What % do you think obesity contributes to the health problems in our country? (ETA - and why is rucking the best answer? :) ) Part II

[crimsonaudio]

It's a blessing and a curse.

A few years back I finally went to the dr. because I was feeling light headed with exertion. Turns out my hemoglobin was in the mid 5s (threshold for anemia in adult males is usually 11 or 12). Dr. wasn't sure how I was walking around, much less riding a bike to the appointment. I just kept convincing myself the bleeding issue was but a scratch. The phone conversation when the bloodwork came back went like:

"I need you to go to the ER immediately."
"Are you serious?"
"Completely."

There's a threshold where "tough" suddenly becomes "ridiculous."

Edit: Or: the threshold is where you realize that you are being ridiculous.

Weirdly, I'm not remotely adverse to seeking medical help - I turned 52 in June and as is my habit, I've got five separate doc appointment in about five weeks - some are annual, others are not, five is more than normal. But it's an example that with me, it's not really about 'toughing it out' and more of my body doesn't communicate with my brain like most people's do. It dos mean that I don't generally have the aches and pains most active people my age do, but I couldn't count the number of times I've literally injured myself and had no idea.

So yeah, blessing and curse, I agree.

 

[Padreruf]

I walked 6 ½ miles today playing golf...18 holes pushing a golf cart...it was a great time -- I played good on the front but wore down on the back...shot 39-44 or 83. The fact that I finished and was still standing is quite a feat given my recent medical record.

My Revlimid induced rash showed back up while playing...especially arms and face. We think the sun exposure played a role as it diminished after a cold shower and nap. I wore a wide-brimmed floppy hat but still had a lot of sun on my face. Ordered some sleeves today to protect arms and will use sunscreen on my face -- doing this again on Thursday. Temps are in the mid to high 80's -- we tee off @ 7:30am -- some days it gets to 90 before we finished. Lots of humidity -- 70% and up.

The good news is that my heart must be doing well...gets up to 95 sometimes when walking up hill. My HRV numbers are not good -- but the doctor thinks they are false readings -- off an Apple Watch -- 17-21. I'm not sure what to think...my heart rate is good and resting heart rate is in the high 50's to low 60's.

Any thoughts?

 

[Toddrn]

It's a blessing and a curse.

A few years back I finally went to the dr. because I was feeling light headed with exertion. Turns out my hemoglobin was in the mid 5s (threshold for anemia in adult males is usually 11 or 12). Dr. wasn't sure how I was walking around, much less riding a bike to the appointment. I just kept convincing myself the bleeding issue was but a scratch. The phone conversation when the bloodwork came back went like:

"I need you to go to the ER immediately."
"Are you serious?"
"Completely."

There's a threshold where "tough" suddenly becomes "ridiculous."

Edit: Or: the threshold is where you realize that you are being ridiculous.

So are you just going to leave us hanging, or are you going to tell us the reason for the blood loss?

 

[crimsonaudio]

I walked 6 ½ miles today playing golf...18 holes pushing a golf cart...it was a great time -- I played good on the front but wore down on the back...shot 39-44 or 83. The fact that I finished and was still standing is quite a feat given my recent medical record.

That's amazing, great work!

The good news is that my heart must be doing well...gets up to 95 sometimes when walking up hill. My HRV numbers are not good -- but the doctor thinks they are false readings -- off an Apple Watch -- 17-21. I'm not sure what to think...my heart rate is good and resting heart rate is in the high 50's to low 60's.

Any thoughts?

I'd not trust a wrist-based heart-rate monitor - my Garmin is widely considered on of the most accurate but it's accuracy is dwarfed by a chest monitor. If you're concerned, I'd pick up a check monitor and wear it while you're moving around a bit - you'll get far more accurate numbers that way. Polar is a solid brand of chest heart-rate monitor.

 

[Padreruf]

That's amazing, great work!


I'd not trust a wrist-based heart-rate monitor - my Garmin is widely considered on of the most accurate but it's accuracy is dwarfed by a chest monitor. If you're concerned, I'd pick up a check monitor and wear it while you're moving around a bit - you'll get far more accurate numbers that way. Polar is a solid brand of chest heart-rate monitor.

That's the answer I received from my cardiologist's head nurse. Every other indicator -- pulse, BP, etc., was very good. I'll ignore that for the present.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

crappy weather has kept me out 3 straight days and I have been feeling it too. stiff and cramped. back to it today. not supposed to be nearly as hot

 

[stlimprov]

So are you just going to leave us hanging, or are you going to tell us the reason for the blood loss?

Bleeding was due to hemorroid related issues; to perhaps grossly oversimplify...basically every defecation was resulting in some prolapse, which led to injury. So I'd have spells of bleeding, but not constant. As the body utilizes iron from old red blood cells to create new red blood cells, this results in a shortage. One response is to increase iron intake, but this isn't just as simple as "take more iron", as too much can tend to exacerbate the original issue.

So it wasn't like blood was spurting out of my carotid. But being slow and intermittent almost certainly led to me rationalizing it as something that I could just wait out.

And, yeah, I know that some will respond with "that's crazy...I'd be at the dr. the next day." If that's you...hey, good for you. (Also, the first time anything like that happened I did respond more immediately...and got kind of a "well, let's wait and see" response.) But I probably got a bit too much "don't be chicken little" in my formation, and it is interesting what you can normalize once you get going.

 

[Padreruf]

Just had my semi-annual visit with my GP. He looked at the blood test results, APOB, etc, and asked me what I was doing. I told him about my new workout routine since January 1. "You are adding at least 10 good years to your life." When I asked about the myeloma he said that doing all this will help to keep it at bay...and will have me in the health I need to take any treatments if it recurs.

I waltzed out of there and went to workout...I'm an evangelist for lifting weights and walking even in your seventies!!!

 

[Bazza]

 

[crimsonaudio]

She speaks truth, it's crazy that the US populace has essentially become 'human batteries' from the Matrix, except they use our health to extract money.

I firmly believe the closer we can eat to how nature provides the food (avoiding as much processing as possible, including chemicals) the more healthy we'll be. I know I am.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1838334550017216990

 

[CoolBreeze]

This world is a mess. When big Tobacco was put out of business and they purchased big Food things went south quickly. So 75% of the grocery store should be avoided due to chemicals and GMOs (downright poison some of it). Seed oils only had industrial uses until recently. Stay away from restaurants and eat whole foods. You best get a whole home water filtration system if you don't have one, lot of impurities in your tap. All of that, combined with 5G radiation, microplastics in EVERYTHING and chemicals falling from the sky (yes, chemtrails are a real issue) it is death by 1000 cuts. The Medical Industrial Complex as molded by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1913 is a profit motivated industry that is treatment oriented, not driven to cure anything. So now I'm rambling...but things need to change quickly. And seek out a Functional Medicine practitioner if you are looking to improve your health.

 

[oskie]

This world is a mess. When big Tobacco was put out of business and they purchased big Food things went south quickly...

One of the most interesting books I have read on the "Food Industry" is Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss. This book is about ten years old, but quite a staggering revelation to me when I read it several years ago.

Only a few pages in, it became obvious the titans of the "Food Industry" were not concerned with the good health of the consumer.

Highly recommend the book, but be warned, you will never view your food the same again.

 

[CoolBreeze]

One of the most interesting books I have read on the "Food Industry" is Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss. This book is about ten years old, but quite a staggering revelation to me when I read it several years ago.

Only a few pages in, it became obvious the titans of the "Food Industry" were not concerned with the good health of the consumer.

Highly recommend the book, but be warned, you will never view your food the same again.

Have not read that one but industrializing food by corporate oligarchs was always a bad idea. The GMO debacle is just one Human problem we should all know about. There are some documentaries I have seen (Food Inc., GMOOMG, etc) but here is a full list - https://gmo-awareness.com/resources/movies-to-watch-gmo-and-more/

 

[crimsonaudio]

 

[dayhiker]

She speaks truth, it's crazy that the US populace has essentially become 'human batteries' from the Matrix, except they use our health to extract money.

I firmly believe the closer we can eat to how nature provides the food (avoiding as much processing as possible, including chemicals) the more healthy we'll be. I know I am.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1838334550017216990

This is another good one from those proceedings. I heard Dr. Means on the Huberman podcast a few months back. It was fantastic.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1838307613034852353

 

[crimsonaudio]

Our food supply is poison. Sadly, many / most Americans cannot afford to avoid highly-processed foods as they are the cheapest, by a wide margin.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

https://www.atlantatrails.com/hiking-trails/roswell-mill-vickery-creek-trail/

Anyone ever do this trail?

 

[crimsonaudio]

How's everyone doing on their fitness goals for 2024?

As many of y'all know I've been living with a non-surgically repairable torn meniscus since Feb 2019, so I'm somewhat limited in my rucking - I can go neither really fast (running) nor really heavy, or my knee swells badly and I limp around for a bit. So despite averaging just over 2k ruck miles per year for the last six years, I decided in late 2023 that for this year I was going to only do 30 miles/week and supplement with heavier calisthenics and weightlifting.

Fast forward to August and I decided I wasn't getting enough miles in, so I reset my goal to 2,024 miles in 2024. That meant that since I was just ahead of pace for the year for the goal of 1,560 miles (52 weeks x 30 miles per week), I needed to add roughly 100 miles per month to my total.

As of today I'm almost back on pace for my updated goal - should be ahead of pace before December, just have to average 6.5 miles/day for the rest of the year.

Feeling good, knee is holding up well (no running and I'm only carrying 25# right now).

How are y'all doing?

 

[DzynKingRTR]

How's everyone doing on their fitness goals for 2024?

As many of y'all know I've been living with a non-surgically repairable torn meniscus since Feb 2019, so I'm somewhat limited in my rucking - I can go neither really fast (running) nor really heavy, or my knee swells badly and I limp around for a bit. So despite averaging just over 2k ruck miles per year for the last six years, I decided in late 2023 that for this year I was going to only do 30 miles/week and supplement with heavier calisthenics and weightlifting.

Fast forward to August and I decided I wasn't getting enough miles in, so I reset my goal to 2,024 miles in 2024. That meant that since I was just ahead of pace for the year for the goal of 1,560 miles (52 weeks x 30 miles per week), I needed to added roughly 100 miles per month to my total.

As of today I'm almost back on pace for my updated goal - should be ahead of pace before December, just have to average 6.5 miles/day for the rest of the year.

Feeling good, knee is holding up well (no running and I'm only carrying 25# right now).

How are y'all doing?

I was losing some weight until I messed up my foot. Gained it all back in 3 weeks. Back at it but also back to only 25 lbs. Darkness getting here sooner is going to be an issue. I have decided to start going into work an hour earlier than usual so I can leave at 4ish.

 

[dayhiker]

https://www.atlantatrails.com/hiking-trails/roswell-mill-vickery-creek-trail/

Anyone ever do this trail?

That looks fantastic.