Realizing that the food we commonly eat, like butter, meat and dairy, are the main source of cardiovascular diseases that are the prevailing cause of death in our society.
Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
751–760 of 1001 posts
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#752Staying warm. In the winter, I used to stay warm by turning up the thermostat. Then I discovered (via HN) the Low-Tech Magazine article, "Insulation: first the body, then the home." [0] The article argued that it's much more efficient to focus on heating yourself rather than your whole living space. I invested in high-quality wool clothes that I wear in layers and warm slippers. Now, I keep my home about 5 degrees F…
I have a chihuahua. I'm willing to accept the slightly higher cost in winters for her being comfy.
My mom has 2 short hair chihuahuas (7-8lbs) and they wear sweaters 6 months a year. Just like the rest of us!
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#753Putting off an annual checkup with a PCP (I’m 42, and the last PCP I had was a pediatrician). I had long suspected my cholesterol and triglycerides were high due to family history and my excessive love for cheese, and last week that suspicion was confirmed. I’m now more resolute than ever on lifestyle changes (exercise, less red meat, getting most of my calcium from 2% milk). On the bright side, I also got reassuranc…
for anyone else confused, that's Primary Care Physician, which I take to mean GP/Hausartzt/huisarts.
Thanks for clarifying, and sorry for the confusion - I wish I could edit my comment.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#754Not my whole life but stuff I’ve discovered: Realizing that sitting for 8 to 12 hours per day coding is catastrophic for my health. Understanding the incredibly high and hidden cost of conflict and anger. Films romanticize fighting the good fight. Avoiding a fight (legal, arguments, etc) until you absolutely can’t is worth a lot. Creativity and intellectual progress happen in a quiet relaxed and happy environment. Le…
> Early mornings are a very special time because no one else is up and it is the quietest and most productive part of the day.
For the exact same reason, so also are very late nights (~1 to 5am).
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#755Not using an electric toothbrush. First time I used one it felt like I'd had a proper dental cleaning. An extremely half-assed effort with that kind of brush beats a thorough one with a manual brush. I thought they were a gimmick, but no, they're amazing.
This, but for water jet flossing. Why did I muck around for decades with strings in my mouth? A water jet is a lot less effort and much much more efficient/effective. P.S. If you never tried these gizmos, get a portable, battery powered one, so you can use it over the bathtub (or in the bathtub). They tend to soak everything around you.
I never got used to water flossing, how do you know where to aim it while it's in your mouth? Are you literally dragging the tip across your gum line? I always had trouble getting the proper angle (perpendicular to teeth) and then when it comes to the front teeth it's impossible to do behind them because the tips don't have enough of an angle to them and you're also shooting water everywhere.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#756Ive modestly tried to lose weight my whole life. Ive never been fat, but still had to work to keep my calories low. Im 5' 9", and it took 10 years to go from 170 to more like 160. Losing weight made me weaker and caused me to lose muscle. Ive recently started weightlifting for strength (low reps high weights) and the mindset is totally different. With weightlifting to keep your lifts going up you have to eat more. On…
That's not really that great advice - overdosing on protein long term will mess up your body in number of ways. Yes beginners always fixate themselves on this specific aspect (or very similar formula) but it ain't good path to sustainable wellness and health.
Let's put aside the super tiny category of professional bodybuilders where its valid approach, which ain't long term healthy place to be in for number of reasons.
For most folks doing heavy lifting, normal healthy diet is more than enough, if you get 60-100g of complete proteins in your body, mostly from real food and not just protein powder. You will grow muscles hard depending on the load, genes, active rest and billion other factors. At certain point (quite far from beginning) you should stop increasing weights, because you are removing health benefits more than adding by working out by entering joints / connective tissue injury territory.
The best is some place in between, just like with everything else in life. Do some heavy lifting if health allows it - ideally compound free weights (initially with trainer supervision to avoid mistakes that mess up your joints over time), do some cardio, HIIT, get into real sports out there and physical activities that become your passion and you stop caring about chasing meaningless weightlifting numbers.
The best side effect of all this is you start thinking much more what you eat, how much and how often. That is the key to good health, good weight and overall setup that can last you well into retirement.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#757I used to assume the religious people were missing something and missing out on the latest and greatest. Now I am seeing that often it's us the non-religious that have lost something of value and are trying to replace it with things that don't work as well.
I don't think they're missing out. I just think they're deluded. It's not the worst thing in the world to be deluded - and frankly I just don't care what they do and say unless it starts to impact me and mine. It's not religion per se I dislike - people are free to live their lives as they see fit, it's the control-structure scam of an organized religion that reels in the gullible, the poor, the disadvantages, those…
You’re using the most extreme example to condemn essentially all organized religion. Many religious scholars and preachers live modest lives, sometimes even by choice.
Of course “religious” folks who tell people they should simply endure, rather than resist, injustice and inequality are disgusting. But sometimes despite your best efforts, the bad guys still win (temporarily).
Telling people that this life is not the end-all-be-all is only manipulative if it’s meant to make people passive. And I know that not everyone informs people about the afterlife out of malice.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#758Staying warm. In the winter, I used to stay warm by turning up the thermostat. Then I discovered (via HN) the Low-Tech Magazine article, "Insulation: first the body, then the home." [0] The article argued that it's much more efficient to focus on heating yourself rather than your whole living space. I invested in high-quality wool clothes that I wear in layers and warm slippers. Now, I keep my home about 5 degrees F…
I agree for most people this works, but people with circulatory disorders such as Reynauds may still find that their hands and feet and even nose are freezing. Only fix for that is warm ambient air.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#759Staying warm. In the winter, I used to stay warm by turning up the thermostat. Then I discovered (via HN) the Low-Tech Magazine article, "Insulation: first the body, then the home." [0] The article argued that it's much more efficient to focus on heating yourself rather than your whole living space. I invested in high-quality wool clothes that I wear in layers and warm slippers. Now, I keep my home about 5 degrees F…
Slippers have been a game changer for staying warm. We live in a concrete apartment building and the floors are always cold in the winter. Insulating my feet is by far the easiest way to stay warm without heating the entire house to a "short sleeves and shorts" comfortable temp.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#760Not waking up earlier to the fact that the meat section in the supermarket is a product of systemic, gruesome torture of intelligent beings. Like probably many of you who read this, I usually felt a bit guilty when I was confronted with the ugly facts we are all vaguely familiar with. I justified my meat consumption with specieist arguments (humans are so much better than pigs, cows, etc). My wife challenged me to wa…
My stock response to assertions that eating meat is cruel: plants feel too. Many species are self-aware every bit as much as animals are. It’s only because wheat and corn don’t have big googly eyes that we feel no sympathy for them. Implicit in the act of consumption is the notion that our lives are worth more than the lives of whatever we eat.