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The Monthly Practice Report – April 2012

Posted on by Nathan Posted in exercise, food, health, monthly report, numbers — No Comments ↓

 

 

Welcome to The Monthly Practice Report, where I detail my practice of healthy living: the commitments, goals, and other metrics!

 

 

Why I’m doing this:

  • To be completely transparent with what my practice of healthy living and full-time travel looks like
  • To share the actual numbers with you in hopes that it makes this lifestyle (or any part of it) seem a little more attainable
  • To publicly track my progress among several categories
  • To provide cool resources that I find helpful

You’ll see information below on how I’m doing with my practices, travel I’ve taken, and anything else (hopefully) relevant!

I’ll also share some lessons learned and plans/goals for the future.

 

Please let me know what you think!

If anything is unclear, if you’d like more information on a certain topic, or if there’s something I’ve left out, I’m open to hearing all feedback and questions. Just leave a comment below.

Thanks – and I hope you enjoy this month’s report! :-)

 

Where was I in April?

  • Atlanta, GA: 4/1-4/12
  • Huntsville, AL: 4/13-4/15
  • Hattiesburg, MS: 4/16-4/17
  • Gulfport, MS: 4/18-4/21
  • New Orleans, LA: 4/22-4/30

Whew – what a busy month!

 

Onto the Numbers!

FYI: some of the links below are affiliate links that will earn me a commission if you purchase through them. If you do, I absolutely appreciate it; if you’d rather not, that’s cool, too. If you have any questions about any of the products or services, please let me know!

 

MEDITATION

  • Ideal/Goal: to meditate for at least 15 minutes in the morning, before other activities
  • Total: 711 consecutive days!
    • Continued the daily practice for another month
  • How long did I meditate each day?
    • 15 minutes: 3 days
    • 30 minutes: 27 days
    • Most often amount: 30 minutes (90% of the time)!
      • Last month: 30 minutes (26 vs. 5)
  • Continue to use my Blissitations tracks
    • They’re really helpful for concentration, and one of the best parts is that I never have to think about how long it is – I just keep going until the track is over.

 

NUTRITION

  • Ideal/Goal: since December 2010, I have been following the Paleo diet, which is lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. No legumes, grains, starches, processed foods, or sugars. Dairy is OK (raw/unpasteurized is best), though I tend to avoid it.
  • When a guest in someone’s home, I defer to gratitude and do not refuse meals; that does not, however, give me free reign to eat whatever I want – everything in moderation.
  • There are also “non-paleo” foods I still enjoy, mostly pizza, bread, and other baked goods. I occasionally allow myself these items – I’d rather be flexible and have a good time, than rigid and mopey. :-)
  • Animal Products (red meat, chicken, pork, fish, eggs, and dairy)
    • Ideal/Goal: 20% OF THE TIME (or less)
      • For the month: 16%
      • Last month: 21%
    • Breakfast: 10%
    • Lunch: 13%
    • Dinner: 50%
    • Snacks: 4%
  • Not Paleo (the “no” list above)
    • Ideal/Goal: 10% OF THE TIME (or less)
      • For the month: 14%
      • Last month: 9%
    • Breakfast: 7%
    • Lunch: 10%
    • Dinner: 33%
    • Snacks: 9%
  • Green Smoothies
    • Ideal/Goal: daily – mix of fruit, nuts and spinach, kale, avocado
    • For the month: 10 days (33% of the time)
  • Salads/Greens
    • Ideal/Goal: consume a meal of greens at least once daily
    • For the month: 24 days (80% of the time)
  • Sugar
    • Ideal/Goal: to avoid food with added sugar, and to limit my intake of high glycemic foods (honey, agave)
    • For the month: 9 instances
  • Alcohol
    • Ideal/Goal: 0-1 drinks per month
      • For the month: 0
      • Last month: 2

**Above percentages calculated for 30 days with an average of 90 meals + 70 snacks

 

EXERCISE

  • Ideal/Goal: some form of movement every day; could my morning options (see below), hiking, biking, or walking – something to keep me fit, to maintain and sustain me! 
  • At least 20 minutes of activity before meditation
    • Includes one or more of the following: yoga, energization exercises, tai chi warms-ups, balance poses, pull-ups, and stretching
    • Days: 29 (97% of the time)
    • Last month: 28
  • Other Exercise
    • Walking: ~52 miles for the month!
      • That’s about 13 miles per week, or almost 2 miles per day!
    • Hiking: ~6.5 miles
      • Stone Mountain, Georgia
      • Monte Sano State Park, Alabama
  • Stationary
    • I do look for opportunities to stretch, change my seating position, or just to get up and move around whenever possible, particularly on the train.
    • Cars: ~8.5 hours
    • Buses:  ~2.5 hours
    • Trains:  ~4.5 hours

 

JOURNAL

  • Ideal/Goal: to express my Highest Goal, my Path, my ideal Partner, my Hell Yes’s, my Strengths, my Zones of Genius, my Gratitudes, and any Big Ideas.
    • Days: 22 (73% of the time)
      • Some of the content:
        • Resources to include on the site (working on!)
        • My Mondo Beyondo
        • What work I’d love to focus on and create
      • Last month: 26
    • If I don’t get to journaling in the morning (before email/work, etc.), it usually doesn’t happen.

 

WEIGHT

  • My Stats:
    • 4/3/12: 132 lbs.
    • 4/15/12: 134 lbs, 11% body fat
    • 4/25/12: 134 lbs.
    • Average: 133 lbs., 19.08 BMI
      • Last month: 134 lbs., 19.37 BMI
      • Difference: -1 lbs, -.19 BMI
  • Weight/BMI
    • I weigh myself (usually) on the same day of the week, first thing in the morning – before eating or drinking anything.
    • According to the BMI data, I am within the healthy range (18.5-24.9 for men and women)
      • For my height, underweight would be below 127 lbs, and overweight would be above 174 lbs. (see this article from Livestrong.com for how to find the weight range.)
      • Formula to calculate your BMI: ([your weight in pounds] x 703)/ [your height in inches]2
        • Example:  (150 x 703) = 105,450/ (70 x 70) = 21.5 (within the healthy range)
    • It’s tricky because I found many charts online where according to those, I was underweight – it’s tough to know the validity of those sites, so I think BMI is a much more reliable figure.
  • Body Fat (when available)
    • For body fat %, I’ve used scales that send electromagnetic pulses through the feet to determine body fat. With any device, I’m going to assume there’s a ± 2-3%.
    • Average for men is 18-24%; athletes typically compete at 6-13%

 

SLEEPING AND AWAKE

  • Sleep Hours
    • Ideal/Goal: to sleep for at least 7-8 hours each night
    • Average
      • For the month: 7.29 hours
        • Last month: 6.85 hours
    • Most often amount of sleep: 7.5-8.0 hours
    • Longest sleep: 9.0 hours
    • Shortest sleep: 6.17 hours (catching a bus!)
    • Number of days where sleep time was < 7 hours: 7 days
      • Last month: 13 days
  • Naps
    • Number of days with naps: 8 (27% of the month)
      • Last month: 8 days
    • Average amount: 20 minutes
    • Mostly occurred on days with lots of walking or being in transit
  • Awake Hours
    • Ideal/Goal: to be awake for 16-17 hours
    • Average
      • For the month: 16.72
        • Last month: 17.15
    • Most often wake hours: 16.5-17 hours
    • Longest day: 18.5 hours
    • Shortest day: 14.17 hours (the next day – ha!)
    • Number of days where awake time was > 17 hours: 11 days
      • Last month: 16 days
  • Going to Sleep
    • Ideal/Goal: go to bed around 11 pm
    • Average
      • For the month: 11:30 pm
        • Last month: 11:45 pm
    • Most often sleep time: 11-11:30 pm
    • Earliest sleep time: 10:00 pm
    • Latest sleep time: 1:00 am
    • Number of days where sleep time was past 11:15 pm: 17 days
      • Last month: 21 days
  • Waking Up
    • Ideal/Goal: wake up around 7 am
    • Average
      • For the month: 6:45 am
        • Last month: 6:45 am
    • Most often wake time: 6:30-7:00 am
    • Earliest wake time: 5:25 am (catching the bus to hike up Stone Mountain!)
    • Latest wake time: 8:30 am (after the 18.5 hour day!)
    • Number of days where wake time was later than 7:15 am: 2 days
      • Last month: 6 days

 

PRODUCTIVITY

    • Working Hours
      • Ideal/Goal: 6-7 hours per day, with each chunk being only 90-120 mins.
        • Days worked: 28 (93% of the time)
        • Average hours per day: 6.08
          • Last month: 5.90
        • Number of days where work was > 7 hours: 9 days (30% of the time)
          • Last month: 7 days
        • Most hours in one day: 9 hours
      • Blocks of Working Time
        • Ideal/Goal: work for no longer than 90 minutes or two hours at a time
        • Number of blocks > 2 hrs: 8 instances
          • Longest working session: 3 hours
      • In February, I began tracking  as part of my $100 a day goal
    • Days Offline
      • Ideal/Goal: one 24-hour period off the computer each week
      • Number of days: 4 (100%)
        • Last month: 4 days
  • Morning Creativity Practice
    • Ideal/Goal: waking up an hour earlier to focus on creative work (before exercise and meditation)!
    • Days with Morning Creativity Practice: 22 (73% of the time)
      • Last month: 22

 

OTHER HEALTH

  • Contacts
    • Ideal/Goal: to wear 8 hours or less per day
    • Days worn: 23 (77% of the month)
      • Average hours per day: 6.86
        • Last month: 6.92
        • Average time I pop them in: 4:00 pm
        • Average time I take them out: 11:45 pm
      • Number of days where use was > 8 hours: 4 days (13% of the time)
        • Last month: 8 days
      • Most hours in one day: 9.83 hours
  • Vitamins
    • Fish Oil: picked up the Whole Foods brand, and began taking 1000mg of Fish Oil (concentrated Omega-3 EFAs) daily!

 

What I Learned + What’s New:

  • New Categories: Sugar, Smoothies, and Salads/Greens – I decided to start tracking exactly how often I’m including certain foods and excluding others!
    • While I’d like to see the Smoothie number increase, often I’m limited to if where I’m staying has a blender or food processor.
    • Very happy with the Salad numbers, and definitely looking to get the Sugar number down to 0-2 instances per month, now that I’m cutting it out!
  • LOTS of Exercise for the month!
    • I honestly believe that if I only walked around, I’d still be really healthy. The minimum recommendations out there suggest walking 2-3 miles per week — and I’m just about hitting that per day!!
    • Really happy to see my daily exercise commitment in the 90%!
  • I could still get to sleep earlier.
    • When I’m traveling frequently, it can often be challenging to stick with a bed time, and I’m doing my best.
    • The rest of my sleep/awake numbers are pretty good, so just looking to get that average bed time a bit closer to 11 pm. The good news: whenever I do get to bed, I usually give myself 7-8 hours of sleep! :)
  • Another month with 4 days off!
    • One of my favorite parts of the week is disconnecting from the computer, and thrilled I’ve been able to keep this one up – it’d be very easy for me to think, “but I’m too busy, I won’t be able to take time off!”

 

***

OK – that’s the monthly report for April!

 

How are your practices going?

 

I’d love to hear your response + any other comments you have below!

And if you have any feedback or questions about something you’re tackling, feel free to share!

 

Looking forward to learning more!
Nathan

 

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About

Former life: actor/office worker/virtual assistant; lived in Los Angeles for 11 years. Since then: sold nearly everything, took a $5 flight to Hawaii, lived there for 3 months, wrote an eGuide about all of it, and still traveling. Currently: digital nomad - looking to improve myself, have fun and serve others.