Simplicity and Minimalism Today
As the title of my blog states, “Chuck’s Simple Life,” I am progressing in my goal to achieve greater simplicity in my life and working at eliminating the unnecessary in order to live a life of minimalism.
But this minimalism is to be a rational minimalism, and not meant to be a case of “I have fewer things that you, nah-nah-nah-nah-nah. While some try to get their personal (not shared) items down to 100 items, or 75 items, or even 50 items, they do so with a goal of living ‘location independent.’ The less they have, the easier to pack up and move when the mood or need strikes.
While I understand that philosophy, it is not my dream to be one of the location independents; while I do appreciate the desire to be able to move more or less at will, I expect that I’ll be moving only one or two more times as I develop my Very Small Business.
Don’t get me wrong; as money and time permit, I plan to take many mini-vacations. The wife and I desire to see some of the various islands in the Caribbean and to do some traveling as part of just going and seeing different places for the adventure and education of the trip. But I have in mind to make a more-or-less permanent home (or base of operations) in Southern Florida or the coastal area of Texas.
Simplifying my life, possessions, habits, wants and needs are part of the newly begun process; bearing in mind that my wife is not wholly onboard with this concept yet. She had many years of ‘scarcity’ living and it is much harder for her to come around to the ideas of having less actually being more. For that, I thank the many websites, blogs and articles posted on the web that continue to give me insights and suggestions that I then try to convey to her. It’s another process, but it is slowly working.
Again, while I have no particular number of personal items as a specific goal, I am working on what I call the Rule of 3s, 7s and 12s… example: cutting down my wardrobe to 3 pairs of pants (2 jeans and 1 khaki), 7 shirts (3 ‘aloha’ style, 3 tee-shirts, 1 l/s button-down), and 12 pairs of briefs. (Hey, i may wear the pants for two or three times before washing them, but the underwear get a daily change.)
I have two suits from the more formal side of my current job that I will be keeping for now, as well as a couple of white dress shirts, 3 ties, and the dress shoes - until such time as I am making sufficient income from my new VSB to no longer need my current job for its source of money. Eventually, my goal is to have a minimum wardrobe of shirts, shorts, sandals or flip-flops. But ‘til then…
So a rational minimalism, to be achieved over the summer, and simplicity developed as an on-going lifestyle change are the main focus of my sub-goals. Beginning a blog, website, and ‘multiple sources of income’ from a Very Small Business, bringing something of value to each enterprise, getting the body back into a functional condition of greater health and fitness - accomplished through a basic conditioning program of bodyweight exercises, yoga, bicycling, and hiking/walking, and following a diet that paleo/primal, focused on lean meats, fish, fowl, eggs, non-starchy vegetables, an occasional fresh fruit, some nuts and seeds and lots of filtered water.
The idea of a diet that is minimal in carbohydrates, high in fat and medium in proteins seems to work best for me… call it my ‘insulin control’ eating plan. I know many in the field of minimalism and simplicity thought are going or have gone vegetarian - but as a Type 2 diabetic, eliminating grains and sugars has been the best thing that has happened to my body in a long, long time. My guide has been Mark Sisson’s “Primal Blueprint” book and his website Mark’s Daily Apple. The info and articles have been extremely beneficial and I highly recommend them to every-one - top notch writing, research and information. (Grok on!)
[ oops - force of habit that needs to be broken - had diet Dr. Pepper at lunch - darn, got to start that count of soda-free days all over]
~ Faith, Chuck
Let’s Begin with the Diet
One week to go until June 2010.
This week I’ll be laying the foundation of two protocols in setting up the meal plan and diet I’ll be following for the next ten weeks - through the end of July 2010.
It is a combination of the paleo diet as espoused by Mark Sisson and his book the Primal Blueprint - see his material in greater detail at www.marksdailyapple.com - and a basically “beef and eggs and non-starchy vegetables” regimen that was partially stolen from Jimmy Moore of www.livinlavidalowcarb.com and in particular his blog about his journey into a more primal, very low carb diet at www.lowcarbmenu.blogspot.com — and how he also kicked his diet soda habit.
So there you have part of my inspiration; the other part being my own desire to return to the health and regain the physical fitness I once had in my late teens and early twenties. At 57 years, with type 2 diabetes, a body that has been sadly under-trained and under-utilized in the last several years, the goals of regaining the wealth squandered from the neglect of my junk-food consuming, soda-drinking, lack-of-exercise , and simply tolerated as a means of moving my spirit through space shell of a man will not be easy.
But then, I’m not looking for easy, or a quick fix. I know it will take time and effort. I know I’ll have to work hard to replace bad habits with good, to wrap my mind around the concept of thinking about what I put in my body and what I do to my body (i.e.: exercise, physical training, etc.).
Where we start is not as important as where we finish. We’ve all heard that quoted many times. Well, I’m going to start with what to many looks like a page out of the induction phase of the Atkins Diet. A’la Jimmy Moore, I will be eating a lot of eggs… 6-10 a day. Unlike Jimmy, I’ll not be doing an ‘eggfest’ but starting later in his journey.
Where he was several weeks into the ‘eggfest’ before he began introducing some beef burgers and cheese, I will be doing eggs, steak, beef burgers with cheese, fish (wild-caught salmon, not farmed), chicken breast, tuna (canned in water and mixed with mayo, mustard, grated hard-boiled eggs, and a splash or two of tabasco sauce, and eating non-strachy vegetables such as spinach, broccoli (steamed), dark green lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and adding some avocado.
Also included will be olive oil, unsalted butter, some ground black pepper, and water (filtered or purified) will be the beverage of choice. Iced tea and an occasional cup of hot green tea, a couple of cups of coffee with real cream, and a glass of 2% milk to mix two scoops of whey protein powder a few times a week will be my other liquids consumed.
In addition to incorporating some Intermittent Fasting (thank you, Brad Pilon of Eat-Stop-Eat) one or two days each week, there will be days of three meals each and days of both two meals and even one meal a day. It might look like this:
Monday: breakfast, lunch and dinner — Tuesday: eat dinner only — Wednesday: no breakfast, but eat lunch and dinner — Thursday: like Monday, breakfast, lunch and dinner — Friday: again, dinner only — Saturday and Sunday: skip breakfast and have only lunch and dinner. (Please, no ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Latest research on metabolism effects show otherwise.
As Mark Sisson points out in his book, the Primal Blueprint, “plants (vegetables, fruits, seeds and herbs) and animals (meat, fish, fowl and eggs) should represent the entire composition of your diet.” There is no need for carbohydrates, other than incidental as part of the non-starchy veggies I’ll be eating, however, as I am a carb-and-sugar addict, I know I’ll have a battle on my hands.
Minimize and/or eliminate the carbs (no grains or starchy vegetables) and sugars, including artificial sweeteners - no east task as I said, but a necessary component if I am to succeed, but part of the arsenal of ideas and efforts required to meet my goals.
Like Jimmy Moore, I want to stop my consumption of diet soda. I was able to switch from regular Pepsi and Dr. Pepper to Diet Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper when I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Now I find that they are as bad in their own ways as regular sodas. Another addiction to break. Grains and Sugars - BAD!
So the diet is part of my plan to simplify my life. Eat real food. As Jack LaLanne says, “If it was made by man, don’t eat it.” Michael Pollan said we should “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Well, you’ve got my modified version: Eat meat, eat eggs, eat non-starchy veggies, some fresh fruits as a treat or dessert, drink water as the main beverage, and minimize or avoid carbs and sugars.
What could be more simple?
