Weak and Strong: body edition

"And if men come until me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." Ether 12:27

One of the things that has been occupying my time and attention these days is a renewed effort for health and nutrition. If you are one of those lucky people who don't really have body and/or weight issues, count your blessings. If you are one of those lucky people who are happy and confident regardless of shape or size, count them again. As for me, I confess: I have a sugar addiction (and a host of other issues which may or may not be related).

As part of the current energy poured into trying to make the habitual conscious again, I have been exploring the ideas of this lady and this lady. Both of these women have managed to make what used to be weaknesses for them become strengths. I don't necessarily subscribe to the ideas/practices of either lock-stock-and-barrel, though I do think I've gained something from both. But in trying to form new habits I've been wondering if having weaknesses become strengths means becoming kind of fanatical, i.e., does being really strong in some area by definition move you beyond the normal/average range in the sprectrum? (And what is normal or average anyway?) If I manage to kick my vicious sweet tooth, will I become a sort of obsessed health-nut chomping away at a new bit?

I'm having a hard time expressing this. Probably, as with most things, it isn't either/or; I just tend to extremes. Mixed in with these thoughts I also have lines from William James running through my head, things like "make [your] nervous system [your] ally instead of [your] enemy", and "seize the very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make." I give myself pep-talks during my morning exercise and then manage, many days, to self-sabotage by mid-afternoon. James' emphasis on physical reinforcement of mental resolutions makes sense to me. Here's that quote in full:

"Seize the very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make, and on every emotional prompting you may experience in the direction of the habits you aspire to gain. It is not in the moment of their forming, but in the moment of their producing motor effects, that resolves and aspirations communicate the new "set" to the brain. ... No matter how full a reservoir of maxims one may possess, and no matter how good one's sentiments may be, if one ha[s] not taken advantage of every concrete opportunity to act, one's character may remain entirely unaffected for the better. ... A tendency to act only becomes effectively ingrained in us in proportion to the uninterrupted frequency with which the actions actually occur, and the brain "grows" to their use." (from Psychological Foundations)

James also points out that habits are actions or sequences of actions that are automatic, i.e., not attended to: "habit diminishes the conscious attention with which our acts are performed". He says that attention and effort are "two names for the same psychic fact". It seems obvious once he says it, but I never connected the two quite that way before. The equation of attention and effort suddenly makes clear why changing habits is so hard: it means dredging up for conscious scrutiny things we are used to not thinking about . . . in other words, exhausting work!

Do you know what else is exhausting for me? Patience. I want to be immediately rewarded with results for my semi-sabotaged efforts.

Other related thoughts:
Sometimes weaknesses and strengths seem to lie on opposite ends of a continuum/spectrum; sometimes they seem to be two sides of the same "coin" or characteristic. How would you classify this set of weaknesses/strengths?

There is beauty in form and beauty in function; I can work to greater appreciate both.

I can work to act instead of be acted upon, and be glad for the choice.

Faith, hope and charity. These three apply to so many situations.