Reflection

Q2 2026 was a better recovery quarter than Q1: stress dropped, body battery improved, steps came back up, active calories increased, and VO2 max started to recover.

It was not a clean win. Sleep stayed just under target, May had a noticeable dip, and weekly intensity was still well below the 800-minute goal. But after the injury-disrupted Q1, this looks like movement in the right direction rather than another quarter of drift.

Focus Areas

As usual, there are five areas that I wanted to focus on:

• Improve fitness by rebuilding training volume and getting back toward consistent weekly load.
• Sleep better by improving sleep hygiene and meal timing.
• Reduce stress by reinforcing daily recovery habits.
• Improve biomarkers by focusing on measurable lab outcomes.
• Improve nutrition by using food choices to support glucose, recovery, and biomarkers.

Overall quarter snapshot:

Data coverage note: LifeDB synced successfully on July 11, 2026, with Garmin data available beyond the end of Q2. The Q2 Garmin analysis below uses daily-summary records from April 1 through June 30, 2026, plus 88 scored sleep nights.

Quarter-over-quarter highlights:

• Average stress fell from 30.2 in Q1 to 25.9 in Q2, based on 89 Q2 daily-summary records.
• Average max body battery rose from 75.0 in Q1 to 82.4 in Q2.
• Average daily steps rose from 6,421 in Q1 to 9,069 in Q2.
• Average active calories rose from 363 in Q1 to 520 in Q2.
• Average resting heart rate was flat at 54.2 bpm in both Q1 and Q2.
• Average sleep score was essentially flat: 79.5 in Q1 vs 79.2 in Q2, across 88 scored Q2 nights.
• Average daily intensity rose from 35.6 to 72.2 intensity minutes, but that still was not enough to hit the weekly target.

Correlations for the quarter:

The broad pattern is what I would expect: activity and output metrics cluster together, and stress still sits opposite recovery. The most useful practical signal is not exotic: higher-stress weeks were the weeks where body battery recovery looked more fragile, and the better activity weeks tended to line up with higher active calories and steps.

Let us go through how the quarter looked by focus area.

Improve Fitness

Goals

• Average intensity minutes (Garmin) of 800 or above ❌
• Improve Vo2Max ⚠️
• Decrease RHR ⚠️

Analysis

I look at intensity minutes as a way to make sure I am getting enough fitness, regardless of whether I am running, at the gym, or kayaking.

Q2 was a real improvement from Q1, but still below the target:

• Weeks counted: 14 week-ending buckets
• Average weekly intensity minutes: 459.4
• Median weekly intensity minutes: 434.0
• Weeks at or above 800 minutes: 1 of 14
• Best week: 960 minutes, week ending June 14
• Lowest week: 128 minutes, week ending June 30, because it only contains the final two Q2 days

That is much better than Q1’s very low training load, but it is still a long way from the 800-minute goal. April started strongly, May dipped, and June had one very big week before settling back down.

Resting heart rate is more complete:

Average RHR was 54.2 bpm, exactly flat against Q1. Monthly RHR moved from 54.7 in April to 54.0 in May and 53.9 in June, so there is a small positive slope inside the quarter even though the quarter average did not improve.

VO2 max came back onto the board with 13 readings between April 10 and June 27:

• Minimum: 46
• Maximum: 48
• Average: 46.8

That is still below late-2025 levels, but it improved from the Q1 readings around 45 and gives me a usable baseline for Q3.

The activity mix also looked more alive again: LifeDB found 52 Q2 activities, led by walking, fitness equipment, running, and hiking.

Experiments

The Q1 plan was to rebuild training volume with a more structured running and strength schedule. The data suggests I did rebuild, but not consistently enough yet. The Q3 experiment should be less about finding the perfect schedule and more about making the ordinary weeks repeatable.

Improve Sleep

Goals

• Keep average sleep score about 80 ⚠️

Analysis

Sleep stayed close to target, but just under where I want it.

For Q2:

• Nights with sleep-score data: 88
• Average sleep score: 79.2
• Average sleep duration: 7.43 hours
• Q1 comparison: 79.5 average sleep score and 7.27 hours average sleep duration

Monthly sleep score was 80.6 in April, 77.8 in May, and 79.2 in June. That makes May the main weak patch of the quarter.

Day-of-week sleep pattern:

The strongest sleep-score days were Saturday (81.8, 12 nights) and Friday (80.0, 13 nights). The weakest were Monday and Thursday, both 78.2. The day-of-week spread is not enormous, but the work-week pattern is still visible.

Experiments

The main practical sleep question remains meal timing and evening routine. The numbers say I am close to target, but not reliably above it. That means Q3 should focus on consistency rather than a new complicated intervention.

Decrease Stress

Goals

• Decrease stress ✅

Analysis

Stress is the clearest improvement in the Q2 Garmin data.

Average stress dropped from 30.2 in Q1 to 25.9 in Q2, across 89 daily-summary records. That is a meaningful move in the right direction.

Weekly stress trend:

The highest-stress days were Thursday (27.2) and Friday (26.9). Monday was lowest (24.5), with Sunday also relatively low (24.7). So the mid-to-late-week stress pattern is still there, but the whole baseline looks lower than Q1.

Experiments

I do not want to over-explain the cause from Garmin data alone. The measured result is clear: stress came down and recovery improved. The useful Q3 question is what made April work better, and how to avoid the May dip turning into a default pattern.

Improve Biomarkers

Goals

• Decrease IGF-1 ❓
• Keep MCV in range ✅
• Decrease fasting glucose ❌
• Keep RDW stable ⚠️
• Increase or maintain albumin ❓
• Maintain hsCRP ✅
• Follow up free testosterone / SHBG / FSH ⚠️

Analysis

The latest biomarker follow-up in the Biomarkers sheet is from April 22, 2026, which sits inside Q2. I also checked the PhenoAge History sheet for the April 23, 2026 PhenoAge update.

Key interpretation:

• The clearest win is MCV, which moved from out of range back into range.
• hsCRP is excellent at <0.2 mg/L.
• Glucose is now the main metabolic marker to watch, sitting at the top edge of the reference threshold.
• Free testosterone / SHBG / FSH still need follow-up. SHBG improved but remains high; free testosterone is below range; FSH is slightly above range.
• IGF-1 and albumin still need retesting because they were not included in the April follow-up.

PhenoAge also updated on April 23, 2026:

• Chronological age: 43.2
• Phenotypic age: 32.34
• Difference: 10.84 years younger

That is a tiny improvement in phenotypic age from 32.41 on January 17, 2026, though the overall difference only widened because chronological age also moved forward.

Experiments

The improved MCV result still points in the right direction for the B12/folate work from previous quarters.

The glucose experiment was the main nutrition-linked biomarker experiment this quarter. The CGM made it much easier to see which meals were uneventful and which meals caused a large spike. The laksa example was the clearest warning shot: the spike was obvious, and even walking afterward did not fully blunt it.

Improve Nutrition

Goals

• Improve glucose control.
• Keep meal prep consistent enough that eating out does not become the default.
• Use nutrition changes to support sleep, stress, and biomarker follow-up.

Analysis

The April glucose value of 5.4 mmol/L makes glucose the obvious nutrition focus. It is not catastrophic, but it moved in the wrong direction and sits right at the top of the listed range.

The CGM experiment made this less abstract. Some regular meals looked fine, including toast with peanut butter and fig jam, the Nutty Pudding-inspired smoothie, and pasta with vegetables. The standout exception was laksa, which caused a large glucose spike.

Experiments

The main experiment that I ran this quarter was around fasting glucose. While not terrible, I wanted to try and drive this number down. I decided to re-visit getting a CGM and see which foods spike my levels. The first day was relatively uneventful: toast with peanut butter and fig jam was fine, as was my “Nutty Pudding”-inspired smoothie, same with some pasta and vegetables. On day two though I decided to try a new laksa place, which isn’t a type of food I even typically eat that often, and stood back as I could see my fasting glucose levels soar. When I saw them raise I immediately went on a walk, but even that didn’t help.

Supplement Stack

Some principles that I tried to follow:

• Avoid pill burden; prefer food over pills.
• Wait until a supplement is on the ITP supported interventions page, or has significant evidence behind it.
• Have a biomarker in mind that a certain supplement will change.

Current stack:

Experiments

• The B-vitamin simplification is the supplement change most tied to a measurable result, because MCV stayed back in range.
• Fish oil remains in the stack for now because sardines were not frequent enough to make food-only omega-3 intake reliable.
• Dropping tart cherry and melatonin still looks reasonable unless the Q3 sleep data clearly worsens.

Focus For Next Quarter

Based on the completed Q2 data, key priorities for Q3 2026 are:

General

• Keep pressure on the mid-week recovery pattern, especially Wednesday through Friday.
• Bring average sleep score back above 80 consistently.
• Treat May as the cautionary month: lower sleep, lower body battery, and lower activity are all visible there.

Exercise

• Rebuild weekly training volume toward the 800-minute target.
• Use the 13 Q2 VO2 max readings as a baseline and push the trend back above 48.
• Keep the ordinary training weeks repeatable before optimizing the ambitious ones.

Biomarkers

• Re-test IGF-1 and albumin.
• Confirm that MCV stays in range.
• Follow up glucose with either fasting glucose, HbA1c, fasting insulin, or a structured CGM review.
• Follow up free testosterone, SHBG, and FSH.

Nutrition

• Keep using CGM feedback to identify meals that produce outsized spikes.
• Treat high-spike restaurant meals as experiments rather than defaults.
• Keep meal prep boring enough to be reliable.

Wish me luck!

Reflection

Q1 2026 was a rebuilding quarter from a training and recovery perspective. The data shows reduced training load, lower daily steps, higher stress, and lower body battery relative to late 2025.

Focus Areas

As usual, there are four areas that I wanted to focus on:

• Improve fitness by training more. My goal is to maintain 800 intensity minutes on average per week.
• Sleep better by improving my sleep hygiene and experimenting with meal timing.
• Reduce stress by examining meal composition and avoiding anything that might impact my sleep.
• Improve biomarkers by looking at my nutrition, as well as the above items.

Overall most metrics moved in the wrong direction this quarter, as we can see with the following key metrics.

Over the previous quarter (Q4 2025 to Q1 2026):

• Resting heart rate rose from 51 to 54 (+3 bpm).
• Stress rose from 25 to 29 (+16%).
• Average daily steps dropped from 11,289 to 6,420 (-43%).
• Body battery dropped from 89 to 78 (-12%).
• Weekly intensity (median) dropped from 583 to 205 (-65%).

We can see correlations for the quarter with the below correlation matrix.

Looking at the correlations, a few stood out:

• bb_min and stress_avg were strongly negatively correlated (-0.83), which aligns with higher stress days draining recovery.
• Activity and output metrics stayed tightly linked (steps with calories_active_avg: 0.82; hr_max with calories_active_avg: 0.80).
• hr_min and rhr_min remained strongly coupled (0.73), which is expected.

Let us go through how the quarter looked by focus area.

Improve Fitness

Goals

• Average intensity minutes (Garmin) of 800 or above ❌
• Improve Vo2Max ⚪ (no data)
• Decrease RHR ❌

Analysis

I look at intensity minutes as a way to make sure I am getting enough fitness, regardless of whether I am running, at the gym, or kayaking.

For Q1 2026:

• Average weekly intensity minutes: 258
• Median weekly intensity minutes: 209
• Weeks >= 800 minutes: 0 of 13

We can see that Q1 was an absolutely terrible month from an exercise perspective, given my injury. I found that swimming seemingly didn’t move the needle from a load perspective, which could very well be because my HR wasn’t detected well.

In addition to load, resting heart rate is useful for interpreting adaptation and recovery.

Q1 2026 monthly average RHR sat around 54.2 bpm, up from Q4 2025 levels.

VO2 max could not be evaluated this quarter, likely due to no qualifying running activities in the configured period.

Experiments

No fitness experiment notes were recorded in this dataset for Q1.

Improve Sleep

Goals

• Keep average sleep score about 80 ⚠️

Analysis

Sleep held close to target but was slightly down from Q4.

Q1 2026 average sleep score was 79.5 (vs 80.6 in Q4 2025).

Day-of-week pattern for Q1:

• Best: Sunday (83.1) and Friday (82.5)
• Weakest: Wednesday (76.1) and Thursday (78.1)

Experiments

No sleep-specific experiment notes were captured in the generated data. Add qualitative notes here if needed.

Decrease Stress

Goals

• Decrease stress ❌

Analysis

Stress increased this quarter.

Quarter average stress was 30.2. Highest days were Thursday (33.2) and Wednesday (31.8), while Sunday was lowest (27.1).

The 12-week heatmap shows consistently elevated stress through the quarter rather than a short isolated spike.

Experiments

No stress-specific interventions were logged in this dataset for Q1.

Improve Biomarkers

Goals

• Decrease IGF-1 ❓
• Decrease MCV ✅
• Decrease Fasting Glucose ❌
• Decrease RDW ⚠️
• Increase Albumin ❓
• Maintain hsCRP ✅

Analysis

The latest biomarker follow-up happened after quarter-end, so the April 22, 2026 results are compared against the most recent prior available result for each marker.

Successes and focus:

• MCV was the clearest win, dropping from 101 fL on January 17, 2026 to 95 fL on April 22, 2026 and returning to the normal range.
• hsCRP remained very low
• RDW moved slightly in the wrong direction from 12.5% to 12.8%, but it still sits comfortably within range.
• IGF-1 still needs retesting, since the latest result on file remains the elevated 35 nmol/L result from October 10, 2025.
• Albumin cannot be reassessed yet because it was not rerun in the April 2026 follow-up.

Additional April follow-up items also stood out:

• Free testosterone fell from 260 pmol/L on March 28, 2025 to 183 pmol/L on April 23, 2026 and is now below range.
• SHBG improved from 68 nmol/L on March 28, 2025 to 57 nmol/L on April 23, 2026, but it remains above range.
• FSH increased from 7.7 IU/L on March 28, 2025 to 10 IU/L on April 23, 2026, putting it slightly above range.
• Total testosterone fell from 20.5 nmol/L on March 28, 2025 to 13.1 nmol/L on April 23, 2026, though it remains in range.

When plugging this into PhenoAge we get a view like this:

This is a slight improvement from my previous test, but a slight decrease from two tests ago.

Experiments

• The improved MCV values are likely from fine tuning my b12 and folate supplements that have been ongoing over the previous 9 months. Also of note is that my homocysteine levels have also dropped by almost 50% since this time last year.

Improve Nutrition

Back in Q4 I stopped tracking my nutrition so closely, as adding them into Cronometer was taking more effort than I’d like. Additionally I went on a road trip, which meant eating out a substantial amount of meals, so that became problematic.

Experiments

• Get back to meal prepping a majority of my meals. Although I did meal prep a lot in Q1, there were still a number of meals that I had to eat out.
• I started eating more yogurt to see if it could help increase my Red Cell Count (RCC), but I see no change here, so I’m dropping given the dairy portion might have contributed to my stubbornly high IGF-1 and LDL values.

Supplement Stack

Some principles that I tried to follow:

• Avoid pill burden; prefer food over pills.
• Wait until a supplement is on the ITP supported interventions page, or has significant evidence behind it.
• Have a biomarker in mind that a certain supplement will change.

Experiments

• I dropped Niacin in the previous quarter, and I’ll keep that out for now. Although my sleep score decreased, I had fewer nights of waking up at 2am wide awake.
• I added fish oil back in, as it turns out I wasn’t eating sardines that frequently. I’ll leave it in for now unless this changes.

Focus For Next Quarter

Based on Q1 2026 data, key priorities for Q2 2026 are:

General

• Prioritise stress-reduction habits on mid-week days (especially Wed/Thu).

• Bring average sleep score back above 80 consistently.

Exercise

• Rebuild weekly training volume gradually toward the 800-minute target.

• Recover average daily steps back into 10k+ territory.

• Re-introduce strength training. Although I’ve got some international travel coming up, the schedule I plan to follow for the quarter is as follows:

  • Monday: Recovery run
  • Tuesday: DFW + 4x4
  • Wednesday: BSS + Swings + Easy
  • Thursday: DFW + Easy
  • Friday: Rings + Easy
  • Saturday: DFW + Threshold
  • Sunday: Long run

Biomarkers

• Re-test IGF-1 and Albumin, confirm that the MCV improvement holds, and follow up the Free Testosterone / SHBG / FSH pattern.

Supplements

• Dropping Astaxanthin, as evidence seems to indicate it is most beneficial for skin health, and I’d rather use the money to buy sunscreen. I may change if my inflammation levels rise, but they have historically been low.
• I’m combining my B-vitamins into a single pill to reduce burden. The combined pill I’ve found does have some niacin in it, so I’ll be keeping an eye on my sleep scores after starting to take it.
• Dropping Tart Cherry and Melatonin from my night time ritual - I don’t think they’re significantly helping with sleep quality.

Reflection

2025 wrapped up with another hard quarter, unfortunately. Coming off some travel in September there were some events at work in October and November that were especially challenging, and in late November I got a little sick. Even worse is in early December I managed to break my ankle at the local Parkrun. This was well timed for a long road trip towards the end of December, which suited me well given my condition, but did mean exercise slowed down.

However, I treated this quarter as a test: perhaps there wasn’t an improvement, but I’ll still regularly try to make better decision instead of worse decisions.

One part of the test is flipping what could be so many negative thoughts into positive experiences. For example, with my ankle, I used this as an excuse to dedicate more time to learning how to swim.

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![[Pasted image 20260425152943.png]]

Focus Areas

As usual, there are four areas that I wanted to focus on:

• Improve fitness by training more. My goal is to maintain 800 intensity minutes on average per week.
• Sleep better by improving my sleep hygiene and experimenting with meal timing.
• Reduce stress by examining meal composition and avoiding anything that might impact my sleep
• Improve biomarkers by looking at my nutrition, as well as the above items.

Overall most metrics saw a decrease in Q4, as we can see with the following key metrics.

We can see correlations for the quarter with the below correlation matrix.

Looking at the correlations, a few stood out:

• My sleep_avg correlates negatively with hr_min (or rhr_min). Interestingly, for the year it correlated positively with hr_max, but this quarter correlated negatively with hr_max. I would expect a negative correlation (the higher the hr_max, via exercise, then the better the sleep_avg), but it seems to not be the case. It is a weak correlation anyways, so I might just ignore it.
• There is potentially a very slight positive correlation between bb_min and weight, which would be an interesting area to explore. Perhaps if I add weight my body is more stressed and my body battery suffers?

I’ve also used some of Garmin’s new Lifelogging feature, and for the quarter the correlations that it picked up were:

• Overnight stress: the largest negative impact is being injured, and then illness, rounded out by high work stress
• Overnight sleep: the largest positive impact is having a good wind down, while the largest negative impact was being injured

No surprises here.

Improve Fitness

Goals

• Average intensity minutes (Garmin) of 800 or above ❌
• Improve Vo2Max ❌
• Decrease RHR ❌

Analysis

I look at intensity minutes as a way to make sure I’m getting enough fitness, regardless if I’m running or at the gym or kayaking. My goal is 800 minutes per week 80% of the weeks, which is significantly higher than the commonly recommended 150 minutes per week. The reason I’ve chosen to say “80% of the weeks” is because there are some weeks when I need to travel for work, and it is harder to reach this target.

My average intensity minutes for the quarter was was 610 minutes per week, which unfortunately is the only quarter in 2025 where I didn’t reach my 800 minute goal.

In addition to load we can have a look at Resting Heart Rate, as that is often related to both load and sufficient recovery.

And let’s look at Vo2Max, which stayed roughly the same this quarter, but will crash when I start running again. I believe my high was 53 for a few weeks, but falling to 51 eventually as I couldn’t make time (or have the discipline?) for my regular levels of fitness.

Experiments

• In week 49-50 I managed to break my ankle, so wasn’t able to run much in December. However, I’ve been meaning to pick up swimming, and while I’m not getting the same cardio effect as I got from running, at least I’m still exercising. I keep reminding myself that this isn’t about good/bad, but better/worse. Plus, I’m learning a new skill, which is probably a good thing!

Improve Sleep

Goals

• Keep average sleep score about 80 ✅

Analysis

Let’s have a look at my sleep scores since buying my Garmin:

And then when comparing each quarter this year we can see some trends with each day of the week.

Q4 was absolutely a challenging quarter for me from a sleep perspective, in particular in October and November. December was more hit and miss, where some nights I would get high 80s, and other nights get 70s. One bad habit that I started to develop was cooking less meal prep, which resulted in both eating out more, and eating later. I think, for me, it really is best to eat a lightish lower carb meal between 4:00pm and 5:00pm.

Experiments

I conducted a few sleep-related experiments this quarter, including:

• I now sleep with an eye mask and ear plugs every night. The custom made ear plugs seem to be working well.
• Continue to try and adhere to a 3-2-1 routine (no food for 3 hours before bed, start ‘wind down’ 2 hours before bed, and no screens 1 hour before bed). Garmin’s correlation picked this habit up immediately and marked it as having a positive impact.

Overall mostly a success, but having to work hard to keep up good habits.

Decrease Stress

Goals

• Decrease stress ❌

Analysis

Let’s have a look at stress per quarter grouped by day of the week:

Garmin’s method of displaying stress has a delineation between low (blue, <25), medium (orange, >25), or high (red). Usually I’m all blue, and now I’m all orange - especially in December. Much of this is work related, directly and indirectly, but I’m not certain the breakdown.

Experiments

• No stress-related experiments for the quarter.

Improve Biomarkers

Goals

• Decrease IGF-1 ❌
• Decrease MCV ❌
• Decrease RDW ✅
• Increase Albumin ✅
• Decrease hsCRP ✅

Analysis

Comparing my Q4 biomarkers to Q3, here’s how things changed:

Key Findings:

Concerns (❌):

• IGF-1 increased to 35 nmol/L (above reference 7.6-28.5). This is concerning for longevity as lower IGF-1 is associated with increased lifespan. Despite removing pea protein from my Nutty Pudding, IGF-1 still increased. The upper note suggests keeping “well below 45-50 nmol/L” so I’m still under that threshold, but trending wrong direction.
• MCV jumped to 101 fL in January (above reference 79-99). This is a new concern - elevated MCV can indicate B12 or folate deficiency (though B12 came back at 435 pmol/L), liver issues, or hypothyroidism. The increase from 94 → 101 fL warrants investigation.

Wins (✅):

• Albumin increased to 43 → 45 g/L. Higher albumin is associated with better longevity and overall health.
• RDW decreased to 12.6 → 12.5%. Lower RDW correlates with reduced mortality risk.

Experiments

I did have a fair amount of experimentation here, including:

• IGF-1: Removed pea protein from my Nutty Pudding recipe to reduce IGF-1. Unfortunately, IGF-1 still increased from 30.9 → 35 nmol/L.
• Vitamin D: Increased from 1,000 IU to 4,000 IU, which successfully brought levels from deficient (36 nmol/L) to optimal (107 nmol/L).
• B12: Continued B12 methylcobalamin and L-Methylfolate combination. B12 improved from 271 → 435 pmol/L.
• Iron: Continued taking iron 3x per week, though ferritin remains below target.

Because of subscribing to Cronometer I’m able to get more reports, such as my Nutrient Balances and Nutrient Targets, which have encouraged me to tweak the food I eat.

Supplement Stack

Some principles that I tried to follow:

• Avoid bill burden; prefer food over pills.
• Wait until a supplement is on the ITP supported interventions page, or has significant evidence behind it
• Have a biomarker in mind that a certain supplement will change

And here’s what was in my stack for Q4:

Here are the changes that I made this quarter:

• Removed Niacin. I’ve long suspected that this might impact me sleep, where I’ll get startled at night and then can’t get back to sleep. I can appreciate that in theory my NAD levels might decrease, but I’ll prioritise sleep right now, especially if I can’t get the amount of exercise that I want.
• Removed Lysine. Cronometer was showing that I was getting enough.
• Removed B12 liposomal. Previous blood tests showed my b12 levels were where they needed to be.
• Removed Calcium. Eating more yogurt now, so feels safe to remove.
• Removed Fish Oil. Will continue consuming sardines periodically.

I may add some of these back in at a later date.

Focus For Next Quarter

Q4 was challenging - injury, illness, and work stress all took their toll. My fitness metrics regressed, sleep became more variable, and stress increased. However, I maintained my philosophy of making “better decisions, not worse decisions” and continued to track and optimise where possible.

For Q1 2026, my focus areas remain consistent:

• Improve fitness - Now that my ankle is healing, gradually rebuild intensity minutes. Swimming will remain part of my routine while I ease back into running. Desperately need to put on muscle.
• Sleep better - Re-commit to early, light dinners and the 3-2-1 wind-down routine that was slipping late in Q4.
• Reduce stress - Being injured is stressful; I need to be mindful of this and prioritize recovery. Oct-Dec was terrible from a stress perspective, and January isn’t looking much better.
• Improve biomarkers - Investigate the elevated MCV (101 fL) and continue working on IGF-1 reduction.

Wish me luck!

Reflection

An overall successful quarter, with most metrics moving in the right direction, despite being challenging for external reasons (work and travel).

Focus Areas

As usual, there are four areas that I wanted to focus on:

• Improve fitness by training more. My goal is to maintain 800 intensity minutes on average per week.
• Sleep better by improving my sleep hygiene and experimenting with meal timing.
• Reduce stress by examining meal composition and avoiding anything that might impact my sleep
• Improve biomarkers by looking at my nutrition, as well as the above items.

Overall most metrics are improving, as we can see with the following key metrics.

Over the previous year we can see that:

• Resting Heart Rate is decreasing ✅
• Stress is decreasing ✅
• Steps are maintaining ✅
• Body Battery (max/day) is increasing ✅

We can see correlations for the quarter with the below correlation matrix.

Looking at the correlations, here’s an analysis of the relationships and whether they make intuitive sense:

• Sleep is the most powerful driver of recovery (Body Battery), not activity volume.
• More movement predictably raises calorie burn but also nudges up stress and lowers recovery by bedtime.
• Heart rate measures (min HR, resting HR) are excellent indicators of stress load.
• Weight is largely independent from short-term fluctuations in activity, sleep, or stress.

Let’s go through how I did this quarter and what I experimented with.

Improve Fitness

Goals

• Average intensity minutes (Garmin) of 800 or above ✅
• Improve Vo2Max ✅
• Decrease RHR ✅

Analysis

I look at intensity minutes as a way to make sure I’m getting enough fitness, regardless if I’m running or at the gym or kayaking. My goal is 800 minutes per week 80% of the weeks, which is significantly higher than the commonly recommended 150 minutes per week. The reason I’ve chosen to say “80% of the weeks” is because there are some weeks when I need to travel for work, and it is harder to reach this target.

For example, on one of my trips to China I only managed 348 minutes. Part of this was due to accidentally leaving my running kit in my check-in bag, but there was no way I was going to hit 800 minutes: I was working 12 - 16 hour days every day, and it was 40C outside, so could only run on a treadmill.

Similarly, I had a bit of a drop when I traveled to Singapore on a Monday, and back on Thursday. I did manage more intensity minutes, but did not meet my 800 minute goal.

My average intensity minutes for Q3 was 846 per week.

In addition to load we can have a look at Resting Heart Rate, as that is often related to sufficient recovery.

And let’s look at Vo2Max, which stayed roughly the same this quarter.

Experiments

None

Improve Sleep

Goals

• Improve sleep quality ✅

Analysis

Let’s have a look at my sleep scores since buying my Garmin:

And then when comparing each quarter this year we can see some trends with each day of the week. Although this quarter has seen an improvement, it looks like something happens midweek that knocks me off my sleep game.

My trip to China was also challenging for my sleep, even though I managed to avoid an overnight flight. My hotel room the first night was too close to the elevators and kept me up - until I requested to change rooms at 11PM - but even then I never really got back to sleep.

However, it really validated some hunches I was having: eating a heavy carb meal seems to disrupt my sleep. I can see this even on my Garmin, where my stress levels spike after certain meals, but not after others. I ordered a small bowl of noodles around 4:30PM when I arrived, and while glorious, my stress levels were elevated for hours. I even did a little walk afterwards to try and stabilise my blood sugar and insulin levels.

Experiments

I conducted a few experiments this quarter, including:

• Nutrition: adjusting my final meal of the day to be a bit earlier (~4pm) and then also reducing the amount of lentils in it, increasing broccoli, and eliminating the raisin toppings. I also adjusted the seeds I topped it with to try and hit my Omega 3 : 6 ratio better.
• Hygiene: I continued to use my blue light blocking snap-on glasses every evening
• Morning light: I continued to use my DIY SAD light whenever possible.
• Caffeine: I continued to consume almost none, except for a tsp of matcha in my morning smoothie.
• Supplements: I’ll continue with Tart Cherry for now, but I’m not certain on its efficacy.

Overall I’d consider these experiments a success.

Decrease Stress

Goals

• Decrease stress ❌

Analysis

Let’s have a look at stress per quarter grouped by day of the week:

We can see an overall increase in stress, and the highest for the year. My stress levels on Tuesdays have decreased on average, but I think that is more likely because I slowed down going to the gym due to injury. Monday remains the least stressful day of the week; my guess here is because that is when I tend to have a rest day.

Week 31 appears to have been fairly stressful, and coincidentally I started feeling like I was fighting something the week after. At the end of Week 32 I travelled to China, and then was there for all of Week 33. The days were quite long, and I had less control over my nutrition than I normally would.

Experiments

No stress-related experiments for the quarter beyond irregular breathwork before bed.

Improve Nutrition

Goals

• Stick below 20g of saturated fat per day ✅
• Get between 110 and 125g of protein per day ✅
• Get over 70g of fibre per day ✅
• Meet 100% coverage of micronutrients ✅

So, what can I focus on next? Let’s look at areas where I can improve.

Metabolism Support

I’m probably close enough here to not worry about it.

Antioxidants

Midway through the quarter I started adding a single carrot to my Nutty Pudding, so I expect that to slowly increase my beta-carotene levels this next quarter, and I’ve started eating “Melonballs”, basically just small watermelons, so lycopene may increase. Ultimately I need to eat more tomatoes, so will rotate in a chana masala recipe. This is an area of focus.

For Lutein & Zeaxanthin, I believe my values are actually a little higher than this, but missing in some of the nutrient values in certain foods that I’ve added.

Men’s Health

I’m OK with 112g. Cronometer does % for targets, so unless I can do a fixed target and combine that with % for fat and carbs, then this will be hard to always meet.

That’s it. Everything else is where I want it to be.

Macronutrients

Let’s see some other trends from Cronometer. We can see my energy consumption decreased in Q3, as I was doing less exercise, so my weight has remained stable. Saturated fats have decreased which is good, but that could just be due to eating less.

Vitamins and Minerals

Not many surprises here; B6, B12, and Vitamin D all increased. Interestingly Leucine and Methionine also increased despite fewer calories, which could be because I am eating more sardines and travelled more.

Improve Biomarkers

Goals

• Decrease IGF-1 ❌
• Decrease MCV ✅
• Decrease RDW ✅
• Increase Albumin ✅
• Decrease hsCRP ✅

Analysis

Several minor improvements here, with the most outstanding one being CRP. Great to see that get low again. Most things slightly improved across the board, but with the exception of my White Blood Cells and Lymphocyte %, which doesn’t surprise me as the weeks leading up to my blood draw were fairly stressful, and I wasn’t feeling 100%.

IGF-1 remains a mystery as to the increase, especially given my protein consumption decreased.

Leucine is a contributor, so here are my items that contribute to leucine:

Besides the sardines and yogurt, all leucine is from plant sources; the high amount in Nutty Pudding is due to plant protein.

What’s my plan?

• IGF-1: Remove pea protein from my Nutty Pudding recipe (to try and reduce IGF-1)
• IGF-1: TBD if I’ll lower my yogurt consumption or keep as is.
• Vitamin D: Optimal levels now, so will drop to 2,000 IU to maintain.
• B12: Optimal levels now, so will drop the morning liposomal spray.
• RBC & Platelets: start taking iron 3x per week to increase ferritin levels, and increase zinc to ~15 mg/day.

Experiments

I did have a fair amount of experimentation here, including:

• MCV & RDW: After my biomarkers showed that I remain low on B12, Iron, and Vitamin D, I opted to focus on getting those in to better ranges. I swapped out the B Complete with a B12 (methylcobalamin) and L-Methylfolate combination, which I hope will increase absorption. I have also started to take a sublingual B12 every morning. There’s also a need to optimise my iron balance by increasing my ferritin levels from 41 µg/L to somewhere between 60-80 µg/L; I’ve increased my frequency of taking a 20mg iron supplement. Partial success here (B vitamins are solid, but iron remains low)
• I’ve added in iodine (via kelp) now, too, given I’m essentially on a vegan diet and don’t eat much salt.
• Updated my daily smoothie to have a carrot to try and increase my beta-carotene (vitamin A) intake without supplementing.
• Increased Vitamin D from 1,000 IU to 4,000 IU because my vitamin D levels have been deficient all year. Success.
• Started eating sardines. Ideally I would like to drop or reduce the fish oil, as this has shown no impact on health or life span via the ITP.
• Started eating watermelon and Chana Masala for the lycopene.
• Albumin: My Q2 results were potentially related to the FMD.

Because of subscribing to Cronometer I’m able to get more reports, such as my Nutrient Balances and Nutrient Targets, which have encouraged me to tweak the food I eat.

Supplement Stack

Some principles that I tried to follow:

• Avoid bill burden; prefer food over pills.
• Wait until a supplement is on the ITP supported interventions page, or has significant evidence behind it
• Have a biomarker in mind that a certain supplement will change

And here’s what was in my stack for Q3:

Here are the changes that I made this quarter:

• Increased TMG from 500mg to 1.5g to try and better support methylation and decrease homocysteine.
• Removed HCP in order to try and decrease IGF-1.
• Added a liposomal form of B12, just in case I have absorption issues.
• Removed magnesium glycinate from evening stack, as getting enough from diet.

I may add some of these back in at a later date.

Focus For Next Quarter

I’ll keep experimenting with Cronometer to refine my nutrition, and I’ve found great insight so far. Really really valuable increase to my understanding and approach to nutrition.

Nutrition

• Play around with sprouting

Supplements

TBC

Wish me luck!

Background

Lots of fibre.

Ingredients

• 125g steel cut oats
• 1 tbsp sunflower seeds
• 1 tbsp goji berries
• 1 tbsp raisins
• 1/2 tsp turmeric, ground
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground
• 1/4 tsp ginger, ground
• 1 dash of lite salt

Directions

1. Put in a jar
2. Add water about 50% above the oats
3. Let soak overnight
4. Eat

Version History

Background

My primary goal here is to boost lycopene. Courtesy of Serious Eats.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane grater
• 1 small onion, finely sliced (about 1 cup)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn into rough 1/2inch pieces
• 2 800ml cans whole peeled tomatoes packed in juice
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over mediumhigh heat until shimmering. Add garlic, onions, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently until onions are softened but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add bread and tomatoes. Roughly mash tomatoes with a whisk or a potato masher. Add 2 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes.
2. Transfer half of the soup to the jar of a blender. Blend soup, starting at low speed and gradually increasing to high. With blender running on high, gradually trickle in half of remaining olive oil. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with remaining half of soup and olive oil. Ladle into individual serving bowls, top with minced herbs, drizzle with more olive oil, and serve with toast or grilled cheese.
3. Divid in two portions and serve with bread or crackers.

Version History

Background

I typically don’t do many races, but signed up for the Coastal Classic - my first race in a year. There were some things that worked well, and others that could have been improved. This isn’t meant to be a recount of the event, and instead notes for next time.

The Course and Result

It was a new course this year, so roughly the same distance, but more elevation; around 31km, with 1000m of elevation gain. I’ve done this route quite a few times, so was pretty familiar with the entire course. Great atmosphere, and a feeling of community.

What worked well

There were quite a few things that seemed to work well:

• I was never out of breath or feeling like I couldn’t hold a conversation, even when going up some of the stairs. Garmin reported my Vo2Max as 53 when doing the race, so I guess that was sufficient.
• My legs were never really particularly tired. Towards the end I supposed they were starting to get a little sore, but I never pondered slowing down because my legs were sore.
• Nutrition was solid. I brought around 225g of carbs in my Gu refillable tube, plus around 750ml of Poweraid, but double strength.
• My nutrition / water stops worked well. Garmin reported a difference of only 2 minutes between my moving time and elapsed time, which I supposed means I spent around 30 seconds at each stop. That seems about right.
• The week leading up the race I slept generally very well, and two nights before I had an 89 Sleep Score. My Training Readiness was well on the way to being optimal.
• Downhill sections and in particular the technical bits I was constantly passing people. The single track downhill I must have passed 25-50 people. I’m not actually certain why everyone was going so slowly; maybe the knew more than me!
• I tried to take a lot of the pressure off for the race by not setting a goal time, and instead just aiming to have an average HR of 160 or higher.
• Foot preparation: trimmed my toenails quite close, as usual.

What didn’t work so well

• Similar to my previous two marathons, my stress levels climbed significantly the day before the race. While I think this time was better, and the increase could have been due to stress at work, it might also have been due to the race. It might might have also have been due to changing my diet: for both marathons and this race I tried to carb load, and I don’t think that is working well for me. Even outside of taper I notice that when I eat high carb meals my stress levels go off, and I specifically avoid eating carbs prior to bed because I think they make me feel anxious. This makes me sound like I’m low-carb, but I’m certainly not. Timing is everything?
• The night before the race I had half a bowl of noodles, which I think was a mistake. I shouldn’t have. Because…
• While I went to bed at 9:30am, and fell asleep promptly, at around 12:30am some noise woke me up, and I never got back to sleep. I suppose the stress or anxiety from the race and some things at work were too much, and I just couldn’t get back to sleep.
• I felt decent at the start of the race - going up the hills it was a confidence booster to see others desperately out of breath, and I was doing fine.
• Overall my equipment worked well, except for my shoes. The foam is great, and the tread was great, however, I think they were just 1/2 a size too small. I had a feeling this might be the case from just some shakeout runs, and even pre-taped my right ankle. Unfortunately, I needed to tape a little lower, and needed to tape my left ankle. And tape my left pinky toe. And probably elsewhere. Oh, and my toenails on each big toe were aching, which I haven’t felt since I had a pair of Superiors that were a little too small.
• And my heart was uncooperative. My average HR for the race was 163bpm, but there were times in the beginning where my HR was surprisingly high for the speed I was going. Despite having a decent resting heart rate that week, two nights before and the night before it went up significantly.

Focus for next time

Although I do not have any races in mind, I’m sure I’ll do one at some point, so here

• I desperately need to get my HR under control, yet I suspect that just means an increased amount of zone 2 / aerobic runs. It will hopefully be easier if I lived somewhere a bit flatter.
• Experiment with other shoes. I’d like something with a wider toe box, and a decent foam, and I suppose something that actually fits me correctly!
• I can sense that if this was a longer race I might not have the muscular endurance to make it, so I’d need to train that, too.
• Potentially do more races, or race like situations, so my stress levels don’t increase.
• Change my carb load technique, or potentially find better sources that don’t spike my stress levels the day before. In fact, I don’t think I’m satisfied with my tapering approach whatsoever. I typically feel pretty good around 3-7 days earlier, but a bit lethargic the day of the race.

Overall I’m proud of the challenges I overcame, even if disappointed in the result. Hopefully by tweaking a few things I can do better next time!

Background

The primary goal here is to increase my lycopene consumption, as I was noticing this is one of the antioxidants that Cronometer reported as me needing to focus on.

Ingredients

• Olive oil (a lot)
• 4 cans chickpeas, drained & rinsed

• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 140g tomato paste (concentrated lycopene hit)
• 2 cans (400g) crushed tomatoes
• 2–4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (for absorption)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp garam masala
• ½ tsp ginger powder
• 1 tsp chili powder (optional, adjust to spice tolerance)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper (enhances absorption of antioxidants)
• 1 tsp lite salt
• Fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped (folate boost)

Directions

• Take out immersion blender so you don’t forget to blend it.
• Heat olive oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Add onions, cook until golden. Stir in garlic. Cook 1–2 min until fragrant.
• Add tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, and spices (coriander, turmeric, garam masala, chilli, black pepper). Simmer ~10 min → this cooking step boosts lycopene bioavailability.
• Add 1 cup water.
• Use an immersion blender to blend
• Stir in chickpeas and bay leaf. Simmer 15–20 min, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Remove bay leaf.
• Finish with lemon juice and lots of fresh coriander.
• Divide in to 6 servings.

Version History

Background

Another way for me to get lycopene.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or use more oregano)
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 140g can of tomato paste
• 500 mL vegetable broth
• 760g red lentils, soaked (use boxed lentils)
• 32g walnuts, crushed finely
• 800g can of whole peeled tomatoes, blended
• 1 tablespoon high quality balsamic vinegar (see note 5)

Optional

• Whole-wheat pasta or other whole grain base

Directions

1. Add olive oil then onion. Cook 10min, deglaze periodically
2. Add the garlic, thyme, oregano, 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, and pepper to taste. Stir frequently and cook for 60-90 seconds.
3. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2-3 minutes to caramelise, stirring very frequently, until it’s darker red in colour.
4. Deglaze with broth, add lentils and walnuts, bring to boil.
5. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Add the crushed tomatoes and simmer for another 15-20 minutes
7. Finish with the balsamic vinegar
8. Makes 5 servings (about 475g per serving)

Version History

Background (OG)

It has now been quite some time since I’ve been making Blueprint’s Nutty Pudding. For future reference, in case the Blueprint site stops showing recipes, here is the OG:

• 50-100 mL Macadamia Nut Milk
• 3 tbsp ground macadamia nuts
• 2 tsp of ground walnuts
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tsp of ground flaxseed (seed that is ground into flour)
• 1/4 brazil nut
• 6 grams of Blueprint cocoa
• 1 tsp sunflower lecithin
• 1/2 tsp ceylon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup blueberries/raspberries/strawberries (your choice)
• 3 cherries
• 2 oz pomegranate juice

My Tweaks

Some of these items are a little hard to get in Australia, or have (in my opinion) below average value-to-benefit ratios, and I’ve decided to swap them out. Instead, this is the recipe I am currently using:

Powders / Base

• 10g whole macadamia nuts
• 20g cashews
• 15g whole walnuts
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tsp whole linseed/flaxseed
• 1/4 brazil nut
• 1 tbsp cacao powder (that’s CACAO, not COCOA)
• 1 tbsp soy lecithin granules
• 1/2 tsp ceylon cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1.5g TMG powder
• 1mg Boron
• 1 tsp matcha powder
• 1 tsp taurine
• 1 tbsp wheat germ
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp of creatine
• 1 tsp inulin
• 2 tbsp (~30g) green banana powder
• A dash black pepper

Liquids / At Consumption Time

• 200g frozen mixed berries
• 500ml of water
• 1 large carrot
• 50g of spinach
• 30g pea protein

Almost all of this is just from Woolies or Coles, but I did buy the TMG from iHerb, the Creatine from Bulk Nutrients, and the cacao powder and ceylon cinnamon from Amazon. Here is my justification for the adjustments.

1. I’ve used whole nuts instead of ground, as my blender (Vitamix) does a perfectly adequate job of grinding everything up. Anecdotally, I believe that ground nuts spoil more quickly than whole nutes.
2. I’ve swapped out cocoa powder for cacao powder, and it is less processed. It should have higher antioxidants, more nutrients, and fewer additives.
3. I’m experimenting swapping out the sunflower lecithin with soy lecithin granules. It is my understanding that there are two reasons for including lecithin in Nutty Pudding: firstly, because it adds choline, and secondly, because it improves the texture. Choline probably isn’t a challenge for people consuming a lot of meat or dairy, but consider I tend to avoid both, there is the chance that I need more. Of course, choline combined with meat consumption can be problematic, apparently. So, why soy lecithin? Simply because it is easier to get in Australia, cheaper, and has a higher amount of choline.
4. I’ve taken out the pomegranate juice because it is expensive, and the research seemed limited when it came to benefits.
5. I’ve added mustard seeds to boost sulforaphane, which is an antioxidant. Given I cook almost all my vegetables, it is my understanding that this diminishes the sulforaphane content of them. This is from How Not To Age.
6. I’ve added TMG to help with methylation and reduce homocysteine.
7. I’ve added taurine because it is apparently harder to get from a whole foods plant based diet.
8. Wheat germ is for spermidine, which is a compound linked to autophagy. This is from How Not To Age.
9. Turmeric is for it’s active component curcumin, which is anti-inflammatory. This is from How Not To Age.
10. Black Pepper to increase absorption of turmeric.
11. Creatine is to increase ATP production and hopefully allow me to build muscle faster. Apparently there are also some studies indicating it may be helpful to push back Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
12. Removed Macadamia Nut Milk, as I just use water. Macadamia Nut Milk is expensive in Australia.
13. HCP for skin health, muscle recovery (glycine) and joint/bone support. I’m on the fence if there is enough evidence to show efficacy here, and then there is the fear of contamination during the manufacturing process. Edit: I’ve taken out in an effort to try and decrease my IGF-1.
14. Pea Protein Powder to slightly up my protein intake. I’m currently 77kg and aim for around 125g per day, but don’t track macros anymore. As we know, protein is a double edged sword: on one side we build muscle to fend off sarcopenia, an on the other side we activate MTOR which inhibits autophagy. Edit: I’ve taken out in an effort to try and decrease my IGF-1.
15. Green Banana Powder to try and change my gut bacteria to more butyrate producing type.

Prep and Storage

I prepare about 15 days worth of dry powders ahead of time. I typically add some water in the blender and put the dry powders in, and then go on a run. My hypothesis here is that this helps with bioavailability, even though the blender chops things up perfectly fine. After my run I dump the frozen mixed berries in, and have a shower. After my shower I finally blend it all up, and enjoy!

Consumption

I make mine rather liquid-y, and use a metal boba straw to drink it. These are large peanut butter jars that I’ve stocked up on and re-use.