For those who missed it, Members can watch the full video above. If you’re not a Member, please become one here:

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I covered the following topics:

• Weight loss on the trail: I explain how much weight I loss and some surprising body composition changes. This is relevant to people who walk with…

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• How I’m getting support around the hike.
  My mom and wife met us in Kanab, Utah to drop off essential supplies we can’t get in small towns. E.g., Specific shoes.

• How much I miss my dogs.
  In a word: lots.

• Shoes I’m wearing and foot issues.
  I explained the shoe th…

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We talked about how to make healthy food taste better, and how to take the hassle out of healthy cooking.

Caroline explained where most people go wrong when they try to cook healthy, the easiest ways to make healthy meals quickly, ingr…

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We covered:

• Delayed Gratification and Long-term Thinking:

  • The importance of delayed gratification, exemplified by the marshmallow test. People who can …

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I’m going to start blasting out my Explore the Edges live chats. This one is going out two days after it was recorded, but future episodes will go up right after recording.

On Tuesday, I chatted live and unedited with . Rob has a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Cambridge and is the author of Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class. He also writes a hell of a Substack.

• Read Rob’s Substack here.

Rob and I covered:

• What Rob learned from his chaotic upbringing and how it’s shaped his thinking today.

• How my own wacky childhood was tough at times but ended up benefiting me in the long run.

• Why Rob avoided voluntary discomfort in his youth but will happily take it on today (great lesson here that relates to The Comfort Crisis.)

• Evolutionary mismatches in psychology that impact us today.

• The evolution of dopamine and why doing hard things is good for us.

• When to seek perfection and when to seek “good enough.”

• Rob’s thoughts on Luxury Beliefs, which are ideas and opinions that confer status on the upper class, while often inflicting costs on the lower classes.

• How to take shit from people.

• The downsides and upsides of technology, and how we can use technology to live better (I cover a fun case study).

• Gear not stuff!

• When Rob and I each realized we weren’t just sending emails—we are creating community with our Substacks.

• Rob’s advice for reading more books and his thoughts on audiobooks.

• The downsides of traditional media and how I think about the practice of journalism today.

• And much more …

Watch our conversation above and, as always, have fun, don’t die.

-Michael

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• Here’s my recent live episode of Explore the Edges with actor Ethan Suplee.

• Ethan lost about 200 pounds and has a ton of from-the-trenches wisdom on behavior change. Watch our convo above.

• I’ve also pulled five of Ethan’s best tips and posted them below with commentary.

Housekeeping

• Full access to this video and post is for Members of Two Percent. Have fun, don’t die, become a Member.

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• The next episode of Explore the Edges is this Tuesday, March 4th, at 2 EST with Rob Henderson, a PhD in evolutionary psychology and Air Force Veteran. Tune in live on the Substack app or from your computer.

• Thanks to our partners:

  • Function Health offers 5x more testing than typical blood work. It beat my insurance for the same testing, and my doctor and I discovered some fascinating info about my health. Read this post to understand the upsides and downsides of direct-to-consumer blood work in the absence of symptoms. Use this link to learn more about Function and to skip the waiting list.

  • Eight Sleep. It isn’t so easy to sleep well in warm modern homes with hot modern mattresses. Eight Sleep fits on top of your mattress and allows you to dial in your mattress’ temperature to whatever is ideal for your sleep. Data shows Eight Sleep can improve sleep quality—and your health. Use EASTER at Eight Sleep for a discount.

Audio/podcast version

• Listen on your preferred player here.

The post

On Tuesday, I launched a new live show on Substack live called Explore the Edges. Each episode features a fascinating and inspiring guest who can give us information on how to live better.

Ethan Suplee was our inaugural guest.

• Ethan is known for his roles in Remember the Titans, American History X, Blow, Mallrats, Chance, and many more great films and TV shows.

• He also has a new Substack called American Glutton.

Ethan has also gone through major life changes—sobriety, losing 200 pounds, fame—and picked up a lot of battle-tested wisdom along the way. He talks openly about his journey—what it was like, what happened, and what it’s like now.

Watch our full conversation in the video above. We talked about:

• The tactics that finally led Ethan to lose weight.

• Ethan’s interesting thoughts on the value of exercise.

• The downsides of low-carb and other restrictive diets.

• What health strategies have helped Ethan most.

• The acting role that changed Ethan’s life.

I’ve also highlighted five key lessons from Ethan below.

Be sure to tune in to our next episode of Explore the Edges on Tuesday, March 4th, at 2 EST. I’ll be speaking with Rob Henderson, PhD in evolutionary psychologist and Air Force veteran. He’ll talk about what his exceedingly challenging upbringing taught him about success, how we can leverage lessons from evolutionary psychology to live better today, and more.

5 Key Lessons from Ethan Suplee

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