Scientific research is slow and boring. Certainly in comparison to health influencer content telling you to drink your own fermented urine. And then there’s AI, which is making Dead Internet Theory a reality at warp speed. See the image below to feel nostalgic for good, old-fashioned, hand-crafted nonsense.
So, while you may be exactly one supplement or workout trend away from liberation, the odds are stronger that the doing is the fixing – and finding ways to take action (and take care of you) – is where the real magic is. So, in that spirit, I want to share a few things that I’ve seen work reliably for people over the years.
Build your own food rules
Please note that I’m not talking about restriction here. I’m talking about how you want to feel before you eat and after you eat. Here, you might set the stage to avoid feeling hangry or over-full. You can prioritize energy. Or nutrient density. Or mindfulness. Or simply taking care of good, old Johnny.
One of my favourite food rules is to simply increase my minimum standard for enjoyment. So, if chocolate ice cream is my achilles heel, then I need to ensure that I’m eating – and savouring – the very finest chocolate ice cream out there. No half-steppin’. And this isn’t just more human than pretending that we’re never going to eat for pure enjoyment; it helps us ask, in the moment, if the thing we’re eating for pleasure is truly providing us with that pleasure.
Celebrating movement
The evidence is pretty straightforward on exercise activity. 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (or 75 minutes of “vigorous” activity). And at least a couple of days of week of muscle/strength-building work. That’s enough to move the needle in important ways so get it done however you need to. But, to an extent, more is more. So, ask where else you can find movement during the week.
Walking or biking stack up. So does taking small movement breaks. And, of course, finding activities that you love and want to practice your whole life. That kind of thing can be exceptionally motivating. But there’s another piece that I think is incredibly important:
When you have to run back upstairs to get something. When you have a chance to carry something awkward. When you have time to walk the long way around, pick up a toddler, or shovel someone’s walkway, chase it and celebrate the opportunity to move. This is good stuff.
Notice when things feel good
In his book, If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice to the Young-The Graduation Speeches, Kurt Vonnegut shares this anecdote about his uncle Alex
“One of the things [Uncle Alex] found objectionable about human beings was that they so rarely noticed it when they were happy. He himself did his best to acknowledge it when times were sweet. We could be drinking lemonade in the shade of an apple tree in the summertime, and Uncle Alex would interrupt the conversation to say, “If this isn’t nice, what is?”
So I hope that you will do the same for the rest of your lives. When things are going sweetly and peacefully, please pause a moment, and then say out loud, “If this isn’t nice, what is?”
Defeating the big with the tiny
How little and how accessible would the next victory have to be for you to stop dragging your heels and take action? What feelings of success could you microdose daily if you simply stopped waiting for a better time or a bigger payoff and took humble but persistent action instead.
Finding in peace in working with what you’ve got
It’s our discomfort that propels us toward change. That’s standard human stuff. But this can be a problem when you believe that the solution lies beyond who you are right now. The miracle isn’t in being someone else, it’s in bringing your full self to bear. The people closest to you love to see you take those kinds of actions because it reveals the best parts of you. Right now. As you are. Right this second.
GG
Keep reading
One essay a week, written by Geoff. No hype.