#vDM30in30 11-10-2016 @mikestanley and geekfoodcritic.com

One of the happy outcomes of participating in #vDM30in30 was running into fellow VMUG leader's Mike Stanley's cool blog https://geekfoodcritic.com/

As you have learned in this blog, IT people are an easy prey to self sabotaging ideas and generally eating unhealthily. As you can read in this blog post where Mike turned around the focus of his blog (from food reviewer to healthy food advocate) the truth of the matter is that we can't sustain the hundreds of extra calories eating out gives you. You either exercise like an athlete or you have to come to grips with reality.

I especially appreciate how hard it is to do a log of everything you eat in a day, like he started doing for vDM30in30. His blog posts are really detailed and they show his thought process and how he counted everything that day.

https://geekfoodcritic.com/blog/2016/11/1/what-i-eat-in-a-day-001

It's imperative for anyone doing real weight loss to track what they eat. I use MyFitnessPal, and I've had some really long streaks - the longest was half a year. But invariably, I miss a few days and I have to start over again. It's difficult - and it's most difficult when you go out, because there isn't a nutritional label to scan in most restaurants (although several chains are in the app, which is the biggest plus it has).

If you are in the same boat as Mike and I, reach out on twitter and help keep us motivated. I know first hand how easy it is to get off the ideal path for days or even weeks. I see it in my blood sugars and my weight scale - every so often we need to remember that this marathon is still ahead of us and all we're run so far doesn't count for today. We have to earn a healthy status with a healthy lifestyle, every day, and make it a habit - a habit to not soften, dull, or self delude ourselves!

Running #runchat #ukrunchat #virtualrunning @VirtualRunnerUK @POWVirtualRun @FullMedalRuns @MoonJoggers

OK so lets talk about....RUNNING!

Now let me be very very VERY clear........I have always hated running. Just the idea of it had me like blehhhhhhhhhh.

The first time I did 5k....it took me nearly 50 minutes! I am not really unfit but I have just hated it always...with a passion!

But over the last 10-12 months, I have really started to get into it, for various reasons.

• My GF decided she wanted to start running, and I am a firm believer in supporting anyone who is actively making strides to become better in whatever they do. It is too easy to sit around and whine, loads of people do that, but I respect and admire people who actively get up and do something...anything..just start.
• I went all in, I went and had a gate analysis (see how you run and get trainers accordingly) and started running with her and on my own. I have come to realise over time, that by investing and going all in, 
• I make it hard for myself to back out and I have to keep going.
• I am a firm believer that you should do stuff that you will find a challenge 
• Because I found it a challenge....I kept at it
• Because I was sooo crap at it, every-time I did it...I got better at it, and this made me want to do it again!
• I found other people who liked running, and joined them. At work we have a run club (I am one of the slowest guys btw)
• I have found that it is an incredible mental challenge, every bit of my mind wants me to stop...but pushing past that feels amazing.
• For me the overall time isn't as important as the distance!

I have found ways to keep it exciting and interesting, and one of these ways was to take up Virtual Running! So what is Virtual Running I hear you ask...well let me explain:

A virtual run is one where you sign up on-line for a specified distance, and then run at your own pace. Some of these runs are on based on an honour system, where they do not ask for any proof, so it is up to you to be honest with y ourself, while others ask for you to post your step count (from your fitness tracker), or screen shot your runkeeper app, or a picture of your treadmill time etc. You are responsible for submitting your time\distance. 

They arent bothered if you run the whole distance, or if you split it up into multiple smaller runs, no one cares about your time. The key is you get better, and you get some seriously cool bling! Some of the money goes to charity too. To me that is multiple wins right there!

I mean I am a nerd and you can get cool medals, I ran a 10k and got a Romulan Warbird medal! I ran another 10k and got a Martin Luther King medal!. You can find races that you think are for a good cause and now you have something to aim for and work towards.

I ran my first outdoor tarmac 10k for charity and ran a time of 1:04 and I got a cool medal for that too!

I have found that running on a treadmill isn't for me, I prefer running outside. Everybody is different, I have also found that I need to listen to music with a high beats per minute, it zones you out and your mind quietens down and any thought of stopping vanishes. I have also found an excuse to wear funky stuff while I run...I mean look at those leggings! Orange is my fav colour btw! hahah

My goal at the moment is to have more bling than Mr T! hahah and lets just say I am off to a good start!

I have used various virtual running sites, and the ones I have used personally are listed below:

@VirtualRunnerUK

@POWVirtualRun

@FullMedalRuns

@MoonJoggers

I have also signed up on my first Obstacle Mud Run course thing....and I hate mud and I hate cold water...so this will be interesting!

Improving Yourself Like in a Video Game @NerdFitness @artofmanliness @Dark_KnightUK

So all us guys/girls that work in IT are for the most part big fans of gaming! Be it console gaming or PC gaming and we pretty much all have fond memories of the Sega Gensis/Megadrive/NES/SNES etc.

This blog post came about after listening to The Art of Manliness Podcast @artofmanliness (which I have to say I have been a big fan of for over a year) and their podcast with the guy that runs Nerd Fitness @NerdFitness. I have been a big fan of Nerd Fitness for ages, esp the Nerd Fitness blog posts.

They covered many topics that I have mentioned previously, but from a gamers point of view, and I thought this is a way soooooooooo many of us could relate to.

For example in a game, you will start off with very little skill, and you have to do various mundane tasks that you may think don’t have any real benefit,  you level up so you can beat the end of level boss, after which you go on and do some more to fight the next boss. If you decided to jump right in and go for the end of game boss (your ultimate goal) you would fail, simply because you hadn’t earnt all the stuff you needed and obtained the skills you needed to get there!

Also if you get to a boss and you fail, you will restart and try a different approach. But it is amazing how in real life, so many of us don’t do this, we fail at the boss fight and then give up, but in the game we try again, even if it means loading a save from a bit further back so we can try something different. Why is it we are happy to do that in a game but not in real life?!

We will spend hours upon hours, playing the game building XP and moving forward, but we usually are reluctant to do the same in real life

. 

The podcast is brilliant and I have also pre-ordered the new Nerd Fitness book which is out in March.

So if you want to start running, you can start by walking. If you want to eat healthy, start by eating some fruit, small changes lead to big things if you keep going and build them up.

I have gone from not being able to run at all and hating it, to doing 5k and now I have managed to run 10k, it has taken time and I have had to level up....my original boss/goal was to start running, next level was to get a decent 5k time and the level after was to get to 10k...and so on. 

I rewarded myself along the way, when I reached 10k I bought myself some nice running gear, something that I can reward myself with, but will help me reach my next goal/boss fight, which is getting a decent 10k time!

The podcast can be found here: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2016/01/20/podcast-170-level-up-your-life/

#vFitbit

One of the groups I always do challenges with on the Fitbit app is VMware community related. The idea for it came from a hashtag I participated on before I got diagnosed called #vFit. I stopped participating and when I would check it, there was a lot of non-VMware stuff in there (sure fitness related but definitely not just the vCommunity)

When I started with Fitbit I thought about joining an existing a group or starting one, but didn't know any people that fit both circles. It wasn't until VMworld 2015 that I seriously made a point of identifying people with fitbits and adding them as friends. Through this I was even able to meet and discuss the idea with Jim Jones that ultimately became this blog. I checked and #vFitbit wasn't taken, so i've been using it since.

We're a pretty stable bunch of guys - i don't think we're more than 10 that always join. We can always create another challenge if needed, but so far it hasn't happened. It's by far the most difficult and motivating group I do challenges with, and it's incredibly tough for me to win it :)

I've started a public twitter list for people who were comfortable with being listed and reached out to for joining twitter challenges - it's here:

https://twitter.com/arielsanchezmor/lists/vfitbit

Thanks so much for Jim Jones and Matt Crape that supported this crazy idea! But also, to my vFitbit friends who either haven't seen this or didn't feel comfortable with being publicly called out (which is perfectly fine and understandable!). Each week of competition is a big motivation for me, and it means a lot!


If you are currently not doing challenges with other people and would like to, reach out to us. We'll gladly put you in, publicly or not! Hopefully this becomes a good problem and I hit the maximum challenges every week :D

My fitness tracker selection process

My friend Bilal did an excellent post on fitness trackers on this same blog here. After getting diagnosed with diabetes, and reading a bit and realizing exercise is such a big part of the treatment (which really is a lifestyle change) I decided to check them out and see if they could help me.

My phone, like other phones, already included a pedometer. My initial thought is that this worked pretty good since I didn't do much meaningful walking without the phone - so I wanted to figure out what did the dedicated fitness trackers do. I also did not want to spend too much on something that could perfectly well get crushed or become inoperable because I forgot to take it off when going into the shower.

Now, talking fashion - I'm not a trendy guy. I also live in a place where I''m walking a lot of the time, and I did not want something that could bring attention to me. So, the objective became to find something with a lot of sensors that would appeal to my needs, wasn't too expensive, and wouldn't bring too much attention to me. Easy to operate would be nice as well, and had to sync with my phone.

My search ultimately brought me to the Fitbit Charge HR. The below is an affiliate link of mine where I could get a cut if you buy it using that link



 
So why the Fitbit Charge HR? This is the link with manufacturer info, but these are the features that brought my attention:

1 Good reviews everywhere - many said it had the same sensors as the Fitbit Surge ($100 more)
2 Tracks steps and floors (my phone only does steps)
3 Tracks heartbeat! Now this is info I never had, and considering I'm diabetic, sounds good to know
4 Tracks sleep! Working in IT, there's crazy schedules and I know proper sleep reflects proper health
5 Free app (I'll talk more about this). I was able to download the app, poke around with it, and see how the interface works. Seemed easy to use and it allows adding friends
6 Lots of privacy settings in the app to enable or disable friends or the public from seeing information
7 Reviews mentioned good battery life
8 Automatic - I didn't have to tell it I was going to sleep or start exercising, it would pick it up on its own as long as I wore it
9 Water resistant - don't swim with it but a slight splash won't ruin it.
10 Small screen (this was a big plus for me - didn't want anyone to think i had an expensive smartwatch). I got it in black and at first glance just looks like a thick rubber band
11 Three available size bands. Glad since my wrists are really small.

The Fitbit arrived soon (after (I bought it when they cost $150) and within days I realized this was awesome and one of the best decisions I've made in my life. Having the device all the time was working better than the phone, since you don't go to the gym with the phone in your pocket, you put it in a hole somewhere. Also, the app also includes a weight tracker, calorie/food tracker, and water tracker, which I immediately started using.

Here I noticed an important thing - my engineer mindset suddenly had a lot of data that it did not have before. Remember I had decided to take my condition as a problem I could do something intelligent about? Here was something I could immediately use to build and perfect my strategy. With this and my sugar measurements I could get to work.

My following post will get a bit deeper into how I've used this information to help me lead my lifestyle change. If you have a fitbit and wish to add me as a friend please don't hesitate to contact me through twitter!

What to drink?

Remember the time where you didn't think much about what to drink? Any fruit juice, any soda, any alcohol drink - there wasn't anything that could do you much harm.

As I get older I find this same conversation with others in my circle:

"I've stopped drinking beer"
"I've stopped drinking soda"
"I only drink diet coke now"
"I stopped drinking caffeine"
"I've stopped drinking fruit juices"
"I don't drink alcohol anymore"

And many other variations.

The fact is - there is no lone recommendation that works. 

Healthy people can basically drink anything, in moderation. If you are healthy today, I'd definitely enjoy more natural things than sodas.

If you are looking to lose weight, this is the normal transition I see:

1 Stop drinking normal soda - coke/sprite/etc have a lot of sugar per serving and that sugar will become fat if you don't spend it
2 Sweet tea is a really bad idea. It has a lot of sugar. Find out how it's made if you don't believe me.
3 Milkshakes are not a good idea either... not only do they have sugar, they also have fat. You will be surprised at how easily fat piles on by drinking milk. Start monitoring and if you just love milk (like me) consider switching to a 1% variety.
4 Be mindful of fruit juices as part of your overall carb intake. That delicious morning orange juice has a lot of sugar. There are plenty of choices so you don't give up the health benefits, but you will have to read labels and incorporate them as part of your overall day plan.
5 Stop drinking sugary coffee. Real coffee is good by itself. Teas also fit this description.

Those were the obvious ones - one that people don't give up as quickly is alcohol. The range of alcohol consumption varies a lot, but I find IT admins to be mostly heavy drinkers (until they see the light). I myself haven't been able to get away completely from social drinking, even though i'll only have one, max two beers on special occasions, and i'll try to make it a low carb like Michelob Ultra.

If your drinking is making you gain weight, you have a problem. If you are drinking every day, or drinking alone, you are clinically an alcoholic and should question your life choices :)

6 Alcohol, whether it's beer or vodka, all are sugar; and you don't normally go to the gym a couple hours after drinking do you? It's very easy to pile on calories which you will store as soon as you go sleep.


If you have been able to get up to here you have made a big difference in your life - your carbs are not mainly coming from liquids. Here are my final optional recommendations:

6 Don't drink diet soda. It's obviously better than normal soda, but you should go for things that naturally don't have sugar in them, and also don't taste sugary. Try to make the taste of "sweet" something that is extraordinary and not common.
7 Unsweetened tea is a safe go-to when eating out - twisting a lime helps out too.
8 Water. Filtered, great tasting water is the best thing you can drink. I really like Zerowater filters. I try not to buy bottled plastic water. You can even get sparkling water if you don't feel like asking for plain water in a restaurant.

If you are diabetic then you follow everything above in the "looking to lose weight" section, but the last part doesn't become optional - diet sodas, unsweetened iced tea and water become your staple. Apart from unsweetened coffee and tea, you rarely deviate. It is not terribly difficult to find a 1% milk that tastes as good as the milk you take today (I like Lactaid 1%). And really try to avoid alcohol. 

Alcohol doesn't interact well with diabetes medications. Alcohol can cause a drop in glucose - but at the same time you still have all that sugar in your body. If you will drink, opt for the least harmful. I don't particuarly like this site because it promotes drinking, but it is a very good list of calories per alcoholic drink. Michelob Ultra, Miller Lite or Coors Light are pretty easy to find in any bar.

http://getdrunknotfat.com/

Hit me up on twitter with any questions and remember - I'm no doctor or expert so take my advice with a grain of salt.

Eating Healthy

Now Now don't just ignore this post!

You don't have to eat like a saint to be healthy...I love eating junk food lol

But it is all about finding a balance. If you are gaining weight that usually means you are consuming more calories than your body needs.

A simple rule about losing weight, eat less and exercise more. Basically if you are taking in less calories than you are burning, you will drop weight.

Managing a healthy diet can be a real pain in the ass, lets be real here. who here has all the time to plan all their meals out properly into nice containers and all the rest?!

If you can great and more power to you, but for me:

When I am wanting to drop some weight, what has worked for me is upping my exercise routine and using Diet Chef (I am not endorsed by them or anything). Basically you get good quality food delivered to your door, for the month and you just have to heat it up. You get:

Breakfast

Snack

Lunch

Snack

Dinner

Some people say it is expensive, but remember that's your meals for the whole day, and its portion controlled for you off the bat. If you are working out with it, you will defo lose weight, as you will be taking in less calories than you actually need!

I also supplement it with lots of fruit and water/tea. So whenever I feel hungry I have some fruit and drink some tea. It is amazing how quickly your body adjusts. The first week you'll drop a decent amount of weight, as you body flushes out all the rubbish it was storing and no longer needs. You will then continue to loose about 2lbs a week.

Bare in mind, there is no healthy quick fix, it took you ages to get fat (if you are fat) and till take a while to lose it. That is a fact and there isn't anything that can be done about it, so the sooner you start the sooner you'll get there!

Also what I do is when I am on diet chef, 1 day a week I will have a massive blow out and eat whatever I like on that day to excess, from KFC to Burgers to Pizzas. You will be amazed how crap you feel afterwords and how your body hates it, but having that one day a week, wont have a negative impact and will actually have a positive impact. You get to eat whatever you like and your body wont think it is starving so will continue to drop weight at a reasonable rate.

I also mainly eat soups at work in general, easy to make can be stored in my desk and its not unhealthy when compared to a lot of other crap out there! 

There is no reason why you cant enjoy food while being healthy. Hey and a lot of people get hung up that they messed up one day of healthy eating. One day wont make a big difference on its own. If you decide to write it all off...then that's bad, but realise shit happens and get back on it the next day....simple. We are only human!

Fitness Trackers - My Take on Them

Now I find fitness trackers pretty useful and they seem to be all the rage at the moemnt!

I have owned a Jawbone UP24 which I think has now been superseded by Jawbone Up2.

The main reason I bought the jawbone was because it came in orange lol, its my fav colour. But it has plenty of cool features.

Idle Alert  - so when you have been sitting around doing nothing for too long, it reminds you to get off your lazy ass!

Step tracking -  It counts how many steps you have done each day, you can set goals and the smartphone app will tally it all up and report back how much you have done.

Sleep tracking - It works out how much sleep you have had in total, deep sleep and light sleep and you can see over a period of time how good or bad you are doing ( This feature was one of the main reasons I gave up shift work!)

Food tracking via the app- I never bothered with this, but my brother and friends logged all their food and found it really interesting to see how much they were actually eating.

The app lets you log work outs you have done and the type you have done, and estimated calories burned etc, all very good and if your friends have it too you can be part of the same team and motivate each other etc!

The Jawbone app links to a lot of other apps too, like Run Keeper for example

The main issue with the Jawbone band, which may have been sorted out with the newer versions was that, they were pretty fragile and a bit unreliable at times. My friends lasted about 6 months on average, a year tops. Mine after a year started acting up and the button on the band stopped working, but I could still use it via the app. Sometimes it would just lose all power even when it was nearly full, and then would require a full recharge again (this happened about 5 times in the near 2 years I had it).

Also battery life was never 14 days, I got a week at best

After the jawbone, I decided on a Xiaomi Mi Fitband

This is super cheap like $20 all in, it has a good app, but it doesn't do a lot of the fancy stuff that the Jawbone does.

It does:

Idle Alert
Step Tracking
Sleep Tracking

So the key features, it can be used to unlock your mobile phone too, depending on what version of android etc you are using. It is pretty well built and the battery lasts 30 days...a realistic 30 days! I have used it for 30 days between charging, that is pretty epic!

There are plenty of fake bands about so just be careful when buying. For the price its a total bargain as far as I am concerned!

You can look back over the last week/month etc and see how much you've done on average, also there are other fitness bands, so find one you like at the right price point to get you going.

These are just 2 I have used so I can comment on.

The app isn't as invasive as the Jawbone. The Jawbone app would always give you updates and tell you , that you were being lazy etc and tell you at around midday how much you had or hadn't done. The App for the Mi Fitband doesn't do any of that, you have to go into it to get an idea of where you're at, and the app doesn't link to anything else apart from Google Fit App, which is OK but nothing special. But then again look at how much you are paying for it!

Exercising while having a desk job!

So all this exercising lark....I mean what is it all about?!

Working in any desk job especially IT related jobs, involve a lot of sitting around and usually with bad posture!

People seem to think that you have to have some bIg work out routine, or start big. Neither is true, trust me on this!

Now the stuff I am going to recommend I really like, I am not endorsed by them in any way, it has just worked for me.

I am a big fan of workouts at home, that are short and sweet and to the point, there are simple workouts out there for everyone. You can do them in your hotel room, on your lunch break, as soon as you walk in the door from work.

Insanity Max 30

T25

Les Mills Combat

DDP Yoga

RKS Kettle Bell

All these DVD sets have work outs that are around the 30 min mark give or take a few minutes either side. So no real excuse not to do them. I own them all and I randomly pick a workout and go through it. It probably isn't the best way to do it, but it keeps it fresh and it keeps me active.

For me I have to do the workout as soon as I walk in the door, if I do anything else, I most likely wont get round to working out. The key is always what is more important to you, as you'll either find a way....or find an excuse my friend!

Also you are doing it in your own home, no one can see you or cares that you have to stop 15 times during the workout, all you have to worry about is finishing it...that is all...just get to the end.

When I worked nights at around 1am I would take my lunch break and spend 30 mins working out, using one of these DVDs on my laptop and then jump in the shower. It was a good way to stay awake and to use my time wisely!

There are loads of other DVD options, find something that works for you...that is the key.

Start small, these workouts require you to train 5 days a week for 30 mins a day on average, that can be pretty daunting, or you will start and then find it too hard. The key is you don't have to do the 5 days, you could start doing only 2 and just make your way through the workout routine till the end, it'll take you longer but you can easily build yourself up!

SoME people prefer to workout at the gym, and that is fine too. Just make sure the gym is pretty close to your work or home, otherwise it'll be too easy to find excuses. Also hire a personal trainer for a couple of sessions at the start and every so often, so you have someone to show you whats up and to keep tabs on your progress. I don't know about you lot, but if I am spending money...I make sure I get my moneys worth out of it! Just bare in mind most gyms make their profit from the memberships...THAT NEVER GET USED!

Some people prefer cardio, some prefer weights, some prefer to mix it up. All are fine, just get busy doing something, trust me you'll work it out as you go. People always want a master plan in place, and time and again in my life, I keep realising the best thing to do is just start, and stuff will work itself out and you'll figure it out. Just make the decision to start getting fit and make those small continuous steps towards it...THAT IS ALL!

My first post about being healthy in IT!

OK first things first, thank you Ariel for giving me the chance to blog about this topic.

Being in IT, we lead very static working lives, in general we just sit in an office chair and do not move!

That does not mean we are not busy, far from it! The issue is we are not physically active, and we don't burn much energy in comparison! Also lets be real, how many of your office spaces, has quick and easy access to junk food of some kind?!...I know my office does!

I am not here to rant on about healthy living and shoving it down your throat, but I will over my time blogging here, share my experiences and what has and hasn't worked for me over the years.

Since about 2008 or so I have worked in some form of Data Centre environment, and the one thing I have seen and experienced first hand, is people gaining weight and eating junk food. I worked shifts for nearly 8 years. That is 2x 12 hour day shifts and 2x 12 hours night shifts back to back, this kind of role is notorious for gaining weight.

This simply comes down to the fact that we are awake during the night, sometimes with not much to do and we eat crap during that time and we sleep awkward hours and our body clocks are just a right mess. It is very easy to fall into the spiral and it took a lot for me to keep on top of it.

I am not much of a gym goer, but I love martial arts and I train BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu), it is a thinking mans martial art and it keeps you humble, your ego gets checked at the door consistently, from a mental and physical point of view this is great and I will blog more about that in the future too. 

It is very easy for us to get stuck behind the desk all day, it happens to me loads. One thing I would recommend is a fitness tracker of some kind, they all have idle alerts. I have had a jawbone UP24 in the past (which I will review at a later date) and I am currently using this Mi Band. It is super cheap and on android (and I think Apple) you can set idle alerts and it logs your sleep patterns etc (So at this price is a no brainer!). I will review that later on too.

Having a fitness tracker was one of the main reasons I gave up shift work, as I really did see how bad my sleep was and it just wasn't healthy any-more. Having that visual representation really made me think about it long and hard.

As with many things in life, it is good to have an over arching goal, eg get this certification, get a new job, lose weight etc. These are big goals and going from zero to 100% is tough and this is where most people fall short. There is no reason to start big, you can do small consistent steps. 

As a society we want instant gratification and quick fixes, but lets be real that isn't how it works! Lets say you have gained weight, that wasn't instantaneous, it happened over a period of time, so it will take a period of time to correct it. 

The journey starts with a single step. It takes a strong person to admit that they have made errors and to have the will to fix it, half the time it is your own ego that stops you, because it is tough to admit you messed up, you became lazy, you let yourself go. 

But you know what?! The real people who you see at the gym, put in all that effort, they aren't the ones who will laugh at you, most of the time they will respect you because...they know how it feels, 

They have been there but they made the same decision as you, the people that may laugh are the ones that don't like the idea of you becoming better, because it will make them feel uncomfortable and remember you are improving yourself...FOR YOU..no one else....it is YOU AGAINST YOU.

You want that certification, do a bit of reading every day. You want that new job, work on aspects of it a few times a week. You want to lose weight, start by going for a walk and maybe have a bit more fruit.

Anyway I shall return later, with more in depth posts, I just wanted to get started!

If you want to have a look at my IT/Virtualization blog please feel free my vBlog

IT-related unhealthy myths or bad habits

I wanted to make a list of the unhealthy myths and bad habits that I have been guilty of in the past. If you are an IT professional and believe in any of these, I urge you to reconsider. I think this applies to any knowledge worker (person who primarily works behind a desk in front of a computer).

Please note i'm writing all of the below statements as I used to think them or heard them from someone else (these have OH for "overheard"). You are free to call me a dimwit on twitter. I now know all of them to be wrong, but I won't dive deep on explaining them (might be useful for future blog posts though). If you want to contribute any more let me know and I can put your name if you want to. I'll keep updating this post through time as I hear more.

Your energy

1. IT work is stressful so I burn calories from my intense work - I need to replenish them!
2. I need to keep my sugar level high for my brain to function and to keep focused.
3. I need energy, so let's make that coffee or tea extra sweet. Caffeine + sugar FTW!
4. I can't work until I eat/drink X.
5. I have an energy drink every morning to start my day (OH).

Snacking

1. I grabbed some mini chocolate candy bars to keep at my desk.
2. It's just a small pack of cookies for when I get a craving.
3. Granola bars are healthy right?
4. A little ice cream never killed anybody.
5. Let me go grab a soda.
6. I bought a box of donuts for the office.

Choice of food

1. You need to have a good, "stick to your ribs" meal so we can get to work.
2. It's just a small personal pizza and some bread sticks.
3. I ordered fish and chips because fish is healthy.
4. Let's just grab a combo and head back to the office. Large please.
5. Well I wasn't in the mood for X but the guys were ordering and I said why not.
6. If I eat there 6 times I get a free one.
7. It's double points if I order a large one.
8. I just need something quick so I can get back to work so let's grab whatever's fastest.
9. I will never eat raw fish (OH)
10. I'm not a cow to be eating grass (avoids salads, OH).
11. When you are a big boy like I am you need a big meal.

Schedule

1. Late night change deserves a late night meal (double dinner).
2. I'm working overnight shifts now, so I needed to change all my meal times.
3. No sleeping makes me hungry. I was literally dying of hunger.

Diet foods

1. I switched from normal soda to diet soda. About same test, but much healthier!
2. I'd rather save my calories for "good' meals so I do diet soda, diet sweetener...
3. It's OK cause it's sugar-free candy/chocolate/ice cream/etc.

Can't make time for 

1. The gym. Who has that much free time? I'm busy.
2. I can't cook. Plus it seems like it takes a lot of work and time.
3. I can only cook 3 things. I wish I could take cooking classes but i'm busy.
4. The guys got together to play sports, I told them I would wait for them at the bar.
5. I only play games where I don't need to sweat.

Alcohol and smoking

1. I need a drink to cope with this stress.
2. If I don't have at least a couple drinks I can't really rest well (OH).
3. I need a smoke, can't think straight (OH).
4. You've got to have a smoke after a meal.
5. I'm tired. I'll just have beers until I doze off in front of the TV.

Supplements

1. It's OK, I found these great supplements that take care of everything. (OH)
2. So I take this B vitamin which is better than coffee. It has like 1000% of the daily requirement. (OH)
3. These supplements are like eating all the fruits and vegetables you need daily. (OH)
4. I heard these supplements make you lose weight.

Behavior

1. (When food arrives and it's too much) Dig in! Don't let it go to waste!
2. You have to get the X here. It's huge and so bad for you but oh so yummy.
3. I can definitely eat a whole X. Wanna bet?
4. What do you mean you're only having one beer/drink?
5. (When bringing food for several people) I don't think anybody wants unsweetened tea/diet soda.
6. You say you are full, but trust me, you really have to have that dessert.
7. Are you saying you can't eat that yummy thing? I'll have it if you don't mind.
8. It was such a tiring/stressful day at work. Let's go out and eat a lot!
9. I'm bored. Let's go eat something.

IT administration as an excuse for not being healthy

This is the story of the life I led when I was an unhealthy IT admin. This could perfectly be the story of any other professional, but I think IT workers will relate to it..


I think it started with pizza, when I was in 5th grade, at the start of my teenager phase. I was a really thin kid, but I remember distinctly that was the first time that I ate not because I was hungry, but because I enjoyed how it tasted. I wanted more, and in these parties, I could have more. 

At some point later I started having a belly, and some time later, when someone asked how many slices of pizza I could eat, I was only too happy to state I would not be beat. I remember in my 10th grade, Pizza Hut had a promotion where you could eat as much as you wanted for a fixed price, and I was very proud of my record of 11 slices without feeling bad after it.

Fast forward to college. By now, it practically didn't matter what the food or drink was - i'm pretty sure I can give anyone a decent fight, including alcohol. Thank god I played hacky sack and table tennis practically non-stop and my budget was very limited - I still managed to remain somewhat thin and active, but that bravado was there.

Right after college, when I started working as a Network Operating Center engineer, was when I think my main problems started. It was the combination of

1) Higher spending power - most of people working in IT will accept that salaries start and grow relatively rapidly. Without many obligations, I could spend however and whenever.

2) High pressure nature of IT work - when you're starting in IT, you have to put in the hours, reading, doing, learning, if you are going to get any better fast. This shouldn't be an excuse, but it was part of it.

3) No concept of work-life balance, especially no inclusion of exercise into my routine. I basically viewed doing exercise as a social event, a consequence of meeting friends with which I played a sport.

4) Acceptance of a myth - that I deserved a "good meal" because I worked long hours, or early, or late, or for lunch, or when hanging out after work. The main problem here was a "good meal" was not a healthy meal.

5) Acceptance of another food related myth - that quiet time with my girlfriend/family/friends involved consuming more "good meals".

6) Travelling on the company's budget. My first work related trip was to Belgium, which is a mecca of beer and chocolate, and where I ate all my meals in a very nice hotel. The idea that I had to try everything in order to know and be an informed "man of the world" added to all my bad habits.

The main problem during these years was that I didn't pay attention to the signs. I steadily gained weight; I steadily ate more and more, until I gained a reputation as an "eater". I switched jobs into a coordinator/manager of end user services for a larger company, and being a manager gave me more income and more opportunities to eat socially. The 3 man IT office was synonymous with daily large pizza orders or big fast food combos for everyone at lunch. Celebrations were each at "fancier" restaurants and a larger bill became the norm. I fell into the trap of only drinking diet coke since I would "rather eat the calories than drink them".

When I moved into a systems engineering role, I started working from home. Working from home is a blessing and a curse. You save money and time from the daily commute, you have less stress and it's very convenient in many ways. The negatives are also many, but they are debatable; I'll explore them further in a dedicated post.

One thing I quickly realized when I began working from home was that I needed to figure out what I was going to eat since I no longer had the advantage of going out with co-workers or having someone else with which to think about lunch. What did i turn to? Being the lazy "busy" IT worker I was, I turned to the convenient things: cereal, sandwiches, and lots and lots of pizza, whether from a shop in the corner or bought frozen in bulk. 

By this time I had gone from 140 to 200 pounds. Travelling internationally and frequently to foodie cities such as Dallas and being introduced to barbecue, sweet tea, monster burgers and all sorts of deliciousness that were new to me played right into the "man of the world" mindset. Since the "eater" label pleased me, I made sure that it stuck with me with those that met me in my travels.

I moved to Colorado around this time as well. Colorado is also a beer and food mecca. Colorado portions can be huge. The same bad habits I had traveled with me. When I went to get my ID, my weight was 220 pounds.

Around this time we got a small office, around 30 people. It had a little kitchen room which was kept stocked with all kinds of snacks. Another food that I'm a sucker for is chocolate bars. I easily ate two small chocolates (twix, snickers, especially Reese's peanut butter cups) every time I passed through it. Add having lunch with the co-workers and the portions, plus a complete lack of exercise.

I had my first yellow alarm while living in Colorado. I went to the doctor for my yearly checkup and was informed i was pre-diabetic. I didn't give it much thought, but heeded my wife's advice to eat out less, and started going home for lunch. This helped since home cooked meals tend to be much healthier - my wife was at home at the time and she is a great cook, who found ways of making recipes healthier. I also retook my table tennis training and this helped me lose some pounds. However, I still kept doing everything else as I had - going out, drinking with friends, chocolates, etc.

Now comes the final chapter before being diagnosed. I moved to Brooklyn and my wife started working. I continued working from home and faced getting lunch on my own, but living in new york means you have pedestrian access to food. Sandwich shop in the corner, pizza/pasta place a little farther away, specialty shops selling all sorts of stuff. Again, the "man of the world" mindset combined with a foodie city like NYC triggered a "i have to try it all" mission in my head.

Somehow, I was losing weight (people with diabetes type 2 know this is not a good sign). I was eating large sandwiches, or would pick up appetizer, pasta, and a couple slices to go, everyday for lunch. I had discovered Arizona iced teas in Colorado and found even more variety in new york - i would have a couple large cans a day. I was having a big bowl of sugary cereal in the morning and at night, or eggs and bacon fit for a family. I was eating out, trying every cheesecake and doughnut I encountered, almost every night. Meeting new people had me drinking socially - 5 beers an outing was easily the average. And yet, my weight had gone down. I (stupidly) believed this was due to the fact that I had sold my car and was now walking more - like if walking a block spent any calories.

VMworld 2014 was my first big tech conference. Just before that, my best friend was graduating in Boston. I took PTO for 10 days or so (which I had a lot of since I almost never spend it). Here we go - celebration, new city, have to try every lobster roll, Boston cream pie, Sam Adams beer out there. My friend remarked to me that he could not believe I was losing weight with how I ate - another ignored alarm.

VMworld, like everything in life, can be very unhealthy, especially if you go with my mindset. There are opportunities to eat and drink all week. I don't think I've really been drunk in the last few years, but I did drink a lot - that point where you can walk anywhere but know better than to drive. Big breakfast, eat all the lunch sandwich, big cookies and coffee in the afternoon, beer and big meals at night.

My next post will detail my doctor visit where I learned i was now a diabetic, but I wanted to paint as truthful a picture of who I was that led me there. Now I think my result was an amplification of my personality's bad habits and lack of healthy living knowledge.


Reach out to me on twitter if you want to discuss or help me add to any of the things I've described. My hope is that if you feel identified with anything on this post, I will help you correct your habits before you get a life-changing condition. I'll try to post the results and what i've learned since soon.

Why IT admin health?

Hi! My name is Ariel Sanchez Mora, and at age 33, I was diagnosed with diabetes type 2, also called "adult on-set" diabetes. This type of diabetes is more a result of an unhealthy lifestyle than type 1, which is mostly determined by your genes.

I've learned a lot since then - I knew about diabetes enough that a very real fear of death struck me, so I took it very seriously and I am now a "controlled" patient. I'm really thankful since I've had excellent support from my wife, family and friends, and also, because diabetes type 2 is a very manageable condition as long as there's willpower. However, the thing that I keep thinking about is how easy it was to avoid this - if only I had paid more attention, had a different attitude, and made adjustments to my lifestyle.

I've also had the privilege of talking about health with other adults as a result of my condition, especially my co-workers and others in the IT community. I've tried sharing what I have learned, because I see some of the same mistakes I did - but there is only so much you can communicate in a one-to-one conversation.

I've decided to start this blog as a way of gathering and sharing all the information I've learned. The topics I'll talk about will definitely apply to diabetes type 2, but my objective is to promote a healthier lifestyle in general. Hopefully this blog will help at least one other person, or grow into a platform for many to contribute their own stories and thus will impact many lives positively.

If you would like to discuss more, contribute, or just think of a topic you would like me to add, contact me through twitter @arielsanchezmor