| You need to first regulate and discipline your everyday Lifestyle; 1) First, regulate your interactions with the environment i.e. limit exposure to everything/everybody which could trigger you, put you in a negative frame of mind etc. A good example is to do a "digital detox" in addition to limiting socialization with negative people. Clean up your room, change some decor etc. The idea is to break those cues in the environment which have been detrimental and replace them with something positive. 2) Next start with your Diet; stop all junk food and eat proper home cooked healthy food. Stop eating before you feel full i.e. satisfied but not completely full. 3) Regulate your Circadian Rhythm by following the six steps given by Dr. Satchin Panda in this talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fciGNBN0nKM and this talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOXQgyjRm0I Note especially Intermittent Fasting, Sunlight Exposure in the Morning and Exercise in the Evening. 4) The "Gut" (aka The Second Brain) is now known to play a vital role in our Health both Physical/Mental. Massage all the organs in the gut area everyday by doing two special exercises from Hatha Yoga; "Uddiyana Bandha" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandha_(yoga)#Uddiyana_bandha) and "Nauli Kriya" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauli). Start slow and gentle with these exercises. See Youtube for some demo videos. 5) Your Breath links your Body and Mind (i.e. Psyche) together and hence you need to regulate your breathing. Do the following couple of simple breathing exercises (i.e. "Pranayama" from Hatha Yoga); 4.1) Normal inhalation followed by fast and forceful exhalation with abdomen pulled in, all through the nose; do ten reps 4.2) Do "Nadi Shodana" i.e inhale gently through the left nostril by closing the right nostril and exhale gently through the right nostril by closing the left nostril. Repeat the same but switching sides. This constitutes one set; do ten such sets. 6) Tackle Sleep as if it were a paying job i.e. with discipline and dedication. Satchin Panda's above video already mentions how but to drive the point home, listen to your body and sleep/nap when you feel sleepy/drowsy. Everything else is dispensable but not Sleep. 7) You don't have to go crazy with exercise but should at least be able to take a walk everyday. If you can't go outside walk within your home or building. For better results use a weight vest and/or ankle weights. Since we all spend so much time sitting and staring at a screen do 6.1) Special/extra exercises for Waist/Pelvis/Hamstring/Knee loosening 6.2) Massage your scalp/face/head to balance circulatory function. Everyday exercises should be light which energizes you but not tire you out. 8) The above together should have put your Body/Mind in a equilibrium state where you feel alert/calm and energetic. Now you work on your focus/concentration by reading/studying something from a book (no phone/music/videos and no other distractions). Pick anything you find interesting (trivial/simple/complex/whatever) be it fiction/non-fiction; you are training your mind to focus on one thing for an extended period of time (at least 1 hr). If you don't like to read then do some other activity (eg. crossword/puzzles/whatever) but again fully focused for at least an hour. The idea is to have the mind fully occupied (aka mindfulness) with no other thoughts/distractions. Persist with the above discipline and you will definitely see some real benefits. |
Regarding Point 1 & 4) As someone who's a been following the health podcast space of researchers, I've been finding that exercise, nutrition, and sleep are the foundations that are critical to feeling one's best. However, like all things, the devil's in the details and finding a protocol that's sustainable, affordable, and palatale is pretty key to being compliant and feeling one's best.
Personally, my goals nutritionally has been to just "feel better." I noticed very early on in life, that almost any meal I consumed would lead me to falling asleep and being unfunctional for 2-3 hours in a state of brain fog. No amount of caffiene and such could really snap me out of it. So I went to the doctor and got prescriptions for stimulants, but they mostly have diminishing returns and have other downsides. And my whole life, I've always had a slight bit of fatigue, a bit of ADHD, a bit of narcolepsy, so I feel like there's so much more on the table that I could engage in, but have failed to really get at. So I've found that really getting my diet in order has been key. Now that I've embarked on on a multi-year journey of nutrition and fitness, I'm finding that I have a ton more energy to engage, a lot more focus (still hard, but much easier) and I have a lot more mental stamina than I used to have.
I've given my protocol to several friends, and not one person hasn't felt better on it so far, even if they didn't integrate the exercise portion. I've also read numerous change-your-life-by-doctor-foo books and they generally all come to the same conclusion: the body is a chemical reaction machine and it needs the right set of molecules (either via gthe gut microbiome (bacteria) or synthesis or nutrition) to function at its best. And at the core of everything health, optimizing mitochondrial function is at the heart of all things health, for just about every curable/manageable ailment and chronic health condition out there. Food, as personal and opinionated as it is, is one of the core tenets for functioning well. And in that context, it becomes obvious that reducing or eliminating the bad, while increasing the good is the key to many improvements.
On the food front, it's too difficult and not practical to really cut out everything, but I do agree with cutting out most "ultraprocessed" food. (ie chips, soda). Since getting healthier, I find that my body can tolerate junk food far better than it ever has been able to. So much so that, if I go on vacation with friends and binge on junk food for a week, I'm fine. Over time, I noticed that my tolerance for the "bad" stuff grew more and more. For OP, I'm sure on your journey, you'll experience similarly.
What I find that most people have difficulty with is getting enough of the good stuff. Most of the compiled research out there recommends some form of eat lots of whole foods, lots of color, lots of variety, and I've found that getting enough in quantity and variety is tough.
In an ideal world, look towards getting 2-3 cups of color, 2-3 cups of greens, and 2-3 cups of sulfur per day. This is easiest done with a smoothie and drinking whole foods. Then my daily food intake becomes about getting healthy enough amounts of calories of proteins, carbs, and fats. Generally, a target of around 50-75% of 1g per lb for protein gets most people to a solid target for muscle building and retention. Then most folks can mix/match how much in carbs and fats they want to target. For most, what that balance is, doesn't really matter, unless one has a higher propensity for diabetes and should keep their carbohydrate targets relatively low. I've found that the best way to address all my micro-nutritional needs is to make batches of smoothies 1-2x/week and consume them on the go.
My smoothie concoction is as follows: 3x batches in a 64oz Vitamix (don't bother with the smaller vitamix and cheaper blender alternatives. They aren't powerful enough). This fills 6x 28oz blender bottles, and I look towards drinking 2x bottles/day, usually for breakfast and a mid-day snack.
Smoothie mix: 24 oz colorful grape tomatoes (color), 16 oz carrots (color), 3-4 heaping cups frozen blueberries (color), 12oz brocolli (sulfur), 16oz greens mix (greens: spinach, chard, kale), 3x apples, water.
On the supplement front, most people don't get enough sun (vitamin D) and Omega 3's (fish/algae), so I supplement about 5000IUs of D, 1-2g each of DHA & EPA for the antioxidant effects. Lastly, I think which is super critical, mitochondrial health is important (especially cuz my family has a history of diabetes) So I also add about 200-300mg of Ubiquinol (Coq10 in reduced form), B1 as Benfotiamine (dosing per label) and 5g of creatine for its mitochondrial benefits. For most of the general public, I would say this addresses most of the deficiencies that exist in the standard american diet. It addresses comments like, "80% of the US population is vitamin D deficient, omega3 deficient, etc"
Regarding Point 6) Research has also shown that doing something like 10x body weight squats around once every 45-60 minutes while sitting down also has incredible benefits, even if one isn't able to make it out for a walk. Just wanted to point out that there are many alternatives to movements and many benefits don't necessarily need to be super strenuous.
Good luck OP!