The Energy Equation: Fuel, Focus, and Longevity

Ojai, CA — Summit of a 15 mile run visiting a friend from NYC.

“You can’t make good decisions with bad chemistry.”

The Energy Problem

Most people think they’re tired because they work too much.
They’re tired because their energy system is broken.

We chase caffeine instead of consistency, restriction instead of rhythm, and wonder why our focus, mood, and recovery flatline.

Energy isn’t about calories in, calories out.
It’s about inputs and information — what your body learns from what you feed it.
Food is fuel and data.

Protein: The Foundation

Protein isn’t just for muscle — it’s the scaffolding of life.
Every enzyme, neurotransmitter, and hormone starts there.

Target: 1 gram per pound of body weight per day
Frequency: 3–4 meals per day
Threshold: 20–25g per meal minimum to trigger muscle protein synthesis

As you age, that threshold rises; the signal gets weaker, so the dose must increase.
Older adults need 30–40g per meal or supplemental leucine to keep the anabolic lights on.

If you don’t get enough, you’ll cannibalize your own tissue to survive - e.g. you work arms and your body has to steal protein from legs.

Muscle is hard to build and easy to lose — like trust, or focus.

Fiber and Gut Health: The Forgotten Organ

Your gut is more than digestion — it’s an ecosystem that runs on soluble, fermentable fiber.
It shapes your mood, immunity, and metabolic flexibility.

Target: 40g of fiber per day, emphasizing soluble sources
Sources: fruits, vegetables, chia, legumes, whole oats, chia, flax
Important: fermented foods 4 servings per day (if it’s shelf stable the good stuff is dead)

Ninety percent of serotonin (the happy love juice) is made in the gut.
When your microbiome is balanced, your brain is calmer.
When it’s not, anxiety, inflammation, and fatigue spike.

The gut doesn’t just digest your food — it digests your stress.

Blood Sugar: The Stability Signal

Spikes and crashes in glucose mirror spikes and crashes in emotion.
Steady blood sugar = steady mind.

Rule: Protein + fiber first, carbs last
Move: 30-minute walk after meals lowers glucose area under the curve by ~30%; pair with protein and fiber sugar spikes decline >50%
Hack: Reverse osmosis water + electrolytes = smoother energy, cleaner recovery

The flatter your glucose curve, the flatter your emotional volatility.

This is why metabolic health is so important for mental health.

Fats: The Hormonal Regulator

Stop demonizing fat. The right kinds are fuel and signal.

Prioritize: Olive oil, avocado, nuts, fatty fish
Avoid: Seed oils, trans fats, hyper-processed junk
Goal: 20-35% of calories from unsaturated fats, limit saturated to <10%

Your hormones, brain, and cell membranes depend on them.
Cut fat too low for too long and your mood, sleep, and sex hormones crash.

The Natural GLP-1 Stack

Forget the pharma shortcut. Your body already makes GLP-1 — the same satiety hormone behind drugs like Ozempic. You just have to feed the mechanism:

Protein 20g+ before meals
Olive oil and nuts for unsaturated fats
Fermented foods + fiber for gut signaling
Green-leafy thylakoids (spinach, kale) to delay fat digestion

Small shifts, massive leverage.

Hydration: The Hidden Variable

Most people walk around 1–2% dehydrated — enough to drop endurance and cognitive performance by double digits.

Baseline guideline: 35ml per kg of body weight (~2.5L daily), water from food counts
Add: 0.5–1 L per hour of Zone 2 training in heat (refine here, based on individual sweat rates and conditions)
Replace: 500–1,000mg sodium per 1L (learn more here, individuals may lose <200 to >2,000 mg per liter)