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BigStar

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Everything posted by BigStar

  1. Merely continuing to spread the myth about the myth while throwing in some gratuitous demonization of low carb people. Counterproductive and a usual attempt to derail the topic. Try for once to stick to the topic. Focus. Think. Did @wn2c or anyone else in this topic state or even imply any such myth? Quote the exact words that triggered your own mythologizing.
  2. But @wn2c didn’t imply one couldn’t be lean “on carbs,” whatever that means. He merely speculated that, based on the sample menu, @Moonlover probably isn’t, other things equal. If he is, he can of course say so with some informative, inspiring context. Crickets. Nothing to do with you at all, really. Accordingly, what must first die is the stupid myth that a stupid myth exists that carbs are bad per definition. Then it can’t be used in stupid straw man arguments.
  3. Sounds like a variant of this browser hijacker. Follow these steps and see if it doesn't go away: https://malwaretips.com/blogs/remove-take-your-prizes-here-life/ You may have something else even in addition. Remove anything suspicious in Add/Remove Programs. Run msinfo32.exe and stop any suspicious programs from Startup. Look in the Task Scheduler and see if any bad guy is scheduled to start. And find out the folder you mentioned above and then delete it after booting in Safe Mode or via a command prompt from a Windows boot disk. To get to the prompt, follow these directions: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/boot-or-repair-windows-10-using-the-installation-media Good luck.
  4. A non-issue. You can adjust the backlighting to your preferred monochromatic color and adjust the brightness. The ads just show what's possible and appeal to younger people esp. gamers. Keyboard backlighting is a great thing to have for working in lower light conditions. I'll always have it when possible.
  5. No, it's more than that. Naive young men believe in magic to get "swole , jacked, ripped, big, bent," but as a rational senior I don't of course. I will play some attention to a body of evidence about something health/fitness related that seems reasonably indicative if it's not too difficult or expensive to apply. And I'll pay attention to a few educated fitness gurus (not bodybuilders) I respect who aren't selling supplements. Quick Google: https://www.consumerreports.org/healthy-eating/how-older-adults-can-meet-their-protein-needs-a8954254493/ https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-benefits-of-creatine https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4304302/ I can't compare before/after in the absence of any twin or clone, but I'm satisfied that there's likely been a positive effect over the past decade or so. Never underestimate the power of the placebo, of course, as we're so often reminded here. I'm not overly concerned about the delicacy of my taste buds, one of the biggest pitfalls for our overweight members. And I needn't track my weight closely. It never varies much from the ideal for my height/weight/age/build. No yo-yo weight gains and furious attempts to lose (or gain) weight.
  6. Hence I suggested first consulting Dr. Anna. The OP has evidently self-diagnosed. Could be something benign and routine; she would be the one to advise about the next steps. I consulted her once about a growing cyst on my back and after diagnosing it as basically harmless, she offered a routine excision for B6,000, probably 10k today. I instead went to Queen Savang Vadhana in Siricha, public, and they charged about 10 times less to do the same thing. I recently advised a Thai friend to see her about a questionable mole. She diagnosed it as harmless as well and kindly suggested removal at a good beauty clinic.
  7. Gary Taubes makes a similar point in a recent book w/ regards to diet books. They seem written by slim people for whom dieting isn’t difficult for fat people for whom it IS difficult. So then, obviously, the key is to find some more suitable approach that works. Natural athletes can only be envied by us average people. Still, very average people are often successful in achieving physical fitness. I know, as I’m one of them. No genetics in my favor, never an athlete, never particularly enjoyed exercising. Well, yes, an endorphin rush is only for the already fit after prolonged exercise. No one is expected to enjoy such as a rank beginner. I certainly didn't. WEEKS! We wish. Let’s make that months. L-o-n-g months! Well, our bodies had to evolve to respond to consequences that take that long, otherwise the species would have died out. The consequences are, in time, the beginnings of physical fitness. Then exercise becomes easier to do, feels much better to do than before, and starts to reduce the dependence on meds. True, but this is the normal response of the unfit. So fat people don’t readily respond to what the conscious mind tells them about the need for dieting. That’s a hormonal response to the condition: a symptom. Paradoxically, we eat too much because we’re fat, not fat because we eat too much. Every school kid feels the same way about his studies or his music lessons. Parents offer sufficient motivation, LOL. Latterly it really has to be matter of faith. Faith, based on the science, the lab reports, the scan of all that visceral fat you’re carrying around, and countless testimonials--until a good deal of unpleasant effort slowly results in real progress. Yep, it's harder the older you are when you start, just as the fatter you are, the harder it is to diet. Best to start as young (and slim) as possible, though anytime's good. I waited until at age 28 I found myself awed and shamed by a lithe girlfriend who could run a mile around the neighborhood park, including up the hill. Running a block just totally wore me out at the time. Starting slowly but consistently and building up over time is the key. Do more as it becomes less difficult. That's how I started. This takes into account different levels of fitness and willpower. Truth to tell, serious exercise will always be difficult. If it isn’t, it isn’t optimal. As P. D. Mangan, 67-year-old fitness guru, former skinny nerd microbiologist, says, Anticipating doing my workouts evokes some dread in me, and I want to keep it that way. But nobody fit ever says, “Jeez, I wish I hadn’t spent that time and effort to get into this good condition.” No obese person who’s achieved normal weight on a sustainable diet ever says, “Jeez, sure would like to be obese again.” Whatever works, eh. I like listening to music and watching movies and series. Not boring, but entertaining, and distracting from the effort being exerted. I do some resistance exercise using timed static contractions, and for those I use an interval timer. I count along with it at times, can't wait for the "ding!" I envy those who can enjoy playing some sort of regular sports. True. Now it’s amazing what you may observe that you’d never notice otherwise merely by walking, jogging, or running. So Thoreau pointed out ironically that he’d “travelled a good deal in Concord” with far greater insight than to exotic climes. He varied his routes. I’d note that walking is hardly the only form of exercise and of cardio in particular. One can have a great workout in one room without going anywhere. Youtube has countless bodyweight routines that take little time, and for beginners. Exercise bikes take up little space. Resistance bands and/or a TRX are highly portable, too. I take along my TRX when traveling. You can use an anchor point to affix either bands or TRX to any door.
  8. For farang tourists and expats? Very detrimental to tourism. But IQ tests, psychological profiles, police reports, anti-bigotry courses, Thai culture appreciation, and charm school should be required of farang before entering the country, obviously. Any suggestion that AN posters be given IQ tests and achieve at least a score of 100 is probably forbidden somewhere in the forum rules, like mentions of ad blocking. Business is business.
  9. Dr. Anna at BPH is the best in Thailand. Rely on her to identify the problem and recommend treatment. Queen Sirikit in Sattahip, a public hsp, has a busy skin clinic. Maybe they can perform any procedures needed.
  10. Maybe. If you have onboard graphics, try that. I assume you don't. Check the cable connections. If you have contact cleaner, spray in the ports. I suggest you just take out the graphics card and clean the contact w/ a pencil eraser and reseat. Seen a lot of problems solved that way. If it has a fan, clean it.
  11. Can you spot the mistakes in the OP? 1. Complex question fallacy 2. Gratuitous, naive, rather bigoted sociological "analysis." Perhaps the signs are merely an excuse to talk about what really doesn't feel right: Thai culture as you imagine it, and now Western culture. Signs are OK and sufficiently understandable w/ appropriate colors dominant. Another design would possibly be better, but I can imagine better designs all day long for countless items around me. So?
  12. Oh, that's the difficulty. OK, first stop would be your wife, a stay at home girl usually nearby, to help w/ translation. Then there are the general phone vendors and repairers who'll likely have someone to assist. Finally, you got the Apple stores. I don't have any Apple products, but my 83-year-old friend who has an iPhone never messes around: he makes a beeline to the iPhone vendor in the nearest shopping mall. In his case the staff there have always been most helpful. In the worst case it may not be too late to return it? You can mail it back to Lazada at a 7/11, conveniently. Good luck. I trust this'll get sorted out, and you'll find the watch to be a useful little item to help in your journey towards better fitness.
  13. I linked to a couple at random on Lazada and Aliexpress. Far as I know, Lazada has Thai or English login forms. On Aliexpress, you choose your language from the dropdown at the top right: On the watches themselves you may choose the UI language from a settings menu. The Lazada example specs say: Wisebrave/watch UI languages Messaging support: English (default), Chinese, Traditional Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Czech, Portuguese, Turkish, Greek, Vietnamese, Thai, Arabic, Polish and Dutch So the user manual w/ the watch would explain how to find the menu. A super cheap fitness watch, on the other hand, may have no options and perform rather poorly. So if you're making a commitment here, go for better quality, one that you'd also not mind using as a standard watch as well, except for the (sigh) recharging. Besides the monitoring during exercise, the watch may be somewhat inspirational. At random times, but notably upon awakening, you look and note that you're BP, HR, and blood oxygen's good. Ah.???? Astute members will observe, very shrewdly, that a fitness watch isn't as accurate as dedicated instruments. True, but indicative nonetheless, and the HR's pretty spot on.
  14. Me, I'm capable of my own light lifting. Takes me less than 30 min to scan a couple pages of the bankbook, print a new set of the forms, print the passport file including copy of my pink card; then fill in the dates and sign. On the way to Immigration I spend another 20-30 min at the bank updating the last page of my bankbook and getting the bank letter. Pro tip: ask the bank lady to make a copy of the last page of the bankbook showing that last transaction on the day. She’ll do it and it’s free. I've chosen an afternoon when Immigration is unlikely to be very busy. I spend maybe 10 minutes in line listening to my mp3 player and wait another 20 at the desk. As my papers are all in order, typed, stapled, and paper clipped, they're quickly accepted by Immigration with nothing to add. I pay my B1900 and get the number to retrieve the newly stamped passport the next day. I stop by the TQ for a cool one and visuals on the way home. So to avoid that trivial procedure I should instead fool around with Maneerat a couple of times, save 15 min at Immigration, and pay them B8,000?
  15. The cheers from the peanut gallery are simply deafening. Well done!
  16. Yep, exempt one property, with no implication you can't own other properties--irrelevant to the purpose of the yellow book. Moreover, if and when you own another property, you don't "update" your yellow book. If you move to that property and wish to declare it as your primary residence, then you'd cancel the old yellow book and get a new one. If getting one yellow book is too onerous for you, what horror to have to get another one! It's simply daft to imagine that a yellow book serves the same purpose as a chanote, you see. Totally different purposes.????
  17. First, there's no "pink book." A couple of months ago, the DLT accepted my yellow book as proof of residence and gave me a new 5-year license based on it. Enough with the misinformation.
  18. Compounding the irrelevance of your first post, illustrating further confusion, and affirming the perspicacity of my observation in response. The tax exemption isn’t based on your owning only one property, so it's simply daft to imagine the yellow book need verify any such thing.
  19. Being on the chanote is no verification at all that you live in the place or that it is your primary residence. It's always amusing how assertions of Thais being daft or stupid usually apply more to the poster making them than to the Thais.
  20. KBQ must right, as I see that TQ has announced reopening for 6 p.m. Sunday. http://tahitianqueen.com/
  21. Ah. A count of steps does indicate one has at least engaged in movement, obviously better than no movement at all. But the cardiovascular benefits may be quite minimal. Hence The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week. Moderate intensity is key, exercise, not just movement. A recent study somewhere affirmed the recommendation applies to seniors. This article defines and explains: How to Get a Great Workout with Brisk Walking. So this is the goal to strive for. I suggested the OP start modestly--after getting medical clearance. Two years of inactivity, probably not very fit previously, possible underlying conditions, and possibly overweight--hmm. Details have been sparse. To prevent one from slacking and imagining that a comfortable stroll is in fact a workout, a fitness monitor that tracks heart rate is most useful. Lazada has one that looks OK here, and Aliexpress here. A Fitbit? Not at this level.???? But I would imagine the OP won't start now working on flexibility, as his main concern is with muscular strength or, more generally, functional fitness (like climbing into a baht bus????). If he manages to start making some progress, then stretching etc. should follow. Be great if he could talk the wife into their taking a yoga class together. But beyond flexibility and stretching, there's mobility. Mobility adds in strength and control to meet daily movement challenges, notably not falling down, the scourge of seniors. Steve Maxwell (fitness guru) illustrates the impressive degree to which mobility is possible for trained 70-year-old, with obvious anti-aging implications: Steve Maxwell: Mobility Conditioning Circuit.
  22. Not at all, as I'm clearly referring to cardio work (such as it is) as preliminary before starting the resistance exercise he really needs to build up muscle strength. If he actually does that successfully, and then it turns out that's all he can make himself do, something is of course better than nothing. One of the best points about the water aerobics class was that the exercise was relatively strenuous for the (low) fitness level of the participants, meaning real exercise, not some typical, mostly useless, leisurely paddling. More informally, some find it helpful to walk with a partner to help supply inspiration to keep up a brisk pace, not just stroll and ogle women.
  23. Your doc was indeed correct both times, a year ago and recently. It would appear you weren’t very fit even before the two years’ sabbatical. Walking everywhere and the occasional hike mean little. You’ll even hear people claim that housework is exercise, ‘cause it’s exhausting.???? Well, the unfit always say that sort of thing to fool themselves and avoid any real exercise. Exercise means consciously exercising to achieve the explicit purpose of being fit. And no, walking is not "enough," laughable idea. Motivation can be overrated, BTW. It comes and goes, but discipline is key. You may have enough to start anyway. I’ve exercised for decades without particularly enjoying it. I always have something else I’d prefer to do. Doesn’t matter, though; I want the benefits of fitness, need to fight sarcopenia, don’t want to lose what I have and ever start over. Starting is harder than just maintaining--fortunately, since the maintenance phase lasts a lot longer. Exercise has to be a priority with a schedule that you adhere to. It’s all on you, too, entirely your own responsibility. Nobody else cares what you do. In fact, most other people are actually bad influences, especially a partner who isn’t into a healthy lifestyle. Now, exercising at home offers you the advantage of watching movies or listening to music while you exercise to make it less boring. Me, I’m looking forward to watching the next new Star Trek episode this evening while I do intervals on my treadmill--in the air conditioning. Yeah, at home the air conditioning ensures “it’s too hot” is no excuse. You can certainly improve your physical condition if you’ll do it. But all we know is that you’re weak, no other details about your condition. Most advice about starting an exercise program begins with “check with your doctor” about what’s safe for you to do. You saw a doc recently, but a heart specialist? A lil' echocardiogram, in which many of our members place such great faith, is actually pretty useless. I’d get a full workup on your cardiovascular system. Maybe a stress test, CAC scan, get professional advice on what and how much you can safely do at this point. Something, definitely. So maybe you could start w/ at least a 15 min walk per day, work up to 30, and speed up the pace as you feel stronger. An elliptical trainer sounds all to the good, would help the upper body a bit too. You could of course swim, but I've never seen any old out-of-shape guy keep it up. I got one to sign up and pay for a year's membership at a Y for the water aerobics program popular with overweight women. At least he could do that. Never attended a single session. Oh, and died early. If you get serious and succeed in doing that for a few months, then you could start resistance training, which you absolutely need. Can take many forms, needn’t take a lot of time, needn’t destroy your joints, doesn’t require a gym. It’s harder than just doing that ol’ long slow “cardio” though. Come back here when you have some real progress to show and feel confident you can handle more.
  24. From https://www.diabetes.org/diabetes/a1c/diagnosis, reputable source: Other sources: https://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/pre-diabetes https://www.medicinenet.com/is_a_glucose_level_of_101_bad/article.htm https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/getting-tested.html You may see the more congenial 110 around, but I'd go with the usual figure and take it very seriously--meaning adopting a healthier lifestyle rather than hitting metaformin. Medications often have the effect of making the underlying condition even worse and leading to the need for more and stronger medications. Such is the case w/ the progression of diabetes.
  25. What's wrong with this one? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004179992913.html?algo_exp_id=9b7c0835-a0b4-4aff-891e-e7cfb56f64ce-12&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id"%3A"12000028301656194"}&pdp_npi=2%40dis!THB!!120.7!!!78.5!!%400bb0600116522928593078151e53a4!12000028301656194!sea

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