Introducing the MSF Wellness Challenge: Moderation, Salubrity, and Fitness

I’ve thought and talked about doing this for awhile now. Finally, the time for thinking and talking is over; it’s time for some doing.

That’s right. It’s time for those of us who have fallen into poor health and fitness habits to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and stop procrastinating one of the most important commitments we will ever make: a commitment to wellness.

This regular series of posts will be for any of you who a) weigh more than you’d like to, b) don’t work out as much as you want to, or c) don’t feel as healthy as you think you should, or, hell, if d) you just like a challenge.  I can tell you right now that all four of those criteria apply to me, which is why I am taking on the challenge of leading us in this quest for wellness.

So who is with me? Anyone?

Perhaps I should discuss my plan…

Why This? Why Me? Why Now?

Why am I so gung-ho about wellness all of a sudden? Really, it’s pretty simple. The last year has been great in a lot of ways, but it has not been great for my waistline, fitness level, or overall sense of wellness. Seeing as how I am 29 years old, with my 30th birthday approaching quickly in July, I have started to feel a real sense of urgency over the last few weeks to reverse the bad habits of the last 12-18 months and regain the positive habits that once had me in great shape and health.

It wasn’t too long ago – a couple of years – that I was a svelte, fit 175-180 pounds, worked out consistently, and ate with discipline. Now I am somewhere in the neighborhood of 230 pounds (I haven’t done the official MSF Wellness Challenge Weigh-In yet), have a job that is inherently sedentary, have been very inconsistent with my workouts, and have fallen into some eating habits that I will generously describe as undisciplined.

See for yourself:

I could beat myself up for this weight gain and lament the series of poor daily choices that led me to where I am today, but I won’t do it. In fact, I can honestly tell you that while I am disappointed to be tipping the scales in such a manner, and kind of bummed at being unable to fit into any of my old pants, there is a legitimate, inarguable positive that has come out of this: I have quit smoking…for good. If you don’t immediately get the connection, I’ll spend the next several paragraphs explaining why these two things – my weight gain and quitting smoking – are related. If you don’t care, just skip to the end of this section.

I started smoking cigarettes in college and continued smoking them on and off until April of 2008. At the height of my smoking, I was rolling through a pack of Camel Lights a day. It was a stupid decision to start smoking and an even dumber decision to continue smoking, but as anyone who has ever been addicted to nicotine will tell you: you don’t exactly start out with the goal of becoming a smoker or a chewer; it just kind of happens. One day you’re a social smoker who only lights up at bars or when imbibing adult beverages with friends, and then the next day you’re waking up with a cup of coffee and a cig…and then three years later you’ve been doing it for 1,000 days straight and you realize, “Holy crap, I’ve got a problem.”

As I said, I smoked off and on. Luckily it wasn’t the entire 2000-2008 time period. I’d estimate probably 4.5 years of that time I spent as a regular smoker, a little over half. And that’s probably an over-estimation. Like all smokers, I tried quitting but it never stuck. I was always around smokers, plus I always ended up eating more when I wasn’t smoking, which led to weight gain. I was pretty focused on staying fit and trim back in those days, so this was always a rather strong deterrent from quitting. Nicorette helped some, but until I got away from smokers on a daily basis I simply was not going to be able to avoid the social smoking that inevitably would lead to picking the habit back up.

In April of 2008 I moved to Dallas, and I reaffirmed my commitment to quitting cigarettes for good. I had Nicorette gum ready, I was living at home initially, my girlfriend was actually allergic to cigarette smoke, and I knew I was going to find a job where smoking was not an option. Basically, I had created the exact situation I needed to achieve my goal of not smoking. And it worked. I didn’t smoke. Yes, I was going through 15-20 pieces of Nicorette a day, but it was the lesser of two evils. I even flew back to Indiana a couple of times, smoked like the old days while there, and was excited to not even desire a cigarette upon arriving back in Dallas.

Unfortunately, I quickly became addicted to the Nicorette gum, and when I tried to stop chewing I noticed the same effect as when I’d quit smoking before: I’d eat more and gain weight. After about a year in Dallas, with no cigarette cravings any longer (seriously, by then I actually preferred the Nicorette) I had a new goal, which was to quit the Nicorette. This proved more difficult than I thought, and I yo-yo’d on and off the Nicorette for 5-6 months.

Finally one morning I woke up and realized that I was out of Nicorette. Usually this would mean stopping by the store on the way in to work for a new box, but for some reason, and I still don’t really know or understand why, I thought to myself, “Screw it. I’ll just quit. Today.” And I did. I passed right by the Walgreens I used to stop to pick up the gum, got through that first awful day, and the next one that was even worse, and then the succession of frustrating and foggy days after that, and I haven’t chewed so much as a piece of that damn gum since. I don’t remember the exact date or even month, but it was probably in the neighborhood of 12-14 months ago I’d estimate. It would be nice to know the exact day, but I never really planned on it being my “official” quit day, so I didn’t think too much of it at the time.

There was, however, one thing I did differently to prepare myself for quitting to really stick. I made a deal with myself that so long as I was not chewing Nicorette or smoking Camels, I was going to give myself no restrictions on eating. I knew that this was one of my primary downfalls when it came to quitting, and I weighed the options (which included talking to a physician about it during a check up). I decided that there was nothing more beneficial I could do for my health than to quit smoking and, by extension, quit Nicorette for good. If the collateral damage was putting on some weight, so be it. I know how to work out, be disciplined, and lose weight – I’ve done it before – so that challenge did not seem so daunting.

So now, some 12-14 smoke- and Nicorette-free months later, it is time to pay the piper. I achieved my goal of ridding myself of any and all nicotine cravings, but now I have the unsightly and unwanted spare tire across my midsection as a result of my bargain and the fact that I failed to counter my increased eating with an increased focus on working out. Am I happy about it? No. I enjoy being fit. I feel good when I’m eating well and working out, and I am not pleased with myself when I fall out of one or both habits. That said, when I look at the big picture, I still look at the last 12-14 months as a net positive. I just have some work to do as a result.

So why this? What I just wrote; that’s why. I used to be in good shape, and I’m ready to get back in good shape, and I understand precisely what I did to get out of shape and why I did it.

Why me? Well, I know I can lead this here wellness challenge because I have sufficient motivation to stick with it, and because I already have at least an adequate understanding of how to eat well and how to work out. I just have to reacquire the discipline to do it on a daily basis.

And why now? This is my New Year’s Resolution, but I don’t like waiting until New Year’s Day to start. I always figured it gave me a little mental edge to start a few days early. I am a procrastinator at heart, so when I do something before I “have” to do it, it’s like a memo to myself saying I’m serious.

I guess the last question is: why you? That I cannot answer. Though we all have an obvious, inherent need to live a healthy life, we all have different specific motivations for why we do so, or why we do not do so. I certainly hope that this post series gains a nice following and that we can help eachother and root for eachother on the daily journey to wellness, but I cannot manufacture anyone’s motivation. Just as I needed to finally have the proper motivation to sit down and write this, and to back it up with a commitment to action, you do as well. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you find the motivation, because the greatest thing about the human spirit is that we can all do virtually anything we want when we are properly motivated to do so.

The Three Components of the MSF Wellness Challenge

When I started thinking about how to craft this idea for a wellness challenge into a post series, I knew that I wanted to a) have a plan, b) have a catchy, appropriate name for it, and c) keep it simple. Naturally, for branding purposes and it because it just makes sense, I was hoping I could weave “MSF” into it somehow, so I did. And figuring out the “M” and the “F” parts were easy.

I knew that exercise had to be one of the components because it is simply something that is imperative for everyone, but especially as we get older. I’m not “old” yet by any means, but I am getting older, with 30 just around the corner. My days of having excuses not to work out have to end, so the “F” became fitness.

Along those same lines, I knew that I had to reestablish good eating habits, but I was opposed to going on any type of fad or gimmick diet in the short run. They might work for some people, but they don’t work for me. I’ll never stop liking to eat the foods that I like, and I’ll never stop liking to pig out from time to time. I’ve learned that if I try to completely cut myself off from the things I enjoy, it never works in the long-term. Thus, the “M” became moderation. This is a concept that I have never been particularly good at – I’ve always been more of an all or nothing type – but that does not mean that I can’t strive to get better. I want to live a balanced, moderate life rather than the alternating cycles of gluttonous consumption and rigid restriction that I’ve gone through in the past. Not only will it lead to a happier, more satisfied existence, it is a much more reasonable long-term strategy for wellness.

Where I got stuck was on the “S”. I wanted to find a word that incorporated ideas of commitment, overall health, growth, intelligence, etc. I initially thought that sleep might be a good one, because it is such an important part of good health, but it seemed too specific. Finally, after much rumination, I got desperate and headed for the thesaurus. There I found the word I eventually settled on: salubrity.

If you are unfamiliar with that word, or a bit unclear about its meaning (as I was), here is the official definition of its root, salubrious: “conducive or favorable to health or well-being.” Well hot damn, I do believe that pretty much encapsulates exactly what I was looking for. It’s perfectly general so as to include everything related to wellness that is not covered by moderation and fitness. It was love at first sight.

Thus, the MSF Wellness Challenge will be organized around a foundation of moderation, salubrity, and fitness. Perhaps there were better words to choose, but not for this website there aren’t.

Here is how I’ll break down my regular updates as we move forward with The Challenge:

Moderation

I have always found it beneficial in the past to record my food and drink intake as a way of a) tracking nutrient and calorie/fat/protein consumption, b) holding myself accountable, and c) gathering data and information from which I can make informed decisions and changes. I plan to resume this practice, and will do so using the program I’ve used off and on, but without much discipline at all, over the past year: MyNetDiary.

MyNetDiary is a web-based program that has a voluminous catalog of foods and beverages already in its database. Most the time, if you just start typing a food you want to record, you’ll find that all of its information is already in there. The program also makes it easy to add new foods and to even create custom meals, if you eat the same combination of foods consistently.

In addition to its food tracking, MyNetDiary helps you to set a daily calorie limit based on your weight loss goals. As you pass from day to day, the program helps you track your progress and highlights potential alterations that could help you out. You can also look at charts and graphs to see your progress visually.

I do not recommend MyNetDiary because I get anything out of it. Rather, it’s a service I’ve used myself, and I know it works and does what it says it will do. I paid for a year’s worth for $60, so it’s about $5/month depending what term you choose. That includes a handy-dandy iPhone App that has all of the features of the website. If you do decide to sign up, I can get a free month if you use this email address when it asks who referred you: jerodmorris40@gmail.com. I’d appreciate it if you did, but I’m not that concerned about it. Use it because it’s a good service and will help you achieve your goals. I wouldn’t recommend it to you otherwise, and $5 isn’t worth losing your trust by recommending something that sucks.

I haven’t really gotten into the community features with MyNetDiary, so I don’t know if there is any way we can link accounts or track eachothers’ progress on there. I’ll have to look. As we move forward, part of my commitment to moderation will be tracking my consumption and making sure that my eating habits are conducive to my weight loss goals. They certainly have not been for the past year, and it’s imperative that I reverse this trend to achieve success.

Salubrity

Eating right and working out regularly are great, and both are necessary components of any wellness plan, but they are far from the only components that should be focused on. For all the guys reading this, something tells me that most of you are like me: stubborn when it comes to change and even more stubborn when it comes to seeing doctors. While we all have our ways of justifying this and procrastinating instead of being proactive, really it’s just foolish. One of the things I want to focus on this year and moving forward is regularly seeing the doctors I should see in a timely manner, and listening to whatever advice they give.

For example, gaining 50-some pounds as I have is not good for the heart. I’ve read this in multiple places. While I know I will shed the weight, I am still concerned that my up and down weight could be having deleterious effects on my ticker. The heart is definitely not an organ to be messed with or taken lightly, so I figure it would be smart for me to make sure everything is in good working order there.

Additionally, there are other components of wellness: sleeping enough, proper hygiene, workplace ergonomics, mental health, etc. Any of these aspects of your life being out of balance can effect everything else in your life. Moderation, salubrity, and fitness may be individual components of this plan, but they are from independent. On the contrary, they are inexorably dependent on one another. I want to use the salubrity section to challenge myself to learn more about wellness in general, and to pass along that knowledge to you. And I encourage you to do the same. This will work much better if we all think of each post as simply the beginning of a conversation, rather than some kind of decree or manual.

Fitness

No wellness plan would be complete without exercise and a commitment to being active as a foundational principle. I used to have a pretty good workout program that I followed, which was a balance of weights and cardio, and I plan to make both integral parts of my fitness plan moving forward.

One thing I’ve learned about fitness though is that it’s good to keep things fresh. There are a million and one different ways to achieve fitness success, so there really is no reason to be rigid about doing the same workout plan over and over. In fact, that’s a decidedly negative strategy. The body gets used to you doing the same thing, and it ultimately loses its impact. Constantly challenging our bodies with new workouts and new routines is the way to keep progressing forward while also preventing burnout, both of which are important.

I’ll update you with what I’m doing in the gym, how it’s working, and seek out advice and tips from numerous different sources. And as I said above, I encourage you to do the same.

In addition, accountability is key, which is why I’ll be regularly posting my weight and encouraging you to do the same. It’s easy to pack on the pounds when you don’t make yourself face the truth on a regular basis. I know. It’s how I got here. A daily weigh-in makes you face up to reality, good or bad, and there is nothing wrong with accountability when it comes to setting and achieving a goal. In fact, accountability is necessary.

The Challenge

So what exactly is The Challenge? I’ll be honest, I don’t have all the details worked out yet. In fact, I want to end this post by opening it up to you to get your ideas about how we should “keep score” or what kind of prize to have for a “winner”. My thought right now is actually not to declare a winner, so to speak, but rather create some participation threshold that makes you eligible for a prize to be chosen at random. The reason I say this is because, to me, the real reward will be losing weight, increasing fitness, and improving overall wellness. Believe me, I can’t afford a prize that can trump that, and really, what can? Anyone can work their asses for 6 months if they know they’re going to get X amount of money or someone other reward at the end of it. But what happens to your motivation after that? I would much rather this challenge be used as a vehicle for all of us to develop the motivation and habits that can be long-lasting and life-altering. I’ve gone back and forth with my weight and I’m done with it. I’m almost 30. It’s time to make some positive changes that are going to last. That can only come from a deep desire within, not from some sort of temporary external stimulus.

So here is my initial idea, which is very much open to debate and alteration: Everyone who contributes a comment on 80% of the posts in the MSF Wellness Challenge between the start date and July 14h (more on this date in a second), with a minimum comment including a weigh-in and brief description of their progress since the previous post, will be entered into a random drawing. Whoever “wins” will receive two decent tickets ($35-40 range) to a Major League Baseball game of their choice. It’s nothing special, but perhaps enough to motivate someone to comment on a day when they aren’t feeling like it.

As for the date, July 14th is my 30th birthday. This will be my first major checkpoint, and I think my goal will be to have gotten back to two bills by this date. We will obviously keep the challenge going beyond that, and hopefully into perpetuity so long as this site is running, but six and a half months seems like a good initial time frame for us all to a) show some commitment deserving of a reward and b) achieve some significant, measurable results.

But like I said, I’m open to discussion. I’m thinking we’ll officially start this challenge the 3rd or 4th week of January, which will allow me some time to spread the word and get the ball rolling. The more people we have participating, the more beneficial this will be for everyone. I definitely wanted to get this post written and get started myself before January 1st though, and now I can consider my first goal to be accomplished.

In closing, I just want to say thank you for reading this tome. It’s not often that we go past 3,500 words like I have with this post, but I felt the expatiation was necessary, and hopefully it helps to sell you on why joining the MSF Wellness Challenge will be worthwhile. For me personally, I feel victorious just having posted this and publicly stating my goal for the new year and beyond. For a prideful person, there are few motivating factors stronger than a public declaration of a goal. I figure stating my goal to you, my trusted friends and loyal readers, will make me much more likely to actually follow through and achieve it. Time will tell.

Now I invite each of you to join me on the journey, which will undoubtedly end up being its own reward. Let’s get well, all while building community, having some fun, and challenging ourselves to live better in the process.

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