What's on your mind?

MaltedTea wrote: »

KickassAmazon76 wrote: »

My deadlift bar has the diamond grips on them, but unlike the bar I use for Squats, these diamonds are really pronounced. Even deadlifting 165 imprints so deeply into my hands that it stings something fierce.

I know I'll build up callouses over time... But do you think it'd be a recipe for disaster if I wrapped a bit of hockey tape around the hand grip spots? I don't want it to get gummy, but I really hate it as is.

A bit heretical but what about gloves?

JessBbody wrote: »

@KosmosKitten

The anxiety you're describing is not a tiny problem. Most people would be phased by that if they ever experienced it. Being affected by it as you are doesn't make you weak. I'm sorry you're going through that.

KickassAmazon76 wrote: »

KosmosKitten wrote: »

All my not-as-serious health issues and how I can't ever minimize or get rid of them. A list might be helpful:

• Weight - can maintain my current weight just fine, but losing is nearly impossible unless I drastically cut (which is not sustainable for me right now). I'm not suffering any issues because of my weight, but I'm tired of being fat and having to find new clothes all the time because my old cute ones stop fitting as nice.
• Acne - have dealt with this since I was a teenager; it just never got better. I feel like no matter which doctor I have (and I've had a lot), none of them ever take this problem seriously. Right now, I'm using Retin-A as a treatment and it sometimes works, but not really.. the acne is on my face, my chest and my back and it seems like as I get older, it's getting worse, not better.
• IBS - can be mostly maintained by diet, but it sure is annoying having to deal with it at all.
• Keratosis pilaris - again, been with me as long as I can remember. Nothing I do makes it better or even minimizes it.
• Crappy genetics in relation to tooth enamel - it does not matter how well I take care of my teeth, I always end up with more cavities, which lead to fillings.. which always lead to crowns. I'll be having a third one placed sometime in my near future.
• Depression/anxiety - medication is a temporary solution (everything eventually stops working). Walking has helped, but when you're depressed, you oftentimes neglect yourself and things that you know would lead to better outcomes for you. So that is a constant struggle to balance. The anxiety is worse: it prevents me from sleeping or getting a good night's sleep. Any and ever tiny noise will wake me up, even out of a deep sleep. The only way I can even attempt to sleep is with a sleep mask on, a fan blowing in my face and ear plugs deep in my ear. ANY noise wakes me up. Also, the anxiety keeps my brain in this weird "fight or flight" limbo and makes it really, really hard to actually fall asleep. I have tried a variety of anxiety medications, they either don't work, I can't breathe or they come with some other weird (unacceptable) side effects.

Honestly, I'm just *kitten* tired. It's a constant uphill battle of tiny problems most people wouldn't even be phased by, yet here I am.. constantly having to deal with and try and find solutions for and it's been 20 years now and I got nothing for any of them.

Sorry, I'm whining.

sometimes it feels like death by a thousand cuts. What you're feeling is a big deal to you.
I regularly tell my kids that pain is pain. If you rate your pain (physical or emotional) on a scale from 1-10, and you're at a 10, it is the most that you can handle. It doesn't matter if someone else can handle more pain than you - maybe the pain they are feeling only puts them at an 8/10.

The fact is whether YOU are at a 10. Your pain matters. The fact that you are hurting matters, and it deserves to be heard, and acknowledged. Long haul pain (mental, emotional and/or physical), is a mind *kitten*. It takes a resilience and strength of character that many do not have.

I can relate to the IBS - stomach issues (particularly stress related) abound in my life. And ditto tooth issues. For me, I have very sensitive teeth. I've been to the dentist and he's told me there is nothing for him to fix, and just to use sensodyne... but really, I cannot eat anything unless it's lukewarm. Hell, it even hurts to inhale/exhale while lifting because the air across my teeth stabs pain into my eyes. Aniexty has been a *kitten*, but constant friend this past decade, too. It all adds up.

It's exhausing some days. You're not alone. You're DEFINITELY not weak. and you are not whining.

Wish I could take it away for a while, but will just stand beside you and let you know I'm here.

stephie_nyc wrote: »

I finally hit that age when I realize I look...old. 35. I want my sexy back.

CacoEther wrote: »

KosmosKitten wrote: »

All my not-as-serious health issues and how I can't ever minimize or get rid of them. A list might be helpful:

• Weight - can maintain my current weight just fine, but losing is nearly impossible unless I drastically cut (which is not sustainable for me right now). I'm not suffering any issues because of my weight, but I'm tired of being fat and having to find new clothes all the time because my old cute ones stop fitting as nice.
• Acne - have dealt with this since I was a teenager; it just never got better. I feel like no matter which doctor I have (and I've had a lot), none of them ever take this problem seriously. Right now, I'm using Retin-A as a treatment and it sometimes works, but not really.. the acne is on my face, my chest and my back and it seems like as I get older, it's getting worse, not better.
• IBS - can be mostly maintained by diet, but it sure is annoying having to deal with it at all.
• Keratosis pilaris - again, been with me as long as I can remember. Nothing I do makes it better or even minimizes it.
• Crappy genetics in relation to tooth enamel - it does not matter how well I take care of my teeth, I always end up with more cavities, which lead to fillings.. which always lead to crowns. I'll be having a third one placed sometime in my near future.
• Depression/anxiety - medication is a temporary solution (everything eventually stops working). Walking has helped, but when you're depressed, you oftentimes neglect yourself and things that you know would lead to better outcomes for you. So that is a constant struggle to balance. The anxiety is worse: it prevents me from sleeping or getting a good night's sleep. Any and ever tiny noise will wake me up, even out of a deep sleep. The only way I can even attempt to sleep is with a sleep mask on, a fan blowing in my face and ear plugs deep in my ear. ANY noise wakes me up. Also, the anxiety keeps my brain in this weird "fight or flight" limbo and makes it really, really hard to actually fall asleep. I have tried a variety of anxiety medications, they either don't work, I can't breathe or they come with some other weird (unacceptable) side effects.

Honestly, I'm just *kitten* tired. It's a constant uphill battle of tiny problems most people wouldn't even be phased by, yet here I am.. constantly having to deal with and try and find solutions for and it's been 20 years now and I got nothing for any of them.

Sorry, I'm whining.

You have commented about your acne before and I remember jokingly telling you once that it’s easy to fix, just give up wheat/dairy, etc. It was definitely a joke at the time but as someone who has experienced a lot of your same symptoms all the way back to junior high school, please read on if you’d like to know what transformed my life 14 months ago

I had severe acne in high school. I went on accutane which was a nightmare on its own but its the only thing that helped. A few years later the acne returned, although not with the same severity. Face/chest/back

I developed KP as an adult. Upper arms and legs.

For as long as I can remember, my stomach always HURT. Every year I was at the dr trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with me.

After a bout of vertigo landed me in the ER, my dr told me I should try an elimination diet to see if I was suffering from a food intolerance. They had tested me for celiac but they can’t really test for intolerances.

On 8/1/19 I randomly decided to quit wheat. I was hardcore at first, avoiding gluten entirely. To my surprise, within two months I noticed that my face was clearer. The bumps were gone from my legs and more sporadic on my upper arms. But the biggest thing was that for the first time in my life I had no stomach pain. It was the strangest sensation to not feel anything in my abdomen, it was just comfortable. I never knew I could feel like that.

I quickly realized that I didn’t have to be strict gluten-free as long as I avoided wheat flour. (So for example, I didn’t go out of my way to buy gluten free bbq sauce, but I would buy gf pizza or bread).

The absence of stomach discomfort and the disappearance of blemishes made me feel better as a whole. My depression lifted. I went off my meds a few months after quitting wheat.

I don’t mean to tout it as a cure-all. The idea of being one of those moms who did a trendy pinterest diet bugged me, so I avoided admitting it to people for months. But once I realized how good I felt, I havent ever been tempted to go back to the lifetime of misery I had prior.

I want to add.. I didn’t lose a pound by going wheat free. But my relationship with food is vastly improved. No longer do I turn to foods that make me feel crappy like a sick dog eating grass. I don’t have any desire to binge, which was a struggle I had for many years.

Also for the record, I’m back on anxiety meds. I restarted recently. I do think that the reduction of daily pain helped lift my depression though.

Again, I don’t mean to push this or say you should try it. Just wanted to share my experience.

I have tried going dairy free as well and noticed an even bigger effect on my skin and mental state. I have not yet had the fortitude to stick with it though.

CacoEther wrote: »

KosmosKitten wrote: »

CacoEther wrote: »

KosmosKitten wrote: »

All my not-as-serious health issues and how I can't ever minimize or get rid of them. A list might be helpful:

• Weight - can maintain my current weight just fine, but losing is nearly impossible unless I drastically cut (which is not sustainable for me right now). I'm not suffering any issues because of my weight, but I'm tired of being fat and having to find new clothes all the time because my old cute ones stop fitting as nice.
• Acne - have dealt with this since I was a teenager; it just never got better. I feel like no matter which doctor I have (and I've had a lot), none of them ever take this problem seriously. Right now, I'm using Retin-A as a treatment and it sometimes works, but not really.. the acne is on my face, my chest and my back and it seems like as I get older, it's getting worse, not better.
• IBS - can be mostly maintained by diet, but it sure is annoying having to deal with it at all.
• Keratosis pilaris - again, been with me as long as I can remember. Nothing I do makes it better or even minimizes it.
• Crappy genetics in relation to tooth enamel - it does not matter how well I take care of my teeth, I always end up with more cavities, which lead to fillings.. which always lead to crowns. I'll be having a third one placed sometime in my near future.
• Depression/anxiety - medication is a temporary solution (everything eventually stops working). Walking has helped, but when you're depressed, you oftentimes neglect yourself and things that you know would lead to better outcomes for you. So that is a constant struggle to balance. The anxiety is worse: it prevents me from sleeping or getting a good night's sleep. Any and ever tiny noise will wake me up, even out of a deep sleep. The only way I can even attempt to sleep is with a sleep mask on, a fan blowing in my face and ear plugs deep in my ear. ANY noise wakes me up. Also, the anxiety keeps my brain in this weird "fight or flight" limbo and makes it really, really hard to actually fall asleep. I have tried a variety of anxiety medications, they either don't work, I can't breathe or they come with some other weird (unacceptable) side effects.

Honestly, I'm just *kitten* tired. It's a constant uphill battle of tiny problems most people wouldn't even be phased by, yet here I am.. constantly having to deal with and try and find solutions for and it's been 20 years now and I got nothing for any of them.

Sorry, I'm whining.

You have commented about your acne before and I remember jokingly telling you once that it’s easy to fix, just give up wheat/dairy, etc. It was definitely a joke at the time but as someone who has experienced a lot of your same symptoms all the way back to junior high school, please read on if you’d like to know what transformed my life 14 months ago

I had severe acne in high school. I went on accutane which was a nightmare on its own but its the only thing that helped. A few years later the acne returned, although not with the same severity. Face/chest/back

I developed KP as an adult. Upper arms and legs.

For as long as I can remember, my stomach always HURT. Every year I was at the dr trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with me.

After a bout of vertigo landed me in the ER, my dr told me I should try an elimination diet to see if I was suffering from a food intolerance. They had tested me for celiac but they can’t really test for intolerances.

On 8/1/19 I randomly decided to quit wheat. I was hardcore at first, avoiding gluten entirely. To my surprise, within two months I noticed that my face was clearer. The bumps were gone from my legs and more sporadic on my upper arms. But the biggest thing was that for the first time in my life I had no stomach pain. It was the strangest sensation to not feel anything in my abdomen, it was just comfortable. I never knew I could feel like that.

I quickly realized that I didn’t have to be strict gluten-free as long as I avoided wheat flour. (So for example, I didn’t go out of my way to buy gluten free bbq sauce, but I would buy gf pizza or bread).

The absence of stomach discomfort and the disappearance of blemishes made me feel better as a whole. My depression lifted. I went off my meds a few months after quitting wheat.

I don’t mean to tout it as a cure-all. The idea of being one of those moms who did a trendy pinterest diet bugged me, so I avoided admitting it to people for months. But once I realized how good I felt, I havent ever been tempted to go back to the lifetime of misery I had prior.

I want to add.. I didn’t lose a pound by going wheat free. But my relationship with food is vastly improved. No longer do I turn to foods that make me feel crappy like a sick dog eating grass. I don’t have any desire to binge, which was a struggle I had for many years.

Also for the record, I’m back on anxiety meds. I restarted recently. I do think that the reduction of daily pain helped lift my depression though.

Again, I don’t mean to push this or say you should try it. Just wanted to share my experience.

I have tried going dairy free as well and noticed an even bigger effect on my skin and mental state. I have not yet had the fortitude to stick with it though.

I can definitely give it a try. I've gone dairy free and gluten free before to see if it would affect something else (doctor asked me to back in 2016). It wasn't terrible, but really was eye opening to see how many things had gluten, soy or dairy in them.. things I wouldn't expect them to be in, honestly.

I had done gf and df before too but never longer than a month and always at the same time. Doing one at a time feels way more doable so I went with the one I felt would be easier. Luckily for me it happened to be really helpful.

The pareto principle played into my decision making a lot. You can get 80% results with just 20% effort, whereas the additional 80% effort might only give you an add’l 20% benefit. That’s why i went from gf to wheat free. It has struck that nice balance of being good enough without feeling extremely difficult. There are many days I forget about it entirely.

eatpolerepeat wrote: »

iMago wrote: »

i don't even ride a bike but i want one

This isn't weird