Green Pill 009: Dopamine Fasting | Ergonomics | My Grandma

"If You’re Not Taking Care Of Your Sleep, Exercise And Nutrition, You’re Not Giving Yourself A Fighting Chance Against Depression And Anxiety."

Author

Alex Shinkarovsky
March 25, 2023

Happy Saturday, fitfam,

This week's resources to improve your life, and get you where you want to be.

  1. Green Pill Story: my grandma

  2. Weekly Quick Recs: (Meme, Dopamine Fasting, Passion Hypothesis)

  3. Deep Dive: ergonomics  

Green Pill Stories - my grandma

So, you guys really liked the personal story last week.

I will give you one more from my past.

My grandma moved to the US when she was 52, and spoke 0 English.

My mom had actually gone to an English language school in Ukraine, so spoke pretty well.

After being a doctor in Ukraine, my grandma got a job cleaning bed pans at nursing homes. Aka, poop.

Finally, my mom prevailed on her to sit for an exam to get into nursing school.

She scored 100% on the math, and 50% on the English, lol.

Once in school, she was the oldest, by far. Everyone else was 20, and she was >50.

Well, she still did not speak English. So, she and my mom would stay up late at night, after their shifts, working on my grandma’s nursing homework.

She graduated and secured a job, leading nursing teams for 15 years thereafter in Philly.

You know, whenever I would call a doctor, I would say “This is Nellie, how are you Dr. Smith?”. The doctor would say “Nellie, I already know it’s you, you’re the only one who calls me with such an accent” 😂

My grandmother

Needless to say, she made it, and was very proud of herself. 🙂 

Highlights of the Week

Meme of the Week:

Health Hacks I’m Testing: Dopamine-fasting

Got you! Catchy hook but "you can't fast from a naturally occurring brain chemical", as explained by this Harvard blog piece:

You probably know what I mean, though. Being the Facebook/Snapchat/cellphonewhenI'm12yearsold generation, I have been totally compulsive with my tech use for a long time. Check it:

I saved my previous ‘following’ into a spreadsheet, though

What I’m Listening To:  

My quiet thoughts & my dopamine reward-circuits

Trying to figure out What Makes My Brain Happy And Why I Should Do The Opposite, by David DiSalvo. 2012 so a bit dated. reading other books in the space by Cal Newport (Deep Work, Digital Minimalism) and will share.

Stuck on IG? One.sec app cut my use from 45min→15min day. (no affiliate)

“Without the passion hypothesis to guide us, what should we do instead? This is the question I take up in the three rules that follow. These rules chronicle my quest to figure out how people really end up loving what they do …

Cal Newport

Quote(s) I’m Loving:

❝

You’re either remarkable or invisible…the world is full of boring stuff-brown cows-which is why so few people pay attention…a Purple cow…now that would stand out

Sponsored by…me!

It all started when I asked a new personal training client whether she wanted to me to "run her life". 3 months later, we trained 3x a week, but she also texted me daily, we went to Whole Foods together, I tracked all her sleep, made her "eat this/not that" take out menus, and she lost 35 lbs, went to therapy and started feeling confident.

Deep Dive - Ergonomics

I recently got a 💻 stand - it really helps me from dropping my head.

Think about this. You have been on the desk or computer or phone since 6 y/o. Let’s try to improve our posture (helps anxiety, confidence, blood flow).

And…here are 3 Ergonomic Product Recs

www.alexloveshealth.com/ergonomicproductrecommendations

P.S. Just referring you to these resources - no commission or anything like that.

Thanks for reading. Your feedback really helps! This takes me an hour to put together.

You may find out more about my lifestyle adjustment & coaching services at my site, or read a Case Study here.