I appreciate what Snowden is saying,

No, you really don't, as your comment below shows.

...but perhaps fewer narcissistic platitudes and more documents on the front pages? Snowden isn't Jesus, the more he toots "It's not about me", the more it becomes about him

Really? What have you done lately? Perhaps you should stop trolling and consider doing something more productive.

If you are calling a man who's sacrificed his future for the future of others a narcissist for airing his opinions, then you are nothing more than a jealous little man with nothing of value to add. Please go away.

What's the name of the film? I'm now curious.

Not when you're losing weight. Or did you think that people lost weight by eating more than they burn?

What utter nonsense.

At the end of the day, you eat more than you burn = you gain weight; you burn more than you eat, you lose weight.

Do we all burn calories equally? Not really -- our levels of activity, our genetic makeup, our body composition, and many other variables play a role in determining this.

When I'm active, I can eat ~3500-4000 calories a day and I still stay in great shape. When I've fallen off the wagon, I will gain weight at ~2500 calories because I just turn into a lazy mash that couch surfs.

Does blindly counting calories make sense? Of course not -- you have to figure out what *your* threshold is. How many calories do YOU need before you start losing/gaining weight and adjust it from that point on.

But to discount counting calories in its entirety is just rubbish. Because ultimately, if you are not eating more than you burn, where is your body getting the excessive calories from?

You're an idiot.

That was von Braun, for one. For another, Oppenheimer was aghast at the destruction caused by the atomic bomb (he quoted the Bhagvad Gita, "I am become Death -- the destroyer of worlds." after the Trinity Test) and actively campaigned for non-proliferation.

If anything, his sympathies towards the other sides caused him to be a martyr to McCarthyism. Hell, even von Braun commented that, "In England, Oppenheimer would have been knighted."

Oppenheimer is the poster child for how scientists have little control over the political consequences and use of their discoveries, and how the political institutions would happily discard them once they're wrung dry.

Nah, more like studios, who are the actual content creators.

MSOs are as much at the mercy of content providers as consumers.

His (or her) anonymity does not take away from the validity of the statement.

Fitness pros and doctors keep making the same suggestion because there aren't any viable alternatives for most people.

That is patently untrue.

If anything, there are definite alternatives to biking -- you could walk or jog outdoors, or be active in many, many other ways. Hell, you could join a pickup soccer league. You could go mountain biking.

Your argument re: grocery stores is also silly because it's a cultural choice to buy groceries en masse -- once you start making frequent trips (i.e. more workouts), not only are you inclined to buy less (which is great in other ways, as it reduces junk intake and wastage), you also buy fresher produce. For generations, people have walked home with their groceries and it is only recently that we've resorted to this model of stocking your pantry once a month.

I live in New England, and the only times I really take my car are when the roads are horrible from snow or when it's raining (or snowing heavily). Otherwise, I just put my jacket on and walk or ride my bicycle. Just grab a backpack and fill it up.

I am not talking about *looking* fit, I am talking about *being* fit. The distinction is extremely important. Being active -- be it jogging, biking, or playing a sport -- makes you physically fit. We've built a culture of laziness and lethargy that you don't see anywhere else, where anything that's "dangerous" or inconvenient is relegated to unwanted status.

Yes, it'd be nice if we could just ride bikes everywhere. It'd also be nice if we had world peace and I had a unicorn that farted rainbows.

What a silly notion. You don't need to ride bikes *everywhere* (and nowhere did I even suggest that). However, there is no reason to be physically inactive, and attitudes such as yours is really unfortunate. We've reached a point where convenience trumps basic movement to such an extent that even the slightest suggestion of activity is considered an affront.

Sure, biking is dangerous -- so is driving a car. So is walking. Hell, life is terminal. What's your point?

I had moderated the OP as insightful, but I had to respond to your comment.

That's why they invented the gym, not to mention the exercise bike which you can buy for a few hundred dollars to have your own at home.

Are you kidding me? Working out on a treadmill or on an exercise bike is one of the most boring things, ever.

Will Gadd had a recent piece on this that's rather insightful: Gaddâ(TM)s Truth: What Is Real-World Fitness?. I quote below:

If someone is âoeout-of-shape,â and the bar for that standard is so low that itâ(TM)s nearly meaningless, then the proposed solution is usually to join a gym, wrestle with some sort of ridiculous piston-based weight-training machinery, then do some âoecardioâ on a treadmill until bored senseless. This is obviously going to fail in short order as itâ(TM)s about as interesting as watching daytime TV â" wait, that must be more interesting as people will actually do it year after year.

Most gyms survive on human optimism. Stats show about 70 per cent of people with gym memberships never actually use them and much of the remainder quit going to the gym only two months after buying a membership. Yet fitness professionals and doctors keep making the same suggestion.

The idea behind actually riding a bicycle is that it eventually becomes a part of your lifestyle. Going to the local grocery store? Grabbing a cup of coffee? Going to the book store? Just hop on your bike and it becomes a quick ride. It's not boring, and it's a decent workout.

The vast majority of people do not get in shape (and even if they do, do not stay there for long) by going to the gym. I know -- I am pretty dedicated about working out, and if I did not have sports that I enjoyed (rock climbing, rowing, tennis, mountain biking), I would be so out of shape. I only go to the gym because it helps me improve my performance, but outside of that, most of us find gyms and riding a stationary bike or running on a treadmill pretty darn boring.

There absolutely is no comparison whatsoever between riding a bike to support an active lifestyle versus riding one on the street regularly.

He's not fat, he just looks big boned to an outside observer.

As someone with mod points, I almost modded you -1 Troll for kicks, but my god-like powers of self-control kicked in.

I was hoping he would answer my question on part-time doctorates and "virtual research".

But I guess entrenched elites would rather not answer anything that would give away the vicious cycle of academic research that exists today.

Or just eat a healthy balanced diet at or below your TDEE, and work out regularly. Moderation in everything and all that.

I find that just being active goes a long way towards having good heart health. Now, obviously, people with perfect eating habits and workout schedules still get heart attacks, but on average, there are enough studies showing that good and active health habits (eating right, not smoking, working out) correspond to good heart health.

Moderation does not mean that you stop eating everything you enjoy. It means that you eat them occasionally. Ensuring that you hit your protein/fat/cab macros on a weekly basis, getting enough fruits and vegetables, cutting down fried foods, sodas, and saving that burger, fries, and beer for an occasional treat.

Even in my own life, I can clearly look at those friends and colleagues who are active versus those who are fat slobs who drink ungodly amounts of beer, smoke, and watch football and suffer from heart problems at an early age. That is not including issues like sleep apnea, pulmonary problems, and just generally being unfit and unhealthy.

I rather like this short and awesome clip by Will Gadd called Move on the importance of movement. Ultimately, we all tend to fall off the wagon once in a while. But there's something to be said about just getting your feet back on the ground and just busting your ass either at the gym, playing a sport, or just being outside.

While I enjoy my time sleeping in or vegging out on the couch, I've never regretted those times when I've spent my weekends climbing, running or being outside, coming home exhausted. While I have enjoyed vacations where I've come back fatter after having spent two weeks on a beach eating and getting drunk, I am more proud of the ones where I spent two weeks out in the middle of nowhere, hiking and climbing and come home with a badass beard and smelling like sweat and earth.

There are some evenings when I am tempted to just go out with my friends, drink beer, watch TV, and crash on the couch. It takes an effort to get my ass off to a run, and come back and eat a salad and a protein shake. But over time, that pays off.

Every time I have fallen off the wagon, I can slowly see my own cardiovascular health deteriorating, in as short a time frame as just six months -- elevated cholesterol levels, shortness of breath when climbing up a flight of stairs, and a general lethargy that builds up. But when I'm actually out being active, the opposite happens -- good practices become habits. I am more active. Less lazy. The couch is a welcome occasional respite. The occasional burger and fries are a welcome treat, but not something I can do every day. The occasional beer after working out feel refreshing. And it's always awesome to see women check me out. And my physicals are something I look forward to, not something I'm afraid of.

So, yeah. Ultimately, the secret to good health (in my very humble opinion and personal experience) is good, moderate eating habits and an active lifestyle.

Ahhh, but I stick to espressos. An espresso macchiato in the morning to kick start my day, and another one in the afternoon. Sometimes, I add a pinch of sugar depending on my mood.

Although in the winter, I occasionally get an Americano (espresso with hot water) in the afternoon, just to have a warm drink that I can sip on for longer.

Couldn't agree more! Although I will say that I tend to have my first coffee earlier in the day, so I'm most productive with *work* around 7-8 AM until about noon.

I typically find myself plateauing at about 3 PM, which is when I get my second coffee, and that tides me over until it's time for me to hit the gym.

But there's also productivity in other things, such as working out -- while I would love to be up early and work out, I absolutely hate doing that. So, my effectiveness at working out is much better in the evenings, around 7 to 9 PM. In the mornings, while I may be productive as far as work is concerned, I feel absolutely lethargic at the gym. Then again, I hate working out after a coffee, and I need coffee to wake me up, so I suppose that's a conundrum right there.