Resilience

• I was amazed by the tragic but uplifting story of David Fajgenbaum, MD, a tenured professor at U. Penn. I don’t want to give away all of the details from this episode of the Shawn Ryan Show, but Dr. Fajgenbaum speaks about his personal battle with Castleman disease and how he discovered a treatment using the drug rapamycin.

• Dr. F treats patients, conducts research, and runs a company called Every Cure that leverages AI to determine viable ways to repurpose existing drugs to treat known diseases. Thank you to my erudite friend David for the recommendation.

Longevity Medicine

• If you would like a concise 13 minute glimpse of Dr. Peter Attia’s methods, what he calls Medicine 3.0, check out his appearance on 60 Minutes. Looks like he spent considerable time with correspondent Norah O’Donnell; she completes VO2Max testing and goes on a ruck.

• They talk about how Attia evaluates the health of the admittedly very wealthy people under his care. To maximize lifespan and healthspan, there is no secret medication or supplement. We all need to exercise, sleep / manage stress, eat real food, keep learning, and maintain relationships (Move, Rest, Nutrition, Wisdom, and Community).

Sweet snacks

• One of my son’s favorite meals is high protein yogurt topped with granola, honey, and frozen blueberries: amazing and filling. I have been grabbing a handful as a dessert instead of dark chocolate or low-carb cookies.

• We have tried a decent percentage of the massive wall of options at the grocery. Here are some of our favorites:

· Low-carb: Purely Elizabeth grain free and Magic Spoon protein granola

· Incredible, dangerous, irresistible taste: Purely Elizabeth Cookie Granola Chocolate Chip

· Best balance of taste, carbs, with high protein to make the granola a bit more filling: Kodiak Cakes Cookie Butter

Movement snacks

• I have posted about “workout snacks” before – short (<5 minute) movement sessions throughout your day at home or work. This post from Dan Go almost has too many options, with walking meetings, doorway chin-ups, coffee planks, toothbrush wall sits, and hallway bear crawls among them. A few of my favorites are not on his list:

· Kettlebell swings – Keep a kettlebell in your office at home or work and complete sets of 10 swings, numerous times per day.

· TV squats – Watch TV in the squat/plank/etc. position

· Foundation – Do this 12 minute video while watching TV or movies. Your spouse will totally not make fun of you

· Dead hangs – Several times a day, when you walk by your pull-up bar (these JayFlex handles are amazing), hang as long as you can. You will increase grip strength, and your shoulders will feel amazing.

· Planches – If you are already an accomplished planker, try planche variations. Extremely hard but you only need 20-30 seconds at a time. Feels like your bones are breaking, but in a good way.

· Walk – If you are not tied to your desk, I highly recommend you take as many brief walks as possible throughout the day. Especially important after meals. Bonus points if you grab a ruck or weighted vest on the way out.

The Phoenix Club

• Thank you to everyone who has grabbed a copy of The Phoenix Club. I have received generous feedback from a bunch of you. Please spend just a few minutes and leave a review on Amazon to help give the book some credibility.

• I am grateful to my good friend Mateo Bernal for encouraging me to self-publish on Amazon. Mateo published TWO books this year, in addition to his prior ones. Both are thorough and accessible books on medical topics (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and Alpha Gal Syndrome), intended for patients but very informative for anyone interested.

Quotes

¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

– 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

*Thank you, Atlas, for finding this and showing us!