Mastering Lifestyle Intelligence: An Ecological Approach

In the 1950s a practicing physician coined the term “wellness.” It represented a combination of well-being and fitness. For decades, wellness was rarely seen nor heard on the cultural landscape. It wasn’t until the 1970s that it established itself as the headline act and has remained as such ever since.

Consider your response to the concept. You’re likely to briefly remind yourself of the changes you know you should make, followed by that thought fading quickly into the background of your mind.

Wellness has been the only term associated with an overall state of health and its cultural importance cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, its efficacy for influencing lifestyle behavior in a positive direction is weak as evidenced by the projection that the obesity rate in the country is expected to be 50% by 2030. Hence, the need for a concept that more accurately reflects the issues, while simultaneously motivating individuals to change. (1)

Wellness did an excellent job of defining the core issues of health – eating, sleeping and physical activity. What it lacked was an understanding that lifestyle was, not a bunch of individual behaviors, but an “intelligence” of its own, with a critically important ecosystem.

This concept is reminiscent of the introduction of emotional intelligence (EQ) by psychologists Peter Salovey and John Mayer, popularized by Daniel Goleman in his 1995 book. EQ revolutionized the understanding of social and emotional behaviors framing them as a form of intelligence critical for mental health, rather than isolated skills. Similarly, LQ proposes to view lifestyle through the lens of intelligence, offering a framework to understand how we manage eating, sleeping and physical activity.

Let’s briefly explore the following question. How successful are you in managing the three foundational elements? Each has two components: sensory awareness of our needs and learned content, health information that promotes quality lifestyle choices.

Think of the processing of internal sensory data as our brain’s Central Intelligence Agency. This monitoring system, which provides information on what is happening at any moment in time, presupposes that we’re tuned into the channel so that our conscious mind can receive the broadcast. In infants, this processing is automatic since cognition and sensation are synonymous. Thus, infants are never confused about whether they’re hungry, tired, or need to move.

As we grow older, cultural and familial programing begin to insidiously degrade our awareness, resulting in “sensory blindness.” We begin eating with our eyes (or by the clock) and ignoring the sensations of fatigue and its consequences for chronic sleep disruption. Research published in 2018 detailed how this process during childhood and adolescence is the primary variable for developing poor lifestyle habits which typically continue into adulthood, thus increasing the risks for chronic diseases ( obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc.). (2)

The need for movement has an analogous structure, but the feedback mechanism is very different. Unlike sleep and hunger, which are tied to circadian rhythms, sensations of “exercise deprivation” are typically camouflaged and manifest themselves in the form of seemingly unrelated physical and psychological complaints, such as lower back pain and moodiness. We perceive these as minor medical conditions, not as diminished sensory awareness.

It should also be noted that movement is essential for optimal cognitive functioning. The data suggests that even single sessions of light exercise can influence essential processes related to cognitive skills. The results support the hypothesis that movement in the form of aerobic walking significantly enhances children’s cognitive performance. (3)

These sensory-based issues can best be understood if we use ecology to describe the interaction of the three lifestyle intelligence components. Decreased movement and sleep deprivation are clearly tied together. Sleep deprivation decreases energy which makes movement less likely while, simultaneously, amping up appetite. Hence, there is a strong probability for weight gain that has nothing to do with an individual’s self-control or willpower. This physiological disruption is now taking place in a large portion of the country’s population. (4)

Similarly, interactions play an important role when we explore the relationships between LQ and the two established forms of intelligence, IQ and EQ. Losing sleep causes our emotional regulation skill to go awry, resulting in an increase in anger, anxiety and depression. Moreover, these negative emotional changes limit one’s ability to experience empathy, resulting in difficulty navigating important relationships. In addition, motivation, a central component of EQ, becomes more difficult to sustain due to having less energy.

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Lastly, but no less important, sleep deprivation slows down our ability to think. Slowed cognition means that alertness, concentration, focus, and logical reasoning become increasingly impaired. Taken together, this suggests that lifestyle intelligence, which effectively integrates the essential elements of healthy living into a uniform overall concept, can do for health what EQ did for social-emotional life.

LQ must cater to both adults and families, targeting early intervention to instill healthy habits. Leveraging digital platforms can disseminate information and foster motivation. Family-focused interventions through elementary schools hold promise, utilizing the family system to model and reinforce lifestyle intelligence. By targeting children and parents, interventions can address entrenched habits and promote collective wellbeing.

In essence, lifestyle intelligence offers an holistic approach to healthy living, akin to EQ’s impact on social-emotional life. By integrating essential elements of wellbeing into a unified concept, LQ has the potential to transform health outcomes and foster thriving communities.