Today, like all days, I am trying to be better.
Some days, that means addressing my mental state and health. I strive to display empathy and compassion; to be productive and meaningful with my time in this life and this body.
Other days, that means looking at this body in the mirror and knowing I have to do better. To be radically candid: I’m seriously obese.
The science is becoming more and more clear that physical health is a huge influence on mental health, too, which I have always prioritized higher. Not just from the stress and mental toll that moving through society inflicts on fat people, but also hidden factors like the types of gut bacteria that run rampant or die off due to an unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity.
As my doctor said recently: I have some serious work to do.
This is the way I plan to do it. Every week I’m going to make one new commitment in pursuit of better physical health. As that is at least half about what you put into your body, plenty of these will address my diet. Publishing my commitments here should include the threat of public failure and hopefully motivate my adherence.
The table stakes are (1) strenuous physical activity for one hour three days a week, and (2) one “cheat day” every week for any dietary restrictions. I succeeded for my longest period on a previous dietary regimen that featured a cheat day, after failing quickly at all others that came before, so I insist on its inclusion going forward for mental benefit. Every rule seems easier to follow when you don’t have to accept it as unbreakable.
The challenges will be incremental, taking the form of small but substantive changes. They have to be simple and straightforward too, with clearly defined success states.
That’s because there’s a second feature to these challenges: if you see me breaking them, I have to correct the behavior and give you $5 on the spot (assuming it’s not my cheat day, which I will make known on my Instagram). Also, you and I will do some light-hearted shaming via social media for my future motivation. Get ready for a literal windfall when I try to quit soda in a month or so.
With that, here’s the first one: No deep-fried food.
That’s it. No french fries, no chicken nuggets, no cheese sticks, no fried chicken, no potato or tortilla chips, no hard taco shells, no donuts, and no breaded fried foods.
I’ll be shifting the barbell and fork/knife icons below to denote adherence to my plans going forward, introducing red coloring for failure. The utensils will stay gray on my dietary cheat day, as will the barbell on my non-workout days. As always, the icons reflect status from two days before the publication date, as I try to write a post and then schedule it to publish at 8 AM the next day.
Wish me luck. Here we go again.
