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Comment by elvis10ten | Hacker News Reader

I think we have fitness wrong in this side of the world. I grew up seeing 60 year olds that were as fit as youths in the west.

They didn’t have a treadmill or did keto diets.

My take away was fitness should be a lifestyle and to avoid lots of western food (sugar, processed, empty calories, I drink only water, etc).

I don’t count calories and can eat twice in the morning. If I counted, both morning meals are less than 600 calories.

I don’t go to a gym, but have maintained a <10% body fat (and 86kg at 190cm height) over the years (without feeling hungry all the time because I eat well). I just do body weight training and make my entire day active (even tho I’m a programmer).

For me, being in shape doesn’t need to be complicated.

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> My take away was fitness should be a lifestyle

There's only one way this actually happens for a majority of the population: exercise being built into daily habits, in a way that's so natural that it almost seems unavoidable.

The Netherlands seems to have the right of it: their urban design strongly supports walking and biking, and indeed, their rates of 'active transportation' are very high.

As a bonus, walk and bike infrastructure is quite cheap to build and maintain compared to car infrastructure.

"Traditionally" the people of Osaka, Sicily and various Greek islands are actually best at maintaining such healthy lifestyles, from what I recall from studies on longevity. Good diets, lots of mild exercise from long walks (on hilly terrain) and strong socal ties. I say traditionally because of course these studies can only really look at the lifestyles of past generations.

With that in mind the flat landscape of the Netherlands might be giving us a slight disadvantage ;)

*Okinawa, not Osaka. Serves me right for trying to recall these things from memory before my morning coffee.

Anyway, search for "blue zones" to learn more, aging healthily is an ongoing topic of research

My girlfriend, who was not trying to diet, lost about 20 lbs when she studies abroad in Italy, because she had to walk everywhere.

What kinds of things do you do to make your entire day active?

As a developer my self, I find this part the hardest.

I find that I need time to think and time do code.

When I’m coding I’m obviously sitting at my desk. At some point I get tired of that or hit a wall, then stop, and have to think about that to do next.

Instead of sitting at my desk thinking I’ll go for a walk, go outside and work on a project around the house, go for a swim, hike somewhere. During that time I’m mulling in the problem in my head coming up with solutions.

Once I finish with that activity, I’ll set back down and try a few if the ideas I came up with while doing those activities.

According to my Apple Watch, I get between 25-55 min of activity on a given day.

I think a good way is to take any chance to move around.

Ido Portal, for all his eccentric weirdness, knows things:

> The body will become better at whatever you do, or don’t do. If you don’t move, your body will make you better at not moving. If you move, your body will allow more movement.

I’m personally thinking in terms of micro-habits that eventually form a lifestyle, and it’s all about total lifetime reps, if you will.

For example, I have a height adjustable desk, and have replaced the chair with a pilates ball. I still stand, or sit on my knees, more than sitting down on it.

I believe there’s a problem with some of the ergonomic setups we use - if you keep moving, and shift around you shouldn’t need it. If you do, you’re already “losing it” and should probably be changing things up more frequently during the days. Now this is easy to say, and for some people, probably not true.

I’m basically continuously fighting the path of least resistance. I’m in war with the comfy a* brain!

How is sugar and processed/empty calories a "western" thing? What do you mean by "west"?

"West" probably meaning the US which then also wants to include Europe for some reason, despite it making very little sense.

No need to smear Europe with their high fructose corn syrup. There are plenty of empty calories on the table in Europe, but they are typically made in a kitchen and not in a factory.

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