The Visual Plate & 3 Lessons from a Narnian Sailor

Happy Friday everyone - it’s Don.

Before we jump into the 100th edition of Fit Tip Friday, I want to take a minute to thank you for your readership over the years.

How we got to #100 baffles me, but here we are by God’s grace.

Let’s jump in!

🔎 The 100th Edition of Fit Tip Friday 

 Inside you'll find:

• Tip: The visual plate - simplify your nutrition

• Finds: My favorite fitness finds over the years

• Story: 3 lessons from Pittencream, the flaky Narnian sailor

• Quote: The offer that was refused

• Bonus: The Kettlebell Starter Kit Giveaway

First time reading? Sign-up here.

🍽️ The Visual Plate - Simplify Your Nutrition

This is one strategy that has really helped me simplify nutrition.

I divide food into 5 categories:

• Animals: eggs, beef, turkey, chicken, mutton, venison, etc…

• Fruits: watermelon, tomatoes, apples, berries, cucumbers, etc….

• Roots: carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, onions, etc…

• Shoots (leafy): broccoli, asparagus, spinach, kale, etc…

• Shoots (grainy): rice, breads, pasta, etc…

These categories are (1) simple to remember and (2) remind us not just what food does but what it is and where it comes from… ultimately from the provision of God who made a world with a diverse set of food.

And here’s how you can use these categories as a stencil for your plate:

Use the Visual Plate structure for your own meals. Here’s what it will do for you:

• Limits your plate to 500-700 calories

• Adds in 25-50g of protein per meal

• Provides structure while allowing endless creative combinations

Enjoy!

This is one strategy used in my Kettlebell Strength System, which is a program that helps busy Christian guys lose weight and build functional strength, all at home.

If this sounds like you, click here to get started.

🔎 Finds Over the Years

Here are some of my most impactful fitness posts & finds over the years:

• How Proverbs 21:5 has shaped my approach to training & weight loss (more)

• Pavel Tsatsouline’s Simple & Sinister kettlebell program (more)

• Pavel Tsatsouline’s Enter the Kettlebell! program (more)

• Mark Lauren’s You are Your Own Gym bodyweight program (more)

• Farmer Joel Salatin and nutritionist Dr. Sina McCullough’s Beyond Labels nutrition book (more)

• This explanation of how your body’s energy systems works and why this matters for your exercise program (more)

• And this was one of my favorite blog posts I’ve written in the last 3 years (and perhaps the most controversial one…) (more)

🏝️ 3 Lessons from Pittencream, the Flaky Narnian Sailor

You can read the following post on the Layman’s Fitness website if that’s preferable for you.

Stories of strength, heroes, risk takers, and bravery inspire us to get off the couch and get into action. This is one of the reasons I share a story in every newsletter.

This week’s story is about the tension we all feel to drift to cowardice right when opportunity calls out to us.

And who better to help us understand this feeling than C.S. Lewis, in one of his characters in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

This is the story of Pittencream, the Narnian sailor who flakes at the finish line.

At the final leg of their journey, the crew of the Dawn Treader had a choice.

They could stay on Ramandu’s island, or they could continue on to the end of the world.

To stay meant comfort, regular food, and safety… but they would forego the opportunity to tell the story to their descendants of how they made it to end of the world.

To leave meant discomfort, irregular (if any) food, and potential danger… but they would give their descendants the story of how they made it to the end of the world, which would be etched in their country’s lore forever.

The entire crew made the second choice to leave, and they embraced uncertainty with the potential reward of glory.

But one man made the choice to stay and selected comfort. That man’s name was Pittencream.

Lewis gives Pittencream only a paragraph of airtime. But this paragraph probably changed my life.

Here are three lessons that I’ve taken away from Pittencream, the flaky sailor.

1) Forgetfulness begets flakiness

Pittencream was with the crew the entire voyage. This means he had endured every danger during the entire journey.

• He helped fight off a massive sea serpent that nearly crushed the boat.

• He sailed into the midst of a felt darkness that contained his actual nightmares.

• He endured weeks of howling storms that threatened to sink the ship.

It’s painful to watch a man forget all of these deliverances at once… it’s as if all of a sudden he has no framework to think through how to deal with risk and uncertainty… when he just went through so many dangers.

But isn’t this what happens when we meet trials and temptations? Don’t we forget that God has already delivered us from so much?

Pittencream flakes because he forgets.

2) Flakiness begets regret

Pittencream was adamant about not going. That is until he watched the rest of the crew sign up to go to the end of the world.

He was soon left by himself. It’s only then that he changed his mind… but he was too late.

King Caspian refused to allow him to come. Pittencream had made his bed, and he had to lie in it.

After the crew left, Pittencream’s time on the island was unpleasant. The other people on the island didn’t want anything to do with him. He found the food not as enjoyable when he only ate it by himself.

But the worst part was what happened after the crew returned.

Pittencream deserted the crew on the way home because he couldn’t live with his decision. He then lives on an island and starts telling people how he actually did go to the end of the world… and as Lewis puts it:

Pittencream regrets because he flaked.

3) Fear begets imaginary monsters

So what happened when the crew sailed to the World’s End?

Did they encounter a more vile sea serpent? Did they sail through even thicker darkness with worst nightmares? Did they endure lashing storms for months on end?

Not exactly. In fact… to use a punny cliche, the Dawn Treader experienced “smooth sailing”.

The crew sailed through crystal clear water and arrived at the sweet water covered with flowers, signaling they had made it to the outer border of Aslan’s country.

Honestly, after the build up of Pittencream’s dramatic decision to stay, the End of the World was kind of a let down. He dreamed up imaginary monsters that didn’t really exist.

Pittencream fears because he let in imaginary monsters.

The Lesson from Pittencream

This story reminds us that there’s always going to be an obstacle, a reason, and fears to prevent you from taking the next step.

Pittencream could have remembered his past deliverances. He could have told true stories about the End of the World. He could have enjoyed the smooth sailing with his fellow sailors.

But he let fear paralyze him.

The Quote for the Week is what Pittencream traded in for an empty hand full of fear.

🏆 Bonus: Win a Kettlebell Starter Kit

How do you win? It’s really simple.

If you’re reading this, you are eligible to win. All Layman’s Fitness newsletter subscribers are eligible, and three winners will be drawn randomly.

The winners will be announced on Tuesday, August 20th, 2024.

But… if you are competitive (like me), and you want to increase your chances of winning, here’s what you do:

1. Click on your unique referral link below.

2. Use that link to share the newsletter with a friend.

3. The more people you share it with, the more times you name is put into the hat to win.

And as a special thank you to those who have already share the newsletter in the past, your past referrals already count.

Let’s go! ⬇️

👍 Thanks for reading!

Hit reply if you also like Greek Yogurt (like I do), of if you just want to say hi.

I’ll see you next week.

Be strong,

Don

P.S… Looking for consistency in your fitness?

Join the other guys in the Kettlebell Strength System to lose weight, build functional strength, and do it all without leaving your home.