Preparing for Festival Season 2015

With SXSW and Coachella just around the corner, it is time to start preparing for Festival Season 2015! Whether you’re a diehard festival attendee, or you’re a noob, you can never be too prepared. Every festival has its own pain points, but here are some general tips and information that I’ve picked up throughout my festival career that I hope will help improve your experience.

1. Water: If allowed, bring a CamelBak or a reusable water bottle. Keep in mind that sometimes only festival branded ones are okay. I recommend different CamelBak sizes based on the festival. For EDC, I prefer the smaller size that basically only holds the bladder, whereas for Burning Man, I prefer the larger size that can hold the bladder and my gear. I highly recommend the mouthpiece cover, which protects the mouthpiece from dirt or being randomly touched in crowds.

If you don’t want to bring a CamelBak, then you can buy water at the event and refill the bottle if there are water filling stations. This is not a reliable plan since some festivals require that vendors keep the bottle caps. (Pro tip: Bring one or two bottle caps with you into the festival so you can cover your bottles in case this policy is in place.)

2. Food: This may sound silly, but remember to eat. Between pre-festival anxiety (it’s a real thing), trying to find your friends, waiting in security and bathroom lines, and juggling overlapping stage schedules, it’s easy to let half the day go by without eating something. Luckily, food has become a more prominent feature at many festivals, so you have lots of convenient and delicious options to choose from. My favorite festival food vendors are at the Lollapalooza Farmers Market, but many other festivals now also offer healthful options, such as fresh fruit.

3. Clothes and accessories: Wear whatever makes you feel amazing, but remember that you’ll be dancing your bootie off all day and will potentially encounter temperamental weather conditions. Sunglasses and a bandana are always good to have in case of a dust storm, and layers are also important if you expect temperatures to drop at night. For Burning Man, make sure to have goggles and a headlamp with you at all times. You never know when the next whiteout is going to hit!

4. Earplugs: Bring earplugs. The risk of hearing damage is surprisingly rarely addressed, but if you are at a festival, there is a good chance you are exposing yourself to harmful decibel levels. The three most common brands I see used among my fellow festivalgoers are V-MODA, Etymotic Research, and EarPeace. Of the three, I prefer V-MODA’s because they look sleek and have an attachable string, which prevents me from losing them if they fall out of my ear.

5. Sun protection: Sun exposure can get a little intense, especially during the summer. Remember to stay hydrated and to listen to your body. If you’re tired, try to find a cool and shaded place to rest. Other than that, stick to general sun protection tactics (e.g., wearing sunblock, sunglasses, and a hat).

6. Phones: Make sure your phone is fully charged before leaving home, and keep your phone on airplane mode as much as possible. Also, clear out your storage before the event. You don’t want to experience the anxiety you experience when you’re recording an epic set, then suddenly see the “out of storage” warning and frantically try to decide what photos to delete.

7. Security: Each event has its own security rules that often change from year to year. Double check the list of items that are allowed before leaving home, or you could end up losing that lip balm you just opened.

8. My Festival Checklist: In summary, below is a list of my festival essentials.

• ID
• Ticket
• Cash
• CamelBak
• Earplugs
• Pack of tissue
• Hand sanitizer
• Lip balm
• Gum
• Bandana or scarf
• Sunglasses
• Piece of paper with my friends’ numbers written on it
• Extra phone battery and battery pack

Have fun, and be safe out there!

Mango Health gamifies medication adherence

The financial burden of poor medication adherence in the United States has been estimated to be between $100 and $289 billion per year. Mango Health's solution is to improve medication adherence using gamification. Its app allows users to earn points for completing tasks, such as taking their medication on time. These points translate into various rewards provided by Mango Health's partners.

The app includes other features that support medication adherence: a health journal, refill reminders, information about medications, and alerts about potentially harmful interactions.

Based on what I've read, I really like the app because the game aspect is really simple, and the additional tools address core issues related to medication non-compliance.

Full article: Mango Health takes aim at medication adherence with game design principles

Festival Season 2014 | Protect your ears

It wasn't until 2012 that it finally occurred to me to bring earplugs to festivals and clubs. However, it wasn't until last year that I actually bought and started using them.

Here are my two recommendations:

1. EarPeace Earplugs ($12.95)


• I bought these from Fab.com. They come in a really cute metal container that you can attach to your keychain or bag strap. They work fine and are great since they are reusable. After each use, just wash with warm soapy water and let air dry.


2. V-MODA Faders VIP Tuned Metal Earplugs ($19.04)

• A friend recently recommended these to me. I obviously got mine in Electro Pink, but they are also available in Gunmetal Black and Rouge Red. They come with several different sizes of earbuds to give you a comfortable fit and a detachable lanyard that allows you to hang them around your neck when not in use.

My vote is the for the V-MODA earplugs. The extra money is worth the convenience, comfort, and overall listening experience.

Festival Season 2014

I am extremely excited about Festival Season 2014! I have probably spent more than half of my waking hours on something related to festivals since EDC tickets went on sale in November.

I want to share some of my personal tips to keep your festival experience safe and fun!

Before we get into the serious stuff, here's a list of the festivals I've been to and want to go to:

• Holy Ship!!!
• The BPM Festival
• SXSW
• Coachella
• Mysteryland
• Electric Daisy Carnival - Las Vegas
• TomorrowLand
• Lollapalooza
• HARD Summer
• Burning Man
• TomorrowWorld
• HARD Day of the Dead

What's on your list?

Systematically Heal Your Anxiety

How to Systematically Heal Your Anxiety is a great post by Charlie Hoehn, but probably in the TLDR category for most people. While Charlie had pretty severe anxiety, his tips are still useful for reducing normal levels of stress. Here are the main takeaways.

System 1: Replace Negative Content with Positive Content

• Remove from your daily routine any information that induces anxiety. For example, Charlie realized that the news fueled his anxiety and decided to stop watching and reading it. His anxiety dropped within two weeks.

System 2: Optimize Your Sleeping Conditions

• Make quality sleep a priority. Most important changes Charlie suggests:
• Create a routine. Get ready for bed at the same time every night.
• Avoid using cell phones and computers close to your bedtime.
• Cover all sources of light (e.g., blinking lights on electronic devices, digital alarm clocks, windows to block light from outside, etc.).
• Lower the temperature in your room to 68-70 degrees Fahrenheit. If you cannot do this, then wear less clothing to bed.
• Install f.lux on your computer(s). It's a free app that warms the colors on your screen when the sun is down. I've found that it really reduces eye strain at night.

System 3: Guilt-Free Play, Every Day

• Disconnect (i.e., turn off your phone), and schedule fun play activities with friends instead of killing yourself at the gym.

System 4: Eat Healthful Meals

• While Charlie recommends (1) Protein + (1) Vegetable + (1) Healthy Side, I firmly believe different food combinations work for different people. My simple advice is to cut down on sugar and to increase vegetable consumption.

From food industry analyst to food crusader (Robyn O’Brien - TEDxAustin 2011)

As a former food industry analyst who was born in Houston, Texas, Robyn O’Brien describes herself as an unlikely food crusader. It was not until her youngest child had an allergic reaction to her breakfast that O’Brien became concerned about the food system. She started doing research, and being shocked by what she found, she went on to educate others about what she discovered. In her TEDxAustin 2011 talk, she describes many of the food-related issues we currently face in the United States.

While her initial concern about our food system was driven by health, she also makes a strong business argument. Compared to every other country in the world, the U.S. ranks number one in percentage of GDP spent on health care. The percentage of our GDP spent on health care has increased from 9% in 1980 to almost 17% in 2009. O’Brien shrewdly points out that this means we have fewer resources to use toward education and economic development, which diminishes our global competitiveness.

Below are some facts she shares in her talk:

• Food allergies:
• Between 1997 and 2002, peanut allergies in the U.S. doubled.
• One out of every 17 children under age three has a food allergy.
• From 1996 to 2000, there was an average of 2,615 hospital discharges per year with a diagnosis related to food allergy among children 0 to 17 years. From 2004-2006, the average jumped to 9,537 (more than a 265% increase).
• National Health
• The U.S. has the highest rates of cancer in the world.
• 1 out of every 2 men and 1 out of every 3 women are expected to get cancer.
• 1 out of every 8 women has breast cancer, but only 1 out of every 10 of breast cancers is genetic. This means that 90% of breast cancer cases are environmentally triggered.

Starting in the early 1990s, new proteins were engineered into the U.S. food supply to maximize profits, but no human trials were conducted for safety.

In 1994, the U.S. dairy industry introduced a genetically engineered synthetic growth hormone (rBGH) to be injected into cows to produce more milk. The injections made the animals sick, and led to increased use of antibiotics. Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and all 27 European countries do not allow use of rBGH because of the potential health risks. However, in the U.S. we allow it because it has not been proven dangerous. Furthermore, elevated hormone levels are associated with breast, prostate, and colon cancers.

Soy and corn have also been engineered and are used in some form in most processed foods. Soy was engineered to withstand increased doses of weed killer, and corn is now engineered so that it releases its own insecticide as it grows.

Our tax dollars subsidize the growth of crops, such as soy and corn. On the other hand, organic farmers must prove that their produce follows the “organic” criteria and must also pay to have their foods labeled as such. This additional cost is the reason why many farmers at your local farmers market are not “certified organic” even though they may have the same farming practices as certified farmers. However, it is not all rosy on the conventional side. Because of companies like Monsanto, farmers must now pay royalty, licensing, and trade fees to plant patented seeds, which is a huge financial burden.

O’Brien ends with a message of hope. The products distributed by Coca-Cola and Kraft in countries that ban genetically modified foods are formulated differently than they are here. This is living proof that we as consumers have the power to effect significant change.

Know yourself, and you will never be lost

In this segment of A Minute with John Maxwell, John talks about the power of knowing your own values and what makes you who you are. Once you articulate this, you have a compass to guide you in where to go, what to do, and who to meet. I see getting to know yourself as an iterative process, and the first step is to pay attention to what makes you happy or unhappy and why. I think that many people struggle with knowing themselves because they are surrounded by others who inhibit self-discovery and who try to dictate who they should be. I will leave you with a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche: "He who has a why can endure any how."

Vote with your dollars

I was first drawn to the concept of "voting with your dollars" when reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. Pollan points out that making conscious decisions about the food you purchase is the best way to effect change in the food industry.

My Environmental Health professor recently reminded me of the power of this idea by pointing out that "our economic system responds almost instantly to changes in consumer spending patterns." It is often frustrating to watch politicians go back and forth on important issues while making no progress, which makes "voting with your dollars" such a powerful idea.

Shopping with this perspective requires a new sense of awareness and understanding that can sometimes test your commitment to a cause. Now that I am back in school and no longer have an income, I am often tempted to purchase non-organic produce, or stop shopping at Whole Foods to save money. However, I remind myself that my purchases are investments in my health and hopefully positive changes in our food system.

Happiness and productivity

In his blog post 6 things I do to be constantly happy, Joel Gascoigne, the founder of Buffer, shares six habits he maintains to sustain his happiness and productivity. I want to share some books, articles, and apps related to each point.

1. Wake up early. While Joel's first point sounds like a focus on when he wakes up, he actually emphasizes getting enough sleep. T.S. Wiley's book Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival discusses the effects on our health of inadequate amounts of sleep and of extending our day with artificial light.


2. Exercise daily. Set realistic goals to develop a maintainable exercise routine. Joel wisely points out that achieving your exercise goals helps you gain confidence in tackling challenges in other aspects of your life. Routines vary from person to person depending on physical ability and motivation. Figure out what works for you. In The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet, Robb Wolf advocates regular moderate activity for optimal health. Not only are extreme routines difficult to keep up with for a long period of time, but Wolf explains that they often can have adverse effects on your health by throwing off your body's cortisol balance.


3. Have a habit of disengagement. The New York Times article You’re Bored, but Your Brain Is Tuned In discusses research showing that occasional boredom is an important part of how we learn, solve problems, and develop new ideas. The author describes boredom as the state your brain is in once it has decided there is nothing further to absorb from its current setting. Neuroscientists have used brain-imaging technology to show that the brain is still very active in this bored, or disengaged, state.


4. Regularly help others. In their journal article Volunteer Work and Well-Being, Peggy Thoits and Lyndi Hewitt discuss the results from their study, which show that volunteer work improves six elements of well-being: happiness, life satisfaction, self- esteem, sense of control over life, physical health, and depression. (Journal of Health and Social Behavior 2001, Vol 42, (June): 115-131.)


5. Learn new skills. Recent research shows that the human brain is able to reshape itself to process information more quickly and more efficiently and does so when confronted with new challenges. Lumosity, an online brain training program I subscribe to, bases their program on this research. Their games are designed to improve core cognitive skills, such as attention, memory, fluid intelligence, and math to "help people do better in school, perform more effectively at work, and live a more productive life." (The Science Behind Lumosity)


6. Have multiple ways to "win" each day. It is easy to get excited over significant accomplishments (e.g., doing well on a big exam, getting a job, etc.), but learn to consciously give yourself credit for seemingly unimpressive tasks. For instance, break up a long project into short daily tasks. I told my sister that I would fold 1,000 cranes for her wedding. I set a goal of folding at least ten cranes a day, which means I will be finished a few months before the wedding. In addition, I feel really great about checking if off my to do list each day. Joe's Goals is a really simple online habit tracking tool, and Wunderlist is my favorite task management app.

An Interesting Approach to Climate Change

In his TED Talk "One seed at a time", Cary Fowler talks about the importance of preserving crop diversity as a means of addressing climate change.

In a short period of time, the world's crop diversity has immensely shrunk. For example, in the United States in the 1800s, there were about 7,100 varieties of apples. Today, about 6,800 of those varieties are extinct.

Fowler argues that varieties that are now, or are in danger of becoming, extinct may have traits that are adaptable to future climates. Fowler works with the Global Crop Diversity Trust, whose mission is to collect, in the form of seeds, a "back-up" of all varieties of crops that exist in the world. As of the date of this talk, July 2009, the seed bank in Norway contained about 425,000 samples of unique crop varieties.

Every single country has contributed to this project, which Fowler emphasizes is important, as it may be the only global project that is long-term, sustainable, and positive. In closing, he asserts that without crop diversity, we will not have an effective, efficient, and sustainable solution to climate change.

While Fowler does not spend time speaking against companies that significantly contribute to the decrease in crop diversity, his talk provides a great argument against genetically modified crops.

The Power of Small Actions

In this TED Talk, Pam Warhurst, cofounder of Incredible Edible Todmorden, discusses the power of small actions. Pam and her team were searching for a unifying language that disregards age, income, and culture and that helps people think and interact differently to start a revolution to create social change. They determined that food was the unifying language, and Incredible Edible was born.

Incredible Edible began as an edible landscape project. Volunteers simply started planting fruits, vegetables, and herbs around the town of Todmorden. From this simple act, not only did the project take on a educational element, but awareness of local business and a sense of belonging significantly grew. Now there are communities all over the world taking on this project in their own way to create stronger and more supportive communities.

The Incredible Edible project is an excellent example of how small actions combined with passion can create significant positive change.

Meat Without Drugs Campaign

Please support the Meat Without Drugs campaign by signing this petition to encourage Trader Joe's to only source meat raised without the use of antibiotics. Food, Inc. director Robert Kenner produced this short video about the cause.

Here are highlights from the video about antibiotics:

• Were introduced in 1944 to treat diseases, such as tuberculosis, salmonella, and pneumonia.
• Are intended to be used sparingly to maintain their effectiveness.
• Currently 80% of all antibiotics are fed to factory farm animals.
• Make animals grow faster and enable them to survive unhealthy living conditions.
• Overuse is creating antibiotic super bugs, which contaminate soil, water, and the food we eat.
• Support meat without drugs by signing the petition at http://www.meatwithoutdrugs.org/#watch.

Vote with your dollars by purchasing meat raised without the use of antibiotics.

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

My coworker shared with me Sugar: The Bitter Truth, a UCSF talk given by Robert H. Lustig, M.D. His presentation covers and gave me a better scientific understanding of the many nutritional issues I am interested in. My top five favorite topics covered are as follows:

1. A calorie is not a calorie.
2. The real problem with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
3. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) measurements are not as significant as we are led to believe.
4. Ancel Keys’s Seven Countries Study.
5. The importance of exercise.

1. A calorie is not a calorie.

While I instinctively believed that a calorie is not a calorie (i.e., 100 calories of chocolate is not the same as 100 calories of broccoli), I had no solid scientific information to support my belief. In his presentation, Dr. Lustig compares what your body does with 120 calories of glucose, ethanol, and fructose.

When consuming glucose, almost none of it ends up stored as fat, as opposed to fructose where 30% is stored as fat. The main takeaway is that the human body responds differently to different types of food, which is especially important when addressing fat storage.

2. The real problem with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

High fructose corn syrup is a one glucose molecule bonded to one fructose molecule, and it is sweeter than regular sucrose (standard sugar). The hunger and satiety profiles are the same for both HFCS and sucrose. The problem is that HFCS is significantly cheaper than sugar and is now used as a preserving agent and sweetener in almost all processed foods. The result is that the American public is unknowingly consuming significantly more sugar than before HFCS was introduced.

3. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) measurements are not as significant as we are led to believe.

There are actually two types of LDLs: Pattern A and Pattern B. Pattern A LDLs cannot start plaque formation, while Pattern B LDLs can. LDL measurements are misleading because they measure both types of LDLs at the same time. What you really want to look for is a low triglyceride and a high High-density lipoprotein (HDL) measurement, which is good. Conversely, a high triglyceride and low HDL is bad.

4. Ancel Keys’s Seven Countries Study.

Ancel Keys is famous for his Seven Countries Study, which concluded that fat consumption causes cardiovascular disease. This conclusion is what 30 years of nutrition education and policy is based on. According to Dr. Lustig, Keys’s data analyses were flawed. When taking a closer look at the study, sugar increased with fat, which means that fat was not the only correlating factor. This flaw explains why American’s war against fat has not decreased the incidence of cardiovascular disease or other health issues.

5. The importance of exercise.

Exercise is not important because it burns calories. It is important because it improves skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity, thereby decreasing insulin levels. In addition, exercise reduces stress, which reduces appetite. Lastly, it makes the TCA cycle run faster, so citrate does not leave mitochondria and is not converted into fat.

The Paleo Solution

I just finished Rob Wolf's The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet. The first time I heard of the Paleo Diet was a few years ago, and I was given a very superficial explanation of what it is. From the little I heard, I was skeptical of the idea because it seemed like a pretty weird and crazy fad. However, after my personal trainer told me that he tries to stick to an 85% Paleo Diet and suggested that I read about it, I went on Amazon and perused the results for "paleo diet". I ended up purchasing The Paleo Solution, which currently has a 4.5 star rating on Amazon.

I was pleasantly surprised that The Paleo Solution takes a holistic approach to health. While a large portion of the book is tedious due to some pretty detailed explanations of the metabolic processes that occur after eating certain foods (which gave me not very pleasant flashbacks to my college physiology class), he also focuses on managing sleep and stress.

While this may be a very crude summary, the book basically recommends the following:

• Stop eating all grains, including bread, pasta, rice, quinoa, beans, etc.
• Eat meat, vegetables, and fruits
• Minimize your alcohol intake
• Exercise
• Sleep in a completely dark room (Wolf cites one of my favorite books, Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival)

One criticism I have is that Wolf is so adamant about the detrimental effects that grains have on your body, but never goes into an explanation about the traditional French, Asian, or Mediterranean diets, which definitely contain grains, but do not produce the same kind of diseases that we see in people who consume Western diets. While I have my own theories about why this is so, it would have been interesting to see what he has to say about that.

Antibiotics fed to animals we eat

Most of us are wary that antibiotics are only to be taken when necessary, and if so, at the lowest effective dosage possible. Why do we exercise such caution when it comes to antibiotics? If taken in excess or unnecessarily, there is a possibility that the targeted bacterium will become resistant to the antibiotic, rendering the drug less or not at all effective.

According to Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals, approximately 3 million pounds of antibiotics are given to humans each year for therapeutic reasons. Foer reports that "the UCS (Union of Concerned Scientists) calculated 24.6 million pounds of antibiotics were fed to chickens, pigs, and other farmed animals, only counting non-therapeutic uses." Even the industry's extremely conservative self-reported amount of 17.8 million pounds is staggeringly high--almost six times the amount consciously consumed by humans.

Why is this important? By unnecessarily pumping antibiotics into these animals, we are promoting the rates of antimicrobial resistance, something we are vigilant about preventing when it comes to our own health.

Choose your friends wisely

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” – Jim Rohn

I came across this quote when a friend sent me the Reading for Your Success post Rule #1: Surround Yourself with Passionate People. Since then, I have seen the same message in different forms repeated over and over again.

It is a good reminder to spend more time with and seek out those who inspire you and to spend less time with those whose presence negatively affects you.

2010 Roth IRA contributions

In case you still have not made your Roth IRA contribution for 2010, you can still do it today! According to my bank, you just need to mail in a check post-marked with today's date, April 18, 2011.

Also, here is a blog post with (relatively) quick tips to improve your financial health today: http://manvsdebt.com/24-quick-action-you-can-do-today/.

Forcing Functions

I think the most important skill a successful person has is to be able to see things through till the end and to not give up.

How many projects, diets, fitness goals, etc have you set out to accomplish but never could? Being dedicated, devoted and fully committed to something, anything, is extremely difficult at times. Anything worth doing will tend to make you question what you're doing, how you'll get to where you want to be, and if what you're trying to accomplish is even possible.

Forcing functions can be an important and even necessary component of becoming successful. In your quest for not giving up and seeing things through, forcing functions can be the key to staying on track. For example, if you know you want to lose weight, but have trouble sticking to a regular gym routine, you could make a forcing function to get to the gym at least 5 days a week. For example, if you ordinarily have a hard time waking up and going to the gym, you could leave your body wash at the gym as your forcing function to go to the gym in order to shower up for the day. Once you're in the gym, you'll wind up having a much easier time actually working out.

What is your essence?

When most people think about what they want out of a job, they immediately think about practical concerns: How much money am I going to make? What are the benefits offered? Am I qualified for the position? And the list goes on.

What we rarely stop to think about and articulate is if a job will nurture and support our essence, which is composed of our core values. There are no "right" or "wrong" core values. They are whatever makes you who you are and what you find important (e.g., camaraderie, health, personal development, personal fitness, respect, honestly, team work, fun, etc.).

If you do not feel satisfied or fulfilled in your current position, your job or company might infringe on one or more of your core values, thereby making you feel unsettled and anxious. Having this feeling day in and day out, wears on you and affects other aspects of your life. This is not in an environment that will allow you to attain a happy and fulfilling career or life.

I believe this also applies to relationships. If there are people in your life whose actions violate your core values, it might be best to minimize contact with them to enable you to have more time to spend with people who will help you develop and explore whatever it is that you value.

If you make it a priority to constantly seek out jobs and people who support and enhance your values and who will influence your life in a constructive and positive way, you are more likely to live a healthier and happier life.

How do you figure out what your core values are?
Think about and then describe to a friend a time when you felt completely happy and fulfilled. Spend about two minutes describing as much as you can about the event or period in your life. Once you finish, have your friend reflect back to you what values they picked up on.

This exercise is interesting because you will find that your friend will probably point out something you thought was assumed to be normal for everyone, when in fact, it is not.

If you are feeling uncertain about your life or career, I would recommend a professional life and career coach, such as Jung Yoo at Jung Yoo Associates, whose two-hour group session I attended inspired this post. I also encourage you to read Seth Godin's Poke the Box, which emphasizes the importance of initiating.

To take care of others, you must first take care of you

In the midst of working 10-hour days (on average), preparing meals, keeping up with household chores, miscellaneous errands, etc. it can become very easy to put yourself on the back burner. Naturally, we want to first take care of those we love, and if time permits we will then move onto ourselves.

If you take the time to first help yourself by reading, exercising, dressing nicely, eating well, etc. you'll surely be more confident, thoughtful and rational. This is the type of person who inspires change and helps others to be their best. If you're unhappy and unconfident, you cannot inspire others to be this way.

A great example of this is when flight attendants give their safety speech before take-off. We're always reminded to comfortably place the oxygen masks on ourselves first, then we are to proceed with helping others. Why? How can we save others if we haven’t saved ourselves? We must be alive and thriving to be able to pass this along to those we love. By not taking care of ourselves, we are not only doing our own selves a disservice, but we are also hurting those we care most about.