You’re naked every day. You’re naked under your clothes. How do you feel about yourself naked? Do you love your body? I mean love how it looks, works, and feels? I’m not talking vanity, envy, or pride. I’m not talking about conforming to others’ values or imposing yours on others. Look at your body in a full-length mirror. Feel it. Hear it. Smell it. Alone with yourself. Just you. Nobody[…] Keep reading →

When I talk about my daily habits, people call me disciplined and act as if I have ability they don’t. Nobody looks at a bodybuilder and believes he or she was born that way. Nobody hears a musician playing and thinks he or she was born playing. They developed their skills by practicing. I practice too. Sometimes the practice involves hard things and things you don’t feel like doing but[…] Keep reading →

Cardiovascular means of or related to the heart and blood vessels. We call “cardiovascular” exercises like jogging, swimming, rowing, elliptical, and others that don’t stress any one muscle or group too much so we can do it long enough to burn a lot of calories. People associate so-called cardiovascular exercise with losing weight. I’ll grant that those exercises can burn through a lot of calories. I’ve come to doubt their[…] Keep reading →

The United States today probably has the largest population in history of men with breasts caused by voluntary choices. There are other causes than voluntary choices as this Newsweek article says, It can sometimes be hereditary but is more commonly spurred by conditions like obesity, chronic kidney disease or an overactive thyroid, as well as by certain medications like steroids that cause hormone levels to shift. but many men choose[…] Keep reading →

Measuring grocery store floor space implies the diet of people living near it, as I wrote in Fat, Manhattan real estate, profit, and where obesity comes from. Since every American food store I’ve seen sells more salt, sugar, and fat-based foods than whole plants, the floor space implies people eat a lot of salt, sugar, and fat. Specifically, they choose to spend their hard-earned money on salty, sugary, and fatty[…] Keep reading →

In June I measured my heart rate at 45 beats per minute with an app, which said I was off the charts for a 46-year-old male. Since then I’d measured a few times and repeated the results. I also turned 47. I measured when I wasn’t moving around but Harvard Medical School wrote, “The American Heart Association recommends checking your resting heart rate first thing in the morning (but before[…] Keep reading →

I did a three-day meditation retreat last month, meaning nearly no talking, reading, writing, internet, phone, etc for three days. The basic unit of meditation there is one hour sitting still, which we do 6 or 7 times a day while there. Barely moving for one hour, focusing my mind is hard, though I’m more skilled at it than ever, which is why I go to the retreat sometimes. It’s[…] Keep reading →