The paragon of inefficiency • Hacker News Board

Re: The paragon of inefficiency

#11

Post by olliesaunders » Fri, Jul 27, 2012, 12:49 AM UTC

kstenerud wrote: post #7

If you can't take an hour out of each day to do an intensive physical activity (as in actually raising your heart rate, not just building up arbitrary points by moving around more), you're doing it wrong. Taking regular time out for physical activity gives you fitness (real fitness) and focus (which helps you do your job more efficiently). These "fuel bands" are basically expensive ways to fool yourself.

There’s some science that disagrees with you http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/NeatLK.html

Re: The paragon of inefficiency

#12

Post by crazygringo » Fri, Jul 27, 2012, 1:13 AM UTC

kstenerud wrote: post #7

If you can't take an hour out of each day to do an intensive physical activity (as in actually raising your heart rate, not just building up arbitrary points by moving around more), you're doing it wrong. Taking regular time out for physical activity gives you fitness (real fitness) and focus (which helps you do your job more efficiently). These "fuel bands" are basically expensive ways to fool yourself.

> If you can't take an hour out of each day... you're doing it wrong.

So if you work a nine-hour day, take 3-hour evening classes to advance your career, get the required 8 hours of sleep a night, commute for 2 hours, spend 1 hour with your family, and then another hour for showering, dressing, breakfast, etc., you're doing it wrong?

I think a lot of people don't have an extra hour every day to spare. Your attitude is awfully condescending.

Re: The paragon of inefficiency

#13

Post by anusinha » Fri, Jul 27, 2012, 1:33 AM UTC

alexkiwi wrote: post #2

Gotta love the cognitive effects of measuring simple data. Even if fuel points are arbitrary, the behavior change is a welcome one.

Someone I know who lost a significant amount of weight told me that his best source of motivation was measuring his weight every day and plotting it.

Re: The paragon of inefficiency

#14

Post by kstenerud » Fri, Jul 27, 2012, 3:05 AM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #12

kstenerud wrote: post #7

If you can't take an hour out of each day to do an intensive physical activity (as in actually raising your heart rate, not just building up arbitrary points by moving around more), you're doing it wrong. Taking regular time out for physical activity gives you fitness (real fitness) and focus (which helps you do your job more efficiently). These "fuel bands" are basically expensive ways to fool yourself.

> If you can't take an hour out of each day... you're doing it wrong. So if you work a nine-hour day, take 3-hour evening classes to advance your career, get the required 8 hours of sleep a night, commute for 2 hours, spend 1 hour with your family, and then another hour for showering, dressing, breakfast, etc., you're doing it wrong? I think a lot of people don't have an extra hour every day to spare. Your attitude i…

You may think I'm being condescending but I'm not. This is not my judgment of you or anyone else; these are the cold, hard facts of life.

If you don't keep your body in shape, it WILL fall apart on you. An investment in your body is an investment in your future. You can either be the 70 year old who runs marathons, or the 70 year old with a walker. The choice is yours.

There are a million reasons why it can't be done, but the funny thing is, when someone wants something bad enough, he tends to find ways to make it work.

I'm sure you can keep heaping more and more things on our fictional family straw man until it's impossible for him to do anything at all. That's fine. There's always one more reason why it can't be done or shouldn't even be attempted. But life is quite indifferent to our reasons, and plods on just the same whether we're in control or not.

It's really no skin off my nose how other people live their lives. I'm just pointing out the creeping dangers that lie ahead.

Re: The paragon of inefficiency

#15

Post by kstenerud » Fri, Jul 27, 2012, 4:16 AM UTC

olliesaunders wrote: post #11

kstenerud wrote: post #7

If you can't take an hour out of each day to do an intensive physical activity (as in actually raising your heart rate, not just building up arbitrary points by moving around more), you're doing it wrong. Taking regular time out for physical activity gives you fitness (real fitness) and focus (which helps you do your job more efficiently). These "fuel bands" are basically expensive ways to fool yourself.

There’s some science that disagrees with you http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/NeatLK.html

That article only talks about combatting obesity, and the conclusions are tenuous at best.

Regardless, being non-obese and being fit are very different things. I found that out the hard way.