Stretching tells you what muscles are tight. If you don’t stretch, you don’t know where your tension is. Then you can’t relax as well. The same goes for mental or emotional tension, in my experience. If you don’t challenge yourself, you can’t relax as well either. I think someone who lounges around all the time can’t relax as well as someone who challenges him- or herself. Challenging yourself helps you[…] Keep reading →

Your attitude is why your body looks the way it does—no muscle, no nothing. Your body is the physical manifestation of your mental state. I don’t mean this in some woo-woo new age way. You don’t care about what you eat, if/how you exercise, or anything. Your body reflects your apathy and complacency. When you learn to care about yourself, you’ll behave like you do. If I were you, I’d[…] Keep reading →

I noticed when I shop at the grocery store, I use a lot less of it than I used to. I hardly use any of it any more, by floor space. I couldn’t find a floor plan of my local market, but this one looks fairly representative: When you avoid food where you have to throw away packaging and food with fiber removed, you only use the two circled parts[…] Keep reading →

I used to know a lot of places to get convenient, fast vegetarian foods in the city. That way, no matter where I was caught, I’d know where to find a quick bite. Since choosing to avoid food with packaging and food whose fiber has been removed, I’ve found restaurant food disappointing, unhealthy, expensive, and trying to trick me into thinking I wanted rice or bread instead of fresh vegetables[…] Keep reading →

You’ve heard to drink eight cups of water a day. I can’t count how many times I have. There is zero medical or scientific evidence supporting the advice. None. There never was and never will be. I hear people suggest it so often, feeling they’re helping people when they’re just repeating uninformed, confused misinformation, I couldn’t help but post on it. This site—Snopes—summarizes the science debunking the myth, with citations[…] Keep reading →

I just walked back from a place that’s a 30-minute walk or 15-minute subway ride from home. That is, had I taken the subway, I would have gotten home 15 minutes earlier, but I also would have stood around on the subway for 15 minutes. So the way I calculate it, I spent 15 minutes getting 30 minutes of exercise. That’s a win in my book. Plus, since I don’t[…] Keep reading →

My Inc.com article yesterday, “How This Bodybuilder With Cerebral Palsy Can Help You Reach Your Potential,” began How This Bodybuilder With Cerebral Palsy Can Help You Reach Your Potential Can his example lead you to achieve something you thought you couldn’t? Why are we here at Inc.com if not to be part of a community focused on improving ourselves, leading others, setting examples, and changing the world? And what are[…] Keep reading →

I met a woman who was coxswain for the Princeton rowing team. When I told her I rowed 5,016 meters in 20 minutes, she said it was a remarkable achievement and said if I showed her a video of my rowing she’d critique my form. So I recorded myself rowing for half an hour. It’s hardly exciting and my time isn’t world class, but I’m happy to show myself off,[…] Keep reading →

Most people who have talked to me for more than thirty minutes over the past year heard me talk about food, especially all the fresh vegetables and fruit, as well as the legumes I cook in the pressure cooker. With many of them, I describe in detail what I eat. Some I even show the pictures, like these, of what I eat Or these, showing the farm where my food[…] Keep reading →