For the month of November, I took on three challenges focusing on different aspects of physical health: training myself how to fall asleep quickly; doing all the exercise I could imagine wanting in my life daily (running, practicing yoga, and weightlifting/martial arts); and going vegan. See the original write up here.
Although I usually try to stick with the challenges for the full month come hell or high water, I decided to end the challenges after three weeks: the sleep challenge was starting to take a toll on my mental health. More importantly, I learned what I needed:
Sleep: I never got used to waking up at 5 am. I would struggle into wakingness in the chilly darkness, reading in bed for an hour before getting myself up. For the first time, I experienced what it’s like to be so tired that I had trouble keeping my eyes open.
Nevertheless, I was able to stick to the wake up time five days a week. By the weekend, I’d feel like I was flirting with getting sick due to sleep deprivation and then sleep in to avoid getting sick. By the middle of week three, my motivation and mood plummeted and I felt terrible for a few days until I broke with the plan and paid back my sleep debt.
Despite these difficulties, I appreciated the abundant time in the morning to read and work on personal projects. I was able to get more done in a week than I might have done in a month previously. I’m hoping that a 6 am wake up will balance sustainability while still giving me plenty of time to work on projects.
I also learned to nap with middling effectiveness – I found my way to a drowsy half-dream state, but didn’t fall asleep. Napping for 20 minutes was remarkably refreshing. I felt like I was able to give the day a reset.
Exercise: Running in my hilly neighborhood is a pain in the legs, but I’ve found a few paths that I rather like. I was surprised at the rush I started to get from running two weeks in. I wasn’t able to run the full 5K six days a week, but tried to walk for a few hours or run shorter distances when I couldn’t.
Yoga lived up to expectations. There’s something deeply gratifying about being able to stretch out. I did miss a few days a week, but didn’t let that demoralize me.
I managed to lift weights consistently. It’s still as fun as I remember and I was happy with my progression.
Martial arts fell apart after two practices. This tells me that I didn’t do a good enough job testing out martial arts practices and finding one that spoke to me.
The lack of consistent practice for my exercise routine showed me that my physical routine really isn’t my top priority. However, the joy I found in running, practicing yoga, and lifting weights will motivate me to keep them in my life.
Go Vegan: After 5 years of being vegetarian, going vegan proved shockingly easy. It limited the takeout available to me and pushed me to cook a little more, but otherwise didn’t have much of an effect on my meals. The biggest temptation was the chocolate chip cookies and brownies my housemate baked. Going forward, I intend to maintain a vegan diet for meals, but be more relaxed around desserts.
Overall: I think the month was a huge success. Even though I wasn’t able to stick to my plan 100%, each area yielded a joyful lifestyle change. I was particularly proud of my ability to persist even as I missed days – I’ve had several past habits fall apart on the first miss.
The Pragmatic Philosopher 