You're Bonking at Mile One: Stop Sprinting Towards Health
Why your crash diets, detoxes, and 21-day overhauls aren't working—and what to do instead.
“5:23, looking good Matt.” That was the cross-country coach in the woods at the mile one marker my freshman year of college. I was running cross country to build up my endurance for basketball season. I was feeling amazing and if the race were only 1.5 miles I would have been pumped. Unfortunately, the race was an 8k (4.97 miles) and I knew there was no way I was going to be able to keep the pace, so instead of being pumped, I was recognizing how painful the last half of the race was about to be.
At that moment, something shifted.
My heart sank. My mind panicked.
I felt amazing during that mile—like wow, I didn’t know I could run with real cross-country runners. But when I heard that time, reality hit. I still had than four miles to go.
My body and mind had not been trained to hold a 5:23 pace
.
And that, my friend, is exactly what happens to so many people on their health journey.
We hit the ground sprinting.
We go all in for 3 days. 7 days. Maybe 21.
“I’m fasting!”
“I’m juicing!”
“Parasite cleanse!”
“No snacks, only vegetables after 3pm!”
“Three miles a day, cold plunges, liver shots—let’s go!”
It feels amazing, it’s so easy. And then a pebble gets in the way, in the form of vacation, work stress, forgetting to pack lunch in advance, the scale showed I gained 0.5lbs. Momentum leaves, reality sets in.
Crazy is not sustainable. Consistency is. What am I willing to do consistently starting today to move my health forward?
Just like I could not hold a 5:23 mile pace for 8 kilometers without consistent training to build up that kind of endurance, you are not going to sustain a radically different lifestyle by sheer will power alone. As I discussed with a patient today was looking to decrease her cholesterol and body fat composition, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years is going to happen if you are on planet earth. You could spend all that time in mountains and valleys of health and end up no further along or we can take one part of your lifestyle and in this case it was 30 grams of corn syrup coming in via a latte each day and substitute in real food and a coffee.
But I want it right now. We all do but instant gratification does not promote long term health manifestation.
When you employ the ideology of health accumulation, you build a foundation of habits and routines, that enable you to continue your health seeding journey, even when your feelings are saying, “I could really use a Dr. Pepper right now.”
The people who win with their health?
They are not the ones who do everything perfectly for 10 days every couple years.
They are the ones who consistently go for a walk at lunchtime. They are the ones who prepare their food in advance. They are the ones who say I am going to push my beer to the weekend for now, instead of every night. They are the ones who cut their fast food stops from 3 nights a week to one time a month.
When my wife started making sourdough bread, she was getting the whole wheat pastry flour from Costco. Now she mills her own flour, has different wheat berry mixes and makes her own homemade Ezekiel bread, bagels, and hamburger burns. If she were to try and start where she is now, the task would be daunting and would feel overwhelming with eight kids in tow. But she accumulated skills, acquired tools, and kept showing up because she desires to optimally nourish our family.
Keep it simple, according to your current health routines.
Master a new routine or update one you have locked in.
Health Accumulation does not have a finish line but the more you accumulate the more enjoyable the race becomes.