5HT: 5 Healthyish Things, including my weight loss journey and poop shelves

My wife and I were at a café recently, and I swear—every single person walking by was rucking. Rucking is essentially walking with a weighted vest on, and it’s one of this year’s biggest health flexes. With roots in the Special Forces, rucking was brought to civilians by GORUCK events and CrossFit, and grew in popularity during the pandemic (because, well, 10K steps got boring 😅). Now, it’s everywhere.

The biggest appeal IMO is that it takes something you're already doing (walking the dog, mowing the lawn, finally taking out the trash, etc.) and turns it into a strength, cardio, and bone health exercise. And who doesn't want to squeeze extra health juice out of something they’re already doing? 

It’s also landing right as bone health is having a moment, particularly for those experiencing peri- or menopause (when estrogen drops and bone loss speeds up). Research tells us weight-bearing exercise, done at enough intensity, can help slow bone loss, particularly in the hips.

So, lately, brands like Midi are backing weighted vests as a joint-friendly way to load your skeleton, buuut not everyone is convinced 😬. Some have a bone to pick with the research, saying the evidence is overblown or view the vest as a burden. 

FWIW, it’s probably not a magic solution, but it also doesn’t hurt—and has some other benefits 🤷. Other perks that carry weight:

Buuut like with any health optimization, don’t overdo it. Start with 5-10% of your body weight and build up. Weighted vests also come in all price points. My wife snagged this 12lb one on Amazon for under $50, but you can splurge on Equinox, OMORPHO, or this one designed specifically for women. Tbh, I wouldn’t be shocked if luxury brands made their own soon, either. When you see a Gucci one in the wild, send pics 🤣.

Introducing: Man cereal. 

Man Cereal claims to be the world’s first creatine cereal and it’s set to launch this fall with three flavors. I hate that I love it?? Though some 5HT+ members in our Slack channel say they love that they hate it 😆 along with ideas for expansion:

Man Cereal’s website is purely a waitlist right now, but it’s CEO shared more about the launch on LinkedIn, including the cereal’s formula:

I’m an unabashed fan of Magic Spoon and basically a sucker for anything that’s protein powder in the form of something else. I’m also bullish on creatine (though 2.5mg isn’t much). But, yeah, I’m signing up for it. (Also 👏 to Day Job for another brand banger.)

Raise your hand if you’ve seen a poop shelf. 🙋

While traveling in Europe this summer, I came across this curious toilet design that displays your #2 on a porcelain platform before it swirls away. (If you’ve spent time in countries like Germany, Austria, Poland, or the Netherlands—where these are more popular—you know what I’m talking about.)

At first, it’s hilarious. But it actually has a very functional purpose: To help you inspect your output 🕵️. Basically, the shape, color, size, buoyancy, and consistency of your stool 💩are alllll clues about your digestive health. According to the Bristol Stool chart, there are seven types of poop—and they can shift weekly, sometimes even daily. The better you know your normal, the quicker you’ll recognize when something’s off.

As I’ve shared before, I started taking Seed’s daily synbiotic, DS-01® after struggling with mysterious stomach issues myself. DS-01® is a probiotic and prebiotic that supports healthy regularity ✅, reinforces healthy stool hydration ✅, and supports “ease of evacuation” ✅. Based on my time in European loos so far, things looked good 😆. And as another proof point (or should I say poop point, sorry 😬), 75% of Seed’s members reported an improvement in regularity after taking DS-01®. 

If you’ve also been dealing with digestive weirdness or want to better understand what your gut’s telling you—this is a solid place to start. Take this quiz to see if DS-01® is right for you—and get 25% off! Poop shelf optional.

I recently celebrated my 38th birthday (yes, I’m a Leo 🦁, real shocker, I know) and reflected on my weight loss journey this year. (Yes, the one I unapologetically brought all of you on with me 🤣.) 

So you know where I started, here’s a pic of me reading to one of my kiddos late last year. Yeesh.

I was approaching 40, battling back pain (another saga I roped you into 🙊), had elevated heart markers, and ultimately felt like I was losing control of my health (and a bit of myself 😞). My weight gain didn’t happen all at once. With kids + stress + life, it slowly ticked up every year for like 10 years—and here I was. Otherwise active and mostly eating healthy, but still. I knew it was time for a change. 

And so I got to work work work work work work (don’t think this is quite what Rihanna meant but 🤷) on my body. 

I shared the whole weight loss journey on X, but here are some of the highlights of what helped me lose weight, gain muscle, and take back my well-being 💪: 

Somewhere in between, I went to Europe—where I lost 10 more lbs 😱 (and that’s without cutting out beer and still having nice dinners out)! It was really important to me throughout this whole thing to not limit myself but to optimize. Here’s me in Paris, with my kiddos, feeling like a brand new person. 

Today, I’m 38, 38lbs lighter, and much much happier. Appreciate all the support along the way. Now, more goals ahead! 🚀

As I work toward 2x my restorative sleep, one bedtime trick I’ve been trying is cognitive shuffling—inspired by a 5HT+ superstar, Cory Z, who I’ve mentioned in basically every email 😆. Instead of “clearing your mind” (which usually just makes you think more), cognitive shuffling has you fill it with harmless, random stuff to lull your brain to sleep.

Here’s how it works: You pick a neutral word and slowly spell it out, picturing things starting with each letter. Say you choose “COSTCO.” You start with the letter C and imagine a bunch of unrelated words starting with that letter. Corgi. Cookie. Canada. Cauliflower. Cantankerous. When you get bored with that letter, you move on to the next. If we’re using “COSTO,” we move on to O. Oreo. Otters. Orange. Orangutan. Onomatopeia. And so on, until (ideally) you drift off. 💤 

It turns out the concept was created by Dr. Luc P. Beaudoin, an adjunct Professor in Cognitive Science at Simon Fraser University, who developed it while studying how the brain transitions into sleep. He found that as we nod off, our thoughts naturally become more random—so he designed a way to intentionally speed up that mental drift.

Since then, his technique has been covered in The New York Times and VeryWell, and endorsed by other doctors. I’ve been trying it nightly, and honestly, I rarely make it past the third letter 😴. It’s simple, oddly fun, and it really doesn't get any more healthyish than that.  

As sleep expert Molly Eastman (I’m a fan!) says, sleep is a skill—and this is one way I’m practicing mine.

Okay, you know what I’m curious about—but here’s what everyone else is Googling, according to a few trusty platforms.

👋 Who are you again? I’m Derek Flanzraich—founder of two venture-backed startups in Greatist (👍) and Ness (👎). I’ve worked with brands like GoodRx, Parsley, Midi, Ro, NOCD, and Peloton. I now run Healthyish Content, a premium health content & SEO agency (among other things).

Every Thursday, I share 5 health things I feel strongly about so you can live healthyish. (Disclaimer: I’m more your friend with health benefits. None of this is medical advice.) Annnd follow me on LinkedIn for more hot takes on health.