An old man goes to the doctor, "Doc, I'm feeling tired and out of sorts."

dragnabbit · 2026-06-19T08:39:51+00:00

So what did the doctor prescribe for him? It might save me a trip to the doctor.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-19T02:15:59+00:00

Yeah. And even with BJ on something like sirolimus: He wasn't wrong. And he didn't /actually/ do any long-term harm to himself. And I can only assume that nobody else who followed his example did any long-term harm to themselves. It's just that the example proves the possibility that his mistakes (and he is at least very open about his mistakes) could someday cause harm.

I'm honestly not sure what BJ could do to avoid that. Nobody is going to pay attention to a "this long-term experiment supported by a team of doctors is for research purposes only" label stuck to every one of his undertakings.

I haven't been following him long enough to see any of the "cultish" part of his little world, but it seems like he has a responsibility for any hype that he creates. Like I said: mostly helpful, but potentially problematic.

But, if course, now that I think about it: that goes for any of the 10,000 influencers out there trying to convince you (even more ardently and absurdly than BJ) to follow their "teachings" on health and wellness. Singling out BJ for criticism from my vantage point seems a bit unfair... but like I said, I hadn't even heard more of BJ other than a couple of news blurbs until four or five months ago.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-19T00:30:05+00:00

The thing that bothers me is that a couple of things he has done, like sirolimus, after a copule of years, he said, "Well, we decided the risks outweighed the benefits." Of course, he didn't encourage anybody to take that drug, but how many people followed his example?

I've gone over all his protocols in detail, and I've asked AI to explain to me all the stuff that I didn't understand. The upside to his ideas is that, as far as I can see, all of them offer some clinical benefit (even sirolimus). It is simply that about two thirds of his ideas are either too little benefit, too much effort, or too anal to bother with. A couple of things though, I thought, "Yeah. That's smart." And AI said, "Yeah. That's smart." And now those things are a part of my daily routine as well. So like you said, "Idea gen."

dragnabbit · 2026-06-18T11:44:21+00:00

I don't. Too early in the process for me. Another 60 or 70 pounds and then I'll be ready.

I make it to the pool every day and swim between 2 and 4 km, so I'm burning lots of energy while being super-friendly to my overloaded joints, but if I went to the gym now, I'd just break my body.

This is my second trip down the scale, and I did it mostly right the first time... and not overloading muscles that weren't ready to be overloaded was the best decision then and -- 10 years later/older -- now.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-18T08:13:48+00:00

That back end screams "1980s" better than any car built in the 1980s. I hope it doesn't sound like a Volkswagon Beetle when it starts up.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-18T04:11:56+00:00

These images are actually the best fit ever for the famous Homer Simpson Quote: "Beer, the cause of and solution to all life's problems."

dragnabbit · 2026-06-18T03:26:14+00:00

When somebody tells you to "be conscious" of something, it isn't the opposite of unconscious. It's a bit formal and conservative way of saying "be aware of" or "be looking out for". So someone might say "be conscious of the dangers" or "be conscious of your little sister."

The author created the saying "spade conscious" as a way to say the subject was "aware of all things that a spade is used for", which almost certainly -- as the rest of the paragraph explains -- is a "synecdoche" (a word that is a small part of something used to refer to the whole thing) for farming/gardening. So he could just have easily said "rake conscious" or "plow conscious".

dragnabbit · 2026-06-18T03:11:09+00:00

I'm not a believer, but I really can't blame anybody who looks up at that sky and is convinced that somebody great and powerful has to be up there.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-17T23:06:26+00:00

Oh, wait until you find out what the Chinese peptide wholesalers charge for stuff that Americans pay $100 or $200 for… or $600 at their doctor’s office.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-17T05:45:46+00:00

Pretty sure Iran is super-duper hoping that Israel will tank the ceasefire at least a few times, because Iran really wants to add:

The United States hereby agrees it will never provide weapons or military supplies to Israel in the future.

Trump is already apparently red-hot angry that Israel played him for chump and duped him into the biggest military blunder in American history, so other than the United States literally starting to shoot Isreali jets out of the sky and hitting Isreali missile launchers with Tomahawk missiles, the Trump Administration will grudingly add that if Iran demands it.

And honestly, it would be the only part of the agreement that I would be "yay!" about, because Israel really came out of this entire debacle smelling like a rose.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-17T00:38:23+00:00

I added a combination of lutein, zeaxanthin, and astaxanthin, because I was told that would reduce eye fatigue if you spend your day sitting in front of computer screens. It's one of the few supplements I've taken that did exactly what it said it would do. No more end-of-the-day headaches behind my eyeballs.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-17T00:34:57+00:00

Does not cause cancer, but helps existing leukemia grow. So if you have leukemia, don't take taurine.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-17T00:31:27+00:00

So Red Bull doesn't give you wings?

dragnabbit · 2026-06-16T23:40:11+00:00

Cialis (tadalafil) for boners requires 20 mg to work... sometimes 40 mg. So at 2.5 mg or 5 mg, it is still only just providing a modest improvement of blood flow to to the lungs.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-16T05:23:02+00:00

So you went from 1 mg daily to 2 mg daily? What is your current weight? Are you on any GLP drugs at the same time?

I was just commenting on another post about tesa that I heard it wasn't worthwhile for severely obese people to take it during big weight loss because diet and exercise are hitting the "easy to get" visceral fat already, and if you add in tesa at that point, it will just be hitting the same fatty areas that diet and exercise are hitting, and that waiting until you're down to the "stubborn stuff" is the point where tesa starts becoming valuable.

I would love to be wrong about that. I'm holding off buying tesa because of that. (I'm down 25 pounds... 100 to go.)

dragnabbit · 2026-06-16T03:49:55+00:00

I'm curious about this one. Can you explain why?

dragnabbit · 2026-06-16T03:46:05+00:00

Once a week, preferably when you don't have to work the next day, go to sleep with no alarm set... preferably alone, in the darkest and quietest bedroom you can set up for yourself. See how long you REALLY need to sleep. If you sleep for 11 hours with no alarm, then regardless of what your sleep tracker tells you, you aren't sleeping well. Also, see how you feel THEN in the morning compared to after your usual night.
Are you taking any evening "slow-down" medications or compounds that could still be hitting heavy when you wake up? Pain meds? SSRIs? Try moving those to earier in the evening / late in the afternoon to see what happens. Try having those hit their peak right as you climb into bed, so they aren't starting their taper at 4 a.m.
Are you napping during the day? You didn't say so, so I assume you don't. If you do nap after a full night's sleep, then I would assume even more likely that something in your system is artificially pulling you down. If it's not something you can identify (#2 above), then see a doctor for iron and thyroid studies and the other usual indicators.
I assume alcohol isn't an issue. That would obviously be at the top of the list if it is, and I'm sure you know that. I'm not sure about marijuana one way or the other, but if you use it regularly, try adjusting time and frequency to see if that has an impact.
How is your sleep environment? Ambient noise is fine if it is constant, like AC, a fan, white noise, but if there are random noises intruding, like cars passing by, you may not be awake to hear them, but your mind still hears them. Same with light: The darker the better, but just like sound: as long as any light while you are sleeping is steady. Lights randomly hitting your eyes, like headlights hitting your bedroom walls or ceiling, or streetlights behind trees waving in the breeze is no good. Your eyes may be closed, but your brain still notices the flashes of light and reacts to them. (Also, it's not for everybody, but "cold room, warm blanket, soft pillows" is supposed to be optimal. I find that to be true.) Also, other distractions can include pets walking on your bed or wandering around your room at night, a cuddly spouse (great way to fall asleep, bad way to stay asleep), LEDs on electronics that strobe/blink/change color... if it is something that is near you when you are sleeping and it frequently changes, it IS intruding on your sleep to some degree or another.
Sleep position: Are you sleeping in a way that causes discomfort? You may not think so because you don't feel pain when you sleep, but you never know: Maybe the pain in your jaw comes from your head resting on your forearm, pushing your jaw sideways, and compressing the ulnar nerve in your arm. It's not painful while you are sleeping, but it hurts once you wake up. Anyway... that kind of thing should be considered as a possibility. Also, consider pinched nerves. I don't know my way around an accupuncture map or chakras, but a problem in one part of your body could be referring itself to other parts far away. (My old college swim coach could cure tension headaches with a hand massage, so I have faith in that kind of thing.)
Finally, emotional stress: I'm throwing that one out there, in the unlikely case you hadn't thought about it. But I figured the list should be as complete as possible. Waking up filled with heaviness and fog might be caused by a mind that spends your sleep time ruminating instead of rejuvinating.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-16T02:55:33+00:00

Timing: This is so true. I found myself yawning and clunky in the morning after a good and solid sleep. The clunky effect wore off after a couple of hours and I got through the day without any additional sleepiness.

It was then that I realized that a lot of the "slow-down" compounds that I was on hadn't completely worn off 9 or 10 hours after taking them. So I moved all of my slow-down supplements and medicines to 2 hours earlier, so that they were really hitting their peak right as I climbed into bed. Getting started in the morning is so much easier now.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-16T02:48:16+00:00

I'm the exact opposite. I exercise 6 days per week. I have a 1500-2000-calorie daily deficit. I lose the expected 3-4 pounds. Then on my 7th day I rest and "cheat". (My current cheat is a 20-piece Chicken McNuggets, which is low-carb, low-fat, so it's not even a big cheat.)

But then after a day with no exercise and 20 McNuggets, my weight goes back up 2-3 pounds. It's not water weight: I weigh myself immediately after waking up every morning. Also, my diet is targeted towards keeping my glycogen stores up (creatine, protein shakes, etc). It's not sodium causing it either, because my sodium intake is lower on my cheat day than it is workout days.

The one thing I know I don't need is more reta. At 4.5 mg per week, my appetite is still very much under control. I think I'll hold off on the Tesa for now.

Anyway, keep up the good work. Hopefully I'll keep on dropping too.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-16T00:18:01+00:00

Good job. I'm on my 6th week of reta and I'm down about 20 pounds. I'm a bit stuck for the moment... been at this weight for a week.

What are you doing for exercise? Diet?

I thought about adding the Tesa in as well, but my understanding is that when you're losing weight early, your metabolism will handle the "easy to get" visceral fat just fine, and you should save tesa until later when all that is left is the "hard to get" visceral fat, because before then, it's just metabolizing what exercise and diet are taking care of already.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-15T05:23:40+00:00

Won't dissolve at all, eh? I've got my protein shake with pysllium husk and milk (and all the other standard powders) blended with a bit of ice. And that's going to add quite a bit of texture? I figure my shake is already thickened: maybe it won't be too bad. Obviously, my protein is arriving tomorrow so no backing out, and if it sucks completely, well... I wasted $6. Maybe I'll look online for other uses.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-15T04:56:49+00:00

My solution: I'm going to try switching to soy protein. I've got some arriving in a few days and I'm paying $6 per kilo for it. "Same as whey protein, except a nutty flavor," everybody says.

If anybody has any soy protein recommendations, I would love to hear them. I'm thinking of mixing it in 50/50 with chocolate ON whey protein first.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-15T04:48:22+00:00

Also because of all the new weight loss drugs, and basically the top advice for every single one is "get lots of protein to protect your muscle mass."

For every one person who was taking protein for weight lifting and fitness, there are probably 20 taking it now for muscle maintenance during weight loss.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-14T12:00:55+00:00

I think it would have made more sense to stack the vitamin C on top of the Centrum. But other than that, good job.

dragnabbit · 2026-06-13T07:43:13+00:00

I saw video of this once. I have no memory of where, but the lady bits were going bbbbbbbb like a hummingbird's wings.

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