

 How to balance health issues with being a founder? - speeder
http://pastebin.com/NQQUu1HU
Sorry for the paste-bin, but I crossed the 2000 char limit and was struggling to edit this down.<p>I did not posted on my personal blog because I don&#x27;t want to potential employers or new co-founders to know how in bad shape my health is.
======
patio11
If you're capable of being CTO at a mobile games company but have glasses
which are an appreciable portion of your net worth, you are not being paid the
global market wage for your skill set. Consider quitting and hanging out your
shingle as an independent iOS/etc developer. Market rates are $100+ per hour
even remotely. You being not exactly a paragon of physical fitness will not be
a barrier to getting deals -- there exist many people in the industry who are
not. (I disagree that the startup will necessarily fail without your
contributions. That being said, if a company can't succeed without the CTO
slow-motion killing himself, the company has failed a core test of viability
and should be garbage collected before it consumes even more scarce resources
in the vain pursuit of a future.)

After you have the money situation managed for the immediate future, I'd
concentrate on getting the health situation stabilized. Resist the temptation
to overwork -- that makes you sick and sickness doesn't improve your
productivity. All the people telling you "eat right and exercise" are actually
_not_ blowing smoke about this.

I'd also attempt to cultivate a mindset which is less "I have a bunch of
interlocking problems which are a tremendous burden and none can be fixed
without fixing the others" and more "Today is Thursday. I will use Thursday to
get three things done which I did not have on Wednesday but which will make
Friday a bit better." Then you repeat that for as many days as it takes.

~~~
speeder
I am not much sure how to do that.

First there is the issue that iOS pay much more, but I don't own a OSX
machine, or a iOS device.

And last time I tried I only ended into those freelancing sites where some
people from India are offering to do Android and Lua work for 5USD/hour :/ I
don't know where I can seek more serious work in that field, neither how to
prove I can do it (no github, lots of past jobs was on secret and proprietary
stuff).

~~~
patio11
There exist longer answers for building a successful consultancy, but in the
short term, you just identify companies which do Android/Lua work, identify
people who probably have hiring authority at them, and say "I notice that you
do Android games. As it happens, so do I, and I am looking for work. Do you
have 15 minutes free next Monday to talk about this?"

Websites are not where contract work exists any more than they are where
source code exists. The wee little sample of both those fields which show up
on the public Internet are a) tiny and b) disproportionately crappy. It is
against the interest of engineers for us to think these are the totality of
the market just because interacting with them is easy and doesn't require
getting outside our comfort zones.

------
meritt
Drop the mobile games startup, it's not going anywhere. People will still play
games a year from now.

Find yourself a job. Get a gym membership. Change your diet. Get the medicine
you need. Get glasses. Pay off your debt.

Once you're situated, come back to your startup, and you'll find yourself 100%
more effective.

~~~
speeder
I am in the startup because of the debt... where I live jobs that I could find
don't pay enough to pay the debt.

stupid, stupid, stupid decision to take that debt to do university, I should
have started to work without a degree, I would be much, much better now...

~~~
stronglikedan
> where I live

That's something that you may need to consider changing if the job situation
is really that drastic.

You have nothing without your health.

------
antirez
"Also I am have insane trouble controlling my weight, I am yet to find a safe
place to exercise for free (I don't have money to pay a gym), and even with a
carefully controlled diet my weight swings around madly (I managed to get 2kg
lighter in 4 days, and then 4kg heavier in 2 days for example...) "

I've good news about that. The +/\- 4kg oscillations are just water, but you
can fix the weight problem even without exercising much, just eat at a caloric
deficit and you'll lose weight and the overall health may improve considerably
just because of this.

EDIT: you may get much fitter just doing bodyweight exercises at home if you
wish, and for this a great resource is this:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/comments/25kxq1/ju...](http://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/comments/25kxq1/just_get_started_guide/)

Also google for "reddit fitness". However the bottom line is that you lose
weight in the kitchen mostly, by eating at a deficit.

~~~
at-fates-hands
>>> just eat at a caloric deficit and you'll lose weight and the overall
health may improve considerably.

This is completely true.

I was a D1 athlete through college. Once I graduated and stopped playing, my
weight went through the roof. I went from 160lbs to almost 190lbs. I started
having back problems and my doctor said I already had some arthritis in my
back from both hockey and soccer. I was having a lot of back pain in the
morning and during the day.

The doctor told straight up to lose some weight and change my diet. He said
taking the additional weight off well help my back a lot; even a few pounds
will make a huge difference.

I changed my diet, started doing yoga and stretching before and after my
hockey games. Within a few weeks I could tell a huge difference, even though
it took me a few more months to get back to around 170. The loss of the weight
and stretching made a HUGE difference.

~~~
a8da6b0c91d
If he's legit hypothyroid he's probably not even eating that much. Dropping
calories under, say, 2500 will just make the problem worse.

~~~
dublinben
Even a thyroid condition will not make you gain weight out of nowhere.

~~~
DanBC
A thyroid condition can make the difference between "stable weight at this
level of calories" and "weight gain at this level of calories".

Sorting out the thyroid problems will make eating sensibly and getting
exercise much easier.

------
swombat
May not be the advice you want to hear, but... you sound like you're in a
country with a pretty terrible healthcare system (US? India? Ah, Brazil
according to your bio on your site). The first thing I'd do in your position
is move to a country with a proper public health care system - probably the
UK.

Do it via finding a job or any other method, but somehow do it. The startup
itself doesn't matter. You write "I have a great responsability" \- yes, you
do, you have a great responsibility to yourself to take care of your health.
In terms of order of magnitude, the responsibility to the startup is a 1000x
less. Fuck the startup, health comes first. And if fixing your health requires
moving to a different country and canning the startup, do it.

Thats perhaps the most important thing you should take away from this: your
priorities are all screwed up. Health first, startup a very distant second.

~~~
andyjohnson0
Hormone treatment for hypothyroidism is provided free by the NHS in the UK
[1]. I'm not sure about the conditions that migrants to the UK have to satisfy
to qualify for non-emergency treatment though.

(I am not a doctor, the following does no constitute medical advice, etc)

Hypothyroidism is a life-long condition, so you need to get your medication
sorted out asap. Someone close to me has this condition, so I know from their
experience that determining the right dose can be difficult, even with the
help of blood tests and a doctor / endocrinologist. Be cautious about trying
to do this yourself, although I appreciate you may have little choice.

Finally, T4 is not usually prescribed in the UK because it has limited effect.
Nevertheless some people claim it helps them in combination and they often
obtain it privately from Mexico. The same may be true for synthetic T3, which
is the conventional treatment. If you do this then be _extremely careful_.

Good luck.

[1]
[http://www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/NHS_Information/prescription...](http://www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/NHS_Information/prescription-
info.html)

~~~
throwaway_xl5
Entitlement to UK public healthcare is, essentially, that you are a current
lawful resident. If you got a work visa (and are working - you can't be in
breach of visa conditions) and moved here you'd be entitled.

------
JohnBooty
The thing to remember about fitting exercise into a demanding schedule is that
exercise is a net energy/productivity boost.

You sacrifice some time to exercise, but gain energy and you will feel better
and be better able to attack the rest of the things you need to do. You might
even wind up with more free time than you began with.[1]

___________

[1] We all know we'll just use it to pack more work into the day. But
_theoretically_ you could gain time.

~~~
DanBC
Yes! And some people find that they use the time that they're exercising to
think differently about challenges they are facing.

------
hkailahi
I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis last year, and I can tell you
that you won't get your weight issues sorted out until you have the proper
treatment.

I am a college athlete who consistently exercises at a high level, and I
ballooned uncontrollably last summer. I started using a strict diet, but that
wasn't nearly enough. I'm on the right medication now, and the "mental fog"
and dreariness, which I couldn't even tell I was going through at the time, is
gone.

Right now this is your most important problem, and you should take every
necessary step to fix it. I can personally tell you that everything you're
going through is closely related to your hypothyroidism. Good luck!

------
r3dw00d
I've been there, I spent years watching my health fail while I put my work, my
startup(which eventually I left anyway) and finances ahead of taking care of
myself.

The ultimate result: my life fell apart for about 8 months while I suffered
through the culmination of the condition that caused my poor health. I
couldn't work anymore, function like a normal human or take care of myself,
basically I ended up housebound and bedridden. At that time I thought life was
over for me, but, my family and friends rallied, took care of me, and helped
me get through it. Now I am re-building my life. Instead of feeling bad that I
"lost" so much time due to poor health, I feel that I have a new opportunity
to live a different, better life.

After YEARS of saying, I'll deal with my health when I "fill in the blank", my
body finally forced me to deal with it. I feel stupid for needing such a
terrible thing to teach me a lesson, but now I can proceed in life a bit wiser
and more ready to succeed.

Get healthy, you are not doing yourself, or ANYONE in your life service by
"half living" while you struggle to find time to "deal with it". I don't know
your particular situation, and it might be terribly difficult for you to take
the time to heal, but you either deal with it now, or when things take a more
serious turn, when it may be too late.

Hope you find the balance you need to get good an Healthy!

------
christiansmith
Can't speak to your specific health issues, but moving to the mountains and
getting a German Shepherd worked wonders for me in lowering stress, improving
health and fitness, increasing my creative output and minimizing financial
worries.

Living in the country is good for the mind, body, soul, and budget. Having a
big dog that's with you all day long will improve your mood and motivate you
to exercise (because you won't get a damn thing done with an energetic critter
that needs attention). And while you're out walking, running or hiking with
your new best friend (sans mobile device), you'll stimulate your creative
faculties and solve problems you've been "stuck" on in your head.

Internet in Montana is nearly as good as any major city I've ever lived.
Sometimes better. What else do you need in order to be productive?

------
fndrplayer13
Nothing but excuse after excuse. You have 30 minutes a day to exercise. You
have the option to buy healthy foods no matter how much you do or do not make.
My dad had his thyroid removed after cancer and runs his own business and he
found a balance. You have an unhealthy attitude that is realizing itself as an
unhealthy life. If you prioritize your business over everything else you are
actively making the decision to be unhealthy. Running is free. Basketball at
the park is free. Doing a YouTube HIIT is free. Buy groceries and make fresh
food. It costs the same or less than fast food. Dont drink soda. etc.

------
spacefight
Fix the glasses issue first or you'll ruin your eyes and you want to avoid
that. Then do the dentist. Ask your parents or ask friends for help and
explain your situation.

Fix small steps at a time, ask for help and do it now.

------
jonathanoliver
The "ladder method" is a simple system designed to take no longer than 15
minutes each day no matter your current level of endurance/health/etc:
[https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/e4/exercise.html](https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/e4/exercise.html)

There's a startup I just saw that looks interesting. It's all about simple
exercises you can do on your own to stay healthy:
[http://hackerbody.com/](http://hackerbody.com/)

------
BornInTheUSSR
There is no balancing health with X, everything else balances on health.

------
ggreer
This is a rather long quote, but it's relevant:

>Finally, many important things are notable for their absence from the cost-
density table. Even in the twenty-first century, we still can’t buy true love,
respect, or fulfillment.

>We can’t even buy decent replacements for biological adaptations that go
wrong—artificial eyes, brains, hands, or wombs. Our bodily organs are the most
value-dense items that we can call our own. They are beyond price, but we take
them for granted until we lose them through accident or age.

>Our inherited legacy of adaptations is literally precious. Even the poorest
parents give their children vast riches, in the form of senses, emotions, and
mental faculties that have been optimized through millions of years of product
development. They are so reliable, efficient, intricate, self-growing, and
self-repairing that no technology comes anywhere close to matching them. The
human genome is the ancestral vault of riches, the secret Swiss account. It is
very important for consumerist capitalism to make us forget this, to take for
granted what we owe to life itself. Beyond our true necessities and
luxuries—our biological adaptations—we get only a little added value from
market-traded products.

— Geoffrey Miller (from _Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior_ )

In other words, your health is worth much more than your startup's expected
value. Drop everything else and fix it.

Also, you mention that you need new glasses. If you drive, you are endangering
others.

------
DanBC
This is not medical advice: I have no qualifications nor registrations.

Hypothyroidism is full of some really fucking harmful quackery on the
Internet. Please avoid those bad websites. You're right that it needs careful
monitoring to get the dose right.

A general supplement of vitamins A,C, and D is probably not harmful. (Do not
overdose on vitamins. They can be toxic and can kill.)

And now some other stuff:

Work towards getting better food and some exercise into your life. Set small,
realistic, achievable goals. Give yourself credit when you meet those. Fresh
fruit and veg are not too expensive and will make a difference. Good food will
help you feel better. Exercise will help to reduce stress.

Investigate some course of CBT. This can be done by yourself from a book; or
online; or you can get some guided course. In the UK it's available free (you
ask your GP and say words like "CBT" and "IAPT" and "Primary care mental
health services" until you get it; or you can sometimes self refer.) In other
countries you'll want to find out who registers therapists and then search for
a therapist with that registration.

It is surprising how much difference a short course and hard work can make - 8
weeks at 1 hour per week can really help a lot of people.

~~~
speeder
Frankly, I am finding the doctors to be the quakers.

"the internet" helped me there loads more than any medic, this became
painfully clear when I started to bother to read official documents that
medics should have been reading, for example I saw on internet a study that
was about specifically my case, all doctors I went refused to trust the study
and said they only trusted the association and the lab numbers... I asked the
lab their source, they pointed me a association-made document, I read the
document, and behold, the official association document that the lab and
doctors claim to follow, cite the study I was citing, and for precisely the
same reasons...

I could only conclude that doctors are lazy, and like to take whatever number
someone (their teacher, lab, whatever) spoon fed them, instead of reading the
source of that number (including the endocrine association guidelines...
seriously, I went to 8 or 9 different doctors in the last 12 years, some of
them absurdly expensive, and not a single one read the guidelines, despite all
of them claiming to follow them!)

What is CBT and IAPT? Google keep throwing me stuff on my own language,
despite me using english as default (for example for Google CBT is the
brazillian tennis confederation).

~~~
fyrabanks
How certain are you that you understand those documents better than medical
professionals?

~~~
speeder
The problem is not of conflicting interpretations, it is of medics claiming
that I am saying bullshit, and that the correct thing is the document, when I
am quoting said document... So either the medic is a liar (unlikely) or he
never read the document.

~~~
fyrabanks
There are most certainly conflicting interpretations: your interpretation of
the document and the medical professional's interpretation of the document.
It's just like how if both you and, say, a journalist or a firefighter read
the same piece of code; you would have two wildly different interpretations.

Look, while I can't claim to know your situation, 9 times out of 10 it is a
very bad idea to do self-diagnosis over the internet vs. taking professional
advice. Even if you have a pretty good idea of what might be ailing you, there
are subtle nuances to all kinds of diseases and conditions that doctors tend
to understand. If you've already got second (maybe even third) opinions
already, and you've come to the conclusion that none of the doctors in your
area know what they're talking about, you should probably move. I don't see
what other options you have here, particularly if you require prescribed
medications. You might even be able to find other employment that way.

As for the startup, yes, it's unfortunate that it will tank without you, but
the way you've described it, you're literally killing yourself slowly. It will
end the same way regardless. You are doing NOBODY a favor by continuing on,
least of all yourself.

PS Exactly how expensive are your Vitamin D supplements? They're ridiculously
cheap in the US, maybe $15 for 90 capsules. International shipping might still
come out cheaper.

------
mmaunder
Sometimes the wheels fall off and you have to pause and figure out what to do
about it. You're doing that, so you've taken step 1. Step 2 is to aggressively
take charge. As JohnBooty noted, exercise is a boost and will actually
increase your productivity so you need to view it as such.

You probably don't even realize how bad your diet really is. Become passionate
about nutrition - make it something that you're better at than anyone else.
What you eat is more important than alcohol, smoking and many other things.

If you've fallen into the trap of taking fist-fulls of vitamins, stop doing
that. Get what you need through good nutrition.

Eat on regular schedules - especially breakfast which will help regulate your
sleep schedule.

Since you're overweight, buy a cheap bicycle and use that as exercise. You'll
find it's low impact therefore low injury risk but high reward in terms of
calories burnt and cardio. Also most adults forget how much fun the simple act
of riding a bicycle is.

STOP eating all sugar now. No soda, no cakes, no sweets and become aware of
the things you eat that contain sugar that you don’t even realize, like bread
with added sugar. Don’t bullshit yourself. Stop sugar.

There are people in much worse shape than you are that are powering through. A
friend is in his early 20’s and dove into a shallow river where he fractured
his C4 vertebrae and is now wheelchair bound hoping that through working his
ass off at therapy he can regain at least the use of his hands to become
productive. From what I’ve gathered you have working arms, legs, hands, feet,
brain. You have all the opportunity and power in the world. It’s going to
require hard work, restraint and discipline. Take charge and kick some ass.
Good luck.

------
mhluongo
I was recently (am?) in a similar situation. It took 4 hospitalizations before
I let go of the startup, and asked my family for help getting back on my feet.
I'm on the upswing now, recovered while working less demanding jobs, and after
6 months started another company.

If I learned anything, it's that my priorities had gotten pretty twisted- and
that there will always be another startup.

This time, I'm keeping reasonable hours, and doing whatever I can to stay on
top of my health. If I can't afford something important to my care, I'll
contract on the side to pay for it. The current struggle is that it's "so
hard" to exercise as a founder- but that's just a lie we tell ourselves. It
doesn't take any more space than you already take up to keep fit. Due to the
details of my medical stuff, I can't run anymore, but I can still walk, and do
situps, pushups, and wall sits. If you're okay with looking ridiculous, you'll
be surprised at how many places you can find to get a couple exercises in.

------
ptk_123
Sorry to hear about your situation - what everyone said: focus on your health
first, everything else should come second.

Also, please don't take random advice about diet fads from an internet forum.
Many of the health problems you describe, including the weight gain can in
fact be caused by the hypothyroidism and you won't fix it by trying random
diets or even by various gym regimes (although regular exercise and eating
healthily probably doesn't hurt of course).

As someone whose (almost) all family members have thyroid disfunctions, I know
it is a problematic disease, but entirely treatable/managable in 2014 in most
cases.

I don't know where you happen to be in, but both in my original country
(Romania) and my current country (western EU) it has cheap or entirely covered
treatments.

In summary, one way to go is via medication: try to find the right mix of
medicine, and monitor the thyroid indicators regularly - this is a hit-and-
miss approach because the thyroid function has a "lag" \- you change the
dosage when you feel it necessary, but then it is usually too late as it
swings from hypo to hyper or vice versa. In practice it is almost impossible
to find the right dosage on long term and you keep swinging from hypo
(brainfog, weight-gain, etc) to hyper (weight-loss, random heartbeat,
sweating, etc) and back. Especially the hyper condition is harmful on long
term, and some of the medication is also harmful.

Which brings me to the other approach preferred in some countries and in many
cases: removal (partial or full) of the gland and/or radioactive iodine
applied to it. After this, you need to take pills, but generally the situation
is much more managable and the outlook better.

I just wrote this up based on what I know from family members, but please do
your own research, get proper treatment and a predictable income (as others
suggested, ideally in form of a salary in a country with good healthcare).
Take care!

~~~
ptk_123
Adding as a reply as I couldn't modify it: obvious disclaimer - don't take
medical advice from the internet, but try to visit a specialist doctor. The
above two ways to go were the choice some of my family members had to make.
Also don't experiment with medication on your own, but follow the
prescriptions - however, the doctors will also modify the dosage mostly based
on how you say you feel and the indicators from blood.

------
otikik
"The first wealth is health"

I urge you to rethink your priorities. Very little things come before health
in this world.

------
AltanS
Exercising is not gonna help you lose weight long-term, you have to change
your diet. I would recommend reading up on ketogenic diets.

[http://www.reddit.com/r/keto](http://www.reddit.com/r/keto)

[http://eatingacademy.com/](http://eatingacademy.com/)

[http://www.artandscienceoflowcarb.com/low-carb-
diets/](http://www.artandscienceoflowcarb.com/low-carb-diets/)

------
bithush
Your health should always be your number one priority. You can always do
another start up. You can always earn more money. What you can't do is get
back your time and your health back.

It is a very difficult thing to do but you need to look at yourself and
honestly answer this question: If I don't put my health in the number one spot
where will I be in a year? 2 years? 5 years? 10 years?

If this were a technical problem with your game you would search for a
solution. Do the same for your health!

You did not say where you live other than it is winter so the southern
hemisphere. I am going to guess an Asian or South American country from your
comments about restricted health care and lack of safe place to exercise.
Please correct if I am wrong.

You need to get this shit sorted though. Even if that means ditching your
start up and getting a regular job. You said you had a higher paying job
before your degree? Can you go back to that job or similar? Do you get any
kind of private healthcare with such a job?

I know you are in a financially difficult position but every penny you put
into anything but your health is almost certainly a penny wrongly spent at the
moment. Yes you might get lucky and hit gold and have all the money you need
to get better but you can't bet your health on a hail Mary like that. You said
you are young? If so you have a lot of life left (if you sort your health out)
to do a start-up. Maybe now is not the right time. A start up is killer even
for someone in excellent health so doing one in poor health is almost a
guarantee for disaster.

If I were in your position I would do the following

* Research everything you can about your specific thyroid problem. Get as much information as you can about it from your doctor and search the hell out of it. Treat it like a bug and research, research, research!

* Use your research to find the right drugs and then look at how to source them. There is loads of solid, medical advice on free resources online such as the NHS websites which you should be able to access without any problem. Getting the medicine may be the hardest part but thyroid medication should not be all that hard to get as it is not a controlled substance as far as I am aware (I could be wrong where you live obviously).

* Get your diet sorted. Have a consistent meal and exercise plan. Weight loss is more about diet than exercise so eat right. You said you can lose weight but put it back on quickly. That is normal! A solid, prolonged change to your diet will keep the weight coming off and staying off. I know the thyroid problem makes this harder but it has to be done.

* Find somewhere you can exercise. There will be somewhere unless you really do live in an awful place.

* Look online for cheap glasses or contact lenses. You can get very cheap glasses these days.

* How much will a dentist cost? Look at your finances and work out how long it will take you to safe for the treatment.

* Have you got family or friends who can help you? Maybe you could live with friends to reduce rent costs? Do some simple work freelance?

I hope that helps a bit. I really can't stress just how much your health is
the most important thing though. Excuse my language but fuck your start up if
you are not healthy. There is nothing to gain from having a successful start-
up if you are in poor health and cannot enjoy the success. You need to have a
seriously look at your priorities and if a start-up is the right thing for you
right now.

------
Prime-997
Check out the book "It Starts With Food".

I know the description sounds a bit too good to be true, but it really will
start you on the road to learning how the foods you're eating are likely
causing, or at the very least exacerbating your various ailments, lack of
energy, and weight problems, and how you can see astonishing improvement in
just a few weeks by making better informed food choices.

BTW - I have no affiliation, just personal experience.

------
spacecadet
There is no secret. You just need to eat better or less, get the correct
amount of sleep and exercise! Even if it's only walking- My parents have
struggled with weight for years and it took me a long time to convince them to
start going for walks. 5 years later, they both have lost significant weight
and my mom in particular has recovered from a weight related illness.

------
vishalzone2002
Nothing ever stops in big picture, no matter who gets hit by a bus. But there
is no point in suffering. You should try to raise VC money or get into an
incubator. If you cant then quit or put this startup on hold. .Find a salary
paying job, get your health back on track before it worsens further. Resume
your startup when you feel better.

------
dpeck
Perhaps a little too much on the advice side for weight loss, but I suggest
giving a ketogenic approach a shot.

I helped me drop quite a bit of weight, and after the initial hump of getting
used to it didn't take too much effort to stay on track. Theres a lot of bad
info about it, and it still breaks down to calories in vs calories out, but
replacing the carbs in your meals with fat made me feel full/satisfied so much
longer.

The keto subreddit is very good, and quite encouraging to read.

Also, a huge bonus that I never knew about, carbs make your body feel warmer,
cutting out sugars and dropping some weight makes sleep in the summer months
so much easier and more comfortable. That in itself can make a huge quality of
life difference.

------
eegilbert
Commute by bike. Even when I'm tired, have too much to do, it's the way I get
to work, so I do it.

Best, cheapest, most reliable form of daily exercise, imo.

