Shovelgloves and extreme moderation (with Reinhard Engels)
Spencer Greenberg speaks with Reinhard Ingalls about his "extreme moderation" philosophy for developing lasting positive behaviors. They discuss his unique, sustainable systems like the No S Diet, Shovel Glove exercise, and Weekend Luddite to combat common struggles with diet, exercise, and digital distraction.
Deep Dive Analysis
15 Topic Outline
Introduction to Extreme Moderation Philosophy
The Genesis of Reinhard's Self-Improvement Systems
Understanding the No S Diet: Rules and Philosophy
The Surprising Impact of Snacking on Caloric Intake
Shovelglove: Origin, Method, and Advantages
The Power of Schedulistically Insignificant Time for Exercise
Weekend Luddite: Disconnecting from Technology
Addressing Urgency vs. Importance with Technology Use
Core Principles of Reinhard's Behavior Change Systems
The Role of Habit Branding and Arbitrary Rules
Why Tracking Results Can Sabotage Habits
The Importance of Small Temporal Footprint and Habit Stacking
Maintenance Over Progress for Long-Term Sustainability
Adapting and Personalizing Behavior Change Techniques
Global Reach and Unexpected Adoptions of Shovelglove
8 Key Concepts
Extreme Moderation
This technique involves applying the strict, clear-cut methods typically used in extremism (like complete abstinence) towards moderate behavioral goals. Instead of forbidding something entirely, a hard line is drawn at a moderate limit, such as two of an item, making moderation surprisingly powerful and sustainable.
No S Diet
A sustainable eating system designed to curb dietary excess without harsh restrictions. It focuses on three core rules: no snacks, no sweets, and no seconds, with exceptions allowed on 'S days' (Saturdays, Sundays, and Special holidays).
Schedulistically Insignificant Time
This concept refers to choosing a short, fixed duration for a habit (e.g., 14 minutes) that is small enough to be undeniable and leaves no room for excuses about lack of time. It encourages consistent engagement by making the commitment seem trivial, thus preventing hubris and burnout.
Shovelglove
An exercise system involving swinging a sledgehammer (wrapped in a sweater for safety) in various manual labor-inspired movements for a short, fixed duration each weekday. It aims to provide a convenient, fun, and physically satisfying workout that is sustainable long-term without injury.
Weekend Luddite
A system for disconnecting from digital distractions and work by refraining from computer and phone use between breakfast and dinner on weekends. It allows for a mental recharge, helps regain focus on important non-urgent tasks, and re-establishes boundaries between work and personal life.
Habit Branding
This refers to the practice of giving a behavior change system a striking, often funny or absurd, name or metaphor. This branding makes the system easy to recall quickly in critical moments, preventing intellectualization and making it harder to argue oneself out of the habit.
Habit Traffic Light
A simple tracking method that focuses solely on compliance with a habit, rather than specific metrics like calories or weight. It uses three states: Green (did it), Red (didn't do it), and Yellow (exempt day), helping to focus on the behavior itself, which is directly controllable.
Maintenance Over Progress
A core philosophy emphasizing the long-term sustainability of a habit over rapid, continuous improvement. It advises against pushing too hard for quick progress, which can lead to injury or burnout, and instead advocates for slow, consistent adherence to the habit structure over decades.
9 Questions Answered
Extreme moderation involves taking powerful techniques typically used for extreme behaviors, like complete abstinence, and applying them to achieve moderate goals, such as limiting alcohol to two drinks a day, by setting clear, hard-line rules.
The No S Diet is a sustainable eating system with three main rules: no snacks, no sweets, and no seconds. These rules are suspended on 'S days' (Saturdays, Sundays, and special holidays) to provide a controlled safety valve and prevent feelings of deprivation.
Shovelglove is an exercise routine where one swings a sledgehammer (wrapped in a sweater) in manual labor-inspired movements for 14 minutes a day, five days a week. Its advantages include convenience, low cost, physical satisfaction, and a focus on sustainable, injury-free exercise.
Stopping after a short, fixed time like 14 minutes prevents hubris, injury, and the routine from becoming unsustainable. It ensures the exercise remains a 'schedulistically insignificant' commitment, making it easier to maintain consistently over the long term rather than pushing too hard and quitting.
The Weekend Luddite involves refraining from computer and phone use between breakfast and dinner on weekends, with exceptions for whitelisted activities like music or GPS. It's beneficial for psychic recharge, reducing constant urgency, and allowing focus on important, non-urgent aspects of life and family.
Reinhard's systems emphasize simplicity and arbitrary rules to facilitate quick, snap decisions without intellectualization, making new habits easier to form and maintain. The self-consciously silly or arbitrary nature of the rules also makes it harder for individuals to argue themselves out of compliance.
Traditional tracking is avoided because it's time-consuming, often unsustainable, and can sabotage the system by shifting focus from the behavior itself to results that are not entirely within one's control. Instead, the systems recommend tracking compliance with the habit (e.g., using a 'habit traffic light').
Maintenance is prioritized because a focus on rapid progress can lead to injury, burnout, or making the habit too time-consuming to sustain. Emphasizing consistent maintenance, even with slow progress, ensures the habit endures for the long term, which is ultimately more effective than intense, short-lived efforts.
Snacking has dramatically increased over recent decades, with one study suggesting it accounts for 90% of the total caloric consumption increase. It's particularly dangerous because people often deceive themselves about how much they're eating with small, frequent in-between meal consumption.
23 Actionable Insights
1. Embrace Extreme Moderation
Apply the discipline of “hard lines” (like abstinence) to moderate goals, such as limiting consumption to “two of something” instead of complete prohibition. This makes moderation powerful and clear, rather than wishy-washy.
2. Prioritize System Sustainability
Before starting any new behavior change, ask if you can imagine doing it forever. If not, the system is likely unsustainable and not worth the effort, as quick fixes often lead to relapse.
3. Implement Bright Line Rules
Define behavior changes with clear, unambiguous rules (e.g., “eat bread once a day”) rather than vague goals (e.g., “eat less carbs”). This clarity makes rules easier to follow and reduces self-deception.
4. Focus on Maintenance Over Progress
Prioritize consistently performing a habit at a sustainable level over continually striving for rapid, aggressive progress. This prevents injury, burnout, and ensures long-term adherence, even if progress is slow.
5. Design Simple Systems
Create behavior change systems that are very simple and clear (e.g., a few words). This enables snap decisions without intellectualization, making new habits easier to build and stick to.
6. Adopt the No S Diet
Follow three core rules: no snacks, no sweets (dessert-level), and no seconds at meals. This system helps reduce overall caloric intake and retrains awareness of dietary excess.
7. Utilize No S ‘S Days’
Allow all No S Diet rules to be off on Saturdays, Sundays, and special holidays. This provides a controlled “safety valve” to enjoy forbidden foods, preventing demoralization and making the diet sustainable long-term.
8. Practice Meal-Based Eating
Focus on three distinct meals a day without snacking, as in-between meal eating accounts for a significant portion of caloric intake increase. This turns each meal into a limited resource, encouraging more mindful eating of better quality food.
9. Develop Intelligent Dietary Defaults
Identify frequently eaten meals and establish reasonably healthy, easy-to-prepare default options (e.g., oatmeal, German black bread). This standardizes healthy eating choices, especially when better alternatives are not readily available.
10. Engage in Shovel Glove Exercise
Use a sledgehammer (wrapped in a sweater for safety) to perform manual labor-inspired movements at home, catching the hammer before impact. This offers a convenient, physically satisfying, and fun workout leveraging ancestral movement patterns.
11. Exercise in Insignificant Time
Dedicate a very short, specific amount of time to exercise (e.g., 14 minutes), and stop when that time is up. This removes the “no time” excuse, makes the routine highly sustainable, and prevents over-exertion or injury.
12. Exercise on N Days
Perform exercise routines only on weekdays (N days), taking weekends (S days) and special holidays off. This provides a clear, consistent schedule with built-in rest and recovery days.
13. Implement Weekend Luddite
Abstain from using computers and phones between breakfast and dinner on weekends. This creates a regular, consistent break from digital distractions, allowing for psychic recharge and focus on real-world interactions.
14. Whitelist Digital Activities
During digital detox periods like Weekend Luddite, allow only specific, necessary activities on devices (e.g., music, recipes, GPS, family texts). This provides a controlled break without complete isolation.
15. Prioritize Important, Non-Urgent Tasks
Use periods of digital disconnection to reflect and focus on important tasks that are not necessarily urgent. This helps shift attention from constant urgency to long-term priorities and can preempt future urgent situations.
16. Employ Habit Branding
Give behavior change systems striking, absurd, or funny names and metaphors (e.g., “No S Diet,” “Shovel Glove,” “Glass Ceiling”). This creates an easy-to-recall handle for the habit and makes it harder to rationalize skipping.
17. Embrace Arbitrary Rules
Acknowledge that some rules in a system are arbitrary (e.g., specific numbers or days). This playful awareness prevents getting bogged down in defending the rules and makes adoption easier.
18. Choose Frugal Systems
Opt for behavior change systems that require minimal or no financial investment. This removes financial barriers and aligns with a philosophy of anti-waste.
19. Avoid Tracking Results
Do not track metrics like calories, carbs, or weight daily, as this is time-consuming, often unsustainable, and can sabotage long-term adherence.
20. Track Habit Compliance Only
If tracking is desired, only record whether the habit was performed (Yes/No/Exempt) rather than specific results. This keeps the focus on the controllable behavior itself.
21. Focus on Ideal Behaviors
Instead of fixating on an “ideal weight” or specific outcome, consistently perform “ideal behaviors” (e.g., moderate eating, moderate exercise). The resulting physical state will naturally be your ideal.
22. Combine Habits for Reinforcement
Couple seemingly unrelated habits (e.g., exercise with language learning) to make both easier to do and mutually reinforcing. This can also make routines more pleasant and efficient.
23. Adapt or ‘Roll Your Own’
Feel empowered to significantly adapt existing behavior change systems or create entirely new ones that resonate personally. This personal investment, especially with a sense of humor, makes systems more likely to stick.
5 Key Quotes
Can I imagine myself doing this forever? And if the answer is no, then it just doesn't seem worth starting.
Reinhard Engels
14 minutes of exercise a day is dramatically better than 40 minutes you don't do, right?
Spencer Greenberg
We don't actually really know what results are possible or even ideal. We just pull these numbers out of our head. What we do have direct control over are our behaviors.
Reinhard Engels
maintenance is more important than progress.
Reinhard Engels
We take some of the techniques of extremism and apply them towards moderate behaviors.
Reinhard Engels
3 Protocols
No S Diet
Reinhard Engels- Eat no snacks between meals.
- Eat no sweets that register as dessert-level sweet.
- Eat no seconds; limit yourself to one portion per meal.
- Suspend all 'No S' rules on 'S days' (Saturdays, Sundays, and major personal/religious/national holidays like your birthday).
Shovelglove Routine
Reinhard Engels- Obtain a sledgehammer and wrap its head in an old sweater for protection (the 'shovel glove').
- Perform manual labor-inspired movements (e.g., shoveling coal, tucking bales, driving fence posts, chopping trees) with the wrapped sledgehammer.
- Catch the hammer before it impacts anything, using the braking movement as part of the exercise.
- Limit the exercise session to 14 minutes.
- Perform the routine every weekday (N day), taking Saturdays, Sundays, and special days off.
Weekend Luddite
Reinhard Engels- Refrain from using any computer, including your phone, between breakfast and dinner on Saturdays and Sundays.
- Allow use of devices only for whitelisted activities, such as listening to music, looking up recipes, texting to arrange playdates, or using GPS.
- Strictly avoid work-related applications like Teams, Slack, or email during the designated Luddite hours.