Why thinking that we are fit translates into leading a healthier life

Self-deception, confirmation biases, seeing what we want to see and hearing only what suits us are all ways to escape reality. This is not an advisable thing to do — except in one circumstance, the only one where cognitive distortion does seem to work in our favor: the self-perception of our physical activity. More and more studies show that a frame of mind that can help us improve our physical condition does not necessarily have to mirror the truth.

In other words, if you are sedentary and you are convinced that you cannot be anything else, you probably will not even try to change. You will simply accept your fate as a slow person with no muscle tone. Sports psychologist José Carrascosa puts it this way: “You tend to meet your own expectations. Telling yourself: ‘I’ve never exercised’ or ‘I’m not going to walk because I get tired quickly’ is entering a loop of self-limiting thoughts.” Carrascosa’s job is precisely to change that frame of mind. And no one demands that it conforms 100% to reality.

Sports science research has found an unexpected benefit in the devices that monitor vital signs such as daily steps and hours of sleep: when the user believes that they have a very sedentary life and their device refutes it with numbers, that person’s self-esteem changes for the better and their health data improves. This was observed in a recent study where several people changed their perception of their quality of life after a device recorded their physical activity.

In the study, 162 adults who had never counted their daily steps agreed to use an electronic device to track them for four weeks. A first group was given a watch that exaggerated the numbers, making its users believe that, for example, they had walked 9,800 steps when in reality they had only taken 7,000 steps. The second group was given a device that did the opposite: it decreased their steps by 40%, making those who had taken those same 7,000 steps think that they only walked about 4,200 steps a day. The other two groups in the study were given watches that did show the real data.

At the end of the trial, those who believed they had reached 7,000 steps a day — whether it was true or not — had better self-esteem. When they started to measure their activity, they had also begun to watch their diet and were consuming fewer high-fat foods. Their physical fitness had improved, even though their activity remained the same. The only substantial change observed by the researchers was their mindset: they felt that they were getting enough exercise, that their levels of physical activity had improved and, therefore, that they were healthier. This worked as a placebo effect.

On the other hand, those who had only reached 4,000 steps (according to the altered watch they had received) were sad, had low self-esteem, their mood bordered on depression, they ate worse and had small increases in their resting heart rate and blood pressure. Their step count was exactly the same as the other groups, but they did not know it. Thus, they ended up accepting their fate of being slow, sedentary and in poor health.

A well-known study from 2007, signed by Alia Crum, director of the Mind & Body Lab at Stanford University, had previously explored the impact that the mere belief of leading an active life had on health. The experiment recruited 84 female hotel room attendants who considered themselves sedentary and who argued that their job would never allow them to take time off to go to a gym and improve their health. Crum and her team made these women realize that they were actually quite active; they were shown, with statistics, that their daily tasks, such as changing linens, vacuuming or lifting objects, exceeded the daily physical activity recommended by the health authorities, even if they were not aware of it. One month later, the study measurements showed that their body fat and blood pressure had decreased, although nothing in their lives had changed except the idea they had of themselves and their caloric expenditure.

This same team from Stanford University showed in another work that men and women who considered themselves more sedentary than other people their age had a higher risk of premature death than those who perceived themselves as more active, regardless of any of those perceptions being true or not. The authors of these studies point out that the improvements in health indicators are small, so changing the mental framework cannot be considered enough or a substitute for exercise, although they do find relevant the fact that a change in perception is enough to generate a change of attitude that is favorable to active life.

These authors recommend grabbing a pen and paper and writing down our physical activity: if we walk, if we go up the stairs, if we go to the gym or take the dog out. We must be thorough with the hours and minutes. Some household chores that are not usually considered physical exercise should be included in this list. The point is getting a picture of our physical activity that is as accurate as possible, before putting the heavy label of “sedentary” on ourselves.

“It is a self-limiting mindset that can also be changed and replaced with other ideas,” says Carrascosa, who assures that achieving it is not so difficult, although he is not an advocate for the strategy of self-deception, unless it serves as motivation. “If someone wants to be an active person, thinking that they are will not be enough; they will have to come up with a progressive plan of physical activity that leaves them feeling tired — not exhausted — and that increases gradually in time and rhythm.” But sooner or later they will have to stop thinking that they are hopeless, useless, that they will get injured, that they were not made to play sports. Categorical statements about ourselves work as self-fulfilling prophecies. The most difficult negative thought to deactivate, confirms the psychologist, is the innocent, but resounding, “This is who I am.”

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