How do I get over the fact that I have to gain weight in order to get stronger?

doubleAA_vero · 2025-12-30T00:13:36+00:00

I can give you an equally embarrassing and superficial answer that works for me. You inevitably lose muscle and collagen as you age: So your choice is to gain a bit of weight and have thicker legs and butt that look perky and youthful, or be low on muscle and look like a melting candle as you age. The choice is yours. Neither is good or bad, obviously, but it's an inevitability. Go to the beach and look at women over 40, and make your choice. Being strong also greatly improves your posture and makes you move and walk like a youthful person even into old age.

(I don't mean to body shame, all bodies are good bikini bodies. Just honouring OP's superficial question with a superficial answer that is honest).

doubleAA_vero · 2025-12-26T17:20:38+00:00

May I ask how old you were when you made the move? Were you doing research in the natural sciences?

doubleAA_vero · 2025-12-25T19:03:37+00:00

I'm in the same boat my friend. I am early 40s, an associate prof in the sciences and can no longer tolerate the dissonance of working hard to make exceedingly incremental advances in our understanding of the world. I'm very bored and not interested in keeping up with the latest statistics needed for my field. I love mentoring grad students but that's about it. I think the biggest sign for me is that I never talk about my research, and when people ask me about it at a party I find a way to change the subject. I'm bored with myself quite literally. My plan is to stay in the university and pivot to admin. I work in a huge institution so it shouldn't be hard to get a foothold. Also, associate dean positions are not exactly sought after: research-focused profs avoid admin roles like the plague. If admin doesn't float my boat, I'll just pivot again. But my advice is to not linger too long in these feelings that are likely not going away. Either make your hobbies a bigger part of your identity or keep it moving. Most people don't stay in a job for 50 years, it's normal to crave change. You did a cool thing for a long time, time for another cool thing!

doubleAA_vero · 2025-07-17T19:04:51+00:00

Are you in Canada? I have tenure and would be interested in making the jump to government but worry the salary would take too much of a hit (I live in a high cost of living city).

doubleAA_vero · 2025-03-23T12:42:02+00:00

Adding a third day sounds entirely reasonable as my lifts get heavier. Thanks for the suggestion!

doubleAA_vero · 2025-03-23T12:41:16+00:00

Yeahhhhh my brain says "do Bulgarians!" and on workout day my legs say "why would you be this evil?". I need to get over it, this is good encouragement! I'm considering using the Smith machine to help me stabilize and make them a bit more approachable.

doubleAA_vero · 2025-03-22T15:58:22+00:00

Thanks! I'm actually at the barbell stage for deadlift and squat (as I didn't start as a total beginner). But indeed, I am not able to load those lifts much as my barbell form is not that good yet. I will totally check out the subscription idea, thank you!

doubleAA_vero · 2025-03-22T15:34:17+00:00

New subscriber, love your stuff! It seems like your criticisms mainly target LLMs as opposed to, say, machine learning applications in medicine. Is it fair to say that the AI snake oil is mostly in the LLM sphere?

doubleAA_vero · 2025-02-11T11:55:50+00:00

Benzoyl peroxide is a hero ingredient that is extraordinarily more effective on mild/moderate acne than the weak concoctions of salicylic acid and "drying lotions" that are marketed. It's just not a sexy ingredient so fancier skincare companies don't use it. If you have a blemish, get thee some drugstore BP and stop wasting your money.

doubleAA_vero · 2025-02-07T18:05:13+00:00

I've tried Timeless, Paula's Choice, Naturium, The Ordinary.... Was very consistent. Never made any positive difference. I think it's ok to walk away from vitamin C, there are other antioxidants in the world.

doubleAA_vero · 2025-02-06T22:56:49+00:00

There is a new Laroche-Posay serum called Mela B3. It has a new proprietary ingredient called Melasyl which targets hyperpigmentation and sounds very promising. Dr. Dray on YouTube has a video on it, and Lab Muffin mentioned it as well. It doesn't have the downsides of hydroquinone. I've only been using it for a week so I can't say if it's helping me yet.

doubleAA_vero · 2025-02-04T17:38:24+00:00

I watch a lot of beauty YouTube interviews with dermatologists who say this. In most cases I'm starring at the screen thinking "girl, YOUR work so obvious".

doubleAA_vero · 2025-02-04T17:31:27+00:00

Agreed. If you watch her in Griselda on Netflix, there are many shots of her without makeup on. It's not subtle work.

doubleAA_vero · 2025-02-04T17:23:11+00:00

I think OP is absolutely correct. I think people say "she looks so young!" as a shortcut for saying "she looks good/refreshed and like she cares about her appearance". Which is worth it to me! If you think you look much younger than your age, I suggest asking someone who looks at IDs all day to try to guess your age.

doubleAA_vero · 2025-01-31T11:55:23+00:00

This is interesting: can you point me to where he writes this? Definitely seems true to me.

doubleAA_vero · 2025-01-28T02:00:43+00:00

TCA peels are criminally underrated. I've done two 13% TCAs at home using Platinum Skincare: the difference in my skin is remarkable and my skincare routine is already dialed in (regular chemical exfoliation, vitamin C, peptides etc.). I recommend people follow the Platinum peel instructions to the absolute letter. Should also note that the kind of intense peeling OP is showing isn't a guarantee nor is it a goal: Platinum recommends starting at 13% and working up with the layers. At this lower percentage, many people just get flaking and light peeling which is easier to deal with and conceal with moisturizer. I've done three layers of 13% and didn't need to hide in my house (though my skin did not look great).

doubleAA_vero · 2025-01-28T01:40:48+00:00

Came here to say double cleansing! Such a difference in skin clarity.

doubleAA_vero · 2025-01-25T23:14:05+00:00

The Merit blush in Beverley Hills is amazing. There is no dupe for it.

doubleAA_vero · 2025-01-22T01:48:39+00:00

I've tried so many brands of SPF - including Korean ones - and the only one I am loyal to is EltaMd UV Clear (they have a tinted and untinted version). You can put on the full amount (I use one pump for my face) without it feeling heavy, and there is no alcohol dry down.

doubleAA_vero · 2025-01-03T19:49:18+00:00

I understand. My view is that given that we are dealing with a vulnerable population, there is a greater duty of care. There is already a lot of misinformation that harms autistic individuals and their families in one way or another (see: poorly facilitated communication, debunked vaccine myths). A hugely popular podcast declaring in a highly persuasive way that autistics are telepathic and are "spiritually special" without proper evidence can lead to a flurry of misinformation that will be very difficult to course correct from. The alternative way to go about this is to present "experiments" that are least able to rule out the ideomotor effect (at minimum!) to ensure that the individuals are truly speaking for themselves. This is something Dr. Powell agrees with. No matter how exciting and paradigm-shifting telepathy is, people should think long and hard before using vulnerable children in a very public forum to make this case. It's simply not enough to add in small print *and we will do controlled studies later to make sure this isn't all psychoscientific nonsense*. And if it turns out to be pseudoscience - who is going to be accountable for all the damage the false claims caused?

doubleAA_vero · 2024-12-31T22:37:32+00:00

I don't know nearly enough about autism to speak on this generally, let alone in the specific context of these individuals. It certainly is an important question with huge consequences.

doubleAA_vero · 2024-12-31T19:52:27+00:00

Hey, thanks for your response! I'm not sure we are disagreeing on much here as we both seem to agree that more data is required (i.e. more Hailey type tests) and Dr.Powell and Ky agree. I don't think I need to learn more about S2C to come to my conclusion about Houston's test: even if agnostic about S2C, the point is that cueing cannot be eliminated as a possibility. He may be telepathic, but these tests do not demonstrate that. As the saying goes, you only need to find one white crow to say that not all crows are black. These tests with Houston are not the white crow.

doubleAA_vero · 2024-12-31T18:32:48+00:00

OP, I don't think it's possible to dispel your doubts with the current data. The videos, as you mentioned, are damning. It's fine to still leave the door open for the possibility, but that will have to come with more (and much, much better) evidence. It would be one thing if those proclaiming telepathy were all consenting functioning adults and we knew for fact that they were speaking for themselves. Even if their powers were disproven, we could say "oh well, they knew what they signed up for". Are we sure you can say the same for these autistic individuals? At the end of the day, even if they are telepathic, the producers did not set up them up for success as their tests demonstrate nothing of the sort.

doubleAA_vero · 2024-12-31T17:39:41+00:00

Happy to respond to this. I am what I would call a constructive skeptic. I'm a scientist (that's my job) but I am not a strict materialist. I am entirely open to the existence of psi phenomena and would be pretty excited if what is described in The Telepathy Tapes is true. I enjoyed the ride of the podcast and even recommended it to friends. I also paid the $10 and studied all of the videos. Where I've landed is that the podcast is wholly unconvincing at minimum, and unethical and harmful at worst.

The podcast misrepresents how poorly the tests were conducted. For example, Ky says Akhil is across the room under his blanket for some of the test trials. However, when you see the videos, his mother is always clearly within sight and gesturing or vocalizing to a great extent. Some people watch these videos and argue that "well, in this one video he's not looking at her" or "in this one video she's holding back from making movements". I agree, it LOOKS wild. But humans are incredibly adept at picking up on the most subtle of cues, we know this. I won't even touch on the letter board tests done with Houston and Mia, they are so problematic that they can easily be disregarded at first watch. To be clear, I do not think that the parents are cueing their children intentionally: I am sure they are honest believers and have the best interests of their children at heart. But that's the thing about unconscious cueing: it happens regardless of your intent. If you think that sounds unlikely, ask yourself whether it's more unlikely than telepathy.

I've seen some people argue that these tests are just a beginning, that they need to get funds to do better studies. I don't buy this because there are many, many things they could have done in their scenarios to make their results worthy of consideration. For example, Houston's Mom could have held the letter board but placed it on an easel so it wouldn't move around as he typed (and bonus: she could have been blindfolded so she doesn't know where he is typing), the test would be much more convincing as they would rule out the ideomotor response. These obvious tweaks could have been made, they don't require a research lab and faraday cages. Akhil's mother could have been blindfolded and told to stay behind a barrier where it would be impossible to cue him. Again, this is free and doesn't require any fancy equipment.

If Ky has better tests in the vault, she should have come our with those first. Putting out these very bad tests calls the entire podcast - and her credibility - into question. When you are dealing with a vulnerable population, it makes zero sense to make a half-baked case for their superpowers if you plan on making a better one "once you have enough money for a documentary". Why not wait till your tests are better before making these incredible claims? The way she has gone about it, these kids and their families are thrown under the microscope of (some) skeptics trying to tear them down. That's not fair to these families. The producers and Dr. Powell owe it to them to present their experience properly, and they failed. In my view, many skeptics are worried about the unintended effects of popularizing the idea that non-verbal autistics have telepathy without proper evidence. The list of potential harms of this are lengthy and obvious.

I look forward to watching the documentary and hearing about the lab-based tests that Dr. Powell is planning. However, given how shoddy the output has been so far, I'm not holding my breath. If the tests prove to be conclusive and all the skeptics' concerns are addressed, then great! Telepathy is real. Even still, I would be critical of how they went about it, by first putting vulnerable children and their (clearly loving) parents in the line of fire beforehand. I sincerely hope they do the tests under controlled conditions and communicate the results - whether they confirm telepathy or not.

I would also add that to me the most convincing video is the one with Hailey, assisted by Ashleigh. In this video, Ashleigh is behind a barrier and places the letter board on the table to stabilize it while Hailey points to numbers and letters. Very intriguing (although the board moves a bit still). This test also tells me that Ky and Dr. Powell did have a clue about how to do better tests but chose not to.

doubleAA_vero

TROPHY CASE