A framework for health
This a letter sharing the largest improvements to my health recently. I value high maximum energy levels, and focus on three areas:
Within oxygen, upgrade three factors:
A) Breathe slower
Quantify breathing. Now breath a third as slow as usual. Use the diaphragm.
Quantify breathing. Now breath a third as slow as usual. Use the diaphragm.
Lie down on your back or sit in a chair where you can stretch your spine. This is difficult to explain but you will feel a breathing change immediately when you get the hang of it. I lay down in bed and move my hips down and shimmy my neck upwards. Your spine compresses over the course of the day with gravity. If you do this you will breathe the deepest and most beautiful breaths you have ever experienced (amazing to do before sleeping).
B) Improve posture
For 18 months, when I wanted to improve my posture I set a mental reminder to straighten out. I would do it all the time, every day, whenever it popped into my head. Three months in, I was getting compliments from friends when we walked around that I had the best posture they had ever seen.
Think of yourself as a puppet with a string on the crown on your head. Pull that string up. (do this all the time and you will have next-level posture, and as a corollary, breathe amazing).
C) Improve air quality
Open windows once a day. Also adding an air filter or plants can be beneficial to oxygen levels.
If you want to get extra technical - measure your workspace, sleeping space, and hanging out area with a CO2 monitor to make sure levels are adequate.
Second, Mitochondrial Efficiency
Within ME, two parts:
A) Sleep
Quantify hours of sleep. Quantify the quality of sleep (the iPhone's accelerometer can do this). Optimize around three big ideas, then the tactics that follow.
A1. Sleep cycles. A full cycle of sleep is 1.5 hours (waking up in the middle of these vs. the end is why you can be so groggy if you wake up in the middle of one). So sleeping times are in 1.5hr increments. This means that a conventionally advised 8 hours is actually 7.5 hours with 30 minutes to fall asleep. With genetic variations your actual optimal sleep time will be 6, 7.5, or 9 hours in bed and once you find your timing you will be able to fall asleep immediately (especially when combined with A2).
A2. Circadian rhythms - waking up at the same time every day creates superhuman sleep quality. Your body will get tired at the right times and manufacture melatonin like a multimillion dollar factory. Your body will wake you up without an alarm, rejuvenated. Invest in this.
A3. Lifestyle design / sleeping different amounts for different mental states. If you are stressed, adrenally fatigued, etc. make any structural changes that are within your power.
Tactics - make your room dark and cold.
Dark tactics
- Sleeping mask. I have a wraparound silk one from amazon that was $30. Amazing darkness when you can't have a dark room (hotel, etc.)
- Blackout curtains
- Unplug chargers with lights
- Duct tape any errant lights like smoke detector or window cracks
Cold tactics
- Reduce thermostat
- Use breathable sheets / mattress
- A hot shower sends heat out of your core and to your skin / extremities, dropping your core body temperature (aids sleep chemical production if done before bed)
B) Exercise
High intensity exercises (e.g., deadlifting, weighted pullups, sprinting) can help you hit your workout goals if you are crunched for time, but I've found long temporal exercise invaluable - such as exploring my city by walking on the weekend, walking on calls, walking to lunch, and taking the stairs whenever there is an option.
The best workout tip: tag along with a fit friend to the gym or whatever exercise they do. This is how I fell in love with the gym and I still learn so much every time I join a new workout session.
Third, Intake Equation
The intake equation has two components: water and nutrients. Your body sets a daily budget to manage the intake equation. Your mind should help the body out as much as you can.
On the water side of the equation, keep a water bottle within arms reach and drink throughout the day.
On the nutrient side of the equation:
a) Increase healthy building blocks
b) Decrease junk
I realized that my success with the nutrient levers was driven by these two sentences: everything I do is driven by feelings. I expanded my awareness to realize the real feelings foods gave me. Eating right has been a no brainer ever since. For example, fast food tastes a bit better on my tongue, but then makes me feel dumber for hours afterward. When I expand my awareness to both feelings, fast food ends up with a negative score. Eating vegetables taste pretty good, and make me feel great, so they have a high score. Easy decisions follow.
Wishing you live a long and healthy life! Update me if any life-changing tips are missing.