To view this email as a webpage, click here For the first time in 10+ years, I rewatched my 2012 TEDx talk: “Nerd Fitness and Resetting the Game of Life.” My first thought: “Whoa, Steve. Those are some EPIC sideburns.” My next thought: “Bold choice with the striped shirt, jeans, and flip flops!” Then I gave myself some grace. I’m deeply uncomfortable with the spotlight. I hate public speaking. It makes me want to vomit every single time. I also don’t like being on camera. And yet, I have...
10 days ago • 5 min read
To view this email as a webpage, click here For a long time, I took a lot of pride in never needing to rely on other people. I am a conflict-avoidant people-pleaser, so I would often pride myself on NEVER allowing myself to rely on others. I certainly wouldn’t let myself burden somebody else with my struggles. I jokingly shared how I felt about asking for help the other day on Instagram: I would gladly help others without a second thought. But saw it as a character flaw for myself (and ONLY...
16 days ago • 3 min read
To view this email as a webpage, click here Nick Cave has taken over my life for the past month. Mr. Cave has been putting out music since the mid 1980s with his band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. He’s also a writer, screenwriter, poet, and all-around interesting dude. His band’s most famous song, “Red Right Hand,” serves as the theme song for the show Peaky Blinders, which I have been watching this summer. And last week, Nick Cave turned up again in my life, and I can’t stop thinking about...
24 days ago • 3 min read
To view this email as a webpage, click here Getting in shape is difficult. Every day, there’s a new trend on social media, a new supplement launched, a new secret workout strategy. It’s confusing, frustrating, and demoralizing. For the past fifteen years, I’ve done my damndest to try and cut through all this crap and help busy people get to the truth and forget the rest. I’ve written about 1000 articles on pretty much every topic related to exercise or nutrition. Here’s the thing: the fact...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
To view this email as a webpage, click here About a year ago, I decided to make a big change to this very newsletter you’re reading. You see, from 2020-2023 I was pretty unmotivated to do my job. Which is kind of amazing, when you realize that I have complete autonomy, created Nerd Fitness, and essentially built my own job. I had spent years trying to be the person that I thought Nerd Fitness and the community needed me to be, instead of doing what I’m actually good at (writing interesting...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
To view this email as a webpage, click here In 1992, a study was conducted on weight loss resistant individuals. In this study, the lab specifically studied people who reported eating less than 1200 calories daily and had bodies that were resistant to losing weight. Researchers set out to explore this phenomenon: Were their bodies kicking into starvation mode? Did their bodies process calories differently? Was something else going on? They brought these people into a metabolic ward, and used...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
To view this email as a webpage, click here For disastrous humans like myself, routines are pretty damn important. I’m easily distracted, impacted by my environment, and strongly influenced by the people around me. A predictable routine gives me the best chance to still get stuff done while being human. Unfortunately, while traveling, plenty of things slip by the wayside. And this past week I found myself traveling and falling behind on my nerd duties. I needed to catch up on House of the...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
To view this email as a webpage, click here At the turn of the 20th century, cities around the world had a crappy problem that was getting worse by the day. Literally. Metropolises were rapidly growing in population, and thus so did the number of horse-drawn carriages to transport people from place to place. The problem? Horses generate a lot of waste. At this time, New York City had an estimated 130,000-200,000 horses transplanting people and goods around Manhattan, which meant there was...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
To view this email as a webpage, click here I spent the past week in The Land of Shadow. It was miserable. I loved almost every minute of it. I recently finished playing Shadow of the Erd Tree, the expansion for 2022’s game of the year, Elden Ring. In case you’re unfamiliar, Elden Ring is an action-adventure game where you play as an undead warrior tasked with slaying grotesque bosses across a hauntingly beautiful landscape. Fair warning: I will be making QUITE the analogy between two toxic...
2 months ago • 7 min read