Day 1: Choosing to Love Myself and Own My Life
Hi.
I thought I had today all planned out. I spent a great deal of time crafting a very detailed schedule, allowed for breaks throughout the day, and was going to have the perfect, smooth day that I’ve been striving for.
Ha.
Yeah, right.
It did, however, start out brilliantly – as I implemented my ‘No Facebook, No Email, No Work for 90 Minutes’ policy in the morning. After getting Mira off to work (I make her breakfast, lunch, etc…), I was able to get through my entire morning routine, which – when successful, looks like this:
- 6:30-6:35 : Journal. This can be as simple as jotting down a few things you’re grateful for, are looking forward to today, positive statements about yourself, or anything else that comes to mind. I personally use the Five Minute Journal, which has you fill out those type of things every morning and evening. We’ve got templates for Gratitude Journals, etc… in Module 2 of the Primal90 Program, if you’re a member.
- 6:35-6:55 : Meditation. I use the Headspace app/software, which I feel is a fantastic tool for guidance, support, and those who have a hard time being consistent with meditation.
- 6:55-7:10 : Qigong & Shoulder Rehab. I broke it down like this: 5 minutes of a shoulder-related Qigong movement/exercise Lucas, my Chinese Medicine/Acupuncturist assigned to me, 5 minutes of Qigong using my ‘ruler’, and 5 minutes of shoulder stretching/mobility exercises.
- 7:10-7:30 : Walk Marley & Get Sun (and cold). I felt so warm following the Qigong (common), that I was able to walk Marley in only a t-shirt, sweats, and sandals and not feel cold at all. (It was 50 degrees) I usually listen to an audiobook on walks, but chose to just experience nature today and listen to the nearby river, sounds of the (very crazy right now) surf in the distance, etc… This was a good call on my part. (Lesson: Trust your intuition more often)
- 7:30-7:45 : Oil Pulling & Rebounder. Two birds, one stone. This time I did throw on the audiobook. Currently listening to Les Brown’s –The Power of Purpose: How to Create the Life You Always Wanted.
- 7:45-7:50 : Theater of the Mind. This is a mental/subconscious reprogramming exercise I learned from the book Psycho-Cybernetics. We outline this exercise in detail in Module 2 of the Primal90 Program.
After completing this – I felt amaaaazing, positive, happy, clear-headed, energized, and ready for anything. Which is ironic, because I was going to need every ounce of that good juju.
I had business-related calls scheduled at 9am, 9:30, 10am, and 11am. We also had new bedroom furniture being delivered between 12:30-3:30pm. I still hadn’t cleared out the nightstands and two dressers that I had put up for grabs on a local “Buy Nothing” Facebook group. That would be quick and easy (in my delusional vision of the future). Knocked out finishing my Day 4 post and got through a few emails before it was time for the 9am call. There were a few takers on the furniture, to whom I gave my number to text me (not thinking “oh, I’ll be on the phone the next 2 hours”) to arrange pick-up, etc…
First call was with Steve Macari, a friend and colleague in Manhattan. We talked about some really exciting things that he’s putting together and wanted my feedback/assistance with. I absolutely love collaborating, connecting, and networking among excellent people/professionals, so this was an enjoyable (and potentially massively important) call. He had told me he needed about 10 minutes of my time… so I scheduled 30 (being extra careful to be able to stick to a schedule today). 30 minutes flew by, and we ended up scheduling another 90 for next week. Whoops.
During the call, my phone was
blowing up with texts, asking for measurements, my address, time windows they could pick up, etc… (keep in mind all furniture was still covered with stuff, full of clothes/stuff, etc…)
One call ended as the next came in – with Marc Ryan, LAc, whom I met in Boulder in October at the Thyroid Mastermind Event hosted by Dr. Izabella Wentz (which was great fun!). Another great call with a really awesome colleague and friend (who will now be contributing Chinese Medicine-related content on our site!), more phone explosion going on – and this one ran the full 30 minutes also.
I tried to measure the furniture while on that call, but messed it up, sent the wrong measurements to the wrong people, and confused everyone – leading to more phone explosions while on my 3rd call (no breaks) with Mitch Baird. Mitch is a friend whom I met at Paleo f(x) in 2013. He works with a large diabetes and health-related initiative for the First Nation (Native) people in Ontario, Canada. We did a practice run through the presentation/webinar I’m doing with him this coming Wednesday. It’s gonna’ be awesome.
If you’re interested in attending,
CLICK HERE – It’s gonna’ be a great presentation and Q&A on the impact of traditional diet, gut health, and microbiome on all aspects of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health!
It’s always a great time, and a learning experience, when I talk to Mitch – so that call went long (of course). When it ended, there were 3 cars outside, I had 9 new text messages (from those people), and I had 7 minutes before my next scheduled call. (Rebel Health Tribe meeting w/ Joe & Carl)
Oh, the furniture still wasn’t cleared off, emptied, ready to go, etc… and I didn’t know who was who, who wanted what – and I had given them all the wrong measurements.
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Sometimes life becomes a blur, and we need to breathe, remain present, and keep moving forward at our own pace.[/caption]
BOOM! Everything out of all the dressers/nightstands and onto the bed (mattress, laying on the floor). I helped carry two night stands, and two big dressers out to the curb… with very minimal shoulder pain. Amazing what a good night’s sleep and nailing my complete morning routine will do.
In and out in 7 minutes (of total chaos)!
Hopped on the call with Joe and Carl where we proceeded to spent almost 2 hours outlining the next few months of Rebel Health Tribe webinars, events, offerings, promotions, and more! (It’s VERY exciting to say the least – you’ll see soon enough!)
While talking with them, I noticed it was 12:30pm and I still hadn’t eaten a single bite of food. Whoops.
I cut several slices of my
Meatmen dry sausage and paired that with a cara cara orange – nice little snack.
No, it’s not optimal to eat while on the phone… but I was very hungry, missed my normal eating window by about an hour at this point, and had no break in sight.
Our call ran right until 12:45 or so. The delivery guys would be here any minute – and our bedroom (where the furniture was going) was a MESS/trashed/no way to fit furniture in there. Hopefully they wouldn’t show up until later in the window.
No luck. The instant I hung up the phone, they pulled up outside. I sheepishly told the delivery guys (who were noticeably in a hurry) that I wasn’t ready for them, and asked if I could have about 10 minutes to get the room cleared out. They said no.
I negotiated a situation (in exchange for a $20 tip) where they’d go to their next closest stop and come back. I had 30 minutes. I
barely got it cleared out in time for their arrival. And by “cleared out”, I mean threw pretty much everything that previously existed in our bedroom into the front room – all over the couch, floor, tables, everywhere. Total chaos.
Wow. They were done. My house was trashed, it was after 2pm, and I hadn’t sat down or taken a break/rest since 8am. And I was
hangry.
Luckily, the good energy, positivity, etc… I established via full morning routine carried me through and I managed to do all of this with a smile on my face and very limited anxiousness or frustration. I laughed at the schedule I’d created and decided to live in the moment and enjoy the ride. (And now relax and eat)
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12-Minute Lunch[/caption]
Lunch (?) consisted of leftover Harissa pork sliced and tossed with sauteed onions on leftover homemade tortillas w/ some shredded cabbage. Also had some detox slaw and some marinated olives from the same Moroccan couple (they’re SO good). Total time from fridge to plate was 11 minutes (timed it). Not bad!
After taking a full hour to eat, relax, and compose myself – I walked over to the organic co-op to get some supplies for some batch cooking I’ll be doing this weekend/week. It’s right around a half mile each way. On the way home, I carried a 34lb. box the whole way – quite a workout! (I weighed it)
Took 5 minutes on the rebounder, and then started to tackle the giant chore of putting our room back together – which took most of the rest of the evening. Also did laundry, and cooked an o-bone roast (big) in the Instant Pot (greatest cooking device ever). After it was done, I took the bones out, threw them back in the pot with the onions, celery, and carrots I’d cooked it with – and pressured cooked another 45 minutes. (Quick mini batch of bone broth!)
I snacked on a little roast and ate a persimmon (delicious, if you’re not familiar – Asian (?) fruit) around 8pm, but wasn’t very hungry.
After cleaning up the kitchen/dishes, getting all of our things put away/organized in the room, putting away all the laundry, and getting everything ready for the next day – it was 9:30 and time to wind down. We relaxed a little bit, and were in bed by 10:30.
Self-Care / Movement Today
- Entire morning routine (See beginning of post)
- At least 70 minutes of walking – 20 in the morning w/ sun, and another 15 minutes carrying a 34 lb. box
- Maintained a state of presence and acceptance amid chaos and destroyed plans
- Food remained on point – when generally under this kind of stress I’d resort to something sub-optimal
- Moved a bunch of furniture
Today’s Lessons
The universe essentially laughed at my “super structured” plans. We’ll find this often happens in life. In the past, I would have gotten very anxious, agitated, frustrated, played a victim, blamed other people, and/or something else unproductive.

Today was actually a lot of fun, and I spent most of it laughing at how poorly I’d planned everything – even thought I spent a good hour solid the night before doing so. A big lesson in acceptance and BEING vs. THINKING. I remained present in the moment, instead of worrying about the future or regretting what I didn’t get done.
Still on point with diet, most of the self-care, lots of walking, and I’m down close to 5 lbs. in 5 days. Not bad, if I do say so myself! Way to go, me!
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You are doing great! How are the cold showers going? Thanks for sharing!