Self-Hacking
About five years ago, I had two very significant warning flags that prompted me to embark on a path of completely changing how I treated my physical and mental health:
- My doctor at the time informed me that I officially qualified as having “metabolic syndrome” — putting me at high risk for diabetes and heart disease and that I needed to get my act together quickly on weight loss and exercise.
- I didn’t feel as mentally sharp or engaged, so I was referred for a Neuropsychological Assessment at UCSD. After a battery of mental quizzes, they informed me that I had an attention deficit and was “bored” and needed more mental stimulation.
I took these warning flags seriously and launched on a journey of discovery, developing a fascination with physical and mental health improvement. Solutions can be multi-layered, none more so that improving our physical and mental health. I’m a solution junkie (a term I first heard used by Michael Eisner about Skip Brittenham, who was on the board of the startup I co-founded); I tend to get fixated on what works to solve challenges. So this is the ultimate rabbit hole for me.
I took a right turn on a 16-year career track, launched a startup advisory and funding side hustle, and began a multifaceted physical and mental training regimen which I have been refining for the last 6 years.
In the process, I’ve done a lot wrong, but enough right. So far, I’ve dropped my body fat from ~30% (obese) to close to ~20% (low average), put on plenty of muscle, dropped my A1C…