mmondok

As a big fan of using IB for layouts, the integrated designer and Reveal integration looks promising. I had bought AppCode 2x, but I ended up just sticking with Xcode instead of flipping back and forth between apps. Now that it's all in one place, I'm definitely more likely to give it a shot and stick with it.

In terms of Reveal integration, I see it says, "The integration is provided via a plugin and is open source under Apache 2.0 license." One thing I'm not clear on: do you still need to purchase Reveal? It does say you need to install Reveal 1.0.4+ to try it, so I'd assume so.

Admittedly "proper diet" is subjective, but what I've been focusing on is high protein, non-processed foods. For example, in the morning I'll either do a few eggs or a smoothie with fruits, vegetable protein, almond milk, hemp, chia seeds, and super yogurt. For lunch, I usually do yogurt with granola or chicken/tuna. For dinner, I just go with whatever my wife cooks. She's always focused on cooking well-balanced meals and loves to cook with fresh vegetables. One reason I think this whole thing works for me is that I'm not trying to diet -- I'm simply focusing on eating healthier foods. My biggest issue is night eating. Like many developers, I tend to work late into the night and as I get sleepy, I get hungry. The night eating got so bad with me that even if I somehow got to bed early, I'd wake up in the middle of the night starving since that's what my body learned to expect. It's been hard, but the way I've been combatting that is by eating all my meals during the day, trading in the computer for a book at night, and trying to get to sleep at a reasonable hour (11ish). I still have issues putting work down, but the combination of feeling physically better because I'm not eating chips at 2AM and rediscovering my love for reading has been wonderful.

I was a college athlete in a large program where we used Olympic lifting extensively. It's true that form was emphasized over weight and repetition, and I gained quite a bit of muscle mass from that. Forward about 8 years later and I continued doing those lifts: deadlifts, cleans, etc. I always focused strictly on my form, but I also challenged myself and kept adding weight as long as I could lift it properly. Well, about two years ago I was in the gym deadlifting a significant amount of weight. I was going for one rep. As I was slightly above my ankles, I felt my form slip very slightly and my lower back just collapsed. I spent the better part of the next year rehabbing and doing physical therapy to help repair a buldging disc. It still hurts me to this day and to counteract it I have to keep my core (abs) very strong. That being said, I do cardio every day and am in the gym doing bodyweight/light HIIT six days per week.

My takeaway from all this is that certain exercises, even if you know what you're doing, may not be worth it. I was training simply to be fit - that was my goal. Deadlifts will absolutely make you stronger, but they are also incredibly dangerous if your form deviates even slightly from where it should be. Today I'm happy and seeing great results with bodyweight exercises, light weights, and a proper diet. Honestly, I feel better than I ever have besides aches in my lower back.