This post may contain affiliate links., which means if you make a purchase using any affiliated links, I will earn a small commission at zero additional cost to you.
Enneagram Type 5 | Drive Your Fitness Journey
How Your Personality Type Can Drive Your Weight-loss Success
There’s a good chance you’re reading this article with some skepticism. I get it. How on earth can a personality test mesh with a fitness journey?
That’s exactly what my hubby asked me as I rambled on and on about this a few weeks ago. I assured him, though, that given the information of someone’s Enneagram personality type, I could help them nail down their individual motivators for weight loss and overall fitness.
The fact of the matter is that the Enneagram has little to do with our actions, and much to do with our motivation for those actions. That’s why it’s hard to nail down someone else’s enneagram type. Because you can’t say for sure why they do what they do. But when you learn your own motivators, you can use those motivators to propel you forward. In any area of your life.
Including fitness.
We all have different motives. Different things that drive us toward where we’re going. And figuring out what that thing is for you, is vital in your fitness journey.Throughout my own massive weight-loss and health journey, I’ve lost a whopping 160 pounds. I know, crazy right?! But here’s the deal.
Most people are tempted to look at my before-and-after snapshot and assume it was a quick fix or the perfect crash diet that led me to that pic on the right.
But that’s so. so wrong.
In actuality, it all had to do with an underlying why.
A motivator.For me, it was because I was 336 pounds and absolutely miserable inside and out. That led me to complete desperation. Desperation became my why, and that led me to my weight-loss pursuit.
If you ask anyone who has lost a significant amount of weight, what made them lose all that weight, you’ll get all sorts of different answers.
But every single person has a motivator.
One of the biggest challenges people have, when I ask my clients, friends, and family? Lack of motivation. Can’t stick to it for the long haul.
But a burst of motivation won’t do it. It’s gotta be rooted more deeply than that. A zap of inspiration, or a really rad motivational quote… not gonna cut it.
BUT… If you can dig a little deeper and find what truly motivates you, at your core, then you’re golden.Not sure what the Enneagram is? It’s an in-depth set of personality types that is ancient years old. If you’ve never determined your Enneagram type, take the test HERE. I do not receive a commission from this. I just love the enneagram. 😉
What Motivates You At Your Core?
When looking at the Enneagram, you can journey toward discovering what motivates you, but it’s not just designed for fitness or weight loss. It’s much MUCH more encompassing than that. You can use it to help you in virtually any area of your life. Your marriage, your career, your parenting… It’s such an incredibly in-depth tool.
But for the sake of not making this blog post fifty-thousand years long, we’re going to zero in on how you can use knowledge of your Enneagram type, to drive your weight-loss and fitness journey. For a glimpse at all the other types, head HERE.
But for this post, let’s focus specifically on Enneagram Type 5.
Enneagram Type 5: The Investigator
If you’re an Enneagram Type 5, you’re a thinker. You might be known as a philosopher of sorts, as you think and analyze further than some of the rest of us. You investigate, observe, and think thinks all the way through. You’re systematic, and have a real pull for acquisition of knowledge.
Strengths For An Enneagram Type 5
Enneagram Type 5s are reflective. You can think independently, and come to your own conclusions without the opinions and sway of others. You’re calm, persistent, strong, and reflective. You’re self sufficient, and excellent at remaining task oriented.
You need time to think before you can give a sure answer, and you don’t like being pushed to give a quick response. But this can serve you well because your answer/response can be trusted to have been thoroughly evaluated ahead of time.
Challenges For Enneagram An Type 5
Just as we all do, Enneagram Type 5s have some more challenging attributes as well. At times you might get a little lost in your own mind, and subsequently forget about tending to your physical body. You can sometimes you think you don’t need guidance, and that can be tough because we could all use a little guidance in various areas of our lives.
You’re not too keen on high emotion, and can sometimes be detached from others. You compartmentalize your life, and even your thought patterns, and can sometimes be a bit of a procrastinator.
Weight-Loss Journey Roadblocks And How To Overcome Them
Weight loss is not easy. Each of us has specific roadblocks that tend to derail us more frequently than not. So let’s take a solid look at three of the main hindrances for weight-loss for Enneagram Type 5s.
It’s important to keep in mind that in this blog post we’re not talking about roadblocks like how dairy affects you or whether you should go gluten-free. We’re talking more about the internal side of things here. You can visit some of my other blog posts for practical ideas on how to lose the weight.
1. Pushing Away Guidance
Because you’re amazing at understanding the entire process of a thing, all the way through, you sometimes feel like you don’t need guidance.
This can become a hindrance in your weight-loss or health journey because you may actually need someone to lend guidance to you along the way. You may not need hand-over-hand instruction, but some simple guidelines to consider could help tremendously.
If you’re aware of your tendency to push away guidance, you can combat that habit and learn to accept some encouragement from a trusted source. A person or program you feel is credible and honest. You can spot a hidden agenda a mile away, so use that inner discernment and then let your guard down, even just a little, so you can do yourself a favor in your health journey.
2. Neglecting Mindfulness
As an Enneagram Type 5 it’s easy to get lost in your thoughts. Your wheels are always turning, so to speak. You’re busy thinking things through, figuring things out, and analyzing every detail of a thing.
Within a health journey, it’s good to develop skills that will help you to eat, exercise, and live intuitively so that you can ensure that your needs are being met. Since our bodies are always sending us cues for what they need, it’s good to learn to “hear” those cues, and take heed to them.
This mindfulness is a major factor in developing longer-term success within your pursuit.
Where the roadblock might pop up is when you get so lost in your thoughts that you neglect your physical body. This is why you’ll need to pay attention to your body, how it’s feeling, how you’re feeling, and what you need to thrive each day.
3. Focusing Too Much On The How, And Not Enough On The Do
As an Enneagram Type 5 you’ll want to fully understand what lies ahead of you before you get started. You’ll evaluate what it’s going to take to reach the end goal. You’ll strategize. You’ll consider all angles. The pros, the cons, and everything in between.
Where you want to make sure you don’t get tripped up, is when it comes to actually getting started. Actually doing the things that you need to do in order to make progress.
Give yourself a chunk of time to think through your plan of action, and then give yourself a kick in the booty to actually do it.
Remember, you can think about it for the rest of your life. But merely thinking about it won’t help you reach your goal. In order to make progress, you’ve eventually got to get up and do that thang. 😉
How To Choose A Fitness Plan
There are so. many. options. *insert facepalm here*
Seriously if I get another crash diet flashed across my screen I’m gonna scream.
Here’s the deal. I may be completely bias, but I am so against dieting. There’s a ton of research that shows that restricting your food intake and jus general “dieting” in general does more harm than good, and I can totally relate.
But that doesn’t mean that weight-loss can’t be an option for you. What it means is that you don’t have to torture yourself into losing weight. Instead, you need to find a plan that works for you. One that is doable, and balanced, HEALTHY, and enjoyable. Sound crazy? I’m sure! The diet industry wants to scare you into weight-loss. But not this girl. Nope.
Systematic
As an Enneagram Type 5 you love a good, solid, trustworthy system. You like to approach things strategically. That’s amazing, because sometimes weight loss comes down to simply approaching your habits systematically.
Choose a plan of action that allows you to follow a systematic approach, while also working on the mindfulness piece.
Self-Guided
While you do need some guidance, you might do very well with following a program that is self-guided. A plan that clearly defines all expectations and principles, and then hands over the reins to you.
Just remember to get started, once you think your way through all the details. That’s the most important part – and sometimes the hardest!
Health-Centered
You want sometimes trustworthy and credible. You do not need a crash diet or the latest trend. So choose a plan of action that you believe in. One that is focused on health. As an Enneagram Type 5, you won’t be most inclined to jump on some random weight-loss program that promises major losses by guzzling a magical potion.
You’re wiser than that. Keep your eye out for a plan of action that centers around health and wellness, and then go for it.
Choose A Plan Of Action Not A Diet
Steer clear of crash diets. Seriously. Run the other direction. If you need some help with weight loss without the rigidity of a hardcore diet, try my six-week weight-loss program. You’ll get all the details and expectations in a simplified way, and then you’ll learn how to balance it all out so you can live your life while making progress toward the healthiest you yet.
Key Motivator For Enneagram Type 5
As an Enneagram Type 5 you are highly motivated by acquisition of knowledge. You want to learn the details of a thing. You want to learn the systems and analyze the details.
Use this as your motivator in your health journey.
Health is a never-ending pursuit of learning. You can ask the healthiest person you know, and they’ll tell you that they’re still learning. They’re still figuring out how this or that affects their body and overall health.
There is so much to learn! So take that and run with it. Start with a seed of something that interests you, and dive in! Learn everything about that one thing, and then let that lead to the next thing and the next.
Learn what the different types of exercise are. Investigate how they affect the body. How they affect your body.
Learn about specific foods, and how they benefit the body.
Learn about how water makes your body function better.
Use your pursuit of knowledge, as a pursuit of health as well. Then add in some assertiveness and walk toward the healthiest version of you.
