I’m writing this on December 31st, 2023, the day before I start my Big Fat Challenge XL. We already agreed that XL will be pure carnivore for 90 days, but how will that best be achieved?
Objective
It is important for each of us to get a clear “why” before embarking on any life change or trying to instil a new habit. Unless our new “why” is bigger than the “why” for whatever we are wanting to replace, we will be setting ourselves up for struggle and/or failure.
My “why” is to discover how good it is possible to feel when completely free of the physical and mental addictions to carbs, alcohol, nicotine etc. It will be the sight of reaching that goal within 90 days that should make it easier to ignore any temptations that may be in front of me.
Food & drink
First, let’s look at food. Pretty simple!
- Beef
- Lamb
- Fish (mainly wild Atlantic-caught mackerel, for extra omega-3)
- I won’t go out of my way to eat or to avoid a bite of pork, chicken or white fish.
- Plan to dry fast every Friday.
To drink, water only. No alcohol, juice etc.
Sleep & circadian rhythm
This will be a key area for me.
- Ban phone/tablet from my bedroom. If I’m awake, I will have a notepad to write on, and a pile of books. Bedroom reading light is deep orange.
- I’ve just invested in a cheap alarm clock, set to 6am every morning, so I don’t need to use my phone alarm.
- Will aim to head up to prepare to sleep at 9pm.
Morning ritual
After getting up, I used to head to the kettle and coffee grinder, then check messages on the computer.
I’ll replace this with ten minutes outside of grounding and deep breathing, focusing my conscious attention on the latent bliss of the natural human condition within.
I also plan to keep a daily video diary, which I hope will both be useful to others as well as to help keep me accountable and on track.
I’ll also take a torso photo on Monday of each week, for the record.
Exercise
I plan to do a simple mix of short exercises, not necessarily every day.
- Occasional dumbell overhead presses. (Approx. 30kg, may go up in weight. If I can do 10 reps, I’ll up the weight slightly.)
- Push ups to failure.
- Plank: 2 minutes only.