Salmon Breakfast Salad
A different way to enjoy breakfast
Unfortunately breakfast has become associated with foods loaded with simple carbohydrates and sugar. But it doesn’t have to be. Once you breakaway from the addiction they cause there’s no reason why breakfast can’t be healthy, savory, and delicious.
2 handfuls of greens
1/2 chopped apple
1/4 sliced avocado
1 handful of roasted brussels sprouts
1 6 oz filet of baked wild salmon
Finished with olive oil, fig balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, and sea salt
It's Groundhog Day When it Comes to Health Studies
Click here: OneSource Health, April 7, 2024
“But teach the children, and someday they’ll vote - with their dollars, with their ballots, and with their forks.”
Robert H Lustig, MD, MSL
A Good Book and Two Studies
Every week the media writes about a new study that tells us what we already know. This week the Washington Post provided two such examples. One about the increased risk of developing dementia and another about the benefits of the ketogenic diet on mental health (both discussed below).
It gets pretty exhausting seeing the same information published each week as if it’s ground breaking. And it’s maddening that despite everything we now know, or in the case of the ketogenic diet have known since the early 1900s, nothing changes in the one place that matters. Government.
Fake food is the most widely abused drug in the world and it’s completely unregulated. Walk into any store and buy as many hohos or Doritos as you want, or Super Size your Big Mac, fries, and soda at McDonalds. Contrast that to the last time you tried to buy some weed (assuming you have 👀), where they’ll check your ID, then make you wait in a holding pen to be escorted to the back, then check your ID again before making you point out what you want from behind the counter.
And that is not a comment on personal choice. It’s confirmation of how backwards our country has become. The thing that we know is killing us remains abundant, accessible, unregulated, AND subsidized by the government, while the thing that opens our mind, gets us in touch with ourselves, and has proven healing benefits remains highly taxed, regulated, expensive, and inaccessible to most.
Cheers to your practice.
James
Photo by Khalid Boutchich on Unsplash
“It’s not what’s in the food, it’s what’s been done to the food that matters.”
I just finished Metabolical, in which Robert Lustig, MD, MSL offers this straightforward advice: feed the gut, protect the liver. It reminds me of Michael Pollan’s equally simple advice: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
How do you feed your gut and protect your liver? Eat Real Food that’s high in fiber (food for your gut aka a prebiotic) and low in sugar (excess sugar in your diet ends up as stored fat in your liver which can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or even cancer).
88 percent of people are believed to be metabolically ill. Your metabolic health is a reflection of how well your mitochondria function, which is impacted by everything you put into your body as well as outside factors such as air pollution (as we’ll see in the dementia study below).
But the greatest impact right now is by far our food. Specifically ultra-processed fake food. So how do you know the difference between real food and fake food? Dr. Lustig provides this great breakdown to help distinguish between the two.
“Processed food is defined by seven engineering criteria:
mass produced
consistent batch to batch
consistent country to country
uses specialized ingredients from specialized companies
consists of pre-frozen macronutrients
must stay emulsified so that the fat and water do not later out
must have a long shelf life or freezer life”
Of the seven characteristics, numbers 2 and 3, consistent from batch to batch and country to country, stuck out to me the most. I think because when you realize the extent to which the ingredients must be manipulated to achieve that level of consistency, to produce millions of copies that are shelf stable enough to ship all around the world, the reality of how unnatural a process it is starts to set in.
Source(s):
Recommend reading with Food Fix, The Omnivores Dilemma, and Animal, Vegetable, Junk
A Dementia Study Confirms the Obvious
The study concluded that alcohol, air pollution, diabetes, sleep, weight, smoking, and blood pressure all play a role in the risk of developing dementia. The same factors that influence every other disease.
And while diet is given little mention throughout the article referenced, it is well documented that a diet rich in ultra-processed food and sugar plays an important role. Dr. Lustig frames it like this in Metabolical:
“Given the $290 billion annual cost of dementia in the US and that there've been 146 failed trials, it's almost laughable that we keep trying to develop a drug… New research shows that sugar consumption is associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease. It appears that fructose alters mitochondrial function in the brain, reducing energy generation, which puts the identified neuronal proteins amyloid and tau at risk for clump-ing, forming the classic neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer's. A processed food eating pattern has been shown to be predictive of future Alzheimer's disease, although no one has yet demonstrated that switching to Real Food lessens one's risk.”
Switching to Real Food has not yet been studied because there’s nothing to gain by demonstrating this truth. It’s a lot harder to make money selling broccoli than it is drugs. We know the answer’s but somehow we’re still looking for a solution.
Source(s):
Study finds 3 big risk factors for dementia
“High-fat keto diet may help people with serious mental illness”
Fun fact about the ketogenic diet, it was actually developed in the early 1900s by a physician looking to treat seizures in people suffering from epilepsy. The physician was looking for a way to mimic the known mental benefits of fasting, one of which was treating seizures, in a way that was sustainable long term. You can only fast for so long before you starve.
Since then it’s been used by intelligent and independently thinking psychiatrists like Chris Palmer, MD who discusses it in more detail in this podcast episode. He’s been treating his patient’s depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia for years with a strict ketogenic diet and it’s been life changing for his patients. They’ve been able to get off their drugs and experience relief that psychiatric drugs never gave them.
So the results of the clinical trial discussed in the Washington Post article shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who has been paying attention.
If you’ve ever fasted or been strictly keto, then you’ve likely felt these benefits. Mental clarity and, oddly enough because you aren’t eating, an increase in energy are chief among them. I’ve experimented with the ketogenic before for extended periods of time (3 - 24 months), and the results have always been the same for me. Huge benefits short term. Unsustainable long term.
Still, I think that keto is a good tool to keep in your toolbox. It can help you achieve short-term goals, and it’s a good way to reel yourself back in after going off the rails (like say after the holidays, or after a vacation). However, I’m convinced more and more each day that eating a Real Food balanced diet and focusing on intuitive eating (trying to dial into what your body is telling you you need) remain the best path towards a healthy and happy life.
The problem is that when you live in an environment abound with fake food and catchy marketing it’s very easy to slip into bad habits. Use diet techniques like keto, vegan, paleo, fasting, and others to reset your path.
Source(s):
High-fat keto diet may help people with serious mental illness
Cell Phone Usage and Social Media
It’s not your phone you’re trying to avoid, it’s using your phone to benefit you.
I don’t use my phone less since I stopped using all social media (with the exception of LinkedIn), I just use it for what I think is more productive means. Like the way it was originally intended to before greedy corporations sunk their teeth into it.
Last week I used my phone for an average of 4 hours and 9 minutes per day. That is a long time. I think the average person uses their phone for 5 - 6 hours per day, so I’m not far off. But, my top five most used apps last week, which is representative of most weeks, were:
Messages: 8 hours total, 1 hour 10 minutes per day
Mail: 3 hours total, 24 minutes per day
Clock: 2 hours total, 16 minutes per day (I’m always cooking so I’m always timing something)
Maps: 90 minutes total, 13 minutes per day
News: 90 minutes total, 13 minutes per day
My next five were Zoom (I had 3 video calls last week, which is 3 more than I’ve had in the last five years, so this one is an anomaly), Brave (my web browser), Notes, Spotify, Password Keeper.
I still touch my phone as much as I did before, but the difference is that by not having social media on my phone, I have to look for other things to do. And I try to make those other things productive. Like reading an article I saved. Organizing and cleaning up my inbox. Or writing something down that was on my mind.
And I think that’s maybe where people struggle. They think they’re trying to avoid their cell phones and when that doesn’t work they think they’ve failed. But really you’re trying to use your phone to be productive and having social media on your phone makes it really difficult.
It’s like keeping cookies in the house and telling yourself you’re not going to eat them. Has that ever worked? I know it doesn’t work in my house.
Breakfast: Turkey Chili
A different way to hit the craving for turkey chili
I got my hands on local ground turkey recently from Littleton Meats, and in keeping with my theme of cooking in the crock pot, I thought it’d be nice to make a turkey chili.
But all the recipes I found called for a long ingredient list, most of which I didn’t have, and a long cook time, time I also didn’t have. So I did the next best thing.
I cooked the ground turkey in a pan and then added it to vegetable soup I made a couple of days earlier. I also added some brussels sprouts cooked the night before.
Yes, this isn’t chili, but it’s the next best thing and it’s hits the same spots. In some ways I think it’s better. I have three different ingredients, soup, turkey, brussels, that I can mix and match with anything else in my kitchen.
I realized this morning that it’s not really meal prep we’re after. It’s food prep to be used to create different meals.
A Visit from Family, Time Restricted Eating, and Blood Glucose
Click here: OneSource Health, March 31, 2024
“What makes it great is the personal. How you see the world that’s different from how everyone else sees the world. Thats why you’re an artist. That’s your purpose in sharing your work with the world.”
Rick Rubin
Table of Contents
The Mike’s in the Spaulding Bowl at Copper Mountain
Last weekend my brother and his friend came to visit Jen and I in Colorado and do some skiing. I planned on sending out a newsletter last Sunday, but we were having so much fun that I couldn’t even think about pulling out my computer. Instead I spent my weekend trying to keep up with these guys as they skied non-stop from first chair Friday to last chair Sunday.
In my brother’s own words, “we were like little kids, exploring the mountain looking for fun places to play, and being excited at every turn.”
I also thought that if I was going to practice what I preached (i.e. work life balance, focusing on relationships, and disconnecting), that I should just enjoy the time with my brother, friends, and loved ones in the mountains. I’m glad I did.
There is nothing like the healing power of nature and family.
This is the 19th newsletter. When I started this project in November, I promised myself that I’d push through for at least a year. And that’s what I intend on doing, only it’ll be with a slightly different approach and on a different platform going forward.
I appreciate everyone’s support up until this point. If you wish to continue following me, I’ll be sending out information on how to do that once I get organized in the next 1 - 2 weeks. There is no obligation to sign up. I know the content is not for everyone.
With that said, this week I just have two short pieces to share that I found interesting on the topic of differing views and medias role in shaping perspective.
Thanks again.
Cheers to your practice.
James
There’ always two ways to interpret a study
If you saw a headline last week that went something like, Time-restricted eating linked to 91 per cent higher risk of cardiovascular death, then you should also read Peter Attia, MD’s article Does time-restricted eating increase the risk of cardiovascular death?.
For anyone that doesn’t know, time restricted eating (TRE) is a popular diet technique used by people to lose weight and improve their health (or so they thought). The study looked specifically at the most common TRE approach, 16:8 (fasting for 16 hours, eating for 8).
But, as Attia points out, the study, cited by the BBC and various other media sources, is riddled with flaws. Most glaring of which was the discrepancy in the size of the study groups (414 vs 11,831 participants), and the prevalence of pre-existing conditions (i.e diabetes, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease), higher body mass index (BMI), and greater likelihood to be a smoker in the TRE group.
While the BBC acknowledges that the study has not been peer reviewed, scrutinized for credibility and reliability, it didn’t stop them from using the study’s click-bait conclusion as their headline, and never clarifying inconsistencies in the methodology of the study. They only care about eyeballs.
I’ve used TRE a lot in the last decade of my life because it gave me mental clarity and made me feel better physically. I only stopped this past summer when I learned that TRE in healthy males can lower testosterone levels. Other than that all the data I’ve ever seen has been positive.
Regardless, I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle. I think too much of anything, including being too rigid (i.e. demanding your body to eat within a set window) must have negative consequences. I know I’ve found that to be the case in my own life. Whether it be relationships, work, exercise, or diet, moderation and balance always prove to be the better approach. I haven’t mastered it yet, but I try to get closer every day.
But don’t take my word for it. Read both articles. Give TRE a try, if you never have, and see what kind of results you experience.
Two Takes on Glucose and Blood Sugar Spikes
Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) have been all the rage for a couple of years now. Everyone, including the healthy, are wearing them trying to gain insight into their health. I wore one for 3 weeks in the beginning of this year.
But there are opposing views when it comes to their effectiveness. This article by the Wall Street Journal, Is Glucose the New Gluten? Inside the Blood-Sugar Health Craze, provides a positive view based on anecdotal evidence.
While EC Synkowski, drawing conclusions from a meta-analysis that reviewed CGMs ability to predict cardiovascular disease, noted in her newsletter that wearing a CGM won’t improve weight or “optimize health” (she goes into more detail in this podcast episode from 2019).
Based on my own experience, I’d have to again land somewhere in the middle. Wearing a CGM made me more mindful of my food choices. The more I saw how certain foods impacted my body the more conscious I became. The most fascinating insight I had was learning how much poor sleep quality and quantity negatively influenced my body’s ability to regulate glucose.
I think anything that provides insight into the inner functioning of your body, and how it reacts to various inputs, is a good thing. Whether that’s a blood test, sleep tracker, or wearing a CGM. All the information helps paint a picture of your health.
Big changes don’t occur overnight, rather they are the result of many small changes over a lifetime. So, if a CGM can be the catalyst for one change amongst many, then it is beneficial.
Breakfast: Vegetable Soup and Eggs Over Easy
Hearty vegetable soup and eggs over easy make a delicious way to start a day
I love having a nice vegetable soup in the refrigerator to use as the base for any dish. This morning I decided to use it for breakfast.
I pumped up the soup with a handful of boiled broccoli, chopped red onion, and spiced pumpkin seeds (which added a nice texture to every bite).
For protein, and to make it feel more like “breakfast,” I added two pasture raised eggs from Sisu Farms cooked over easy. The runny yolk brought an additional layer of flavor to the dish.
I finished the bowl with salt, fig balsamic vinegar, and olive oil that was imported from Palestine and being sold at a local store called The Local (it’s also where I was able to pick up 2 whole pasture raised chickens from Sisu Farms).
This warm tasty dish was the perfect way to start my day.
Crock Pot Chicken and Lentils
Check out this hearty and healthy bowl filled with all the nourishment your body needs.
1.5 handfuls of Crock Pot Chicken chopped up
1 ladle of cooked green lentils, mixed with chopped white onion, 1 tbsp of olive oil and 2 pinches of sea salt
Cooking Instructions. Add 3 cups of water or vegetable brother to a pot. Add 1 cup of green lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 45 minutes, covered. Taste for tenderness before removing from heat. Strain the lentils and return them to the pot.
1 handful of spicy brussels sprouts
1 handful of sautéed crimini mushrooms
Cooking Instructions. Bring a pan to medium-high heat. Add a tbsp of olive oil. Slice an 8 oz package of mushrooms into quarters (baby bellas or crimini), toss lightly with 2 tbsp of olive oil and 2 pinches of sea salt and add them to the preheated pan. Add a few splashes of water to create steam and cover. Leave undisturbed for 5 minutes, then toss, cover again, and let sit for another 3 - 5 minutes.
Notes on Health, Wasted Food, and Communication
Click here: OneSource Health, March 17, 2024
“I am a kind of flawed mirror, by no means wise or actualized, but willing to be in the endless discomfort of asking ‘Is this life?’”
Boyd Varty, The Lion Trackers Guide to Life
Three Articles and a Book I Like
A Different Perspective on Health
When I think about health, I like to think back to what our ancestors did. It’s highly unlikely that they thought about “getting in shape,” working out, lifting weights, or going for a run (unless being chased). But they were most certainly active most days, for most of the day. I imagine they were always outside getting sweaty or fighting the cold.
When it came to food, processed food wasn’t invented yet (yes, processed food is an invention), so they ate whole foods, meats, veggies, nuts, and berries. But they also indulged in foods rich in “simple carbohydrates,” sugar, and butter. Breads, pastas, and pastry are a historical part of every culture. But the difference is that they knew where their food came from, and what ingredients were in it. It was either made in their home, or by someone they knew.
There’s a growing movement to know where your food comes from. To know your farmer. But it’s not just the farmer. You should know your baker, your pasta maker, and your confectioner. If you know who’s growing or making your food, you’re way more likely to know what’s in it, and what’s not (i.e. preservatives, gums, artificial ingredients). Because when food is fresh and local, there isn’t much it needs to be good.
And for most of us, I don’t know if it’s much more complicated than that. If you can get outside every day to move and get to know the people or places that your food is coming from, health will take care of itself.
Cheers to your practice.
James.
Food Waste is Wasted Food
When I hear the term “food waste” I envision moldy produce, rotten meat, and food scraps. Even though I know that’s not what they are referring to, I can’t help but have that vision. But when I think of wasted food, I picture discarded leftovers, perfectly good produce left to rot, or food thats thrown out for being “past” it’s best by date.
For companies like We Don’t Waste, whose mission is to rescue food wasste and provide it to people suffering from food/nutrition insecurity, it means pallets full of ripe organic produce like carrots, potatoes, shallots, and broccoli. It means frozen pork shoulders and ground beef. Trays of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and mac n cheese. And it means loaves of fresh bread and pastries. This is “food waste” which is not at all what many of us picture.
Which is why we need to start calling it by its proper name. Wasted food.
Food gets wasted at every stage of its life cycle. Production (16.8 percent), processing (14.7 percent), and grocery stores/restaurants (20.2 percent) account for the fair share. But most of good food gets wasted at home. A staggering 48.2 percent of the 80 million tons of wasted food occurs at home! That’s an insane number, but it means we have the power to impact change, if we can shift our mindset.
When it comes to waste, the root cause is always the same. Cost and abundance. When a resource is cheap and readily available, the more likely we are to take it for granted. We can “afford” to throw out leftovers. We can “afford” to let those vegetables turn and wilt. Because we can get more. Reducing food waste comes down to a shift in mindset.
Here’s two strategies that I use to cut down on my wasted food:
How much food are you buying? We have an inclination as humans to buy food before we even need it. Only two bananas left? Better buy another bunch. We cooked all the broccoli? Let’s buy a couple of more crowns.
Don’t be afraid to run out of your favorite foods. If we’re lucky enough to be able to waste food, we also have easy access to buy more. So, running to the store is always an option. Also, letting your favorite foods run out is a good way to vary your diet and force yourself to try something new.
Ask yourself, what would I do if I had limited access to food? Would I just throw out those leftovers, or would I repurpose them? Would I toss out that last bit of food from my plate, or store it as a snack for later?
I know I’ve encountered this mindset during the pandemic or when I’ve been out backpacking (there’s only so much food you can bring with you). In those scenarios, when food is scarce, we take better care of it. We need to adopt that mindset to our everyday lives.
Why it matters: Landfills produce 1/3 of all human-driven methane and wasted food accounts for 58 percent of it. 44 million people suffer from food insecurity creating stress, poor food choices, poor health, and reduced productivity, creating a drain on our economy and the healthcare system. But with 40 percent of food going to waste it’s an unnecessary chain of events that people need not face. If we can figure out how to get more of this food into the hands of the people who need it and keep it out of the landfill, we’ll kill two birds with one stone and do a lot of good!
Sources:
A Bulk of Food Waste Happens at Home. Here’s How to Cut Your Footprint.
The Staggering Scale of Food Waste, Explained.
Understanding Your Health Markers
I think it’s normal to question what somebody tells you. Not because people are dishonest. But because people get shit wrong all the time. So why would you accept one person’s opinion, even if they are an “expert?” It’s the main reason I liked this article.
In this post by Levels Health they provide insights into the importance and optimal ranges of 12 different health metrics as told by eight highly credentialed MDs and PhDs. The advisors agree in principle that metabolic health, how well your mitochondria perform in response to the stress of living and eating, is the key to being healthy, and metabolic dysfunction, caused by an ineffective healthcare system and an environment filled with fake foods, leads to chronic disease.
But each one of them has a slightly different opinion on what is optimal when it comes to the health markers, why they’re important, and how to interpret them. I decided to take my most recent blood work and see how my results compared to their advice and see if I could learn anything new.
My main takeaway: Heart disease is the leading cause of death in America, which makes understanding these metrics of extreme importance. I also have a family history of heart disease, so it’s always my main concern. While my LDL-C and Total Cholesterol are above the optimal range, my HDL and triglycerides are in a healthy range. Most reassuring to me is that my Triglycerides-to-HDL ratio, the one marker that all the advisors on this panel agree is the best predictor of heart disease, is well within optimal ranges.
When I had my blood panel run in January and learned that my LDL and Total Cholesterol had climbed, I made several changes to my diet and lifestyle. I reduced my red meat intake from daily to 1 - 2 x per month, and began incorporating more soy, green tea, and legumes into my diet (recommendations from InsideTracker). While I don’t believe that red meat causes heart disease, my cholesterol levels have been rising ever since I reintroduced red meat into my diet a few years ago. So, I figured it’s better safe than sorry.
I’ve also focused on getting a high volume of quality sleep (inadequate sleep interferes with your body’s ability to clear cholesterol), and better stress management. Both of which have been greatly improved by reducing the amount of caffeine I consume each day. Recently I’ve also introduced high-intensity aerobic exercise into my routine that should improve my cardiorespiratory fitness, VO2 Max (I’ll be publishing a post about it this week).
Whether or not these changes will be enough to make an impact remains to be seen, but I plan on having my bloods run again in April to find out.
Why it matters: We’re living in an age of endless information, where everyone is an “expert,” and the amount of contradictory information is endless. This post gives you a range of voices to listen to, while providing clear information to take with you to your next doctor’s appointment. One of the experts, Robert Lustig, MD recently published a book Metabolical, which I’m about 1/3 of the way through. He tackles the healthcare industry head on. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in learning about metabolic health and the effects of processed foods.
Sources:
The ultimate guide to understanding your cholesterol panel and metabolic blood tests
The Reason to Exercise and Why You Don’t
Last week I shared a couple of articles about being evolutionarily prone to opposing exercise. The theory is that the human brain evolved to favor rest so that energy could be stored for finding food or fending off predators. But while food is abundantly available (to most of us), and we are the apex predator, our brains still haven’t figured out that over-eating and being sedentary is the new threat. But I wanted to add an addendum to that post.
Part of the untold reason that over 70 percent of Americans fail to get the recommended dose of weekly exercise (120 - 150 minutes of aerobic exercise and two weight training sessions) is because they don’t know how to. And who likes doing things that they are bad at? Mostly no one.
The reason we don’t do most of the things we dream of, is because we don’t know how to, which makes it uncomfortable and challenging. Take bouldering as an example, a sport I’ve dreamt of getting into for 3 years now. I would love to be out bouldering, but aside from practicing at a climbing gym, I’ve didn’t grow up doing it, I’ve never been taught, and therefore it seems like a big undertaking.
I need the right climbing shoes. I need to know where to go. Where to park. I think I need a bouldering mat. Some chalk. A climbing partner for safety? What do I do once I’m out there? Try the same boulder, or try a bunch?
But the difference between bouldering and exercise (i.e. running, weight training) is that there’s an inherit assumption that we all “know” how to do the latter. But we don’t, and therefore don’t see any progress, assume we don’t like it, and stop. But it’s not true. You were never given the tool. You never got to explore what you like or were given the opportunity to learn. And that’s the truth.
Why it matterss: Exercise has been shown to improve nearly every health outcome (even Parkinson’s disease), and reduce the risks of cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes. Exercise also plays a vital role in reducing anxiety and eliminating depression. Resistance training improves balance and flexibility (key to aging), strengthens bones and joints, and reduces age related muscle loss (sarcopenia).
In short, if you’re interested in your health, exercise is a good place to start. And as the article points out, and as I alluded to above, it doesn’t have to be complicated. “Even everyday tasks like moving one’s body weight in and out of chairs, climbing stairs, or carrying heavy groceries and full laundry baskets count.” (check out: How to Make Your Life Harder to Live Longer for other recommendations)
Everyone deserves to feel their best. Forget about the disease fighting benefits and all the complicated reasons and ways that people want to convince you to exercise. The main and only reason is because you want to feel your best and exercise will help you get there. And the health results will follow in time.
Sources:
What lifting weights does to your body—and your mind
Your Brain is Built to Avoid Exercise - here’s why
Your Brain Doesn’t Want You to Exercise
Learn How to Communicate with Charles Duhigg
Some books teach you something new. Others offer a reminder of what you already know. And some do both. That was the case for Supercommunicators, by Charles Duhigg. We all know the importance of good communication, yet very few of us are ever taught how good communication is facilitated. As George Bernard Shaw said, “The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion it has taken place.”
Charles Duhigg is the author of The Power of Habit, a book I reference and recommend often as it profoundly changed my understanding of habits, their formation, and how to change them. In Supercommunicators, he takes on our inability to communicate with one another, highlights the key to good communication, the ability to connect, and emphasizes that a successful conversation starts with knowing what kind of conversation we’re having. In short, do we want to be helped, hugged, or heard?
Why it matters: I’ve found that most ill will is the result of misunderstandings, which is the result of miscommunication. We’re never really taught how to communicate, the way we’re never really taught how to run, but we’re expected to just know how to do both. When we get hurt running we automatically think running is bad, instead of questioning our gait. The same goes for communication. So often we think we know what kind of conversation we had, when we have no idea. Knowing how to communicate is especially important in today’s world of social media where things like verbal cues, which are paramount to good communication, are completely lacking. This book will provide basic tools and fundamentals to have better conversations and achieve more.
Sources:
Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection, by Charles Duhigg
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and in Business, by Charles Duhigg
Five Articles Worth Reading This Week
Click here: OneSource Health, March 10, 2024
“The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion it has taken place.”
Five Articles to Consider This Week
I think the single biggest struggle we face when trying to do something to better ourselves like exercise and clean up our diet is the idea that in doing so, we’re giving something up. When we choose to exercise, we’re giving up time to decompress after a long day of work. When we choose to clean up our diet we’re missing out on that tasty cheeseburger and fries. When we choose to get adequate amounts of sleep, we experience FOMO thinking about all the fun that everyone else is having.
But we never give enough credit to how much we are gaining from those actions. This is in part because we live in a society based on consumption. It is the job of major corporations to make us feel like we’re missing out if we’re not participating because that’s what keeps their pockets fat and happy. But as the articles below make abundantly clear, there is plenty to gain from avoiding what corporate has to offer.
Parkinson’s and Exercise
Add Parkinson’s to the list of diseases that exercise has been shown to improve. Parkinson’s is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that effects dopamine producing neurons in the brain which impacts both motor and non-motor skills, and mood. Historically treatments for Parkinson’s have focused on dopamine supplementation which only masks the symptoms and is not a sustainable solution long term. Exercise, by contrast, has been shown to not only slow the deterioration of the dopamine neurons but even to reverse it in some cases. The type of exercise required is moderate-high intensity aerobic exercise, like HIIT, performed 3 or more times per week. Weight training may also have benefits, but it has not been studied.
Why it matters: Exercise is the one supplement that has been shown to improve nearly every disease across the board. Adding a degenerative and debilitating disease such as Parkinson’s to the list is further evidence of just how powerful exercise can be. If it can help treat Parkinson’s, what can it do for a healthy brain and body?
Read here: Aerobic exercise for Parkinson’s disease
Read here: Yale study shows HIIT can reverse nerve damage caused by Parkinson’s
9 charts that show US factory farming is even bigger than you realize
Factory farms, not farming, is contaminating the water we drink, polluting the air we breathe and causing an increased rate of climate change, as well as causing the inhumane treatment of billions of animals each year. Like so many other industries in recent years (i.e. healthcare, retail, housing, banking), large scale factory farms have benefited from consolidation, absorbing there would be competitors into their business, and concentrating too much of where our food comes from into the hands of a few. A few key takeaways:
¾ of chickens raised for meat live on farms that house 500,000 or more chickens.
Egg producers are sometimes housed with millions of other hens in one place, increasing the likelihood of disease and making the transmission of bird flu even more likely.
2/3 of dairy cows live on farms with 100,000 or more cows.
1/3 of U.S. River miles have been contaminated by farm run off consisting of waste from high concentrations of animal manure.
40 percent of corn grown in the U.S. is used for ethanol (it takes 100 acres of corn to produce the same amount of energy as 1 acre of solar).
Why it matters: Relying on a shrinking number of growing farms to supply our food means, in addition to the harm to the planet and animals it causes, our food system is losing it’s resilience. During times of disaster (i.e. COVID) or disease (i.e. bird flu) the potential for our food supply to be disrupted is greatly increased. Small local farmers by contrast offer sustainability across communities.
Read here: 9 charts that show US factory farming is even bigger than you realize
The Science Behind Ozempic Was Wrong
It turns out that they don’t know how the new class of weight-loss drugs that millions of people are taking actually works. They just know that they do. Initially they thought the drug reduced appetite by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone produced naturally in your gut. It’s now believed that the high concentrations and extended half-life (how long it takes for the hormone to be absorbed by your body) of the manufactured GLP-1 drug allows it to cross the blood brain barrier and penetrate deep into the brain.
Here’ a direct quote from the article that should make you feel better: “The latest drugs succeeded not because we fully understood the hormone, they’re based on but because we got lucky. And drug development, for all the careful research required, does sometimes come down to luck.”
Why it matters: It’s just the latest example of pharmaceutical companies chasing profits over safe treatments. The expected utilization of Ozempic and Wegovy has been enough to make Novo Nordisk, the company that manufactures both drugs, more valuable than the country, Denmark, it’s based out of. It makes you wonder what all those clinical trials are for.
Read here: The Science Behind Ozempic Was Wrong
CEO of Kellogg’s Say Eat Cereal For Dinner
The CEO of Kellogg’s took to TV this past week to tell Americans, particularly those struggling to put food on their tables, that they should eat cereal for dinner. The backlash was quick as many people pointed out that it’s very unlikely that the CEO making close to $5 mln per year is feeding his children cereal for dinner. He of course also missed the fact that cereal (as the next article points out) is not food.
Why it matters: This is the second time I’ve read about the CEO of a major food corporation telling people to eat processed foods. It continues to amaze me how people in positions of power are allowed to lie and omit facts on TV or in print without any real repercussions. The idea that while 44 million Americans face food insecurity, and millions more face nutrition insecurity, the CEO of Kellogg would make a statement such as this one tells you where we are in society.
Read here: Kellogg CEO under fire for suggesting cereal as a money-saving dinner
Read here: Let them eat Flakes: Kellogg’s CEO says poor families should consider ‘cereal for dinner’
Ultra-Processed Foods Linked to 32 Health Problems
An umbrella review of 45 distinct pooled meta-analysis that included 10 million people concluded that consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) increases the risk of death and disease. The studies included the impact of increased exposure to UPFs such as cereal, ready to eat meals, protein bars, and soda. Heart disease, cancer, metabolic disease, respiratory illness, obesity, and diabetes were among the diseases with increased prevalence. Rates of anxiety and depression also increased dramatically. The researchers concluded “It is now time for UN agencies, with member states, to develop and implement a framework convention on ultra-processed foods analogous to the framework on tobacco.”
Why it matters: We’ve been told for too long that ‘calories in and calories’ out is all that matters. This review proves that the type of calorie is key. Ultra-processed foods are stripped of their nutrients and fiber and contain toxic ingredients that are banned in other countries. Up until now this has mostly been ignored by the “experts.” Perhaps now they will take it seriously and work to introduce legislation to make the food we eat be more like food.
Read here: Ultra-processed food linked to 32 harmful effects to health, review finds
Cheers to your practice.
James.
Meals & Recipes: Egg & Fruit Salad
Over easy egg salad, fruits and veggies!
I love throwing a couple of runny eggs on top of a salad. The yolk makes the whole dish so creamy. Check out this salad for a light meal.
Assemble the salad:
1 handful of wild arugula
1 handful of blueberries
1 handful of raspberries
1/3 sliced avocado
1 chopped beet
Chopped raw red onion
2 eggs over easy (leave the yolk runny to help dress the salad)
Dressing, in a small dish mix:
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp fig balsamic vinegar
1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 pinch of sea salt
Dash of garlic powder
Mix well and then drizzle over your bowl before adding the egg. Break the egg yolk and mix to enjoy!
Dinner: Veggie Covered Spaghetti
Pasta, chicken thigh, zucchini, mushroom, tomato, avocado, onion, and tofu.
Pasta, chicken thigh, zucchini, mushroom, tomato, avocado, onion, and tofu.
This is an admittedly glutaneous dish. By the time I ate dinner it had been hours and I had only eaten breakfast. So I tried to make up for lost time with this enormous bowl of food! Enjoy.
Your Bowl. Add a handful of spaghetti, 1 chicken thigh chopped into bite size pieces, 1 handful of zucchini, 1 handful of mushrooms, 1 small sliced tomato, 1/4 sliced avocado, 1 slice chopped onion, 1 slice of tofu chopped into cubes. Top the tofu with soy sauce. Coat the rest of the dish with red wine vinegar, fig balsamic vinegar, 2 tbsp of olive oil, 2 - 3 pinches of sea salt and fresh cracked pepper!
Burying the pasta forces you to eat the vegetables (fiber) and chicken (protein) first which helps to slow the digestion of the processed carbohydrates from the pasta.
Buon Appetito!
Cooking Instructions:
Spaghetti. Follow instructions on your package. We used Rao’s. A good choice because it only contains two ingredients: durum semolina flour and water. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the pasta. Cook time is 11 minutes if choosing Rao’s pasta. Strain. Pour back into the pot and add 1 - 2 tbsp of olive oil (to prevent pasta from sticking), 1 - 2 pinches of salt and stir.
Chicken Thighs. Use organic free range chicken thighs (pasture raised is best if you can get it). Preheat the oven to 425. Put the chicken thighs into a Pyrex. Coat them lightly in enough olive oil so they don’t stick to the dish. Add a pinch of salt to each one (each side), black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and a touch of cayenne pepper. Add a little water to the dish. Leave them right side up. Cook at 425 for 20 minutes.
Zucchini. Bring a pan to medium heat. Chop one slice of yellow onion and two cloves of garlic. Add to the pan with 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and two pinches of salt. Chop a zucchini in half down the middle. Then chop the halves in half length wise. Then cut into bite size (1 inch) pieces. Toss in a bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil and two pinches of salt. Once the garlic and onion are fragrant, add the zucchini to the pan. Add a splash of water and cover. Let cook for 3-5 minutes. Uncover and flip, then cover again and let cook for an additional 3-5 minutes (until done).
Mushrooms. We like organic baby bellas. Bring a pan to medium-high heat. Add a tbsp of olive oil. Slice the mushrooms into quarters, toss lightly with olive oil (1 - 2 tbsp) and salt (2 - 3 pinches, and add them to the preheated pan. Add a few splashes of water and cover. Leave undisturbed for 5 minutes, then toss and let sit for another 3 - 5 minutes.
Meat Raised Right, and Finding Excuses to Exercise
Click here: OneSource Health, March 3, 2024
“When motivation fails you, discipline and routine will save you.”
Tim Kennedy
Sisu Farms Show and Tell
For the past few weeks, I’ve been ordering chicken and eggs from Sisu Farms. They’re a local farm located about 2 hours outside of Denver run by a native Colorado family. I found them on eatwild.com. All their meat is pasture raised and fed only organic non-GMO grains. Pictured above are 3 whole chickens, a dozen eggs, and a package of bacon (it was on sale and I couldn’t resist). My largest order to date.
The chicken is more expensive than what you’d get in the store, but that’s because they’re two different chickens. An industrial raised chicken might be as cheap as $3.50 per lb, while an industrial raised organic chicken will be closer to $5 per lb. Pasture raised organic chickens, like the ones shown here from Sisu Farms, are closer to $9 per lb or more. Yes, almost double the price.
So, what’s the difference?
Industrial raised chickens live their entire lives indoors, never seeing sunlight or feeling a breeze. They’re fed cheap commodity grains grown with pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Their feed is laced with antibiotics meant to ward off infections caused by weak immune systems from the inhumane way they’re forced to live. Antibiotics also accelerate their growth to otherwise abnormal levels, making some chickens so heavy their legs can’t even support their weight. And with no room to move they’re forced to live “knee” deep in their own waste.
Industrial raised chickens
“Free range” chickens have access to the outdoors for 51 percent of their life, but that says nothing of how much time that they actually do spend outside the coop or what the quality of that outdoor environment is. “Cage free” hens can move “freely” within their hen house, assuming they have the space to do so amongst the thousands of other chickens. And an “organic” industrially raised chicken is given organic feed, but it’s typically of low quality and no variety.
Pigs being transported to slaughter
It’s for all these reasons that industrial farmers are able to produce birds, and other animals such as hogs and cattle, so cheaply. But this method of raising animals has other more costly downstream effects. Mainly to our health in the form of antibiotic resistant strains of infection and chronic diseases, and to the environment in the form of natural disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes, and rising water levels. The cost to remedy our health epidemic and the growing number of disasters is borne by us and is in the trillions of dollars. When you include those costs, it becomes clear what the cheaper option is.
In stark contrast to this method of farming lies Sisu Farms and a growing number of other farmers around the country who are raising their animals the right way. Sisu raises their chickens and hogs out on pasture, allowing them to exhibit natural instincts to peck, scratch, and root. Creating a healthier and more resilient animal.
The recent bird flu outbreak in 2022 in which over 50 million chickens, most of which were on large scale commercial farms, had to be slaughtered to try and contain the spread of the virus is the perfect example. The flu spread through these chickens like wildfire because of the artificial and inhumane way in which they were raised. As a result, the USDA had to reimburse farmers more than $140 million dollars for the lost fowl. Funded by taxpayers.
So, the question isn’t “why are pasture raised chickens so expensive,” its “why are commodity chickens so damn cheap!” And, moreover, “what is the true cost to society of raising chickens in an industrialized manner?”
I don’t like thinking I’m paying double for meat when I don’t have to, but it’s become abundantly clear to me that I have to. If I want to stay healthy, consume humanely raised animals, and contribute to healing the planet, then I don’t have a choice. I must be willing to put my dollars behind my beliefs.
One way I’ve tried to offset the cost is by buying and cooking whole chickens. Organic chicken ranges in price from $7 per lb for chicken thighs, up to $10 per lb for chicken breasts. So if you’re used to buying individual cuts, then you’re already paying close to the same price as you would for an organic pasture raised chicken. But with a whole chicken you’ll get more meat, tasty skin, a carcass for delicious bone broth, and organs (if you or your dog are into that).
For those of us with a choice it’s not a question but a matter of fact. Anyone that can afford to, must. And the more of us that do, the more accessible and affordable raising food the right way will become. Think of every dollar you spend as a vote. I’ve been using my dollars to vote for local food and businesses as much as I can, because it’s been my experience that those are the people that care.
Check out eatwild.com to find a farm that will deliver near you.
Science Says We Don’t Want to Exercise.
Two articles slid into my feed recently that piqued my interest. Both were detailing the science behind why we don’t want to exercise. The theory goes something like this. While humans developed a large capacity for physical activity, born out of our need to hunt and gather food, our brains also evolved to favor the conservation of energy.
From an evolutionary perspective this made sense. Save your energy (calories) for finding food and fighting off predators. But we no longer must search for food, and the only real predators we face are ourselves. Since food is easily accessible and abundant (for most) we no longer burn calories hunting and gathering, and we end up doing too much conserving.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over 70 percent of people fail to get the recommended 150 minutes (about 20 minutes per day) of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise and two resistance training sessions per week prescribed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Various surveys suggest that the reasons why so many people are missing the mark isn’t exclusive to our evolutionary tendency towards rest.
At least 50 percent of people report having a chronic condition that prevents them from exercising. Others report lacking the confidence to step into a gym and workout. And for a lot of people, it’s simply a matter of avoiding what they view as an unpleasant and uncomfortable act with uncertain rewards.
I can’t disagree. I’ve been walking into gyms for over 20 years and despite what it seems, it never gets easier. The habit I’ve developed makes it harder to skip a day (see quote above), but it doesn’t make it easier. Most days I still dread walking through those gym doors or driving to a trailhead.
But one of the things that has kept me coming back is the feeling I always leave with. A sense of accomplishment and a clear mind. In all my years of exercise there’s never been a workout I’ve regretted. So, in order to stay consistent and keep those good feelings coming, I’ve developed a number of techniques and mental tricks to keep showing up.
Think About Your Ideal Self
Self-discrepancy theory describes three selves we all possess.
Actual self - your current state
Ideal self - what you want to be
Ought self - the self that does all the stuff required to become your ideal self
I wrote a post recently titled Who Are You Becoming? that speaks to this theory (although I hadn’t heard of it at the time). Essentially, think about the person you want to become and then match your daily actions to those that would be required to become that person. If you want to feel better and exercise, then talk to your ought self and get a workout in. We become our ideal self through the accumulation of small actions each day.
Think About the Reward
Both articles cite “uncertain rewards” as a reason people avoid working out. But I think it’s a misunderstanding of what rewards to expect. Physical rewards might take time to appear, but the mental benefits are always immediate as exercise is the most effective mood booster on the market, the result of a handful of hormones that are released when you exert yourself physically. In addition, a good workout serves as a distraction from stress and anxiety in your normal life, providing you with a muchneeded break and reset. So, think about what a good workout is going to do for your mood.
Break It Down
The hardest part of a workout is (like most of life) showing up for it. When we think about a workout, all we focus on is the 45 - 60 minutes of getting our ass kicked, ending up in a pool of our own sweat. Instead, focus on each step on the way to that workout. When I’m struggling to get out the door, I have a conversation with myself. “Well, just change into your gym clothes, then see how you feel. Ok good, now get your bag ready. Great. How about filling up your water.” I have this conversation to distract myself from the workout I’m dreading and to inch my way out the door.
Lie To Yourself And Commit To A Shorter Workout
This was particularly useful when I was training for triathlons. I would convince myself to get out for my run or bike sessions by lying. I’d commit to half the prescribed miles and then agree to reassess. Nine out of 10 times I’d complete the whole workout. It was just a matter of getting going.
Now that I’m strength training the conversation sounds different, but the intent is the same. Some days all I commit to is a stretch and foam roll session, or 20 minutes in the sauna, or 10 minutes on the treadmill. But once I’m in the gym and the blood starts pumping, I find the motivation to get my workout done.
Be Realistic About The Commitment
An hour at the gym, on your Peloton bike, or out hiking, sounds like a long and dreadful time! But it’s only one hour or 6 percent of your day. It’s one episode of your favorite show. It’s one meeting at work. It’s a chance to do something for yourself that will make you feel good the rest of the day.
Know That You’re Not Alone In Feeling Out Of Place
I’ve been working out in gyms for 20+ years, and I still feel uncomfortable whenever I’m in a new setting. It happened to me recently after moving to Colorado (read New Gym Jitters). So, know that you’re not alone. And while avid gym goers seem intimidating, I’m here to tell you that they are anything but. They are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Also, and this is important, most avid gym goers (me included) are too self-absorbed to care about what you’re doing.
Try Something New
After a few years of endurance racing, I’ve finally gotten back into strength training (my first love). But after a year of consistently hitting the weights, I’ve been feeling burnt out and lacking motivation. So this past week I tried something new. I took a movement class where we did things like bear crawl forwards, backwards, and sideways. We played a game of “catch,” and we practiced moves like cartwheels, the crab, and (my favorite) the slippery pickle. It was a blast and it provided enough of a shakeup in my routine to get me excited to exercise.
Physical Activity Doesn’t Have To Be Formal
Spend time in your garden if you have one. Spend time in the kitchen cooking, whether that’s big meal preps or preparing individual meals. Clean up and organize your house. Volunteer in your community. Anything to get moving.
The science says we don’t want to exercise but every study in the world comes to the same conclusion. That exercise is by and large the best way to improve your physical and mental health. We don’t have to forage for food anymore or hunt big game, what a relief. Instead use that energy to do something fun and active!
Cheers to your practice.
James.
How I Limit My Phone Usage
Putting down your phone is hard. But with these tactics it might be possible to at least limit it’s usage.
I, like most people, struggle with being on my phone too much, and I’m always looking for ways to limit my usage. We carry our phones everywhere, and even when we do decide to put them down, we’re inevitably prompted to pick them back up the second a new message, call, email, or social media notification comes through. Each time this happens, it brings us right back into the throws of phone addiction. Phones have eliminated boredom.
On average Americans check their phones anywhere from 150 to 350 times per day (depending on the survey). That equates to once every 5 - 10 minutes. There is nothing else in this world that garners that much attention from us. And when we touch our phones, we usually end up on it longer than we intended. We spend nearly 1/3 of our time awake, or 4 - 5 hours, each day staring at our phones.
What’s worse is what we do when we’re on them. Scrolling through social media, checking our email, shopping, and gaming are all top reasons people report using their phones for. The number one reason though is to call or text friends and family. And while keeping in touch feels like a legitimate reason to be on your phone, more and more research shows that always being connected is not a good thing. Always being connected negatively affects our mental health and well-being. Anxiety and rates of depression have soared since the advent of the smartphone.
But I think there is a stigma around trying to convince people to get off their phone. People feel, with good reason, that you’re trying to control their behavior and prevent them from doing something that they “enjoy.” But I think that thought process needs to be re-framed. It’s less about what’s being taken away and more about what’s being given back.
A smartphone is like a bag of M&M’s or a cylinder of Pringles (once you pop you can’t stop). The more junk processed food you consume the less likely you are to consume nutritious food that fuels your body. The same holds true with your phone. The more time you spend staring at social media, or scrolling through emails, or playing games, the less likely you are to immerse yourself in activities that are going to benefit your life. Most notably, thinking.
Thinking is a vital but lost art. We need time to think to figure out what we want from our day, our lives, our jobs, our relationships. And we need time to think to figure out how to make it all happen. But that’s almost impossible to do when you’re being distracted by your phone. It doesn’t matter if you’re “just responding to a friend” or watching a video. It is all pulling you away from deciding your goals, figuring out how to accomplish them, and executing.
Phones also rob you of being present and staying connected in the real world. Smartphones create a forcefield around you that blocks out your environment and the people in it. I’m sure you’ve experienced trying to talk to someone who is immersed in their phone only to get no response or a muted one. Or you’ve been walking across the street and realized you haven’t looked up to check for traffic (I know I have).
It’s for all these reasons that I’ve worked hard over the last few years to limit my phone usage. For me it’s simple. When I limit time on my phone, I’m more productive, happier, and my day goes my smoother. In addition, when I do finally pick my phone up, I’m excited to respond to whatever communications I missed.
But putting down your phone is not easy (they are in fact designed to be addictive in the same way a slot machine is), and it doesn’t come down to willpower. Like so many things, diet being a good example, your ability to succeed in limiting your phone comes down to setting up strict parameters, and then following them as closely as possible. In the same way that it’s a lot easier to not snack on Pringles or M&M’s if they aren’t in your pantry, giving yourself reasons to avoid your phone will make it harder to pick up and easier to put down.
Recognizing all of this, I’ve setup several informal rules that I try to comply with every day. I’m not 100 compliant, but these rules have helped me to separate myself from my phone and be more productive when I do pick it up. After all, a smartphone is a wonderful piece of technology if used for good.
Here are my rules and the tactics that I try to follow to make my days better and more productive.
No phones while eating. When I use my phone during a meal it takes away from my enjoyment of eating, and the person(s) I’m eating with. If I’m alone, I’ll either write (pen and paper) or read whatever is around. Recently I’ve been studying a postcard of Native Indian Tribe names we picked up on a road trip. It’s light enough to still let my mind wander, while keeping me from feeling completely bored. Reading nutrition labels is another fun past-time of mine.
Unsubscribe from emails that are no longer serving me. If I head for the delete button before the read button, then I need to unsubscribe. Marketing/spam emails are the obvious culprits, but I also regularly unsubscribe from emails I willingly signed up for. Sometimes they aren’t what I was expecting, or I’ve grown tired of the content. If I regain interest for some reason I can always resubscribe. But strict adherence to this rule saves me a lot of otherwise wasted time.
During the day my phone stays on vibrate. At night I put it on do not disturb and airplane mode. I don’t want to be woken up by my phone, and I don’t the first thing I see when I wake up to be unread messages. All too often those texts contain something that will ruin my morning. I check my phone after my morning routine is complete.
When I put my phone down, I lay it face down. If a notification does come through, I’m not tempted by the brightly lit LED screen to pick it up.
I intentionally leave my phone behind. In the car when I’m at the park with my dog (don’t rob me). At home when I go out to dinner. In my locker when I’m in the sauna. I do it because otherwise I’d be tempted to pick it up.
“I wanted to stop being on top of things, and start getting to the bottom of things.” This is a great quote I heard recently, and I think applies perfectly to social media usage. We think we’re staying on top of things but really, we’re getting nowhere. By deleting my Twitter and FaceBook, and no longer using Instagram, I’ve reduced the reasons to pick my phone up, and made more time to dive into things that actually interest me. I’ve also eliminated social media induced anxiety from my life.
Remember, not every message needs an immediate response. Not immediately acknowledging a message, email, or phone call is not the same as ignoring someone. Most times these actions are actually interrupting me and what I’m doing, which causes me to be distracted, lose focus, and lose productivity. So instead of answering right away, I finish my task, whether that’s folding laundry or reading a chapter, and then answer.
Re-direct why I picked my phone up. When the above fails and I pick up my phone and go to do something “unproductive” (i.e. refresh my email, check the stock market), I give myself a choice. Put the phone down or do something productive (i.e. read that newsletter or article you’ve been putting off). In this way I can at least make the most of my time.
It’s possible to limit your screen time. Try some of these tactics the next time you’re trying to manage your phone usage and let me know if they work for you.
Lunch: Chicken, beet, and brussels salad
A big lunch to replenish after the gym
After discovering how easy and delicious it is to cook with the crock pot (check out this crock pot chicken recipe) we’ve been looking for more ways to use it. This morning Jennifer thought “why not cook the beets in it.”
So that’s what we did. She found this simple recipe. I only had 4 beets so I pared the amounts down a bit. I also think I cut the beets smaller than I was supposed to, so I cooked them on low for a little over 4 hours instead of 6. But they came out sooo good.
They finished cooking right when I got back from the gym, so I tossed them with some dry parsley and then made this bomb salad with them. Check it out.
1.5 handfuls of chicken
1 handful of roasted brussels
1 handful of crock pot beets
Chopped walnuts and almonds, and a dash of pumpkin seeds
Finished with olive oil, fig balsamic, red wine vinegar, chopped raw garlic, salt, onion powder
Such a treat!
Final Sleep Insights, and Food Waste Fights Food Insecurity
Click here: OneSource Health, February 25, 2024
“My mind is made up, don’t confuse me with the facts.”
Why We Sleep
Closing The Book on Sleep
I finally finished Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, Ph.D. The moral of the story, once you understand the power of sleep it is both terrifying and empowering. Terrifying because poor sleep quality or quantity is linked to chronic illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and stroke, to loss of memory, dementia, and Alzheimer’s, to low testosterone, and low libido, to a decreased ability to learn and an increased chance of accidents such as car crashes. But it’s empowering because what sleep taketh sleep also giveth.
Every one of the conditions mentioned above also improves with better sleep. Making sleep the most powerful, accessible, and affordable supplement available. And the most underutilized. Surveys show that 25 percent of adults get less than 6 hours of sleep, the CDC’s recommended dose is 7 hours, each night, leading to chronic sleep deprivation. In 1942 that number was less than 8 percent.
One of the biggest side effects of sleep deprivation or “short sleep,” as he calls it, is the impact on the hormones leptin, which regulates satiety, and ghrelin, which controls hunger. Inadequate sleep decreases leptin and increases ghrelin, lowering your levels of satiety and keeping you hungry for more food. Studies have shown that sleep deprived individuals consume 300 calories more per day compared to their well-rested counterparts. Extrapolate that over the roughly 250-day work year and that’s an extra 78,000 calories (20 pounds).
In addition, poor sleep inhibits your body’s ability to regulate blood glucose by as much as 40 percent. Worse still, being sleep deprived increases cravings for carbohydrate and sugar rich foods by 30 to 40 percent. A decreased ability to regulate glucose is something that I experienced during my glucose monitor experiment. I was getting less than 6 hours of sleep per night at the time and foods like lentils and blueberries that should’ve had little to no affect were causing major spikes.
The combination of an increased appetite and an inability to regulate glucose is one of the reasons for the increased prevalence of obesity and diabetes in society. These two diseases, which could in part be prevented or managed through better sleep, have instead resulted in a new multi-billion-dollar industry for drugs that manage appetite in much of the same way as leptin and ghrelin do. The problem is that like nutrition, most physicians receive very little sleep training in medical school, making it easier for doctors to fill a prescription than advise on sleep.
A few weeks ago, I went to the doctor for my annual physical. I told my physician about symptoms of chest pain I was having, and how my family history of heart disease had me concerned. He asked several questions aimed at soothing my fears and ruling out cardiac disease. He also did an electrocardiography (EKG) and blood work to check my cholesterol levels. But he never asked about stress or sleep. In the end he told me with 99 percent certainty that the pain was not heart related and I didn’t have to worry.
The pain has since gone away, so perhaps he wasn’t wrong, but in retrospect I have no doubt that stress and even more so a lack of sleep was linked to the discomfort I was feeling. At the time I was spending 5 - 6 hours in bed, which equates to ~4 - 5 hours of actual sleep. In addition, my total cholesterol levels, although not in the danger zone, had increased substantially since my last blood test. A decreased ability to regulate cholesterol is another side effect of insufficient sleep.
My doctor is a young guy in the first few years of practicing who I really like. But it’s clear to me that the science of sleep has yet to make it into medical school curriculums.
But getting adequate amounts of sleep is about more than just warding off disease and weight gain. Sleep also plays a major role in our ability to perform mentally and physically. When participants in a study were tested on specific motor skills, those who got the proper dose of sleep performed 20 percent better in speed and 25 percent better in accuracy. A separate study showed that obtaining less than 6 hours of sleep per night decreased the time to physical exhaustion by 10 - 30 percent.
The good news is that for most people poor sleep is a result of poor sleep hygiene and can be improved. The National Institutes of Health suggests following these 12 steps to better sleep (page 22). And if you think you have a sleep disorder then Matthew Walker recommends seeking out help from the National Sleep Foundation.
For me, Why We Sleep has forced me to take a hard look at my sleep practices and to make a few big changes.
Keeping a steady bedtime. When I’m tired, I call it a night. I no longer fight my fatigue in favor of one more episode of The Great British Baking Show. I don’t care how good the pastries look!
Staying in bed longer. I’ve always been a proud early riser. But by jumping out of bed too early I’ve been missing the memory boosting benefits offered by those last two hours of sleep.
Reducing caffeine. From 3 cups of coffee (300 mg of caffeine) to 1 cup of green tea (50 mg of caffeine). Since making this change, I’ve been dreaming nonstop, fall asleep easier, and sleep deeper and longer.
Napping more. Day time naps as short as 20 minutes have shown improvement in memory consolidation and just as important, I always feel better after.
Drowning out noise. I’ve been wearing ear plugs most nights and putting on a sound machine to silence any unwanted noise.
I’m also continuing other practices I instituted years ago.
Turing down the lights after dinner to begin the wind down process. Artificial light (including screens) delays the release of melatonin.
Keeping the room cool. Your body temperature needs to drop by 1 - 2 degrees Fahrenheit to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Eating an early dinner. The system that helps you fall asleep is the same one that regulates digestion. You don’t want them competing.
Drinking 1 tsp of CALM 30 - 60 minutes before bed in 3 - 4 oz of water. Too much water will have me up peeing.
Stretching my legs for 5 minutes before bed. Quad stretch. Calf stretch. Hamstring stretch. Elevated pigeon on the bed.
Avoiding alcohol. Alcohol and caffeine are two of the most common sleep disruptors in society. Thankfully I gave up drinking in 2021.
The information provided here and in previous newsletters is just a snippet of the information offered throughout the book. I strongly encourage anyone who is interested in learning more to pick up the book or an audio version. It’ll be one of the best investments that you’ll ever make.
Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash
Fill Stomachs Not Landfills
On Friday Jen and I volunteered with We Don’t Waste. They’re a Denver based non-profit that works with local restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores to recover food that would’ve otherwise gone to waste. Their motto is fill stomachs not landfills.
Every year an estimated 40 percent of food equal to 80 million tons or 149 billion meals in our country goes to waste. Food waste takes many forms and includes uneaten food at home, stores and restaurants, crops left in the field by farmers, surplus food ordered for schools, and food that’s rejected by retailers for not meeting certain standards of appearance, shape, or color.
The wasted food very often ends up in landfills where it decomposes and emits methane gas, a greenhouse gas that traps 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide over a 20 year period, and 28 times more over a 100 year period.
Instead of feeding climate change, that food could be going to feed the nearly 44 million people who suffered from food insecurity in 2023, and the far greater number of people who are suffering from nutrition insecurity. And that’s exactly what We Don’t Waste is doing.
By rescuing perfectly good food destined for landfills and distributing them to people in need at their 8 monthly food markets, they’re reducing methane gas emissions and the number of people going hungry.
In under 2 hours on Friday, we served over 350 families. Unlike other food programs, there are no eligibility qualifications to shop the market. All you must do is show up. We Don’t Waste designs their events similar to a farmer’s market, where people can walk through, shop (for free), and not feel stigmatized.
Shoppers pick out the items that they want, and leave what they don’t. On Friday the list of food included: chicken, bacon, ribs, yogurt, chocolate milk, onions, broccoli, micro greens, leeks, peanut butter, and more.
Of the 350 families who shopped the market I estimate that 90 percent of them were migrants of Latin American descent. Most of them spoke little or no English. It had me thinking about how different the environment they fled from was compared to the one they arrived in. Where in America we have enough wasted food to serve thousands of families each week.
The privilege we experience in this country to walk into a fully stocked supermarket every single day couldn’t be more foreign to them.
We’ve also been doing volunteer work with Food Bank of the Rockies. A slightly different program. While some of the food we distribute is rescued, a lot of it is donated or funded by the government. The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), a federal program that helps supplement the diets of people with low income by providing them with food at no cost, is of particular importance as it typically makes up about half of the food we hand out.
In contrast to the people served at We Don’t Waste, the people who show up for the food bank are more typically struggling American citizens. There is no one demographic that dominates.
On average we distribute close to 100 boxes of food in just over an hour. But like We Don’t Waste, the food available varies by week. This past week included fresh pears, oranges, and broccoli, as well as frozen ground beef, wild caught sockeye salmon, and chicken sausage. Shelf stable items included walnuts, raisins, cereal, and ramen. There were even items such as coffee creamer, and cream top whole milk.
Regardless of the differences between where the food comes from and who’s showing up to receive it, one thing is clear. That more and more people in this country are struggling to put healthy, nutritious food on their tables. And that’s what makes organizations and programs such as these so valuable.
Food should be a basic human right. Especially in a country filled with such abundance. Being out on the streets viewing it firsthand always provides a fresh perspective of the issue. It’s one thing to hear the statistics or to observe people’s troubles as you walk or drive by, but it is quite another to stand in front of them and make a connection through food.
So many people are living just on the fringe. And without programs like TEFAP and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and organizations like local Food Banks and We Don’t Waste, these same people would be missing important meals. They need our help and government funding.
There’s a way to join in without leaving your screen. Click this link and Tell Congress to help end hunger in rural communities by strengthening TEFAP in the next farm bill! Our tax money should be spent on the all the people right here at home.
Cheers.
James.
An Ode To Dense Books
The benefits of dense books are great for those who choose to take on the challenge
The first dense book I ever read was Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. It probably took me 4 years to finish. During that time I read a lot of other books but I just couldn’t sustain Thinking, Fast and Slow for long and I’d always put it down in favor of something easier to read.
The reason I never gave up on it though was because it was gifted to me by a close colleague and mentor. And even though he’d never know if I finished it, I wanted to prove to him through way of the universe that I valued him and his recommendation. It turned out to be one of the most life changing books I’ve ever read.
While the majority of the book went over my simple minded and mildly intelligent brain, the main concept stuck, and still influences my life every day. That concept is that everyone has two systems. System 1 and System 2. System 1 is your innate gut reaction to a stimuli, the response to an action that you give without thinking about the consequences, most times regret, and is emotional. System 2 is your calculated response. It’s the more logical response you form after taking a breath, and counting to 3.
Working on emboldening my System 2 and bypassing my System 1 has changed my life.
But aside from that great lesson came the great accomplishment of reading such an influential book. I feel such pride whenever I hear intellects and scholars I look up to reference Daniel Kahneman’s book. I don’t know anyone in my personal life that has ever read it and it remains one of the most important works of psychology ever published.
Reading dense books are important. Because while they are difficult to get through, there are so many lessons they offer. I recently finished The Language Instinct, by Steven Pinker. It took me 18 months to get through. It was far denser than I anticipated it would be.
The reason I picked up The Language Instinct was to see if it could help me learn a second language. Ever since middle school I’ve been trying to become fluent in Spanish. But aside from a couple of long stints in South America where I was able to practice, fluency has eluded me, and always regressed back to my rudimentary understanding of the language after returning home.
A few months before learning about The Language Instinct I started to think that maybe I needed to take a different approach. That perhaps there was something to language in general that I was missing, and if I knew it it would allow me to unlock my brains ability to become fluent or at least improve.
Sadly my Spanish is no better after reading it, however in the same way that Thinking, Fast and Slow changed how I choose to respond, The Language Instinct changed my approach to reading, writing, and communicating in ways that I never anticipated. In the end my understanding of English got an unexpected boost.
Here’s one such example from the book that changed the way I think about writing.
“If a speaker is interrupted at a random point in a sentence, there are on average about ten different words that could be inserted at that point to continue the sentence in a grammatical and meaningful way.”
This was significant to me because so often when writing I’d hit a brick wall mid-sentence believing that there could only be one word that could continue the sentence, and more times than not I couldn’t think of it. But learning that there were in fact 10 different possibilities gave me permission to think outside of the box. Just knowing that more than one option existed was enough to make me rack my brain until I found the word that made sense.
The Language Instinct also improved my understanding of sentence structure and it’s importance. As Steven Pinker describes it, “Only a few items… can be held in the mind at once, and the items are immediately subject to fading or being overwritten.” He then provides a few examples to drive home the point. As the reader you can feel the sentence slipping away as you read.
“He gave the girl that he met in New York while visiting his parents for ten days around Christmas and New Year’s the candy,” and,
“She saw the matter that had caused her so much anxiety in former years when she was employed as an efficiency expert by the company through.”
He also provides the correct way to structure these sentences.
“He gave the candy to the girl that he met in New York while visiting his parents for ten days around Christmas and New Year’s,” and,
“She saw the matter through that had caused her so much anxiety in former years when she was employed as an efficiency expert by the company.”
An easier to follow example is as follows,
“Reverse the clamp that the stainless steel hex-head bolt extending upward from the seat post yoke holds in place,” which becomes,
“Reverse the clamp that is held in place by the stainless hex-head bolt extending upward from the seat post yoke.”
At times the book is also playful, like when he makes fun of so called “language mavens,” self described experts of language who have made a career of calling out “bad writing.” In this example he is speaking about a film and theater critic who has made a career of outlandish reviews such as this:
“The English language is being treated nowadays exactly as slave trader once handled the merchandise in their slave ships, or as the inmates of concentration camps were dealt with by their Nazi jailers.”
But my favorite were the examples of the contradictory nature of the English language that are at once entertaining and informative. They take the seriousness out of composing the perfect sentence, choosing the right words, and making it all grammatically correct. Such as: “How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?”
The Language Instinct is the type of dense book that I used to shy away from and never finish. I’ve often heard the advice “read what you like until you like to read.” While it’s hard to disagree with that advice, I think there’s also tremendous value to reading outside of your comfort zone.
Reading is like any skill. The more challenging the input, the better you’re going to become. In weight training we call this progress overload. In this case a dense book is like adding weights or reps to your sets. Rather than strengthening your muscles you’ll become a better read. Being a better reader will expand what you read, how often you read, and grow your knowledge as a result.
That’s what dense books have done for me. They’ve made me a better reader, thinker, writer, and communicator. They’ve also improved my ability to stay focused and complete a tough task. It’s an easy, effective, cheap, and accessible way to improve your mind.
The Language Instinct is another Thinking, Fast and Slow for me. While there were a lot of concepts I missed, and connections I couldn’t make, when things were clicking I was amazed at what I was learning. Merchants of Doubt is the latest tough read I’m working through. I suspect it’ll be another 12 - 18 months before I’m able to close it for good.
Dense books offer big rewards for those that choose to read and finish them.
Veggie Lentil Soup with Zucchini
Carrots, celery, lentils, zucchini, garlic and onion make an easy and delicious soup
Bring a pan to medium heat
Chop 3 carrots and half a celery stalk
Chop 4 cloves of garlic and 2 slices of onion
Add 2 tbsp of olive oil and 2 pinches of sea salt to the pan
Then add the carrots, celery, garlic and onion
Cook for 5 minutes, toss once halfway
After 5 minutes
Add 2 cups of vegetable broth
Add 2 cup of water
Add 2 bay leaves
Add 1 tsp of dry parsley
Add a few cracks of black pepper
Add 1/2 cup of green lentils
Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes
After 20 minutes
Add 1/2 of a zucchini chopped into 1/2 in pieces, and then add the zucchini to the pot.
Cook for an additional 25 minutes
Remove the bay leaves and enjoy.
Failure to Communicate, and New Sleep Insights
Click here: OneSource Health, February 18, 2024
"If you can't tell what you desperately need, it's probably sleep."
Kevin Kelly
Missed Opportunities
This year over 120 million people tuned in to watch the Super Bowl. That’s over 240 million captive eyeballs. The perfect opportunity to share a message if you have one. And a lot of people did. Unfortunately, those messages came from the same handful of industries that continue to erode society.
Companies that make their profits by selling processed food, soda, alcohol, pharmaceutical drugs, and online gambling services (a disturbingly growing trend detailed in this 60 Minutes segment).
There were 36 ads in the first half of the Super Bowl. Half of them, 18, were for products and services in the categories mentioned above. They included: M&Ms, Popeyes, Pringles, Lindt Chocolates, Nerds, Oreos, Reese’s, Dunkin Donuts, Hellman’s Mayonnaise, Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew, Starry, Poppi, Michelob Ultra, Coors Light, Bet MGM, Fanduel, and the pharmaceutical drug Veozah (to “treat” hot flashes)
Worse still, the ads featured people like Dan Marino, Chris Pratt, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Tom Brady. An affluent list of people who surely didn’t need the extra paycheck but apparently had no problem cashing it even though I’m sure none of them use the products they were endorsing and telling the viewers to support.
The remaining 18 commercials were not any better. They were for cars, or car insurance, or telling would be consumers to “Shop Like A Billionaire” and buy things they don’t need. Perhaps the second half commercials proved better, but I doubt it and I didn’t stick around to find out.
The only positive and uplifting message was from Hegetsus.com. Formed by a coalition of Jesus followers of diverse background, they have been investing in spreading the story of Jesus that they believe in. One filled with love, compassion, and kindness to others. No, I’m not trying to get religious, but these ads were the only ones I saw that made me feel good and the message is one I can get behind.
Imagine if our elected leaders, politicians, and health experts had as much gumption as Hegetsus.com. Imagine if they took the opportunity during the most viewed event of the year to share information about how to improve your health. Or ways to reduce stress. Or decided it was the perfect time to announce a new initiative to tackle the growing health epidemic we face. Imagine a world where our leaders did something productive for the people. Yes, I can dream.
The Super Bowl ads and growing neglect from our government is especially disheartening when I look at the articles (a loose term for the stories journalists publish completely devoid of usefulness) and videos that were shared and recommended to me this week. Almost all of which were related to weight loss.
For over a year now the new class of “weight-loss” drugs, GLP1 agonists, have been all of the rage, and as profits from selling these drugs have continued to soar the media has been doing its job to support the growth with little concern for negative downstream effects. Until this week.
Three separate articles, one from The New York Times and two from The Atlantic, raised concerns about the drugs ineffectiveness in some patients, dangerous side effects, and the dramatic muscle loss caused by these drugs.
Loss of lean mass, which includes muscle, bone, and even ligaments, is a serious side effect of the new class of weight-loss drugs. Muscle loss specifically can account for up to 40 percent of the weight lost. It’s particularly worrying considering that seniors, aged >65 years, make up 26 percent of the patients taking weight-loss drugs. They’re experiencing frailty from muscle and bone loss at an accelerated rate, increasing their risk of falling and osteoporosis. Of note falls and hip fractures are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries among seniors.
Not surprisingly a new market has emerged to combat the muscle loss caused by weight-loss drugs. Companies like Daily Harvest are marketing “companion meals” that are high in protein. Gyms are selling “companion workouts” that focus on strength training. Most egregious of all, drug makers like Eli Lilly, manufacturers of weight-loss drug Mounjaro, are looking to cash in on the problem they’ve helped to create. They’re developing a drug to stop the muscle loss caused by their weight-loss drug. It doesn’t really get more blatant than that.
There is also the large percent of people for whom the drugs don’t work on, and the patients who need to stop taking them because of the severe side effect. Seventeen percent of patients stop taking the drugs due “gnarly gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting... pancreatitis, severe gastrointestinal distress, low blood sugar, and even hair loss.” These are side effects that many people experience, for some it’s just so bad they need to discontinue the drug.
Another “…quarter to a third [of patients] are non-responders” according to Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine specialist at Harvard. That’s the same Dr. Stanford being quoted by The Atlantic as an “expert” who has received $75,000 from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, the makers of two of the most popular weight-loss drugs.
The articles around Ozempic and other GLP1 agonists are enough to give you whiplash. Just a few months ago every news outlet couldn’t help but write about the revolutionary new class of drugs, downplaying any potential side effects. But now with millions of people experiencing them first-hand they’ve made an about face.
My mother sent me a clip this week for a new weight-loss “pill.” The patient swallows a deflated balloon and once it’s in the stomach they inflate it, making less room for food. It stays in the stomach for four months and then passes through the bowels. I wonder what the future side effects of having a foreign object lodged in your stomach for a few months might be. I don’t know, and I wish no one had to find out.
I just can’t help but wonder what would happen if all the time and money that went into developing these quick fix weight loss methods with a goal of making money, instead went into fixing the real issues people are facing every day. If we invested in free child-care to relieve people of some money concerns. If we invested in better distribution and access to nutritious foods. If we made life just a little bit easier and more enjoyable for people so that they could sleep better at night.
More Insights From Why We Sleep
I’m slowly making my way through Matthew Walker’s Why We Sleep which continues to fascinate me. A few years ago, I learned about the importance of sleep, but reading about the benefits in detail and learning about the studies that identified the benefits has again changed my approach to sleep.
Part of that shift has included a huge reduction in caffeine intake. Mainly from coffee. There’s a chemical in your body called adenosine. Throughout the day more and more of it attaches to receptors in the brain building “sleep pressure” which causes you to feel tired and eventually fall asleep. Caffeine helps keep you awake by attaching itself to the adenosine receptors and effectively blocking adenosine from latching on.
Learning that piece of information I’ve gone from 2 - 4 coffees per day to 1 cup of tea, and the occasional small coffee (I’ve had 2 in the last week). We’ve been on a road trip all week, changing beds every few days, so it’s been difficult to tell what benefits I’ve been experiencing. But I can say for sure that I’ve been having more vivid dreams at night, and I feel less edgy during the day.
The other big change I’ve made is staying in bed longer. According to Matthew Walker’s research the last two hours of sleep, the hours many of us cut short to get the day started, prove to be the most important for memory and motor skill development.
I had been in a cycle of getting out of bed at close to 4 am every day, about 6 hours of being in bed. Now I try to give myself at least 8 hours in bed and get up at 6. The change has been enormous for me. I wake up with a clearer mind and I’ve had less mood swings throughout the day (another symptom of sleep deprivation).
I also found this quote from the book insightful. It’s the best description I’ve ever heard about developing habits. “Training and strengthening muscles can help you better execute a skilled memory routine. But the routine itself - the memory program - resides firmly and exclusively within the brain.” A habit is exactly that, “a skilled memory routine.”
I found it interesting because it emphasizes the fact that any skill or habit you wish to acquire is nothing more than replaying a memorized choreography. Meaning to learn something new, you need to do it repeatedly. It’s something I learned in The Power of Habit and its akin to the 10,000 hour rule I first heard about in Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. It reinforces the idea that if I just keep trying eventually, I’ll get better. It’s something I wrote about recently relating to skiing, and it was on display again this past week.
We stayed a few nights in a small log cabin with a wood burning stove. Wood stoves are a love of mine, but building a fire is not something I get to do often. So, our first night it took me over an hour to get a fire going and I filled the house with enough noxious smoke to make Jen open the door in 20 degree weather.
But the next night it took only 30 minutes and generated minimal smoke in the house. On the third day we collected kindling during our walk along the river. That night I got the fire going on the first try and it burned seamlessly throughout the night. I was even able to get a fire going in the morning just using the remaining embers that were burning.
I was proud of myself and, never letting a moment go by without reflection, thought about how cool the progress I made in just 3 nights was. Note to self: keep going, don’t ever stop. Parrar e morrer. To stop is to die.
Cheers.
James.
Who Are You Becoming?
How you choose to allocate your resources will make all the difference.
Recently I finished reading How Will You Measure Your Life? and it made me recount my own journey to figure out the purpose of my life after leaving my job in 2018. In my decade of work, I had learned to equate success with money and status. Even if I didn’t believe it in my soul, it was all around me and hard to ignore.
At work I had become accustomed to “prioritizing” twenty different things. Everyone wore multiple hats, and I was no exception with a list of responsibilities that was as large as it was varied. And although short by most standards, my career was successful, and so when I left, I equated success with “doing a lot” and spreading myself thin. It’s taken years to unwind that mentality.
Throughout my journey I’ve had three significant moments of reflection that completely shifted my mindset.
My first breakthrough came about a year after I resigned in, no surprise, the form of a book. I read Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, and it threw my beliefs on their head. Greg McKeown’s book not only gave me the permission to do less but it promised that in doing so I’d achieve more. And so, I began the process of eliminating the things that weren’t essential to my life, saying no more than I said yes, and limiting certain relationships while embracing others.
A year or so later, still stumbling to embrace the do less mentality, I drew inspiration from this quote I picked up on a podcast: “The question is not if you will survive or be successful, it’s how to be useful.” This got me to stop viewing success as a goal, and to start thinking about how my experience, knowledge, and interests could best serve the world, myself, and those around me. And in doing so I narrowed my focus a little bit more, and shed another layer of non-essential pursuits and responsibilities that I didn’t see supporting my “usefulness.”
The third and perhaps most influential thing I came across was again while listening to a podcast. It was an episode of the Tim Ferriss Show, the guest was Rich Roll. Rich Roll has struggled with addiction in his life and is now a successful and sober health influencer and endurance athlete. In describing one of the ways he stays grounded he shared a question he asks himself regularly. “Who are you becoming?”
We all have a vision of the person we want to be but just thinking about that very prospect can be overwhelming. Rich Roll’s approach is instead to look at his actions throughout the day and see if they align with the person he wants to be.
It was such a simple and pragmatic way of framing my pursuits and goals because it took the emphasis off of the end result and shifted it to the daily journey, with a focus on doing a little bit each day. It made success seem achievable. It also made me realize that to be outwardly useful, I first needed to embrace becoming the type of person that could be useful.
In How Will You Measure Your Life? the authors make this point in a slightly different manner. They ask the question: “In your life, there are going to be constant demands for your time and attention. How are you going to decide which of these demands gets your resources?” Later in the book they emphasize the point with this statement, “The type of person you want to become – what the purpose of your life is – is too important to leave to chance.”
Throughout my life I’ve been guilty of accepting my fate, of accepting my tendencies, habits, and personality as things that just are. I never thought to change them because I didn’t think I could. I think for a lot of us we’ve been led to believe this is true. But I’ve realized over the last few years that none of them are set in stone, they’re all malleable. Each day we truly have the opportunity to change, to be better.
Asking myself “Who are you becoming?” has been essential in guiding my actions. It’s also allowed me to ask myself simple questions to stay on track. Did my actions today support the person I’m striving to become? Did I spend my time, energy, money, and attention on what’s essential to me? When the answer is no, as it often is, I look to course correct the next day.
I’m not perfect, but I count days with more yes’ than nos as progress, and that’s the goal. There is no overnight success. There is no magic pill. There is only incremental change. If we know who we want to become, then we can invest our resources to developing that person. So, I only have one question for you: Who are you becoming? I’d love to hear in the comments.
Cheers.
James
Resources:
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown
How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon
Rich Roll — Reinventing Your Life at 30, 40, and Beyond (#561)
Try This Move: Iso Kettlebell Curls
A fun way to add some diversity to your curls
Isometric Kettlebell Curls
I didn't have matching weights so I used a 15 lbs for the hold and 26 lbs for the concentric movement. I also had my Ruck Pack on with a 30 lb plate in it.
Tuck your tail bone, squeeze your glutes and engage your core as you curl the kettlebells towards you. When the isometric arm (15 lb in my case) reaches 90 degrees hold it there, continuing to curl with your other arm for 10 reps.
Keep your gaze straight, at a neutral angle. Keep your chin tucked.
Switch the weights and repeat on the opposite side.
3 sets x 10 reps per arm