WLC Day 4: We all know what it’s like to ask someone to help keep us from doing something—like, when on the way to the restaurant, you ask your spouse not to let you even look at the dessert menu. But the best known example comes from one of the greatest stories ever told. Odysseus, on his way home from the Trojan War by ship, orders his men to tie him to the mast and stop up their ears so no one goes overboard when hearing the seductively lethal song of the Sirens.
Why are we talking about Odysseus and the Sirens, when we should be talking about you and the Whole30? Because this same technique remains the foremost weapon in your arsenal against temptation.
The science-y term is precommitment: limiting our own choices while we’re safely distant from temptation. Why do we need this? Because of another science-y term called time inconsistency, which says our preferences will change along with our state of desire. It goes like this:
You make reservations for dinner that morning, feeling secure in your Whole30-ness. But by the time 7 PM rolls around, you’re hungry, stressed, and all too ready to break down in the face of dessert-menu temptation. Where did all your earlier resolve go? That’s time inconsistency, my friends.
So how can you use precommitment during your Whole30? Here are a few strategies:
- Keep tempting food and drink out of your house completely. If it’s not there, you can’t indulge.
- Enlist a supportive friend or loved one to hold you to your commitment. Make it fun by betting on your success—if you finish your Whole30, the other has to buy you those new pair of jeans or that new fitness DVD you’ve been eyeing.
- Tell on yourself. Before you open the box of cookies or pour that glass of wine, jump onto the Whole30 forum or call your best friend and announce, “I’m planning to go off the Whole30.” Telling someone will force you to really think about what you’re about to do… and is often all you need to put the cookies down.
- Check yourself into “rehab,” if necessary. During the toughest days when the cravings are the worst, don’t allow yourself to accept dinner or happy hour invitations, and don’t participate in activities that revolve around eating or drinking less healthy food.
Warmup
Dynamic Athletic Movement
10 Minutes
10 yd Downdog Walk
10 yd Frog Hop
10 yd Lateral Ape Walk
10 yd Reverse Downdog Walk
10 yd Reverse Frog Hop
10 yd Lateral Monkey Walk
Start to increase speed in the movements we’ve been practicing for several weeks: don’t sacrifice the basic movement quality, but see how moving a little faster feels.
For the Monkey, rather than keeping the hips low as in the Ape walk, let your hips come up high–even over your shoulders if you can–as you swing your legs up one at a time and bring them down softly with control.
Skill
15 Minutes Handstand Practice
L4 – Practice Cartwheel to Face the Wall Handstand: the only thing touching the wall should be your toes and possibly your nose, body should be in a tight hollow position; then continue practicing sub-maximal sets of handstand push-ups (not facing the wall, NO KIPPING)
L3 – 60 second hold, then HSPU partials or negatives
L2 – accumulate 60 seconds total time in handstand hold, pike push-ups with feet on tire or box
L0/1 – practice kicking up to the wall, pike push-ups
***ALL LEVELS: Between sets of HSPU/pikes, practice the HOLLOW/ARCH drill 2-3x
Conditioning
“Quarantine”
Levels 2-4
E2MOM 20 Minutes
Double Kettlebell Complex
5 Swings
5 Cleans
5 Squats
5 Burpees
L4 – 2×24/2×18
L2/3 – go lighter as needed to complete the complex unbroken
Levels 0/1
20 Minutes AMRAP
Single Kettlebell Complex
5 Swings R side
5 Cleans R side
5 Squats R side
5 Burpees
Repeat on L side