Low Carb Flu

The low carb lifestyle is hard. But it's hardest when you're starting. Not only is there all that psychological addiction, socialtal pressure, habit and just darn tasty food to fight. There is the dreaded low carb flu. A day, two days, a week of feeling like crap. Feeling dumb, maybe achey or just really off. Not everyone gets it, but most people who do report feeling less able to think, being less smart. Personally, it hits me like a real case of the flu. I get achey, cranky, dumb. Generally I feel worthless and I'm miserable to be around. It lasts usually about 4 days then I'm good, I get all fat adapted and the body is happier, the mind clearer. So what's my personal recipe for dealing with it? Step one, let go of progress for the week. I let myself be slow on my runs, I don't worry that the scale and measurements aren't changing, I try to forgive my lack of productivity at work a bit. The second week will rock, I just have to stick it out and get there. Step two. What do I do about the awful cravings and headaches. Two things eat protein and fat whenever the cravings hit. Nuts are an awesome go to here as are some veggies slathered in grass fed ghee or some tuna with paleo mayo. I hit those snacks whenever I need to. I have a list of safe stuff and have a ton of it on hand. I will need it. Secondly, I'm not drinking enough water. Like ever. And for some reason when I go low carb I drink even less and wind up more dehydrated, so half the time my headaches are from that. Or from cutting back my caffeine too much since I'm not guzzling down diet sodas or cream laden coffees. So that's my personal tool kit. Let go, hit the protein and healthy fat, and water it up!

Running and Habit

For the past four weeks I've been running three times a week. I'm following the couch to 5k running plan as outlined by Cool Runnings. I'm doing it by listening to a free podcast from Robert Ullery who has taken some techno music and overlaid a voice track that tells me when to walk and when to run. I'm also tracking the runs with Digifit though I've had a bunch of trouble with using my heart rate monitor and my phone, overall it's been a pleasant experience.

So I'm running. More consistently than I have in several years. I'm feeling pretty good. It's hard, but it's super doable. This week though, was a huge mile stone. Not in distance. Not in speed. But in attitude. I have experienced this cool mental shift. This morning, on an off day, I was charging around the house getting ready for my day, and one of the most prominent thoughts in my head was "Boy I could run today." I'm not sure that has EVER happened to me. Like, ever.

There is a lot of talk about how it takes 21 days (or 30 depending on who you listen to) to form a new habit. Like, that's how long it takes your brain to form some new neural pathways or some such. So here I am, at about 30 days, wishing today were a running day. So you know what, they might be right. I'm going to keep running, I hope for a very long time. It's been great for my back and with my minimalist shoes, my knee has been pretty chill about it too. And armed with this experience, I'm going to try to tackle a new habit for July. We'll see how it goes 30 days from now.

Level Up

The life I want to lead is one of constant personal development. Lately, I've been dreaming up some pretty big goals. And really I'm executing on some of them and getting some incredible progress in life, but of course with my eyes on the moon, making it to the top of a hill doesn't seem so great. Recently I've come across a number of pieces of advice on the improvement process that seem really pertinent and timely.

First, know what the end goal is. Steve Kamb calls this setting your level 50. Right now, I have some pretty pie in the sky goals, just for kicks, here are a few of them. Run an Ironman in the next five years, do a backflip, be able to call myself a programer, be able to call myself a writer, travel to a tropical location and work there for a month or more, make a comfortable living online, live in an RV, help a friend run a business online, have a product that sells while I'm asleep, be truly fit and trim for the first time in my life, practice meditation, help people, live a mindfully, have my village of people. Putting these on paper, they seem both accomplishable and intimidating and some of them are a bit esoteric. But, that's me. A bit all over the map. A bit of a dreamer.

So onto step two, the long slow climb. I've been listening to "A Life Without Limits" the biography of

Chrissie Wellington four time Ironman world champion. In it she goes to great lengths to discuss the fourth discipline of the triathlon, the mental game. She talks a lot about the idea that the ability to suffer, the ability to work hard is as much of a trained "muscle group" as being able to run fast is.  In this vein, she speaks about the importance of intermittent goals. Goals that get you to a 3 hour marathon, not just the 3 hour goal itself. 

Matt Fraizer posted recently about the idea of slow changes building up to large ones. The main idea being that if you tackle one habit, at five minutes a day to start with, you build momentum towards a larger goal. The new habits, the small goals, I think they build a sort of mile marker set along your journey. With mile markers in place, I can see clear forward progress, where if I just look at my big goals, progress seems non-existant. 

In order to execute on this, I'm going to stick with my theme of "big three" and break down my three big goals into a few mile markers for the next bit of the journey. Small goals + time should equal big change, now just to convince myself on the time piece. 

Big Goal: Run and Ironman

-Medium Step - Run a 5k

-Small step one(for this week) - Run 3 days this week on the Couch to 5K Plan

-Small step for life, do a PT routine every morning.

Big Goal: Make My Living Online/Work from the tropics

-Medium Step - Save 5k for a trip

-Small Step - Rock at remote Jobs

-Small Step - Quit SoMN Alliance (give notice for post october game)

Big Goal: Get Fit

-Medium Step - Lose 30lbs in my thirtieth year

-Small Step - Log all food eaten in fitbit

-Small Step - Drink Water every morning

So that's a decent breakdown I think. I want to spend some more time thinking about how to break these down a bit further and put in a more week by week goal for at least a 90 day look out. I've neglected the more "spiritual goals" for right now. I may in the next few months try to use a month to build the habit of meditating, but I want that one to happen at a more organic time when I really am feeling it.

Overall I think I have some really ambitious goals for me personally, but they all feel important and achievable. I've already taken some huge steps in the last year with my health and stepping out in faith to find remote work and to move half way across the country again. So I'm going to build on this momentum in a conscious way and hit my level 50, which I plan to detail out some more soon.