Day 1015

Day 1015 Record Keeping
Day 987 Fixed Meditation (20 min)
Day 861 Writing (2/30 min)
Day 401 Rowing (DID NOT DO)
Day 142 Mobility/Stretching (back smash)
—–
Eating
Day 239 Pantry Check (DID NOT DO)
Day 237 Food Recording (DID NOT DO)
—
Early to Rise
Day 170 Water
Day 170 Sleep Recording  (12:30|3|11:20|12)
Day 141 Bedtime Curfew 81
–
Good sleep, good wakeup. Having starting problems for my workout. Partial reason is a sore back from kb swings, partial is not really knowing what order I’ll do things at, not having songs easily loaded, and not having good weather for biking. It’s a lot of excuses, but it’s good to write them out to note them. Food recording and pantry check is pretty similar. But meditation is going fantastic - today I did it in the car. Recording and fixed meditation are getting really solid - it’s interesting it’s in the same order they were begun. It could be that habits, under my new proposed pragmatic model, advanced past superhabits to become more unshakeable through disruption. Or it could be that those are just two easy habits to do. Though to be fair, I never was this solid with meditation before.

Day 863

Day 863 Record Keeping
Day 835 Fixed Meditation (30 min)
Day 709 Writing (3 rounds of 30 min)
Day 249 Rowing (HIIT, 20 min, 30s:15s, 4100 m) INTENSE and LAST DAY!!
—–
Eating
Day 87 Pantry Check
Day 85 Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 18 Bacon & Water 77
Day 18 Sleep Recording 73 (2|11|12:45)
–
Great sleep, ok wakeup. Really depleted, but did everything automatically. Really intense writing session. Followed by my most intense HIIT and the completion of the 8 week progressive HIIT routine from bodybuilding.com! Which is awesome! I’ve noticed significant progress and body morphing - my legs and arms have gotten noticeably skinnier and more defined.

I don’t know what I’ll be doing next - maybe trying to push it again with the same routine but 3 days a week instead of 2. Or finding another progression. Or maybe shifting to more outdoorsy stuff. I’d also like to add other habits in eating and waking up early since my newest habits are almost superhabits. Perhaps a formalization of my Sunday meal prep, which I’ve been playing around with for the last two Sundays, or an addition of a specific cut off time to go to sleep.

I’m utterly exhausted, but the sky’s the limit today! :)

Day 309 & Happy New Year!

Day 309 Record Keeping
Day 278 Fixed Meditation 
Day 224 Bodyweight Exercise  (3 bridges, 3 dragon flags)
Day 151 Writing (edited and published blog)
Day 324 Eating = 62
Day 81 Work = 55
Great sleep, great wakeup. 

Happy New Year!
It’s been a fantastic second year for this project. I feel like I’ve really gotten a grasp on what I’ve set out to do, so much more so than the first year. It’s hard to believe that when I started with daily SRHI recordings it was such a struggle to record…just recording.

Now I’ve established 4 superhabits - recording, working out, meditating and writing. I know it’s now possible for me to create something so ingrained that it’s hard for me not to do it.

Yesterday I didn’t have time to write, but at the end of the day, at about 1 am, I found myself writing over 200 words. I just couldn’t NOT do it!

The process of getting here was difficult. I tried and failed at dynamic meditation and attempted a walking habit which petered out. I struggled with dealing with travel. And I’m still working it all, but it’s getting there.

But I’ve also had some great highs:

-I used my writing habit to win National Novel Writing Month in record time. I edited and published it for my mom. And in doing so I’ve gotten rid of a lot of the fear that brought me down about writing.

-I managed to lose 7 notches off my belt through eating. 

-I can do bridges. I’m starting on the dragon flag. I’m starting to do the one arm pushup progression. I never thought I’d get that far in less than a year!

-My emotional control is pretty rock solid, despite not integrating it with dynamic meditation. I’m shifting the balance in my mind noticeably. Bad moments and slumps are correctable. There’s a lot of work to do, but it’s worlds better than it was at the beginning of the year.

-Grit - the ability to do all of this is itself improving. Smaller setbacks just don’t bother me as much as they used to. I know I can start again the next day - the guilt and anger at myself doesn’t kick in as much because I know it’s long term success that’s key.

And this isn’t even a full year!

2015 is going to be even better.

Day 224, Back from Travel/Sickness - Analysis

Day 224 Record Keeping
Day 192 Fixed Meditation
Day 138 Bodyweight Exercise  (1x7 diamond pushups)
Day 65 Writing = 53
Day 238 Eating = 62
Great sleep, great wakeup.

Travel Analysis
Actually did far far worse at keeping up with habits this trip than the last trip through Brazil.

The main reason is the my failure at the real lynchpin of it all - recording. The first few days I had easy access to internet and just assumed that I would in all other places. This prevented me from getting into a low tech version - recording it all on a notebook - something I did in the Brazil trip.

Instead I just didn’t even think to reach for the notebook - I didn’t have the notebook protocol as an implementation intention - so there was no implementation.

Secondly, I failed at over simplifying certain things. Meditation could have been simplified and compressed so that I did it in the shower. Writing could have been a note scribbled in an notebook, etc. I did do very well with exercising but only because my back was wonky, and I needed to do back stretches to survive the day.

On the positives it really did take a lot of effort to NOT do things. Eating badly was particularly hard to do, especially since it had me feeling horrible afterwards. IT made me really eager to get back to eating well. It does make me feel that scheduled cheats like this might be a very good thing.

For superhabits I had to ask myself - did circumstances overbalance the habit, or was it a simple non-flexing of will? Considering how many early days and exhausting mornings I had, I have  to say that circumstances were hard to do these habits.

This is good because it hones my travel protocol - OVER SIMPLIFY and most importantly - go low tech with recording.

These leaves me with several questions - are my “superhabits” superhabits anymore? I’d be curious to find out after a week of getting back to my routine. 

Other than that, though I had a great time on my trip  it’s great to be back!

DAY 200!!!!!!

Day 200 Record Keeping
Day 168 Fixed Meditation 
Day 114 Bodyweight Exercise  (FULL BRIDGE!!)
Day 41 Writing = 64
Day 214 Eating = 79
Great sleep, good wakeup. 

Day 200

Well, this marks a really great day. 200 days of record keeping - and I’ve only neglected to do it 7 times (and those 7 times included times of rigorous travel).

In my last attempt at this project I only got up to 199 days - and that was with a ridiculous number of holes and incredibly shoddy record keeping. This marks the longest I’ve ever stuck with anything with this much deliberateness. And I feel completely strong in it. Record keeping is completely fixed as a “superhabit” - I think it would take a lot to prevent me from doing it. So is fixed meditation and bodyweight exercises. 

At this point I would normally hope for the best in the struggle to make it to a full year - but it really isn’t a struggle anymore as is. This bodes well for the future of this project…and with my self improvement regiment in general.

Day 192 (Saturday Recording) and Pullup Bar

Day 192 Record Keeping = 84
Day 160 Fixed Meditation = 83
Day 106 Bodyweight Exercise  (3x5 diamond pushups, 2x5 inverted bent leg rows) = 81
Day 33 Writing = 41
Day 206 Eating = 74
Good sleep, great wakeup.

Saturday Recording
I said before I was going to just monitor my superhabits on Saturdays. I just want to make sure that they don’t fade away and have to be recharged sometime in the future. Having recorded, I’m happy to see they are in fine shape and still in the 80s. And it certainly feels that way subjectively - I really don’t even think about them anymore. This is a Good Thing.

Pullup Bar

I finally got a telescoping pullup bar. It’s great because I can travel with it and I can finally start my pullup progression. According to several sources, only doing a pushing series of exercises isn’t really the optimal thing.

Unfortunately my apartment here in Barcelona is small and awkward. And the only place I can put the bar is in the middle of the bathroom! And since I’m early in the progression it’s about waist high - meaning I basically have to do the limbo whenever I need to get to the sink, toilet, shower, OR washing machine. The sacrifices we make….

I’ve always had problems with pullups, even when I was in high school, skinny and strong. Now that I’m weak and (worse) fat, this is going to be spectacularly challenging. Add that to the base nervousness I have with the stability of the bar (I really really hope it’s wedged in there tight) and you’ve got a great cocktail for …. shall we say, interesting experiences.

Day 180 & When to Stop Recording

Day 180 Record Keeping 
Day 148 Fixed Meditation 
Day 94 Bodyweight Exercise  (3x8 knee diamond pushups)
Day 21 Writing = 51
Day 194 Eating SRHI = 66
Great sleep, good wakeup. Was incredibly anxious last night.

When to Stop Recording

I was really down and anxious last night. I was discussing this, and the way it came out was that it felt like there was a ton of pressure on me and I  was cracking at the seams. My self discipline for random things just kept, for want of a better word, leaking. I felt like I was blowing a gasket from all the pressure. 

Now this is expected at this time in the project, but is it really necessary? After discussing it more what came out was that my record keeping is just so lengthened that by the time I finished everything I feel done. And I have very little will left to do anything else.

The suggestion I received was - stop recording superhabits. My record keeping, fixed meditation, and bodyweight exercises have stayed the same for the last several weeks with record keeping getting perfect scores. What’s the real point if it does nothing but drag you down?

So that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m cutting out recording those things. I’m also going to stop recording my bread habit. I’ll post pics and count them, just as I’ll do the same for number of days per habit and what exactly I’m doing for my bodyweight exercises. I’ll take the SRHI once a week for superhabits just to see that they’re doing ok and to assess if they need course corrections.

My hypothesis is that my mood will drastically improve, and I’ll have renewed focus for the habits I need to make better. Which is really where my willpower and endurance need to be focused anyway.

Day 166 & Moving to Spain

Day 166 Record Keeping SRHI = 84
Day 134 Fixed Meditation SRHI = 81
Day 80 Bodyweight Exercise SRHI= 82 (2 burpees)
Day 7 Writing = 12 
Day 180 Eating SRHI = 56
Good sleep, ok wakeup. Eating habit is all over the place

Moving to Spain

I’m  moving to Barcelona today. I’m excited and all that, but it’s transitional moments like this that really test this project - and the moments where I want to pay close attention to it. My eating habit is all over the place because I’ve pretty much given up. In part it’s because I wanted to use everything in my fridge without buying more stuff. In a large part it’s because I’m saying goodbye to people and don’t really care. Though one thing I have to remind myself is that the habit isn’t done as long as you keep recording it - and I still am.

I’m excited about Barcelona because of the many English speaking communities present. Up until now I’ve been working on projects alone, and I’ve been working on habits DESPITE socializing (though there really wasn’t much socializing going on here). But through Meetup.com I’ve found at least the potential for other people to help me out.

One group in particular sounds interesting - it’s a club devoted to Primal eating. They do activities and hang out at places that only have healthy eats. This is a huge thing because most often than not I have to exercise more willpower in order to not cheat among friends who want to go to a bar or get a burger or what have you.

I’m proud to report that this morning and yesterday, despite cleaning, packing, and having a work deadline, I managed to do my core habits without a hitch. They really do seem like “superhabits” now.

I’ve got some more packing before heading off. It’s about 15 hours of travel, so it’ll be interesting if I’ll be up and running with my habits as soon as I land. I’ll see you in Europe!

Day 134 & First Glimmer of Superhabits

Day 134 Record Keeping SRHI = 80
Day 102 Fixed Meditation SRHI = 79
Day 48 Burpee SRHI= 67 (1x7)
Day 148 Eating SRHI = 40  
Great sleep, great wake up. Yesterday was the first day fully back on the eating habit.

First Glimmer of Superhabits

In a previous post I talked about what I dubbed “superhabits” - ones that are really unshakeable, and ones that might correspond to SRHI numbers in the 80s. Since I’ve been back both record keeping and fixed meditation have showed increases in SRHI numbers, and today my record keeping is at 80 - the first habit that has gotten a score this high. In addition my fixed meditation is almost there at a score of 79.

Is it stable - will it continue to be this high consistently? Is this due to the length of time, or because I have tempered the habit through the chaotic circumstances of travel? These are questions I’d like to answer.

Day 106 & Superhabits

Day 106 Record Keeping SRHI = 70
Day 74 Fixed Meditation SRHI = 73
Day 20 Burpee SRHI= 46 (2x6)
Day 120 Eating SRHI = 57  
Bad sleep, ok wakeup.

Superhabits

There seems to be a lot of vagueness in the literature regarding what a habit is.  I’ve formed habits during this project - they are regular, automated routines I’ve done for a long time, often triggered by certain events. 

But in another sense I haven’t - some authors talk about a habit as something so integrated into you that it’s actually harder to NOT do them that it is to do them.

I don’t think I’ve formed something like that yet - meditation, 750 words, record keeping are habtis. But are they HABITS?

When I stopped 750 words, was it really a struggle? Can I imagine that not meditating or not record keeping would cause me as much of a battle as what people face quitting smoking, or not worrying, or being a morning person?

And the answer is no. Presumably, once I’ve gotten to the 70s in the SRHI, it should, in some interpretations, be so solid it takes more effort to get rid of them than to maintain them, and this is clearly not the case. 750 words diminished surprisingly rapidly.

I’ll have to double check, but I’m willing to bet that Lally’s experiment on how long it takes to form a habit only got test subjects to the 70s. That there is no way a “superhabit” in the 80s was formed  (This bears some research, and I should read her paper again).

If this is the case - and I know it to be the case for me personally - there is much more to uncover when it comes to the entire process of developing habits.