Ersatz Whim Hof
June 6, Sat 2020 — Thomas Lekhanya
“Dude…aren’t you cold???” said a perplexed friend as I joined him and the others in the car after waiting in the shadow of a building.
Of course he’d ask.
The rational thing to do on a winter morning is stand in the sun rather than not; wear something warm rather than not…instead of just a shirt.
“Nah I’m chilled man…I’m chilllled,” I joked.
Yes I was cold. But it wasn’t too bad.
I can hear your thoughts, “oh you’re tough huh??? Trying to be a tough guy haha..”
And to that I respond.
Yes!
(And no…I also wanted to avoid the contrast of being in the sun exaggerate my perceived coldness when I got in the car…but)
Think that’s a problem!??
Fuck youuu!!!
Lol!
Why not wear a shirt on a winter morning?
Tell..Why not??
Let me explain my logic I write while being an arm’s reach away from a heater I’ve intentionally left switched off in my cold room.
Look at your life. If you’re reading this, it’s safe to guess…you have easy access to more knowledge than Alexander the Great and Napoleon through the internet and local library…You easily buy food instead of risking your life hunting or foraging for hours with the chance of finding nothing. You get more nutrients from food you eat in one day than your ancestors of ten generations ago did in a week…Dude, if some bacteria-laden swamp you crossed infected a leg you scraped while hunting rabbits…you were fucked if it didn’t heal! FUCKED!!
Yes, what I’m saying is that relative to your family of a few generations ago we’ve become soft.
This ruins with our touch to tough times and the natural world.
Joe Rogan, the famous podcaster and UFC announcer, once spoke about the weirdness of people thinking bears are fun cuddly animals, you know… like teddy bears, when in reality they’re one of the most vicious animals to ever haunt the woods (which apparently eat chunks of you while you’re still alive).
Imagine the mental hell you can sink in when certain eases get pulled away from you in unexpected life situations.
Take food for example. Everyone enjoys delicious food. (I sometimes stuff it down even after I’m full.)
But, what if, after making a habit of eating nice foods, you financially got punched in the mouth and had to adapt to more basic food for a while…wouldn’t the transition be less of as shock if you already had the habit of eating basic food every now and then?
Of course it would.
A neighbour told me how in jail he learned to eat less. Later after being released he got a job earning very little and struggled to make ends meet while staying with his girlfriend.
So what did he do?
This cat ate ONE fucking meal a day so his girlfriend can eat more than him!
ONE. Fucking. Meal. A day!!!
That wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the fact that did he this while laying bricks for a living!
A construction worker…eating once a day!
Do you know how energy-taxing that is?
I don’t.
My step dad does…and I’ll tell you…growing up watching him work in construction eradicated any possibility of a reality where I built houses for a living.
My neighbour’s story stamped a new perspective in my mind because I’ve had bouts of food addiction.
Mainly with scones!!
Baked goods are to me what feet are to Quentin Tarantino.
I once read the health benefits of fasting I tried it doing it for a full day but by midday I’d destroyed my progress.
Fasting for a full day is not happening any time soon.
However, my Spartan-diet neighbour now eats twice a day.
Twice a day?
Yeah, I can do that.
And I did for around two weeks before my recent routine change when I did sales work.
What helped was thinking of food primarily as a fuel source (instead of pleasure as my marketing colleagues have successfully done) and remembering that after a while hunger falls to background if you ignore it long enough (…to an extent).
I sometimes incorporate these kind of (sometimes weird) habits into my lifestyle to be less softened by modern conveniences. Avoiding YouTube in my phone. Running bare foot. Running shirtless in winter. Running long distances. Intentionally switching the heater off when it’s cold. Reading for long duration's (which has become easy).
It makes me feel less softened by modern living and more prepared for tough times than if I don’t do these things.
Until next time.
- Thomas “The Ersatz African Whim Hof” Lekhanya
P.S To be fair, South African winter’s are nothing compared to other parts of the world where motherfuckers get snowed on…every winter!!! Suhn-ooohh-ah!? The closest thing to snow I’ve seen was “sleet” in Johannesburg…and that happens here only once every couple of decades!!!…So yeah, challenging the cold in winter in Africa isn’t as hardcore as doing in say, Norway, like Whim Hof.
