40 >> 39

I turned 39 in August 2016 and when climbing up the stairs one day (struggling I should say I realized this: I’m going to be 40 in a year and if i don’t do something I’ll still be a chain-smoking, morbidly obese, over-stressed, over-worked, reactive person.

Over the next year, I quit smoking, cut work down to <50 hours / week, and went from 270 to 195.

A ton of the tools I use came from Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris.

In order of importance (roughly!), I credit the following with my life changes:

1. Daily #Meditation — specifically Transcendental Meditation — this totally changed by life, I think the fact it’s a 4 day course you spend $1k on makes it stick better than other types. Also to me it’s a lot easier than other types of meditation — tm.org
2. Books about Consciousness, Attachment, and Enlightenment — a really good one here is The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. This plus meditation “woke” me up to the fact that suffering is self-induced and that happiness comes from within (and not from a bag of chips or watching another episode of TV).
3. Daily #Gratitude Exercise — post 3 things I’m #grateful for and I text/email someone I’m grateful for and tell them 3 things about them I admire. Learn more about Positive Psychology by reading The Happiness Advantage.
4. Replacing 90% of Junk Media with Quality Media — e.g. very little TV and when I workout I no longer listen to music, I either watch motivational videos on YouTube (with music) or I read self-development books on iPad while listening to lyric-less motivational music on YouTube
5. Daily Exercise — some days lifting and cardio, some just cardio. 0 Days Off.
6. Sleep — at least 6.5 hours a night. Meditation + Daily Exercise cured any problems I had falling or staying asleep.
7. Ketogenic Diet — I live in ketosis. This is great for the brain as well as for the body. The only exception is when I drink socially which throws you out of ketosis only for a couple hours. This is achieved via a Low Carb High Fat diet. Ketone Salts are a great supplement to help while you adapt.
8. Intermittent Fasting — skip breakfast, eat in an 8 hour window. Great for maintaining high HGH levels and promoting autophagy.
9. Water Fasting — did a 14 day one to really reboot my relationship to food and GI health. Basically for 14 days all I consumed was water, tea, coffee, sugar-free Red Bull, and multivitamins. First 2 days are rough but surprisingly easy after that. Learn more here: Obesity Code Diet (Dr Jason Fung)
10. Apple Cider Vinegar + Lemon + Hot Water 2–3 times /day — both ACV and lemon actually reduce stomach acidity and ACV reduces insulin spikes most meal. Have this first thing in the am and last thing before bed. Also the fact that the water is hot I feel is great for digestion)