Warriors, shamans, and diets

The warrior eats a very different diet than the shaman. 

Warriors eat lean. They eat a protein-heavy diet. Their muscles have to be primed and ready at a moment’s notice to jump into action. 

A shaman is focused on spiritual connectivity with their surroundings. They are going to be consuming herbs and substances that facilitate this connection. 

Your desired archetype should define your goals.

And, optimal means something different as your goals change.

Different goals, different actions. 

Think of Dr. Stephen Strange, one of my favorite comic book characters.

Dr. Strange starts off as this top-of-his-field surgeon. Untouchable skill. Constantly optimizing for more knowledge, skill, and control

Until life got in the way and forcibly took his archetype away. 

He then goes through the hero’s journey at Kamar-Taj and transforms into the wizard archetype where he now optimizes for spiritual knowledge, multiversal understanding, and mystical energy harnessing.

The surgeon in him focused on physical recovery and the continuation of his former life.

His new wizard archetype led him to a deeper understanding of reality and a broader spectrum of existence.

I’ve been ruminating on this idea for my fitness goals. 

On one hand, my primary goal is maximum muscle hypertrophy.

However, heart disease runs in my family. So, as I get older, cardiovascular health is becoming a priority.

That means I have to balance muscle growth with cardio activities. 

My archetype is changing from “Power lifter” to “Running lifter.”

I’m no longer interested in maxxing out my deadlift.

The goal now is not to lose any muscle gains while, at the same time, make cardio gains by stepping my running game up.

This will mean adjusting my workout schedule (running 3x/week and lifting 3x/week instead of lifting 5x/week) and increasing my protein intake on cardio days.

It’s super important that you define your goals and to be intentionally clear on the archetype that you are chasing.

• What are you trying to accomplish?

• What operating mode is going to get you to that goal? 

• What are the attack vectors within that mode?

Optimal is a function of your purpose. 

And purpose changes. 

Your optimism and resilience should stay constant. 

This is the way.

Have a great Friday,

Swanagan

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