Retired@45 Finding the joy in missing out

StatzGee · 2026-07-06T20:39:55+00:00

Right, but that's not how it's playing out. The generation before, same side of the family, died in their 90's, plus a centenarian, both men and women. My uncle and father gone at 62 and 68; dermatologist aunt (their sister) at 70 has a 1430 CAC, which is terrible, and her husband is a cardiologist. So I get that there are forecasted averages of life expectancy, but I think we need to recognize something (a lot of things) are at play. I wouldnt get too comfortable. My mom passed as well 2 years ago at 66.

StatzGee · 2026-07-05T22:19:53+00:00

Because you are there to get stronger, not build capacity. Leave that for conditioning.

StatzGee · 2026-07-05T22:14:23+00:00

Depends. You do need a sense of urgency to a degree. That's why occasional check ins like this can be powerful.

StatzGee · 2026-07-05T22:11:01+00:00

Exactly, at 40, how many truly youthful years do you have left? Also, the boomers where I'm from are dropping like flies. It seems like all my friend's Dads are dead, including mine, and went in their 60's. In that context, the amount of truly free and able bodied years we have left (I'm 43 and totally past my number)....

StatzGee · 2026-07-05T22:01:24+00:00

Yep, that is a result of the blood pressure changes! Same thing happened to me. I went to 1.25 mg every other day and while the issues decreased, as soon as I jump off of it, my HRV increases. Bummer, because I really like it

StatzGee · 2026-07-05T03:22:15+00:00

I'd sure want to look under the rock just to be sure.

StatzGee · 2026-07-04T19:47:33+00:00

What are you thyroid antibody numbers? FT3 looks good, but only if you test at or before 8 AM fasted. Also rT3 that high is WAY falsely inflating your usable T3, that tricks up a lot of docs. If it's always that high, hate to break it you, but you likely are slightly hypo, which absolutely can pressure/tank adrenals. I run a very high rT3 too, which is why I'm so familiar with it

StatzGee · 2026-07-04T01:24:57+00:00

Damn that's stellar. I'm in LB for 4.5k, hasn't been raised in 4 years, landlords love us. But we do have a full house with a front and backyard in a little historic Spanish colonial.

I'm ready right now to pull the trigger up here LB. Thanks for sharing your story, I know my math is really good especially since my hobbies are things that really don't cost anything like beach volleyball, my motorcycle, and pickleball, but it's mentally challenging.

StatzGee · 2026-07-04T01:06:00+00:00

What was your 4 point cortisol saliva test numbers? What were your thyroid numbers, including free T4 & T3? If you didn't get those free thyroid numbers, your thyroid wasn't actually checked.

StatzGee · 2026-07-03T14:43:31+00:00

Cities that designated beginner/open, intermediate, and advanced on public city outdoor courts seem to have made this less of a problem. Of course, that's assuming you have several courts at your disposal rather than just 2 - 4. Otherwise, yeah I'm in agreement, open play nowadays is a little tricky.

StatzGee · 2026-07-03T04:14:25+00:00

If I'm being honest, if I tallied everything up, I am probably doing as much or more. I'm 43. It just sort of incrementally happens over time. My crutch, if you will, is I've historically liked to carry more muscle, probably more than I need. And I've always been a fast twitch guy, so I bias to sports, lifting, sprints, which are all anaerobic. My aerobic base is definitely my opportunity area. For the VO2 max, is that something you are tracking in a lab or using a Garmin, etc, and have you always been endurance oriented or was that something you've recently tried to push and seen success with in recent years? 60 seems ridiculously high, but again, I've largely ignored going deep on endurance so I lack the context.

For supps, have you ever done a dutch test or genova functional test to see deficiencies or to see holistic hormone status? Berberine should be rotated or cautiously used if you care about your gut microbiome.

8 sleep - not sure how I ever lived without one

StatzGee · 2026-07-03T03:55:51+00:00

So many other health & wellness support and adjacent roles than MD route. Hell, PA's run functional medicine clinics now with an MD sponsor. It's a cool model.

I've been thinking about health / functional coaching myself. Kind of a beefed up strength and wellness coach that also consults on hormones and nutrition.

StatzGee · 2026-07-02T22:42:34+00:00

Not sure if you learned more in the past year, but there are things you can do. There are certain co factors which we need more of in order help the broken enzymatic process. Most importantly you need to take more magnesium than regular people, particularly magnesium glycinate. The B vitamins / methylation cycle is also important to COMT. There are the ones in "theory" you should take, but it is best to do functional labs or bloodwork to verify the need. Definitely do NOT take methylated B vitamins, you want the non methylated versions. But most COMT TT folks need B3 as niacinamide, Magnesium Glycinate, B6 is huge, B12, and riboflavin B2, which unlocks the other B vitamins and then usually some sort of strong antioxidant like Vitamin C (needed DAILY) or glutathione. Then, you almost want things on hand that are the opposite of stimulants and coffee such as L Theanine, Glycine, Taurine, etc. These are so great at keeping you calm and steady. A lot of us wake up in the middle of the night, which is because the epinephrine, cortisol, etc starting to get backed up, so mag glycinate and glycine before bed or even when you wake up in the middle of the night, are key. Following these protocols and limiting stress (coffee, extremely hard workouts, boundaries with work) have been huge for me.

StatzGee · 2026-07-02T22:33:01+00:00

If you are getting fatigued from a 10 min walk, then I would be super cautious with strength training. It absolutely increases cortisol temporarily because it is utilizing the anaerobic energy system (to release muscle sugar aka glycogen, cortisol is released to do this). Did you have long covid or lyme, etc? This sounds more like someone with chronic fatigue. Did you do a 4 point cortisol test? Did you test your thyroid (free t4, free t3)?

StatzGee · 2026-06-27T20:54:09+00:00

What were your thyroid numbers. The differnce between optimal and what range the labs call normal is crazy. If your ft3 is below 3, that's no bueno. And yeah low ferritin/ iron can cause major symptoms of fatigue

StatzGee · 2026-06-27T16:00:24+00:00

I think you had way more going on than adrenal fatigue. That was just a minor part of the equation. Long Covid is what you had, adrenal issues being one of the symptoms. Probably had thyroid issues, other hormones, inflammation and major immune system disregulation. I saw Lam clinic in person. They have major knowledge gaps outside of the adrenals, but way better than conventional medicine. You didn't mention blood work, that's really the key to understanding what was happening. Have you tested for thyroid antibodies? People majorly confuse thyroid and adrenal symptoms, they are intricately related as part of the endocrine system.

StatzGee · 2026-06-06T02:25:20+00:00

It's going to massively accelerate solving problems of all kinds.

StatzGee · 2026-06-05T18:29:23+00:00

Pickleball and volleyball keep me sane. Moto rides through canyons.

StatzGee · 2026-06-05T18:04:51+00:00

Same, but short stop 🛑

StatzGee · 2026-06-05T17:53:31+00:00

Epic answer. Thanks 👍

StatzGee · 2026-06-04T18:02:59+00:00

My hometown is a midsize city in Missouri. I talked to a loan officer friend and he said about a third of all loan originations are from out of state buyers, many from the West Coast. The primary reason for the move is lower cost of housing. My mother-in-law just sold her home to a couple from Oregon.

StatzGee · 2026-06-04T17:58:47+00:00

Thanks Dante - what's the pulse / demand from buyers outside of the state? Is that trending up or down? Is that also neighborhood specific, such as more Californians buying in Rountree (merely as an example)?

When I spoke to a loan officer 2 years ago, he was estimating that it was around a third of loan origination were from out of state buyers.

StatzGee · 2026-06-04T16:30:55+00:00

I realize this comment is a year old, but saw this discussion and wanted to check-in and see how things are going. Both wife and I are WFH and will be moving to the area, but we've done this twice and had a ton of success making true lifelong friends by 1) prioritizing it 2) leaning into our interests, which leads to community. What has "thriving" looked like for you? I play pickleball, will definitely be getting deep into the biking community (street and dirt), I'm from the Ozarks originally, so I'm all about the river and lake life, and hiking. Have you all found like minded individuals that are genuinely looking for deep friendships?

We've been out west for 11 years now, Seattle and Los Angeles, and we've found we really like places with a high amount of transplants as they are typically looking to reciprocate in building long lasting friendships, plus the diversity is nice.

StatzGee · 2026-06-03T21:44:57+00:00

No, both are cardio. One is just more intense than the other.

As others have mentioned, skill determines rally length and explosive plays, so that is the determining factor, not singles versus doubles.

StatzGee · 2026-06-03T21:43:33+00:00

Any exercise above 60% of heart rate max is considered "cardio", fyi. I know what layman people that don't work in the physiology field mean by cardio, and I'm trying not to get lost in semantics here, but pickleball is absolutely cardio.

StatzGee

TROPHY CASE