Day 60: Lessons From the Second Leg of This Journey...

Like any huge undertaking, I always break things down into parts that are manageable.  90 Days is broken down into three sets of thirty days, then those are managed by weeks… I am getting ready to finish up 60 days and that will leave me with 30 days remaining… Cannot believe it has gone so slow and yet passed by so quickly. Even more amazing is the depth of knowledge I have acquired from the changed mindset that has occurred. The profound changes to my personality have been stunning, scary, and even I have questioned the authenticity of them. When transformation happens quickly, the mind is quick to distrust and the attempt to dismiss it is a very difficult challenge. The feeling of a conscious revolution is sometimes problematic in it's  complexity. Suddenly, that person who didn’t want to work out, didn’t want to practice, didn’t want to study is up at 0500 and doing things that were seemingly impossible both mentally and physically. There is  indescribable feeling that comes from discipline. At first examination, it appears almost mindless and automatic… Motivation isn’t always available, but discipline drives me to perform even when I have zero desire to exercise… In this case, I think discipline and habit have become synonymous… 

Anyhoo… Here are some lessons that I have learned after almost 60 days…

1.     Always push forward, especially in the most difficult times...

There are days that I have woken up after sleeping poorly that I would rather take a left hook to the body rather than work out. Days when that first burpee was so slow, an eighty year old man could have performed it faster. I have felt sore, stiff, tired, and almost angry but I have not failed once during this this self-imposed life change challenge. This uncompromising program has taken me to levels of fitness that I thought, at my age, were unattainable. The farther I go, the better I look and feel and that drives me to find out just how far this can go before I fail.

2.     I am capable of so much more than I ever imagined.

A couple of years ago, I eased into the bodyweight exercise world because going to the gym was causing too many injuries. I reasoned with myself that maybe I was too old to keep lifting and I pretty much kind of “gave up” on ever becoming super fit again. I modified everything and took the route of the “older guy” so that I wouldn’t have to deal with the injuries as much. Today I am stronger, more flexible, have better balance and more stamina than I had in my twenties. I would venture to say that I am in better shape than when I was in the Marine Corps.

3.      There is No Wrong Way to Be Fit…

It takes hard work to find a fitness routine that works for you and your body. Your body is not my body so I can’t tell you how many times a week is best to work out and for how long. Experiment and find something that works for you… One person’s “extreme” may be another person’s normal. Find it, own it, implement it and be proud of it.

4.     Food is Fuel, Not Your Enemy.

Make sure you are eating well and not drastically depriving yourself of food for your soul and your body. You can do so much more on a full tank of good food than on an empty one. Controlling your appetite does not mean not eating, it means eating good, healthy food.

And perhaps the most important thing I have learned in my 90 Day Life Change Challenge Journey…

5.     It’s Not About The Number On The Scale Or The Size Of Your Pants or How You Look Naked…

I started this fitness journey with the goal that I wanted to lose weight and reach a specific number on the scale. The more I worked out, the more I have enjoyed the process without focusing on the results. I step on a scale once at the end of the month now when I go for my body analysis. What was my focus has now become unimportant and secondary to how I feel. Suddenly, being healthy wasn't about numbers, it is about feeling a sense of wholeness and wellness. This last 60 days has given me far more than I bargained for. I suspect that my whole food, plant based diet coupled with no preservative or chemical laden food has altered my brain chemistry. I don't think that humans were meant to ingest the large amounts of additives, food coloring and thickeners that are in our food. Everything we put into our body alters it in some way. By eliminating all the garbage, I have improved my life beyond measure...

The 90 Day life Change Challenge is 2/3 over and I am looking forward to the remainder... It seems like forever ago that I was standing in the shower and made the random decision to start but I am so glad that I did...  The multi-faceted plan has improved everything in my life. My mood is much better and I have this wonderful clarity of thought, improved attention span and better memory. I am rarely hungry now, have incredible amounts of energy... 

Now don't get me wrong, this has sucked ass at times... The relentless to do list day after day gets tedious, but the benefits FAR outweigh the burdens. I feel younger, stronger, more confidant and in control of my life...

So let's finish this one up together and maybe I can convince you to give it a try... I would twist your arms until you all promised me but that would be promises made under duress, and those wouldn't hold up in court... 

Make the decision right now... Pick something you want to change about yourself and get to work... If you can't decide what you want to change, take a shower, I always make crazy decisions in the shower, unless I'm on stage with Eddie Vedder playing guitar while he sings... 

See you tomorrow... For the first day of the rest of this insane challenge... I  love you more than North Koreans are forced to love Kim Jong-un... 

The 90 Day Life Change Challenge update... This entire blog has been the update... The first day of the 72 Day challenge I added when my coworker challenged me is completed... The gallon of water thing was brutal, but that evening yoga outside was magical...