Eat Your Ice Cream by Ezekiel J. Emanuel

(New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2026), 167

If there's one wellness behavior to focus on it is family, friends, and social relations.

## Six Simple Rules

  1. Avoid Self-Destructive Risks: Make choices that minimize harmful behaviors.
  2. Cultivate Relationships: Engage with family and friends to combat loneliness.
  3. Stay Mentally Sharp: Keep your mind active through learning and mental challenges.
  4. Enjoy Your Food: Embrace a balanced diet that includes treats like ice cream.
  5. Exercise Regularly: Incorporate physical activity into your daily routine (aerobic, strength, balance/flexibility).
  6. Prioritize Sleep: Ensure you get adequate rest for overall well-being.

Introduction

  • The first rule of life: we're all going to die (so don't waste all your time trying to extend your life)
  • The goal should be to live a healthy and fulfilling life. Wellness is just a means to that end, not the end in itself.
  • Elanore Roosevelt: Happiness is not a goal: it's a byproduct of a life well-lived.
  • Change new one habit at a time per Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: "I judged it would be well not to distract my attention by attempting the whole at once."
  • Wellness ought to be in the background, an unconscious part of your lifestyle, not an obsession.

Afterword

  • The pervasive notion that wellness is all about the physical, is wrong...Cultivating social relations and staying mentally engaged are even more important than eating well and exercising.
  • If there's one wellness behavior to focus on it is family, friends, and social relations. (more notes from Ch 2 below)
    • cf. Nicomachean Ethics
    • Good relationships are the single strongest predictor of a happy life and a long life.
    • Conversations are good - be an initiator.
    • Limit your screen time around kids.
  • There is a wholeness to wellness behaviors, consisting of overlapping behaviors which reinforce each other.
  • Wellness and living long are only a means to a good life, they are not themselves the essence of a good life.
  • Ben Franklin's advice: challenge yourself and always improve, devote yourself to friends, be useful (don't retire he says in Ch 3).

Topic: Healthy living

Source

Created: 2026-02-21-Sat
Updated: 2026-03-04-Wed