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Larry T. Spider

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    2016
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Everything posted by Larry T. Spider

  1. I made a post up thread about having disposable income and wanting to figure out the best way to invest it. 401k contributions have continued as normal but I’ve only put a little in the brokerage account. Saved myself about 15% on the recent slide but now wondering how long to hold out. Probably going to start dollar cost averaging 2-3k at a time. I can’t see this market going anywhere soon but fomo is setting in.
  2. I don’t have the studies handy but everything I’ve read supports this summary. However, they suggest a moderate deficit in order to retain muscle mass. Your body will want to burn fat before muscle but an extreme deficit will burn both. High protein also helps preserve muscle during weight loss.
  3. Obviously a lot of health considerations beyond weight loss, but it might be encouraging for those with a sweet tooth. A K-State nutrition professor did an experiment where he only ate twinkies, Doritos and little Debbie snacks for 2 months while capping his calories at 1,800 per day. Why? To show that a calorie deficit works no matter what you are eating. He lost 27 pounds. He increased his good cholesterol while reducing his bad cholesterol by 20% and reduced his BMI into the normal range.
  4. It’s still calories in vs calories out. The hormonal changes may cause a slowdown in metabolism, making fewer calories naturally go out, thus making weight loss harder. But a calorie deficit still works. It’s been replicated a bunch of times, but they have done studies with people that really struggle to lose weight. They claim they have tried everything and are eating in a calorie deficit. Then they put them in a controlled setting with only access to a set amount of calories per day. 100% success rate in losing weight. If you think you are in a calorie deficit and not losing weight, you aren’t in a calorie deficit. Your calculations could be off on what you are consuming (usually) or on what you are burning. Studies have shown that people vastly underestimate how many calories they are consuming. Everything from portion sizes to cooking oils and sprays. Trust me, I am not coming from a holier than thou place. I need to lose 30 pounds. I’m just realistic about why I’m fat.
  5. Not sure what percent of the population has a food addiction, but I definitely think it is real. My FIL, the one that had the quadruple bypass, is a prime example. Really nice guy but his life is dictated by food. It’s all he thinks about. If we have a healthy meal, he will become visibly depressed like it ruined his day. He has a sentimental attachment to food and associates it with family members that have passed away. It’s almost like he feels like he would be abandoning his culture (white, southern) to eat a different way even some of the time. I first realized it was a problem when we were going on a camping/hunting trip with some of the guys in his extended family. We went to the grocery store and bought somewhere in the neighborhood of 10x what we actually needed. It’s almost like he’s blind to what an appropriate amount of food is. He almost lost his life because of it and was very lucky to recover but it has done nothing to change his diet. Last night we had breaded and fried pork cops covered in gravy. He also sneaks out of the house to get fast food. All of this screams addiction to me but his wife has the most control of the situation and she’s an enabler. White southern men his age don’t exactly go to therapy, but he needed professional help 10-20 years ago. Would be interested to see if anybody connects with this on a personal level or has some insight.
  6. It’s really just calories in vs calories out. Unless you defy the laws of thermodynamics. In that case I can’t help you. Do you think that if you eat 2,000 calories a day and walk some you won’t lose weight? Honest question, not trying to pick at you.
  7. If you give me your age, height and weight, I can give you a calorie number to stay under each day. If you do it, you will lose weight. You either choose to stay under the number or you don’t. Now, there’s a million environmental and economic factors that may make that easier or harder for you. But, at the end of the day, if you eat more calories than the allotted number, that’s a choice.
  8. The system matters at a macro level. We have a bad system from city design that discourages walking all the way to food marketing and ingredients. It’s harder to be healthy here than probably any other industrialized nation. But beyond that, it’s a simple math equation. You either consume more calories than you burn, or you don’t. Much of that is a choice on an individual level. If you’re a 40 y/o man that weighs 250 and is around 6 feet tall and you eat about 2,000 calories a day, you are going to lose weight unless you somehow defy the laws of thermodynamics.
  9. It’s been 20 years with them. There no magic phrase that will work because it’s all coping for their own over eating. MIL and FIL have a very dysfunctional relationship with food. Interesting thing is that their 3 kids, all in their 30s and 40s, are relatively healthy/normal eaters.
  10. One aspect of trying to eat healthier that I hate is holidays with the in-laws. It’s not because the food as I let myself eat more and enjoy the day. It’s the relentless comments about not eating enough or demanding that I get a second plate of food. My lunch will easily be over 1,000 calories yet showing any restraint in not being a complete fat ass is met with disdain. For the record, I don’t make any announcements about what I’m eating or weight loss. Just make my plate like a normal human. “Guess you didn’t like the food” ~ guy who had a quadruple bypass and is currently in heart failure but makes no connection to his diet.
  11. And they don’t have a rating yet, so it provides a loop hole.
  12. I had never heard the term “fat blindness” until recently. The idea is that people know they need to lose some weight but drastically underestimate how much they will really need to come down. It’s pretty common for people to say they want to lose 20 pounds then later realize it was more like 40 or 50. As a country we have fat blindness as well. People are often surprised to hear that I want to lose 30 pounds. To them, I’m pretty normal because I’m not a complete fat ass. However, my body fat percentage is solidly overweight.
  13. Your estimates are about right. The former principal George Llewellyn and a few groups of HP parents willing to give Lamar a shot completely changed the trajectory of the school. There are quite a few families out there that had their older kids go to private middle school but went to Lamar for their younger ones after the changes.
  14. Murchison and Marshall are being discussed for the Dobie kids. As JimmyJazz mentioned, there is favoritism towards the Doss/Murchison/Anderson parents. It’s mostly fear based as the HP/Lamar/McCallum parents are more altruistic. I do think the community is scared of “losing” Lamar though. Not that long ago many families went private for middle school only in that area. My guess is we end up with a 3 way split. Also, I’m glad I don’t work for AISD anymore 😏
  15. I work from home so I’ve always been pretty good about not eating a ton of restaurant/fast food. But calorie counting really helped me realize how many wasted calories I had in my diet. I was able to cut out about 500 calories a day with some minor changes or watching portion size on some items. Just that equals about a pound a week in calories.
  16. Yes, and people losing a significant amount of weight will have to readjust their calorie number as they make progress. A decently active 300 pound person can eat a lot of calories and still be in a deficit. Get down to 200 and it looks different.
  17. This is the most simplified/sustainable path to me. Doesn’t require any marathons or drastic changes that are hard for a lot of people to sustain. 1. Calorie deficit. Figure out about how many calories you burn each day. Eat less than that number while prioritizing protein because it keeps you full. 2. Do some type of resistance training/weights at least 3 times a week. 3. Walk. Went over your calories for the day? No sweat, just walk a little more. 4. Don’t beat yourself up over a bad day. To gain a pound you would have to eat 3,600 more calories than you burned that day. Just get back on track tomorrow.
  18. The sums of money are so large that giving away any significant amount of it becomes a challenge in itself. Organizations large enough to handle that type of cash infusion, like major universities, already have billions stashed in endowments. Yet most still charge high tuition to lower and middle class families. Smaller organizations aren’t prepared to be efficient with that level of cash infusion. I work with a small charity that received a lump sum from an inheritance. It’s been great for them but a lot of that money is sitting and the amount was nothing like what a billionaire would be giving. Funding large infrastructure projects, paying off government debt, or shoring up pension funds could be a use of billionaire money. Not sure of a better way to redistribute it.
  19. Yes. Canyon Lake is 46% full, although it looks lower. I know the legislature was supposed to address water issues this session but I haven’t seen any specifics. Once the big home builders have to slow down their central Texas expansion, I’m sure things will get moving!
  20. Many republicans will be pissed about vouchers. Then comes the most important part. They will line up to vote republican over and over again because trans ghey drag queens are playing girls sports. Somewhere. They aren’t sure where, but it’s happening somewhere. Probably California. And Austin.
  21. Accountability and test scores are really important to the state. So important that they can take over control of your district, force you to close schools, or even remove your publicly elected school board. After all, you are getting taxpayer money. *private schools getting state money need not apply
  22. Louisiana had a bunch of creationist whack job schools open up after they passed vouchers. There was actually a little bit of academic accountability and the schools scored horribly. After 7 years, 66% of the students attended a D or F school. We will never know how they do in Texas because there will be no accountability ratings.
  23. Once you understand this is a new form of grift, it will make more sense.
  24. No dirty children of illegals coming here to steal our jobs and voucher slots.
  25. 52.4% of local tax money paid. 821 million a year.
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