Hacker News Reader

Comment by gandreani | Hacker News Reader

> As a result I’ve improved a number of biomarkers (e.g. resting heart rate, resting blood glucose, strength, endurance, nutritional deficiencies, etc). I wish I could say I feel significantly better or sharper, but honestly I feel about the same. But the numbers tell me I’m supposed to be on a better path and I think I am content with that .

I appreciate this honesty

View on HN

I think a lot of that last point can be attributed to gradual improvement and acclimation to that improvement. If you were able to snapshot mood and mental health like you could a picture of your body, you might see a marked improvement over pre-healthy-lifestyle vs., say, post-1-year-healthy-lifestyle.

For example, I've been losing weight and doing body-weight training the last month-and-a-half and a picture of my body now vs. then shows a fairly drastic change. But I can' say that I feel like I weigh less or feel that I'm stronger. Though, the scale and reps of exercise that I can do say otherwise. Every day starts a "new normal."

A lot of people also aren't "in tune" with their bodies, especially those with weaker autobiographical memories. Many just don't internalize or remember how they feel over different time periods except for extreme events (emotional, strong smells, etc.). Unless they have a hangover, they don't much consider how they feel on a relative scale, let alone try to tie it back to their past diet or lifestyle. Throw in a lot of drugs like caffeine, antidepressants, pain killers, depressants like alcohol, stimulants like ADHD meds and it results in a perfect storm where subtle signals that many people are naturally mindful of just get drowned out. Even becoming aware that you can differentiate signals takes practice just like any other muscle.

This has been my biggest struggle with health. I've always had troubles with autobiographical memory and without it, I can't stay motivated because I quickly forget how good exercise felt or how junk food made me feel a few hours later. I started going to the gym to dogfood when I joined a fitness company and within a few months I was looking a lot better but not feeling it. It wasn't until I started to really push my limit with rowing workouts that I felt the "runner's high" athletes talk about. From that point on, it was felt like I was discovering a new muscle group every few weeks and correlating how far I rowed in a 60 minute rowing session with my diet and lifestyle. Junk food that I would scarf down because unappetizing. Drinking alcohol went from a no-brainer to "how will I feel tomorrow?" Morning stretches and exercise became mandatory just to feel "normal."

Even now, with the gyms closed for months, I can feel that newly acquired skill slipping and predictably, my self discipline slides too. I've almost forgotten how good it feels after a nice workout.

I can very much relate to this. I have tended to always be someone that pays attention to these minor details. To me, it is absolutely insane that people don't remember or internalize how they feel regularly. For example, I can tell you with ease that I had a long string of extreme productivity and focus in March lasting until the middle of April which dipped during May and is now peaking again. I can tell you what I believe to have caused it and what also ruined it. Productivity, Energy, sleep quality and overall mood are things I think about daily.

For me developing this skill was a necessity after I encountered frequent headaches from eating and drinking the "wrong" things. I was basically forced to take my awareness of general overall wellbeing up a notch to really figure out what was causing them. Noticing small signs became important to prevent being sidelined from life with a nasty headache.

I have it down pretty well now and there are certain very small, but distinct, signals and feelings that tell me when headaches are coming so I can work to prevent them.

Anecdotal, but I've talked to lots of acquaintances about this and no one seems to understand what I'm talking about. I've also been meditating for 4+ years perhaps that adds to the heightened awareness.

I don't want to say that people are "unconscious" but is sad that many are missing out on a more nuanced experience of life.

>Even now, with the gyms closed for months, I can feel that newly acquired skill slipping and predictably, my self discipline slides too. I've almost forgotten how good it feels after a nice workout.

Right? I've noticed my own mental health is slipping and I'm certain I can track it to things closing, me working from home more often, and my eating worse.

The unknown and anxiety around the start of the lockdowns and pandemic made me gravitate towards the 'comfort' foods and it's been a slow decline in mood and physical health since. Thankfully I've started to recognize this and remember how I felt before the start of all this so now I'm slowly working towards that point again.

I don't doubt the author gained benefits from the lifestyle change. I just appreciate the lack of hyperbole when describing how they feel. It's hard to get nutrition and health advice without a product/service incentive attached to it nowadays. The excerpt I highlighted matched the qualitative and candid style of the rest of the post.

It's refreshing

Oh, yea. I agree. I suffer from panic attacks and general anxiety and when I picked up lifting/running a while back one of my friends asked if it helped and I gave him the same, honest "uh..not really.", which he was kinda bummed for me about. But I learned to enjoy those things on their own. Or, at least, I enjoyed being able to pat myself on the back after running for 4 miles straight.

Your comment seems to imply that it didn't help. Would you recommend picking lifting/running up? I went on meds recently for the same issues but had a bad (lasting) experience, so I'm looking towards therapy and healthy eating / exercising for the future now.

Here's what I have to say, with the disclaimer that everyone's experience is different and your results may vary:

> Your comment seems to imply that it didn't help.

Not that, so much. More that it'd be disingenuous for me to say that I noticed that exercise had a direct impact on my mental health. Cutting down on my consumption of alcohol (a lot) has probably had the most direct link to increased mental health, for what it's worth.

> Would you recommend picking lifting/running up?

Yes, indeed. It's undeniably good for your body. Just... don't go in with the expectation that it's gonna be an immediate mood-booster, though. If that does happen, great! But expect the actual (and measurable) rewards to be increased strength and endurance. Be happy with that. :)

I've been prescribed medication, but never got it filled (didn't like that prescribing meds was the default "fix"). Been close to going to therapy, but haven't (I'm skeptical of certain therapist's qualifications and I don't think I can really afford it long-term). So far, I've been able to live with my malady's. Just...REALLY uncomfortably on occasion. But if you can afford it and have the time, then you should definitely make use of those resources!

What I notice personally is that whenever my health improves, I only feel it a small amount incrementally.

When I stop training, I quickly feel sluggish, with brain fog, muscle knots, difficulty sleeping, etc.

This is mostly a reminder to myself that my body wants movement and good nutrition, and that lapses are not worth it.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com