TJ: Optimized
Read our weekly newsletter and announcements here.
This week’s Blog: TJ Optimized
I know when I suck, and I know when I’m crushing it.
I thought I would give you a look into my world when everything is clicking.
Nutrition: Variety and not Too Much Food.
I click into things that interest me and that work.
Sometimes it’s Asian crockpot chicken and cabbage. Sometimes it’s protein pancakes. Sometimes it’s Quest Peanut Butter Cups.
When I’m optimized, “good” nutrition is what is interesting to me to cook or eat, but the kicker is that there isn’t much of it.
Those protein pancakes are maybe 400 calories.
That chicken? Same. That sweet treat is maybe 200.
You would be probably be shocked at how regularly I eat and how little I eat in each sitting.
Activity.
When I’m dialed in, I’m literally moving. A lot.
I walk the dogs twice a day for an hour each time.
I workout 4-5 times per week.
I stand more at my desk.
I run errands, work on projects, and schedule meetings proactively; I’m not passively waiting for things to come to me.
None of these things is done perfectly or with 100% intent. I’m not training like a competitor or tracking my steps on some sort of watch.
I’m cruising like a shark. Always moving forward and keeping my mind open to possibilities and being aware of signals that are coming my way and proactively processing them.
I Sleep Way Better Than You Do.
It’s a priority, and it takes constant work and monitoring.
I’ve had intermittent periods in my life of not sleeping well.
I’ve taken aggressive steps to fix things when this has happened.
Quick side story. In the last few years allergies have hit me hard. One of the worst side effects is that I’m exhausted during these certain weeks. I’ve read that it’s because the histamines are causing me to create a large number of white blood cells to combat the inflammation.
I recently sat down with my new allergist and told him my theory.
“Bullshit,” he said. “Do you sleep well?”
“Like a champ,” I snorted confidently.
“Do you dream, do you fall asleep right away, do you snore?”
Allison had just recently taken a video of me snoring my head off a few nights before, and, exasperated, had shared it with me.
I don’t remember my dreams, I fall asleep the second my head hits the pillow, and apparently I snore like a chainsaw.
“Take Flonase, you’re not sleeping well because your nasal passages are inflamed and you’re exhausted.”
Dammit, he was right.
I feel great after three weeks, and my sleep habits have changed yet again.
Constant work on my sleep for my whole life has made me an overnight success in the sleep department.
Bathe in your OCD.
Most of us have a little OCD. When wrangled correctly, it can be one of our greatest superpowers.
Other times, it can feel like it’s driving us insane.
I’ve learned techniques recently to lean into the negative thoughts.
When the spin starts to happen, I first take an accounting of the physiological effects it’s having on me.
Increased heart rate, darting eyes, clenching fists, or whatever.
Next, I lean into it.
What am I obsessing about?
Ok, and then what happens? Interesting, and then what? Wow, and what happens next?
I keep going down and down into the thought process until literally the negative thoughts feel either silly or I’m sick of thinking about them.
I can feel my pre-frontal cortex, which controls rational thinking, start firing.
Sometimes, it clicks on early, and other times I need a quiet room and some time.
It takes a lot of work, discipline, and consistency, but I’ve become really good at it.
I’m not perfect.
The point of this blog is to give you a look into when I’m optimized.
There are PLENTY of times when I’m not.
I can be my own worst enemy, but when I can access these simple steps, shit gets done.
I’m hoping this is helpful to some of you. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need a nudge.
~TJ