2023 was very transformational for me personally – lots of learnings, unlearning, experimentation and birth of new interests. if you know me, you would know that i have spent nearly 2.5 years in the education space – firstly working with a non-profit and indian government to increase learning outcomes in grades 1, 2, and 3 and after that in edtech, solving company defining problems.
in 2023, i got obsessed about one more area that is metabolic health and longevity and nearly 80% of the content i consumed (books, articles, podcasts, YT videos etc) was into this space. when i joined scaler, my manager, who was then on his own health transformational journey, would share all of his learnings in the health space and things that are working for him and recommended an endocrinologist to me for effective management of my type 1 diabetes (that i am type 1 diabetic is a very long kept secret and not many of you know about it – brief journey here and will write more about it in the coming days). getting in touch with Dr. Roshani Sanghani (more details here) was the beginning of my health transformational journey and obsession for the metabolic health space.
in my health journey with dr. Roshani, i was focusing into 4 areas – nutrition, exercise, mental health and sleep. my learnings in each of these areas are:
- nutrition: high processed foods, sugars, and carbs are the bad guys; they are slowly degrading your body and could lead to certain metabolic health issues in the long term my learning was to focus on foods that satisfy either or all of the conditions below:
1/ foods that protect your liver >> avoiding sugars and processed foods
2/ foods that feed your gut >> eating more fibres – vegetables and fruits such as berries
3/ foods that preserve your brain functioning >> eating more omega-3 rich foods such as eggs, nuts, fish
currently, i follow intermittent fasting (16-18 hours of fast everyday), do long fasts (>36 hours every month), and, eat extremely low carb, high protein-high fat foods and minimally processed foods.
benefits: high energy throughout the day; less cravings; and less cognitive load because i spend less time deciding what to order or prepare. - exercise: in his book ‘Outlive‘, dr. Peter Attia emphasises on both – lifespan and healthspan. lifespan is the number of years you live and healthspan is the number of years spent in good health, free from diseases. exercise is a crucial element for longer healthspan. i have been sedentary for the majority of my life, however, last year i took certain measures – walking 10-12k steps everyday (this was non-negotiable and I averaged 9k steps in 2023 and 11.5k steps in H2 2023) and strength training for atleast 3x per week. i have not been that regular in strength training, but in 2024 will be focusing on getting into the best shape possible!
benefits: effective management of my blood sugars; improved energy levels, enhanced mood and better sleep quality. - mental health: studies have shown that mental health is as important as the physical health – stress is one of the major contributors of the visceral fat or the belly fat and high visceral fat could lead to certain metabolic health issues. i took two steps this year for mental health:
1/ journaling: regularly writing about how i have been feeling, reflections on certain incidences etc – i use roamresearch for note taking/ journaling. this has helped me process some major events that happened in my personal life in 2023. in this podcast, Dr. huberman discusses the benefits of journaling –
– relief for anxieties and stresses
– improvement in sleep
– improvement in people going through cancer treatments and other chronic illnesses
– and, improvement in immune health > because emotions are linked to immune health
2/ guided meditation: observing what your feelings are and being present have shown positive results – people tend to make wiser choices when they meditate. i have been using the waking up app for my guided meditation, but i have not been that regular in practicing it. in 2024, i will be focusing on it and will share the results i am seeing in my personal life. - sleep: we often neglect sleep, but it is also one of the crucial elements for good health. around 7-8 hours of sleep everyday has shown positive effects in maintaining the brain health, accelerating the learning process, and positively impacting mental health and physical health. since childhood, i have been sleeping early and have been waking up early – keeping my schedule almost same everyday has helped me be energetic throughout the day. i sleep in between 9.30p and 10p and wake up around 5a-5.30a – waking up early gives me an opportunity to spend time on personal development.
when i was in school and college, i was curious about productivity and routines and in 2023, i spent a lot of time understanding the science behind how body works, what is good for it and what leads to metabolic health issues. in my year-end reflection, i came to this realisation of how my interests as a school/ college kid and as a working professional align and what is it that i would want to focus on in 2024 – this year, it will be all about maximising my performance, getting back in full control of my body and emotions and sharing all the learnings with everyone :))
committing to documenting my journey through this website!
cheers and a very happy new year :)))
azeem panjwani 