Ray Peat and Paul Saladino both emphasize that metabolic health is shaped by more than diet alone. How you move, how you sleep, how much natural light you get, and how you manage stress all interact directly with the same hormonal and cellular systems that food affects.
This page is a starting point — draft notes on the lifestyle elements both frameworks support. More depth coming as the site grows.
Ray Peat was an enthusiastic advocate for walking as the primary form of daily movement. He saw it as low-cortisol, pro-thyroid, and supportive of good circulation and CO₂ balance. Long, leisurely walks — especially outdoors — were central to his personal routine and recommendations. Not power-walking with a heart rate monitor. Just walking, ideally in natural light.
Paul Saladino is an active surfer and skater — and he's deliberate about that. These aren't just hobbies. They represent a philosophy of movement that's skill-based, playful, and embedded in real life rather than scheduled as exercise. The cortisol profile of surfing a wave or skating a bowl is fundamentally different from grinding out intervals on a stationary bike. The joy element isn't trivial — it's hormonal.
Both frameworks support resistance training but caution against excessive volume and intensity. Heavy lifting done intelligently supports testosterone, thyroid sensitivity, and body composition. The mistake most people make is treating the gym like a cortisol maximization tool — multiple daily sessions, endless HIIT, chronic underfueling. Keep sessions focused, relatively brief, and well-fueled with carbohydrates before and after.
Swimming, cycling at an easy pace, yoga, stretching — all of these support recovery without spiking stress hormones. The key concept from both frameworks is that movement should feel restorative most of the time, not depleting. If you're consistently exhausted after workouts, you're probably overtraining for your current metabolic capacity — which is itself a signal to focus more on nutrition first.
"Keeping the metabolic rate up is the main thing, and there are lots of ways to do it."
Getting outside within the first 30–60 minutes after waking — even on cloudy days — sets circadian rhythm, supports cortisol-to-melatonin timing, and is directly connected to thyroid function and mood. No phone. Just outside.
Saladino is an active proponent of grounding — direct skin contact with the earth (grass, sand, soil, ocean floor). The research on grounding is early but suggests effects on inflammation, sleep, and cortisol. Walk barefoot on the beach. It's not complicated.
Cold water exposure — whether ocean swims, cold showers, or plunge pools — is part of Saladino's regular practice. Brief cold exposure has measurable effects on norepinephrine, mood, and metabolic rate. The ocean specifically adds grounding, sunlight, and movement simultaneously.
Ray Peat wrote extensively about the suppressive effects of artificial blue light on metabolism and thyroid function. Dim lights after dark, use warm-toned bulbs (amber/red spectrum), and avoid screens in the hour before sleep. This isn't wellness-bro advice — the physiology is solid.
Both Peat and Saladino lived and live in ways that prioritize outdoor time as a baseline — not as exercise, just as a context for life. Natural environments lower cortisol, provide sensory input that screens can't, and connect movement with sunlight and fresh air simultaneously.
Sauna use is broadly supported in the metabolic health community for its effects on growth hormone, cardiovascular health, and detoxification. Peat was cautious about overheating but supportive of warmth as generally pro-metabolic. Draft notes — more coming.
Ray Peat's framework is built around the idea that stress hormones — cortisol, adrenaline, estrogen in excess — are catabolic and anti-metabolic. They slow thyroid conversion, break down muscle, impair sleep, and suppress the same cellular energy production that food is trying to support. You can eat perfectly and still feel like garbage if chronic stress isn't addressed. The diet and the lifestyle have to work together.
Both frameworks treat sleep as a non-negotiable foundation. During sleep, thyroid hormone drives tissue repair, liver glycogen is maintained, and cortisol is ideally at its lowest. Peat recommended eating before bed — a small amount of carbohydrate and protein (OJ and milk, or cheese and fruit) to prevent the cortisol spike that occurs from overnight hypoglycemia. Don't go to bed starving.
PMAB is a reference framework, not a rulebook. The people who thrive long-term with any health approach are the ones who make it sustainable — not the ones who are most rigid about it.
You live in a real city, with a real job, a real budget, real social obligations, and probably a real love for food that doesn't always come from grass-fed cows. That's fine. That's everyone.
None of this is biohacking. There's no tracking app, no $40 capsule stack, no morning routine with twelve steps. Walk daily, get sunlight, eat real food, sleep enough — these aren't hacks, they're just the basics most of us have drifted away from.
The goal is directional improvement, not purity. Cook with butter instead of canola oil at home. Order the burger without the bun when you're out. Walk to the coffee shop. Eat an orange. Have the ice cream. The cumulative direction of your choices matters far more than any individual deviation from the framework.