Finding discipline - A pandemic fitness update

The pandemic has been a hard time for all of us. It has changed the way we work, socialize and who we socialize with. I have approached this time with the thinking that the best response to change and adversity is personal mastery and discipline.

I found myself scattered and it difficult to concentrate and focus at first, during the pandemic. Then I was struck with several sad events - the loss of a beloved family member and two friends. It all felt like a bit much to handle. I thought to myself: "I have to take control of all this."

So, I started mindfully setting milestones: fitness, eating/drinking, work, spirituality. This led to habits emerging that I was able to keep going and other practices that I found I couldn't, so they dropped off and were rethought.

I reached a milestone today.

Weighed in at 72.3kg (159.4 lbs) and 19% body fat (according to my Garmin impedance scale). This is the first time I have been below 160lbs since 2011. I have lost 14.7kg since my highest weight (87.1kgs/192lbs, body fat 28%).

My goal is a muscular 67kgs (148lbs). Not sure what my body fat percentage would be at that weight and my height (172cm or 5'7.5"). It will be interesting to find out.

Several of my friends and acquaintances have asked me to relate how I have attempted to take control of my fitness and productivity during the pandemic. To be sure, I have not done anything extreme to get to this point. Here is a quick sketch:

On diet. I am a strong believer that what you eat shapes your mood, your energy levels and ability to focus. I have tinkered with diet within a vegan context which I have found works for me. I was first exposed to the potential benefits of veganism as a route to self-mastery through the work of Rich Roll, Dr. Michael Gregor, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and many others.

What works for me has been a combination of whole-food, plant-based diet, minimal alcohol, daily intermittent fasting (breakfast 8am, lunch noon + snack at 2pm -- then nothing until breakfast). Dessert is small quantity of either dark chocolate with hazelnuts, vegan coconut milk yoghurt, a smoothie or just some berries. Coffee twice - before and after breakfast, green tea the rest of the day, only camomile or herbals after 6pm. What works for you may be quite different. You have find it.

I have also been walking at least 10,000 steps (works out to roughly 7k at least) everyday (mostly in the forest, sometimes on the noisy street -- which is much less pleasant), cycling twice or three times a week for 30-40kms. Morning and afternoon pushups. I am going to introduce some gentle weights now.

I have also been trying very hard to get decent sleep -- something I have always struggled with. I find 8 uninterrupted hours works best, but rarely achieved. I try to get to bed at 10pm, but often cannot sleep until at least 11pm.

I have found that daily meditation and prayer (short Bible reading and reflection -- I am a progressive Roman Catholic, so this works for me), calendarizing my life, quantifying my fitness using myfitnesspal, Zwift (in winter), GarminConnect and Strava (using a Tacx Neo2 trainer, Woodway 4Front treadmill and a Garmin Fenix5S) and taking a mindful moment to set daily priorities has really helped with this health reshaping.

The idea of structure to both physical and spiritual fitness seems to be the key. Remembering the treadmill (have walking meetings on Zoom), making time for forest walks, getting on the bike despite the cold or wet, etc. have been key to building cardio. Now I have to work in some weights (20 min sessions, I think), which I have to figure out.

I think neglecting the spiritual side is not great. For me, short daily Bible study (usually online, either watching YouTube or reading a blog) works - it is a reminder that the materialism and nihilism of the world isn't the only option. That loving forgiveness is the real truth and generative force in my life, not power or struggle.

I also find that meditation, breathing exercises and visualization are important go-tos for my mental health and task focus. I will often do a quick breathing exercise before task-switching. I will also often close my eyes for 2 minutes do a brief visualization of the task I am about to do, rather than throwing myself into it. I find this improves calm and performance.

One of the things that I have learned is I work best when I work slowly. People who are close to me always say -- "you are so slow! How do you get things done?" People who are not so close to me ask: "how do you get so many things done? How are you so productive?" It's interesting. I find it's more a factor of being in-the-moment, breathing, taking my time with things, staying calm and planning. Planning is the key. Giving myself enough to time be have the luxury of doing the task slowly. You may think that this is not the reality for you, that you are so overwhelmed that you have to rush through everything. I have found that this is an illusion - I used to spend lots of time dreading, procrastinating and avoiding. When I started doing things slowly, I felt more relaxed and feel these emotions much less. Then I found I unlocked many minutes of time when I could take it slow with a task, meditate on it, breathe, visualize and complete it with many fewer revisions than if I had done it while rushing. Unlock your time through planning and slow working. You'll thank me.

I find the gamification on Zwift (in winter), Garmin and Strava to be quite motivating. Gamification with its badges and levels gives me something to strive for and focus on. It also punctuates what could otherwise seem to be slow progress, a plateau or incremental fitness gain. I haven't tried gamification for meditation or prayer because I don't want to think of those things that way.

All of these attempts at personal discipline and self-mastery have helped me get through the pandemic thus far. On the work side, I feel good if I completely accomplish one or two tasks everyday. This keeps the ball rolling and spirits up. Because I have a strong sense of duty, I find leaving things undone makes it hard for me to sleep or relax. So the a short weekly mindful moment to prioritize the week's tasks and a short daily prioritizing of my tasks is useful. I check-in with myself in the afternoon to see if I am on track. I have found that switching my group projects to management software (I like Asana) has been very useful. I also find that heavy, but realistic use of my calendar is also very useful, because of the reminder.

The pandemic has been a strange time, so I have attempted to use the isolation to organize my fitness and work-life. Who knows? I might fall off the wagon. I may not. I am trying not to.

I wish you all the best in this very difficult and trying time. I hope some of my highly personal reflections here may be useful to you. I don't prescribe them because I am not you. You have to find your own path to discipline and self-mastery.

Good luck and Godspeed.