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The Aging Programmer [video]

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Re: The Aging Programmer [video]

#151

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We all know what a healthy person looks like from toddler's age. It takes mental gymnastics to argue otherwise. The fact that we can only think of a couple examples of obviously fit folks who had health problems, like the other chap tried to do, is an exception that proves the rule. Do yourself a favor and try to break away from the overly legislative mindset. Meaning is not bounded by words and definitions. The thin…

Really? Nah. What does a 63 year old healthy single woman look like? What about a 63 year old woman who had four kids? What about a 63 year old woman who beat stage IV metastatic melanoma?[1] A "healthy" 63 year old person is going to look mighty different depending on the curves life threw them. So is it not overly legislative to bind a person's health choices to their looks when you don't have the whole story? I ca…

>So is it not overly legislative to bind a person's health choices to their looks when you don't have the whole story?

No, it is overly pedantic to argue with someone making a basic and reasonable statement that someone looks overweight and would probably do better if they lost weight. Being overweight contributes to all kinds of joint pain and diabetes (which causes a lot of other physical and even mental problems). Maybe this woman is a natural oddity that can be in peak health and also significantly overweight at an old age, but odds are against it.

Re: The Aging Programmer [video]

#152
post #33

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Most people should be doing at least some baseline level of both strength training AND cardio. Working around whatever injuries or anatomical issues they have. There's nothing wrong with treadmills.

Personally I have a history of patello-femoral problems, running is not the best exercise for me so if I am doing cardio I prefer the elliptical, AMT, ergometer, anything else. If I do want to walk I am going to do it in the woods around me. I agree there's a fad today that trainers are more into weights than cardio. (Personally I love things like circuit training that are hybrids.) I had a time period when I was und…

> Personally I have a history of patello-femoral problems

Look up "knees over toes guy". Seriously.

Re: The Aging Programmer [video]

#153

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See also https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539720/ McKenzie's ideas helped me greatly with back pain but did not help with my neck pain I got later. After some years I discovered I had trouble in my jaw which caused referred pain to my neck and shoulders. My dentist recommended a bite guard for my tooth grinding, at which point the pain quickly localized in my jaw and slowly got better -- maybe it hurts a bit one…

I just wanted to point out that your preconceived notions about kettle bells are way off. nothing “girly” about them. They have origins in russia and europe actually. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettlebell

I got into Kettlebells after I watched this Russian strong man called 'Victor Blud's videos on YouTube.

Re: The Aging Programmer [video]

#154
post #141

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> but I cannot sustain that level of concentration for long periods You can fix this by paying attention to it. When your mind starts wondering acknowledge this, take 5 min 'break' lazily thinking about the task. Then get back to the task. This is sort of mind hack. Another way to control your thoughts is through meditation. A lot can be done this way. To summarize it: you can consciously control what you are thinkin…

Can I read more about this? The "lazy break" in particular - is this something you personally came up with?

it's just a generic idea. if you want to do something try to not to force yourself. will power is a limited resource. find an easy way. 'lazy break' is sort of application of this idea. the task may be complex, just mentally step back, take a look at the whole picture, imagine next steps to do. all in relaxed way, may be walking, having a cup of coffee.

my problem is the opposite, sometimes i'm too focused and forget about the other thing to do. this lunatic state can last for days.

Re: The Aging Programmer [video]

#155
post #84

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In which parts do you disagree with the history it narrates?

I disagree with the entire premise of the article. None of the facts they sprinkled in are relevant to their conclusions. What exactly do you find compelling from it?

Be specific. Pick three parts of the history it narrates and explain how it is unfounded, deceitful or otherwise unreliable. Begin with a quote, then your criticism.

Re: The Aging Programmer [video]

#156

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What I learned so far, at 45, is that you can't rely on your body retaining capabilities just from you not being completely sedentary, as it was the case for me before. You get to keep only the abilities, movements that you actively use in daily (or perhaps weekly) life. For example if you don't squat you'll gradually lose ability to squat even if you run a mile every day. If you don't jump, or jump down regularly yo…

I listened through Move Your DNA last year (biomechanics) so this makes a lot of sense. On the whole it doesn’t seem that bad, at least this aspect. We just need to do better than sitting for 12+ hours. And I like movement. Not being lethargic. Some things (out of the deluge of information from everywhere) discourage me, like learning that you have been drinking water wrong your whole life or whatever microhabit is r…

Some other things I found out so far...

Pain now means different thing. It's no longer "don't do it". Now it's "do it but carefully". Only if you notice pain gradually increasing while doing things carefully it means stop and reevaluate, think what you can alter to improve situation. For me it was aforementioned barefoot shoes. I tried them after my feet started to hurt increasingly in specific places while walking (for health) pretty much the same amount. Change shoes, change chairs, change side where your monitor sits or how high your desk is, the pillow in you bed.

If something is painful but it wasn't when you were younger it mostly means that you need to keep carefully doing it and pain should be decresing, then you can go further even if it's painful and again do it enough at the same level until the pain to go away. It may take weeks or months but it's worth it because it increases your capabilities, makes easier to retain them and reduces the risk of accidental injury.

Another thing are mucus membranes and other delicate exposed or semi-exposed tissues of your body, they are dryer, thinner, less resistant to abrasion, less springy so more prone to pinching. You need to provide the missing lubrication. I'm super careful so I decided to use cosmetics with least amount of ingredients (while keeping desired physical properties) which are cosmetics for newborns. I'm guessing if something won't hurt an infant it probably won't hurt me. Possibly milder soaps also might be better but I'm not sure.

Your immune system is getting weaker so be vigilant about infections and inflammations, accidental damage to skin and such. Try to maintain high hygiene, especially in areas of any damage. Monitor condition of your teeth. Avoid creating environment on your body that is fertile ground for microbes. For example if you have shoes in which your feet get often wet replace them.

The last thing is diet. If you crave something, eat it. Try different things. New things carefully of course. Two exceptions are sugar and salt. If you are craving something with sugar or salt try version without them or if it's not available just skip it. If it's still something you want to eat without sugar or salt it might contain something your body needs. Eat it for as long as you want to eat it. Salt is a bit tricky because you might need salt. You might try eating salt alone, without a meal. If it's tasty alone, you probably need it and you may eat it till it stops being tasty. Sugar is easy, nobody ever needs sugar for any reason so sugar fueled cravings are never valid signal. If you are craving some specific sweet it might be other ingredients it contains. Try them without sugar if you can. I don't say you need to avoid sugar, just that it's just calories. If you decide you need additional calories and nothing else sugar might be fine. Some occasional multivitamin is probably not a bad idea either. Weight is most easily controlled with intermittent fasting. 24h eating, 24h fasting worked great for me. Aim for 23.5 BMI as it correlates with lowest all cause mortality rate.

I don't have much success with sleep, but I know it's needed. If you have trouble with it you might investigate your caffeine intake.

General advice is to listen more to your body and less to your brain. Go for a walk if you feel stiff or something hurts or if just you haven't moved in a while is a good idea even if your brain thinks you absolutely should be binge watching something at the moment, doom scrolling, gaming or being productive.

Also change things often, repetitive strain injuries of every kind are now as dangerous for you as sudden accidental injuries.

Re: The Aging Programmer [video]

#157
post #80

Lots of good advice, especially for younger people for whom it can pay increasing dividends because they're starting earlier. I have a small quibble about the idea of knowing when you're thirsty. Many people either don't realize when they need to drink more, or actively avoid drinking because they don't want to have to go to the bathroom more frequently. As a result, they are underhydrated and their overall health su…

I think the point is that (over?) paying for 'brain' games is a waste unless you're doing it solely for leisure.

Re: The Aging Programmer [video]

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading the articles below it appears that BMI should be sub-categorized by race and gender categories - healthy weights for [X-race + Y-gender] person to increase its efficacy as a health tool.

And what about mixed races? Most reasons denote it's racist because of socioeconomic status. Should we account for income in BMI as well?

I guess I'll just never understand how a ratio of weight/height can be anything other than a number.

Re: The Aging Programmer [video]

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Nah. What does a 63 year old healthy single woman look like? What about a 63 year old woman who had four kids? What about a 63 year old woman who beat stage IV metastatic melanoma?[1] A "healthy" 63 year old person is going to look mighty different depending on the curves life threw them. So is it not overly legislative to bind a person's health choices to their looks when you don't have the whole story? I ca…

>So is it not overly legislative to bind a person's health choices to their looks when you don't have the whole story? No, it is overly pedantic to argue with someone making a basic and reasonable statement that someone looks overweight and would probably do better if they lost weight. Being overweight contributes to all kinds of joint pain and diabetes (which causes a lot of other physical and even mental problems).…

Hey, champ, way to jump in with an unrelated "no, but". At the start of this thread the person chose to marginalize this speaker and what she had to say because she appears "15 years older than they should be." Then they failed to give any representation of what a 63 year old woman _should_ look like, let alone a 63 year old cancer survivor. So to avoid being pedantic I'll just call it what it is: ageism.

Re: The Aging Programmer [video]

#160

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The current crop of old people had money when interest rates started high and ended low, which is far better than the opposite of starting low and ending high. There is a lower bound for interest rates and there is a risk component to the rate, especially for regular borrowers. Now consider that during the period of lowering interest rates the risk temporarily dips lower because in general all asset holders are makin…

It's good advice anyway. You have to try pretty hard to end up worse off for saving money. Much of what we're going through was experienced in the 70s, and those people lived through it. Even if things really fell apart, order would probably be restored within a decade. Lots of undesirable changes could happen as a result of a crisis, but it could also lead to positive outcomes like a renewed focus on the country's s…

I'm not sure if I agree with that. Money saved will be inflated away, so lets assume you mean money invested which I would suggest is buying into the ponzi economy and could very well be a good idea. I consider being a miser as good practice as restraint builds efficiency and resilience which will probably hold you in good stead no matter what else is going on in the world.

I'm not sure where you get the 'order restored within a decade' from but if you are pulling from historical examples then I think you should be careful with survivorship bias. I can think of a number of examples where empires fell only to be replaced by their adversaries, so let's say the US does collapse, would order being restored be in the form of China taking over? In that situation it would be hard for me to imagine that working out well for the average American.

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