Re:Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?
by jpalmer on Friday April 10, 2015 @09:56AM
(#9354263)
Just turned 40 this year and certainly had been feeling the effects of neglecting my physical well being. I knew I couldn't undertake any drastic changes as they probably wouldn't last so I decided on a couple small things that were attainable.
1) Decided to pay attention to what I ate. Not necessarily to change what I was eating but just be aware and recognize I need to eat a little less. This has meant not getting the second round at dinner and cutting out most of the snacks at night.
2) Wanted to exercise. Again going from zero I knew I had to keep the bar low, so I decided on walking 25-30 minutes 3 times a week. Also to tone my upper body I also began 5 sets of 20 push-ups twice a week. These are mostly still on my knees but I'm getting better.
The result after 3 months have been great. I've lost 18 pounds and have a much improved mental outlook.
Importantly I wanted to keep the expectations and changes small. I can always ramp up later but going from zero I needed to make it easy to be successful. Also I track all of the above in a spreadsheet which is a major motivator to get the X's all filled out for walking and push-ups.
1) Decided to pay attention to what I ate. Not necessarily to change what I was eating but just be aware and recognize I need to eat a little less. This has meant not getting the second round at dinner and cutting out most of the snacks at night.
2) Wanted to exercise. Again going from zero I knew I had to keep the bar low, so I decided on walking 25-30 minutes 3 times a week. Also to tone my upper body I also began 5 sets of 20 push-ups twice a week. These are mostly still on my knees but I'm getting better.
The result after 3 months have been great. I've lost 18 pounds and have a much improved mental outlook.
Importantly I wanted to keep the expectations and changes small. I can always ramp up later but going from zero I needed to make it easy to be successful. Also I track all of the above in a spreadsheet which is a major motivator to get the X's all filled out for walking and push-ups.
I wish I would have done this sooner.