Today at a Glance
- How to improve 4 body systems critical for longevity
- Your questions, answered: “How much water should I drink for optimal mental performance.”
- Tactical Mindfulness
- Quote: Level up your Self-worth…
As founders, entrepreneurs, and business owners we need to secure cash flow, scale the business, take calculated risks, juggle various responsibilities, differentiate from competitors, and acquire customers in a crowded marketplace.
This wears us down because we pour our heart and soul into the business. Every day, we stare uncertainty in its cold, dark eyes. We want to balance work and life and spend time with loved ones. It’s tough to get/stay fit and healthy.
We want to live life to its fullest and enjoy things. And partially we sacrifice our happiness for a greater cause.
In our mid-30s to early 40s, we realize that stress and pressure fuck you up mentally and physically. We come to understand that we’re prone to more physical issues in the future if we don’t take better care of ourselves.
We’ve been there. That’s how we know.
Yet you can reverse that downward spiral. Here’s how…
The 4 Body Systems Critical for Longevity
System ONE: Cardiovascular – Respiratory System
What it includes: Heart, blood, blood vessels, and lungs
Influence on longevity: Heart disease is the leading cause of death globally. Protecting the heart is one of the top goals for health and longevity.
System TWO: Metabolic System
What it includes: Liver, pancreas, and the broader physiology that mediates the production and storage of energy
Influence on longevity: Maintaining optimal mitochondrial function and reducing fat storage around the organs are vital steps to increase longevity. Healthy metabolic function also reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, dementia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and certain cancers.
System THREE: Musculoskeletal System
What it includes: Bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and cartilage
Influence on longevity: Maintaining strength and bone density protects against frailty and loss of function as we age. It supports the optimal health of every body system. It’s essential for the quality of metabolic health due to muscles’ unique role as a glucose “sink.” More muscle mass means greater carbohydrate tolerance.
System FOUR: Psychological Well-being
What it includes: Emotional health and overall functioning
Influence on longevity: Finding meaning in life and enjoying quality relationships enhances our well-being and is linked to longer health and lifespan. Healthy relationships require effort to cultivate and maintain but the evidence shows it’s worth your time — authentic connection is the #1 predictor of happiness and longevity.
How to Optimize the 4 Body Systems Critical for Longevity
Protecting the body and brain for health and longevity requires you to adopt a handful of lifestyle changes, diet modifications, regular exercise, stress management, and avoiding harmful habits.
Here are five key strategies:
Strategy #1: Healthy Diet
As the Blue Zone studies have shown, if you focus on a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins (such as fish, poultry, legumes, and nuts), and healthy fats (such as olive oil, avocado, and nuts) you’re on a good way.
Limit your intake of processed foods, sugary beverages, and foods high in saturated and trans fats. And reduce sodium intake to a minimum to help maintain healthy blood pressure levels.
Strategy #2: Regular Exercise
Engage in regular aerobic exercises such as brisk walking, jogging, swimming, or cycling for at least 150 minutes per week.
Pro Tip: Do walking meetings whenever possible. And for short distances 2 miles (3 km) or less, leave the car at home.
We do 30-60 min. targeted strength training exercises on 5-6 days a week to improve (heart) muscle strength and overall fitness. It’s our non-negotiable.
If you stay physically active throughout the day (e.g. taking breaks from sitting) you incorporate movement naturally into your daily tasks.
Strategy #3: Maintain a Healthy Weight
Aim for a body mass index (BMI) within the healthy range (18.5 to 24.9 kg/m²). Click here to calculate yours.
Losing excess weight, particularly belly fat, can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease and other risk factors.
Note: Diets never work. Rather choose to make lasting lifestyle and dietary changes for sustainable long-term success. We offer a dedicated program here.
Strategy #4: Manage Stress
Stress isn’t always bad. Only if you think it is.
30,000 adults were tracked for 8 years.
Adults who reported HIGH stress had a 43% increased risk of dying, but only if they believed stress was harmful for them.
Adults who reported HIGH stress but believed stress wasn’t harmful had the lowest risk of dying out of anyone.
When you change your mind about stress, you can change your body’s response to it.
In addition, practice stress-reduction techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga, or others.
Of course, being stressed all the time isn’t something to strive for. The key is to apply stress strategically and periodically then balance it with quality rest.
The Founder Wellness Experience 2024 is the perfect time to step down and take time for some quality active and passive rest.
Strategy #5: Get Quality Sleep
Instead of regularly burning the midnight oil, aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night. This is individually different. Markus’ sweet spot is 7.5 hours whereas Ketty’s is at around 8 hours a night.
Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule and creating a relaxing bedtime routine helps a lot to fall asleep faster.
To not get overwhelmed, we recommend picking one or two of the above and starting with the most critical one. Then progressively add one at a time.
Your Questions, Answered:
“How much water should I drink for optimal mental performance.”
In the below table, find in which percentages your body is made out of water.
As you already know water plays a vital role…
1) Water helps convert food into usable energy Water is involved in various metabolic processes in the body, including the breakdown of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats to produce energy.
2) Water supports oxygen transport Water helps transport oxygen to cells and tissues throughout the body.
3) Water supports mental performance Even a little dehydration can negatively impact cognitive function, such as concentration, alertness, and decision-making abilities.
Staying hydrated helps sustain focus, mental clarity, and overall cognitive performance, ultimately contributing to better energy management.
How much water should I drink for optimal mental performance?
Here you got an easy equation that will answer your question:
Your ideal daily water intake → your weight x 0.5 = oz of water per day
Example: 200 lbs x 0.5= 100 oz per day
In European measurements: 90.72 kg x 0.5 = 2.957 l per day.
If you practice sports:
Take the previous result + (x minutes of exercise/30 min. x 12oz (or 0,35l)) = oz of water per day
One Deep Dive on Mindfulness for You this Week:
When you’re a beginner meditator, you either don’t know where to start or feel overwhelmed with the countless possibilities.
Here’s a framework for either beginning or deepening your meditation practice that originates from an unlikely place — exercise science.
Instead of unstructured exercise, you treat meditation like a training regimen designed to compound progress toward a specific goal.
While exercise offers some health benefits, training allows you to make tremendous performance gains in a relatively short period.
As I learned about this framework, I realized I had been approaching meditation like exercise when, instead, I needed to treat it like training. This approach is called Tactical Mindfulness.
Tactical Mindfulness allows you to pick out attributes that you want to develop in your life—like focus, equanimity, or compassion—and intentionally build your meditation practice around them.
Here’s a deep dive into Tactical Mindfulness from Casey Rosengren
Quote for Self-worth…
“Every time we choose action over ease we develop an increasing level of self-worth, self-respect, and self-confidence.”
Everything in life is hard. A hard life now makes for an easy life later. An easy life now makes for a hard life later. Choose your hard wisely.
Want to achieve greater peace in life? Take action on the thing you’ve been putting off. You can start here.
That’s it for today.
Hope you enjoyed it (and learned something new). Until next week.
What’s going on in our world
We are in week 3 of our stay in Hoi An. It’s a truly magical place. We feel extremely fortunate and grateful for this experience.
We are excited for the initial group of founders who have signed up for the Founder Wellness Experience in June. Selling the first seats has been an incredible feeling, and we eagerly anticipate speaking with other founders interested in joining us.
We are currently offering a 5% discount to our newsletter subscribers, as well as any friends who are founders, entrepreneurs, or business owners that they bring in.
Visit our landing page and feel free to schedule a call to learn more.
As always, stay fit, stay active, and enjoy your life.
Ketty & Markus
