Optimisation involved collecting lots of data: Absolute Rest sleep testing (above); blood tests every few months (centre) and VO2 max testing (right) After two years, Jones was fitter and healthier – and more relaxed – than ever
until you reach your targets. An easy way to do that: any time you can, make a choice that’s slightly better than you might have otherwise. Having a burger? Put a tomato slice on it. Already do that? Have two slices. When improving nutrition, we’ve been taught to subtract; figure out how to add instead.
Tracking all of my moves helped us keep tabs on which were working and which had less impact.
PRINCIPLE #3 Track what you want to improve
For two years, I’ve tracked just about every health, nutrition and fitness metric imaginable. I’ve recorded my daily calories, protein, carbs and fat with an app called Cronometer; workout intensity using a Polar heart-rate sensor; activity levels and sleep patterns with an Oura ring; blood sugar with a NutriSense continuous glucose monitor; and body weight, fat percentage and circumference with FitIndex. The team at Absolute Rest provided tools for assessing sleep quality and InsideTracker helped me monitor my blood biomarkers.
Here’s what I learned: tracking is invaluable for showing you what’s actually happening versus what you think is happening. And that awareness? It can be a game changer.
Breakthrough strategy: pick your spots.
You don’t need to track everything at once or even track long-term. But if you aren’t getting the results you want, use tracking for a couple of weeks to fact-check your assumptions. Not losing fat?
Track your food intake and activity levels. Have constant cravings? Track your sleep length or quality.
PRINCIPLE #4 Prioritise sleep like your results depend on it
I thought I was sleeping well, but my test results showed I had a borderline sleep disorder – with several waking events per night. That was likely causing me ‘invisible’ problems. ‘Poor sleep quality can have a negative impact on your mood, physical performance, cognitive capacity, stress levels, appetite, immune function, sex drive – you name it,’ says Dr Galpin. ‘It makes everything harder.’ Some evidence suggests that sleep disturbances can adversely affect cholesterol. Plus, good sleep sets the stage for making other changes that contribute to healthy cholesterol.
Dr Galpin says the first order of business is to set a regular bedtime – one that allows for a consistent minimum of seven hours of sleep. ‘Consistency of your sleep schedule is even more important than getting eight hours,’ he says. ‘It resets your circadian rhythm and hormonal responses, which leads to fewer awakenings and makes the sleep you do get far more restful.’
Breakthrough strategy: build your awareness. If you have an Oura ring, Apple Watch, Whoop or other way to measure your sleep duration and consistency, keep track of a behaviour that affects sleep – such as alcohol intake, device use before bed, caffeine intake or the time you go to bed – and see what your sleep data tells you the next morning. It’s easy to do, but the results can be enlightening.
For example, before tracking, I’d have told you that one glass of wine had zero effect on my shut-eye. My sleep data tells a different story. When I have a drink, my resting heart rate is higher, my heart rate variability (a measure of recovery and stress resilience) is lower and
I get less restorative deep sleep. While I still occasionally have wine, I now understand what the trade-off for that drink is. Is it worth it? More often than not, my answer is no.
‘Consistency of your sleep schedule is even more important than getting eight hours’
PRINCIPLE #5 Stress management is the X factor
Without practising stress management, I’m confident my LDL cholesterol would still be through the roof. Research shows stress increases appetite, affects sleep, saps motivation to exercise and impairs decision-making ability.
And my stress level? It might’ve trumped my LDL. During the past few years, I’ve had to navigate my company through the economic impact of Covid, I’ve struggled with personal relationships, I’ve lost some friends and, tragically, my 39-year-old sister died in a car accident.
But we all have a lot of stress. And if you don’t work to manage it, staying the course with your health, nutrition and fitness can feel impossible. When people ask me how I’ve been so consistent,
I tell them stress management is the number-one reason.
Breakthrough strategy: think on a continuum. Life will never go perfectly. You’ll get sick. You’ll have a work disaster. You’ll forget your lunch. For many people, these situations trigger a perfectionist, ‘all or nothing’ mindset, often resulting in nothing.
(‘I can’t work out for 45 minutes, so
I’ll skip the whole thing.’) That leads to self-criticism – which increases mental distress. Don’t succumb to the perfectionist’s dilemma. Instead, always choose to do ‘something’, no matter how small. With practice, you become more adaptable and resilient, both of which reduce feelings of stress.