Tag: t_le2

quality content at least good enough to share with others

## strengthen our bones, reduce bone injuries #CSY

Posted on by tiger40490

See bone health and career longevity #dev-till-70 for the bone risks I identified. What can we do now to reduce these risks?

  • milk — (or substitutes) as a life-long habit. I feel cow milk is most tested for the longest time.
  • strength training — with weights, to strengthen the bones + the big muscles that protect the bones
  • stretching — (such as yoga) that improve range of motion in our body parts, to prevent bone injuries. In physics, we learned that a more rigid structure is more like to break… consider glass.
  • body weight vs bone strength — ideally, we want to grow lighter yet stronger in our bones and muscles. Lighter-n-stronger body mass is the ideal combination for our bones.

%% diet strategies for weight loss #Davis.Wei

Posted on by tiger40490

Just to share personal experiences. My focus is 1) appetite control and 2) calorie restriction. My focus is NOT the daily amount of fiber, fat, carbohydrate, protein, vegetables)

  1. Over 10 years, personally the most effective appetite-control strategy is delaying and skipping meals. “Not hungry? Don’t eat.” I did lots of read-up and am convinced it’s rather safe if consistent. For breakfast I often skip completely, or unflavored milk alone. For lunch I usually push to beyond 2pm (was 3pm). For dinner, I push to beyond 9pm (was 10pm). Once I settle on a meal schedule I stick to it for months. This delay/skip strategy definitely reduces my overall food intake, and helps reduce overall calorie intake.

However, in the morning and afternoon, I often follow vegetable/fruit diet (#3) so the adaptation is “Not hungry? don’t eat any starch or meat”

I know some friends practiced other forms of intermittent fasting, and lost tens of kilos.

I guess skipping dinner would be good, but my “system” bio-clock won’t let me as I feel seriously hungry sometime after 10pm, unless I fall asleep before the hunger kicks in. 200-calorie protein powder meal-replacement + small amount of solid protein/starch is a new idea worth trying.

  1. My 2nd effective strategy (targeting calorie) is starch reduction. Throughout my adult life I am fairly strict on the amount of fat and sugary foods so they have seldom given me a real problem (see loss-of-control below). But starch has been my primary calorie source (50%-70%) since age 5. In 2013 when I endeavored (like hell) to cut starch by half and further, my weight dropped by 4 to 5 kilos. I basically set a hard limit on rice and bread.

Compared to the #1 strategy above, my knowledge and experience about starch is more limited as I continue to read and experiment. Currently, I am experimenting with edamame, green peas and sweet potato. “Experimenting” means reduce as much as I can tolerate, and enjoy when I let myself. I read they are rich in fiber and lower in calorie-per-pound. Most important – they are satisfying (as starch) and tasty, so I can eat them regularly and don’t feel hungry afterwards. In this experiment, I aim to cut by 80% my intake of rice, brown rice, bread, whole-grain bread, and noodles.

  1. My 3rd strategy (targeting calorie not appetite) is yet to produce weight loss in my “system” (due to hunger) but is a nutritionally proven strategy for calorie reduction – increase fruits and green vegetables, usually raw. They are all high-fiber low-calorie. (Banana is slightly higher calorie. See my listing in ## low-cal foods.) So in the last 3 months I eat a lot of them, hoping the total calorie contribution is still low (like below 500 calories).

However, despite the high fiber I found these foods unsatisfying, perhaps due to low calorie. So I still felt hungry after eating a ton of them. I end up eating other foods to satisfy the hunger. I don’t consider it a failed attempt though. One reason is starch reduction — this 3rd strategy has reduced my overall starch intake (including edamame, sweet potato etc). In terms of overall calorie, I hope this 3rd strategy is taking effect. By eating tons of vegetables and fruits, I probably eat less starch less cooked food (usually oily), less junk food than before.

Beyond my top 3 strategies, I follow a few minor techniques:

  • Meat and fish – I reduce them in favor of (raw if possible) vegetables, fruits and nuts. They provide protein but often comes with lots of fat, mostly hidden.  Fish is healthier than meat, but harder to prepare. Additionally, meat and fish always require other foods as company.  (In contrast, my favorite starchy foods, vegie and fruits can be eaten alone.) I was 90% vegetarian for a short few years before getting married, and felt very healthy and in-control of my diet; now I’m more relaxed about meat and fish but strict about fats in them.
  • Fats and sugar – are always relatively low in my diet. Average once a week I eat deserts like chocolates and ice cream, and those offered by colleagues (invariably high fat high sugarJ). I love cheese and pizza but tell myself to stay away from them. I don’t drink sweet beverages except occasional milo and Green Machine. I virtually never eat deep fried food or alcohol.
  • Peanuts and other nuts – are very satisfying and tasty, but high fat. So I often use nuts to make my raw vegetables more palatable and satisfy my hunger. I probably eat twice more peanuts than most people so I need to watch my portion size. For a year I have stayed away from any coating over my nuts whatsoever. Once I break this self-control, it will be hard to rein in again.
  • Milk, soymilk, yogurt – is trivial in my diet. I eat them daily. Mostly low-fat low calorie varieties. Not satisfying. Sometimes they help make my raw vegetables more palatable.
  • Fiber – is supposed to help me feel full but has Never helped me with appetite. After eating a ton of fruits, vegetables, and chia seeds, I still feel a unsatisfied craving for “proper food”. I guess it’s due to calorie.
  • Simultaneously unhealthy and fattening foods – by the conventional standard about 3% (no more than 5%) of my entire dietary intake is considered fattening and also nutritionally poor, including ice cream, chocolate, cookies, desserts, free food in the office… On this count, I feel my quality of food is much better than average.
  • Temptation – If I get exposed to pizza, pastry, fancy cookies, fries…  (high-fat is my weakness) I find myself at a weak position in the face of temptation. I know I don’t want to fight this battle, so it’s extremely important to stay away from the temptation.
    • Loss of control – occurs when there’s free food offered in the office.
    • Controlled Indulgence – is the better alternative to loss of control. For example, once a while I indulge on ice cream and chocolates I buy for myself. This is my controlled, deliberate concession to temptation. I’m not aiming to emulate 苦行僧; I don’t want to feel like a loser; I don’t want to feel guilty. Life is too hard already 😉

Many friends asked me why I want to be lighter. One of my motivations – lighter means better endurance and fitness.

overweight people eat no more than others #Kyle

Posted on by tiger40490

I think your assumption is closer to reality than my assumption. Here are three examples in my family:

1. My son’s BMI is in the 90th percentile for boys of his age. He doesn’t eat more than other boys.
2. As she shrinks in height, my mother’s BMI has shifted into the “obese” range though she looks mildly overweight. She doesn’t eat more than other people of her age and height.
3. Another of my family members looks overweight for the last 5 to 10 years, but she doesn’t eat a lot when I share a meal with her.

On the other hand, calorie intake is hard to estimate. My mother might be eating a bit too much fatty stuff, so her calorie intake might be 20% higher than other people. Over decades that would add up.

My view is

• Overweight people’s BMI is still determined by calorie balance i.e. [ intake – expenditure ]
• The total weight of food intake is usually not visibly higher
• But calorie intake is very hard to visualize. Our perception is completely unreliable.

There are individual differences from person to person. It’s possible for one overweight individual to have actually lower calorie intake than other people but still not losing weight. That might be a medical condition. I think most healthy people are not like that. So if my son really cuts down on calorie, he will surely lose weight over time.

I can’t starve my son. I want him to experiment to find a new diet that’s personally satisfying yet lower calorie. I have found many foods that work for myself – I call them calorie bargains.

whose job is it to choose university4boy

Posted on by tiger40490

(a letter I didn’t send out)

Hi Daniel,

Fascinating tips you shared.

My kids are 8 and 3 only. I will make many of the decisions about their schools and home locations, but probably not their universities or their professions. I feel I need to have a “scope of work” for myself as father. I don’t want to take on unlimited amount of work.

Our divergent experiences shape our views and our decisions as parents. My parents are dutiful parents but didn’t have so much influence on my choice of university and profession. Based on that personal experience, I tend to think (wishfully, naively) “It’s up to them” — up to their interests and abilities, even though none of those were well-defined before 20. I believe both my sister and me were not very sure at 18/19 what professions were suitable….

Around age 18, most young adults have the basic capacity to make those informed decisions. I was not willing to take on the heavy responsibility of choosing a major or choosing a college, but subconsciously I knew I was the (unwilling) captain of my boat this time.

change employer before get`GC#junli

Posted on by tiger40490

Hi Junli,

In case you need a record, here are a few points of flexibility if someone doesn’t want the “slavery” and bondage to a GC employer:

A) When you reach the 3rd stage of GC process (I think it’s 180 days after you apply for I-485), you are allowed to change employer.

1. I see many job emails stating …. “if you have green card or at least an EAD”

B) After you get your priority date. Basically your PD will remain valid even when you change employer and re-start GC process. Therefore, you probably don’t lose anything when you re-start the GC process

1. I know many Indian guys who retained their PD

2. I also have a written explanation by a lawyer whom I consulted

3. I heard there’s one condition — the last employer who restarted your GC process should be your employer when you apply for I-485

C) Even before getting PD under Employer XX, you could legally work under employer YY, so long as you resume employment with XX in time but this is risky in the face of RFE.

I hope Donald Trump doesn’t change any of these.

Also, I’m not familiar with the nitty-gritty. I think some of these flexibilities could be removed if the first employer XX withdraws the petition.

Tan Bin

[17]UChicago: name brand hasn’t helped my career #ROI #Nobel

Posted on by tiger40490

On my resume, I put University of Chicago as the only name in the “Education” section. It doesn’t help me at all now I’m 43 applying as a software engineer. So for my kids, if they can enroll in such a prestigious uni, great. If not, I think they may not lose that much.

This name-brand is an underwhelming ROI , but still a G5 ROI.

UChicago is a world top 2 university in economics, and every few year gets a Nobel prize, often in economics, physics and chemistry, either due to a current faculty member or a previous employee or graduate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_university_affiliation is fairly rigorous and unbiased. It ranks UChicago as world #4 with count of 100.

https://www.bestmastersprograms.org/50-universities-with-the-most-nobel-prize-winners/ ranks UChicago as world #4

http://www.uchicago.edu/about/accolades/22/ (official) lists 90+ Nobel laureates, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_affiliated_with_the_University_of_Chicago names 100 individuals, including

  • · president Obama, who taught at UChicago.
  • · 杨振宁, 李政道, 李哲
  • · Black-Scholes option math authors

In the national media (BBC, NBC …) every month I would see some UChicago professors interviewed.

The UChicago MBA program is typically ranked top 3 across the U.S., sometimes #1.

As an alumnus, I would say UChicago is more famous than many of the Ivy League universities. (All private universities.)

why weekly stretching so hard2maintain #in-depth

Posted on by tiger40490

k_Promethean_struggle

Yes, weekly stretching is difficult, but half the difficulty is psychological/perception. Beside the very real physical tensions experienced in the targeted parts, our mind is constantly sending (amplified) negative signals, brainwashing ourselves “it’s futile … I can’t sustain it … I can’t really improve…”

sitting hurdler’s pose might be an example, though yoga sessions never include it.

I have done many types of physical exercises and programming exercises. Usually I could keep up for a month or so. Stretching is arguably the toughest to keep up.

We can gain insights from quick comparisons against group classes, jogging, resistance training, lunges, jumping jack etc.

–Factor: measurable (visible) improvement — flexibility improvement is less visible but not invisible.

Sugg: celebrate those small improvements as significant improvements. I would even say those small improvements are more worthwhile for my body than stamina improvements or strength improvements, or even __weight_loss__.

sugg: prefer those rare poses that show visible progress.

Sugg: if adductors (and external rotators) are the worst part and shows no improvement after a long time, then you don’t have to see visible improvement in adductors at this stage. Don’t hit a stone wall and frustrate yourself. Instead, target the lower hanging fruits. There’s no shame. They are also important. If ignoring those super-tight adductors helps you maintain the weekly effort then it’s better to ignore adductors for now. Once we have better flexibility elsewhere, adductors will be easier to manage.

–Factor: measurable effort — With chin-up for example, we can set a target to motivate ourselves. In contrast, with stretching on our own, I seldom know whether I have met a target output level. If I hard-stretch for an hour until I sweat then I would feel better but without an instructor it’s clearly too hard for me to stretch so long.

Sugg: set measurable targets like 20 seconds each time, at least once a day and reward yourself meaningfully.

Sugg: each minute of hard stretch earns 5X reward points (other exercise earns 1X) Keep daily record for a week.

Q: what would be regarded an insignificant effort?
A: nothing. To protect the tiny candle light we have, we should not set any criteria as a way to belittle and blame ourselves. Once a week of a quick stretch is better than nothing.

tiny candle light

–Factor: energy spend — with lunges for example, I feel a lot of energy spent after x repetitions. In contrast, some of the steady stretches require me to hold and I too feel tired, but they are usually too uncomfortable to hold.

Sugg: if too uncomfortable to hold, then take it easy or skip them completely. Don’t sacrifice your enjoyment, or turn positive feedback into negative feedback. When stretching, we don’t need to feel energy spent.

–Factor: traction — Gaining traction/momentum vs spinning my wheel. Jogging is the most self-sustainable for me. (I now easily run for half an hour to one hour and I always feel very good afterwards.) Some people probably find resistance training or cross training rather boring and strenuous, but for me stretching is the most torturous and unsustainable.

Sugg: take it easy YET recognize the effort. It’s slightly easier but NOT worthless.

–Factor: enjoy — stretching can feel enjoyable to those who are already flexible. I can try to feel that way too. Automatically, I associate stretching with pain and endurance.

======
Since stretching is clearly tougher than other exercises, it probably deserves special priority. Given my limited time, I should try to allocate more to stretching and less to jogging etc.

[16] favor frequent small jogs #Ash.S

Posted on by tiger40490

For the same 8km /mileage/, one (and only) long jog in a week is inferior to 2km repeated on four days, spaced out evenly.

Reason? momentum, resistance

— minimum threshold: about 4 laps i.e. one mile.
Once I cross this threshold, I almost always have spare energy to go on. If I run only 3 rounds and give up due to fatigue , then my “system” is not sufficiently heated up to a sustained energy level (similar to car engines).

The “system” is a complex interaction of physiological and psychological reactions to the stress of jogging. Similarly, the momentum and resistance are similarly complex.

— Hi Ashish,

Over the last few weeks, I have experienced a small but surprising drop in psychological resistance to jogging. When the thought came up to run for a few rounds in the stadium, I used to feel it’s just too hard, assuming such a crazy thought would come up at all. Now I feel I could do it. If I’m in a good mood and have the time, I would do it.

No doubt it will be hard to maintain, but nevertheless it’s a good sign. I would even say that it makes me feel younger even though the change will likely reverse 🙂

##energy-sinks generating positive-stress

Posted on by tiger40490

I feel if a person has multiple personal goals and they generate positive stress (rather than pressure), then these goals enhance this person’s condition stress-wise. Each such stressor is a power pump with a safety valve.

For eg, i try to publish some worthwhile blog post every week. Never stressed me out.
For eg, in my early 30’s I used to attend a quarterly fitness test
For eg, I was improving my coding (c++/c# etc) in my spare time — i do feel a bit disappointed if i make no progress for a month, but this pressure is still small, compared to many external stressors in my life:)

For eg, I used come to office on weekends and work on unfinished tasks. Not forced to.
For eg, I used to try job interviews when my job is safe. Would be real stressful if job is under threat.
For eg, helping my son with piano and swimming practice can feel stressful, but there’s a ….. safety valve.
For eg, I used to commit to 1 minute a day on piano, pullup, vocab etc

[13]le2XR: some personal problems we face

Posted on by tiger40490

XR,

I see you are under stress from work, renovation, new born … Here’s some personal reflections to share with you.

I feel multiple pains in spouse communication, pains in child education/discipline, pains in boss relationship, pains in unhealthy lifestyle. It’s good to identify the  fundamental problems, but before that, it’s also important to strengthen the no-problem areas (otherwise they too can become problems) —

+ I have no-problem with my cash flow, though it’s going to become much heavier, due to mortgage, masters’ program starting soon, and 2nd child.
+ I have no-problem with the mainstream technical skills such as java, SQL, though c++ still needs improvement. C# is new growth area for me.
+ my son and wife have no-problem in health — nothing major so far. In contrast, my dad has conditions, and I have a stubborn cholesterol level to work on
+ my job is secure, as OC doesn’t layoff people just because they are not performing so well. They may give me no raise no bonus or transfer me out. I am preparing myself mentally for it.
+ I have no-problem with colleagues — no major issue
+ I have no-problem with sleep, even though I sleep less than I need
+ I have no-problem with appetite. No too-low appetite, no too-high appetite

Now, among the problem areas, I feel stress management is a common thread.

Time (and priority) management is another common thread. Why?
– I need more time to exercise (but can’t convince myself to);
– I need to postpone a lot of less critical plans so as to focus on the tough challenges;
– child education is a slow process — patience.

I used to effectively put off a lot of non-urgent and non-critical items, but now as head of a family many non-urgent decisions become urgent, so I can no longer put them off, not effectively. I feel overwhelmed with many small decisions.

Related to that is my detail-oriented and perfectionist habits — another common thread. A bit too slow. Sometimes people say I’m too careful too slow making decisions. I now feel some decisions have consequences we need to understand, so we better assume they are important. Many decisions turn out to be so minor that even an unwise choice won’t have a big impact. I probably tend to treat too many non-critical decisions as critical — stress, time-consuming decision making.

Another common theme is leadership (and communication as such). I have never been an experienced leader. Now I find myself leading my family, though I never chose the job. Fundamental change to my role. Not used to it. I have too many quarrels with my mother (staying with us to help take care of kid) and, worse, with wife. That’s not leadership at all. I make decisions and they object. I’m not used to listening and adjusting my decisions. I wish my home be a happy place with laughter but it’s not, partly because of the tone I set. Perhaps more subtle is the influence on my son. I set a role model. I also influence my wife and indirectly affect my son’s attitude and character. I find myself much better at technical stuff than being a head of a household.