Health

Coming back stronger than ever

March 26, 2022

I’ve been working with Jamie (personal trainer) for the last year. One of the things he’s helped me with is to address the root causes of previous back injuries. It was going great. I had been training 4-5 times a week for about a year – getting stronger and fitter without any back issues.

Towards the end of last year we decided (Jamie might disagree with the we part 😉 ) to introduce some higher risk movements back into the program to see how I coped with them. Cleans and some CrossFit type movements – essentially hinge movements under load.

It was too much. My back felt tight after the sessions, which eventually led to a lower back twinge. We spent a few weeks reducing the intensity to let it rest. When it felt better (no pain, but I still felt very stiff), I tried to do a normal session with reduced intensity. I stupidly chose a weight that was too heavy and it twinged again. I then spent the next three weeks training at reduced intensity. It helped to not make it worse, but I still had a handful of twinges every day. So, we switched to only walking and VERY light rehab exercises. I’ve also been seeing an osteopath for the last few weeks.

I’m finally at a point where I haven’t had a twinge in a handful of days. I can see some light at the end of the tunnel.

The last three months have HUMBLED me. I have a good mentality around training and one of the best personal trainers I could hope for. But, I’ve realised there is still a long way for me to go. I’ve been able to think a lot about why I got injured and how I can help reduce the risk of lower back injuries in the future.

Here are my insights:

My warm ups are longer and better than they have ever been. But, I need to take them to the NEXT level – both at the beginning of the session and before specific movements. It’s insane how much better my range of motion is after a good warm up. This might be the biggest thing I can do to reduce the risk of back injuries in the future.

I need to fully commit to cool downs. If I’m in a rush, I skip them. I almost think about them as optional. No longer. It’s the best time to get static stretching in.

I need to lose my fixation for high risk movements. Sure, I would love to be able to do the Olympic lifts and other CrossFit stuff – but they will always be high risk for me. Being able to train consistently and get incrementally fitter and healthier is more important. Perhaps I will get there some day – but I’m content to say goodbye to them if that’s what it takes.

My training split used to be a mix of upper body, conditioning, lower body and CrossFit stuff. Before I got injured we decided to change it to upper body, conditioning, midline / rehab and something fun and safe. I can see now that this is EXACTLY what I need. In fact, I’m now more than ever willing to shut my mouth and do what Jamie tells me to do.

Being too ambitious with weight choice is still a problem for me. Every time I have to make a decision, I need to remember to err on the side of caution. It’s always better to move a bit faster and better with a lighter weight – than a heavier weight and get injured.

If I injure my lower back again, I need to immediately stick to walking for a while. I need to see a couple of weeks of no twinges and most stiffness gone before I try and get back into training. Trying to train through it – even at a reduced intensity, only prolongs recovery.

There is more I can be doing to help improve my mobility outside of my training sessions. Foam rolling, stretching, rehab, massage ball etc. I have plenty of time on evenings and weekends to get 20 mins in. There’s no excuse.

I’ve also had some time to think about other sports and activities I’d like to do outside of my training sessions. Things that will be fun, safe and help me move better. Yoga, rucking, swimming, paddle boarding and tennis are on my radar. I’m not going to set any big expectations – or try to do them all at once. I’ll pick one to focus on and explore the others whenever it feels right.

I’m going to start with swimming. I’ve already booked myself into some swimming lessons for when my back is completely healed. I want to improve my front crawl technique so I can get some morning swimming sessions in. I have a lovely outdoor pool a few miles for me that can help double up as some cold exposure!

So, even though being injured for so long sucks, I’m confident I will come back stronger than ever.

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No alcohol: 250 days

March 24, 2022

Giving up alcohol for 60 days felt like a massive milestone for me. But now it’s just the first step in my 250 day journey of being alcohol free.

At the 60 day mark I still had some desire for a glass of wine at weekends or at social events. Whilst I felt confident that I wouldn’t slip up and have a drink – there was always a risk. When people noticed I wasn’t drinking, I told them that I was taking a break from drinking.

Now, the desire has gone and I tell people I don’t drink. There’s no chance I’ll slip up.

Life remains much better without it. I’m more consistent with health habits. I have less anxiety and feel more upbeat. It’s easier to maintain an ideal weight.

I find myself at a crossroad. I’ve been careful to never commit to giving up alcohol forever. The real goal was to change my relationship with it – which I have. I have proved to myself I can take it or leave it and go long periods without it. I know for sure life is a lot better when I do that.

The question now is – can I integrate it back into my life on my terms? Do I even want to?

I think I do. My ideal scenario would be having a couple glasses of very nice wine 3 or 4 times a year – at special occasions. I want to be conscious about what those special occasions are. I would like to drink slowly and really appreciate it. And then after – effortlessly – not drink again for several months.

My only worry is that every rule I’ve ever tried to put in place for alcohol has failed. It’s a 100% failure rate. That’s not good. Will a couple of glasses turn into three or four? Will I feel the desire to drink again on weekends? Will I be able to give it up again if I do fall into that pattern?

OK, let’s get more positive. I’ve also never given up alcohol for 250 days and had the relationship with it that I do now. I have a whole new perspective. So, I think the chances of the above happening are unlikely. And if they do happen, I’m confident I can return to being sober forever.

I’m on the fence. So, for now I will continue on my path of not drinking. Perhaps the right occasion will present itself for an experiment. Or perhaps I will never feel like running the experiment.

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Daily Habits: February 2022 (first month under the belt)

March 3, 2022

Last month I decided to track how consistent I was with my daily habits. The idea wasn’t to be perfect, but to bring better self awareness of how I was doing.

Here’s how I did in February:

It worked exactly as I wanted. It gave me more self awareness from both a micro and macro perspective.

From a micro perspective, I would sometimes realise I was at risk of not doing something as the day went on. For example, it might be mid afternoon before I realised that I hadn’t drank any water yet. If I left it for a few more hours, I would be into the evening and there was a good chance I wouldn’t get my two litres in. That would force me to course correct and drink a litre immediately to put me back on track. I can guarantee the big picture would look worse had I not had this daily dose of self awareness.

From a macro perspective, it’s super useful to look at a picture of a month like this. I can see what habits are almost effortless and which ones need a bit more focus. It’s also obvious where I have some harder thinking to do if I want to improve my consistency.

Here is what I noticed:

No alcohol is a given. I’m 231 days sober. It’s a default habit and there’s no risk of having a drink.

Being active 4-5 times a week and intermittent fasting is easy. An almost perfect record.

Drinking 2 litres of water, 3 cups of caffeine (before Midday) and taking my supplements is fairly easy. A few slip ups here or there, but comfortably in the 80/20 zone.

Eating paleo (ish), sleeping 6.5 hours, meditating for 60 mins and networking with two people a day need a lot of work. My record is anything from terrible to patchy at best.

Weekends are trickier for me. It’s super easy to get off track with even habits that are fairly easy to keep up in the week. That’s something to think about.

I should add that mediating for 60 mins and networking with two people per day are new habits I’m trying to establish. I’m still in the early stages of figuring out the best way to get these habits to stick. But, paleo (ish) and sleeping 6.5 hours are things that have been on my radar for a long time, and as you can see I’m struggling with them.

As I head into March, it would be super easy (and predictable) to set out to try and improve everything that needs work. But, I know that will quickly become overwhelming and lead to failure. Instead, I need to pick one thing to focus on.

That’s sleep. It’s the easiest one to improve (I have a good sense of what to change) and will make the biggest impact. If I’m sitting here at the end of March looking at the same type of picture, but with improved sleep – that’ll be a hell of a win.

If you want to improve your habits, I’d highly recommend tracking them like this. Having something in front of you that’s visual, gives you a healthy dose of self awareness many times a day. And being able to look at the bigger picture helps give you a sense of where to focus your efforts for improvement.

See you at the beginning of April 😊

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Mental health and physical exercise

December 13, 2021

Tyson Fury is very open about his struggle with mental health. What I found interesting is how much emphasis he puts on physical exercise. He consistently comes back to it as being the foundation for feeling good.

Here’s a few quotes:

If I don’t train for two days, I feel totally depressed. You need to stimulate the mind. And I think training is the perfect way to do it. Working out, exercising. Whether you can do a lot or a little – you must do something.

I’m very very sure that working out and having a routine in your life is the answer for mental health problems.

When I don’t go to the gym, I feel terrible. But, when I train on a daily basis, I feel great. Now, I know if I train on a daily basis for the rest of my life, then I don’t think I’m going to suffer with health problems again.

This matches my own experiences. If I push myself hard for an hour or so, I feel great afterwards (even if I felt anxious or unhappy before). I think it’s part physiology and just feeling really good with yourself for working through the discomfort. That feeling lasts for at least a few hours, and often the rest of the day.

If you can get for or five sessions like this done a week, and then some type of active recovery on the other days (walking, biking etc.) – it makes such a difference. I know it does for me.

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Defining optimal metabolic health (Part II)

October 21, 2021

Recently, I laid out some key markers of metabolic health for myself. Since then, I’ve been doing further research and talking to a few people about it.

This mostly strengthened my confidence with the five markers of metabolic health I chose. The only change was an extra marker – body fat / visceral fat. I had originally been thinking about BMI or waist circumference as a key marker – but there are obvious flaws in these. Measuring body fat / visceral fat seems much better.

Having high levels of visceral fat (fat found inside your abdominal cavity and that wraps around your internal organs) and body fat definitely puts you at a higher risk of chronic disease. So, I’m adding them to my key markers of metabolic health.

There were a bunch of markers which didn’t quite make the ’north star’ list, which I’m gong to keep an eye on. These are RHR (resting heart rate), HRV (Heart rate variability), Vitamin D (25 OH) and LDL (bad cholesterol). With the exception of LDL, my measurements are all in a good range for these.

I haven’t quite decided how I feel about LDL. Some people say in the absence of metabolic dysfunction, it’s not a particularly important marker. Others disagree and suggest a high LDL will cause problems. I’m going to continue to look into this.

So, in summary, here are the key markers of metabolic health for myself – along with my own measurements.

A quick caveat. I’ve ignored the normal ranges that are typically advised. Instead, based on my research, I have set what I feel are good and optimal levels for metabolic health.

Body fat / Visceral fat

I don’t have a benchmark or measurement for myself yet. I’m going to get a DEXA scan, which is the most accurate way to measure these. It’s also fairly cheap and non-intrusive.

That said, being able to see your abs is a pretty good benchmark. So, for now, that’s my goal.

Blood Pressure

Less than 120/80 mm

Right now, I sit a bit too high. My latest readings averaged out at 130 / 66. It’s not disastrous at all, but ideally I want to see that first number much closer to 120.

HbA1C

Good: < 32.5 mmol/mol
Optimal: < 21 mmol/mol

I came in at 30.7 mmol/mol. I’m in the good range, so fairly happy with that. Now the goal is to push it below 30 and to get closer to 21.

C-reactive protein (CRP)

Good: < 1 mg/l
Optimal: < 0.5 mg/l

My reading is 0.71 mg/l. Again, pretty good and in the good range. The goal is to push lower than the optimal < 0.5 mg/l.

Triglycerides

Good: < 1 mmol/ml
Optimal: < 0.85 mmol/ml

My reading is 0.96 mmol/ml. Same story – sitting in the good range, and now need to work at pushing into the optimal range.

HDL cholesterol

Optimal: > 1.93 mmol/ml

I’m well in the optimal range with a reading of 2.34 mmol/ml here.

What are my immediate focuses for improving my metabolic health markers?

This is a pretty obvious answer for me. The biggest room for improvement (by far) is my diet. I’ve always had a difficult relationship with food and am prone to binge eating. Outside of binge eating, I do time-restricted fasting and eat a mostly paleo diet – high in protein, high in fat and low / moderate in carbs.

The improvement I need to make is to cut out the binge eating. I’m not trying to be 100% paleo. I am fine with the odd treat, and loosening up at weekends. But, right now it feels 50/50 (bad eating / paleo) and I want it to be much closer to 80/20. I need to reduce refined carbohydrates and sugar.

On top of that, I want to get into a habit of stricter time-restricted fasting. Right now, I’m fairly consistent with 8 hours (eating) / 16 hours (fasting). I skip breakfast and eat lunch at about 1PM. My last meal is usually around 8 or 9 PM. But, I drink tea with milk in the mornings, which is technically breaking the fast. Whilst I’m still getting the benefits of consuming fewer calories that tend to come with time-restricted fasting – I’m not getting the fasting benefits. I’d also like to experiment with fasting for 24 hours.

So, my focuses are:

80/20 paleo, keeping treats to carefully chosen times and avoiding binge eating.

Keep to a stricter 8/16 – with a 24 hour fast roughly once a week (evening meal one day, though to evening meal the next day).

If I can only nail the first one, it should have a nice positive impact on my key markers of metabolic health when I next measure them (early March 2022).

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90 days sober

October 15, 2021

I’m 90 days sober today. It’s a good time to reflect in general.

On the whole, life is significantly better. I feel much better about myself. My mood is better and I have less anxiety. I’ve lost 8lbs. I’m sleeping better. My RHR (resting heart rate) is lower and my HRV (heart rate variability) is higher. I’m almost always in the green with my Whoop scores. I’m training more consistently and frequently than I can ever remember (4-6 times a week) and without injury. All of my health habits are also more consistent – eating, supplements, water, caffeine intake etc.

I know that sounds a lot – almost unbelievable. I’ve written before about how I thought alcohol was the root cause behind my struggle with other things. Too much alcohol on one or two evenings can have a devastating domino effect on other parts of my life. My sleep suffers. My mood is affected. I get anxious. I eat more bad foods. I workout less. I stray from proven habits and routines.

It’s also bigger than each of those individual negative impacts. I lose positive momentum. And then it takes a lot of time and effort to regroup and get back on track. And when I do get back on track, like a vicious circle, it just takes one or two days of a little too much alcohol to disrupt it again.

Is it all good news? Mostly. That said, I still get some low level cravings for a nice glass of red. I’m also still trying to figure out how to feel comfortable in situations with a drinking atmosphere. That’s about it though and the positive benefits vastly outweigh those minor issues.

So, where do I go from here?

I’m going to stop counting days for a start. And then I’m just going to keep an open mind and do what feels right. That might mean never drinking again. It might mean finding a way to drink infrequently and with limits, if I feel I can successful with that. But, right now – it means continuing not to drink for the foreseeable.

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Defining optimal metabolic health (Part I)

October 1, 2021

Over the last year, I’ve become more interested in my health. It led me on a journey to better define what good health means – where I came across the term ‘metabolic health’.

What is metabolic health? This is the best description I found:

Metabolic health is having ideal levels of blood sugar, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, blood pressure, and waist circumference, without using medications. These factors directly relate to a person’s risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

That opened my eyes to a whole new world. I came across stories of people who look really healthy – yet their blood panels showed signs of metabolic dysfunction. I guess it’s similar to a great looking car that breaks down by the side of the road. Things can look great on the outside, but under the hood there might be a problem brewing.

If you take the description of metabolic health above, only 12% of Americans are metabolically healthy. In many cases, these are people who look fairly normal, go to the gym etc. – but they have a heightened risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

I wanted to find out where I stood. So, I took the plunge and ordered a blood test that checked for 45 biomarkers. The good news was that 98% of my results were in the normal range. That was reassuring, but there were two problems. Firstly, 45 measurements is a lot of things – what are the ones that matter the most? (think 80/20 principle). And secondly, what are optimal levels (not normal) for these. Once I’m clear on these, I can start to figure out what I should focus on to improve my metabolic health.

I’ve started my research. What’s difficult is there are lots of varying opinions. But, so far I’ve narrowed it down to these five northstar metrics:

Blood Pressure

High blood pressure increases your risk of serious problems such as heart attacks and strokes. This one is straightforward, because everyone seems to agree what optimal is:

Less than 120/80 mm

HbA1C

The HbA1C test is used to identify the concentration of glucose (sugar) in the blood. It gives an average reading of glucose levels over a duration of 2-3 months. The HbA1C result highlights the risk of developing diabetes.

My research led me to a good (not normal) and optimal benchmark:

Good:

mmol/mol	mg/dl	IFCC
<32.5	<100	<5.1%

Optimal:

mmol/mol	mg/dl	IFCC
<21	<70	<4.1%

Note: the reasons for 3 different measurement types is because different parts of the world use different ones (in the UK we use mmol/mol).

C-reactive protein (CRP)

CRP measures the amount of inflammation in your body. High levels are associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease and stroke. It doesn’t pinpoint the source of inflammation, but a high number here is going to cause problems down the road.

CRP benchmarks seem to be fairly well agreed upon:

Good: <1 mg/l
Optimal: < 0.5 mg/l

Triglycerides

Triglycerides are a type of fat (lipid) found in your blood. It’s important for maintaining energy and provides the fuel for muscles to work. High levels of triglycerides increase your risk of heart disease and pancreatitis.

Again, most people seem to agree on the below benchmarks:

Good

mmol/ml	mg/dl
< 1	< 90

Optimal:

mmol/ml	mg/dl
< 0.85	< 75

HDL cholesterol

HDL is short for high-density lipoprotein. It works as a scavenger, picking up and carrying away excess cholesterol in your arteries and transporting it to the liver where it can be eliminated. It’s what we call ‘good cholesterol’. High levels of HDL will lower your risk of heart disease.

From what I can research, these appear to be pretty solid optimal levels:

Optimal:

mmol/ml	mg/dl
> 1.93	> 75

That’s where I’m up to so far.

Next steps:

I have a few other metrics floating around that I need to look into further and decide if they are important enough to be considered a northstar metric for metabolic health (25-OH Vitamin D, Haemoglobin, LDL – bad cholesterol, total cholesterol, resting heart rate, heart rate variability etc.).

I also want to sanity check the above five with some smart people who understand this stuff better than me. Are these the right North Star metrics? Do the optimal levels feel right? Am I missing something?

I’ll cover my progress in the next post. I’ll also eventually bring it full circle and compare my own results to the optimal benchmarks – along with what I’ll be focusing on over the coming months.

P.S. I did the biomarker test with Forth. I highly recommend them. I had all 45 biomarker results with doctors notes within 48 hours of sending off the blood samples. Their platform for viewing and understanding your results over time looks super good too. And they’re really affordable too at £139!

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You already know what to do

September 26, 2021

I recently had a blood test that checked for 45 biomarkers. The results were mostly in the recommended normal range – and certainly the ones that matter the most were in a good place.

I don’t want to be normal though. I want to know what my northstar biomarkers are and then what levels for optimal health.

I’ve started my research on that. As with everything, it’s complicated to wade through everyone’s opinions and find reliable sources. I started to get overwhelmed and a bit lost in it – slightly slipping into perfectionism.

And then it hit me. Sure, this is important work and I’ll nail it eventually. When I do, I’ll have the certainty about on exactly where I am and what I need to focus on. But, what am I really trying to achieve here? It’s to understand what actions I can take to improve my metabolic health the most. And in reality, I already know that.

What makes the biggest difference to being in the best metabolic health? Diet. And where do I have the most room for improvement with my health habits? Yep, diet. I don’t need to finish my work on the biomarkers to know that improvements to my diet is the most meaningful thing I can do to improve my metabolic health.

If you find yourself getting overwhelmed by something, try and take a step back. Theres a good chance you’re getting in your own way. And there’s an even better chance you already know what to do.

So, that’s my big focus next week. More paleo and stricter intermittent fasting.

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No Alcohol: 60 Days

September 16, 2021

Yesterday, I hit 60 days without alcohol. I can’t remember the last time I went without alcohol for this long, so it’s a pretty big milestone for me.

I have a counter that shows every time I open up a new browser tab

I’ve struggled with my relationship with alcohol for the last five years or so. So much so, that I stopped going on big nights out a few years ago because of how bad it made me feel afterwards. I would feel tired, anxious and a lack of confidence. I’d get stuck in a low mood and feel depressed for up to two or three weeks afterwards. It affected the quality of my work. I would have less patience with friends and family. I’d also drift from my good habits for a few weeks following a big night out (waking early, planning my day, eating well, exercising etc.). It doesn’t take a genius to tell you that the fun of a big night out isn’t worth it – nowhere close.

In the last year or so, I started to feel the same way, even though I had cut my drinking back. Having two or three drinks knocked me back for a week. I woke up the next day with the same feelings – anxiety, lack of confidence, tiredness etc.. Again, I easily drifted from good habits.

I’ve experimented with setting myself various limits over the last few years to try and cope with this. My best was 3 drinks a week, only on a Friday or a Saturday – and never more than 2 in an evening. I managed to hold that for about 6 weeks. But, one thing always remained consistent. I always slid back to over consumption at some point.

On Fri, July 16th, I went to a house party with some friends. Over the course of about 4 hours, I had 5 drinks – nothing too crazy. I woke up the next morning feeling terrible. Something just clicked. This is NOT worth it.

I felt more strongly than I ever have before – I want to be alcohol free.

And here we are 60 days on. I still had the desire to drink for the first couple of weeks, but that quickly faded. Sometimes I still have a faint desire to have a nice glass of red, but it never gets any momentum. Life is too good without it, and why would I break my chain of 60 days now?

Why is life so good without it?

I’ve been more consistent with my health habits than I’ve ever been. I’ve lost 7lbs. My whoop data has gone from mostly red and orange – to mostly green (see below). I feel better in myself – better confidence, less anxiety. My weekends feel totally different – longer and better. The list goes on.

Where will this go from here? For now, I plan to be alcohol free for the foreseeable – at least a year, most likely forever. I know people who’ve taken a year off and are able to return with a brand new perspective. They’re able to truly take it or leave it and have the right balance. That feels like a nice place to be, but I’m still sceptical it’s for me. We’ll see. Watch this space.

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Self Care

November 6, 2020

When I was younger, I felt invincible. I partied hard with friends almost every weekend. ‘Sleep is for losers’ I would tell people – ‘I only get 5 hours a night!’

I’d go to bed exhausted on a Sunday evening. But, on Monday I was always in the office at 6.00 am, preparing for the week ahead. And from 09.00am, I was straight into the flow of management meetings and execution.

I felt hungover and tired alot. But, I pushed through it and usually felt OK by Tuesday. I used to be proud that I could get away with burning the candle at both ends. Work hard, play hard right?

As I get older, I realise how badly I looked after myself. I understand how much more important it is to take care of myself now.

I stopped drinking sessions with friends a few years ago. I either don’t go, or I disappear around 10.00pm, so I can avoid a messy night. It’s even a joke amongst my friends now – one minute I’m there, and the next I’m not.

It’s no exaggeration that a drinking session disrupts my life for a month. It’s more than just being tired and hungover. I become anxious, negative and depressed for weeks. I let good habits slip (waking early, being active, eating well etc.). My motivation and confidence at work suffers. It’s just not worth it.

Sleep is also a big thing for me recently. I’ve always been an early riser – getting up at 4.30am. Recently I’ve been tracking my sleep more closely. It’s helped me see the link between sleep, and how I’m feeling.

When I go a number of nights with poor sleep, I’m more anxious and struggle with my mood. I have less energy and have a less optimistic view about life.

Recently I’ve let go of having to rise at 4.30am every day. It’s not sustainable. Well, only if I commit to going to bed at 9.00pm every night. I’m experimenting with varying when I go to bed and get up. Sometimes I’ll still rise at 4.30am, and will go to bed at 9.00pm. But other nights I’ll go to bed later, and will allow myself more sleep – waking up closer to 6.00am or 7.00am.

I’ve talked about alcohol and sleep so far, and that’s intentional. They seem to be the biggest self care factors that influence how I feel. And they are intrinsically linked.

If I have a few drinks, my sleep suffers. I get tired, feel worse, and let good habits slip. So, I feel worse about myself, and am more likely to have a few drinks. It starts a downward spiral that can last for weeks.

It works the other way around too. If I get a few nights of very poor sleep, I get tired. This makes me more likely to make poor decisions, and have a drink. Same cycle – just started in a different order.

I’m at the point now where I might give up alcohol forever. I’ve said this before, and have always slipped back to trying to moderate myself with limits and rules. I have to acknowledge that I have a bad track record of sticking to limits and rules when it comes to alcohol.

I’ve been hearing more, and more about people that have stopped drinking, and never looked back. It’s making me think more seriously about it.

OK, let’s get off alcohol and sleep. There are other things that are also becoming more important to me:

Solitude. Being by myself and thinking. I’ve always been pretty good at getting some quiet time to myself in the mornings. But, I’m starting to think about how I can get longer stretches of time to myself – probably a few days. I think it would allow me some time to decompress – get away from the routines of everyday life and think about things. Maybe even build up to a Bill Gates think week.

Walking is really good for me. It helps me get some time to myself, but it’s bigger than that. There’s something about walking that kick starts my brain to work on problems. I have some of my best ideas or realisations whilst taking a walk. And it’s nice to be outside too.

My relationship with technology is something I’ve always thought alot about. At one point, I even gave up my smartphone for two years. I’m thinking alot about how to limit screen time. I want to do more things like digital sabbaths, and using my Nokia on weekends.

Self care is becoming so important to me, that I’m starting to think about it as one of the key areas for my life (I have a number of these, and I reflect on them as part of my weekly planning process).

If I had a Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs style pyramid for my life, it may well sit at the bottom. It feels like a force multiplier for everything else in my life.

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