richardheath Member

What do you mean when you say "the high end of the normal scale"? If you are within the normal range (even at the high end), you are not pre-diabetic [or so I think]. Di they schedule you any follow up, or have you made an apt with your regular Doctor. A Glucose Tolerance Test can be done to confirm the diagnosis, and you…

Most supplements are snake oil. Interactive version HERE.

Did your Doctor not put you in a boot/on crutches (or a knee scooter)? I would have thought you need to keep your weight off that foot while it heals. I have just recovered from a stress fracture in my femoral neck (top of my leg) and was non-weight bearing on that leg for 10 weeks. I missed the half marathon I was…

Glycemic index is pretty much bunk. It looks at foods in isolation. Glycemic load is a bit more reliable, but not much really. The only real way to tell how a meal (which is what most of us actually eat most of the time, not single foods in isolation) affects you is to monitor your sugar. In general, a higher ratio of…

Actually, I am going to disagree with funchord's info to some extent. I think tracking your blood sugar right now is a good idea. Learning how different meals affect you 2 hours post prandial (take a reading 2 hours after the first bite) will help you learn just how many carbs you can eat at a time, in a given…

I agree. In fact, I hate the "alcohol is used first and shuts down everything else" meme. That simply isn't the way bodies work: we are actually very good at doing more than one thing at a time! Induction of alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver doesn't mean that the gut stops producing lipases and proteinases and amylases or…

I think you have a bad case of analysis paralysis. Stop over-thinking it. Just pick the one that sounds best to you and start. Or just start counting calories and learn to cook. Just get a calorie deficit in a sustainable (for you) way however you can. Otherwise you are going to be asking this for the next 6 months all the…

Evolution is both a theory and a fact. It is a fact because mutations happen. New species have been observed appearing from some populations of e.g lizards. Basically, change happens. It is a theory because it is also an overarching explanation for the diversity of life we see extant and extinct, in particular the descent…

Protein powders/bars are only really required if you are not hitting your protein macro, which ideally would be around 0.8 g protein per lb lean body mass. Somewhat counterintuitively, protein is more important during a deficit to help prevent your body burning your current muscle than it is during a bulk, when you'd be in…

Even if I accept that "human-made" and "unnatural" are synonymous (which I'm not ready to concede, but let's move on), the other parts of my argument stand. Being made in a lab does not automatically mean that something is bad, anymore than being grown in a field means it is good. But I will accept that what I called the…

What if the animals that made the path in the wood were of the species Homo sapiens sapiens?

For that to be a strawman, I would have to be taking something you didn't say and attack that. Did I misrepresent anything you said? (I may well have misunderstood, but that's not a strawman).

I'm sure you could find a definition of "nature" which states that anything that a human makes is, by definition, not part of nature. But why is an anthill natural but a house is not? A tool used by a chimp is natural, but a screwdriver is not? I would suggest such a definition is based on common usage, not on a hard and…

Lots of enzymes catalyzing chemical reactions in your cells right now, converting one group of chemicals to another group of chemicals. Chemistry isn't just something that happens in test tubes.

Labeling chemicals (as in added, or "man-made") as bad is part of the Naturalistic Fallacy: the idea that natural = good and unnatural = bad. Couple of problems with this. (1) Natural things, such as arsenic or digitoxin can most definitely be "bad" (in the sense that they will kill you). (2) Humans are part of nature. We…

That's what I was thinking too. To calibrate it correctly, you'd need something closer to the weight you are trying to measure. A stack of 45 lb barbell plates might work, if you have them. Also, make sure the scale is tared correctly (reading zero when there is nothing on it) and set on a flat surface. Bathroom tiles, for…

I've seen some very different headlines for this story. The Washington Post ran with "Dr. Oz solicits health questions on Twitter, gets attacked by trolls instead". USA Today went with "Dr. Oz asks Twitter for questions, gets hate". Obviously, they tilt a bit more towards being sympathetic to him than some of the other…

Ha! Love it! Wonder if he'll respond to some of those?

I don't recall the one I have right now, but I think it might be a Norelco. It was maybe ~$40 at Target. I got that one as it was a stubble trimmer rather than a beard trimmer and has 9 length settings. It has lasted several years, but the battery really doesn't hold a charge anymore, so I have to use it plugged in. But I…

My gf is my designated driver for Beer Fests... You probably won't be able to accurately log, so I'd say either make an estimate and just go with that, or just pretend it never happened. One day isn't going to ruin all your efforts (it didn't take you one day to get fat; it doesn't take one day to lose it). Just go, have…

Fluctuations in weight are normal due to water retention etc. You aren't going to see a drop every day/week, but as long as the overall trend is in the right direction, you are good. I don't think you need to change it up every six days (unless mentally you need a change). If you are burning calories, you are burning…

Maybe your goal weight 125 is simply too low for you? I don't know about your height, current weight etc, but if you are fairly tall and have some muscle already that weight might not be achievable without some muscle loss? (Or maybe you just entered/read it wrong???) The best way to lose muscle is to simply not use it...…

Because by aggressively cutting you have to make major, sweeping changes to your diet. If you are eating 400-800 calories per day, you aren't going to be eating "normally" by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, most of these Doctor-managed VLCD diets will have you using meal replacement shakes to ensure you continue…

You could even ask your doctor for an appointment with a nutritionist who specializes in diabetes. Many diabetics do find low carb diets can help regulate their blood sugar, although some find they can eat moderate amounts of low glycemic index ones. [Obviously, you know to avoid lots of added sugar and the like!] It will…

Well, actually I would say that if one develops healthy habits during weight loss then one is more likely to follow those same habits (with slight tweaks) during maintenance. I know that I basically eat the same foods as I did; but I learnt to manage portions, add veggies, move more etc which I have continued for 2 + years…

Did he say WHY he wants you on a low GI diet? I mean, losing 162 lbs is a hell of an accomplishment so you'd think he'd say "carry on!". If you are happy with what you are eating, then I'd say keep going. That said, neither low carb nor low GI are strictly required for weight loss. A calorie deficit is. He might be worried…

Doctors often put morbidly obese people on a VLCD as the benefits of simply losing weight greatly outweigh the risks of rapid weight loss in this group of people. Rapid weight loss can also in some cases help with insulin resistance issues (see the Newcastle Diet). That isn't to say that everyone should be on a VLCD crash…

If you have a medical condition such as diabetes that affects your blood sugar abnormally after eating certain foods then obviously you should not eat (or at least restrict) those certain foods. In conversations such as this, the (usually) unwritten caveat is "baring any medical conditions".

The more restrictions you place on yourself, the harder it becomes to actually stick to a diet. So do not cut out anything that you simply cannot live without! Many people will crave it; eat it; and then think "oh I can't do this" and give up. Cutting back on some things will probably be required; making lower calorie…

Unless you are immune compromised, then our immune system is still working fine. A vaccination (the most likely medical intervention for a virus like Ebola) works by priming our existing immune system. It doesn't weaken anything. Primates, while close to us, are not us. "Effective" viruses generally don't kill their usual…