Optimize Your Life Series: Health

This is the second post in the “Optimize Your Life” series. After exploring how to optimize your time, we turn to the foundation that makes all optimization possible: your health.

This Isn’t Medical Advice

Let’s be clear upfront: this isn’t medical advice. These are general observations and strategies that have proven valuable. Your health is unique to you, and you should always consult healthcare professionals for medical decisions.

The American Health Paradox

Americans are generally not healthy. Despite spending more on healthcare than any other nation, we have worse health outcomes than most developed countries. If you want to be healthy, do the opposite of what the average American does.

The average American:

  • Eats processed foods and fast food regularly
  • Doesn’t count calories and consistently overeats
  • Lives a sedentary lifestyle with minimal physical activity
  • Treats symptoms rather than addressing root causes
  • Takes supplements based on marketing rather than actual deficiencies

Build Healthy Habits, Break Unhealthy Ones

Your health is the sum of your daily habits. The key is being intentional about what becomes automatic in your life.

Define “Healthy” for You

Health isn’t one-size-fits-all. What’s healthy for you depends on your genetics, lifestyle, goals, and current state. But some principles are universal:

Make these habits:

  • Daily movement (walking, biking, strength training)
  • Preparing and cooking your own meals
  • Getting adequate sleep on a consistent schedule
  • Managing stress through meditation, hobbies, or nature
  • Regular medical checkups and preventive care

Don’t make these habits:

  • Daily alcohol consumption
  • Mindless snacking throughout the day
  • Eating out or ordering takeout as your default
  • Staying sedentary for extended periods
  • Ignoring your body’s signals

The Calorie Reality

Most people who don’t count calories are eating more than they think. This slow, consistent overage leads to gradual weight gain over years.

Know Your Numbers

  • Learn your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and total daily energy expenditure (TDEE)
  • Track your food intake for at least a few weeks to understand your patterns
  • Aim to eat slightly below your maintenance calories if weight loss is a goal
  • Focus on nutrient-dense foods that keep you satisfied

Make Snacking Harder

Don’t keep easy-to-grab processed foods readily available. If you have to prepare food, you’re more likely to make intentional choices rather than impulse decisions.

Food as a Practice, Not Convenience

Transform eating from a thoughtless activity into an intentional practice.

Meal Planning and Preparation

  • Plan your meals for the week before grocery shopping
  • Batch cook proteins, grains, and vegetables on weekends
  • Learn to cook with spices and herbs to make healthy food interesting
  • Treat cooking as a skill worth developing, not a chore to avoid

The Fast Food Trap

Fast food isn’t just unhealthy - it’s expensive when you consider the true cost. The time “saved” by not cooking is often offset by:

  • Driving to restaurants and waiting in lines
  • Higher financial costs over time
  • Health consequences that require time and money to address later
  • Missing the satisfaction and skill-building of cooking

Get Professional Guidance

See a Doctor, Preferably an Endocrinologist

Many health issues stem from hormonal imbalances that can be identified and addressed. An endocrinologist specializes in hormones and metabolism - areas crucial to overall health.

Blood Work Tells the Truth

Regular blood work reveals deficiencies and imbalances you can’t feel yet. Common issues that show up in blood work:

  • Vitamin D deficiency (extremely common)
  • B12 deficiency
  • Iron deficiency or overload
  • Thyroid issues
  • Insulin resistance markers

Don’t guess about supplements - let your blood work guide your decisions.

The Supplement Trap

Americans spend billions on supplements, most of which end up as expensive urine. The supplement industry is largely unregulated, and most people take supplements based on YouTube videos rather than actual need.

A Better Approach

  1. Get blood work to identify actual deficiencies
  2. Focus on getting nutrients from whole foods first
  3. Only supplement what you’re actually deficient in
  4. Work with a healthcare provider who can interpret your results

Movement as Medicine

You don’t need a gym membership to be healthy. The human body is designed to move, and consistent movement is one of the most powerful health interventions available.

Start Where You Are

  • Walking is one of the best exercises - it’s free, accessible, and has minimal injury risk
  • Biking for transportation kills two birds with one stone
  • Strength training twice a week prevents muscle loss as you age
  • Find activities you enjoy so movement doesn’t feel like punishment

Health as the Foundation

Every other optimization in your life depends on your health. You can’t optimize your time, relationships, or career if you’re dealing with preventable health issues.

Poor health creates a cascade of problems:

  • Reduced energy and cognitive function
  • Increased medical expenses and time spent managing symptoms
  • Shortened lifespan and reduced quality of life
  • Inability to pursue goals and experiences

Your Health Action Plan

  1. Define healthy and unhealthy for your situation - be specific about what you want to build and break
  2. Schedule a comprehensive physical with blood work - get your baseline data
  3. Track your food intake for two weeks to understand your current patterns
  4. Plan and prepare one meal per day instead of buying it ready-made
  5. Add 30 minutes of walking to your daily routine
  6. Address any deficiencies identified in your blood work with professional guidance

The Long Game

Health optimization is about playing the long game. Small, consistent actions compound over years into dramatically different outcomes. The habits you build today determine your quality of life in decades to come.

Remember: you can’t out-supplement a poor diet, you can’t out-exercise poor sleep, and you can’t out-optimize poor health. Start with the basics, be consistent, and let the compound effects work in your favor.