“Happy New Years!!” we all screamed as the clock struck midnight on New Years Eve. It was 2012 and we all had to celebrate. And by celebrate I mean chug an entire bottle of champagne as my friend Brian so cleverly dubbed “The Champagne Challenge”. The fun came to an end as I spent the entire next day passed out on the couch recoverying.
Like most Americans, drinking has always played a major role in my life. Getting alcohol as a teenager and going to parties was always a thrill in high school. In college, I joined a fraterity and partied with the best of them with weekly keggers and toga parties. We even had a special ritual called “The Nicknaming Ceremony” where we all got drunk and gave each other stupid nicknames. My boozen bonanza continued post college with company happy hours, business trips and holiday parties all the way to present day with the US Navy.
Aww the Navy. No one can deny that alcohol is a part of this culture. With terms like “drinks like a sailor” and a rum affectionately named “Sailor Jerry”. But how can you blame us? After 80 days at sea on a ship without alcohol, getting a drink was on top of most sailor’s liberty plans. Most of the great port visit stories, usually started with “We were really drunk when…”.
But as fun as drinking can be, it has so very serious consquences. The CDC estimates that over 75,000 people die each year from alcohol-related deathes including liver disease, drunk driving and alcoholism. It’s scary think that a sustance which brings so much joy to people lives can also cause so much harm.
Alcohol can also led people to make poor decisions and forget. It concerns me that some of the best moments of my life are the ones that I end up forgetting. It’s easy to blame alcohol for our mistakes. Well I’m determined to live a more authentic life. I want people to know me for who I am not because drunk, but because I’m outoging. I want to remember the best nights of my life. But the road to soberness starts with one step at a time. So that’s why this month, I’m doing 30 days of no drinking alcohol.
Hypothesis: I think one’s going to be a pretty easy trial. I would go 30-80 days without alcohol on deployment. There are no major drinking holidays at the beginning of January. The real challenge comes around events like St Patty’s Day, New Years, birthdays (I’m turning 30 this year!) and family gatherings. But I want to use this experiment as motivation to continue even longer.
My two biggest needs for alcohol are socializing and stress-relief. Here’s how I plan on dealing with them…
The Secrets of Sober Partying
I love going out to bars. House parties are great, too. It’s how people socialize. They stand around and get drunk and dance their asses off. Fist pump anyone? But if you’re foregoing those drinks-in-hand what’s a sober partier to to do? …Enter the decoy drink.
Your decoy drink can be anything that resembles any other alcholic drink. How bout another round of Tequila sunrise, minus the Tequila. Or a nice tonic or seltzer. Pretty much anything thing with “Virgin” in front of it. If people ask you why you’re ordering it, just tell them your the destinated driver. Which brings me to my next point…
Be the DD! Everyone loves the DD. Because they put up with everyone’s shenanigans and at the end of the night no one’s fronting money for a cab home. Since I don’t own a car, I’m totally putting this one out there. I’m the best person to invite out, because no one has to worry about driving home.
Meeting Women At Bars and Clubs…Sober?
Most of the women in my life I’ve met through friends, but I know a lot of people’s secret reason for going out to bars is to meet someone. I’ve had my fair share of meetings, but most of them didn’t go anywhere once the dance music stopped and we went home.
What would happen if I ditched that liquid courage and drove head first into meeting women? What is a person really going to do at a bar if their not their to get drunk? Who knows, I might actually have a meaningful connection with someone that I really enjoy being around.
How To Relax Without Wine
I’m a huge wine fan. I’m know by my friends as the “wine guy”. I’m the type of person who will bring a bottle of my favorite Merot to a keg party. And lately, I realized that I’ve been using wine to deal with stress from work. On days where I would put in 10-12 hours, the only thing I looked forward at the end of the day was a couple of glasses of red wine to put my mind at ease. But sometimes that 1-2 glasses would turn into 4-5 and I’d go to bed in drunken sleep.
But looking back, this is a little concerning. I started to ask myself, “Do I really need alcohol to make me feel better? This there healthier and safer way to relieve stress at the end of the day?” Once I realized that stress was just the trigger for drinking it made me really think and realize that it’s not the alcohol that we want, but the relief. And if I can find alternate ways of relieving my stress then I can live a better more fulfilling life. Here are some activities I’m considering testing out in the coming months..
- Practice journaling more.
- Meditate.
- Deep breathing exercises.
- Practice daily yoga.
- Volunteer more.
- Watch less TV
These activites will also have the secondary benefit of focusing my time on events that don’t involve alcohol. It’s interesting to see where this jounrey to sobiety will led me, but all I know is I’ll be sure to remember everything that happens when I get there. Here’s a cheers to no drinking for a month.
Do you struggle eat enought fruits and vegetable? Want an easy, healthy way to feel better, whiten your teeth and lose some weight? Try some fruit. Try a lot of fruit. This week marks the end of my 30 days of a Raw, Vegan Diet. And while I didn’t end of maintaining the diet the entire time, I did discover some really interesting benefits to increasing my raw fruits and vegetable intake. Here’s what I learned in my month of fruit-filled fun.
- You Will Eliminate of Most Of Your Digestion Problems - Do you suffer from digestion problems like Acid Reflux, Constipation or Irrational Bowel Syndrome? Try replacing your morning coffee and bagel with 5-6 bannas or a green smoothie. I noticed that as I increased my raw fruits and vegatable consumption, my digestion was smooth and I suffered no discomfort. I joked with my friends that I don’t fart any more. Flatulence is a sign that something has gone wrong in your digestion. Pay attention to what you eat next time you have some type of digestive discomfort. There may something going wrong with your diet.
- Your Skin Will Become Clearer – As I increased my raw food intake, I noticed that not only did my acne disappear, but the color and radiance of my skin increased. If you’re trying to heal yourself of any type of skin disease consider a week fruit fast. Once you see the results that diet can have on your skin, it’s not hard to see how this diet can benefit you.
- Your Teeth Will Become Whiter – This might have been to the reduce intake of coffee during the trial, or just simply from eating healthier foods, but I noticed that my smile was a lot whiter during the first two weeks when I most digent about following the diet.
- You Will Loose Weight – Probably everyone’s excuse for dieting. You can cut out those extra pounds off with a little more veggies in your diet. When I was most diligent about following the diet, I lost at least a pound a day. You can lose as much weight as you need depending on how commited you are to changing your eating habits.
Making Small Changes, Your Key To Success
You don’t have to have to completely change your diet today, but the key to make slow, small changes. I attempted to make one huge change in diet at one time and quickly realized there are all sorts of habits I need to learn to reap the benefits of this diet. Here are a few suggestions you can use to implement these changes…
- Change one meal at a time. Instead of changing every meal, start with an all raw fruit breakfast or just have a big salad for dinner.
- Add fruit or salad to every meal. Going out to eat? Start with a salad. Want desert? Eat some fruit. Eating as much fruit as you care for will leave you finishing every meal feeling statisifed.
- Buy raw snacks. My personal favorites are clementines, raw almonds, bananas, celery sticks and baby carrots. Find sometime you can eat with little to no preparation that you can carry with you. Most fruits and nuts fit this bill.
- Buy a raw foods “cook” book. I’d suggest Raw Food Made Easy by Jennifer Cornbleet. This books contains a ton of simple recipes you can make with a blender or food processor. Blending foods make a lot of raw foods more interesting to eat and adds a little variety to your diet.
- Try green smoothies. Don’t like salads? Try blending your raw veggies up with a mixture of sweet fruits to get all the nutrients you need for the day– minus the chewing. Blending helps you digest greens easier.
Although, I choose not to go full raw after this trial, I did learn a lot from the experience. It’s definitely made me more aware of the effects of food on our health. I’m probably going to just keep trying more food trials until I can increase my raw foods intake. From the experiment, I can definitely say that any increase in raw fruits and vegetables is beneficial for your health.
“Cancel them all.” “Are you sure, sir? You might want to keep one open for emergencies,” pleaded the Chase Bank phone rep when I called to cancel my credit cards. “Yes, I’m sure,” I exclaimed. That was over 8 months ago when I made my last credit card payment.
You see me and credit cards have had long ten year history. Our relationship started in college, when lured by the free t-shirt and attractive bank rep, to sign-up for one. The relationship continued throughout college and into my first few corporate jobs. The credit was always there when I needed it – or thought I needed it. Turns out I never really had any real “emergencies” in that ten year period. Most problems can solved with a little bit of creativity and help from friends. Are tired of paying on credit cards? Wish you could get rid of them? Here’s what I learned in my year of paying off all my credit card debt…
#1 – STOP USING THEM!
Seriously stop. Take those cards and slice them up immediately. That’s what I did over a year ago and it made them impossible to use. Ending your addiction to credit is like getting off drugs or alcohol. If their just laying around course there’s going to be temptation to use. Engineer your environment so it’s impossible to fail. Your willingness to take this first step will prove how committed you are to this goal. If you aren’t willing to stop using credit then there’s a strong chance you’re not willing to pay off your debt.
#2 – Automate Repayment
As I mentioned in the beginning of this experiment, automate your payments. Paying bills manually can sometimes open the door for neglect. You might be telling yourself one month that you’d rather not make that payment. Computers aren’t emotional about money, so as long as you have money coming in, your banks billing service should be taking care of the rest. I’d even opt to get the money taken out of your checking account even before it hits your bank account if you can. Just keep earning income until your cards are paid off and the payments will take care of themselves.
#3 – Simultaneously Start A Small Saving Account
Financial security is the reason all of us feel we need credit. We say stuff like well what do we do if there’s not enough money for food or what if the car breaks down.. or what if…or what if. Remember that there was a time in history, about 50 years ago, where credit cards didn’t exist and people paid for things with the money they had or figured out some other way fix their problems. Start saving a little bit of money in a saving account and don’t touch it. This will be your credit card to yourself. If there is a real emergency you’ll have to money to pay for instead of using those credit cards you cancelled last year because you were smart and paid them off.. 
#4 – Systematically Reduce Your Bills
Last year I gave up a car, cell phone, buying books and most of my hygiene products for free or inexpensive alternatives. You can do the same. Can you sell your house and move into somewhere smaller? Can you sell one of your cars or even go car-less? Could you grow your own food? Is there something your paying for that you could get for free. Figure it out and apply the savings towards your payments.
#5 – Apply Any New Money To Your Payment
Last year I took my entire tax return and applied to my credit cards cutting the bill almost in half. Take any type of extra money…tax refunds, birthday money, inheritance, refunds, stuff you sell, a raise at work and apply it towards your credit card and you’ll have it paid off in no time. It may not seem like you’re making a difference, but every little bit counts.
#6 – Stop Buying Things On Credit
With the small exception of houses, most possessions such as cars, TVs, boats or whatever expensive toy that people buy now a days will decrease in value. So all the interest you pay on stuff you don’t need is to afford a lifestyle beyond your means. Stop buying on credit and start saving for what you need. The more stuff you buy, the longer you’ll have to work to pay for it. So less stuff = less work. Less work = more fun. It couldn’t be simpler.
The other day I witnessed a miracle. I watched the documentary Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days. I saw six with people with diabetes completely cure themselves of their disease. Most of the participants dropped at least 20-30 lbs. One man stop taking 19 different medicines. All of them were able to reduce or eliminate their need to take insulin. While I don’t have diabetes and I don’t even have any health problems, I was curious. Most people consider diabetes incurable and here are these people curing themselves on diet alone…Interesting.
What would happen if you ate the foods you were supposed to? What would happen if you took out all the meat, dairy, white fours, refined sugars and caffeine? What would change? If these people could cure themselves of a disease through this diet, what would happen to a seemly healthy person. I had to find out. That’s why this month I taking on 30 Days of a Raw, Vegan Diet.
Hypothesis: Through initial testing of 1-2 day trials of a mainly raw fruit diet, I was able to get more rest, increase my energy levels, lose weight and have healthier skin with this diet. I believe I will have that same effect if I continue the diet for the duration of a month.
The 80/10/10 – The Last Diet You’ll Ever Need
During my seven month deployment in the US Navy I read book called, The 80/10/10 Diet by Dr. Douglas Graham. While the mysterious title doesn’t really give you an indication of what the diet entails, it’s actually based on a very simply idea. The optimal human diet should consist of 80 % of calories from fruit carbohydrates and the other 10% from protein and 10% from fat.
The diet is a raw, vegan diet based primarily on eating mostly fruit. You can eat as much fruit as you want and as many nuts and vegetables as you care for. What I really liked about this book compared to a lot of other raw food diets is how simply it is. Most of the recipes in the book involve just chopping up fruits and eating them whole. This works for me considering that I live on a US Navy ship which I sometimes have no other choice to eat from. The Navy believe it or not always has a pretty nice fruit and salad bar selection.
Why We Are All Fat
Too much fat, sugar and cholesterol is the reason why most of suffer from dietary health problems. And most of us try to fight these urges with diets that restrict the portion or frequency size. Dr. Graham even points out that many raw vegans can still stuffer from health problems from eating too many fats found in nuts or avocados. So if eating less foods isn’t the answer…what are we to do?
Filling Full With Fruits
When you really think about it, it make sense that humans would naturally gravitate towards fruit as a staple in our diets. Fruit appeals to our senses. It’s brightly colored and smells delicious. The natural sugars satiate our appetite. Our fingers allows us to easily peel the skin off and we can eat it without any preparation. If you’re like me, the idea of eating a big bowl of salad the rest of your life isn’t that appealing. But most of us would crave a big bowl of strawberries, mango and oranges. How does 10 bananas for breakfast sound.
The key to this diet is eating large portions of fruit. Most of us are used to eating smaller portions of food, because most of our food has been cooked and processed so much that it feels unnatural to eat till you’re stuffed. But eating this way allows you to consume enough calorie to last till your next meal. If you don’t there might be the tendency to feel hungry between meals.
Here’s my basic rules for this month:
- Eat as much fruit and vegetables as I want as often as I want. Who wants limit themselves. I say eat (the right thing) and be marry. Why starve yourself.
- Avoid all alcohol and caffeine. This will be easy considering I will be out to sea under the duration of this trial.
- Eat only fresh uncooked, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Here’s a sample of what a day on the 80/10/10 diet might look like.
- If adequate food isn’t available I can use fasting rather than eating cooked vegetables or starches. This also is good training for avoiding the awkwardness of going somewhere where no fresh fruits and vegetables are available.
Why I Could Fail
Probably the hardest part about eating this way is not the diet itself, but everyone else. It’s really hard to fit into a society that’s mainly eating fried meats, processed dairies and sugars as their main source of calories. I remember the first meal I tested out on this diet, I got the strangest looks from my shipmates sitting next to me in my ship’s galley. I walked over with a giant pile of mango and oranges at lunch and no one really understood why I was eating so much fruit in the middle of the day.
Sometimes doing great things means pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Who knows my comfort zone might someday be eating this diet. For now it time embrace a little change…Who got an mango for this guy? 
It’s been about two months since I decided to stop wearing my contacts and glasses and I have to say that it’s one of the smartest decisions I’ve made so far. Having worn corrective lenses for the last 14 years, it’s such as rewarding feeling to see clearly with my own eyes.
Don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been easy. I’ve struggled to see my computer each day and I’ve walk around sometimes not being able to see everything around me clearly. But once I got over the fear that I need contacts to do everything, my eyes started to improve. Here are some observations I learned from my month of naked vision.
- Your Vision Is Always Changing – Most people think of themselves as having a certain vision. They’ll say things like I’m 20/40 or 20/200 and therefore get prescribed lenses to correct their vision to 20/20. What in fact is really going on is your vision is constantly changing. Factors such as poor lighting and nutrients or stress can decrease your visional clarity while relaxation can make it clearer. Having lenses that provides a certain clarity limits you to seeing the world in one way.
- Glasses and Contacts Decrease Vision – I’ve worn my contacts during this trial and found that every time I wore them then took them off, it took a couple of days to regain the clarity that I had previously. Imagine what wearing lenses for several years or decades will do to you eyes.
- Don’t Be Afraid of Naked Vision – I’ve always lived under the assumption that I need glasses for everything. I always thought I’d be in an uncomfortable situation where I wouldn’t be able to see and wore glasses out of fear of not seeing. Once you take your glasses off you realize that you can do a lot of things without them. I can work at my computer, watch TV and go about my day without lenses. I might need them for viewing a presentation at work or driving, but there’s almost nothing I need them for now.
- Watch Out For the Clear Flashes – Now that I see everything with my own vision, I start to see what are called “clear flashes”. Every once in a while my vision will be completely clear. What used to be blurry will suddenly become clear and I can see for a few seconds. As the week go on, these clear flash start to become longer and more consistent.
I haven’t measured my eyesight recently, but it’s not 20/20. I still have some farsightedness but it keeps getting better everyday. If you currently wear glasses, here’s some advice on what you can do to lessen your dependence on corrective lenses and eventually regain your vision.
- Stop wearing contacts and glasses – This sounds simple enough, but if you gone years viewing the world through artificial lenses it can be a shock at first. You can start off by gradually decreasing the time you wear your lenses. Maybe only wear them at work or while driving. If you wear contacts, start wearing glasses, so you can easily take them off when you don’t need them. It all starts when you realize that your eyes will get better – not worst – when you don’t wear glasses.
- Decrease your prescription – After a couple months of not wearing your corrective lenses get a prescription for a weaker lenses. Buy a cheap pair of glasses so you don’t feel guilty about getting new glasses. Once you vision gets better continue to get weaker lenses.
- Don’t squit to see – The reason most people believe that not wearing glasses when you need them will make you vision worst is because most people squint to see when their vision is blurry. Straining and squinting is what causes most vision problems in the first place and doing it only makes your vision your worst. Instead relax your eyes with massage or palming. Take deep breaths and realize that there’s nothing wrong with your eyes. You just been using them wrong with whole time.
- Don’t listen to other people – When other people see you struggle to see without glasses they’ll want to persuade you to change. People tell that you don’t know what you’re doing. But remember that they don’t see what you see. I know my vision is getting better everyday that I don’t wear my contacts, so why would I want to listen to anyone else expect myself.
For now I’m going about my days without contacts. I’m on deployment right now, so there’s not much for me to do expect go to work everyday on my ship. I’m thinking about starting an exercise routine for my eyes soon. Possibly incorporating some changes in my diet. All I know is for now, I’m convinced that I don’t need to wear corrective lenses all day.
I ended my second 100 push-up trial after 9 weeks. During that time I’ve been working on a progressive three work-outs-a-week program to eventually be able to do 100 push-ups. I did increase my strength. I’m able to do about 50-60 max. And I can do a work out of 100 total push-ups no problem. But I’m still not seeing the results I want, so I decided to change up my routine and switch to doing a large volume of push-ups. This month I’m taking on a month of 300 push-ups a day.
Hypothesis: I believe that by combining my two approaches of doing a large number of push-ups (as I did in the first trial) combined with managed sets from my second trial I’ll be able to increase my total muscle endurance. I think the best way to increase endurance to progressively increase the number and length of sets of an exercise. Marathon runners build endurance by running longer distance each day. Cyclists bike longer distances by consistently increasing the distance they can ride. In fact in get good at almost any you must continually practice it everyday. I think my strength will increase the most from daily work outs.
Push-Ups In The Military
Every new Navy SEAL must first go through BUD/S or Basic Underwater Demolition School. New recruits are put through hell week where they must endure hundreds of push-ups everyday. Most people in the military, including myself, had to go through a boot camp and crank out push-ups everyday. Almost every time recruits see improvement in strength through these exercises. If that’s the case, then why not do push-ups everyday? Why only do them three times a week?
One thing I noticed from my last push-up trial was a noticeable increase in endurance after doing 4 or 5 sets. I thought I’d be tired after doing a whole routine, but I noticed that the more push-ups I did the more my muscles adapted and I was able to complete more. But my experience with my first trial proved that pushing and straining my muscles pass the point of failure proved to unproductive for growth. Doing smaller sets over and over seems to produce better results.
World Record Holders
Charles Linster set the World Record for Non-stop Push-ups back in 1965 at 6,006. In an interview on Recordholders.org he stated that “I owed my January push-up records to Heifetz’s maxim of raising standards. Every day I performed at least one more push-up than the day before. I was like a mountain climber, using these minimums as “base camps” from which I could launch new push-up heights when feeling “good.” But the greatest result of my three new personal bests was the breaking of a psychological barrier. Until that time, I was convinced that records could only be broken by small increments. By more than doubling my personal record in less than three weeks, I knew that I didn’t have to settle for being merely good at the push-up, I could be great.”
Crystal West who set the World Record for Pull-ups said she could barely do one pull-up when she began, but persisted set the World Record for consecutive pull-ups at 345. What these record holders all have in common is their daily persistence to increase their numbers. They decide on how many they wanted to do and push themselves each day to do more. Even if they could only do a few reps at first, each one of them persisted on doing more each day. I believe that applying this strategy to push-ups with allow me to eventually hit a 100 push-ups.
My Routine
For this trial I’ll be working out twice a day with sets of push-ups
throughout the day. Here is my twice-a-day workout:
- Push-ups – 5 sets x 20
- Sit-ups – 5 sets x 20
- Pull-ups – 5 sets x 2
- Hindu Squats – 5 sets x 20
- Chin-ups – 5 sets x 3
My routine involves doing one set of each exercise, then moving
til the next until I’ve done 5 sets. We’ll see if better results from this method.
Do you get enough sleep? Do you feel tired all the time? What if I told you there was a way to sleep less and have more energy. It’s call Biphasic Sleep. Biphasic sleep consists of two period of sleep, typically a nap of 30 minutes or longer and a period of core sleep. Most people typically view their sleep in terms of monophasic with the occasional nap here and there, but the concept of a nap can actually reduce the amount of core sleep needed. For the next 30 days I’ll be testing a biphasic sleep phase of a 1.5 hour nap with 4.5 hours of core sleep.
Hypothesis: I believe that splitting my sleep into two separate periods is going to increase my energy levels upon waking up and throughout the day and reduce the total amount of sleep I need. I currently get about 7-8 hours of sleep at one time, but I’ll be testing two periods of sleep totally 6 hours. I noticed that my energy levels were higher when I ate less in the Intermittent Fasting trial, so I think same concept will apply to this trial. As I shorten my sleep periods, I think I’ll become more efficient at falling asleep faster thereby reducing my total amount of sleep needed. The reduced sleep time will also give me more free time.
8 Hours of Sleep – How We Got Here
It seems like all the experts out there are telling us that eight hours of solid sleep is what we need to remain healthy. But how did we get here? Who says that humans are healthiest on eight hours? It turns out that artificial lighting has changed the way we sleep. As I write this, it’s 3AM in the morning. I work the night shift on my ship and modern technology has made it possible for my shipmates and I to work 24/7. I haven’t seen sunlight in about 2 weeks, but I plenty of light to read this computer screen and work my shift. Modern lighting has made it possible to stay up any hour of the day and work.
Prior to the industrial revolution people went to bed went it got dark. Unless you were rich enough to burn candles all night you went to sleep when the sun went down. Prior to electrical lighting, Europeans used to sleep for an hour or more during the night, before returning to their “second” sleep. It’s my theory that artificial lighting has made us less efficient at sleeping.
How To Stay Up Late and Wake Up Early
I originally got the idea for this trial from Steve Pavlina’s blog. He made a pretty good case for this type of sleep pointing out how flexible it makes your schedule. A few years ago I tried a waking up early trial, but had difficulty sticking to the trial when I stayed out late on the weekends. The biphasic sleep phase allows for a person to both stay up late and wake up early. I plan on sleeping after my night shift from 8:30-10:00AM, then waking up and being active till I go back to sleep from 12:30-5:00PM. Most people who have day jobs could do the same schedule but take a nap say from 6-7:30PM after work, then go to bed at 12AM or 1AM and wake-up around 4AM or 5AM. Compared to polyphasic sleep which requires you to sleep 20 minutes every 4 hours, this schedule provides the flexibility to stay out late, then get up early the next day.
The ladies are really going to love this one. I’ve swearing off the shower suds this month for a water only bathing routine. No soap. No shampoo. Just me and some H20. I just finished reading The Moneyless Man by Mark Boyle and was interested to find out that this guy takes a water only shower. Ever since I’ve switched to only using Dr. Bonner’s Magic Soap for all of my hygiene I thought about giving up soap in the shower completely. I realized that I didn’t actually need deodorant or toothpaste, I started to question whether I even needed soap. Is body odor actually caused by not using soap or can we get clean just will water alone? I’m about to find out in my water only adventure as I take on 30 days of soap-less showers.
Hypothesis: I believe that body odor is more a byproduct of diet and habits, like smoking, then it is a matter of what type of soap you use. Some people seem to smell regardless of how often the bathe. People in different cultures give off diet smells primarily by the types of food that they eat. I think my skin and hair will come away feeling better and smoother than ever as a result of no soap.
The History Of Bathing
Bathing has a long and rich history. From Roman bath houses to modern day Jacuzzis. From rubbing herbs and oils on the skin to high tech micro beads, getting clean has fundamentally always been the same. A person is rinsed or immersed in water to remove sweat and dirt from the body. The only thing that’s changed in the thousands of years humans have been bathing is what we use to get clean.
It seems like our answer to almost every problem now a days is to buy a product to solve our problems. You stink? Buy this body wash. Your skin is dry. Use this moisturizer…it’s on sale. It seems like no one is stopping and considering that maybe there’s other ways to go about solving our problems. Every time I’ve talked to people about my idea not to use soap in the shower I get the instant reaction of …”Eww that’s gross. Don’t you stink?” Where did all these beliefs about being clean come from? Why are we all so obsessed about using as many hygiene products as possible? One answer…advertising.
Companies have made people so self-conscious about being clean and fresh that people will gladly pay for that right. I remember the sure/unsure deodorant commercials that ran in the late 90′s. It was a series of situations where people were in public and they were either confident or unsure of themselves based on the type of deodorant they used. If you ask me, my level of self confidence shouldn’t be based on what hygiene products I use. Why should our self-worth be based on the products we buy. Why don’t we just do like animals do and rinse off with a little water.
The Navy has offered to give me free Lasik surgery at the end of this year. While restoring my vision has always been a dream of my, I’m not totally sold on surgery as the answer. I’ve heard from friends that Lasik can impair your night vision. It’s also expensive making it unable to most people. To me, Lasik is like treating obesity with liposuction. The surgery may help you lose weight, but you’re not addressing the cause. The cause of poor vision is how you use your eyes.
I’ve worn glasses since I was about 12 and contacts since age 15. This will be the longest time I’ve ever gone without either in the entire 16 years I’ve been dependent on corrective lenses. A lot of people say that poor vision is genetic. That if you’re parents have it, then you’re destined to have it. I’ve come to realize that vision is something that can be changed naturally. We can all learn to see with our own eyes if we choose to. All it takes is making that decision, so for the next 30 days, I’ll be squinting, straining and stretching my eyeballs as I attempt 30 days of not wearing corrective lenses.
The Cause of Poor Vision
Most poor vision is caused by extensive near point stress. Most of our time is spent sitting and staring at text and video on monitors, televisions and books. Almost all of the information we gather about our world comes to us in by reading and viewing data a few feet from our face. This causes our eyes to adapt at view close for extended periods of time and eventually deteriorate our ability to see far.
In a study of Eskmo tribes in Alaska, if was almost no cases of vision problems among the older generations. But studies of the children of those tribes who move to more populated areas and attended formal education show an increase in vision problems proving that the cause of this disease is not genetic, but environmental. Most children develop vision problems shortly after attending school and learning how to read.
Seeing With Your Own Eyes
The first time you take try to see without contacts or glasses can be an entirely new experience. I’ve been doing it for the last week and it’s really made me realize much I depend on my vision to get through my day. At the same time, it’s really rewarding to be able to use my own eyes to see the world. It reminds me of that one scene in Return of The Jedi when Darth Vader takes off his helmet and tells Luke that he wants to see his son with his own eyes.
Not wearing your contacts is like a person who is dependent on prescription medication who decides to stop taking it. At first it’s going to take some getting used to, but after a while you begin to recover and eventually learn live without it. For me, reducing the time I wear corrective lenses is the first step in regaining my natural vision.
Lessons Learned From My Last Trial
Back in 2009 I attempted to improve my vision naturally before going to boot camp. My main tactic was a series of exercises every morning. The exercises did help, but I ended up putting on my contacts several hours later and wearing the rest of the day. This time I going all out and only wearing contacts useless I absolutely need them for a specific task. Leaving them off will allow me more time to practice seeing without them. I plan on starting a few more trials of progressive eye exercises, hydrotherapy, massage and vitamin therapy to study the effects of improvement on my eyesight.
This is my second attempt at trying to pump out 100 push-ups in one sitting. I tried a several months ago and realized that I was going about it all wrong. I was trying to max out every single day for a month. This month I’ll be trying a new approach. I got a chance to read 7 Weeks To 100 Push-ups a while back, but haven’t started the program.
This book from the creators of hundredpushups.com layouts out a program of 5-8 sets of push-ups three times a week. The reps in each set increase each week until you’re able to do 100 consective push-ups. It varys from beginner to advanced allowing anyone at any physical level to be able to do a 100 push-ups.
Hypothesis: The main reason why I think I didn’t hit my goal last time was I didn’t allow time for growth. By pushing my muscles to their max everyday, I saw very little growth. This new program allows for a certain number of progressive sets each week with fours days of rest in between. By allowing my arms to rest, I believe I’ll see better results. Although, I did say that most exercise is pretty much pointless, I’m stuck at desk all day, so I need some physical activity in my life. Turns out that you can’t really get strong typing on a computer all day.
