Michael569

Not everybody wants feedback. There is a reason why some journals have the words "CLOSED JOURNAL" in them. Mods on the forum spend quite a lot of time moderating the Journal section, you'd be surprised.

The ability for users to lock journals and journal owners to be able to hide unwanted comments in journals they started would eliminate a lot of micro conflicts in the journal sections but not sure how difficult that is to add to the forum code.

It might be best to wait till it fades. Temporary flare-ups may happen every now and then, but if this is a common recurrence, it would be a good idea to get some medical attention. GERD can be caused by many things but for example exercising while still having food in your stomach can make it worse. Other common triggers can be particular foods, spices, coffee, chocolate, alcohol, citruses, fatty foods, dairy etc Stress may induce GERD in some people as well. Hiatus Hernia is a common cause as well in case that hasn't been looked into. If it becomes too bad, pop an antacid and see if it helps over the longer term. If not, definitely speak to a doctor.

@Octagram Eye As already said above, you could consider cutting it down to a few paragraphs otherwise it will be difficult for folks around here to go into the nitty-gritty of the story. There is just too much text in there. It sounds like there are several layers of stuff that need addressing. Is there something that is a priority for you right now? Trying to target everything in one go will not only be impossible but extremely frustrating. Pick one thing and share a brief description with us, maybe we can help

Sometimes grommet has to be used to drain the build-up if it doesn't fix itself. Best to speak to a Otolaryngologists to discuss treatment options. I wouldn't try to poke it myself or do anything radical to make sure you don't actually cause yourself any harm.

locked as requested by OP

Unfortunately not, you'd have to create a new account

https://www.optimumperformanceinstitute.com/mental-health-diagnosis/avoiding-becoming-your-diagnoses/ Thought I'd drop this here. As @JonasVE12 already brilliantly pointed out, it is essential not to "become" the diagnosis. Remember, the diagnosis itself is a box so that doctors know how to medicate patients and how to predict treatment response according to previously accumulated statistical data as well as predict outcomes such as the likelihood of self-harm. Secondly, mental health conditions are just ridiculously difficult to diagnose and clinicians are notoriously misdiagnosing people all the time due to the diofficulty of measuring brain's biochemistry and very often outdated clinical assessments are being used especially in countries with lesser access to high-end medical care. For example, many methods of diagnosis have been around for 50+ years unchanged. It may help to get a second opinion from a completely different clinic...just to be sure. I'm not saying BPD diagnosis isn't real. It is a very real thing and has to be taken with absolute seriousness and working with a doctor is essential to make sure people are safe. But at the same time, it is important BPD does not become the 4 wall defining the margins of your life and also defining your opportunities and possibilities of personal and spiritual expansion. I think this is what the guys above have been trying to point out. The condition does not define the outcome of your life even if there are some statistical differences. I've kinda seen this pattern change in some of your posts where I think you have been shifting a bit into this box thinking as "I am the BPD and there is no hope for me". Trying to step away from this box and get a high altitude perspective can be incredibly liberating to your souls and to your mental health. Remember you are not the disease . A good therapist (as others have already suggested) could help you make the difference even deeper and help you on your way towards recovery. Focus on what you can control. There is ALWAYS something you can do. Ignore if this does not resonate. Good luck!

well said that's pretty much the major difference here and I'd add the crucial element of how fibre impacts our intestinal microbiome and how then microbiome affects our entire health from brain, immune system, mood, energy and metabolic pathways. In fact I'd say the major major issue with carbohydrate restriction (way more than anything else) especially restriction of high-fibre carbohydrates is microbiome starvation and thinning of the mucosal lining in the colon and small intestines. The Sonnenburg's lab is showing some potential connections to mucosal thinning and things like autoimmunity even as the proximity between the gut bacteria and our immune system underneath the mucosal layer is increasing. They don't want to be next to each other, this is the crucial point here. The mucosal lining is preventing a war basically, war between the gut microbes and our immune system. And how do you lose that mucosal lining? - low-fibre diet or western type o diet Once the research catches up, we may even find this to be a major cause of most autoimmune diseases as well as digestive cancers and even mental health diseases.

You can't go wrong with phosphatidylserine I'd say. 200-300mg doses were tested in ADHD pretty well. There is less research on human memory other than few small trials but it seems to help with attention compared to placebo at least. Start there and consider adding the Omegas 3( beware there are possible interactions with fish oils) https://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/omega-3-polyunsaturated-fatty-acids,fish-oil.html )

@Someone here hmm not really ?. Pop into a local bookstore and see what's available and what "speaks" to you.

@Someone here sounds like you'd benefit from a good nutrition book that will easily clarify all those topics for you Ideally something academic, unbiased towards particular diet or lifestyle . It would definitely be worth the time it takes to disecr it otherwise it is hard to make sense of it all

@Superfluo dietary modification to cover ALA, EPA and DHA and probably a short duration supplementation of anything that has decent levels of EPA and DHA. the protocol depends on the recorded levels as well as what is available to you locally as well as any dietary/ethical preferences. If you wanna chat about it in more detail hit me up so that we're not hijacking OP's original post

Phosphatidyl serine (highest level of evidence) and photidylcholine (theoretically even alpha-GPC instead of PC although the research here is extremely poor in terms of number of studies although there is some potential mechanistic reasoning why it may be useful in some people) Bacopa as mentioned above may also be helpful and perhaps worth giving Ginkgo a shot. Also make sure your omega 3 intake is optimised and if in doubt consider looking up a test called "red cell fatty acid test" to assess your long term fatty acid balanc (regular fatty acid tests is a waste of money tho so look for this specifically) Nootropics seem to have placebo effect in many people in my opinion but it appears some of them once dosed properly can be quite useful occasionally. Play around and see what works best Also with all of them heed potential medical interactions (not sure if you're taking any meds but if so worth checking with doc first due to possible interactions)

By "sugar" do you mean added table sugar (sucrose) or do you mean "all carbohydrates". Without the later, you will struggle with energy unless you can ace a perfectly structured keto diet. You can totally eliminate all sources of sucrose and you will actually benefit but there are few benefits of removing fruits and sources of complex carbohydrates, in fact, you may be doing yourself a disfavour especially on the level of the gut microbiome and intestinal mucosal lining Nothing wrong with good sources of carbs , ofcourse cut out all (added) sugar But hey, maybe keto will work great for you, some people seem to do really well on it.

Bulk shopping for legumes, wholegrains, nuts and seeds as well as herbs and spices in bulk in combination with batch cooking twice a week is gonna save you the most money by far in the long term. Animal products that are too cheap are better minimised in favour of plant protein sources but you can get decent quality meat for reasonable price too as well as eggs. For veggies look up any farmero markets around you, those places offer very good prices but generally fruits & veggies are mostly cheap as long as you avoid the overpriced fancy ones like dragonfruit, mangoes and stuff like that.

Congratulations France !!!! Live to fight another day

Get dr Greger's cookbooks. They are game changers when it comes to sustainable plant based cooking.

@soos_mite_ah thanks for the tag. I see really good responses and great value already provided by guys above. I sense the core question of the thread is: Why am I bulking up rather than toning down? How can I get more leaner & muscular figure without necessarily becoming too big? Is that about right? Let me start here and also comment on this You already know this but I'll say it anyway. It is absolutely essential (for your mental health, for your spiritual wellbeing and for your body image) to stop consuming this sort of content. Fitness magazines, Instagram posts, fitness influencers. I'd highly suggest unfollowing every single one of these people and throwing away all these magazines and any similar content. It harms our brains to such a significant proportion that many young women have actually committed suicide due to body image disorders. Same way young men get harmed by porn and cannot even achieve erection when in the bedroom with a woman who has normal un-enhanced body. Now let's talk about these two pictures anyway Picture 1 - there is a strong genetic makeup in the way how thin she is. She is probably also a bit fasted or in her top shape on the ohoto. This sort of figure is completely unachievable figure by women with more rounded body composition. She may even be competing Picture 2 - breast enlargement surgery and potential butt implant. She does have to work extremely hard in the gym, that's for sure judging by the legs and her arm development, she has been a regular gym-goer for a decade easily. But there is again a strong genetic component towards having large density musculature of the lower body but I can't imagine how hard she has to work and diet to keep her waist that thin. Again, I'd be curious how she looks without photo editing, pump and unfasted. Also the side posture while flexing the belly can hide a lot. Still, this lady is a fitness freak with extreme commitment to her body image. I'd try a new approach with working out simply for the pleasure of it and for the benefits of longevity and mental health rather than for a particular goal. Put some music on and Zone out. A gym time can easily be turned into a meditative experience. The reason for this would be that if there was already present some subcutaneous fat and now the muscle is growing, it is pushing the fat layer up, giving the limb appearance of being bulkier even tho you are getting more toned. I think the only way about it is to identify a strategy that works for you to start targeting that fat disposition. A combination of some cardio (which you mentioned) with dietary optimisation may do that for you. Some easy diet tips would be to make sure you are not skipping breakfast (and making sure that breakfast is made of mostly wholefoods) and to try to cram your food in a 12-hour eating window. If you can tolerate the discomfort you can reduce the size of your dinners, fast overnight and then have a huge breakfast. That may start accelerating that metabolism already. Of course caution with processed carbs (bakery products, toasts, white pasta and white rice) will help. Obtaining a pressure cooker and trying batch cooking in which you'll be using an abundance of vegetables, legumes and whole grains is another effective strategy to eat more but fewer calories. I've made a few videos on my YT channel on how to start batch cooking. Try looking at this and scroll to 6:50 for easy example. Now for that cardio, what worked well for me was finding a form of cardio I enjoyed. I really liked doing the sort of MMA -a type of cardio which is a combination of high-intensity bodyweight training with some weights. I like to combine that with callisthenics training these days. Now this may not be suited for women as much but you could experiment with some form of interval training, perhaps the gym offers classes. Some other great forms are swimming, cycling, rope skipping, rollerskating, hiking (brilliant for burning fat btw) or even finding a trainer for some light box padding. basically a good PT will be able to help a lot. Some products with some minor effects that may be useful are regular consumption of green tea, some people seem to benefit from MCT and theoretically even acetyl-L-carnitine but I believe the studies on that are kinda mixed so it may not help. Also, carnitine ha a few medicinal interactions (https://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/levocarnitine,l-carnitine.html) so something to be mindful of. But on their own, these products won't do anything unless accompanied by a good diet, lifestyle and regular activity. Also, in my (how I lost 20kg video) I mentioned that the major profound effect for me to lose weight was changing my environment. Perhaps that would be an option as well? I recall we spoke about your mom before and I feel that maybe living with your parents is putting a lot of restrictions on you. Any chance you could maybe try some shared apartment with a friend (or student dormitory or somethign like that?) Anyway, hope anything in there is helpful Good luck and don't be so hard on yourself. remember, this is a life-long process not a sprint.

Do an experiment, go to Dan Bilzerian's Facebook page and look in the comments of any of his posts. This is what this forum would become in 12 months without moderation & sensible amount of censorship.

@Nivsch you won't know unless you try. Personal experience is the king. Why not try 1 month of active full-body exposure and then retest yourself to see how well it is working. I might be wrong on this and curious about your results. If you do this, would you mind updating us in a month or so?

Here is an easy one for you Mix it with some mustard, tahini, black pepper, herbal spices and tiny hit of soy sauce and bake for 20 mins. Make sure those tofu slicces are covered all round. Pretty easy and tasty!

This is the most stable solution there is without risking sun-burned induced melanoma from excessive sunshine exposure. The amount of daily exposure you would need to get from 30s into 80s may be several hours per day over several months which may tip you over the safe balance if you are more fair-skined. And doses of 1000-2000 just wouldn't be enough. I'd like @undeather to comment as well as he has an abundance of clinical experience. From my practice, people start responding to levels at about 5,000 is they are over 30 but for those under 30, I'd start much higher for a short term. The idea is to get into those higher levels and then keep there through regular sunshine exposure, dietary exposure or maintenance dose. Of course keep experimenting and testing but make sure not to get sun-burned, that is the priority number 1 here.

Ideally you want to get into the 80s. You could do initial loading doses of those 30ks for 2 weeks and then go down to 10k and then 5k. Vitamin D restocking is a delicate balance of testing and retesting on monthly basis and calibrating the dosages. It may be safer to do it across 3-6 months rather than few weeks. Also good to keep in touch with your doctor and have them involved to make sure you do it safely

It does make sense from a high-altitude perspective but it is not something I have been able to verify either through my own experience or through my client experience or through any studies although most dietary-comparative studies usually focus on outcomes such as cardiovascular health and inflammatory markers rather than libido. But were you to design a study where you would put 100 vegans against 100 omnivores and feed both diets that are clinically controlled for calories (means they eat same amount of calories and roughly similar split of carbs/protein/fat) I don't think you would see a major difference in sexual health and sexual performance, libido, erectile function etc. Usually people who lose libido and sex drive on vegan diets are undereating.... and so their body can go into a bit of maintenance mode. That can totally happen. But it is not the problem of the diet, it's a problem of caloric deficiency. Also, some people on vegan diets may experience depression, it has actually been found,I believe that vegans can be more predisposed to depression but frankly I think this is caused by simply becoming too empathetic and seeing other people not give a flying fuck about animal welfare makes people depressed. And so if that happened, I think you'd naturally lose libido too but it would be more psychosomatic than diet-induced. In terms of those amino acids. So you have a pool of 21 amino acids out of which 9 are called Essential Amino Acids. These 9 our body can't make. You are right that all 9 are found in all animal products and not in all plants. But once you combined foods (which most people do, nobody easts just one food) this issue disappears and as long as people are eating enough, they will get enough protein and enough essential aminos (hence why I earlier said "controlled for calories") Does that make sense? Zinc can be problematic in some people. But also in many omnivores. Typical chicken & egg diets isn't the best source of zinc. Most people actually don't eat the foods that are rich in zinc like seafood and legumes. Vegans can indeed be at increased risk of zinc deficiency but with a little bit attention, they would be fine. It all comes down to eating enough vs not eating enough. Properly planned wholefod vegan diet can sustain nearly all micronutrient needs except of the ones people need to supplement such as B12 & Vitamin D. I'm not defending particular diet here, I just think we need to be fair and objective in our criticism. Pretty large number of fit and jacked vegans out there to counter your point Just put "vegan bodybuilding " in youtube. People like Derek Simnet, Nimai Delgado, Brian Turner and Richard Burgees (Vegan Gains) have managed to get pretty jacked without eating animals. I know I apologise if my first response was a bit harsh. I might have got triggered but I don't think you were giving both parties equal validity so I felt like being a vegan diet advocate It is easy to wan things to be certain ways and then to find arguments online to support our hypothesis without giving the other side chance to present their arguments either. I definitely get sucked into this kinda of thinking all the time and it is not easy to be objective where we don't want to be.