The questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread VIII

[Mirc]

"€", the Euro sign maybe?
Edit: Ah NVM you said vertical, sorry.

 

[say1988]

And?

If that isn't it, what kind of sign and what else was on it?

 

[Kerozine]

Beta, β.

 

[holy king]

you mean ß?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Not quite, as the line was going through the middle of it.

 

[Brighteye]

If I stood outside in the freezing cold for 30 minutes would that be like going on run? In terms of calories used to stay warm.

You wouldn't burn many extra calories. If you stood outside in the freezing cold for a few hours a day for a few weeks, you'd find yourself with a much bigger appetite, but except by shivering your body can't change calorie consumption that fast. Shivering is nowhere near as energetic as running, except perhaps when you're dangerously cold.

Which of these is most effective for losing weight:

Treadmill:

Bike machine thing:

Step and handle machine thing:

Is there any value in doing all three?

I am told that the stepping machine is best, although I think that running is good. The treadmill wears your joints more, so if you've a lot of weight you will probably want to try something else first. Doing all three varies the exercise and makes you more toned.

Earlier today I stubbed my toe. Within an hour it swelled to twice the size, and now it's turning some really funny colors. It's extremely difficult to walk, partly because its so swollen I can't bend my toe to touch the floor and partly because it hurts so much. Should I go to the hospital?

How did things go at the hospital?

Never had sex.

Well, the thing is my mom poked my toe and said it wasn't broken because I didn't scream loud enough.

The doctor did that with my mother: sent her away because she wasn't in enough pain. A few weeks later the ankle hadn't healed and she now has a metal club instead of a foot because the doctor didn't realise that some people are capable of controlling themselves.

Is the loss of taste and smell from smoking permanent or will it go away? I know it deadens the receptors or something.

Almost all the ill-effects of smoking go away within 6 months. The risk of cancer and the premature ageing stay.

1. How do you get over a broken heart without alcohol/drugs/parties?

2. Is it possible to lose 22lbs in 30 days?

3. Is it possible to lose 44lbs in 60 days or less?

4. How fast can you shed weight without falling ill?

I have done both 2 and 3. Go hiking and eat only what you can carry with you. It helps with broken hearts too.

I don't know any smokers who have problems with smell/taste. Even the 15-year/2-3packs a day veterans.
It is in no way a significant problem. The senses are prolly just slighlty dulled. It might be a bigger problem when you're 60 or smthing tho; but by the time you're 60 you wont need smell and taste anyway.

Even people who just inhale passive smoke and/or smoke 1-5 a day have poor senses of smell and taste.

Today on a sign I saw a backwards 3 with a vertical line through it. What is it?

It means 'and'.

 

[Flying Pig]

Go hiking and eat only what you can carry with you.

Woah! You should never, ever be losing weight on a hike at anything like that rate. There used to be a problem when military units went out in the jungle because all of the heat and the work you do means that you end up losing weight, but you should be eating upwards of 4000 calories for a day on the move. Carry decent food!

But no 2 and 3, are still on. Thanks.

Don't. It's stupidly dangerous.

 

[Sashie VII]

I have done both 2 and 3. Go hiking and eat only what you can carry with you. It helps with broken hearts too.

Er, my heart's been unbroken.

But no 2 and 3, are still on. Thanks.

 

[Zelig]

2. Is it possible to lose 22lbs in 30 days?

3. Is it possible to lose 44lbs in 60 days or less?

Not safely, no. A pound of fat is ~3500 Calories, so for 22 lbs, you're looking at a 77,000 Calorie deficit, or a deficit of over 2500 Calories per day. If you don't exercise, you probably use less than 2500 Calories per day, so you'd have to eat nothing for 30 days, and do some amount of exercise, to lose 22 lbs of fat.

Weight loss is not something you should think of as an immediate thing -- a weekend project. Its a change you have to make in your lifestyle. You gotta commit to losing the weight and keeping it off. Longterm.

This.

 

[Flying Pig]

When I wanted to get fit back in the day, I said to myself that from the day that I started, I had a year before I wanted to be fit enough. Now I knew that I needed to have running speed, running stamina, core strength and a lot of determination, so I decided that on a Saturday I would run for as long as I could before I had to stop (later I changed this to 'for two hours'). On Tuesday I ran a mile and a half as fast as I could until I could do it in nine minutes. On Thursday I did push-ups and sit-ups and just about every other sort of weight exercise that was possible (done with bags of coal for practical reasons). That way, I ended up far fitter than most people and I didn't injure myself once.

 

[Brighteye]

Woah! You should never, ever be losing weight on a hike at anything like that rate. There used to be a problem when military units went out in the jungle because all of the heat and the work you do means that you end up losing weight, but you should be eating upwards of 4000 calories for a day on the move. Carry decent food!

Don't. It's stupidly dangerous.

It's not the healthiest way to lose weight, but he asked 'is it possible'.
I've done it, and I hadn't much fat to begin with. I put it on again in 3 months because I wanted to.

Not safely, no. A pound of fat is ~3500 Calories, so for 22 lbs, you're looking at a 77,000 Calorie deficit, or a deficit of over 2500 Calories per day. If you don't exercise, you probably use less than 2500 Calories per day, so you'd have to eat nothing for 30 days, and do some amount of exercise, to lose 22 lbs of fat.

Hiking takes your mind off hunger, gives you pretty views and good experiences and can be fulfilling because of these, and consumes a lot of energy. When I'm out on proper hikes I can eat 10,000 calories a day and still feel hungry. A 2,500 calorie deficit is quite easy to achieve on a full day's hiking.

When I wanted to get fit back in the day, I said to myself that from the day that I started, I had a year before I wanted to be fit enough. Now I knew that I needed to have running speed, running stamina, core strength and a lot of determination, so I decided that on a Saturday I would run for as long as I could before I had to stop (later I changed this to 'for two hours'). On Tuesday I ran a mile and a half as fast as I could until I could do it in nine minutes. On Thursday I did push-ups and sit-ups and just about every other sort of weight exercise that was possible (done with bags of coal for practical reasons). That way, I ended up far fitter than most people and I didn't injure myself once.

Someone new to hiking who takes some easy walks on is likely to give himself blisters, but not injure himself. If he wants to lose weight fast, he wants that for a reason. A permanent change in lifestyle will keep the weight off, but if it's the climax of his life in two months that might not be as important.

 

[Flying Pig]

Hiking takes your mind off hunger, gives you pretty views and good experiences and can be fulfilling because of these, and consumes a lot of energy. When I'm out on proper hikes I can eat 10,000 calories a day and still feel hungry. A 2,500 calorie deficit is quite easy to achieve on a full day's hiking.

That's spectacularly bad management. You should never be on that sort of deficit - that's going to lead to starvation. It's almost the same as going a day without food; learn to manage your intake better. I suggest buying boil in the bag meals and eating three a day, plus snacks, to ensure that you don't do yourself harm. Try compo ration packs at a stretch.

 

[Shekwan]

I think the fact that you trained with bags of coal is awesome, Flying Pig. I'm picturing a Rocky style training montage set in Wales. Running through the valleys with some sort of choir as backing music.

 

[Lord Baal]

It means 'and'.

This is right aimee. It's actually a quick way of writing the ampisand ('&') symbol by hand, as it's a lot easier than doing it properly. Especially if it's painted, as on a billboard.

I think the fact that you trained with bags of coal is awesome, Flying Pig. I'm picturing a Rocky style training montage set in Wales. Running through the valleys with some sort of choir as backing music.

Every time I try to get in shape, I put on my Rocky soundtrack. Unfortunately, this inevitably ends with me injuring myself by thinking I can actually train like Rocky Balboa.

 

[Flying Pig]

I think the fact that you trained with bags of coal is awesome, Flying Pig. I'm picturing a Rocky style training montage set in Wales. Running through the valleys with some sort of choir as backing music.

Pretty much that without the choir. Back in the day we worked for a living

 

[aronnax]

Why do some Russian surnames end with the suffix -sky while some Polish surnames end with the suffix -ski even though they are both pronounced "skee"?

 

[Lone Wolf]

Why do some Russian surnames end with the suffix -sky while some Polish surnames end with the suffix -ski even though they are both pronounced "skee"?

Since Russian uses Cyrillic alphabet, it's just transliteration conventions.

 

[holy king]

well, poles use the latin alphabet.

seems like the cyrillic letter in question traditionally gets translated to y in english.

 

[Lone Wolf]

seems like the cyrillic letter in question traditionally gets translated to y in english.

There are actually two letters. "Sky" = "ский". The "и" is usually "i", while the "й" is usually (though not in this case) consonant "y".

There is still a slight ghost of consonant y pronounced at the end of such surnames, so maybe that's the reason for such a transliteration.

 

[Brighteye]

That's spectacularly bad management. You should never be on that sort of deficit - that's going to lead to starvation. It's almost the same as going a day without food; learn to manage your intake better. I suggest buying boil in the bag meals and eating three a day, plus snacks, to ensure that you don't do yourself harm. Try compo ration packs at a stretch.

He wants that sort of starvation. I suffered no permanent harm from the hike. Much longer and I might have done. People become obese because they eat too much.
Such people became obese because they eat snacks a lot and munch large meals. A full day of hiking builds/retains muscle whilst creating a calorie demand that only the grossest over-eaters usually satisfy.
That saves the fatty the trouble of controlling his appetite as much as he might otherwise need. It also gets him away from temptation, and forces him to do the exercise before temptation can be reached.
It's better than a gym, because people can give up early in the gym, or easily eat the calories again in the rest of the day. It's exactly what I said it is: a rapid lifestyle change that provides rapid weight loss. Two weeks of hiking on leave from work, preferably after a few weekends of training hikes, is much quicker than a year's careful control, and for someone for whom self-control is hard, much easier.
That it was poor food 'management' when I did it doesn't change that. Nor is starvation a problem if the person is still consuming enough vitamins and minerals and has huge fat stores.