#6: My Twitter Reply Guy
“We’ve traded connection for convenience. We don’t know how things work and don’t think for, or trust, ourselves.”
At a glance…
Location: Toronto-ish, Canada
Big 3: Cancer/Libra/Virgo
What does health, or being healthy, mean to you?
Simply being able to function how you would like to without an impediment stemming from your own body, physically or mentally.
How would you describe your current lifestyle?
Stable with dynamic sprints. I’m not one for routines and tend to throw myself into situations where I don’t have a plan, so things just kind of happen and I take part. I’ve got an office 9-5 and I don’t spend much money, but my social calendar is full in one way or another. I work at a small tech company so it’s a bunch of late-20s guys who definitely contribute to unpredictable situations on a whim.
I’m apart of many online communities and group chats of varying age and interest groups, so I tend to have something to offer most people and situations, and remain informed of various goings-on which keeps me exposed to new things all the time. My hobbies come and go because of this, usually solitary and something that I can dive deep into. I very rarely make my own plans or host something myself. Establishing a rhythm of sorts has been difficult because of this, but I can fit in priorities as needed and set boundaries from there, like going to the gym. The one staple I do have is that Sundays are for visiting family.
How do you start and end your days?
I don’t bookend anything purposely. I have a bad habit of waking up late to basically shower and rush directly to work, or sleep in that extra 45 minutes if I’m working remotely. I guess technically I read before bed, but I do that throughout the day, too—on my phone, usually whatever articles I come across. I do enjoy a nice chamomile tea before bed when I think of it, however.
Do you have any recurring dreams?
I do. Usually it’s a specific setting, like a large house or complex in somewhat isolation that makes repeated appearances and whatever dream is just set there (and I recognize them lucidly). As for “plots” themselves, it used to be people breaking into my house or working a job I had in high school, but lately it’s either me killing someone early on and the rest of the dream is me trying to cover my tracks to get away with it, or something of a house party is happening and I steer most scenarios into having sex with various women, or having them getting upset with me for trying, which can be equally enjoyable to navigate.
Do you believe in the concept of self-healing, or that one can heal oneself?
Physically, emotionally, spiritually, whatever — yes. I’m rather solitary in that regard and rarely seek assistance, even venting. I keep hardships to myself, and don’t trust others to help any better than I can help myself. I don’t think it’s a pride or ego thing, I just think I have an extremely potent level of self-awareness that I can figure it out on my own — and my general way of approaching problems isn’t typical, so you could say it’s a matter of compatibility. I wouldn’t be against taking help from someone who I feel can do a better job, but I haven’t found that.
I respect the concept of community and the role it can play in helping people get to where they need, but at the end of the day, I believe it’s your own mindset, perspective, and choices that truly move the needle.
Was there a specific moment in life that made you more conscious of your health?
I wish I’d be struck with an epiphany for the sake of consistency, but no. No hard rules, more like boundaries on either side where I’ll suddenly decide to end a bad streak or loosen off of a strict one. I just operate on the fact that I currently feel good/bad and adjust from there, in tandem with my dynamic, situational lifestyle.
Where do you look to for information and guidance?
I don’t actively seek it out; I explore reading enough that I come across concepts, but then tie together different pieces myself and really just Google random, specific things to help me bridge the gaps on some theories. Otherwise, I consider what my grandparents did in their day, even into old age, and abstract concepts out from there. Or just experiment on myself and see how things go.
I have a significant amount of respect for the body’s ability to react to and regulate whatever you throw at it outside of really basic non-harming concepts, so I don’t feel that “optimizing” is worth pursuing, or that one diet — or, especially, product — is a magic bullet. I’m in tune with what works for me, so I usually try to avoid conversations that generalize the topic into “what’s better” as an argument.
Fuck, marry, kill: three health trends of your choice.
Fuck: anti-seed oils, marry: fasting, kill: product-based solutions. The anti-seed oil stuff going on is nice to see since it’s a starting point of being conscious of how things work and doesn’t require you to buy anything, so I encourage this for people at large. Fasting is a staple I’ll never stop doing and will forever be the ultimate course-correction tool. Considering my previous answer dismissing “magic bullet” approaches, I sneer at very specific products for specific ailments and benefits.
What are your grocery staples? What meals do you find yourself returning to?
I’m communally famous for being able to live solely off of pickled eggs and pepperettes for an extended amount of time. I don’t get sick of them, you don’t need to prep or even warm them, or keep them stored in a particular way; they’re cheap and filling, portioned/modular by design, and have more or less the macronutrient profile I’d prefer to ingest. I likely single-handedly influenced the rather recent popularity of the charcuterie board by explaining this so often over the past 15 years.
I hate spending money on food; I’m too much of an on-the-go bachelor to care about taking 30 minutes to make a meal I’ll finish in two, and my boring week of “meals” makes that hot and freshly-prepared dinner with my family all the better as a highlight of my week. I usually only eat once or twice a day anyway, and the rest of the time I’m just in situations where people offer me something to eat, or food is available in some form — including leftovers.
What do you think is the most pressing health issue of our time?
We’ve traded connection for convenience. We don’t know how things work and don’t think for, or trust, ourselves. While maybe not a direct “health issue,” I believe it’s at the core of where people are going wrong and why people are generally unhealthy in body and mind. I’m not saying we all need to go homestead, but the effect of the “1 symptom = 1 pill” way of living contributes to a significant lack of self-confidence and well-being across the board.
What advice would you give to the person reading this?
Simplify where you can. It feels comforting to anchor yourself to big, complex plans and comprehensive approaches to things like health and let them pull you towards where you want to be, but you’re probably spending too much time, effort, and money on it. I won’t harp on what works for other people, but this is a skill that can be applied to most aspects of life.
Simplicity forces you to understand the real mechanisms at play, and provides stability when things don’t go according to plan. It might seem boring to some on the surface, but being able to connect the dots and reason your way through things can make you more conversationally interesting no matter the topic. I encourage people to look at removing things versus adding new things to cover perceived gaps that aren't as deep as you think, anyway.
That being said, I understand that I am a brute: I do admire girls and their comparably-massive, deep and detailed routines and rituals, or whatever you call them — I don't necessarily think caring about the fine points makes you ridiculous. I just hope you don't find it worth stressing over if you're not enjoying the process.
