circle stands for who you really are right now (likes, dislikes, lifestyle, health status, choices, resources etc),
In the next circle, write “MY HEALTH TOP 5” because this will stand for who you are based on the top 5 things that are most important to you related to your current health status, your health goals;
In the next circle, write “ME MYSELF & I” because this area represents the roles iyou play n your life currently (i.e. mom, wife, ballerina);
In the next circle, write “YOU DON’T REALLY KNOW ME” as this area is how a company would target you if they didn’t know you — age, gender, where you live, your household role, your work;
In the final circle write “YOU DON’T KNOW ME AT ALL” and the final circle is not targeted to you at all.
OK now on a separate piece of paper, jot down all the sources of nutrition and health information that you encounter in a week. Your neighbor, your mom, a tweet, a magazine article, a tv commercial, a package of food, a yoga instructor, a dietitian or doctor’s advice etc.
Now assign each of the sources to a place on the Bull’s Eye.
How INFObese Are You?
When most of your information comes from sources in the first two circles (the bull’s eye and the next circle) you do better. You can still have too much information but at least you are getting information specific to who you really are right now and your personal health goals.
So look at your Bull’s Eye — How on track are you for getting information targeted specifically to who you really are each week? Are there sources that you could let go or even block? Are there sources that you need? Having more better information — the kind that fits in the Bull’s Eye or in Your Top 5 — will help you combat the desire to load up on the information that belongs in the outer circles. That’s why I created the better membership http://bit.ly/2fcq9rM powered by the AKA (Assess, Keep, Act) method to help you assess what information you really need, keep what is working, and act better not perfect more often so you avoid becoming INFObese, and are instead INFObetter! I want you to have the real support and better tools that have helped thousands of my patients reach and maintain their better health goals. So join meand my members now and get on the path to less but better information for better results.
Originally published at medium.com