How healthy living nearly killed me | A.J. Jacobs

譯者: Ana Choi 審譯者: Regina Chu

I've spent the last decade

我花了過去十年

subjecting myself to pain and humiliation,

在令自己遭受痛苦和屈辱，

hopefully for a good cause,

希望是一個好的因由,

which is self-improvement.

便是自我改良。

And I've done this in three parts.

有三個部分。

So first I started with the mind.

首先，我由腦部開始。

And I decided to try to get smarter

我嘗試變得更聰明,

by reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica

我決定閱讀整本大英百科全書,

from A to Z --

從A到Z--

or, more precisely, from "a-ak" to "Zywiec."

或者更確切地說，由「A-AK」到「Zywiec」。

And here's a little image of that.

這裡便是一張圖像。

And this was an amazing year.

這是了不起的一年。

It was really a fascinating journey.

真是一個迷人的旅程。

It was painful at times,

有時是痛苦的，

especially for those around me.

特別是對我身邊的人。

My wife started to fine me one dollar

我的妻子開始每到我們談話中我插入

for every irrelevant fact I inserted into conversation.

不相關的知識事實，便我罰我一美元。

So it had its downsides.

因此，這個過程有它的缺點。

But after that,

在那個過程之後，

I decided to work on the spirit.

我決定把工作集注在精神上。

As I mentioned last year,

正如我去年提到，

I grew up with no religion at all.

我從小沒有宗教。

I'm Jewish,

我是猶太人，

but I'm Jewish in the same way the Olive Garden is Italian.

但我的猶太人作風差不多是如同Olive Garden是意大利的象徵。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Not really.

差不多不是。

But I decided to learn about the Bible and my heritage

不過，我決定探悉聖經和我的文化

by actually diving in

以實在置身於其中,

and trying to live it and immerse myself in it.

嘗試把自己沉浸在這種生活方式。

So I decided to follow all the rules of the Bible.

因此我決定按照聖經的所有規則。

And from the Ten Commandments

從十誡

to growing my beard --

到鬍子的增長--

because Leviticus says you cannot shave.

因為利未記說你可以不刮鬍子。

So this is what I looked like by the end.

這便是我在最終的樣子。

Thank you for that reaction.

謝謝你們這樣的反應。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I look a little like Moses, or Ted Kaczynski.

我看有點像摩西或特德卡欽斯基(大學炸彈客)。

I got both of them.

我捕捉到了他們兩人的影子。

So there was the topiary there.

因此便有了修剪。

And there's the sheep.

還有羊。

Now the final part of the trilogy

現在是三部曲的最後一部分，

was I wanted to focus on the body

我想著重身體,

and try to be the healthiest person I could be,

我想成為在我能力之內最健康,

the healthiest person alive.

成為活著最健康的人。

So that's what I've been doing the last couple of years.

所以這是我過去兩年一直在做的事情。

And I just finished a couple of months ago.

我剛剛在兩個月前完成。

And I have to say, thank God.

我必須說，感謝上帝。

Because living so healthily was killing me.

因為健康的生活是要命的。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

It was so overwhelming,

它是這樣鋪天蓋地，

because the amount of things you have to do,

因為你所要做的事情的數量，

it's just mind-boggling.

是令人難以置信。

I was listening to all the experts

我聽着所有專家的建言

and talking to sort of a board of medical advisers.

和與一組委員會的醫療顧問交談。

And they were telling me

他們告訴我

all the things I had to do.

我所有要做的事情。

I had to eat right,

我要吃得健康，

exercise, meditate, pet dogs,

要運動，打坐，寵愛狗，

because that lowers the blood pressure.

因為這可以降低血壓。

I wrote the book on a treadmill,

我在跑步機上寫這本書，

and it took me about a thousand miles

我寫這本書

to write the book.

花了約一千哩。

I had to put on sunscreen.

我要塗好防曬霜。

This was no small feat,

這是一個不小的壯舉，

because if you listen to dermatologists,

因為如果你要聽皮膚科醫生的話，

they say that you should have a shot glass full of sunscreen.

他們說你應該要塗上一個烈酒杯份量的防曬霜。

And you have to reapply it every two to four hours.

你必須每兩到四個小時重新搽上。

So I think half of my book advance

我認為我寫書預支付款的一半

went into sunscreen.

都是花費在防曬霜上。

I was like a glazed doughnut

我當時一年中大部分時間

for most of the year.

都看起來像釉面甜甜圈。

There was the washing of hands.

還有洗手。

I had to do that properly.

我不得不正確做。

And my immunologist told me

我的免疫學家告訴我，

that I should also wipe down

我應要擦拭我家的

all of the remote controls and iPhones in my house,

所有的遙控器和iPhone，

because those are just orgies of germs.

因為這些是細菌酒池肉林的地方。

So that took a lot of time.

這花了很多時間。

I also tried to be the safest person I could be,

我亦想試過當最安全的人，

because that's a part of health.

因為這是健康的一部分。

I was inspired

我的靈感來自

by the Danish Safety Council.

丹麥安全局。

They started a public campaign

他們啟動了一個公開活動，

that says, "A walking helmet is a good helmet."

說：「步行頭盔是一個很好的頭盔。」

So they believe you should not just wear helmets for biking,

他們相信你不應該只是在騎自行車時佩戴頭盔，

but also for walking around.

走路時都應戴頭盔。

And you can see there

你可以看到他們

they're shopping with their helmets.

一邊戴着頭盔一邊購物。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Well yeah, I tried that.

是啊，我試過了。

Now it's a little extreme, I admit.

我承認, 這是有點極端。

But if you think about this,

但是，如果你想想，

this is actually -- the "Freakonomics" authors wrote about this --

這實際上是 -- 〈魔鬼經濟學〉作者對此寫道 --

that more people die on a per mile basis

死於酒後醉着走的人

from drunk walking

每英里基礎上比

than from drunk driving.

酒後駕車死去的人更多。

So something to think about tonight

因此這是你今晚需要想想的，

if you've had a couple.

如果你喝了一兩杯的話。

So I finished,

所以我完成了，

and it was a success in a sense.

在某些意義上它是成功的。

All of the markers went in the right direction.

所有的里程碑都是向着正確的方向。

My cholesterol went down, I lost weight,

我的膽固醇降低，我減去了重量，

my wife stopped telling me that I looked pregnant.

我的妻子不再告訴我看起來像懷孕。

So that was nice.

所以這是很好的。

And it was successful overall.

整體來說它是成功的。

But I also learned that I was too healthy,

但我也了解到我太健康，

and that was unhealthy.

而這是不健康的。

I was so focused on doing all these things

我是如此專注於做所有這些事情，

that I was neglecting my friends and family.

我忽視了我的朋友和家人。

And as Dan Buettner can tell you,

Dan Buettner可以告訴你，

having a strong social network

擁有一個強大的社交網絡，

is so crucial to our health.

對我們的健康至關重要。

So I finished.

所以我終止了。

And I kind of went overboard

我在項目結束後的

on the week after the project was over.

一週實在有些過火。

I went to the dark side,

我墮進了黑暗的一面，

and I just indulged myself.

我只是放縱着自己。

It was like something out of Caligula.

就像出於卡里古拉(羅馬帝國艷情史)的東西。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Without the sex part.

沒有性的那部分。

Because I have three young kids,

因為我有3個年幼的孩子，

so that wasn't happening.

所以那部分沒有發生。

But the over-eating and over-drinking, definitely.

但過量進食和過度飲酒，絕對有。

And I finally have stabilized.

我終於進入了穩定。

So now I'm back

我現在重返

to adopting many -- not all; I don't wear a helmet anymore --

採取許多 -- 不是所有的，我不戴頭盔了 --

but dozens of healthy behaviors

但数十個我在

that I adopted during my year.

我一年中採取的健康行為。

It was really a life-changing project.

它實際上是一個改變生活的項目。

And I, of course, don't have time to go into all of them.

而我當然沒有時間深入說明所有。

Let me just tell you two really quickly.

讓我很快的告訴你們其中兩個。

The first is -- and this was surprising to me;

首先是 -- 這是我感到驚訝的，

I didn't expect this to come out --

我完全沒有想到這個 --

but I live a much quieter life now.

但我現在是有一個更安靜的生活。

Because we live in such a noisy world.

因為我們是生活在這樣一個嘈雜的世界裡。

There's trains and planes and cars

有火車和飛機，

and Bill O'Reilly, he's very noisy.

汽車和Bill O'Reilly，他非常嘈雜。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And this is a real underestimated, under-appreciated health hazard --

這是一個真正被低估和不被重視的健康危害問題--

not just because it harms our hearing, which it obviously does,

不僅是因為它顯然是損害我們的聽力，

but it actually initiates

但它實際上是發起了

the fight-or-flight response.

攻擊或逃離的反應機制。

A loud noise will get your fight-or-flight response going.

一聲巨響會讓你的戰鬥或逃跑反應揭發出來。

And this, over the years,

而多年來, 這一點

can cause real damage, cardiovascular damage.

可以造成真正的損害，心血管損害。

The World Health Organization just did a big study

世界衛生組織剛做了一個大型的研究，

that they published this year.

今年出版的。

And it was done in Europe.

在歐洲進行。

And they estimated

他們估計，

that 1.6 million years of healthy living

每年在歐洲

are lost every year in Europe

噪音污染令160萬年的

because of noise pollution.

健康生活失去。

So they think it's actually very deadly.

所以他們認為它實際上是非常致命的。

And by the way,

順便說一下，

it's also terrible for your brain.

它對你的大腦也是可怕的。

It really impairs cognition.

它真正損害認知能力。

And our Founding Fathers knew about this.

而我們的開國元勳們知道這一點。

When they wrote the Constitution,

當他們在寫憲法，

they put dirt all over the cobblestones outside the hall

他們把大廳會堂外的鵝卵石上覆蓋着泥土，

so that they could concentrate.

使他們可以集中精力。

So without noise reduction technology,

因此，假如沒有降噪技術，

our country would not exist.

我們的國家便不會存在。

So as a patriot,

因此，作為一個愛國者，

I felt it was important to --

我覺得這是非常重要的 --

I wear all the earplugs and the earphones,

我戴着所有耳塞和耳機，

and it's really improved my life

它以驚訝和意想不到的方式，

in a surprising and unexpected way.

真正改善了我的生活。

And the second point I want to make, the final point,

第二點，最後一點，我想說的是 --

is that -- and it's actually been a theme of TEDMED --

它實際上是一個TEDMED的主題 --

that joy is so important to your health,

喜樂是對你的健康非常重要的，

that very few of these behaviors

這些行為很少會

will stick with me

讓我堅持，

unless there's some sense of pleasure and joy in them.

除非它們有某種意義的樂趣和喜悅。

And just to give you one instance of this:

給你這方面的一個實例：

food.

食物。

The junk food industry

垃圾食品行業

is really great

是真正精巧的

at pressing our pleasure buttons

能夠弄清楚什麼是最有樂趣的，

and figuring out what's the most pleasurable.

以至可以觸及我們的快樂按鈕。

But I think we can use their techniques

但我認為我們可以利用他們的技術

and apply them to healthy food.

應用在健康食品上。

To give just one example,

舉一個例子，

we love crunchiness, mouthfeel.

我們愛脆的口感。

So I basically have tried to incorporate crunchiness

所以我基本上嘗試將我的食譜

into a lot of my recipes --

納入了很多脆的東西 --

throw in some sunflower seeds.

加入一些葵花籽。

And you can almost trick yourself

你幾乎可以欺騙自己，

into thinking you're eating Doritos.

以為你在吃多力多滋。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And it has made me a healthier person.

它便使我成為一個更健康的人。

So that is it.

就是這樣。

The book about it comes out in April.

關於它的書在4月發行。

It's called "Drop Dead Healthy."

稱為〈Drop Dead Healthy〉(健康砸不死)。

And I hope that I don't get sick during the book tour.

我希望我不會在書宣傳期間病倒。

That's my greatest hope.

這是我最大的希望。

So thank you very much.

非常感謝你們。

(Applause)

(掌聲)