My November Challenge ~

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November is going to be a challenging month for a lot of us, I believe.

The US elections and its aftermath are going to dominate world attention for a period, and yes I’m sure the outcome, whichever way it goes, will be challenging for some.

My November challenge is something else.

It’s been 6 ½ years since I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and next year I have one of the most physically demanding periods of my life coming up.

There’s a chance that I might be shooting my Indian thriller, Those that Love, Those that Kill, in January and part of Feb in northern India. It will be a tough shoot.

Even if that doesn’t happen, come mid February Jennifer and I embark on a gruelling Q&A tour of the US, doing 30 screenings of The Way, My Way right across the US in 35 days.

That’s a punishing schedule even for a young ‘un.
And I’m no longer a young ‘un!
Hence, my November challenge.

I need to get fit for the year coming up. Already I’ve been ramping up my exercise routine, but I need to do more. Plus, I have two addictions that I have to tame: Salt & Sugar.

I put excessive salt on everything. Crazy, right? But that’s the nature of addiction. Plus I am addicted to chocolate of an evening.

Both have to stop.
I need to break the craving, and the only way I can do that is to take the nuclear option.

So here is my November Challenge:

  1. I’ll walk at least 45 minutes a day, every day. If I can’t walk for whatever reason, I’ll do 45 minutes on an indoor bike. But every day for the month of November I’ll walk or bike a minimum of 45mins.
  2. I’ll cut salt from my diet completely. By that, I mean I won’t add salt to a meal.
  3. I’ll cut sugar from my diet completely. No chocolate, no desserts, no cakes or sweets. No lemon and chocolate gelato ice creams, which I love.

There’s no doubt that #3, cutting sugar, will be the hardest.

And you might think that walking 45 minutes a day for a Camino walker is no big deal. But you have to understand that my Parkinson’s disease has severely limited my ability to walk long distances. It’s taken me quite some time to even do 45 minutes at a reasonable clip.

So to do it every day for a month is going to be challenging. But I’ll be using my Nordic walking poles, and that helps enormously.

I’ll do a weekly audit on this blog. I’ll detail what I’ve done the previous week.
If I falter, I’ll tell you.

This is going to be tough.
But tomorrow it starts!

Why don’t you do your own version of a November Challenge too, and we’ll do it together?

10 thoughts on “My November Challenge ~”

  2. Good plans, Bill! Just don’t beat yourself up if you screw up once in a while! Who knows, a square of high cocoa dark chocolate once a week might help you get through the rest of it! I’m pulling for you!

    George

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  3. Cutting salt and sugar can be difficult, and it will be good for you if you can do it, but also consider that it’s no more difficult than supporting veganism as a whole movement. Imagine, if every grocery store, product manufacturer, and restaurant had to make a section or specific products specifically for vegans. Those products might become even more popular than current offerings due to quality! Please consider supporting options for veganism, even if you eat meat, a specific health diet, or eat whatever you like at every meal. I believe it would help the market become more balanced and allow people to have a better variety of foods to choose from at every meal. Art and style make a huge impact in what we think about our world every day. So one way of lobbying for healthier options would be to support vegan products. The problem is that there aren’t many!

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      • Hi Bill, I want to make veganism more about supporting the 1% who are vegan, rather than about eating vegan myself, or encouraging others to eat vegan. I would like to see the movement recognized as a minority of people who will never be able to demand certain goods or services, but nonetheless, might be able to pave the way for great products and foods for everyone. I’m in a UX design course and the curb cutting effect describes what happens when good design for disabled people makes a product better for everyone. I think vegans are a minority of the population that deserve products and restaurant dishes designed for them so that everyone can benefit.

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