Ask HN: What’s a simple habit or change you’ve made to be healthier?
16 comments
Keto (low carb)
Discovered almond milk. I need about a liter of the stuff a day in tea/coffee and with cow milk that's a ton of extra calories and carbs. Almond milk tastes about just as good with a fraction of cals and zero carbs - good for keto/low carb diet. Finally got the needle on my scale to steadily move down.
Running 6 days a week. I don't know if that's "simple" - but basically I have an addictive personality, it's hard for me to do anything casually, its either all or nothing. So I've turned that into a benefit by being very strict about never making excuses and getting out every day. Now it's a habit that at least somewhat counterbalances all my other bad habits
I am old AF. So my variation of this is I started couch to 5k and have continued to run every other day. Or really old man jog.
I hate it actually but I think I am healthier for it so I am still doing it.
I hate it actually but I think I am healthier for it so I am still doing it.
I stopped eating after my mid-day meal. It not only decreased my calorie intake by 50%, it helps me wake up each morning. I really enjoy breakfast now!
I have to walk for an hour around my old dinner time to distract from hunger pangs.
I have to walk for an hour around my old dinner time to distract from hunger pangs.
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I brush my teeth after every meal, but used to floss before going to bed. Sometimes I'd be too tired and it was easy to justify skipping flossing. So instead, I started doing it after brushing after my evening meal. Much easier!
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I don't shower until I have done 30 minutes of exercise on my Concept2 rower.
Stop eating so much sugar and other sweeteners. In the US, it's in everything.
The way to do it is to change your taste buds. Stop eating crap sweeteners by eliminating anything from your diet that has high fructose corn syrup. Also eliminate any artificial sweeteners. Instead, accept only sugar as the sweetener.
Sounds strange, but this will eliminate a whole raft of crap food, and your taste buds will change. After a while, you will not be interested cheap quality foods that are sweetened with HFC or artificial sweeteners.
For example, if you drink soda, only drink soda that is sweetened with sugar. After a while, the HFC and artificially sweetened sodas will be disgusting to you. This is progress.
You'll discover that you're eating better quality food, and you'll be less and less tempted to buy crap.
The next step is to eliminate dessert food. This is stuff that purports to be food, but is actually sweetened to be a dessert. The goal is to have dessert be dessert, and food be food.
You expect desserts to be sweetened, but not normal food items. Example: most bread in US grocery stores is sweetened. It's more like cake than bread. Actual bread does not need to be sweetened. Find bread that is actually bread.
The best way to do this is to pick a single meal a day, such as breakfast. Breakfast and dessert are two different things. What can you have for breakfast that is not sweetened? Eat that. You'll find your energy level will even out and you'll start to notice all the other flavors in your food that sugar was drowning out.
The way to do it is to change your taste buds. Stop eating crap sweeteners by eliminating anything from your diet that has high fructose corn syrup. Also eliminate any artificial sweeteners. Instead, accept only sugar as the sweetener.
Sounds strange, but this will eliminate a whole raft of crap food, and your taste buds will change. After a while, you will not be interested cheap quality foods that are sweetened with HFC or artificial sweeteners.
For example, if you drink soda, only drink soda that is sweetened with sugar. After a while, the HFC and artificially sweetened sodas will be disgusting to you. This is progress.
You'll discover that you're eating better quality food, and you'll be less and less tempted to buy crap.
The next step is to eliminate dessert food. This is stuff that purports to be food, but is actually sweetened to be a dessert. The goal is to have dessert be dessert, and food be food.
You expect desserts to be sweetened, but not normal food items. Example: most bread in US grocery stores is sweetened. It's more like cake than bread. Actual bread does not need to be sweetened. Find bread that is actually bread.
The best way to do this is to pick a single meal a day, such as breakfast. Breakfast and dessert are two different things. What can you have for breakfast that is not sweetened? Eat that. You'll find your energy level will even out and you'll start to notice all the other flavors in your food that sugar was drowning out.
I've found that making a homemade version of foods you love make you realize either how unhealthy something is. It's also helped me discover what I'm really looking for in some foods, not just the sugar or salt.
Some foods actually have great textures and contrasts, but they're all buried under the barrage of salt, unhealthy fats and sugars added by manufacturers.
For example, I've made my own chicken karaage that's as crispy as fast food fried chicken but not as oily.
Some foods actually have great textures and contrasts, but they're all buried under the barrage of salt, unhealthy fats and sugars added by manufacturers.
For example, I've made my own chicken karaage that's as crispy as fast food fried chicken but not as oily.
It's amazing that for me it only takes about 3 days of concerted effort, you can even ween off of it. The cravings are very heavy. But after about 3 days, I start to not need that piece of cake or whatever. I workout a lot, so I can rationalize a cake... but it's amazing what a clean diet.
I stopped drinking two or three beers a day by substituting Beck's 0%. The Beck's is not great but it's also not horrible and allowed me to continue my "habit" without consuming alcohol. Cutting out two or threes beers a day won't impress serious drinkers but it made quite a big difference for me, particularly my sleep improved a lot.
Having a food journal, i.e writing down what food you’re about to eat before you eat it. For me it helped me understand the difference between a craving and legitimate hunger, which decreased my daily calories.
It’s a simple habit, but it has had a dramatic effect on my weight loss journey. Level 2 of this habit is to check out the nutritional information of everything before you eat it, but that’s a discussion for another day.
It’s a simple habit, but it has had a dramatic effect on my weight loss journey. Level 2 of this habit is to check out the nutritional information of everything before you eat it, but that’s a discussion for another day.
For 9 months I have eaten porridge, a banana and sugar free syrup for breakfast (sometimes eggs, beans and a pancake). I eat vegetable curry most days for lunch. I eat 2-4 pieces of fruit a day. I don't think much about dinner, I eat anything really. I don't eat after dinner. I walk for 45 minutes each day. I have lost 60lbs in weight. A quarter of my body weight.
Go to the gym. During the lockdown, the gym was closed and I gained 10 pounds. Now that we've been able to return, my performance at the gym is shite to what it was before lockdown.
After a month and a bit, my fat/muscle ratio is starting to get back to normal, thankfully. But I can see it's going to take a couple more months to get back to the level I was at a year or so ago.
Being able to climb stairs (with a mask on!) without nearly passing out is a good thing.
After a month and a bit, my fat/muscle ratio is starting to get back to normal, thankfully. But I can see it's going to take a couple more months to get back to the level I was at a year or so ago.
Being able to climb stairs (with a mask on!) without nearly passing out is a good thing.
Kettlebell workouts at home. 15 minutes with a 12kg kettlebell can be quite a workout with a single piece if equipment in a small space.
I started logging my meals with a photo food log. What's measured gets managed and all that. It made the food logging habit fun, kinda like Instagram but without all the drama. It's called bitesnap btw.
I liked that the app showed the rough calories each meal was, an eye opener for sure. So I cut down on bread and replaced snacks with greek yogurt.
I liked that the app showed the rough calories each meal was, an eye opener for sure. So I cut down on bread and replaced snacks with greek yogurt.
Intermittent Fasting and/or lower the carbs in my meals