Lean Startup: Body (Vol. I)

I have always been intrigued by exercise/health issues, and for the first time in…well maybe forever, I am really interested in getting into the best shape of my life.  The reason sort of sounds stupid, but I really love dance, and at some point in my life, I may want to pursue that more, and I don’t want my body to be the limiting factor in that pursuit.  Also, I think it would just be interesting to see if I can do it, you know?  I want to know what that feels like, and see how I like it.  Will the discipline be worth it?  Will the way I feel about myself change?  Will it improve my ability to work?  Will it reduce my stress load?  Will I be happier?  How hard would it really be to be in the best shape of my life?  I have no idea, but I want to answer these questions.

Goal: Have washboard abs, really good posture, and fall sick less.

Yeah, that’s about it.  I know that doesn’t really mean best shape of my life, but that’s how I’m going to track my progress because that is what is interesting to me right now.  Also, because I’m already in decent shape and eat pretty healthy already, getting that last 10% of results (re: abs) is the hardest part, and my theory is that I’m going to need to really reconfigure everything to achieve this goal.  I don’t get sick all that much (maybe once every 2 months), but the first year I was in India, I didn’t get sick at all, and I have a feeling it’s because I’m not eating as well as I used to, I travel more, I’m more stressed, and I get less sleep.  So I want that to be a metric to make sure my body isn’t revolting and will die out on me soon.  And the posture thing would just be cool.  In general.  I feel like I would just be more CEO like.

Theory: I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and drawing from two main sources (Tim Ferris, 4 Hour Body and Flip the Switch) and using Lean Startup Principles (i.e. how can I hack this thing and test out theories in the quickest way possible?) I am convinced that there are simple things I can do (mainly having to do with diet) that will help me achieve the results I want.

Main Mental Shift/Theory: 70% of any changes you can see in your body have to do with diet.  Which means if I want the most bang for my buck, I need to understand how my body functions and make the most out of my existing metabolic functioning to increase fat burn. NOT change anything related to how much I exercise

Defining Personal Constraints/Where I Draw the Line: No drugs and crazy weird diets.  Or diets in general.  If I can’t make this work on regular healthy food, then it’s not worth it.  Also, I think chemicals just kill people.  I’m saving my drug tolerance for things like penicillin and the such (i.e. when I really need it to save my life).  Additionally, I refuse to feel hungry ever, because if I get hungry I get cranky and I hate life and I cannot function like a proper human being and run a startup.  This is bad.  I will avoid this at all costs.   I’m also trying to get sick less often, so I feel like if I’m not eating properly, I’ll get sick more anyway and would that metric would just be terribly off the charts and I’d have to start over anyway.

To Do List: Do general reading about the matter and figure out what sounds interesting, what I believe (and what sounds like crap to me) and what I want to focus on.

I think the nerdy part of me is actually pretty excited.  Which, lets face it, is most of my being.  Lets see where this goes.