Why I am calling our community the ZERO % Club: The FDA has new food label rules for what counts as healthy. They estimate ”0 to 0.4 % of people that” try to follow guidelines would “make meaningful, long-lasting food purchasing decisions.” The Atlantic says “In other words, virtually no one.” In a conversation on Ozempic type weight loss meds, a friend asked me “who is going to do that?” when I pointed out eating beans and vegetables both nourishes us while releasing GLP1. But despite our obesity pandemic (and my friend wanting both GLP1s and liposuction), on the grand scale the answer is “approximately 0 %.”

So who are the approximately ZERO % that are not statistically significant but READY, WILLING & ABLE to take charge of their metabolic health? With 70% of the US overweight and many desperate for insurance to cover GLP1s, those needing change the most will ignore food labels, gag at the thought of lentils, and say they eat salad if they had one in the last week. I have worked with over 10,000 students, athletes, and weight loss clients over the past quarter century, and it has become clear that our immediate opioid reward response can overwhelm our best intentions, so a simple and efficient strategy is critical.

Even when someone needs meds or might benefit from a supplement, these things do not nourish our body with FOOD, MOVEMENT, SLEEP or STRESS management that lower the rates of AGING, DISEASE, LIPID accumulation (whether overweight or not), OBESITY, and OVERTRAINING or failed exercise, 84% of which is caused by under-nutrition. Diets and more exercise can make things worse, not better. Science makes clear that we can elevate our common sense to create a simple effective strategy.

If you are one of the ZERO % that are ready, willing and able to design your simple STRATEGY and pull the trigger on taking ACTION to launch your journey into better metabolic health, you owe it to yourself to start. I have developed my metabolism assignments teaching over 100 classes at Stanford using research findings we should have never needed to use our common sense for developing a step by step practical path using the OLD SCHOOL methods of food, movement, sleep, and stress management. But common sense by itself is not strategy, so that is where the assignments come in.

Half the assignments are on the TOPIC of NUTRITION with the other half split between metabolic EXERCISE, circadian SLEEP, and STRESS hormone management. There are 3 TYPES of assignments: HOMEWORK where you crunch numbers on your metabolic needs, JOURNALING where you translate these numbers into your real world experience, and READING assignments on key research papers on these topics. This is a metabolic journey for those ready to pull the trigger on taking back their lives from the chaos of information around us to finally reach goals whether needing meds in parallel or not.

NOTE: I only review assignments individually for my Stanford courses or w/consultation

Circadian topology of metabolism: DNA gene expression fastest while sleeping

Role of circadian clocks in metabolic disease: late eating / hard exercise / stress

Obesity as a circadian disease: circadian metabolism follows our nutrient flow

Circadian eating paces Cal as body needs them: why breakfast reduces body fat

Circadian metabolism: timing food and exercise to our natural circadian rhythm