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Ask HN: How do you stay (somewhat) healthy?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you stay (somewhat) healthy?

#81

Post by lsb »

dgallagher wrote: post #74

This is what I do: - run 5x per week every morning (~30 miles a week; more if I'm training for something) - stretch, dynamic before, static after. Essential to prevent injuries - weight lift 3x per week (bi/tri, chest/upper-back, abs/lower-back/shoulders) - take rest days - sleep 9-10 hours a night, going to bed at the same time (EDIT: every's needs here are a little different) - eat 1 salad per day - eat lots of fru…

Do you go running and/or biking outside? I've been mostly cycling around the river and the minuteman.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay (somewhat) healthy?

#82

Post by potatolicious »

- No liquid calories, ever. Your daily caloric limit is too low for you to waste it on Coke and Pepsi.

- Watch what I eat. Go for high-fiber low-fat foods. Nothing fancy here - stick to low fat and high fiber and your diet generally doesn't require thought.

- Photography. I hate exercise for the sake of exercise, and have never been able to commit to a gym schedule despite many tries. My photography, though, keeps me walking and biking a lot, all over the city. The quest for the next great picture keeps me moving, and that's pretty awesome.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay (somewhat) healthy?

#83

Post by chipsy »

kingkongrevenge wrote: post #55
chipsy wrote: post #36

Paleo diet. Cleared up my skin, ended headaches and tiredness, decreased my caloric intake and body fat without any overt discipline, lowered my blood pressure, and increased my strength and stamina. Downside: No grains, beans, dairy; that means no coffee, no chocolate, no soy, no cheese, no bread or noodles or pastries. (Plus sides: bacon, sausages, eggs, figs, dates, walnuts.) I gradually fell into this diet by car…

I wouldn't say "no coffee" is a paleo thing. Also, I would say experiment with dairy. Dairy makes me feel great. Full fat yogurt is a fantastically cheap and healthy central component to a meal if it agrees with you (I think ethnicity is relevant here). Yogurt has minimal lactose. So what if cavemen didn't have it.

It really depends on your individual tolerances. Before I started on my trend towards paleo I was heavy into dairy and I've determined that it contributed to a stomach cramping problem.

Coffee is a bean, as is cocoa. I can manage pretty well with beans most of the time, but they're doing something that I can't pinpoint yet. It's an iterative thing, and when I cheat it's an opportunity to learn more about how those things affect me.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay (somewhat) healthy?

#84

Post by jacquesm »

Zak wrote: post #75
tyrmored wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This can't have too much emphasis. Red Bull and its ilk will pretty much destroy your nervous system -- even one a day is probably too much.

Please explain how (with links to sane sources if possible).

'sane' sources as in not some random blog or 'answers' site, they're hard to come by, so I'm guessing that it is not all that clear cut.

I did find this:

http://www.springerlink.com/index/1185172kt700868t.pdf

Which has as a lead "Energy drink consumption has been anecdotally linked to the development of adverse cardiovascular effects in consumers, although clinical trials to support this link are lacking.", but there are some interesting observations in it.

And this one:

http://www.modern-psychiatry.com/taurine.htm

and this one:

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/diet...

Of the not-so-sane sources this one seemed a bit more balanced than most:

http://brianx.com/nightlife/energy-drinks.html

What the hell is 'taurine' ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurine

Enjoy the read.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay (somewhat) healthy?

#85

Post by brm »

inglorian wrote: post #30
brm wrote: post #15

Learn to be comfortable eating while walking, spend your lunch time walking around exploring and observing... This happens to be good for the mind as well

I actually wouldn't recommend this. Doing something else (watching tv, working, driving, even walking) while eating takes most of the enjoyment out of the food. Also, I can imagine very few foods conducive to eating while walking that are not street- or fast-food.

yeah because a tuna sandwich w/ tomatoes and sprouts, with an apple and a thermos of water would be totally out of the question...

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay (somewhat) healthy?

#86

Post by itistoday »

tbrooks wrote: post #53

Here are a few guidelines I try to abide by: 1. Always eat breakfast 2. Don't eat past 9pm 3. Get 7 hours of sleep 4. Walk 30 minutes a day 5. Shop for food on the outer walls of grocery store 6. Drink 60oz of water a day

+1!

> 5. Shop for food on the outer walls of grocery store

Haha, I never thought of it that way, but that is good advice and a great way of putting it (all the processed food is in the middle), you still have to be careful though of things like milk, which although it's one the outer wall, generally isn't a good thing to take. I always go for the almond milk and avoid regular milk like the plague.

I also shop at local grocery markets to get local food, and things like local, organic eggs from chickens that eat grass and crickets and don't spend their lives pumped full of hormones, living in their excrement.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay (somewhat) healthy?

#87

Post by dgallagher »

lsb wrote: post #81
dgallagher wrote: post #74

This is what I do: - run 5x per week every morning (~30 miles a week; more if I'm training for something) - stretch, dynamic before, static after. Essential to prevent injuries - weight lift 3x per week (bi/tri, chest/upper-back, abs/lower-back/shoulders) - take rest days - sleep 9-10 hours a night, going to bed at the same time (EDIT: every's needs here are a little different) - eat 1 salad per day - eat lots of fru…

Do you go running and/or biking outside? I've been mostly cycling around the river and the minuteman.

When I lived in the city I did (recently moved 25 miles away). Cycled around the Charles many-a-time. Ran mostly on a treadmill except when I train for races. Are you part of a running club in the city? There's a good 10k coming up in Dorchester in two weeks if you're up for it. :)

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay (somewhat) healthy?

#88

Post by itistoday »

tdedecko wrote: post #56

Exercise: Cycling is my default. I enjoy it and happen to live in a great place to engage in it. I try to do short rides on week days (~30 miles) and longer rides on weekends (~70 miles). In two weeks I'll be doing my first century ride. Besides cycling, I play Ultimate at least once a week, goto the gym 3 to 4 times a week, rock climb and hike when I have time. At times I throw into my regime some running, tennis, o…

> Caffeine: I am in love with tea my default being loose leaf jasmine green. Coffee is a rarity. Red bull is never an option.

We are alike sir, I just wish I could cycle as much as you do. The great thing about tea is that unlike coffee, the caffeine high is subtler and is spread over a longer period of time. As I can't be bothered to steep the loose-leaf tea I just go with Tazo's Earl Grey in the morning; highly recommend that brand if you're into bagged tea.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay (somewhat) healthy?

#89

Post by electromagnetic »

I'm a writer so I believe my priorities are very similar, but somewhat different than your average hacker:

1. Try to eat breakfast; the reason here is two-fold, first is that it's good for your metabolism and the second is that it helps if 5. fails.

2. Eat Smart; the brain likes omega-3's but the omega-6's will kill you. 'Healthy' is very different for 'smart', you want foods that help increase your efficiency and concentration, not make you run to the toilet every 5 minutes because you're downing pro-biotic yogurts and bran muffins.

3. Weightless exercises; I'm guessing everyone here has a few extra pounds on them, squats and crunches can be done anywhere and at any time, you don't need to lug around a few 20lb weights to get your sweat on. If you do it frequently it can help boost your metabolism.

4. Get a good sleep routine, being exhausted can kill an entire day of productivity.

5. Avoid alcohol (at least before 5pm), alcoholism seems to be a non-genetic inheritable disease in writers, so try not to have a drink in the morning. Make sure you observe #1, because forgetting #1 and #5 means you're hitting the bed by 11am.

6. relax a little, play games, read some HN, but don't slack off. It's good to keep your stress levels down, not only does it help your creativity and productivity, but you also don't have the urge to break #5.

7. this follows on from #6, but is much more important in the long run, having a day off helps prevent a burn out, AKA writers (coders?) block.

9. Drink tea not coffee. Research shows that coffee can increase stress, decrease work performance and can decrease your confidence in your work. Tea however decreases stress, not only through drinking it but due to the ritual and the time taken to make it (you don't get a tea maker, you get a kettle and have to wait, waiting generally means relaxing).

Overall I just try to be productive and hope that in the long run I don't end up an alcoholic like 1/2 of writers.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay (somewhat) healthy?

#90

Post by kingkongrevenge »

chipsy wrote: post #83
kingkongrevenge wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't say "no coffee" is a paleo thing. Also, I would say experiment with dairy. Dairy makes me feel great. Full fat yogurt is a fantastically cheap and healthy central component to a meal if it agrees with you (I think ethnicity is relevant here). Yogurt has minimal lactose. So what if cavemen didn't have it.

It really depends on your individual tolerances. Before I started on my trend towards paleo I was heavy into dairy and I've determined that it contributed to a stomach cramping problem. Coffee is a bean, as is cocoa. I can manage pretty well with beans most of the time, but they're doing something that I can't pinpoint yet. It's an iterative thing, and when I cheat it's an opportunity to learn more about how those th…

I don't think coffee is technically a bean. It's the pit of a fruit. Anyway, it has no calories. Cavemen almost certainly drank various teas.

It's very important with the paleo stuff not get caught up in what I've seen aptly described as "food reenactment." Honey and many starchy roots are technically "paleo", but you should still mostly avoid them. Brains and colon meat are definitely paleo, but you can't feasibly purchase them. "Paleo" is a good starting principle but in the modern world it's insufficient and you have to go with the research and what works for you.

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