Being a real-food adventurer, health practitioner, blogger, and general life-improvement addict, I get to read, sample, and play around with a lot of pretty cool stuff. It dawned on me the other day that aside from the odd social media shout-out here and there, I haven’t been sharing all of these little gems with you enough.

And so, I’ve decided to start a new feature – Naked Nuggets – where I’ll share with you my experiments, thoughts, latest favorite books, and other things of interest that can help you live a healthier, fuller life. How does that sound?

I make no commitment to how regularly I’ll post these – just when the list is long enough to warrant a blog post. Today I’ve got some seemingly unrelated but really cool gems:

1. Planetbox waterbottle

As a blogger, I get sent a lot of samples of things to try out and review. And I’ll be honest, only about 10% of them actually make it to this blog. I’ve got really high standards for what I’ll recommend and I have no patience for gimmicks.

When PlanetBox approached me to try out their new BottleRocket I wasn’t expecting much. With an active and thirsty toddler, we’ve had a ton of kid water bottles go through our house and most have disappointed. Either they leak, they’re too hard for her to open herself, or they’re too hard to get clean and end up moldy. No bueno.

So when said BottleRocket arrived I looked at it quickly and prepared to dismiss it. I’ll admit the packaging was pretty cool and the rocket design immediately caught my daughter’s attention. She mastered opening and closing the bottle within just a couple of tries and decided this was the bottle for her. A good start, but I was still suspicious.

Well, I have to say, I’m a total convert. It’s super easy to dissemble and wash (and dishwasher safe – an absolute must). She loves the opening and closing mechanism (a little latch plus button to press so that the lid pops up), and she finds it highly entertaining, which means she’ll actually do it properly. The spout design makes it hard to spill, but easy for her to drink, and it’s large enough that it works for thicker drinks like smoothies. And unless it falls upside down while open, it doesn’t leak. And, importantly, she loves it.

The verdict: I’m sold! You can grab your own BottleRocket here.

2. Tim Ferriss podcast

On a completely different note, I simply cannot get enough of Tim Ferriss these days. I’ve read all three of his books (this, this, and this), I follow his blog, and his is the only podcast I listen to religiously – and truly learn from. He also just launched his new TV show, which I’ll admit I haven’t watched yet, but only because I’m saving it as a reward for myself after I meet some big deadlines.

I wasn’t always so enamored with him. I loved his first book, The Four Hour Workweek, but I bought his next book, The Four Hour Body, expecting to hate it and rip it apart. I was so offended at what I thought was going to be a bunch of quality-risking, health-damaging short-cuts and a hack approach to health. I was amazed – and delighted – to find that I agreed with much of what he said. That’s when I became a true fan.

Tim fascinates me because of his passion for excellence in all areas. He’s a wealth of cutting edge information on physical health, business, writing, and life optimization. He calls himself the human guinea pig and tries things many of us would consider insane, all to share first-hand what works and what doesn’t, often gleaning valuable cutting-edge information in the process. His podcast focuses on dissecting excellence. He interviews peak performers from all different areas (from chess masters to professional athletes to top hedge fund managers) seeking out the common denominators – practices we can all apply in our own lives to massively increase our own performance.

I have learned so much from him. Believe it or not, it was listening to Tim that finally pushed me over the edge to try meditation for real. Best of all, everything tip and “hack” I have applied has had exponential results. From changing the frequency and content of my workout routine, to tweaking what I eat for breakfast, to ways of structuring my days to get the absolute best productivity out of as few work hours as possible (I’m mostly a mama after all)… if I actually do what he teaches, my life quality, performance and happiness go off the charts.

If any of this sounds compelling to you, check him out. If you’re into lifestyle optimization his first book, The Four Hour Workweek, is a great place to start. If you’re fascinated with manipulating your physical being, The Four Hour Body is your resource. If you love excellence and are passionate about improving your efficacy in the world, then listen to his podcast. And if you want to see him in one of his human-guinea pig experiments learning a new skill at hyperspeed, his TV show is getting rave reviews.

3. The Art of Learning

Speaking of the Tim Ferriss podcast, one of my all-time favorite episodes is episode #2 with Josh Waitzkin. Josh is the subject of the book and film Searching for Bobby Fisher. He’s a world chess champion, world Tai Chi champion and master martial artist. I found his interview absolutely riveting (I’ve listened to it multiple times now) and from it was inspired to read his book, The Art of Learning. If you are interested in mastery of a personal or professional passion, then this book is a must-read. I took copious notes and know it will be something I refer to many times over the years to come.

4. Peaceful parent, Happy Kids

As a mother, effective parenting is something that has become a huge interest of mine, but many of the parenting books I’ve seen have turned me off completely. Their approaches seemed to apply to all but my little girl. When Sia was first born, I read these books avidly, but have completely stopped as she was such an intense little thing and all the books did was make me feel like a failure as a mother.

A fellow mama recommended Dr. Laura Markham’s parenting blog, Aha! Parenting, and it resonated. It didn’t seem overly permissive like attachment parenting approaches, and yet it wasn’t dictatorial or old-school. Everything she said just made sense.

With a recent major move to a new city – a major stressor for everyone in the family – it seemed Sia and I were disconnecting and fighting. Not something I wanted for either of us, but I simply didn’t know how to move through it. I finally got a copy of Dr. Laura’s book, Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids, and have been delighted with what she teaches.

Her approach just makes sense.  It was a lot like when I first found the Nutritional Therapy Association’s training program – all the confusion and misinformation about food suddenly started to make sense, and I just sat there nodding excitedly as the basic logic unfolded before me. I’m having that same experience with Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids. I’m nodding along saying “that makes sense, that makes sense! I can do this!” and even better: when I actually apply what I’m learning, it works!

I’m not going to try to describe her philosophy here as I won’t ever do it justice, but if you’re a parent and are struggling with your child (particularly the intense struggles of toddlerhood) then please get a copy of this book. It just might be exactly what you’ve been looking for.

 

Any little gems you’d like me to check out? Send an email to info (at) eatnakednow (dot) com with your recommendations! 

 

 

Headline photo credit: © Dream7904 | Dreamstime.com