Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff

[Kestrel]

@Lithium said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

I am in shape, it's a perfectly valid shape.

Also: Life is a terminal condition, nobody makes it out alive.

Also also: Congratulations on getting in a more socially acceptable shape.

Also also also: I need a pool, my knees can't take extended walking/running.

[Arkandel]

@Kestrel There's a difference between accepting your body for what it is, or at the very least being okay with the fact you'll never be perfect (because you never will be) and not seeing the potential for improvement assuming you want to improve.

You can't improve - or you may only do so very inefficiently - unless you recognize there is something to be strengthened.

What I enjoy the most about lifting as a way to improve health is that it turns failure into part of the process. Failure is never a bad thing, it's never something to really be bummed about... because it's unavoidable. No human being ever just lifts more and more indefinitely, eventually you try a set at a weight you can't manage and that's when the fun begins; what happened? Where was the sticking point? Have I been eating enough? Am I sleeping enough? Is my form good enough?

That's what the best part is, for me... this ideal of simply being honest with yourself. Knowing what you want, figuring out if you're willing to do what it takes to get it, then scouting out your own weaknesses to snuff them out, one by one, on the way there.

[Ganymede]

@Catsmeow said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

I like Couch 2 5K. It's a great app. Sadly, I can't breathe when I run. Seriously, my lungs are like NOPE and just shut down.

Do you take albuterol sulfate for asthma symptoms? If so, you may want to move to a nebulizer.

I have heat-induced asthma. That is, when my body temperature is up, I'm more prone to an attack. This may be what you have. I discovered this because: (1) running is more difficult in hot weather; (2) running is easier in colder weather; and (3) I can swim the shit out of a pool. That said, I moved up from an inhaler to a nebulizer, and used the nebulizer before working out. Night-and-day difference.

If you can't run due to this form of asthma, walking is great. It is excellent. Also, consider doing high-rep, low-weight dumbbell training. You can do it while sitting, and you can build up a good sweat doing it.

[Derp]

So my current challenge is changing my diet.

I'm somewhere in the 'mesomorph' range as far as body shape goes, but I have a lot of the endomorph issues. My weight fluctuates a lot, even when not really changing diet or exercise, etc.

So after talking to a dietician, I have been informed that I'm eating all wrong. Calories spot on, and macros spot on... for someone else.

So, now I'm supposed to eat way more protein, way less carbs, and a bit more fat. But frankly, I've yet to find that balance. I'm not used to eating protein. And my goal is... high. So it usually ends up coming along with more fat, which puts me a bit over my goal there, and a bit under my carb goal, even while just not hitting my protein goal by about 15%.

So I'm trying to meal plan, but like, short of just becoming a carnivore that snorts lines of muscle milk powder, it's freakin' hard.

[buttercup]

Sort of on topic

Video of me stuck on Youtube speaking to a group of people

So this is me. I was recorded and then this was sent to my bosses by someone in the room. I do a lot of youth counseling, at risk speaking... gang intervention, etc. It's all voluntary but I'm comitted this year to doing it more readily. This is at my work where I'm a director and I've been asked to come to speak to some struggling people. I hire underprivileged and second chance hires as a rule. And so I get involved a lot and speak when asked because I care about the outcomes.

Anyway, I've been lurking while. Wanted an anonymous environment to preen a bit.

I'm Abbas on Arx.

[Catsmeow]

@Ganymede

nebulizer? What does this do to your heart rate? My inhaler makes it feel like it is exploding out of my chest, so I don't like it.

[faraday]

@Catsmeow said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

@Ganymede

nebulizer? What does this do to your heart rate? My inhaler makes it feel like it is exploding out of my chest, so I don't like it.

The inhaler delivers the dose in two puffs. The nebulizer takes several minutes of inhaling the medication through a mist from a nebulizer machine. The nebulizer tends to allow more of the medication to be absorbed, and also tends to increase the side effects (including the annoying fast heart rate). Various studies (source, source) have shown no clinical benefit to nebulizers over inhalers overall. But some individuals find that nebulizers work better for them, as @Ganymede did.

Disclaimer: I'm a paramedic and asthma sufferer, not a doctor. Your doctor will be able to give you advice on alternate treatment options if your inhaler is not enabling you to run.

[Ganymede]

@faraday said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

The inhaler delivers the dose in two puffs. The nebulizer takes several minutes of inhaling the medication through a mist from a nebulizer machine. The nebulizer tends to allow more of the medication to be absorbed, and also tends to increase the side effects (including the annoying fast heart rate). Various studies (source, source) have shown no clinical benefit to nebulizers over inhalers overall. But some individuals find that nebulizers work better for them, as @Ganymede did.

Because of the slower delivery, you also get better control of the side-effects. I generally take 1/3 of the dose once a day to keep my mucosal membranes in the respiratory system open. I also take another 1/3 before a workout.

My doctor suggested I take a nebulizer because my problem is that my membranes get swollen with allergies. When this happens, the inhaler isn't as effective in getting the medicine further down into the bronchial tubes or up into the sinuses; I can't breathe properly, so it is harder to get the medicine where it needs to go. Using a nebulizer allows for slower, more constant intake.

[Three-Eyed Crow]

I finally got a Costco membership this year.

This is not a major signpost for adulthood, but it was one of those little things that made me double-take and go 'Gosh, I am a person in my mid-thirties.'

Super excited to go shopping this weekend, too.

[Arkandel]

@Three-Eyed-Crow You are not an adult until a kid calls you sir/ma'am. Then you are forever old.

Trivia: In Greek it's worse because they don't even need to go that far. You defer to your elders by using the 'plural' form of "you". So all it takes is a cashier saying "thank you" like that and - blamo! You're done for.

[Derp]

@Arkandel said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

You defer to your elders by using the 'plural' form of "you". So all it takes is a cashier saying "thank you" like that and - blamo! You're done for.

I thought that Greek also did that as a polite form? Kind of like the Spanish tu/usted? Or am I misremembering? It's been a minute since Greek.

[Arkandel]

@Derp It is polite in general (say, if you're referring to a stranger) as it's a way of showing respect. So kids are always supposed to refer to their elders that way.

[Coin]

@Arkandel said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

@Derp It is polite in general (say, if you're referring to a stranger) as it's a way of showing respect. So kids are always supposed to refer to their elders that way.

This is really the same in Spanish, too.

[Derp]

@Coin said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

@Arkandel said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

@Derp It is polite in general (say, if you're referring to a stranger) as it's a way of showing respect. So kids are always supposed to refer to their elders that way.

This is really the same in Spanish, too.

I said that already.

Edit to add: I also recently learned that 'tutear' is a word. I would have never guessed there was a verb for that.

And another, to get us back on topic: Has anyone here had any luck trying to balance out a 50/30/20 protein/carb/fat split? Because I'm failing at this.

[Vorpal]

@Arkandel Welcome to my world since I was twenty.

I am prematurely grey, 80% by the time I was nineteen. I had people calling me 'sir' in my friggin' twenties. People who were my age or slightly younger.
I'm in my mid-thirties now but everybody assumes I'm just a 45 year old with a baby face.
Raaaaaar.

[Misadventure]

Some people around here refer to everyone as sir and ma'am because that is how they address folks.

I tried objecting to a navy veteran referring to me as sir to no avail. He was just that up front respectful of everyone.

[Jaded]

As of Friday it will have been one year since I stopped drinking soda. It will have been about 6 months since the sudden surprise cravings stopped. I only get them very infrequently now and without the power behind them that they had at the start. This has contributed a lot to the benefits of my health regarding sleeping, energy activity, and weight loss.

I recommend this for everyone.

[Arkandel]

@Jaded Gratz! You won't regret it. Good for you!

I used to drink over a litre of regular Coke a day a few years ago, and the impact that had was incredible.

[Misadventure]

Here is the story of how I switched from soda to iced tea:

My friends would fgo t the UTC Mall here in La Jolla for many reasons, one being the Indian take out place run by this old Indian guy who was very nice. One day we went, and he had no large cups anymore. He explained that he did not mind if we went elsewhere to get a large soda, but he couldn't in good conscience sell that much soda at once to someone.

For no real reason beyond his thoughtfulness, I decided to switch to plain iced tea after that. My wife is a bad influence, and wants Coke Zero in the house for a mixer, but otherwise its now in the category of a desert drink we may get.

Don't think it helped, but it did get me off the stuff. Cold brew ice tea bags also help a lot at work.

[Jaded]

@Arkandel Thanks I was pretty bad with it when I quit. I think I was almost up to a 12 pack a day and just decided to go cold turkey. It was pretty rough.

@Misadventure I tried replacing soda with tea at first but it only lead to stronger soda cravings. So I swapped entirely to water, milk, and fruit juices. I'm only now dipping back into tea that I brew myself. I'm avoiding things like the premade Nestea or Lipton Iced Tea varieties, one of my gamer's brings this stuff to tabletop each Friday in a small case to share - and it may as well be soda.