{"id":230549,"date":"2020-06-29T14:52:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-29T18:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/?p=230549"},"modified":"2022-07-15T22:31:03","modified_gmt":"2022-07-16T02:31:03","slug":"an-open-letter-to-anyone-struggling-to-get-healthier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/an-open-letter-to-anyone-struggling-to-get-healthier\/","title":{"rendered":"An Open Letter to Anyone Struggling to Get Healthier"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Before I became a psychologist, I worked with a director of a multi-million-dollar recreation center<\/mark>. His day was packed with back-to-back meetings, but every day, he worked out for an hour during his lunch break. Business associates would frequently ask him to cancel or reschedule his workout to fit in another business meeting “because it\u2019s important.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His response?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy workout is a meeting with myself. It\u2019s just as, if not more, important than any other meeting I have. I never cancel a workout.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recognized his health created a cascade effect. If he maintained his health, he\u2019d be better at his job and able to pursue a quality life. If he neglected his health, his performance and quality of life would deteriorate. Despite being busy, he kept his health a priority.<\/mark> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019d be easy for me to blame being out of shape on external circumstances. I was a fat kid because I grew up in a poor rural area where health literacy is low, and obesity rates are high<\/a>. I stayed fat as an adult because I was too busy to exercise regularly \u2014 college and work took up too much time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes your reasons are valid, but they\u2019re still bullshit excuses.<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reality is I didn\u2019t prioritize my health. Resources are everywhere, but we have to put in the work to find them. Google, Youtube, your local library, teachers, mentors \u2014 the list goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t need a gym membership or fancy equipment. There are plenty of exercises you can do with your body weight or with objects you already have lying around. If you want to spice it up, look up prison workouts \u2014 people who are incarcerated have to improvise to stay in shape, and they come up with some ingenious ways to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Healthy food doesn\u2019t have to be expensive. Look at the canned and frozen food sections if the fresh stuff is pricey. When produce is out of season, it\u2019s usually better to buy the canned or frozen version because they\u2019re picked during peak season then preserved \u2014 so the quality is higher versus the \u201cfresh\u201d stuff that\u2019s more expensive (because it\u2019s out of season) and has a longer shelf life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t take advice from \u201cgurus,\u201d and I don\u2019t give advice on shit I haven\u2019t used in my own life or with my clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, I decided to prioritize my health \u2014 no more excuses. I don\u2019t schedule my training around everything else; I schedule everything else around my training.<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This mental shift is subtle, but it\u2019s powerful.<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I write. I read. I do strength and conditioning. I train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I eat nutritious food (most of the time). I rest<\/a>. I spend quality time with loved ones.<\/mark> These are my priorities \u2014 and I treat them as a priority.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever time I have left in the day is what\u2019s available for the other stuff. Yes, I have a regular job, but remote work allows for more flexibility. The 4 Hour Workweek<\/a><\/em> by Tim Ferriss explains how to negotiate this if you\u2019re curious.<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get one life. One mind. One body. It\u2019s up to us to keep them in good health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Determine what\u2019s important to you. Fill your day, and your life, with whatever that is. Let the trivial shit compete over the remaining scraps of your time.<\/mark> Don\u2019t fill your plate up with bullshit obligations \u2014 read The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck<\/a><\/em> by Mark Manson if you need suggestions on how to do this.<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go live your life. Focus on what matters. Fuck a pandemic<\/a>. Fuck excuses. Fuck all the bullshit life tries to throw at you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read. Exercise. Take care of your mental health<\/a>. Spend time with loved ones. Do something you can see progress in every day (for me, it\u2019s writing<\/a>). Pursue something fulfilling \u2014 whatever that looks like for you.<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until next time,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Memento mori<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before I became a psychologist, I worked with a director of a multi-million-dollar recreation center. His day was packed with back-to-back meetings, but every day, he worked out for an hour during his lunch break. Business associates would frequently ask him to cancel or reschedule his workout to fit in another business meeting “because it\u2019s important.” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":230812,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","ub_ctt_via":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[34,36],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/1_Sd8N8EUApitywQ-GCrqCMw-scaled-e1612741887115.jpeg","author_info":{"display_name":"Corey","author_link":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/author\/corey\/"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/1_Sd8N8EUApitywQ-GCrqCMw-scaled-e1612741887115.jpeg",375,500,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/1_Sd8N8EUApitywQ-GCrqCMw-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/1_Sd8N8EUApitywQ-GCrqCMw-225x300.jpeg",225,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/1_Sd8N8EUApitywQ-GCrqCMw-768x1024.jpeg",768,1024,true],"large":["https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/1_Sd8N8EUApitywQ-GCrqCMw-768x1024.jpeg",768,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/1_Sd8N8EUApitywQ-GCrqCMw-1152x1536.jpeg",1152,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/1_Sd8N8EUApitywQ-GCrqCMw-1536x2048.jpeg",1536,2048,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Corey","author_link":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/author\/corey\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Before I became a psychologist, I worked with a director of a multi-million-dollar recreation center. His day was packed with back-to-back meetings, but every day, he worked out for an hour during his lunch break. Business associates would frequently ask him to cancel or reschedule his workout to fit in another business meeting “because it\u2019s important.”…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230549"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230549"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":232604,"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230549\/revisions\/232604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}