What follows is a long post that\u2019s not the slightest bit academic. It\u2019s personal (possibly to the point of self-absorption) with a few general observations throw in.<\/p>\n
I know some people like blogs to have fairly clean cut themes, and so far mine has been mostly academic in flavour. However, I\u2019m still experimenting to figure out what I want this blog to be about.<\/p>\n
What I’m saying is, if you\u2019re not interested in non-academic blogging, you may wish to skip this!<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve lost a fair bit of weight over the past four months \u2013 about 8 kilos. I\u2019d like to lose about the same again, at which point I think I\u2019ll qualify as \u201cfully fit\u201d.<\/p>\n
To some extent, I\u2019ve been inspired in my weight loss by the \u201cFitness blogging\u201d of Jim Henley<\/a>. In that spirit, I\u2019ll offer a few observations.<\/p>\n (Following Jim Henley, I\u2019ll record that I\u2019m 185 cms, and was 97.6 kg last October. I\u2019m now down to about 89kg. Anything under 85kg will be reasonably fit, and 82kg would be great.)<\/p>\n My amazing super secret to weight loss is to combine increased exercise with an improved diet! Who\u2019d have thought? I know some people like blogs to have fairly clean cut themes, and so far mine has been mostly academic in flavour. However, I\u2019m still experimenting to figure out what I want this blog to be about.<\/p>\n What I’m saying is, if you\u2019re not interested in non-academic blogging, you may wish to skip this!<\/p>\n I\u2019ve lost a fair bit of weight over the past four months \u2013 about 8 kilos. I\u2019d like to lose about the same again, at which point I think I\u2019ll qualify as \u201cfully fit\u201d.<\/p>\n To some extent, I\u2019ve been inspired in my weight loss by the \u201cFitness blogging\u201d of Jim Henley. In that spirit, I\u2019ll offer a few observations.<\/p>\n (Following Jim Henley, I\u2019ll record that I\u2019m 185 cms, and was 97.6 kg last October. I\u2019m now down to about 89kg. Anything under 85kg will be reasonably fit, and 82kg would be great.)<\/p>\n My amazing super secret to weight loss is to combine increased exercise with an improved diet! Who\u2019d have thought?<\/p>\n On exercise: Generally speaking, most of my exercise is walking on a treadmill, at an incline of about 10 degrees. I aim to burn 2000 calories per week, which takes about two and a half hours, at about 6 kilometers per hour walking speed. I listen to audio books while doing it, which I find enjoyable, relaxing, and informative. I wish more good audio books were available, though.<\/p>\n Despite recommendations from many people, I haven\u2019t gone in heavily for lifting weights. Many people believe you can lose weight more quickly that way, and they may well be right. However, provided the fat comes off permanently, I don\u2019t really care if it takes a little longer. The treadmill seems to help shed the pounds. Furthermore, I find the side-effects of weights (stiff muscles and soreness) sap my resolve.<\/p>\n I get some of the same problems, in a reduced form, on the treadmill, especially muscle stiffness. I\u2019ve tried learning to stretch, which has helped some, but this is far from a solved problem. My current theory is that (a) I need to learn to stretch more effectively (anyone know a good book?), and (b) I should be more consistent in my stretching. Not sure whether it\u2019s better to stretch before or after exercising, or both.<\/p>\n A related problem is sleeping. I sleep on my stomach, which I\u2019m reliably informed is terrible for back and neck stiffness. Unfortunately, learning to sleep on my back, which seems to be the best way to go, seems surprisingly difficult.<\/p>\n As regards consistency in exercise, I find the best way to be consistent is to record what exercise I do. Then, at the end of the week I evaluate myself against my goal of 2000 cals \/ week, and give myself a reward (usually in the form of credit at the local Borders Books and Music) when I achieve the goal.<\/p>\n On eating: I\u2019ve gradually figured out that eating well is a surprisingly complicated process, requiring a fair bit of effort to get right. This is, no doubt, a big fat \u201cduh\u201d comment, but it\u2019s nonetheless true that for years I treated eating as something that just happens, which is how I ended up at 98kg. Horribly large portions of my book with Ike Chuang were written using Winchell\u2019s doughnuts and Starbucks Caramel Frappucionos as fuel.<\/p>\n The difficulty is that eating well requires doing many different things well, not just one or two things well. I used to be under the misapprehension that it was all a question of willing oneself to eat the right foods. This is nonsense; I\u2019m getting much farther now, with less will and more intelligently thought-out action, than I was a few months back.<\/p>\n The first and most important skill to acquire was a basic knowledge base. Even a few months ago I didn\u2019t know a lot about the food I was putting into myself. Just learning a little makes a huge difference.<\/p>\n Two small examples: asking for the dressing to be put on the side, and finding easy ways of cutting oil out of meals. An accumulation of tricks like this make a huge difference integrated over many months. Knowing what goes into foods (or asking, in restaurants), and knowing things like calorie counts, nutritional content and whatnot, are invaluable. The more one knows, the easier it is to eat well.<\/p>\n The second important skill is active planning. For example, in an ordinary working week, ideally I\u2019ll have most of the week\u2019s eating mapped out in advance. I find it particularly handy to have healthy snacks available during the day. Consuming them keeps my blood sugar high, and I\u2019m not tempted to gorge myself on rubbish, which assuages immediate cravings, but doesn\u2019t satisfy in any long-term sense. Low GI foods are great \u2013 I\u2019ve come to an enormous appreciation for the apple!<\/p>\n A nice trick I use is to eat a small snack immediately before going off to lunch. My blood sugar rises, I don\u2019t feel so empty, and I\u2019m much less tempted either to overeat, or to eat junk food.<\/p>\n Active planning is even more important when traveling. Junk food and overeating become far more tempting when at a conference or workshop. (They also become more tempting when one is on holiday, but, well, a little indulgence on a holiday doesn\u2019t seem like such a problem. Beside, I often spend 6-12 weeks per year on work-related travel, as compared with just a few weeks holiday. )<\/p>\n I haven\u2019t entirely figured out how to avoid these problems, although there are some useful tricks. I\u2019m gradually learning to select hotels which have a gym, a supermarket nearby, and preferably cooking facilities; to ask where these things are when I check in; and to make sure I stock up on good food immediately after I check in, especially high-quality snacks to tide me over during the day. Workshops often offer mostly junk food during the day, and it can be hard to resist unless you\u2019ve prepared in advance.<\/p>\n The best general method that I\u2019ve found for internalizing tricks like all these is to monitor what I do. Just writing it all down really shows what is working well, and what is not. Other things (setting goals, giving myself rewards) are also useful, but seem to have a lesser effect.<\/p>\n One final comment is on caffeinated beverages. For me, at least, the best policy seems to be zero-tolerance. 1 cup a day soon turns into 2, and so on\u2026 It seems to be best just to get rid of it entirely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What follows is a long post that\u2019s not the slightest bit academic. It\u2019s personal (possibly to the point of self-absorption) with a few general observations throw in. I know some people like blogs to have fairly clean cut themes, and so far mine has been mostly academic in flavour. However, I\u2019m still experimenting to figure… Continue reading Getting fit<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nWhat follows is a long post that\u2019s not the slightest bit academic. It\u2019s personal (possibly to the point of self-absorption) with a few general observations throw in.<\/p>\n