How to Make the Healthy Choice Easy

Free Practices to Support Wellness This Holiday Season

Good morning & Welcome to the Holiday Season.

We’re officially one week out from Thanksgiving. Before you know it, we’ll be into Black Friday, and then Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year's celebrations.

In my opinion, the holidays can be simultaneously the best & worst time of the year.

The quality time with family, incredible food, meaningful traditions, and emphasis on relaxation make it one of my favorite seasons.

But the challenges with less daylight, more consumption, and potentially volatile conversations can create difficulties that I know aren't unique to my experience.

In years past, despite the beauty of the holidays, I’ve found it difficult to feel at my best.

So today, we’re going to explore some simple & accessible ways to stay healthy through the holidays.

The Big Question:

A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece that outlined my Reflections from the first-ever Regenerative Healthcare Conference hosted by the Rodale Institute.

We discussed the relationship between food & agriculture, as well as the concept of "food as medicine," or how we can use our everyday inputs to prevent disease and live healthier lives.

Throughout the four days of presentations and conversations, one of the big themes that came up was, “How can we make this information accessible?”

Obviously, it would be incredible if everyone could access & afford the lifestyle that would enable them to thrive.

But the fact is, there are several barriers to healthy living & social determinants of health that directly impact the health outcomes of both communities & individuals.

So all of the topics discussed today will be free and accessible to all (assuming you have access to the internet for the last two tools).

Free Practices to Support Wellness This Holiday Season:

Drinking Water First Thing: I used to drink coffee as soon as I woke up. Unsurprisingly, I'd feel sped out throughout the morning and crash by the afternoon. Replacing coffee with water is a game-changer when it comes to mental focus and nervous system health. Did you know we lose 1.5 pounds of water while we sleep? Rehydrating first thing has played an immense role in my health journey and comes with a host of great benefits.

Walking After Meals: A post-meal walk is a great way to digest your food, regulate your blood sugar levels, and connect with whoever you’re spending the day/meal with. This practice is one of my favorites and this article explains the concepts extremely well.

Looking into the Distance: When you look at short distances (like you are right now), the ciliary muscles in your eyes contract. Over time, those muscles tire, which can trigger eyestrain and headaches. When you look off into the distance, though, those ciliary muscles relax. So, spending some time looking into the distance allows your eyes to reset and mitigate some of the strain that we build up looking at screens

Breathing Deeply: Breath is fundamental to every element of our lives, health especially. The book Breath by James Nestor is considered the modern-day gospel when it comes to the breath, so I'm excited to dive into this free book summary to learn more.

And here's a free app that is great for meditation & breathwork.

As habit expert James Clear once said: “All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger. Roots entrench themselves and branches grow. The task of breaking a bad habit is like uprooting a powerful oak within us. And the task of building a good habit is like cultivating a delicate flower one day at a time.”

I hope these tools support you this holiday season and beyond.

And a Mindset to Consider:

Growing up, the focus of the holidays was always on the food.

Questions like “who’s dish tasted the best” or “who could eat the most plates”, floated around the table.

However, after decades of holiday meals with an incredible family, I’ve realized a huge reframe: Focus on the People Not the Food

The holidays are really about getting to spend time with the people you love.

Friends, family, significant others, pets… Whoever you spend the holidays with.

Put your focus there. Be present. Share your presence and/or presents.

The food is just a bonus 🙃

Podcasts I'm Enjoying:

5 Life-Changing Holiday Survival Habits | Jonathan Fields

Listen to this episode from Good Life Project on Spotify. Ahh, that holiday time of year. A time for celebration and joy and generosity and reflection. And also a whole lot of forced togetherness and conflict and family patterns and politics and stress and unhealthy coping, lashing out, even sadness and loneliness - sometimes all within a matter of minutes, even for the most joyful, healthily attached and grateful person, this time can just bring up a lot. So what do we do with that? How do we handle that? What habits or go-to strategies can we say yes to that just might make this time of year fly by with more genuine ease and joy and connection and maybe even grace? That is what we were talking about in this month's continuation of our fun 5 Life-Changing Habits series. So we kicked that series off a little bit earlier with a wide-ranging sort of a more universal 5 Life-Changing Habits episode. And then last month, again with our 5 Life-Changing Relationship Habits episode, and they were met with such a huge reception, we figured, hey, let's keep it going and get specific and shared genuinely life-changing habits that relate to specific moments that we all go through, or maybe areas of life where simple habits can make a big difference. So today I am bringing you 5 Life-Changing Holiday Survival Habits, so excited to share them with you.Mentioned in this episode, our conversations with: Dr. Marisa G. Franco | How to Make Adult Friends (and Why They Matter)Submit a voice memo of your 5 Good Life Habits.If you LOVED this episode, you’ll also love the other episodes in this series:5 Life-Changing Habits5 Life-Changing Relationship HabitsCheck out our offerings & partners: My New Book SparkedMy New Podcast SPARKEDVisit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes.BetterHelp: Good Life Project is sponsored by BetterHelp. As the world’s largest therapy service, BetterHelp has matched 3 million people with professionally licensed and vetted therapists available 100% online. Plus, it’s affordable. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to match with a therapist. If things aren’t clicking, you can easily switch to a new therapist anytime. It couldn’t be simpler. No waiting rooms. No traffic. No endless searching for the right therapist. Learn more and save 10% off your first month at BetterHelp.com/GoodLifeProject Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#633: Chris Palmer, MD, of Harvard Medical School — Optimizing Brain Energy for Mental Health, The Incredible Potential of Metabolic Psychiatry, Extraordinary Case Studies, and Harnessing Mitochondria for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More

Listen to this episode from The Tim Ferriss Show on Spotify. Brought to you by Levels real-time feedback on how diet impacts your health, Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement, and LinkedIn Marketing Solutions marketing platform with 800M+ users.Dr. Christopher M. Palmer (@chrispalmermd) is a Harvard psychiatrist and researcher working at the interface of metabolism and mental health.Dr. Palmer is the director of the Department of Postgraduate and Continuing Education at McLean Hospital and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. For over 25 years, he has held administrative, educational, research, and clinical roles in psychiatry at Harvard. He has been pioneering the use of the medical ketogenic diet in the treatment of psychiatric disorders—conducting research in this area, treating patients, writing, and speaking around the world on this topic.He has developed the first comprehensive theory of what causes mental illness, integrating existing theories and research into one unifying theory—the brain energy theory of mental illness. You can learn more in his new book Brain Energy: A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health—and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More.Please enjoy!*This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1 by Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. Right now, Athletic Greens is offering you their Vitamin D Liquid Formula free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit AthleticGreens.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive the free Vitamin D Liquid Formula (and five free travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive all-in-one daily greens product.*This episode is also brought to you by LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, the go-to tool for B2B marketers and advertisers who want to drive brand awareness, generate leads, or build long-term relationships that result in real business impact.With a community of more than 800 million professionals, LinkedIn is gigantic, but it can be hyper-specific. You have access to a diverse group of people all searching for things they need to grow professionally. LinkedIn has the marketing tools to help you target your customers with precision, right down to job title, company name, industry, etc. To redeem your free $100 LinkedIn ad credit and launch your first campaign, go to LinkedIn.com/TFS!*This episode is also brought to you by Levels! I wrote about the health benefits of using continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) more than ten years ago in The 4-Hour Body. At the time, CGMs were primitive and hard to use. Levels has now made this technology, and the unique insights that come from it, easy and available to everyone. Levels is making glucose monitoring simple, helping you see how food affects your health through real-time feedback. I started tracking my glucose years ago to learn more about what I should and shouldn’t be eating (including quantities, time of day, etc.), based on objective data from my own, unique physiology. Keeping my blood sugar stable is critical to my daily and long-term health and performance goals. Furthermore, poor glucose control is associated with a number of chronic conditions like diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and obesity. It’s important.If you’re interested in learning more about Levels and trying a CGM yourself, go to Levels.link/Tim.*[07:14] How a woman overcame her 53-year streak of chronic paranoid schizophrenia.[11:16] The backstory of Brain Energy‘s dedication.[16:31] Chris’ thoughts on DSM-5 diagnostic categories.[21:51] Chris’ first exposure to the ketogenic diet.[28:35] Metabolic psychiatry.[30:33] How ketosis affects the human body (e.g., sleep, mood, weight).[39:35] Examining the mood elevation of ketosis on a bio-cellular level.[44:24] When ketosis can be dangerous.[46:44] How mitochondrial dysfunction can trigger a host of ailments.[58:07] Dietary methods for sustaining ketosis over the long term.[1:04:54] Common ketosis mistakes.[1:07:53] Psychiatric medications, metabolism, and controversy.[1:15:29] Indications that a medication impairs more than improves a patient’s condition.[1:18:06] Resources to share with doctors open to conversation about these issues.[1:20:41] Why quitting psychiatric medication cold turkey is a bad idea.[1:23:20] Thoughts on the efficacy of exogenous ketones.[1:30:32] Ketogenic diet as treatment for schizophrenia.[1:38:34] Why you need to take radical ownership of your own health advocacy.[1:40:33] Physical exercise for optimizing mitochondrial health.[1:44:59] A cautionary note for people using medication for off-label results.[1:48:49] Parting thoughts.*For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsorsSign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissYouTube: youtube.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mastering The Mystical: A Deep Dive On Spirituality

Listen to this episode from The Rich Roll Podcast on Spotify. For too long, the growing body of evidence showing that a spiritual practice is associated with better health and wellbeing has been dismissed by stoics and scientists. That is, until now.Welcome to our sixth masterclass episode, where we share big truths from some of my best podcast guests, honing in on a single theme or subject matter. Today we are diving deep on all things spirituality, sharing new perspectives, the latest scientific findings, some concrete and non-secular spiritual practices, and the value that an awakened state of being can add to your daily life. Whether you’re already part of a rich spiritual tradition or someone just beginning to seek a spiritual path, this one’s for you.I sincerely hope that after hearing all these perspectives on spirituality, you find yourself with an open heart, armed with new practices that can elevate your thinking and behavior toward a more spiritual consciousness—and ultimately, a more fulfilled life. If you’ve been inspired, then consider visiting the full, in-depth conversations with these esteemed guests. You can find links to each episode posted in the show notes below.Watch: YouTube.Read: Show notes.Today's Sponsors:Athletic Greens: Visit: athleticgreens.com/richrollLMNT: Try it out at: drinkLMNT.com/RICHROLLIndeed: Start hiring NOW at Indeed.com/RICHROLL.BetterHelp: BetterHelp.com/richroll.Masterclass Series: Click here to listen to our first deep dive on the microbiome, here for our second on mental health, here for our third on addiction & recovery, here for our fourth on mindset, and here our fifth on longevity. The full episodes for all guests featured in this episode can be found in the show notes below.I sincerely hope you find this experiment helpful and instructive—and/or that you share the episode with those who could benefit from it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

And that’s it for this week.

I appreciate you reading and hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving.

With love,

Aidan