Nick Bradbury

Ten Tips for Fatbloggers

I found out about the fatblogger movement through Jason Calacanis's blog a while ago, and figured I'd finally join the fray.

Eight years ago I weighed in at a whopping 225 pounds, but I dropped 65 pounds after I became a father (after all, I wanted to be able to keep up with the little demons).  My weight has fluctuated a little since then, but overall I've kept it off, and I sure feel better (a lot better) than I did when I was that fat dude at the computer surrounded by pizza boxes.

So, here I go with ten tips for fatbloggers, based on lessons I've learned and mistakes I've made since deciding to become a healthy geek:

1. Do strength training.  Too many people stick with cardio and never touch the weights.  Yes, you do need cardio - after all, it burns calories and exercises your heart.  But strength training raises your basal metabolism, enabling your body to burn more calories every minute of every day.  It also strengthens your bones, decreases your blood pressure, and makes you look better as well.
2. Skip the energy bars.  Take a look at the label on your favorite energy bar, then compare it to the label on your favorite candy bar.  Look similar?  That's because many so-called "energy bars" amount to little more than candy bars with added protein.  Of course, a post-workout snack is essential, but you'd do better eating something like a chicken sandwich instead of grabbing a bar.
3. Forget perfection.  Every gym has them: those perfect-body specimens that people either envy or drool over.  But unless you're planning to be on the cover of some fitness magazine, don't emulate these people.  They spend way too much time exercising, and often have unhealthy eating disorders.  Everyone wants to look good, but if your goal is to feel good as well, forget trying to get a perfect body and focus on getting a better body instead.
4. Try yoga.  Some guys think yoga isn't a "manly" way to exercise, and I have to confess I used to think that, too.  But I tried yoga after a friend recommended it to me, and it kicked my butt.  Yoga is a great way to build strength, increase flexibility and improve your balance.  And it also helps calm your mind - perfect after a hard day of work.
5. Join a group.  Have a tough time committing to regular exercise?  Try joining a group, like a local running or biking club.  I joined a marathon training group, and our regular runs helped keep me on track and made me less prone to unhealthy eating and drinking (ever try to go on a long run after a night on the town?  not fun.)
6. Exercise with your kids.  This one is hard for me, because I work at home and use exercise as a way to get out of the house.  But it's important for your kids to see you being healthy, so if possible, let them exercise with you - or use them as exercise props.  When my kids were younger, I'd do bicep curls with them and let them sit on my back while I did push-ups.  They thought it was great fun, and it was also a great workout for me.
7. Don't forget the core.  Lifting weights and pounding the treadmill is a good start, but don't forget to exercise your core.  Strong core muscles improve your posture, and can help prevent back pain.  If you're a runner, regularly doing core exercises will improve your form and make you less prone to injury due to fatigue.
8. Work with a trainer.  Hiring a personal trainer may seem like a yuppie indulgence, but if you're new to exercise, it's worth investing in several sessions with a trainer just to learn the correct form for various exercises.   Improper form often leads to injury, which defeats the purpose of working out in the first place.  Plus, a trainer can teach you all sorts of exercises you've never heard of.
9. Always warm up.  If you're pushed for time, you're probably tempted to jump right into your workout without warming up.  Don't do it!  Your muscles won't be ready for the hard stuff unless you first spend a few minutes stretching or doing light exercise. 
10. Take a break.  If you've been exercising regularly for a long time and find your motivation lagging, there's nothing wrong with taking a few weeks off.  Exercise isn't supposed to be an addiction - it's supposed to be a fun way to look and feel better.   If it stops being fun, it won't kill you to give it up for a little while.  You may even find that you perform better when you return.
11. Bonus tip: give yourself an excuse to indulge (as long as you do it infrequently).  I usually eat healthy and take care of myself when I'm at home, but I give it up when I travel.  Whenever I visit my co-workers at NewsGator, I eat bad hotel food and participate in four-hour-long "happy hours" while I'm there.  When I return home, it's back to being healthy again.  In some weird way, I find it easier to eat healthy when I know I can indulge every now and then.

Hulk Foot

The other day I was having a great run through my neighborhood - I got into "the zone" right away and stayed there.  Unfortunately, I zoned out so much that I didn't notice a chunk of rock in the road until I stepped on it, causing my foot to twist so hard that the outside of my ankle hit the road.

By the time I limped home, my ankle had swollen up like a gluttonous tick, and my foot had become a rainbow of zombie-like green and purple shades.  Upon seeing my colorful new injury, my kids named me "Hulk Foot."

I had it examined the next day, and the doctor kept saying "uh-oh" as he pressed various places on my ankle.  Here's a note to any physician reading this post: don't ever say "uh-oh" when you're examining someone.  Doing so makes the patient sweat more than necessary.

Anyway, long story short, I have a high ankle sprain, which apparently is much worse that a "normal" sprain.  Looks like I won't be running for several weeks!

Perpetual Hosting

Dave Winer writes about "perpetual hosting" in this BBC article:

"I'd...like to be able to pay a web company, such as Amazon or Google, a one-time flat fee to host my content in perpetuity."

This is something I've thought a lot about, too.  I'd like this blog to outlive me so that when my kids have grown up, they'll be able to read my old posts to find out more about me.  Maybe they'd enjoy some of my goofy stories.  Or perhaps they'd appreciate forward-looking technical posts like this one.  And I'm sure they'd like to read about themselves. 

Right now, though, I have no guarantee that this can happen.  How can I be sure that what I write today can still be read by my children many years from now?

Rush for the Kids

Some readers know that I'm a Rush fan, so much so that I even took my five-year-old son to see them a few years back. They're one of the few rock bands I enjoy that I can share with my kids, and I've been waiting for them to tour again so I could take my entire family to see them.

So when I found out that they were touring this summer, I grabbed tickets for the four of us. This will be my daughter's first real rock concert, and knowing her, she's going to love it (she already loves YYZ).

And get this: earlier today I found out that I won the "Rush Snakes and Arrows Meet and Greet Contest" - which means that my kids will meet the band before the show.

Little Demons

A couple months ago, my brother asked me if I'd be willing to sponsor a little league baseball team that he coached. I agreed to do it, provided that he made sure "FeedDemon" was written on their jerseys.

Despite some initial concern about parents complaining that their kid was wearing a shirt with the word "demon" on it, he eventually made it happen :)

Top 40?

I turned 40 today.

When I was a kid, 40 seemed so old. I don't think that 40 is old anymore (far from it), but I'm surprised to find that turning 40 has led me to think about how I want to grow old.

That's not easy to think about - but it is easy to think about how I don't want to grow old.

A few weeks ago I attended a ritzy charity event, and I swear half the people there - both men and women - had ridiculous stretched faces. They might as well had worn badges that said, "I paid a plastic surgeon a ton of money to look this silly." I sure as hell don't want to get old like that.

I also run into people who use age as an excuse not to try something new, and I don't want to get old like that, either. I'm inspired by folks older than me who continue to move forward and challenge themselves. Dave Winer, for example, keeps coming up with great ideas despite being in an industry over-populated with young whipper-snappers.

And right now I'm getting a kick out of the fact that Rush - whose members are all in their mid-fifties - just put out one of the best albums of their careers (side note: if you're a Rush fan and don't agree that it's a great album, then you need to listen to it a few more times). I love that the very last line on the album is "We could be down and gone, but we hold on." Not exactly subtle, but still a great closing line.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this decade - I plan for it to be my favorite one so far :)

Purple Carnivore

Out of the blue this morning, my seven-year-old son said to me, "Dad, I watched Barney on TV, and Barney ate one of the kids."  Then he laughed himself silly.

I'm so proud of him right now :)

Country Music Half Marathon

Tomorrow morning I'll be sweating away with thousands of other stampeding runners in the Country Music Half Marathon here in Nashville.

Truth is, I wish I was running the full marathon - I feel like I've got the energy for it, but my iliotibial band won't cooperate. But I'm still excited to be able to do the half marathon because 18 months ago I couldn't walk without getting dizzy.

I'll update this post when I return from the run - but don't expect an impressive chip time, because I'm not :) I'm simply running to make it to the finish line this time.

Update: As expected, my time was less than stellar (2:09:53), but it was a great run. Close to 30,000 fellow runners took over downtown Nashville, including my friends at the InnerStrength Marathon Group who ran with me and cheered at the end.

Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut has died at the age of 84. Vonnegut's blend of dark humor and moral vision made his novels among my favorites. Discovering Vonnegut's work was like finding a kindrid spirit, and I'm sad to see him go. (Via Brent Simmons).

Stuck in Austin

Apologies to friends, co-workers and customers waiting for an email reply from me. I've been at SXSW for the past few days, and I've let my inbox grow dangerously large while I've been here.

And due to bad weather, I'm now stuck in Austin's airport - probably for the night. My laptop is down to 12% power, and I can't recharge it 'cos I put the power cord in my stowed luggage (d'oh).

Long story short: it may be a day or two before you hear back from me.