A Friendly Nudge - Strong Convictions Loosely Held
...because we all could use a little encouragement!
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If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that I’m a fan of Peter Attia and his podcast, The Drive. I like his approach to health and fitness through the lens of longevity, but I particularly like the caliber of the guests he interviews and his thoughtful curiosity.
I also appreciate his willingness to talk about things that he’s changed his mind about. For years he had a maniacal training regiment that supported some pretty ambitious endurance undertakings (like swimming from Maui to Lanai and back to Maui in just under 12 hours) to a completely different approach that focuses on what he calls his Centenarian Decathlon, which prioritizes things like the ability to carry bags of groceries upstairs when he’s 80 or getting up and down off the ground to play with a grand or great grandchild in his later years.
On a recent podcast he talked about how his ideas around fasting changed when he realized how much lean muscle mass he lost during some of his prolonged fasts. For years he would do multiday water-only fasts. But once he realized that they no longer supported his goals, he was quick to pivot.
He describes himself as someone that has “strong convictions loosely held.” That resonated with me, because I’ve been going through some of that myself.
For well over 10 years my enthusiasm for the paleo diet probably veered into the obsessive or pain in the ass level, depending on who you asked. It probably helped me turn my health around, but if I’m being honest it also became a little too much of my identity.
James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, talks about how important identity can be when we’re trying to maintain momentum with a new habit. When you see yourself as someone that does a certain thing and you value that, it reinforces the habit. But I think it’s also important that we don’t let it diminish our objectivity.
As I’m playing with my diet to add a little more fiber, it became pretty obvious that an easy way to do that was to add some beans to some of my meals. That shouldn’t be a big deal but for some reason it sort of was. Like someone was going to demand that I turn in my Paleo membership card and decoder ring or something. I was limiting my dietary options because of some subconscious food tribalism or identity. Damn, I didn’t see that sentence coming.
For me, I’m trying to worry less about being right and instead spend that energy on figuring out what works and let go of what doesn’t. That sounds simple but a can of beans helped me understand that sometimes simple stuff can feel strangely challenging.
How about you? Have you wrestled with making a change to something that seemed tougher than it should have been?
Alright, let’s tackle something less complicated and make some pickled radishes.
I know this one might not be for everyone, but I hope you’ll give it a chance. I like the brightness and funkiness that pickled radishes and onions can bring to a dish. They pair well with savory, spicy or rich foods and they’re a breeze to make.
Ingredients:
I bunch of radishes sliced thin
1 bunch of fresh dill
⅓ red onion sliced thin
1 cup rice wine vinegar
¼ cup water
½ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp pepper corns
Thinly slice the radishes and onion and place in a wide-mouthed, heat tolerant jar.
Heat the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, mustard seed and peppercorns in a sauce pan until just beginning to boil and then pour over the contents in the jar.
You want the liquid to cover the ingredients. Place a lid on the jar and when it cools, put it in the fridge. It will be ready for use the next day.
Enjoy!
Now that we’ve got funky covered, let’s build some exercise options
My exercise content isn’t geared for someone that’s trying to swim between distant islands but hopefully it can help prepare you to carry your bag of groceries up the stairs, get up and down off the ground with your grandchild, or engage in whatever items that are on your own Centenarian Decathlon. Exercise should help support our goals and tame some of the obstacles that we encounter in our day to day lives. I also think it’s a great mood booster and destresser.
At the risk of sounding redundant, in order for exercise to work for us, we have to start where we are. Pushing yourself a little is great, biting off more than you can chew and injuring yourself; not so great. Be patient and have fun with this.
This week’s exercise options: