Mindfulness, Mastery, and Muscle - DJaRiHardstyle's Offseason Mission

[Kameronn]

Definitely feel you on the adherence issue with college starting. Man, been really slacking with my mindfulness. Need to get back on that asap.

[IK9]

welcome to #colege trololol

I just visited my UNLV gym and now we have a total of 6 BB benches.. im like.. okay.. I'm glad they used increased tuition to make our gym even better although it was great in 2010 lol

[TGreggors]

Even if adherence isn't the best, it seems as though you're keeping it together....just gotta remember how most people generally react post-show and give yourself some credit for not just saying "screw it", mentally checking out and gaining 30-40 pounds right off the bat.

[DJaRiHardstyle]

I'll get back to weekly updates by this weekend, so I can be back on schedule. I might have to reformat it to take into consideration some of the things I haven't been able to track as closely, and because I know there are better priorities to be made right now, in terms of goal setting and time management. I'll get into that after briefly talking about adherence.

Going to be completely upfront and honest; adherence has been bad. The silver lining is that this hardly represents the type of full-on binge I engaged in last show, ending up 25+ lbs. over my stage weight only a matter of weeks post-show. My weight has, surprisingly, been relatively stable, although I feel like I look a lot softer.

Just when I was starting to come up with some tactics to steer myself back on track, college hit me pretty hard. The independent nutrition studying this summer certainly helped keep me fresh a bit, but stress is becoming a big factor again. What I've been doing recently is pushing my first meal off until about 3pm (actually, I break the fast with 1 scoop of whey protein in the morning), when our dining hall serves chicken breasts, veggies, etc., then a small meal at like 5:30/6, lift, and then my biggest meal. Really just trying to time it around when I'm hungriest, so that I can eat bigger meals and take full advantage of those periods where I'm naturally not as hungry (but make no mistake, I'm ALWAYS hungry these days, lol).

This is still a W.I.P. though, but this next point should address my concrete plans to move things in the right direction.

I recently read a book called the Power of Less by Leo Babauta. If you haven't heard of it, it's an amazingly simplistic and highly popular book on effective time management. Where it separates itself from most of the advice out there is the heavy focus on minimizing. He talks essentially about how ineffective our standard goal-setting mentalities are - trying to accomplish, say, 12 goals constantly throughout a year - whereas a much better way of doing things would be to focus on 1 goal only each month. In this way, you form new habits by applying all of your focus into 1 area at a time. Granted, this is only a small portion of the message he gets across.

But that's the most relevant to the changes I've made as of recently. What I've done is laid out a tentative 1-year plan for habits I want to form. Using the advice in the book and the lessons I've learned from mindfulness, which continues to be an instrumental part of my daily routine, I've decided on 12 realistic, measurable habits, one for each month for a year.

Simultaneously (and actually, combining these isn't even really overcomplicating things, as this fits in perfectly), I will be trying to attain a year or so-long goal related to my writing articles. This is something I really want to incorporate into my life, even when other responsibilities call my attention, as it's something I at once have a propensity for and enjoy thoroughly. However, I have not finalized this goal yet, as I'm having trouble making it measurable. I guess it'll come down to simply forming the habit of writing every day and posting articles frequently.

I'll probably give a more comprehensive synopsis of what the plan is, in its entirety. For now, suffice it to say, the monthly goal for September (working off Baubata's sample "Power of Less challenge" template) is to assign and complete 3 MITs (Most Important Tasks) each morning, completed before I can start anything else.

I'm scaling these goals, so that I don't dive straight into the deep end and burn out, and so what I'm doing is starting with an almost overly easy version of the habit, and then working my way up each week into the actual habit. I'm probably going to have it so the goal is in place for the entire second half of the month (last 2 weeks). So that means for this week, my goal has only been to assign and complete one MIT each morning, completed before anything else. It's taking some refining, as what I want to do is make this a "Project-related" task, and save the more tedious, busy work homework for later in the day, but so far I'm loving it. The sense of accomplishment and ability to focus on one thing at one time is SO refreshing.

And so, in this vein, next month's goal is to get back on my diet. But I'm working on a more thoughtful, multifaceted approach and I'm really hopeful for it.

I will keep you all updated, and I will likely start posting monthly debriefs on how the challenge of the month went, on my website. I think that could be a really cool use of the site to motivate others and encourage them to start going after the goals they've been sweeping under the rug for so long.

Man, been really slacking with my mindfulness. Need to get back on that asap.

Don't think of it like that. There is literally no failure in practicing mindfulness. The entire purpose of mindfulness is to develop an acceptance and calmness about the mind's natural inclinations to wander and drift back to its habitual thinking patterns. Try, when you meditate and even just at various points throughout the day, to catch yourself being overly critical towards yourself, and simply repeat an affirmation (out loud if you'd like), such as "It's okay, don't worry" and then just calmly return to focusing on the breath.

In essence, once you stop thinking of mindfulness as a chore and start thinking about it as a comfortable time to relax and ground yourself, it will become MUCH easier to keep it up.

welcome to #colege trololol

I just visited my UNLV gym and now we have a total of 6 BB benches.. im like.. okay.. I'm glad they used increased tuition to make our gym even better although it was great in 2010 lol

Increased tuition going to increased gains? I fail to see the problem, lol.

Even if adherence isn't the best, it seems as though you're keeping it together....just gotta remember how most people generally react post-show and give yourself some credit for not just saying "screw it", mentally checking out and gaining 30-40 pounds right off the bat.

I appreciate this, man, that is absolutely the perspective I'm trying to have. Thanks for checking in!

[DJaRiHardstyle]

Hopefully this fills you all in a bit on what's been up. Feel really poopy about not logging in so long, but I've quite literally been spending every waking hour that I'm not quickly eating, doing my morning meditation, lifting, going to class, or doing some extracurricular responsibility, doing work. That's deada$$. I'll routinely wake up at around 7-7:30am and go to bed at (like tonight) 2am if I'm economic with my time. There have definitely been many a night already where I'm back at the room by 3.

However, as I start to get used to this system and figuring out my flow, as well as eliminating the non-essentials, I will be making a much stronger effort to keep up the logging, albeit nowhere near as in-depth as it was over the summer.

Anyways check it out:

Conquering Goals One Step at a Time: The Power of Less Challenge
http://nofluffstrength.com/index.php...ess-challenge/

[Kameronn]

Really enjoyed this new article and going to incorporate some of the strategies.

[DJaRiHardstyle]

What's up fam?

I'm in that odd 1:30am euphoric mood so let me fill you all in.

This is that mandatory "haha I still lift sometimes lol xDdDDD lmao" post you do after not updating in a while... I'll try to lay off the corniness tho.

What's up
-I have one more semester of college left... I graduate by the end of this year

-Dropped out of my fraternity. If you want to know why, just read through my log[s]. Initially, the plan was to just move out of the frat house and stay in the fraternity. But as time moved on, it became obvious what I needed to do. I've since received the cold shoulder from basically all the brothers, including my closest friend who was my roommate... Literally, they just all cut communications with me, despite my publicly announcing that my debrotherization had nothing to do with them, and was instead in response to some other personal concerns that were for me and me alone to deal with. Whatever, it sucked at first, but it's proven to be a very important decision I've made in my life, in a positive way.

-Moving out of the house = I moved into a single that was designed to be a double (therefore there were 2 beds in my room). Ended up becoming the ultimate party destination for my friend group (kind of facetious here, but it was where we all did our shenanigans on weekend nights)

-The period starting essentially RIGHT after I stopped logging to shortly before that semester ended was literally the most depressing period of my entire life. That's probably why I stopped logging in the first place. I just gave up on everything for a while, including self care, communication w/loved ones, a self-respecting diet, drinking moderation, etc.
Closed off HARDCORE... isolated myself, cried myself to sleep most nights, spent way more nights than I care to mention sleeping in academic buildings or staying up all night walking around campus aimlessly, oftentimes I'd go to 7-11 and binge eat junk food until I was sick and then hide all the evidence, started abusing some stimulants and then drank heavily on the weekends to drown it all out, threatened suicide in front of loved ones on a few occasions, was damn near close to ending it all at one point. Not a road it's too pleasant to recount rn tbh. Bottom line is I was doing VERY BADLY, but things have recently improved drastically.

-Starting my internship at an eating disorder clinic in hopefully under 1 month. It was supposed to start last week but there was a massive miscommunication in which they thought my background check thru the child registry (b/c I'll be working with children) was already done and cleared... But I had never gotten any of this. So, spent a good portion of this week so far driving around getting fingerprinted, having the bank notarize important signatures on forms, and now (tomorrow) going in to get my skin test & 10 panel done, and after all that I can give the paperwork back AND THEN get the background check process started. Wow, if you're still reading at this point, you must be pretty bored.. work moving slowly or something?

-Lifting was going GREAT last semester... 6x a week, my own programming, in depth stretching after every session, researching form cues and whatnot. This summer it's taken a bit of a hit. I stopped taking caffeine pre-workout which really slowed me down. Lifting 4x a week now and honestly I consider it a success just to get my foot in the gym and do what I can.

-Broke up with the SO back in February... Wait no, I need to go further back lol. GOT BACK TOGETHER with her basically the week after I stopped logging on here (we were together 6 months, broke up for 6 months, then got back together). Well, little over 5 months later, after she had started studying abroad for the semester, I decided it'd be best that we see other ppl. At first it kind of tore me apart (I was an absolute mess for that weekend, had to come back home), but I came to realize it was one of the best decisions I've made in my entire life, from a growth/self-development standpoint. Clarified:

-I've been focusing (albeit not without its bumps along the road) SUPER heavily on self-development. Some of the specifics are a bit weird and not worth mentioning in here (PM me if you're interested), but the normal parts are: Spending lots of time reading about my field (obesity, eating disorders, mindless eating habits, habit formation in general, etc.). Working pretty hard on my social life. Spending much more time than I ever would've felt comfortable with going out, meeting new people, giving things that cause me anxiety a try, just living life brah.

-Diet: Was trying low-carb (mainly low-refined grains and sugars) diet w/some experimental fasting here and there, but mainly just focusing on general health. Eating a VARIETY of organically sourced/fed meats and animal products, fruits, vegetables, and other diet components that unfortunately are rarely found in the Western diet (i.e. bone broth).
Now, specifically since I'm reading "Intuitive Eating" (GREAT book btw from a psychology/habit formation standpoint, but you have to kind of ignore some of the cringeworthy nutrition science they clearly didn't care to check on in much depth), I'm trying to pay attention to dropping the diet mindset as much as I can. It gives me no intrinsic satisfaction, and in fact only serves to exacerbate/complicate my mental health issues, to diet hard or meticulously count calories/carbs. What I ultimately want for myself is to be able to eat according to what I'm hungry for, in a healthy, mindful way, while enjoying a variety of foods and not allowing diet to be a factor that impedes on my own growth as a person.

Other random crap:
-I'm off SSRIs... still on Wellbutrin but I think thats an SNRI or maybe it acts on dopamine? Idk, TGreggors get in here and correct me!!
-Got in trouble at school for hosting in my room with 5 people who were under 21. Told them I was the only one drinking the hard alcohol and that got me down a point (our school has a 10 point system for violations of school policy, where once you get 10 you're out... and I only got 4 so I'm good).
-I'm sure that I'm forgetting something but you get the point.

Me now:

[TGreggors]

Read the whole thing. Damn dude, you've been through some stuff. Been keeping up with ya on FB and snapchat but that only gives you such a limited perspective on a person's life, ya know. Although I have seen some of the shenanigans on your snaps from time to time, lmao. But anyways, sounds like you're doing better here as of late? Since you said that you're no longer in the most depressing period of your life.

One more semester! What are the plans for after graduation?


And by the way, Wellbutrin (Bupropion) mainly works on dopamine and norepinephrine, but has some weak activity on serotonin. It also is used for smoking cessation! fun fact.

And looking respectable, man. BF levels are at a healthy and respectable place. I think the key, although people harp on this endlessly, is to find a place where you can eat enough to not have life-debilitating food focus while making progress in the weight room. What I have been aiming for

[DJaRiHardstyle]

Read the whole thing. Damn dude, you've been through some stuff. Been keeping up with ya on FB and snapchat but that only gives you such a limited perspective on a person's life, ya know. Although I have seen some of the shenanigans on your snaps from time to time, lmao. But anyways, sounds like you're doing better here as of late? Since you said that you're no longer in the most depressing period of your life.

One more semester! What are the plans for after graduation?


And by the way, Wellbutrin (Bupropion) mainly works on dopamine and norepinephrine, but has some weak activity on serotonin. It also is used for smoking cessation! fun fact.

And looking respectable, man. BF levels are at a healthy and respectable place. I think the key, although people harp on this endlessly, is to find a place where you can eat enough to not have life-debilitating food focus while making progress in the weight room. What I have been aiming for

GREAT advice right here, eating "enough" is a good way to phrase it, thanks man.

Plans after graduation still murky. Originally went into college with the plan being the RD route, and basically left that career path choice untouched for 3 years and then started to realize A) it would require I take Orgo and some other more science-intensive courses I had very little time left to take when I realized that, and B) it's not really what I want to do with my life.

So the plan now is getting my Masters in Public Health. I've only interviewed in person with one school, GWU, but the professor of their Exercise Science concentration told me that judging by the level of nutrition conversation I'm able to have, I'd be a good candidate when considering options for GA spots, and that would be CLUTCH cuz I'm not tryna pay that grad school big buck right there lol.

Since graduating the fall, rather than spring, semester, I'll have that entire extra semester to get a head start on seeking out schools, arranging interviews, getting my foot in the door, etc.

[TGreggors]

Thank ya, pard. Picked that up from some of the ramblings of Ian McCarthy.

So the career goal has shifted. Solid plan, my man. Keep us updated from time to time! and congrats on just about finishing up in the fall.

and i feel ya on the graduate school costs....sweet, sweet debt over here