On June 4th 2016 my family and I arrived at the house we would be staying at for a week long vacation on Hilton Head Island. It was to be a gathering of most of the family members on my wife’s side of the family to catch up, to enjoy each other’s company, and to relax. It was all of that and much more. It was the beginning of a challenge to myself. It didn’t start out that way. It was just an off hand comment. “We don’t have any excuse why we can’t do 10,000 steps a day. We have all day.” I remember saying that to Ann and at the time we didn’t realize the impact it would have on our lives. So we walked on the beach or to the coffee shop or around the outlets when it was raining with our Fitbits on our wrist. We did it. Every day at the beach we hit our goal. We challenged each other and we rose to the challenge. Then it got hard.

We arrived home, back to the real world. Work, volunteer work, events, and everything life throws at you in a 24 hour period. We had a streak though and we weren’t going to let it end so we walked. We do it together but more often separately due to our schedules and stride length and she prefers the treadmill and it hurts my feet. Days and months pass and along the way my goal became to do it for a year. So you might have seen me out walking in the rain, in the dark, in the early morning or the middle of the day. It got hot and humid and it got cold. I went through a couple of pairs of shoes and developed plantar fasciitis. Which means my right foot gets painful to walk on. I did it though. I am in year two.

I learned a lot personally and through the podcasts I listened to on my walks. First off exercise is a habit and while I didn’t lose a whole lot of weight I did not gain any. I just do it now it is part of my routine. It is a daily habit. A lifestyle choice in the modern parlance. The disappointment was not losing more weight. I learned though the importance of diet and what you eat plays the largest role in weight loss. (More on this in a bit.) I learned that the heat and humidity and the cold that freezes your fingers is something the body can easily adapt to and it is the mind that so often holds us back. It is the mind that puts artificial limits on what we can do. It reinforced the lesson that often bears repeating in that we are in control. It doesn’t matter who is in power or who is not because you are in control of how you react to events and to others. If you get angry, it is because you choose to be angry. If you forgive, it is because you choose to forgive. You are in control. You make the decisions that have the most impact on your life.

Diet, lifestyle choice, food matters and what you eat matters. So the weight didn’t come off because my body told my brain to eat more fuel because I was expending more fuel walking every day. After a few months I realized this and so started a few experiments to see what works for me. I know my addictions from sugar, simple carbs like bread and pasta, to french fries. I haven’t broken all my bad dietary habits but I am an educated eater now. I know I need to eat more vegetables so that is this years challenge. Okay, not exactly a new years resolution since my day is completely random. June 4th? Who starts their new habits on June 4th? I do apparently due to a vacation in 2016. It also teaches a valuable lesson. New habits can start on any day, you don’t need a magical day like New Year’s Eve or your Birthday to start something new. Much like walking replaced TV time and sitting time I am adapting that philosophy to what I eat. Every day except days I am fasting (either intermittent or more intense daily fasts) I will eat at least four servings of non-fried vegetables with the intent to increase it to five or more servings daily. Since there are days I don’t eat breakfast due to intermittent fasting that means I have two meals to get the veggies in and that usually means something isn’t getting eaten and that will usually be meat or simple carbs like pasta. I am not giving up anything. Just reinforcing habits I started years ago such as eating less fried food and more vegetables. I just happen to fall off the veggie wagon pretty frequently. I was a picky eater as a child (sorry Mom and Dad). I didn’t learn to like a lot of foods until college and afterwards as I backpacked around Europe. When you don’t speak or read the language and just point because a word is somewhat familiar on the menu and you get something you’ve never eaten before but you’ve walked for five miles and are starving you eat it and learn that hey it doesn’t kill me and it tastes pretty darn good. In large part what we don’t like to eat and do like to eat is based on habit, culture, and dopamine hits to the brain.

A quick note on the podcasts: The British History Podcast and Dan Carlin’s Hard Core History  aside from the fascinating stories from history are great for getting you to think and ask questions and question assumptions. Barry Ritholtz’s Masters in Business – more work related stuff but great stories and the behavioral economics ones are the best. Tim Ferris’ Podcast and the Art of Manliness Podcast round out the top five. The last two usually feature movers and shakers but mostly showcase the variety of ways to succeed in life and learn new skills. One I’ve added to the rotation for year two of walking is health related and it is from Dr. Michael Greger and it is Nutrition Facts with Dr. Greger . Pro Tip: you can play at 1.5X speed and learn even more.

So in summary, I walk a lot as does my wife Ann who just upped her daily goal to 5 miles a day! I want to lose weight so I am making a new habit of eating more non-fried vegetables. It is a choice since I am in control. Fortunately, we have experimented with trying new vegetables for the past several years so the variety we eat is larger than before. I enjoy gardening and grow a bit of food for the family and for years now I’ve given Black Cherry Tomatoes to my clients right off the two plants I usually have growing outside my office door every summer and fall. I am even germinating an idea for combining financial planning with exercise. I’d love to hear some feedback so feel free to comment.