[thelogos]

Many people have already recommended exercise, but I would advise you not to jog or lift high rep.

Why? It's repetitive and time consuming. It also doesn't do anything for your testosterone level.

If you're a guy, you have to keep your testosterone high and that means short burst of high intensity exercise.

That's the #1 priority. It will increase your willpower and ability to cope with stress. It'll also lessen the pain of social isolation.

You're going to be socially isolated no matter what. Working at a coffee shop doesn't matter because you'll most likely won't spend your time talking to people.

Testosterone will also keep you from packing on the fat, which is really easy to do when you work at home.

My solution to this is eating healthy and stimulants.

Caffeine and nicotine patch will reduce your appetite significantly. I feel no desire to snack between meals.

It will also keep you focus and motivated. They're much more sustainable in the long run than prescription stimulants.

Lastly, take fish oil and vitamin d3. This is not optional. Most people's diet don't contain enough fish oil, the inflammation will bring on depression and sap your mental strength. Same for vitamin d3, most of us aren't exactly outdoor creature.

[yawz]

Agreed with testosterone... however:

Snacking is not a "bad habit". It is a healthy eating mode, especially if you incorporate exercise in your routine. Caffeine, OTOH, is bad for you in our generic context.

HIIT is a good way of doing cardio work (because it results in a greater turnover rate of free testosterone) but weight-lifting is best. Target bigger muscles, core exercises. Do super-sets if you don't want to stay too long at the gym.

My two cents.

[HNJohnC]

In my informed opinion snacking is indeed a very bad habit and it is not in any way a healthy eating mode.

It's contrary to all of human evolution and there are objective measurements that show the body needs rest from eating to heal and regenerate critical systems.

That's why intermittent fasting is such a proven benefit to health in people who have enough to eat.

Source: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/meal-timing/

[yawz]

You cannot eat and absorb all necessary nutrients in 2 or 3 meals. It is much better to divide them in 4-5 meals where your body can digest and use the various nutrients.

Without even talking about vitamins, fiber or healthy fats, let's take protein as an example as testosterone was the topic: Your body's protein absorption has a limit (it isn't not very straightforward and linear, and depends on the type of protein). How much protein can you gulp in 2 or 3 sitting to make a healthy man "keep his muscle mass" and how much of it will be absorbed vs. stored or excreted? What if you're building muscle? What if you're regularly training?

What part of our evolution favors fasting? Snacking doesn't mean you eat every 30 mins. If you're awake 16-17 hours a day, you can easily divide your 4-5 meals with 3-4 hours apart. This keeps your metabolism going. Especially if you're exercising.

[apunic]

Nice advice and one of the best among all replies.

Could you please elaborate on fish oil (why and did you experience any effects if not taken) and vitamin d3 (again why and what happened if you omitted it).

Caffeine as regular stimulant sound tempting but isn't the risk of slight depression higher especially in hard times?

[thelogos]

Fish oil and vitamin d3 is so important that it's impossible to elaborate everything in this comment. I used to have a bigger regimen but have cut down to these 2 plus sodium r-lipoid acid.

1. Most modern livestocks are raise on grains and soy. Their meat do not contain enough omega-3, a simple fact. Farmed fish's omega 3 content varies depending on their diet.

2. Many people have the misconception that the skin can synthesize vitamin d3 from any kind of sunlight. Not true. Glass blocks most of UVB and only let through UVA. So sitting in a windowed office won't work. Some of us live in cold places and wear clothes that cover most of our skin on the rare occasion that we do go out. The skin needs UVB photon to transform 7-dehydrocholesterol to vitamin D3 in a 2-step process. It gets even more complicated when you take into account the level of melanin in your skin. Not only that, only certain spectrum of UVB carries sufficient energy to photolyzed 7-dehydrocholesterol. So that means your skin has to be exposed to sunlight at certain time of the day.

The thing to understand about these deficiency is they occur very slowly. The process is very insidious because the brain and body is great at adapting. It comes to accept the abnormal as normal. Depressed people come to accept their condition as normal and unchangeable. Most of them don't even realized they're depressed. They can't imagine a different reality or mental state. Just like people who procrastinate can't see how someone else can be so productive. When you're socially isolated, it turns into a downward spiral where no one can help you.

About stimulants, I don't like using them. But I've come to accept that they're necessary. We humans just weren't made to sit in one place and stare at a screen for 12 hrs+ a day/5days a week.

So far I haven't felt any crash from the nicotine patch. Caffeine, definitely, but the crash is nowhere near the level of Rx stimulants. Caffeine crash is much more mild and tolerable. I'm not convinced on the safety of modafinil.

The point to all this though, you need to keep your testosterone high so you can pull yourself out of a hole if you do fall into one. People who work 12hr+, racing on stimulants everyday, eating bad food and not getting enough sleep will inevitable burnout.

If you live right, there's never a desire to drink or take any substance to "relax".

[apunic]

Thanks again for all this advice, very helpful!