Trying Not to Suck at Life

I've noticed health and fitness enthusiasts generally fall into one of two camps: Either "All calories are the same, bro." Or "Calories from [insert healthy food] are in no way the same as calories from [unhealthy food]." As is the case with most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle and a nuanced, unbiased approach is needed to better understand this subject. Let's start with the scientific definition. What is a Calorie? Calories are simply a unit of measurement for energy....

Studies have shown people with gum disease have a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular events. While the exact nature of the relationship is still being studied, maintaining good oral health is important for reducing the risk of heart disease. Since the mouth is one of the main entry points for all kinds of stuff to get in, it makes sense keeping it clean and well-maintained is important for managing overall inflammation in the body. Fortunately, I’ve gone most of my l...

Welcome to my first monthly issue of Diary of Cool Things (DOCT). DOCT is inspired by Tim Ferriss’s newsletter, 5 Bullet Friday which he actually describes as his “diary of cool things.” DOCT serves two purposes: A way for me to document all the cool things I’m consuming, creating, and thinking about each month A way for me to share these updates publicly so others may benefit from them Here is my DOCT update for the month of January 2024 Favorite Purchases: BASIC CONCEPTS Tongue Scr...

Writing an annual review has become one of my favorite ways to evaluate my current state of not sucking at life. Well, it’s that time of year again. Here’s my current format: Reflect on past year's highlights Identify areas of opportunity Define habit goals Set a theme for the new year Feel free to steal this format and if you do, send me a link to yours. I’d love to read it. Without further ado, let’s get to it. Part 1: 3 Highlights From the Past Year 1. Completing Year 3 of Parentin...

Another year of health tracking is in the books. Yes, my spreadsheet is obsessive. But I love it because it allows me to objectively see how my health is changing from one year to the next. Here’s what I learned tracking a dozen health metrics for 365 days in a row in 2023: My personal health score for 2023 was 97%. Changing one cell shows the same display for 2022. That score was 91% (using my 2023 targets). There was clear improvement in all areas except for sleep, which was unchang...

I've been writing online for nearly 15 years. I started back in 2010 with a fitness blog. There were a couple dozen fitness bloggers starting out around the same time as me. We all had the same mentor, Rusty Moore, who was and still is a very successful fitness blogger making a full-time income through affiliate marketing and selling his own courses and training programs. Rusty’s training helped me make my first dollar online through affiliate sales and eventually my own ebook. Fun fact: One o...

I started reading The Daily Dad by Ryan Holiday on January 1st this year. The cool thing about this book is it is written in a calendar format where each chapter syncs to a day of the year and is only 1-2 pages long. I've always struggled to sit down and actually read a 400+ page book (I typically don't finish them unless I listen to the audiobook). But this format is easy to keep up with. Since I started on the first day of the year, it's only a minute or two of reading per day and I'll be...