Introduction

Establishing a Baseline

As a matter of fact, “everything” is already out there. All the answers and tools for addressing our most pressing issues – let it be our own personal health or the health of our planet (for our kids and future generations).
So I am not about to reinvent the wheel here. But what I’ve noticed over the (many) years is that most even do have the right mindset and are willing to make changes but just don’t know “how”. Not even in terms of knowledge but in terms of “How the hell can I incorporate and keep up a healthy lifestyle in this hectic, super-busy world, having a 10-hour-workday, a family, a dog, and a social life??!”
So that’s what I will be focusing on in this “Blog”. I am sure you will be aware of most of the mentioned “tricks” and “tips” but the “hacks” are going to be primarily about how to integrate these valuable “foods for thoughts” into your demanding life and cramped daily routines without much extra effort.

If Corona taught us one thing, then it’s about the importance of a strong, healthy immune system.
Of course, our media continues to drag every individual on the front page these days who has been hospitalized despite being “fit & healthy”. Fear sells. But we are talking “odds” here.

I have my own Covid-19 story, and maybe I got lucky. But maybe not. Which is why I made the effort to put down some extra thoughts in regard to “Corona & the bigger Health picture” in a separate article.
Still of course I got vaccinated. Modern medicine has got its place rightfully so in “special situations”.
“Measles” were the most common reason for child deaths until John Franklin Enders created a vaccination in the mid-50s, saving hundreds of millions of young lives since then.
But there is also a “but” – Modern medicine and pharmacology are great for “special situations” (like a global virus), and “emergencies” (like surgically removing an infected appendix, a very common cause of death in former times). No doubt about it. But unfortunately, it has become a “multi-trillion industry” over the last century too. And the concept of every “profitable business” is to keep and gain “customers” (unhealthy patients), not to lose them (cure them for good).
So not to get sucked into this “system” (of dependencies from modern medicine and pharma) for the rest of your life, there is a lot everyone can do on the “prevention” side.
You only have ONE body, ONE “health”. Take good care of it!

But I also often wonder why some people have no problem to invest huge amounts of money for fancy cars, tailor-made dresses or exquisite decorations of their houses, but are so reluctant to pay one dime extra for good quality food and sneer about additional supplements for enhancing the performance of their own “machine”.
Much has to do with “marketing” of course. The industry has spent trillions of advertising dollars for convincing us that “living a happy life” means having an expensive car, a nice house, lots of possessions, and not to forget “meat, dairy & sugar”.
I don’t want to dive into these manifold, clever “strategies” but I can guarantee you that as soon as you get severely ill, this “illusion” of a “happy life” is falling apart quickly. If you are under constant pain, even have to spend time in hospitals, hooked on multiple medications forever, additionally suffering from many of the side-effects etc., your priorities change instantly. Maybe you even wished that you had spent the 100.000 bucks for supporting a “healthy lifestyle” rather than on the latest Porsche in the past.
A Porsche is “replaceable”, your health is NOT.
But again, I don’t want to take anyone his luxury lifestyle away. Quite the opposite. Indulging in an abundant, meaningful lifestyle may actually be quite comforting for your inner peace.
I am talking about a balance in priorities. And your ONE health, your ONE body, your ONE soul should be at least of equal importance.
So next time you invest into a material lifestyle, please put aside the same amount for nurturing your health, body and soul.
And if you can’t do both, well, you know my opinion.

A “Healthy Lifestyle” is “expensive”, is another “explanation” I quite often learn as an “excuse”. No, it’s not! It’s a “numbers” game. The same “marketing machine” convinced us that we have to have at least six meals per day – There is breakfast of course, the most important meal of the day (is it?!). Then there is snack / “sandwich” time late morning which we’ve adapted since our early school days. Then lunch of course. A coffee/tea “snack” break in the afternoon. Eventually dinner with the family, and then some “Betthupferl”, bedtime sweets and deserts as a “Finisher”. And if you are a (semi) professional athlete you additionally have your pre- and post-workout meals/shakes.
Thus, loads of calories (and costs) stack up over 24hours.
I can’t remember the exact Buddhist quote but it’s something like – “Eat once a day and you are a Yogi. Eat twice a day and you are a Warrior. Eat thrice a day and you are a Rogi.” (Rogi means “Patient”)
Accordingly, today’s modern “intermittent fasting” is in fact an ancient tradition not only with the Buddhists.
But coming back to “costs” – if you cut out 4 out of 6 of your daily “meals”, you actually do “save” a lot of money, or you can use these “savings” for high quality, “healthier” foods.
And don’t worry, you will “survive” and even thrive with two meals a day – after the “marketing fog” has vanished and the “sugar cravings” are gone.
Yep, with every “meal” the blood-sugar rises (and with many foods today it even “spikes”). And when the sugar-levels decrease (plummet) the “brain” signals that it is time for the next treat NOW.
But there are many tricks to keep the blood sugar-levels in check, which will be part of many “Hacks” as well, so that your brain and body can sufficiently get along and function with just two meals.

Food, nutrition, pursuing a healthy lifestyle has been part of my life since my early career as a professional athlete and even though I did then later choose a career in the investment space I always stuck with it as a “passionate hobby”.

In the last couple of years the discussion topics with friends and family, colleagues and business partners increasingly shifted, as severe health issues, besides the Covid-19 situation, occurred dramatically around me – obesity, allergies, diabetes, heart-attacks, even cancer, depressions, burn-outs, loss of (life) energy and sex-drive, and so on.
According to official statistics more than 90% of all people (in the “Western hemisphere”) over 60 have some kind of chronic disease (or multiple). So please don’t bet all your chips on your “good genes” only for belonging to the “chosen 10%” later in your life.
As I haven’t seen a doctor for any major reasons in decades, I was getting increasingly asked many questions – What’s your secret? Why are you still so fit and energetic? How is it possible to enjoy a long hard working life in health and happiness?

The “problem” was / is there is no “one magic pill”. So I ranted off a couple of “quick fixes” easy to implement, depending on the current “suffering”. But six months later they forgot 9 out of 10 “hacks”, and asked again.
Eventually it was suggested that I should set up a “Blog” or something, and eventually I decided to set up regular posts (Sunday Hacks) concerning various “healthy lifestyle” tricks & topics many of the hard-working Go-Getters and Game-Changers are most likely concerned or at least curious about too.

The challenge for many is actually in their mind – Many are convinced that “living a healthy life” means, one has to sleep for 8 hours, meditate half a day, spend hours shopping and preparing the right food, go running, do Yoga and hit the gym daily, and so on, which no one has got the time for who has a “normal” job, so eventually they just don’t do nothing.
Until it starts “hurting”.
But trust me, it’s possible – having a 10-hours job, family, friends, hobbies etc., and still maintain a healthy lifestyle. It’s all about balance and “equal” priorities.

A “healthy lifestyle” is nothing but a journey successfully mastered not in one huge but in many little continuous accumulating steps.
There is a famous quote – Humans overestimate what they can do in a day, and underestimate what they can achieve in a year.
So the goal of this blog is to show you many tiny little tricks and hacks which you can implement in your busy lifestyle without having to “give up on anything and/or change your life completely”.
Quite the opposite. I always tell people to stick to whatever they are doing at the moment. And then just adding little simple tricks to their daily routines which don’t require any sacrifices or any changes in their current habits. Both, sacrifices as well as major changes, are sabotaged by the subconsciousness, viciously defending already established “survival” habits and comfort-zones. That’s why “New Year’s resolutions” seldom work.
Still, you will create momentum, and changes (for good) will happen gradually, checked and gracefully accepted by your subconsciousness.
It’s about “stacking” – one little tiny “thing” on top of the other. None on itself will make much of a difference (most often) but in combination it’s a different ball-game.

And this is not a “diet” blog either. There are so many good (and bad) “diet” guides out there. There is no need for another one.
“Diets” are also something very “individual” – women, man, genetics, regions, cultures etc., etc.. Meaning what works for me might/must not work for you and vice versa.
I thrive on a vegetarian, mostly vegan diet but who am I to judge “meat-eaters”. Both sides, vegans and carnivores, the High-Carbs or High-Fats, the Ketos or Fasters, the Calory-counters or Mediterraneans, etc., all have their arguments, backed by tons of “science”. I made my decision for myself and found my way. You do yours.
“Funny” sidenote: Even your zodiac sign does have an influence which foods are best suited to you personally.
Still there are many “things” which are “universal”, which work for everyone.

For example I am sure that we all can agree on is the importance of QUALITY, for every “diet”, no matter which “colour”. But that’s already a tough one because our modern food-system is pretty much “screwed up”. 98% of all products in a regular supermarket are loaded with sugar, chemical additives and/or trans-fats. And 99% of all “meat” is coming from these horrific industrial animal farms and is filled with all kind of “stuff” so one shouldn’t even label this “thing” as “real meat” no more.
Sidenote – also from a “nutritional value” standpoint there is a considerable difference whether you eat a piece of meat from a cow who was fed at pasture all her life or if this “meat” comes from a factory farm. Not every “meat” is alike. So most probably you are NOT a superior “Keto carnivore” if you buy your stuff at the supermarket. You are “something else”, well on your way to sickness.
Unfortunately this applies for most “vegetables” too. There is “less to nothing” (no vitamins, no minerals, nothing but “texturized water”) in the “supermarket greens” coming from these mega-horticulture farms today.
And sorry to say, all this affects the “food” in most restaurants too. One example – You pay a fortune for a tender, gras-finished steak and then this got roasted in some cheap vegetable oil which your body can’t process at all (even clogging your “system” for many years).
So finding “quality food” is a huge challenge on its own but it makes a major difference no matter for which “diet”.
Thus I rather focus here on the many (good) things for a healthy lifestyle independent of / in addition to your own “diet choices”, as there are many ways to equalize some of the “side-effects” of (unwanted) “bad diets” too.

This is also not a “Blog” for hardcore bio-hackers, professional bodybuilders, enlightened yoga-teachers or immortal Templar knights (Yep, there is even a dedicated Templar diet). This is meant to be an accumulation of “easy hacks” which everyone can apply without, as emphasized before, having to majorly turn your life upside down or choosing a new profession.

Finally, I am sure that you are already aware of some/most of these tricks. Maybe you remember that your grandma used to do “that” (eg. putting Apple Cider Vinegar on everything) but then you forgot about it. Now, with a bit of scientific background, you understand the “Why” and this blog offers you a “How to” as well, how to implement this conveniently into your busy everyday life (again).
I am also sure that most of you have already some own and different “secret weapons” to support a healthy lifestyle. Kudos to you and please stick with them!
The goal of the blog is to create progressively a “momentum”, as mentioned before, until it even becomes “fun” to explore your very own venues, how to live an “energetic” life in your own terms, with eventually your very own habits, recipes, products and activities.

And if you still need some “extra motivation” 🙂 please enjoy this inspiring TED Talk by at that time 93-year-old Charles Eugster:

When I first watched it I had tears of bliss in my eyes. Charles is definitely quite a trustworthy and energetic role model for how much fun it is to pursue a long life in health and happiness.

So let’s get started. Again – there is no “end-goal”, it’s a journey.

Peace & Plants – Andreas

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Quote of the Day

“He who says he can and he who says he can’t, are both usually right.”

Konfuzius

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Music of the Day