A Man's Work

3 spicy games for the dinner table. These games have been the highlight of dinner conversations for me.

The emotional effects of being healthy I spent 2023 following all the health advice I've been posting here. I worked out 5x a week. Ate my weight in protein and fiber. Cut down on alcohol to less than 7 drinks a week. Slept like a champion. What changes did that create? I’m going to layout the 3 buckets of stuff I noticed: - the positive effects - the changes I expected to get, but didn’t - the negative effects The positive effects Being a health nut had two direct effects: - Looking good naked - Feeling physically capable and not straining my back like a wimp if I picked something up off the ground I highly value both. These two alone are worth the price of admission for me. I feel like both are pretty self-explanatory, so I’ll move on here… The changes I expected to get, but didn’t A lot of Very Healthy People on the Internet will talk about how much more energy they have after taking their health seriously, and how it improves their mood. I didn’t feel either effect. I was a decently happy and energetic guy before, and I’m a decently happy and energetic guy now. Waking up still sucks. I still need two coffees to feel “on it” in the morning. I still have a lull in energy in the afternoon. I feel like the mood and energy changes are more pronounced for folks whose health was, for lack of a better term, poor before deciding to take health seriously. The negative effects To be blunt, I became insufferable. At least by my standards. My original intention of getting healthy was to feel reasonably capable into my 80s. Somewhere along the way I started buying toe spacers (to make my toes straighter) and amassed a collection of powder supplements that would rival Scarface’s inventory in volume. Half the conversations I had with my girlfriend involved me giving her unsolicited health advice, resulting in her repeatedly wishing she could throw me in a locker for being so annoying and lame. Health had become a game of optimizing my life around protocols that improved biomarkers I could barely describe. I lost the plot. In my experience, health influencers and Very Healthy People have either personally experienced an adverse health event or witnessed a loved one go through it - I certainly was spurred by one of these events myself.?These events create fears and insecurities which can be incredible fuel for achieving incredible things. But they don’t always serve the person either. For example, my drive to be healthy led to be buying a lot of shit - a lot of protocols, powders, and tests that I didn’t need. And a part of me knew it was a waste of time and money. And another part of me thought just maybe it would make a big difference. Because someone on the Internet said it did. And also buying health stuff is fun. I may not always know why I’m doing it, but it feels like I’m upgrading?something. Ok that's the LinkedIn word limit for this post. To read the rest (with memes!) check the link in the comments. #mentalhealth?#personaldevelopment

How to figure out if I'm healthy Every primary care physician I’ve had has looked at my vitals and given me the thumbs up. Compared to a lot of folks, I’m doing fine. But I can be doing fine at 36 years old and be absolutely not fine 20 years later with the same exercise and diet. By the time physicians start noting issues, it can be quite difficult to get back into solid health. So where do you need to be now in order to still be in excellent health 10, 20, or 30 years from now? I spent a year guzzling content from the most anal retentive health experts (Huberman, Dr. Peter Attia, Dr. Andy Galpin) to find out. The latest issue of A Man's Work newsletter covers the major tests of figuring that out. Here's an excerpt (I'm up against LinkedIn word count limits with this): Blood tests for heart health. Get your Lp(a) and ApoB levels, as well as an Omega Fatty Acid panel (which also measures biomarkers predictive of cognitive health). - What is ApoB? It's primary indicator of potential heart disease (and is replacing LDL-C or "bad cholesterol" for a lot of physicians on that front). - ApoB target: 60 mg / dl and below, which is darn aggressive - I was above 100 mg / dl and I thought I was healthy. ApoB levels can be lowered through Cardio exercise, consuming less dietary fat and cholesterol, eating more fiber, taking statins, and quitting smoking. - What is Lp(a)? Elevated Lp(a) levels indicate a greater risk of having a heart attack - it's can form plaque and get stuck. It's largely a genetic marker, and 20 - 30% of Americans have elevated levels (myself included). - Lp(a) target: 14 mg / dl and below. This measure is largely genetic so you can't lower it, but if you have 50 mg / dl and above, be extra sensitive to heart health risk factors. - What are Omega Fatty Acids? DHA and EPA are two Omega 3 Fatty Acids that have been shown to have a lot of cognitive and cardiovascular benefits, including longevity. This includes protection against neurodegeneration (e.g. Alzheimer's) and improving cardiovascular function - thereby preventing heart failures and related issues. - Omega Fatty Acid panel targets: Results are reported as DHA % and EPA % (also called the Omega-3 Index). Average for Americans is 4 - 5% for combined DHA and EPA %s. Aim for 8 - 12%. Levels can be increased by supplemented with fish oil or eating fish. Note: it takes 4 months of eating/supplementing before it shows up in blood labs. And there's plenty more where this came from? To check out the full list of recommended tests (e.g. how best to test blood pressure, glucose, fat %, heart plaque, and physical fitness) check out the latest A Man's Work Newsletter. Link to the full post is in the comments.

How to get into A+ Health ‘Tis the season of promising ourselves we’re going to get healthier. Even though I’m what folks would consider a generally healthy guy, early deaths in my family have made me sensitive to two things: 1. The older I get, the more sensitive I am to genetic risks (in my case, heart disease) 2. The last decade of many Americans’ lives are spent in pain and without the ability to do basic tasks like getting out of chairs and carrying groceries. 2 is especially tough to face. I did not appreciate how meh most of our lives will be towards the end until I started researching longevity. The average American man lives?73 years?(it was 79 before COVID). 73 is low. But even worse is America’s?healthspan, or the amount of time we feel good and capable. There’s no single quantitative number for that, but 60% of Americans have at least one chronic disease such as diabetes or heart disease. 40% have two or more. If we did have one number for healthspan in America, it would not inspire confidence. So here's the 80/20 on how to get into A+ health: According to Dr. Peter Attia, there are four major causes of shortened healthspans for Americans: 1. Atherosclerotic disease, which is comprised of cardiovascular disease and cerebrovascular disease 2. Cancer 3. Neurodegenerative disease - the most common form being Alzheimer’s disease 4. Type 2 diabetes and related metabolic dysfunction (hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, fatty liver disease) We should avoid these. How does one do that? When it comes to habitual behavior, the answers are surprisingly straight forward.? 1. Exercise 5 days a week (2.5 hours cardio, 2.5 hours strength training).? 2. Sleep 8 hours a day. Then get 5 - 10 minutes of sunshine within an hour of waking up. 15 - 20 minutes if it’s cloudy. 3. Eat?a ton of protein and fiber. 35 - 50 grams of fiber a day?and .8 - 1g of protein for every lb of bodyweight a day? 4. Don’t smoke or drink alcohol. If you're interested in deep dives into these items, including specific exercise and nutrition protocols backed by leading science experts (sources included), check out today's issue of A Man's Work newsletter here https://lnkd.in/eCcZYQSy