(Changes with immediate perceived impact bolded)
First, I do not believe that physical and cognitive decline as you age is inevitable. As the Buddha recognized, the fundamental cause of suffering is ignorance. I take this to mean and that if something does not violate the laws of physics, it is simply a matter of figuring out how to do it (refer works by David Deutsch [1],[2]). With that being said, I recognize that at the time of writing, this decline is very likely. Thus, the structure of my life is broadly guided by following Targets (in no particular order):
Target 1: Be independent - I want to maximize the time I am able to live independently (e.g., go to the grocery store, pick up weights etc.). This guides my approach to structuring my diet and exercise.
Target 2: Be Useful : I want to maximize the time I can spend being useful (i.e., be cognitively functional, strongly associated with target 1). This guides my approach to how I structure my diet, work, and social life.
Target 3: Be at peace : I want to live at peace with myself, with my partner, my family, and my community. I want to be pulled forward in life through curiosity, gratitude, and hope. I do not want to be pushed through it by fear, self-loathing, and pain. This guides my approach to my psychological well-being, work, and social life.
That being said, I find that the structure of my life has the following attributes:
I have found the following points of leverage (in no specific order) as targets:
In what follows I provide:
Finally, let me state that I am not an expert and I do not play one on the internet. Thus, let me state my biases clearly. My primary sources of information in this space are podcasts and specific people. They are as follows:
I outline my general operating manual as it stands at the time of writing and is subject to change (as it should). I do not claim to follow everything to the letter every day; I aim for living in this way at least 80-90% of the time. I only write this to serve as a useful document to share with people as I get asked many of these questions routinely.
Two of the highest impact things I’ve done to improve my life. Changing your habits is hard. Two things can be useful to help with long term success.
Some understanding of your personality - This is not an invitation to give up on working on yourself or an excuse for your unacceptable behaviors. It is simply a way to give yourself some insight into “what makes you tick’’.
Resources : Understand yourself [3]
Learn : Introduction to personality [4]
TL;DR : [5]
Some vision for the future - I recommend taking a structured approach to generating a (blurry) vision for your future along with a (tentative) plan to get there.
Resources : Self-authoring [6]
Learn : How to use reading and writing to find your path [7]
TL;DR : [8].
The following is my morning routine. I aim to follow it most days of my life.
Wake up at (approximately) the same time every day - Keeping your body tuned to the day-night cycle is important. I try to let my body get as much sleep as it needs.
Resources : An alarm clock. Once your body has adjusted to waking up at a regular time, you will probably not need it. I am experimenting with smart alarms [9], [10].
Learn : Circadian Rhythms and Health [11]
TL;DR : [12]
Breakfast: Approximately 1/2 of my daily protein intake (40-50 g). Meal (Greek yogurt / quark, whey protein powder , nuts, and seeds) consists of less than 10 g of carbohydrates. It was difficult to get the protein I needed with OMAD without having a negative effect on my sleep (eating too much before bed). I also felt a lot of pressure to eat in that one meal. I also found that towards the end of the day, I would be very irritable which was impacting Target 3.
Resources : Protein supplement, Greek yogurt/quark/cottage cheese, nuts (almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, etc.), seeds (sunflower, chia, pumpkin, etc.).
Learn : Optimizing muscle protein synthesis [13]
TL;DR : [14]
Meditate : This has been a long standing practice of mine. For me, it provides a strong grounding for the day. It sets the tone so to speak.
Resources : Waking up app [15], Ten percent happier [16], Calm [17], Headspacee [18]
Learn : How Meditation Works & Science-Based Effective Meditations [19]
TL;DR : [20]
Coffee : This is usually my first and only ingestion of caffeine in the day. It happens approximately 90 minutes after I wake up (approximately 45 minutes into my first work session). Caffeine has a storied history.
Resources: I enjoy plain black coffee, nothing fancy. Pick your poison.
Learn: Using Caffeine to Optimize Mental & Physical Performance [21]
TL;DR : [22]
Morning sunlight : I go outside to get sunlight in my eyes. This is to regulate my circadian rhythm (same as above). Ideally I would do this first thing in the morning but it is adjusted to make an allowance for the late sunrises during winter months.
A significant chunk of all my time spent outside of productive work and sleep is doing some form of strenuous physical activity. At the time of writing, this amounts to 5 to 7 hours a week. I try to integrate social activities with these to the extent feasible.
Pick heavy things up. Put them down. Repeat. Approximately 3 times a week. Most important parts I focus on:
Resources : Four-Hour Body [23], Huberman’s foundation fitness protocol [24], Starting strength [25].
Learn : Training principles for mass and strength [26]
TL;DR : [27]
My go-to cardio training is the bike. I also practice Brazilian jujitsu which can be quite demanding. I do interval training with running (4 minutes on, 4 minutes off or 4 minute sessions split through the week).
Resources : How to improve your VO2 Max [28]
Learn : How to Improve Your VO2 Max & Build Endurance [29]
TL;DR : [30]
| Metric | Value | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 173 | cm |
| Bodyweight | 84 | Kg |
| Bench press | 120 | Kg |
| Squat | 205 | Kg |
| Deadlift | 215 | Kg |
| VO2 max (estimated on bike) | 45 | ml/kg/min |
| Resting heart rate | 46 | bpm |
| Maximum heart rate | 184 | bpm |
Physical metrics for Male age 33, as of March 2025. Strength measures are shown for 1 repetition maxmimum (training maximum, not competition). Heart rate readings are 14-day median.
Diet has become an extremely touchy topic as people have come to attach their entire personality and sense of morality to it. I approach it as follows, targeting two of the four horsemen of chronic disease that [31] identified:
What I eat:
High-quality protein - Predominantly from fish, dairy sources. Occasionally with highest quality red meat ( To reduce my saturated fat intake, refer Appendix).
Resources : Above
Learn : Shifting to plant protein in older population: A focus on protein quality [32].
TL;DR : [33]
High-quality vegetables - Lot’s of greens and colorful vegetables. I take steps to avoid pesticides by chosing organic sources for the Dirty Dozen [34].
Resources : Above
Learn : Gut health & the microbiome: improving and maintaining the microbiome, probiotics, & more [35]
TL;DR : [36]
Complex carbohydrates - Lots of varieties beans and legumes. I think of carbohydrates the same way I think of the squat, bench, and deadlift. They are extremely efficient because they hit multiple muscle groups at once. Similarly, carbohydrates like white bread are bicep curls : they are isolated, not very efficient.
Resources : Above
Learn : Insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, & the critical progressive loss of beta-cell function [37]
TL;DR : [38]
I have tried a variety of supplements. Many have come and gone.
My most stable list that I have used for at least five years continuously:
Creatine: It has been a staple in the sports performance community for decades [39] and have recently been shown to confer cognitive benefits as well [40]. I take 5-10 grams daily.
Resources : Any form of creatine monohydrate you can afford. Make sure there are no other fillers (some companies combine it with other things, not necessarily bad but not cost efficient).
Learn : How & Why to Take Creatine for Brain Injury & Recovery [41]
TL;DR : [42]
Magnesium Citrate : I have found this to be a game changer for me as I used to suffer regularly from cramps (specifically in the abdominal muscles) during training. Magnesium is a complicated topic as there are a variety of formulations (citrate, biglycinate, etc.) all of which are better for one purpose or another. Citrate is recommended for absorption to the muscles [43].
Resources : Easy to find on your supplement seller of choice. Note on simply buying “elctrolyte supplements’’ : I found that a lot of these contain magnesium oxide, which is considered the least well absorbed.
Learn : Magnesium supplementation: forms, benefits, and proper dosing [44]
TL;DR: [45]
Omega 3 :I try to hit 1000 mg EPA per day from a omega-3 supplement. Recently I have decided to switch my diet towards eating more fish as well.
Resources : A reliable, quality tested brand (to avoid heavy metals).
Learn : Rhonda Patrick Goes in Depth on the Benefits of Omega-3s [46]
TL;DR : [47]
An experimental list that I’m using at the moment:
I’m leaving this in the experimental list because I wonder if most of what I’m feeling right now is a consequence of improving my food timing and composition. However, many of these are gathering evidence. The one I’m least convinced about is Lion’s mane.
To touch on fasting (and time restricted feeding), this doesn’t appear to have a very clear answer, if for no other reason than the wide distribution of possible protocols [52]. Further, nutritional studies are difficult to run on humans and results shown in mice may not always translate to humans [53]. That being said, given its apparent safety and possible benefits (in terms of metabolic markers like fasting glucose [54]) I practice a form of intermittent fasting / time restricted feeding approach. A 30 minute window in the morning, and an hour and half in the evening. I am flexible on the weekends, to accommodate Target 3.
After a recent round of lipid panels at the time of writing, I found that my Apolipoprotein-B numbers (shown in table Lipid Profile), though normal (approximately at the 50th percentile) were higher than possible with pharmacology (for the full break down on the relationship between Apolipoprotein-B and LDL cholesterol and why the former is a better marker for the risk of developing cardiac disease, refer [55,56]). Interestingly, this result comes after a prolonged period (approximately 3 years) of eating a diet relatively high in saturated fats (predominantly from ground beef and pork). Also note that my triglycerides are considerably lower than the "reference range", even though I have largely paid no attention to limiting my carbohydrate intake (other than avoiding liquid calories in the form of glucose or fructose outside of training). Therefore, I’ve opted to modulate my sources of saturated fat [57] (as a first-round attack) prior to considering pharmacology [58] to see how low I can take my Apolipoprotein B count through diet alone. Finally, my insulin response appears to be robust (though a direct measure of insulin instead of blood glucose would have provided a better picture).
| Investigation | Result | Reference Range |
|---|---|---|
| Total Cholesterol | 234.3 | < 200 |
| Triglycerides | 50.3 | < 150 |
| HDL Cholesterol | 53.4 | > 40 |
| LDL Cholesterol | 170.8 | < 150 |
| VLDL Cholesterol | 10.1 | 10 - 40 |
| T.CHO / HDL Ratio | 4.4 | |
| Apolipoprotein B | 100 | 66-133 |
Lipid Profile July 2024. Fasted approximately 12 hours.
| Time (mins) | Result | Reference Range |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 158.1 | |
| 60 | 107.6 | ≤ 200 |
| 90 | 88.6 |
Oral Glucose Tolerance Test results July 2024, 75 g of glucose in water. I had an insanely high carbohydrate meal before this (probably not smart), think a loaf or two of bread, with coconut filling to slow dowin digestion. Fasted approximately 12 hours. Last exercise session approximately 16 hours before ingestion.
You are an expert in nutrition and biochemistry. You understand the difference between statistical significance in experiments vs clinical significance (i.e., if you can apply it to humans in the real world). For example, if a compound is applied to a mouse in an experiment at a dose that would be impossible for a human to consume to get the same effect, you weigh this evidence less. You also pay particular attention to interventions/compounds that have shown efficacy in a range of biological models (e.g., if it works in yeast cells, mice, and dogs) : this is a strong indication that there is something actually going on there. You also understand the idea of leverage, and diminishing returns. For example, if you have excellent sleep and diet, then additional supplementation of a compound might not be useful. You reason from first principles, starting with mechanistic understanding of what the biochemistry / physics says. You are an expert in the differences between male and female human / mammalian physiology, so you know to recommend interventions by gender. You take a holistic view, understanding the interplay between psychology and physiology.
Taking this position, you evaluate questions asked of you and provide high leverage recommendations. You evaluate questions and ideas critically. You rely HEAVILY ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH.
You respond in a nuanced, careful manner taking the role of a seasoned athlete and coach. You address me as Udesh. You provide a table at the end of your responses (if appropriate) citing the studies and a small summary of what was found. Specifically, you should mention limitations that would effect its clinical significance.
You are an expert in psychological science and research methodology. You understand the difference between statistical significance in experiments vs. practical significance (i.e., if you can apply findings to humans in real-world contexts). For example, if a psychological intervention shows effects in a highly controlled laboratory setting that would be difficult to replicate in everyday environments, you wheigh this evidence less. You also pay particular attention to psychological phenomena that have shown consistency across different research methodologies and populations (e.g., if similar effects appear in experimental, correlational, and qualitative studies). This is a strong indication that there is a robust psychological mechanism at work.
You also understand the concepts of effect size and contextual factors. For example, if someone already has strong social support and effective coping strategies, then additional psychological interventions might yield diminishing returns. You reason from established theoretical frameworks, starting with mechanistic understanding of cognitive, behavioral, and neurological processes. You are an expert in individual differences including cultural, developmental, and gender variations in psychological functioning, so you know to recommend interventions tailored to specific populations and contexts. You take a holistic view, understanding the interplay between biological, psychological, and social factors in human behavior and mental processes.
Taking this position, you evaluate questions asked of you and provide evidence-based recommendations with high potential impact. You evaluate ideas critically, considering both their theoretical foundations and practical applications. You rely HEAVILY ON PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH, particularly studies with strong methodological rigor and real-world applicability.
You respond in a nuanced, careful manner taking the role of a seasoned psychologist and mentor. You address me by name.
You provide a table at the end of your responses (if appropriate) citing the studies and a small summary of what was found. Specifically, you should mention limitations that would affect the practical significance of the findings, such as sample characteristics, ecological validity concerns, or contextual factors that might influence the generalizability of results.