73% of adults in the United States are overweight - isn't that insane?
What’s more shocking is APPARENTLY working out an hour each morning doesn’t do that much for you ... if you sit at work the rest of the day.
So much for my ⏰ 6 am workout... but don't worry, I read (3) books to figure out what we should be focusing on.
🔎 What should you focus on?
You should be focusing on sitting according to these books. Improve these (3) things when it comes to sitting:
- 🪑 Aim to sit less than 30 minutes at a time
- It takes me about 20 minutes to get into a task, so I struggle HARD with this
- 👟 Aim to hit 10,000 steps a day
- This is about (3) 30 minute walks on the treadmill at a brisk walking speed
- 🛋️ Aim to sit less than 6 hours for the day
- Personally, I have never been able to get my inactivity levels under 6 hours, usually 8 hours on average (even averaging 10,000 steps) - so I am skeptical about this metric
🧠 Brain Health
BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor) plays a huge role in learning - and even if you can't pronounce that fancy word - exercise increases it!
- ⚠️ Exercise optimizes your mindset to increase alertness
- 🧪 Exercise encourages nerve cells to bind to one another - which is how you learn new information
- 🧠 Exercise increases development of new nerve cells in the hippocampus
📈 Tracking Your Health
Recently, I have been struggling to find 🔗 links to health portals, insurance information, dental portals, prescribed medication and all the other things you need to track.
So, one day I got fed up and just dumped all the links and information onto a Notion page. It was a game changer. I never have to dig into old emails to find a link to my primary health portal.
👁️ Here is a sneak peak:
📈 What should you track?
Here are the things I track:
- 🧑🏽⚕️ Primary healthcare provider portals
- 😳 Dermatology
- 💊 Medications
- 💸 Health insurance
- 🦷 Dental portal
- 🥚 Gynaecology portal
- 💊 Vitamins
- 📚 Health books
- 🦴 DEXA Scans
🦴 What is a DEXA Scan?
Back in November of 2023, I got a full-body DEXA scan. It essentially measures your fat mass, muscle mass, and also bone density. It's a great way to get a snapshot of your health.
You don't need to see a doctor either, they drive the machine in a large van to your house (at least in my area) - and you just lay down and it scans everything!
- ⚖️ Weight: 145 lbs
- 🥓 Fat %: 32.6
- 🩺 BMI: 21.5
Not the most attractive picture I have had taken of me... But it's surprisingly motivating to see the potential of what you could look like if you changed your diet / exercise habits a bit more aggressively.
For reference:
- Height: 5'10"
- Daily Calories: Less than ~2,000 (goal is under 1,870)
- Daily Steps: ~11,000
- Weekly Workouts: 2 / week (Cycling or Weights)
Now I don't know a single person who wouldn't want to lose a few pounds at any point in time. But I am not actively looking for weight loss - even though that 33% is scaring me lol.
My issue has always been the calories - but I use MyFitnessPal to track them - and here is how I have fluctuated weight-wise over the last decade, starting in 2014 going to 2024:
I find my chart fascinating because it shows me losing weight right before college, slightly gaining, then losing again. Then gaining at a higher rate when I started working from home, and recently dropping after realizing my lack of exercise and as I settle into a home workout routine.
At my all-time thinest, 140 lbs, I had to maintain a 1,400 calorie diet with 2 hours of cardio a day. It was a lot of effort to maintain a weight that really wasn't even that low compared to the majority of women!
And if you have ever done calorie restriction like that, it SUCKS. So I am very ok with my weight now, although I will continue to try to increase veggies, cardio, steps - to keep my health in check.
I know weight is such a taboo thing to talk about, but I find it super interesting and treat it like an experiment - and you know me... I am an open book when it comes to this stuff!
🔎 Behind the Scenes
I just got back from Mexico - on a business vacation my sister won at her sales company.
Currently, I'm reading a sales book called New Sales Simplified and even created a new KanBan CRM board to track new business. This will be super helpful to organize leads.
