The Guilt of Comparison

It is an inherent part of the human condition to compare. Compare your body, your life, your financial status, looks, job…. with others.

But rarely would you trade every single aspect of your life with another person.

My personal mantra is that you should not be envious of another person unless you are willing to trade all aspects of your life with theirs.

You cannot pick and choose to have just Jeff Bezos’s money or just George Clooney’s good looks.

When you compare, you often compare superficial aspects of someone’s life, we rarely delve into their relationships, their health, their mental traumas, their insecurities and problems.

Everyone has their own flaws. Material items and vanity metrics aren’t fixes for all issues.

Use comparison to inspire not de-motivate you or feel less than.

Life Updates

I missed last Sunday’s newsletter! I should have prepared it in advance but in the midst of packing and preparing for my trip to Switzerland things got a bit crazy.

Switzerland was very cold but I had a great week. I was one of four Tiktok creators from the entire world who were chosen to go to Davos to the World Economic Forum.

It was an interesting week being able to be in a place where influential people and world leaders gather but that wasn’t anywhere near the best part of my trip.

Meeting these 3 other creators all from different parts of the world and enjoying their company and becoming friends with them was the highlight.

In no other world would we have ever met and become friends. I met the biggest productivity influencer from Indonesia (Vina Muliana), a lifestyle & women’s health influencer from NYC (Nadya Okamoto) and the most followed Beekeeper in the world (Erika Thompson from Texas Bee Works!)

Also I was not a big fan of the Swiss food. Being brought up on Indian spices, the flavour profiles of Swiss food did not tickle my tastebuds but I did end up eating lots of cheese…

This week my book is on the Sunday Times Bestseller List for the 3rd week in a row! Charting at number 4 this week! If you haven’t gotten yourself a copy – grab one and let me know what you think!

Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever

You’ve likely heard this phrase before but does the science stack up?

Both fevers and colds can cause dehydration – all that mucus being excreted from your various holes takes with it lots of water. So it is important you constantly replenish your water stores.

When you’re under the weather your body is more metabolically active and is in likely a state of catabolism.

It’s core temperature is higher and is churning through creating various proteins to bolster the ranks in your immune system so it’s energy expenditure and requirement will be higher than usual.

Naturally, if you are in the midst of a fever, your appetite might be reduced but its worth trying to consume bland foods (potatoes, plain toast) to ensure adequate nutrition.

How Can You Reduce Visceral Fat?

I’ve spoken about visceral fat before.

The type of fat that is hidden and not visible, unlike subcutaneous fat which is what you see and feel when you take a pinch from your waist.

Visceral fat is deeper and wraps around organs and is metabolically very active and contributes to chronic disease and inflammation.

Some visceral fat is required for organ protection and “padding” but in excess can be detrimental.

Visceral fat, because it is biologically active, secretes hormones and inflammatory molecules like cytokines, which can lead to poorer health outcomes.

There are ways to broadly target and reduce your visceral fat concentration.

It has been shown that chronic sleep deprivation is associated with more visceral fat formation and deposition. So improving sleep hygiene can address this.

Exercise promotes the release of the chemical adiponectin which can help break down visceral fat.

Smoking and alcohol use is also associated with visceral fat deposition so it is worth looking at these habits if you partake!

What You Should Watch

“Society of the Snow”

This is based on a real story, based on Uruguayan 192 Andes flight disaster.

A team of rugby players on a chartered flight to Chile experience an unexpected incident and crash into the heart of the Andes. Only 16 of the 45 passengers survive.

They are forced into cannibalism to stay alive.

On that note, I will stop. It is a wild story.

After watching the film I can highly recommend also reading the book on which it is based by Pablo Vierci.

What I’m Doing For My Health

Tracking my protein and fibre intake more closely.

With a lot of travel done recently my diet has been a bit iffy in January.

To this end, I’m going to really hone in on two important macronutrients – fibre and protein.

I’m not a calorie counter or a low carber (heaven forbid!)

but I will aim for 40g of fibre a day (recommended average for an adult is 30g but I’m used to eating high amounts of fibre so I usually go for 40!)

and I’ll also aim for at least 30-40g of protein for each of my meals and where I can’t I will supplement with a protein shake.

As we grow older we will experience a loss of muscle and although this is inevitable after a certain age,

how much protein we consume and how much we exercise can determine the rate of muscle loss!