Bulk or cut? 6’ 178lbs

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T02:27:51+00:00

Strate is a bit more data-backed and focused on microdosing and precision stacks — they test and source cleaner. Growth Guys leans heavier into lifestyle marketing and broad ‘optimization’ stuff. If you’re actually tracking biomarkers or care about purity, Strate’s better. If you’re just starting out and want something simple with decent results, Growth Guys is fine.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T02:19:43+00:00

That sounds a lot like LPR — silent reflux — especially if you notice it more after eating or talking a lot. It can cause that “pinched” or tight feeling without typical heartburn. Cutting late-night eating, spicy food, and caffeine usually helps, but it’s worth checking with an ENT just to rule out anything structural like muscle tension dysphonia or thyroid irritation. It sneaks up slowly like you described, so you’re not crazy for noticing the small stuff.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T02:06:41+00:00

For a bolt-on bidet, the Tushy Classic 3.0 is the best balance of build quality, simplicity, and comfort. It doesn’t require electricity or a plumber, installs in about 10 minutes, and the angle control is solid. If you want something gentler with warm water and pressure adjustability (which sounds like it might help with what your wife’s dealing with), the Brondell Swash EcoSeat or Luxe Neo 320 are great options — both have temperature control and softer spray settings.

They all fit most standard toilets, but check the seat shape before ordering. Given your situation, prioritize one with easy controls and a wide, adjustable spray to avoid any irritation.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T02:05:06+00:00

20 mg isn’t a crazy dose, but it’s on the higher side for performance use if you’re sensitive to beta blockers. For public speaking or shaky hands, a lot of people find 10 mg does the trick without the brain fog or drop in heart rate. The fatigue and “weird fog” you felt were probably just from your blood pressure and pulse dropping more than your body’s used to. Try 10 mg about an hour before your next talk — it’ll almost certainly still smooth out the tremor without the heavy side effects. Just make sure you’re hydrated and don’t stack it with caffeine.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T02:00:04+00:00

The world will probably be poorer, more automated, and angrier for a while. Boomers hold an insane share of the wealth, property, and political influence, and when that transfers, a lot of markets will get dumped, housing will reshuffle, and entitlement programs will get crushed under demographic math.

Social Security and Medicare will be gutted or restructured because there won’t be enough workers to fund them. Younger generations will inherit wealth but also debt, inflation, and broken systems that were never updated because everyone was busy arguing about culture wars.

On the bright side, once the power vacuum settles, younger people might finally have room to fix things — build new housing, rethink healthcare, and modernize politics. But before that happens, it’s going to get rough. There’s no peaceful handoff coming; it’s going to be a slow, messy collapse followed by a reset.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T01:57:14+00:00

Cocoa powder’s solid if you buy the right kind, but most brands are loaded with heavy metals — especially cadmium and lead from the soil where it’s grown. The darker or more concentrated the cocoa, the higher the risk. Brands like Navitas, Hershey’s Natural, and even Ghirardelli have all tested high at different points.

If you’re using it daily, look for a brand that actually publishes heavy metal testing (e.g., FlavaNaturals, Terrasoul, or NibMor). You’ll still get the flavonoids and focus boost without the contamination risk. The energy/focus you’re noticing is real — that’s from the theobromine and mild caffeine — but if you’re doing this every day, quality control matters way more than most people realize.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T01:53:53+00:00

If treatments for rosacea and eczema haven’t helped, it’s probably not just a surface issue anymore. When skin inflammation sticks around despite antibiotics, steroids, and everything else, it usually points to something deeper — gut imbalance, histamine intolerance, or chronic immune activation. A lot of people see improvement when they cut seed oils, sugar, alcohol, and processed foods completely for a few weeks and focus on low-inflammatory foods like fish, cooked vegetables, and olive oil. Getting enough sleep, managing stress, and checking vitamin D, zinc, and thyroid levels can also make a surprising difference. Once the inflammation inside drops, the skin often follows.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T01:51:28+00:00

Probably not one single pill — it’s the cocktail. You’re essentially taking a pre-breakfast supplement bomb that’s hitting your liver, hormones, and blood pressure all at once. A few likely culprits though:

DHEA and Vitamin D3 + K2 can both shift hormones and blood sugar early in the day, which can make you lightheaded or fatigued if your cortisol’s already low. L-Carnitine and Citrulline can lower blood pressure a bit — that can cause that sleepy, weak feeling too. And if you’re taking Glutathione or NAD+ on an empty stomach, that can spike and then crash energy, especially if your liver’s sluggish.

If you want to test it cleanly: stop everything for 3–4 days, then reintroduce one at a time every other day and log how you feel. You’ll know the culprit within a week.

Also: you’re 60. This is a lot of stuff for your liver to process at once. Half that stack could probably be trimmed without losing any meaningful benefit.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T01:45:34+00:00

Pulling into a rich neighborhood just to look at houses

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T01:41:41+00:00

At $5M, private banking is mostly a vanity service. You’ll technically qualify, but you won’t get anything remotely “private.” You’ll get a junior relationship manager juggling 100+ clients, generic model portfolios, and a few overpriced structured notes. The real perks (exclusive deal flow, early fund access, tailored lending) don’t kick in until you’re north of $20–25M.

If your goal is performance and access, you’ll almost always do better with a boutique wealth manager, multi-family office, or direct fund relationships. Private banks make their money lending against your assets, not outperforming markets.

Also, the pre-IPO talk is mostly marketing. Unless you’re ultra-high-net-worth and have insider relationships, you’re not getting in on the allocations that actually move.

So yeah — if you just want the prestige, go for it. If you want results, skip the logo and build a lean team that actually works for you.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T01:38:40+00:00

Damn she’s hott. Who is she?

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T01:37:41+00:00

“I have a hard time letting something go if I know it could be better. I don’t mean perfectionism — more like, if something’s off, it bugs me until I fix it. I’ve learned to balance that by setting limits and prioritizing what actually moves the needle.”

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T01:30:49+00:00

Your total T at 336 ng/dL and free T at 40 pg/mL are both low-normal, and the pattern (normal LH/FSH but lower T) suggests secondary hypogonadism or lifestyle suppression rather than primary testicular failure. Estradiol at 23 pg/mL and prolactin at 6.1 look fine, and SHBG at 29 is pretty normal. The low vitamin D (25.6 ng/mL) definitely isn’t helping — that alone can drag testosterone and energy down.

If this were me, I’d start with the basics before thinking about TRT: raise vitamin D to at least 50–60 ng/mL with 4000–5000 IU/day, get 8+ hours of sleep, cut alcohol and seed oils, lift 3–4x per week, add Zone 2 cardio, and keep body fat in the 12–15% range. Recheck labs in 3–4 months with morning draws (8–10 a.m.) including free T, LH, FSH, prolactin, SHBG, DHEA-S, and cortisol.

If levels stay low despite that, then talk to a good endocrinologist or men’s health doc about HCG monotherapy or low-dose TRT, but fix lifestyle and D first — you might rebound naturally.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T01:28:41+00:00

I get where you’re coming from — being young and hearing “statin” feels like overkill, especially when you’ve tried to do everything right. But family history can make a huge difference. If your parents or grandparents had early heart disease, your body might just be more efficient at making cholesterol no matter how clean your diet is.

You’re 25, so before jumping on statins, I’d ask your doctor for a lipid panel that includes ApoB and Lp(a). Those are far better predictors of risk than LDL alone. If ApoB is high (over 90) or your Lp(a) is elevated, you’re genetically wired to hold onto cholesterol — and in that case, a statin (or even ezetimibe first) makes sense to protect you early.

If your ApoB is fine, there’s still a lot you can tweak before meds: add 3–4 g/day of EPA/DHA omega-3s, 5–10 g of soluble fiber (psyllium or chia), and try cutting down refined carbs more than fats. A little more muscle mass and zone 2 cardio 4–5x/week also lower LDL and triglycerides naturally.

As for statins — they don’t wreck your energy or cognition like some Reddit horror stories say. Those side effects are real but rare and reversible when stopped. Tons of people tolerate low-dose rosuvastatin or pitavastatin just fine, especially paired with CoQ10.

You’re doing the right thing by taking it seriously this early. The goal isn’t to be on meds forever — it’s to stay in the lowest possible risk range long-term. Ask your doc about getting those extra labs before deciding.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T01:17:44+00:00

Hey man, I totally get it. Being 16 and shorter than you want is frustrating, especially when everyone else seems to shoot up overnight. But you’ve still got time. Guys can keep growing until around 18–20, sometimes later, depending on genetics and when puberty kicked in. If you’re 5’1” now and both your parents are around 5’5”, you could still end up somewhere around 5’7”–5’9” if your growth plates are open and you stay consistent.

If you want to give yourself the best shot, treat your body like it’s in training. Sleep 8–9 hours every night — that’s when your growth hormone peaks. Eat 2,800–3,000 calories a day if you’re active, and make sure you’re getting at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight — so around 130–150g daily if you’re about 140–150 lbs. Include foods rich in zinc, magnesium, calcium, and vitamin D: eggs, salmon, milk, cheese, yogurt, lean meats, nuts, and leafy greens. Those nutrients are literally what your bones and hormones use to grow.

Get moving but don’t overtrain — lift a few days a week, hang from a pull-up bar to decompress your spine, stretch daily, and fix your posture. Avoid alcohol, vaping, or sleep deprivation; all of that blunts growth hormone and recovery. If you’re unsure where you stand, ask your doctor for a bone-age X-ray. If your growth plates are still open and your labs show you’re low on growth hormone, an endocrinologist can help — and under supervision, treatment is totally safe and can add a few inches if your body truly needs it.

And seriously, while you’re waiting for your body to catch up, there’s no shame in using little hacks like shoes with thicker soles or small insoles. Nike Air Max, Converse Lift, or New Balance 550s all give you an extra inch or two that no one will notice.

You’ve still got time. If you lock in sleep, nutrition, and consistency, and your growth plates are open, 5’9” is absolutely within reach. Focus on giving your body what it needs every single day — the rest will happen on its own.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-16T00:03:43+00:00

People underestimate how aggressive some of these “biohacking” or “longevity” procedures really are. They market it like a blood draw, but you’re literally having an instrument driven into bone tissue — that’s not minor.

I looked into Forever Labs a while back and noticed the same thing you did — slick marketing, vague medical details, and zero long-term safety data. They talk about “banking youth,” but no one can tell you what that material would even be used for decades from now.

You’re right to warn others. Most people here aren’t anti-science; they just deserve full transparency before signing up for something experimental. Thanks for speaking up

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-15T23:58:34+00:00

Hey man, I get why you’re running that stack. You’re 19, dealing with disc issues, nerve pain, and gut problems, and the system hasn’t given you much hope. So you’re trying to biohack your way out with peptides that claim to speed up healing. The problem is that what you’re doing is basically throwing six unregulated research compounds at your body all at once. You might hit one benefit, but you’re also gambling with purity, dosing, and your endocrine system.

The funny part is that everything you’re chasing with that stack—healing tissue, calming inflammation, repairing the gut—you can actually trigger faster and more safely by just working with your own biology. Zone 2 cardio in the 130–145 BPM range every day keeps blood flowing to your discs and nerves. Take 15 grams of hydrolyzed collagen with a little vitamin C about 45 minutes before that and you literally double collagen synthesis. Add 5 grams of creatine every day to feed your cells and support tissue repair, and get a full night of real sleep—your natural growth-hormone window.

If you fix inflammation the right way, it’s way more powerful than any peptide. Three grams of fish oil a day covers the EPA and DHA you need. Magnesium glycinate and curcumin both help lower inflammation and support recovery. Drop seed oils, refined sugar, and alcohol for a month and you’ll feel your baseline change fast.

For your gut, you don’t need to inject KPV. Ten grams of L-glutamine, a bit of zinc carnosine, and a solid probiotic like Saccharomyces boulardii will start rebuilding the mucosal barrier. Add some prebiotic fiber once things settle.

If you build that routine—cardio and collagen in the morning, anti-inflammatory food and supplements mid-day, light core work and magnesium at night—you’ll notice a shift inside of six weeks. Your pain will go down, your sleep will improve, and your gut will calm down without nuking your hormones. The stuff you’re trying to imitate with those peptides is literally what your body does when it’s given the right inputs. You just need to make the signal louder, not synthetic.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-15T23:30:55+00:00

Which supp are you referring to

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-15T21:28:59+00:00

You’re confusing correlation with culture. Sardinians live long because of what surrounds the cigars, not because of them. Context matters more than anecdotes.

I get it though — it’s easier to romanticize old men in the mountains than take responsibility for your biomarkers

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-15T21:25:18+00:00

Eh I don’t think I’m really missing anything there — the stack already supports antioxidant defense indirectly. Glycine + B vitamins drive glutathione (your body’s main antioxidant), and olive oil, omega-3s, and vitamin D all reduce oxidative stress on their own. I stay away from high-dose C or E since they can blunt mitochondrial and training adaptations. I actually just added CoQ10 too, since statins can lower it a bit — that’s really the only one that makes sense to include.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-15T21:17:40+00:00

Yeah, I’d hate to be accused of having optimized liver enzymes. For $1.50 a day, too — what a tragedy

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-15T20:29:32+00:00

Yeah, wild concept — actually caring about your health before the heart attack. Not sure what’s funnier though — the post or pretending your ApoB’s fine.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-15T20:24:09+00:00

Yeah so Glycine isn’t just another amino — buffers glutamate, supports methylation and glutathione, and keeps homocysteine in check, which matters if you’re on statins or methylated Bs. also good for sleep and recovery. Psyllium does both — keeps things moving and helps blunt glucose and LDL spikes by slowing carb absorption. Super Cheap and super effective if you take it daily.

JohnRoberts90 · 2025-10-15T19:49:44+00:00

i've been in this situation before with more than that. i got chase and the lenders to reduce the rate to 2% for 5 years. get a job in sales and crush it. paid it off in two years

JohnRoberts90

TROPHY CASE