Thomas

Get yourself at least these blood tests: TSH, T3 and T4 Plasma sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron Not necessary, but helpful: PRL If You want to try, You could buy citrulline malate and take 8g a day (used by most studies & being effective dose & without having adverse effects). You should see the difference during the first week and if You don't - dump it. In studies (It was tested to verify if it reduces symptoms of asthenia) has been shown to reduce the rate of perceived exertion and muscle fatiguability. If You want me to explain why scientifically speaking it does make sense, then F*** You. I'm just kidding, I will of course if You have to know, I'm just lazy and usually, the details of how things work are plain boring or/and hard to grasp, but it involves citric acid cycle and phosphocreatine synthesis. Citrulline basically helps prevent fatigue and malic acid helps produce more ATP. Besides physiological stuff, the one and only question is whether Your lifestyle (especially levels of stress) has changed. Could it be just a more intense period of life? Work, relationships, the amount of sleep, physical exercise, etc. Very small amounts of stress won't provoke a very robust adaptive response, but more stress increases adaptation. However, too much stress - to the point that You can't cope with it physically or psychologically (our body barely tells the difference between the types of stress) - also decreases the rate of adaptation. This means that all the stressors in your life pool together and dip into the same reservoir of "adaptive reserves" that are available for recovering from those stressors (allowing You to adapt so You'll be better equipped to handle more). @Edit I've seen mentions about bone mass loss. If that's the issue, then definitely consult a doctor about parathyroid glands (NOT THYROID) as they produce PTH to regulate calcium levels in blood plasma among others by breaking down the bone (where most of the body's calcium is stored) and causing calcium release. Resistance exercise (with weights) is the main activity that science supports in preventing bone mass loss and increasing bone density.

Being bad at something is the first step of getting kinda good at something. Being the smartest or the best looking guy in the room doesn't mean shit, unless You project that vision onto yourself. Don't play that game. You know why You're insecure? I would guess that You're taking yourself too seriously. Do You have to be a perfect James Bond character to everyone or everything will go nuts if You don't? Does everything You say has to be meticulously analyzed to make sure it doesn't sound absurd? If so, then living like that is a constant torture. Look at me, dude, in my profile pic I look like I'm using both hands to jerk off, but we know it's an overkill for a man of my European size Have a little distance to human beings, including yourself especially, and keep in mind that we are not so smart and sophisticated as we think we are. If You're into books, consider reading "6 Pillars of Self-Esteem" by Nathaniel Branden and DO THE EXERCISES. AFAIK It's the best book relating to self-portrayal issues. BTW. Just imagine this kind of scenario: Friend: What's Your favorite Real Madrid player? Ross: Eee.. I like Messi. Friend: Ross, Messi plays for Barcelona, You fucking fuck. FROM THIS MOMENT YOU ARE CONSIDERED NOT WORTHY TO DRINK BEER WITH US AND TALK ABOUT FOOTBALL AS THESE ARE THE ONLY ACTIVITIES BY WHICH WE MEASURE YOUR VALUE AS A HUMAN BEING, YOU STUPID FUCK. This could totally kinda happen. I guess. Kinda ^^ Nevermind ;P

Masculinity / Sexuality Have You heard of Real Social dynamics? Finances http://www.sjo.com/ - Absolutely fucking awesome, no BS guy, AFAIK You could look for some podcasts with him http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/ - Heard good things, not verified personally. Enter on your own responsibility

What else is there to life than make your best efforts to understand it? Enlightenment? I don't even know what enlightenment is, so I have to study it, probably just to realize that it cannot be conceived by the mind. Studying makes You understand how little You actually know and how much there is yet to be discovered. In fact the relation between how much You know and how much You realize You don't know grows exponentially. Isn't it goddamn cool? One day You think your human organism is a simple thing, and the other You learn about how many mechano- & chemoreceptors You have just in a tiny part of your kidney called nephron and that these receptors constantly monitor the pressure and contents of your blood plasma, without You knowing about it, and they send signals to the endocrine glands, like pituitary gland in your brain and adrenal glands just above your kidneys. Then based on these signals antidiuretic hormone (ADH) or/and RAA system (where Aldosterone is the big star) are getting involved in reabsorption of water directly (ADH) or indirectly via reabsorption of sodium and excretion of potassium (Aldosterone). Aldosterone takes a huge part in maintaining homeostasis of sodium levels in your plasma - That's why You can avoid salt or eat a lot of it and You will be around 138 mmol/L in both cases. Vasopressin (ADH) is so fucking awesome it can not only act as a water/electrolyte regulating hormone while it's being released from the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland, but also as a neurotransmitter while released directly into the brain. It acts similarly to adrenaline and can have a strong nootropic effect, but it raises blood pressure significantly, so it's a bad choice for students to buy it from pharmacies in order to get a learning performance boost. Also, bugs don't die from carbon oxide intoxication, because they don't have any hemoglobin it could bind to, to create carboxyhemoglobin. They have a pipelike system running through their bodies that allows respiration via diffusion of oxygen, while our respiratory system needs a contractile force in addition to diffusion due to the fact that we need more energy. You obviously don't have to go to college to study, I know personally a few financially free people around my age (20) who are hardcore learners - Not the kind of easy to read self-help books, but 800 pages long textbooks on neurobiology. And I know too many MDs that go through 6 years of education and finish without understanding basic biochemistry, so You basically sometimes have to correct them (I had a client who had elevated Creatine Kinase, which is normal in athletes and doc told him he had rhabdomyolysis lol). Plus when You're scared You'll run out of things to say to a girl You can always spit out some scientific facts or give a Latin name of every single part of her body You touch. Science is fucking badass and people doing it usually are too. But I have to warn everyone who wants to study: You will get annoyed by reading basic questions people have regarding the subject You study. And by annoyed I mean sometimes You will just shut down your computer, walk to a mirror and stare at yourself bluntly for at least 10 minutes and trying to comprehend why the fuck are You doing what You do, since 90% of the time trying to have a factual discussion with people is like playing chess with a pigeon. You could be the greatest player in the world, but the pigeon is just going to knock over all pieces, shit on the board and strut around like it's victorious. Also, keep in mind that understanding Krebs Cycle doesn't make You any more clever than You were before. I may know how many ATPs are created in one cycle, or where in mitochondria a proton gradient is created, but I have no clue how to tie weird ballerina shoes of my 10-year-old sister, while she does it in a blink of an eye. At the end of the day I study, because I want to have a better, more complete understanding of the world - magic, belief and bold claims without verifiable evidence don't satisfy me. @Edit You can also play a Mr. Smartypants by writing on a Self-Help forum, while You'd be totally eviscerated by any decent scientist from academia. @Edit2 I highly recommend watching at least a couple of episodes of "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" with Neil deGrasse Tyson - that guy nails life purpose with science and bring an almost spiritual touch to science itself.

This is the only brand You need.

JUST GET STARTED Contrary to Nike's Just Do It which implies You have to go through all the steps, scientific research by Timothy Pychyl, PhD shows that "Just getting started" is one of the most powerful tools in Your arsenal in the fight against procrastination. Try it, it works like magic. Be aware of rationalizations You make to avoid getting things done - You are very tricky! You will NOT feel like it tomorrow. Telling yourself that You will feel more like doing this tomorrow may feel good, but keep in mind that WE - people, are terrible at estimating our state in the future, so when You catch yourself doing that You know You're bullshitting yourself. Doing a list of things You want to accomplish might make You feel good to a point You'd tell yourself that You've already made something, thus doing "rest" of the actual work can be done tomorrow - remember why You made that list in the first place! Writing down HOW and WHEN You want to get things done has been found to be much more effective than just listing Your goals.

@jse You sir, have the awesomest dog in the world! I had these creatures around from the moment I was born and they have an amazing power bring more presence & joy in people. Learning life from dogs sounds weird, but I'm amazed how much my awareness is affected by simply living with them. BTW. No matter how was the day, when I look at this dog-thing I can't help myself but smile

What is that entity that Your hand is a part of? Are You your body? Are You a thought? Vision? Smell? Touch? Sound? Where is that "You" located? If I chop this hand off, this body will become one handed without a doubt, but how do I know I AM THIS BODY? That is my question because the more You study the concepts of mindfulness and enlightenment the more ingrained in Your awareness becomes the concept that the nature of You / Ego / Psyche / Identity / Self is described as illusory or/and not real. You can understand the concept, You can even believe in it, but still You won't have the direct experience because the concept is covering it. Even small breakthroughs during meditation are not THIS experience. Countless times I've felt detached from my body, dissolving into present moment, but it merely feels like a taste of how surreal and incomprehensible THIS experience may be.

@Loreena Exactly...

To have a context: https://youtu.be/Bsyplaii9p4?list=PLFfM65xLnO-GGdbO5yYuQvaKOhG6j1Ih7 And I look at this hand I'm being told isn't mine and I want to believe it, but I experience this hand as my own hand. I feel the warmth, my input makes these fingers move, I have control over it - it feels so real.. SO MINE! Another thing I'm confused about is my conceptualization of reality and how I distinguish truth from false. These concepts of reality are not reality - Okay, I think I can grasp that my view is a mix of reality and attachments in form of concepts explaining or helping me understand this reality of which I feel to be a center of. And I know the story I perceive as truth is true, because I have another story that proves that the first is true. So let's say: The story: I believe that when I put my hand into fire I will feel pain. The story that backs up the story: I've put my hand once into a fire and felt pain. The story that backs up the backup story: ??? How can I strip away my stories even more? And If I don't exist who tells the story at all? It feels like I'm open-minded enough to believe that reality is everything except me in it, I don't have an outrageous reaction, a little bit of fear, excitement and a fuzzy feeling in my head, but... I don't have a direct experience. I don't understand. I sit an hour a day without even moving a finger and I still don't understand what I'm doing. Not that I'm impatient, it just feels so surreal that this kind of realization can be experienced. I even don't mind being confused. I'm just curious... who wrote this post?

Hi! You worrying about whether things are socially acceptable is basically shooting yourself in the foot. Shortly, it makes You, even more outcome oriented, being in reaction to other people and as a result of Your intentions You will seem incongruent to most people. You want to say "Hi", say "Hi", You want to stand still and look in the eyes without saying anything, then do that. In resistance training theory we call it "paralysis by analysis" when You focus on unimportant details and neglect things that DO matter. Make use of Pareto's principle, because it's applicable to many, many areas of Your life, srsly. You see - If You were weirder, I would be 100% more likely to enjoy an interaction with You. Nobody is normal, there are just weirdos having fun and weirdos under cover. I like weird people. If You're just putting yourself out there, even while You feel You are weird, You already did the big part of the job. The rest is to just get out of Your own way. Throw out any concept You have about how You should feel when You interact with people, similar as You would erase any concept about meditation. You won't need it. Don't chase The State and don't go psychic when You're totally out of state. Dumb yourself down. Social interaction WILL NOT be perfect, not even close to what You visualize in your mind, so drop your expectations. Be dumb, be clunky, weird, funny, sad, happy - Whatever You are at that particular moment, but act in agreement with your internal state. Embrace it, embrace it and fucking own that shit by embracing it. And keep in mind that nobody is attracted to You as a persona. You're a dynamic creature, constantly changing, so don't take anything personally - You are not broken. What I tell myself both for motivation and humbling down is this: Girls are not attracted to ME per say, but to the qualities I represent, to the masculine energy if You will. Therefore "ME" functions more as a vessel in which I put things and I can take those things out, change them, make sure they're in check, in alignment with my values, thoughts and actions or not. Seriously, I invite You to reframing your way of thinking, You don't have to necessarily copy me, but develop a way of taking the big chunk of pressure of your shoulders. I'm not angry at myself when I break up or fuck up approach and I'm definitely less cocky and, surprisingly, happier when things go great. I hope You can extract some value from my yapping Bye.

@Callum Milner Just look at yourself like You'd look on statistics of an RPG character - yeah, your main job is acting, but You also have some other perks that, surprisingly, may be rentable. You never know how many people could use your help or even that there are some individuals who will pay You for it. Invest in your character rather than focusing on a task-reward system. Example with me: 4 years ago I partially fell in love with sports physiology & nutrition and I also happen to be a nerd - Having an attitude that everything has to be perfectly supported by science, so I ended up involved in reading textbooks and taking seminars. It's a grind and hard to process thing, but I can promise this: One textbook, read thoroghly, is worth more than 10 months of "researching" articles and pubmed every day for 8 hours/day. At first, it was purely for me - trying to look better, improve self-esteem etc., didn't even think there is any money in this. But in a matter of 3 years of self-education for my purposes only I've discovered that I was wrong. I can study at medical university, which is very hard itself alone and afford to not work 9 to 5 job, because I coach 90% of my clients online.

My grandma weighs 300 pounds and she's still gaining weight, even thought she says she consumes 1200 calories a day. Must be legit, because people are totally accurate at estimating their caloric intake and they also never lie

I already did explain the issues with claims made in this video somewhere, but I don't remember on what forum LOL Too lazy to do it once again, so I will give You a spoiler to the question whether veganism is the ultimate answer for all diseases and pain in the world. No. And at least I'm not too lazy to share with You my personal "to-self" notes that I use to write on my Twitter and Evernote. 1) Be open minded AND think critically. I know it is easy to believe someone who has MD or PhD next to his name It is also easy to follow the current - Majority of people who watched and commented on this video are vegans and want to support what they do, even unconsciously they want more reasons to justify that what they do is good, similar trend on this forum. Do not count votes, rather measure the arguments. 2) There is no single "best diet" for everyone! Veganism or fully plant-based diet, if You will, is good to choice for ethical (mainly) and environmental reasons. It is not magical nor superior to any other specific diet. 3) If Your diet consists at least in 60% (I just totally made up that number, but You know what I mean) from whole foods, You have variety in it, You consume sufficient amount of calories and micronutrients, and it doesn't upset your stomach - I really don't see any reason to change it, at least for physiological reasons. Go check your thyroid, cholesterol, vitamin D, iron (u could also check ferritine and transferrine to easily make sure u dont have hemochromatosis), CBC - basically get yourself whole metabolic panel and consult a doctor to make a specific function test if some numbers are not in check. And get active. Exercise is the medicine. You don't need to convert to anything, You can very well try and I encourage You to, but recognize whether You genuinely enjoy the change or hyping yourself up and making a next agenda. I highly doubt You need to be vegan or on any other concrete diet to become enlightened, at least nothing physiological, that would make a significant difference in my opinion comes in to play is what I'm trying to say. If there is anything about fully plant-based diet correlated to enlightenment it is either empathetic or non-conceptual then I don't know what it is.