Day 1085 & Replacing LISS with Walking

Day 1085 Record Keeping
Day 1057 Fixed Meditation (10 min)
Day 931 Writing (misc tasks)
Day 471 Rowing (LISS, walking, 1 hour 20)
Day 212 Mobility/Stretching (10 min, hip stretch, back smash)
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Early to Rise
Day 240 Sleep Recording  (4|10|11)
Day 211 Bedtime Curfew 
Day 49 Wakeup Alarm
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Bad sleep, ok wakeup. 

Replacing LISS with Walking

I think my LISS cardio should really be walking outside, and I think I should only do it on the rower if it’s raining or for some reason I can’t go outside. I think that I have some serious seasonal affective disorder syndrome, especially given my apartment, which does not allow much direct light in the winters. I went to the beach and it just made me feel so much better to be out among people and my city.

I was listening to a Timothy Ferriss podcast where he interviews Mr. Money Mustache, and he talks about doing things that maximize efficiency and happiness. Walking seems to be one of those actions that kills several birds with one stone - finances (it’s free), workouts, becoming an outdoors person, creating a better work/life balance. Nowadays I often feel like I’m in a cage just treading away at habits. 

That’s great, but it makes me feel bored and restless, which in turn becomes a gasket that needs release. A controlled release like this is far more preferred than one due to a loss of control.

I tried a walking habit a long time ago which evaporated, but I feel this will be far more solid because it’s attached to an already established routine.

Day 86 & Walking and Tiny Habits

Day 86 Record Keeping SRHI = 68
Day 54 Fixed Meditation SRHI = 72
Day 15 Walking SRHI = 16 
Day 101 Eating SRHI = 58
Bad night sleep, good wakeup

BJ Fogg is often quoted when it comes to habit formation and flossing. If you lower the basic dose to something incredibly easy, you’re more likely to succeed at creating a habit. So, instead of saying to yourself “I’m going to floss every morning” tell yourself that you’re going to floss one tooth every day.

My walking habit has hit a wall - My initial protocol was that I’m was going to walk every day for an hour and I’ll do a kettlebell workout if it’s not raining. But after reading more of Fogg’s stuff, I’ve realized I’ve left out a lot.

For one, an hour is a big change. I should say I’m going to walk out to the beach (which takes me 2 minutes) and back every morning. Or, I’m going to get out and walk around the block.

Second, I don’t have it set up as an implementation intention. That is to say - I don’t have an if-then set up for the time I should do it. I should have it chained to a series of daily events. Like “After I post my habit blog, I’ll go walk around the block.”

Lastly, I don’t incorporate a reward - even if it’s just a mental “atta boy!”

I’m still looking at Fogg’s stuff, and here’s some links I’m looking through.

Success magazine did what I think is a good summary of his work.

A link with his work and a video on the Fogg Method.

TinyHabits, where you can earn a certificate in his method and join in with others in creating habits.

Day 84 and the 12 Week Wall



Day 84 Record Keeping SRHI = 66
Day 52 Fixed Meditation SRHI = 71
Day 13 Walking SRHI = 18 (Did not walk yesterday)
Bad night sleep, high carb day yesterday, great wakeup.

The 12 Week Wall

Ray Cronise talks about hitting a wall at 12 weeks when it came to his previous weight loss programs. A number of studies in diet and exercise, and bodybuilding training regiments take place over 12 weeks. 

Why?

I’ve been trying to figure out where this time originated. I find that my current eating plan has been great - it’s been easy, I’ve been steadily losing weight, and I have never really gotten that feeling, like I did before, of just hitting a wall. Until yesterday.

I’m beginning to recognize that feeling of ego depletion - actually, it’s not just that - it’s long term endurance depletion - where I’m just fed up with prolonging one simple task for long term.

Yesterday is about week 13 - and it might be a host of factors. I’ve just moved, I’m working on a new habit, work is frustrating me, and the area I’ve moved to is lacking a social element, which gets me down, and it’s making homesick. 

These factors all see to come up at any habit. And I’m curious if 12 weeks is just simply the danger zone for any eating habit - which makes me really curious why it’s such an established length of time in the first place. 

Unfortunately I do not have the data for the first 13 weeks. But I might just have to start recording it from here on out.

Day 75 & New Diggs

Day 75 Record Keeping SRHI = 58
Day 43 Fixed Meditation SRHI = 70
Day 4 Walking SRHI=12
Horrible sleep, great wakeup.

Just moved into a new neighborhood yesterday. The hectic nature of packing belongings and cleaning interfered with my record keeping - I ended up skipping two days. But my fixed meditation remained rock solid.

There are three thoughts I have about this.

One, a possibility is that older habits need to be periodically “recharged” to maintain their consistency. And this can be done as a cycle as part of a larger training program to prevent lapses like this. And that is the goal of this whole project - to create a well developed habit forming program.

A second possibility is that the lifecycle of a habit is larger than just a race to get to the the 70’s in the SRHI scale. It could be that there is another period further along where numbers dip because of changing circumstances or just a lack of energy. 

Thirdly, this makes me question aspects of the SRHI - if you’ve got to the 70’s you’ve got a pretty strong habit - the only reason you wouldn’t continue to be consistent would be for things that are perhaps missing - Perhaps questions should be added regarding still doing a task when your conditions have changed. Or still doing a task when there are stumbling blocks along the way.

Day 72, Stopping Dynamic Meditation, Starting Walking

Day 72 Record Keeping SRHI = 61
Day 40 Fixed Meditation SRHI = 72
Day 39 Dynamic Meditation SRHI
Day 1 Walking SRHI=12
OK sleep, great wakeup.
At this point, my dynamic meditation will require more than what I can do. It rose sharply, then fluttered on and off - I don’t seem to have a focused way to get more data out of it at the moment, so I’m continuing on with my next habit with the intention of coming back to dynamic meditation as an extension of fixed meditation in the future. I am keeping my data just to compare it to any other “continual” habits I might wish to pursue later.
Today was my first day - I walked to the beach and back - I probably walked about an hour - and that’s about where I want it to stay as a habit.