Strong convictions loosely held

Marin, CA — On a hike with my wife, Feb 2025.

The Reframe

You are not your stats, and your worth isn’t determined by calories or the scale.
You’re beautiful inside and out — already enough.
If this framework doesn’t fit, take what serves you and leave the rest. No judgement.
Your journey is your own, and the best progress is the one you can sustain with self-respect.

When you feed consistently, sleep enough, and move daily, your biology stops hoarding energy for famine.
You stop swinging between extremes and start compounding progress quietly.

I usually end with this, but it’s worth bringing to the top this time.

…you are loved

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TL;DR
Start with a ~500 kcal/day deficit, adequate protein, and consistent resistance + aerobic work.
Anything more extreme may look faster, but it’s usually a short-term trade-off against long-term performance and metabolic health.

The Physics

Losing fat is first a matter of math—and then behavior.
If you want reliable progress, your system has to be precise and repeatable.

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Energy Deficit

• A daily deficit of roughly 500 kcal is a well-supported starting point.
  It produces about 0.5–1 % body-weight loss per week (≈ 1 lb per week for many).
  (WebMD)
• Clinical guidelines extend the safe range to 500–750 kcal/day under professional supervision.
  (PMC8017325)
• Larger deficits accelerate loss but raise risks: lean-mass loss, hormonal disruption, and rebound.

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Rate & Adjustment

• Target: 0.5–1.0 % body-weight loss per week.
  • Faster → higher fatigue and muscle loss risk.
  • Slower → easier to maintain lean mass and consistency.
• Re-evaluate maintenance every 10–15 lb lost or after 2–3 weeks plateau.
• Insert maintenance phases (2–4 weeks at maintenance calories) to restore hormones, metabolic rate, and mental freshness.

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Training Integration

• Resistance training 2–3×/week protects muscle and preserves metabolic rate.
• Aerobic work (Zone 2 / 150 min+ per week) improves fat oxidation and recovery.
• Exercise quality matters more than duration; you can’t out-train inconsistency or sleep debt.

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Macronutrients

Nutrient	Target	Why It Matters
Protein	1.6–2.2 g/kg body weight (≈ 0.7–1.0 g/lb)	Preserves lean mass, improves satiety, raises thermic effect of food. (PMC8017325)
Fat	20–35 % of total calories	Supports hormones, cell membranes, and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. (Dietary Guidelines 2020–2025)
Carbs	Remaining calories	Fuels training and recovery; flexible based on activity level and preference.

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Fiber, Hydration & Electrolytes

• Fiber: ≥ 30–40 g/day → stabilizes glucose, supports gut health, increases satiety.
• Hydration: ≈ 35 mL/kg body weight baseline (~2.5 L for most adults).
  Add 0.5–1 L/hour of exercise in heat.
• Sodium: Replace 500–1,000 mg sodium per liter of sweat in long or hot sessions.
  (Sweat sodium varies from < 200 mg to > 2,000 mg/L across individuals.)

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Banff, Alberta,Canada — Hike with the family in Summer 2025.

“Breathe consciously and you improve the deepest systems that normally run on autopilot.”

Why

Wim calls it getting high on your own supply, expect euphoria.

Processing the suicide of his wife and the weight of raising four young children alone, Wim Hof turned inward. He drew on Tummo (Tibetan inner-heat meditation) and Pranayama breathing, pairing them with ice baths (never concurrently) in the frozen canals of the Netherlands.

He found stillness.

In 2014, science caught up. A controlled study injected a trained group with endotoxin (E. coli) and confirmed his anecdotes:

• Reduced inflammatory markers (IL-6, TNF-α)
• Higher epinephrine (adrenaline)
• Fewer flu-like symptoms

Everyone’s experience is different, but for me nearly every session brings something — a flash of clarity about what I’m wrestling with. The insight feels so pure, so precise, it still surprises me.

Modern life keeps the nervous system half-pressed on the gas—constant notifications, low-grade anxiety, caffeine before stillness.
Wim Hof breathing flips that script by moving energy.

Each breath cycle deliberately introduces stress, then trains recovery.
The deep, rhythmic inhales flood the body with oxygen and trigger mild hyperventilation—a controlled sympathetic surge (your “fight or flight” gear). Heart rate and body temp rises, adrenaline spikes, pH shifts.

Then comes the hold: you exhale, pause, and the system pivots. CO₂ builds, the parasympathetic network (your “rest and repair” gear) re-engages, and the body resets.

Round after round, you’re rehearsing one of the most valuable physiological skills:

Move from stress to calm on command.

It’s interval training for your nervous system—stress, release, stress, release—until recovery becomes reflex.

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What

The videos below will talk you through like this:

1. Get still. Sit or lie down somewhere safe. Never near water or while driving. I like laying in the sauna with a pad under my seat and head.
2. Breathe in deeply through the nose (preferably) or mouth. Exhale by relaxing, not pushing (important).
   • 30–40 breaths, like waves: (very) full inhale deep in the belly and then a final thrust into the chest, relaxed partial (80%) exhale.
3. After the last exhale, hold for 1 min / build to 3 mins with experience.
   • Stay calm. Notice stillness. Open yourself to a higher frequency. You might feel warmth, tingling, lightness. If a thought or worry comes, thank it and let it drift away.
   • Hold until your body naturally wants to breathe. Okay to take a small (10%) to extend duration if needed. You might feel bliss or your body panicking, that’s okay. It’s important to increase gradually, not forcefully.
4. Inhale fully and hold again for 15–30 seconds.
   • Squeeze the belly, then the neck, then the head, draining lymph nodes and moving energy.
   • Feel the calm pressure return, then release.
5. Repeat 3–4 rounds. Increase the hold time by 15-30 seconds each round.

Finish still for a few minutes. Your body will hum—relaxed but alert.

Write down the insights that have come, they’re a gift that you’ve earned.

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The Point

This isn’t about oxygen hacks or biohacking theater.
It’s about agency—reclaiming control of your internal state.
Every breath cycle is a micro-lesson: stress is fine if you also practice recovery.

Do it daily. Three rounds take ten minutes. Over time you’ll notice:

• Quicker calm after chaos.
• Lower baseline anxiety.
• A clearer divide between effort and rest.

It’s not meditation, it’s not cardio—it’s a bridge between them.
Training the breath is training the system that runs everything else.

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Guided videos

New to Wim try this

Advanced try this

Tutorial here

“All the love. All the power.” - Wim Hof

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Disclaimer: This post is for educational purposes only. Consult your physician before beginning any breath-holding or hyperventilation practice, especially if you have cardiovascular or respiratory conditions.

• Don’t take the method and techniques too lightly, they go deep and the effects can have a huge impact.
• Always practice in a safe environment. Don’t do the breathing exercises in a swimming pool, before going underwater, beneath the shower or piloting any vehicle, without proper supervision.
• Keep in mind to do the exercises without forcing them, gradually build up, and don’t exceed your limits.
• Note that tinnitus symptoms may appear as a result of pushing too forcefully during the breathing exercise. If this happens, take a step back in your future practice, it’s important to increase gradually, not forcefully.

…you are loved

Ojai, CA — Summit of a 15 mile run visiting a friend from NYC.

“You can’t make good decisions with bad chemistry.”

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The Energy Problem

Most people think they’re tired because they work too much.
They’re tired because their energy system is broken.

We chase caffeine instead of consistency, restriction instead of rhythm, and wonder why our focus, mood, and recovery flatline.

Energy isn’t about calories in, calories out.
It’s about inputs and information — what your body learns from what you feed it.
Food is fuel and data.

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Protein: The Foundation

Protein isn’t just for muscle — it’s the scaffolding of life.
Every enzyme, neurotransmitter, and hormone starts there.

• Target: 1 gram per pound of body weight per day
• Frequency: 3–4 meals per day
• Threshold: 20–25g per meal minimum to trigger muscle protein synthesis

As you age, that threshold rises; the signal gets weaker, so the dose must increase.
Older adults need 30–40g per meal or supplemental leucine to keep the anabolic lights on.

If you don’t get enough, you’ll cannibalize your own tissue to survive - e.g. you work arms and your body has to steal protein from legs.

Muscle is hard to build and easy to lose — like trust, or focus.

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Fiber and Gut Health: The Forgotten Organ

Your gut is more than digestion — it’s an ecosystem that runs on soluble, fermentable fiber.
It shapes your mood, immunity, and metabolic flexibility.

• Target: 40g of fiber per day, emphasizing soluble sources
• Sources: fruits, vegetables, chia, legumes, whole oats, chia, flax
• Important: fermented foods 4 servings per day (if it’s shelf stable the good stuff is dead)

Ninety percent of serotonin (the happy love juice) is made in the gut.
When your microbiome is balanced, your brain is calmer.
When it’s not, anxiety, inflammation, and fatigue spike.

The gut doesn’t just digest your food — it digests your stress.

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Blood Sugar: The Stability Signal

Spikes and crashes in glucose mirror spikes and crashes in emotion.
Steady blood sugar = steady mind.

• Rule: Protein + fiber first, carbs last
• Move: 30-minute walk after meals lowers glucose area under the curve by ~30%; pair with protein and fiber sugar spikes decline >50%
• Hack: Reverse osmosis water + electrolytes = smoother energy, cleaner recovery

The flatter your glucose curve, the flatter your emotional volatility.

This is why metabolic health is so important for mental health.

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Fats: The Hormonal Regulator

Stop demonizing fat. The right kinds are fuel and signal.

• Prioritize: Olive oil, avocado, nuts, fatty fish
• Avoid: Seed oils, trans fats, hyper-processed junk
• Goal: 20-35% of calories from unsaturated fats, limit saturated to <10%

Your hormones, brain, and cell membranes depend on them.
Cut fat too low for too long and your mood, sleep, and sex hormones crash.

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The Natural GLP-1 Stack

Forget the pharma shortcut. Your body already makes GLP-1 — the same satiety hormone behind drugs like Ozempic. You just have to feed the mechanism:

• Protein 20g+ before meals
• Olive oil and nuts for unsaturated fats
• Fermented foods + fiber for gut signaling
• Green-leafy thylakoids (spinach, kale) to delay fat digestion

Small shifts, massive leverage.

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Hydration: The Hidden Variable

Most people walk around 1–2% dehydrated — enough to drop endurance and cognitive performance by double digits.

• Baseline guideline: 35ml per kg of body weight (~2.5L daily), water from food counts
• Add: 0.5–1 L per hour of Zone 2 training in heat (refine here, based on individual sweat rates and conditions)
• Replace: 500–1,000mg sodium per 1L (learn more here, individuals may lose <200 to >2,000 mg per liter)