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Maybe it's not just startup culture -- but nerd culture in general. I also think that you want to be a bit obsessed and while that works well on tasks like code

Maybe it's not just startup culture -- but nerd culture in general. I also think that you want to be a bit obsessed and while that works well on tasks like code it doesn't work well if your default meal is pizza and red bull. By the way I'm a fortysomething geek and I've watched my fellow geeks who are the same age undergo all sorts of health issues as a result: Everything from open heart surgery to diabetes. It's depressing to watch... So I don't want to sound like my grandfather, but if you don't have your health you really don't have much else in life. So if you're a young geek reading this please try to find some balance in your life.

Tycho 14y ago
Can you elaborate a bit... what sort of shape were your friends in when they were 20-something? Were they overweight? Underweight? Sleep deprived? Full-time employed? Did they exercise not enough or just not at all? Or were they regular looking guys who you might think were healthy but actually were living on terrible diets and lifestyles. Don't want to be nosy... just genuinely curious.
- michaelpinto 14y ago
  I'll give you just one friend as an example: He was very thin in his youth and he still is thin today. But his diet was terrible -- sugar, fast food, never a home cooked meal unless it was microwaved, energy drinks (mountain dew, red bull). Because he wasn't fat he didn't look out of shape, in fact if you met him you'd say "he looks healthy". But that wasn't the case: He had a heart attack and developed diabetes. Also h left the startup life when he hit age 35 and hit these issues in his 40s -- so it's the bad habits of a lifetime. And the sad thing is that he works in tech, not in startups -- but his colleagues are all getting heart attacks. So I think it's a nerd thing rather than a startup thing. I also think that there is something unhealthy about sitting all day. And I now find myself trying to break that habit by going to a gym. If you're a twentysomething do yourself a favor: While you are still young try and get into good habits! Make the gym or some regular physical activity your friend. Make your own food at home, it's always going to be better than take out. And don't be afraid to get sleep. I'm trying to fix this stuff in my 40s and it's super hard.
count 14y ago
I don't think it's 'nerd' culture - look at ANY gathering. Open bar, free food, etc. is kind of a hallmark of societal gatherings?
- michaelpinto 14y ago
  There is an argument that it's the flip side of a modern lifestyle that's killing us: Sitting all day, not walking but taking a car, eating too much bad food.
  - count 14y ago
    Oh, I'm not saying any of this is good or healthy, just that it's got literally nothing to do with 'startups' or 'geeks'.

Tycho 14y ago

Can you elaborate a bit... what sort of shape were your friends in when they were 20-something? Were they overweight? Underweight? Sleep deprived? Full-time employed? Did they exercise not enough or just not at all? Or were they regular looking guys who you might think were healthy but actually were living on terrible diets and lifestyles. Don't want to be nosy... just genuinely curious.

michaelpinto 14y ago
I'll give you just one friend as an example: He was very thin in his youth and he still is thin today. But his diet was terrible -- sugar, fast food, never a home cooked meal unless it was microwaved, energy drinks (mountain dew, red bull). Because he wasn't fat he didn't look out of shape, in fact if you met him you'd say "he looks healthy". But that wasn't the case: He had a heart attack and developed diabetes. Also h left the startup life when he hit age 35 and hit these issues in his 40s -- so it's the bad habits of a lifetime. And the sad thing is that he works in tech, not in startups -- but his colleagues are all getting heart attacks. So I think it's a nerd thing rather than a startup thing. I also think that there is something unhealthy about sitting all day. And I now find myself trying to break that habit by going to a gym. If you're a twentysomething do yourself a favor: While you are still young try and get into good habits! Make the gym or some regular physical activity your friend. Make your own food at home, it's always going to be better than take out. And don't be afraid to get sleep. I'm trying to fix this stuff in my 40s and it's super hard.

count 14y ago

I don't think it's 'nerd' culture - look at ANY gathering. Open bar, free food, etc. is kind of a hallmark of societal gatherings?

michaelpinto 14y ago
There is an argument that it's the flip side of a modern lifestyle that's killing us: Sitting all day, not walking but taking a car, eating too much bad food.
- count 14y ago
  Oh, I'm not saying any of this is good or healthy, just that it's got literally nothing to do with 'startups' or 'geeks'.