Day 15 of my 5AM Club Habit Installation

First day of my third week into this 5AM Club journey and I wanted it to be easier at this point. My weekend was a little bit wobbly as I had some junk food and lost focus a bit, so I’m not surprised that I started the week in a very subdued fashion. Lastnight I went to a late outdoor screening of the Flashdance movie from 1983. It was in an awesome location in Uskudar overlooking the Bosphorus here in Istanbul.

7:50 AM Shake your booty: Ok so it was another late start. I didn’t get home until late last night as I think the Flashdance movie started sometime after 9:30.

Today I really struggled. Not only did I wake up late, but I also felt very flat. My energy had abandoned me and every inch of my body screamed at me when I tried to make it work.

I pushed on though and managed to squeeze out 100 push ups and 100 sit ups. Usually I start the morning with at least 200 push ups but my 43 year old body was not cooperating today.

8:20 AM Contemplate grasshopper: Today I did ten minutes writing in my journal as it always makes me feel good. If I run out of things to write I just write a few I AM affirmations that I use throughout the day.

The second half was spent writing about goals as if I had already achieved them. So I was writing about my day and how I spent it, how it felt to have achieved some of my big goals, how I would think, what I saw, everything. All of the little details as if I lived the day. It was a very interesting exercise and I think I’ll make it a more regular thing.

8:30 AM Learn master: So I’m reading “What doesn’t Kill us” by Scott Carney. It’s a very interesting book. I’ve always wondered what abilities we lost along the way to becoming the modern flabby human, but I always thought about it from a spiritual, psychic or mental standpoint. So how different would a walk through virgin forest be for me compared to an ancestor many years ago who lived in the forest and depended on all of his senses for survival?

In the Scott Carney book the same questions are asked in regards to our physical abilities that have weakened and now lay dormant. With the practices that Wim Hof promotes they look at awakening our dormant abilities or hacking the body to empower and strengthen it.

I haven’t read enough of it to recommend it yet but I’m liking it so far.

15th Day of the 5AM Club Morning Routine Challenge

I woke up late again today but it was because I went out for the night and got home late last night. I stuck to the diet when I went out though as I had salad and meatballs before leaving the house and I was full. I didn’t drink any alcohol or have any snacks while I was at the outdoor cinema as I was already content after a good sized healthy meal.

A new thing I did try today was a cold shower. This new book about Wim Hof has got me thinking about my body and how to improve it. So I thought I would start with a cold shower. Oh, my, god! I swear the cold water in my shower must come straight from the Antartic!

I jumped under the cold water and I nearly lost my breath! I could only do it for a few seconds. It was such a shock to the body.

I felt like I had failed but I definitely wasn’t doing that again today. So I decided to put the cold water on my legs for a little while longer. It was still crazy cold but I started to breathe more calmly and my body started to adapt. Strangely enough, my legs actually started to feel warm with the cold water on them.

After a couple of minutes I decided to introduce some warmer water and shower the rest of my body, but I first touched my legs expecting them to feel warm as my mind was telling me that they were fine. But no, they were as cold as the water that I was pouring all over them. So I thought that was interesting. It’s something I will explore further.

Exercise: 150 pushups, 100 situps. Felt very flat today.
Diet: Healthy breakfast and dinner, but had some unhealthy snacks in the middle of the day.

How Could I Improve?

Just keep working on improving all areas of my life. Everything is connected. I can’t leave any area left untouched as everything falls and rises together. I can’t focus on my physical health and forget about my mental or spiritual health. I can’t give all of my attention to my financial health and forget about the relationships in my life.

Conclusion for Day 15 of the 5AM Club

Although I felt very flat physically and mentally, I pushed on. I didn’t beat myself up and I didn’t force my body to do too much today. Sometimes I think we just need to rest. I know I rested yesterday as it was Sunday but maybe this week I needed 2 days rest.

I’m fascinated with this new book that I’m reading too. As I read more I’m hoping there will be some exercises or suggestions for me to do. I’m particularly interested in breathing techniques and maybe even the cold challenges. I’ll share more as I learn more.

Anyway, thanks for making it this far in my post. Check out my previous days on the 66 day 5AM challenge here.

Hope you have a great week!