Hey I'm not sure if anyone knows this, but often trades schools/post secondaries will have an option to have what you need done by students for cheaper. They are watched over by the instructors as they do it, so less of a chance for messing up irreversibly. They do tend to take longer, but is usually much cheaper. Examples in my city:

• Hair cuts
• skin care
• dental care
• car repair
• message therapy
• probably more that I don't know about...

Even if you don't brush your teeth and floss that well or regularly you may still keep your teeth from at least getting really bad by simply brushing your tongue with your teeth and brushing your teeth with your tongue, this will at the very least keep the tartar and stuff off your teeth.

I went from not brushing my teeth or flossing almost ever to doing both plus mouth wash at least once before bed and often once in the morning but not always. It was a long uphill battle but eventually I realized that I didnt like how my teeth felt when I don't brush and I like the way it feels when it is clean so at some point it shifted from a habit I must force myself to do to doing it without thinking very much. My teeth went from being yellow to now pearly white and some of my teeth are shaped ever so slightly better I think due to flossing.

I'm using an electric Philips toothbrush I have seen some people say oral b electric ones are slightly better due to rotating but I haven't tried them.

I floss before toothbrush and toothpaste with floss picks, I wish there was a better way but floss picks seem to be the best way to go by a landslide even considering some natural stick things and various kinds of floss string holders. Apparently the stuff in the toothpaste works better if left on your teeth for 10 minutes or longer with no water swishing or mouth wash so I have been waiting some time before I do mouthwash after that.

The toothpaste i am using is toms of maine whole care and i use a pretty small amount each time i brush because you can definitely overdo the brushing, as an example the same substances in toothpaste such as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is used to polish metals so we are using metal polishers on our teeth essentially. The mouth wash I am using is therabreath invigorating icy mint an important note here is this is the only flavor as far as I know from therabreath that has xylitol in it which is important. A key ingredient to look out for is xylitol, it is found in gum sometimes too, apparently xylitol makes your mouth water and saliva has everything your teeth need to remineralize and protect themselves.

In this study the app called sleep routine was compared against 11 other devices ranging from what they are categorizing as wearable, nearable, and airable, the devices are all a little old now but the data for the app is still relevant, it matches the accuracy of my pixel watch 3 based on the testing I have been doing on and off for awhile.

As far as I can tell it does something with spectrum analysis from the microphone and gets more accurate as time goes on I'm not sure on the specifics but the app seems like its decent on the privacy respecting side of things and comes from a country that has decent laws on that stuff so its probably fine.

Some recommendations for the app, keep it close to your head for cleaner audio signals, cross check the app with any sleep tracking devices you may have just as a comparison test, focus on how they compare over time and not so much night to night because unless you have a really solid routine for sleeping each night is going to be a little different and hard to tell what is a result that changed because of the app.

Highly recommend giving the app a shot since it is inexpensive and super worth it if you spend a little time improving your sleep,technically you should only need the app for a month or two before you get a solid idea about your sleep quality so that you may change your habits and not necessarily need to keep tracking your sleep.

Android link to app

iOS link to app

This is the scientific study that the article references.

The study took 84 housekeepers at hotels and asked them how much they exercised and how fit they thought they were. Then they tracked steps and activity for a while. Then the researchers told about half of the housekeepers that their daily work is more exercise than most Americans get. The steps and activity level didn't change after telling them, but the ones they told got noticeably fitter and healthier!!!! TLDR: Fitness level seems to be affected less by activity and more by whether or not you consider that activity exercise.

I have looked into this stuff and there is some pretty compelling evidence for shoes making people run faster, like your typical highly cushioned shoes. The reason barefoot shoes are good is because it is the equivalent of a manual transmission car, we are forced to learn how to actually make our feet do the right things for proper kinematics. The automatic transmissions still heavily beat any manual paired with a good driver in most races. So barefoot shoes aren't actually that great in certain contexts despite being very helpful for making our bodies do well. Once our body gets good at using barefoot shoes though we can use regular shoes and intuitively know that we are using it correctly which is also an advantage.

My balance of these things at the moment a pair of some shoes from wildling that are water resistant but not super breathable and a pair of boots from lems that have proper outdoor siping (not their other boots that have terrible siping) these boots are about as barefoot minded as you can get boots to be while still being functional boots. And that's it, just the 2 sets of shoes.

The biggest thing is realizing that our legs have a built in spring system for all this wear and tear that we put on it. Basically our ankles are springs and the travel those springs have is the amount of distance you can move your ankle to not stomp your heel on the ground except for when needing to make quick turns or standing still for balance, momentum is what gives us balance while moving forward just like a bike rolling.

People sometimes take that and think they need to dinosaur walk all the time lol, this is just saying that walking pains come from heel stomping too hard, its ok to touch it on the ground often.

figured I’d put something here to explain what I actually do day-to-day so folks know the kind of practical stuff we’ll be talking about.

My Current Routine

• Breakfast: Big shake that’s a mix between overnight steel-cut oats and Bryan Johnson’s nutty pudding, plus my NOVOS stack and a few extras.
• Supplements: I take a couple more NOVOS things after checking my phone.
• Strength: A few lifts with 25-lb weights (different variations) to strengthen my back — I learned my weak back muscles were causing more sweat → acne.
• Shower + skincare: PanOxyl on my back.
• Throughout the day: Sunscreen, staying fairly active.
• Night: Adapalene on my face and back.

I’m tall, a bit underweight, and fairly active, so the real challenge is eating enough food consistently — not exercise.

My Approach

I basically find the weakest link and improve it in a sustainable way. Most things I figure out by watching how my body and mind respond.
If I need precision, I’ll use a watch, scale, or blood tests.

What’s Next

• Add daily walks (short and consistent).
• Possibly use dog-walking apps — that way I get full-body movement and get paid.

Why This Matters

I’d been slowly sliding into a fog since middle school through college.
Taking my health seriously has felt like getting my superpowers back — clearer mind, more energy, better mood.
I wish more people felt this way. You’re your own greatest weapon in this world; better keep it sharp.

3 Tiny Things That Helped Me Stay Consistent

1. Make big calorie dense meals with variety you can prep the night before (so you don’t skip) and keep eating calorie dense foods and drinks throughout the day, I check what I'm doing occasionally with the app called cronometer.
2. Short, regular strength moves (5–10 minutes, same time every day) to build base muscle — consistency > intensity.
3. Pair a habit with a trigger: “put on shoes → 10-min walk” or “shake in blender → take morning supplements.”
   Small chains beat willpower.

Not to mention sleep, I thought I slept well until I started to really analyze what my sleep scores and habits were like and how I felt before during after sleeping.