well, if THAT kind of thing is waiting back home, that is a different - yet hard - exercise on its own
I think a huge, huge part of the problem is the pressure people feel to do at least 30/40/60 minutes of this and that, because science says so.
For various reasons, someone can’t do 30 minutes. If we remove stigma from doing whatever someone can do, things will be so much better for everyone. (go included, btw, but I digress)
That’s my problem with overachievers everywhere “I did X, so anyone who can’t is full of excuses etc.” It’s so much kinder to say “I did X, but you can do whatever feels right”.
I know so many people overwhelmed by all those online articles stating with absolute certainty that less than 30 minutes 3 times a week does nothing for improving our health. Well, if someone can absolutely only do 10 minutes once a week, I’ll cheer them. And certainly not burden them with “good intentions shaming” of how they can do more than that. And I won’t scrutinize if they really only can do 10 minutes once a week. That’s hidden evil overachieverism.
Unless it’s study history. People should really do more of that.
Well, once they say that you can just avoid their overblown idea that somehow every day is the same and everyone’s schedule and obligations are the same and go for people that cater to the obvious target group of “look pal, I’ve never done any exercise, but I’d like to. I am a beginner, where do I start? Please tell me how I change the usual hardcore stuff to entry level?”
Here is one such very useful channel:
I cannot do many pushups due to my weight and I do not want to strain my wrists too much, so his solutions help. It is better to do more repetitions from an easier variation than try for the hardcore ones, fail and stop doing any sets at all.
Most people disregard the beginner and the “casuals” and I’ve never understood why.
A good idea which I follow nowadays is when I have a 20+ minute video to watch, instead of sitting down and watch it, I do some light exercises while watching it. I was going to spend the time in that video either way, so why not just multitask a bit with sets of things I know I can do?
It is a start. The forming of a good habit rarely goes from zero to hero.
E.g. Few people cut smoking immediately. Most do it gradually.
Similarly, few people can start with 30 minutes of bicycle (even if you have the leg strength, most people forget the pain in the arms and buttocks) or 30 minutes of jogging or a 20 minute program of intense no-rest-in-between program.
It is better to go at your own pace first, get into the habit of just getting out of the house, even for a little bit, or getting into a small exercise program for 10 minutes per two days and eventually it will either grow on you or you will change the activity to fit what you like.
I think that is a far more normal and more long-term effective idea.
How many people say “I’ll do quit smoking starting from Monday!” and relapse very soon?
Isn’t it far easier to say “I’ll start reducing smoking by one cigarette each week” and far more effective in the long run?
I wish more people liberated their inner dancer in the safety of their home.
The study found that sugary drink taxes only reduce purchasing if price tags at stores mention that consumers are paying that tax when they buy the drink.
…
The findings suggest that price tags should mention the tax, but not the amount, because consumers tend to overestimate how much the tax is, Donnelly said. If they know the true size of the tax, they are more willing to pay it.
More effective than taxes: labels.
My little asterix tells me that states were usually more interested in collecting taxes as in giving information…
Capitalism is killing the planet – it’s time to stop buying into our own destruction
That was a good article and since it is pandering to my own prejudice since I always disliked the propaganda of supposedly me being responsible for the environment while factories and corporations dump millions of waste every minute. The whole notion is preposterous, so since this article re-inforces that idea I had to be extra careful in reading it.
So, here is my problem with these articles. They are “observational” calling upon facts and figures and sensational history and nature analogies and the target is to “awake” the reader to the reality via a mixture of fear and call to urgency for the future.
However they lack the substance of providing the reader with something actionable.
I think that most of us here could easily write articles like that. Most citizens too. What we cannot do is figure out a solution and what should be done about the issue, which is, arguably, the important part.
Even more unfortunate, you cannot really pinpoint one end of this socio-economic loop we live in and say “this is to blame, fix this and we will be fine”. The whole is based, from the beginning, on some very erroneous principles, ergo the issues flow from top to bottom.
Do factories exists because we are buying? Or do we buy because they exist?
This is not an easy cycle to break.
Also, does the economy exist because we consume? Or do we consume because if we do not the economy will crash, taking us along with it?
Jokingly one of our greatest, imho, comedians, had said in one of his monologues that the toy industry is in trouble. Kids do not buy toys anymore and thus the toy factory closes and fires the father of the kid that didn’t buy the toys. He had a very good point there.
This is a prime example of this issue and the video is on just clothes, but, of course it is applicable to a wide variety of things (hello iPhones ):
On this exact subject I used to joke with my friends that if people bought clothes like I do, then we would have been back to wearing togas, since no factory or shop could ever be sustained by a society of reticent consumers like me.
I kid you not, I am still using some clothes I bought in the 90ies and it is 2021, not to mention things like my childhood bicycle which had it welded when it broke in half, instead of thrown away. Someone had to steal it, for me to go and buy a new one.
Our current economy is NOT sustainable if somehow the world is filled with stingy tightwads like me, as the article seems to fantasize. Factories would close, millions of jobs would be lost (or even worse, outsourced to even worse/cheaper labour places) and another problem would have been created.
One could even go as far as saying that me not consuming is actually a leeching behaviour, since I rely on other people spending money endlessly to sustain the society I live in (the slogans of the dystopian anime “Ergo Proxy” comes to mind)
So, what IS needed is a total reconstruction of our societies that is so insanely radical, that is simply cannot be done and deep down people that worry about such issues know it. That is why they are panicing, I’d guess.
It is like trying to fix your car engine, while it is moving … it cannot be done.
The engine has to break down first. Then you might fix it.
Or maybe there won’t be any more spare parts any more and you will have to go back to not having a car
WTF.
Hehe seems the next James Bond movie will run on a much smaller budget.
Remember a couple months ago in the summer when we were burning and firefighters were heroes?..
News247.gr: Επεισόδια στην Κηφισίας: Αστυνομικοί έριξαν χημικά και νερό στους πυροσβέστες.
Well, it’s winter now.
Makes me think of these water fight games. We have that as tradition here in spring times (well not especially between firefighter and gouvernement )
Well, it really is a bit like school teachers going on strike on Christmas. After all these years of this happening again and again, one must wonder when will they learn some timing?
Did you notice that Covid thing they are asking though? I like how they wrote their demands in jargon-speak.
For those who cannot speak Greek, one of the demands was literally saying:
“We want the strenthening of the human resources for the protection from Covid with measures of prevention and free tests instead of the adoption of punitive ideas and measures”.
Which, translated from jargon-speak means:
“we do not want to get vaccinated and we do not want to be punished for it by getting suspended or fired, so we want free tests while the rest of the population is not getting free tests anymore”
Yay!
It’s not like those people met to discuss something important or anything.
Like the king Louis in his diary “Nothing special” all the days before the revolution
Wonder what she said about it. That the US president is contributing too much to the greenhouse effect?