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This is going to be relatively short. There are really just four factors which determine the lion’s share of your health and well being (aside from things you can’t control, such as your genetics and age):
1. What you put into your body
2. How you move your body
3. How much and how well you sleep
4. Your environment (including your social environment)
Let’s take them one at a time.
What you put into your body
You probably already know what your biggest problems are. Soda, sweets, alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, cheesy pasta, takeout, a constant diet of processed crap, whatever. If you have a problem with any of these—and good signs that you have a problem are: you consume them more than you want to despite yourself, you kick yourself for spending too much money on them, you’re obese, someone you know who’s not a total prig has mentioned that you have a problem with them, you get angry when someone mentions that you have a problem with them…)—cutting them out will benefit you. It’s not easy. I would probably be 15 pounds lighter, 50% more energetic, and at least several thousand dollars richer if I could master this. But you know I’m right. Good luck.
There are also less obvious culprits. You might have subclinical food sensitivities, or be marinating in stress hormones because you’re constantly downing caffeinated beverages. You might do better on a higher or lower protein—or carbohydrate—diet. You might be a meat eater who would do better as a vegetarian, or a vegetarian who might do better as a meat-eater. You might benefit significantly from an all-organic diet. This can be hard to figure out. If you feel perpetually subpar and are not overindulging in anything obviously harmful (see above paragraph, and don’t fool yourself), it might be worth investigating. Elimination diets may help. If you have money, it could be worth seeing a holistic health practitioner or getting tests from somewhere like Everlywell. There are a lot of fads and conflicting opinions out there, and even what works for you personally can change over time. Again, good luck.
Despite the difficulties, most people could do more for their health, energy levels, and lifetime expenditures by adjusting their eating and drinking (and smoking) habits than by any other means.
How you move your body
I only run when serial killers are after me, and I am about as flexible as a piece of rebar. This is not good. I injure myself doing things that should be easy for someone with my physical strength, because of my lack of flexibility. I don’t remember the last time I got out of bed and didn’t notice discomfort in my neck and shoulders. Some areas of my body are chronically devitalized due to physical tension. If left to my own devices, I can read in bed for 16 hours at a time.
I choose to work outdoors doing physical labor (I’m a rancher) partially to combat these tendencies, and because I mostly like it. I used to lift a lot, except for lifts that required flexibility (like squats). I do not choose to run or stretch, because it’s boring and uncomfortable and I hate it. Don’t be like me. If your work and main leisure activities are largely sedentary, you’re probably suffering for it. Fix it, and feel better.
If you’re pretty sedentary, first do some lifestyle activities that you find at least moderately appealing (walking in parks or museums, gardening, dancing, swimming, carpentry, tidying up, kayaking, tending animals…). None of these things will probably fix your major weakness, because if they addressed that weakness, they wouldn’t be moderately appealing. Then, at least try to do the thing(s) that you hate that you know will help you, or a good substitute that addresses the same weakness or something close to it (calisthenics or Pilates instead of yoga, say, or hikes and rowing instead of running).
If you’re one of those people who forget to eat and who exercise too much, I don’t really understand you well enough to give you advice, but probably try incorporating more active recovery (as opposed to dedicated exercise) into your routine, don’t overdo the endurance cardio, take it easy on the caffeine, and sleep more.
How much and how well you sleep
I don’t have much to say about this, but it’s important. If you think you do great on five hours of sleep, you’re probably fooling yourself. Sleep hygiene, supplements, mind-body practices, working nights, hormone balancing, lack of exercise, anxiety, video games, unpaid bills, crippling debt, chronic pain—figure out your sleep problems and fix them if you can, or pay the price.
Exception: If your sleep problem is a baby or babies, all my research indicates that you’re out of luck, but at least it’s temporary. Exception to the exception: you might consider getting a better spouse, if necessary; it could help (it’s probably necessary if your spouse is not horribly sleep deprived, too).
Your physical environment
Your location pretty much determines your outdoor air quality and your water quality. There’s not much to do about outdoor air quality besides stay indoors or move. You can mitigate water quality issues with filtration, but it doesn’t come cheap. I use TapScore for testing and Hydroviv for filtration, but your mileage may vary.
Your indoor air quality is more under your control and probably affects you more. Avoid pollution sources such as candles, fragrance plug-ins, incense, room sprays/air fresheners, pest deterrents and bug killers (such as Raid or Sevin dust or the stuff sprayed by the exterminator), most cleaning products (try water, vinegar, baking soda, or citric acid instead—this will take care of 98% of cleaning). Also try to minimize toxic and off-gassing building products and furnishings—conventional paint, synthetic mattresses, fabrics, and upholstery, fire-retardant treatments (also on many pajamas!), insulation, vapor barriers, etc. This is difficult unless you are building from scratch and have some DIY skills, but it’s worth looking for natural alternatives if you’re remodeling or doing some retrofits. Even using milk paints or clay paints instead of latex paints or saving up for a wool or buckwheat hull mattress can make a big difference. Do some research on VOCs and their elimination.
If you live next to a refinery, chemical plant, toxic waste dump, etc, try to work out a way to cut your economic or emotional ties to the area and get out. Easier said than done, but there’s not really another solution that I know of.
Your physical environment also includes your work, of course. If your work includes toxic exposure, pathogen exposure, or serious risk of injury, you’ve got to get out or pay the price. Only you can decide. I have an upcoming post planned on how to become less reliant on your job; more on this then.
Your environment also includes what you put on your body. Most cosmetics and hygiene products are toxic. Your soap, shampoo, body wash, moisturizer, lipstick, body spray, shaving cream, mosquito repellent, laundry detergent, etc. are probably poisoning you, and definitely costing you money.
There are natural, organic, homemade, and edible alternatives to most of these. Also look into “no poo” (I know, the name makes me cringe), which stands for “no shampoo”—many people can actually minimize or eliminate the use of soaps and shampoos without turning into a rancid grease ball. I use neither, and only use a natural deodorant a few times a year for weddings with dancing, business meetings, etc. I use a natural bristle brush and whisk up a whole egg once every week or two to shampoo my hair with (weird, I know, but best natural shampoo I’ve ever found).
This topical is a whole rabbit hole, but at the very least probably stop slathering synthetic crap with artificial fragrances all over your skin and mucus membranes so it can bypass your digestive system and go straight to your bloodstream. Or at least slather less, more natural, hopefully cheaper goo on yourself.
Your social environment
Your social environment also plays a huge role in your health. If you’re being manipulated and gaslighted by your significant other, backstabbed by a petty coworker, constantly condescended to by your boss or your customers, harassed by an angry neighbor, embroiled in a custody dispute, or acting as a caregiver for someone whose dementia manifests as disregard of normal boundaries and behavioral standards, you have a pretty high likelihood of feeling like dog feces much of the time. If you have a loving and supportive romantic relationship, a creative and mutually respectful business partnership, inspiring and affectionate friends, and congenial relations with your extended family and neighbors, you’ll be a lot more resilient to health and financial challenges, and experience fewer of them overall, other things being equal. Work toward eliminating the negative and nurturing the positive when it comes to your relationships and communal milieu. Your habits will also be better if you hang out with physically, mentally, and financially healthy people. Of course, like everything in this post, this is often easier said than done.
As a final note, you might consider getting any surgeries or procedures that reduce your future health-related risks and costs while the getting’s good, if you can afford it: LASIK/Implanted Contact Lense, cataract surgery, dental implants, vasectomy/tubal ligation, etc. While I generally believe that doctors are too quick to cut when the problem could probably be fixed with physical therapy or lifestyle modifications, it’s worth prioritizing any procedures that you genuinely need and want if/when you can still afford and access them.
In summary: it’s easier to change habits before a major crisis, when resources are relatively abundant, than when you’re poor, stressed, or socially isolated. It’s hard, but it’s worth it.
Also, I lied, this post was not short. See you next month!
1. What you put into your body
2. How you move your body
3. How much and how well you sleep
4. Your environment (including your social environment)
Let’s take them one at a time.
What you put into your body
You probably already know what your biggest problems are. Soda, sweets, alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, cheesy pasta, takeout, a constant diet of processed crap, whatever. If you have a problem with any of these—and good signs that you have a problem are: you consume them more than you want to despite yourself, you kick yourself for spending too much money on them, you’re obese, someone you know who’s not a total prig has mentioned that you have a problem with them, you get angry when someone mentions that you have a problem with them…)—cutting them out will benefit you. It’s not easy. I would probably be 15 pounds lighter, 50% more energetic, and at least several thousand dollars richer if I could master this. But you know I’m right. Good luck.
There are also less obvious culprits. You might have subclinical food sensitivities, or be marinating in stress hormones because you’re constantly downing caffeinated beverages. You might do better on a higher or lower protein—or carbohydrate—diet. You might be a meat eater who would do better as a vegetarian, or a vegetarian who might do better as a meat-eater. You might benefit significantly from an all-organic diet. This can be hard to figure out. If you feel perpetually subpar and are not overindulging in anything obviously harmful (see above paragraph, and don’t fool yourself), it might be worth investigating. Elimination diets may help. If you have money, it could be worth seeing a holistic health practitioner or getting tests from somewhere like Everlywell. There are a lot of fads and conflicting opinions out there, and even what works for you personally can change over time. Again, good luck.
Despite the difficulties, most people could do more for their health, energy levels, and lifetime expenditures by adjusting their eating and drinking (and smoking) habits than by any other means.
How you move your body
I only run when serial killers are after me, and I am about as flexible as a piece of rebar. This is not good. I injure myself doing things that should be easy for someone with my physical strength, because of my lack of flexibility. I don’t remember the last time I got out of bed and didn’t notice discomfort in my neck and shoulders. Some areas of my body are chronically devitalized due to physical tension. If left to my own devices, I can read in bed for 16 hours at a time.
I choose to work outdoors doing physical labor (I’m a rancher) partially to combat these tendencies, and because I mostly like it. I used to lift a lot, except for lifts that required flexibility (like squats). I do not choose to run or stretch, because it’s boring and uncomfortable and I hate it. Don’t be like me. If your work and main leisure activities are largely sedentary, you’re probably suffering for it. Fix it, and feel better.
If you’re pretty sedentary, first do some lifestyle activities that you find at least moderately appealing (walking in parks or museums, gardening, dancing, swimming, carpentry, tidying up, kayaking, tending animals…). None of these things will probably fix your major weakness, because if they addressed that weakness, they wouldn’t be moderately appealing. Then, at least try to do the thing(s) that you hate that you know will help you, or a good substitute that addresses the same weakness or something close to it (calisthenics or Pilates instead of yoga, say, or hikes and rowing instead of running).
If you’re one of those people who forget to eat and who exercise too much, I don’t really understand you well enough to give you advice, but probably try incorporating more active recovery (as opposed to dedicated exercise) into your routine, don’t overdo the endurance cardio, take it easy on the caffeine, and sleep more.
How much and how well you sleep
I don’t have much to say about this, but it’s important. If you think you do great on five hours of sleep, you’re probably fooling yourself. Sleep hygiene, supplements, mind-body practices, working nights, hormone balancing, lack of exercise, anxiety, video games, unpaid bills, crippling debt, chronic pain—figure out your sleep problems and fix them if you can, or pay the price.
Exception: If your sleep problem is a baby or babies, all my research indicates that you’re out of luck, but at least it’s temporary. Exception to the exception: you might consider getting a better spouse, if necessary; it could help (it’s probably necessary if your spouse is not horribly sleep deprived, too).
Your physical environment
Your location pretty much determines your outdoor air quality and your water quality. There’s not much to do about outdoor air quality besides stay indoors or move. You can mitigate water quality issues with filtration, but it doesn’t come cheap. I use TapScore for testing and Hydroviv for filtration, but your mileage may vary.
Your indoor air quality is more under your control and probably affects you more. Avoid pollution sources such as candles, fragrance plug-ins, incense, room sprays/air fresheners, pest deterrents and bug killers (such as Raid or Sevin dust or the stuff sprayed by the exterminator), most cleaning products (try water, vinegar, baking soda, or citric acid instead—this will take care of 98% of cleaning). Also try to minimize toxic and off-gassing building products and furnishings—conventional paint, synthetic mattresses, fabrics, and upholstery, fire-retardant treatments (also on many pajamas!), insulation, vapor barriers, etc. This is difficult unless you are building from scratch and have some DIY skills, but it’s worth looking for natural alternatives if you’re remodeling or doing some retrofits. Even using milk paints or clay paints instead of latex paints or saving up for a wool or buckwheat hull mattress can make a big difference. Do some research on VOCs and their elimination.
If you live next to a refinery, chemical plant, toxic waste dump, etc, try to work out a way to cut your economic or emotional ties to the area and get out. Easier said than done, but there’s not really another solution that I know of.
Your physical environment also includes your work, of course. If your work includes toxic exposure, pathogen exposure, or serious risk of injury, you’ve got to get out or pay the price. Only you can decide. I have an upcoming post planned on how to become less reliant on your job; more on this then.
Your environment also includes what you put on your body. Most cosmetics and hygiene products are toxic. Your soap, shampoo, body wash, moisturizer, lipstick, body spray, shaving cream, mosquito repellent, laundry detergent, etc. are probably poisoning you, and definitely costing you money.
There are natural, organic, homemade, and edible alternatives to most of these. Also look into “no poo” (I know, the name makes me cringe), which stands for “no shampoo”—many people can actually minimize or eliminate the use of soaps and shampoos without turning into a rancid grease ball. I use neither, and only use a natural deodorant a few times a year for weddings with dancing, business meetings, etc. I use a natural bristle brush and whisk up a whole egg once every week or two to shampoo my hair with (weird, I know, but best natural shampoo I’ve ever found).
This topical is a whole rabbit hole, but at the very least probably stop slathering synthetic crap with artificial fragrances all over your skin and mucus membranes so it can bypass your digestive system and go straight to your bloodstream. Or at least slather less, more natural, hopefully cheaper goo on yourself.
Your social environment
Your social environment also plays a huge role in your health. If you’re being manipulated and gaslighted by your significant other, backstabbed by a petty coworker, constantly condescended to by your boss or your customers, harassed by an angry neighbor, embroiled in a custody dispute, or acting as a caregiver for someone whose dementia manifests as disregard of normal boundaries and behavioral standards, you have a pretty high likelihood of feeling like dog feces much of the time. If you have a loving and supportive romantic relationship, a creative and mutually respectful business partnership, inspiring and affectionate friends, and congenial relations with your extended family and neighbors, you’ll be a lot more resilient to health and financial challenges, and experience fewer of them overall, other things being equal. Work toward eliminating the negative and nurturing the positive when it comes to your relationships and communal milieu. Your habits will also be better if you hang out with physically, mentally, and financially healthy people. Of course, like everything in this post, this is often easier said than done.
As a final note, you might consider getting any surgeries or procedures that reduce your future health-related risks and costs while the getting’s good, if you can afford it: LASIK/Implanted Contact Lense, cataract surgery, dental implants, vasectomy/tubal ligation, etc. While I generally believe that doctors are too quick to cut when the problem could probably be fixed with physical therapy or lifestyle modifications, it’s worth prioritizing any procedures that you genuinely need and want if/when you can still afford and access them.
In summary: it’s easier to change habits before a major crisis, when resources are relatively abundant, than when you’re poor, stressed, or socially isolated. It’s hard, but it’s worth it.
Also, I lied, this post was not short. See you next month!
