Travelling and 10% body fat - The minimalist approach

I underwent a liver transplantation surgery - 22nd feb 2022. Dad had cancer so I donated. Immense anxiety, zero movement, morphine overdose and a wheelchair. That’s the short story. But, SITE (Suffering Induced Transformational Experiences - psychology today). Worth looking up

Here’s the meat - I could’ve died, but I didn't. Dad could’ve died, but he didn’t. Ended well. Good fun.

When you go through something like this you ask: What was the last thing I’d want before dying? It was traveling. But fitness is very close to me. Fitness requires that you stay in place. Eat clean, sleep well, hit the gym, and get the ‘right’ foods in. So basically can’t happen when you’re traveling.

When I came out of the surgery I was lifting very light, something like 3kgs. I was scared as I'd started lifting before the docs had allowed me to do so. Dropped calories. The biggest discovery of the time was that once I started making progress, I almost didn’t give a shit about increasing calories - I was fairly convinced minimalism was the way to be happy. (I read a lot about minimalism - almost an unhealthy obsession now). I subtracted and I subtracted pretty hard. Can I do without ‘X’?

X could be anything - protein powder/chia seeds/people/expensive shoes/420.

It was almost unreal how I was able to lift heavy(ish) w/o bumping up Cals.

All these years of 5 meals a day - damn, had I been stupid this entire time? Intermittent fasting was the buzzword. So I started reading a lot about it. (A lot of personal growth has come from a year of saying no to alcohol/drugs/ parties and reading all day ).

At my workplace gym, I met this guy, super shredded. asked him how he managed such a great physique, I was finding it tough to fast for 14 hrs and work out. He said he was on a 22 hr fast. WTF? What the absolute fuck? I asked him how he felt - one word - he said ‘liberated’ Liberated from what precisely? - that 6 meals a day bodybuilder shit.

Damn.

I’ve developed this habit of reading to look for answers. I almost don't go to people for advice anymore- I go to authors/scientists. So I did.

I thought ok let's just try this as an experiment (inspiration from David Cain of Raptitude fame). I felt amazing - no food in my belly was an absolute game-changer of a feeling. - better workouts, clearer thoughts, and lower body fat.

So I always chased the clarity of thought that came from fasting 16 hrs. Getting in shape was truly a byproduct. (It beats me how any kind of success is almost always a byproduct of obsession and curiosity). The next question was - can I try 18hrs? I would slowly push the boundaries and see how long I could go w/o food.

I traveled around - Hyderabad, Pondicherry, Bangalore, Kasol, Ahmedabad (home), and Chennai. Couch surfing and staying in hostels. Would find some local gym, pay them for as long as I was there, and then fucked off.

I literally lived off eggs and vegetables. I was able to do this with a 300-400 INR per day budget.  No chia seeds, no powders, no fancy food. Just hit my protein intake and ate a lot of clean fats. NEVER TRACKED CALORIES. Used a kettle to boil most stuff and spiced it with peri-peri or used ghee a few times. (Minimalism feels liberating).

You CAN travel and be in amazing shape. There are trade-offs. I'm 29 and I’ve partied a lot, I’m trying to experiment with a lot of solitude. I’ve been overly extroverted for most of my life. It took me a while to realize that I was dating a lot just because I wasn’t ok with solitude. (Female best friends can help a lot with self-awareness). I think I've fixed this now. So I tried solo travel and reading. These are the most productive ways of embracing solitude.

This is my first post so don't wanna make it too long. Here are the takeaways:

1. Travel and fitness are possible. Even enjoyable
2. Incorporate IF as a daily thing.
3. Eat a lot of protein and clean pure fat sources (avoid sources that have both fat and carbs -eg - yogurt, milk, grains)
4. Follow your regular routine while traveling- There’s a book (Vagabonding) that has some amazing insights, the theme is traveling like a minimalist)
5. Understand that most urges are tailored for the African savannah. Emotions are biochemical vibrations, you can override the hunger signal - ('Power of Now' and 'Awareness' by Anthony DM  - amazing books with great techniques)
6. Get amazingly good at mind observation/ urge surfing

This is not my best work. It's a morning caffeine fuelled writeup. It really helps if you comment with specific criticism. Let me know what else you think I should write about.

Pick from the following - Fasting, Fitness, Dancing, Reading, Solitude, Book recommendations, Book reviews, Nutrition.