“What about food Shane?”
When we are trying to take aspects of our life up a notch, evolve it beyond where we are right now, it’s certainly never easy. So don’t worry, you’re not the only one who feels this way. And if we are making those honest steps towards a true evolution, that’s as it should be. If it were easy, then there would be nothing to overcome, with nothing to learn in the process, thus nowhere to grow towards. Which would leave us….? In the same place. All the time. The resistance we feel is a gift.
That doesn’t mean we can’t face this resistance and make this progress one step at a time. In our desire and inspiration to reach for the very top, the heights of our capacity, it’s natural to want to try and jump right to it. To want it all to happen right now. Instantly (…if you have figured out how to do that, and sustain it, hit me with it. I am all ears.). But when we climb a mountain, it’s one foot in front of the other.
So, we started with getting the exercise going, not even worrying about food. It can be argued that attending to our food should come first and would help us be more successful with our exercise, but I have seen so many examples where it becomes a “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” Because with the Clubbell Evolution programs our focus is using it as that vehicle to developing the qualities we need in our life at this time, we are connecting to the source, the very heart of our motivation for making any of the changes we desire in our life. This is where we take our first step.
Now that we’re rolling and getting into a groove, we can start looking at another step. Food. What I’m about to say is nothing complex, super scientific and all consuming (pun intended). It’s simple. Yet one of the most challenging. Challenging because it is so easy to implement, it gives us less reasons why we can’t make the shift. It allows for action to take place now. That is very challenging. Especially when it comes to food. Food is cultural, social, emotional, personal.
To begin the shift, as we ramp up our exercise, don’t deny your appetite. Eat. Your body is going through an adjustment. Allow it to sort out what the new eating rhythm needs to be. Where the shift comes in though, is in the food choices. No, I’m not even going to say you need to deny yourself the food you may see as “bad”. Don’t worry about having to cut back on it. Instead put your focus on adding more of the good food. Unprocessed, whole foods. The less packaging, the less ingredients, the quicker it goes bad. These are all steps in moving towards whole foods.
Start to apply the principles in your Nutritional Start-Up guide (included with the Clubbell Mass Evolution). You don’t have to do it all right now. Just pick one or two that you can begin to apply on a consistent basis. Don’t think in terms of changing all your food and eating habits in the next few weeks. Rather think, improve the shift in your food and eating habits over the next few months.
As you do, you will begin to feel a shift in energy, body composition, mental clarity and progress. Sure we can change all of it, right now. But that only ever lasts about… ooooohhh… 2 weeks.
Up a mountain, one foot in front of the other.
Dare To Evolve,
Shane.
I have been making green smoothies to start the day with.
One Banana
one Avocado
two tbl spoons of Hemp protein
Kale
berries.
Blended with Flax milk or rice milk.
I find this stays with me for my workouts.
Thanks for all your great posts!
Cheers,
Scott.
Nice smoothie Scott! When I was making my shake yesterday, I was just thinking about adding the avocado’s. Think they would be a great addition.
HERE”S ONE FOR EVERYONE: How do you start your day? Food wise. Both what you eat and timing (where it falls in relation to everything else).
Because while we can all improve upon what we are doing (through continued exploration, discovery and refinement), it’s still so individual, what works for each of us. Would be really interesting to see those differences and perhaps see something others are doing that connects with us, which we can add to our own approach as we continue to find what works best for us.
For me:
I always feel best training on an empty stomach (no food)
So I wake up
Drink a big glass of water with fresh lemon squeezed in it
Do my training session
Another big glass of water
Breakfast: 3-4 egg omelette cooked with coconut oil, large bowl of oatmeal made from whole rolled oats (with rasins, cinnamon and some stevia).
And good to go!
This is a good post. I have found that even though performance optimization begins with sleep, then food, then movement, there is something about fixing the impediments to our movement that empires us to make the changes to the first two priorities. Probably because it it both exposes those deficits, yet encourages us because of the nearly immediate progress of joint mobility, compensatory stretching, and incremental motor sophistication. At least that has been my “evolution”. My wife and I start the day with coffee and half & half with joint mobility. Then eggs cooked in coconut oil, when I am not doing an intermittent fast. Sometimes with bacon, sometimes with spinach (sometimes both). Strength and metabolic workouts lately have been afternoon events before dinner.
Nice. And you’re right. In the grand scheme of things, it is generally accepted (even amongst movement aficionado’s) that movement is not actually number one in order of importance on the overall priority list, interestingly enough, when it comes to optimal reset on our systems. Yet for many, attending to aspects such as nutrition and sleep, are even harder. Physical exertion and movement, however, people are more willing to undertake (as there tends to be less resistance comparatively in getting it started).
I believe this is also because we do indeed receive that much more immediate, tangible feedback from it. We FEEL it right away. It is the reason I come at it from this direction. It’s a back door to the benefits of nutrition and sleep, as we put a greater effort towards adjusting them accordingly as a means to improve upon the movement we’ve undertaken.
There is optimal and then there’s getting started. If optimal becomes too big an obstacle for folks (which for many it is) to actually taking action, then all it’s benefits are for not (and the few who are able to make that jump right away).
So finding that balance, between being able to get started and working towards optimal.
Really great thoughts Dan! Thanks for sharing those.
So it’s show off your food day, huh?
Challenge accepted:
https://skitch.com/unnamed-576d/e83e9/food-porn-seafood-risotto
Seafood risotto, tonight’s dinner.
I know why I married an Italian. Fresh, real food, and that’s just one of the perks.
So now you know why I don’t want portion control 🙂
And why losing weight seems ever unrealistic. Yet thanks to the clubbell, the one thing I can hope for is to have a say in how it’s distributed…
“So it’s show off your food day, huh?”
YES!! And thanks for showing off yours. It looks delicious. Can never argue with fresh, real food.
“And why losing weight seems ever unrealistic. Yet thanks to the clubbell, the one thing I can hope for is to have a say in how it’s distributed…”
You touch on something so important here Winfried. Because weight, in and of itself, is not an accurate indicator of progress, whether it’s being dropped or gained. How it gets re-distributed however, how functional you are, how well you move, how pain free you feel, how much stronger and mobile you feel in your life activities, these are all greater indicators to that forward progress being made. Something the Clubbell Evolution will certainly assist you in achieving. : )