Writing First Thing in the Morning Works for Me

It’s Tuesday and it’s my day off each week.  I know that I could sleep in, but I choose not to. Writing every day for two hours first thing in the morning, between 4:45 am and 6:45 am, excites me.  It’s pitch black outside.  It’s absolutely silent and it’s just me in front of my Mac with a topic like this, thinking and writing about useful things that I understand or am leaning about that could help people experience a higher quality of life.  Every morning I aim to finish a blog and publish it.  If I don’t complete it with the first two hours, I aim to publish it by the end of the day.  This fills me up; it works for me.

Working Long Hours Works for Me

Some of my close friends say that I work too much – too many hours each day.  They say that I need to enjoy life a little more.  I understand where they are coming from and sometimes agree.  I also realize that what I am doing with my work really excites me and uplifts me.  Yes, I may work a lot, but that work is very fulfilling to me, so I feel that I am enjoying it.  I also feel that I am creating something that extends beyond me, which will increase the enjoyment, excitement, and upliftment for all involved.  So if I look at the number of hours I work each day and the number of days I work per year,  yeah, I may be working a lot, but that work truly works for me.

Reading Two Hours Per Day Works for Me

As I kid, I hated reading.  In high school is when I had to plan and read full books like “The Catcher in the Rye” and “Huckleberry Finn”.  I don’t believe I finished either one of those books/assignments.  I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t get into them.  Now I read at least two hours every day.  The more I read, especially on topics such as mindset, health, fitness, lifestyle, the more educated I become and the more I am able to share with my clients, customers, and readers.  I love it and it definitely works for me.

30 Minutes of Daily Training Works for Me

I own a gym and there have been times that I didn’t train much at all because I didn’t have my work-life balance in order and felt completely burned out.  Recently I train 6 days a week for about 30 minutes.  I love this.  It gives me a break from mental work, gets me out of my physical comfort zone by testing my strength, speed or endurance.  It’s a very simple approach that looks something like this:

• Wednesday: Heavy Deadlifts
• Thursday:  Light Mobility work & stretching
• Friday: Full body Muscular Endurance Training (lighter weights mixed w/a bit of cardio in between)
• Saturday: Heavy Upper Body Work like L-Sit Holds and Heavy Cable Pullovers
• Sunday: Light Mobility work & Stretching
• Monday: Full-Out Hill Sprints (10 seconds full out with 90 seconds walk back recovery x 8 rounds)
• Tuesday: Our day off where we usually go for an extended walk of 90 minutes or more for fun

This type of balanced training plan makes me feel good, look good and doesn’t require too much time; it works for me.

Eating on the Floor Works for Me

Although 4-9 hours of my workday is training clients, I spend a great deal of time sitting on a chair in front of my computer working.  The more I sit in a chair, the tighter I feel my body getting, so I decided that for the next 6 months or so, I would eat all of my meals at home sitting crossed-legged in the middle of the floor or on our 8F deck that overlooks Tokyo.   No leaning on anything allowed:-) Sometimes it’s uncomfortable, but I feel it working for me in that my lower back, hips, and hip flexors are loosening up.

Going to Bed at 8:30 pm Works for Me

I have a sweet feeling of being an 8-year old again, hearing my Mom saying, “Honey, it’s 8:30! Time for bed.”  40-years later, I am back to the same bedtime schedule:-) In order for me to sleep around 8 hours, and wake up by 4:30 am, that means 8:30 pm is my time for bed.  Cute, right?  Some nights I don’t get to bed until 9:30 pm, but many nights I am in bed by 8:30 pm and sleeping soundly within 3-seconds.   It’s definitely not ordinary, but I am loving the deep, restful sleep that I am enjoying and finding that I am waking naturally between 3:50-4:20 am, well before my alarm rings at 4:30 am.  7-8 hours of sleep works nicely for me.

The Carnivore Diet Works for Me

I have been doing the Carnivore Diet and I’m finding that it is working for me better than any other approach to diet so far.  The digestive issues such as gas and bloating that have bothered me my entire life, are gone.  I only need to eat twice per day, around 10:30 am and 4:00 pm and have no desire for snacking whatsoever.  My addiction to certain foods, cravings for sweets, and my predilection to overeat, have all disappeared.  This fascinates me.  If you want to know more about this diet, check out my previous post on it.

A Few Notes on What Doesn’t Work for Me

Finding what doesn’t work, through a great deal of trial and error, has helped me find what does work. I would like to share a few things that have guided me along the way.

Unkindness Doesn’t Work for Me

Grudges, expectations, jealousy, competition, trying to prove myself and lack of compassion have been issues that I have been struggling with my entire life.  These are parts of myself that I don’t show most people but have clearly been a part of me and obviously don’t work.  I am learning to let them arise as they always have and immediately find what it is in me that is causing it, not the action or the inaction of the other person or people involved.  I then find what is it that I can resolve within myself to solve the issue.  Taking 100% responsibility and being decisive in how I am going to resolve the situation is working for me.

A Raw Food Vegan Diet Doesn’t Work for Me

Recently I did a “Raw Fruit & Veggie Diet” based on a protocol from Dr. Robert Morse for 90 days from April to July 2019 in order to heal my body. So from 4.11.2019, I embarked on an all raw fruit & veggie diet omitting all other foods and drinks except for water.  I started out at 77.6kg (171lbs), worked through a week of withdrawals from caffeine and was on my way finally reaching a body weight of 65kg (143kg) at the 90-day mark.  Some stretches of days I ate only grapes and I really enjoyed that.

Biggest issues with this Diet:

• I constantly felt chilled to the bone – the only time I could heat my body up enough to sweat was when I got in a 48-degree Celsius bath (118 degrees F)
• I was hungry every 2-3 hours
• I felt addicted to dried fruits such as dates and figs and sometimes couldn’t stop eating them
• I completely lost my sex drive for three-plus months-  my wife was not happy about that:-)
• I lost over 5kg (10lbs) of lean muscle mass
• I completely lost my desire to train-exercise

I’m not attacking this raw food vegan approach, as my wife eats about 60% raw food, especially fruits and she looks and feels great.  She can do 4+ chin-ups, has a six-pack and works from morning to night with me, so it’s working for her.

Watching TV Doesn’t Work for Me

I think there are many great things on TV, Netflix or Amazon Prime and I will watch a movie with my wife 2-4 times a month and I really enjoy them.  Daily viewing just doesn’t float my boat, so I don’t do it.

Please Take Inventory and Find Out What Works for You

I wanted to share my experience with you, in hopes that it might inspire you to take a deeper look at things you are doing that may not be working for you.

I realize that most of my clients don’t go to bed until 1:00 am.  Then they get up around 7:00 am, so they are getting 6 hours of sleep.  Is this you?  If it is, do you feel like you are functioning at a high level?  Are you making healthy food choices?  Are you reaching for coffee first thing in the morning and some carby-starchy-sugary food to start your day?  Is this working for you?  If it it, AWESOME!!  If not, please take a look at things that you can do that work, given what you are trying to do.

Please take a deep look at aspects that you feel aren’t working for you in your life.  Ask me for help if you need it.  I will help you the best I can.

Thanks for reading.

Be Extraordinary!

Bodhi