Is the nordictrack t5.3 a good treadmill

This is just a vent because I'm sad and mad, smad if you would. I don't even know where to start honestly. I guess the fact I need medications to have my brain and body function properly?
Which I do good on them! Only insurance messed up and I've not been able to get any refills recently so my brain and hormones have been in a tizzy since.
Now old eating habits I weaned away from are coming back, I am alway not eating for too long and then eating far past being full once I decide to eat again. Constantly want soda pop that used to be an occasional treat. I don't like any of it but my brain doesn't listen anymore.
My unused treadmill sits there taunting me. Sometimes I get small bursts of energy. but they are extremely small. I emptied my overflowing mini trashcan keep in my room and immediatly laid down for a nap after.
I'm just left frustrated because I know I can do better, I have done better. But only when medicated. And can't get my meds right now so I am left desperately trying to slow down my inevitable spiraling.

Hello everyone! My name is Anna, I am 22 years and from the Netherlands (but casting my web worldwide as I will explain later). I’m blonde, quite tall with 5’7” and I am quite active. I love to go snowboarding, wakeboarding, and you can often find me in the gym or on the treadmill.
Right now I am finishing my undergrad in life sciences. Once I’m done later this year I have two deep wishes. 1) I finally want to visit Asia! I love traveling but never made it there. 2) I want to spend a few weeks in the USA exploring different cities because I’d love to do my postgrad somewhere there. I studied one semester in the UK which was incredible and I hope to do this again but now in the USA.
As to what ‘type’ I’m into it’s quite broad. Well I am generally attracted to older guys, or at least guys who are mature enough to know what they want and have a good conversation. I’m not gonna put an exact number on it but if you could be my dad we’re still ok, if you could be my grandad probably not lol. I’m also usually not really into K-pop type of guys who are all stylised and perfect. I’m more into guys next door, like someone who could be your friendly neighbour or someone you run into in the supermarket lol. Also - not a must - but I like guys with a bit of meat around the bones.
More details about me. I guess I’m a typical Dutch person lol. I love cheese, I cycle everywhere, and I can be quite straight to the point (if it’s too direct you can totally just tell me straight to my face). I also looove spicy food. Last month I tried Sichuan food for the first time and my mind and taste buds were blown away. I've also started trying to learn Mandarin last year but it's damn hard.
If you’re interested to just get to know each other then please reach out. Since I do have a few travel plans I’d be happy to talk to people all over the world because you might become my reason to visit your city or country haha. As a few conversation starters, here are some suggestions:

• What’s your name and age?
• Can you describe your looks and body type?
• Which country in Asia should I absolutely travel to after graduation and why?
• What’s your favourite subreddit on here?
• What are your kinks if you have any?

That’s it for now!
Oh yeah I’m a night owl by the way lol so time difference might not be that much of an issue
PS. If your response to a long post like this is "hey" then we're probably not going to be a match.

Hello everyone! My name is Anna, I am 22 years and from the Netherlands (but casting my web worldwide as I will explain later). I’m blonde, quite tall with 5’7” and I am quite active. I love to go snowboarding, wakeboarding, and you can often find me in the gym or on the treadmill.
Right now I am finishing my undergrad in life sciences. Once I’m done later this year I have two deep wishes. 1) I finally want to visit Asia! I love traveling but never made it there. 2) I want to spend a few weeks in the USA exploring different cities because I’d love to do my postgrad somewhere there. I studied one semester in the UK which was incredible and I hope to do this again but now in the USA.
As to what ‘type’ I’m into it’s quite broad. Well I am generally attracted to older guys, or at least guys who are mature enough to know what they want and have a good conversation. I’m not gonna put an exact number on it but if you could be my dad we’re still ok, if you could be my grandad probably not lol. I’m also usually not really into K-pop type of guys who are all stylised and perfect. I’m more into guys next door, like someone who could be your friendly neighbour or someone you run into in the supermarket lol. Also - not a must - but I like guys with a bit of meat around the bones.
More details about me. I guess I’m a typical Dutch person lol. I love cheese, I cycle everywhere, and I can be quite straight to the point (if it’s too direct you can totally just tell me straight to my face). I also looove spicy food. Last month I tried Sichuan food for the first time and my mind and taste buds were blown away. I've also started trying to learn Mandarin last year but it's damn hard.
If you’re interested to just get to know each other then please reach out. Since I do have a few travel plans I’d be happy to talk to people all over the world because you might become my reason to visit your city or country haha. As a few conversation starters, here are some suggestions:

• What’s your name and age?
• Can you describe your looks and body type?
• Which country in Asia should I absolutely travel to after graduation and why?
• What’s your favourite subreddit on here?
• What are your kinks if you have any?

That’s it for now!
Oh yeah I’m a night owl by the way lol so time difference might not be that much of an issue
PS. If your response to a long post like this is "hey" then we're probably not going to be a match.

Reasoning: I am an early 20s dude who tries to generally take care of my health, mainly through lifting, running, walking, and diet, although I would ideally be more consistent and by no means consider myself a fitness freak. I also think it is important to challenge myself. Being into casual running, I follow running and love reading the stories people share about their marathon experiences. After reading enough of these stories, I wondered "could I complete a marathon right now?" I know that I definitely cannot run one in my current physical state, but I was curious if I could move my body a marathon distance without any major breaks (and ideally within 8 hours). With that, I decided to try and walk a marathon distance.
Preparation: In short, very little. In 2024, I've been averaging somewhere between 50,000 to 60,000 steps a week. The most amount of steps I've gotten in one day was just short of 30,000 and the longest I had ever ran was a little over 4.5 miles. I did not do any long walking in lead up to this attempt. I just picked a Saturday where I was free. The morning of the attempt, I made two PB&Js, filled my half gallon water bottle (with some caffeine and liquid IV added), grabbed some apples, and walked down to my apartment's gym to get on the treadmill.
The Walk:

• Segments
  • 0 to 7.80 Miles - 9:20am to 11:25am - 16:02/mile
    • This first segment wasn't too bad. My legs were a bit tired, but not complaints. I had an apple at some point. Drank lots of water. Called my Dad.
  • Break 1 - Bathroom + Short Stretch
    • Good bathroom break. Felt a lot lighter afterwards.
  • 7.80 to 14.03 Miles - 11:35am to 1:24pm - 17:30/mile
    • This segment is when my legs started to get tired. I could feel them getting sore and my foot's callous was being shifted up due to my shoes. I had a PB&J which was nice.
  • Break 2 - Bathroom + Longer Stretch
    • This stretch break helped me feel a lot better. At this point I was seriously doubting whether I could complete the marathon distance without risk of injury or being borderline immobile for days afterwards.
  • 14.03 to 17.53 Miles - 1:44pm to 2:45pm - 17:26/mile
    • I started off by eating another PB&J These last 3.5 miles were extremely unenjoyable. All I could focus on was how much my legs hurt. Nothing felt like it was going to get seriously injured, but with almost 9 miles to go, I decided to call it quits to avoid that and to avoid not being able to walk the next few days due to soreness (I have never walked this far before, so I wasn't sure what the recovery would look like).
  • END
• Overall
  • 17.53 Miles - 9:20am to 2:45pm - 17:32/mile

Afterwards: I treated myself to some cheat food, and watched movies the rest of the day. I was bummed that I didn't meet my goal, but I was happy that I attempted it. The next few days, my legs were a bit sore, but nothing that I hadn't experience after a difficult leg day at the gym. My foot callous was annoying to deal with, but it was pretty much back to normal after 3 or 4 days. With this in mind, I think I probably could've push through to complete the marathon distance, or at least gotten closer to it. I may try again sometime in the coming months, and if I do I'll probably post here!
If anyone has any questions, I'm down to answer :)

I need a treadmill that is durable and reliable with good warranty.
My budget it $4k and the only requirement is that I need to be able to build custom workouts on it. (ex: 10 min slow + 3x(6min fast, 1 min slow) + 10 min slow cooldown)
I am considering:

• Matrix t30 or t50 with one of the touchscreens for custom workouts

I also looked into life fitness t3 track 2.0 and run cx, however their method of making custom workouts seems very bad as you are forced to have 20 segments of equal length.
Is there any other treadmills you would recommend that have custom workout building ability?

1st Marathon - Training Reading this sub provided me with guidance and support to run this marathon so I thought I would post about my experience in case it helps someone else.
I'm 38M, 6'1, 190 lb. Never been a runner because I have low Hemoglobin (10) from thalassemia minor which really limits me for cardio. Always tried to stay fit with weight training (2x/week) and cycling (1x week). In the Fall I decided I wanted to get into better cardio shape with the goal of running a marathon. Jumped on the treadmill to see my baseline fitness and ran 8.5 miles at 11 mins/mile. Was sore for 3-4 days but the following weekend I ran 9 miles, and 10.5 miles the following week. At this point I started reading about marathons and figured I could manage and signed up for one 5 months later.
Problem was, all the training plans I saw involved a long time commitment of 4-5 days/week running. My job (70 hours/week) and young kids prevented me from doing this, so I decided to continue my plan of 1 long run every weekend (and 1 mid-week upper body weight session). I increased the distance by 1 mile pretty much every week, and found that my body needed 4-5 days to recover between sessions. Once I got to 14 miles, I started having some IT-band soreness and had to take a week off and then reduce my distance to 12 miles for a few more until I could start increasing again. At runs of 16-18 miles I started to have difficulty mostly due to inadequate fueling/hydration so I began to take that more seriously.
My training peaked at 20 miles which I did twice, the second time was 3 weeks before the race and did not go well. I likely "hit the wall" and my legs felt heavy, and I felt nauseous and light headed at the end. I could barely walk home. Soon thereafter I developed chills and a low grade fever likely due to overexertion. I was very demoralized as it was 3 weeks before my marathon and for the first time, I doubted myself that I could even finish it. now I understood the expression: "A marathon is a 10 km race with a 20 mile warmup).
I convinced myself it was from lack of fueling and running on "tired legs" as I had run a 14-miler the week before. So I took the last 3 weeks off long runs and only ran 3 times (2 weeks before: 5 miles, 1 week before: 3 miles, 3 days before: 2 miles).
I carb loaded like crazy the 3 days before the race (700 g carbs x3 days) and made sure to sleep 10 hours for the 2 days before the race (don't count on sleeping well the night before because of nerves!). I woke up 3 hours before my start time, ate 2 pieces of toast with peanut butter, a granola bar and drank 1 L of powerade and went back to sleep. Ate 100 grams of Swedish Berries en route to the marathon and drank a red bull. Brought Roctane Gu to use every 30 minutes, and a Maurten 100/100 (caffeine) to take a 2.5 hours and 3.5 hours for the final push. I would drink 250 cc of powerade at every station, which was on average every 25 mins.
Although my primary goal was to finish the marathon and my secondary goal was to finish without walking, deep down I was hoping to finish in less than 5 hours (which is the exact pace I did all my training runs).
Miles 1-14: I felt pretty good running at a 11 min/mile although my heart rate was higher than it was on training runs (160 bpm), which I attributed to the excitement of the race. I rolled my ankle a bit evading a puddle, which was quite uncomfortable but improved after I chewed 4 childrends Tylenol (720 mg).
Miles 15-20: I started feeling the sheer distance of a marathon at this point and started to slow down to an 11:15 min/mile pace. My heart rate has climbed to 170 bpm.
Miles 20-23: At this point, I started to second guess whether I would be able to finish as my legs felt very heavy and I started to feel a bit nauseous so I had to skip the powerade station. My heart rate was going above 180 bpm and I had to slow to a light jog to let it go down (12 min/mile).
Mile 23-25: Finally, there was a glimmer of hope as I was only a 5 km away. I did the math in my head and realized I had to speed up significantly to make it under 5 hours. The problem is I was pacing myself with Strava which was going based on GPS distance, and supposedly I ran an extra 0.6 miles probably from weaving between people or wide street turns. I wasn't sure I could speed up but I tried to increase my cadence with slower more rapid steps.
Mile 25-26.2: My heart rate was 191 bpm this entire time, my legs felt like anvils and I was nauseous and light headed. There was no question I was at 100% capacity but I figured this was the culmination of a lot of hard work and I would never forgive myself if I missed my goal by seconds.
Finished in 4:58:55. I was so proud to have done it. The entire ambiance of the marathon was very inspiring, seeing so many people of different ages, races and body types come together to accomplish such a feat of athleticism. All the spectators cheering us on throughout the course with words of encouragement and funny signs. It was truly a special experience.
Met up with my wife and kids who were at the finish line, picked up my medal and hobbled home. Drank 1 L of chocolate milk, showered and slept for 2 hours. When I woke up I assessed the damage - left big toenail was black, right ankle was swollen with a large hematoma from when I rolled my ankle, and both nipples were bleeding because I didn't realize chafing happens with a wet shirt. Entire lower body was so sore that I had to walk sideways down the stairs holding the railing. But all these injuries will heal and I will remember this experience forever so it was worth it.
Looking back, there is no question that I was severely undertrained especially being a heavy guy and anemic. I think it is possible to run a marathon with less training than the 5x/week many programs recommend, but it definitely takes longer (at least 6 months). If I could go back, I would have run twice per week to increase the total miles (e.g. instead of a weekend 18 miler, run two 12 milers). I think that would have prepared my body better through cumulative fatigue and reduced risk of injury. I still think long runs are by far the most important for someone who without much time who wants to FINISH a marathon, and speed work/strength training/total weekly mileage etc. for those with a time goal.
In the end, I'm glad I finished the marathon, accomplished my goal and got away relatively unscathed. But I was lucky, and would encourage others to "respect the distance" more because the last 10 km are very difficult on the body due to glycogen depletion, cumulative lactic acid buildup, dehydration/cardiac drift as well as psychologically. But it's amazing what the body can do with proper training!
Best of luck to all the marathoners here - and thanks for all the guidance and encouragement in this sub!

I was hospitalized for 5 days with a concussion on March 1st and depression has definitely been a factor over the past three months. Before this happened I was running 25km a week and had signed up for my favourite 50K race in April, a 100K race in June and a 100-mile race in September. I deferred the 50K race to next year, sold my bib for the 100K race and am thinking the 100-miler will not be feasible, which is okay.
My concussion physio upped my heart rate walk to a 120 heart rate which means I can run a little. But the next day after the physio had me do light running analysis for ten minutes on a treadmill my right knee went nuclear - a problem which arose just before my concussion. So I haven’t even gone for my daily walk now since last Wednesday. None of this is my PT’s fault. She is amazing and has been a godsend for my concussion healing.
The good news is that my right knee is going to be okay!! The pain is going away with rest and ice and it appears that I have chondromalacia patellae for which there are VERY simple knee strengthening exercises which I WILL DO including the weighted sled pull.
So my outlook has improved even though I have been on the couch since Thursday. Am seeing a sports PT for my knee next week.
I wish everyone here respite from your depression. Exercise keeps mine at bay so when exercise isn’t possible life becomes even more challenging.
I am wearing a holter monitor until this afternoon and will start swimming today as that is a safe exercise while my knee heals.
My best to you all, big hugs.

It's not that I don't feel the seriousness of it, it's just that I only want to die once and not every day until then. The prognosis in my area is actually fairly good for this type of cancer, 75% remission after 5 years.
Personally, today is a day like any other, when the chemo hits we will see what that is like, but as long as there is something to find in today, I'm good. Going to try to fix my GF's treadmill, maybe take the dog out and stay dry, (supposed to rain here).
Hope everyone is in as good a spirit as possible, love you all.

An old professor reached out to me recently and offered me an assistantship at a T30 that would pay for my entire MBA, plus stipend ($1,500/month). No GRE, starts Fall24
I could also keep my current job as they are flexible in their work arrangement.
I shouldn’t turn this down, right? I don’t have the means to pay more than 70k total in tuition unless I take loans.
Stats:
Undergrad GPA: 3.88 T50 Grad GPA: 3.83 T50, T5 in program, Educational Tech both
High extracurricular post-grad, ran student magazine and created related non profit (X factor is comedy, plays in)
2yrs work experience in Top3 in industry, no promotions but product management increase in responsibility, top performance reviews. Good industry specific experience in internships.
No notable diversity, Pell Grant recipient

I wanted to share an update, M38 started at 154kg week before MJ and I sent my photo to the pharmacy but when I had my first dose I was 152kg and as I hit the 2-month mark on Mounjaro this week…. So far, I’ve lost 12kg!
One week before starting Mounjaro, I began working out twice a week with a personal trainer who mainly gets me to work on strength through lifting weights. The difference is noticeable—I feel stronger, and my body is changing. I used to struggle with knee pain, particularly when going upstairs, relying heavily on my right leg. Now, I can climb stairs without pain and have built significant muscle.
I’m a vegetarian and don’t consume fish or eggs, but this hasn’t been an issue. I cook most of my meals from scratch and incorporate protein shakes on my lifting days. I use clear protein and vegan Wonder Shakes from Protein Works post-workout.
In terms of activity, I’m consistently hitting or exceeding 10k steps daily. I’m also approaching the 5.0 setting on the treadmill having move up from 4.0 to 4.5…. and sometimes add an incline for an extra challenge. I can see the difference in getting my steps in as I achieve them quicker now. Thinking about starting the T25 or a similar workout series daily.
I also practice intermittent fasting, trying to eat my main meal in the afternoon while having black coffee and water throughout the day.
As for side effects, I’ve been quite fortunate. Initially, I experienced some abdominal pain, the usual around gas and having to have prunes to help the running, but otherwise all okay. Yesterday, I took my first 7.5mg dose, so we’ll see how that goes.
My first milestone is two family and friends’ weddings in July, and after that, I’ll set further goals. Ultimately, I aim to get my weight down into double digits, which hasn’t been the case for many years.
Feeling positive and motivated! Happy to answer any questions or share more about my journey.
I don’t crave food as much, sometimes I think about pizza or something but I know I won’t be able to go through half box or what ever I used to which is why I am on MJ, trying to use this time to build good habits and change my life style.

I reach into my inventory and pull out the tablet I received from the gacha mechanism I am the "Owner" of. I watch as the thing turns on and I begin to fiddle with it, going through a brief registration as I walk over to the part of my apartment that serves as a kitchen and I open my refrigerator door. I take a step back and decide to get creative and practice using my powers.
I close my eyes and use magic, casting spells to telekinetically reach into the fridge and pull out ingredients. This is messy and difficult but it results in me gaining experience and a new skill "Spatial Magic". I feel the keen impact of "Experience Booster" as even simple motions, and failures, grant me valuable experience. I keep my eyes on the tablet and I deftly manipulate it while I maneuver the food I plan to cook over to the appropriate parts of the kitchen. I deal with bouts of "Buggy" all the while but nothing actually disruptive. The drawback is annoying but so far it's been a nuisance more than anything else.
The tablet is easy to use and I feel my appreciation for the technology growing as I sync it up to the local wifi and I notice that the thing has an unlimited battery. The device promises to be useful with its unlimited battery...
I switch my class over to chef as I begin to cook. At the same time I skillfully use the tablet to listen to the news and I finally begin to have a reliable mechanism through which I can learn about the world I'm in. My cooking grants me experience, which "Master of All" makes universal, while I actively advance my "Passive Listening" skill and I grow in my overall awareness of the world around me. I fastidiously store every morsel of knowledge I acquire as I cook, and in minutes I have more food than I made yesterday. I again taste some of it and smile, satisfied by the skill I'm showing. The food tastes noticeably better today than it did last night. This is a trend that will absolutely continue in the days to come thanks to MoA and my dedication to honing my skills.
I take a beat to photograph the food, carefully and diligently using the multitude of experience I've earned since I gained that skill last night to snap some good pictures before posting them on social media and quickly writing a caption about "Meal-Prepping" which this kind of is. I'm better at it than any normal person could ever hope to be, since my food is fresh and will stay fresh in my inventory. After I do that I store the food, placing it safely in containers I own and then storing said containers in my inventory.
For the rest of the night I use my tablet to learn about the world while carefully practicing the magic I can use on myself and other objects. I gain a skill named "Enhancement Magic" which is certainly handy, and I also gain a "Meditation" skill after looking online for what "Real Gamers" would do and finding that this concept seems to exist in this world as well. While I am meditating I do indeed recover my arcane energy faster, and I even improve my intelligence attribute! As of this point in time I have not improved charisma, but this is the only attribute of mine that hasn't risen by at least one point thanks to the incredible synergy between "Master of All" and "Experience Booster".
Before I know it it's Thursday and I am on my way to work. I have another uneventful day of simply working to fix the backlog my company is in and thus grinding experience for skills. At lunch I again surprise my friends, but I share more of my food with them and get more experience with my chef class, It is enough to level up, and I select a skill that allows me to prepare a touch more food with my ingredients than is physically possible, which I know will come in handy down the line.
At the end of the day I go to the gym again and this time I explore the place fully. I find that it has several amenities, such as a decently large pool, numerous studios and even a few rings for sparring and martial arts-based physical conditioning. I keep my workout today simpler than it was two days ago, and as a result of this I only gain two skills: jogging and sprinting. I test my endurance and jog for close to an hour as a sort of light workout. For the last five minutes of the hour I go as "Full tilt" as I can on a mundane treadmill and effortlessly endure the experience, thanks to the tenacious "Tough As Nails" perk. While I'm working out I activate my gacha machine and get a ring that I cannot use as it boosts my charisma and I am prohibited from using stat enhancers like this by one of my drawbacks. I tuck it away in my inventory and mentally sigh. I'll undoubtedly need to get used to this kind of thing, since my "Starting Equipment" drawback is actually pretty significant even if it's only a temporary inconvenience.
I work out for a decent bit before heading home. At home I initiate work on longer-term projects. I don't bother making food today, though I continue to hone magic while utilizing my "Mage" class, and I also use my tablet to begin to do creative things like create graphics, write, and even try my hand at making websites from scratch. One minor seed I plant while attempting to get new skills is that I email a few charitable groups, particularly soup kitchens, hoping to get the chance to more easily grind "Chef" since it seems I get the biggest amounts of experience whenever food I cook gets eaten by others. I do this all for the sake of gaining new skills, ones which I prove able to gain very easily and I will be able to grind even more easily. My ability to just... not sleep proves it's worth its weight in gold, or choice points, as I use another night to grind valuable experience.
Throughout the night I keep hoping to get assigned a quest for a class like "Psionic" or "Psychic" and so far I've had no luck. A part of me wonders if I should be tricky and try to use my pseudo-psychic powers in front of someone but I quickly realize that such an action would be just as likely to get me a deception-based class as it would be to get me what I seek...
Friday rolls around and I complete my work week with ease. Work really is just a chance for me to grind my skills, and each day my speed, accuracy, and overall badassery in the context of my boring job increase. In days I've managed to sort through a healthy portion of the backlog we've been stuck in thanks to the fact that my speed and accuracy with stuff like typing. "Buggy" becomes less and less meaningful, thanks my slowly improving luck, as well as my ever increasing speed.
I don't level up as a chef today, but it doesn't matter since towards the end of my shift I get an email from a coordinator of a soup kitchen that is based out of a church near my apartment that asks me to stop by tomorrow for a chance to discuss what volunteering would look like and potentially help out for part of a shift. This news delights me and for my first non-picture post on social media I share how excited I am to have the chance to learn about volunteering. This post immediately begins to get likes on websites like the local equivalent of Twitter, a website and app named Chitchat. Some of the likes come from my coworkers, a handful of whom have found me and followed me.
At home I finally take the time to thoroughly and properly clean spaces such as my bathroom and to effectively organize the tiny living space I have. The activities are enough for me to earn new skills, with one particularly handy new skill being the "Cleaning" skill. I don't gain a new class, but for the most part this is to be expected. I suspect if I level up a class enough I'll automatically get access to new, "Prestige" classes seeing as that's one of the features I paid for with regards to my skills, but aside from that it seems that to gain new classes I need to effect others with my skills. Gaining some type of cleaner class will probably take me cleaning a public space, which is a fascinating thought to entertain as I can do such a thing under the cover of acting "Charitably".
As I sit in the cramped space I'm currently calling a home I wonder how altruistic I would be in a fully mundane, completely organic situation...
Right now I am achieving selfless ends but for entirely self-serving reasons. I want to work at a soup kitchen, to volunteer my time and energy not to help someone but to empower myself as this provides me with the easiest means to cook food for other people in ways that will award me a significant amount of experience. It's true that I am achieving positive, beneficial ends, not only for myself but for others as well, but given the simple reality that my motives are so impure it's a bit difficult to sit here and pretend that I'm a righteous sort. Though I doubt the people I'm helping will actually mind that my motives don't stem from a heart of gold...
I am steadily continuing my journey towards getting stronger as I swiftly type away using my tablet's digital keypad. A video is playing via picture-in-picture and I'm listening to a chef talk about making delicious soup on a budget, mostly to get myself in the right state of mind. Eventually that video ends and I quickly listen to I'm writing out a short fantasy story, as an exercise in creative writing. The words are flowing and I'm easily getting into the grove.
The secondary train of thought I possess is keeping track of the bars associated with my attributes and is noticing that this odd exercise is directly increasing my intelligence and charisma attributes, as it seems that some activities are nice tests of more than one attribute.
I devote myself to this particular sort of training all while I use simple casts of my telekinetic magic to hone my growing familiarity with an incredibly vital field of magic. By the time Saturday morning rolls around I've gained a point in charisma and increased my writing level several times, which has the effect of granting me levels in other skills such as singing and speed typing. At this point I can write nearly 300 words a minute, a hilarious number for me to be able to type and by the time I'm done with this jump that number will surely be much, much higher thanks to the nature of my job as well as my favorite perk Master of All.
When it's late enough on Saturday that the sun is out I find myself on the sidewalk, slowly walking towards a cafe. I have a short bit of time before I need to go to the soup kitchen so I decide to grab some breakfast someone else cooked, as a bit of a treat. The cafe is a quaint little thing located not terribly far from my apartment and pretty close to the church the soup kitchen is operating out of.
Soup kitchens operating out of churches was something I heard of back on the "Earth" I hail from, but it's not something I ever actually saw... This version of Earth really seems to have taken after various stereotypes and assumptions about Earth that didn't always reflect reality.
I enter the cafe and walk towards the back of the line of people waiting for a chance to order their food. The line ahead of me isn't huge, but it's bigger than I would have thought if someone asked me to picture a line at a cafe. The cashiers diligently do their jobs and in a matter of minutes I'm walking towards a cashier. I feel the subtle effects of TDOL as I approach a strikingly pretty cashier.
The woman is a surprisingly tan, probably Hispanic, redhead whose hair smells of somewhat newly applied hair dye. She smiles brightly at me as I approach her. She is... quite pretty, and as I approach her I dare to wonder if there's a sort of persuasive route I can take to getting her number. Internally I smile as I sense the back of my mind, the unconscious part of my mind, sort through potential conversational strategies that might allow me to successfully flirt in the short time frame I have to interact with her. I pause time with one of my perks, and allow my rapid mind the time it needs.
I feel various perks working together as I use "Observe" on the cashier. A small load of information appears in my head allowing me to learn her name, as the cafe doesn't require nametags, and various minor facts about her. This is due to the fact that "Observe" has slowly and steadily increased in level over the last few days, and each time it increases in level it's cooldown decreases and how much I learn when I use it increases as well.
What I have just learned is factoring into the strategies and instincts I feel considering my desire. My perks powerfully hone my charisma, turning it into a valuable weapon and tool in my toolkit when it comes to interpersonal stuff. I allow my mind a second, as I decide on my strategy and then with a thought I unpause reality itself. I walk over to the redheaded Hispanic woman with a smile.
"Hey there, how's it going?" I ask with a happy grin and she smiles back at me. She asks what I'd like and I reply with whatever she thinks tastes the best. This surprises her, and my smile relaxes a touch.
"I'm about to go into an interview for a volunteering opportunity and I wanted to grab something light for breakfast. I'll be honest I'm not normally one for breakfast foods but I'm trying to broaden my horizons." I reply, relaxedly. She sizes me up and then taps some of the keys on her cash register. A number appears on the thing and she asks me for my name. I give it to her and she types it into the machine as well, before holding her hand out for my payment.
"You're not gonna tell me what it is?" I ask and she smiles in a curiously catlike fashion before replying.
"Only if you ask." She says, and for a moment I look at her and decide, instinctually, not to do so. She nods when I hand her my card, and she quietly calls me funny. She hands me my card and a receipt, and I fill out the paperwork with a confident grin on my face. I walk over to where other customers are waiting for their food, and I wonder if I made the right moves. I don't have to wait long, as when I get my order I am pleasantly surprised that the top napkin of the handful placed on the tray my food was given to me on has a number scrawled onto it, and the girl's name written in what I assume must be her handwriting.
The order I receive, Hannah's suggestion, is a light turkey croissant, and a delicious, fruity drink. I enter the number into my phone and text the cashier immediately, though I don't anticipate getting a response until a bit later. My message is simple, it's a short introduction and a thank you for the dish.
I do the stereotypically millennial act of photographing the food, posting it online, and then actually eating it, taking only a short few minutes to do so, and when I'm done I clean up after myself before I quietly leave the cafe. I smile as I feel the early morning sunshine beam down on me. This is the first chance I've really had to appreciate the sunlight during the day, as it's decently in the middle of Autumn and so most of my day is spent at work.
The church I'm heading to is visible from where I'm standing, so I appreciate its beautiful architecture, which reminds me of a Protestant church back in my version of the United States, for a second before making my way there. Reaching it only takes me the duration of a short walk and I arrive there early enough that I am about ten minutes early. This is within the window of polite earliness that I am used to back in my homeworld. I switch my class over to chef again as I wait to be seen. In minutes I am speaking to a kind-eyed older Black man who is the church's pastor.
Thanks to perks and my very specifically busted, for this kind of thing, build, I am able to make a hilariously good first impression on the kind pastor who runs the soup kitchen. I spend much of the rest of the day here, doing m. In minutes I'm assisting several more experienced cooks with doing minor preparatory work for tomorrow's meal hour. The soup kitchen is open every weekend, and I make a very good impression on my fellow chefs thanks to my class, skills, and knowledge I gained when it comes to soup making last night, though the food we make is varied.
I diligently follow instructions, having wisely told my fellow chefs that I'm new to cooking, and as I cook with the chefs, I level up my cooking class again. This time the upgrade I select is a boost to the speed at which I can produce food, cutting down how long it takes me to cook something by 2%, a rate which will increase as I level up more. This is not a big improvement, but in time... In time this'll become something astounding.
During this time I've also been getting occasional text messages from Hannah. We've been chatting and I've taken pictures with some of my new friends during brief lulls between intensive moments of culinary action. This habit of mine has gotten weird looks from my new friends, all of whom are older than me, but given my enthusiasm and "natural" skill, no one has actually tried to criticize me or get me to stop. It seems that everyone considers me a bit of a lucky charm, and to be fair... I am.
I cook with the chefs for well over five hours, and they are surprised to feel the effects of perks in my possession. This is a rare opportunity for me to be a leader and team player so I happily contribute my perks to the success of the kitchen. I am a dynamic, impossibly fast learner, and so by the time two hours have passed I'm cooking and engaging with my new friends with a stunningly natural rapport and flow, but beyond that I'm able to use "Teamworker" and "Motivator" two of my "Generic Cubicle" perks for the first time. This gets coupled with the power of "Support", which makes my allies far more effective at everything. By the tme the first hour passes and I get into my grove we're cooking faster, and we're making fewer mistakes, as well as finding it easier to manage the necessary chaos that comes with working in a decently large kitchen. Even my luck is contagious!
By the time the pastor, who has been cooking alongside us, says that we've done enough for today and can do the rest tomorrow it's partway through the afternoon. In a moment of inspiration, after a long day working in the kitchen, I ask the pastor to pray over the food and for us, which he smiles at me for and motions for everyone to bow their head in prayer. I do as everyone else does, and am thankfully when people do not grab hands around me. I have an idea I want to test out and to do it I need everyone to either leave or have their eyes shut for a moment.
I use my enhanced senses to easily track when everyone's eyes are shut and when they are I open mine and quickly cast a spell aimed at the food. The spell I cast is a simple healing spell and I am doing this to see if I can enchant and enhance food with magic. The big pot, filled with a healthy soup meant to supplement a smaller dish like some bread, begins to glow and I smile as I shut my eyes. The glow is subtle and only lasts a brief second so when it ends no one seems to notice it. This brings a smile to my face, as does the acquisition of a pair of new skills I get which freezes time for a split second but is worth it: one is named "Stealth-Casting" and even before I read the description I know what it does: it makes it harder to detect my magic, especially when I don't use it on living creatures. This skill is worth its weight in gold and when everyone looks at me I am cheesing pretty hard. The other skill is named "Enhancement" and it allows me to funnel supernatural energy into objects to subtly enhance them. This skill... this is one of the foundational attributes of some versions of alchemy, and the knowledge that I have acquired such a beauty of a skill is incredibly exciting. I tell everyone I'm excited for tomorrow, and no one has any difficulty believing me, definitely only thanks to my perks bolstering my charisma.
We all quickly get ready to go home, and I am sad to say farewell to my new friends but I am quick to assure everyone I'll be here bright and early on Sunday. On Sundays, the team, whoever can make it at leasr, is here from 9:30 until 2:30, primarily serving food and doing kitchen maintenance. I plan to join them. As I walk home I use my gacha mechanic and I get a water bottle that serves as an arcane energy potion I can use once a day to completely refill my arcane energy pool!
I arrive home uneventfully, and I make use of my new toy immediately, the instant that my arcane pool runs out of energy after I run out of energy the first time, as I train my magic and my other skills for the rest of the day. At the same time I text Hannah and a handful of my coworkers who message me on Flickpic, this world's version of Instagram, while I grind through the night. Sunday rolls around, and not super long after the sun peeks out over the horizon I make my way to the church, ready to serve the community and potentially level up some more. One minor thing I get, after using my gacha mechanic today, that I don't think I'll, personally, ever need is a pillow which protects against bad dreams. It's a neat curiosity, and I plan to keep it, but seeing as I don't sleep I think it'll be more for my friends, romantic interests, and anyone else who I might give it to for a short while.

I’m a month or so out from my diagnosis and the depression is setting in. I’ve accepted it and I’ve made changes to my diet. I’ve started exercising. I’m having a hard time thinking about doing this for the rest of my life. Am I ever going to be able to go on vacation and just enjoy myself? Eat a meal without thinking about how many carbs are in it or what my CGM number is gonna look like in an hour? Eat a piece of cake once a month? It just seems so bleak. I can’t get out of this cycle of all or nothing thinking.
I just want to be OK if I have a cheat day. Or a cheat meal. Or god forbid I don’t hop on the treadmill the second the last bit of food is swallowed.
I won’t go keto or carnivore. I will never sustain that long-term. I’m making smarter choices. I probably keep my carbs to 100g or so a day. But I’m already bored with all the food I’m eating. I hate cooking. I’m always exhausted from a long work commute. My schedule rotates so sometimes I’m nights.
This is my first “big diagnosis.” I have no other health issues so I’m really struggling because while I’m overweight, I’m not obese. My blood pressure is good. My cholesterol is good. I’m not completely sedentary but I definitely wasn’t doing as much as I could. A few mile hike with the dog once a week wasn’t cutting it. This diagnosis was such a slap in the face…and a kick in the ass.
I dunno. I’m so sad right now. Just looking for some encouragement, I guess.

So, I’ve suffered, in total, three brain aneurysms, three brain bleeds, a subarachnoid hemorrhage/hemorrhagic stroke (a stroke for those who haven’t decided to go into the medical field) have a crapload of mental health disorders in anxiety, depression, major depressive disorder, adjustment disorder with anxious and depressed mood, hallucinations, and psychosis along with all of my many more physical injuries, had a MAJOR pain pump and catheter replacement surgery in which I stayed overnight and came back again because I got the Flu, and have been dealing with this toxic coworker for over half a year by now. I don’t respond well to confrontation on things I’m doing wrong because I genuinely have a loving and caring servant’s heart, but she just straight up walked up to me uninvitedly and criticized something I did wrong even though I was never even told that in the first place, so, in response, I maintained my outward composure (which I’m very good at) and, out of genuine care and concern for her, recommended she see a medical professional because I could sense a possible diagnosis of anxiety which I have and can completely relate to. My mind was running at literally a million miles an hour, so I escaped upstairs to do some cleaning which I’m not even cleared to do yet and couldn’t even clean a treadmill because I was so exhausted, and afterwards I decided to go back and put the cleaning supplies away, in which her husband was called over to come intimidate, mentally harass, and make me mentally feel distraught which is a crime in Florida where I live, so I then headed back downstairs because of my mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion to work the scan desk for 30 minutes until my ride came to take me home… I’m still suffering from every aspect I just mentioned three weeks later, especially those voices screaming at me telling me I’m a worthless price of shit, and honestly feel obligated to press charges against the lady’s husband, but don’t want to make their situation even more difficult as it already is. Does anybody think they can help offer their personal insight and opinions? Thank y’all SO MUCH!!!

Would it be “offensive” to ask PT to have only 1 session first month to get me the plan and then increase it to 2 a month and so on? I’m unsure if I even need it, I mean I heard if you can then of course it’s good to go and get sessions but don’t know if I’d just look silly and appear as time waster with above. Other than budget the reason for that is that I might go for deviated septum surgery any time in next few months so I would need to take time off anyway/wouldn’t be able to commit
Currently I been trying to just get used to going to gym as someone with a lot of anxiety and stressful circumstances past 2 years but instead of 3 times a week it ended up being more like 6 times a month. So along with exercises at home, I’d end up exercising 2x a week on average for past year or less.
Even so I managed to see slight improvement, probably more because of adding more protein to my diet (I manage to get cca 100g on most days lately) but either way I want to get more serious now and do it 3 times a week + ROM exercises at home 6x a week (20ish mins).
I measured few months ago at the gym and it gave me 32% fat 38% muscle (72kg/164cm, 28yo female). I actually don’t want to lose any weight (like if I lose a bit fat to keep it at healthy level that’s fine) I just want to build muscle and improve my overall fitness.
I been doing leg extensions, seated row, leg press, hip abductor (all these machines were set to 30kg or lower and I’d do 10x3+whatever I can squeeze in), eliptical, rowing machine and incline treadmill. At home aside from occassional ROM exercises (the ROM coach app and one of their head to toe programme) I do free weight exercises (5kg dumbells) like squat, reverse/lunge, arm raises, russian twists and some 6kg kettlebel variations.
I wanted to add cable crunches, hanging leg raises, lying leg curl, inner thigh machine and something for chest and back instead of lat one as that one is difficult for me to hold proper form.
Should I just make a routine of “leg and upper body/cardio days” and ask staff to keep showing me how to use machines or take the plunge and get those PT sessions?

My primary referred me to a cardiologist due to unusual heart rate readings. He was great at our first meeting and booked me for a 14-day holter monitor, an echo, and a treadmill stress test. I was very confident we'd get a diagnosis because of this.
Well, today I did my final test and my doctor called and said everything looks fine. My heart is in good condition, nothing unusual popped up on my holter monitor (despite at least two incidents of presyncope during the 14 days) and my stress test was normal. He said it is likely my nervous system and not my heart and to give them a call if I needed anything else.
So now I don't know what to do. If a cardiologist isn't going to look past my physical heart health, what kind of doctor do I see next? I'm so discouraged and starting to wonder if there isn't anything wrong with me despite the symptoms.

SW 192. CW 180. 5'5". Female. High blood pressure and high cholesterol. Gallbladder removed (2010).
4 of 4 completed 0.25mg doses.
Day of shot, no symptoms. Day 1 after shot, light nausea. I drink lemon ginger tea and I'm good to go. Day 2 after shot, headache. I get headaches often but this has been a consistent occurrence on this day. Day 3 after shot, spike in anxiety. Again, anxiety is something I already have but this increase is a consistent occurrence. Days 4-7, no symptoms other than a general feeling of fatigue.
For exercise, I've been making an effort to be more active daily and walking more. I workout at the Y twice a week, an hour each time, doing 30 minutes on the exercise bike and 30 minutes walking on the treadmill.
For diet, I eat pretty similar to my normal. My portions are much smaller and evening snacking is almost non-existent. I am cooking more and eating out less and making better food choices in general. I don't track my calories except in my head as a guestimate. I haven't noticed any repulsion to certain things yet. Only craving thus far has been peanut butter.
For digestion, I take a women's probiotic and a fiber capsule. I'm also making an effort to eat more slowly. I already have a very sensitive and easily irritable stomach. I wouldn't say it is better or worse now, but definitely no constipation...
For supplements, I also take a multivitamin, magnesium, iron and vitamin D. None of those are new.
I am so, so grateful to be able to take Wegovy. I've struggled with my weight for ten years, with it going up and up and diet/exercise sometimes making it briefly go down. The food noise and hunger was loud and constant. Last year I made a big effort to get healthier, physically and mentally. I walked for 3 miles every day, exercised five days a week, and tracked my calories. It took 5 months to lose 10 pounds... And then I gained it all back over the winter. For the first time, I'm not thinking about food and feeling like I need to eat and eat and eat.
Oh, as for availability and supply issues, I had no issues getting the 0.25mg dose from CVS. I had my prescriber call in my next dosage when I took my third shot. I figured that would give me time to find 0.5mg if there were issues. And there were issues. CVS didn't have it at any location nearby. (I called 5 of them and one pharmacist didn't even take a second to check. One was very helpful and verified that only the two highest doses were available at any of the locations.) I ended up finding it at Kroger's pharmacy.
I'll update again when I take the 4th dose of 0.5mg.

Wondering if anyone has any advice on this situation, or has dealt with something similar?
Recently had a couple of odd encounters with a neighbour, who seems to be displaying mental health issues. Neighbour is on same floor and a few doors down the hall. First encounter happened roughly 8 months ago, and these more recent encounters happened in the space of 6 days, last week. Never met or spoke to the neighbor previously. Myself and my roommate have been in our unit for 2 years, not sure how long the neighbor has been in their unit.
Encounter 1: Roughly 8 months ago I was working out in the building gym, neighbor was on treadmill at other side of gym. I was sitting on a bench, looking down at my phone, which was pointed at the ground. Had earphones in also. As the neighbor was leaving the gym they accused me of videoing them, and commented on my "stupid Irish accent". I responded with "excuse me" and laughed in awkwardness when she repeated it as she walked out. I was not using the camera on my phone, my phone was always pointed to the ground for the entire time I'm in the gym. None of my behavior could be interpreted as taking photos of either myself or her.
Encounter 2: Encounter neighbour at the elevator, and I was taking the stairs nearby. Neighbour says something along the lines of "of course I'd see you here, carrying a weapon in your pocket" and some other remark about my Irish accent. I took my hands out of my pockets to show that I had nothing and kept walking.
Encounter 3: Roommate encounters neighbour in hallway and says "good morning" as they're passing. After passing, neighbour turns around and says "of course you're in the hallway at the same time as me….with a weapon in your hand" Roommate and I are both bald and similar looking so I'd imagine she may have thought we are the same person (who knows really). Roommate was holding sunglasses and a laptop bag at the time.
What is an advisable course of action in this situation? Inform own landlord, and building manager? Have it on file with the police? Obviously we will avoid the lady as much as possible.
TIA

How many people often get ideas of reference delusion and you think everything is focused on you? So I'll go to the gym and I'll think people at the gym are going there because of me. And they know something. They know some hidden reality about me that they're keeping secret from me.
They'll do something like scratch their face with their middle finger. I basically think they're telling me through ideas of reference and predicate logic that the HIV scare was premeditated and they metaphorically dropped me from the rafters like Owen Hart. Somebody else will be rubbing their eyes. I'm thinking: are they crying because it wasn't supposed to get this bad?
Then I start to get angry from getting all these ideas of reference. I start to say at the gym: "I'm not bluffing", "I'm dead serious", "I'm not kidding", "you have no idea - I'm dead serious." And the people all around me are probably looking over at me like: what the hell is going on with this guy? Basically, I'm having a schizoaffective disorder episode.
I think the people all around me are referencing me by rubbing their face with the middle finger, or rubbing their eyes, or laughing. I think everything is a reference to me. Someone will say "crazy" unrelated to me. I'll think it's referencing me. Then I'll start blurting out things at the gym like: "these people have no idea. They should be scared of me." And the people at the gym are looking at me like: what the hell is this guy doing? He's freaking out!
I don't do this all the time. Just once in a while I'll have a schizoaffective disorder episode at the gym. I need to try to control my adrenaline at the gym. Try not to send so many OCD text messages. And try not to get so emotional.
Obviously, when you workout on the treadmill it's good for physical fitness but it gets my blood going haywire, my brain goes haywire, and it gets my adrenaline pumping. I'll get these ideas of reference and I'll blurt something out that might be slightly inappropriate. I don't want my gym membership revoked because Planet Fitness is reasonably priced and I don't want to lose my membership. So just calm down and don't freak out - realize I'm delusional.

What's up kids, I finally got the pass after feeling like I definitely failed, but looking back I think my prep was pretty good. I'm a very average student at a pass/fail US MD school, and here's how I studied through the year to set myself up pretty well.
Main study materials: Anki, BnB, pathoma, sketchy, bootcamp, amboss, uworld
I separated tricky material into foundations vs details. Foundations I did first since everything kinda builds off it, and then details I saved for the last couple weeks before the test. My foundations were immunology, pathoma 1-3, and cardio. Details was genetics, stats, and biochem. I did all of BnB and pathoma immuno in August of last year, and kept those cards unsuspended. From there for each system my school went through I'd do the corresponding BnB/pathoma chapters and keep all those cards unsuspended as well.
Now isn't that a ton of cards? Yes. However, I didn't take Anki too seriously. I'd do the cards, but I wouldn't spend minutes on each card. If I didn't know the card I'd read it through once and then send it to the hard pile, but eventually most cards I'd recognize the basics and just move on. I think I was averaging 500-600 cards an hour.
I kept with Anki all through the year. I was also training for an ultramarathon during this time, and so did most of my runs on the treadmill with my iPad on the stand and Anki remote in hand. I know it sounds like torture but honestly you kinda just get into a rhythm and I found myself going through miles and cards a lot faster that I was at my desk. Bear in mind I was running SLOW, so my heart rate wasn't skyrocketing. Honestly I credit most of my Anki time to treadmill time and I'd definitely do all of this again.
My school also gave us ("gave us"...aka we paid for it in our tuition..) amboss for the first half of the year before uworld, so I did questions on there to practice for each unit test and I feel like that helped a ton. Yeah amboss questions are nitty gritty but it bullies you into thinking in that mindset which helped me a lot.
I didn't start uworld until March and my test was May 4th, so if I could go back and redo something it'd be starting earlier. But honestly I just couldn't bring myself to open that website, I think I'm still scarred from the MCAT. My percentage was shit for a while but in the final two weeks I was doing 120 questions a day and seeing my scores consistently rise to 60s/70s. I competed around 35% with a 55% average.
I did all of sketchy micro in the month before the test and that's when I saw a big bump in my uworld scores. 10/10. I didn't have time to go through pharm so that's also something I'd change if I could go back.
BOOTCAMP: get it. Get it. Get it. I got it in January and said adios to pathoma and BnB as soon as I did. Oh my god it's phenomenal. 10/10 recommend.
I stopped Anki altogether about a month before my test to focus entirely on uworld and I'm so glad I did. When reviewing questions I'd just highlight what I got wrong, keep a running document in google docs of little mistakes, read through that doc once a day, and if I made the same mistake twice I'd highlight that point in my doc and make sure I looked it over. For concepts I got wrong I'd do different dirty med or sketchy vids once I reviewed the question. I think doing my review that way as opposed to just blocks based on system was better for retention because I got to see it in context first and then framed the review around that.
Took NBME 27, 28, 29, and 31. Scores, including my CBSE and free 120 were 55, 51, 59, 59, 61, 65. The final week I focused on renal, endo, repro, and GI, did mehlmans arrows, and Dirty Med biochem. All of that is gold IMO, especially dirty med.
The test itself: I felt like shit, but I saw a ton of details come up from Anki cards I did back in January, and only knew because of Anki. So even if you feel like Anki isn't getting you anywhere, I guarantee you that you're retaining more than you know.
Results came 10 days after my exam, a week earlier that I was expecting. Overall I'm so glad I lumped my study prep and my ultramarathon prep together because I stayed a lot more sane than I did during the MCAT. I was still a nervous wreck but knowing I needed to get outside for a long run made me compartmentalization each day and let me sleep a lot better at night, and in the end both the Ultra and Step worked out perfectly.
Overall advice: use Anki, unsuspend as you go through each system with your school, and keep it all unsuspended. Invest in bootcamp, I wish I had it all along. Dirty med is a hidden gem, I wish I know about it the past few years and not just during step prep. Make sure you get some exercise or movement in each day while you study to get rid of some stress and improve your sleep. And Anki on the app plus a remote on the treadmill is my secret weapon. Even if you just do a hot girl/incline walk on the treadmill with Anki, I guarantee you it makes both things so much better.
Good luck, have fun, and feel free to ask I anything! I feel like this was just word vomit but mentally I've got nothing left at this point and I'm just binging everything and anything on Netflix before rotations start. Cheers!