Health

A 11-post collection

Why I run

I was proud to run another half marathon over the weekend: the Royal Parks Half in London.

Seeing the city I love from the viewpoint of running the streets on a race day is wonderful: no cars, no trucks, no buses.

Instead, the roads are filled with people pushing themselves mentally and physically, and crowds of people — parents, children, friends, and strangers cheering you on.

How I got into running

As I ran around I thought to myself about my journey as a runner.

How did I go from avoiding running at all costs, to running a marathon?

I never used to like running.

At school I hated running.

I would always set off too fast and wear myself out.

I’d try to do anything possible to get out of running: volunteer to be a timekeeper, pretend to be a little unwell, or switch to another sport entirely!

As school finished, I started to change my attitude to running. I learned to pace myself, I started to measure my progress with apps and then my watch, and I embraced the sense of achievement when completing a run.

I became increasingly addicted to measuring my progress. For better or for worse, once I got an Apple Watch, I simply had to complete my Fitness Rings. Running became a great way to keep my streak going and give me a sense of achievement week-in, week-out.

I then came across Parkrun, a series of wonderful volunteer-led runs that happen every Saturday in parks across the U.K. and around the world.

I started to realise: the more I ran, the faster I became. And the faster I ran, the better I felt.

What I have learned from running

There are so many aspects of running that I find to be applicable to other parts of life.

Measurement leads to improvement

When you measure something it helps you understand it better, which forms a basis to improve it.

Just do it

The first draft (or run) is always rubbish. No one starts out as a pro. But to become a pro, you must start. Whatever it is you want to achieve, you have to just start.

Consistency is key

Once you start something, you are rarely any good at it for a while. You must keep going. You must repeat. You will still fail many times, but you pick yourself up and you go again. Consistency is boring, but crucial for running, fitness, any most positive changes in life.

Unexpected rewards for effort

Running longer distances has enabled me to run faster. Often improving in one area can lead to unexpected improvements in other areas.

Don’t compare with others

I don’t run to be faster than anyone else. I find it can help to run with other people for encouragement, and healthy competition. But I am always running my own race: to do the best I can. If I do that then I will always be proud.

Make it easy to

Journaling — how and why I keep a daily diary

Whether you call it journaling or reflection or writing a diary, I think of them in the same way: making time to reflect on your day, and keeping a record of what you did and how you felt.

I’ve been keeping a daily diary for years, and it’s one of the habits I’m most pleased to have maintained.

Journaling for memory

I can point to almost any day in the last few years and learn what I did, how I felt, and understand what was on my mind.

Every now and then, I’ll compare my current day to the same day one or two years ago. I’m frequently amazed at how issues and challenges that seemed insurmountable rapidly fade away into distant memories, or are completely forgotten until purposefully being resurfaced.

It’s a good reminder to keep my current fears in check.

Journaling for self-awareness

Journaling has enabled me to become considerably more self-aware.

I can see patterns of behaviour, consistency in what causes me to have a good or a bad day, and an awareness of what makes me excited or anxious.

I have learned how exercise, diet, and weather affect my mood. I’ve learned how creativity and socialising and alone-time affect me in different, and unexpected ways.

Journaling for thought development

Something I often need to remind myself is that journaling can be an incredible way to process my thoughts.

When I’m overwhelmed or stressed, it can sometimes feel like there is no good path forward. I could become frustrated or waste hours in an unproductive state fretting over my next move.

Journaling can sometimes feel like a cheat code for escaping this sense of overwhelm. If I can detect the feeling then I’ll try to find a quiet moment to write what’s on my mind in my journal.

Sometimes, just writing out all of the things worrying me is an incredible shortcut to clarify what’s bothering me, and can help me prioritise what’s most critical.

If I’m really stressed about a situation, I’ll attempt to answer some templated questions that will pull more thoughts from my mind. Often, framing a difficult decision with the question of “What’s the worst possible outcome?” can be enough to make progress.

Resources for journaling

Apps and resources that have helped me over the years:

  • Apple Notes — one of the most underrated apps on the iPhone. I used Notes to maintain a daily journal for over a year. It’s often the fastest way to jot a thought down.
  • Apple’s Journal app — for over a year Apple has offered a Journal app, with helpful hints and automatic suggestions. I love that it’s “moment” based rather than day based.
  • State of Mind on iOS — at a similar time to rolling out Journal, Apple introduced a method for logging your state of mind to Apple Health. You can set up reminders and a widget on your Lock

Ultraprocessed food and how to avoid it

I recently read a book called Ultraprocessed People and I’ve been telling almost everyone I know about it ever since.

Ultraprocessed Food, or “UPF”, has been in the news for some time, and it may induce a yawn for you to hear more about it.

But reading the book has enabled me to go deeper on the topic than the news headlines. I’m no longer just curious about UPF, I have genuinely changed my outlook and approach to nutrition as a result of what I’ve learned.

A short summary of ultraprocessed food

Over the last 100 years, we have grown to become inundated with “food” that is made up of stuff nothing like the raw ingredients we would find in our kitchens.

The situation has reached a point where it’s hard to go a single meal without consuming something that’s the output of a system focused on mass production, high profit margins, aggressive marketing, and crucially, of low nutritional value.

Most UPF is not truly “food” in the sense that our bodies can’t always fully understand it. UPF is often engineered to give a quick hit of taste, appealing to our senses thus encouraging us to crave that hit time and time again (see: Pringles, and their tagline “once you pop you just can’t stop).

It’s this way because most companies prioritise profit and growth over everything else. Why does shop-bought ice cream have bacterial slime in it? To help it keep its structure and stop melting so easily during transit between distribution centres, supermarkets, and our own homes. I.e. to optimise the supply chain.

The book is pretty clear: UPF is bad for you! But if you want, you can find ways to disprove that. And there are many vested interests (every large name in food manufacturing) to seed as much doubt as possible into this notion.

If you want a healthy diet, eat a variety of lots of plants, cook your own meals from scratch, and minimise eating Ultraprocessed food.

As far as I’m concerned, there are few things more important for health than what we choose to consume. Changing your diet (not just going on a diet) can have tremendous consequences for your health.

Beyond ourselves, though, the consequences of us reducing UPF consumption seem to be extensive: healthier diets, reduced demand on our health service, less packaging, less litter, a more sustainable approach to farming, and more.

Here are a few other takeaways from the book.

Cooking at home

If you’ve been following my recent posts, you might remember I’ve also been paying closer attention to my spending habits.

UPF can be cheaper than “proper food” sometimes, but the tradeoffs generally aren’t worth it. All in all I’ve found it hard to eat more cheaply and healthily than eating at home and cooking your own food.

Fortunately I love cooking. I haven’t always been into cooking, but I’ve

Strict evenings, early mornings

After acquiring an old-school alarm clock, this week I’ve been paying close attention to my routine.

I’ve never truly been a morning person.

But lately, due in part to having more on my plate (a dog to walk, a partner to look after, and a lack of hot water) I’ve been finding I desperately need more hours in the day.

What I was forgetting was that my evening hours were not well spent. After a long day I’m often tired and lacking motivation. All I really want to do is chill, put my feet up, and watch Slow Horses (or some sort of TV show that is far more trashy!)

My routine was stacked against me: hope (and fail) to do productive, valuable tasks at the end of the day, end up spending too long watching nonsense (aside from Slow Horses — it’s anything but), and then look at my phone and realise I should be in bed… Then end up getting drawn into my phone and realising I should have been in bed an hour ago.

Strict evenings

So I’ve made my evenings stricter. Earlier dinner, less TV, and then as little screen time as possible.

What’s really helped is deliberately putting my phone in another room to where I sleep. I completely removed my charger from the bedroom to avoid having any excuse for bringing my phone to bed.

Bedtime is now a deliberate cut off from screen time.

It’s just me and my alarm clock. And my partner too, I guess!

Calm mornings

What I’ve started to find, after a few weeks, is nothing short of a miracle: I’m actually starting to wake up earlier!

What I love about my mornings now is the tranquility of being awake when no one else is.

No sounds, no chaos, no tasks, no emails.

Just me and my thoughts.

I’m finding I have an hour or more most mornings where I can think, review, reflect, and ponder. I can wander aimlessly in my mind. I can wonder, too.

I’m realising how desperately my mind needed this space to breathe.

Here’s to a calm week ahead.

Other things

  • Brad Pitt and George Clooney in the south of France discussing their careers.
  • What is Founder Mode? Paul Graham of Y Combinator shared an essay outlining how the founder of AirBnB runs differently to most conventional organisations led by managers.
  • After the elation of achieving a milestone with my running last week, I was in awe of someone else this Saturday. I witnessed a blind runner with a guide, and saw how they sped around 5km at the same time as me. There are no limits but those we set ourselves.
  • Perhaps soon your emails might have an expiry date?

Quote

"The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up." — Paul Valery (a French poet)

Gratitude for normality — Weekly Review

My partner had an operation on her foot this week and it means she can’t walk on it for a few weeks. She’s on crutches and resting up, and otherwise doing well.

It’s incredibly easy to take one’s regular routine, limbs, and life for granted.

I’m often curious and hungry for the next thing, to do more, explore more, achieve more. But this week has been a good reminder to reflect on what I have, and what bliss normality looks like.

It’s easy to forget how helpful two working legs and feet are until you see a loved one suddenly having to operate normal life without them.

My partner and I, to a lesser extent, have experienced a change to our routines. Because my partner has been less mobile, her parents visited for the week to help us both out.

Having in-laws stay has been helpful for many reasons, but it has also been a good reminder of how much I appreciate my own space. It’s also been an insight into how different people have different habits, lifestyles, schedules, and more.

There’s an old joke that I was reminded of: What’s the difference between in-laws and outlaws? Outlaws are wanted!

But, joking aside, I have been feeling very fortunate this week to be surrounded by such a wonderful group of people in my life — family, friends, and colleagues.

Here's to normality resuming soon.

A few other notes

  • We got the team together on a boat in London for our summer social. It was so much fun, even if it was windy and not-at-all like summer.
  • Fred Again at Reading — really cool, fun DJ set with a huge crowd having a great time.
  • How did Roman aqueducts work? I stumbled upon this explainer and it's incredible how precise the engineering was.
  • I bought an alarm clock to discourage me from bringing my phone to bed with me. Let’s see how I fair with my evening and morning routine now…

Quote

“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” — Pablo Picasso

Why would Apple make a VR headset?

A quick sketch of my dream Apple headset

The silence is deafening — Apple is going to announce a VR headset imminently.

The very fact Apple hasn’t denied any rumours, and the increasing nods towards a big launch, are evidence enough. If they weren’t, then we’d know by now.

The feeling is very reminiscent of the run-up to the launch of both the original iPhone and Apple Watch — both products were widely expected to be unveiled, but the knowledge of exactly what they would entail was almost entirely unknown.

We’ve been here before

My sketches of the proposed Apple Watch ahead of its announcement.

While I never wrote about that feeling before the iPhone launch, I wrote a piece just before the Apple Watch was announced: “Why would Apple make a Watch?” in which I tried to get into the mind of the decision makers at Apple and understand why they would enter the watch market and what the device might enable.

Looking back at that piece, I feel quite proud. While I was not the only person pondering such concepts, I proposed the Apple Watch (or iWatch as I believed it’d be called at the time!) would:

  • Enable you to pay on the Subway, and allow for contactless payments — before Apple Pay came along.
  • Have easily detachable / swappable straps.
  • Become a key health companion, continuously monitoring your activity and heart rate.
  • Enable you to sleep better and wake up at the optimum time.
  • It’d prioritise telling the time at all costs, despite its smart features.

I got many things wrong too — I thought the Watch would:

  • Have incredible, unbelievable battery technology.
  • Rethink the concept of a display: “I will eat my metaphorical hat if we see a full colour backlit Retina display on the device”.
  • Be the “magic wand” remote to your Apple TV.
  • As you can see from my sketches — the physical appearance of the Watch I believed Apple would make was more akin to a Fitbit activity band.

I love reflecting on that post because it’s what makes following a secretive company like Apple so fun — you can dream and imagine, and you get to find out eventually if you were right. You get to decide if you felt Apple lived up to, exceeded, or missed your expectations.

So with an entirely new device and category just around the corner, what do we hope to see from the Californian giant?

Let’s dig in…

What will it be called?

I don’t believe Apple will call this a “headset” at all. Apple has never referred to the iPhone as a “handset” even though it’s how carriers and many consumers referred to phones before the iPhone.

Normal people don’t buy “headsets”. Headsets are for gamers and geeks.

Apple makes products for people who want the best, and they, of course, charge prices aligned with that approach.

There are numerous rumours and trademark filings, and even supposed confirmations in various code

Reflect, recharge, and go

By the end of 2022 I was feeling exhausted. I desperately needed a break.

I'm uncertain if I really got a considerable break over Christmas — we hosted Christmas at our house for the first time, I cooked for eight people, and we headed up to Scotland for New Year celebrations.

It was fun, but it wasn’t entirely relaxing.

It was different, though — different to the usual schedule of work, the usual stress and the usual ups and downs of a working week.

Critically, I managed to reflect on 2022, and I spent some time thinking about 2023.

I’ve started January of this year with a few intentions:

  • Don’t eat meat (at least for January)
  • Exercise daily
  • Get to bed by 10pm
  • Wake up before 7am

We’ll have to check in on these as February rolls around, let alone January 2024. But I have intentions and I am feeling positive about all of them so far.

Upon further reflection though, I know I am guilty of a cycle — every January, I feel re-energised, I start afresh, I have great intentions, and I carry them out. I’ve even written on this blog about them (often I write when my energy is highest, too):

Perhaps my more profound realisation heading into 2023 is that even the greatest of intentions can be weighed down and held back — by external forces, by lack of energy, by drifting without realising.

Why don't I have any intentions as September rolls around? Why did my writing, my exercise, my routine fall off mid-to-late last year? Why does that happen almost every year?

In 2023, my most important intention is to not wait until December to reflect, recharge, and reassess myself.

There is too much I want to achieve in this life to let a month slip by.

I will take more time to check in with myself, to reflect on how I’m feeling, how I’m spending my time, and to recharge my batteries to make every day count.

Here’s to a fulfilling 2023.

Episode 14 of Lost and Founder — The January Blues

In my first episode of Lost and Founder of 2022, I talk about how I’m getting through the darkest month of the year, and why January can actually be a great time reflect, reset, and build a stronger you for the year ahead.

I always find January a tough month — all the fun and excitement of Christmas and new years is over, the weather is awful, it’s dark outside, and to top it all off we’re still in the midst of a global pandemic.

But fear not, there’s a world of opportunity out there! I’m spending some time at the start of January to reflect on 2021. I’m not setting myself huge audacious goals because I don’t know what the future holds, and I know the chances of success are low unless I use my previous experience to inform my future actions.

Don’t get caught up in all the “new year, new you” nonsense — be careful what you read on social media! Instead, look at yourself, spend time reflecting on your own successes and where things could have gone better, and use that to channel your next steps as you enter the new year.

Actions / take aways

  • Go easy on yourself — the last two years have been hard on all of us.
  • It’s never too late to reflect — if you haven’t already, you still have time to reflect on 2021.
  • You don’t have to make new years resolutions — instead get clearer on your values.
  • If you are clear on your values, channel your thinking around small habits you can adopt day by day rather than setting huge unwieldy goals.
  • Give yourself something to look forward to at the end of January — like a trip to somewhere you like, a gift to yourself, or some other treat.

Thanks, and see you next time!

Music: Jakarta by Bonsaye. Podcast hosting: Transistor.

Episode 11 of Lost and Founder — What to do when Everything Breaks

After a brief hiatus, I'm back for the eleventh episode of Lost and Founder.

This week I share why it's so important to take a break, to rest, and recharge your batteries.

I’ve spoken a lot about habits and healthy routines on the podcast in previous episodes, but this week I wanted to change the focus to what happens when you fall out of touch with those routines and start to feel overwhelmed.

It's so important to give yourself time to rest and recharge — it's only by pausing you can truly reset and move forward stronger.

As the renowned street artist Banksy once said: "Learn to rest, not to quit."

Actions / take aways

  • Find ways to check in with yourself to understand how you're feeling.
  • If you feel you're overwhelmed or struggling, don't be afraid to pause and rest.
  • Every so often a reset is what you need — take the time you need to get back on track.
  • You might not need a holiday — sometimes just a day to yourself can help.
  • If you've been stuck in the same surroundings, try getting into a different environment — a coffee shop works for me.

Thanks, and see you next time!

Music: Jakarta by Bonsaye. Podcast hosting: Transistor.

Episode 10 of Lost and Founder — Time Management

We've reached the considerable milestone of episode 10 of Lost and Founder — thank you, dear listener!

In this episode, I talk through what I have learned about time management — from how I’ve been using my calendar instead of a to-do list, to the importance of making time for reflection each week.

I hope you enjoy the show — even if I say so myself, I felt like this was a good one.

“The secret to doing good research is to always be a little underemployed; you waste years by not being able to waste hours.” — Amos Tversky

Actions and take aways

  • Take time each week to reflect, and map your time. Book in 15 minutes this week.
  • Try using a calendar instead of your to-do list to plan your tasks.
  • Keep meetings to fixed days in the week — like Mondays and Tuesdays, to free up your other days for deeper work.
  • Wrap up meetings with 5-minute breaks in between to refresh and re-energise.
  • Close your email and only open it at fixed times in the day.
  • Enable "Do Not Disturb" on your devices.
  • Don’t be afraid to pause, and make time for you. You can’t spend every waking hour being productive — you will eventually crash.
  • We each have different limits — so try to find what works best for you.

Thanks, and see you next time!

Music: Jakarta by Bonsaye. Podcast hosting: Transistor.

Tracking Nutrition – the missing half of Apple Fitness

Hot Dog Not Hot Dog – the ultimate in AI food detection from HBO's Silicon Valley

I'm increasingly obsessed with my own fitness.

I've been closing my rings on my Apple Watch ever since I first put it on my wrist back in 2015.

Through the pandemic and working from home, Apple Fitness+ became a helpful motivator for getting me to try new workouts and experiment with yoga, meditation, heck even dance – all without leaving the house.

I don't feel overweight – I feel "just about right" – but as I shift into a new decade of my life, I'm increasingly concious of the fact that I won't be able to eat whatever I want, whenever I want, forever.

So I recently started using a great app, LoseIt! to help track the other half of my fitness – what I consume. While Apple Watch tracks my ability to lose calories and keep fit, LoseIt! tracks what I put in – helping me to balance that all important equation: "calories IN minus calories OUT = a negative number" if I want to lose weight.

I'm new to this calorie counting game – I never thought I'd be "one of those people" who asks how many calories are in a meal or in a cereal bar. I never thought I'd be someone who said no to a sweet treat. But increasingly – I am thinking twice about every snack I eat, and every portion of food I see on a plate.

Along with tracking the calories I'm consuming, I'm also trying to keep track of WHEN I eat food. I've been trying to obey a stricter schedule for when I wake, when I eat each meal, and when I get to sleep. According to some, WHEN you eat is just as important, if not more so than WHAT you eat.

I'm concious that when I eat, I am usually with people – friends, family, my partner, colleagues. I don't want to be sitting with a plate of delicious food poking at an app trying to add things to a calorie tracking app. Instead, I have found the least distracting, most effective solution is to simply snap a quick photo as subtley as I can of the meal I'm eating.

By snapping a photo I can grab an instant snapshot of the meal I had, along with the size, and the time I was about to eat it – which I can add to LoseIt! at a later date when I have more time to note down and clarify the details.

There are a few rumours circling that Apple may be bringing some form of food tracking functionality to iOS 15. This is something I am rather excited about – and if it's true, I can't wait to see how this works, and how accurate it will be. I'm sure Apple can find an innovative way to solve some of these complex problems.

I'm also excited to see what a company with the resources of Apple can do in a problem space that is