After a Year of Growing Vegetables, I Lost 15 Jin
On June 15, 2020, I rented a small vegetable plot at the foot of Xiangshan (Fragrant Hills) in Beijing. From then until now, I have been growing vegetables for nearly a year. Riding my bicycle back and forth between Zizhuqiao and Xiangshan, plus doing farm work in the plot, has changed my physical condition considerably. Over this year my weight dropped by about 15 jin; my original weight was 145 jin, and it has now fallen to around 130 jin. Perhaps by this time next year my weight can drop further to 120–125 jin, reaching a standard weight.
Having lived in the city too long, and with a demanding job in the past that left no time for exercise, I had become overweight. I was not yet obese, but I was not far from it either. After a year of gardening, our family’s lifestyle has changed fundamentally, and all of us have lost weight. Not only have I slimmed down, my child and spouse have also gotten much more exercise alongside me, and their weights are falling in step. I do not expect to lose all the weight in one year; over the next three years, it will be enough for our weights to come down to within the normal range.
I once read a book called Atomic Habits, and I remember one passage vividly. The author says that losing weight simply for the sake of losing weight cannot succeed, because a large body of data shows that weight deliberately shed for the purpose of weight loss always rebounds. Only when lifestyle changes does body weight undergo an irreversible change. The key to slimming is therefore to change one’s lifestyle—from a lifestyle that favors high-calorie food and dislikes exercise to one that favors low-calorie food and enjoys exercise. Then, without deliberately dieting, weight naturally comes down.
Over this past year I have also stopped taking elevators; no matter how high the floor, I always walk up and down the stairs. I recently read a report saying that walking up and down stairs every day is greatly beneficial to the heart. I do not know whether a year-plus of stair walking has made my heart stronger than before—I have grown too lazy to measure my health by physical-examination indicators—but my physical condition this year is indeed much better than in the past. I have not ridden a motor vehicle for a long time; basically I stopped before the pandemic. Usually I go on foot, and for longer trips I ride my bicycle, having thoroughly said goodbye to my old pampered lifestyle.
I have also half-said goodbye to the internet. I stopped using hot online tools such as Weibo and Toutiao long ago, and now I only run my own website and official account, spreading my articles as sparingly as possible among the people I serve. A few of my articles became popular during last year’s pandemic, which was purely accidental. I have no desire at all to stand in the eye of the storm; a simple life already satisfies me, and I will not disturb my own peace.
Thank heavens, my life has returned to a state of tranquility. I can still ignore the outside world as before, refuse unnecessary socializing and interference, steer clear of trending events and of rigid, obsessive people, live at peace with the world, and devote myself wholeheartedly to the books I love and the research I enjoy. When a person no longer cares about the outside world, the outside world seems as if it does not exist. Some people in this world live deep within their own hearts, and I am fortunate—or unfortunate—to be one of them.
I often go to my rented vegetable plot to do some farm work. A British study shows that spending 1–2 days a week on things outside one’s work greatly raises life satisfaction. I have a deep appreciation of this; when I am weeding and watering in the garden, I feel a strong sense of well-being. Such a life makes people more relaxed. In life and work we inevitably run into unpleasant matters or unpleasant people, and having a hobby unrelated to work can effectively help us soothe the negative emotions these bring.
The author of Atomic Habits designed a whole tangle of tedious procedures to cultivate new habits. My son said something to me recently: he said that as long as you find something you are interested in, new habits form on their own; when a person is doing something that interests them, they naturally become absorbed. The boy realized this from his own studying. The methods introduced by the author of Atomic Habits are too mechanical. In my view, once new interests develop, new habits arise involuntarily, without the need to laboriously design complicated routines for oneself. Life is short; rather than training oneself by all sorts of mechanical methods, one might as well go and find some enjoyment.
With this little vegetable plot, I have gradually come to love living in Beijing, and no longer always think of returning to my hometown to lead a farming-and-reading life as I used to. A farming-and-reading life can be lived anywhere. What I am living now is exactly the farming-and-reading life I once dreamed of; why should I wear my shoes to go looking for shoes?