Energy Diaries #1

I am on an energy mission for 2022, and I have made a kickstart with some motivation, research and actions. Here is the tl;dr on the top things I am doing:

• Motivation: Some part of energy is mental, and I am religiously following a course by the productivity guru Brian Johnson. The course is the paid version of his app Optimize. The app itself has lot of free content, but paying $300 adds some structure and guidance with a lot of commitment(interesting study). I will report back on long-term benefits in future, but day-to-day it keeps me hyped up and motivated to pursue what matters most, i.e. more daily energy! I play the episodes while driving, in the gym and on runs.
• Research: The key component of anything is understanding the science behind it and I started with The Energy Paradox by Steven Gundry. A lot of his findings are new, but with his background and application based approach I totally believe him. Even if his thesis on why his diet works is not absolutely correct, it wont change the fact that it has worked on numerous patients that come to him with a variety of ailments. I highly recommend the book, but the tl;dr is:

Energy = M2C2

Mitochondria health: Avoid bad fats and sugars, focus on one macro per meal

+ Microbiome health: Avoid lectins and go crazy with fibers and fermented foods that microbes love

+ Chrono Consumption: Eat in a fixed short window everyday

• Actions: The motivation and research don’t mean anything if I avoid actions. I have been including more and more healthy habits in my day in a sustainable way. Most are habits that I know work and have worked for me at some point in the past. Some are experimental things that feel interesting enough to try coming from my motivation and research. Here are a few:

Good sleep is the absolute basis of a healthy life (go read Why We Sleep by Mathew Walker if you have the slightest doubt) and I always make it a point to sleep 8+ hours daily and wake up without alarm. Additional thinks I am doing are to avoid eating at-least 3 hours before sleeping and minimize blue light exposure after sunset with the help of special glasses.

Regular exercise is second and I make it a point to do something physically challenging everyday. This can mean some yoga, running, tennis or weights in gym depending on the day and time. I am pretty close to including both cardio and weights on a daily basis, but this is something that will take a long long time to become a habit.

Good Food is third but quite close to exercise in its benefits. I am mostly depending on Gundry’s food lists to experience all the energy benefits he talks about in his book. His list is somehow consistent with the ones from multiple other dependable sources and at the same time has the widest selection. Other than naturally healthy foods, I try to take some extra fiber daily.

Supplements are not essential, but I don’t want to get deprived of anything important due to my diet and life experiments. These are: Multivitamin, B complex, zinc&mag&cal, D3, Lion’s Mane, Ashwagandha, Ginseng, Apple Cider Vinegar.

I go for Sauna and take Cold showers whenever I get a chance.

Consistency is the most important thing here. I believe that a good thing done everyday is million times better than a very good thing done just for a week. So nothing is too rigid, I don’t try to document things or get sad over eating a cookie. I just do a daily retro in my head and try to make everyday healthy. Overtime I know that I will reach a place where I am doing so many right things everyday that it stops taking as much effort to stay high energy all day. Thats the goal for 2022!