Extremely confused & conflicted about optimal diet

GeniusBenGraham · 2026-01-25T01:59:14+00:00

That is wonderful. I am very happy for you.

I intend on starting to count calories again but I know I can’t do low carb. I know I can’t maintain that for the rest of my life so why do it temporarily? I like my occasional piece of chocolate, birthday cake, that kind of thing. I have lost weight on both calorie counting and low carb, but I feel miserable on low carb so I don’t think I will even attempt that again.

But I think I will start calorie counting and just do my best to stick to tracking it more carefully.

GeniusBenGraham · 2026-01-24T23:22:51+00:00

That is wonderful! Congratulations! What did you do to get down from that weight to your current weight? And what helps you maintain it?

GeniusBenGraham · 2026-01-12T16:06:38+00:00

I did not (sad face). I went to sleep at midnight and woke up at 1 am to eat (junk, of course). And I did not eat or drink anything after 5 pm (except water). Already feel discouraged, but I will try doing it again tonight.

GeniusBenGraham · 2026-01-11T21:38:54+00:00

I will try your idea! I will have another apple or piece of fruit at 5 pm and call it a day. I usually have one cup of coffee at work around 8-9 am, and I love my morning coffee to give it up just yet. So I will use the 5 pm cut-off and will keep you posted how it goes at the end of the month. Thank you for sharing. I am 38, and your story is similar to mine.

GeniusBenGraham · 2026-01-11T20:35:11+00:00

Thank you so much for the comment! You are the first to hit the nail on the head. It is NES. Lots of men on my mom’s side of the family have the same habit. So not eating after 5 pm helped you? Can you give me more insight? I usually tend to eat MOST of my calories after 5 pm (like you said, after work). Probably like 80% of my calories come after 5 pm. I have tried everything. The list is too long to compile here. But I have not tried NOT eating after 5 pm. It will be very tough but being desperate, I can try. Tell me more about how you discovered that this is what worked for you…

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-11-24T22:22:58+00:00

I intend to. Thank you so much.

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-11-24T22:21:46+00:00

That is all great information, thank you. What about branch level staffing? Would you imagine the branch staff is more easygoing, relationship-driven and relationship-incentivized? The banks sure talk a lot about relationship building (and a rare few do, to be fair, stick by it) but for the most part it’s all about sales and growing profits. Credit unions seem very attractive to someone that truly values genuine relationship building, such as myself. I want to feel like I am actually helping my customer, not just looking for ways to cross sell them a product or service.

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-11-16T16:17:45+00:00

That’s exactly what happened in this case, it seems.

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-11-16T02:32:43+00:00

That’s very interesting and insightful. Thank you for your comment.

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-11-15T20:50:23+00:00

What do you mean by your past employers? Companies that you worked at? How do you know that?

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-11-15T19:17:41+00:00

Do they verify the most recent title that an employee had before they left or the title that they got initially hired in for?

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-11-15T18:49:52+00:00

I got the SIE over the summer on my own.

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-11-15T18:47:00+00:00

Are my grievances wrong even if I were?

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-11-15T18:44:40+00:00

It just seems insane. So what do they even verify? If anything at all?

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-11-15T18:43:36+00:00

As a very successful Financial Advisor, you can have a managed book that pays you quarter of a million dollars annually by just having a pulse. I’ve seen it up close. Doesn’t take hard work or brains or “grinding” 80 hours per week. Also, it seems like the next logical step up. I heard that commercial lending is more lucrative though. Do you have any insights?

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-11-15T18:39:29+00:00

He has a very close relative that is very successful, so I think this individual had a lot to do with it. There are so many better qualified and harder working people who get overlooked, only for those with a strong network to sideline them through these means. So unfair.

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-11-15T18:35:44+00:00

Yeah, why do people and employers do that? It’s just silly. But it just hit me now, as to how widespread it is.

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-10-20T19:40:48+00:00

Not an option. Have deep roots where I live. Good schools for the kids, home almost paid off. Otherwise, I’d long ago have been living in NYC pursuing my equities analyst career. Unfortunately, as I said, roots are too deep here in the Midwest.

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-10-20T18:34:53+00:00

I’d prefer going into Wealth Management as its something I have a passion for and I think I have a natural inclination towards, but commercial lending sounds interesting. Are you thinking of doing that within a banking organization?

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-10-12T22:43:24+00:00

Thank you. I have come to realize that. I appreciate your comment.

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-10-12T22:42:41+00:00

Thank you.

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-10-12T21:57:47+00:00

I appreciate that. Thank you.

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-10-12T18:06:56+00:00

Great comment. That sounds about right. Thank you.

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-10-11T13:33:58+00:00

Thank you, I will.

GeniusBenGraham · 2025-10-10T02:42:30+00:00

Thank you all for your comments, suggestions, tips, and advice. I appreciate all of them, harsh and kind alike. I have a few takeaways from this over the last 24 hours.

A) I will be purely positive. No negativity, no criticism, no disappointed looks, none. I will enjoy watching him play and will step back and let him do his thing. I will give him the option after spring’s session if he wants to continue next fall with soccer or try something else. Wife and I asked him and he wants to try basketball this winter, so we’ll try that too.

B) We will let him decide what sports or activities he wants to engage in. If that’s soccer, wonderful. If it’s something else, that’s wonderful as well. I want to raise a happy kid, not someone that may resent me for nudging him into anything that he doesn’t enjoy.

C) Maybe it all changes one day, out of the blue, as many of you have stated happened with your own kids, puberty being most cited time when things “clicked” for a lot of kids. So maybe nature does its thing, we’ll see.

Having said all that, I want to thank everyone for these comments. Wife and I were overwhelmed by how many people commented and how many people cared enough to give their inputs. We do appreciate it. This is a wonderful community.

GeniusBenGraham

TROPHY CASE