October 18, 2019
Welcome to Ben Greenfield's Weekly Roundup and Cool New Discoveries!
Ben Greenfield's discoveries, from the latest news on the fronts of fitness, nutrition, health, wellness, biohacking and anti-aging research. I also recap my upcoming events and special announcements so you can keep up with giveaways, discounts and more!
New Discoveries Of The Week: Cool New Things I'm Trying, Books I'm Reading, And More!
– How I'm Kicking Up The Heat In My Sauna Sessions
I was recently reading my friend Emily Fletcher's new book “Stress Less, Accomplish More,” and came across the concept that black pepper tea is an Ayurvedic technique to significantly heat and warm the body and can induce a mild fever.
So I thought…what the heck…why not try this stuff before a sauna session?
I ground 10 turns of black pepper from my pepper grinder into a mug, added hot water, drank the tea, and then hit the sauna. I'm nearly positive this was not a placebo effect, but the sauna seemed *way* hotter. Give it a try and let me know what you think! (Stay tuned for a really fascinating podcast with Emily coming soon, and listen to my previous podcast with her here).
– Book I'm Enjoying
“Everything Is Figureoutable” by Marie Forleo. Thanks to my friend Brian Johnson at Optimize.me for recommending this book to me. While most self-help books offer quick fixes, Everything is Figureoutable will retrain your brain to think more creatively and positively in the face of setbacks. In the words of Cheryl Strayed, it's “a must-read for anyone who wants to face their fears, fulfill their dreams, and find a better way forward.”
Here are few of my personal highlights:
-The result we’re ultimately aiming for? Freeing up two hours a day. Before you throw this book against the wall or think, you’re out of your damn mind, Marie! I can’t find an extra two minutes, let alone two hours a day; stick with me and, at the very least, experiment. As you track your time, pay particular attention to our society’s biggest time sucks: social media (no surprise there), email, the internet in general (shopping, scrolling through news, going down the rabbit hole), inefficient meal planning and prep, traffic and commuting, meetings (many of which don’t really add value to our jobs, or could be more quickly and effectively addressed in email), television (yes, Netflix counts), running errands (that are not essential or could be done later when they’re less distracting to our most creative, high-energy hours), being on your cell phone for whatever reason (e.g., talking, texting, gaming, watching YouTube videos, or listening to podcasts).
-Here’s the mantra I use to curb my own media consumption: “Create before you consume.” Meaning, it’s imperative that I create the life (and work) of my dreams before I unconsciously and habitually consume the creations of others.
-Clarity comes from engagement, not thought. Write that down. Memorize it. Tattoo it on your tush. Whenever you’re trapped in the hell of indecision, do something about it as quickly as possible. Find a way to take a tangible, real action and you’ll be rewarded with priceless feedback to inform your next steps.
-When you don’t have something clear and meaningful to work toward, you can experience a host of other problems: feeling lost, not where you should be by now, and off track. You have recurring thoughts like, Is this all there is? Am I really doing what I’m supposed to be doing in life? Struggling to prioritize or schedule your time because you don’t know what’s most important or how to navigate competing opportunities. Failing to produce meaningful results, despite always being “super busy.” You confuse activity with accomplishment: I’m running myself ragged, but I have nothing substantial to show for it. Teetering on the edge of burnout. You’re exhausted and irritated, and you fantasize about running away and never looking back. The struggle is real, but it’s also understandable. I never took a Dream Clarity Class, did you? Most of us have little-to-no instruction on how to figure out what we really want in life. Or how to get back on track when we’ve lost our way.
-Maybe you’re stealing from your kids, loved ones, or colleagues because they’re not getting the real you—the most fully alive, emotionally available, playful, confident, strong, and loving you that you could be.
-As basic as it seems, most people still don’t write down what’s most important to them.
Anyways, I'm not much of a “personal improvement” book guy, but this one is a great, quick read. Grab it here.
Podcasts I Recorded This Week:
This episode was brought to you by Kion Lean (code: BGF10), JOOVV, Clearlight Saunas (code: BENGREENFIELD), and Policy Genius.
This episode was brought to you by Boundless, Thrive Market (Save 25%), Clearlight Saunas (code: BENGREENFIELD), and Zip Recruiter (Try it for free when you use my link).
Articles I Published This Week:
– My full article feed and all past archives of my articles are here if you want to check out past articles.
Special Announcements:
::: Have A Guilt-free ‘Cartoons, Comics, and Cocoa Puffs' Morning :::
Have you tried Magic Spoon cereal yet? It's a healthy cereal that has the flavor and texture of the old school comfort food cereal I loved as a kid. Better yet, my boys absolutely love this stuff…they can actually read the newspaper comics and watch cartoons while eating cereal—a childhood dream, right?
You can get this stuff here, and code: BEN will get you free shipping on as many boxes as you want (you have to try the chocolate flavor, which is like Cocoa Puffs on steroids, but with NO SUGAR!). They’ve also got cinnamon (like Cinnamon Toast Crunch), fruit (like Fruity Pebbles) and frosted (just like Frosted Flakes). I’m drooling, baby. Mornings just got awesome.
::: Sugar-free, Low Alcohol Wine For One Penny :::
I like to enjoy a glass of wine or a Moscow mule every so often. But there's no denying it; alcohol is a toxin, and it can be very dangerous, and can certainly damage your brain, when you drink too much of it. (Check out my article, “How To Microdose With Alcohol For A Better Brain & A Longer Life (& 3 Quick Hacks To Make Alcohol Healthier).” for more on that.)
That’s why low alcohol is a core component of most wines that I enjoy.
One of my favorites, Dry Farm Wines, has some pretty darn tasty wines with less than 12.5% alcohol by volume (some as low as 6%) because they want you to have wine that you can enjoy in good health throughout an evening.
When it comes to brain health, quality also matters. A pure, sugar-free natural wine will be different than a high-sugar, additive-filled commercial wine. Dry Farm Wines uses an independent certified enologist to lab test all their wines to be statistically sugar-free and to ensure every wine meets their strict standards of health and purity. This includes verifying the presence of lower alcohol and sulfites.
Dry Farm Wines also exclusively works with small family farmers to offer you a pure natural wine experience grown the way nature intended. They financially support small organic natural wine growers with fair trade pricing and believe this is important to financially support the farmers who are protecting the soil and earth. You can learn more about Dry Farm Wines in my in-depth podcast interview with their founder Todd White, which you can listen to here.
You can also try a bottle of his fantastic wine (which I receive a personal shipment from every month via a wine subscription) by clicking here.
Need Help Fully Optimizing Your Brain & Body?
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Are you looking to achieve peak physical performance? Trying to shed fat or gain lean muscle as fast as possible? Ready to tap into the most cutting-edge health, fitness and longevity protocols? Every day, I work with people just like you to help them achieve their goals with personalized health advice and one-of-a-kind nutrition and fitness plans. My schedule gets filled quickly, so be sure to book your one-on-one consultation with me today.
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Upcoming Events:
– October 26: SoCal Beast and Sprint Spartan, Tejon Ranch, Lebec CA. One of the more picturesque courses on the Spartan circuit, Tejon Ranch offers virtually untouched land with steep inclines, rugged mountains, oak-covered rolling hills, and heavily wooded valleys. Click here to sign up, and try not to get too distracted by the breathtaking views.
– November 23: AT&T Park Stadium Sprint Spartan, San Francisco, CA. When was the last time you got to run around a major league baseball field? Expect to be thrown a few curve balls (so to speak) as you navigate staircases, dugouts, and tunnels that make up the AT&T Park’s five levels. Sign up here.
– April 24 – 26, 2020: Paleo f(x): Austin, TX. Join me and dozens of health and fitness experts to discover the latest breakthroughs in epigenetics, biohacking, Keto, AIP, nootropics, blood testing, strength conditioning, sleep, stress and much more. Try out delicious new foods, discover new workouts, and even try new gadgets in the biohacking lab. Register here, and get your Expo Pass for just $99 (44% Off!).
Featured Product: NatureBeat
While I try to limit my use of self-quantification tools for multiple reasons—including a deeper connection to nature when exercising outdoors, less WiFi and Bluetooth strapped to my body while I'm working out, and a whole host of others—there is indeed one metric I track regularly.
Every morning for five minutes while lying in bed, or occasionally when I'm trying something new (such as a new exercise or supplement or breathing strategy) and want to see in real-time how it's impacting my nervous system, I use my NatureBeat app to track my heart rate variability (HRV).
Tracking my HRV allows me to gain insight into how well my body has recovered, and thus the level of intensity my body is capable of training at for the rest of the day.
Read more about what HRV is and why it's so important to have this data handy in the first place here, and click here to get NatureBeat, the same HRV-tracking app that I use.
This Week's Most Popular Instagram Post:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3pxrg5g-3K/
This Week's Most Popular Tweet:
'It's the dirty little secret that everybody knows about' (sad thing is when I've spoken to teams in the NBA, they rarely take the jet lag/sleep advice I give…it's crazy!) https://t.co/sdcH6LDUcS
— Ben Greenfield (@bengreenfield) October 14, 2019
My Most Popular Facebook Post This Week:
Leave your comments below – and any news or discoveries that you think I missed!
Cheers,
Ben
Any nature courses like that above in the Northeast?
I'm sure there are. You can contact Human Nature here: https://awakenthehunter.wordpress.com/contact/ I'm sure they'd be happy to help out.