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Comment by chairfield | Hacker News Reader

I'm learning how to level up my more fundamental life skills: nutrition, exercise, and character. Character I'm learning through the study of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People which I'm working through with a friend. For exercise, I'm enjoying learning a safe kettlebell program with the book Simple and Sinister. With nutrition, I'm just trying to cook/prepare all my own meals while keeping the ingredients healthy.

I've spent so much time studying skills more directly related to my work as a software engineer, or hobbies like photography, that this shift is both challenging and refreshing. I think it'll make a huge difference in the long run.

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For nutrition and diet I can highly recommend "How Not To Die" by Dr. Michael Gregger: https://nutritionfacts.org/book/

Isn't he completely anti-meat / pro-vegan? His research is cherry picked to a large part and he usually cites epidemiological studies. At least he did when I got into nutrition.

Reading multiple books and doing research yourself is to recommend, at least there's one book with a whole website about the research used in each topic. ---> Boundless by Ben Greenfield.

Both "How not to Die" and "How not to Diet" contain hundreds and even into the thousands of references. All meticulously fact-checked by a team of researchers.

If all the research points to "meat" being problematic, wouldn't a truthful book be considered "anti-meat"? I am a meat lover myself, but Greger seems to follow the scientific process to the letter.

Quoting a lot of studies makes a great impression, but it's only worth it if you're not cherry-picking. Have you read the actual studies he's quoting? I did. Well, I read the first 50 or so. More times than not, they did not give what he says or he is interpreting the result so it matches what he likes them to say. Many are done badly. Many studies are done by hardcore vegans or animal right activists. He quotes the same studies multiple times, adding another references each time he quotes it again (making a great impression!).

A vegetarian diet may be the healthiest there is - I don't know. But Greger is biased for sure.

I also highly recommend Dr. Greger's work! He also has a podcast and very informative website with tons of sources and further information.

> I've spent so much time studying skills more directly related to my work as a software engineer, or hobbies like photography, that this shift is both challenging and refreshing. I think it'll make a huge difference in the long run.

It did for me. My path seems to be flipped. I did this stuff in my late teens and early twenties and after that I decided to get into software.

I have been pursuing similar goals. Except for exercise I've been learning rope dart and also have the goal of being more clean and being better at organizing my spaces. I have also found that focusing on the fundamentals has done wonders for my health, energy levels, and mood. I wish I had taken time to figure this stuff out better years ago.

To me, kettlebells are a hipster trend.

Bw: push ups, pull ups, crunches, supermans, squats, calf-raises, planks, wallsits, HPUs or easier variations

Weights: bench, rows, deadlifts, squats, OHP (google 5x5), pull ups, calf raises

run, bike, or swim Just something to keep in mind as minimum.

They've been used for centuries in one form or another and are a fantastic tool, lauded even by world-record holders in the deadlift.

No, they are not, if you don't have access to a bench and barbells, you can pretty much do all exercises and more with a couple of kettlebells. I use a 20 and 35 pound one. Btw, Kettlebells have been around for a long time in Russia.

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