I will admit, I'm addicted to self-improvement. The thing is, there's so damn much about myself to improve.
I started with trying to improve my mind. After college, I felt my IQ gently ebbing away. I decided on a radical fix: I would read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica and learn everything I could. It was a fascinating experience, which I chronicled in my first book. It was also painful, especially for those around me. (My wife started to fine me $1 for every irrelevant fact.)
After that, I took on the spirit. I knew nothing about religion, so I decided to learn about the Bible by diving right in and living it. I spent a year following all the rules of the Bible, from the Ten Commandments to growing a mammoth, Ted Kaczynski-like beard. Again, I loved it, wrote a book about it, and even became attached to the beard; it was like a member of the family.
And now, the body. Three years ago, I was hospitalized with a freak case of tropical pneumonia. My wife, who was already concerned about my mushy, easily-winded body, sat me down, and said: "I don't want to be a widow in my forties."
So I undertook a quest to remake every part of my body. Here, you'll see some photos from that adventure. Sorry in advance about the "before" picture.
drop dead healthy
For more by A.J. Jacobs, click here.
For more personal health stories, click here.