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Ask HN: If you could spend $100k to get healthy and fit, how would you do it?

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11–20 of 95 posts

Re: Ask HN: If you could spend $100k to get healthy and fit, how would you do it?

#11
Have you tried a GLP-1?

I got fit through diet and exercise, and in the past that’s what I would have recommended. But now it’s 2024 and now there is are working diet miracle drugs. It’s expensive, but within your price range.

Re: Ask HN: If you could spend $100k to get healthy and fit, how would you do it?

#12

Register for an Ironman race for next year. Buy a good bike, hire a coach to help you kick start the preparation. You need a vision, a goal. A long term one. Ironman is perfect for that. You practice 3 sports - and they are complimentary - you're unlikely to get injured. It's achievable - yeah, I know that right now at 240lbs it probably doesn't seem like that, but the beauty is that anybody can do it. And once you r…

I thought an ironman was a really long triathlon? Is it realistic to go from couch to full ironman in a year? Or do you mean sign up for th shortest triathlon first?

It's a very long one, yes. 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42.2km run.

I think it's doable in a 12-24 months time frame - so next year he can do it.

If I was him, I would register for a half one for the end of this year / beginning of the next, and a full one for late 2025.

Re: Ask HN: If you could spend $100k to get healthy and fit, how would you do it?

#15
Something pretty obvious comes to mind: you mentioned books and apps, but what about an actual coach/trainer?

Easy to ditch a book or an app, not that easy to give up, futss around, etc when you deal face to face with a human being trying to keep you accountable.

Re: Ask HN: If you could spend $100k to get healthy and fit, how would you do it?

#16
I did exactly what you want to do. Here’s how I did it.

Do Wendler 5/3/1 4 days/week. Run couch to 5K 2 days per week.

Cook all your food. Eat 2500-2700 kcal per day. Eat whatever you want Sunday afternoon. Yes, this means food prep the night before and carry your food to work.

Weigh yourself every morning.

2 years. I went from 233 lbs to a jacked 183 lbs with abs. I was a C*O and had a small child and I was single.

Doesn’t cost $100K. If you need to spend $100K, hire a trainer to meet you every day at the gym (who agrees with this or any protocol). Buy food prepped food from any of a number of options.

Re: Ask HN: If you could spend $100k to get healthy and fit, how would you do it?

#17

Register for an Ironman race for next year. Buy a good bike, hire a coach to help you kick start the preparation. You need a vision, a goal. A long term one. Ironman is perfect for that. You practice 3 sports - and they are complimentary - you're unlikely to get injured. It's achievable - yeah, I know that right now at 240lbs it probably doesn't seem like that, but the beauty is that anybody can do it. And once you r…

I don't think OP wants to do an Ironman, they want the things they listed.

Personally I get the pursuit of a goal - I am training for some ultra bike events - but the fixation on that goal didn't emerge out of nowhere, and nobody could have talked me into it before I was already doing 100 mile days.

Re: Ask HN: If you could spend $100k to get healthy and fit, how would you do it?

#18
post #17

Register for an Ironman race for next year. Buy a good bike, hire a coach to help you kick start the preparation. You need a vision, a goal. A long term one. Ironman is perfect for that. You practice 3 sports - and they are complimentary - you're unlikely to get injured. It's achievable - yeah, I know that right now at 240lbs it probably doesn't seem like that, but the beauty is that anybody can do it. And once you r…

I don't think OP wants to do an Ironman, they want the things they listed. Personally I get the pursuit of a goal - I am training for some ultra bike events - but the fixation on that goal didn't emerge out of nowhere, and nobody could have talked me into it before I was already doing 100 mile days.

Indeed, but you don't become happy by wanting to be happy.

Re: Ask HN: If you could spend $100k to get healthy and fit, how would you do it?

#19
The only thing that worked for me was getting a personal trainer 3 times a week for strength training, and he would also weigh me every session. I would also go one or two times on my own to do some cardio (1 hour on the treadmill at 10% incline while watching tv shows: exactly 600 calories almost every time). Oh, and I drastically reduced my food consumption. The looming weigh-ins helped keep that up. I lost about 50lbs in 6 months and stayed there for a year+ until the pandemic hit and gyms closed down.

Re: Ask HN: If you could spend $100k to get healthy and fit, how would you do it?

#20
If possible: sell your car, buy a nice bike and ride to work! ( move close to your work if possible?)

As a teacher, I make far less than 100k a year (far less!), but my health hack is that I bike to work every day, so at the very least, I get 5+ miles of exercise. I have the luxury of having bought a house just over 2.5 miles from campus, but it's part of the lifestyle I chose years ago.

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