Day 20...Really? What have I learned?
I can hardly believe day 20 is here. In some ways it seems
like it should be day 2, in other ways like it should be day 200. The
good news I finally noticed a health change. I have had crazy allergies
for a long long time to the point that I would way up at nights to blow my nose
because I couldn't breathe. Most often I would wake up because my wife
would wake me for snoring. My nasal passages are clear as can be right
now when I sleep. Maybe not completely dry but certainly not clogged and
certainly not resulting in snoring or waking up. I'm really stunned by
that simple fact.
As for what I've learned is
that I have more willpower than I thought. I will get a craving from time
to time but on the craving scale it is about a 2 now and passes as soon as I
say no. For example, I carried cracker jacks and cookies around for 2
days from a workshop, so I could bring them to my daughter as a special treat,
didn't bother me at all. I sat at a 2 hour dinner where I couldn't have a
drink of anything except water, no appetizers that were sitting directly in
front of me (even though I was hungry) and only eat the smallest Gerber chicken
you ever saw with a speck of leafy greens next to it. This was after a
lunch where I piled on the plain salad and deconstructed a steak sandwich for
maybe an oz. and a half of steak. Two days of minimal food with no slip
and not much hunger pain while carrying around cookies and cracker jacks for my
kids and walking past a display of my favorite ice cream every time I walked to
my room. 12 months ago, or even 2 months ago, someone would not be able
to convince me that situation was possible.
What I would like to improve is
my exercise level. I've really slipped for about a week or more. I
need to fix that as there is no excuses. All I must do is walk down a
flight of stairs and I have what I need for a complete workout. Lazy
and making excuses about being busy.
Meanwhile my wife became inspired and has started her health
program. She is a beast right now. Since I have an unpredictable work schedule
for travel and she takes care of the kids during the day she has been getting
up at 5:30am so she can hit the gym for a morning class and be back in time to
help with getting the girls ready for their day while I go to work. On top of it she has put a strict 1200 calorie
limit in place to jump start things. She’s
done this for 2 weeks now with no complaint.
What an inspiration! I’m so proud
of her! She’s now asking questions about
starting whole 30.
Wow, Matt! Thanks for posting. The reasons for this blog idea were three: Accountability, Inspire each other, and reference (something we can refer to if we do it again). I'm glad to see you posting, as activity has been really low. I didn't want to be the only one posting consistently so I backed off. Well, you've encouraged me here so thank you.
ReplyDeleteYou have some amazing stories here about your mental strength and your wife's journey! A few comments, if I may... first, the allergies thing doesn't surprise me. This usually happens. I had two things go away too... phlegm and eye rash. Now I am going to "slowly reintroduce" things to see what happens. (I am done with the Whole 30 by the way, more on that in the other post). I suggest the same for you... be mindful about what you bring back in and when, so then when you see a change, you'll know the cause. For example, don't bring dairy and gluten back at the same time. And when you do reintroduce, do it gradually not "a ton of dairy" at once, for example. One of the reasons we remove grains, dairy, legumes, and gluten are that they are the most frequent allergens. People are also of course allergic to normally "healthy" things but these are the main culprits.
For workouts, I think we can all relate. Workouts require physical effort and time, which means there will always be a voice in your head giving you a reason why you can't. A few tips for me that work are 1) Accountability (Again)... have a buddy system. I'll volunteer if you want. Just a text "what workout are you doing today" or we can use a blog (I have a workout blog too... haven't used it lately but used it religiously for years before, just started back up). Maybe your wife too.. but sometimes having someone else is better. Think about it. 2) just show up without thinking about it, and do it early in the day. Don't give yourself any time to get distracted. Workout first, and without giving your day a chance to get in your way. I even put workout time in my calendar sometimes. But showing up is of course key... it's hard to turn around and leave without workout out once you have gone through the trouble of putting on workout clothes and shown up to the gym. 3) have a program/plan. Find a regimen that is prescriptive and follow it. I do CrossFit, have done P90X in the past. There are of course a ton of options. 4) When in a hotel, or even at home and short on time, just do a 10 minute workout. I do this often with body weight moves. Just yesterday I did it twice. I had a very early AM call (6AM) and during the time where someone else was talking for a good while I did 100 pushups with the call on speakerphone. Then later in the call I did 50 dumbbell deadlifts (I keep dumbbells on the floor in my office). Then, around 2 yesterday.. I went out to my home gym and did a CrossFit workout that scorched me but it was 9:35 long. For time: 30 overhead walking lunges, 30 knees to elbows, 30 situps, row 30 calories, 30 situps, 30 knees to elbows, 30 overhead walking lunges. Hope this helps, brother!
So I used to think you were a great guy Craig. I hit the gym today and modified a routine for time. I would typically do squats, over head press, deadlift, and bent over row. I dropped 20 pounds and swapped out the press and squat for overhead lunges and added curls with elbows up and added pull ups. Typically takes 25-30 min. Did 3 set in 10 mins and nearly puked 5 minutes after I finished. I monitored my heart rate and it stayed high but not danger level. That was one of the most brutal thing I’ve done.
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