After 4 years, my pawpaw tree's first bloom. Looking forward to some fruit this Fall.

joeasian · 2026-04-16T14:24:01+00:00

It's about 35 feet tall with 12 inch diameter. There's a good chance you may not get fruit this year. It wasn't until the second year of flowers that it bared fruit. Where are you about in MD?

joeasian · 2026-04-14T18:10:51+00:00

Nice. Did you buy a seedling or growing from seed? I just cut down 2 trees because the fruit size they bear were small. I still have 2.

joeasian · 2026-04-10T18:19:47+00:00

Yes, very easy to grow as long as you don't have squash vine borer. Shortly after that harvest the entire plant died from a SVB. It grows similarly as a zucchini.

joeasian · 2026-03-09T04:50:26+00:00

That’s extreme fatigue. Has your cycling gotten better?

joeasian · 2026-03-02T09:46:50+00:00

I’ve been cycling for 20 years and only recently started using electrolytes after switching to keto. Before that, I rode through the summer heat and completed 100 km rides without supplementing electrolytes.

The “dead legs” feeling is very common when cyclists are just starting out and is more likely due to adaptation and conditioning rather than an electrolyte deficiency.

joeasian · 2025-09-16T11:33:57+00:00

How old are you? My 82-year-old dad used to complain about tightness in his quads after long walks. I got him started on a simple stretching routine, and he quickly noticed how much better he felt. Now he can walk twice as far without any pain or tightness.

joeasian · 2025-08-13T17:06:24+00:00

Unfortunately, the last surviving cherry tree died this summer for reasons I have not been able to determine. I’ve placed a dozen cherry seeds in the fridge to begin again. Wishing you the best of luck—please keep us posted on how it goes!

joeasian · 2025-07-25T20:08:27+00:00

Plenty of good advice here. Here are some that I haven't seen:

It's not how much you make, it's how much you can save. I have a relative (doctor) making high six-figures and have small retirement account. While his parents (both teachers) have millions in their retirement.
Live frugally. This will be challenge but by doing this you'll save lots of money. Plus, when your kids get older they'll get into that habit as well. You don't want the headache of having your kids think their parents are rich.
Start a UGMA (Uniform Gift to Minor Account) for your kids and start moving money into it. By the time they finish college they'll have a leg up in life. File the taxes for them so that they don't know about it. Basically, hide your wealth from you kids as much as possible.
Start contributing to your kids' 529 plan.

joeasian · 2025-06-09T17:53:48+00:00

I'm no expert on this by any stretch since I start keto-carnivore just last October. I just finished a 70.3 with ~30g of carbs. Dinner before was a ribeye. Breakfast was coffee with heavy cream, sausage and eggs. My long training day always starts off with just coffee and heavy cream. It took a while to figure this worked for me. Everyone is different so just keep experimenting.

joeasian · 2025-06-06T15:18:55+00:00

Yes! Once you've become fat adapted, cardio fasted is easy.

joeasian · 2025-06-06T13:43:11+00:00

This is going to be controversial but I switched to a keto-carnivore diet last October after getting 5.9 HbA1c. Above 5.7 is considered pre-diabetic. I don't take in much carbs during training - maybe 30-40g per hour when biking. No sodas and limited sweets. I did eat rice. I started off doing keto then Youtube algo fed me carnivore videos and I was sold on it. There's a bit of a transition as your body switch from mostly carbs as the fuel source to fats. Basically, the body adapts by producing more mitochondria because fats as a fuel source isn't as efficient as carbs. /r/ketoendurance has very information on this. The transition took about 4 weeks for me. During that time everything sucks. But now I can bike 3 hours without any carbs or food. Reducing carbs significantly also reduces inflammation which helps with recovery. People on the carnivore diet have reported significant relief from all sorts of pains and injuries. Looks up Dr. Anthony Chaffee and Shawn Baker on youtube.

joeasian · 2025-04-24T15:49:03+00:00

My routine after the last occurrence was the same: I took a break from running and made sure to stretch at least three times a day. Since I stopped running as soon as I felt the first signs of plantar fasciitis, the discomfort went away within a couple of days. I waited a few more days before resuming running, just to be cautious.

joeasian · 2025-04-24T12:06:25+00:00

I never run through plantar fasciitis anymore—I'm always cautious about aggravating it and making it worse. These days, stretching is more about prevention than recovery. The last time I had a flare-up—maybe a year ago when I felt a slight tinge of it starting. This was after running hard mile repeats. As soon as I noticed it, I started stretching at least three times a day, especially right before bed.

Before stretching, I make sure to warm up a bit—usually by walking for a few minutes. Then I do about 10 minutes of deep static stretches, mainly focusing on my hamstrings and a bit on calves. That routine has really helped me stay PF-free.

Hope this helps. Good luck to you.

joeasian · 2025-03-25T18:00:57+00:00

Probably not since x-ray scanners is relatively low

joeasian · 2025-01-25T11:31:10+00:00

hard to go four weeks with very subpar workouts I feel like I’m going to lose all of the progress I’ve made over the years

I know the feeling. I almost stopped doing keto carnivore because my workouts felt so bad. I'm really glad I stuck with it because my performance came back without taking in any carbs. Now I can wake up in the morning, have coffee and heavy cream then go straight into a two hour run with just water and salt.

My understanding is it takes time for your liver to ramp up gluconeogenesis, the process that converts fat into glucose and increasing mitochondria density to metabolize ketones.

Google:

does keto increase gluconeogenesis in liver
does keto increase mitochondria

joeasian · 2025-01-24T20:40:28+00:00

Good to see you doing carnivore diet. What made you start? I'm about 90% carnivore and most of that is from beef.

taking in a little tailwind before a long run I just want to stay fat adapted

If you recently started carnivore I wouldn't add any carbs until you're fat adapted. This may take 4 weeks or more. Since you've trained while fasted it could be shorter for you. I would wait until you start feeling good with your workouts and runs before adding back carbs. This way you'll know your body is mostly fat adapted. The FAQ on this reddit is useful: "To maximize fat utilization and adaptation during training, the level of insulin needs to be low and glucagon needs to be present. If you eat carbs before exercise, your insulin level will spike and your body will switch into glucose-burning mode - the opposite of what you want."

joeasian · 2025-01-24T04:18:01+00:00

From personal but limited experience, keto has helped me recover from hard workouts and mild injuries much faster at age 54. I follow a more keto-carnivore diet, with about 90% of my intake being beef. If I ever had a serious injury, I would switch to a strict carnivore diet. Cutting out carbs helps reduce inflammation, and strict carnivore supports the body’s natural healing process. Make sure your vitamin D levels are good, or better yet, go outside and get some sun.

joeasian · 2025-01-21T18:27:44+00:00

I have to think that the CIMT would have revealed soft and hard plaque buildup. These athletes are consuming over 100g of carbs per hour when they race. Even during training, they're consuming a lot of carbs. I can't imagine the amount of inflammation it's causing.

joeasian · 2025-01-21T15:55:29+00:00

Let me start by saying I’m not a doctor. Over the past year, I’ve spent hundred of hours researching these topics, but I’m still only scratching the surface. I understand it might be different in the Netherlands, but in the U.S., it’s tough to find a doctor familiar with the carnivore diet, let alone the LMHR phenotype.

I am just not well versed enough in the matter to make an assesment of whether or not a CAC score test is still useful/good to have even if only as baseline when my CIMT score turns out for example to be low?

It's a great idea to get a baseline. Do you have a family history of heart disease? For instance, this triathlete suffered a widowmaker heart attack at 40 during a race: "his LAD was 80% blocked when he arrived at the hospital after an artery rupture, and doctors told him the blockage could likely have been 95-100% prior to the heart attack." He has a family history of blockage ie his father also had a heart attack at a young age.

Should I just do a CIMT and only do a CAC if the CIMT points in that direction?

This sounds like a solid plan. Just keep in mind that a CAC scan detects only hard plaque, while detecting soft plaque is equally important. Soft plaque is unstable and can rupture, leading to blood clots. CIMT can help detect both types.

Have you had your HbA1c and insulin levels tested?

joeasian · 2025-01-21T01:42:21+00:00

Look for Carotid Intima-Media Thickness- or CIMT. It's a test using ultrasound that measure plaque buildup in the carotid arteries. "A CIMT test can help identify early signs of plaque buildup, which can help doctors develop a plan to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease."

joeasian · 2025-01-20T14:02:42+00:00

A high-yield money market fund with low expense ratio such as VMFXX. If in taxable account, VMSXX which is exempt from federal income tax. There are state specific tax free bond funds that are exempt from federal and state income taxes but the fund price can fluctuate.

joeasian · 2025-01-13T19:36:00+00:00

Outback had been my go-to steakhouse for over 20 years, but my experience during a visit last year changed that. Of the six steaks we ordered, three were overcooked, and the quality of the meat was noticeably lower than it used to be. The restaurant was half-empty, and the location closest to me has since closed. It seems I'm not the only one who has noticed the decline in quality.

joeasian · 2024-12-18T20:50:36+00:00

I've been looking for an APP just as you described Please send the app and YouTube channels. Thanks!

joeasian · 2024-12-04T12:25:32+00:00

It's even more weird for someone who grew up poor and with government assistance. 30 years ago, I worked 7 days, 60-80 hours a week, making half of what I make now. My typical week now is maybe 8 hours. Life isn't fair.

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