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Whenever a thread comes up about someone taking a sincere interest in nutrition and making difficult sacrifices to try to enjoy a better life, you start to see

Whenever a thread comes up about someone taking a sincere interest in nutrition and making difficult sacrifices to try to enjoy a better life, you start to see people come out and mock it and make jokes and assert a certain "well I'm having more fun" type superiority. Well, I'm not so sure about that. Most of the people I know who work to live really healthy have the guts to go counter-cultural/counter-mainstream in other ways too. They live good lives filled with adventure, have lots of fun, live healthier, and on average die later. Smoking is cool - I used to love good tobacco. Red meat is amazing. I used to love good steaks. But funny enough, the net pleasure you have after quitting that stuff doesn't really go down. It's hard to do, but you really do live better across the board if you're willing to put in the initial willpower and sacrifices.

iuguy 16y ago
I'm not so sure if I agree with what you're saying. I have few vices. I cook everything from scratch, don't smoke, rarely eat red meat and have a very nutritious diet. My main vices are a lack of exercise and alcohol (as I like to make cocktails, learn new ones and experiment I probably drink more of them than most). Exercising more would probably give me more enjoyment, but at the opportunity cost of what I'm doing instead. Cutting out alcohol will no doubt extend my life (after all, alcohol is a fairly poisonous chemical to start off with) cutting it out would reduce the net pleasure I get not just from drinking cocktails, but introducing new ones to others and watching the pleasure they get from experiencing them. You can't consistently make great cocktails if you're teetotal anymore than you can consistently cook incredible meat dishes if you're vegetarian as there's no direct feedback mechanism. I'm not saying that the net pleasure doesn't go down in all cases, but there are definitely some. I'm sure giving up mountain climbing can extend life, but there's a drop in pleasure for a mountain climber too.
- StavrosK 16y ago
  > You can't consistently make great cocktails if you're teetotal Of course you can, just don't swallow.
zacharyz 16y ago
Being fit and feeling good about myself is a better feeling than anything I have derived from food. I love me some delicious food, but not at the expense of my health.

iuguy 16y ago

I'm not so sure if I agree with what you're saying. I have few vices. I cook everything from scratch, don't smoke, rarely eat red meat and have a very nutritious diet. My main vices are a lack of exercise and alcohol (as I like to make cocktails, learn new ones and experiment I probably drink more of them than most). Exercising more would probably give me more enjoyment, but at the opportunity cost of what I'm doing instead. Cutting out alcohol will no doubt extend my life (after all, alcohol is a fairly poisonous chemical to start off with) cutting it out would reduce the net pleasure I get not just from drinking cocktails, but introducing new ones to others and watching the pleasure they get from experiencing them. You can't consistently make great cocktails if you're teetotal anymore than you can consistently cook incredible meat dishes if you're vegetarian as there's no direct feedback mechanism. I'm not saying that the net pleasure doesn't go down in all cases, but there are definitely some. I'm sure giving up mountain climbing can extend life, but there's a drop in pleasure for a mountain climber too.

StavrosK 16y ago
> You can't consistently make great cocktails if you're teetotal Of course you can, just don't swallow.

zacharyz 16y ago

Being fit and feeling good about myself is a better feeling than anything I have derived from food. I love me some delicious food, but not at the expense of my health.