Pushing My Limits for Longevity: Learning to Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable
“If you want to age well, get comfortable with being uncomfortable”.
I’m not exactly sure where I saw the above quote, but it seems to be a great way to describe my recent project – Pushing My Limits for Longevity. I now realize that if I want to do everything I can to have a long and healthy life, I can’t keep doing things the same way. So naturally, it’s going to get uncomfortable.
If you’re not familiar with my Pushing My Limits for Longevity project, I’ve announced that this year I plan to embrace a new longevity lifestyle and then push my personal limits with some specific longevity challenges. (If you’re interested, you can read more about it here). For the first three months of my project, I’m totally focused on getting in the best physical shape I can so that I can feel strong tackling my challenges.
I just finished my first week.
The start of my project, like so many things in life, didn’t go quite as I planned. I had thought I would be able to ease into the program and begin in the comfort of my own home. Here, I thought, I could manage and control my schedule, eating and exercise.
But as often happens, life had other plans.
Due to a family situation, I ended up starting the program in a different city and in another family member's home. Because of this shift in location, I seriously thought about putting this off for another week and waiting until I was back in my own home but I quickly realized this was not a good idea. I recognized that these bumps in the road happen in life and nothing is ever perfect. So if I didn’t get started now, I was not dealing with life’s realities.
So I began.
The night before I was to start, I found I had that same eerie feeling as it’s the night before the first day of school. Part jitters, part nerves and some level of excitement. I also thought whether this was going to be worth the effort. Was I really going to be successful this time?
When I received the program from Shannon, my fitness/performance coach, I initially found it intimidating. The instructions were pretty clear. I was to get 8 hours of sleep, 60 minutes of exercise and drink 3 litres of water a day (wow!). He provided me with a single specific menu that I was to eat every day. The nutrient distribution was about 40% carbs / 40% protein and 20% fat. He also provided me with an exercise plan and some strength training exercises.
All I thought was - yikes.
I knew one of the things I was going to possibly struggle with (besides of course cutting down on food) was drinking 3L of water a day. I knew I had to figure out some way to start early so that it didn’t affect my sleep.
I love my morning coffee. So what I started to do was drink half my water intake before I rewarded myself with coffee. Turns out this wasn’t a bad idea. I discovered that what I was starting to do was something called habit stacking.
Habit stacking is where you take one habit (for instance having my morning coffee) and stack another habit to it (in this case drinking water). If you keep doing the two habits together eventually, they will form a new habit.
I also figured out my food for the day and made sure that I had what was needed in the house. I’m on a very restrictive diet right now so there isn’t much room for creative eating. Shannon wants me to curtail a whole lot of different foods so that we can see how my body responds to specific foods and then begin to introduce new ones.
When I saw this, I thought that this would be horrible having to eat the same menu everyday but in some strange way it was surprisingly comforting. Beyond having the groceries, there was no meal planning. I knew exactly what I was going to eat. I guess you could compare it to Steve Jobs wearing a black shirt and jeans every day. No significant decision necessary.
As well, I didn’t have access to my gym equipment at home and many of you know Canada in January can be very cold. One day it was –19 degrees Celsius. But I needed to get my steps in. So I sucked it up, bundled up and headed outdoors. I’m not going to lie – this was uncomfortable – but the sense of satisfaction when I finished my walk was worth it.
As much as I would like immediate results, I had to keep reminding myself that I didn’t get to this point overnight and it’s not going to change overnight. Plus, this is a lifestyle change that I need to embrace to develop newer, healthier habits. To avoid slipping back into my old ways, I realized I need a shift of attitude. So here it is.
This is no longer about just me and my vanity anymore. This is about living a long and healthy life. It’s about being in good physical condition so that for as long as possible, my family doesn’t have to worry or take care of me. It’s about being able to spend time with my future grandchildren and being able to get down on the floor and play with them without getting tired out. It’s about being able to move and function as freely as I can for as long as I can.
I spent years dedicating myself to my work. I now just need to take a similar perspective and recognize that this job I am now taking on has long term implications – my longevity. My health and well being is now my top priority and job.
It’s still really early days and I know there will be challenges ahead. Remembering this is what will hopefully provide the motivation for me to keep going.
I managed to make my way through the week, finished drinking all my water every day, eat was I was supposed to eat, got the exercise I needed and the sleep I was supposed to have. All pretty much done in someone else’s house.
Shows you that when there is a will – there definitely is a way. And fortunately, this week I was only a little uncomfortable!
