In this piece I detail what I did, and exactly what the blood marker results were. Tracking is so important. Whenever I try something new, I want to understand its effect on my health using the InsideTracker platform. I want to know how what I am doing is actually affecting my body. InsideTracker is the reliable dashboard that I use regularly to track changes in my health. This is how I accurately dial in my diet and exercise program. If I am not testing, especially if I am trying something new, I won’t be able to gauge its effect, which is a bit like driving a car without a dashboard.
My InnerAge 2.0 on the InsideTracker platform is now 55.2, versus my actual age of 63.3. Last month a reader sent me a program by Bryan Johnson called Blueprint, which intrigued me as the impact on this guy’s health was astonishing. The program consists of 3 main features: a vegan diet, a workout routine like a gladiator, and fistfuls of supplements. I was not able to maintain the full vegan diet, which my body just could not handle. I gave it a go for 2 weeks, and now use a modified version of his diet — further evidence that we are all unique, and our nutrition needs to be personalized.
Below are my test results, which I am very happy with. A couple of the hemoglobin and iron biomarkers are well out of range, and the app recommended I check with my doctor, which I did. He reminded me that, unlike most people, I don’t have a spleen, so having these be consistently off with these few markers would make sense.
The platform not only gives me an easy-to-understand dashboard of my inner health, it also explains my biomarkers, what different ranges may impact, and then what sort of behavior and diet changes I can make to optimize them. These explanations help me be proactive with my health, take responsibility for where I am at, and make simple food-based or behavior-based changes. We only get one body and one life, and I would like to make the best of it.
For instance, my cortisol levels are a bit high. The InsideTracker App tells me that I may be working out too hard with not enough rest and recovery, and suggests that I spend more time in meditation and mindfulness. Guilty as charged. Nobody is perfect, and we can all improve. I am adding gentle yoga-style inversions to my nightly sleep preparation routine 3x/week.
Here are my latest test results.
This is what a typical food/supplement day looks like while I am doing the Blueprint program.
Wake up: 20 oz of water with lemon
Meditate 15 min with my BrainTap to get calmly focused on the day ahead
Large green tea with:
5g creatine
10g collagen
5g SuperGreens powder
Spermidine
Ceylon cinnamon
Cacao
Almond milk
Then 50 minutes of Zone 2 aerobic training on a bike, elliptical or treadmill. If available, I will make a final 10 minutes of this ROKP sled-type exercise on the treadmill. This is from Ben Patrick @knessovertoesguy and is done by turning the treadmill off and then facing backward on the deck, using your legs walking backward to force the belt in reverse using the friction of the stopped motor to create resistance. This is followed by 10 minutes of stretching using some of what I have found in Patrick’s book Knee Ability Zero.
Take a 3-minute cold shower. If in LA, full cold around 55 degrees; if in Utah, I’ll give myself some slack and add a bit of heat to the otherwise 38-degree cold water, which just hurts.
Next, I review emails, check in with the team, and put out fires.
Breakfast:
½ bunch of raw spinach
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 squeezed lime
3 tablespoons cooked black lentils
30 g protein via grass feed organic whey or pea-based protein on alternate days
Side dish:
½ head of steamed broccoli
¼ head steamed cauliflower
1 steamed garlic clove
A handful of steamed shitake mushrooms
Mid-morning snack:
A small number of walnuts, almonds, or macadamia nuts with chia pudding.
Lunch:
Salad w/olive oil
Nuts
Beyond meat burger cooked at low heat to avoid Advanced Glycogen End Products (AGEs)
If needed:
3pm plant-based protein with oatmeal and a small amount of nut butter in a smoothie.
Strength workout 4:00pm-5:00pm
This will focus on a body part using combinations of front/back or pull/push major muscle groups.
Sauna and Cold Plunge
5:30pm-6:00pm
Dinner 6:15pm
Wild salmon, halibut, wild ocean trout or similar
Lentils
Cruciferous veggies
Salad
Here are some stats for people who maybe interested. My nighttime 45-minute brisk walk followed by my sleep preparation routine seems to be working. I go to sleep at the same time, wake at the same time and now have my sleep efficiency up to 96%, which is something I never imagined was possible.
I try to keep my eating to an 8-10 hour window, always keeping 3 hours between my dinner and going to bed. I aim to keep my protein intake at around 130-150g/day, my fats at around 50g/day and then vary the carbohydrates based on the level of activity. A heavy activity day I aim for 2600 cal, moderate workout day 2200 cal, rest day 1900 cal. I don’t get crazy with constant measuring, and I give myself considerable slack when I am invited out for dinner. Once you have an understanding of more or less what you are eating it is pretty simple to stay on track.
My height is 5’11.5 inches, my weight is now consistently 162-164 lbs, and my body fat is 10.2% as measured on my most recent DEXA scan. My resting heart rate is 52, which I am pretty confident that I can improve over the summer.
The bottom line: a modified version of Bryan Johnson Blueprint program works for me, and because I test regularly, I know I can continue to optimize.
Save 20% on all InsideTracker products at InsideTracker.com/ageist.
Wawwww……Impressive and very much inspirational! Congratulations.
Thank you for sharing your data, this level of transparency is helpful in gauging the different aspects of how health is measured in the Inside Tracker app.
My hope for all of us, young and old, is we have meaningful work that allows us the flexibility to exercise close to three hours a day to maintain the level of fitness that you have achieved. As you are modeling a flexible approach, perhaps people will be able to tweak the options to get the results they want.
Let’s keep this conversation going-health is critical to aging gracefully!
Thank you. It is really all about setting priorities and time management. I have my spin bike set up so that if I am doing Zone 2 or maybe 3 cardio work, I can still read my emails and answer them in the morning, and have even gotten adept at editing our podcast from the bike. In the sauna I am listening to ear buds, catching up on news or audio books. As you point out, I have some flexibility as I run the company, so I can chose to break my day into blocks, for which I am very grateful. I schedule work, fitness and rest so I can do my best to optimize all of it. Mostly I succeed, but not always.
Super impressive with your commitment to health and age thriving. I have spent the better part of my career in the wellness space, and am at awe at the cool technology available to us for understanding our body and its needs. Everything changes, particularly for women in their 50s and dealing with menopause. A balancing act when it comes to exercise and nutrition. Knowledge is power. Congratulations for your successes!