Today begins the first full week of March. Another chance to revisit the drawing board on the never ending quest of self improvement.

Evaluate your February. What did you do well? Where can you improve? Does your New Years / February goal need a reset? No problem, we start again today. Is there something else calling your attention you would like to shift focus on for March? Great - let’s work backwards for a plan on what that looks like each day.

If February was great, keep the momentum going. The year is long, don’t let your foot off the gas now. If it was a struggle, wipe your slate clean and reset today.

The fun part about personal development is there are no hard begin and stop dates. Just chapters in-between. Let’s make sure March is one worth reading.

Brain - Auditing Your Influences

You’ve heard the quote - “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” While definitely overused, it is a quote I believe to be true and proven. Especially early in life, we tend to talk, act, and strive for things in similar fashion to the people we spend the most time with (friends and family). We set the ceilings for our aspirations on what we see having been achieved around us, talk like our friends, spend time doing what our friends like to do, etc.

While the physical aspect of this remains true today, I have started to think more about the digital version of this, and the mental impact of us spending more time daily on social media / internet platforms.

Which leads me to this thought - If the average American spends 2.5 hours per day on social media platforms, how often are we pruning the content that is filling our minds in those 2.5 hours?

The people you follow and the content you engage with certainly has a direct reflection in the activity and mood you take back into the physical world.

I’ve seen the positive and the negative side of this influence. We all have the few friends who are constantly “angered” by something going on in the world / politics. A simple social media audit would probably find a large presence of political accounts / profiles with similar views.

I also know from personal experience that as I have followed more accounts related to fitness, nutrition, reading, and running that I have taken action on days where I didn’t feel like it because of the content I interacted with early on.

This has many angles to it that require deeper dives, but for a simple audit this week, look at your following list and be conscious of content you are liking (telling the algorithm you want to see more of). If you see content that dampens your mood, take action. If you want inspiration in a specific field, take action and follow more accounts in that space.

It’s hard to separate from a lifelong friend when you feel they could be holding you back. It’s easy to unfollow that account that sends you on a negative spiral.

Some of my favorite follows on Instagram for positive influence:

• Nick Bare (Running & Lifting)

• David Goggins - Mindset & Motivation

• Cameron Hanes - Motivation, Running, Hunting

• James Clear - Books, Habits, Quotes

• Ben West - Workout Ideas

• Chris Williamson - Podcast Ideas, Motivation

Body - Nutrition for Dummies (Not You Of Course!)

So you want to lose weight? Burn fat? Put on muscle? But are unsure of where to start? You are not alone.

The pure overload of information when starting down the path of changing your physique can often lead to a “paralysis by analysis.” Macronutrients? What are those? How do I know how many calories to eat? Should I do keto? How many calories am I burning? The list goes on and on.

Most people, when self assigning a challenge to lose / gain weight, start with focus on the gym and their exercise routine. This is not the wrong approach at all - the exercise is the key to longevity, can often be a fuel and motivator for diet improvements, and is great for your mental state. In the short term though, especially for beginners, focusing most of your effort in the kitchen - followed by layering in increased efforts in the gym - can provide the quickest results.

Here are a few resources I recommend to simplify your starting point:

1. Macro & Calorie Counter by BodyBuilding.com

   1. This is the simplest place to start. A very easy calculator that will ask you for your age, height, weight, fitness goal, and activity level - resulting in a recommended calorie number, plus a break down of target macro nutrients (protein, carbs, fats)

      1. Side Tip - For most people trying to lose or gain weight, I recommend spending most of your mental energy on getting your protein number, and hitting your calorie goal (under or over). A healthy rule of thumb for protein is at least 0.8 grams per pound of body weight. The higher the better here. Protein will help build muscle, which in turn will boost your metabolism, without diving too deep into the weeds on the science.

2. Protein Content Resource by John Hopkins

   1. It’s one thing to know how much protein you need to get in. It’s another endeavor to figure out how to get to that number. The linked rule of thumb is a good start. For most people, sticking to a few protein sources that are easy to prepare and that you don’t get tired of is the best recipe for long term adherence.

      1. Ideas:

         1. Chicken Breast is versatile in taste, simple to prep in mass quantities, and is protein rich (There is 112g of protein in 1 pound - 16 oz - of chicken. That is 2 servings of 8 ounces of meat)

         2. Eggs and Egg Whites are your breakfast staple. I try to add ½ cup of egg whites to every whole egg. Egg Whites are all protein, so also line up well for those watching calories & fats

         3. Beef Options - Beef is the fattier option of most of the available meats, but is packed with protein. Look for the lean sources of ground beef (I shoot for the 90/10 lean if possible)

         4. Protein Shakes - The easy button for protein. If you struggle to get to that 150 - 250g per day, make a shake for a snack / post-workout with 1 - 2 scoops of whey protein. Boom, 25-50g in minutes.

3. Get a Food Scale

   1. There are hundreds of these on Amazon. I have this one for no specific reason - currently listed at $22. This will help you get control over your portion sizes, helping you manage both calorie and protein intake.

This is the entry point for this newsletter on diet and nutrition. I want to dive deeper into this in subsequent issues, but am conscious of the length of content here. If you have questions or need tips, please reach out. I am no expert, but the information I do have is from personal experience. The kind I am a biggest fan of.

Keep it simple. Keep it repeatable. Hit your protein. Manage your calories.

Book - Scarcity Brain - Revisited

A familiar friend of The Superset is back this week - Scarcity Brain by Michael Easter (for those of you who missed Vol 002 and it’s intro, you can find it archived here).

For a quick general reminder - Scarcity Brain is a book that aims to address our craving mindset as a species, in which the author traces back to our primitive desires as humans.

I am actively trying to implement and be conscious of some of the findings from this book since my first lap through it in January. I feel like I could record an entire podcast episode discussing it, so instead of rambling, I want to share the passages that continue to remain in the front of my mind:

• “The Pandemic happened at a fairly inopportune time - where we were leaning in excessively to overconsumption due to comfort seeking during a period of unknown.” (We are still recovering here)

• “I learned that these behaviors are usually reactions to feelings of “scarcity.” And all it takes is a small “scarcity” cue to incite them. A scarcity cue is a piece of information that fires on what researchers call our scarcity mindset. It leads us to believe we don’t have enough. We then instinctually fixate on attaining or doing that one thing we think will solve our problem and make us feel whole.”

• “Neuroscientists call the brain system that does produce the pleasure our “liking system.” Our liking system is composed of a series of tiny “hedonic hot spots” in our brain. When we do something enjoyable, these “liking” hot spots get hammered with chemicals such as mu opioids and endocannabanoids. These are naturally occurring brain chemical versions of heroin and marijuana. Unsurprisingly, this creates a fantastic feeling and causes us to “like” whatever we just did.”

• “No wonder we are experiencing what researchers call “time scarcity.” It’s a feeling that we don’t have enough time. The truth is that we have more time than ever, thanks to advances in human longevity and the changing nature of work. Still, we cram our lives with so much compulsive activity, things “to do”, that we feel pressed.”

• “Problematic technology use is about the interaction between the product, the person, and their ability to cope with discomfort, and then a situation in their life that causes a pain they’re not equipped to deal with. When you have the confluence of these factors at the same time, it can create an experience you can put yourself into where tech products help you immediately forget about all your problems.”

If you struggle with overconsumption of any kind - Food, Drugs, Social Media, TV, etc. - you will be both challenged and encouraged by reading Scarcity Brain.