Hello and welcome to the first edition of 4-Minute Friday where I’ll be sharing, in four minutes or less, the latest things I’m doing to enhance my health, save money, and make day-to-day life easier and more enjoyable.
These weekly posts are completely zero cost and supplement the more in-depth postings on Healthy in Bulk (HIB) which can be accessed with the premium subscription that runs at just over $3/month — the catalog is currently up to 27 posts!
All comments and follow-up questions can be posted directly below, on my Facebook page or emailed to me at zach.griffith1@gmail.com!
I sincerely appreciate your time and attention and hope you can incorporate some of this information to positively impact your life, too! Remember, it’s all in the journey… the climb up is where the magic is, not the destination.
Gadget I’m saving money with:
The common pearl of wisdom regarding the dollars that can be saved by brewing your own coffee and eating homemade meals has been preached about in mainstream media ad nauseum. However, as a thick-skulled person, the eating at home piece has gotten through but that mid-morning Starbucks run often gets the best of me. After a personal credit card audit frightened some intelligence into me, I recently decided to dust off my cold brew coffee maker and make my morning cup of joe at home. If you haven’t seen one, the setup is incredibly simple. Depending on the size of your device, you just add ground coffee to the center piece, fill up the jug with water and let it sit for 12-24 hours before emptying the coffee grounds.
With this, you’ll have roughly a weeks’ worth (depending on the type of week you’re having!) of cold brew coming in at less than $1 per serving – compared to the $4 or more that coffee shops charge. Remember, this is cold brew concentrate and you’ll likely need to cut it down with water or milk… unless you’re a maniac like me. It takes time to find the exact ratio and amount of time to let the grounds ‘cold brew’ so be patient and find what works for you!
What I learned this week:
It’s well known to those who have even a smidgen of a relationship with me that Dr. Andrew Huberman, Ph.D., is a huge inspiration of mine. His podcast, the Huberman Lab, was featured on my Podcast Recommendations post and is one I listen to on a weekly basis to stay on top of the latest research on human health to ensure I’m giving accurate advice to the clients I work with.
Recently, Dr. Huberman posted a video on his social media page (hubermanlab - linked here) explaining how morning sunlight exhibits huge benefits on our physical and mental health. In this short video, he dives into the impact that specific wavelengths of light (colors) have on our circadian rhythm – a fancy word for our sleep-wake cycles and something that is CRITICAL to our daily functioning.
During the earlier hours of the day exclusively, the blue-orange tinges of light from the sun are sensed by specific neurons (cells) in our eyes. As the morning progresses, these wavelengths are no longer present and don’t have near the impact on our circadian rhythm… although being exposed to the sun during this time is beneficial for other reasons.
Interestingly, the wavelengths of light exhibited during the evening also serve benefit for helping us wind down and sleep better. I highly recommend giving this less than 5-minute video a watch but if you don’t, the practical takeaways are clear – view morning sunlight within the first 1-3 hours of sunrise (the earlier the better) and again during the couple of hours during or prior to sunset if possible!
Morning routine I’ve seen great benefit from:
In recent years, a huge fad has developed around using cold water as a tool to enhance health. Whether this be taking cold showers or another method, health-focused individuals are spewing that this practice elicits all sorts of benefits on physical, mental, and psychological well-being… and it does! Heck, even my high-school English teacher recently purchased a cold plunge device to put on his back deck and swears by it!
In the past few weeks, I too have been making it a priority to immerse myself in cold water… relatively easy considering I live blocks away from Lake Michigan which happens to get quite chilly this time of year. My roommates and I head to the water twice weekly to catch the incredible sunrise (pictured below) while cold plunging for 5-10 minutes where the water is currently sitting around 55 degrees.
I talk about the extent of benefits received from cold immersion here but aside from this, the camaraderie of doing something difficult such as cold plunging with good friends is a cool thing to experience and has benefits on its own. There are often 5-10 other groups of friends by the lake most mornings for this exact same reason!
If you do make the decision to do cold immersion specifically in an open body of water, I HIGHLY recommend holding on to a flotation device as there are associated risks that aren’t worth taking.
What else?
This coming Sunday (11/5), I’ll be releasing my next Superfood Sunday post on Salmon which will include a rundown on its benefits, a discussion on farm-raised vs. wild-caught salmon, and much more.
I currently have 2 available spots for virtual personal training and health coaching! See this recent testimonial by one of my clients here.
If you enjoy this weekly bite of information, please share it with a coworker, friend, and/or family member!
Do something that gets you out of your comfort zone this week.
DISCLAIMER
- This is NOT Medical advice. Consult your medical professional before starting any supplement, diet regimen, or workout program.