There’s a Flaubert quote I stumbled on once: “Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” I’ve always been more of a science man than an artist of course (and I don’t know that carbohydrate curves or sprint intervals could ever be creatively “violent” anyway). Nonetheless, something about the underlying concept always stayed with me. It begs a fundamental, even pivotal question: where do you want the freedom to be bold and impulsive (or at least spontaneous) in your life, and where do you want the security of being fixed and (relatively speaking) unyielding?
Take a moment to think about that one.
It’s interesting to me because as a society, I think we have it entirely turned around. We keep ourselves locked in rigid work schedules and long commutes. We eschew the exertion and stress of activities that would keep us fit. We deny ourselves our own vacation time or the energy to get out and experience adventure. Yet we seek constant novelty and stimulation from our food and drinks. We accept unrelenting stress from our jobs and commutes, not to mention the endless tasks and errands our lifestyles assign us.
Sure, some people spend an enormous amount of energy into nailing down life as if getting it all in a row and making it stay there will keep them secure. But this isn’t using routine in service of the good life. It’s mistaking routine for life.
On the opposite side of the spectrum are those who resist any structure, claiming it insults their freedom to live the moment at whim. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with this idea itself, but I don’t know too many people who would (or should) be ruled by whim.
I think there’s a clear and useful insight underlying this core discussion. We only have so much mental energy, and it behooves us to be mindful about where and how we apply it. The more methodical we are about some things, the less thought we need to invest in them. That means less mulling, teeth gnashing and hand wringing. (And the more energy we’ll have for other things.)
I’ll let you consider all the potential uses that extra time and conserved energy can serve for your career, parenting, housekeeping, and other life minutiae. For my part (no surprise here), I’m going to focus on health goals.
It’s not a big secret that many people want to get healthy but aren’t exactly excited about the actual process of doing it. The results are sexy. The work just isn’t—or not yet anyway. Getting in shape seems like a great idea. Losing weight has been a dream for years, maybe decades for a lot of folks. And, yet, the actualization of these goals can feel insurmountable. They assume that they’re going to have to harness some supernatural force of self-discipline to get the job done.
Here’s a bold truth: it doesn’t have to be that way. And here’s where evolutionary logic shows us something we can apply today.
Self-discipline matters much less when you limit the options.
Long ago before the advent of food markets or even agriculture, our ancestors were limited to the menus they could put together with the plants and animal meats of their immediate surroundings. Although many groups may have enjoyed relative nutritional diversity in their diet depending on climate and time of year, what they ate might seem largely the same to our modern palates—some kind of meat and an array of vegetables with a bit of fruit now and then. Some choices were undoubtedly more plentiful or easily caught or prepared. These likely became the foundation of their diet. A few options changed only with the seasonal rotation. The end result was a relatively fixed diet with every option being healthy (unless it was poisonous).
These days we could have everything under the sun, most of it unhealthy. But why not cut out the static and make it simple? One study comparing the results of eating a given food daily as opposed to weekly suggests that the more often people eat a food, the less they’ll eat of it. Barring actual addiction, a food loses its appeal over time.
Moreover, a substantial research review of both human and animal studies determined that variety, with its sensory stimulation, was time and again a leading catalyst for overeating and adiposity—with the notable exception of fruits and vegetables, a greater variety of which was associated with lower adiposity. In other words, the more varied the tastes we have from one meal to the next, the more we’ll want to eat. Low sensory variety (e.g. the same foods daily) reins in that impulse. Having a standard, repeatable set of meals makes it easier to moderate food intake and manage weight.
When it comes to fitness, there’s likewise a logic to establishing routine. Not only will we get better results faster with consistency, but we’ll stay more motivated. The key here is human psychology. Research suggests that we’re largely motivated not by big goals but by the positive effects we recently experienced and the anticipated regret we assume we’ll feel if we skip working out. The message is clear: don’t squander the mental capital of motivation by letting too much time pass or letting the timing of the next benefits get too vague.
Beyond the specifics of any study, however, I think the underlying truth is this: routine releases us from the work and willpower required for choice. (Again, here we return to where we want to exercise full, unabashed freedom in life and where we value simple consistency.) It puts food back in the “eat to live and not live to eat.” It situates and cements workouts into our consciousness. We’re harnessing our own human proclivity toward secure sameness, our own system of cognitive defaults where it most benefits us.
Convinced? Let me throw out a few suggestions:
- Give real thought to how much routine you can embrace and where in your life you’re willing to compromise your latitude. Note where you feel resistance, and prioritize where you’ll create structure and what you’ll let remain flexible.
- Make one meal the same every day—ideally the one that is most likely to trip you up. For some people this may be lunch because of the temptation of work gatherings. Others might choose breakfast given it’s often a last minute, out-the-door choice. Change this up as needed to keep boredom from becoming full-on avoidance.
- Go by a standard weekly meal plan. (Again, change it before you get too tired of it.)
- Buy your food in bulk to keep your core foods consistently available. I have my favorites that I build my diet around.
- Limit social eating events, or eat before you leave.
- Learn to bring your own food wherever you go throughout the day. This may not be necessary for everyone, but for some people it makes a significant difference.
- Establish an IF schedule if you choose to fast.
- Work out the same time of day. This is worth rearranging your schedule for.
- Go by a regular weekly fitness plan. Do sprints on a certain day, devote specific other days for strength training, do a regular weekend outdoor hike or bike ride. Keep this schedule no matter what. On vacations, do shorter versions of these if need be, but keep to the overall outline.
Finally, don’t obsess. Employ routine as a tool, a means to an end rather than an end in itself. Routine can be an organizing steadying principle, but don’t surrender commonsense or the need for a rest day to any “letter of the law” principle.
Thanks for reading, everyone. How do you use routine in your Primal living? Share your thoughts, and have a great end to the week.
from Mark's Daily Apple http://ift.tt/29YpKsM
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