I’d like to recommend the cycling option too, and there’s no reason to lose your geek street cred as cycling, like all sports, has plenty of detail and stats for you to obsess over and geek out on.
From things like the geometry and gear ratios of your bike (I’m a singlespeed rider so spent plenty of time calculating the gear ratio to use on my recent a href="http://www.vurt.co.uk/2007/06/24/new_bike/"project bike/a), to distance, heart rate and cycle times it’s a whole world of geekiness.
Heck, stick a gps unit and cycle computer on your bike and then every journey becomes an exercise in geekiness. Soon you’ll be obsessing over the best route to work for given times of the day and weather…
While cycling to work and back I also try to better my previous best times or push harder on an uphill than before. A stopwatch and speedo works great for keeping track of times.
I discovered the Hacker’s Diet just over a year ago, but it was really filled with things that I already knew. The key that turned me around were the “exercise doesn’t burn many calories” numbers.
Short-term, I think that Walker’s diet is an easy way to lose weight and a less wordy version could be made to work for nearly anyone. I’m down with your “eat good foods idea” and I can attest to the fact that carbs calories != protein calories.
However, I think that it’s really important to classify “good foods” and I think that we have a limited capacity for that right now. Obviously, fresh is better, but what do we really know beyond that? People need very different intakes based on both lifestyle and genetics and we don’t seem to have very good records in terms of the genetic influences (other than “family history”). What’s more, I’m not yet convinced that DNA is “locked for life”, so I think we’re trying to hit a moving target.
So, to get back to the start, it’s just finer granularity: eat less food, eat less food and less carbs, eat less food of higher quality… But the underneath it all, we’re missing a lot of information about how the body processes food/nutrients. Your article is great, but it’s just scratching the surface of the unknown
this is a pretty sappy blog entry. amazing how many people shared their “tips”. since geeks are on the web all the time, they should know all this stuff, right?
@Dave Green: Well yeah sure, if you are a naturally athletic and limber person to start with.
I’m not so sure I like the idea of pedalling on a mill while programming or designing. I mean, what kind of heart rate is optimal for weight loss, compared to concentration? Focus, flow, anyone?
Everyone has their own internal rhythm and balance of diet, types of exercise and sleep that suits them best.
Possibly the best thing I have learned from reading this blog is that I should care more about the posture of the 'effn chair that I’m sitting on than any programming language decision or abstract beautiful code like effects.
Realize that it’s not a diet – it’s a permanent lifestyle.
Portion control is the key – what we think of as meal-sized is actually a day’s-worth of food. Really. A couple of years ago, I added up the numbers for a meal at a restaurant (knowing it was big) and found out it was actually TWO days’ worth of food. Recently, I was splurging on a salad at another restaurant. After a couple of visits, I added up the numbers and found that it was 2/3 of a day’s worth of food.
Buy a food scale and weigh EVERY darn thing you eat or drink. When you make things from scratch, weigh every ingredient. Awareness of how much you’re eating is key. Don’t guess (see above).
Unless you enjoy a certain sport and have the time, just go for a 20-minute walk every day for exercise. Otherwise, you’ll pre-empt it with something else and won’t get any exercise at all.
Over the last (almost) four years, I’ve lost 61 pounds. I haven’t seen this weight since my college days. Another four pounds and I’ll have reached my goal. Ten pounds after that would be really nice (my weight when I was 18). After that, maintenance.
The best system, that actually works for (nearly) everyone is
Eat when you are hungry, Eat Slowly, Stop when you are not hungry anymore, drink more water, do moderate exercise at least 1/2 hour a day (this can be a simple as a brisk walk), eat a balanced diet
With this you can snack, program for hours on end and still be fit and healthy…
The eat slowly is important, the main difference between the typical French diet and the typical American diet is only the quantity of food and this is mainly due to culture Americans have a fast food culture the French have a slow food culture, the consequence is the French have a low level how obesity and heart disease…
I took up martial arts 10 years ago. As long as I am actively doing martial arts, I never gain weight. When I stop (say, due to sickness) my weight goes up.
I get bored out of my mind going to a gym. I only go if I haven’t been able to go to martial arts for a while.
I’ve done Tae Kwon Do / Tang Soo Do, Judo, BJJ and some others, all very fun. And nothing beats the workout you get when fighting another person.
Join a running group that has other beginners at your pace. Commit to a race of some length.
Run with this group at least once a week. Meet NON-GEEKS as well as maybe a new geek or two (ymmv).
Learn that interacting with humans can sometimes be as exciting as interacting with your computer and/or blog.
Realize the power of GROUP activities.
Congratulations - you now have a LIFE!
I’m have a CS degree and 25 years in technology - but there are other things out there people! Turn off that computer and game console and get out there.
Geek gred? The wonderful part of bicycling to work is that, in these times of petrolium panic, you gain geek cred by showing off your bike commute.
You also arrive at work in a better mood: instead of lethargic from public transport or stressed from driving in traffic, your brain is pumped with the exercise and you’re ready to hack at full speed.
I used to be in the army, and I had a very satisfying physical shape. I left the army 2 years ago, and now I’ve been working as a consultant for 1 year.
I realized this summer that I was not in shape any more… no cardio, starting to get a little belly… :S
So I started to run again, and do some simple exercises at home (push-ups, sit-ups, and biceps/shoulder with free weights). This already helped a lot. But running has ruined my back and my knees :S
I started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (well, in fact it’s an ultimate fighting training, not just BJJ) two weeks ago, and I totally agree with Bill Kerney: nothing beats the workout you get when fighting another person. I fight for 5 minutes, and I’m way more tired than after a 35 minutes jogging.
I’ve been combining my exercise and my commute for three years. I ride my bike to work(6 miles each way). I get there in a fraction of the time with no frustration and I’m down 21lbs since June when I cut out my afternoon dessert.
I think this might be one of those stereotypes that no longer fits. Most of my programming coworkers over the years have been in pretty good shape. A couple of places I worked had basketball and football leagues that we participated in. Another place was all about hockey, so a couple times a week we would go to the ice rink for a long lunch. The place I am at now has a running circuit in the building along with basketball courts and a golf practice station (all the places I have worked have been big into golf). Ultimate Frisbee and Frisbee Golf are now pretty popular with the coworkers as well.
Personally I agree with the previous poster about the Martial Arts. I love it and train and teach three days a week! I still have to watch what I eat as I get older, but as long as I am being reasonable about it and working out my weight stays pretty consistent.
