What does it mean for something to be “simple”?
My simple might be very hard for someone else.
For example, I can run 5 miles without a problem, it’s simple, but for someone else it might be incredibly difficult.
Turns out simple is relative to the individual, but everyone has their own version of what simple is.
So what am I getting at here?
Oftentimes we get caught up in complexity in the health and fitness space. Fancy workouts, fancy meal plans, fancy gadgets, fancy supplements….it all becomes incredibly overwhelming at times.
Frankly most of it is unnecessary, and for most people they probably have no business worrying about them or trying them out.
What works for everyone are the simple things, the basics, the tried and true components of a healthy lifestyle.
- Sleep
- Stress Management
- Movement
- Diet
- Exercise
- Social Connection
What does this look like in practice?
- Sleep 7-8 hours a day.
- Do something you find relaxing for 10 minutes a day to reduce stress.
- Move your body in a gentle fashion throughout the day, three to four 10-20 minute walks is a great place to start.
- Eat 3 meals consisting of vegetables, protein, and fruit, and get 40 grams of protein at each meal.
- Do some kind of formal exercise 3-4 times a week, with 2 of those being strength training workouts of at least 30 minutes each.
- Interact with someone in a meaningful way each day.
Pretty “simple” right?
Again what’s simple for me and you, might be a monumental task to others. I bet a majority of people reading this post struggle doing at least one, if not more than one of them, consistently week in week out.
The ironic part is that if everyone did these 6 things 80% of the time we wouldn’t have many of the health problems we see today.
Precision Nutrition, one of the best coaching services around, collected data from 1,000 clients and tied their consistency to the results they achieved. Here is what they found….
https://www.precisionnutrition.com/body-transformation-research
How crazy is it that even if you were only 10-49% consistent with the things I mentioned above that you can STILL get results. The sweet spot is clearly between 50-90%, and I would argue that almost everyone could hit that with very little effort.
If you are consistent 75% of the time are you going to get super lean, build crazy muscle, or hit your “ideal body weight”?
Probably not, those types of goals require a huge amount of consistency and effort.
However a vast majority of people could greatly improve their health and start building momentum in the right direction by not complicating their lives and focusing on their own “simple”. If that means you hit the 6 things I outlined with about 50-90% consistency you can still make progress in the right direction!
My goal with the content I produce is to help people reach their personal goals in a healthy way using ancestral health. Our ancestors did not overly complicate things, they did the basics, and did them well. Granted they did not have access to all the things we do today. We all can get caught up in shiny object syndrome. If you would like to learn more about how you can continue to make progress towards your goal in a healthy, maintainable, ancestral model, use the form below to signup for my newsletter to get it all delivered right to your inbox on a weekly basis.