Wednesday 5 July 2017

“You’ve gota live though haven’t you?..”



Recently when discussing lifestyle adjustments for a leaner physique and less hung-over, more memory filled lifestyle I suggested going to the pub less and was me with “Yeah, but you’ve gota live haven’t you?”
Where to start?...
I’ve had this, or words to this effect as a reaction many times when giving lifestyle advice and it always confuses me.
ME: “Stop eating McDonalds every lunchtime.”
THEM: “You’ve gota live though haven’t you?..”
If your definition of living life is food from McDonalds then I suggest you aim a little higher.
I set out at the start of 2017 to make a healthier year with higher quality memories. Not necessarily doing more, but more than likely doing less and investing more time and money into these things. I decided that rather than mindlessly having a few drinks with friends at the weekend on a regular basis I would try to drink alcohol once per month (ideally 1 day, if not 1 full weekend) for a pre-organised event or occasion.
I went through my calendar and marked off some events that I knew about in advance. The first weekend of the rugby 6 nations – February event. The final weekend of the rugby 6 nations – March sorted. Birthday weekend – May sorted. By April I had booked a summer holiday and also a rugby tour had come my way – I soon had nearly every month organised.
This was great for me as I was able to focus my training for set blocks of time with an end goal in mind. It also meant that I wasn’t going out wasting money at pubs on my local highstreet which made the bigger, more memorable events financially viable.
Don’t get me wrong – I wasn’t cooped up ignoring the world for weeks on end. I still saw friends, I still went places with my girlfriend and I still did things with my family; I just didn’t blow my money at the local boozer.
This gave me 2 things:
  1. More money to do better stuff
  2. More energy to be more productive with my gym work and everyday life
So who’s living more? Productive me with something fun and memorable planned for every month of the year? Or Mr McDonalds lunch break and his inevitable gain in body fat and lack of energy which came with it?
I’m not doing this to pat myself on the back and say “Aren’t I great – Aren’t you useless!” I just find peoples definitions of “living” very odd!
Rather than allowing yourself junk food and alcohol which you term “living”, it may be possible, with a little planning and self-control to actually “live” more and make more memories and do more AND be healthier! Imagine that!?...
PS: I did the “drinking once a month” for 6 months, then went on holiday and drank every day. I’ve since kept to once or twice per month but still keeping the fun events and memory makers going.
Don’t forget to follow me on www.Twitter.com/MichaelD_PT