Opinion GameMaker is fattening

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Mobie

Guest
I used to go outside, get exercise, get sunshine...now all I do is sit at my table, eat, and write games.
 
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That happened to me once I decided to take my FPS seriously, and it got worse after a bad breakup. I would sit at my PC from dusk until dawn, just coding away, thinking about how great my game can be, and after the breakup I also ended up drowning myself in alcohol and eating enormous portions of fast food. I quickly was nearing 300 pounds, and with that, the constant sitting eventually caused hip problems that made it hard to stand up and walk at times, which made me even more prone to just sitting there and programming away. Then I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself, dropped all the weight, and started putting on muscle again.

Sometimes when I realize I've been coding straight for several hours, I get up, stretch, and go hit the weights. I can't go back to the old lifestyle of just sitting there all night. It's great because I use the exercise time (especially while running) to think about how to solve a problem or what aspect to model next, as opposed to merely pondering things whilst staring blankly at a YouTube video, munching on a bag of chips. I feel great and I get hyped to go back and work, mentally and physically refreshed, instead of putting off development for another half hour to gobble down some pizza and wings, realizing I've hardly gotten any work done all night.

GameMaker is a lot of fun to use, but like anything else, needs to be kept in moderation. Granted, a game on a scale such as mine does require more time invested per day to not stretch out the years (hah) but it's important to stay healthy!
 
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MishMash

Guest
I firmly believe that exercise actually makes you more efficient. Similar to what BR said, its a great way of flushing your mind and the change of scene can help you get motivated :)! I've personally gotten addicted to cycling in the last 8 months, and it's definitely improved my mental health. Before I exercised regularly, I found i'd just have days upon days of not achieving much, feeling tired and unmotivated, whereas now, I feel more energised. One thing that is really important to me is that having fitness goals also gives me something else to work towards. It can get you down if you have a bad week of game dev, feeling like you haven't achieved much, however if you can achieve something in another aspect of your life, it can get rid of that lingering feeling of failure.
I do around 8-10 hours of high intensity exercise a week (burning around 700-800 calories an hour), however even just doing 3 hours a week will do the trick (any less and it will make the exercise feel like a chore, you want to actively find something you enjoy doing and look forward to it, or even have a variety of physical activities/sports to play). Would strongly recommend finding something to do outside of game dev, whether its gym, a sport, cardio exercise like running, an activity like rock climbing, martial arts etc; There's loads out there that can give you different challenges and also keep you fit :)!

(This message isn't specifically directed at OP but anyone reading who might be on a downward trajectory)
 

woodsmoke

Member
Nah I think you lazy. Develop more discipline! Going out for a nice little jog takes you only 30min. It gets blood circulating into every tiny corner energizing your body and mind. Try doing it every second day or so. Don't forget to drink a glass of water before and start slow :]
 
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DeathandGrim

Guest
I agree. If I'm not working i'm usually at home trying to finish up my fighting game engine
 

hogwater

Member
Not being fat is mostly diet (meaning the sum total of what you eat, not "a diet"). Drink mineral water and eat salads. You can sit on your ass all day and you won't get fat.
 
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MishMash

Guest
Not being fat is mostly diet (meaning the sum total of what you eat, not "a diet"). Drink mineral water and eat salads. You can sit on your ass all day and you won't get fat.
I disagree with this sentiment because whilst fundamentally, all that matters is calories in vs calories out, for some people changing a diet is unsustainable. You often here the term "I'm going to go on a diet", which means that for a period of time, you'll adjust your diet in an effort to lose weight, and this might work, however either you will break before then because you get bored of the food, or feel unsatisfied or after "completing" the diet, you will go back to what you did before and progressively gain weight once again.

The more effective approach is about creating a sustainable lifestyle change (whatever that change might be). For me personally, this had to be a higher volume of exercise, because eating less and having healthier foods just wasn't sustainable over long periods of time, simply because it made me feel lethargic and removed the joy from eating :p. Though it does depend on the person, some people don't really care that much for eating and do it because they have to, but those people are rarely overweight in the first place. That said, I think the ideal solution does lies somewhere in the middle, as yeah, it's hard to lose weight at any speed without changing diet, however combining in more exercise can speed up the process. I think exercise is essential in maintaining weight if you plan on stopping a diet.
 
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ollie_r

Guest
Another cycling fan here! I live in a pretty rural area with lots of fields, forests and a lake. During summer I sometimes jump in for a swim too. I also go climbing (bouldering) once a week, which is also great for the social aspect. Just try to find something that's fun for you. Bring your sketchbook and some issues or ideas for your game to think about while doing it. I love to sit by the lake and scribble down the thoughts I had and maybe doodle a bit. It gets me really motivated. Not thinking about it as "exercise" but as "thinking time" helped me not to procastinate on it when I first got started.
 
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FireflyX91

Guest
I set a personal limit of 2 hours per day to working on my game and web projects. I do remember a time when I would rarely leave the house and survived from takeaways and alcohol. I did this for the best part of a year with nothing but computers for company. Every time I feel lazy the memory of how bad I felt back then motivates me to get up and do something rather than staring at a screen all day.
 
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FROGANUS

Guest
Its whatever works for you. Lots of good suggestions here! I say keep it simple, have fun, and turn it into a ritual. If youve been gamemakin, the mental refresh will immediately be worth it.

Me, i try to jog a few or a couple times a week, if i keep my shoes ready i can usually strap em on knowing ill soon find my way out the door. I enjoy exploring the neighborhood its rewarding to find cool places.
 
Pizza seems to be fattening. Ever read the nutritional information? Eating the whole thing is 2 days worth of salt and 2 days worth of saturated fat in a day's worth of calories.
 

Ihato

Member
Sounds like a good problem to have! Most people are overwhelmed by programming, don't know where to start (what to build) and often procrastinate a lot of time because of these two.
 
This must be quite a bomb there waiting to hit the GameMaker world ... :eek:
Indeed, I hope it is!

Sounds like a good problem to have! Most people are overwhelmed by programming, don't know where to start (what to build) and often procrastinate a lot of time because of these two.
Being unhealthy and overweight is not something I would call a good problem, despite the programming coming with it! :p
 
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Lonewolff

Guest
No GameMaker will not make you fat. Only your lifestyle can do that.

I haven't read the box, but I am sure GameMaker has contained no calories for quite some time now.
 
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Wraithious

Guest
Not being fat is mostly diet (meaning the sum total of what you eat, not "a diet"). Drink mineral water and eat salads. You can sit on your ass all day and you won't get fat.
Yep, altho diets are mostly fads that invole eating certain foods and staying away from others, but the actual truth about weight control is 4 things, when you eat, how much you eat, how many times a day you eat and how you put what you eat to work.

First off the human stomach is an amazing thing in that it can digest allmost anything due to the strong acids it produces, and secondly and more importantly it can grow and shrink faster than any other organ in your body including your skin.
Metabolism- this wonderfull ballance of chemical reactions controlls many aspects of weight related conditions and learning to control it gives permanent changes in what your body does with what you put in it. So after alot of research I came up with a weight control system that not only works, but is permanent and you can eat most anything you want. But it's not an instantaneous 'quick fix' it's a gradual, natural and permanent change.
1. Take a vitamin every day, it doesnt matter what you eat but your body needs vitamins to do things with the food you eat.
2. Shrink your stomach: cut your food portion size in half, if you eat 2 double cheeseburgers in one sitting just eat 1, wait 1 digestion period (about 1.5 -2 hours) then if you're still hungry go ahead and eat the other one, this keeps your stomach from stretching and causes it to shrink. (If you stuff yourself it actually activates your stomach growth immediatly.) Don't drink tons of fluids to compensate for cutting your portion size in half! This defeats the purpose and stretches your stomach. Within 2 weeks time I'm willing to bet you won't be able to eat 2 double cheeseburgers in one sitting anymore, or if you do you will feel very very full and uncomfortable.
3. Timing- its a known fact that eating when you first wake up starts your metabolism, much more than exercise does. So when you wake up eat something no matter how small and your metabolism will start burning fat. Wait a digestion period and exercise if you want, but exercise with this diet is completly optional! Also, on the subject of timing, don't eat anything within 2 hours of going to bed, if you do this makes your metabolism store fat in the body.
4. Eat small portions several times a day, 4 times a day or more works best. The reason for this is because it is telling your metabolism you are not starving and thus greatly reduces the amount of fat your body stores. (Think about this: Sumo wrestlers eat 1 to 2 HUGE meals a day to trick there metabolism into thinking they are starving so their body stores as much fat as it possibly can)
 
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Thunder Lion

Guest
Sounds like a good problem to have! Most people are overwhelmed by programming, don't know where to start (what to build) and often procrastinate a lot of time because of these two.
My issue is where to continue, i did a simple project recently just so I could say I made a game, its very simple and nothing fancy loom me like 3 weeks 4-6 hours a day, but i did run into some brain farts at times.
 
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Wraithious

Guest
I put "diet (meaning the sum total of what you eat, not "a diet")" right in my post. It was also a very short post.
yep, i didn't mean anything negative at all about your post, quite the opposite as I completely agree, and my long post was just me telling my story in hopes people read it and avoid spending thousands of dollars on 'diets' that are either temporary, harmful, or flat out just don't work at all.
 
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