Month: May 2026

It’s easier than ever to eat food the instant you’re hungry. With drive-thrus, microwaves, and processing—taking short cuts to calories has become the modern day norm. But, this only leads to problems later on (typically) because much of the above is crap. And when you eat crap that has little to no nutritional value, you’ll end up paying in health what you tried to save in dollars and minutes. And the cost of health is worth far more than whatever you think you saved in dollars and minutes.

But, you probably already knew this.

…As did I.

And yet, I still took short cuts for years without any immediate remorse. I would eat microwaved food daily. Default almost immediately to highly processed pretzels and dips whenever hungry. And stock up on frozen meals for my “heartier” options. And it was all just crap, crap, crap.

…Eventually, I started feeling bad enough to actually do something about it.

And so I started cutting things like donuts, pop/soda, and dairy. I started intermittent fasting. I started making fruit and protein packed smoothies…

The part I’m focused on now is cutting the microwave meals. Because even though I buy stuff that’s got vegetables and good protein counts in it, it’s still mostly crap. So I joined a food delivery service that gives me 10ish-minute meal recipes and all the fresh ingredients needed. All ready to go.

My point is this: short-cuts are the modern day norm; but not all short-cuts are created equal.

The ROI of the slightly longer routes can yield a disproportionately large return.

…If you’re not ready to take the long route… At least take the slightly longer one.

During a martial arts class I took this morning, the master teaching commented on how important it is to do the hard things in training.

He said, firstly, it keeps you humble. People who skip the hard parts and build skills via short cuts or lazy tactics become arrogant. Their technique never fully tested and not completely earned… leaving them prone to thinking things (I.e. real life application of techniques) are easier than they actually are; than they’ve ever experienced them to be.

And secondly, he said easy doesn’t train the person in full… it maybe only hits one aspect of the mind, body, spirit connection. The example he gave was running on a treadmill while watching TV… it works the body but completely disengages the development of the mind… and the spirit can only be developed when both the mind and body are being challenged together.

The goal, however, isn’t to make exercise and/or training as difficult as possible. This wouldn’t be a good strategy either. It’s simply a reminder to find the medium between these two extremes. Don’t opt for easy+distracted and don’t push to the other extreme of hard+miserable… aim for balanced+mindful.

Focus on the strategy of fully utilizing your mind… to activate your body in an appropriately challenged way… so that the two of them ignite with energy and vibrate the spirit to life and development as well.