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Four Day Challenge for Fitness Freedom!

Hobby Zone / by ThadSterling

July 4th, 2023

...See more Four Days to Fitness Freedom Challenge! This challenge focuses on nutrition and building a better exercise routine, but revolves around the tricky notion of Self Discipline (which can be misleading in many ways). The truth is, many struggle with consistent progress toward goals in all areas of life, then feel bad about lacking “Self Discipline”, when in reality consistency combined with the simple steps in this challenge is the real key. With consistency and a simple, AMAZING nutritional hack, we can all achieve the goals we think are impossible. Following the steps below with a new understanding of the science behind willpower will give you a better workout, better progress, better chances at new habits in general, and better chances of saying “yes!” to exercise (or any other difficult task) when you are tempted to throw in the towel on any given day. Perhaps you are not happy with your progress in fitness, or your performance in your favorite sport, or perhaps you are struggling to make healthier habits in general. If this sounds familiar, then the Four Days to Fitness Freedom challenge is for you! We will cover the concept, the process, and after a firm understanding of willpower from a biological view, we will finish with the challenge. We got this! *This can apply to ANYTHING you want to add to your daily, or weekly routine! The science is in-depth, but the steps to this challenge are SUPER EASY! **Credit where it is due: the majority of this challenge is lifted from a terrific ebook, “The Ultimate Self-Discipline Hack” [https://hq.everydayspy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/The-Ultimate-Self-Discipline-Hack.pdf], by Andrew Bustamante, former Special Ops officer. THE CONCEPT I want us to lean into courage instead of being hijacked by fear, and learn to make the best choice instead of the easy choice. Again, this can apply to learning anything new, not just making exercise a regular part of your life. But know this: Knowledge isn’t fully formed until it is put into action! Temptation drains your energy, your emotions, and your hope. You are tempted to believe that you will not achieve what you want to achieve. There is a ton of evidence out there that proves these concepts are the best way to build up your willpower and consistently make progress toward any goal. We will learn how to resist temptation when we know that the best choice is to get some exercise in for the day, instead of making the easy choice. * Train yourself using "experiential learning" * make knowledge and behavior permanent by applying the concepts you learn right away. You learn a concept, then apply it. Build on that knowledge with a new concept, and apply it. Over and over. Self Discipline * Self-discipline is the conscious practice of exercising subconscious ‘willpower.’ * To understand self-discipline, we must first understand willpower. Willpower is your ability to resist the things that tempt you. * Your willpower evolves and develops according to your experiences. * Willpower is a limited resource. Once it is spent, you ‘lose’ your will. * The energy you spend exercising your will is real, just like the energy you spend walking or running. And like jogging or hiking, you will get tired and eventually run out of energy. * When you deplete your willpower, the pleasure and pain receptors in your brain become more sensitive. * That’s why radio commercials give you a headache on your commute home from work but not on your commute into work – your pain receptors are more sensitive to noise/pitch when you run out of willpower. It’s also why unhealthy foods or addictive temptations taste best after a hard day of work – your pleasure receptors are turned up from spent willpower. * Just like any other muscle, your willpower can be increased; it can recover, grow, and gain capacity/strength. * And like growing muscles, the key to success is in recovery. If you let yourself run out of willpower, it cannot grow or increase. Instead, you have to spend it wisely and give yourself space to recover your willpower before you deplete it. * The way you achieve self-discipline is by increasing your capacity for willpower. * Willpower allows you to resist temptation; to persevere; to endure discomfort, pain, and fear. Resisting temptation allows you to make the best decisions – the decisions you want to make instead of the decisions you ‘happen’ to make. Self-discipline is the act of making the best decisions consistently, without caving-in to temptation. * Until you increase your willpower, self-discipline cannot be achieved. * Imagine you are put in a waiting room with a plate of fresh baked cookies and a plate of cut celery. You are told you can only eat the celery while you wait. Then you are given a challenging puzzle to solve. How long will your willpower resist the temptation to give up on finishing the puzzle? Not long at all. * By spending your willpower resisting the temptation of the cookies, you’ve depleted your willpower to try solving the puzzle. * Willpower is a limited resource. * Self-discipline starts in the center of your brain, in a place called the ACC (anterior cingulate cortex). This area of the brain is responsible for a wide range of cognitive functions, from emotional response to rational decision-making. But its most important function is impulse control. The ACC is the part of your brain that keeps you from running rude drivers off the road; it keeps you from eating the entire bag of BBQ chips during a football game; it keeps you from yelling the same hurtful words at your teenager that they just yelled at you. Your ACC controls your willpower. * Your brain works best when it is well nourished and well rested. The same is true for your ACC – one small part of your brain. * The most important factor in building a strong ACC is maintaining regular glucose levels. * Low glucose levels weaken your willpower and threaten your self-discipline. * Low blood sugar happens two different ways: 1. When you don’t consume enough food to sustain your energy output. 2. When you have a medical condition (ex: diabetes) that negatively impacts your body’s ability to process glucose. * Willpower is a limited resource. Your brain can seem complicated, but it is really just another biological organ in your body. * When the body has a drop in blood sugar, it reacts by releasing adrenaline (epinephrine) to sustain core physical functions. While the adrenaline can physically sustain the body between meals, it cannot sustain your cognitive functions. Only glucose can do that. * The result is a fully functional body, but a near total lack of willpower. * You will feel normal physically, but your temper is short, your memory fails you, and you struggle to make good decisions. * To gain elite self-discipline, maintain healthy glucose levels. * In medical terms, we want blood sugar levels between 80-130 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter). In normal human terms, it means we need to eat regular meals and stay hydrated throughout the day. * People think motivation comes before self-discipline. It doesn’t. * Self discipline – like eating fruit and drinking water – leads to tangible results. Tangible results create motivation. And once you are motivated to keep going, the road to living the life you want gets faster and easier! THE PROCESS * (1) Powerful Fruit * Fruits are the cleanest, simplest, and most effective form of glucose. At this moment, thousands of special operators around the world are carrying a banana, an apple, or an orange in their ops bag. Easy to pack, easy to digest, and naturally protected by its own skin/rind, a piece of fruit can sustain your ACC for 4-6 hours after consumption. * (2) Timing is Everything * Your body needs time to digest food, break down complex sugars, and transfer the glucose into your bloodstream. This process takes 1-2 hours after your first bite. It is ideal to eat fruit 3 hours prior to any difficult exercise that requires willpower, and essential throughout the day in general to keep your willpower replenished as you tackle temptations. * Again, I can’t stress this enough! If you're trying to develop better habits and change your neural pathways, strengthen those mind-muscles, and achieve your goals in general you want to time your fruit consumption 3 hours before the end of your work shift, or 3 hours before you plan to exercise or tackle ANY challenge. * (3) The Water Advantage * Efficient digestion and blood flow requires water. The body works best when it is hydrated. Unfortunately, 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. Dehydration limits glucose transfer to your bloodstream and makes it difficult to know when the glucose will hit your ACC. * Drinking water at the same time that you consume fruit helps ensure proper digestion and glucose transfer. A simple 8oz glass of water along with a piece of fruit can boost your body’s digestion by nearly half. And here is how you put into daily practice! * 1. Commit to eating one piece of fruit (apple, banana, or orange) for the next 4 days, 2-3 hours before you know your willpower will be tested (dealing with children, working out, studying, etc.) * 2. Commit to drinking 1 liter of water (2 standard plastic water bottles) over the course of each day for the next 4 days. * 3. Share your reactions to the increased willpower you experience during this timeframe.

Anyone else enjoy learning in general as a "hobby"?

Hobby Zone / by ThadSterling

July 21st, 2023

A Slow Start is Still a Beginning, Do You Draw or Paint?

Arts & Crafts / by ThadSterling

October 11th, 2022

...See more How does it feel for you when you draw or paint? How often do you draw or paint? Would like to draw and paint more? Would you like to share some of your art here? What do drawing and painting mean to you personally in your wellness journey? Apologies because I tend to write a lot, and have a lot to share and say. I know some may not read all of this, and that's okay! I mostly would love to see your art and your responses to the above questions. So please reply with your thoughts or responses, and any drawings or paintings you'd like to share, whether your own art or even art by others that inspire you to get back into the habit or stay strong in your current routine—or, heck! even art or tutorials that inspire you to try learning from scratch! I'm honestly starting these watercolor postcards with a beginner's mindset; it's been decades since I had any formal training. My Inspiration: I have seen a few posts here with various arts and crafts, and one similar post to this, but wanted to join the discussion and stir the creative soup, so to speak! I thought I'd share the halting steps I've taken toward building back a hobby habit, to help those down days. In this case, I wanted to share the art my daughter and I have been making for each other. You can guess who my favorite artist is out of the two of us, it's definitely the little one! Her use of color is truly inspiring, and having it on the wall next to where I work each day (I work from home), makes it so much easier. Here is my little showcase, a record of my new beginning as an artist: I recently began the path "Finding and Pursuing Purpose and Meaning in Your Life", and besides being there for my girl, I realized that devoting time to BOTH my mindfulness practices AND creative outlets is pretty much a necessity for me if I want to stay grounded in the present and stop projecting into the worries of the past and future. My personal mission in life, since I was little, was to be an artist, and my spirituality was deeply entwined in this desire to make art. Visiting my girl on the weekends is always the highlight of my week, but I NEED something to keep me on track during those long days in-between visits. I have grown up and away from this vital source of meaning and purpose, but I'm getting it back, thanks to my little girl! When I draw or paint, all worries melt away and I feel so in the zone that it's hard to feel anxious or depressed. Knowing that at least one person will see what I make and smile, is enough for me to feel my time spent is worthwhile. I hope to hear from you, please feel free to share anything relevant to drawing or painting that fuels your wellness routine, and if you're like me—determined to build a weekly habit of producing drawings and paintings to lift your own life and put a smile on the face of others—I hope you'll commit to using your gifts to fight the good fight and chase those clouds away to build a better wellness routine!

Surprised at how much it seems to be helping!

Gateway to Growth Paths / by ThadSterling

October 24th, 2022

...See more I did the journaling path, and another path that I have forgotten; I believe it was the introductory path so to speak. I am currently on Rewarding Yourself for Change, and on the step where I am supposed to post. I will try to remember to follow up once I finish this one, as it is helping tremendously. I created a token system, and color-coded tasks or behaviors and habits that I want to reward myself for, including long-term goals that will have bigger rewards such as meditating every day for a month, for at least 30 minutes. That one seems very difficult to me now, but I know I'll get there! The tokens are for daily activities like making my bed, brushing my teeth, going to work, and finishing my whole shift, and they have a $0.25 cent value, so I don't overspend and have a way to make saving money easier. I'll sometimes use them in exchange for color-coded goal rewards if I've saved up enough, or use them day-to-day to earn things like Sodas and sugary treats, but some things like breakfast will just automatically have their own rewards, such as dark chocolate in the morning, which could help my mood as well. I got a little obsessive about it, but it worked! I ended up being very very productive yesterday, catching up on things I'd been putting off like finding a psychiatrist and therapist since I recently moved. It seems to be helping with anxiety, and a bit with self-esteem too. Sometimes feeling good about my accomplishments is hard, so giving myself permission to reward myself instead of always feeling guilty or overwhelmed for the time I spend doing things I enjoy. Many of the goals are rewards as well, such as being able to enjoy curling up with a good book again and falling asleep thinking of the story. I hope I will be consistent, but not beat myself up if I have off days, but that's why I think the tokens will work. At first, I thought there was no way a token would be helpful for me, but it honestly makes me feel good about myself to think I've earned even $0.25 toward a new book or a movie rental, or a month's subscription to a streaming service. These are things I end up spending too much money on, not using, and then worrying about the waste, and not saving much money. Now, if I can keep this momentum going, even if it's a day where I only make my bed, I will mark that token and probably keep being inspired to earn the other tokens for daily self-care. Sorry I post long, meandering streams of consciousness, I'm working on my communication, but I'm glad this place exists and the paths encourage us to share. Than you!

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