Junk Food

Do you know what makes up the Standard American Diet (SAD)? A day of eating in the Standard American Diet would typically be a large bowl of fruit loops in the morning, a big mac lunch with a large fry and a Coke at Mcdonalds, and a dinner consisting of large portions of meat, starchy sides, and minimal vegetables, accompanied by sugar-laden beverages and snacks throughout the day. See why they call it SAD? The National Cancer Institute report revealed a dietary crisis in America: 75% of people don't eat daily fruit, and 90% lack adequate vegetable intake. Consequently, the American diet scores a meager 11 out of 100 on the dietary quality index, reflecting the population's high risk of obesity and chronic diseases.

As a result, Americans eat an average of 3,600 calories a day mainly consisting of junk food. Don't get me wrong, I think this is a big deal. It's a huge burden on our medical system and people live unhappy and unhealthy lives with shorter and shorter health spans. This is a big deal, but it pales in comparison to our information diet.

The average American consumes approximately 5 hours of entertainment television/streaming and spends 2 hours on social media PER DAY. 7 hours of junk food. My gosh, that's hard for me to even fathom. If the average American has 16 waking hours a day, they are spending more than 43% of their time just vegging out. This is what I want to talk about today. We've gone completely soft in both our food and information diets and I'm so not immune.

I like junk food as much or more than the next person. My little sister-in-law owns Caroline's Cookies and our office is right next to her bakery. I eat at least one of her 600-calorie cookies a week; most weeks it's 2 or 3....

That's cool, I fit it into my macros. A poor food diet is so easy to track because the scale tells you everything you need to know. However, I think a poor information diet is a bit more sinister because there's not an easy number that lets me know how unhealthy I've been. I've been thinking a lot about my information diet and I have a lot of junk food there too. As a result, I've been making some changes in my life, and I thought I'd share.

First, I acknowledged the issue. I'm realizing that just like my food choices, my information diet has been severely lacking in quality. I spent hours binge-watching TV shows (I really like The Sopranos) and mindlessly scrolling through social media. The quick dopamine hits are nice, but truth be told, it makes me feel BAD and frankly kinda SAD ??.

So, I decided to focus on moderation. I didn't want to eliminate all the fun stuff, but I knew I needed to find a balance. Primarily, I'm trying to consume less and create more. When I do click into consumption mode, I'm trying to consume a diverse mix of stuff that feeds my mind, sparks creativity, and helps me grow as a person. Yes, I'm a tryhard, we've established that.

When I focus on quality, it's amazing how much better I feel. For example, lately, I've been really into small business acquisition - how do I run a strong diligence process and use different methods to finance deals? My poison of choice has been the Acquisitions Anonymous pod. Shout out Michael Girdley , Mills Snell , and Bill DAlessandro . Your podcast forces me to pull over and take notes far too often so thanks for that.

Creating healthy boundaries around my screen time has been a game-changer too. I've set specific hours for content consumption and made a conscious effort to unplug and engage in IRL activities that nurture my well-being and my relationships. The biggest thing for me is putting the phone down and connecting with the people that I love. That's a constant struggle (see last week's letter for more). I pay for an app called Offscreen to track my screen time and have categories labeled junk food and healthy fare. I have daily limits on both.

I know I still have a long way to go, but I'm proud of the progress I've made so far. Proud enough to tell you all about it. By taking charge of what I consume, both nutritionally and mentally, I know that I'm building healthier habits to create a happier and more productive life. Let me know what you think.