90 DAYS ULTRA MODE

90 DAYS ULTRA MODE:

Monday February 1st, I will start a new lifestyle. I will put a counter on my signature during this self induced challenge. This came into light after today when I was having a deep existential crisis. I realized that if I do not push myself further than what I am now, I will never change. I must change. I have all sorts of goals and aspirations but I make excuses and lay on the couch watching TV.


I tell myself that if I lived on my own and not with my mother, I’d eat healthier. That’s one of many excuses I’ve made recently for myself. It’s all bogus. I’m the only one that can change myself. I’m the only one who can make the changes into living the life I want. This is how I’m going to start.

First I will do many of these EVERYDAY. Some of them I will do during the week only.


· MORNING AND EVENING RITUALS EVERYDAY. I do this no matter what. I have two separate morning rituals drawn out. The only variance is one of them, I workout at the gym in the morning and the other I do not. This is a weekday task only. What is my morning ritual?


Morning Ritual (with workout):

• • 5:00am: Arise. Make bed. Put contacts in. Take probiotic. Drink water. Brush teeth. Put lotion on skin.
  • 5:10am: 5 Tibetan Rites (21 repetitions each)
    • Clockwise Spin
    • Leg Raise
    • Kneeling Backbend
    • Table Top
    • Pendulum
  • 5:30am Head to gym for workout.
  • 6:30am: Leave gym by this time.
  • 6:45am: Arrive home. Make breakfast: Oatmeal w/ Flax seed, Nutritional Yeast + Keto Smoothie. Maybe eggs. Breakfast is pretty open to me for nutrition.
  • 7:00am: Cold shower.
  • 7:15am: Meditate.

o 7:30am: Leave for work.

**Morning ritual II is the same thing except it starts at 6am and there is no workout.

Evening Ritual:

• • 9:00pm: Fill water bottle for next morning
  • 9:05pm: Lay out clothes for tomorrow
  • 9:10pm: Pack Lunch for tomorrow.
  • 9:20pm: Floss, brush teeth thoroughly.
  • 9:25pm: Plan tomorrow. Write groceries down or food needed for tomorrow.
  • 9:30pm: Read for 15-30 minutes. Depending on how tired I am.
  • 10:00pm: Lights out.

**This ritual takes about an hour. It can be varied to later or earlier. Flexibility is the key to maintaining.

· NO PMOING. This is final. If I even as slight as edge a little, it’s done. I’m going ultra mode in discipline. I can’t give myself an inch or otherwise my ego will take a mile. The ego always wants more, so why give it a little?

· EXERCISE. I will do some form of exercise EVERYDAY. I have a workout plan drawn out for myself. There really is no excuse to not going to the gym other than feeling sorry for myself. Here is my workout routine.

o Monday: Lower Body. Why? Because everyone seems to do upper body Mondays. I’m going against the mainstream. I also finish my day with Hill HIIT on the treadmill. If I don’t have enough time in the morning session, I will do this in the afternoon. I definitely have 20 minutes to spare. No excuses. I have an apartment gym.

o Tuesday: Upper Body A. Maybe some cardio. Depending on how the legs feel. Go to listen to the body.

o Wednesday: Yoga (30-45 minutes). There’s a plethora of videos online for yoga. There really is no excuse for not doing it at home. I will also do a 4-6 mile run. Again, no excuses.

o Thursday: Lower Body. No cardio today. Giving the lungs a break. Maybe doing some deep stretches post lifting.

o Friday: Upper Body B. Working the upper body in a slightly different way than normal.

o Saturday: My long run day. I will run 6-10 miles. I’ve been building my endurance back up so maybe 6 early on. But I must move my distance up weekly until I hit 10 miles.

o Sunday: Yoga (30-45 min). Do I have 30-45 minutes at home on a Sunday? Of course I do. Fitness is priority.

· DIET. Nutrition is the key to having a strong body. Without the proper nutrients, a strong body will decay. People used to think that you could burn off your calories if you just worked out enough. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s essential to have nutrients. The body could become inflamed if you have poor diet. You know how people who drink a lot seem puffy? It’s all inflammation. The body is retaining water. I’m not going to go into details about nutrition. I will eat an anti-inflammatory diet. This is pretty much a paleo diet. Except, my paleo diet will be mostly plant based and have no grains. I have a skin condition on my arms and sometimes I think that it is because of a grain allergy. I have not gone long enough without grains to be able to know this.

· MEDITATION. The mind is a battleground. I must conquer it. Meditation is exercise for the mind. I will say a positive affirmation or verse when I meditated and stay focused on that. My meditation sessions will last from 15-20 minutes.

· COLD SHOWERS. Cold showers, every day. NO EXCUSE. Cold showers are the key to arising in the morning full of energy. Wake up tired? Jump in a cold shower. It’s bound to wake you up.

· READ ONE BOOK AT A TIME. I get side tracked to easily when reading. I think I’m reading 4 books right now. If I focused on one book at a time. I think I could crank a book out in a week. It would also help me maintain interest in the book I’m reading. The only exception is my spiritual book by my bed that I read before going to sleep. Everything else. ONE BOOK AT A TIME. My goal is to crank out a book a week. Monday February 1st is my start date.

· FOCUS ON ONE PROJECT AT A TIME. Too often I burden myself with trying to do 3 different projects. Whether its learning a new skill or writing my book. I need to focus on one at a time and dedicate myself to it. If my focus is fragmented, so will my work. My reward for finishing my projects is not just the gratification of finishing but also being able to move to the next. I have the rest of my life to learn so many things. There’s no rush. I must focus on my current projects.

 

Check In Example:

Diet: Yes. Breakfast: Oatmeal, Lunch: Salad, Dinner: Roast beef.
Current book: The Art of Memoir, Read two chapters today.
Workout: Went to gym after work. Did lower body.
Morning and Evening Routines: Yes.
Cold Shower: OF COURSE.
Current Project: The memoir I'm writing. My goal is to write 500 words a day.
Meditation: Yes. Meditated in the morning.
NO PMO: Owned today.

 

What are my goals during this ultra mode?


1.) I want to finish the first draft of my memoir by this time.

• If I write 500 words a day. That's 90x500= 45,000. If I do a little more on some days say 600 words every other day. 1000 words on others. I have a draft done. The minimum is 500 words a day.

2.) I want to be able to do all the fitness events I wish.

• I want to do the Spartan Race, Tough Mudder, GoRuck Challenges, hell even an ultra marathon. This will require me to not only nutritionalize my body but I must be consistent in training.

3.) I want to have control over my mind.

• This will only be done through meditation. My new affirmation is "I am defined by my actions. My actions are controlled by my thoughts. If I cannot control my thoughts, how can I control my actions?"

4.) Read approximately 12-13 books during this period.

• Books are virtual mentors. Theres a lot to learn from. This is about a book week.

 

I've already made it past 45 before. I relapsed though. I know I can do this. I've done all of these things individually in my life before. I've just never been able to get it together. Now it's time for me to put everything together.

 

Day 1/90:

First day of ultra mode and so far so good. I slept great last night and took my cold shower. I just need to meditate on my lunch break today. First day of play rehearsals. I'm excited to do it. I got to work today a whole TEN minutes early. It's because I pulled myself out of bed and jumped into my ice blessings.

 

Day 2/90:

I slept well last night so today fatigue should not be an issue. The part of my brain that wants to go back to my 'comfortable' ways is still nagging at me. I'm not comfortable. I never was. What is comfort anyways? Yesterday and today, I've been drawing out how I'm going to complete my long term goals. My major goal right now, write my memoir by March 5th, 2017. For anyone who doesn't know, that's my birthday. My memoir is about my father who passed away on my birthday. I have the plan drawn out to finish this memoir and it feels so much more tangible. I broke it down into what my goals are the next 13 months. My goal right now is to finish this book I'm reading on memoir writing by the end of this month. Then its finish draft one by writing 1000 words a day of my book for 2 months. Then it's edit. Then it's rewrite. Then it's edit again. Then it's write. Then it's give it too a friend to read and edit. Then it's time to send it to a publisher. I CAN finish this! Ever piece of this puzzle is possible. I've realized the importance of breaking up my massive goals.

Here's how I broke my goal up in my journal:

Big goal: Complete final draft of memoir by March 5th, 2017.

Sub goals:

• February: Read "Art of Memoir"
• March: Write and perfect outline and memory list.
• April: Write 30,000 words this month. (1,000/day)
• May: Write 30,000 words this month. (1,000/day)
• June: Finish Draft I.
• July: Edit Draft I.
• September: Write Draft II
• October: Edit Draft II
• November: Write Draft III
• December: Edit Draft III
• January: Give to friends to edit. (I have lots of english major friends)
• February: Send to publishers.

Mini goals for February 2016: (Read "Art of Memoir"

• Week 1: Read Chapters 3-9
• Week 2: Read Chapters 10-15
• Week 3: Read Chapters 16-20
• Week 4: Read Chapters 21-23, books finished.

This weeks plan:

• Monday: Read Chapter 3
• Tuesday: Read Chapter 4
• Wednesday: Read Chapter 5
• Thursday: Read Chapter 6
• Friday: Read Chapter 7
• Saturday: Read Chapter 8
• Sunday: Read Chapter 9

Each chapter should only take me about 15 minutes to read. I HAVE the time to read. NO EXCUSES.

At the end of every week and every month, I reevaluate and redraw out my plan.

 

Day 3/90:

Today has started off well. I did my 5 Tibetans after waking up pretty groggy. That seemed to wake me up. It's amazing how just forcing yourself to be active can wake you up. I'm excited to go to the gym today. I'm going to see if I can crank out an extra chapter of the memoir writing book. I will get it done today. Today I will dominate my day.

 

Day 4/90:

Today has been good so far. I didn't sleep well last night but I'm waking myself up. I've been trying to meditate and have deep breathing to wake myself up. Today I will workout and read my books.

 

Day 5/90:

Today has been okay so far. I intend on reading my book today then I'm going to the gym later on and meditating. I should have meditated first thing in the morning. That's a habit I need to start getting into. It's vital to having a relaxed day. Meditating is to the mind as what warming up is to the body. Meditating needs to be done first in my day. From the second I get out of bed, I do my 5 Tibetan Rites and meditate for 10-20 minutes.

 

Day 6/90:

Today has been a lazy Saturday morning. I made a new workout journal yesterday. I made one I can just keep in my gym bag. I also got an awesome planner that has great goal tracking layouts in it. I think it'll be good. I'm going to do some yoga today for the hips and then meditate before I head out and start my day. I'm excited to start the week Monday. I think it'll be a good time.

 

Day 7/90:

I'm still holding strong. I fell off for a little while before this challenge. I'm doing well now. I did my Five Tibetan's this morning, now I need to read and get my work done.

 

Day 8/90:

Starting my new workout routine today. I'm really going to get into good shape. I want to train for events. It's a must for me. I had a smoothie for breakfast and made a pretty healthy lunch. I'm still giving up beer, sex and bread for lent. It's going to be a tough lent but I'm going to do it.

 

Day 9/90:

I'm a tenth of the way there! Lent starts tomorrow and you know what that means! Uh oh. No beer, bread, PMO, hell I might even quit coffee. I'm going to swap coffee for matcha though so it won't be that bad.