The ‘Suck-Less-At-Being-Healthy’ Framework—Part 4 of 4
You’re still here? And you’re not my mom?
Wow, I’m flattered (and shocked).
Okay moving on…
Living within the framework
At a very basic level, I live within the S.L.A.B.H. Framework by following some core principles.
Let’s call this the “When-Sh*t-Hits-The-Fan-I’ll-Still-Do-This-Most-Days” List (hitherto referred to as Most Days List):
Or more specific to me…the “When-My-Toddler-Has-A-Stomach-Bug-And-Literally-Sh*ts-Her-Bed-And-I-Have-To-Give-Her-A-Bath-At-3AM-I’ll-Still-Find-A-Way-To-At-Least-Do-This-Most-Days” List:
Do something to get my heart rate up [exercise]
Avoid complete trash food [nutrition]
Give myself an “opportunity” to sleep at least 7 hours [sleep]
Actively practice gratitude [stress mgmt]
GROUNDBREAKING I KNOW.
But it’s actually a huge upgrade from where I was just a few years ago.
And I generally try to do much more than this.
Okay?
(So now you know the next time you see me laying on a couch eating brownies with blood shot eyes ranting about my lack of Ryan Reynolds abs PLEASE HELP.)
But Travis, what about all the days when my child isn’t pooping on herself at 3am?
Excellently worded question.
Here’s what I do…
I take my “Most Days” List and stack things on top of that.
Wtf does that mean?
Calm down.
I’m saying that in addition to doing the bare minimum I will sort of “pick” one of the 4 pillars of health I want to work on and do something more.
In doing this you’ll realize that your average day is better than your minimum day.
And the benefit of trying new things is you might find something that fits your lifestyle enough to slide it into (and upgrade/expand) your Most Days List (MDL).
And the better your MDL, the less you suck at being healthy.
Okay, okay, you’re not a dumb as you look.
‘preciate that.
ONE OTHER THING…
Any “random act of health” (e.g., a spur of the moment spin class with your BFF) is an example of “stacking”.
And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s awesome, in fact.
You go gurl.
But another “tool” that I find to be most effective in the “stacking” process is this never-heard-of-before concept of challenges of a short-to-medium duration.
Why challenges?
I like doing it this way because:
Keeps me from getting bored
It doesn’t feel like some permanent thing I have to do forever
But it gives me a meaningful amount of time to really “try” something (and not be all like “I went keto for 1 day and didn’t lose weight…this bullsh*t fad diet is trash and doesn’t help worth dick!”)
Narrows my focus and gets me out of the “all or nothing” mindset
Gives me a clear goal
Allows me to try new things (that may turn into good habits)
(Read my full philosophy on challenges here)
***
Okay, let’s wrap this up before you leave me.
…drumroll…I PRESENT TO YOU…drumroll…
The 4-Step Process to Becoming Less Bad at Being Healthy!
STEP 1: Establish your Most Days List
Step 1b: You might wanna try to stick to your MDL for more than half the days (get it? Most? Ya, u get it.) for a given period of time (like 2 weeks or a month or sumthin’)
STEP 2: Stack things on top of your MDL—do this by either:
Stacking a single action (e.g., today I’m gonna eat less than 100 g of carbs on top of my “avoiding total crap foods” from my MDL)
Challenging yourself for a certain amount of time (e.g., do 100 push ups every other day for 2 weeks on top of my “get my heart rate up daily” from my MDL)
STEP 3: Reestablish/upgrade your “Most Days” list based on what you learn from step 2 (like for example, “I can easily do under 100 g carbs on weekdays so I’m gonna slide that b*tch into my MDL”)
STEP 4: Return to step 2 and repeat the process perpetually
***
So there ya go…that’s MY framework.
Think I’m a total idiot? gfy
Either way, you’re welcome to explore living within this framework.
Or not. Whatevs. I really just built this site for myself anyway.
Nah I take it back my sense of self worth depends on you clicking the button below.