Who is Todd Shrub?
I’m a lot of things: professionally, I’m a Management Consultant running my own S-corp; I’m also an ISSA Certified Personal Trainer; an ISSA Certified Nutrition Coach; secular Buddhist; fitness buff; father; husband; and part-time PhD candidate studying applied epigenetics and physiology; an engineer; and hobbyist (and boy, do I have a LOT of interests). As my body continues to age and get older, I’ve noticed some stark changes in what I can do, how well I can do them, and (increasingly these days) what I can’t do. Before 2020, I started avidly reading and learning about ways to take better care of myself so I can live longer and live better. The information I started accumulating was of great interest to my family and friends, and hence, I started this site as a way to share what I’ve learned.
As I dug into some meaty topics, such as what science has to say about an optimal diet, I kept finding myself reading and consuming very detailed texts and scientific papers. The deeper I went, the more I found myself needing to learn, and that’s what brought me to pursuing a PhD. While I intend to specialize in epigenetics and physiology, the more common school of thought for the subject area that I’m studying is kinesiology, the scientific study of human movement. Movement is one of the biggest keys to a long and healthy life and overall wellness, but it’s not the only key.
One of the most important aspects of the site, and what I’m passionately learning about, is the comprehensive nature of its scope. I integrated my core interests about living longer and better into one model that literally covers everything to do with how to be well (I.e. wellness). It’s a very broad set of topics and will take time to cover across the board, so it’s a journey for us to share my friend. As a result, you’ll see a wide range of content, some of which may not be of direct interest to you at the time, though I hope to make everything an amusing or informative read even if the topic isn’t of specific interest for you… The overall model for integrated wellness will evolve as I go through various topics and areas. To get an idea of the expansive topics I’m going to cover you can see the definition of comprehensive wellness page, which shows the full picture- the 3,000-meter view so to speak.
I love life, living it, and am constantly working to make it better and last longer. I’m passionate about my Values and am so excited to be able to share information and stories with you about things I’m doing to increase the quantity and quality of my life. My ultimate hope is that my successes and failures might motivate you to make some positive changes and share your results with me as we live this journey together.
Site Content
A lot of effort has gone into making the site presentable and making sure that the articles, pages, and posts that I publish are of the highest quality. While creating the site, I established some standards for the types of content you will find, which are summarized below.
Content-Type
Content Description
BLOGs
I love applying all the information I learn in the real world- it must be the engineer in me. A big part of this site is dedicated to sharing all my crazy adventures with you as I enjoy my daily, weekly, monthly, and annual journeys. My adventures can range from a monthly lactate test to a multi-day hike in the mountains, to product reviews, to how I apply the hard science about health and wellness into my life.
How To’s & Informational Material
How-to’s present the core information about what I’m doing and why- these are the pages are the reference material that inform the ‘right’ way to do something based on the best current information. If I inspire you to take action, that action is probably going to be directly supported by this type of content. Selfishly speaking, these pages are my cliff notes about what I need to do from all the learning and research I’m doing- since I’m writing them for that need, I thought it might be helpful for you too.
Navigating The Site
This site is about two things: being well (a state of being) and enjoying life (actions). Enabling those two things however involves many parts and pieces of modern life, and hence this site has a lot of parts and pieces as well. You can read more about the overall model on the definition of comprehensive wellness page. In short, in order to cover everything, I have to cover multiple topics that arrange in a sort of hierarchy across mind, body, and soul, which are shown in the following table.
Category Name
Category Description
The foundation of all our time on earth, and likely the best place to start, is getting my body in working order. This area includes Physical Health, Nutrition, and Circadian Health. If things aren’t ‘right’ with your body, it’s hard to meaningfully move on to the rest of the site’s material.
Here, I’ll focus on emotional and intellectual wellness- the two fundamental sides of the human mind. These are likely softer areas because there’s so much science around the pile of neurons between your ears that ranges from good-old mental health (I.e., therapist kinds of stuff), to continuing education (E.g. getting a PhD, studying a new language, reading books & giving reviews), to meditating and being mindful of each moment.
This area covers relationships outside of ourselves. The Mind area above is ultimately about ‘self’, so this area is meant to capture everything outside of that ‘self’. Specifically, I cover Family, Friends, Profession (social contributions), and Finances. Family and friends might seem obvious, but why profession and finances? Your profession or trade, in a lot of ways, embodies your ‘relationship’ in providing use to society, which also largely dictates the financial returns you get from it. While there are other forms of social engagement- like politics, activism, volunteering, and religious social engagement- I don’t have specific sections for them at the moment. I’ll likely cover some of those topics in the Spirit section below because, in my opinion, they are social but more linked to your spirit and ‘purpose’ in life than social interactions.
Similar to how the Social component of this site represents relationships outside your head, Environmental content covers everything outside your Body (I.e., the Body section above). Specifically, I break this down into your House/Home (air quality, data/file storage, organizational tips and tricks), the Local environment outside your house (garbage and recycling, neighborhood, parks and things within a short drive of my house), and Global issues.
This section is what this site is all about- getting to all those really memorable experiences in life that matter. By addressing all the above areas, we’ll have a foundation upon which to build and live the most excellent life possible. It’s important to note that the content presented here is secular. While discussing human spirit might butt right up to religious concepts about why and how we got here, or what ‘right’ values are, I take a nonprescriptive and nonreligious approach. Furthermore, I present Buddhist concepts in a secular manner and avoid dogma, religious ceremony, and religious belief systems.
My Policies & Associations
I am adamant about being open and honest with you regarding this site. While I would likely continue to publish content even if I had to pay all the costs (something I’ve done for years now), I want to be fully transparent – there are aspects of this site that are designed and intended to be a business. Those realities exist mainly to provide resources for all the stuff I do. So, the business reality is just that- I need to have some way of funding the things I do and share with you. In order to provide the greatest transparency, I have published the following two pages:
This page includes the most current policies that govern how I conduct things on this site. This includes:
- Disclaimers: The stuff I do, and the resulting information I share, can represent some risk by nature. Disclaimers make sure I clearly provide information that may present some risks to you. Please be very careful in how you choose to use information from this site.
- Communications: Rules about what I allow in comments, pages, and posts on this site. These are common sense rules about how to engage with others on my site- be polite and respectful to each other (myself included).
- Privacy: Some of the normal stuff about how I protect your privacy and what information I collect, if any.
- Reviews: When I conduct product reviews, I want them to be fair and useful. This policy makes sure that I am fairly and effectively representing products to you.
- Recommendations: When I recommend a product or service, I want to make sure that I do it with the utmost integrity and confidence. This policy provides a uniform basis from which I make recommendations to you.
- Disclosures: This is a list that discloses relationships I have, and how I will inform you of situations where information is presented in association with a relationship.
In order to do some of the really cool stuff you see here, I need equipment, materials, and supplies. Sometimes, those items come from manufacturers, retailers, and suppliers, and in some cases, I have established some form of relationship with those entities. I may have an affiliate relationship with retailers or have sponsorships that provide materials for me to do interesting things. As a result, some of the content on this site includes advertising and recommendations that are associated with these relationships. Because I am compelled to be transparent with you (because it’s just the right thing to do), I have included a list of all the organizations that I have relationships with and the nature of the relationship. All of that stated, I want to assure you that I will never publish anything about a product or service on this site that I do not believe to be suitable for your consideration.