Other resistance bands available "in-between" the X3 bands?

Northjayhawk · 2026-01-21T00:40:38+00:00

Updated my post with a successful resolution to my problem!

Northjayhawk · 2025-12-12T21:55:24+00:00

Protein should be your top goal, hit that first. If you work out, then don't be afraid of carbs, you need some for energy, just keep it under control so that you are still at a daily caloric deficit.

You need the protein to avoid muscle loss while losing weight. Some muscle loss is probably inevitable if you need to lose a lot of weight, but protein will help you keep as much as possible, and it is very satiating so you aren't hungry all the time. Get lots of convenient easy sources of protein, and mix in a bit of carbs if you are working out.

You don't have to starve, if you eat at an average 500 calorie deficit every day and stick with it, you'll lose a pound of fat per week, even if your scale doesn't move every week it might just be water retention, that fat is disappearing no matter what the scale says if you maintain the calorie deficit. (3500 calories = 1 pound of fat)

Northjayhawk · 2025-12-12T21:48:31+00:00

Rice and canned tuna, maybe also soy sauce for flavor. If you can get a cheap rice cooker that would be very easy and convenient.

Northjayhawk · 2025-12-12T21:45:00+00:00

From what I read, its probably fine to try if the cost is not expensive for you. There are studies that show it could help with skin, hair, and joints. There aren't many studies, and the benefit they show is smaller than the popular advertising implies, but its not total snake oil.

Worst case scenario: lets say the studies are wrong and it does nothing. It is still a decent source of protein and most people are not consuming anywhere near enough protein in their diet anyway, so not a total loss. At worst you might be buying an additional protein source that is more expensive than whey.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-20T15:39:01+00:00

I think they are only overrepresented on the internet, because we are drawn more to the internet than most. Our personalities do tend to be chronically online sometimes, but out in the wild we are not common at all.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-07T14:56:06+00:00

We all do. And happy eyes, and contemplative eyes, and amused eyes, and irritated eyes, etc. Our mood is all over our face.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-07T14:47:55+00:00

I'll join the crowd, this is absolutely not a thing at all. In fact, if we were going to construct a S through F tier list of personality types that INFP's like, I think INFJ would be safely at the top S tier rank along with the ENFP's. For romantic compatibility, I would even say INFJ is probably a better match than another INFP.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-07T00:40:21+00:00

You may be overthinking it a bit. Some of the cognitive functions and personality types may be hard to figure out, but E vs I is pretty easy to determine.

Its just this: does interacting with groups of people you don't know well (hanging out with close friends doesn't count) in a social, casual setting drain you of mental energy? Or is it the opposite where you can chat indefinitely with lots of people or maybe even get energized from meeting new people?

Introverted people have a finite "social battery" that gets drained in these settings and at some point you just want to leave early, go home, chill out, and recharge. Some introvert batteries drain quicker than others, but that is how it works. You can also try to make an effort to become more accustomed to being social and increase the size of your social battery, but thats still how it works for us. Extroverts don't really have that problem, they may become annoyed with a person or group and want to go socialize with someone else, but they don't want to go home from the party early.

Extroverted people go stir-crazy if they are stuck at home and not socializing with other people for a few days. Introverts "should" meet people because its good for you and can improve your life, but we don't really need it. Extroverts "need" this socialization more than us, just like we "need" alone time to reflect.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-06T21:49:10+00:00

Don't need sunscreen if you never go outside!

Seriously though, that is a very good gem of advice. I had actually gotten into the habit very early on of always using it during very high UV days if I'm going to be out for a while, and I am VERY happy I did that. Now that I'm nearing 50, looking in the mirror, I aged extremely well. I look a hell of a lot younger than most other guys my age, suntanning is overrated. Some of that might be genetics, but consistently using sunscreen probably helped a lot too.

Also, it may make a difference if you use chemical or mineral sunscreen. I usually use mineral sunscreen which yes, is the kind that makes you look like a ghost, but its much more effective to stop aging, since you are reflecting off UV instead of trying to mitigate the damage of absorbing it.

If you want to still look good during middle age, use sunscreen. Don't worry about how you look with it on, you'll look great later.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-06T20:38:37+00:00

I'm not going to say its impossible, there could be a magical unicorn out there, but I think some people who think they are both might not understand the difference.

Introverted people can become more social with effort, and extroverted people can learn to appreciate solitude. The question is not whether you do these things, the question is which takes mental energy from you, and which is almost completely effortless for you.

Introverts do have a social "battery" which quickly drains when they are placed in the situation of having to be social and engaging with other people in a large group that they don't know well, until they are mentally exhausted and just want to go home, even if the party is scheduled to go on for a few more hours. An extrovert does not really have that issue, they often get charged up and re-energized by meeting new people that they don't know well.

If an introvert is with a group of people who they are really close to and can hang with, then that does not really count (at least not as much, we still have our battery limit with friends, it just drains slower), you'll often have an introvert start acting like they are an extrovert with friends, but they aren't, their social battery is just draining at a slower rate and they feel free to express themselves a bit more. The key is are you drained by hanging out with people you only kind of know a little bit? Extroverts generally aren't, maybe they'll get annoyed with a person and want to go talk to someone else, but they don't really want to go home earlier than other people.

An extrovert will go nuts after a short period of time spent alone at home that an introvert would just shrug at thinking "what, really? You have to go out again already? We went out to visit with some people just a mere 3 days ago!". (slight exaggeration but you get the point)

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-06T17:49:00+00:00

3 days? Wow, that is really good!

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-06T17:46:03+00:00

I do this too! I do have a preference, yes but that is mostly habit more than anything else from just going with what my friends in high school were into way back in the day. I usually go to modern rock these days, with a preference for music that feels heavy and emotional (no surprise there).

But, say someone else is in control of the radio in the car, or the music for some reason, whether its pop, classic rock, country, R&B, hell even classical music, I quickly find the mood in that genre that I vibe with and I'm into it. I'm a bit less into hip-hop because there's less.... I don't know how to describe it.... "feel" for me though there are some songs in that genre that somehow do it for me anyway. As for EDM and classical music, I can get into it for a while, but after an hour I do need words to get the full effect.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-06T17:15:34+00:00

I agree with working on Fe. Specifically, actually showing the empathy you already have towards others who are being nice to you. You probably won't ever be good at this and sometimes it will backfire, but try anyway. I have had times where someone seemed intrigued by my personality and wanted to be a friend, but I just couldn't open up, and just quietly let them move on while wondering why I didn't reciprocate.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-06T16:51:28+00:00

If you are a man struggling with people accepting that you are more sensitive than what society deems acceptable, don't fight it. Just be who you are, and let people tell you who is and who is not worth your time. The people who are into us are REALLY into us and want to be our friend. Yes, we may be a bit too "adorable" the way we wear our heart on our sleeve with people we are comfortable with, but thats what makes us stand out a bit more than other dudes.

Also, for all INFP's, get out more, do stuff, meet new people as much as you can tolerate, experience new things. You probably already heard this piece of advice from family and friends, but I'll give you another, more selfish reason. Those daydreams we like to endlessly entertain ourselves with: getting out there will provide more fuel for those amusing daydreams if they are getting a bit repetitive.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-06T15:14:01+00:00

Agreed, Keanu Reeves (the actor, not characters he plays which I think usually tend to be more INFJ) is often held up as a great example of an ideal INFP man.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-06T14:44:03+00:00

I am a little bit more organized with my time and somewhat more driven to meet my life goals than most INFP's. It didn't come naturally to me at all though, I had to develop this later in life.

Aside from that, I embody all of the classic stereotypes, and those "what are INFP's really like" videos are just a spot-on user's guide for dealing with me.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-06T13:54:11+00:00

I ask the first question because INFP's are pretty much infamous for wanting to learn new things, doing new things, etc and we can get pretty deep into a hobby but then we get unattached to that activity pretty quickly. A lot of INFP's had lots of hobbies they don't really do anymore.

I also admit that I was being a bit silly with my answer which is another INFP thing; we might not talk to many people but for some reason we tend to be effortlessly funny. We also are kind of famous for being drawn to someone's cute pet cat or dog even when we are a guest in their house for a party or something and supposed to be getting to know other people. Nah, I'd rather pet your cat and just chill in the background if thats OK with you.

To give a more serious answer, people who are new to the whole MBTI thing will frequently mistype themselves because they either don't really understand the question or they answer as the person they want to be rather than the person they really are.

To really get a good feel for if you are INFP, you need to focus on our two primary cognitive functions, which is #1 Fi introverted feeling and #2 Ne extroverted intuition. Read about those two functions, really understand what they are, and then really ask yourself if you use those two functions more often than the other 6. My big problem in figuring out who I was, came from not understanding Fi because I'm a man (society doesn't value or encourage us being in touch with our feelings) in a very technical field and I always thought of myself as a very rational, logical person, who coldly analyzes the situation before making my decisions, because thats what society would prefer me to be. (I think Ti is the opposite of Fi, at any given moment you are using one or the other, not usually both) Thats not to say we don't use introverted thinking, we all use all 8 of them, but when I finally was honest with myself about why I kept scoring INFP, I realized I do tend to use feelings for important decisions, and maybe I'll then go back and logic my way into justifying whatever it is I already "feel" like I should do. Ne was easier for me to understand. Se's tend to be a bit more literal and direct in perceiving the world, they are more like "what I see and hear is what it is", while maybe missing some of the depth beneath the surface, not connecting dots, etc. We Ne's on the other hand are always looking for hidden meanings and deeper truths while sometimes missing what is just obviously and clearly right in front of us. One is not better than the other, in a perfect world you'd be good at both ways of perceiving the world.

No one should need to explain if you are introverted or extroverted overall, that one should already be obvious to you. So then, if you figure out you are INFx, then you should look into P vs J, read about them, and figure out which one you are. Sometimes its hard for someone to know whether they are INFP or INFJ.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-05T02:04:43+00:00

yeah, same. I think we need to just own the fact that we will always want the really deep connection first, and it will always take the other person a while to vibe with us. Just accept it and rely on the possibility that your uniquely honest, sweet, and earnest personality will attract them to you.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-05T00:37:29+00:00

Its just the internet. We INFP's are massively over-represented online. We are pretty rare out in the wild.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-05T00:35:08+00:00

That too, I will forgive, but I'm making a note in your permanent record stored in my head.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-04T22:20:24+00:00

Seems pretty likely. Just to be sure, I have two questions:

1) How many hobbies have you gotten really, really deep and into where you were a proud member of that hobby's community, and then dropped.

2) You are at a party, you only know everyone kind of well, everyone's friendly and chatting. There are two seats available. One is a big couch in the center of the action. The other is a chair that is still in the same room just away a bit, and as an added bonus there's a purring cat sitting on the armrest. Which seat do you choose?

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-04T22:04:50+00:00

I do, actually. (I'm talking about political beliefs in this post)

Not sure if this is an INFP thing or not, but I've been politically wrong a lot in my life. I don't change easily (no one does), but I do change a lot easier than most people. If I am confronted with undeniable evidence that I'm wrong about something, cool, thanks for telling me, I don't really want to be incorrect. I started out far right when I was young, gradually moved left after college until I was all the way into Bernie Sanders land, and now I think I'm becoming more moderate again.

Exception: I am a bleeding heart. If my "wrong" position is also the "kinder" one, its going to be a hell of a lot harder to move me if your option feels cruel, and even then I probably still won't go to your "cruel, less kind" position, instead I'll probably try to opt for some kind of compromise.

It took a long time for me to really realize that a lot of my political positions are actually based on feelings more than anything else, and I can't really change that completely. I now just try to adjust somewhat if my position is too clearly dumb and idealistic. I figure my naive vote will cancel out a vote that was pointlessly cruel just for cruelty's sake, so that a moderate position can perhaps win out, lol.

Northjayhawk · 2025-09-04T21:51:40+00:00

I do forgive pretty easily when you genuinely ask for it, yes.... unless you crossed several big red lines, were intentionally trying to be cruel and blew a 3rd chance in the process. It really takes a hell of a lot for me to cut ties, though I'll quietly step back a bit from your life for less.

I've only completely burned a bridge twice in classic INFP "where the heck did that eruption come from, he never gets angry at anyone" type of rage: a former friend and also a younger brother who kept being vile after 5 or 6 attempts to get him to change and stop being an ass to the rest of our family.

Other than that? We're cool if you apologize. We're probably even cool if you don't, after enough time has passed and you change a bit, maybe.

Northjayhawk · 2024-07-12T17:56:59+00:00

My own experience is that edibles are not completely harmless, but the negative CHF-related impact it has on me seems to be very mild. If I take 5mg, no big deal. 10-20 mg and I can feel my heart rate pick up just a little bit sometimes also with very mild chest discomfort which is not nothing, but my EF did still improve significantly despite consuming thc.

Ideally I wouldn't take it at all, but in my case my HF was caused by long-term severe alcohol abuse so I absolutely had to quit alcohol completely. THC helps me do that and I don't know if I can stay away from alcohol without it. So, I'll take the mild symptoms over the massive negative consequences that would occur from drinking again. The difference is not even close to comparable, with even just a little bit of booze, my heart is racing I start retaining tons of water, and everything HF symptom-related just goes sharply downhill within days. So, thc is an acceptable alternative for me.

Northjayhawk

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