A Daily Health Blueprint

 

In the morning, the goal is to wake your body up and activate certain mechanisms to improve your mood, focus, attention, immune system, and more.

 

Creatine

It improves mood, cognitive function, muscle hypertrophy, and it gives a 12-20% power increase. In addition, it reduces headaches, fatigue, and symptoms of depression. The general recommendation is about 5 mg of creatine monohydrate daily. ^{1 2 3 4}

 

Morning sunlight

Exposure to morning sunlight wakes up your body and sets you up for a great night of sleep. Therefore, get 5-30 minutes of sunlight exposure, depending on cloud cover, by looking towards the sun. However, never stare directly at the sun to the point it hurts your eyes. ^{1 2}

 

Benefits

ü  Improved sleep quality, and the ability to fall asleep faster later that night.

ü  Improved mood, energy, alertness, focus, and metabolism.

ü  Improved mental health, skin health, and immune system.

ü  Improved hormone levels, fertility, libido, and longevity.

ü  Reduced levels of stress and anxiety.

 

Cyclic Hyperventilation

It’s a pattern that consists of deep inhales through your nose, immediately followed by a deep exhale through your mouth. After you’ve repeated this for 25 to 30 times, fully exhale until your lungs are empty, now hold your breath for 15 to 60 seconds | Repeat this pattern for 2-5 minutes.

This will increase your body temperature, providing a wake-up signal for your body. It will also greatly increase alertness, focus, and your immune system. ^{1 2 3}

 

Exercise

This will increase your body temperature, providing a wake-up signal for your body. This can be as simple as doing push-ups or actually engaging in a full workout session. ^{1 2}

 

Benefits cardio

ü  Improved energy, focus, attention, memory, and reaction time.

ü  Improved fertility, immune system, brain health, and sleep.

ü  Improved blood circulation, insulin sensitivity, and metabolism.

ü  Decreased levels of anxiety, depression, and hostility.

 

Benefits weight training

ü  Improved posture, explosiveness, and strength.

ü  Improved insulin sensitivity, immune system, and sleep.

ü  Decreased risk of injuries and stroke.

 

 

Light 

Try to get as much sunlight in your eyes as possible throughout the day. You can do this by going outside or working next to a window.

Benefits

ü  Improved sleep quality and the ability to fall asleep faster at night.

ü  Improved hormone regulation (libido, testosterone, etc.)

ü  Improved immune system, fertility, and mood.

ü  Enhanced perceived attractiveness of females by males.

 

NSDR, nap, or meditation

NSDR = Listening to an NSDR protocol for 10 to 30 minutes can induce deep relaxation, which improves mood and reduces stress. ^{1 2 3}

Nap = Napping for 10 to 20 minutes has been shown to improve cardiovascular health, blood pressure, cortisol levels, learning, memory, emotional regulation, productivity, and alertness. Avoid napping 4 hours before bedtime. ^{1 2 3 4}

Meditation = Meditation for about 13 minutes has been shown to improve mood, stress tolerance, sleep, focus, and memory. Meditate by focusing your attention an inch inside your forehead and on your breathing. ^{1 2 3}

 

Breathe through your nose

Except when eating, training, or performing other high-intensity activities, it’s very important to breathe through your nose. This will greatly improve hormone regulation, immune function, and facial aesthetics. ^{1 2 3 4}

 

 

Dinner

When your body is digesting food, it’s hard to fall asleep, sleep quality diminishes, and some health issues may arise. Therefore, try to eat as early as possible, in smaller portions, and avoid any calories within 2 to 3 hours before bedtime. ^{1 2}

 

Schedule

Study = Creating a schedule can greatly boost your productivity the next day and can help you fall asleep faster, as you don’t need to spend the night overthinking about tomorrow’s tasks.

Specify the tasks =  “Read 10 pages out of [book] at x time.”

Different sections = Organize your schedule into morning, afternoon, and evening sections. Consider how much time you have available, the most important tasks you need to accomplish, and any smaller tasks to fill gaps in your schedule. 

Finished tasks = Cross off each finished task and add a ✔ next to it. This clearly shows what is done and motivates you to do more.

 

Dim the lights

In the evening, it takes very few light to wake up your brain and body, disrupting your circadian rhythm and sleep. Bright artificial lights will also deplete all your melatonin levels and disrupt your dopamine system. That will reduce the quality of your sleep, your ability to fall asleep, and it gives you feelings of depression, especially between 10pm and 4am. You can offset some of the negative effects of light in the evening by viewing the sun around sunset.

While it’s better to avoid any lights in the evening, for most people this isn’t doable. Therefore, just try to avoid bright lights in the 1 or 2 hours before bedtime and place the lamps you need on the desk or low on the floor. Ideally, this light is red or orange, because along with moonlight and fire, such as candlelight, those lights won’t disrupt your sleep. When you still need to use screens, dim the light and turn on the blue light filter. ^{1 2 3 4}

 

Self reflection

Create a list of (little) things that you could have done better today and think of better ways to handle the situation next time. You can do this every evening or pick a specific moment during the week. 

 

Winddown routine

Avoid engaging in stimulating activities within 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime to fall asleep more easily and increase the quality of your sleep. Therefore, read a book, stretch, listen to calming music, meditate, or do some breathing exercises.

 

Sleep

For the best possible sleep, read the Total Sleep Protocol. For now, here are the top things you can do to improve your sleep right away.

·         Don’t drink any alcohol and avoid caffeine within 10 to 12 hours before bedtime.

·         Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, including weekends.

·         Try to get at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night.

·         Cool your bedroom down, ideally to 15-19°C.

·         Make your room as dark as possible.

 

 

Fluids = Consume an average of 8 ounces of fluids within the first 10 hours after waking.

 Sodium = Consume 4.5 to 5 grams of sodium every day. ^{1 2}

 Red-light therapy = Red- and near-infrared light has been shown to improve eyesight for individuals aged between 40 and 72 years. ^{1 2} It can also penetrate through the skin, improving skin lesions,
pigmentations, scars from acne, and acne lesions themselves. ^{1 2 3 4} 

The best ways to learn = 

1.       Periodically test yourself on new material—just one self-test can boost performance by 50%! Read it once, then keep testing yourself and reviewing the answers. ^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7} 

2.       Ways to test yourself 1) teach what you've learned to others. 2) write in simple words an explanation about the concept. 3) Simply rehearse what you've learned. 

3.       While learning, take frequent 5-30 second breaks. During this time, your brain processes information about 20 times faster. ^{1 2 3}

 

As promised, a health blueprint.

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