When is extreme health and fitness too extreme?

I received the note below from a 19-year-old female fan of my blog.

Hi [Keva],

How do I know when I’m being too rigid? Like I want to go to bed every night at 11:30 pm sharp so I can be as healthy as I can and have a good circadian rhythm and everything, but also 11:30 is early for most kids my age and many things happen after that time and leads me to missing out on things and spending time with friends. I know you don’t agree with drinking and clubbing and everything but like how do I know where the line is in rigidity.

I love this question because I spend a great deal of time thinking about extremes in my own life … the right balance between prioritizing health yet being able to function in society.

For me, I like a consistent, early bedtime. I wear blue light blocking glasses after dark to promote natural melatonin production for better, deeper sleep. I sleep with earplugs and a fancy nasal strip that helps me breathe. I’ve basically given up on restaurant food. I feel sad looking out on a bright, sunny day if I’m stuck in the office or otherwise trapped inside without having obtained my daily quota of vitamin D.

Although my wife complains that I live my life in a square, believe me there’s way worse.

I saw a video recently of RFK Jr. walking around on his campaign plane barefoot. He does this to ground himself as best he can. While it’s not “Earthing” in the traditional sense of absorbing negative ions from the ground, he uses the chassis of the plane as a sink to discharge static electricity that has built up in his body. Anyone can theoretically reduce jet lag by placing a bare foot on a metal foot rest or metal bolt.

Then there’s biohacker Dave Asprey who posted a video on Instagram showing his 869k followers how he covers vents in his hotel room with damp towels to help purify the air while he’s sleeping. Asprey is also one of several celebrities and biohackers to spend $25,000 on experimental follistatin injections. Follistatin gives genetic instructions to your cells to remove the body’s natural governor on muscle growth.

The most extreme biohacker in the world, Bryan Johnson, spends $2 million a year on his wellness plan. He once infused himself with a liter of his 17-year-old son’s plasma in an attempt to slow aging.

So what’s the answer to my reader about whether a person has crossed the line from health into fanaticism?

The answer is: Be true to yourself. Only you can value the trade-offs between optimizing health vs. doing something else. If you want to go to sleep, sleep. If you want to go to the party, party.

The only wrong answer is if you get pressured into doing something that you don’t want to do.