What POSITIVE CHANGES are you making in your life?

Keep it up, Uba, and people will start to think you aren't a vampire.

ubarose wrote: In January I found out that I am allergic to wheat, corn, rice, sulfites, raw almonds, and raw peaches. So I stopped eating stuff I was allergic to, and pretty much all the mysterious ailments that have plagued me for years disappeared. Also, dropped 5% of my weight in like two weeks (doctor says that weight was all from inflammation from the allergies). So that was a rather sudden positive change.

The best part is that now with my total allergy load greatly reduced, and a regular daily dose of antihistamines, I am able to go outside in the sun for significantly longer lengths of time. It's so amazing to just be able to stand outside in full sunlight.

It makes me wonder how much of our health problems are associated with inflammation we've been dealing with all our lives. Just suffering silently with, as if that is what should be normal.

I read one recent psych study that points the finger at inflammation causing depression to be a symptom.

When I got an ulcer after returning from Doha in 2015 I changed my diet to mostly vegetables and lean meats and also cut back on dairy. A lot of the low level aches and pains went away, and I lost about thirty lbs. I also cut out wheat and beans (the dreaded lectins). Lately I've been eating a lot of dairy and probably too much rice and surprise, the weight is slowly coming back, and my acid reflux is worse, which affects my sleep.

Here are some articles on inflammation:

Inflammatory Markers and Depression

Inflammation and GERD

Leaky Gut and food sensitivities I realize there is a lot of sketchy nutritional hype out there designed to sell books, but the authors of the ancestral health book "The Perfect Health Diet" try whenever possible to use empirical studies and are very good about questioning themselves.

The gut-brain axis: the missing link in depression

Recent studies showed that the microbiota could activate the immune and central nervous systems, including commensal and pathogenic microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract. Gut microorganisms are capable of producing and delivering neuroactive substances such as serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid, which act on the gut-brain axis. Preclinical research in rodents suggested that certain probiotics have antidepressant and anxiolytic activities.

Caveat: I don't know any simple way to improve your gut flora. I don't think popping probiotics alone will do it.

Of course, all sorts of nutritional research is being proved wrong all the time, which is disheartening:

Big scandal about p-hacking and one scientist's nutritional research

This is the author of Mindless Eating. Much of what he says is probably true, but right now his entire career is being disassembled because he engaged in "p-hacking" or data manipulation.

I'm amazed by how much my taste buds have changed. I used to never eat vegetables, and hork down a lot of milk and bread. Now I can honestly live without either substance. I still eat too much cheese, however.

It would be great to have a home inflammation blood test to see where you're at.

Anything empirical I find on gut health I will put here:

drive.google.com/drive/folders/1W6z9vmZd...Avjays8U?usp=sharing

I'm using the licensed databases my school provides, so this is the good stuff.

ubarose wrote: However, this summer I read an article that theorized that the upswing in grain allergies wasn’t actually an allergy to grain, but a reaction to the increased levels of pesticides in the grains we eat. The symptoms are the same, and typical allergy testing can’t distinguish between wheather a person is reacting to the grain itself, or to something else in the grain, like a pesticide.

Apparently glyphosate might be killing bees too, not directly but by killing off good gut bacteria that then leaves them susceptible to infection. Sigh.

I am trying to work in another positive change:

The No-S Diet. It is about the laziest diet ever:

- No sweets
- No snacks
- No seconds

... except on days starting with S: Saturday, Sunday, or "special days": birthdays, holidays, etc.

I've done really severe diets in the past and they work great but they are difficult to sustain either physically (you feel like crap) or mentally (you get tired of constantly counting calories and weighing things). I do like extreme diets because you see results immediately and that is pretty cool. But I'm really looking for a long-term lifestyle change that doesn't result in me being (more of) a weirdo or impossible to socialize with.

When I ran a marathon almost exactly three years ago I was down to 190 (at 6'2") and looked quite trim, but that was with rigorously counting calories and using a FitBit. And also running 20 miles/week. Now I'm pushing 235. Some of that is muscle, since I switched to lifting and do almost no cardio now. But a lot of it is just fat and needs to go away. It's insidious: that is an average excess of 144 calories/day, which is not very much. 1.5 tbsp. of cream in coffee. Or one cookie. But over time, it adds up. Ugh.

I'll keep y'all posted.

I'm 52 (sh*t!) and would like to start lifting weights, if only to retain some muscle mass as I approach my dotage. Any advice?

cranberries wrote: I'm 52 (sh*t!) and would like to start lifting weights, if only to retain some muscle mass as I approach my dotage. Any advice?

It's never too late to start. Compared to when I joined a gym, it's really inexpensive now. Usually you can find a deal with no money down, just a flat monthly rate that might even get reimbursed by your health plan.

Don't worry about the other people at the gym judging you. Plenty of people there are also trying to lose weight and get healthier, and the fit ones are generally only looking at each other or their own reflections.

Go easy on yourself at first. Start a little light and don't burn out by trying to rush your own progress. It's more important to gradually make long-term changes than to rush towards a short-term goal and then fall off the routine and backslide. Try to do a variety of exercises instead of just doing the treadmill or stairmaster. Aerobic exercise is beneficial, but building some muscle is also a worthy goal. Muscles burn calories even between workouts, and protect your aging bones.

A personal trainer is expensive, but it might be worth buying the smallest number of appointments that your gym offers. Instead of going for strength or weight loss, tell the trainer that you want to learn a wide variety of exercises. Without that kind of guidance, I would steer clear of free weights for now, and also the squat station, where proper technique is necessary to avoid injury.

cranberries wrote: I'm 52 (sh*t!) and would like to start lifting weights, if only to retain some muscle mass as I approach my dotage. Any advice?

I agree with everything Shellhead said except the last paragraph. I think it is okay to start lifting free weights without a personal trainer. I didn't have a personal trainer when I started in March 2017 and I have not injured myself, despite working up to a squat and deadlift of well over my body weight for multiple reps.

I use StrongLifts 5x5 ( www.stronglifts.com ). There's two workouts, an "A" and a "B".

The A-workout is: Squat, Bench Press, Barbell Row.
The B-workout is: Squat, Overhead Press, Deadlift.

You alternate the workouts and take a rest day in between: MWF, resting TTSS. Or whatever.

You start with literally nothing but the empty bar. If you're able to successfully do an exercise for 5 sets of 5 reps, then the next time you do that exercise, you add 5 lbs. If you fail to hit all your sets in a particular exercise, then the next time you do that exercise, use the same weight instead of increasing. If you fail to hit all your sets in an exercise three sessions in a row, then the next time you do that exercise, reduce the weight by 10% and work back up.

The website has articles and videos demonstrating proper form. Plus, since you start light, you can work on your form without worrying about hurting yourself. A very similar program, Starting Strength, has even more videos and stuff to learn from. Plus on their forum you can submit videos of you performing the lifts and the coaches will critique you.

There's also a free app to track your weight, progress, and so on.

Ask if you have questions! Lifting weights is not as cool as riding a recumbent bike through Happy Valley, but I'm happy to help regardless.

YBack in the day, I used to go to the gym six days a week, 2 hours a day. I was pretty jacked. Not 0% body fat jacked but I was in fairly decent shape. I never met anybody that looked down on people less in shape at the gym. I always felt that anybody making an effort was cool by me.

That could have been due to the gym I went to which was more expensive than others so you got more working adults and less Dude-bros and next to no teenagers.

My point is, don't let a fear of being judged hold you back.

Also, having 3 or 4 sessions with a personal trainer makes a huge difference. She can give you a great work out plan to start or help to mix it up and remotivate if your current routine is getting stale.

I’d bet most of my dick that 95% of our problems are with pesticides.

SuperflyTNT wrote: I’d bet most of my dick that 95% of our problems are with pesticides.

That, and all of the sugar added to our processed food, and the fact that too many of us are sitting all the time.

SuperflyTNT wrote: I’d bet most of my dick that 95% of our problems are with pesticides.

Pretty small stakes

cranberries wrote: I'm 52 (sh*t!) and would like to start lifting weights, if only to retain some muscle mass as I approach my dotage. Any advice?

I started lifting last October, but it wasn't until the top of the year that I made it a 4 day/week thing. I was pushing 290 and had a history of lower back issues. A friend at work is a competition fitness dude and gave me a good regimen and helped me with my form. I was particularly nervous about the deadlifts (Romanian, Hex bar) he scheduled for me. If you want things for the house, the nesting type of dumbbells are great. Yoga is a great compliment to the lifting to make sure you stay limber.


I learned a couple things about throwing iron around:

• Your ego will be checked and checked again. Don't be afraid to drop down weight if you need to.
• Form. Form. Form. If it is suffering see item 1.

Go out and get it!