I just want to be really real and really honest in this situation.
As a CEO and entrepreneur, how do we manage to deal with our feelings and our minds, during this lockdown?
It feels a bit like the world is being forced to slow down.
If you can’t go out, go inward.
MASTER THE ART OF DOING NOTHING
At first I collapsed. I slept and watched Netflix for a week—and I realized I really needed that. But after a week, I was bored. I didn’t want to do that anymore. I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to do it all the way, without having to feel guilty about it. I also want to keep that feeling towards the future—to know that sometimes it’s time to just collapse and do absolutely nothing, master the Art of Doing Nothing.
It’s like when La Casa De Papel came out, and I watched the entire season in one night, without nervously counting the “hours of sleep” I’d have until the next day of work. I just fully committed to just watching it all night, and I fully enjoyed it. I finished at 5AM, after the mosque! The next morning I woke up and had a very productive day. No alarm clock is one of my favorites features of this lockdown. What’s yours?
QUARANTINE ROUTINE
Then I came up with a little quarantine routine: read, write, exercise on the mat, island walk, circus trick a day, connect with a loved one, do something for my home, meditate, journal my feelings, self development and work. You know, something for the body and something for the mind, because it’s good to keep the mind busy.
Most importantly, I decided that I wanted to lose some weight. With a combination of intermittent fasting, exercise, carb cycling, calorie counting… I decided to make a plan to lose 8 kilos in 8 weeks. Do you want to know how?
NUTRITION
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of fasting and eating. There is no restriction on what to eat or drink, but rather when you should eat. There are several different intermittent fasting methods.
The nutrition course I’ve taken is at Kokoro Healing on Gili Air. Nutrition 101 with Nick sheds a nice angle on nutrition. I really like his take, as he teaches you about all these life hacks. Learn more of Nick’s tips on how to essentially trick the body’s system here.
My intermittent fasting program:
I already lost 2 kilos in 2 weeks! My target is to lose 8 kilos in 8 weeks. The first two I lost with little effort, eating and drinking anything I want in moderation, during that eating window.
- 5:2
5 Days intermittent fasting / 2 days-off
The days I’m working, I fast. (Tuesday – Saturday)
Sunday and Monday, I eat normally. - 16:8
I fast minimum 16HRS, with an eating window of 8HRS.
I usually fast between 8PM and 12AM.
While fasting only drink black coffee, black/green tea, water (natural or with gas).
Slow Training
I have a coffee and train in the mornings. I count 6000-10.000 steps everyday. Did you know, black coffee before training (makes your body oxidize fat cells before glycogen). More life hacks by Nick in this article.
Monitor calorie intake
To lose 8 kilos in 8 weeks, my calorie intake per day should be 1240. I monitor it with an app called My Fitness Pal. The app says, if I keep it up, I’ll lose 8 kilos in 8 weeks!
Since we’ve been paused. I think it’s a great opportunity to take care of our body. In the situation we are in, it’s really important to think about our immune system, and boost it.
Jamu Shot Recipe by Musa Cookery Gili Air
Blend on high:
- 1 cup turmeric
- 1/2 cup ginger
- 4 1/2 cups spring water
Simmer over small fire for 20 minutes with cinnamon, black pepper, and 2 stalks of lemongrass.
Strain and cool slightly. Add lime to taste, and sweeten with honey, coconut nectar or maple syrup.
MOVEMENT
Come and take some vitamin SEA with us. Now is a great time to create new habits. It takes an average of a month and a half for a new habit to become automatic. Some movement to wake your body up in the morning, or before you go to sleep always feels good. With a little ab strengthening of course—my favorite!
MINDSET
I’m reading this mind blowing book, written by this Korean guru, “The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down” by Haemin Sunim.
SLOW READING
How to be calm in a busy world. It is mind blowing! I tell you! It’s also an easy read. The writer suggests to read just a chapter a day and let the content reflect and sink in during the day. Why do we always need to finish the book ASAP?
PERCEPTION
“We knew the world only through the window of our mind.
When our mind is noisy, the world is as well.
And when our mind is peaceful, the world, too.
Knowing our mind is just as important as trying to change the world.
I squeeze myself into the subway car.
People are crowded all around me.
I can either get annoyed to think it’s fun. I don’t have to grab a handrail.
People react differently to the same situation.
If we look at it more closely,
we see it’s not the situation that is troubling us,
but our perspective on it.”
What does your perspective look like towards this lockdown?
MUSIC
Music is medicine for the soul! Dance it all out!
Dance is a type of meditation through movement. Have you heard of ecstatic dance? Its a form of dance in which you don’t need to follow specific steps, just abandon yourselves to the rhythm and move freely as the music takes you, leading to trance and a feeling of ecstasy. Its my favorite way of releasing all these emotions I tend to stock up in me.
Try it at home!