How to Tame Holiday Blood Sugar
Welcome to Effective Habits, a weekly newsletter where I share evidence-based strategies and tools to help you live a happy, healthy, and productive life.
Today at a Glance:
Your Purpose Isn’t Something to Find, It’s Something You Form
Strategies for Holiday Glucose Control
The Paradox of Mastery
“What are you still carrying that isn't yours and is weighing you down?”
🔦Lights, Camera, ...
Modern culture often frames purpose as something to be discovered—a hidden “North Star” waiting to be found—but this framing can quietly undermine the very sense of direction people are seeking. When purpose is treated as something to “find,” it can imply absence, provoke anxiety, and create unrealistic expectations of sudden clarity. This search narrative suggests purpose should arrive fully formed and fixed, which can lead to frustration when it doesn’t, fear of losing it once it appears, or pressure to preserve it unchanged. In practice, purpose is better understood as something that is shaped over time: cultivated from existing interests, values, relationships, and activities that bring vitality, even if only intermittently. Seen this way, purpose is not scarce but already present in seed form; it is not fixed but adaptive, able to evolve as circumstances and priorities change; and it is not merely a tool for external rewards like status or money, but inherently meaningful in its own right. By shifting from the mindset of “finding” purpose to actively “forming” it, people are more likely to move forward from where they are, experiment, and engage with life in ways that gradually create direction, coherence, and a deeper sense of meaning.
🎬Action!
If you had one full day free from obligations, chores, and recovery, and you’re well rested and don’t need a vacation, how would you choose to spend it in a way that feels meaningful and connects you to something beyond yourself? (Included below are some real example answers by Frank from the original article)
How would you choose to spend that day? Example (Frank): He imagined getting outside and away from screens, returning to hikinh, which is something he once loved but had set aside as work took over.
What matters enough to you to spend the day that way? Example (Frank): Time in nature would help him feel reinvigorated and break the repetitive, scripted rhythm of work and daily responsibilities, allowing him to reconnect with a bigger perspective.
How would you know the day had been well spent? Example (Frank): He said he would feel calmer, more grounded, and more present with his wife and son afterward.
What difference would you hope this day might make beyond yourself? Example (Frank): He hoped it would model a healthier relationship with work for his son and perhaps inspire shared outdoor experiences with other families in the future.
If you could experience more of the feelings this day would bring, would you want that? Example (Frank): His answer was an immediate and emphatic yes.
How could you bring even 1% more of this into a normal week? Example (Frank): He decided to suggest a family trip to a forest park that weekend and to look for local hiking groups to build community around being outdoors.
Strategies for Holiday Glucose Control
Dr. Rhonda Patrick
🔦Lights, Camera, ...
Holiday meals are meant to be enjoyed, but they can be metabolically demanding. The good news is that a few small, well-timed habits can meaningfully blunt glucose spikes and help stabilize energy and mood. Below you’ll find some practical, evidence-based strategies you can use immediately, without making gatherings stressful or less enjoyable. A few days of indulgence won’t derail your health, and these low-effort, high-return habits often go unnoticed while supporting both short-term well-being and long-term health. Try one or two at your next holiday meal or in everyday life.
🎬Action!
Walk shortly after you eat. Take a brisk walk within 10–30 minutes after finishing a meal to blunt glucose spikes. Aim for 15–30 minutes if possible, but shorter bouts work too. Three 5-minute walks in the first hour after eating are nearly as effective. If you can’t go outside, walk stairs, hallways, or do light laps at home. If you have to choose, prioritize movement after meals rather than before.
Break up sitting with “exercise snacks.” Avoid long stretches of sitting, especially after large meals. Every 30 minutes, do 1–3 minutes of movement, like walking, chair stands, squats, or stair climbing. These brief, repeated bursts of activity improve glucose clearance and reduce insulin demand, often more effectively than one longer workout. Keep it simple and repeat often.
Eat foods in a glucose-friendly order. Start meals with protein, vegetables, and fiber- or fat-rich foods, then eat starches and sweets last. Waiting 10–15 minutes before higher-glycemic foods can significantly reduce post-meal glucose spikes. If ordering isn’t practical, focus on adding fiber to meals, as it slows glucose absorption and smooths blood sugar responses regardless of order.
The Paradox of Mastery
Sahil Bloom
🔦Lights, Camera, ...
In 1921, philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein closed Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus with a striking metaphor: once you’ve climbed a ladder to gain understanding, you must throw it away. The idea, which was later called Wittgenstein’s Ladder, captures a central paradox of mastery: the very tools, rules, and frameworks that help you grow at the beginning eventually become constraints. Early progress depends on structure—learning the rules, copying proven models, following advice—but higher levels demand something different: adaptation, reinvention, and ultimately transcendence. You start by obeying conventions, then bending them, and finally outgrowing them altogether. This pattern shows up everywhere: entrepreneurs outgrow standard playbooks to innovate, creators move beyond templates to earn trust through originality, professionals shift from borrowed advice to differentiated strengths, and personal growth evolves from external guidance to internal clarity. The lesson is simple but uncomfortable: climb the ladder gratefully, but don’t cling to it. At some point, the only way up is to let go.
🎬Action!
Choose a specific domain. Pick one clear area of your life, be it in work, health, creativity, relationships, or personal growth. Avoid being abstract. Name the field, not your entire life.
Identify your current stage of mastery. Ask yourself which phase you’re in:
Learning the conventions (Obey). Identify the core rules, frameworks, or best practices in the area you’re developing (work, health, creativity, relationships). Commit to following them cleanly and consistently long enough to understand why they work, not just that they work.
Challenging the conventions (Adapt). Once you have competence, begin stress-testing the rules. Ask: Which parts actually move the needle for me? Which feel rigid, outdated, or misaligned? Experiment at the edges and modify, combine, or selectively ignore rules to see what improves outcomes.
Creating your own conventions (Transcend). Synthesize what you’ve learned into a personal operating system. Keep what’s useful, discard what isn’t, and define your own principles that reflect your strengths, values, and context. At this stage, judgment replaces instruction.
Audit your ladders (if you’re in a later stage). If you’re in the challenging or creating stage, list the rules, frameworks, or beliefs that once helped you advance but may now be limiting you. These are your ladders.
Deliberately let one go. Choose a single ladder to loosen your grip on for the next 30 days. Don’t delete it, jut de-prioritize it. Use it as a reference, not a constraint. Replace rigid adherence with experimentation, judgment, or originality.
TOOL TIP
Go Delete Yourself From the Internet: An article explaining how to delete yourself from the internet (in the places you don’t want to be anyway), including the best tools that can assist.
FUN FACT
Polar bears aren’t actually white. Underneath all their white fur, polar bears actually have jet-black skin.
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Disclaimer: The information provided in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult a medical professional for advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We are not liable for any risks or issues that may arise from using this information.
