Day 1153

Day 1153 Record Keeping
Weekend Habits
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Eating Habits
Day 41 Meal Prep Sunday (VERY fast, back on track)
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Early to Rise
Day 308 Sleep Recording  (3:30|1:30|2)
Day 279 Bedtime Curfew (DID NOT DO)
Day 117 Wakeup Alarm 
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Good sleep. Very tired, very depressed. I’m guessing this has more to do with the remnants of jet lag than anything else. Despite the emotions, Sunday Meal Prep occurred like clockwork. 

Day 1083 & Reflections on Sleep Cycle


Day 1083 Record Keeping
Weekend Habits
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Eating
Day 31 Sunday Meal Prep 74
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Early to Rise
Day 238 Sleep Recording  (12:50|(5-9:30)|1:30)
Day 209 Bedtime Curfew
Day 47 Wakeup Alarm
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Horrible sleep, horrible wakeup. 

Reflections on Sleep Cycle

It’s interesting taking  notice when I wake up at nights and can’t get back to sleep. Last night I went to sleep at 1 AM and woke up at 5 AM. I couldn’t sleep for 4 hours, and then I slept for 4 more hours, getting exactly 8 hours. 

But what usually happens is that I start to get really depressed as I see failing to get up early and get a good, solid, stable night’s rest as a reflection of a failed character. When I inevitably get up late, I see myself as lazy, even if I now know that I’m not oversleeping (score one for the quantified self people!). 

I also tend to not have any protocols for getting back to sleep - or waking up and doing work even though my mind is going a million miles a second (despite meditating, etc). 

While I still maintain that an ideal sleep is what’s normal - going to bed at a decent time and waking up in the morning, there are times where that’s simply not possible. I felt like I nailed sleep back in the States, but jet lag has caused this weird biphasic sleep pattern. As I travel, that may well be inevitable. If it is inevitable (even if only at certain intervals) than it should be taken advantage of, instead of raged against. 

I feel that’s a good aphorism to follow throughout this endeavor. Instead of making it into some character failing, view it as a method to gain an advantage - that may well mean getting some good work done for a few hours and getting back to sleep.

Day 963 & Beyond Superhabits (Through Travel)

Day 963 Record Keeping
Weekend Habits (Travel Mode)

Day 349 Exercise (at least 2 hours walking)
—–
Eating
Day 185 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 118 Water (DID NOT DO)
Day 118 Sleep Recording (12:10|2:10|6|6:15) 
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Ok sleep, good wakeup. Again, it’s interesting this is something I’m unsure about. I think it’s a good thing - before there hasn’t really been a question of having excess ability to continue habits while traveling. I usually just couldn’t. Now i do, so choosing is difficult.
Today I walked a lot. I ate ok, given my choices. I meditated and I recorded my sleep and eating. I could not do writing because of time, but I do think I could do my mobilization.
But I’m wondering if this can be structured as another level to habits, beyond superhabits. Perhaps after habits become so unthinking, testing them requires pushing them to survive past massive disruption, like travel.

Day 950

Day 950 Record Keeping
Weekend Habits
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Eating
Day 174 Pantry Check
Day 172 Food Recording
Day 12 Meal Prep Sunday 76
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Early to Rise
Day 105 Water
Day 105 Sleep Recording (10:22|11/1:50/6:30|12:45|1:20)
Day 78 Bedtime Curfew 74
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Bad sleep, ok wakeup. Didn’t record yesterday due to time. Had an amazingly automatic Meal Prep Sunday!

Day 943

Day 943 Record Keeping
Weekend Habits
—–
Eating
Day 166 Pantry Check
Day 164 Food Recording (DID NOT DO, FROM YESTERDAY)
Day 11 Meal Prep Sunday 75
—
Early to Rise
Day 97 Water
Day 97 Sleep Recording (10:50|11:20/3:20/6|1:30|1:50)
Day 70 Bedtime Curfew 75
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Horrible sleep, good wakeup. I have to remember that normally I don’t even get around to doing any habits the week after I get back, so my spottiness this past week is more admirable than it feels in the moment.

Day 914

Day 914 Record Keeping
Weekend Habits
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Eating
Day 138 Pantry Check
Day 136 Food Recording (FORGOT TO DO)
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Early to Rise
Day 69 Bacon & Water
Day 69 Sleep Recording (1|¾:15|11:30|12:30)
Day 42 Bedtime Curfew 80 
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Ok sleep, good wakeup. Forgot to do my food recording last night, rectified that now. Bedtime curfew is getting to be completely automatic. Feels like I’m just spitting in the wind considering that I still get up late, but I think it will pay off eventually. I’ve started opting out of the bacon part of my “bacon and water” habit. I think intermittent fasting might have some benefits in terms of fat loss, and since my eating schedule essentially has me doing that besides the bacon, I might give it a try. Will do a separate post on that.

Day 27, No Alcohol Challenge. Last night went out with friends, people ordered drinks around me, I got tea and a water.

Day 907

Day 907 Record Keeping
Weekend Habits
—–
Eating
Day 131 Pantry Check
Day 129 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 62 Bacon & Water
Day 62 Sleep Recording (1|2/3|12:30|1:20)
Day 35 Bedtime Curfew 70 
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Good sleep, good wakeup. Yesterday was completely interrupted by VISA paperwork - as usual it was quite stressful, but my reward for dealing with it did not involve breaking my No Alcohol Challenge, which I feel is a real danger zone with any negative habit or indulgence. When stress comes knocking, one naturally defaults. Instead I got Mexican and water.

image

I definitely feel that treats in the form of food are also not a good thing - but one thing at a time! That night I also decided to try making my own virgin mojito…sparkling water, watermelon, and mint. It didn’t quite work out to my tastes, though it was good. May have to modify it next time, but it was a good change of pace.

image

Today is day 20 of my No Alcohol Challenge. Per my initial formation, it should end tomorrow. But I’m not certain if I’ll do that. I’m thinking about just extending it to a full 30.

Lydia and I discussed how we would continue it on. She brought up the notion of either doing another one month on and one month off, where our “on” weeks it’s acceptable to drink once a week. I really don’t know what’s best, but I strongly feel that folding in challenges into a larger program is key. There are too many people who take a challenge, complete it, and then go back to exactly how they were and don’t push their base behavior line. I don’t want that to happen to me.

Day 901

Day 901 Record Keeping
Weekend Habits
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Eating
Day 125 Pantry Check
Day 123 Food Recording
Day 5 Meal Prep Sunday 59
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Early to Rise
Day 56 Bacon & Water
Day 56 Sleep Recording (1|2/3|12|12:15)
Day 28 Bedtime Curfew 63
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Ok sleep, good wakeup. Meal Prep Sunday was really good - had the option of not doing it (had extra food that I’ll eat in the beginning of the week), felt lazy about doing it, but felt a strong pull to do it anyway. Sleep is getting better - I’ve addd the slash (2/3) to designate not being able to sleep, reading or using my phone more, and then going to sleep again. I’ve been doing mobility exercises during the weekend these days because I need to - still have a bit of an impingement in my left hip socket and soreness on my back. Kelly Starrett suggests doing mobility exercises every day, no excuses. I really do believe that this and meditation should be practiced in some form or fashion every day - they’re just too critical when it comes to life.

Day 14, No Alcohol Challenge.

I’m loving how meeting people is largely no problem. That was original a part of the challenge, but I’m actually now seeing this separation between socializing and drinking as becoming the most important part of this challenge.

I have no problem with drinking. I very much dislike this fusion of two separate elements of my life together, and I believe that advancing in social skills will necessitate further separation of this. It will be interesting how and if I incorporate alcohol again after this challenge is complete. But….one step at a time.

Here’s a pic of me last night. Vichy is the brand of water all the old men here drink. It’s salty.

Day 893

Day 893 Record Keeping
Weekend Habits
—–
Eating
Day 117 Pantry Check
Day 115 Food Recording
—
Early to Rise
Day 48 Bacon & Water
Day 48 Sleep Recording (4|11:40|12:29)
Day 20 Bedtime Curfew 57
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Great sleep. Went to bed for no good reason, just got sucked down a well of random internet searches. A friend called right before my curfew, because of time zones I always feel more obligated to pick up. Another behavior I should consider implementing is a complete shut down of Whatsapp, WeChat, and other phone text apps. I already do this when I actually go to bed because, again, because of time zones, I’d be woken up all night. But I should do this an hour or so before bed. It follows the advice of several bloggers that talk about going to bed an hour or two before you’re going to sleep. The truth is, my sleep ritual isn’t really there, and it might be time to really think about bringing it all together.

EDIT: Forgot to mention Day 6, No Alcohol Challenge. Went out to dinner, ended up having my first non alcoholic mocktail, a ginger mojito. It was really good, good use of ginger to simulate that slight alcohol burn, much like vinegar in shrubs. Gave me ideas on how to make my own when I’m just craving a change of flavor. But it was really insanely sugary, and I started feeling my heart race towards the end of the meal.

Day 887

Day 887 Record Keeping
Weekend Habits
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Eating
Day 111 Pantry Check
Day 109 Food Recording
Day 3 ? Meal Prep Sunday 25
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Early to Rise
Day 42 Bacon & Water
Day 42 Sleep Recording (12:40|1:10|10:40|11:40)
Day 14 Bedtime Curfew 53
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Good sleep, good wakeup. I am planning on doing my Sunday meal prep later in the day. This is problematic in terms of not having a precise implementation intention. Since I tend to do this cook-up later in the day, it also interferes with when I record it. I also don’t really know how to count non daily habits like this…UGH.