6 ms·

Zenhabits

54 points by idiotb 16y ago

djacobs 16y ago
I like that Leo has a "best of" page, it works well for him (and with the site's aesthetic). I'm not always a fan of his suggestions, though. Browsing some of his archives, I see advice against eating grains [0]: They’re also packed full of carbs, which should also be minimized in a cutting, leaning-out phase. (Note: There is no requirement in human nutrition for carbs.) That last bit is blatantly false, and I can't help but think he's overstepping his bounds a little bit. That said, in general his advice is strikingly enlightening. [0] http://zenhabits.net/lean-tips/ http://zenhabits.net/lean-tips/
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- cshenoy 16y ago
  To be fair, he didn't write that. But by copy+pasting someone else's advice, he is advocating it which is a bit irresponsible. In any case, he makes up for it with his other zen habit advice.
- hynek 16y ago
  Carbs are the only macro-nutrient your body doesn't need. It's true though that a very low carb diet is detrimental to the health insofar, that it forbids certain nutrient-dense foods (which grains absolutely aren't). Repeating wrong convential wisdom doesn't make it correct. Seriously, Marks knows his stuff and you'd do good to yourself to listen to him (or any other of the primal/paleo folk) without prejudices.
- michaelkeenan 16y ago
  Are you sure that's false? The Wikipedia article on carbohydrates[1] says: "Carbohydrates are a common source of energy in living organisms, however, no carbohydrate is an essential nutrient in humans." It cites a letter to the editor in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition by Dr Eric C. Westman[2]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate#Nutrition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate#Nutrition [2] http://www.ajcn.org/content/75/5/951.2.full http://www.ajcn.org/content/75/5/951.2.full
  - noodle 16y ago
    you don't need carbs to live, but they certainly help when you're doing heavy exercise and the like. on the flip side of that coin, its my understanding that grains in particular as a source of carbohydrates are particularly bad for you. moreso than something like a potato. i'm looking for a source to edit in.
    - hynek 16y ago
      Technically you are right, however only very few exercise that heavy, that they would have to re-feed on carb heavy food. Marathon runners come to mind. The human body is pretty good at transforming fat into glucose, so the average exerciser won't have problems on a low-medium carb diet. It's a nice excuse for an occasional pizza though. ;) And yes, grains like wheat are worse than potatoes or grains like rice because additionally to the insulin issues they share with all carbs, they are also rich at anti-nutrients like gluten, phytatic acid or lectins. There is really absolutely no reason to eat grains (thus men didn't do so until like 10k years ago).
      - noodle 16y ago
        i re-carb on light food after my 2-3 hour workouts. it just leaves me less run-down the next day. but heavy grain diets are a stable of the modern way of life because its really cheap and easy to produce huge volumes of food for it.
        hynek 16y ago
        I agree that it's a staple however the general health (especially MS and diabetes) are a strong indicator that I don't want to take part in that.
        noodle 16y ago
        we have that choice. not everyone does. thats my point, i suppose.
- joelrunyon 16y ago
  "That last bit is blatantly false, and I can't help but think he's overstepping his bounds a little bit." I'm pretty sure you meant to reference your sources here. Otherwise I'll be tempted to think you're overstepping your bounds a little bit. :) Just because a belief is widely accepted, doesn't mean you're exempt from proving it's validity.
aw3c2 16y ago
I find those sites stress-inducing. There are so many tips and guides on how to do things better that I feel overwhelmed. I was avidly reading zenhabits some years ago but at some point I realised that I rather live my life with few simple ideas in mind than following a weird ideal.
- achompas 16y ago
  I agree...Zen Habits promotes the idea of "refactoring your life" like its some program you can optimize. In my experience, you're better off worrying about as little about your life as possible. You're also spot on about how the site is stress-inducing. Ironic for a site that's all about "simplifying life" and "living minimally."
- derefr 16y ago
  I've taken an alternative approach with my own website: there's a few important, timeless essays I keep, each focused on one topic—and as I think new thoughts on the topics they cover, I simply update those essays, refactoring them and repeatedly condensing them to the same length as much as possible, instead of making them into long, daunting series. Separately, I keep a blog that serves to mention when I've updated one of the essays, what I've changed, and what inspired the change (i.e., basically a commit log), but which also serves as a place to dump ephemeral thoughts whose references will quickly go out of date, and thus can't survive in the (timeless) essay format. I think many content-centered blogs would benefit from this sort of collected-works + conversation-stream approach.
stevenp 16y ago
Leo is at the forefront of a movement of bloggers and writers releasing their content into the public domain. I think it's a really interesting strategy, and it seems to have worked well for him: http://zenhabits.net/open-source-blogging-feel-free-to-steal-my-content/ http://zenhabits.net/open-source-blogging-feel-free-to-steal...
aniket_ray 16y ago
Frankly everyone's life and conditions are sufficiently for one rule to work for all. Personally, I believe in A/B testing life. Do whatever gives you your best returns. Just never stop testing.
john2x 16y ago
Interesting blog. I've read a few of the top posts, and noticed that we have a similar approach to life. Never realized it was considered "Zen". Heh. But then again I tend to read books with philosophical/Zen themes.

54 points by idiotb 16y ago

I like that Leo has a "best of" page, it works well for him (and with the site's aesthetic). I'm not always a fan of his suggestions, though. Browsing some of his archives, I see advice against eating grains [0]: They’re also packed full of carbs, which should also be minimized in a cutting, leaning-out phase. (Note: There is no requirement in human nutrition for carbs.) That last bit is blatantly false, and I can't help but think he's overstepping his bounds a little bit. That said, in general his advice is strikingly enlightening. [0] http://zenhabits.net/lean-tips/ http://zenhabits.net/lean-tips/

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
cshenoy 16y ago
To be fair, he didn't write that. But by copy+pasting someone else's advice, he is advocating it which is a bit irresponsible. In any case, he makes up for it with his other zen habit advice.
hynek 16y ago
Carbs are the only macro-nutrient your body doesn't need. It's true though that a very low carb diet is detrimental to the health insofar, that it forbids certain nutrient-dense foods (which grains absolutely aren't). Repeating wrong convential wisdom doesn't make it correct. Seriously, Marks knows his stuff and you'd do good to yourself to listen to him (or any other of the primal/paleo folk) without prejudices.
michaelkeenan 16y ago
Are you sure that's false? The Wikipedia article on carbohydrates[1] says: "Carbohydrates are a common source of energy in living organisms, however, no carbohydrate is an essential nutrient in humans." It cites a letter to the editor in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition by Dr Eric C. Westman[2]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate#Nutrition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate#Nutrition [2] http://www.ajcn.org/content/75/5/951.2.full http://www.ajcn.org/content/75/5/951.2.full
- noodle 16y ago
  you don't need carbs to live, but they certainly help when you're doing heavy exercise and the like. on the flip side of that coin, its my understanding that grains in particular as a source of carbohydrates are particularly bad for you. moreso than something like a potato. i'm looking for a source to edit in.
  - hynek 16y ago
    Technically you are right, however only very few exercise that heavy, that they would have to re-feed on carb heavy food. Marathon runners come to mind. The human body is pretty good at transforming fat into glucose, so the average exerciser won't have problems on a low-medium carb diet. It's a nice excuse for an occasional pizza though. ;) And yes, grains like wheat are worse than potatoes or grains like rice because additionally to the insulin issues they share with all carbs, they are also rich at anti-nutrients like gluten, phytatic acid or lectins. There is really absolutely no reason to eat grains (thus men didn't do so until like 10k years ago).
    - noodle 16y ago
      i re-carb on light food after my 2-3 hour workouts. it just leaves me less run-down the next day. but heavy grain diets are a stable of the modern way of life because its really cheap and easy to produce huge volumes of food for it.
      - hynek 16y ago
        I agree that it's a staple however the general health (especially MS and diabetes) are a strong indicator that I don't want to take part in that.
        noodle 16y ago
        we have that choice. not everyone does. thats my point, i suppose.
joelrunyon 16y ago
"That last bit is blatantly false, and I can't help but think he's overstepping his bounds a little bit." I'm pretty sure you meant to reference your sources here. Otherwise I'll be tempted to think you're overstepping your bounds a little bit. :) Just because a belief is widely accepted, doesn't mean you're exempt from proving it's validity.

aw3c2 16y ago

I find those sites stress-inducing. There are so many tips and guides on how to do things better that I feel overwhelmed. I was avidly reading zenhabits some years ago but at some point I realised that I rather live my life with few simple ideas in mind than following a weird ideal.

achompas 16y ago
I agree...Zen Habits promotes the idea of "refactoring your life" like its some program you can optimize. In my experience, you're better off worrying about as little about your life as possible. You're also spot on about how the site is stress-inducing. Ironic for a site that's all about "simplifying life" and "living minimally."
derefr 16y ago
I've taken an alternative approach with my own website: there's a few important, timeless essays I keep, each focused on one topic—and as I think new thoughts on the topics they cover, I simply update those essays, refactoring them and repeatedly condensing them to the same length as much as possible, instead of making them into long, daunting series. Separately, I keep a blog that serves to mention when I've updated one of the essays, what I've changed, and what inspired the change (i.e., basically a commit log), but which also serves as a place to dump ephemeral thoughts whose references will quickly go out of date, and thus can't survive in the (timeless) essay format. I think many content-centered blogs would benefit from this sort of collected-works + conversation-stream approach.

stevenp 16y ago

Leo is at the forefront of a movement of bloggers and writers releasing their content into the public domain. I think it's a really interesting strategy, and it seems to have worked well for him: http://zenhabits.net/open-source-blogging-feel-free-to-steal-my-content/ http://zenhabits.net/open-source-blogging-feel-free-to-steal...

aniket_ray 16y ago

Frankly everyone's life and conditions are sufficiently for one rule to work for all. Personally, I believe in A/B testing life. Do whatever gives you your best returns. Just never stop testing.

john2x 16y ago

Interesting blog. I've read a few of the top posts, and noticed that we have a similar approach to life. Never realized it was considered "Zen". Heh. But then again I tend to read books with philosophical/Zen themes.