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What you want from your body will dictate what you need to set as goals, and the goals will determine what you'll end up having to change to attain them.
I've spoken many times about systems being better than goals, and my position has not changed.
But goals are easier to discuss and to understand, so for this week, we'll be very specific about goals.
Do you want more muscle mass?
Do you want to be stronger?
Do you want to run faster?
Do you want to gain weight?
Do you want to lose weight?
Do you want to improve general fitness?
Do you want longevity?
Do you want strong bones?
Do you want to earn a Black Belt?
Understanding the benefits and costs of each particular goal may help you decide what you want.
For example, if you want to compete in body-building competitions, you'll not be doing the same thing as if you were focused on longevity. Same with strength competitions.
But general fitness and longevity go fairly well together.
Running is great but will increase the likelihood of needing knee or hip replacement in your later years. But obesity will also have those risks, and more.
Whatever your goal, visualize yourself having reached it. Do that daily as part of how you maintain the changed routines you'll need in order to achieve your goal.
Numbers make easily-measured goals. Body weight. Weight lifted. Percent of body fat. BMI. Time to run a mile.
These goals are good short-term goals, and moving toward them will help you maintain the changes you've made.
I always like to highlight, though, that your movement toward a goal needs to be made by making sustainable changes.
If you hate running, you may run a mile in 4:30, but you'll eventually quit.
If you hate a keto diet, you'll get off of it as soon as you reach your goal, and all of that work will be lost, and probably more.
Make changes that you won't hate.
Write down your goals.
Be exquisitely specific.
Include numbers and dates.
Write down what you intend to change in order to reach that goal.
Be exquisitely specific.
Then build these changes into your weekly schedule.
The more specific you are, the more clear your thinking will be.
"I'll pick up more weight" is not acceptable.
"I'll add 2% to my weights each workout" is.
I suggest a monthly goal-setting session and a check of your progress monthly.
One Degree!
I'm on a weekend night call schedule this weekend, which always leaves me feeling under-rested and generally icky.
But I wanted to remind you that outdoor exercise without screens is really good for your mental health.
Go outdoors, preferably into the woods.
Get in tune with those surroundings, the sights, the sounds, the smells, even the movement of air and the varying temperatures as you walk.
We were made to be outdoors.
We were definitely not made to work in cubicles.
One Degree!
I'll make this one short and to the point.
Spring time change is hard on all of us. Having to get up an hour early doesn't make going to bed an hour earlier much easier.
Yes, it's nice to have more productive time in the evening.
But it's at the cost of forcing us out of be an hour earlier, as we all know.
Our challenge is to adjust our circadian rhythm to match the world's expectations around us.
My main strategy is supplementing with a dose of melatonin about a half hour before I need to be asleep. It helps most people fall asleep more readily.
If you need a nap during your day, take it between mid-morning and early afternoon. Limit it to 20 minutes.
Taking a longer or later nap may make it even harder to get off to sleep in time.
All of the other normal advice applies even moreso:
- Take a 20-minute walk after supper.
- No screen time for the last hour before bed.
- Listen to calm music after supper.
- Don't eat for 2 hours before bed.
- Don't have conflict-laden conversations ...
Yep, plan your week, just like we've talked about every Sunday since this started.
But let's talk about other plans.
There's a very, very small, but not zero, chance of the use of nuclear weapons in the next month or more. You should have some iodine tablets in your medicine cabinet in case this happens in the environment around you. Tennessee has some important targets, including Oak Ridge, Erwin, and several others. Iodine competitively inhibits radioactive iodine from being absorbed by our thyroid gland.
We could see major changes in the value of the US Dollar, and the cost of imported items may rise rapidly because of it. We have had an advantage in international trade because essentially all international transactions have used the US Dollar to settle. Expect China and Russia to introduce an alternative currency for the purchase of oil and other exports of theirs.
We could see profound disruptions in food supply, in energy, and in the availability of imported goods. Prepare accordingly. ...
