Reflections on 'Good Energy': Becoming the First Person Responsible for Your Health

What exactly happens to our bodies from the several pounds of “medicine” we eat every day?

Recently, I finished reading “Good Energy.” The author, like a serious scholar, systematically analyzes how to achieve your ideal state of health through diet, exercise, sleep, stress management, and other methods. This gave me a completely new, holistic understanding of many of my body’s “minor issues.”

Your “Minor Issues” Might All Stem from the Same Problem

I’m a perfect example. I’ve been troubled by rhinitis and gastritis for years, along with some seemingly minor symptoms: skin prone to breakouts and moles, colds that take a long time to heal, and an especially easy tendency toward fatigue.

According to the book’s theory, the root cause of these problems likely all points to the same place—a certain degree of disruption in cellular metabolism. The specific causes of this disruption include:

• Poor sleep quality

• Insufficient muscle mass

• Disrupted gut microbiome

• Psychological stress converting to biochemical stress

A quote from the book is thought-provoking: “As medical professionals, finding the cause of recurring inflammation is not within our scope of work.” Doctors can treat your acute symptoms, but they can’t cure the “illness” in your lifestyle. You yourself are the first person responsible for your health.

The “Good Energy” Toolkit: From Knowing to Doing

This book provides a very detailed set of practical methods. I’ve summarized it as a “Good Energy” toolkit.

1. Food: Communication with Your Body

“We are not produced from air; we are produced from food.”

Everything you eat is “3D printing” the next version of yourself. Food is the “information” you use to communicate with your cells.

• What to eat: An enhanced version of the “211 Diet Method”—two fistfuls of vegetables, one palm of protein, one fistful of starches. Plus some additional nuts and highly fermented foods.

• How to eat: Eat in the order of “Vegetables -> Protein -> Starches.”

• When to eat: Try to shorten your daily eating window (for example, finishing three meals within 8-10 hours) to give your gut time to rest and clean.

• Eat mindfully: Eat with mindfulness and gratitude, focusing on enjoying your food. A 15-minute walk after meals is also very helpful for stabilizing blood sugar.

2. Rhythm: Respect Your Biological Clock

“Within an hour of waking up, no matter what, go outside. Don’t look directly at the sun, but make sure there’s a direct path from the sky to your eyes for photons.”

• Regular sleep: Go to sleep and wake up at fixed times.

• Embrace sunlight: Getting sunlight exposure after waking up tells your body with natural signals “it’s time to start.” The saying “the sun is up” turns out to have scientific basis.

3. Exercise: “Moving” Matters More Than “Training”

Humans are beings of movement. To maintain health, we need not one hour of concentrated high-intensity training per day, but low-intensity movement scattered throughout daily life—like gardening, shopping, walking, running errands.

Even for improving physical fitness, Zone 2 exercise should be the main focus. For running, about 80% of running volume should come from easy runs where you “only breathe through your nose.”

4. Mindset: Psychological Stress Is Biochemical Stress

“If cells are surrounded by biochemicals produced by psychological stress, all other healthy choices will be nullified.”

During my third year of high school, I was surrounded by various pressures, which caused health problems even when my sleep and study conditions improved. This shows the importance of mindset. The book mentions that you can send calm signals to your body through a “gratitude journal,” or when thoughts arise, consciously “write them down, then let them go,” exercising the muscle of “returning to the present.”

Core: Reshape Your Health Identity

With all this knowledge, if it can’t change your life, it’s useless. The key to cultivating good habits that can be executed without thinking is to fundamentally change your self-identity.

The identity definition the author provides at the end of the book, I find incredibly powerful:

• I cherish the precious gift of life, body, and consciousness.

• I want to have energy and be a positive force for my family, friends, and the world.

• I live and think for myself, not controlled by industries that profit from making people sick.

• I respect the biodiversity and integrity of soil, earth, air, and animals.

When you truly identify yourself as this kind of person from the bottom of your heart, “Good Energy” will naturally come.