Today I want to start by sharing a personal thought . . . and kind of ironic. I keep telling myself it’s time to quit these COVID-19 related videos. Honestly, I am not comfortable doing them and personally I am SO over the COVID-19 drama which this situation has devolved to. ….You probably feel the same. Yet here I am with another installation of content related to COVID-19.
Now, the reason I am still putting stuff out is YOU because OFM has literally turned the health and performance trajectories 180 for so many people, they rely on me for information and insights you simply won’t get anywhere else. People just like you…..so let’s dive in.
There is a LOT of ‘noise’; it’s COVID-19 this, vaccine that, personal freedom versus shelter in place (SIP), mask shaming, virtue signalling and the ‘economy’. . . and let’s not forget the political calculus on COVID-19 which factors into the decision-making of every politician. So I am doing my best to provide COVID-19 content you can use to navigate in today’s ‘weird’ new world and beyond.
There are a LOT of Silver Linings to COVID-19. It is truly exposing the flaws, weaknesses and challenges of the modern, man-made world. If we step back and look at it from this perspective we can start to have some ‘ah-hah’ moments of insight to motivate us to find the balance we need for sustainable change without the fear and ego driven reactive thinking we are witnessing as this COVID-19 saga plays out.
An example is the tragedy of the US surpassing 100,000 deaths attributable to COVID-19 in recent days, a number much higher than that of any other country. Without trivializing these deaths (because they are not trivial to those who have died and their families), we need to be asking the question, ‘Is COVID-19 really so deadly or are we, as a nation, on or heading to our deathbed?’
With the growing body of antibody testing data consistently pushing the death rate lower and suggesting far greater exposure in the population than originally projected COVID-19 is turning out to be a highly transmissible SARS corona virus but one that is actually easily overcome by people with strong immune systems to the point current estimates suggest 35% of those infected are completely asymptomatic.
On the other hand COVID-19 is the Grim Reaper if you are immunocompromised and/or have other comorbidities. What end of the COVID-19 infections is getting virtually all the media attention? The less than 1%.
Instead of relying on the amazing medical professionals and miraculous medical interventions we’ve developed to save us perhaps COVID is a rude awakening to the simple fact we can all do a lot better to become a healthier version of ourselves.
As many of you already know much of the emerging understanding of this virus’s impact relates directly to several aspects of OFM. Things I’ve been talking about for years; like Vitamin D and C, hormonal health and balance, Circadian Rhythm for adequate melatonin, developing cardiovascular potential and more. I’ll be discussing these and other specific topics in upcoming vlogs because they relate directly to achieving that robust health necessary to fighting off a virus, set a new Personal Record at your next competition or the ability to wrestle with your grandkids.
OFM (Optimized Fat Metabolism) is about getting our physiology and metabolism back to that evolutionary model of robust health and performance . . . the one where we couldn’t rely on a healthcare system or diet because there was none!
Everyone of us has this genetic potential locked inside. It is coded into us as well as the biome residing in and on us. It is up to us to develop that potential. Unfortunately, the modern framing of genetics has set up a perspective of lacking, defectiveness or pre-disposition to disease because, generally, things have already gotten out of hand and
So, when it comes to the genetic card deck always remember these 3 points:
YOUR gene pool did NOT result in YOUR existence today because it was fragile, missing a certain gene or genetically predisposed. Millions of years of evolutionary pressure made that pool robust. While genes play a role, they are not your destiny when it comes to disease.
It’s the epi-genetic environmental signals which activate/deactivate your special genetic soup and YOU have a degree of control over this.
Your body, its metabolism, physiology and yes, genes are actually doing EXACTLY what they need to be doing to keep YOU alive in this moment given the inputs of diet, exercise (or lack thereof), stress, sleep, supplementation including drugs, sunlight and other variables.
COVID-19 can be a blessing in disguise. It is our wakeup call to higher health, the one we are programmed to have. And sadly, COVID-19 is not going away and the media, political and policy leaders are in denial. Due to a variety of factors it is out in the population and beyond containment.
We are not Taiwan, Singapore or New Zealand and my evolving thoughts are currently ‘trending’ toward a loosely controlled release of standards so the virus can naturally make it’s way through the ‘herd’ by mid-November to lessen the impacts next flu season. Time marches forward and so does this virus. When you see it in this light the continued strategies are not only passe but almost certain to come home to roost 6 months from now.
So think about this. How fit and healthy do you want to be in 6 months?
