Being Whelmed

I heard another great podcast today. I'm embarrassed to say that I can't actually remember which one it was from, but I think it was from Susan Niebergall's "Strong and Lean at any Age" podcast. The conversation came around to the concept of finding the "just right" for you in terms of fitness, nutrition, healthy lifestyle etc. As the conversation unfolded, one of the speakers talked about the stress of feeling overwhelmed. How when people try for perfection in their exercise, or their nutrition, it becomes an overwhelming stress and causes people to give up. It's all too much to maintain because they haven't found the right amount of challenge at just the right dose. On the flip side, there are also those who are doing what they've always done (same workout, same routine, same breakfast/lunch/dinner...) and are bored and frustrated that they aren't seeing any more results. We might say they are "underwhelmed". There really isn't enough challenge to cause any adaptation or change. What we are all trying to find is that feeling of "whelmed" - the just right dose of challenge, interest and manageability.

If you are in overwhelm right now, how can you make a change to make your actions sustainable? If you are in underwhelm, how can you "up" the challenge a bit to push your limits and find some new success?