When I returned to Boston I had visions of things that would happen. Not just health-wise (I knew that would be a struggle) but financially and even–as silly as it seems–emotionally.

It’s been nearly four months and while financials are better (see my gratefulness post for some insight on that) I’m in a worse place on the other fronts. So what to do? When decisions are inherently personal, how does one build up pressure to achieve?

Enter the personal ultimatum.

I have three things I’d like to accomplish. Thirty days is sufficient time to accomplish all three things. I’m giving myself thirty days to get a win on all three things or I give up something I really, really like.

And I don’t have to tell you what they are unless I fail.

I’m always glad for your thoughts.

Stay blessed!

1. Caffeine
2. Food
3. Music
4. Exercise

Then I realized that caffeine made my mind race, food made me fatter, and music just lent to distraction.

I’m getting better about proper hydration and using natural methods to increase my heart rate.

Who’s the weird dude doing push-ups at the office? The dude who doesn’t get “that 2:30 feeling.”

Well, I’m getting there. 4pm is still tough some days.

I hope you’re well and enjoying your weekend! Stay blessed.

Oh, alright. Not entirely that dramatic. I did miss the feeling if regular improvement I experienced this past winter. But old habits die hard. I work in an environment built on long hours and eating at one’s desk. Neither of which are a good idea for a person given to distraction and poor food choices. Like my cousin. He’d have a terrible time with that.

I brought a bag of baby spinach, a can of salmon, and a can opener to work this morning. I’d replaced biting my nails with drinking coffee and the gloom of impending deadlines made lunch a forgotten notion as I inhaled the acidic shards of stale coffee breath. What a wretched scent. I was once kissed by a person who had drunk coffee, beer and smoked a cigarette after having fasted for a few days. That was worse than what I experienced today.

By 6pm I was hungry. What to do? Oh! Salmon and spinach, of course. The entire bag of spinach was 60 calories. The can of salmon was a little over 550. Yet if you were to walk by, you’d likely mutter about how I must be some sort of scarfing pig to eat so much food.

Precisely. That is not the sort of food that makes a person fat. I ate it all and was a bit bored of eating by the time I’d nearly finished. In plainest terms, I wasn’t hungry anymore. I’m a smart guy. I’ve known for months that I can eat as much spinach and salmon as I want and lose weight yet I’d not been doing it. Maybe I’m just book smart or there’s some deeper need to make culinary excuses for myself.

There was a watermelon waiting for me in the fridge when I arrived home this evening. Its presence was  no surprise. I put it there last evening after a half-mile walk through a hot fog of Massachusetts evening. The coolness was stunning as the melon unzipped beneath a sharp blade.

Once again, I ate as much as I wished. You won’t get fat off watermelon.

It’s nice to not be waiting any longer. You come, too.

I have so many more things I’m grateful for but this seven is a decent start on that list. I’d get a kick out of reading your list if you ever felt compelled to publish one!

Thanks for being you as I work to be a better me.

It’s okay to get a little crazy sometimes. Shoot for an extreme and if you’re self-aware you’ll catch the hints your body gives you to change.

The trick is to listen well enough that you catch problems and can adjust before you’ve pushed too far and need to quit.

Thursdays are typically my “Is this change making me go nuts?” questioning day. I hit a nice even stride this past Thursday and will be changing things up again starting Monday morning. This coming Thursday I’ll discuss the past 72 hours with a friend and figure out if I need to change anything in order to finish the week strong.

Sound crazy? It probably does and I haven’t even told you what I’ve been doing! I’ll tell you soon. Some of it, at least. =)

If you want to get something done. If you want to reach a particular goal. If you want to make something happen.

Don’t be afraid to get your crazy on.

We’re here to cheer for you.

For those of you who’ve been wondering about when challenges will start up again, it seems that most would benefit from another early rising challenge. Perhaps after 3 or 4 of them you’ll be dragging your sleepy butts out of bed on time! I’m game.

Image: Source

By the time you read this, I’ll be gone. It’s something I’ve needed to do for quite some time but didn’t have the heart to talk to you about. I knew you wouldn’t understand. You’d say this is just another of my fascinations and that I’d never actually leave you.

But I have. I’ve left you Priscilla. Ours was not the type of relationship that would have made me into a better person. I was a bigger person for it, sure. But I wasn’t better. You were slowly killing me. Just you.

No, it doesn’t matter that you were one of many. This is about you and me. Not them. Not yet. Their time is coming. I won’t be sucked into yet another sedated goose chase of excuses and limp arguments. I’m not trying to be lazy this time. I’m not trying to suffocate my problems with a soft pillow of food and inactivity.

I don’t have to wonder when good things will start happening to me because I have become one of the good things happening in my life.

When I started writing these letters, I smiled at the idea of using vicious words to describe a painful breakup between longtime partners. I don’t feel that way about you, Priscilla. I’m not angry. I’m not resentful. I had some amazing things happen to me while we were together. I made some great friends, saw interesting things, ate delicious food, and even helped improve some people’s lives.

Now, as I say goodbye to you and think of all the others I already owe letters to, I’m so grateful. I’m grateful for the people around me who loved me as I was and support me in my change. I’m delighted at the progress I’ve made in spite of all the bouts of laziness and inconsistent focus. And I’m so glad for all the opportunities I’ve had to connect with others who pull some bit of inspiration from my stumbles.

Life is good. It’s even better now that I don’t have you, Priscilla.

Dear Monique,

I had myself convinced that we were good together. I took a doctor’s comment that I was “healthy but for the extra weight” and focused on the healthy part. I didn’t feel bad with you but how was I to know any better. We’d been together fo so long! I couldn’t remember what life was like without you.

Even when I began leaving the others it seemed unlikely that you and I would ever part. We hadn’t looked at each other let alone spoken in years. Given my history, you had no reason to worry. I’d never get around to you.

Obviously, I did.

I took you for a final run along the beach. I’m not very fast yet. I don’t stop though and that’s where I keep digging up wins. The new street lights have yet to be completed. My footsteps fell on dark pavement as we moved through the cold air.

I look at the lights across the water. I breathe. I listen to the words of a song for a few stanzas. I breathe. It’s so cold out. I curl my fingers into fists and squeeze my thumbs to warm them. I breathe. It takes so long for me to warm up, I think. I don’t seem to be able to lengthen my stride until nearly two miles in. I breathe deeply. Keep running. Keep breathing. Don’t stop.

I didn’t notice the moment you left.

I was busy breathing.

Michael,

Social pressures can do a lot to help or harm one’s sense of self and subsequent health choices. You were one of the harms.

You were the “friend” who insisted that I wasn’t fat as I continued to gain weight far past any glimmer of possible health. You were the “buddy” who encouraged me to eat more even when I’d said I was trying to cut back. You were the dude who told me that anybody who wasn’t physically attracted to me just as I was didn’t deserve the time of day.

I suppose you were just trying to help. Were you? It wasn’t helpful.

I needed somebody to be concerned about me. It wasn’t like I had an allergic reaction and blew up overnight. It was a process. You saw it happening. When I tried to make changes, you made no effort to help. I didn’t expect you to help but I’d hoped you wouldn’t stand in the way. But you did.

It was my fault that I gained weight. I know that, Mike. It was my fault that I didn’t do a better job of self-regulation and make a difference earlier. I know that.

Still, I ask you. As my friend, why didn’t you say anything? If I’d been snorting coke or shooting heroin you would have done something. I know you would have. But I wasn’t on illegal substances. I was on a Baptist-approved carbohydrate coma that, in some ways, made my life seem easier. You saw what I was doing and yet there was not a word from you!

It’s okay. I figured things out on my own. I shoveled out the embarrassment and uncertainty on my own. I walked alone. Then I started to jog along. I kept going and I was finally able to run. Still alone.

It’s been a few weeks since I knew for sure that you were gone. It’s been a few weeks since I let my real friends know that I was doing okay without you. I’m sorry to get this letter off with such tardiness but it’s not as if you’d care.

You’re just a blob of fat that slowly melted away without leaving any trace beyond my increased desire to put as many lost pounds between you and me as possible. You’re just a memory from a time when I wasn’t as kind to myself or even the people around me.

But now? Now things have changed. I need to work harder and with more consistency but I’m always trending away from you. I’ve kept my eye out for friends who will let me know if they’re worried about me. I’ve surrounded myself with people who want the best for me. They’re excited about what I’m becoming and how I’m making it happen.

While you? You get nothing.

Becoming an early riser isn’t about trading sleep for productivity. It’s about taking back a part of your life by trading tired evening hours for productive and wakeful mornings.

You probably can’t tell your boss that you’ve decided not to work between 9-11am because you need productive time for yourself and personal projects. You’d be laughed at. What you can do is make a habit of waking early and add hours of productivity to your every morning!

Here are just five of the benefits you’ll enjoy as an early riser:

1. Freedom from distractions -

Whether you have a house full of kids or a phone that never stops ringing, the early morning is the best time to escape the distractions of daily life.

2. More time for personal projects -

If you’ve ever wanted to start a blog, save your marriage, write a novel, get more exercise (one of my early-morning heavy-hitters), or paint your kitchen, do it in the morning. You’ll get more done in an hour of early morning productivity than you could ever hope to accomplish in the evening after a long day of distractions.

3. A change in perspective -

Have you ever gone for a swim in very cold water? At first, the temperature is shocking. Then you become accustomed to the coolness and begin to find it refreshing. Getting up early allows you to approach your life with the same technique. Instead of leaping into your day and stroking furiously for the other side, starting early leaves you with enough time to paddle around a bit and enjoy the process of wakefulness.

4. The Sunrise -

I’m entirely with Leo on this point. I’m usually a mile into my morning walk by the time the sun makes it over the horizon. There is no greater primal joy (except holding one’s child for the first time, perhaps) than experiencing the warmth and light of another new day beginning.

5. Starting the day off right -

When you begin your day by acting in a way that says, “I am going to take care of my body, mind and spirit” you set a precedent for the rest of your day.

So how do you become an early riser? Just follow two simple steps:

1. Read 5 Steps To Falling Asleep Easily and practice the steps each evening at a time that will give you plenty of rest before the start of your day.
2. Subscribe to Primal Stride so you don’t miss upcoming articles with great tips to help you start your day with a spring in your step! We’ve already done one seven-day challenge with an early-riser component. Stay tuned for the next!

If you’re already an early riser, sound out in the comments with something you enjoy about the early morning! (And no, staying up until 5am doesn’t count… although it is fun.)

sunrise

When you think of crunches, do thoughts of achievable six-pack abs come to mind? Or do you instead think of the 1980’s and mindless repetitions that never seem to move you closer to your dream stomach?

I’ve asked my incredible Dr. Seuss Rhymster Fitness Homie MizFit to break down how to do a perfect crunch for all of us doing the Double Crunch challenge. (Find her, link to her, follow her, be like her.)

One quote that jumped out at me:

Abs, aesthetically (the look you see in magazines), are made in the kitchen through what you eat and through your cardio — burning off any excess fat.

I’m going to start bringing a yoga mat into the kitchen and do my crunches there. I’d never thought of that! Thanks, Miz!

Seriously though, if your office chair gives you a sore back, a stronger core (mid-section) can help chase away the pain. If you’re constantly running around after your kids, a stronger core will make your day a little easier. The main benefit of crunches (and other core-strengthening exercises) is that they help you get from wake to sleep more easily.

You do not need to be lean in order to enjoy the benefits of a strong core. However, you do need to be lean if you want to have perfect six-pack abs.

If you want perfect six-pack abs, life is a bit more complex for you. You’ll have to deal with your genetic propensity to store fat on your stomach, love for saturated fats, and unwillingness to spend hours exercising each week. Getting perfect six-pack abs, for most of us, is a silly short-term goal because it’s going to be awhile before we’re lean enough to see our abdominal muscles!

What can we do in the meantime? We can focus on building core strength and changing our eating habits from scarfing junk to consuming food the body recognizes as fuel. Those of you participating in this week’s Primal Stride Challenge already know another benefit of core exercises — that ache in your abs serves as a satisfying reminder that you are making a real change for the better!

Thanks to MizFit for showing us how to do a perfect crunch and to YOU for inspiring all of us with your ability to change!