No matter how perfect we think we are, we are all just human. We all have our own unique problems, dilemmas, and stressors. Having said that, sometimes they affect us more than we’d like. It’s easy to fall or stray from that path you have set for yourself, but it’s much harder to pick yourself up and get back on it. Though it is difficult, I find that this process really sheds light on the inner strength and determination one has.
I often get asked “How do you do it?” “How do you manage it all?” “How do you survive?”. I am here to tell you that although it may look like I have it all together, surely that is not the case. Many of what we see today on social media and tv try to emulate perfection, infinite happiness, and problem free lives, but that is simply not reality. Even the best (I don’t consider myself this) stumble, and that is exactly what happened to me these past two weeks. I wanted to write this because I think it is good to show the wins but also the struggles we go through in life. We all fall, but how do we get up?
Between working 50hr+ weeks, going to grad school, starting up a company, moving, and traveling I found myself quickly going off the path I prefer to be on. I was missing workouts, eating unhealthily, feeling groggy, and missing deadlines. I made the excuse that I had many sporadic things going on and I would get back on track. The problem was that was not the case, I knew all of these things were happening in advance, I just planned poorly. This can turn into a pattern of making continuous excuses and then when does it end?
I find that the best way to end this cycle is to take a minute to set goals that I can work toward. They help me identify a final outcome as well as metrics that I can use to measure along the way to check my progress. Personally, I like to set a wide range of goals such as physical, personal, and spiritual. Below is the action plan I took this past Monday to get back on track.
Physical
To see where I was, I headed to my training gym, Fitness on Fire in Irvine, CA. I hopped on the InBody to generate a report of my current body composition. This helped me identify where I needed work and what I need to do in terms of exercising and dieting.
One thing that is crucial for me is my workouts. I try to work out twice a day. This is overdoing it to some but I do it for the mental health aspects. I am able to relieve all my stress and anxiety during my workouts really helping me to think clearly. Additionally, my attitude, outlook, and confidence always improve after a good workout. Having said all that, I hopped back on my workout schedule and pre-planned my workouts for the week, something I normally do not do.
Second thing was figuring out how to eat better and get back to a balanced diet. Normally, I do make my own meals but to get me out of this funk I logged-on to my Freshly App and placed an order for ready-made meals. Ten meals were delivered to me yesterday and I will use them for lunches but still cook my own breakfast (which I had stopped eating) and dinner. Reviewing my InBody report I noticed I had lost weight and more importantly lost muscle mass. To combat this, I planned to increase my calories and protein intake.
Personal
The next thing I did was attack my schedule and get it in order, I do this a few different ways. It may be old school, but I prefer pen and paper. On my desk, I have a huge calendar that I write everything in for the month. I then take each week and input into my phone calendar which is synced to all my emails. Now I have a strict schedule to keep me on track. It contains everything including commute times and time to get ready between events.
The next thing was to tackle my sleep pattern. I do not get a lot of sleep (4-6hrs) and unfortunately that’s all I can afford at the moment. I figure I might as well make those few hours the best sleep possible. I decided to cut screen time out 30minutes before bed, and read a book. Additionally, I started taking Goli Ashwagandha gummies an hour prior to sleeping.
Spiritual
Lastly, is my new spiritual goal and I am sure this will differ for everyone. For me, I have decided I need to strengthen my relationship with God and the best time to do this is first thing in the morning when I wake up at 4am. A physical workout is great but a spiritual workout it also needed for a well-balanced life. As I’m sipping on my pre-workout, I read 2 chapters of the Bible a day.
We all have very different lives with different schedules, routines, and obligations but one thing we all have in common is we are all just trying make it to the end of the day. I am sure some of you will relate to what I have written above and some not so much, and that’s okay. What I do hope you see is that we all stumble from time to time, but it’s never too late to get back up and get back to the grind. Remember, just one breath at a time, turns into one day at a time, which turns into a week that turns into a month.
Trying to succeed, improve, and repeat.
Andrew Davila,
Finite Fitness Founder