Soooo … some of you may have picked up on the fact that my schedule has been kind of insane lately. I knew this craziness coming. I’m one of the luckys ones in that I get to do something I love day in and day out so it's all good. This is NOT a complaint. My average workday has been 13.5 hours for the last 3 weeks. No, I don't mean that I'm at work for 13.5 hours doing bullshit or emailing meme's between my friends. I'm out hustling and it's fucking awesome! Of course when that’s done there is the tracking of everything before the day starts, after it ends, making phone calls when driving, and connecting with other CPC staff on the fly. All in all, my life is nuts and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But even when you’re doing something you love there are risks involved. You need to be sure you’re not losing sight of the big picture and that you’re taking care of yourself. The last being the most important.
I promised myself that I was going to be kind to ME this fall and not constantly place ME last. In order to do that, I knew I needed to do a few things differently. First, I'm saying "no" a lot more than I ever have. I like it when people are happy and I love to give so it's really hard for me to say “no” and not help someone out or not be a part of things. However, I am good to no one if I'm tired and worthless. We all need to stay efficient!
Second, I personally hired my friend and colleague Tim to write an exercise plan for me. When my schedule gets insane I want to do what I am good at. I will stick with the lifts and movement patterns that are comfortable for me and not work too much on imbalances or weakness. When I am this busy, I lose the ability to objectively evaluate myself, so why add one more thing to my plate? Tim wrote me a plan, I will meet with him one-on-one 4 times a month, and I am accountable to him. I mean, I just publicly identified him as my coach, so if I get fat or hurt it looks bad on him. I can't do that to Captain Glutes - he works too hard for that.
The last piece is UP. You’ve all seen the small device I’m wearing on my left wrist. This thing is freaking awesome. Why? Because you can't hide! The device comes with an app for your phone and helps you get a get a grasp on all aspects of your health - sleep, food, and exercise. Tracking food has been an eye opener. I am a person who tends not to eat when I get busy. This app has a detailed food log which doesn't just count calories it gives you a "food score". On a scale of 1-10 it rates how healthy the foods you are consuming are, gives your day an overall food score, and provides you with relative tips. Let’s take yesterday. I got a push notification telling me that my average fiber intake over the last three days has been down. And asked “Do I want to commit to bringing my daily average back up to the recommended 38 grams?" Fuck yeah I do! Drink your green smoothie and treat your immune system properly Sullivan! Second, It tracks my daily movement. UP tracks my daily steps and relative intensity of activity for the day. I know what times of the day I am most idle and I can set alarms to go off when I have been sitting for longer than an hour straight. Finally, it tracks my sleep. Yeah … a huge amount of work needed here. I average 6 hours and 3 minutes of sleep each night, I wake up on average twice during that time, and I do NOT sleep as heavy as I once believed! These stats have helped me to curb my eating behavior prior to bed, to not watch TV prior to bed, and adjust to less of a water intake later in the day. Trust me: it's helping.
My message to you: Health is a continuum. Understand the mission now? I value all aspects equally and I know that excelling in one area will not make up for others. I am committed to being strong, lean, agile, rested, fed, hydrated, calm, caring, attentive, and fun - just to name a few. I have never believed that information is power but rather what you do with information is power.
I'm interested to see if any of you will invest a little more and take a deeper look at your wellness.
It's been fascinating from this side of things.
~Sully
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