Please don't let gaming consume your life

Video games are a leisure activity. They might not be quite as mentally engaging as commenting on HN or programming, but they provide the same functionality.

Making a distinction between time spent playing video games and time spent doing other leisure activities is fairly pointless. Managed properly, there's no real physical difference between playing a video game for 20 hours a week and reading a novel, watching TV, commenting on HN, programming or any other fairly motionless activity. I know that I (as a relatively fit 21 year old) spend quite a lot of time sat in front of a computer. Physically the activity is fairly irrelevant.

Perhaps the only thing that video games have that the other activities I mentioned don't is that they have a fairly high potential to be addictive. I'd imagine most people who've played video games at any point know what it's like to play for 10 hours straight for an entire weekend. You don't have to do that, but people do.

Regardless, a sedentary lifestyle with no regular exercise will lead to health problems which increase the likelihood of death. That's something we've known for decades. Don't count "time spent playing video games", count "time spent sitting down".

Regular exercise really is the solution. I know exercise makes me more hungry to the point where everything tastes good. And if you've put in enough effort, you will not want to waste that by eating junk. Solid exercise involves a lot of physical pain and once you learn to deal with that your willpower will be off the charts and sticking to the right food will be a breeze.

I was out of shape until I did P90X last summer and now I'm a different person altogether. You would be surprised how much can be done in three months of proper hard work. But it does not have to be a full blown fitness program. People aren't always aware of the options. When thinking of weight loss, jogging is the first thing that pops to mind. I have always found it extremely challenging mentally and I was never even overweight. Commit yourself to a few basketball games a week, or a cycle, a climb, a hike, skiing, whatever you enjoy. If you push that little bit harder every time and get some sweat going, get your heart racing, you will be surprised what it will do to your body.

Also a tip for motivation is to focus on performance. If you can run faster and farther, jump higher or feel better, just keep progressing and the weight will come down naturally.

The quality of life improvement from the added flexibility and strength must be taken into account also. To be a bit vulgar, would you rather engage in overnight activities with rock climber or with a couch surfer? Which one is able to run for the bus? Play with their kids?

(a related issue that really annoys me is when they compare the dangers of ectasy and heroin using the death rate, when the quality of life destruction caused by ectasy is 1% compared to the horror that happens to a junkie)

> We are placing the blame on ourselves at work wondering if we made him come in on Friday would he still be with us today?

I'm sorry for your loss. It is not your fault. Please don't beat yourself up over it.

I know how this feels, I've experienced survivors guilt over my direct family before.

Similar to you - though been doing it just over a year now - dropped about 12 kg (down to 72kg) and feel so much better. I carried a heavy parcel (10kg) up a long escalator the other day, and was pretty worn out at the top - then I remembered that I used to carry more than that all over my body, every day, and it made me so glad I started watching what I ate.

Being rid of the afternoon slump is a HUGE boost for me - I used to flag every day at about 3pm (after a sandwich for lunch) and would always have a chocolate bar and a coke to wake myself up - only then then crash again a couple of hours later.

Now eating too much sugar gives me a headache, and I am happy to steer clear of it. I still have the occasional bar of something, but I don't feel like it's something I need any more, and I am much much happier this way!

So if anyone is considering similar - give it a shot, I follow the 'slow carb' diet from the 4 Hour Body - but basically it's just the post above, except with no dairy and loads of beans.