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Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

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Re: Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

#51

Post by hakanderyal »

I've changed my eating habits and started following ketogenic diet(keto)[0] 18 days ago, and I already had great results so far.

I wasn't terribly overweight, but always on the thin line between obesity and overweight.

At the beginning: 184cm/6" height, 104 kg/229 lbs weight, 30.7 BMI

Now: 95 kg/209 lbs, 28,1 BMI.

Although I only lost 9 kg/20 lbs, I started wearing my XL t-shirts again down from XXL, and all my jeans are too loose already.

The best part of keto is it's not just a diet for weight loss, but a balanced lifestyle diet that I can follow for the rest of my life, that I never feel hungry while doing so.

[0]: https://reddit.com/r/keto

Re: Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

#52

Post by igitur »

benevol wrote: post #28
igitur wrote: post #11

A few things: I started eating 2 hard boiled eggs (aka arse fruit) each morning. I now don't have a hunger craving at 10am like I used to have and can easily work through to lunch time and have a moderate lunch. I joined a choir and it helps take my mind off the 9 hours of coding I do every day. It also gives me an outlet for my limited artistic side. You say besides exercise, but I have to add that I started boxing.…

> I started boxing The hits you receive cause brain cells to die. Your brain being your most valuable asset, generally speaking, but even more so for intellectual work such as programming, you may want to switch to a no-contact martial art (such as kung-fu).

White-collar boxing uses the big and "fluffy" 16 ounce gloves. Full head, mouth and groin protection is compulsory. The fights are limited to three 2 minute rounds. The refereeing is extra strict and fights are stopped after the smallest chance of concussion. The benefits far outweigh the risks.

In normal, competitive boxing, the risks are when fighters become dehydrated and sustain concussion, but keep going the full 12 odd rounds.

Re: Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

#53

Post by imartin2k »

I stopped eating refined sugar (as far as possible) and I quit Twitter. Both made me feel better and less dependent on external stimulation. Positive side-effect: Increased self-confidence about being in control of things that before seemed to be in control of me.

In regards to sugar, I know limiting my sugar intake will remain a healthy habit forever. In terms of Twitter, I see it more as a temporary experiment. At least for the moment.

Re: Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

#54

Post by hundredwatt »

markovbling wrote: post #24

My back and shoulders have been hurting more and more (I'm only 27!) and it took me way too long to accept that slouching over my laptop was causing it. Putting my laptop on a pile of books and using an external keyboard and mouse made a HUGE difference and my posture has improved significantly after just a couple of months. I recently bought a Roost laptop stand which is great for travel and looks like spy gear but…

I had the same problem. In addition to regular exercise, try doing these stretches for once or twice a day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdNS95hpL-o (they are fun too! Perhaps get a group together at your office to stretch together once a day)

These exercises work to move your body back toward perfect posture, undoing the damage caused by sitting, typing, etc.

I stopped using these in November due to travel. My back and shoulder pain returned. It took about 7 days of consistent stretching for the pain to go away again.

Re: Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

#56

Post by tga »

hurbledr wrote: post #15

No real habits to report, but for anyone interested in sit to stand desks, I found a site that sells them for relatively cheap. I can't personally vouch for the quality of these desks, but as far as I can tell, they are the same sort of thing that office furniture companies sell, only 300-400 bucks instead of 1000-1500. Not necessarily high quality, but functional enough. You do have to assemble it yourself, but anyo…

Ikea sells electrical standing desks too, available around the world: Bekant, ~$500ish

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S19022530/

Re: Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

#57

Post by antisthenes »

napsterbr wrote: post #30
tomkha wrote: post #25

I quit drinking coffee and start drinking liquid guarana instead (Scitec Nutrition brand specifically). It's like legal cocaine. I'm using it for morning and early evening boost.

I replaced coffee and energy drinks with caffeine pills. Same (or better) results, no sugar. Question: do you think this guarana drink is more powerful than coffee? It's quite common to see guarana drinks (mostly soda) here in Brazil, but I don't see them as energy drinks.. To be honest, I feel as I'm lacking energy for everyday activities.. Do you or anyone know whether any of these scitec nutrition products (or whe…

> I replaced coffee and energy drinks with caffeine pills. Same (or better) results, no sugar.

Or you could just stop putting sugar in coffee.

Re: Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

#58

Post by smnplk »

rmetzler wrote: post #33
smnplk wrote: post #14

Did about 8k on the bike and got back on a rowing machine, but somehow ended the year still overweight. So in terms of health my year will hopefully be 2017, I will get on a LCHF diet. Because I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis, I did a little experiment 5 months ago, I stayed gluten free for 3 months (because I read somewhere that gluten could be the culprit) and my digestion and overall being improved. So I need to get…

After becoming a dad and having to change my baby girls diapers regularly, I recognized the effect bananas and potatoes had on her digestion system. My hypothesis is that these foods are too "new" for my European stomach. Now I mostly cut these from my diet and eat more rice and I feel better. Since she was born 4 years ago, I cut smoking, soda, potatoes and took a new job for which I bike 20min one way every day, ex…

I have the same gut feeling about dairy. I think we humans are the only specie that drink milk from other animals (not 100% sure about that) and you don't have to be lactose intolerant, you can also be allergic to milk protein(s). And we might be the only specie that drinks milk in adulthood too.

Re: Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

#59

Post by smnplk »

snovv_crash wrote: post #35
smnplk wrote: post #14

Did about 8k on the bike and got back on a rowing machine, but somehow ended the year still overweight. So in terms of health my year will hopefully be 2017, I will get on a LCHF diet. Because I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis, I did a little experiment 5 months ago, I stayed gluten free for 3 months (because I read somewhere that gluten could be the culprit) and my digestion and overall being improved. So I need to get…

Was in the same boat. I cut out sugar (except for a banana in a protein shake each day) and made sure that I get enough protein. After a few weeks the sugar cravings stopped and I also lost a bunch of water weight. I also seem to have a smaller appetite, and when I eat I stop when I feel satisfied, which never seemed to happen before, instead I would stop when my stomach felt uncomfortably full because I never felt s…

Well done. I hope I can do the same. Do you think I can ease off sugar in small steps, like substituting candy with sweetened tea (agave syrup) ? I also heard that lemon juice helps when you get a sugar craving.

Re: Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

#60

Post by smnplk »

dyjakan wrote: post #26
smnplk wrote: post #14

Did about 8k on the bike and got back on a rowing machine, but somehow ended the year still overweight. So in terms of health my year will hopefully be 2017, I will get on a LCHF diet. Because I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis, I did a little experiment 5 months ago, I stayed gluten free for 3 months (because I read somewhere that gluten could be the culprit) and my digestion and overall being improved. So I need to get…

> I just need to figure out why I constantly crave for short term satisfactions It's dopamine. I see it as malware that infected my brainOS and it's more of a stuxnet rather than your typical lame click-n-infect-me. As for diets, I prefer to set lifestyle goals. For example it doesn't matter on which particular diet I'm on at the moment (I cycle through couple of them every 8-12-16 weeks), what does matter is that I…

I see it as a mechanical failure. http://www.helpguide.org/harvard/how-addiction-hijacks-the-b...

These last words are optimistic: " It is not enough to “just say no”—as the 1980s slogan suggested. Instead, you can protect (and heal) yourself from addiction by saying “yes” to other things. Cultivate diverse interests that provide meaning to your life. Understand that your problems usually are transient, and perhaps most importantly, acknowledge that life is not always supposed to be pleasurable."

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