The Health Thread

[MichiganCardinal]

It feels like I woke up some day in the last two months and all of a sudden every fast food joint, every ad, and every health craze, now just jacks up and advertises their protein levels. Is that the flavor of the month?

There's probably something to it. In the grand scheme of macros, protein and calories are the only two I pay attention to. But what's with Chipotle, Subway, and every other place that pretends to be healthy screaming at me about how much protein they have?

[romad1]

55 minutes ago, Edman85 said:

I do the finger pricks in the morning to get the fasting number. Because I was only at 6.5 last year when diagnosed, there's not much need to get Time in Range data yet, but will certainly bring that up with my doctor.

I don't know if this is the case but having a CGM might be a problem in some security situations.  I know there are waivers but I think it might actually be a problem for some situations. 

[casimir]

I like riding my bike in the summer.  We have a rails to trails that goes through our neighborhood and it goes to a couple of different parks.  I’ve been riding since we moved into this house.  In fact, we moved in late Sept about 10 or something years ago, and I made it a point to get a bike next spring.  I’ve been tracking distance and times beginning in 2021.  I’ll go 10 to 20 miles, done a couple of 30s.  I don’t know why I track it, but I do.  Over 1,000 miles is the goal this year.

[Biff Mayhem]

5 hours ago, romad1 said:

My paddle:  the one Joola that came with the $60 package.  

If you stick with it, you’ll definitely end up upgrading. There are plenty of “pro shops” that will let you try paddles. Handles can vary in circumference and shape and that was a big thing for me. I prefer the 4.125 handle and the elongated hitting surface. YMMV, however, once you try a higher end paddle, you’ll never go back to a beginner paddle. 

[Biff Mayhem]

3 hours ago, casimir said:

I like riding my bike in the summer.  We have a rails to trails that goes through our neighborhood and it goes to a couple of different parks.  I’ve been riding since we moved into this house.  In fact, we moved in late Sept about 10 or something years ago, and I made it a point to get a bike next spring.  I’ve been tracking distance and times beginning in 2021.  I’ll go 10 to 20 miles, done a couple of 30s.  I don’t know why I track it, but I do.  Over 1,000 miles is the goal this year.

Riding my bike is one of my favorite things to do. I started late summer 2025 and ride a little further each time. I plan to resume this spring. 

[chasfh]

19 hours ago, oblong said:

for those who struggle staying with it Isuggest group exercise. The social aspect is a great motivator. 

What if you hate people? 😉

[chasfh]

18 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

It feels like I woke up some day in the last two months and all of a sudden every fast food joint, every ad, and every health craze, now just jacks up and advertises their protein levels. Is that the flavor of the month?

There's probably something to it. In the grand scheme of macros, protein and calories are the only two I pay attention to. But what's with Chipotle, Subway, and every other place that pretends to be healthy screaming at me about how much protein they have?

It's all about the MAHA fight against the phantom War on Protein.

[chasfh]

15 hours ago, casimir said:

I like riding my bike in the summer.  We have a rails to trails that goes through our neighborhood and it goes to a couple of different parks.  I’ve been riding since we moved into this house.  In fact, we moved in late Sept about 10 or something years ago, and I made it a point to get a bike next spring.  I’ve been tracking distance and times beginning in 2021.  I’ll go 10 to 20 miles, done a couple of 30s.  I don’t know why I track it, but I do.  Over 1,000 miles is the goal this year.

I very much do the same thing here in Big Shoulders. I have routes going to the north, south, and west sides, depending on which way the wind can blow me home. I try to mix up routes to get a look at fresh things while I am riding. Been pretty lucky no cars have veered off their paths and clobbered me from behind in my 20+ years of doing this on the streets of the city. And all it would take is one to end at least my riding career.

Some may say I should move onto the sidewalk to ride to get out of the way of drivers who have a legal right to the road over me, but doing so is statutorily illegal in this city, plus, I have all the same rights (and responsibilities) on the road as a car driver does.

[MichiganCardinal]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

It's all about the MAHA fight against the phantom War on Protein.

I was hoping this was a joke. And it’s not.

[casimir]

20 hours ago, Biff Mayhem said:

Riding my bike is one of my favorite things to do. I started late summer 2025 and ride a little further each time. I plan to resume this spring. 

The first few times in the spring always seem like starting over again.  I tend to start out short and build up.  I guess it’s like anything else, if you don’t use it, you lose it.  I don’t bike for a few months and then start back at square one.

One of the things that I’ve noticed I cannot do now that I used to could do the is ride without holding onto the handlebars.  Can’t do that now at all.  I slow down to go one handed if I’m adjusting what I’m listening to on my phone or grabbing the water bottle for a sip.

[casimir]

8 hours ago, chasfh said:

I very much do the same thing here in Big Shoulders. I have routes going to the north, south, and west sides, depending on which way the wind can blow me home. I try to mix up routes to get a look at fresh things while I am riding. Been pretty lucky no cars have veered off their paths and clobbered me from behind in my 20+ years of doing this on the streets of the city. And all it would take is one to end at least my riding career.

Some may say I should move onto the sidewalk to ride to get out of the way of drivers who have a legal right to the road over me, but doing so is statutorily illegal in this city, plus, I have all the same rights (and responsibilities) on the road as a car driver does.

So, I stay on bike trails as much as possible.  I know the law is that bikes have a right to the road.  But the law of physics also determines that I will likely lose any disagreements about space between myself and a vehicle.  And if I am on a road, it’s only a two lane road, and I’m in the wrong lane facing traffic.  I want to see if I need to bail or not.

I don’t know what I’d do in a big city.  Keeping in mind that the neighborhood we live in has direct access to a nice trail and parks which was more or less the reason I got a bike to begin with, I don’t know if I’d bike as much without that easy access or not.  I’ve taken my bike to another spot or two just a very few times.  It’s just so much easier to get home from work, change clothes, and zip out for an hour without loading up the bike and getting back into the car and driving to a biking area.

[Deleterious]

On 2/16/2026 at 3:28 PM, MichiganCardinal said:

It feels like I woke up some day in the last two months and all of a sudden every fast food joint, every ad, and every health craze, now just jacks up and advertises their protein levels. Is that the flavor of the month?

There's probably something to it. In the grand scheme of macros, protein and calories are the only two I pay attention to. But what's with Chipotle, Subway, and every other place that pretends to be healthy screaming at me about how much protein they have?

They are jumping on the GLP-1 craze.  Those drugs burn muscle as well as fat.  So they recommend eating plenty of protein so you don't lose muscle mass.  These companies are just trying to take advantage of that.  

[MichiganCardinal]

Just now, Deleterious said:

They are jumping on the GLP-1 craze.  Those drugs burn muscle as well as fat.  So they recommend eating plenty of protein so you don't lose muscle mass.  These companies are just trying to take advantage of that.  

My one and only conspiracy theory in life (if you can call it that, maybe it’s just a soap box) is that I don’t think those GLP-1s are well tested enough as to the long-term side effects for long-term use for obesity. I’m worried what will happen in the next 10-15 years.

They went from a little known treatment for Type 2 diabetes to a lose-weight-fast magic injection seemingly overnight. Prescriptions for them rose 300% for them from 2018 to 2023 and they’re even faster spreading now. A recent article said that 1 in 8 adults are taking GLP1s. That’s insane to me. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t doubt they help people, I know they do. I know of people who are finally able to start losing weight thanks to them, and that’s a great thing.

But I adamantly believe there is no magical cure to obesity that doesn’t involve lifestyle change. Ultimately, long-term weight loss requires increased activity combined with a better diet. 

Today, I could download an app and order a GLP1 prescription with the relative ease of ordering a pizza. Not even see a doctor face to face. That alarming ease (when compared to getting an effective dietician or nutritionist or personal trainer) feels like a recipe for disaster. And I really worry that in 10-20 years, we’ll be seeing class action commercials on our $200 NetHulu Max Prime subscriptions saying “did you or a loved one take GLP1s and develop long-term effects? You may be entitled to compensation.”

[CMRivdogs]

Way back when I was riding a lot, there was a route from Lyon Oaks Park in Wixom to Kensington Park and back. That usually included a few of the trails in Kensington as well. Not a great distance, maybe about 10 miles or so. Then work got in the way again. 

One of my favorite rides in the Chicago area was along the Illinois and Michigan Trail. This was back when they had just started building it. I attempted 50 miles on my 50th birthday, probably finished 30 out and back. A very humid July day. 

I did spend a bit of time on the Prairie Path out of Lombard and Aurora/Naperville. Our apartment in Lombard was right off the path, as was the house in Aurora.

I really do need to get the bike out again. There are a few nice rides around here.  

[Biff Mayhem]

I ride on the sidewalk all the time but we don’t have a lot of foot traffic where I ride so it’s not an issue. I would imagine that it being illegal in Chicago is trumped by it causing lots of issues with pedestrians and bike riders colliding etc. 

[Cruzer1]

I just turned 59, and I'm 6 years away from my retirement of 65. Last year, I was in between jobs, so I took off 7 months and got both of my shoulders replaced. I got a regular replacement on my right shoulder, and a reverse replacement on my left, which had more damage. I had good pt after both surgeries. While looking at an old x-ray, my dr noticed a problem in my neck. Starting in August or so, I started to get tingling in my right arm. I ended up having an mri of my neck, which was terrible being stuck in that position for so long. I also had an emg for the tingling. Now I know I have several herniated discs, and I also have carpal tunnel in my right wrist. The dr thought the carpal tunnel was causing the tingling, but now we know that it's my s6 vertebrae that is causing the tingling. I have an epidural scheduled (no baby!) soon. Thanks for letting me vent here. It's been a tough time.

[Cruzer1]

The tingling in my entire arm has progressively gotten worse, and feels like a seizure more than tingling. The Dr thinks it will improve after the epidural. He said I'm about 10 years away from fusion surgery.

[IdahoBert]

On 2/11/2026 at 9:32 PM, IdahoBert said:

Well after bragging about my generally excellent health at age 74, three days ago I suffered a visual impairment that implied a possible stroke (which implies a host of bad results) or a detached retina (which implies possible blindness).

Four or five times in the last 20 years I’ve stood up really quickly and saw shooting stars and weird images that got burned on my vision - it’s sometimes referred to as a visual migraine or ocular migraine - and it was kind of frightening because if these images stayed there forever it would be awful but they went away after 10 minutes.

Monday morning around 2 AM this happened again for the first time in three or four years but part of the image never went away and never will and is burned into my vision in the left eye forever. My doctor tested me for evidence of a stroke of which there was none and sent me to an ophthalmologist which allayed my fears of a detached retina. When I’m looking through my left eye only it covers about 1-12th of the visual area of my left eye. It looks like a childish drawing of a ball of yarn. When I’m looking through both eyes it seems like a mild shimmer at the very bottom of my vision. 

I know other people to whom this is happened and it doesn’t affect driving or reading and your brain does you the favor of overlooking it as a problem after a while.

so the next time I think of bragging about my health I’ll be more circumspect about it. 

[IdahoBert]

On 2/13/2026 at 2:12 PM, LaceyLou said:

I'm reminded of something a former coworker used to say- everything in moderation, including moderation. 

It's worth it to treat yourself once in a while, as long as you make healthy choices about 85% of the time.

I’ve lost 30 to 50 pounds several times in my life and I can attest to the truth of your post. 

[IdahoBert]

On 2/17/2026 at 7:59 AM, chasfh said:

I very much do the same thing here in Big Shoulders. I have routes going to the north, south, and west sides, depending on which way the wind can blow me home. I try to mix up routes to get a look at fresh things while I am riding. Been pretty lucky no cars have veered off their paths and clobbered me from behind in my 20+ years of doing this on the streets of the city. And all it would take is one to end at least my riding career.

Some may say I should move onto the sidewalk to ride to get out of the way of drivers who have a legal right to the road over me, but doing so is statutorily illegal in this city, plus, I have all the same rights (and responsibilities) on the road as a car driver does.

I enjoy any reference to Carl Sandburg so thank you.

City of the Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I have seen your painted women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys.

 

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, IdahoBert said:

Well after bragging about my generally excellent health at age 74, three days ago I suffered a visual impairment that implied a possible stroke or a detached retina.

Four or five times in the last 20 years I’ve stood up really quickly and saw shooting stars and weird images that got burned on my vision - it’s sometimes referred to as a visual migraine or ocular migraine - and it was kind of frightening because if these images stayed there forever it would be awful but they went away after 10 minutes.

Monday morning around 2 AM this happened again for the first time in three or four years but part of the image never went away and never will and is burned into my vision in the left eye forever. My doctor tested me for evidence of a stroke of which there was none and sent me to an ophthalmologist which allayed my fears of a detached retina. When I’m looking through my left eye only it covers about 1-12th of the visual area of my left eye. It looks like a childish drawing of a ball of yarn. When I’m looking through both eyes it seems like a mild shimmer at the very bottom of my vision. 

I know other people to whom this is happened and it doesn’t affect driving or reading and your brain does you the favor of overlooking it as a problem after a while.

so the next time I think of bragging about my health I’ll be more circumspect about it. 

 

Other than the normal farsightedness my vision has been near perfect all my like - and then a couple of years ago the 'floaters' started. It's a little similar as your brain learns to ignore them too, but I've found I've had to start looking twice - especially when driving, because if there happens to actually be something there behind by the floater, you may not see it at all on a quick glance and are not going to know it. (You already have a small blind spot in each eye where your optic nerve originates, but with two eyes they are not in the same spot in your binocular vision. A floater is usually kind of spindly, but still, add another spot in one eye that moves around, and if it a piece of it happens to line up with the optic blind spot in the other eye, that's going to be a little gap in your total vision and you will not be able to sense it. Or the opposite happens: you think you see something but it turns out you only caught a glimpse of the floater moving a bit.

In fact I'm thinking these things are where a lot of 'ghost' sightings used to originate. They move a little bit in your eyeball and it is very much like seeing a ghost because your brain doesn't understand the sudden shift in illumination on small bit your retina and tries to interpret it as something real.

Edited February 19 by gehringer_2

[chasfh]

21 hours ago, Biff Mayhem said:

I ride on the sidewalk all the time but we don’t have a lot of foot traffic where I ride so it’s not an issue. I would imagine that it being illegal in Chicago is trumped by it causing lots of issues with pedestrians and bike riders colliding etc. 

Right. This is very much a walking city, and everywhere, every neighborhood, all 77 of them, and not just downtown downtown.

Kids under 12 are allowed to ride on the sidewalk, but once you’re old enough for a bar or bat mitzvah, get the hell out onto the street with the cars where you belong. 😁

[chasfh]

13 hours ago, Edman85 said:

Wanted to add one more thing that is a bit puzzling and points to genetics.

I am 5'9, low 150's, and have been 80th-90th percentile when it comes to diet and exercise routine my whole adult life... The easy button for this is to lose weight, but when I say I try to lose, it's on the order of 5-10 lbs (to get from high 150's to 150). Even before the sugar popped as elevated, I would forgo "Sunday Funday" to eat a healthy meal, etc.

It's very tough to try to fight back against it while being social. Most dinner parties/pot lucks are a no. Dating, in addition to some of the social flaws you all see from me on here, is tough when I need to be active most nights, and sitting and eating bar food is a no.

Speaking of going out to eat, I am a little surprised that with the widespread incidence of hypertension, restaurants have not focused at all on developing delicious low-sodium options. Basically everything on their "healthy" menus focus on reducing meat, sauces, or frying. There's so much more to it, but I guess there's no market for it.

[chasfh]

9 hours ago, IdahoBert said:

Well after bragging about my generally excellent health at age 74, three days ago I suffered a visual impairment that implied a possible stroke (which implies a host of bad results) or a detached retina (which implies possible blindness).

Four or five times in the last 20 years I’ve stood up really quickly and saw shooting stars and weird images that got burned on my vision - it’s sometimes referred to as a visual migraine or ocular migraine - and it was kind of frightening because if these images stayed there forever it would be awful but they went away after 10 minutes.

Monday morning around 2 AM this happened again for the first time in three or four years but part of the image never went away and never will and is burned into my vision in the left eye forever. My doctor tested me for evidence of a stroke of which there was none and sent me to an ophthalmologist which allayed my fears of a detached retina. When I’m looking through my left eye only it covers about 1-12th of the visual area of my left eye. It looks like a childish drawing of a ball of yarn. When I’m looking through both eyes it seems like a mild shimmer at the very bottom of my vision. 

I know other people to whom this is happened and it doesn’t affect driving or reading and your brain does you the favor of overlooking it as a problem after a while.

so the next time I think of bragging about my health I’ll be more circumspect about it. 

Best of everything to you, Bert.

This is a good reminder to never take for granted those physical gifts we still have.

[Edman85]

22 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Speaking of going out to eat, I am a little surprised that with the widespread incidence of hypertension, restaurants have not focused at all on developing delicious low-sodium options. Basically everything on their "healthy" menus focus on reducing meat, sauces, or frying. There's so much more to it, but I guess there's no market for it.

Sodium = preservation = food lasting longer = cheaper production.

I can cook better than 99% of restaurants, so the way I see it the only benefit to eating out is convenience.