#1

“Understanding how our energy is spent is the first foundational step in understanding how our bodies work.”

Do you agree with the author? If yes - try to articulate why do you think is the understanding of your own body’s energetics so essential.
What other pieces of knowledge you consider equivalently as foundational steps in understanding how our bodies work?

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#2

“Our bodies do not work like machines because they are not products of engineering, but the products of evolution. Likewise, our metabolic engines are dynamic, adaptive products of evolution. Daily expenditure is not simply the sum of its parts.”

Working with the wrong mental models might be dangerous – particularly if one bases his actions on them. With the modern world surrounded by mechanical contrivances, we often tend to create analogies between biological structures and machines – such as comparing brains to computers. Overall, this causes a variety of issues.

At the core of this notion, we can see two distinct modes of thinking – reductionism and complex system thinking. Reductionistic thinking implies reducing a system into a collection of small parts and then analyzing those separately. This approach is great for machines that consist of discrete and easily separable parts with regular and repetitive functions. However, it is less helpful (although often wrongly used) for understanding complex systems – which are not easily divided into parts (without making arbitrary separations), their components variably interact with each other, and that benefit from constant change, disorder, and adaptation.

What might be the issues stemming from using the reductionistic thinking model for a complex system such as a human body?

Does education in basic biological mechanisms help to shape the way we think about our physiology and pathology?‍

#4

“We have evolved to be very sensitive to the changes in walking cost - always aiming for the energetically optimal speed.”

Striving for energy optimization and managing our body energy budget seems to be a deeply imprinted instinct – influencing everything from our behavior, emotions, thoughts to our physiology.

How much are you being aware of this innate instinct affecting you? How do you view its role in the modern lifestyle, where energy is not scarce?

Take learning for adults as an example. Once the rules of how the world functions during childhood development form, it is very energetically taxing to change them. Therefore, we cling to and defend our views and habits even when the alternative might be more suitable – we rather avoid the costs of calorie investments altogether.

Thoughts?

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#5

Before continuing with your reading, try to write down your thoughts on the following questions, postulated by the author towards the end of the third chapter:

• Why do humans burn around 2,500 to 3,000 kcal per day – what is uncommon about the human pace of life?
• Why do some of us burn more energy each day than expected for our size while others burn less? 
• How does our metabolism affect our health and longevity?
• How does our lifestyle, our daily routines of physical activity and diet, affect our energy expenditure and metabolic health?
  …
• And lastly, what do you make of this notion? – "Your daily activity level has almost no bearing on the number of calories you burn each day.”

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#1

“With a fixed energy budget, everything is a trade-off.”

Although our metabolic manager—the hypothalamus (in concert with other brain structures)—runs the internal algorithms managing our metabolism behind the scenes, we still possess a lot of control. 

This trade-off situation puts us into the role of a strategist. Our power lies in planning/choosing our activities and consciously managing our body budget. Developing the skills of observations and listening to understand better our bodies, so we can change our approach if necessary to meet the daily challenges without going too much out of balance. To learn how to organize our energy in cycles of days, weeks, and months.

How good of a strategist do you consider yourself? Where do you see a potential for improvement?

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#2

“When times get tough, humans play the long game, allocating energy to maintenance and survival.”

As covered in the text, there is a fundamental difference between the evolved metabolic strategy of short-lived (mice) and long-lived species (us). When calories are scarce, the former pushes forward reproduction at the expense of immune function and maintenance, the latter (us) – exactly oppositely.

What does that tell you about the aging process and health in our long-lived species in general? What role does energy allocation play in these processes – and how the situation changes if the energy is scarce or abundant?

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As a side note, this idea brings to mind Kirkwood's disposable soma theory, which says: 

"For an organism living in a world with all its dangers, the most important factor is that it survives long enough to reproduce and nurture its offspring to independence. Maintenance of the cells and ensuring they ceaselessly divide without error is energy-intensive. In a world where resources are limited, and the whole organism is likely to succumb to accident, disease, or eaten by a predator – it makes sense to invest heavily in maintenance of the germ cells through which life is passed on, rather than in the maintenance of the body (soma), which is only required to last until it has successfully propelled the next generation. As an aftermath, our bodies age gradually as a result of lack of investment in maintenance machinery.”

Therefore, we can say – longevity is bought (effectively) by investing in better maintenance and repair. Do you see a possible connection with the earlier mentioned energy allocation? What actions can we do to put more energy into cellular maintenance and repair in our pursuit of longevity?

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#3

After learning about the mechanisms behind the body's energetics – how do you see the long-term high stress living affecting it? Does an energetical outlook on stress change the way you view it?
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#4

“The central role of the brain in fatigue also helps to explain the relationship between energy expenditure and endurance.”

If we transfer this notion from physical endurance into mental work – do you think the same concepts apply? As for most of us, our work requires us to work harder with our minds than with our bodies. But the tasks are nevertheless taxing, resulting in fatigue.

When we are working hard mentally, when and why does our brain tells us enough is enough? Is there something in our power to push the fatigue down and continue to work with clarity?
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#5

The author elegantly linked the body's energetics with energy management from a global perspective. As we externalized the energy sources to fuel our own metabolism, we become dependent on them in the process.
What actionable steps can you take to improve this situation—the energetical mismanagement—on a local level?
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- a technique derived from Richard Feynman, who excelled in his ability to synthesize and explain even complex scientific concepts. By using this technique right after you have finished the book, you will further enhance your understanding of the book's subject, identify the possible gaps in your knowledge and master the ability to clearly communicate the newly acquired information.

It consists of the following steps:

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01. Teach it to a child

Take out a blank sheet of paper and write the central concept of the book you have just finished in the top corner. Underneath, write down everything you know about this concept, without revisiting your notes or the book. The trick is, however, that you have to write in style, as if you wanted to teach a given concept to a 12-year-old child. Unlike your intelligent adult friends, 12-year-olds do not have scientific / technical terminology and specific jargon. Plus, they do not hold attention for too long. Therefore, you need to be clear and concise, and use language, which vocabulary can be easily understood by a child, so it can grasp the basic ideas and relationships.

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02. Identify your knowledge gaps

As you write, you will get to points where you will not be able to explain something in simple words, you will not be able to recall some key information, or you will have trouble tying the individual parts together to make clear connection.

In other words, you will encounter gaps in your knowledge... and that is the point, where you are really starting to learn!

Now that you know where you got stuck, go back and re-read particular passages in the book, review your own notes, or look for other source materials that address this concept. This process is necessary for you to fill in all the cracks that emerged from the previous step, and skipping it leads to the illusion of your knowledge.

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03. Organize, simplify and tell a story

At this point, you have a set of manually created notes in front of you. Go through them and create one continuous story, which will contain the key terms, relationships, and ideas of the concept you have just studied.

Practice reading the created story aloud. Pretend you're telling a story to a class of younger students. This way you will hear where your speech ceases to be simple and concise - avoid jargon and complicated sentences. Stumbles in the speech will again indicate to you the incompleteness of your thoughts. Practice until you are satisfied with the simplicity, straightforwardness, and fluency of your presentation. Ideally, invite live listeners who will give you feedback.