Tag Archives: tea water

A new journey to a healthier and younger me….will you join?

Rainmaker. Knowledge broker. Healer.

Wishing everybody a Happy New Year!

I am planning to expand this blog from a water and tea blog to a wellness blog and I will document my journey of becoming younger and younger biologically. My goal is to help as many people as I can, to inspire them to become the better version for themselves.

So many dreams for 2020….

While I have been silent for the past months as our family transitioned from Myanmar to Malawi, the start of the new year is also a motivator for me to finally relaunch my blogging.

Over the past months, a lot of things have happened. The move from Asia to Africa has not been without any bumps, but we finally settled into our new life here in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Malawi, also known as the warm heart of Africa, is a wonderful place with so many opportunities, but also challenges. While Malawi is the second largest exporter of teas in Africa, access to clean water is an issue and access to fine water is almost non-existent.

Despite all of this, I managed to continue exploring my passion for water and tea, but an additional desire slowly emerged.

The Year 2019 – My main achievements

These are the moments I am most proud of in 2019 (in no particular order):

Successfully transitioned from Myanmar to Malawi

Walked 100,000 steps in one day to earn the Fitbit Olympic Sandal badge

Being a husband to my lovely wife Kristen

Being a father to my lovely sons

Listened to 230 audio books

Presented at the Fine Water Summit in Stockholm, Sweden

Conducted 5 water tastings on 3 continents

365 days alcohol free and member of OYNB

Maintained my target weight

Built my first home gym

365 days of Elevate and Calm – my ultimate go to apps in the morning.

The journey to better health

As many of my friends know, I have enjoyed my journey to a healthy and better me over the past two years. More and more I realized, that developing a new wellness strategy, is what makes me happy and ultimately will contribute to a stronger me.

Out of this, a new idea was born for me: Push my envelope and create a new ambitious goal.

Daily mantra

My daily mantra over the past two years has been:

“How can I become a better version of myself by the end of the day?”

The daily change has been tiny, but doing this every day has allowed me to reach a level of performance and health I would never thought of possible two years ago.

My wellness and fitness journey, started with a simple Fitbit tracker in 2017 and reaching 10,000 steps every day has been a motivator going forward. In 2019, I even managed to walk 100,000 steps in one single day (took me 17 hours walking nonstop in Rome, Italy) to obtain Fitbits Olympian Sandal badge.

To motivate me to grow as a person, I started using technology on a new level as of this year. In 2019 I managed to listen to 230 audio books and expanding my knowledge has been a passion for me and my personal growth. I read a lot of books on wellness, health, nutrition, bio hacking, aging and most of all reverse aging.

Michael 2.0 – The Year 2020

My 2020 goal sounds crazy, ambitious – but I know, achievable. One of the questions in 2019, which stuck with me is : “Will it make the boat go faster?” I only focus on development goals, if they will add value in growing as a person. If it is counter productive, I will not do it.  Sounds easy, but requires a lot of daily discipline. The key is to balance your developments to the point that they support each other and make you as a person overall stronger.

Over the past 48 months, I have eliminated alcohol, sugar, actually any drink calories, as I have now a zero calorie drink diet (I only drink water, tea and coffee).

I am at my ideal weight, set at a BMI of 22.5 , which I have maintained over the past 2 years (give or take a pound). I have a healthy, 117/75 blood pressure, a full range of healthy within normal stats including cholesterol, blood sugar and BF.

My main 2020 goal is:

While I will get one year chronologically older, I will become one year biologically younger.

Everything I am doing wellness wise, is driven by actual numbers and data goals. I have created a detailed affirmation and a plan on how I will achieve this.

Anything I do on wellness has to fit into my busy day. I am first of all a husband, father and work as the head of resource management for the World Food Programme in Malawi. Life is hectic and there are a load of daily challenges which need tackling.

The wellness path forward – A new blog

I am planning to expand this blog from a water and tea blog to a wellness blog and I will document my journey of becoming younger and younger biologically. My goal is to help as many people as I can, to inspire them to become the better version for themselves.

My development plan for 2020 is build on 6 pillars:

Tracking:  Making my goals visible is one of the most important elements. I am using a Fitbit tracker, a Fitbit scale and an Oura ring. This provides me with insights on my progress towards my goals and my health status.

Mindfulness: I am a big fan of the Calm app and I have started using Muse 2 this year. Mindfulness has been a game changer for me to be present in the moment and to build a strong mind/ body integration.

Fitness: I am passionate about my fitness routines. I have started to use Neuro Priming and Neuro Stimulation (Halo Sport) this year to achieve better results. I focus on cardio, core and strength trainings. My favorite room in the house – our own gym!

Nutrition: I started my own nutrition programme and I labeled it : Reverse Engineered Metabolism (REM) – I am focusing on giving my body the elements it needs for growth and maintaining the proper health. I also started incorporating vitamins and probiotics on a mindful level. This also includes my zero calorie drink diet.

Skin: To look and feel younger, skin care is essential. This is not coming natural to men so it took some time, but now I am hooked. For me the skin is our largest organ is the entry gate to cell rejuvenation and growth.

Social aspect: While my growth is focused on me as a person, I cannot do this alone. I am so blessed being part of several great communities, most importantly the OYNB community but other amazing facebook groups as well to learn from others. I want to give back and help others in their journey to achieve a healthier and happier version of themselves.

Over the next 12 months I will document my journey and highlight what has worked and what has not. Certainly I will include my thoughts on the latest trends in tea and water as this remains one of my most important interests.

Please feel free to reach out to me in case of any questions and I am happy to include the topics in my next blog.

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5 quick changes before Valentines Day that will make your life better

The internet is full of articles about making your life stronger and better. Companies will try to sell you stuff which you don’t need or will promise you a short cut to an easier life. We are disappointed when they do not live up to their promise and sink further into despair.

The following five tips are from my own life, they are proven and have done amazing things for me. And most importantly they will not cost you a fortune, some of them are even free, and will improve your live in significant and long lasting ways. We are looking for big changes but sometimes the best improvements are right under our nose.

Hydration

The game changer. One of the areas that will have the biggest impact on your life. Chances are that you drink water once you are thirsty or you have a beverage with your meal. You don’t think about water on a constant basis, even though you consist of 70% water. We focus on so many things in our life but we ignore the most important aspect of our body because we believe it is working and does not need much attention.  Many meetings and places I go to, I am the only one carrying around a water bottle with me. If you are one of the few people who bring (hopefully reusable) water bottle, you are ahead of the game. Just by sipping water through the day you support your body and your brain in many functions, you provide the oil for your engine. Try the 8 x 8 rule, 8 glasses of 8z per day, easy to remember. After a few weeks of sipping water on a constant basis, you will not even notice it anymore, sip on autopilot and your body will be up and running.

While many people reach for the faucet in the morning, you can kick start your day in a much better way.  Drink a glass of fine mineral water first thing in the morning and you tell your day that you mean business. Your body will receive a jump start portion of minerals to fire up all vitals. Your organs and metabolism will thank you. You can even add a spritz of lemon to the water for an extra boost of vitamin C.

Fine Water at Dinner

The conversationalist. With most people using water from the tab, using water for dinner becomes uninspiring, dull and boring. By having an interesting, exotic and unique mineral water at your dinner table will enhance your experience, you can add something special to your evening at small cost. We will have the opportunity to talk about where the water comes from with our family, dream about an exotic location at a rain forest or mountain area. We will experience a unique taste from a different part of the world. Life is all about special moments and creating unique experiences, even during a normal, routine work day. The more you can enhance your normal day and make it special, the more value the day will have to you and your mood will increase. Life for me is to create a growing mosaic of meaningful moments.

With valentines day around the corner, you can make your dinner special by ordering a wonderful bottle of fine still or sparkling water along side your food. Impress your date with stories about where the water came from, the romantic environment of a rain forest or mountain stream. Water is life and it is good sometimes to dream.

Fine Water Tea

The enhancer. Most people make their tea with tab water. You work hard, you invest everything you got into your life,you purchased an amazing high quality loose leaf tea,  you deserve the best cup of tea possible. Using the right water for making your tea will bring out the best flavor and your taste buds will thank you for that. Tea water is a vessel to bring our the best in tea as the tea master has intended. Use high quality spring water for tea water. I know it will be a bit more pricey then running it from the filter or tab, but you deserve a good cup of tea and not just an average one. Look at the label. Select a water with a super low TDS level (below 50 if possible) and a ph level of 7. Any other water will not give you the best possible experience. A water with a high mineral level will interfere with the minerals in the tea itself and the ideal taste will be off.

Life is too short to drink a bad tea.

Tea of the day

Diversity. We are living in times where diversity and cultural connections are more important than ever and that’s good. Diversity will make us stronger and we can only learn more from each other. The most interesting thing about tea is the thousands of different types and blends and mixes which are available around the planet. We could drink a different tea for the rest of our lives and just have experienced a fraction of what is available. And new types are coming onto the market every day. Sommeliers are here to identify the best solution for you. You like a certain taste. You might like it more fruity, more sweet, more milky or like me ultra pure. Make it a habit to include a new tea every day, learn about different tastes, research the tea, ask sommeliers more about a certain tea type. I am here to help you to make the best out of your day and make your day special.

Fine Water and Friends

The socializer. Water and tea are great platforms to share new experiences with friends and family. Next time you go to a restaurant, see what waters or teas are on the menu. Ask the waiter what they have. You can share this new experience with your friends and you can impress your family with your knowledge about a certain water or tea. Like any knowledge there is so much around us which we have not experienced yet, which is just waiting for to be explored.

You can gift that knowledge. You can gift a special someone in your life with a water 101 course at the fine water academy to learn more about water.

I hope these tips have send a spark of inspiration your way and make you think about trying one of these tips out for yourself. They are small ideas and changes but can have a big impact on your life.

Stay thirsty.