Be a "Yes Man!" (or woman) -- Step Outside your Comfort Zone

     When you leave your comfort zone, you open yourself up to things you could never experience within it. You open the doors of life and allow yourself to experience new places, people, ideas; you open the door for more opportunities, opportunities that not only create new thrills, enjoyments, and satisfactions, but also new problems, difficulties, and dilemmas to which you and only you must find a solution. With every new problem you solve and every new difficulty you overcome you expand your comfort zone and, in turn, must once again force yourself out of it. Complacency is the enemy of this expansion; you must make a habit of continually forcing yourself to leave your comfort zone in any and every way possible. It can be as simple as trying a food you've never tried before or as drastic as quitting your job and moving to a new city. You can move to a new country and learn a new language, or you can sign up for yoga classes at the studio a few blocks from your house. The magnitude of the change is not what’s important; what’s important is capitalizing on every opportunity to experience something new. Certainly, there are times when a big change just isn't practical, but there is no excuse for turning down the chance to try new things in everyday life.

     As mediocre to slightly-above-average as it may have been, the movie Yes, Man is a perfect example of this philosophy. For those who haven't seen it, Jim Carrey plays a man named Carl who, in the wake a divorce, absolutely refuses to try new things. Every decision Carl makes is based solely on how he can best remain in his comfort zone. When he decides to commit to a "self-help" method that requires him to say "yes" to every proposition that comes his way, his life takes a drastic turn for the better. Eventually, though, all of his new commitments become unmanageable and he realizes that the point is not to literally say "yes" to everything, but simply to open yourself up to new possibilities and experiences.

     Realistically, you are never going to be able to take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way. But if you live each day with a real desire to leave your comfort zone, odds are you're going to end up being able to do so more often than not. Although the fact remains that we, as humans, seem to be inherently drawn towards what is comfortable. No matter how well you live by this standard of non-complacency, there will come a time when you fall into a particular comfort zone. Luckily, I think our subconscious has a natural way of recognizing when we become stagnant, or stuck in one comfort zone for too long. You'll start to feel a little bored on a day-to-day basis; you may still enjoy your activities and even retain a general happiness, but eventually, in the back of your mind, you'll notice a nagging desire, like an itch you can't scratch, for change.

     This is where I currently find myself (and I assume that most of my readers are around my age and in the same general position). At 22 years old, with five and a half months, one more full semester, and a 30-50 page thesis still standing between myself and graduation in May, I've already noticed my itch for a change. And although I can't do so just yet, this is an itch that can be scratched. But there is a bright side.

     While my inability to shake up my life too drastically is providing me with plenty of lemons at the moment, I do get to drink my lemonade while I take the next half year to spend some quality time deciding how, exactly, I'm going to scratch this itch, as well as trying to prepare myself as best I can (financially and otherwise) to do so. Right now, I think I'd like to move to Europe for a few months; maybe even try to find a job there. But I've also considered a change of scenery within the country, maybe to California, maybe elsewhere. Hell, I still may decide to apply for the Peace Corps.

     If you want to continue to grow as a person, as an individual, you've got to be willing to occasionally sacrifice your comfort zone. It really is a low price to pay in exchange for the excitement of experiencing a new job, new city, or new country, full of new people and fresh ideas. With a land surface area of almost 58 million square miles and a population of over 7 billion people, it’s safe to say that, for all intents and purposes, there are an immeasurable amount of ways the rest of your life can pan out; and the best part is, you get to choose! If you're reading this blog, then I'm sure you are one of the (unfortunately too few) people in this world that has the privilege of being in control of their own destiny. In this day and age, with the technology that we have at our disposal, we really do have the whole world at our finger tips, and I truly believe that to choose to ignore this privilege is a total and complete waste of your life.

     Of course, you have to remember that we aren't leaving our old lives behind every time we decide to make a change. It’s not a matter of moving from one distinct comfort zone to the next but a forced, continual expansion of the same comfort zone. Each new experience becomes part of your constantly changing self. Every new experience helps to shape, or reshape, who you are as a person. And the best part is that you don't have to leave your old experiences behind to enjoy new ones; when you make new friends you don't have to forget about the old ones. Sure, we all lose touch with old friends over time; but the best ones seem to have a way of sticking around.

     The point is, live your life with an aggressive and passionate desire to leave your comfort zone as frequently and as drastically as possible. Don't allow yourself to become complacent. Never stop trying new things. Never stop growing as a person. Never stop trying to scratch that impossible itch. Do this and I assure you, you'll live a long (okay, I can't guarantee that part) and happy life.

Primal Dieting/Living aka the "Paleo Diet"

     In the spring of 2009, my senior year of high school, I lost about 20 pounds (about 10-15 of those during a 13-day no-carb diet) by simply eliminating junk food from my diet. One thing I noticed was that after a month or two of completely cutting out "empty-calorie" foods such as chips, sugary drinks, desserts, etc., I no longer craved them. Since then I've always tried to stay in good shape by maintaining a healthy diet, and exercising regularly. And I've always continued to look for new, effective, healthy lifestyle choices. During my freshman and sophomore years of college, most of my focus was geared towards lifting weights to gain muscle mass and eating a diet that would support those goals. My diet consisted of lots of whole grains and complex carbohydrates, lean proteins, and lower fat intake. But moving into my junior year I lost my motivation to spend 60-90 minutes at the gym every day, and eventually (especially once I turned 21) my motivation to eat healthy. I was drinking too often, eating whatever I wanted, and not spending much time exercising. By August 2012, I was in my worst shape since high school.
     This is when I stumbled upon Mark Sisson's book, The Primal Blueprint, and it's content immediately caught my interest. This book serves as Sisson's guideline to a healthy lifestyle which has been tailored to mimic that of the original human beings that populated the Earth over 10,000 years ago. While human civilization has changed drastically over this time period, the human body remains almost exactly as it was during the time of hunter-gatherers. This was an era completely free of agriculture, let alone processed foods; so what does this mean for our diet? Well, to put it bluntly, as Sisson does, the human body is designed to "eat plants and animals," and not much else. During paleolithic times, it was impossible for a human being to eat anything that did not occur naturally in nature; they foraged for nuts, berries, and other edible, wild plants, and they hunted for wild animals. There were no such things as farms and consequently no agriculture and certainly no such thing as "grain-fed" animals. So without further ado, this is what this diet looks like:

• What you can eat:
• Beef, Pork, and Poultry (grass-fed/pasture-raised or at least organic)
• Eggs (pasture-raised or organic)
• Fish (wild-caught, cold-water)
• Non-starchy vegetables (organic and preferably local)
• Most fruits (organic and preferably local)
• Nuts and seeds (peanuts and cashews are not real nuts!)
•  Do not eat:
• Grains of any kind, including: all types of bread (yes, even whole grain), cereal, oats, sugars, flour, pasta, rice, and corn.
• Beans
• Potatoes
• Dairy (recommended but not necessary)

     It is important to note a few things: One, this is not a conventional "diet" that involves eating this way for a couple weeks and then returning to a "normal" diet. This is a long-term, permanent approach to living a longer, healthier life. Personally, I have been eating a strictly primal diet for approximately three months now and I feel good and plan to continue to do so. Once your body readjusts to its new, more appropriate diet, you simply feel better; more energy, longer periods of satiety after meals, better sleep, etc. The fact is (and I'm not an expert so I'm not going to pretend to be) that carbohydrates in the form of grains and refined sugar, causes chronic spikes blood glucose and insulin levels which lead to spikes and crashes in energy and subsequently can affect your mood and sleeping patterns. 

     The dietary portion of this book is only one part of the primal lifestyle, with the other major part being exercise. Today, most people fall into one of two categories, either they rarely and exercise at all, or they subject their bodies to overexertion due to "chronic cardio." Sisson's workout plans call for an improvement in flexibility and using natural movements to build strength and thus prevent injuries. The four basic primal movements are push-ups, squats, pull-ups, and planks. So far, I haven't done more than a few primal workouts, although I do plan to do so soon, so I'm sure I will be posting about that at some point. 

     In the mean time, I encourage you to check out Mark Sisson's website, Mark's Daily Apple, where you can find TONS of free information about this lifestyle and if you are really interested you can purchase his book here (or on Amazon.com for about half the price). I also recommend checking out the Paleo Diet which seems to be similar although I have yet to read the book. Keep in mind that it is important to continue to explore other ways of thinking and other methods and find the one that works best for you. I have recently been looking into the benefits of an all raw diet and am looking to integrate more raw, fresh fruits and vegetables into my diet. 

     Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll try my best not to take another month off between posts!