The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:
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Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.
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Updates to let us know how you are doing. This provides valuable feedback on past advice / encouragement and will hopefully make people feel a little more motivated to follow through. If you want to be reminded to post your update, see the post titled 'update reminders', below.
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Advice. This can be in response to a request for advice or just something that you think could be generally useful for many people here.
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Encouragement. Probably best directed at specific users, but if you feel like just encouraging people in general I don't think anyone is going to object. I don't think I really need to say this, but just to be clear; encouragement should have a generally positive tone and not shame people (if people feel that shame might be an effective tool for motivating people, please discuss this so we can form a group consensus on how to use it rather than just trying it).
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So I'm on Keto again. I just started a couple of days ago.
I know this isn't a sustainable way to keep weight off, but I'm looking at a romantic trip in a couple of months and need to lose weight ASAP.
I had the easiest time of my life slipping into ketosis. The first couple of times I did it when I was younger, I would wake up with heart palpitations. Now I just wake up parched and fatigued, but by the time I finish coffee and the electrolytes I'm good to go, which has made keto-flu little more than a speed bump..
Does anyone have some cheap and easy keto meal recommendations? I like making microwaved 'pizza' with sliced ham, salami, mozzarella cheese, baby spinach and tabasco sauce. I'm looking for other 'easy to make' meals that I can put together in an emergency so I don't get tempted by any carbs.
That's one of the reasons I stopped relying on scale weight alone. Two people can weigh exactly the same but have completely different body compositions. BMI can be useful as a general screening tool, but once someone starts strength training it doesn't always tell the full story. I've been paying more attention to body fat percentage, lean mass, and FFMI lately because they give a much better picture of actual progress. I found this FFMI calculator useful for tracking that side of things: https://ffmitracker.com/
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Precook and store your keto meals in the fridge, otherwise you have nothing when the carb thoughts come. The meals should either be edible cold or microwaveable in 90 seconds. I find fatty steak or lamb bits to be always reliable, I eat them cold with solid congealed fat.
I think tips like this are a large way to make your way through keto.
I make large batches of precooked food in pressure cookers which due to sheer blunt headedness I can eat for 3 days straight.
Sneaking cold fatty meats out of the fridge is a sneaky tip for making your way through.
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This is what I consume when I'm doing keto. I generally aim for mostly easy to grab stuff and then one recipe that lasts multiple meals.
I have a keto protein powder that added to my coffee really cuts hunger (I don't do keto anymore, although I should it is amazing for mental health and anyone interested in why should read the book Brain Energy).
https://paleomg.com/andouille-sausage-rice-stuffed-pork-tenderloin/ - I don't even make the pork part of this, this is the best substitute for carbs ever. I make it when not on keto https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/big-mac-casserole/ Ribeye - marinade in garlic/soy/worcestershire for 4-24 hours, then let come up to temperature covered in salt then coat in a pepper rub (flat iron is what I have) and make in the air fryer. homemade steak sauce 1t worchestershire 1T mayo. https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/emilys-southwest-taco-soup/ - drop one can of corn and do two cans of beans. pay attention to your marinade don't pick something high sugar and only garnish with cheddar and sour cream NOT tortilla chips salsa chicken - chicken breasts/tenders massage a bunch of taco seasoning into the raw chicken, smothered in a can of salsa topped with cheddar, bake in a casserole dish paleo bake- 2 packages of mushrooms, one pound of ground beef, heavy italian seasoning (1T? 2T? topped with shredded mozzarella and baked) fathead pizza dough is amazing but takes too much effort
As for products, zoodles suck but the kind of noodles made from hearts of palm is ok if you are expecting more of a salad experience (add italian dressing along with your pasta sauce). I don't do any of the protein bars etc, too many tricky fake sweeteners that are terrible for your blood sugar (like the "keto" maple syrup that is worse than table sugar). I used to get Lily's but they've changed to non keto friendly sweeteners.
Cheese sticks (colby or cheddar) Cottage cheese Full fat greek yogurt and then I add a teaspoon of jam, sugar free if I'm being really strict 2 hot dogs by themselves or in a high fiber tortilla 1T of cream cheese with 1/4-1/3 cup heavy cream with vanilla and stevia and cocoa powder for a keto whip when you are desperate for sweetness Sugar free jello with extra unflavored gelatin added to firm it up Deli sliced ham wrapped around a cheese stick with mustard Salami Bacon bits with ranch dressing Parmesan crisps (like Mrs Cubbisons, don't do like the almond flour crackers etc they sneak carbs in). Almonds with easy cheese. Sometimes you need the crunch.
My biggest challenge on keto is I am so bored of the idea of eating actually cooking doesn't seem worth it. I also am not an extreme purist, I'll eat beans, which makes this "slo carb" but not every day. For me keto is more avoiding carbs as the central feature of a meal but I can have a sauce. And you can't really trust the packaged foods they change over time and nothing is more frustrating that doing keto for days and realizing something is messing you up. I also have to watch my protein to make sure it isn't so high it breaks ketosis. Like what is even the point of lily's chocolate since they got bought and cheaped out. They taste better now! But probably fuck up your blood sugar.
That said keto is a lot of work and deprivation and I just use ozempic now which has brought me from almost 30 to almost 25 and sustains. I take half-shots spread out and barely vomit anymore.
Don't forget coconut oil in your coffee if you are getting constipated.
Thanks for your tips. I have these kind of problems too where I get sick of the restrictions. I've been in situations where I have to use my entire carb allowance for green vegetables like beans and spinach so I get my nutrition in. And I also go over the protein limit sometimes which I hate, but protein is probably the most attractive thing on the menu. Sick of buying cottage cheese only to see it go off from lack of use.
At least I'll probably only be on this for a month or so.
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I wrote an essay. It's beautiful. Too beautiful. I'm probably not going to post it, and my reasons for not wanting to post it are sensible and ugly.
Why? Well, I'm the best shrink I've ever had. Or the worst one. This is mostly because I'm still awaiting a more senior psychiatrist (no comments on their merit, since I haven't met them yet, and that's the fucking problem). I had to take drastic measures. I did the right thing, for mostly right reasons; I knew the odds, and still flew too close to the sun.
I've complained to myself that I'm too sane for my own good. And that it might not be an entirely bad idea to exchange a little bit of sanity for a medium dose of happiness. Well, my brain red-lined, I saw an amber light, I asked people I trust if I was worrying them (I was worrying myself). The answer was a yes. I listen and I learn. I hit abort. I realized that being too happy is almost as bad as being too sad. I fixed that problem, because you can't get more insight into your condition without being a laparoscopic surgeon operating on her own endometriosis. The moment I hit my own threshold for concern, I did extremely sensible and extremely annoying things, like calling people and telling them where to find me if things went south. I was confident they wouldn't go south, but not confident enough.
They didn't go south. I'm stuck in the northern end of a cold and damp country, which is cold and damp in the summer. I did not go insane, because I do not want to go insane. Not even if the prospect of going insane felt very good.
The best/worst part? When I was sensible and fired off another cry for help to my doctor, it turned out that my beautiful self-referral and psychiatric history had never reached them. It's clearly been sent. I believe them when they say it hasn't been received. NHS IT is trying to kill me, more literally than I'd like, but I'm still here.
That essay? You should wish you could see it. I've looked at it fully sober. I can tell you that even when my brain is melting from the heat, the metabolic waste glows in the dark like radium. You want to lick it off clean. Or at least I do. That really is part of the problem, and many parts of me are telling me "I told you so", and they are correct. I intend to never go out if I can help it, but if I do, you know it'll be in style.
I’m not writing my screen play in case it sucks - this way I can always have the potential of greatness.
Writing screen plays? Strong proof of mental illness. I've never been tempted, sorry, can't relate at all.
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I've started noticing there's a significant difference between stream-quality music and FLAC. Dunno why I didn't use to notice. It's obvious now. Sigh. Another new personal QOL standard to follow. Now I'll "have to" download FLACs instead of just quickly opening Spotify, if I'm gonna spend more than a few minutes enjoying music.
According to their audio quality page, the free Spotify web player streams at 128kbps (which used to be standard bootleg-MP3 quality back in the day, although with those I could still hear compression artifacts), while the free mobile player by default auto-adjusts in a range from 160kbps "High" (where I can't hear compression artifacts in MP3s, but I'd bet others can) to 96kbps "Normal" (which would be awful for MP3; is it tolerable for AAC?) to 24kbps "Low" (presumably they mean this in the moral sense rather than just the numeric sense). Their Premium plan has 320kbps (at which even MP3s weren't humanly distinguishable from original CD audio) and FLAC options for mobile, though, and even 256kbps for the Premium web player ought to be good enough.
They won't let me turn up the quality without downloading their desktop app. I'd rather not. Not letting me enjoy the Premium benefits in my browser is BS.
On a note about high quality in general. Couple years ago I decided to re-watch my favorite movie in 4k and had an interesting experience. As a horror fiend it felt somewhat underwhelming having the lead up of suspense being sharpened in a way you could anticipate, took away from the sense of dread and adrenaline one normally feels when watching it. I then went back later that night and re-watched it again in 480p, and it felt ‘better’. Not sure if there’s music that sounds better at a lower resolution, but I like a lot of niche rap that’s heavily edited, using pitch shifting, vary speed, ominous choir techniques and is heavy on the synthesizer. Maybe FLAC sounds worse for that type of music as it’s less natural than other alternatives.
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That's funny. I insisted to my IT that they user their admin privilege to install the desktop app so I wouldn't have to use the browser-based!
I caved and installed the desktop app. I figure that through all my use of the browser version, they have lots of information about me anyway, and the desktop app probably isn't egregiously spyware-esque. Downloading all those FLACs would be too much of a hassle. And the best lightweight app I found for music playback/organizing, wasn't all that great.
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In a little good news, I don't need surgery on my shoulder.
I tried to go straight to a physical therapist on advice from some folks here. After an initial appointment he made some uncomfortable noises and told me to go to a specialist to see how bad the damage was. The specialist gave me a once over and said that I had multiple "adhesions" in the joint, then sent me back to the physical therapist.
The treatment is interesting so far - they're essentially re-injuring the joint so that it can heal properly. It hurts like hell, but it's a good hurt. My range of motion is already significantly better.
If you're dealing with chronic pain, maybe talk to a medical specialist about it. Sometimes it's fixable.
I’m slowly but surely anticipating when the day arrives where I’m going to encounter my first real health scare. I’m not there yet (I think) but a couple friends of mine within the last year or two already had theirs that caused them to check in with their PCP.
A few years ago I randomly had an incident where I was randomly moving around things at work and as I turned and shifted to the side, I feel this sharp, squeezing pain shoot directly up my chest like it’s traveling through a vein to the left side near my heart. I immediately paused right then and there on the floor. If I tried to take a deep breath, the squeezing pain would still be there, so I just breathed normally and didn’t try taking another deep breath for about 5 minutes. After that it went away and everything was normal. Later that night I went to the ER and saw the doctor and they did a chest x-ray and did a few tests. They noticed a little inflammation and soreness and diagnosed me with pleurisy that night but said everything else is completely fine and I was in great health. Still gave me pause though.
It's funny. This particular health scare is almost 30 years old. I didn't have health insurance at the time, so it healed wrong and has caused problems my whole life.
Apparently you can just... Fix some of it? That is, if you can afford it.
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New Year's resolution check-in:
How goes it @self_made_human, @thejdizzler, @birb_cromble, @ThomasdelVasto and @falling-star?
My boy out here smashing and dashing.
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Spending is $640.82 less than on this day last year. I have one more big ticket expense in July that might put me over the edge. For now I'm just going to try my best.
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Yo yo doing good dawg. I'm starting to write more poetry / fiction and just post it paywalled on my Substack, which I like. Coming up on a year in the gym, got two weeks left.
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I did go to the gym yesterday. First time I've attended my Scottish gym in 6 months at the very least, maybe 8 or 9. Forced myself to. Despite all the aches and the pain and the desire to drag my sorry ass home to rot in peace. Nope, if I'm getting the muscle ache anyway, might as well grow something to show for it. I'm going today too, after work. Holding myself to it.
You have appropriate hospital shoes, right??????
Uh... I think so? I wear Chelsea boots at work. But one of the reasons I'm not a surgeon (there are others, and too many to list) is that I fucking hate standing. I've tried a bunch of different shoes, I suppose, but my back and legs get sore. I'm literally surviving the ward rounds on paracetamol and ibuprofen (and a muscle relaxant, sometimes). And a PPI, because I never quite go full retard.
Quite convinced it's somatoform pain. Still waiting for another shrink to make me their problem.
This is a point of serious Opinion because of our retarded amount of hours worked over here, and while it dials down after residency for most specialities it can be a real deal career limitation factor for surgeons. Foot, leg, and back pain are all connected.
This gets to the point where people are straight up recommending Yoga to Ortho-bros or you have Vascular reading "Becoming a Supple Leopard."
The specific recommendations for footwear are pretty body type, mechanics, and use-case related (I love my clogs but only when I'm doing more standing around than walking, I've seen plenty of residents break their ankles hurrying to a code).
Dig into the shoe discussion on the medicine or residency subreddits you'll see a lot of recommendations. Hoka is a common viable option. Basic orthotics can make a big difference.
Some attention to your footwear and stretching routine can absolutely radically improve your day to day experience.
I'll consider it, thank you. I just make a point of dressing well these days, even at work, when it would be so easy to devolve into scrubs (and look decent in them). A proper shirt. Nice trousers. The shoes. I'm not insane enough to wear a tie just yet. I used to wear crocs to work, once, but while they're perfectly cromulent footwear, I've outgrown them.
I try to get some stretches in when I can. Even if it's while I'm vaping in the shitter. But the pain really is probably psychosomatic, and it's nasty.
More dressy options are out there but I'm not your huckleberry for recommendations on those. I know others have preferences though.
Insoles, orthotics and other nonsense are all entirely internal and viable options.
As for the pain being somatic. I mean yeah. You are a psychiatrist - you know that doesn't mean it is unconnected from everything else. Minimize negative inputs and you'll get a better result.
Additionally if you feel helpless or apathetic about improving your experience, keep in mind how depression might be a contributor.
Lastly, Jesus Christ who still wears ties? The fomite risk alone! But for psychiatry the strangling!
I mean, I'm not wearing a tie. And if I did succumb to temptation, I'd make sure it's one of those ones that clips on and tears off easy. Only hot women get to choke me, on my own terms.
I'll look into things, really. I have learned the hard way to take good advice.
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Good job! But you gotta go easy the first few days after that long of a break. Weights that feel embarrassing. Otherwise you get sore as hell and need to wait to go back, which makes the habit part difficult.
Oh I wasn't away for a full 8 months, I was working out 2-3x weekly while on a prolonged vacation in India. Got the DOMS out of the way, I'm just sore because of stress. Somatoform pain hurts as much as the normal kind, it's all nerves anyway. No, it's been a month since a proper gym session, but I've been doing push-ups and swinging dumbbells even last month. Appreciate it nonetheless!
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