Alright, I am still dealing with my diagnosis...the best way I know how....and that it is with badass nerdery

I am now a biohacker (a bootleg one)

I mentioned this yesterday, but today I got a little more detailed on the specifics. While reading "Megaliving" by Robin Sharma, I started to daydream (just a little) about what my life could be...even with this diagnosis of MS.

(PS If you read stuff on Google about Primary-Progressive MS, it will seriously depress you.)

With that daydream, my biohacking goals became clearer.

So, here we go;

-HRV: (Heart Rate Variability): I will be using a very cheap heart rate monitor I bought from eBay as my first introduction to biohacking.

I chose HRV because heart rate variability is a signal that our parasympathetic nervous system is balanced and working like it should.

The parasympathethic nervous system runs on autopilot, when things are calm, we are in "rest" mode and the nervous system slows down. When things get scary, our body revs up our nervous system by increasing adrenaline so we can fight or run (or stay still and yell for Mommy).

This parasympathetic system activity can be affected in people with MS and might be an indicator of future breakdown.

Following that logic, it might be a good idea to track my HRV as my first "biohacker" experiment.

The won't be a true "experment", but more of an introduction to the concept of biohacking. My goal is to track my HRV for at least 10 days to get a feel for the process.

The experiment: Track HRV for at least 10 days. Once I get the HRV monitor, begin meditation focused on visualizing better health and track for 10 days.

Weight: I don't know if this is a "biohacking" experiment, but it's something I'm going to continue. Although MS is disease that can lead to muscle wasting, that doesn't mean I have to give into the nightmare that I can't work on looking good naked.

So, my goal is to weigh at least 160 pounds by next year (or as close as possible). I'm currently 138.

Being skinny has something I've battled for since I was a child.

As I become more aware of my body and what I eat, I am starting to guess that my consistent skininess may not be only because I couldn't follow a diet plan. It might have been because I was eating food that my body had no idea what to do with.

So, I am working on the weight thing from two fronts. Previously, I tried to gain weight by sheer willpower. ....but it didn't last long (75 Hard was my only success story) but now I'm also going to add a little more science into this.

I'm going to start tracking my body's reaction to all of the food I'm shoveling into my mouth...besides just the calories.

The experiment: Have as many days where I eat 2600 calories or more between now and May 2022 as possible. Starting November 12, do 30 days of drinking at least 5 cups of water day. I will be weighing myself daily.

Fitness: For this, I am going to continue working out, although on a reduced schedule. I decided I'm going to focus on two things: (1) Muscle-building to keep building muscle (2) Walking to improve mobility and speed with walking (MS has affected my abilty to walk). The goal is to develop baseline fitness for future workouts and to reach a higher score on the 6 minute walk test (My baseline was 151 steps, while the normal was 400-600 steps)

Today's Results

5am club "Hour of Power" Practice

  1. Read a book for 20 minutes-Finished "Megaliving"
  2. Meditate for 20 minutes-Meditate for 10 minutes
  3. Stretch for 20 minutes-Downloaded a stretching PDF from MS Association, but did not start

Modified 75 Hard-Updated

  1. Take a progress photo
  2. Workout A: Walk at least 2,000 steps a day-6,338 steps
  3. Workout B: Do a modified workout of modified squats,lunges, wall pushups, 2 handed kettlebell press, and plank
  4. Complete top 3 goals

Bio-Hacking

HRV: 128 bpm/118 HRV

Nutrition: 1480/2600 calories. 138.5 lbs

Fitness: 1 rep of each exercise (plank 20 sec.). 6338 steps. No stretching

 This free site is ad-supported. Learn more
​