Akrasia. What the heck is that? It sounds like some sort of contagious illness or parasite... “Don’t get too close to Robb. His akrasia is flaring up again.”
By definition, akrasia is derived from ancient Greek ἀκρασία, meaning "lacking command (over oneself)", or the state of acting against one's better judgement.
Mark Sisson, of Primal Blueprint fame, sums it up the best.
“Akrasia encompasses that irrational, confounding state of mind in which we wittingly throw caution, reason, and consequences to the wind in order to pursue a choice we understand will be bad for us. In other words, we know better. In fact, we know pretty much exactly what repercussions will befall us. That chocolate donut in our hand, for example, will undoubtedly cause our IBS to flare up – or have us bemoaning the paunch look later. Staying up late to watch one more episode of Breaking Bad will leave us comatose in tomorrow’s big meeting. Skipping yet another workout keeps us on track to lose all the gains we’ve built up the last few months. Stewing over the day’s stresses and playing out angry scenarios in our heads will keep our kids and partner at arm’s length and us up half the night with stomach pain.
But damned if we don’t make the choice anyway. Why? What’s wrong with us that we go down these roads when we clearly understand the fallout? Is it temporary insanity? Delusion? Just human nature?”
Certainly, we have all likely experienced akrasia on a personal level. As a consulting nutritionist, I see people tripping themselves up on a regular basis. I see diabetics who will not (notice that I am saying WILL not, rather than CAN not) give up candy bars and sugary junk food. I see others who appear almost proud of their unhealthy lifestyles.
But, I digress. Now that we know what akrasia is, why am I writing about it in terms of whether or not we will succeed or fail in our weight loss or health improvement pursuits? Is akrasia something that comes completely from within, or is it something that can be given to us by others? Can we be encouraged to act in an akratic way? I say, yes we can.
Over the years, I have personally battled and won my own war on obesity and will struggle to keep that monster at bay for the rest of my life. I am also faced with a very strong genetic predisposition to develop metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes. So, it is obviously in my own best interest to be very proactive when it comes to my diet and lifestyle choices if I want to live a long, productive, happy and healthy life.
However, over the years and more recently it has become more and more evident to me that we (or at least, I ) seem to live in a society in which we are surrounded by apathetic, ignorant people. I recall an incident several years ago where I ended up at an ice cream stand (hey, I wasn’t driving) with a very obese acquaintance. I declined the sweet treat, and this resulted in me being subjected to sarcastic comments and eye rolling as my corpulent counterpart sat licking away at their ice cream. What the .....??
More recently, I ended up in a dining situation with a group of friends. Quick bio... Wheat based carbs affect me very badly. They cause blood sugar spikes, bloating, weight gain and lasting lethargy. End bio.
I sat perusing the food in front of me, scanning for sugars and processed wheat based starches. My refusal to give in to my own akrasia seemed to annoy one of my table mates enough to prompt them to loudly exclaim, “Heaven forbid she should eat a carb.”
So, that brings me back to the question, can we be encouraged to act in an akratic way? In this case, as well as the previous example, yes, it would have been very easy to buckle under the sarcasm, eye rolling and obvious distain for my personal choices. Peer pressure. It isn’t just for teenagers anymore.
What would compel someone to engage in sarcasm intended to single out and belittle someone who is trying to get healthy or stay healthy? Or, someone who is striving for a fitness or condition goal? Why would someone feel led to make loud and disparaging comments about what someone else was eating or not eating, particularly in a public setting?
Guilt? Jealousy? A subconscious awareness of their own akrasia, or lack of “self command”? I tend to think that it is the latter.
Heaven forbid that I am attempting to divert my future away from diabetes and the heart disease, kidney disease, blindness, nerve damage, lesser life quality and shortened life span that can accompany it. I’m sorry if that bothers some people.
Heaven forbid that I want to live a long, healthy and productive life. I know that is asking for a lot.
Heaven forbid that I do not wish to be a financial or emotional burden on my family, my friends and on our already stretched thin social medicine system. How selfish of me.
And, heaven forbid that I refuse to be ignorant and apathetic about my own health and well being, but rather choose to be the captain of my own destiny as much as I possibly can. Call me an iconoclast, I guess.
Heaven forbid, indeed!!
I make no apologies. We have very little control over so many things in our lives. But, the one thing that we do have control over is what we put into our mouths. I choose to exercise that control. How about you?
By definition, akrasia is derived from ancient Greek ἀκρασία, meaning "lacking command (over oneself)", or the state of acting against one's better judgement.
Mark Sisson, of Primal Blueprint fame, sums it up the best.
“Akrasia encompasses that irrational, confounding state of mind in which we wittingly throw caution, reason, and consequences to the wind in order to pursue a choice we understand will be bad for us. In other words, we know better. In fact, we know pretty much exactly what repercussions will befall us. That chocolate donut in our hand, for example, will undoubtedly cause our IBS to flare up – or have us bemoaning the paunch look later. Staying up late to watch one more episode of Breaking Bad will leave us comatose in tomorrow’s big meeting. Skipping yet another workout keeps us on track to lose all the gains we’ve built up the last few months. Stewing over the day’s stresses and playing out angry scenarios in our heads will keep our kids and partner at arm’s length and us up half the night with stomach pain.
But damned if we don’t make the choice anyway. Why? What’s wrong with us that we go down these roads when we clearly understand the fallout? Is it temporary insanity? Delusion? Just human nature?”
Certainly, we have all likely experienced akrasia on a personal level. As a consulting nutritionist, I see people tripping themselves up on a regular basis. I see diabetics who will not (notice that I am saying WILL not, rather than CAN not) give up candy bars and sugary junk food. I see others who appear almost proud of their unhealthy lifestyles.
But, I digress. Now that we know what akrasia is, why am I writing about it in terms of whether or not we will succeed or fail in our weight loss or health improvement pursuits? Is akrasia something that comes completely from within, or is it something that can be given to us by others? Can we be encouraged to act in an akratic way? I say, yes we can.
Over the years, I have personally battled and won my own war on obesity and will struggle to keep that monster at bay for the rest of my life. I am also faced with a very strong genetic predisposition to develop metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes. So, it is obviously in my own best interest to be very proactive when it comes to my diet and lifestyle choices if I want to live a long, productive, happy and healthy life.
However, over the years and more recently it has become more and more evident to me that we (or at least, I ) seem to live in a society in which we are surrounded by apathetic, ignorant people. I recall an incident several years ago where I ended up at an ice cream stand (hey, I wasn’t driving) with a very obese acquaintance. I declined the sweet treat, and this resulted in me being subjected to sarcastic comments and eye rolling as my corpulent counterpart sat licking away at their ice cream. What the .....??
More recently, I ended up in a dining situation with a group of friends. Quick bio... Wheat based carbs affect me very badly. They cause blood sugar spikes, bloating, weight gain and lasting lethargy. End bio.
I sat perusing the food in front of me, scanning for sugars and processed wheat based starches. My refusal to give in to my own akrasia seemed to annoy one of my table mates enough to prompt them to loudly exclaim, “Heaven forbid she should eat a carb.”
So, that brings me back to the question, can we be encouraged to act in an akratic way? In this case, as well as the previous example, yes, it would have been very easy to buckle under the sarcasm, eye rolling and obvious distain for my personal choices. Peer pressure. It isn’t just for teenagers anymore.
What would compel someone to engage in sarcasm intended to single out and belittle someone who is trying to get healthy or stay healthy? Or, someone who is striving for a fitness or condition goal? Why would someone feel led to make loud and disparaging comments about what someone else was eating or not eating, particularly in a public setting?
Guilt? Jealousy? A subconscious awareness of their own akrasia, or lack of “self command”? I tend to think that it is the latter.
Heaven forbid that I am attempting to divert my future away from diabetes and the heart disease, kidney disease, blindness, nerve damage, lesser life quality and shortened life span that can accompany it. I’m sorry if that bothers some people.
Heaven forbid that I want to live a long, healthy and productive life. I know that is asking for a lot.
Heaven forbid that I do not wish to be a financial or emotional burden on my family, my friends and on our already stretched thin social medicine system. How selfish of me.
And, heaven forbid that I refuse to be ignorant and apathetic about my own health and well being, but rather choose to be the captain of my own destiny as much as I possibly can. Call me an iconoclast, I guess.
Heaven forbid, indeed!!
I make no apologies. We have very little control over so many things in our lives. But, the one thing that we do have control over is what we put into our mouths. I choose to exercise that control. How about you?