Ask HN: How do you stay healthy?
I work a desk job (as a software engineer). Just started lifting M-W-F following the strengths 5x5 program, and counting calories with an app.
What do you do to stay healthy? Any advice you can share?
What do you do to stay healthy? Any advice you can share?
91 comments
[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 62.1 ms ] threadIntermittent fasting and fasting on water (with some salt) has been working very well for me. Burning away 3kg per week. Not really losing muscle, just burning away my fat at an insane rate. Just don't consume carbs or sugar (or "zero sugar" crap). Eat vegetables. Read labels.
What's wrong with it?
This is not to say that there aren't better sweeteners than sugar, but anything saying "less sugar" or "zero sugar" is likely just a technically correct marketing ploy.
Most sweeteners are truly zero calories and don't produce an insulin spike, but there may be a problem with cravings for some people.
Natural cane sugar is fine, as long as you have it in small doses. Most sodas do not use small doses.
You wouldn't feel right having a giant cupcake every single day, right? Let alone more than one? Do you have a largish, nutrient-free dessert with every single meal ("free refills")? Wow, of course not. But once a month, or even once every couple weeks, that's still not good for you but at least you're not the gross dude eating (drinking) five desserts a day or whatever, and it's basically not gonna hurt you enough to be worth worrying about.
The "it's an exceptionally unhealthy dessert that I should absolutely feel bad about having too often" mindset is the correct one, because that's exactly what it is. People who wouldn't take a pile of ho-hos to the checkout counter (god, what will people think of me?) buy 32-64oz sodas like it's nothing because they don't make the connection that soda = very bad dessert, and feel the consequent second thoughts (and shame) over buying and consuming such a thing regularly, in large quantities.
Of course if everyone did that Coca-Cola's sales would drop to 5% or less of what they currently are. So their advertising contributes to making drinking lots of soda all the time seem normal. Combat this by imagining all the models in their ads messily smashing cupcakes into their mouths instead of drinking coke, while doing whatever they're doing.
I've consistently gone to the gym/played sports and stayed in relatively good shape for the past 15 years. I love how working out makes me feel, and I am a happier person because of it. BUT, just about every time I make the decision to go to the gym, there is another part of me that badly just wants to stay home or do something easier instead. I still have to actively fight that urge.
Just want to say this because I think some people might feel like they should give up if they don't want to actively go work out. Sometimes you just have to push through that feeling.
Don't stop either, the first couple weeks are the hardest but stick to it. If you start skipping days here and there or make excuses you'll never get in the groove you need.
Source: Been lifting routinely for a few years now, recently got hurt and couldn't lift for a week or two. It's been a struggle to jump back in (even with such a tiny break!) but since I've been here before I know I need force myself over this little bump.
Best of luck!
I don't lift (I can't get into anything related to strength training beyond push-ups) but I go running 5 days a week and I guard it jealously. My analogy for it is that every run is putting money into the bank. If I skip a day I can't help but think that I'm getting a little bit slower, a little bit out of shape for that. And that the next time I go for a run it'll be just a little bit harder and I'll be a little bit slower for the day off.
That's all crazy of course - I know that things like that don't happen at the margins; at least not at my level of running. It motivates me though and if it's not true for a day skipped it is true for a month. Maybe a week. Which is why I'm currently unhappy that I didn't go running once on my Thanksgiving break. :-(
But more important than any of that: I stopped working a job that had me sitting down in front of a computer screen all day, and started working jobs that keep me on my feet.
-Workout before work (5 days a week, switching programs/routines every 1-3 months)
-Bike to work
-Standing desk with balance board
-Lacrosse ball and theraband at my desk for stretching
-Eat well, mostly Paleo, but not super strict. No soda.
-Intermittent fasting (~8pm to 12pm)
-"Fun" exercise after work(skateboarding, basketball, yoga)
-Work from home 1-2 days a week and move around as much as possible those days.
I've found this works for me but ymmv. I've also been active most of my life.
I don't go to the gym, but have taken a habit of doing push ups, body-weight rows and farmers walks and those seem to bulk me good enough.
I hated push ups, until I realized I can do them in ladders. 1, then 2, then 3... up to max, and down again.
First thing after waking up is to do some pushups. Not too many, just about 15 - 20. Later on I hit the gym after 7 and workout for an hour. My workout is custom tailored by me but I initially started out with a simple 5x5 workout. Midweek I go for jiu jitsu traning. I train sometimes on the weekends other I play tennis or just fuck around.
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One thing I regret early on is not practicing the correct form and chasing numbers instead. Second regret is not maintaining my diet properly.
Right now the biggest bottleneck is my 9-5 job. Slowly I'v realized that sitting at a desk for 7 hours hours is very bad. I would rather trade that with a more physically demanding job(or work in a office where there's a spare gym)
With that in mind, my focus for the next couple of years is to shift from working regularly to occasionally doing contracts and working on my side projects.
So, in the morning, I awake naturally ( the time varies ), then go for a walk to watch the sun rise.
I eat a lot of soup. I laugh. If I feel unreasonable fear, I try to wonder what issue I had as a child or with my parents that would cause it. For example, I would check my pants pockets for my phone, wallet, and keys, like everyone does from time to time, and then after I found all 3, I would get afraid. Fear is bad for your health, especially unreasonable. I would wonder, "Why am I feeling afraid AFTER I realize I have everything", and I realized, growing up, if I would check my pockets, my mom would ask a frightened question, "OH NO, DID YOU LOSE SOMETHING?", so I was basically trained to feel afraid. Lots of weird things with parents to think about if you feel yourself having unreasonable emotions throughout the day.
This is great advice. A lot of my anxiety stems from things that happened in my childhood. And whenever I am able to reflect and rationalize WHY I am anxious in certain situations, I can calm down quite a bit and then let it go. In a way it’s a form of CBT and it works for me and a lot of other people I know.
Also I saw a video which changed how I view it: it said cold creates "positive stress". So, when I feel the initial shock, I know it's stressful, but I also know its good.
Me too!
On the other hand, this brings my tap water closer to drinkability in the winter, so it's not all bad!
## Physical Activity
Structured five minutes of stretching immediately after getting out of bed.
Bodyweight-only strength training exercises every other day for at least ten minutes. Cardio every day for at least fifteen minutes.
## Food
I don't count calories. Instead, I follow some simple meal rules:
1. At least half the plate should be veggies. Fresh, frozen, canned, whatever.
2. Carbs are not the enemy, but they should be minimized. No bread, and avoid sugars.
3. Avoid red meat most of the time. Choose fish, chicken, or tofu as proteins.
4. Make breakfast a priority and the biggest meal of the day.
5. Prep ingredients ahead of time, because life ALWAYS gets in the way at the last minute.
Find a physical hobby and just start doing that. Become friends with the fittest guy you can find (they love talking about fitness and will be happy to talk about it) and keep it super easy.
Friction is the enemy when you're starting. Just have fun with it and build slowly.
It works better than caffeine to get me going in the morning.
Try to do 100 push-ups and 200 squats a day. I do 10 push-ups and 20 squats every time I check my email.
Simple = maintainable.
Once you cut the junk food out of your diet, it's easier to keep it out. The cravings for sugar subside.
I go through on/off periods with weight lifting, but generally try to lift at least once a week.
Apart from that I try to get outdoors with some kind of physical activity 2-3x a week. I've been lucky to find a few physical hobbies I enjoy. I used to wake skate / wake board on the weekends and mountain bike during the week. Mountain biking has now taken over the weekends as well.
That would be my biggest recommendation. Find a hobby you really enjoy that keeps you active.
When I'm at my best, I also get a lot of cardio and lift some free weights. Working remotely has the nice advantage of being able to use a home gym.
If it still feels like a chore after a few weeks, try to switch things up with another workout schedule (e.g. after work instead of before work) or other healthy food. Maybe try another sport.
While all exercise is beneficial, I prefer cardiovascular exercise to stay healthy.
This lead to regular prepared healthy meals to the office, which meant no unhealthy eating.
Adding this to 3x-4x weekly exercise (including at least 30 mins cardio) was crucial.
Recently I noticed http://nosdiet.com/ which tries to build good habits with some pretty generic rules. It doesn't micromanage you which may appeal to some people.