[mindcrime]

Yeah, this hits a little close to home. My own (mis)adventure is pretty well documented[1], so I won't bore anybody with details, except to say: I'm living proof, and very nearly dead proof, of important parts of what Rui says. It's so easy to let your health go by the wayside, pushing yourself harder and harder, and thinking "I'll lose the weight next month" and then "next month" is "in six months" and then it's "next year" and so on.

I very literally almost died, and while there are a lot of factors in having a heart-attack (weight,genetics,stress,nutrition,etc., etc.), there is no question in my mind that three of the big contributing factors for me where A. stress, B. nutrition and C. weight. And sadly all three of those things are things I could / can control, unlike genetics.

Seriously folks, if you're out of shape, if you don't exercise, or if you are the living embodiment of that old joke about "the four food groups for programmers" (salt, sugar, fat and caffeine), please, please stop, wake up, and start taking nutrition seriously.

And don't think "I'm young, I'm only in my 20's, I have nothing to worry about". That's bullshit. You'll be 40 eventually (if you are lucky enough to live that long) and what you're doing with that mindset is letting "20 year old you" fuck over "40 year old you". It takes decades for the bad nutrition, lack of exercise, too much sugar, smoking, etc. to do their damage, so even if you don't see any outward signs now, the damage is being done, and the piper will need to be paid eventually.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8550315

[fatass]

> It takes decades for the bad nutrition, lack of exercise, too much sugar, smoking, etc. to do their damage.

Well what if those decades were your childhood? I've been fat since the day I was born, because I was a child of a lazy welfare queen who thought food equals bag of potato chips a day. I dropped out of high school and went on to sick leave because of severe sleep apnea. (Slept 0-4 hours a night, I had so much fat on my body that it blocked my breathing in certain positions and the weight on my lungs caused them not to work properly.)

My future was already ruined because of malnutrition and the only thing I have left is sitting at home on my computer. I've already disowned my mother, but it won't bring my health back. Just the thought that I have to work on my body the rest of my life and it still won't be presentable just makes me want to kill myself.

[dspillett]

> Well what if those decades were your childhood?

Then you are starting with a massive disadvantage, there is no way to sugar coat it.

But unless you are properly knocking on death's door it is never too late to start improving things. It can be surprising how quickly you can make small change with a little determination, and how quickly small changes add up, and how much each small change can motivate the effort for the next, especially if you can avoid being completely derailed by the occasional set-backs (that will happen).

If your condition is as bad as it sounds then consult a trained medical person if you can rather than relying on tips from the Internet - they may be able to provide you with a plan specific to your needs that will jump start your progress safely (on the Internet you'll find many ways to jump start progress that may be unsafe either generally or specifically for someone in your current condition).

[pestaa]

There's zero harm in taking care of your body now. Any progress is good progress.

It's only part of the equation though. For a healthy body you also need a healthy mind. If childhood mistreatments still haunt you, ask for professional advice. Nobody wants to live in the shadow of their parents.

[MichaelGG]

If you're really so far overweight that you have to "work the rest of your life" to be presentable, then seek a doctor's advice. They can (legally!) give you powerful medications (in the US, methamphetamine) which can drop weight very quickly.

Not that weight is the only health metric, but it seems to be one you are complaining of. Nor is medicating perhaps the best way to lose weight, but it's powerful and might give you motivation to keep at it once you get some easy losses.

[forgotten]

Have you ever thought about writing a blog about your childhood experiences? One experience per post. It would make for a riveting and informative read. Then make it into a book. I even have a good name for it.

If you're interested or want to discuss the idea further, email me. My contact info is in my profile.

P.S. I'm not a publishing magnate or VC, just a guy who writes and has lots of ideas. I see a promising idea here.

[aytekin]

Watch Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead movie. Not for the diet recommended in the movie, but for inspiration.

[mkesper]

You need professional help!

[mindcrime]

Well what if those decades were your childhood?

That's unfortunate, but luckily a lot of the damage that we do to our bodies can be reversed. No matter where you are, you're almost certainly better off if you start eating right, exercising, etc., today.

As others have said, seek medical advice if you think it's necessary. If your health is so bad that you think you aren't capable of working out and what-not, get a medical professional involved if possible.

And consider that "working out" doesn't necessarily mean going to a gym, wearing weird clothes, doing crazy contortions, lifting weights, etc. I can be as simple as walking 30 minutes around your neighborhood.

[ruidelgado]

Wow man, I'm going to read your story now, thanks for sharing! How are you doing now?

[mindcrime]

I'm fine, all things considered. They did a successful intervention at the hospital, using a catheter through my radial artery, cleared out the blockage, put in a stent and got me fixed up.

I started "cardiac rehab" today, which is a 12 week program of supervised exercise, done under the supervision of a exercise physiologist and a cardiologist, nurses, etc. I'll be doing that 3 days a week until early April. Once that's done I'll do another "stress test" and have another echocardiogram done, which will tell them where my heart function is at. Assuming my "ejection fraction"[1] is back to a normal level, I'm basically good to go, just needing to continue to live a healthy lifestyle (diet, exercise, etc). The only real negative scenario is if my ejection fraction doesn't recover sufficiently, they may recommend me for an implantable sub-dermal defibrillator, as having lowered heart function can put you at increased risk of developing a harmful (or fatal) arrhythmia.

But basically I've already been cleared to run, mountain bike, whatever I want to do. My cardiologist basically said "listen to your body" and "don't do anything that doesn't feel good".

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ejection_fraction

[ruidelgado]

Thank you for sharing this, buddy. I'm glad you're better and doing fine.