I accidentally bought a protein powder that gains weight by mistake, can I still use it to lose weight if I only consume small portions? Or is it completely useless now?

If someone needs to feel full and obtain the nutrients they need, when convenience is not an absolute factor, then a base of thoroughly liquified vegetables is a great idea (no fruits other than tomatoes —technically, that is what they are— as a base to add a powder. Given a modest amount of salt, it is unlikely that any flavor would really come through enough to be a bother, however, it might become an addiction, at tablespoons, the powder will last a long time indeed! A friend dumps avocado and green onions into his shake and blends in some nuts in the process and presto! health in an adult sippy cup! If liquified sufficiently, the liquefaction can be done the night before if you cannot make that kind of racket early in the morning.

The term “weight gainer” is generally thrown about by people seeking to sell a product, particularly, those that do not actually lift or throw. These powders have acquired, particularly when it comes to a belief that the product MUST be adulterated, a near mythical state —particularly, among healthcare providers who should know better— when all they are is convenient; they are neither magically good nor magically bad or filled with anabolic androgenic agents. I personally used to know someone who was quite large and did it entirely with food; he consumed FIVE chicken breasts a day! I feel tired just thinking about it! Is chicken a high quality protein?, absolutely; is chicken, therefore a “weight gainer”? If you saw this guy, you'd scream that it was! Ultimately, it is just chicken and I cannot imagine eating that much chicken in one day and then doing it again tomorrow. I say that to say this: given the right ingredients, your powder is as good as the flavor you can get and accept with a dose of say two tablespoons or four in milk —I would not recommend trying to mix it with water unless you also added a considerable amount of soluble fiber as a thickener —adding something like maltodextrin would be awful, that is a carbohydrate frequently found in cheap (read “steal your money”) shakes. So, this shake can represent an opportunity to increase your fiber and omega 3 EFA intake considerably while adding some deliciousness and some variety to your breakfasts. Mix some Barlean’s Omega 3 liquid in Key Lime Flavor with a vanilla shake and you will be in heaven! They also make a flaxseed liquid which I believe comes in blueberry. That matters because I do have a weight gainer that will not work given two tablespoons in 16 oz of milk, however, it is sinfully delicious given frozen blueberries and the standard serving size on the can —this is strictly an after workout treat that would probably kill three diabetics! Flavorful convenience if somewhat pricier than merely mixing in a couple of tablespoons of powder in whole milk and it means that you would not have to throw the powder away.

** If the pack has a padded back —adding some pieces of pool noodle will make this more viable— a beginner can use cans of dense foodstuffs (beans, lentils, that sort of thing) as resistance and, ironically, inexpensive boots that lack any cushioning (it would break down quickly indeed under the load) would be great for going up a flight of stairs every two minutes. You might only be able to go up once the first time and it might take weeks before you can go twice and that is OK even if a surprising amount of people would not think so.

Is a light therapy mask a good investment?

I wrote something a while back concerning exercise outside of a gym and it has gotten a few upvotes so it might be something worthwhile to consider reading. I offer this because, for a lot of people, the idea of going to a gym is difficult to stomach and I used to purchase a great weight gainer that had awesome ingredients, just a serving size that was next to unbelievable! If the flavor was fairly good —all the more so when mixed with some of the same company’s protein powder— there were still TEN POUNDS of it, at one time, A WEEK! And that was on top of the very large grocery bill; just imagine how much milk that meant after every workout! I wasn’t going to throw it away any more than I would throw the milk away if I ran out of shake; milk, though loaded with sugar, is a good and nutrient dense drink that when consumed in 32 oz servings makes for a healthy enough meal. I should mention that my bodyfat dropped 10% (down to 10%) and I gained about 30 lbs of fat free mass during the same period. The point is that it isn’t as simple as calories in and calories out, the timing of something, given some characteristics, is an important component of the decision to consume something and how to consume it. I would tell someone to eat two tomatoes or three before they consider one apple at 11 at night but why not have that apple at 11 am?

Children can drink a weight gainer shake for breakfast without much trouble or consequence and there are far too many that go to school hungry even when they do not have to. Even mixed into oatmeal or with cereal***, even an old style weight gainer can do wonders for a growing child. Even if you cannot use it, perhaps, a neighbor’s kid can make effective use of the product. Mixed in whole milk and whole milk ice cream (some products today are high protein ice cream and pack more protein than conventional milk) can make a great breakfast —that milk fat does wonders, no skim— though I would not recommend making it a dinner even if it was isocalorically equivalent to your (or the child’s) normal dinner. In this regard, most people eat a tiny breakfast and a huge dinner and it really should be the other way around. Given the right milk and ice cream, this would also go a long ways to improving on the western diet intake of magnesium and potassium. A similar process can be done with Icelandic Skyr (to me, a FAR superior product to Greek yogurt) provided that omega 3 EFAs are added because there is so little fat in the Skyr.

Far too often, some form of the lament “I don’t want to get too bulky” is heard, often, multiple times a day! The fact is that muscle is 9 times denser than fat; that is to say that it occupies a volume that is 9 times smaller than an equivalent amount of fat. Further, everyone that has ever heard the lament has, in their mind, wish that it was that easy to increase muscle mass and to build bone density —both are equally necessary, strong muscles cannot pull on weak bones and strong bone is lost with surprising rapidity to the absence of stimulus produced by weak muscles—, it truly is not an easy task. I said that to say this: I have no idea why everyone seems to think of “fitness” as including being lighter than before. Creatine has been used experimentally with considerable success as a hypoglycemic agent. In that regard, creatine works by increasing the translocation of GLUT-4 receptors; receptors that are mostly expressed on muscle cells, to the surface of the cell such that more glucose is absorbed. Creatine is NOT metformin and it is still an open question whether it can be used in conjunction with metformin and, currently, I would NOT recommend that use. Given that, someone that works out in some way can benefit from a weight gainer —as I said before, even people that lift might well need to reduce their dosages— such that the higher the glycemic index the closer to dropping the barbell on the final set of the day I would drink it; some things, I’d drink during the last quarter of your workout time.

Hi everybody! I have been looking at posts on narcs and narc abuse on here and if has really helped me out a lot. I am currently struggling with my situation and need some advice/support. I met a narc last year, everything seemed to good to be true. Love bombing, always texting calling and taking me on dates. Everything changed when someone warned me about him out in public in front of him and who he is. This caused a conflict with us and the love bombing seized. he would tell me that everything is okay and i can come and talk. He would set a time limit on me and kick me out after that. he would then text me like everything was fine and we hung out again and after that he completely ghosted me for one week. He came back and texted me a week later laughing about the ghosting and acting like nothing had happened. he continued to text me ( not like in the beginning) make plans with me, then on the day of the plans he would just ghost me. One day he would act interested the next silence. i contacted him a month later and he acted like nothing happened. He was on a vacation and sent me a picture of another woman ( someone he allegedly met on the trip) to strike a reaction but i never gave him one. After the trip he came to my place and was extremely rude, accusing me of going on dates with a bunch of men. The next day he accused me of being an alcoholic and that he wanted nothing to do with me but said well maybe we can be "friends" then ghosted me i assumed at this point it was over and i would never hear from him again. He contacted me on the holiday a month later acting like everything was great. We ended up hanging out a month or so later and when we hung out it went well, i thought things were going in the right direction. after we hung out.. silence. I would try to text him and if he replied it would be very short then he just stopped replying. He ghosted me for almost three months. I thought he was done this time and of course he popped up again like nothing happened. At this point i was getting sick of if so i questioned him as to why he dissapeared and always does this. Of course he had some sob story about a injury and family member dying of cancer. I felt pity for him and he gave me an apology.. so i took him back stupidly. things seemed to be going smooth for a couple months, of course until his family member died and his injury got better he never contacted me and was distant. Menawhile, i was there for him during the difficult time for him. He lied to me about the funeral and never wanted to chat. I was chasing him and he would always claim nothing was wrong but when i said i thought he used me when he was down he could not handle it and would always tell me he didnt care and to go away. I would get so upset i would try texting him to work it out he would barelt respond and if he did he would not be nice about it. we did hang out a couple times after that, he would ignore me after. One day i was like hey i think you are seeing someone else, and i was like well ixam seeing someone so no problem if you are he said " buy bye good luck with your new guy stop contacting me" i was devastated and tried to get into contact with him for weeks then i just gave up and accepted it was over. He ended up contacting me a month later acting like everything was fine. He wanted to go out and have drinks i told him i would. He and i both seemed to have a great time. He ends up ignoring me again. I kept texting him trying to figure out what was wrong. He kept saying everything was fine and i said ok can we hang out again? He said maybe i was like why? He just kept saying maybe … our last conversation we had… i said what is wrong ? He said nothing is wrong everything is fine. I asked him why he keeps saying maybe. He said " maybe but i dont want to see you right now" i said why? He saix " im just not feeling it, if i wanted to date i would" i said why did you contact me less then a week ago wanting to go out? He said i didnt.. even though he did. So i said should i just move on or what? He said whatever you want to do. So i said that he was really confusing me and asked him if he had anything more to say before i move on? My messages were turning green so i panicked he blocked me and reacted irrationally. I said " omg did you block me? My messages are not going through. Even texted him on my work phone asking what was up. And called him twice ( please dont judge me i know it is pathetic i never was this type of girl before him) so he replied and said " Ok I'll block you now" then immedietly blocked me. He has never blocked me before since I have met him he will just ghost. Is this ths final discard aka " grand finale? Did i just push him too far? this has upset me so much its hard to even function.

In conventional terms, a weight gainer shake is loaded with carbs with the intent of rapidly replenishing glycogen stores in muscle. These carbs are great for someone lifting intensely and/or working out multiple times per day but they are awful for someone whose glucose metabolism is impaired, like someone with type 2 diabetes, regardless of the specific reason for the impairment. Some other products are intended for weight gain as well, however, the carbohydrates in them are different, they are rolled oats, barley, etc…. the “weight gainer” come in the outrageous serving size. Some weight gainers are simply lots of whey protein (not just isolate, concentrates, and hydrolysates as well) with added vitamins and minerals, as well as fats, and fiber. The first case is clearly useless for anyone other than the individuals described. The second case speaks for itself, even people who DO lift should probably use a smaller serving and a much smaller serving would be just as convenient, if not as flavorful or satisfying. The third case is more complicated: often, these shakes are made artificially nutrient dense but have ingredients —when other than those specified— that leave one shaking their head, sodium caseinate (more or less bad) is not even close to micellar casein (far better, particularly before bed) and amounts of sodium —often “or” but occasionally “and”— or potassium that are sufficiently large so as to alter what an appropriate dose of a medication intended to control blood pressure might be.

A lot of this depends on the actual product purchased and the ingredients. For instance, I would not consume a product that contained caffeine and creatine, even on purpose, because the research is clear, creatine and caffeine do not mix. That is before one considers the pH of the mixture and the rate at which creatine is converted into creatinine while you wait —this was worked out in the late 1920’s and early 30’s* so it isn’t like the company didn’t know. The ingredients that are added in ineffective quantities because people have heard of the ingredient and will buy the product because the ingredient is listed on the label are termed vanity ingredients with good reason. What that means to you is that there are a lot of reasons for throwing products away; comparatively few to keep them. Having said that, caffeine is the most common drug of abuse in the nation, often, every morning, by millions of Americans so keep the creatine in capsules and nowhere near the caffeine. Having said that, the shake can be fortified and made more flavorful with a pre workout product that is creatine free but loaded with caffeine. You might have to search for it and avoid the mountain of people saying either that it is ok or that you should just buy their product and try it. Given a vanilla weight gainer, a pre workout fruit punch will come through as something like strawberries. Caffeine generally makes whatever it is added to more bitter and adding straight glycine (neither L nor D nor R or S as there is no chiral carbon and a solution does not turn polarized light in either direction) to the mixture will help that without adding sugar or sugar alcohols or aspartame.

Did I mention you could mix it with frozen blueberries or frozen raspberries and ice cream? Did I mention that some powders will even do well as an add-on to a base white sauce intended to be spiced up to sweet and savory? For a lot of recipes, if they can take almond or soy milk —generally vanilla flavored— then this can also be a place to throw in some of the powder as well. Of course, given something like instant mashed potatoes, it can also make something either better or much worse depending on the product.

Can you explain the difference between a shower cap and a hair bonnet?

*** What passes for cereal at most homes has such a high glycemic index that one has to wonder why people are not in diabetic comas all the time! I mean something more substantial and raw. Compared to most cereals, instant oats have a lower glycemic index and that is very disturbing. I mean, mix with the milk in overnight oats if at all possible —still, add the key lime pie omega 3s, it truly cannot be beat! (there are other flavors, I just really love that one and the citrus sorbet flavors of the Barlean’s product).

* The pH scale is logarithmic so that the error in the measurement by titration by an analytical chemist is minuscule whereas the methods available to most people to measure pH have error factors that are orders of magnitude greater. Thus, work done by titration at a time when the precision of the artifacts was extraordinary —the people who made scientific glassware by hand were truly the unappreciated heroes of their time— is valid even today.