Exercise: yet another reason to do it
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"Why exercise makes you less anxious" http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/phys-ed-why-exercise-makes-you-less-anxious/[^] In one of the comments: "...I often tell my patients that the point of exercise is to build and condition the brain." I'm coming to see exercise as absolutely critical in my life: I've been exercising hard core for months now and felt absolutely wonderful, best I've felt in decades, then fall came, I went back to work (I take summers off) and in the last couple of weeks I've foolishly let my exercise start to fall behind in an attempt to meet a deadline with work and as a result I've started feeling more and more stressed, my diet is getting worse, my resolution to sleep at least 9 hours a night is falling by the wayside etc. I've *felt* like I'm getting more work done and needing to throw those healthy "time wasting" things away to get more work done by being more obsessive about work, spending more hours at it etc. Typical "death march" mentality. However, I just took a big objective look at the quantity and quality of the work I'm actually getting done, I went over my checkins, the number of cases I was resolving etc and I was *way* more efficient a few weeks ago when I was sticking to my healthy lifestyle. I was more clear headed, faster at finding solutions and able to juggle much more complex programming scenarios in my mind. Work felt much more interesting and most importantly of all I was enjoying it much more, it was fun. I think the "death march" style of coding is an easy one for a developer to slip into, particularly in a small shop where they have more responsibilities and work on their own more and are often under more personal pressure to get things done. The intensity of it seems to delude one into thinking they're getting more done. But it's clearly not the way to go for more than a day or two when necessary, at least not for me. It seems for me that exercise is a kind of cornerstone of a good quality life. Once it's in place everything else starts to fall into place above it, I sleep better then my diet gets better then my work gets better. It's amazing how quickly you decline when you stop. I'm going to open up a big can of whup ass on myself right now and get back on track and stay there. Anyone
Thank you. I just found I've gone up another jeans size, and that's lit a fire under me, when I get home, I am going to start doing something.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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Thank you. I just found I've gone up another jeans size, and that's lit a fire under me, when I get home, I am going to start doing something.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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Buying larger jeans and punching another hole in your belt?
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
The belt is fine, but the jeans were not, it would seem :(
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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The belt is fine, but the jeans were not, it would seem :(
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
I've gone down 4 inches on my waist in the last 6 months. I attribute it to changing diet and increased nocturnal exercise.
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I've gone down 4 inches on my waist in the last 6 months. I attribute it to changing diet and increased nocturnal exercise.
ragnaroknrol wrote:
increased nocturnal exercise.
*sigh* not much chance of that.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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"Why exercise makes you less anxious" http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/phys-ed-why-exercise-makes-you-less-anxious/[^] In one of the comments: "...I often tell my patients that the point of exercise is to build and condition the brain." I'm coming to see exercise as absolutely critical in my life: I've been exercising hard core for months now and felt absolutely wonderful, best I've felt in decades, then fall came, I went back to work (I take summers off) and in the last couple of weeks I've foolishly let my exercise start to fall behind in an attempt to meet a deadline with work and as a result I've started feeling more and more stressed, my diet is getting worse, my resolution to sleep at least 9 hours a night is falling by the wayside etc. I've *felt* like I'm getting more work done and needing to throw those healthy "time wasting" things away to get more work done by being more obsessive about work, spending more hours at it etc. Typical "death march" mentality. However, I just took a big objective look at the quantity and quality of the work I'm actually getting done, I went over my checkins, the number of cases I was resolving etc and I was *way* more efficient a few weeks ago when I was sticking to my healthy lifestyle. I was more clear headed, faster at finding solutions and able to juggle much more complex programming scenarios in my mind. Work felt much more interesting and most importantly of all I was enjoying it much more, it was fun. I think the "death march" style of coding is an easy one for a developer to slip into, particularly in a small shop where they have more responsibilities and work on their own more and are often under more personal pressure to get things done. The intensity of it seems to delude one into thinking they're getting more done. But it's clearly not the way to go for more than a day or two when necessary, at least not for me. It seems for me that exercise is a kind of cornerstone of a good quality life. Once it's in place everything else starts to fall into place above it, I sleep better then my diet gets better then my work gets better. It's amazing how quickly you decline when you stop. I'm going to open up a big can of whup ass on myself right now and get back on track and stay there. Anyone
Good for you, John! I'm a strong advocate of physical exercise, regardless of age or athletic ability. I run, bike (in warmer weather), and lift weights. I don't look like a gym rat; I've got a bit of a gut, and I've seen bigger upper body muscles on a raccoon. My activity level does help me manage stress and keeps the number of serious migraines I have down to a couple a year. Based on my male relatives (we're all built alike), it also keeps me weighing 213 pounds instead of 300. Most importantly for my coworkers, the exercise seems to keep me from my big debut on CNN after their latest shenanigans...
Software Zen:
delete this;
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Thank you. I just found I've gone up another jeans size, and that's lit a fire under me, when I get home, I am going to start doing something.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
That's probably my hard limit. I absolutely refuse to let myself go up another size (I'm at a 36" waist now). I'd really like to get back down to a 34", but I don't know how likely that is :sigh:.
Software Zen:
delete this;
Fold With Us![^] -
Good for you, John! I'm a strong advocate of physical exercise, regardless of age or athletic ability. I run, bike (in warmer weather), and lift weights. I don't look like a gym rat; I've got a bit of a gut, and I've seen bigger upper body muscles on a raccoon. My activity level does help me manage stress and keeps the number of serious migraines I have down to a couple a year. Based on my male relatives (we're all built alike), it also keeps me weighing 213 pounds instead of 300. Most importantly for my coworkers, the exercise seems to keep me from my big debut on CNN after their latest shenanigans...
Software Zen:
delete this;
Fold With Us![^]Good for you too! I think weightlifting is incredibly underrated these days and is way more important that most people realize. Not necessarily barbells or anything even bodyweight exercises are good like pushups, pullups, squats, dips etc etc. I don't look like a gym rat either, not trying to, just want to be fit.
"Creating your own blog is about as easy as creating your own urine, and you're about as likely to find someone else interested in it." -- Lore Sjöberg
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"Why exercise makes you less anxious" http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/phys-ed-why-exercise-makes-you-less-anxious/[^] In one of the comments: "...I often tell my patients that the point of exercise is to build and condition the brain." I'm coming to see exercise as absolutely critical in my life: I've been exercising hard core for months now and felt absolutely wonderful, best I've felt in decades, then fall came, I went back to work (I take summers off) and in the last couple of weeks I've foolishly let my exercise start to fall behind in an attempt to meet a deadline with work and as a result I've started feeling more and more stressed, my diet is getting worse, my resolution to sleep at least 9 hours a night is falling by the wayside etc. I've *felt* like I'm getting more work done and needing to throw those healthy "time wasting" things away to get more work done by being more obsessive about work, spending more hours at it etc. Typical "death march" mentality. However, I just took a big objective look at the quantity and quality of the work I'm actually getting done, I went over my checkins, the number of cases I was resolving etc and I was *way* more efficient a few weeks ago when I was sticking to my healthy lifestyle. I was more clear headed, faster at finding solutions and able to juggle much more complex programming scenarios in my mind. Work felt much more interesting and most importantly of all I was enjoying it much more, it was fun. I think the "death march" style of coding is an easy one for a developer to slip into, particularly in a small shop where they have more responsibilities and work on their own more and are often under more personal pressure to get things done. The intensity of it seems to delude one into thinking they're getting more done. But it's clearly not the way to go for more than a day or two when necessary, at least not for me. It seems for me that exercise is a kind of cornerstone of a good quality life. Once it's in place everything else starts to fall into place above it, I sleep better then my diet gets better then my work gets better. It's amazing how quickly you decline when you stop. I'm going to open up a big can of whup ass on myself right now and get back on track and stay there. Anyone
I never exercised regularly until this March when, turning 38 carrying too much weight and generally feeling like shit, I decided to join a gym. Now I'm a bloody addict and go for an hour a day, 6 days a week. I've lost nearly 15kg (over 30lbs), have a 30" waist (almost as thin as I was 20 years ago), no longer get as stressed at work, sleep like a baby (I used to get bouts of insomnia), feel happier about life and am a nicer person to be around. I do a mixture of cardio (cross-trainer, treadmill, bike, rowing machine), weights (free and machines - I love the shoulder press/chest press) and floor exercises (situps, crunches, etc.) The gym is just a short walk away, only costs me £16 a month (got a special deal), and I've made some new friends. Plus I get to listen to lots of driving rock on my iPod. :) Best thing I ever did after getting married, having kids, picking up a guitar and learning to code. :)
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"Why exercise makes you less anxious" http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/phys-ed-why-exercise-makes-you-less-anxious/[^] In one of the comments: "...I often tell my patients that the point of exercise is to build and condition the brain." I'm coming to see exercise as absolutely critical in my life: I've been exercising hard core for months now and felt absolutely wonderful, best I've felt in decades, then fall came, I went back to work (I take summers off) and in the last couple of weeks I've foolishly let my exercise start to fall behind in an attempt to meet a deadline with work and as a result I've started feeling more and more stressed, my diet is getting worse, my resolution to sleep at least 9 hours a night is falling by the wayside etc. I've *felt* like I'm getting more work done and needing to throw those healthy "time wasting" things away to get more work done by being more obsessive about work, spending more hours at it etc. Typical "death march" mentality. However, I just took a big objective look at the quantity and quality of the work I'm actually getting done, I went over my checkins, the number of cases I was resolving etc and I was *way* more efficient a few weeks ago when I was sticking to my healthy lifestyle. I was more clear headed, faster at finding solutions and able to juggle much more complex programming scenarios in my mind. Work felt much more interesting and most importantly of all I was enjoying it much more, it was fun. I think the "death march" style of coding is an easy one for a developer to slip into, particularly in a small shop where they have more responsibilities and work on their own more and are often under more personal pressure to get things done. The intensity of it seems to delude one into thinking they're getting more done. But it's clearly not the way to go for more than a day or two when necessary, at least not for me. It seems for me that exercise is a kind of cornerstone of a good quality life. Once it's in place everything else starts to fall into place above it, I sleep better then my diet gets better then my work gets better. It's amazing how quickly you decline when you stop. I'm going to open up a big can of whup ass on myself right now and get back on track and stay there. Anyone
How do you do it mentally, getting back into the routine? I'm having a hell of a time with it. I spent eight long years earning two 2nd degree black belts, turning myself from a tired desk jockey back into a youth of 20 something. Then the school closed, and I had major abdominal surgery a year and a half ago. Before that I had a 28" waist - now it's 32" - and after losing 32 lbs while recovering, I've gained back only 20 lbs, all fat as far as I can tell. I HATE it! Worse, I developed a hernia from the surgery (a side effect I didn't know about) so I have no idea what's safe for me to do anymore. Yeah, I can still kick over my head and break boards all day long, but I'm flabby and feel rotten most of the time. I need to Move! But when I get home from work all I want to do is take a nap... How did you get your head back into the mode that lets you keep moving long enough to do something healthy for your body? Mine doesn't want to go there, and though I go to sleep every night vowing to wake and do crunches and pushups like before, when the alarm goes off I crawl to the coffee pot and slowly drag my sorry ass into the day. What made the committment click in your mind?
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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How do you do it mentally, getting back into the routine? I'm having a hell of a time with it. I spent eight long years earning two 2nd degree black belts, turning myself from a tired desk jockey back into a youth of 20 something. Then the school closed, and I had major abdominal surgery a year and a half ago. Before that I had a 28" waist - now it's 32" - and after losing 32 lbs while recovering, I've gained back only 20 lbs, all fat as far as I can tell. I HATE it! Worse, I developed a hernia from the surgery (a side effect I didn't know about) so I have no idea what's safe for me to do anymore. Yeah, I can still kick over my head and break boards all day long, but I'm flabby and feel rotten most of the time. I need to Move! But when I get home from work all I want to do is take a nap... How did you get your head back into the mode that lets you keep moving long enough to do something healthy for your body? Mine doesn't want to go there, and though I go to sleep every night vowing to wake and do crunches and pushups like before, when the alarm goes off I crawl to the coffee pot and slowly drag my sorry ass into the day. What made the committment click in your mind?
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
Roger Wright wrote:
I developed a hernia from the surgery
Pretty sure I have one too (or something like one). My stomach hurts when I do particular exercises (such as lat pull downs). I think the trick is to do mostly cardio (e.g., elliptical). Muscle building is important too, so I'm thinking I'll just find muscle building exercises that don't hurt my stomach. Push ups were ok last time I checked, but those also make my head hurt sometimes, so I stay away from those. Maybe some light dumbells would work. Hmmm.
Visual Studio is an excellent GUIIDE.
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"Why exercise makes you less anxious" http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/phys-ed-why-exercise-makes-you-less-anxious/[^] In one of the comments: "...I often tell my patients that the point of exercise is to build and condition the brain." I'm coming to see exercise as absolutely critical in my life: I've been exercising hard core for months now and felt absolutely wonderful, best I've felt in decades, then fall came, I went back to work (I take summers off) and in the last couple of weeks I've foolishly let my exercise start to fall behind in an attempt to meet a deadline with work and as a result I've started feeling more and more stressed, my diet is getting worse, my resolution to sleep at least 9 hours a night is falling by the wayside etc. I've *felt* like I'm getting more work done and needing to throw those healthy "time wasting" things away to get more work done by being more obsessive about work, spending more hours at it etc. Typical "death march" mentality. However, I just took a big objective look at the quantity and quality of the work I'm actually getting done, I went over my checkins, the number of cases I was resolving etc and I was *way* more efficient a few weeks ago when I was sticking to my healthy lifestyle. I was more clear headed, faster at finding solutions and able to juggle much more complex programming scenarios in my mind. Work felt much more interesting and most importantly of all I was enjoying it much more, it was fun. I think the "death march" style of coding is an easy one for a developer to slip into, particularly in a small shop where they have more responsibilities and work on their own more and are often under more personal pressure to get things done. The intensity of it seems to delude one into thinking they're getting more done. But it's clearly not the way to go for more than a day or two when necessary, at least not for me. It seems for me that exercise is a kind of cornerstone of a good quality life. Once it's in place everything else starts to fall into place above it, I sleep better then my diet gets better then my work gets better. It's amazing how quickly you decline when you stop. I'm going to open up a big can of whup ass on myself right now and get back on track and stay there. Anyone
Article:
rats taught to feel helpless and anxious
Poor rats.
Article:
But rats that had exercised, even if they had received the oxidizing chemical, were relatively nonchalant under stress.
Maybe they were just tired?
Article:
insouciantly
That's a word worthy of a CCC! Joking aside, you just inspired me. It's 9PM and you're not supposed to exercise before bed, but screw it! I'm going to get started... right now!
Visual Studio is an excellent GUIIDE.
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Article:
rats taught to feel helpless and anxious
Poor rats.
Article:
But rats that had exercised, even if they had received the oxidizing chemical, were relatively nonchalant under stress.
Maybe they were just tired?
Article:
insouciantly
That's a word worthy of a CCC! Joking aside, you just inspired me. It's 9PM and you're not supposed to exercise before bed, but screw it! I'm going to get started... right now!
Visual Studio is an excellent GUIIDE.
aspdotnetdev wrote:
I'm going to get started... right now!
All done. Felt great! Time for shower and sleep. :zzz:
Visual Studio is an excellent GUIIDE.
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Roger Wright wrote:
I developed a hernia from the surgery
Pretty sure I have one too (or something like one). My stomach hurts when I do particular exercises (such as lat pull downs). I think the trick is to do mostly cardio (e.g., elliptical). Muscle building is important too, so I'm thinking I'll just find muscle building exercises that don't hurt my stomach. Push ups were ok last time I checked, but those also make my head hurt sometimes, so I stay away from those. Maybe some light dumbells would work. Hmmm.
Visual Studio is an excellent GUIIDE.
Some pain is normal when you're either new to an exercise, or trying to move too much weight. A hernia is unmistakable - the abdominal wall parts and under pressure, internal fluids flowing out form a distinct bulge under the skin. Lacking that, the pain is probably just muscle strain that will go away if you cut back on the load a bit. I know the feeling, though - in karate we were required to do 300 crunches at a pop, and getting there meant doing the exercise until the abdominal muscles were screaming in pain. It passes. :-D Getting a headache from pushups sounds unusual - have you tried checking your blood pressure before and after doing them? Electronic BP monitors are cheap and accurate these days, and worth the investment.
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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I never exercised regularly until this March when, turning 38 carrying too much weight and generally feeling like shit, I decided to join a gym. Now I'm a bloody addict and go for an hour a day, 6 days a week. I've lost nearly 15kg (over 30lbs), have a 30" waist (almost as thin as I was 20 years ago), no longer get as stressed at work, sleep like a baby (I used to get bouts of insomnia), feel happier about life and am a nicer person to be around. I do a mixture of cardio (cross-trainer, treadmill, bike, rowing machine), weights (free and machines - I love the shoulder press/chest press) and floor exercises (situps, crunches, etc.) The gym is just a short walk away, only costs me £16 a month (got a special deal), and I've made some new friends. Plus I get to listen to lots of driving rock on my iPod. :) Best thing I ever did after getting married, having kids, picking up a guitar and learning to code. :)
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"Why exercise makes you less anxious" http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/phys-ed-why-exercise-makes-you-less-anxious/[^] In one of the comments: "...I often tell my patients that the point of exercise is to build and condition the brain." I'm coming to see exercise as absolutely critical in my life: I've been exercising hard core for months now and felt absolutely wonderful, best I've felt in decades, then fall came, I went back to work (I take summers off) and in the last couple of weeks I've foolishly let my exercise start to fall behind in an attempt to meet a deadline with work and as a result I've started feeling more and more stressed, my diet is getting worse, my resolution to sleep at least 9 hours a night is falling by the wayside etc. I've *felt* like I'm getting more work done and needing to throw those healthy "time wasting" things away to get more work done by being more obsessive about work, spending more hours at it etc. Typical "death march" mentality. However, I just took a big objective look at the quantity and quality of the work I'm actually getting done, I went over my checkins, the number of cases I was resolving etc and I was *way* more efficient a few weeks ago when I was sticking to my healthy lifestyle. I was more clear headed, faster at finding solutions and able to juggle much more complex programming scenarios in my mind. Work felt much more interesting and most importantly of all I was enjoying it much more, it was fun. I think the "death march" style of coding is an easy one for a developer to slip into, particularly in a small shop where they have more responsibilities and work on their own more and are often under more personal pressure to get things done. The intensity of it seems to delude one into thinking they're getting more done. But it's clearly not the way to go for more than a day or two when necessary, at least not for me. It seems for me that exercise is a kind of cornerstone of a good quality life. Once it's in place everything else starts to fall into place above it, I sleep better then my diet gets better then my work gets better. It's amazing how quickly you decline when you stop. I'm going to open up a big can of whup ass on myself right now and get back on track and stay there. Anyone
Been in exactly the same situation many times. I enjoy my work and I get into modes were I get so focused that everything else at the moment falls by the way side. Exercise and sleep go down, and food intake goes up. Few months later, I feel like utter crap. Life is about balance.
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How do you do it mentally, getting back into the routine? I'm having a hell of a time with it. I spent eight long years earning two 2nd degree black belts, turning myself from a tired desk jockey back into a youth of 20 something. Then the school closed, and I had major abdominal surgery a year and a half ago. Before that I had a 28" waist - now it's 32" - and after losing 32 lbs while recovering, I've gained back only 20 lbs, all fat as far as I can tell. I HATE it! Worse, I developed a hernia from the surgery (a side effect I didn't know about) so I have no idea what's safe for me to do anymore. Yeah, I can still kick over my head and break boards all day long, but I'm flabby and feel rotten most of the time. I need to Move! But when I get home from work all I want to do is take a nap... How did you get your head back into the mode that lets you keep moving long enough to do something healthy for your body? Mine doesn't want to go there, and though I go to sleep every night vowing to wake and do crunches and pushups like before, when the alarm goes off I crawl to the coffee pot and slowly drag my sorry ass into the day. What made the committment click in your mind?
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
Roger Wright wrote:
How do you do it mentally, getting back into the routine?
Once I'm doing it and in the swing I feel more like doing it so it's only a problem on a particularly shitty day or if I haven't done it in a while and honestly what I do that works every time is switch off my brain and just do it. If I think about it I could make up a zillion excuses not to do it.
Roger Wright wrote:
so I have no idea what's safe for me to do anymore
Well there are two schools of thought on that, the gonzo school of thought is go for it and see what breaks :), the logical one is ask your doctor. Either way it's an excuse to hold you back that you don't need in your life. There's plenty of exercise that can be done for almost any medical condition short of complete paralysis.
Roger Wright wrote:
I go to sleep every night vowing to wake and do crunches and pushups like before, when the alarm goes off I crawl to the coffee pot
Ahhh..that's easy: don't crawl to the coffee pot, do your exercise instead. Don't think about it, just do it. But in your condition I'd maybe suggest you don't leap out of bed and start doing crunches, maybe pick something a little more light cardio and work your way up to it once you find out what you can get away with. For me when I first started all this a few years ago and was in horrible, horrible, shape I started with walking. Get up and go for a walk or a swim. You need basic cardio ability before you start into the tough stuff again. It's far too easy to go crazy when you have experience doing really serious workouts of one kind or another but you need to take it easy. Also that might be what's subconsciously holding you back, the thought of doing what you were last doing when you were in peak shape which is probably a lot more than you can handle right now. But most importantly of all do something that you find enjoyable and vary it up constantly, don't be a creature of habit else you'll just be doing "exercise" and not having fun and that's not long term viable. (Team sports are always a really good idea, I play ball hockey)
"Creating your own blog is about as easy as creating your own urine, and you're about as likely to find someone else interested in it." -- Lore Sjöberg
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How do you do it mentally, getting back into the routine? I'm having a hell of a time with it. I spent eight long years earning two 2nd degree black belts, turning myself from a tired desk jockey back into a youth of 20 something. Then the school closed, and I had major abdominal surgery a year and a half ago. Before that I had a 28" waist - now it's 32" - and after losing 32 lbs while recovering, I've gained back only 20 lbs, all fat as far as I can tell. I HATE it! Worse, I developed a hernia from the surgery (a side effect I didn't know about) so I have no idea what's safe for me to do anymore. Yeah, I can still kick over my head and break boards all day long, but I'm flabby and feel rotten most of the time. I need to Move! But when I get home from work all I want to do is take a nap... How did you get your head back into the mode that lets you keep moving long enough to do something healthy for your body? Mine doesn't want to go there, and though I go to sleep every night vowing to wake and do crunches and pushups like before, when the alarm goes off I crawl to the coffee pot and slowly drag my sorry ass into the day. What made the committment click in your mind?
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
I am also a big advocate of exercise. I find that after about 30 minutes on my bike, my mind starts drifting into problem solving mode and I actually get a lot of "work" done in the next 30 minutes. As for getting into a routine, carve out part of the day for it. Set an hour a day aside and either go to the gym or walk, or whatever. I found the best thing is to pick physical activities you enjoy and then find a support system to keep you going. I like to use the hot tub, but my rule is no hot tube unless I ride my bike or otherwise exercise. In the winter when it is all to easy to sit around, I play racketball twice a week with a group of other people. The games are scheduled so there is no easy way out.
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Some pain is normal when you're either new to an exercise, or trying to move too much weight. A hernia is unmistakable - the abdominal wall parts and under pressure, internal fluids flowing out form a distinct bulge under the skin. Lacking that, the pain is probably just muscle strain that will go away if you cut back on the load a bit. I know the feeling, though - in karate we were required to do 300 crunches at a pop, and getting there meant doing the exercise until the abdominal muscles were screaming in pain. It passes. :-D Getting a headache from pushups sounds unusual - have you tried checking your blood pressure before and after doing them? Electronic BP monitors are cheap and accurate these days, and worth the investment.
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
300 crunches? I used to do 600 in college... although that was probably more a cardio workout than good for my stomach muscles (probably actually bad for my muscles). And the stomach pain isn't a distinct bulge, but it could be a hiatal hernia (one where the stomach is bulging toward the diaphram, which is below the lungs). The pains is also quite unnatural and happens with little load. I first noticed it years back when doing pull ups... after like the 5th one, I'd get very uncomfortable stomach pain. And I used to take body conditioning in high school, so I know what normal pains are supposed to feel like when working out. But thanks for the advice anyway. :) And yeah, I was freaked out by the headaches, so I just stopped doing push ups. First happened when I was doing the 600 sit ups at a time in college. I'd finish those then do 10 push ups then start to get a painful sudden onset headache, so I'd stop. Then next time I'd get it after 5 push ups. Then I'd get it after 2, and that's about when I stopped doing them altogether. Been meaning to ask a doctor about that, but I always forget (because I usually have bigger fish to fry when I visit doctors). Though you might be on to something with the blood pressure. When I was donating blood (for money to go to college), I had to sit there for like 10 minutes to try and relax because my blood pressure was unacceptable the first time they measured it. Hmm, I'll mention it to a doctor next time I see one.
Visual Studio is an excellent GUIIDE.
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"Why exercise makes you less anxious" http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/phys-ed-why-exercise-makes-you-less-anxious/[^] In one of the comments: "...I often tell my patients that the point of exercise is to build and condition the brain." I'm coming to see exercise as absolutely critical in my life: I've been exercising hard core for months now and felt absolutely wonderful, best I've felt in decades, then fall came, I went back to work (I take summers off) and in the last couple of weeks I've foolishly let my exercise start to fall behind in an attempt to meet a deadline with work and as a result I've started feeling more and more stressed, my diet is getting worse, my resolution to sleep at least 9 hours a night is falling by the wayside etc. I've *felt* like I'm getting more work done and needing to throw those healthy "time wasting" things away to get more work done by being more obsessive about work, spending more hours at it etc. Typical "death march" mentality. However, I just took a big objective look at the quantity and quality of the work I'm actually getting done, I went over my checkins, the number of cases I was resolving etc and I was *way* more efficient a few weeks ago when I was sticking to my healthy lifestyle. I was more clear headed, faster at finding solutions and able to juggle much more complex programming scenarios in my mind. Work felt much more interesting and most importantly of all I was enjoying it much more, it was fun. I think the "death march" style of coding is an easy one for a developer to slip into, particularly in a small shop where they have more responsibilities and work on their own more and are often under more personal pressure to get things done. The intensity of it seems to delude one into thinking they're getting more done. But it's clearly not the way to go for more than a day or two when necessary, at least not for me. It seems for me that exercise is a kind of cornerstone of a good quality life. Once it's in place everything else starts to fall into place above it, I sleep better then my diet gets better then my work gets better. It's amazing how quickly you decline when you stop. I'm going to open up a big can of whup ass on myself right now and get back on track and stay there. Anyone
I am a student studying Physics and Computer Science and I have found that exercising really helps me focus when I need to. It definitely makes me feel better every day to the point that I hate skipping even one session. I did P90X over the summer to take myself to the next level and am currently doing CrossFit (like the author). If you are into insane workouts that only take half an hour, CrossFit is the way to go! -Nathan