Whine Central

Okay so I was really enjoying running. My feet were doing great. My feet were always the reason I couldn't run. Shoes solved the problem.

Evidently if I run for more than 2 weeks then my knee give me the finger. I'm walking like a 90 year old man with horrible arthritis. I'm dependent on NSAIDs and I don't like it. Until my knees feel absolutely fine without NSAIDs I'm on a running hiatus. I have no idea what I'm going to start doing for aerobic exercise. Boooooo

Eff This

Ugh. +3.0lbs.

Someone just get me lipo.

Running

Eating right, and lifting weights hasn't really been doing much for my weight. For the record I'm not overweight. I'm just not in love with certain aspects about my body, and would just like to work on having a lower body fat percentage.

I have however had improvements with my shoulders and chest. So that's nice. I didn't increase my caloric intake once I started working out, but have incorporated much more protein into my diet, via whey protein. I attribute this to the gross muscle growth.

I have the diet in place - avoid sugar, increase protein. I've got the weight training - hit all muscles groups not just the showy ones. There was just one thing I've been missing - aerobics. I think that because I never do aerobics I never deplete the glycogen reserves in my liver and skeletal muscles. My diet has been enough to help with any repairs my body needs from the weight lifting, but not so much that I've been gaining fat. But what I need is for my body to need to go into the reserves (aka body fat). By running I help deplete those glycogen reserves and make my body go to the body fat for energy.

I have avoided running because I'm a bad pronator. I get horrible leg pains that have always deterred me from running. But I decided I need to change something about what I was doing if I want to see improvements. So I went out to a running store and get fitted for shoes that would help my pronating. The shoes are amazing. I actually enjoy running now. I follow the training method of Doctor Mama to the "t."

The only downside is that I get lots of random aches an pains. They generally subsdie after a day or two and don't return to the same spot. I unfortunately can't say this about the pain in my knees. Coincidentally I'm now learning orthopedics in class. I think I've got some patellafemoral syndrome pain going on. I'm hoping it's going to subside with time, but I've got PT exercises printed out just in case. I also think that for this condition it's okay to treat with NSAIDs. They sure do help, but I reserve them for pre-treating before a run. What I really need to do is starting icing after running.

Tomorrow is a weight in day. Let's hope I continue losing 2 weeks in a row!

Theory on Flamboyance

I recently met a couple of gay guys through friends. They were in short, "flamers." I'm pretty far from ever being called a flamer, and this obvious difference sometimes make me feel like an outcast in my own society.

I feel like you never see as many older flamers. Is being excessively flamboyant a stage? I'm starting to think it is. I started thinking about what the major differences between the 20 somethings and the 30+ somethings are.

One thing that stands out is that those that are 30+ are often more professional stabile. When I think back to the two guys I met there was a distinct commonality they shared. At one point they both made it clear that they were proud of where they were in life. They didn't like their current jobs, weren't meeting the goals and such.

Could the flamboyance be an act? People have always coupled homosexuality with flamboyance. But what if flamboyance was a defense mechanism to come off more confident than they actually felt. This could be a defense mechanism that is specific to homosexuals, as opposed to a standard trait specific to homosexuals.

Hell, this defense mechanism may not be specific to homos at all. I think straight men, women, lesbians probably all put this front up in one way or another. They like to go out and be the center of attention and pretend like nothing bothers them. They try to make it look like they are totally cool with where they are in life, who they are, etc. Maybe this pumped up faux-confidence just turns the volume up on the already present feminine/flamboyant qualities of homosexuals.

Of course I'm speaking in general terms. I'm sure there are some people that truly are that confident, and THAT GAY.

DADT

Over on the Physician Assistant Forum there was a discussion about Don't Ask Don't tell. There were some diverse opinions on the matter. You can refer to the link to see the spectrum. Some people were totally against gays in the military, some supported DADT, some thought gays should be able to serve openly. It was a fiery debate. I like to think that my response was one of the more cool, calm and collected:

I read the first 6 pages of this thread, so I feel I got a good sense of what's going on. Why not throw my $0.02. Where to start...

I'm gay. (That makes like 2 people total here, right?) I use to consider myself a Republican, but then realized current Republicans weren't actually Republican. So I have no real party affiliation or team bias. I've never served. I could give my religion, but don't see how that's relevant since we live in a country based off secularism. As a side note, being "secular" doesn't mean being godless or without morals. It means being respectful of all people regardless of their personal beliefs.

I understand where these disapproving people come from when they say, "I don't want gays checking out my junk." That's fair, you're uncomfortable, and women and men have always been split apart. You want some mutual respect. My response is that I don't understand why women and men need to be split apart. Aren't they all adults on a mission? IDK - I've never served so maybe I'm missing something here. When I'm seen as a patient, or seeing a patient I don't care about gender. But if it's really that big of a need to split men from women, then yes it should be done by sexual orientation also. Men have rights too.

Outside of this living condition situation I think it's ridiculous that gays shouldn't be able to serve openly in the military. What part of being gay is a hinderance to service? Oh, it makes some good old boys uncomfortable and they make up a large percentage of the military? I dare say that a number of people felt just as uncomfortable next to blacks when they started serving without segregation. People are different. Get over it. You would be shocked that you might actually like and respect these people.

As for whether homosexuality is a "lifestyle choice" or not - does it matter? If people don't approve or respect me because of my "choices" then so be it. It's not like I have to approve of you either. I'll still show you respect. I'm not touching the "sin" aspect because that is purely up for interpretation based off you religion.

Which leads me to this last ridiculous question about being gay and a Christian musician. Believe it or not, there are sects of Christianity that don't believe homosexuality is a sin. Crazy I know. They're the same groups that also believe in evolution, women's right and that slavery is out of fashion. What is this world coming to.

Addition:
To people who support gays via DADT: Why are heteros allowed to talk about their families and spouses and maybe daresay occasionally their sexual desires, while gays aren't allowed to express anything similarly? I listen to my straight friends talk all day about their raunchy desires. If I say "I want to see Prince of Persia simply for Jake Gyllenhall," then damn(!) let me get that off my chest! It's not like I'm humping your leg!