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One thing that I didn't do at that age and very much regret is to be really conscious of being healthy and physically fit. That's the right time to learn what

by CPLX 8y ago

One thing that I didn't do at that age and very much regret is to be really conscious of being healthy and physically fit. That's the right time to learn what you should and shouldn't put in your body, and how to be constantly active. There's a million different ways to accomplish that but it's important to find one. People at that age often don't really understand how closely linked physical fitness and mental health are. But if you ignore it there will be consequences.

pc 8y ago
That’s a good point; I should probably add it.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
themtutty 8y ago
And the general, consistent feeling of well-being and attentiveness is seductive - it makes you feel like it'll always be there, without any maintenance.
- poe876 8y ago
  Health is fleeting. Human life is short and brutal, so eat away while sitting on your lazy arse, I say.
  - WJW 8y ago
    It's pretty much a self fulfilling prophecy, yes.
    - sireat 8y ago
      As Aristotle said everything in moderation including cigars and pizza. Going into a full blown mega health nut phase is not very helpful either because the end result is not going to be pretty anyways. Now if/when we start making serious life extension progress beyond 120 years with high quality of life then we can start talking.
      - tim333 8y ago
        If you look at the places where people live longest they are not health nuts especially and have quite a nice lifestyle. eg >Ikaria, Greece, three times more likely to reach 90 than Americans, almost no dementia >residents stay active through walking, farming and fishing, but they also make sure to take time out to nap and socialize. In addition to their Mediterranean diet, they eat a lot of wild greens and drink an herbal tea that’s full of nutrients. Their community lifestyle also encourages good health habits and regular social engagement.
  - kreetx 8y ago
    It's a joke, stop downvoting :)
sillyquiet 8y ago
I am in the same boat. And the damned thing is it's not that hard to do right by your physical health with moderate amounts of exercise and some self-discipline with meals and alcohol.
- Viliam1234 8y ago
  > it's not that hard Yes, that's the greatest component of my regret. I cannot even make the excuse of "it was so hard, and I was focusing on other things". I started weightlifting at age 40. I never seriously exercised or did sports regularly before. After one year of exercising 30 minutes a day, I am in a better physical shape than ever before. Those 30 minutes a day are totally worth it. And I regret not doing it twenty-five years ago, when I had much more free time than today. Why did I even think it would be hard? Seems to me that most people are bad at giving "80/20" advice -- an advice that is not literally best in the world, but is close enough to the best, and it easy to understand and remember. People often make things sound much more complicated than they are; for example there are dozen of exercise methods, and everyone says their own method is the best, and doing any other method is just a stupid way to hurt yourself. It all you have is contradictory advice of this type, it doesn't sound encouraging. Then some people say "well, it's a science, you have to study it", but I don't have extra 5 years of life to research exercise, then 5 more years to research nutrition, 5 more years to research finance, etc. for each important aspect of life. (Then there is another line of useless advice, which is "just do what feels natural". Well, what feels natural for me is using internet all day long, and not exercise. Because that's what I have been doing most of my life. And of course, my natural shape is fat. But this is all because "feels natural" simply means "your habits". If you have good habits, following them is a good advice. But if you have bad habits, it is a harmful advice.) If I tried to give advice to younger people, I would probably just give them one book per topic to read. "Convict conditioning" for exercise. "How not to die" for nutrition. "Early retirement extreme" for financial planning. I would have to think longer for books on other topics; perhaps some topics do not have the right kind of book. (The right kind = one you can read without much previous knowledge in the area; and which will give you advice that is maybe not perfect, but pretty good and not actively harmful.) I believe that sending these three books by a time machine to a 15 years old me would have dramatically improved my life.
philip1209 8y ago
I agree - it took me until ~25 to focus on my health. I've felt myself get younger and more energetic over the past few years. Observing my family, I have realized how much exercise impacts your quality of life as you age. I've seen family blame "just getting old" for many symptoms of poor health choices, such as problems walking up stairs or type II diabetes. If they focused on health, they might be able to improve their quality of life significantly! As a specific example - various studies have correlated the ability to stand up (or, doing a squat) not only with how long your life is - but also how long you will live independently. Extrapolating this - not only does exercise have the potential to extend your life, but it also extends how long you can continue to do what you want in life - such as traveling, walking, living alone, etc. Being specific - I know one 60-year-old who ran a half marathon last year, and another who can barely walk up the stairs to his bedroom. I wish I had learned better health and exercise routines as a teenager!
ProAm 8y ago
"Youth is wasted on the young"
fiveoak 8y ago
Same here, I actually lost 200 lbs in my mid-late 20s and it's amazing how many positive ways it has affected me beyond the physical health benefits. Growing up I never had an interest in sports/physical activities but I wish I had.
- everdev 8y ago
  That's an incredible achievement. That's more than I've ever weighed. I can't imagine what it would be like to be carrying that much excess weight every day, I'm sure you were physically quite strong. And even mentally stronger for the commitment to lose the weight. Kudos for your transformation!
  - fiveoak 8y ago
    Ahh thank you, I've never been good at accepting compliments and don't really feel like I did anything too special since many people each day are able to handle their nutrition/weight in a much better way than I can. But I appreciate the kind words.
drcode 8y ago
I didn't start eating well or exercising until my 40s, but now am in the best shape I've ever been at 45. I would say that I regret not doing these things earlier, but a large part of the issue is that it's somewhat expensive (both in terms of time and $$) to exercise and eat well, so it would have been hard for me to afford living like this (both in terms of time and money) when I was younger. (Yes, you can eat well and exercise well without much money, but it's super challenging if you can't afford quality prepared foods and a decent gym membership: I don't see many 24 year olds that have a full time job, are in top physical health, but also still have time available for other interests...)
bayonetz 8y ago
Also, a physical sport. You will never have the time, interest, and enthusiasm that a kid has to get good at a sport again. I grew up surfing and am proficient at it. This makes it fun. Which means I do it regularly. It’s a great fitness activity and much more fun than my gym workouts. I’ve seen countless adults try to pick up surfing and 99% never become proficient. It took several years as a kid before I gained anything near proficiency. I’d be one of those 99% if I tried to pick it up as an adult. I got lucky I guess to have been introduced to it as a kid. That would be my advice.

by CPLX 8y ago

pc 8y ago

That’s a good point; I should probably add it.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

themtutty 8y ago

And the general, consistent feeling of well-being and attentiveness is seductive - it makes you feel like it'll always be there, without any maintenance.

poe876 8y ago
Health is fleeting. Human life is short and brutal, so eat away while sitting on your lazy arse, I say.
- WJW 8y ago
  It's pretty much a self fulfilling prophecy, yes.
  - sireat 8y ago
    As Aristotle said everything in moderation including cigars and pizza. Going into a full blown mega health nut phase is not very helpful either because the end result is not going to be pretty anyways. Now if/when we start making serious life extension progress beyond 120 years with high quality of life then we can start talking.
    - tim333 8y ago
      If you look at the places where people live longest they are not health nuts especially and have quite a nice lifestyle. eg >Ikaria, Greece, three times more likely to reach 90 than Americans, almost no dementia >residents stay active through walking, farming and fishing, but they also make sure to take time out to nap and socialize. In addition to their Mediterranean diet, they eat a lot of wild greens and drink an herbal tea that’s full of nutrients. Their community lifestyle also encourages good health habits and regular social engagement.
- kreetx 8y ago
  It's a joke, stop downvoting :)

sillyquiet 8y ago

I am in the same boat. And the damned thing is it's not that hard to do right by your physical health with moderate amounts of exercise and some self-discipline with meals and alcohol.

Viliam1234 8y ago
> it's not that hard Yes, that's the greatest component of my regret. I cannot even make the excuse of "it was so hard, and I was focusing on other things". I started weightlifting at age 40. I never seriously exercised or did sports regularly before. After one year of exercising 30 minutes a day, I am in a better physical shape than ever before. Those 30 minutes a day are totally worth it. And I regret not doing it twenty-five years ago, when I had much more free time than today. Why did I even think it would be hard? Seems to me that most people are bad at giving "80/20" advice -- an advice that is not literally best in the world, but is close enough to the best, and it easy to understand and remember. People often make things sound much more complicated than they are; for example there are dozen of exercise methods, and everyone says their own method is the best, and doing any other method is just a stupid way to hurt yourself. It all you have is contradictory advice of this type, it doesn't sound encouraging. Then some people say "well, it's a science, you have to study it", but I don't have extra 5 years of life to research exercise, then 5 more years to research nutrition, 5 more years to research finance, etc. for each important aspect of life. (Then there is another line of useless advice, which is "just do what feels natural". Well, what feels natural for me is using internet all day long, and not exercise. Because that's what I have been doing most of my life. And of course, my natural shape is fat. But this is all because "feels natural" simply means "your habits". If you have good habits, following them is a good advice. But if you have bad habits, it is a harmful advice.) If I tried to give advice to younger people, I would probably just give them one book per topic to read. "Convict conditioning" for exercise. "How not to die" for nutrition. "Early retirement extreme" for financial planning. I would have to think longer for books on other topics; perhaps some topics do not have the right kind of book. (The right kind = one you can read without much previous knowledge in the area; and which will give you advice that is maybe not perfect, but pretty good and not actively harmful.) I believe that sending these three books by a time machine to a 15 years old me would have dramatically improved my life.

philip1209 8y ago

I agree - it took me until ~25 to focus on my health. I've felt myself get younger and more energetic over the past few years. Observing my family, I have realized how much exercise impacts your quality of life as you age. I've seen family blame "just getting old" for many symptoms of poor health choices, such as problems walking up stairs or type II diabetes. If they focused on health, they might be able to improve their quality of life significantly! As a specific example - various studies have correlated the ability to stand up (or, doing a squat) not only with how long your life is - but also how long you will live independently. Extrapolating this - not only does exercise have the potential to extend your life, but it also extends how long you can continue to do what you want in life - such as traveling, walking, living alone, etc. Being specific - I know one 60-year-old who ran a half marathon last year, and another who can barely walk up the stairs to his bedroom. I wish I had learned better health and exercise routines as a teenager!

ProAm 8y ago

"Youth is wasted on the young"

fiveoak 8y ago

Same here, I actually lost 200 lbs in my mid-late 20s and it's amazing how many positive ways it has affected me beyond the physical health benefits. Growing up I never had an interest in sports/physical activities but I wish I had.

everdev 8y ago
That's an incredible achievement. That's more than I've ever weighed. I can't imagine what it would be like to be carrying that much excess weight every day, I'm sure you were physically quite strong. And even mentally stronger for the commitment to lose the weight. Kudos for your transformation!
- fiveoak 8y ago
  Ahh thank you, I've never been good at accepting compliments and don't really feel like I did anything too special since many people each day are able to handle their nutrition/weight in a much better way than I can. But I appreciate the kind words.

drcode 8y ago

I didn't start eating well or exercising until my 40s, but now am in the best shape I've ever been at 45. I would say that I regret not doing these things earlier, but a large part of the issue is that it's somewhat expensive (both in terms of time and $$) to exercise and eat well, so it would have been hard for me to afford living like this (both in terms of time and money) when I was younger. (Yes, you can eat well and exercise well without much money, but it's super challenging if you can't afford quality prepared foods and a decent gym membership: I don't see many 24 year olds that have a full time job, are in top physical health, but also still have time available for other interests...)

bayonetz 8y ago

Also, a physical sport. You will never have the time, interest, and enthusiasm that a kid has to get good at a sport again. I grew up surfing and am proficient at it. This makes it fun. Which means I do it regularly. It’s a great fitness activity and much more fun than my gym workouts. I’ve seen countless adults try to pick up surfing and 99% never become proficient. It took several years as a kid before I gained anything near proficiency. I’d be one of those 99% if I tried to pick it up as an adult. I got lucky I guess to have been introduced to it as a kid. That would be my advice.