Biohacking 101: An Introduction

Most all of us want to live longer, stronger, healthier lives, right? Otherwise we wouldn’t be a part of this growing online community. Biohacking is no longer just a buzz word. It’s a movement. There are countless blogs, articles, podcasts, conferences and apps related to this topic, all aiming to liberate us from the natural limitations of our human nature. But where do you start?

Before we get into how to create a strong foundation, remember that although the practice of biohacking is gaining ground and popularity these days, that does not mean that everything is currently backed by science. Rather, biohacking is still largely grounded in self-experimentation. One major reason for this is that biohacking hasn’t been popularized long enough to see the effect of
certain mechanisms implemented consistently in someone who began biohacking when they were in their teens and, let’s say, lived to be 120 years old. We are pacing towards being able to separate fact from fiction in this arena of self-experimentation within our lifetime, though, and most likely within the next 30 years we will have a solid body of knowledge to guide us all based in scientifically
proven fact rather than popular opinion.

Now, let’s get started. Remember, not all of this is going to be sexy, and not all of this is going to be fun, but the goal in biohacking is to optimize the human experience mentally, physically and spiritually, so let’s keep that in mind. The key for today is to get a solid grasp on the fact that the basics are the most important part of biohacking. You can pay any amount of money to get the latest and greatest technology or treatments, but without a solid fundamental base, most treatments and technologies are not going to produce the full desired effect. The basics include but are not limited to the following:

• Diet & nutrition
• Supplementation
• Physical activity
• Sleep
• Stress management

And within these categories there are countless sub-categories which I’ll cover in future articles. But the point here is really being able to ask yourself – before over-complicating this, how healthy are you, really? How much fortitude and diligence do you deploy daily towards consistently improving your health? Are you getting enough sleep? Are you getting enough exercise? Are you drinking enough water? Are you keeping yourself in a positive mind state? Are you managing stress effectively? Are you quantifying things so that you can improve in all these areas based on fact rather than just how you “think” you are feeling? If the answer to any of these questions is “no”, then this is what you need to focus on before going any further down the biohacking rabbit hole.

My challenge to the readers today is this: 90 days.

Popular belief says a habit is formed in 30 days and a permanent lifestyle change is achieved in 90 days. So let’s break this into 3 increments to allow ourselves to stay motivated throughout the process as we hit milestones.

Start by taking a photo of yourself so that you can see the physical (while you feel the metaphysical) differences in yourself once this challenge is over. Also, if possible, before attempting this challenge go to your physician and get a basic blood test done, that way you can measure the key blood markers we should all be keeping track of before and after this challenge ends, further quantifying the positive effects. Finally, write down 4-5 things about yourself that you would like to see change through completing this challenge. These can be mental or physical. Then when you look back and remember who you were before and after the challenge, you will have proven physically and mentally that you are now a new person. The markers to hit are the following:

1. Waking up anytime between 4am – 6am (you choose) consistently at the same time each day
2. Meditating or doing deep breathing for 15 minutes per day right upon waking
3. 3 days out of the week, skip breakfast and substitute it for a plain black coffee or a cup of
   green tea. Have lunch at 1pm as the first meal of the day.
4. Drinking a minimum of 2L/water per day
5. Performing some sort of exercise for at least 30 minutes where you break a sweat, 4x/week
   (ex: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday)
6. Abstaining from refined sugar, carbs and alcohol for at least 5 days per week (ex: M-F stay
   disciplined, Sat/Sun allow yourself one glass of wine and one piece of food you crave)
7. Finish eating by 8pm each night, and be in bed before 11pm.

That’s it. That’s the challenge. And this, this IS literally the core of biohacking. Seems simple enough, right…?

Be careful not to get ahead of yourself. Most people never achieve their health goals because of the discipline it takes first to reach them, and then to maintain them. I promise you, health is a marathon, not a sprint, but if you can make it through 90 days of the above regimen, you will come out of it a new person, and then, only then, will the rest of the topics we will be discussing in this online group and through these articles begin to mean something. There are no shortcuts or special gadgets (yet) that will help us live forever. We need to start with small, daily actions and build over time.

Good luck on the challenge, and feel free to send in your before/after photos once complete so the community can give you a shout out for the amazing effort you put in!

Until next time biohackers…

– Leon