Requiem for a gamer

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Sorry about your loss. 40 is too young.

A few things I do to try to keep in shape while gaming:

While waiting in game lobbies or waiting for everyone to group up for missions, etc. :

- Get on the ground and do as many pushups as you can in 2 minutes. If you do that everytime you wait for gaming to resume, you might end up doing 200 pushups in a gaming session.

- Stand up out of your chair and do some basic stretches, toe touches, pull your arms behind your back, calf stretches, etc.

- Stand up and do some squats with no weight. Just up and down 15-20 times and sit back down to game. You will be surprised at how sore this will make you the first few days.

- Or just go buy some 20-50lb dumbells from your local second hand sports store. They will be cheap and you can do a variety of exercises from your desk/gaming area while you are idle.

All of these things are small steps, but will help keep you in a little bit better shape than you would've been just sitting there.

P.S. Skip the soda, buy some Vitamin Water instead. Tastes good, less calories per serving and packed full of vitamins.

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This is pretty much what I started doing about a year ago, although I still drink soda or plain water instead of vitamin water or other fancy stuff. I have no weight issue, except being underweight (6'4", 140lbs), so a few extra calories don't worry me.

Sorry to hear about your friend.

You can be overweight and still have a healthy heart- I think the cardio is more important than the diet, although "both" is really a better answer. (I am not a doctor, etc.)

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So how do you know who to trust? Look at independent testing performed by organizations such as the FDA. They have done extensive scientific testing on Aspartame (Diet Coke), and there's no evidence that it causes the health problems listed.

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I agree with much of what you say, however I do feel the need to comment on this one.

I work for a drug information company and the FDA has indeed issued warnings concerning aspartame and phenylalanine with regard to a specific (rare) genetic condition and for pregnant women who are not metabolizing phenylalanine well, as high concentrations of phenylalanine can indeed cause brain damage. Again, that's from the FDA labeling, not from hysteria sites.

My wife can't drink anything with aspartame in it because it hits her stomach hard (IBS). It leaves her with a strong burning sensation in her gut -- and this was true before any of the anti-aspartame stuff came out. She just knew she couldn't drink anything with NutriSweet, etc., in it because it always bothered her stomach.

This is a hard one because the amino acid phenylalanine is important; a defiency can lead to adverse effects. But an unusually high amount can lead to toxicity and a different set of adverse effects. However, this is related primarily to pregnancy and a rare genetic disorder, not to general consumption. For most folks, it doesn't seem to be an issue.

Honestly, I avoid artificial sweeteners. Sugar (in moderation) is healthier and safer. Of course, moderation is a hard thing for some folks. Luckily, I'm not much of a sweet eater. Salt on the other hand...

To the OP: My condolences for your loss.

If he frequented Author's Avenue at Gencon, I might actually have met him. I helped my brother at his booth for three years (we missed last year because of budget).

The internet and gaming communities have introduced and interesting dynamic. On a Freedom Force fan forum I'm a part of, we've lost a couple of members over the last year. It comes as a great shock, yet when one stops to think about it, I've never actually met them face-to-face, just exchanged messages on a forum. But it still hits you in the gut just the same.

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I work for a drug information company and the FDA has indeed issued warnings concerning aspartame and phenylalanine with regard to a specific (rare) genetic condition and for pregnant women who are not metabolizing phenylalanine well, as high concentrations of phenylalanine can indeed cause brain damage. Again, that's from the FDA labeling, not from hysteria sites.

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You're right, there are some people who can't handle Aspartame because of a genetic condition called phenylketonuria. Most children are screened for it within a day of being born, though, and since phenylalanine is naturally occurring in food, it's unlikely that someone would be unaffected until some random day they drank a Diet Coke. In short, if you have it, you would highly likely known you had it already. The condition has been known since 1934, and its effects on phenylketoneurics has been known since day one of the development of diet sodas that use Aspartame.

Nevertheless, it is true that phenylketoneurics shouldn't consume Aspartame, and I believe that all foods (including Diet Coke) contain warning labels to that effect. This is an exception, though, due to an abnormal condition. It does not affect people without that condition, nor does it cause the condition (which is, as mentioned, genetic).

I just don't like it when stuff like this is misrepresented as being inherently dangerous. Aspartame is perfectly safe to folks who don't have that particular condition.

My deepest condolences to you, and to your friend's family.

I'll add my voice to the chorus about being an overweight gamer (as is my husband - I'm 35, he's 44). However, last year we both went on doctor-monitored restricted diets and managed to lose a great deal of weight (and then put it back on due to laziness on our parts, admittedly).

I WISH I could remember which LiveJournal friend of mine has some geek-rig hooked up to his/her computer that you power your computer by pedaling like a bike - if you stop pedaling, your computer powers down.

EDIT: Found it. http://www.gamercize.net/pcsport.htm (And the original LJ post is here).

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

first, condolences on your friend. One thing my workplace did was a fitness "challenge" where they gave you pedometers and had you write down how many fruits and veggies you ate. It was good because generally you sit for 8-10 hours while working, but getting in 10k plus steps a day and recording it for trivial prizes was fun. of course, as gamers, we take to that, because getting points recorded is part of our nature anyhow...i kept wanting to enter my initials after a particularly good week :P

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

My sympathies. I know the concern as well.

I still want to find a way to easily hook up the Wii controller and/or dance pad to CoH to launch attacks. Imagine, actually stomping your foot to do a foot stomp...

Wouldn't last for more than a mission or two myself doing it, but it'd be a great way to play and exercise at the same time.