Category: Health

Why I stopped drinking alcohol

This thread reminded me that it is now 10 years since I stopped drinking alcohol. I haven’t had one drop since.

Sometimes people ask me: Why not just one glass? Why stop completely? Why not enjoy life?

The simple answer is: It simplified my life.

It’s easier to quit something 100% than 98%. It eliminates the decision. There is no internal debate ever again.

Other benefits include: I save money; I sleep better; no hangovers; I can drive anywhere without worrying about driving back; and potential health benefits of course.

Also, I completely removed one vector that could possibly ruin my life.

I just learned that a new industry of non-alcoholic social beverages is emerging. Examples are Kin and Three Spirit. Similar to plant-based meat.

In 10 years, I experienced no social awkwardness or negative reactions. I did experience that my non-drinking often unconsciously reduces the drinking of the people I hang out with. An effect I did not expect.

How did I do it? I went cold turkey. One day I got rid of all alcohol in the house, and never bought anything again. Done.

(Image by sfllaw)

Posted on by Remo Uherek

Power Nap with Binaural Beats

I enjoy taking occasional power naps after lunch or in the afternoon. I rarely fall asleep, but when I do, it really is refreshing.

One tool I discovered are Binaural Beats:

A binaural beat is an auditory illusion perceived when two different pure-tone sine waves, both with frequencies lower than 1500 Hz, with less than a 40 Hz difference between them, are presented to a listener dichotically (one through each ear).

For example, if a 530 Hz pure tone is presented to a subject’s right ear, while a 520 Hz pure tone is presented to the subject’s left ear, the listener will perceive the auditory illusion of a third tone, in addition to the two pure-tones presented to each ear. The third sound is called a binaural beat.

Wikipedia

I am using this free 30 minute “Earth Peace” track (via Aubrey Marcus). This track helps me relax and increases my chance of falling asleep.

Keep in mind that you need to set an alarm (for example for 15 or 30 minutes). Or else you might find yourself sleeping for 2 hours, disrupting your day and sleep schedule.


Posted on by Remo Uherek

This too shall pass

Life is a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs. It sometimes is a struggle to keep a balance, to not get carried away by the extremes.

I have found the following mantra useful:

“This too shall pass.”

It’s a reminder that, given time, most things revert to the mean.

Feeling bad? Having an illness? Stock market crashed? This too shall pass.

Feeling overly euphoric? Too excited? Too good to be true? This too shall pass.

It’s a wonderful tool to keep a more balanced life.


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Improve Your Sleep with Noise Cancelling Headphones

I have been using my Bose QuietComfort 20 for several years. I use them on planes, on trains, in co-working spaces, and even to help me sleep.

I discovered that they are actually quite comfortable to sleep with.

I don’t use them often to sleep. When needed, they worked very well. Noisy neighbors, having to sleep during daytime, or having jet lag. All great use cases.

Here’s today’s idea: Consider sleeping with noise cancelling headphones. (Or consider buying a pair, if you don’t have any yet.)


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Screen Time Management: How to Enable Downtime in iPhone Settings

A friend recently suggested to use the “Downtime” feature in the iPhone’s Screen Time settings.

When enabled, all your apps are blocked, except for the ones on your “Always Allowed” list.

How to enable “Downtime”:
1. Go to Settings
2. Go to Screen Time
3. Go to Downtime
4. Enable Downtime and customize settings
5. Go back to Screen Time
6. Go to Always Allowed and choose apps you want at all times

My personal downtime is from 20:45 to 06:00. From then on I only allow Audible, Podcasts, Calendar, and some other utilities. Everything else is blocked.

My expectations weren’t very high, and I was positively surprised. I really like this feature. Especially that all notifications and badges are hidden.

Also, in “emergencies”, it’s very easy to allow an additional 15 minutes for a particular app. I like the “opt in” aspect of it. There is a hurdle, but you can get your thing done if you really need to.

[Thank you for this suggestion, Denis Nordmann]


Posted on by Remo Uherek

My Notes from TEDxBasel 2019

I enjoyed the recent TEDxBasel 2019. Here are my notes:

Choose your priorities
Make health and happiness your main priority. Who would enjoy success or wealth without being healthy or happy?

Tips from a Michelin-starred chef
Use a cooking apron. It will transform your mindset and you’ll feel like a chef. Try cooking with tea. Use lots of nuts. Always use salt, even for sweet dishes.

The benefits of walking
Martin Vosseler is a physician and walked more than 40’000 km in his life, and he continues to walk 3000 km per year. Some of the benefits he experienced: it keeps you healthy; you connect with Earth and the Universe; you meet a lot of people; you experience a lot of love and generosity; it’s a very sustainable and earth-compatible mode of travel. It reminds me of my Just Walk habit I started a few years ago.


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Why I created a Facebook page

Inspired by Rolf Dobelli’s book, I stopped using Facebook six months ago. Mainly because I was addicted, and also because the constant social comparisons and the instant gratification treadmill became toxic for me. (I’m still using Messenger/WhatsApp for one-one-one contact.)

The downside of leaving Facebook was that I lost a distribution channel for my content, and the people who were following me on FB suddenly stopped seeing my updates.

Reading Crush It! and Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk convinced me that this was not wise if I wanted to maximize my impact, which I want.

So recently I changed my Facebook strategy and created a personal FB page.

Why a FB page?

#1: More reach: 1.52 billion people use FB daily. I want a slice of that.

#2: Compatible with social media software: I am using Crowdfire (they have a completely free plan, by the way) to manage my social media channels. You can only use such software with FB pages, not with personal profiles. This allows me to manage the page without having to actually log in to FB (which is what I don’t want).

#3: I can outsource my social media management: You can give third parties access to manage pages. So eventually I can completely outsource this channel.

#4: More options to customize: I can customize a page much better than a personal profile.

#5: Reply to private messages by email: I receive an email whenever somebody writes a message trough my page. I can answer by email, without having to log in.

#6: You can boost individual posts with ads. I’m not intending to do this, but it might be a good way to promote your business.

Final note on my private use of Facebook
I’m feeling a clear pressure to log back into FB occasionally. Some of my friends publish exclusively there (e.g. in private groups for travel notes), so each month or so I log in to check the updates of those selected people.

Also, less than 24 hours since creating my page, I received the first message from an acquaintance who missed my updates (and I his). I now make an effort to occasionally reach out to those people one-to-one. Since leaving FB, I ramped up my calls/lunches/dinners/coffees, which is socially much more rewarding anyways.

Follow me on Facebook.


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Checklist: 6 Common Push-Up Mistakes

Recently I stumbled upon this video that made me rethink and improve my push-up game.

Here’s the checklist:

Mistake #1: Not applying Full Range of Motion
Solution: Get all the way down (chest touches the floor), and all the way up. Don’t just do half push-ups like most people. Do full ones!

Mistake #2: Flaring your elbows out too wide
Solution: Tuck your elbows in as close to the body as possible.

Mistake #3: Not keeping a straight spine
Solution: Keep a proper and firm plank position.

Mistake #4: Going too fast
Solution: Go slow and do each repetition properly.

Mistake #5: Not breathing properly
Solution: Breathe in through your nose as you go down. As you go up, breathe out in a steady stream through your mouth.

Mistake #6: Not progressing with the movement
Solution: When you can’t do full push-ups yet, do them on your knees, but still applying all things above (especially, keeping a straight posture). When regular push-ups stop being hard, you can do weighted ones (e.g. putting a weight plate on your back) or plyo pushups (e.g. clapping your hands in between reps) or one-handed ones.

Watch the full demonstration video here.


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Your chair is your enemy

Prolonged sitting increases the risk of multiple health conditions. Sitting is so normal for us that we seldom question it. I know I don’t.

I believe it’s useful to increase awareness and help battle our cultural sitting obsession. Here are some ideas:

Read while standing
I’ve recently started to read in a standing position. And I quite like it. I just put the book (or iPad) on a cleared shelf and read. Why haven’t I thought of this sooner?

Move every hour
Research has shown that moving 2–3 minutes at regular intervals lessens the harmful effects of inactivity. My Oura Ring sends me a push notification each hour if I don’t move. I receive many of those notifications! (Which has increased my awareness of this problem.)

Get a standing or treadmill desk
You can get a standing or even a treadmill desk. I’ve never used one, but I’d love to try it.

Take a walk with an audiobook
This is one of my favorite activities. You are outside, you move, and you learn.

Do a 7 minute workout in the morning
Most of us don’t move enough. There is no excuse for not doing a 4 min Tabata or 7 minute workout in the morning. You can do it anywhere, even in your underwear…

Earn your play time
Love to play an occasional game or surf social media? Then earn it! Do a set of squats, pushups or burpees before you are allowed to indulge. Recently, I got addicted to a new game, and after each 5-10 min round I did a set. “Getting fit by gaming”, it’s a whole new mindset. It felt pretty awesome.

Have other ideas? Let me know on Twitter.


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Japanese Water Therapy

I started applying the Japanese Water Therapy. It suggests to drink about 1 liter of water right after waking up.

It makes intuitive sense to me.

The human body needs about 2-4 liters of water per day. As a heuristic, you can say it needs 100 ml per hour. So if you sleep for 8 hours, you might need 0.8 liters.

It also makes sense that it helps with flushing out toxins, and potentially preventing headaches.

I’ve been drinking 100-300 ml of water after waking up anyways, and now I’ve upped it to 1 liter.

Further reading:
[1] http://thegreencreator.com/japanese-water-therapy/
[2] https://alkaway.com/blog/drinking-water-wake-japanese-tradition/
[3] https://www.aox.com.sg/blog/wellness/ayurveda-way-japanese-water-therapy/

[Thank you Anuj Didwania for the inspiration.]




Posted on by Remo Uherek