“If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
One of my favorite quotes comes from the late, great Eleanor Roosevelt:
“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”
Something that I feel has become endemic in our society is our interminable need to fill our dialogue with events and people.
While the blame ultimately lies on each and every one of us individually, it doesn’t help that we are taking in information in a manner completely distinct from the entirety of human history.
The 24 hour news-cycle that we have grown accustomed to, especially in the last decade, is predicated less on the foundation of truth and the dissemination of broad view-points than it is on flooding us with click-bate, talking-points, and sound-bites that can be easily digested, propagated, and thus converted into ad revenue for the top media corporations.
Yesterday morning, shortly after waking up, I had breakfast: 2 hard-boiled eggs; a bowl of organic oats mixed with raw honey, cinnamon, and a half a cup of berries; and a big cup of organic, black coffee.
Mid-morning I had a handful of mixed, raw nuts and an apple.
For lunch I had a half a cup of black beans on a bed of Jasmine rice; steamed broccoli; half an avocado; and 1 cup of bone broth.
My dinner consisted of 6 ounces of grass-fed ground beef; a sweet potato; and kale (sautéed in ghee).
We’re about to wrap up another year and, for me, that means the culmination of yet another successful stretch of reading, learning, and growing as a human being.
It’s safe to say that we are living in a truly extraordinary time.
While we have access to more information than at any other period in human history, the advent of the internet, social media, and a vastly growing 24 hour news cycle has also made it easier than ever before for us to remain in our own bubbles of like minded people, ideas, and world views.
If you missed the first installment of the “Mental Muscle” series last month, you may check it out here.
According to National Geographic’s 2014 documentary, Sleepless In America, the average American sleeps just 6.5 hours each night, with 40% of all U.S. adults sleeping less than 6 hours per night, and many more getting less than 5 hours throughout the week—this despite The National Sleep Foundation’s recommendation of at least 7-9 hours per night for adults.
What does this data imply for our overall health and well-being as a society?
Well, being chronically sleep deprived can lead to a whole host of problems for us—cognitively, behaviorally, and metabolically.
What’s up everybody?
This post will kick off a new segment of my blog: at the end of every month I will send out links to all the interesting podcasts, books, documentaries, articles, music, movies, and performances that I checked out throughout the previous 4 weeks and that inspired me in some way, shape or form.
I’ve been doing this for my clients via email the last few months, and I thought that it would be cool to share this stuff with all of you as well.
One of the characteristics that I feel distinguishes me from others in the health and fitness industry is that I have a very broad definition of “wellness.”
It was the summer of 1996.
Jay-Z’s first album, Reasonable Doubt, had just been released, Michael Jordan had just won his fourth NBA championship, and Bill Clinton still knew the definition of the word “is.”
I was ten years old and my family headed to Miami Beach’s Eden Roc resort for one of my father’s biennial conferences for the Cuban American Medical Association.
For him this meant 3 days of lectures, meetings and glitzy dinners; for my sister and I this meant 3 days of unadulterated “fun in the sun.”
We’d get up early and hit the buffet around 8 or 9 am, then spend the rest of the day at the beach and the pool, playing games and horsing around with the many friends we had made with the other doctors’ kids.
I recently discussed The Law of Diminishing Returns in regard to training in an Instagram post about a week ago.
Basically, this economic principle refers to the point in which the benefit gained from something ceases to outweigh the investment (time, energy, money, etc.) required to accrue that benefit.
If you are new to training, it doesn’t take much to get results: just lift 2-3 days per week and focus on 3-4 exercises per session, consisting of full body, compound movements.
A simple workout of 2-3 sets of squats, dumbbell press, and rows can elicit some pretty impressive results if executed correctly and fused with proper eating habits.
Now, once you are passed that beginner – intermediate level and focused on taking your training and muscle-building to the next level, you’re going to have to get a little more intricate with how you design your workouts.
