My morning routine precedes my LCHF way of eating by about a year. My routine, itself, reflects the gradual development of decades of experience, self-reflection and formation. It helped me to be open to, and steel myself, for the change I needed to make. My being sufficiently motivated to try something as “radical” as a high-fat diet was necessary for my subsequent success.
What are your motivations? Here’s how I found mine.
An essential prerequisite to fundamentally changing one’s self is to be sufficiently motivated. Merely “wanting” or “desiring” alone, is not enough. It fails to engage you to reexamine your beliefs, and to change your comfort zone. To affect change, it’s important to understand the nature of motivation, as rightly-ordered and formed motivation helps to drive a successful result.
In other words, my morning routine provided me with the necessary motivation to step out of my comfort zone, and try something I otherwise would not try.
Here’s how I got to where I am today.
The experiential
I’ve struggled with weight management my whole life. At 6’ 2”, and generally hovering around 275 pounds, my “big guy” persona was deeply woven into how I saw and presented myself, and how others saw me. Others were always charitable to point out I wasn’t “obese” but “big” with the implicit connotation that, like Texas, big is good.
As I got older, however, my “bigness” became an increasing liability. From the social stigma of being fat in my youth, concerns about my professional appearance in my middle years, motivated me to try all kinds of diets, some successfully in the short-term, but, ultimately, all were failures after a year.
The common “standard American diet” remedy for weight gain is the “Calorie In – Calorie Out” or CICO model. They recommend that we should eat less and exercise more. Nutritionists and dieticians wag their finger at us, telling us that we’re fat because we’re lazy and out-of-control children who cannot follow their clearly laid out advice. You’ve seen their nags. “Hey fatties, you should park further away from the store entrance. You should take the stairs. Walk! Don’t finish dinner. Count your calories.” Ad nausea. It surely isn’t the “science” behind their Food Pyramid guidelines that are failed, right?
As I’ve been admonished for my sloth and gluttony since childhood, I started exercising in 1982, when I took up jogging in downtown Philly, which was all kinds of fun for this art school student. I have maintained an active, if inconsistent, jogging routine ever since. However, as I crossed the 4th and 5th decades of existence, my exercise no longer had the impact on my weight maintenance that I expected it would. Looking back, I’m not clear it ever did, but my thinking it did was satisfying enough not to question the assumptions I based it on.
My frustration with my weigh management reached its peak when my doctor, in 2016, diagnosed me as medically obese and that I might be facing hypertension, a condition my mom has. Maybe I was lazy and out-of-control, but that’s not me.
I had to do something.
The formative
Meanwhile, and unrelated to my weight, I was ruing the bad habits of other people. I allowed my obsession on their faults to bring me chaos and pain. It was in Al-Anon and by working the twelve steps that I learned to flip this dynamic. Rather than focus on other’s bad habits, I should focus on my own. I’m powerless over the faults of others, but I’m empowered to change myself. Though it took me many years for this concept to gain momentum and find motivation, I decided to better cultivate my own habits, through faith, introspection and inspiration drawn from other’s experiences.
I am an avid listener of podcasts, especially those focused on self-learning and self-growth. It was through this habit that I became acquainted with Ryan Holiday’s book, “Ego Is the Enemy.” The focus of Holiday’s book is that when we are steeped in our own narcissism and hubris, bolstered by our own prior successes, we can be our own worst enemies. I heard the author speak on the EconTalk podcast. During the interview, Holiday spoke glowingly of the Tim Ferris podcast.
Tim Ferriss is notable for his focus on self-improvement, which started with a financial angle, but as he’s aged, his focus as expanded as well, to one similar to Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” I read that book in the late 90’s and remain influenced by many of its principles as well. It is in this vein that Tim Ferriss studies successful people and he, and we, learn from them. This subject matter has the greatest natural interest for me.
What’s relevant here is that Tim Ferriss is very much an N=1 kind of guy, willing to try many seemingly foolish things to experience it, first hand. Some nutty things, like how long one can hold his breath, and some less so nutty, though solidly controversial, like alternative concepts to contemporary “common sense” principles, such as on diet, fasting or “smart drugs.” (I only do two of those three. Smart drugs remain a bridge too far for now.)
On Ferriss’ podcast, one topic that pops up frequently are the advantages of a morning workout routine. One of his guests, Jocko Willink, made a striking and animated argument for developing a morning routine. Jocko is not alone. Google “morning routine” and you’ll see plenty of results from a deep and diverse array of sources.
As someone naturally inclined to be an early riser, this had natural appeal for me. Thus, motivated by my failure with weight management and inspired by the success of others, a routine was born. The pieces were in place. I just had to turn that into a morning habit.
Another aspect that connects Holiday, Ferriss, and Willink is the principle of delayed gratification, a.k.a., stoicism. I’ll save that for another post.
What is my morning routine?
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The night before, I pack my gym bag, work clothes and lunch.
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I awake early, 4:15 AM. Though I have an alarm, I rarely rely on it now.
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I finish packing, make my morning coffee, (see below) and I walk my dog. For my LCHF way of eating, packing my lunch helps me keep my food on track. I rarely buy snacks during the day. This helps me save money and eat less processed junk food, even if the snack is LCHF-friendly.
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I pray the Rosary on my 30 minute commute to the YMCA. This helps me to offer my day up to God’s glory, and open my consciousness to His word, and not my own petty and foolish thoughts.
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I exercise for roughly 60 minutes, starting at 5:30 AM, when the YMCA opens their doors. I alternate between running — I am a slow runner, averaging at 12 minutes a mile — and weight-training. I run three times a week, and lift weights twice a week. I enjoy an 8 mile run on Saturdays, and a long and leisurely walk on Sunday mornings. Frankly I enjoy the experience and “high” of running the most, but it’s nice to break the routine.
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I enjoy a butter or coconut-oil coffee with my workouts. This is not required, but it sure is pleasurable.
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I am at work by 7:30 AM.
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I skip breakfast. I “break my fast” with lunch, usually around noon.
Even when any of the above is off, I have accomplished much before my workday begins.
Another benefit of my morning routine is I get a unique perspective on the places I travel to. For example, in New Orleans, May 2016, I ran the streets of the French Quarter every morning, which was an excellent way to see that area. Mornings have this great relaxed feel to them and I’m running through country and city, seeing things I might otherwise miss. When I’m traveling, the details of my routine change. I might say the Rosary at the start of my run, not before. Instead of packing for the gym the night before, I might spend time on route-planning, which can be fun and challenging as well.
What I don’t do
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I would follow the advice to “make the bed first thing you do,” but that would wake my wife. I think this is great advice, where possible. Navy Seal Admiral McRaven puts a fine point on this in this quick video: https://youtu.be/KgzLzbd-zT4
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I don’t keep a journal, but, I do see great value in it. Forming a thought in your head, and writing it down, are quite different. Elucidation crystallizes nascent thoughts and helps you keep yourself on task.
How has this helped me?
LCHF is like a cool pool on a hot day. Jumping in can be jarring, but utterly refreshing once you’ve, well, adapted. To do well, you have to give up what might have been “staples” in your diet: bread, beer, rice, potatoes and sugar. For many people I speak to, this is a deal-breaker. I was so desperate, I had nothing to lose. At 53, I had consumed vast quantities of all of those items, so giving them up as an N=1 trial was doable. I had an expert guiding me. I had a morning routine, which is also my time, to keep me heading in the right direction. The pieces were in place. With 16 months experience behind me, my motivating reward has been the success of my LCHF way of eating.
My morning routine has helped me to be open to other ways of self-improvement. Being open to this has expanded my self-improvement options. This has led me to ignore the traditional, misleading or unhelpful advice on most things. The time in prayer and reflection help me to ground myself in repeatable results. The success inspires me to continue on.
So, yea. “Winning the day” before 9 AM is an addictive and self-rewarding spiral.