How often should you weigh yourself if you are trying to reach some health goal? Some recent studies (2016, 2015) have shown that people who practice daily weigh-ins are more likely to stay at a healthy weight then those who don't. However some health experts say that daily weigh-ins are too prone to random fluctuations…
Category: Health
Lessons from Cheating and Eating: Carbs Don’t Satisfy
My cheat days are primarily about staying healthy and enjoying the good stuff at the same time. But I'm also learning lots of neat stuff about my body. Yesterday, I was eating A LOT. A giant plate of ricotta-stuffed french toast with a half dozen slices of bacon. A pork bahn mi sandwich and an…
Health Update August 2016: Eating Well and Always Moving
Not many significant changes since my last major post about my health in March. Still doing the same stuff I was doing back then, including a low-sugar, low-carb, high protein and veggie diet, burning about 2,600 calories a day in activities, and cheating once a week. The stats above show that over the year, I've…
Which is more effective for weight loss: diet or exercise?
An interesting video from Vox summarizing scientific research on the efficacy of exercise versus diet with relation to weight loss. TLDR; several research studies conclude that a healthy diet is a better strategy for losing and keeping off weight. Exercise is good for your health overall, but is only a small portion of your overall…
Health Tips: My Five Don’ts for Healthier Living
A lot of diet and health tips focus on the things you should be doing to lose weight or be in better shape. Join a gym. Drink this breakfast shake every morning. Follow this G75-Z regime for 9 weeks. There's certainly good sense in a lot of that advice. But I also think it's possible…
March 2016 Health Check: Carb Control, Keeping Active, Crushing Weight Goal!
March so far has been a great month health-wise. I've been keeping active, staying lean, and eating clean. Here's my current health activities and progress: Exercise: I'm still running at least 2 miles 3-4 times a week and dancing about 5 days a week (house, lindy hop). I wish I had time for more biking! I've actually managed to do…
My 10 Second Handstand Challenge
For the month of February, I decided to challenge myself to be able to hold a handstand for 10 seconds. I was inspired by this instructional video by Bay Area dancer Onisha that she posted at the end of January. You can see how I did in the video below. Enjoy! Now I'm thinking…
Making Good Food Choices and Anticipated “Fullness”
I've been thinking a lot about this article by neuroscientist Michael Graziano on the psychology of eating and "feeling full." There's some great points in there about the how the experience of "fullness" is a psychological state that has a complex set of triggers and associations. One thing he doesn't address is the anticipation of fullness when you…
Health-check: Feeling Fantastic and Fit in my Forties
This morning, I woke up early, did a 2.5 mile run, took a cold shower, and felt really great. I realized that, health-wise, I'm the best "me" that I can be. It's a great feeling, one that I can't remember the last time I experienced. The food and diet choices I'm making are smart ones, including cutting…
Rik’s 2015 Year in Pictures
Here's a quick pictorial rundown of 2015. It's a good reminder to me of what a remarkable year it has been! Dancing and Music This has been a great year for dance. I did a lot of house dancing in 2015, including organizing semi-regular practice sessions in the Golden Gate Park , taking classes with…