Decisions, Decisions

At the beginning of his book, "The Paradox of Choice," author Barry Schwartz describes a trip to his local grocery store where he is confronted by 85 different types of crackers, 285 varieties of cookies, 230 soup selections, 90 decongestants and remedies for colds, hundreds of different cereals, etc. He extrapolates this experience to other aspects of modern life that confront us with an often bewildering array of choices and options that can lead to psychological and behavioral paralysis.

While having choices can certainly be a good thing, research studies of consumer behavior have convincingly demonstrated that people are happiest with their choices when they select from among fewer, rather than more, options. The reason for this? When you need to choose one of many options, whether purchasing a car, a bicycle or lawn fertilizes, your dissatisfaction is linked to remorse about what you didn't select. The more options, the greater the dissatisfaction that comes with any one choice.  In Schwartz's view, our culture, society and economy have collectively created a free market of endless variety, which you'd think would make people happy, but which in fact seems to promote unhappiness and even depression. It's an interesting paradox.

How does this relate to fitness and health? As potential consumers of healthcare services and products, we face a similar array of options from which to choose a course of action. However, if Schwartz is right, we may end up being chronically dissatisfied with our decisions. Say, for example, that you have decided to take up yoga as a way to get into shape. Yoga is one of many similar types of activity that are done in a slow and contemplative manner, such as Pilates, Qui Gong and Tai Chi. The potential pleasures and benefits of doing yoga may be diminished by a certain restlessness that results from thinking that you'd somehow be happier or healthier if you had just chosen one of the other options.

To make matters worse, you also discover that you have to choose from among at least a dozen types of Yoga classes offered by teachers of varying backgrounds and training. Which is best? Here again, regardless of what you ultimately decide on - Astanga, Bikram, Iyeagar, Hatha yoga, or some other variety - you may be left with a feeling of vague dissatisfaction and a belief that you're missing out on something potentially more beneficial. It's a variation of "the grass is always greener" type of thinking, one, which paradoxically develops in the context of an abundance of health behavior options.

Just as some people engage in doctor shopping in hopes of finding the ideal physician who can truly understand and treat their medical problems, others get caught up in an endless quest for the ideal pathway to health, trying out one alternative after another without ever really making a commitment to anything.

There's a simple way to resolve this dilemma, and that is to understand that virtually anything you do by way of becoming more active and health conscious will have a positive payoff. There is no one magic bullet, or pathway to health, that stands head and shoulders above all the rest. In the long run, the best type of exercise is one that you enjoy and are willing to do on a regular basis. The difference between being active and being a couch potato is enormous, compared with the contrast between, for example, joggers and hikers, or people who prefer free weights versus those who swear by machine-based resistance training. There are many pathways to health; the important thing is to choose one, get going and enjoy the journey.

Paul Salmon, Ph.D., M.S., is a faculty member in the psychology department at the University of Louisville, an ACSM-certified health fitness instructor and a member of KHF's Editorial Advisory Board. You can contact him with comments or questions at psalmon@louisville.edu