Foods for Geeks Over 30?

tliet asks: "Being a 30+ geek myself I've discovered that the continued consumption of pizzaslices and cola has a rather unpleasant effect on the body, especially if one is over 30. Not being aware of this in my twenties it's becoming awfully clear now that this lifestyle has to be changed. So, it's water and greenfood for me now. I'm wondering if older geeks like me have changed their eating habits while maintaining the geek lifestyle, e.g. having dinner at 01:00. Also, what do older geeks consume to stay alive?" Ah, how timely this question is....

Comments

Balancing life, diet and code

[tf23]

I've recently broke that big 30 barrier, and I've been noticing lately (since about 29 or so):

I need more sleep
If I exercise, I find out very quickly how good of shape I was in at the end of high school/beginning of college (and how I wish my body was that way now)
I *need* to eat healthier.

So let me explain:

I get tired quicker. If I go for a jog, I used to be able to run 10 miles at a drop of hat, in 'the day'. Now, a few miles and I want to keel over on someone's lawn for a nap.

If I don't eat healthy, my insides quickly let me know. Indigestion, gurgling, you name it. I'll find out. I'm slowly realizing that if you take the time, and you listen, your body will tell you more then you ever thought it could. (rather rudely sometimes, but...)

It seems like all my 'computer friends' are slowly all growing up. There's less lan parties, less endless hours on irc, less bar hopping, less getting trashed every Thursday, Friday and Saturday (using Sunday as recovery time). Now everyone's getting married, having kids, houses, mortgages, kids in sports, kids (did I mention that?).

With all this new stuff coming in, the time on the computer is the hardest thing to make up. I find I'm falling asleep at night with all sorts of code and ideas and crap going through my head. Wakeup, kick the monitor on and type it in before I get a shower and head to work. Otherwise, if I try to put too much time into the comptuer, the wife will not be pleased, and the kids won't get the time they need either.

Anyway, back to what to eat: whole grains (drop the white-bleached-bread), FRUIT, water. Yes, water. It's one of the best things for you and most people don't get the daily does they need. Eat smaller - most people garble down why more food then they need. Cut your portions down. Eat more often. Yes, that will help your metabolism and it'll help you burn callories quicker if you want to lose that gut and extra pounds.

Stay *away* from fast foods. There's not much worse then the crap they give you at those fast food places. At first I thought this was a load of crap, but after not eating any for 6 months, I went and a had a burger from one of the national chains - damn did I feel horrible for the next 10 hours. It felt like I had ate a friggin rock. No more of that crap from now on, let me assure you.

Don't skip meals. Make 'lunch' your biggest meal. At nite, eat a salad, and don't put a ton of goop and crap on it.

My wife, about 8 months ago, started us on this 'new eating scheme'. (I don't know what book she got it out of, I can get the info if someone wants it). It's not a diet, as I've known them, but it's more of a lifestyle change (or minimally eating habit change). It's very similar to the above. It's not cheap at the grocery store, but quite honestly, after a while you'll feel better. When you eat better, you have more energy, you're apt to get more exercise, and you *think* more clearly.

Don't believe me? Try it. Get an hour's worth of exercise everyday. (try walking to start off, stretch before and after).

Go to bed at a timely fashion, so make sure you're getting minimally 6 hours of sleep. Some people require less/more, so if you're getting the minimum, leave yourself time to get a few hours more. But make sure you go to bed earlier. And if you're married, make sure you both do, and take advantage of that extra time alone when you're both not so tired :)

You'll also be amazed at how hard you'll sleep if you get a bit of exercise each day. Personally, I took up mountain biking. But that's another story.

That's my $.02. Good luck to all you fellow aging geeks out there.

Geek weight loss!

[_outcat_]

I didn't have to hit 30 to know my body needed to change...I was about 15 when I really started to cut back in earnest. :)

When I graduated from the 8th grade, about six years ago, I weighed 247 pounds. For a 5'7" female, that's not healthy! A few years before that my mother had gained a good deal of weight as she attempted to LOSE it on 80's fad diets, and as a result was diabetic. In fact, when I was 10 she had a hyperglycemic stroke and had to learn to speak all over again (she's doing great now, btw). It eventually got through my brains that sitting at a computer and playing Nintendo and eating potato chips/little debbies/Coke all day was REALLY increasing my chances of the same thing happenening to me. I wore a women's size 20 (!!) jeans (if you don't know what size this is, go to a Kmart and check out the plus size section. I'm willing to bet most of the skinny geeks on /. could fit two of themselves in those jeans.)

I started out with little things. I recall using the cement steps in our basement as a stepping machine, and I would do 100 reps on it a day. I also began watching my thinner friends eat (by this time I was a freshman in high school) and I saw how much more slowly they were eating than I was. I'd eat my lunch slowly enough that by the time I was done, I couldn't go up for seconds. It didn't seem like much, but the excess weight came off so quickly at first that I lost about 45 pounds my freshman year! It was at this time that I bought a belt, a men's 38" in very cheap leather, with four punched-out holes in it each an inch apart. I remember wearing the belt buckled so it would be at its smallest..but that would still be about 35" or so.

So, I got to buy new clothes *G* and I entered my sophomore year of high school, in which I discovered skateboarding. I was never good at it. Ever. But it made me run pretty fast to try to catch up with my runaway $13 board. Off came another 20 pounds, and I put two new holes in the belt.

My junior year of high school I lost 20 pounds due to a deep depression. No, I do not recommend losing weight in this way. Do not, I repeat, do not starve yourself. I am still feeling the effects to this day of the calcium deficiency I developed (my teeth are horrible). When I got so depressed I could not eat, and I felt so nervously jittery that all I did was exercise. (It was at this point that I discovered my mom's stepping block, a sturdy plastic step with adjustable legs, and exercise videos, which make you feel silly but are WONDERFUL to do in a nice cool basement when it's 90 degrees outside.) The pounds came off and stayed off, but I would rather have done it in a healthier manner. Again, I got new clothing, and put two new holes in the belt.

My senior year and freshman years of college were tumultuous, but I discovered new exercise videos. I also discovered that when I got to college, the shopping center was a mile and a half from campus. Often I would walk three miles a day, then go to the campus rec center and swim for a half hour. Unlike some of my friends, I LOST about 10 pounds my senior year and another 10 my freshman year of college. I put two more holes in the belt (which is about due to be replaced) and I also discovered running, which is surprisingly fun.

I worry about some of my geek friends who sit around, snarf Doritoes and Mountain Dew all day, and play Counterstrike as their most strenuous activity. Sure, their metabolisms can handle it now, but they're not going to be healthy later on. They also scoff when I talk about calorie content and exercise time, and often try to pressure me to eat more tator tots in the cafeteria.

What'd I eat? Normal stuff. I just cut back on fatty things and began to eat more fruits and vegetables. I've never been able to eat much for breakfast (usually a granola bar or a Pop Tart will suffice). At lunch I will have a sandwich with lean meat, a little mayo, and lettuce, with a salad on the side, and a cookie or two. At dinner I'll usually have something a bit more substantial, but I won't eat all that much of it. The key is moderation and exercise.

Let's see. 45 + 20 + 20 + 10 + 10 = 105. I've lost 105 pounds! No gimmicks or shakes or diets...just normal foods and exercise.

This was entirely too long. ENTIRELY. Wow. Maybe I'll help someone though.

Just like on /. - moderation is the key...

[glebite]

Get some exercise. If you don't like gyms - get a treadmill - a decent one which can tilt. Doing 5km a day walking on a treadmill can work wonders. At lunchtime, have a light meal, and go for a 20-30 minute walk and clear the cobwebs out.

As for food - breakfast is important - moreso if you do that 5km a day in the morning. Lunch? Easy - small portions of leftovers from the dinner the night before or soup or a small garden salad. Dinner? Eat what you would normally eat, just don't eat the whole pizza - have 2 slices - don't forget that pizzas do have a bunch of goodness in them. Save the rest of the pizza for future dinners or for lunches. Always make dinner and plan for saving leftovers - cutting down on eating out of a restaurant or company cafeteria saves me $25 CDN a week.

Beer? Drinks? I personally don't drink soda (unless it was made from barley) so I have a can of apple juice (200% daily recommended vitamin C). Oh yeah - take supplementals just in case you do something silly like try skimping on some food group or other. But yeah, don't drink the whole 12 pack in one sitting - share and save for later.

For me, that formula has worked to allow me to lose 5kg this past month. So far I feel great.

But yeah, just like on slashdot, moderation is the key...

The Hacker's Diet by John Walker

[MagusZero]

Read The Hacker's Diet by John Walker (of Autodesk fame).