Antique Medicine Bottle

Bad internet breakfast advice helps Americans kill themselves

Scary. 91% of voters found this horrible misleading article on Yahoo to be helpful. I suppose people who take that advice should blame mostly themselves for trusting an internet article but I still can’t shake the feeling that Men’s Health and Yahoo are also responsible for giving people such horrible advice.

What kind of health guru tells people to go to Burger King and eat…

Eat This Instead!
Burger King Egg & Cheese Croissan’wich
300 calories
17 g fat (6 g saturated; 2 g trans)
740 mg sodium
26 g carbs

That’s some of the shittiest advice I’ve ever seen in my life. A good brekfast = organic whole wheat toast, plain natural oatmeal (the kind you boil and you can mix it with nuts, cinnamon, honey, or fruit), or eggs (not cooked by a fast food joint).

Huge industry springs up around erectile dysfunction

There are a lot of products that are supposed to help men get and maintain erections. This craze seems fairly recent. I don’t think talk of erectile dysfunction and its various medications was so mainstream 15 years ago.

About a week ago I mentioned Viagra-like foods. Testosterone boosters are supposed to help build muscle increase sexual function. These come in steroid forms and non-hormonal forms.

Here we have an herbal alternative to the medical Cialis. The herbal Cialis contains grape seed extract, ginseg extract, cayenne, saw palmetto, and damiana.

I’ve heard of grape seed extract (in my current vitamins) and ginseng (very popular in Korea and Japan). Of course, I’ve heard of cayenne but more as a spice than a vitamin or an aid to combat erectile dysfunction. I think some fat burners use cayenne as well. I’ve never heard of saw palmetto or damiana.

Has anyone tried one of these hormonal or natural helpers?

Randy Couture grappling / mma workout

Do a few circuits of this without putting the bar down! You’ll make your grip a heck of a lot stronger plus work toward better conditioning and power.

Bent rows x8 (back)
Upright rows x8 (shoulder)
Military press x8 (shoulders)
Good morning x8 (back, leg)
Lunges x8 (each leg) (legs)
Squat push press x8 (legs, shoulders)
Deadlift x8 (legs, back)

1 minute rest. 3-5 sets. Ouch.

Anyone a member of Planet Fitness?

Anyone a member of Planet Fitness? I had never heard of this franchise until today, as they apparently only have two locations in California. Apparently, they operate under the motto “The Judgement Free Zone,” which they strive to achieve through such measures as removing scales from the bathroom, limiting their dumbbell weights to 80 lbs, and having a FREAKING ALARM THAT SOUNDS WHENEVER SOMEONE GRUNTS WITH EFFORT, which I suppose they figure might hurt the feelings of someone who isn’t exerting the same amount of effort. My God, is this true? Has anyone ever been?

Answer 1: Yeah, it’s kinda weird. They do the same chit around here… BUT it is $10 BUCKS A MONTH so I think I can stop grunting on a bench to save 60-70 bucks a month.

Answer 2: And apparently, everything in there is purple. You know, like Barney the Dinosaur. And they limit the amount of water you can bring to 20 oz. Ostensibly because the casual exerciser (like myself actually, I am sub-casual, as I tend to go the gym every election year) might be intimidated by those whose dedication to exercise requires them to consume a large amount of water.

Answer 3: I belong. Use it for cardio only, their weight equipment sucks. They also told me I couldn’t wear a bandana in there. They had an incident in Wappinger Falls where a guy was grunting and they had him escorted out by the Police, was all over the place, ESPN, NY Times.

Answer 4: I recently hit one. yeah the purple equipment looks funny. Didn’t hear alarms though. Rubberized weights. Insanely cheap - 60 up front then just 10 per month no contract. I’ll stick with the Y though.

Answer 5: The atmosphere absolutely blows but it has heavy stuff I can pick up and things I can run on and not go anywhere. And it’s 5 minutes from my house. So I go.

Answer 6: The colors don’t bother me, I wasn’t aware of the water thing though. It is just RIDICULOUS cheap per month, and the equipment in the couple I’ve been to was well kept up. Dumbbells to 80lbs sucks, but for $10 a month I may join just to use it to break up working out in my basement everyday. I don’t grunt that much anyway… LOL

Answer 7: Cheap as hell, convenient, and the alarm is just for show. My biggest issue is that with the low pricepoint it is crowded and you get lots of kids. I understand the financial appeal and certainly, I wish my monthly gym bill were a mere 10 bucks instead of 27 (which is pretty cheap in its own right), particularly because I am essentially only paying for a little card I can carry around. I just don’t go often, as I am a sucker. I do ride my bike often enough to stay fairly healthy.

But it sounds to me like this gym, with these rules designed to foster an air of “no judgement,” is a bizarre oxymoron of sorts. It is saying, “Exercise because it is healthy, but do so with the same tendency towards the path of least resistance that you adhere to in every other thing in your life.”

Answer 8: It’s fair game. I mean, what does it say about our society in which people’s tendency to pursue laziness, poor health or underachievement is not condemned or even just merely discouraged, but instead is accommodated — for profit — by an institution that should by definition be a respite from laziness, poor health or underachievement?

I read somewhere about a guy having his membership pulled for grunting too loud. Not that I’m a grunter, but I wouldn’t want to work out in a place like that. It sounds like a place where people go to be seen rather than to work.

Answer 9: That’s my gym. They basically don’t cater to the powerlifter/body builder types. It’s regular folks trying to stay fit and lose the spare tire(s). I pay 20 bucks a month for me and my wife. The focus of Planet Fitness is to attract people who wouldn’t ordinarily join a gym. The idea is to make a place appealing to someone who may be intimidated or turned off by other options in the fitness industry. Your comments about it fostering laziness or a place to be seen are wrong. It is not a hard core gym in the traditional sense but many people I know love it because of the atmosphere, and they are just as committed to improving their health but are not into performance measurement.

Answer 10: Speaking of average Joe’s, it kind of looks like globo-gym being that all the machines are bright yellow and purple. I go there as a guest with my roomate sometimes. $10 membership and you get to bring guest for free everytime - pretty good deal

Answer 11: I used to be a member of one of their local franchises. I quit because of the stupid rules and the clientele. Basically they cater to the cellphone crowd — people who would rather stand around yakking on cellphones instead of working up a sweat. Supposedly one guy in the area almost got arrested because he grunted too loud and refused to leave the gym when they reprimanded him on it, so the police were called in. The price is nice, but if you’re serious about fitness, look elsewhere.

Answer 12: I am a recent member of one in South Florida. Now to think of it, I have never heard anyone grunt loudly. The only rule that I know they have is to not drop the weights, but I do it all the time, and no one has said anything to me. I suppose each Planet Fitness gym is different.

What’s your technique for alleviating Restless Leg Syndrome?

Any fellow sufferers of Restless Leg Syndrome? What’s your technique for alleviating it?

For those who don’t know, it’s a very annoying thing until you figure out a relief. For me, it’s a feeling in the leg muscles (varying in intensity) very difficult to describe. It’s like a dull headache in your muscles, or an itch from the inside. I’ve seen it described as a feeling like worms are crawling under the skin. Moving the legs gives temporary relief, hence the name. It wakes me up from a sound sleep, and I can’t rest until I get up and do a full stretch of the legs in every direction possible (which is a pain in the arse in itself, since it leaves me wide awake). Some folk say the only relief is standing on one leg, although that doesn’t seem practical (and didn’t do a thing for me).

I ask if there’s any scoffers because some think it’s simply being fidgety (kind of like how some scoff at lower level ADD as simply being unruly - and there’s probably some truth in both), but IMO it’s more than that.

Answer 1: My wife to be has it. It’s pretty annoying to sleep next to. Her leg jerks about every 15 minutes or so when she sleeps and when she is awake she feels the need to constantly move her leg… So far we’ve just been dealing with it.

Answer 2: Restless leg responds to a low dose of the meds used for parkinsons so you could speak with your doctor. While there are meds targeted at RLS, I’m of the mind that as long as it isn’t hurting me, and I can deal with it without the meds, I’m going that route. Some things you need to treat with meds, but far too often folks like to run to meds too quickly. I only know one other RLS sufferer personally, and she can deal with it without meds. IF someone had it really bad, and can’t find relief with diet or good lifestyle (ie excercise, stretching, whatever) I would recommend exploring the drug route. Anything short of ‘it’s ruining my quality of life’, I’m staying away from drugs.

Answer 3: My friend’s father had RLS for 8 years- woke him up constantly. He tried all the meds with little relief. He got a book (wish I could remember what it was called) and the doctor writing it suggested eliminating sodium from your diet. My friend’s father tried it and it worked. He’s not completely cured but he’s sleeping throughout the night for the first time in over 8 years.

Now, we’re not talking reducing sodium. he completely eliminated it from his diet, so it was a huge lifestyle change for him.

Answer 4: I have the same problem. Normally I get up and stretch for about 5 to ten minutes. Sometimes I walk around the living room for a while. It tends to happen less on days that I play soccer. I guess running or riding a bike before going to sleep might be worth a try. Tai Chi could also be helpful.

Answer 5: I do have it on occasion and have been “suffering” since about the second grade. My brother, who is a physician, also gets it on occasion. He deals with it by exercising the leg until it goes away. He mentioned that if it is life affecting some doctors will prescribe anti-depressants like zoloft for it.

Answer 6: My wife had it for years. She tried accupuncture and it seems to have worked. At least I can’t recall any recent complaints.

Answer 7: I have had it for years. It hurts in the lower legs. While sleeping or driving in a car.
Your Dr. can prescribe Requip, which you take once a day in the evening. Has not bothered me since except for when I am traveling late and don’t get a chance to take it early enough.

Answer 8: A friend just turned me on to a book called Healing Back Pain by Dr. John Sarno. While he doesn’t explicitly address RTL, his approach might be helpful. You can find it pretty cheap on Amazon.

Answer 9: Well, if you are active, Typically it’s magnesium deficiency. Try taking JUST magnesium, the best I have tried is CALM from Peter Gillham. Magnesium deficiency is VERY common, and prolonged deficiency leads to Bowel trouble, heart/artery trouble, muscle twitching, restlessness, etc.

If you are NOT active, you need to start being more active. Cut down on Caffeine and become more active if this is the case.

Answer 10: This may be a “real” affliction but my wife and I can’t help making fun of it when the TV ad comes on. Oh, and the emds they’re hawking? Yeah … side effects may include … DEATH! (yes, exaggeration on this count, but NOT ON OTHERS! - side effects include, blood clotting that may lead to stroke or heart attack … seizures and in some rare cases DEATH!)
Go for a walk, I say, and stop OVER-MEDICATING!

I vehemently oppose taking drugs for it… Eat better! Get Active! If you already are and have problems still with it and/or muscle twitching, insomnia etc. then absolutely take a magnesium supplement and reduce caffeine intake. Magnesium deficiency is very common.

Answer 11: Medication that has been 95% effectiver for me: Clonapin. It works for most people with this problem, but by no means all. For some, it is over-sedating (is that a bad thing?)

Answer 12: Going for a walk doesn’t help. You feel like you need to walk, run, stretch, but it doesn’t matter what you do, it doesn’t go away. Requip has been the only thing that has let me sleep well for the past year.

Answer 13: Try magnesium. Google Restless leg and Magnesium, you’ll find a ton of stuff. Regular daily exercise, cut down(or OUT) caffeine, Magnesium supplements… after your magnesium levels go up add calcium and potassium. These three minerals have a profound effect on the control of muscle contraction/relaxation.

Answer 14: You can joke all you want, but this is a real malady. I have had it for the past 5 or 6 years but never knew what it was until those commercials started appearing. It is extremely uncomfortable and very annoying. I have resisted taking medications for it, and usually have symptoms about 2 or 3 times a week, usually in the evening, but not always. It can be lesssened with exercise and reduction of caffeine, but believe me, it is real.

Answer 15: I don’t think there is a fix for RLS. It’s something you just learn to deal with if it’s bad. If it afects you significantly enough then you take more drastic measures like drugs, especially if it improves your QoL. There appears to be no operation or cure for RLS.

Answer 16: I had a bout with RLS after wisdom tooth surgery… after some research I discovered it was likely a withdrawl symptom of the pain medication I had been taking… it was the most annoing thing ever… about 2 hours total of sleep in 4 days. Finally decided that a shot & beer before bed was my only hope… lo and behold… it worked… after a couple of nights I dropped the beer… than the shot… everything was cool.
Don’t you wish I was your doctor?!?

BTW “going for a walk does not help… I probably walked 10 miles in the 4 nights I had it real bad… and it felt okay while I walked… but as soon as I stopped…. it was back.

Answer 17: Not sure it it was RLS but I used to be kept awake at night by the pulse in my legs. Yeah it sounds crazy but I couldn’t have my legs touching because I’d feel my pulse & it would keep me awake & drive me nuts. It was very hard to get comfortable. Now it doesn’t bother me,except for the soreness in my knees. I also found that sleeping with a comforter helps since it’s big enough to stay covered while being between my legs to be more comfortable.