Category: Health (Page 2 of 2)

It’s National Coffee Day. Time to get on the bus.

September 29, 2023 / Richard Nestoff / 1 Comment

Coffee is a wonderful thing, I wish I’d known about it sooner.

My mother had many wonderful attributes, but cooking wasn’t one of them. She had her own way of doing things. She thought it would be a good idea to make a pot of coffee, then pour it into a pan and leave it simmering on the stove. This was decades before Keurigs, microwave ovens or Mr. Coffee. Did the percolator coffee maker keep coffee warm? Don’t know.

On rare occasions, the coffee boiled off in the pan. Burned coffee has a horrible smell in the same way that burned popcorn does. This ruined coffee for me and some of my siblings.

About the time I turned 55 years old, it occurred to me that walking around school with a can of diet Mountain Dew seemed juvenile. Adults drink coffee.

I developed a protocol to get over my aversion. I stopped drinking any caffeinated beverages, except bottles of Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino. Those are like chocolate milk, so I had only one per day for about a week. That was to get my over the dislike for mocha. After that, it was two weeks of Starbucks Iced Coffee. This was to get my brain to associate mocha with caffeine.

After that, I went to black coffee. Becoming a coffee snob has no appeal, so I get Aldi coffee and make it in a Keurig.

The benefits of coffee are significant. About 20% of coffee drinks are compelled to take a dump after the first cup of the day. I’m one of those lucky people. I like the predictability of it.

Big Cereal convinced us that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If I had breakfast, I was hungry around lunch time. If I skip breakfast, I’m hungry around lunch time. Why bother? Having coffee in the morning means skipping breakfast is automatic.

Coffee gives a boost to initiative and clarity of mind. When you get over about 50 years old, less appetite and more energy makes coffee worth the effort.

Judging people at Planet Fitness

September 2, 2023 / Richard Nestoff / 1 Comment

I get that “judgement free zone” is supposed to mean that a pudgy dotard like me won’t feel intimidated by the fit young people, but I am judging people all over the place. I respect the chunky rascal on the treadmill, trying to get hammered into shape. I appreciate the crotchety bastard who just finished the rehab regiment after cardiac surgery. He can’t lift much, but he’s lifting. It’s the other people.

What’s with the zaftig frau who only works out on the lat pull-down machine because her legs are spread as her ghetto booty faces the room. I was on the bike for a half-hour, and she never did anything else. Does anyone besides Sir Mix-A-Lot like big buns or is that just something people lie about on social media?

There is also the scrawny college kid who wears his over-the-ear headphones over his hoodie. I’ve never seen him do anything except walk from the front of the gym to the back, then to the front again. He is there pretty often, and it always seems like he’s looking for a ride home. Maybe he just hasn’t found a ride yet.

Lycra doesn’t look as good as people think it does.

The Joe Nautalrock fella who camps out on one machine, leaves his stuff, comes back 5 minutes later, and keeps that up for a half-hour isn’t very considerate. There are tons of machines, so it doesn’t matter, but still.

I’ll judge people, but Howie Chizik taught me to always be polite, so I won’t say anything.

You will never be in better shape than you are today.

August 24, 2023 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Current trends are expected to continue. At 40 years old, hitting the gym gets you results. At 50, you’re attempting to slow the decline. At 60, you hope to retain full functionality. At 70, you’re just plugging leaks. If you are over 40, whatever shape you are in today, is probably the healthiest you will ever be. It’s like this scene from Office Space.

It doesn’t matter what a person intends to do tomorrow, it’s what is actually done today. Inertia means people keep doing what they’ve always done and entropy means that isn’t enough.

I’ve always wanted to be in better shape to perform better when I do the fun stuff. I’ve joined gyms, bought equipment and worked out at school. The only thing that has ever been effective is working out with a buddy.

After I was awarded that Breakthrough money, I offered to buy Boch a gym membership if he agreed to make me work out three times per week. He took the deal, and we were successful. After that year, it fell apart.

My brother recently retired, so we both joined Planet Fitness. We just finished our third week, and so far, so good.

WSJ: Is Aspartame Bad for Your Health?

July 13, 2023 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

WSJ: Is Aspertame Bad for Your Health?

This is one of those times when it would be great if WHO had some credibility.

How to Retire

July 2, 2023 / Richard Nestoff

WSJ: Retire Better

When I’ve asked colleagues what they intend to do after they retire, the stock answer is, “Whatever I want!”

That’s a bullshit answer, so I ask follow-up questions. “After eating Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for breakfast, how are you going to spend the rest of the day?”

Retirement is such a foreign concept, people think about it in weird ways, and it’s different than people expect.

Dealing with stress

March 12, 2023 / Richard Nestoff

Maybe you don’t need therapy.

Stressed? Burned out? Lonely? Dealing with a breakup? Conflict with a co-worker? Feeling down? The blanket recommendation for anyone going through a rough patch these days is to seek professional help, and many struggling Americans are doing just that.

First, underlying the blanket recommendations for therapy is the belief that stress of any kind is harmful. This line of thinking fails to recognize the growth that often accompanies challenging experiences.

We accept that physical stress brings physical growth. Any workout routine must be stressful to accomplish any results. We lift heavy weights to make lifting lighter weights easier. As a teacher, I know that the stress of assessments and difficult concepts improves the student’s ability to handle stress and learn more difficult concepts. Successful people come to appreciate the stress for the growth it brings.

Second, the therapy-is-the-answer model assumes that all therapy is beneficial. In fact, there is evidence that rehashing what is bothering you can actually worsen symptoms of anxiety and depression.

A trainer or teacher can get it wrong by applying the wrong kind of stress or stressing in a way that isn’t productive. Therapists want to help, but sometimes, the best thing is to work through shit on your own.

Even after a major life event, inviting people to talk about their feelings isn’t always helpful.

My hardest year ever, Dad passed away, then 9/11 happened, then Mom had a heart attack, then my oldest brother died in a plane crash.

When Chris died, I emailed my principal to tell her that I’d be out for a week. I had no sub plans, and honestly, have no idea what my students did that week. I also emailed a newspaper clipping describing the crash, and told the principal that when I got back to work, I’d prefer to not talk to people about what happened and how I was doing. My colleagues were warm and caring people, and I know that they would be concerned and want to help, but I couldn’t bear it. Carol was about the best principal ever, and I knew that she would take care of everything.

For me, getting back to work was the best thing. I learned that from handling the minor traumas that everyone faces.

A third limitation of the therapy-is-the-answer model is that it doesn’t take into account many other factors that contribute to well-being.

Smaller traumas help a person learn how to handle bigger traumas. Cowboy up, power through, get back on that horse, all that sort of thing. When I’m feeling down, painting something helps. Ongoing projects keep me emotionally healthy. Joe Rogan, on his podcast, frequently mentions that he needs to workout hard to keep sane. My buddy Sean knows that he is at his best when he is busy, on the verge of being overwhelmed. You don’t learn that by sitting down with a therapist and rehashing a bunch of unresolved feelings from awkward situations.

Sure, some people need therapy, but many people just need to get on with life and soldier on.