Healthy routine as a game developer / work-at-home

I am going through a struggle for at least 2 years for now, that I think many of you perhaps go or have gone through as well.
I used to be an English teacher, which meant I walked relatively long distances to work everyday, had a fixed schedule, could (and had to) work even when I was feeling absolutely tired, overall doing things was pretty easy.

Then I think early 2015 I got fired. It wasn't bad at all! At the same week I got to do art for the Humble Game Making Bundle, and from there on started working as an asset and game artist from home. All pretty awesome, except suddenly I found myself having to take care of something rather complex: My routine.

From 2013 to 2016, I gained 36kg, went to having a flat belly to looking like, well, you know, everyone's uncle. But not only that, my productivity got into a downfall, surprisingly. I struggle through it and thanks to having actual deadlines to meet, clients an a few tactics I've developed through these 2 years, I manage to do it. But even so, it is a fact that my health is overall much worse and I constantly feel tired and numb.

So the question is: How to balance a healthy routine to keep you alert and productive, while not eating your actual working TIME?
Doing gym is an obvious suggestion; I'm gonna try starting this monday. I also started singing and japanese classes, twice and once a week, respectively. But whenever I get out of home I get extremely tired and unproductive when I come back, and I really just want to take a nap. So there's that, I feel myself only having a fraction of the, uh, "stamina" I had back when I was a teacher.
I am also considering taking vitaminic supplement to see if it helps.

Do you guys feel like that too? Super tired and hazy frequently? Feel often unable to do simple physical activities and getting tired really quickly?
It is funny because recently I spent some good good days traveling with Crowno in São Paulo and I just walked everywhere for hours and hours and hours and when I got back to the hostel I rested for 40-50 minutes and BOY I WAS STILL SO ENERGIC so I'm pretty sure it's something else. (btw, I have deppression)

Anyway thanks for reading and sorry for the long topic :V
I'm pretty sure this is a topic many can relate to but I wound up structuring it in a way that's only about myself. But by all means dissert over your own experiences!

I prepare all my meals in advance and have my freezer stuffed with a myriad of options. I always have smart snacks around and try to limit how much junk food I bring into the house. That way I always have nutritious meals to reheat and can't use fatigue as a reason to go grab something super junky. I go to the gym in the morning because that's when I'm motivated to go. It only takes about 30 minutes of exercise to reap the bulk of the benefit. Even a morning walk has huge benefits and it's a great choice for beginners because it's super easy, relaxing, and nearly impossible to hurt yourself.

My advice is to plan ahead and schedule time for self-care. It can seem rigid and tedious at times, but if you find a chunk of time you'll use it to make time. The more you take care of yourself, the more you can take care of others. Start out lifestyle changes slowly. Too much, too soon leads to major burnout and even backpedaling. Nutritious food is 90% of the battle.

Three things I've discovered which helps with the schedule so far:

1: Take an off day every week. No matter what needs to be done for work, take the day off. Play a game. Watch a movie. Go on a walk. Just don't touch the work. I currently use Sundays (most weeks, though this week it's Wednesday) for this.

2: Find your most productive time slots and always do work during them. When I was in grad school it was 5 - 9 pm. I was useless until then for thesis research, but from 5 - 9 pm I was a research machine. So I did all I could to make sure 5 - 9 pm was free at least 5 of the 7 days of the week, so I could use them. Now, its 7 - 11 am. So, on days I don't have work, I schedule nothing else from 7 - 11 am and work on my game.

3: After completing major milestones (or the entire project), take a vacation. This can be as simple as a go play a video game for 3 - 5 days vacation to go somewhere else. I used to do this in grad school, and the first 2 weeks of summer break were known as play video games and watch baseball days for me (it also helped that all my friends were out of town those weeks, so I had to fill the time somehow).

This could have something to do with your health & diet, maybe your are eating something more often that you were not before. I would double check with my Doc.

As for me I am a "professional procrastinator", I often relay things to "maybe later" which often give them to "probably never". my solution was to become a Checklist maniac, which I found helps a lot to accomplish what I Want/Need. And honestly I end up accomplishing stuff much faster than I would normally do only because they are on such a checklist and I don't have to think in which order I have to accomplish stuff, I just go on checking the list point by point.

As someone who has worked from home as a freelance graphic designer and worked a regular hourly job, and has had to deal with fluctuating weight the best advice I can give is treat work from home as a regular job. "Schedule" yourself and work those hours. Sometimes you'll have to work "overtime", or work extra one day so you can be off another day, but besides those occasional circumstances schedule work hours and stick to it. As work from home people we tend to fall into a "we can work whenever we want" rut and it's so bad for you.

And anytime someone goes from not working out or eating right to working out and dieting their body goes into shock and tries hibernating to recoup the sudden loss of calories. Give yourself a month of continuous working out and eating right and your body will catch up and you'll actually find yourself with more energy than before! But if you need help take B12, it's the best vitamin to help with energy, mood, and metabolism.

What Ms. Littlefish says about planning out time for self care is the most important factor, especially when you are battling depression (been there off and on my entire life as well) in my opinion. Everything runs so much smoother on a schedule and especially where food is concerned, without a plan it's just to easy to say "well the baby/insomnia kept me up since 4 A.M so screw the morning walk or weights" or "I don't have time to cook a good meal, I'll just throw some toppings on a ready made crust and have another pizza day today"

You don't have to follow it religiously, mine is fluid for a lot of reasons that come up but where without one you feel overwhelmed and it's easy to give up when you plan ahead you are more prepared to adapt to surprise issues and often find that you need a less time to be productive than you actually thought (mainly that your wasted time without one is just a lot more hours a week than you perceive).

I'm struggling in the same boat honestly, I'm the homebody in my household because my wife always had a lot more career ambition than me and found myself going from the same 220 I've been since I stopped growing in secondary school to broaching beyond 300 by five or six years of keeping house and childcare with only the occasional taxing project such as fence digging and the dreaded summer yard work as physical activity. Slowly been bringing it down since then (though it's a lot harder than shooting up and I doubt I'll ever hit 220 again) through diet(which sucks, I miss being young and active enough for my stomach to be a black hole without concerning myself with adverse health effects), exercise and a cheap multi-yardsales bought weight room but I didn't really make a dent in the culmination of my unhealthy choices and more sedentary lifestyle until I started organizing time each day specifically for all of that, and asking all the people who are around you often to call you on it when you stray from that planning doesn't hurt either.

Late into high school and early in college might have been the peak of my physical fitness. I was into martial arts at the time, first training in boxing, then judo, then muay thai. I got to a point where I was training for an amateur match, and then I hurt my knee, which put me off training for maybe half a year.

I never got back into it. Schoolwork was piling on as I got closer to graduating turned to not having enough time/energy after work. I was constantly exhausted and didn't feel like I had the strength to spare to work out at the end of the day. My smoking which I picked up in high school got worse. It also doesn't help that trying to get back in shape hurts like all hell on the first few days.

I'm hitting 30 in a year. I smoke maybe 7-8 sticks a day, and my 8 to 5 job is mostly sitting in front of a computer. I'm about 9 kg heavier than I was four years ago when I graduated college and my gut is pretty bad for a guy of my frame.

The guys I work with were all having the same problems, apparently, so about a month ago we decided to pool money to buy exercise equipment. We set up a mini-gym where we work and we spend at least half an hour every day to work out. The first several days were hell, but I think that if you force yourself to do it daily and you get over that initial hump, it's an easier habit to maintain!

Don't skip workout days on your first month unless absolutely necessary or you'll find it too easy to make excuses next time. Also, having a friend workout with you helps heaps. They're great for keeping you motivated, and having someone to talk to while exercising keeps the boredom away!

To be honest I am on the same boat but the same as Ms Littlefish and Bgillisp suggestions I have a slight adjustment. I'm the type that refuses to play when work is pending and I know I'll get lazy if I procrastinate on it either by game. My schedule goes kinda like this:

• Mon, Wed, Fri - 9 AM Gyms. I participate in activities that they kinda call hardcore? I usually work until 7 PM on times like these. DON'T SKIP GYM. POWER THROUGH. Seriously! It removes all feelings of fatigue and you should keep it not for weight purposes. If you think about it as a way to make you stop feeling like a lazy, terrible person, you end up enjoying it more.
• I work from 8 am - 5 pm my time. After that, it's free for all. If I have a big deadline coming up, I would work until 3 am. Usually I sleep, read, twitter, watch a movie or binge watch on Youtube. I don't play games usually because I have a serious gaming addiction if triggered.
• On Friday ~ Sunday I take it easy. Sometimes I go out. I still don't play games unless work is light.
• I also keep a checklist. You can use Trello, Asana or Wunderlist. They are a great way to make you feel accomplished, even the little things. I really recommend making one.

My biggest problem is my eating habits. I tend to be the type that focuses so much, by night I'm like a starving monster that would eat most things. My parents and/or family members are good at keeping me have a proper eating schedule. If that is not your case, install an application that will physically stop you for 10 minutes and force you to take a break. I usually buy sandwiches or salads when I'm really lazy to cook though ahaha...

By the way, if you like coffee like me, only drink it once a day. If you do twice everyday, it has a serious side effect.

But to be honest, this is all really hard and easier to be said. I just think you need discipline for stuff like this :<

OMG @Archeia's advice about coffee is so true. I used to manage cafe's and I have a serious coffee addiction. You have to keep coffee consumption down. I actually make sure to only drink coffee on work days. My off days (which are few and far between) I take vitamins and tea and take a little longer to wake up and get going but it helps me from drinking gallons of coffee every day. Another piece of advice I could offer, and I'd offer anyone is drink 2 full glasses of water right when you wake up every single morning. At first that's a lot of water to drink in one sitting but it's one of the most important things you can do every day. Olympic athletes do this, and there's been a lot of studies and research to the health benefits of this.

I've been known for my intense love of coffee. However, recently I did have to switch to decaf (yes, my forum title is a lie now). I've mentioned it time-to-time but I suffer pretty significantly from both migraines and panic attacks. I'm currently starting week three of decaf only and I haven't had a migraine yet and I only had one bad anxiety day since making the switch. No need to convince me more! So, while you can't keep this girl away from coffee, it's going to be decaf from now on. I thought I'd struggle to wake up in the morning without my coffee but I really haven't. Water, exercise, and breakfast have about the same effect on me. Also, when I drink decaf I can drink it whenever I fancy it. No more being wired at 2 AM because I wanted an afternoon coffee. XD

I definitely second the water right upon waking advice. I slam about two cups right away. Just think about it, every part of your body needs water to function properly. If you delay water intake you're putting unneeded stress on your organs. I keep a giant bottle of it with me for the rest of the day as well.

I also think it's important to note to drink lukewarm water after eating as opposed to cold water by the way :D

My sis told me about the water in the morning. I can't do that first thing because i vomit every time. I might do an herbal tea tho.

Im a workaholic so after 2(!!) heart attacks i had to reevaluate my life so i won't die before 35.

2 major changes i made was scheduling my time better and eating better. I already work out (yoga & walking for my arthritis) so that was never a huge issue for me.
Once i move i will have time to actually work out in peace (aerobics & weights) since at first i had to schedule around family and it wasnt working. I got 50# to shed that i put on in the past 8 years and it'll be easy to implement because i live near a park. Im notoriously cheap and hate gyms but i dont mind working out at the park. Nature is awesome.

Stick to a schedule - i used to work 20 hour shifts no breaks or maybe a half day Sunday. I now schedule in more breaks as it helps me sleep and think clearly. And yes i had to schedule sleep because i would take a caffeine tablet and power through it. But in the end my work performance suffered. 10.30 im sleep. I also schedule in play time so i wont be overwhelmed with work. Sundays i clean house and do chores by noon then after that vid games until 5. I don't church.

Eating better - i junk food while coding. Now it's healthy snacks (popcorn celery etc) . but my main vice is coffee and cigs. I changed to this Vietnamese coffee that's low in caffeine but strong tasting and i changed to ecigs so i wont burn out computers often. Im slowly working on quitting. Ecigs helped me quit once before. I also need to lay off caffeine since i got a bad heart now so still looking for a decaf thats not whack tasting.

welp thanks for all the helpful replies, guys! Didn't reply thoroughly to this thread you but I assure I read every single one and it was all very helpful.
I've been awful this week though. Weakness, cloud-mindedness, insomnia, tiredness and from today, moderate vertigo, which makes me think this is very likely lack of nutrients. I've retired to binging in series for a while after realizing trying to work was leading me nowhere and letting the stress go allowed me to sleep decently today. I think i'll be heading off to the store today though, and getting vitaminic supplement. And of course water, lots of water.
And maybe I can ask mom for something particularily nutritious for lunch tomorrow? I could try to cook something up but honestly all I can think about is buying instant lasagna. I AM hydrating some Shiitake to make some miso soup though, but I don't know how nutritious that'll be, just tasty.

Still, welp, I hope to get better soon ;u;
And no I didn't start the gym. And also, my singing teacher got sick so I didn't go to the singing classes this week. I'm going to the japanese classes friday though and I hope to resume my routine healthily by monday ;u;
I could go to the hospital to see if some serum would help but I honestly hate it so welp, anyway, off to vitamins I go!

On the upside. I've watched all of Santa Clarita Diet and Stranger Things this week, 13 hours total. Both are super great and super my taste. XD

This is an interesting question: "How to balance a healthy routine to keep you alert and productive, while not eating your actual working TIME?"

Well, there is only a certain amount of time in each day, and in order to balance a healthy routine to keep you alert and productive, you will need to eat into some of that time by doing exercise, relaxing, and so on. People always want results without any kind of sacrifice, but realistically if you want to be healthier and happier that may take some time and effort. What I will say is this though - when you do that, your productivity is likely to only go UP, not DOWN. Time spent is an interesting variable but it's really not the whole picture. You can do more in 10 minutes than in an hour if your focus is different. Also, don't think that a break has to be really long, if you are taking no breaks at all then even a couple of minutes every hour is going to do you some good. But most of all I would recommend checking out Alexander technique including lying down on the floor regularly (Google that if you haven't come across it).

Be aware of what you eat, it happened to me. Burger, soda, pizza, Chinese fast food are things need to avoid. And do a little as 30 minutes exercise a day.

Have you heard of Candida, they may be the cause.

I'm just going to attack the stereotypical computer person bad habits.

• Don't smoke.
• Don't abuse Mtn. Dew and coffee.
• Sleep every night; not every other night.
• Don't go all hours on the computer.
• Exercise daily...
  
• Hygiene and housekeeping daily!
• Social contact too!
• Shave.

</redundant>

I'm a hypocrite at all of these too.

It's not difficult eating well on a budget. My expenses leave me little to work with (computer upgrades/fixes and new software always eat a chunk of my change) but I got by hitting up the local Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, and African markets. (I don't shop at a grocery chain. local shops are much cheaper).
For 50$, I can fill up my fridge for the month. I usually have staples such as rice, noodles, beans.
I have various soup pastes to make soup with (like miso, pho, etc) and because they're concentrated, I can stretch them more than I could with powder mixes.
I also have freeze dried veggies, mushrooms, tvp/soya bits, and fish. You can make soya taste like anything, depending on sauce you throw on it. I've made fake fish sticks, chicken patties, and beef burgers with it. Or use beans. I can make a mean black bean burger taste like beef XD
Also I have a can of nutritional powder on hand to chug a glass after a bout of drinking. (The programmers I hang with throw wild parties). But if you're not taking vitamins regularly (don't feel bad, I tend to forget to take them too) chugging an ensure, or whatever vitamin enriched drink in the mornings will help. Just try to cook something healthy for lunch and dinner and not rely on protein/granola bars. (Expensive in the long run - cheaper to make your own if you need a snack during programming runs).
Hope that helps!

I've decided to give up caffeine. I really need to detoxify. I'm not sleeping well and I'm dependent. It's my life changing decision time.

ive been living on my own only since january 31st of this year, but it's been... an experience! and not nearly as difficult as i thought it'd be

i just buy a big box of cheapo-cereal and then a bunch of cheap stock cup noodles at the beginning of each new week, and skip lunch

healthy or good for me? heck noes

affordable when paying half a thousand dollars a fortnight on rent, heck yas! i might even save a hundred dollars this week if i live on max edge

also i buy chocolate mulk whenever it on special because i am a FIEND for bad dietary choices

also it mean virtually no cooking, unless you count boiling water and pouring it into a cup to be cooking?? which is great, because i then have time for much more worthwhile things

being a neet and drawing girls

however if you dont have an issue with cooking the advice kauk gave may be more ideal if you want to live older than 50, im too laze to preserve myself

check if the big box of cereal comes in a big bag version. all those store generics are about the same tasting as the name brands.
Also, you know you're not supposed to eat the cup noodles as is, right? You're supposed to add meat and veggies to them. otherwise you will be starving later! Get some reduced produce from your local grocer or farmer's market!

Beans and rice is your friend, homie. You'll live longer ;)

If you want a little variety (and not starve so much) here's something to get you by next time you roll up to the store:
bread
nut butter
hummus
bars (clif, luna, lara, perfect, rx)
steel cut quick oats
milk
fruit cups
jerky
block/mini roll cheese

it'll round out the cereal/ramen thing you got going and at least you'll starve less.