Inputs and Outputs
In May, I spent a a good few weeks in Lisbon with friends. The trip was a co-working trip. I can work remote, so I thought why not go to a sunny country and work from there with my mates? I had an excellent time. Alongside hanging out with friends, I skydived, watched a lot of Portugese football, sunbathed on a beach for the first time in years and ate a lot of good food. But I also drank a lot, slept little, smoked and some of the food I ate wasn't the healthiest.
When I arrived back home, that continued. I'd be drinking, eating deep-fried food and sleeping little. Not only that, but very rarely did I exercise. A few weeks after getting back, I was in a shitty state of mind. Worrying about things that didn't need worrying about, feeling nervous, anxious. I wasn't a good person to be around.
So I took a step back and thought, "maybe if I put shit into my body, I get shit out". Also known as 'garbage in, garbage out' for software developers. Where if rubbish data is put into a system, its output will be rubbish. I've learnt the same to be true for my body.
I took action.
Cutting down on alcohol felt like the simplest thing, because it also meant that I'd sleep better. Two birds, one stone. I started cooking food at home (no seed oil garbage) and took it into work. Diet fixed. Next was exercise, with three gym sessions and a Barry's class per week. After a few weeks of doing this, I was back at the top of my game.
All it took was a couple of weeks of discipline and my mental state has improved dramatically. I'm a better son to my parents, a better friend to my friends and a better teammate to my work colleagues.
I've learnt a valuable lesson from this experience, and one that if things do go south again that I can think back to.
When I arrived back home, that continued. I'd be drinking, eating deep-fried food and sleeping little. Not only that, but very rarely did I exercise. A few weeks after getting back, I was in a shitty state of mind. Worrying about things that didn't need worrying about, feeling nervous, anxious. I wasn't a good person to be around.
So I took a step back and thought, "maybe if I put shit into my body, I get shit out". Also known as 'garbage in, garbage out' for software developers. Where if rubbish data is put into a system, its output will be rubbish. I've learnt the same to be true for my body.
I took action.
Cutting down on alcohol felt like the simplest thing, because it also meant that I'd sleep better. Two birds, one stone. I started cooking food at home (no seed oil garbage) and took it into work. Diet fixed. Next was exercise, with three gym sessions and a Barry's class per week. After a few weeks of doing this, I was back at the top of my game.
All it took was a couple of weeks of discipline and my mental state has improved dramatically. I'm a better son to my parents, a better friend to my friends and a better teammate to my work colleagues.
I've learnt a valuable lesson from this experience, and one that if things do go south again that I can think back to.