Happy Monday, All!
From the land of the Great White North a few little birdies have flown by to tell me that the final days of the Crossfit Collective Nutrition Challenge saw a solid response from everyone in the group. Congratulations to everyone who jumped in and gave it their all. The reports came in that all participants cashed out with big gains in their lifts and metabolic conditioning as well as leaning out – all from making simple positive changes in their diets and getting back to increased activity. On my end, it was really great to see some of the faces come back through the garage door and grab some iron. Over the year as life got in the way many people, including myself at times, find that our passion for these things waned and it became easier to let it go. So today, I write to you all on the topic of Passion.
A couple weeks ago I was reading a book by Larry Winget called “It’s Called Work For A Reason!” While this book is probably a bit rash for the casual reader it was perfect for me. In one of his chapters, Winget talks about making a reassessment of your job. He basically says – what was it about your work that when you were hired you were most passionate about? This could be as complex as the challenges of creating a new mechanical system to perform a task never before done or as simple as liking the type of stapler at your desk (Office Space, anyone?). Once you’ve identified it, use it! To bring back the excitement of when you first became employed. Versely, concentrate on the 10% of what you do like and you’ll be able to deal with the other 90%.
This is very true in almost everything we are a part of. How many of you are in a long time relationship? It was surely passionate and excitement filled in the beginning! After a while all that starts to dwindle, right? So we start to bicker and dicker until one night – a date night! And things become filled with excitement again. A shake up, that’s all it needed. Something that would bring back the joys long forgotten. Do you have your own story to tell? I am willing to put money on any successful long relationship (work, social, romantic, play, hobby, etc.) has needed some kind of change to stay fresh and engaging.
Yes, even hobbies that people LOVE must have some kind of change. Well, maybe.
Take knitting for example. I personally don’t know anyone who is deliriously passionate on knitting. I do, however, know many people who knit, enjoy knitting, and carry their supplies with them in their gigantic handbags. These ladies were at one time passionate enough about their hobby that they worked at it every chance they could. At home, on breaks at work, watching the kids at the park, riding the bus to town. Eventually, this passionate hobby became a part of their subconscious and much like carrying a cellphone (be honest, how many of you would have a really hard day if you left your cell at home) they are always carrying their supplies and reaching for the needles before the bag even hits the floor.
So what does all this have to do with nutrition? Great question! I’m taking you on the long way around what a 30 day challenge like the one you just completed with CFC or the one two weeks in at Mark’s Daily Apple is really about. Kick-starting something you were passionate about before (for us veterans who have let WAY too many potatoes and too few days of intermittent fasting become the norm), re-starting some of you who fell off the wagon (and knowingly admit it) or simply putting you on the path to harnessing this passion and practicing it over and over and over again until it becomes rote, normal, and automatic. We want you to harness the newness – devour all of the information you can, talk with anyone and everyone about it, and dive headlong into eating healthy and moving with intensity. Let’s lean on each other and keep it new and exciting long enough for it to feel like we lost our cellphone.
Do you think that even those of us who generally keep active and eat well are not at risk of complacency? I admit to it… So does Paula who’s letter to MDA was this week’s Real Life Story. See it here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/a-primal-woman-looks-at-50/
And then there is Paleo Pepper who wrote about a similar thing just the other week. http://paleopepper.com/2011/06/shocking-and-liberating-developments/ (click with caution if you have any personal dilemmas with a woman talking frankly about her womanly issues)
Sometimes we dive in and swim with all we’ve got – pulling many others along the way – and when we get to where we were going, it’s time to let this one become our habit and forge a new passion. And that’s okay. This might be the best explanation I have found for why my father was die-hard for Dutch Oven cooking, then it was the grill, now it’s a smoker – and why I too change my focus, hobbies, and passions with alarming regularity.
Let’s continue to enjoy the feast and practice the art of healthful living! Keep checking in with The Naked Kitchen (http://www.thenakedkitchen.net/) for new recipes and this week’s Modern Paleo Rodeo is full of good information and recipes (http://blog.modernpaleo.com/2011/09/paleo-rodeo-079.html).
Shake Things Up. Be Passionate.
Mike.
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