A few years ago, I was your typical office-worker: stressed out, uneven energy, overweight, and inconsistent complexion. Now I'm just your typical 28-year old urban hunter-gatherer on a quest to be healthy, and having a few adventures along the way. See my full bio.
For the first 23 years of my life, I never paid a single thought to what food I put in my mouth. Not one. I had always been athletic, never had been overweight, and my health always seemed normal. But a year into my first desk job out of college, it increasingly felt like my health was holding me back. I had trouble staying awake in meetings, particularly after lunch. My energy would spike and crash throughout the day, and with it my mood. My complexion was spotty and I put on a (couple) dozen pounds.
So I started to search for a solution. Not just a diet -- no one needs another weight loss diet. And not another nutrition study that requires you to memorize the names of twelve anti-oxidants and learn Latin. My brother sent me an essay by Art De Vany, who argued that we should take an evolutionary perspective on human health. Humans are not fully adapted to modern foods -- processed foods are too new on the scene, of course, but so are the grains and dairy that entered the human diet during the agricultural revolution. Similarly, our activity patterns have lost their intensity and natural variability.
Interesting theory. But the real test of any theory is whether it works. If it solves problems. And it did for me. More even energy levels, improved mood, better complexion, and the extra weight just evaporated.
Taking an evolutionary or paleo approach to health doesn't mean we know all the answers about what is healthy and what is not. That's not the point. The point is that we're moving in the right direction. People are solving their health problems.
And we're just getting started.
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I was born and raised in the great state of Michigan. I studied history, economics, and evolutionary psychology at Harvard, graduating in 2005. Spent a year and a half learning to play Excel like a piano at a consulting firm in New York City. In 2007, I jumped ship for a tech start-up doing online advertising. After NYT and Colbert, I landed a book deal -- so now I'm a professional caveman, I guess. (Almost as cool as being an astronaut.) I live in the wilds of Manhattan.
