For me, standing desk was a noticeable improvement from sitting desk for health and avoiding procastination. But it is not doable when your energy is low ( tired or sick) and if I had particularly mentally demanding job on hand.
I have much better weight loss when pairing exercise with standing desks
This is something people nowadays should do more, including me. I am going to make this my goal for the new year. I always fear how people will react/think about me when I tell them my feelings/thoughts. This has caused my to lie about a lot of things(mostly small ones), which becomes a habit in time. It mostly comes from insecurity about yourself and low selfworth and not being able to stand up for yourself. As such, I think these traits will greatly improve if you are honest.
"As such, I think these traits will greatly improve if you are honest." - This has been my experience!
Funny story, as I really don't drink very often. It's the only time I've ever done so, but about 13 years ago, met up with friends after work for a few drinks, and kind of turned into a party. My boss was a bit lost for words when I called in because I was hung over. I just don't lie. (I frankly suck at it).
I've found that the world runs better on white lies and omission of details and that opening up with your own problems just makes people avoid you - rather than help you solve them.
In my experience the hack is a great way to liberate yourself from false hunger signals and feeling like you "must" eat certain foods. If you're hungry, the potatoes taste good. If you're not, they don't. Resetting all these habits helped me shift the remainder of my diet towards better food choices, to the point where I actively seek out fresh veggies & fruit and dislike packaged or meat-heavy meals.
The hack is not for people that have issues with nightshades or starches of course. potatohack.com has the most comprehensive info on the subject, but it is discussed on other blogs as well.
Will definitely look into it.
Potatoes have a great balance of nutrients and provide satiety in a way that no other food does. I can (and do) eat 2 pounds of potatoes a day, which is about 800 calories. That leaves me with 1,200 calories of "space" (assuming a 2,000-calorie diet) where I can introduce the variety you speak of at dinnertime--2 or more vegetables, a protein (typically legumes or meat) and fruit or another starch. The restriction to potatoes during the day simply blocks out a lot of "bad variety" in the form of convenient junk foods: in my experience, a potato is a better food choice than most of the foods pushed at me while I'm working, running errands, etc.
The 24-hour version of the diet is usually only done for 3 days at a time. It provides sufficient macros during that time period and also provides a better micronutrient balance than most U.S. citizens get from their current diets.
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 very rarely eat processed food or sugary snacks (once a month at best) and when I do it's _always_ after hard training session and it still _fits my macros_.
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."
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, except when it rains heavily.
We still enjoy sweet-ish foods but have hugely reduced our sugar intake.
An additional advantage is that as a result our toddler finds most commercial confectionaries which he encounters to be unpaltably sweet, and throws them in the bin after trying them for a few seconds.
Something that really helped me was getting angry at the companies producing all these foods with added sugar. Seriously, look at the labels, it is EVERYWHERE (at least in the USA). I resolved to not buy these products--why give your money to these companies that can't make a product taste good without resorting to cheap tricks? Why am I paying them to hurt me? I do still buy dark chocolate for dessert a few times a week--I am not opposed to dessert, but that's the only place I think sugar should be.
Ultimately I think everyone has a unique approach (mentally and physically) that works for them, and it's probably an ensemble of smaller strategies accumulated over time that create success in the end. Be willing to experiment (safely), accept temporary failures, learn what works and then repeat all over again.
And no, I think substituting one source of sugar for another is just an expensive way of continuing to eat sugar. If you were trying to get an alcoholic to stop drinking, you wouldn't suggest they switch from cheap wine to "just a glass of Bordeaux before bed", although that sounds like a suggestion they might make :-). You'd suggest they find something else to do that fills the social and metabolic hole the alcohol leaves behind. That's what good cheese has done for me.
And yeah, sometimes I do have something sweet, usually in an unavoidable social situation, but it has been getting easier to stop eating sugar after a relapse each time it happens.
Half a year ago I tried to stop eating all candies suddenly. Was feeling little uncomfortable at times so then I realized it is better not to give your body such shocks. So I decided I would indulge in some sweet curd (and some plain black chocolate) in the afternoons. This worked quite well, I removed 90% of junk from my diet, got to eat more protein and fruits but still got the sugar gratification I needed. Getting rid of so much sugar surprisingly did not hurt as I had imagined. Perhaps drinking lots of water helped as well - it is surprising how refreshing a drink of chilly water can be. Unfortunately, then I got some other health issues, had to revert diet back and am back where I started.
John Kabat-Zinn [0] masters the link between science and meditation and has published very valuable books (including guided/audio meditation exercises) [1]. There are a couple of scientific studies which prove effectiveness [2] [3].
2. LSD [$5-10/dose + $25/multi-use test kit]
Benefits (mid- and long-term) are similar to those of meditation. In addition, you may be able to access your spiritual dimension, which increases quality of life even further (it is less immediate with meditation). It however requires one to literally read/understand/know everything about the substance before applying it (minimum literature: "The psychedelic explorer's guide" by Fadiman). Also, order a test kit and test before you ingest. Certain "edge cases"/people should not try it.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Kabat-Zinn
[1] https://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4180277/Mindful_Way_Through...
[2] http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/01/eight-weeks-to...
[3] http://www.vox.com/2015/8/27/9214697/meditation-brain-neuros...
Spiritual dimension is just vague new age rhetoric. I don't want to be fear mongering but you may end up with a psychosis as well. Recommending random strangers to use recreational psychedelic drugs under the guise of getting "similar mid- and long-term effects to those of meditation" is flat out irresponsible.
For those who are interested in using psychedelic drugs. First of all, never use a full dose the first time you use it. Second, get a sitter aka babysitter. That means someone who does not use any drugs (that means nothing in the sense that the sitter(s) need to stay awake during your drugs usage, and worst case the sitter(s) should still be able to drive you to the hospital if its needed). Consider to inform your doctor and discuss with them the alternatives.
Instead of LSD and other psychedelic drugs I want to offer an alternative. If you want something akin to mindful meditation: do it more, or follow a 10 day Vipassana course.
> Certain "edge cases"/people should not try it.
This disclaimer is too vague. Some people don't know they are, or are young and will do it anyway because young people's brains (age < 25) are not yet fully grown up.
If you're into mindful meditation and want to take it much further, follow a 10 day Vipassana course instead. You will get guidance from the people there, and if you really get over the edge during your 10 day course (you're likely to experience difficult times regardless), you'll at least not be under the influence of drugs and will be surrounded by specialists who are sober. Also, a mindfulness instructor (such a course might be worth paying for) has followed a 10 day Vipassana course as its part of the requirement to become one.
Finally, I can highly recommend yoga together with meditation. (Without any spiritual BS, as that is unnecessary/distracting and excludes those with different religions including atheism. A good yoga or mindfulness instructor will include everyone, and avoid using such rhetoric.)
TL;DR do mindfulness, yoga, Vipassana don't do psychedelic drugs.
It however requires one to literally read/understand/know everything about the substance before applying it
If you follow this, you will know if you belong to the category of people who should not use the substance to discover more of what we perceive as reality. It seems obvious to me that a comment on HN will never be able to fully cover the subject.
I agree however 100% with your suggestion to add yoga.
> If you follow this, you will know if you belong to the category of people who should not use the substance to discover more of what we perceive as reality. It seems obvious to me that a comment on HN will never be able to fully cover the subject.
Yes, I saw that disclaimer as well. Do you want me to address it? Your usage of "literally read/understand/know everything about the substance" fits CYA due to being extensively broad. Nobody in the world ever read/understand/know everything about any subject. Even those who maintain Erowid, studied psychology in university, or Albert Hofmann for that matter know everything about LSD. Those who know very little are arrogant about their knowledge whereas those who do know a lot are modest and acknowledge there's so much they do not know.
It is also not how drug usage should work. If you get drugs prescribed from your MD you need to follow his directions as well as the directions from the drugs. You're basically under his supervision and guidance, he's partly responsible for your well being. The best you have as recreational user is your own knowledge (while your psyche is impacted by the drugs), and hopefully a knowledgeable, emotionally stable sitter.
Please, don't recommend psychedelic drugs (or even drugs) to random strangers [1]. You may think they are intelligent and responsible, but many just aren't. Recommend it only to those people you know very well, and follow the advice I told you about not using full dose first time as well as sitter. The options of more mindfulness, yoga, and Vipassana 10 day course are much less dangerous. (Even those can be dangerous though which is why I follow yoga via an experienced yoga instructor who is finishing their physiology study, instead of following online free YouTube videos.)
[1] And especially not while using a good introduction, with sources, about the benefits of mindfulness & meditation while not providing any for psychedelic drug usage while suggesting it as the next step of mindfulness & meditation.
Only because you choose to define it that way. In reality, people have spiritual health that is just as important as mental health. There doesn't need to have any mysticism attached, just the recognition that religion and other practices give people senses of belonging and purpose, and those drives are important to ones overall health.
>I don't want to be fear mongering but you may end up with a psychosis as well
Well those are strong words, would you like to source that claim? IIRC the rates of psychosis among psychedelic users and the normal population is equivalent, meaning psychedelics absolutely do not cause psychosis.
Also noteworthy is the fact that meditation can trigger latent psychoses just the same as any drug or stressor would - so in both cases, exploring ones consciousness can be a dangerous pursuit best done working with experienced guides.
There is mental health, and physical health. There's no such concept as spiritual health because there's no scientifically proven concept of spirit. "Spiritual health" or "religious health" or whatever you want to call it is just some new age word for mental and/or physical health. But since the concept of spirit or spiritually is pseudo science at best, it is a worthless concept and therefore completely irrelevant unless you want to discuss it with those who believe in it. The keyword here is believe. I am an atheist, I can't prove God does not exist but I find it highly unlikely. So I am going to take it for granted there is no God. The same with "spirituality" and everything "spiritual".
> Well those are strong words, would you like to source that claim? IIRC the rates of psychosis among psychedelic users and the normal population is equivalent, meaning psychedelics absolutely do not cause psychosis.
Those are not at all strong words. All one has to do is read the dozens and dozens of trip reports on e.g. Erowid. I know from anecdotal experience that it is possible to even OD on cannabis which can trigger a psychosis (albeit relatively mild).
Heck, a trip is akin to a psychosis; just a 'positive' one. Bad trips happen. The reason mushrooms are illegal in my country (NL) is because of a young French tourist committing suicide on mushrooms. I also know of two separate stories from people I know who have jumped off a high building whole on LSD. Finally, I'm aware of research being done on cannabis which was triggering a schizophrenic episode quicker with those prone to schizophrenia. Not everyone knows they're prone to that; nobody in my direct family suffers from schizophrenia, for example, but elsewhere in the family tree? Yup.
Research like this is all around on the Internet. There's also research conducted in using psychedelic drugs to cure issues such as depression. However, those are administered under doctor supervision.
> Also noteworthy is the fact that meditation can trigger latent psychoses just the same as any drug or stressor would - so in both cases, exploring ones consciousness can be a dangerous pursuit best done working with experienced guides.
Sure, there is some chance, but there's also the chance a psychosis occurs from stress (which I know first hand). I really doubt the chance of the above occurring during meditation is the same as during a full dose of mushrooms or LSD. I can imagine the chance is higher when you follow a Vipassana course for 10 days because it is more intense, but that is one of the reasons its guided.
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. We have clubs that specialise in white-collar boxing, which has a lower barrier to entry than normal amateur boxing. I'm not good, but the club is inviting of all levels of talent and it's the best exercise I've ever done. Had my first public fight in March 2016, which was a big psychological hurdle. Nailed it.
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).
If you don't want to get better at fighting, might as well learn ballet, or go running.
Your point about head concussion from extensive boxing practice is a good one.
In normal, competitive boxing, the risks are when fighters become dehydrated and sustain concussion, but keep going the full 12 odd rounds.
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.
You do have to assemble it yourself, but anyone with a cordless drill and a bit of sense should be able to manage. There are a couple things that can go wrong, but they are easy to avoid and/or fix. The desk surfaces that come with these are probably a crappy laminate, like sub MDF quality fiberboard. That means that you have to be careful when screwing the legs into the surface, because if your drill's torque/clutch setting is too high, the screw will just spin and blow out the hole instead of fastening tightly. This is easy to avoid though, just set the drill to one of the lowest torque settings, say 1-3, and work your way up if the screw doesn't go in all the way. Also, there are usually plenty of holes on the legs, so if you blow 1 or 2 out, it's not the end of the world.
The only other thing to look out for is bad leg motors and/or bad control boxes, which are surprisingly common. No worries though, these things are easy to troubleshoot, and I'm sure the company will get you a replacement in no time if anything is DOA, as it's pretty common.
Anyways, my point is, if you don't mind spending around 4 hours of your time to read a manual and put one of these things together, you can save a substantial amount of money.
Also, if you don't want a crappy surface, you can just order the legs and add your own surface, although make sure to check that the legs can support the weight.
woops, here's the link https://www.autonomous.ai/smartdesk-sit-to-stand-height-adju...
also, if you're really a cheapskate, you could probably find all this shit on alibaba or something, and save even more money.
Exercise some and that makes me feel better as well.
This past year I have taken to napping 3 of 5 days at work 5 to 20 minutes. I have my own office and I nap during lunch break. Most naps are about 11 minutes long. I always time them. Napping helps my productivity immensely in the afternoon. I can be coding, architecting etc. within 10 minutes after the nap. Oh, I usually drink one coffee or white tea before I nap.
I'm most excited about controlling my time and information better. That gets my stress down, which in turn does so much for my health.
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 it is a bit pricey and a stack of books does the job too.
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.
I use an app called "Lose it!" To track my daily calorie intake and have paired it with Google Fit where I track my weight every day.
It has been way harder to eat excessively, as I'm constantly aware that I'm accounting all I eat. So mostly it just makes me aware about what I'm eating.
Results: Constant 0.5kg weight loss in every week.
A bit aside from the subject, but I also have changed to use paper money instead of cards.
I have a weekly budget that I get from the ATM every Monday. This raises awareness of the money I spend, since I can see my current budget every time I open my wallet. It has helped me to save significant amount of money.
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.
For me, It wasn't really a year I pushed myself as much as I could/should. This coming year, planning on going lower carbs again, but also limiting my calories a bit more than the last time. A few years ago, I lost 80# by going low carb, but wound up in the hospital for ketoacidosis. Will have to keep a closer watch on my blood sugar and insulin levels. I've been within 15# of that weight since, but it's been hard.
One funny thing (kind of in response to the potato hack post), is that since that year, I really don't care for potatoes by themselves as much (straight mash, or fries), I'll have a little, but a year without added starchy foods of any kind (bread, rice, potato, corn) really changes what you like. I do seem to do better on red meat (even leaner varieties like bison) than I do with poultry.
So, ready for round 2.
I noticed that everything digital is starting to distract me if I'm not careful. Even if I just go to my mac go check OmniFocus, my brain automatically wanted me to do other things on my Mac at the same time, while I'm already using it. Same for my phone.
I discovered the BulletJournal as a fantastic planning tool. Instead of having note apps, calendar apps, todo list apps and so on, I just have my nice Leuchtturm1917 notebook and a pen with me. It's destressing me, allowing me to be more analog and man, I completely forgot how nice good paper can feel.
It also helps me a lot fighting perfection and OCD. Every pen stroke is permanent which makes me appreciate mistakes more. Instead of an error, every wrong line gives the notebook more personality.
Lastly I was so surprised what a engineer brain can do with simple dotted paper. It's so easy to create new modules and layouts to expand the system further to solve another specific problem. It made me became creative with inventing new spreads for planning my months, tracking my daily habits or just scribbling down all movies I still want to watch.
It's a perfect non-digital companion for a digital guy like me and I love it. Just sitting in a cafe without my Mac or phone and reviewing my paper based system started to become a regular ritual that works like therapy. I'm very excited to start 2017 with this little guy in my bag :)
The running has been amazing.
Upon writing this up I realize this is not actually a habit but a different piece of equipment, it just came to mind in relation to the standing desk mentions.
Or you could just stop putting sugar in coffee.
I had huge cravings on the first 1-2 weeks but nowadays I don't feel the need to drink them at all.
Since then I lost quite some weight and my blood pressure got a lot better as well.
2. not eating anything past 8pm.
There are a slew of apps that offer water logging, but I like Fitbit's implementation.
- Energy levels are stable
- Never hungry
- Need to sleep 1h less
- Feel better (less inflammation)
- Fewer migraines
- Weight loss