Accountability has never been my strong suit. I used to think it was because I was too free spirited to be bogged down with such mundane things. More recently I realized that the real reason is I fear commitment. I must humbly admit that my first attempt at the primal challenge failed in less than a week. As with most things, I started with intention and enthusiasm, which lasted for 5 or 6 days until I had a ‘good reason’ not to comply. My relapse lasted 4 days–almost as long as the attempt! I know that the sacrifices of primal living are not so difficult to make, so why don’t I just commit? They say that insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting different results. I have been mindful of this idea in my climbing and found it effective, so I evaluated my previous primal effort and came up with 2 new success strategies for my next attempt:
1. I will use the 80/20 principle (80 percent compliance with the primal lifestyle allows a 20 percent wiggle room window for indulgence)
2. I will track my progress daily so that I cannot deny or ignore my commitment.
In my last attempt, I used self-defeating reasoning to make a single slip or cheat an excuse to derail a whole day of quality eating. I had completely forgotten the 80/20 principle! It is the strict 80 percent compliance that leaves room for 20 percent of your choices to be questionably primal at best. The enlightened response is to acknowledge a sugar laden indulgence as just that, an isolated indulgence that can be worked into an 80 percent compliance plan. That means I can work an occasional sugar rimmed cocktail and even deep fried french toast into my primal diet! Indulgences will happen, and they are only a problem if we make them a problem by allowing them to veer us away from our intended path. Like any other difficulties in life, if we can accept them and move on they are completely manageable. For example, the asian persuasion wings I ate last night to satisfy my game day junk food fix–probably not 100 percent primal–but there is no need for me to foster feelings of guilt after eating them, and no need to chase them with a scoop of Cold Stone Creamery either!
My second strategy for success, after acknowledging the 80/20 principle, is to track my progress. Daily! I created a spreadsheet with various primal categories in which I evaluate myself each day, to name a few: primal food, primal movement, quality of sleep, alcohol y/n, before bed activities, stretching, meditation, etc. It’s amazing how something as simple as taking a minute to complete an evaluation each day can provide the motivation it takes to keep on going. But each day it feels better and better to look back at my week of primal living and read my comments about the successes and difficulties of each day. Who knew that accountability could actually be fun?! My lesson here is that consistent effort each day is much more important for accomplishing goals then big pushes.
My Assessment so far? I’m revisiting day 6 with newfound zeal, feeling strong and healthy. Not to mention my skin looks great!!
The Health Hobbiest 