This is something I’ve been wondering about recently, and I’m very interested in people’s (in depth?) responses.

I have a billion things to work on, and a billion things that other people do better than me, so this isn’t meant to be a “look how great I am” post (like every other post on this site…).

One thing that I’m particularly good at, though, is figuring out the best action to take and just doing it and sticking with it. Not always, but close. I figured out the best exercise program and still do it. Two years ago I decided that being vegan was the most healthy thing to do and have stuck with it since. I wanted to travel more so I left and am traveling the best way I can figure out. Blah, blah, blah.

Let’s take cutting out sugar, for example. Sugar is never good for you. Period. I’ve heard weird justifications like “everything is good in moderation”, but that’s just not true. Eating sugar is always bad for you. White flour is the exact same as sugar - your body can’t really tell the difference.

This isn’t a matter of opinion, it is a proven scientific fact. Sugar is bad for you - it will increase your body fat percentage, it will increase your chances of getting cancer, and it will decrease your lifespan. Full stop.

Yes, we all know some dude who ate fudgesicles every day and lived to be 105. There are always outliers who are exceptions, but all scientific studies say that eating sugar is the root cause of a lot of bad things.

Yet I know a lot of very smart people who know these facts but still eat sugar.

WHY?

Another example is smoking.

Here’s something that EVERYONE knows is terrible for you. There is no debate. Yet millions of people smoke. It is so stupid. If you are a smoker, how is your #1 priority not to quit RIGHT NOW?

How as that possible? Is there anything you could possibly do in your life that would bring you as much enjoyment as living way longer and not getting lung cancer or some other nasty ailment? No, there isn’t.

I can’t fathom how this happens. How do people, when confronted with these facts, keep eating sugar or smoking? It makes no sense to me. Is it going to get easier tomorrow? Nope. Today is the easiest day to change. Every day you allow a suboptimal habit is another day it gets entrenched in your mind and your identity.

Maybe it’s peer pressure. A lot of people look to the general consensus or government to make decisions for them.

“Everyone I know does it. It can’t be that bad.”

“If it was really that bad, the government would ban it.”

Or maybe it’s fear of change.

“I don’t like eating things like spinach. I’ve always eaten corn dogs.”

WHAT? You’re not willing to eat something moderately unpalatable (which you will certainly love within a month or two) in order to greatly improve your life?

I wonder if the real reason is that we’re too used to everything being easy now. People are unwilling to take on any challenge other than constantly dealing with a life they’re not thrilled with.

If we want to feel achievement we play a video game. If we want to feel happy we do drugs. If we want to experience excitement we watch a movie.

Anyway… if you eat sugar or smoke or do something else like that, I’d really be interested in hearing why in the comments.

I’ve been doing Crossfit for the past eight months. The past two months have not been perfect, sometimes for valid reasons, sometimes not. I’d give myself an 85% for those two months and a 99% for the rest. I’sm getting off topic, but I feel like it’s necessary to address on my blog the times I screw up too.

I love Crossfit and think it’s the best program (of those I’ve researched) for me as well as most people out there. I believe that I could have probably made bigger gains muscle wise with a strict heavy lifting and high protein diet, but it would have been at the expense of other benefits.

I’ve gained some weight and a lot of muscle definition. Muscle definition is always more impressive to the person experiencing it, because we’re honed in on the nuances of our bodies, but when I look in the mirror and flex, I look like a little Greek god in training. With the standard amount of downlighting in a bathroom I have a clearly defined six pack, and when I flex my arms I have little bicep mountains.

I haven’t had easy access to a scale recently, but I am probably up about 20 pounds total, most of which was gained early on when I could gorge myself on food at Casa De Luz.

I can lift a lot more, as a metric and also in a practical sense. When there’s something heavy to be lifted I am confident I’ll be able to do it, rather than before when I’d be sure of the opposite.

I was used to being the weakling in a group. It didn’t make me feel insecure or anything, because I know I’m great at a lot of things, but it did make it clear that I had room to improve.

Now I’m usually middle of the pack, or even upper middle depending on the context. People occasionally gasp at the amount of weights that I lift (not impressive for serious lifters, but good for my size).

In Tokyo we walk a lot, often with our packs, and are always going up and down stairs. No problem. No heavy breathing.

The best benefit of all is that I now actively enjoy physical activities. I realized this just today.

We stood at the bottom of Mount Misen near Hiroshima, Japan. It’s a small mountain that apparently was where Buddha became enlightened.

Two options were presented - a strenuous 2.5 kilometer hike up the mountain, or a ride in a cable car to the top.

I chose the hike. That in of itself is no big deal. I would have done that anyway.

The difference is that before I would have thought “I’d rather do the cable car, but I can’t let myself be lazy, so I will do the hike.”

This time I thought, “Awesome! A hike!”

Riding the car had no appeal to me. I actually tried to figure out if there was a harder route up the mountain.

I’ve gotten a lot of tangible benefits from Crossfit, but internally valuing physical activity and seeking it out is the best part.