Geek’s Guide to Getting in Shape: 13 Surefire Tips

Posted on November 18th, 2006 in Discount Dental Plan by Dental Geek

So you spend all day confined in a dungeon in front of a couple glowing computer screens, coding C++ and eating McDonald’s for lunch? You definitely need to lose a few pounds and put on some muscle, but don’t know where to start? All of us computer geeks could stand some exercise. This guide will give you some practical tips on how to get started getting in shape!

1. Set Goals

Just as with anything else in life, you’ll go nowhere without goals. Set short-term, and long-term goals for yourself. Make them reasonable and attainable. Don’t get discouraged if you’re behind. Simply rededicate yourself to your goals and keep plugging away.

2. Get out of the office!

I know what it’s like sitting in front of a computer all day at work, then coming home and working on your own projects. Its hard to get away from it, but you need to make some time for yourself and get away from the computer and T.V.
You don’t necessarily need to go to the gym, just try to get 30 min of (strenuous) physical activity every day. Whether its power walking with your dog, or running on a treadmill, or lifting weights, get up and get moving!

I suggest doing something that you love for exercise. If you force yourself to start jogging or lifting weights and you hate it, you’ll quit within in weeks or months. Instead find something you like doing and force yourself to do it on a regular basis. (Sex doesn’t count. Come on, I know you’re not getting laid).

I’m a huge proponent of martial arts for getting in shape. Not only are they fun, they are great for burning calories, learning balance, self-discipline, etc. Boxing and kickboxing are great cardio workouts. You may also want to look at Kempo (Chinese Karate), Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (Submission wrestling), or Tae-Kwon-Do (Korean Martial Art).

3. 20% exercise, 80% diet

You have to exercise to lose weight, so get over it. But let’s be clear about this: it is mostly about diet. If you’re not getting the results your looking for you have to adjust your diet.

I suggest seeing a dietitian and explaining your goals to them. Also you may want to check out eDiets. They put together a diet for you and give you a grocery list so you know what to buy.

4. Pack your lunch / cook

An easy way to start losing weight immediately is start packing your lunch. Fast-food is a big no-no. Start brown-bagging something everyday.

5. Get a partner

A good way to stay motivated, and to really push yourself is to find a workout and/ or diet partner. There is strength in numbers.

Don’t get a lazy workout buddy. That could backfire, because they drag you into their laziness.

6. Set a time that’s right for you

My philosophy is not to do anything out of the ordinary when starting a new workout program. If your new schedule change or workload is too radical you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Hence, don’t commit to wake up a 4:30 in the morning to workout because its not likely to happen. Make time during the day to workout. You don’t need to dedicate more than 30 – 40 minutes, but find sometime in your current day to get some exercise in! Try to be consistent and go at the same time everyday.
I already know what you’re thinking: “I’m too busy.” And I know that is just an excuse not to exercise. Make it a priority and make time to work out. I know your kids need your attention too, but they also want to see their parents live longer and with less stress, right?

7. No fad diets - EVER

I hate fad diets (Atkins, Southbeach, etc.). These may work temporarily, but they are not long term solutions!

The golden rule I use is: calories spent > calories taken in.

Burn more calories than you eat and you’ll be on your way to losing weight.

8. The right way and the wrong way

To safely lose weight and keep muscle you only want to lose 1-2 pounds per week. I know this doesn’t sound like a lot but it really is a much better way to lose weight. It also encourages continued success through a longer period of time, rather than not eating for a week, losing 10 pounds, and then putting it right back on.

For those who are more than 30 pounds over weight you may to consider somewhere around an 1800 calorie diet to get started. See a dietitian for a diet that suits your needs.

If you’re trying to bulk up you should increase your calories by about 500 a day in order to gain 1 – 2 pounds per week. Again, you don’t want to gain anymore than this because you’ll be gaining fat rather than muscle.

9. Drink lots of water throughout the day

You can burn calories just by drinking water. A Calorie is actually a measure of heat that your body uses. When you drink water your body heats the fluid up to 98.6 degrees, causing you to burn heat / calories.

10. Don’t eat before bed

This is another weight loss tip. When you go to sleep your body slows down metabolizing. If you eat right before bed this metabolic slowing may cause extra weight gain.

11. Don’t listen to your parents

I hated when my parents told me I couldn’t leave the table until i cleared my plate. Sure enough it came back to haunt me. Its a bad habit that most people have to this day. Eat only you are semi-full to full. Don’t gorge yourself and don’t feel like you have to finish everything on your plate. This can save your from eating many, many extra calories.

12. Do your homework

There are plenty of resources out there about diet and exercise. Educate yourself. Also remember to take everything you read or hear with a grain of salt. Just because somebody is a bodybuilder doesn’t mean they know what they are talking about, or that what they are doing will work for you.

13. Be committed

This is the toughest one by far. But remember nothing good comes without hard work. Commit yourself to your goals, and achieve them. I know you can do it.

(Bonus tip: I write my goal weight on a Post-It note and stick it on the bathroom mirror. That way achieving my goal is the first thing on my mind every day. )

More diet and exercise resources:

• http://bodybuilding.com/fun/index.html (Don’t be turned off by the name. This site has a lot of articles that apply to getting in shape not just bodybuilding.)

• http://www.thinkmuscle.com/articles/index.htm (Bryan Haycock does a great job of explaining diet and exercise in a scientific manner.)

• http://www.everydiet.org/ (Diet Encyclopedia)

• http://www.drgourmet.com/health/fastfood/ (Eating healthy at fast food restaurants)

Prescribing Prayer For Health Care

(AP)

Quote

"It's not a fringe thing. I think very mainstream Americans are using prayer in their daily lives."
Dr. Anne McCaffrey,
Harvard Medical School

---

(CBS) To treat her arthritis and her thyroid condition, 63-year-old Elizabeth Allendorf sees her doctor every few months, but she prays everyday.

"Without faith, without meditation, without God, I am telling you, it wouldn't be," says Allendorf. "It would be just awful, it would be just terrible."

It turns out, as CBS News Correspondent Elizabeth Kaledin reports, a lot of people feel the same way when it comes to prescribing prayer for health care.

One-third of Americans are using prayer for healing.

Dr. Anne McCaffrey of the Harvard Medical School conducted the survey of 2,000 Americans and found that faith is a critical part of health care for many and something most doctors don't consider.

"It's not a fringe thing," she says. "I think very mainstream Americans are using prayer in their daily lives."

The survey found that of the one-third using prayer to address health concerns, 75 percent pray for general wellness, 22 percent pray for help with a specific medical condition like cancer and 69 percent said prayer was helpful.

There is no clinical evidence that prayer improves health, but that's not the point of the study, says McCaffrey. She's not advocating that doctors include prayer in practice, she just wants them to wake up to the reality that it's a big part of many patient's lives.

"Doctors need to realize that we don't have the market on what people are doing to make themselves feel better," she says.

Doctors now recognize that acupuncture, massage and even some herbal treatments can be useful when combined with traditional medicine. This survey suggests that prayer may be another powerful tool that can't be ignored.

Source

Friday, November 11, 2006

Got up 630a

breakfast
coffee
leftover noodles

500 mg calcium
1000 mg C
1 garlic capsule

snack
none

lunch
bowl of beef soup

snack
none

dinner
2 pieces chicken
2 bisquits
1/2 cup mashed potatoes
12 oz coke

30 mg Cymbalta (doctor increased dosage a bit, so let's see if I start feeling better.)

went to be 1230a

Some small improvement in irritability. One of my agents commented that it was good to hear me humming again. Of course, I was humming Re: Your Brains by Jonathan Coulton.

Thursday, November 9, 2006

Out of bed 630a

BP 118/80

Breakfast
2 mini bagels
coffee

500 mg calcium
1000 mg C
garlic capsule

snack
none

Lunch (1230p)
clam chowder
sourdough roll

400 mg ibuprofen
40 mg Cymbalta

snack
green tea

Dinner
chicken noodles

evening snack
nachoes
ice tea


Still feeling quite taut and hostile. Been going on all week. Thought maybe it was the election, but it has not eased up at all. Thought maybe it was because I had a couple of beers earlier in the week, but that should be out of my system by now. So I have no clue why I'm so angry and ready to cry.

Wednesday, November 8, 2005

Woke up 6a

Breakfast
two mini bagles
coffee

Snack
chocolate coin

Lunch
bowl of beef soup
sourdough roll
(walked to WHHS to help a friend)

Snack
1/4 sandwich
strawberry
2 olives
cauliflower floret

Dinner
Pork stirfry
3/4 wh rice

Bedtime 1030 BP 79/41

Very tense and angry. Difficult to relax or s

Sexual Orgasm Increases Longevity

Having regular (and enthusiastic) sex confers a host of measurable physiological advantages to both men and women.

In one of the most credible studies tracking overall health with sexual frequency, the mortality of roughly 1,000 middle-aged men was tracked over the course of a decade.

Men who reported the highest frequency of orgasm experienced half the death rate. Other studies have correlated frequency of sex with, among other benefits:

• An improved sense of smell
• A reduced risk of heart disease
• Weight loss and overall fitness
• Reduced depression
• Pain relief
• Less-frequent colds and flu
• Better bladder control

In physiological terms, women experience no possibility of "overdosing" and experience no dangers from too much sex. Men, however, can damage their penile tissue with too much rough or forceful sex, especially now that drugs such as Viagra and Levitra can allow for more staying power.

Sex And Death, Are They Related

Just Got More Tests Back

Just got some more of the test back that were run a month or so ago. Finally, a result that might help with a diagnosis. According to the blood test, I have an large excess of DHEA. (As in my blood reading was 1031 and normal is between 130 and 980. Below I have some information about excess DHEA.

Associated Conditions & Assay Application

In women and children, excess DHEA-SO₄ can indirectly lead to virilization and hirsutism, as it is metabolized into stronger androgens such as testosterone. DHEA-SO₄ measurements are important when investigating the source of excess androgens (hyperandrogenism) in cases of hirsutism, alopecia, infertility, and amenorrhea. It is also of value in the assessment of adrenarche and delayed puberty. High levels of DHEA-SO₄ are often encountered in polycystic ovary syndrome, adrenal hyperplasia and adrenal tumors.

DHEA

is the abbreviation for a hormone named DeHydroEpiAndrosterone. DHEA is the most abundant hormone in the blood. It is the hormone produced in the greatest quantity throughout adult life. DHEA declines with aging. Many students of the aging process perceive DHEA as an important BIOMARKER of aging. DHEA has effects on all the organ systems of the body. In appropriate concentration these effects are all beneficial; supporting optimal organ function or effect. DHEA is also a pre-hormone. It is transformed into other hormones in different parts of the body.

Beneficial Androgenic effects:

• Maintaining and increasing bone density

• Increasing Muscle Mass

• Inhibition of Mammary gland, (breast) activity/growth and by inference having a preventive effect for breast cancer

• Improving Sebaceous Gland functioning, thereby improving the skin dryness that accompanies aging skin

• Improving libido

Beneficial Estrogenic effects:

• Improvement in vaginal dryness

General Metabolic effect:
1. Improvement in Insulin Resistance, (pre diabetes)

Clinical Signs that may indicate DHEA Excess:

These are signs and symptoms that I look for to suggest that given dose of DHEA is excessive: greasy hair, greasy skin, acne, new facial and body hair growth in women, excess body odor.

As you can see, if you know me, I am definitely experiencing, and have always experienced except for small breasts, the advantages. ::grin:: I've also always had very oily skin and hair and an almost masculine body odor sometimes. I'm a little confused about it's effect on insulin, since I seem to be testing high for fasting sugar. Of course, I still maintain it's because I'm used to eating around 530a and these tests don't take place until 730a.

And, you will note that polycystic ovarian disease, something I have been repeatedly diagnosed with, is one of the negative side effect of excessive DHEA in females. Except that everything I read about PCOS claims that you suffer from lack of menstruation. Honey, LACK has NEVER been a problem with me. LOL Losing half my blood supply every four weeks has been a problem for me.