Welcome to 1-3-1 Fridays, my weekly newsletter, where I reveal evidence-based strategies to get lean, strong, and create optimal health.

You'll receive one personal health insight, three actionable tips, and one concrete action step. Let's dive in.

Here's what's new this week:

•  ​Ep 19: The missing ingredient from 98% of fitness programs | Use this method​ (Podcast)
•  ​You're breathing the wrong way; here's how | Bryan Mirabella​ (YouTube) 

What's in store for today:

• What a children's video game taught me about rewiring fitness (for life).
• The health principle that can help you stop losing momentum in your habits.
• The law of physics that determines how long you'll keep your results in health.

Can you build fitness without health?

Absolutely.

I struggled with psoriasis and cystic acne for years since age 10.

I later had fatigue, chronic bloating, and brain fog.

But I still worked out every week while trying to build muscle and strength.

Many in the fitness world know that competitors and bodybuilders often face binge eating, health issues, and mental wellness struggles.

So fitness doesn't equal health.

Fitness is built on top of health.

At some point, higher fitness levels can harm your health. This is true for extreme bodybuilders and ultramarathoners.

In fact, it's also a lesser-known fact that high-level athletes tend to live shorter lives.

Too much mileage on their vehicles, too fast and too hard.

If that's a helpful analogy.

So health is the foundation for fitness.

Once you have health in place, the limits on your fitness are up to you.

For me, being athletic, mobile, strong, and lean are my goals.

I want to play competitive soccer, feel strong while playing with my son, have enough energy for a long waterfall hike, and feel confident taking my shirt off at the beach.

I also enjoy looking good as my wife's partner and being a positive role model for our large Latino and Polish family.

So living at 5% bodyfat and being ridiculously jacked doesn't appeal to me.

There's a price to pay for everything we do in life.

We either pay the price of taking consistent action.

Or we pay the price of inaction.

We pay the financial price for wellness and fitness tools and resources.

Or we pay the price of disease and all the issues this comes with.

As I grow older, this truth rings true.

We all pay a price.

It's up to us to decide if we're comfortable with the price we're paying.

Lesson: Health is the foundation of a good life.

Here's Your 1-3-1 Friday:

1.) Gamify your fitness

Growing up, I was a secret Pokémon nerd.

It was a secret since I didn't tell my friends at the private Catholic school I attended from kindergarten to grade 12.

The Pokémon Company created a $150 billion media empire. They used key psychological principles to build this success over 30 years.

Here's how you can apply them to your health:

• Create open loops: I talked about this last week. Open loops create a curiosity gap. This gap makes you want to return and find the answer. Every Pokémon game, episode, and gaming experience leveraged this principle. It's also used by most TV shows, movies, and Netflix. Use it for your health.
• Make it fun: Pokémon was an adventure. You are the main character chosen to explore your region. Your mission is to capture Pokémon friends and train them to become stronger. This quest will lead you on the path to becoming a Pokémon master. Fun was built into every aspect of the game.
• Set goals: One great part of Pokémon is the focus on setting goals. You train your Pokémon, beat gym leaders, and become the main hero in the game. Goals permeated the entire gaming and anime ecosystems.

Looking back, I spent a large chunk of my life on video games and the Pokémon show.

I poured hundreds of hours into each video game.

To say it captured my attention would be an understatement.

It also helped me get through my childhood.

There's a helpful quote I keep in mind when it comes to energy:

Over the years, Pokémon's psychic hold on me has gotten weaker.

I've learned more about myself and how my psyche works. There's still plenty I need to resolve and work within.

But gamifying your fitness is a great way to make it sustainable.

Here's a simple checklist you can use:

• Am I having with my workouts? If not, how can I bring my enjoyment?
• How can I track my workout and nutrition stats (behaviors) to make this into a game? (use tracking systems)
• What are my goals for this year and quarter? Can I turn this into a fun adventure, with me as the main character (hero) of my own journey?
• How can I create more open loops in my health journey? (to keep me coming back to it every day)

Video games were a big part of my life.

The psychology behind them is powerful, and part of why kids and later adults find it hard to extract themselves from their designs.

But you can leverage it for your health using these principles.

2.) 10-80-10

Most people think fitness is a sprint.

It's not; it's a marathon made of sprints.

One of the most powerful rules that's helped me in my health over the past 5 years has been the 10-80-10 rule.

The 10-80-10 rule states:

• 10% of the time, you’ll be ahead of the curve and in the top 10% of people crushing their goals.
• 80% of the time, you’ll be more or less consistent with a few ups and downs, but overall, making solid progress.
• 10% of the time, you’ll have low points where things will be tough, you'll probably lose momentum, and struggle with consistency.

Awareness is the first step to change.

Being aware of where you are right now allows you to make better decisions with your health.

When you're focused on your health and goals, you’re likely in the top 10% of those doing well.

If you know work and family life will get busy, it’s smart to adjust your fitness plan.

Constraints can be a good thing.

When you know you only have a certain amount of time to work out, meal prep, and do your morning routine, you adjust.

Don’t fall into the all-or-nothing trap like most people. Instead, adjust your fitness routine based on your current health season.

The main goal is to never turn the dial off.

You can raise it (focused season) or lower it (busy season), but never turn your health dial off.

If it’s on and you know which season it is, adjusting is easy.

The goal of health is lifelong consistency, not just random bursts.

3.) The law of entropy

One of the secrets of the universe is little known but highly relevant to health.

According to physics, everything in the universe moves towards chaos and disorder.

Here's what I mean:

• Stop cleaning your house? It gets dirty.
• Stop taking care of your kids? They become unhealthy or sick.
• Stop talking to your parents or partner? Very bad outcomes….
• Stop taking care of your health and body? You know the answer…

The best way to counteract entropy?

What I feel my kitchen looks like every night.

Pour positive energy into a system to organize and develop your life.

Workouts. Healthy meals. Proper sleep. Meditation. Walking. Laughing. Spending time in nature.

This all (and more) can help organize your body and move it into an organized health system.

So, putting positive energy consistently into an organized system is your battle plan.

But preventive health and fitness have never been appealing to the masses.

As humans with unconscious archetypes, we're more likely to take action when driven by pain or pleasure.

So how do you address the middle ground when you're 'okay' but you know you should be taking action, because a few years of 'okayness' can start to equal 'not okayness'?

Simple: you create a compelling vision that's emotional and moves you into action.

According to the 5 levels of motivation, the lowest rung on the motivation ladder is extrinsic motivation.

This is where most people start and stop: just focused on receiving external praise and results.

On the other hand, the highest level of motivation is compassion for others.

At this level of motivation, you do things because of the positive impact it has on those around you.

The Buddhists had a name for such a person - they called them Bodhisattvas.

Buddhism's main goal is to liberate oneself from the self-imposed cycle of suffering (samsara), caused by the three poisons: attachment, anger, and ignorance.

Bodhisattvas stand out because they choose to remain in this realm. They do this to help others awaken to their true nature as well.

Think about this: if you have kids or loved ones, your health and fitness matter.

They affect your well-being and, in turn, influence those you care about.

It's probably much higher than you realize.

What causes do you care about? How likely are you to make a positive impact while being incongruent with your health and confidence?

The list can go on.

The idea here is to find something outside of you that's deeply moving/compelling and supercedes just 'pain or pleasure'.

A mother can lift a car to save her child in the right situation.

You're capable of more than you realize and much stronger than you know.

So, letting things fall into chaos and disorder takes no effort.

James Clear talks more about this ​here​.

When you have the right motivation (compassion) fueling your actions, fitness is no longer a chore.

Gamify it, have fun, and see every day with a beginner's mind.

This is how you stay healthy for life.

1 Action Step

What motivates you to stay healthy? Revisit this today.

One Quote To Finish Your Week Strong

Anthony is 2 years old next week.

2 years; time has raced by.

At the same time, it's been a great journey learning how to parent.

Still barely know much.

As promised, get leaner on plants in under 5 minutes.

Till next week,

Whenever you're ready, there's 3 ways I can help you:

1. Connect with me on ​Facebook ​and ​Instagram ​and let's be friends.
2.  ​Join our free Facebook Group​. Get free trainings on how to get lean and strong with plants.
3. Want to drop body fat and build lean muscle in a fraction of the time with ease? ​Apply for Accelerator 1:1 coaching.​