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Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

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Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#681

Post by rdegges »

cmstoken wrote: post #631
rdegges wrote: post #358

For me, it was 100% weight lifting and dieting (aka: exercise). Pretty much everyone here has mentioned this, but I don't think anyone has really explained just how incredibly life-changing it can really be. I've been programming since I was a kid. Spending most of my time at a desk eating Doritos and fast food wasn't really the best choice. I spent most of my 'good years' as a young guy being really overweight and h…

Wow, rdegges that's very impressive! Congrats on your transformation. I'm curious what your routine is like. If you don't mind, could you share how many days a week you train/rest as well as how many hours on a good/average day? Thanks.

Thanks! And sure, my routine is pretty standard for a 'bodybuilding' split:

I go to the gym 4x's per week, for roughly 2 hours each.

Day 1: Back & Abs + Cardio Day 2: Chest and Traps + Cardio Day 3: Legs + Cardio Day 4: Shoulders and Arms

For cardio, I do 30 minutes of moderate intensity stuff: elliptical, bike, stairmaster, etc.

For training, I do about 6 exercises per body part, with lots of high intensity (till failure) stuff. It's hard for sure, but works well.

For sleep, I try to get 9 hours per night. This one is really important. Without sleep, the rest doesn't work so well :(

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#682

Post by rdegges »

drworm wrote: post #613
rdegges wrote: post #526

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just posted some diet stuff up above. But I'm 5'11". Lifting stats? Nothing terribly impressive, I'm afraid. I don't really care about strength much, I try to focus on slow, controlled movements, and being really safe. But, with that said: - bench: 400lbs - squat: 315lbs for reps (been a while though, I recently hurt my back) - deadlift: 585lbs (before I hurt my back, now I don't do them)

If you are truly natty, it would be absurd to call a 400 bench and 585 dead "not terribly impressive". Btw, crazy gains. You look big in that second pic

Thanks ^^

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#683

Post by maverick_iceman »

Reading Atlas Shrugged. I never felt any pleasure in helping others or making a personal sacrifice for someone else. Traditional morality of course taught me that this is bad and so I did it anyway even though it hurt me. Worst, other people would shame me using this to their advantage. After I read Atlas Shrugged I realized that there is nothing wrong in how I feel and it's perfectly okay to be selfish. Not being a doormat does wonders for one's self-esteem.

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#684

Post by rdegges »

elorant wrote: post #439
rdegges wrote: post #358

For me, it was 100% weight lifting and dieting (aka: exercise). Pretty much everyone here has mentioned this, but I don't think anyone has really explained just how incredibly life-changing it can really be. I've been programming since I was a kid. Spending most of my time at a desk eating Doritos and fast food wasn't really the best choice. I spent most of my 'good years' as a young guy being really overweight and h…

Body builders look like that because they swallow a ton of protein pills and other shit that eventually take a toll in their health. I hope for your sake you're not going down that path.

There's a lot of negative stereotypes out there about bodybuilding, but it can for sure be done in a healthy way!

Protein, etc., is not bad for you: it's just food. Eating 1/2 pound of chicken breast, and drinking a hefty protein shake are roughly equivalent in terms of nutrition. There's nothing wrong (in my opinion) with maintaining a relatively high protein diet, unless you're eating far more than 2g per pound of body weight (at which point you're going to unnecessarily tax your kidneys to break it all down).

Many bodybuilders eat around 1g of protein per pound of body weight, which isn't terribly much. People like me, for instance, eat mainly 'clean' foods: chicken breast, brown rice, green veggies, etc. I get my bloodwork done every few months, and have never had any issues.

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#685

Post by olegp »

Tracking the amount of time I spend on various tasks at work. Here's a blog post I helped edit which explains the benefits in detail: https://blog.toughbyte.com/how-to-boost-productivity-with-ti...

Another one is tracking personal expenses. I was looking for a solution for a while and even built something of my own, but in the end ended up using YNAB (https://www.youneedabudget.com/) which I found out about in an HN comment.

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#686

Post by throw94 »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #376
beat wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simple. Don't eat. Drink water. Some people will allow juice on a fast.

I find it strange that people allow juice. If the purpose is to get your blood sugar down for a consistent stretch then juice would mess that up. I'd rather it a small high fiber, low sugar snack, like some brown rice with vegetables, than drink an equivalent amount of calories in juice form. I guess maybe the idea is the juice sugar gets digested quickly and you're back to empty, whereas the rice would stick around.…

I think fasting helps relax your digestive system. By drinking juice, you don't feel out of energy and still get some (many?) of the benefits of fasting.

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#687

Post by rjbwork »

umbs wrote: post #144
chollida1 wrote: post #126

3 things for me: 1) Meditation, I used to think it was something hippies did. I now think its worth 10 IQ points. I honestly can't recommend it enough. 2) Sleep, I'm getting close to 40 and the last 2 times I pulled all nighters I ended up deleting pretty much all the code I wrote from 11pm onward. 3) Occasional Fasts. I normally fast from 6pm until noon the next day but I now do one 3 day fast each month. I think th…

Agree with all three, but #2 for me has now become the very important due an incident last week. I pulled an all nighter and next day rear ended a vehicle near a traffic signal because I dozed off for a second. The impact was minimal and no one was harmed. It was the first accident with my fault in 15 years of driving. I am approaching 40 and have 2 young kids. I cannot get my priorities wrong at this point. Many liv…

I'm only 28, but I pulled one this week. I don't ever drive until i can sleep again. This time, I had my boss drive me to and from the office :)

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#688

Post by Anand_S »

1. Reading Good Books (One of the best habits that keeps on adding value )

2. Meditation

3. Exercise & Good Nutrition (Health is your greatest wealth)

4. Sleep (Turning Off Blue light 3-4 hours before has had a very positive impact on sleep quality and general wellness / productivity during day )

Re: Ask HN: What was your “why didn't I start doing this sooner” moment?

#689

Post by palakz »

UI/UX Design.

I started designing as a hobby. Just started making designs focused on superheroes, comics, etc. A year later, one of cousin's said he is starting a new project, for which he needs some designs. I randomly started designing it. The UI/UX of that app ended up so well that he's still using the same design concept for the app, and since then I have been learning more and more about UI/UX and I have completed more than 7-8 UI/UX design projects till now. :)

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