Stop Getting Stuck In The Weeds
In the last 6 years or so, since Covid, there’s been a rise in number of people who consider themselves to be living a crunchy lifestyle. Crunchy, as described by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, means “having or relating to a lifestyle that is typically focused on connecting with and preserving the natural world (as by spending time in nature, by favoring organic and natural foods and environmentally sustainable products, and by living simply and healthfully) and that may also include New Age beliefs, self-reliance (as in growing and/or making products that most people buy ready-made), and a wariness of conventional agricultural, educational, medical, and industrial practices.”
My wife and I have implemented aspects of the crunchy life into our family and we really appreciate the idea of it. We utilize wild game in our meals that I have either harvested or been along with friends when they harvested it. We buy locally produced raw milk, raw honey, eggs, produce, and an array of other things. We cook as much of our food from scratch as time allows. We try to limit the use and consumption of products or food with insanely long or dangerous ingredient lists.
My wife has even gone through phases of getting rid of anything that isn’t crunchy and converting to the full lifestyle, and I’ve supported it. But one thing has consistently happened every time we’ve tried this. We end up stressed out, tired, and unable to manage all the different aspects of the crunchy lifestyle.
You’re busy working a job, taking care of kids, spending time with your spouse, attempting to enjoy a hobby, and if you’re lucky, get enough sleep at night. When you add being hyper-fixated on ingredient lists to the already long list of things that require you’re energy, you’re trying to take from an already empty energy system.
It takes a lot out of you to focus so much of your time, energy, and effort on living the full crunchy lifestyle. And what I have noticed with most people who do it, is that they are so in the weeds on every single thing on the ingredients list that they miss taking care of the basics with their health.
Most people I have seen or known that try to live the crunchy lifestyle could benefit their health far more by worrying about their calorie and protein intake than if the ingredient list has artificial flavor on it. I’ve witnessed it in others and experienced it in my own life that people get so stuck in the weeds of the ingredient list that they don’t realize they are 30, 40, sometimes 50 pounds overweight, have other major health issues, and could solve a lot of their issues by worrying more about their calorie and protein intake than if they had any artificial flavors today.
Now, I am not saying that the crunchy lifestyle is bad and that you shouldn’t care what’s on the ingredient list. I am however saying that if you struggle to balance it all, get exhausted like we have, and end up saying screw it and revert back, the lifestyle is causing more harm than good.
If you’re at the point I just described, have been there in the past, or feel like you’re headed in that direction, I want to give you something to think about.
Taking care of the macro-habits will get you so much further along than if you stay stuck in the weeds and focusing on micro-habits.
Let me breakdown what I mean by macro and micro-habits. Macro-habits are things like tracking your food in a macro tracking app, hitting a daily movement goal, strength training, focusing on mostly whole foods, and hydrating properly each day. Micro-habits are focusing on the littlest of details like if an ingredient list has artificial flavor or any gums on it. Micro-habits are when you focus on your training plan having 3 or 4 sets and being in the right rep range to get the “best” results.
Macro-habits focus on what the overall picture is. Micro-habits focus on if the “right” paint was used to paint the picture.
Micro-habits aren’t inherently bad, but if you’re so focused on micro-habits that you don’t take care of the macro-habits, you’re doing it wrong and probably headed towards burnout and frustration.
If you’re realizing you’ve been focusing on the paint instead of the picture, let me help you get clear and focused on the right things.
Macro-Habit #1 - Track all your food and drink, focusing on your daily calorie goal and protein goal.
Macro-Habit #2 - Strength training a minimum of 3-4 times per week and aim for 10,000 steps per day.
Macro-Habit #3 - Hydrate properly drinking 100-120oz of water per day.
Macro-Habit #4 - Talk to someone about how you’re doing. Have someone in your life that hears about the good and the bad in your day.
If you’ve got a handle on the basic macro-habits then feel free to start digging into more of the micro-habits, but only if you’ve mastered the basics.
If you’ve not mastered the basics, don’t get stuck in the weeds trying to optimize things that don’t really matter. Focus on the entire picture, get painfully consistent with the macro-habits, and when you’ve mastered the basics then begin exploring more.
What I’ve realized with most people is that they don’t actually want to dive into the micro details or micro-habits. They’ve got enough going on that the macro-habits simplify things enough and help them see progress in the areas that matter to them.
A crunchy lifestyle is not inherently bad, but if you have more than 15-20 pounds to lose to get to your healthiest weight, stop getting stuck in the weeds and work on the basics.
