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How do you stay fit and healthy?

Since we're usually sitting (or standing) at desks all day, mouse or tablet pen in hand, there may be some bad habits developing in terms of keeping your body in good shape. My question to you guys is, as artists, what do you do to stay healthy?

To start this thread off, I run every day except Saturdays, usually about 6k. I also try to keep a balanced diet; lots of fruits, vegetables (always try and eat at least one of each color fruit/veggie I have) and nuts with an appropriate amount of grains and meats. I feel like an area where I'm lacking is ergonomics though, I may need to invest in a standing desk and an ergonomic mouse.

So what does everyone else do? Do you have any tips or pointers you'd like to share?

Replies

  • NegevPro
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    NegevPro polycounter lvl 4
    One bad habit I had, while not directly related to a professional work environment, was getting sidetracked while eating. I'd always tell myself at dinner time for example "I just have to watch one episode of x show while eating dinner!" and it always ended up being 3-4+ episodes of x show.

    Now I just eat food for no reason other than to get nutrients and energy because it can turn into a distraction, and as a result, I have more time for personal work.

    I also recently got into the habit of drinking fruit and vegetable blends. I basically take every fruit and vegetable I can find, stuff it into a blender, and turn it into a drink with some ice. It will look and smell like rotting garbage but it's healthy, I think! They're hard to drink at first, especially if you aren't used to eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, but after a week or two you get used to the taste and it isn't so bad.
  • AlexCatMasterSupreme
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    AlexCatMasterSupreme interpolator
    I've been lifting for years and like to run 40 minutes after work (and lift) every day. I eat a lot of protien and try and keep my carb levels somewhat low. No pop, none of that, not a lot of sugars. I don't eat what most people would consider healthy but it works.
  • Zack Maxwell
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    Zack Maxwell interpolator
    Mostly I'm very careful about what I eat. Low calories, high nutrients. I rarely ever eat any kind of junk food at all, maybe once a week.
    I also just make sure to do at least 10 minutes of pushups/situps/pullups/squats each day, and I ride a bike to most nearby places rather than take my car.
  • Greg DAlessandro
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    Greg DAlessandro polycounter lvl 6
    I workout and run after, I've been eating good as well. During the semester I eat spinach wraps with spinich, carrots, rice, and chicken, drink a lot of water.

    Its better to graze throughout the day than to eat large portion meals. It actually increases metabolism.
  • WarrenM
    Do you have any tips or pointers you'd like to share?
    Is there ever any new information in these sorts of threads anymore? I mean .. eat as well as you can, exercise routinely, don't eat 5 cheeseburgers a day, etc. What else is there?
    Its better to graze throughout the day than to eat large portion meals. It actually increases metabolism.
    And not to pick this out specifically, but there's also a ton of anecdotal or "I read this somewhere once" type information. This one is widely believed by a lot of people but just as many will tell you that intermittent fasting is the way to go.

    It's all very personal so, unfortunately, the only way to figure out what works for you is to try different things. Give them a few months. Not working? Try something else. Repeat.

    Your physiology is your own. What works for me probably won't work for you. Or maybe it will. There's no way of knowing outside of experimentation...
  • Shadownami92
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    Shadownami92 polycounter lvl 7
    There is always sports as well. I play hockey in a league once a week and it's great exercise. And based on how well you play it can help motivate you to exercise more at home as well.
  • Sean VanGorder
    Recently created facebook group for game developers to discuss fitness

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/641497755919093/
  • marks
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    marks greentooth
    Eat clean, excercise, keep in good habits for both. It's not rocket science, it's just hard work. Stay on top and you'll *be* on top :p
  • Moosebish
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    Moosebish polycounter lvl 12
    I do worry about how much sitting will effect my health in the future. I've heard some people say that "sittin is this generation's smoking." I have no idea if its true but with the amount of sitting I do, I'll probably find out.

    While I work I drink my coffee black and try to have healthy lunches and run a few miles multiple times a week. I grew up playing a lot of sports and working out. Now I wouldn't have time to do those things no matter how determined I was..
  • ExcessiveZero
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    ExcessiveZero polycounter lvl 6
    Kettlebells which will get you big fast so long as you use them and early morning metal detecting for me on the weekends, swinging a heavy hunk of metal for 2-4 hrs plus the walking is a pretty passive workout you will feel in your arms for days, plus you can find treasure!

    only other thing I do is read comics on my stationary bike only place I will read them so it gets me on my bike more.
  • Meloncov
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    Meloncov greentooth
    I fence and I hike, and I get around on foot or bike. Nothing that is gonna give me big muscles any time soon, but they're good cardio and I find them a whole lot more fun than lifting weights.
  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    Gym three times a week. Go Tuesday and Thursday morning for an hour and then Saturday morning for an hour and a half. Keeps my mind clear and I don't burn out since I'm only waking up super early 2 days a week. I'll add in.. the morning routine is nice as when I'm finished @work/school I can come directly home and work on self-projects. Gyms are usually a lot more empty at 7-730am compared to 6pm, which means I spend less time waiting for equipment.

    In addition, I try to stretch for at least 10-20 minutes on my off days. I find that really helps with sitting in a chair for 10+ hours a day.

    If there are specific muscles are are hurting you throughout the day (lower back and hamstrings for me), take a look at this website and see if there are any stretches that really get into the problem areas.
    http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/finder/lookup/filter/exercisetype/id/3/exercisetype/stretching
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    Walking to and from work is often enough to keep me in reasonable shape - the office was around 8km away from where I was staying in Munich.
  • peanut™
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    peanut™ polycounter lvl 18
    Do not drink any amount of "soda" or "pops", period.

    6ffba5d7677.jpg
  • sargentcrunch
  • SsSandu_C
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    SsSandu_C polycounter lvl 13
    Working with weights and especially cardio workouts give you a good metabolic boost. The amount of cardio depends on your workout routine and fitness goals. But doing these doesn't immediately mean weight loss.
    Making changes in your eating habits is crucial and counting those calories. To lose weight you have to be in a calaoric deficit at the end of the day. The deficit depends again on your workout routine. It is a lot to talk about but the best advice is to eat based on your life, your daily activities because food is energy. The energy you don't need goes into those fat cells.
    One more thing IMO is to stop saying burning fat. Your body will use fat for energy when other sources are not available. The so called burning fat wording is so often used by gimmicky marketing of useless pills and other stuff, like fat burning belts and plastic suits and so on.
    The Cola thing... They haven't used real sugar in a veryyy long time. They even used corn syrup at one time.
    I personally go to the gym and workout with weights with a regime in tune with my body and a slow walk after for 20 min or less and with separate real cardio days.
  • MainManiac
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    MainManiac polycounter lvl 11
    gym 5 days a week, mostly weight lifting. My body to me is an art project itself and it keeps me motivated. Watching yourself grow and become more defined is like real life zbrush :poly124:

    The biggest rule of thumb is to just steer clear of sugar and empty calories. Meaning try not to eat food high in calories but low in nutrition quality. You'll get more bang for your buck (or calorie) so to speak if you do this.

    If you're into building muscle keep a high protein diet, lots of eggs/chicken and other meats. Any amount of protein you don't get through food you can supplement.

    As far as cardio goes for health 20 minutes 3 times a week is sufficient I remember reading. If you're doing cardio for fat loss/marathons feel free to do it much longer. HIIT cardio is also going to be much more effective than your standard treadmill jog
  • electricsauce
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    electricsauce polycounter lvl 11
    standing desk and jiu jitsu 4 days a week. I've replaced soda with seltzer most of the time.
  • Brygelsmack
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    Brygelsmack polycounter lvl 11
    I run 3 times a week for now, I will gradually increase the amount I work out.
  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    SsSandu_C wrote: »
    Making changes in your eating habits is crucial and counting those calories. To lose weight you have to be in a calaoric deficit at the end of the day. The deficit depends again on your workout routine.

    Yeep. While I'm not sure if "grazing" helps with metabolism, it does help from overeating throughout the day, especially at dinner before bed. The easiest way to go about this would be to cut every meal in half. For example, instead of a entire 10-12" sandwich, eat 4-6", and then eat the other 6" maybe 2-3 hours later or whenever you're hungry.
  • ErichWK
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    ErichWK polycounter lvl 12
    I lift 4 days a week! IT'S SIIIIIIIIIICK! Your posture rules, you get muscles and babes notice and you have WAY more energy to make sweet fucking Zbrush sculpts. Everyone should be doing dead lifts and bench presses and pull ups. Your Confidence levels sky rocket like a nuclear bomb.

    Also eat these, followers of Brodin. 3g of Net Carbs? Yea I'll take 100 boxes.

    [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Quest-Nutrition-Protein-Chocolate-Cookie/dp/B00DLDH1N2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400465098&sr=8-1&keywords=quest+bars"]http://www.amazon.com/Quest-Nutrition-Protein-Chocolate-Cookie/dp/B00DLDH1N2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400465098&sr=8-1&keywords=quest+bars[/ame]
  • maximumsproductions
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    maximumsproductions polycounter lvl 8
    Having a workout buddy!

    Creating protein shakes afterwards. So far my favorite is Peanutbutter, Bananas, Chocolate Almond Milk, and of course protein!

    And yeah ErichWK is super right! Confidence and Productivity seems to be through dah roof.

    I just wish I knew more and more types of workouts involving a bench and weights / bars.
  • Norron
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    Norron polycounter lvl 13
    Judo or BJJ a couple of times a week or more if possible. Anything that gets you up off your butt is a good start really. The best exercise is the one you actually do.
  • jacob thomas
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    jacob thomas polycounter lvl 9
    Yeah I lift 3-4 times a week and get as much cardio every day as possible. 1 hour or so usually.
    Only eat sugar occasionally. Drink at least 1 litre of water a day. Avoid soft drink like the plague.
    I spend so much time making sweet buff sculpts I feel like I should spend at least some time working on my own topology.
  • SsSandu_C
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    SsSandu_C polycounter lvl 13
    I see what you did there Chilydog ;)
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGeAMVK75T4"]American Psycho - Intro to Patrick Bateman - YouTube[/ame]
  • Psyk0
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    Psyk0 polycounter lvl 18
    Cycling ~4000 km half of the year riding outside, mostly climbing because that's what i prefer. The other 6 months i cycle indoors on a bike trainer, focusing on strength and intensity. No soft drinks, no junk food, at least 1L of water per day. Lots of raw vegetables for lunch, minimal amount of meat.

    An easy solution to weight loss / better health is to wake up an hour early, eat no breakfast and go outside for an hour long walk.
  • .Wiki
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    .Wiki polycounter lvl 8
    I´m cycling nearly 30km per day to the office and back home. In the wintertime i go climbing in a small hall here in dresden.
  • Lamont
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    Lamont polycounter lvl 15
    I do boxing 5~6 days a week 2.5 to 3 hours each day. First 1.5~2 hours is boxing training.. various stuff. Last hour/40 minutes is weights. I alternate days between groups (legs, arms/shoulders, back/abs).

    Breakfast (lately) has been fruit and soy milk.
    Lunch is 0.5kg/1kg of grilled chicken with fruit and veggies, water to drink.
    Dinner is soymilk and a fruit, weekends I eat grilled chicken with some sauce I made, or Thai/Japanese curry. I try to alternate chicken with tuna/eggs, so I would just eat tuna/eggs with celery. I hate celery, but I have to eat it.

    No rice for now, very little breads. Some weekends I eat random stuff, like a big Kobe beef hamburger with fries and a yogurt drink, sometimes two of them in one sitting because I like eating :)
  • tehrobster2
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    tehrobster2 polycounter lvl 11
    I have been dropping a lot weight for the past couple of the months doing Kendo. And I usually go into practice early now, and usually do 500 sword strikes before practice starts. Its a really good work out and keeps my interest because, it's really really fun =).
  • Joebewon
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    Joebewon polycounter lvl 12
    Exercise 3-4 times a week.
    Either lifting or interval cardio sessions.
    And my diet consists of high protein, low carbs, lots of water (a gallon to a gallon an a half), & coffee.

    It's amazing that how much more focused you can feel when you keep yourself healthy.
    Even if you're not seeing the results you want instantly, I feel like exercising helps keep you from feeling groggy all the time.
  • haiddasalami
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    haiddasalami polycounter lvl 14
    Been lifting/cardio before work. Lost about 15 pounds so far so just trucking along heh. I like it before work as it helps me stay focused for whatever reason.
  • slipsius
    Nice Salami!!!

    As dumb as it may sound, I do youtube workout videos. Jillian Michaels 30 day shred and what not. I felt kinda silly at first. I couldnt even finish them at first. But over the past month, Ive really seen my weight drop and my strength increase. The key is consistency. Even if you`re tired, just force yourself to do it. I'm working the longest hours i have in my life, but Im losing weight and getting more fit. Just gotta make it a priority.
  • WarrenM
    I pick fights with random bums downtown. Some of them can really hold their own so you work up a good sweat.
  • NegevPro
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    NegevPro polycounter lvl 4
    I tried to pick a fight with a bum downtown but he pulled out a knife so I was forced to pull out my flail. He didn't drop any good loot so it wasn't worth it in the end, in my opinion.
  • HitmonInfinity
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    HitmonInfinity polycounter lvl 11
    I embed youtube videos on Polycount. Doesn't seem like much, but it's a lot of work.
  • aajohnny
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    aajohnny polycounter lvl 13
    I go out and play some sports with co-workers 4 times a week for an hour. I probably should start eating healthier though :/
  • Visceral
    Since we're usually sitting (or standing) at desks all day, mouse or tablet pen in hand, there may be some bad habits developing in terms of keeping your body in good shape. My question to you guys is, as artists, what do you do to stay healthy?

    To start this thread off, I run every day except Saturdays, usually about 6k. I also try to keep a balanced diet; lots of fruits, vegetables (always try and eat at least one of each color fruit/veggie I have) and nuts with an appropriate amount of grains and meats. I feel like an area where I'm lacking is ergonomics though, I may need to invest in a standing desk and an ergonomic mouse.

    So what does everyone else do? Do you have any tips or pointers you'd like to share?

    Lots of cigarettes and coffee.
  • BradMyers82
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    BradMyers82 interpolator
    I'm a competitive bodybuilder and I work as a 3d artist for a video game studio. In my opinion this job is the perfect thing if you want to stay healthy. I guess for some guys if they have to crunch a lot, it might be difficult. But for me I bring like 5 meals to work everyday, I eat every two hours, do cardio every morning (with my dogs) before work, and weights every night. Its so easy going in a studio environment no one cares really as long as you are getting your work done. If I had a job where I had to do any physical labor I wouldn't be able to maintain nearly as much muscle because those jobs tend to be pretty catabolic since you are going non-stop. For the most part there is no excuse why you can't be in the best condition of your life and work at a studio. Just stay out of that Candy closet if you have one at your studio! :D
  • BradMyers82
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    BradMyers82 interpolator
    WarrenM:
    And not to pick this out specifically, but there's also a ton of anecdotal or "I read this somewhere once" type information. This one is widely believed by a lot of people but just as many will tell you that intermittent fasting is the way to go.

    It's all very personal so, unfortunately, the only way to figure out what works for you is to try different things. Give them a few months. Not working? Try something else. Repeat.

    Your physiology is your own. What works for me probably won't work for you. Or maybe it will. There's no way of knowing outside of experimentation...

    I agree with you that everyone is different and will respond differently, but the truth is every diet works. Some work better than others, but the term "diet" specifically refers to limiting ones self to certain things. Bottom line is, every real diet will have you taking in less calories than you are burning, thus you loose weight. In other words I can put someone on a mcdonalds diet and they loose weight, if there goal is to simply drop pounds. Now if you have specific goals absolutely you want to follow certain diets above others. Most of the diets out there are gimmicks and make your chances of success very low. Look up a bodybuilder type diet and make sure you get your calories and macro nutrients in order and you can't go wrong. I'm only pointing this out because I don't want people to get the idea that "diets don't work for them". Maybe you chose a diet that is miserable and not practical but if you follow a sensible diet it WILL work. You have to take responsibility for your actions and follow thru. If you make excuses and throw in the towel at the first bump in the road you are likely to fall into a vicious cycle of loosing and gaining weight. Just my 2 cents on the topic.
  • Lombos
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    Lombos polycounter lvl 6
    Ice Hockey / Lift / very occasional run.


    I hate running.
  • Lamont
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    Lamont polycounter lvl 15
    NegevPro wrote: »
    I tried to pick a fight with a bum downtown but he pulled out a knife so I was forced to pull out my flail. He didn't drop any good loot so it wasn't worth it in the end, in my opinion.
    Bums have horrible drop rate... keep trying. L.A. is a good area.
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