Happy Monday everyone! Start to a new & wonderful week is upon us. I just got my schedule for the upcoming opening week at the bakery and I am really excited to finally have some REAL customers. Don’t get me wrong, I love my coworkers, but you can only practice taking a an order from the same person so many times. Ya feel me?
Thank you for all your input on my last post. Just to clear any confusion up, I am at a healthy weight and not in a malnourished state and that’s why my dr sought out a different explanation for my change in blood work. The only thing that has changed about my lifestyle over the past year has been my increased protein intake and that’s why she attributed my blood work to that change. But I do appreciate your concern and know that if I did have a medical problem you all would be very concerned and supportive. So thank you for that!
Today I wanted to talk a little bit about my latest, favorite book (and potentially, author?!).
Last week I finished Drop Dead Healthy by AJ Jacobs. Jacobs is a writer for Esquire magazine and has also written 3 other NY Times Bestsellers with the same premise as his latest book. Basically, AJ is all about throwing himself fully into all sorts of social experiments to see how it changes his life and to see what all the fuss is about certain extremes in our society. He’s read the encyclopedia from A-Z, followed the Bible’s teachings word for word for a year, and has put his body through some of the most crazy experiments on the planet. In his latest book, AJ takes on the world of health and fitness on a quest to become ‘the healthiest man on the planet’.
The book documents his more than two year journey as he moves through each part of the body in an attempt to make it healthier, better functioning and improve his overall well being. Over the course of his journey, AJ explores some the latest medical research as well as a lot of the trends and fads that come up in the world of health.
The book is absolutely hilarious. Jacobs is an amazing writer who you feel like you’re having a face to face conversation with the entire way through. But even better than the entertainment aspect of the book is the fact that you really do learn a lot! Not only on how to make small changes in your own life to take control of your health and happiness, but the underlying theme of the whole book…that moderation is key, perfection is impossible, and you really have to choose your battles with staying healthy. No one can be the ‘healthiest person alive’ and AJ demonstrates that not only is that pursuit futile, but can actually be unhealthy. He aims to walk away being able to discern the hard scientific facts from the everyday claims that non-experts make. We as humans tend to follow things that suit our wants and desires. Things that are appealing to us seem to make the most sense, but in reality this clouds our judgement. AJ counteracts this by testing all his experiments against the actual evidence and data that is out there and by consulting a variety of professionals from all areas of the field. In the end, he walks away with better health overall and a better understanding of how to maintain that sort of lifestyle without going crazy!
I don’t want to giveaway too much because I think all of you should experience the delight in this book for yourselves, but AJ’s anecdotes and writing style are truly one of a kind. I thought I’d share some of my favorite excerpts from the book just to give you a taste of what you can expect…
- On preparing for his quest: “I’ve been devouring health books and magazines and blogs. I’ve read at least 14 articles on the benefits of blueberries. I’m steeped in omega-3’s and flavonoids. I know a lat from a delt, fructose from sucrose, HDL from LDL. I know that you should eat a lot of the indian spice turmeric, as it fights cancer. Also that you should avoid the indian spice turmeric, as it might contain dangerous levels of lead. One or the other.” <–a testament to the contradictory nature of the health world
- One what it means to be maximally healthy: “1. Longevity 2. Freedom from disease and pain 3. A sense of emotional, mental, and physical well-being” <–I would agree with that definition
- “Evolution has betrayed us…If evolution worked perfectly, healthy food would taste delicious and and unhealthy food would make us gag. On Halloween, kids would fill their pails with Quinoa and cauliflower. Dairy Queen would sell millions of bok choy Blizzards.”
- On why our ancestors diet don’t work for us today: “We started to live longer. We cured a lot of infectious diseases, but this presented a new problem. Foods that were healthy in the short run-like those loaded with fat to allow the cavemen to survive famine until the next kill-turned out to be damaging in the long run.”<–our circumstances have changed so the Paleo/caveman diet doesn’t really apply to our modern society
- “The key to making healthy decisions is to respect your future self. Honor him or her. Treat him or her like you would treat a friend or a loved one.”
- Dr. Bratman’s (author of Health Food Junkies) take on healthy living: “Eating fruits and veggies is vaguely logical. Get sleep. Don’t live in the most polluted parts of the world. Don’t smoke. Don’t do unsafe things like skiing or hang gliding, which are inconceivably more dangerous that eating ‘unhealthy’ foods. Exercise is pretty likely good for you. Don’t drink too much alcohol-one or two drinks a day. And that’s about it.”
- Nutrition science has a LONG way to go before we can even refer to it as being reliable and really telling as to what is good and bad for us. Food is so complicated and we barely know all the micronutrients in each food or how they react with one another, so we shouldn’t get to rigid or strict with food rules. Just sticking to a simple approach, like that of Michael Pollan, is most likely the best route.
- When it comes to food, we often confuse correlation with causation…thus all the constant contradictions.
- One dealing with stress: “Reframe. Yes, you’re on the slow line at the grocery store. But think of all the times you’ve been on the fast line and never noticed it.”
- “One MRI study showed that giving to charity lights up the pleasure centers of the brain. It’s been called “helper’s high”. A 2004 Johns Hopkins study concluded that volunteering slows mental and physical aging. You’re more engaged, more challenged physically and cognitively.” <– Exactly why I started the Lend a {Healthy} Hand project!
- “As with raw food, evidence for the Paleo diet is still inconclusive. It probably helps you lose weight if you’re obese, as do most carb-restricting diets. But it’s not clear what effect the diet has on heart disease. We also don’t know if this is actually the diet that our ancestors ate. Paleo skeptics-such as Marion Nestle-argue that plants from prehistoric kitchens wouldn’t leave fossils.”
- From an interview with Jack Lalane: “You see, life is a battlefield. Life is survival of the fittest. How many healthy people do you know? How many happy people do you know? Think about it. People work at dying, they don’t work at living. Mu workout is my obligation to life. It’s my tranquilizer. It’s part of the way I tell the truth-and telling the truth is what’s kept me going all these years.”
- On finishing his project: Am I the healthiest man alive? I am certainly a lot healthier than I was two years ago….But the healthiest in the world? Who know. Probably not. For one thing, I’ve been so busy with food and exercise, my life has teetered out of balance. I’ve skipped movie nights with my wife and missed pre-K presentations…..My days of full throttle healthy living are over. Instead, I’ll be switching to a healthier approach to health. I’ll incorporate much of what I learned….I’ll be moderate in all things, including moderation. There’s room for immoderation. Celebratory feasts can be healthy, and the occasional triathlon as well.”
There are SO many more passages I could have cited but I’d pretty much be rewriting the whole book! Ha!
Needless to say, I loved it. I highly recommend it. Heck, I’ve already started another one of AJ’s books! I’m two chapters in and already laughing my ass off!
Have a great week, friends!
Kaila
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Todays’s Healthy Help: Bought some lemonade from the kids next door who are raising money for their church.
Never too early to start Lending a {Healthy} Hand for this weeks round-up! Tell me what you’ve done to help someone else lately!
7 responses to “Drop Dead Healthy”
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Oh i remember seeing an interview he did a while back, but had forgotten about the book! I definitely want to read it!
I’m so intrigued by this book now! I honestly had no idea what it was about until I read your post- I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
I’ve seen this book before, but now I’m really interested in reading it myself! I couldn’t agree more on the contradictory nature of the health media. One day, something is bad for us and the next day, it’s a super food. It’s great to research things, and I definitely do it myself, but it can be hard to separate the myths from the facts.
Definitely ordering a copy of this book. Great review it looks so fascinating. I would have thought it would be geared towards Men since it’s “One Man’s approach”. 🙂
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