Members get a daily Covid-19 topic focused on Covid in Tennessee.
Supporters are part of a self-improvement sub-group where value is dispensed daily on personal growth in all aspects of life, informed by many sources. New members welcome!
Tennessee Covid update:
Hospitalizations are down by 59 today, with 52 deaths reported and positivity at 18.21%.
My computer crashed and somehow managed to lose my spreadsheet on which I've been tracking Covid numbers since March of 2020. Not sure I'll be able to recover it. So, for now, I'll just copy the state totals, not the confirmed numbers.
I've become concerned that my posts talking about alternative therapies, etc, have given encouragement to some to not be vaccinated when the good advice is to get the shot. So, if you've been wondering if I'm subtly trying to encourage not being immune, but relying on other treatments IN PLACE OF vaccination or having acquired natural immunity through the far more risky path of natural infection, I want to clearly and unequivocally state that immunity is the only way this virus becomes not novel, and, therefore, basically just another cold or flu-like illness.
Yes, I agree with those whose criticism of the system consists of bad messaging and the discounting (ok, the complete ignoring) of naturally acquired immunity.
Yes, I am highly critical of the "go home and quarantine until you're too sick to breath" advice. It's intellectually bankrupt, in my opinion.
Yes, I have been and will continue to be vocal about maximizing your own personal health. If you are carrying more than a healthy weight, it is high time you own it and fix it. This virus disproportionally kills and sickens overweight/obese individuals, and people with sedentary lifestyles, and this is a completely modifiable risk factor for most.
Yes, the mRNA vaccines have caused some complications in some people. But nowhere near the rate of complications of Covid-19. It's not even on the same scale. And remember, stories are at once more persuasive and far less reflective of reality at the population level. Most stories, when I ask for details, are not supported by evidence.
Yes, there have been many VAERS reports. There has also been a mass vaccination campaign not seen before in most of our lifetimes. And VAERS remains a tool to look for signals at the epidemiological level, not designed for the general public to gaze at and try to interpret. It may report x number of a particular event, but you don't have the number of times event x happens in the general population. People die. People have strokes. People have heart attacks. People get palsies and pains. That is the risk of being alive. But did it happen at a greater rate in the vaccinated than in the unvaccinated? We rarely have that info at our fingertips to compare. This is why I consider most anyone quoting VAERS data to be misinformed, or pushing an agenda.
So take your vitamins, get your sleep, lose your weight. I don't even care if you want to treat your onchocerciasis with the approved medicine.
But I want you to take seriously that vaccination and survival of infection are the only real, viable ways we get this virus to no longer matter.
I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record. I'll try to get on to something more interesting later, but right now I'm energized by the post-Covid death of a friend, and it has greatly impacted how I'm thinking about my role as a leader.
Stay healthy!
I'm on a weekend night call schedule this weekend, which always leaves me feeling under-rested and generally icky.
But I wanted to remind you that outdoor exercise without screens is really good for your mental health.
Go outdoors, preferably into the woods.
Get in tune with those surroundings, the sights, the sounds, the smells, even the movement of air and the varying temperatures as you walk.
We were made to be outdoors.
We were definitely not made to work in cubicles.
One Degree!
What you want from your body will dictate what you need to set as goals, and the goals will determine what you'll end up having to change to attain them.
I've spoken many times about systems being better than goals, and my position has not changed.
But goals are easier to discuss and to understand, so for this week, we'll be very specific about goals.
Do you want more muscle mass?
Do you want to be stronger?
Do you want to run faster?
Do you want to gain weight?
Do you want to lose weight?
Do you want to improve general fitness?
Do you want longevity?
Do you want strong bones?
Do you want to earn a Black Belt?
Understanding the benefits and costs of each particular goal may help you decide what you want.
For example, if you want to compete in body-building competitions, you'll not be doing the same thing as if you were focused on longevity. Same with strength competitions.
But general fitness and longevity go fairly well together.
Running is great but will increase the likelihood of needing knee or hip ...
I'll make this one short and to the point.
Spring time change is hard on all of us. Having to get up an hour early doesn't make going to bed an hour earlier much easier.
Yes, it's nice to have more productive time in the evening.
But it's at the cost of forcing us out of be an hour earlier, as we all know.
Our challenge is to adjust our circadian rhythm to match the world's expectations around us.
My main strategy is supplementing with a dose of melatonin about a half hour before I need to be asleep. It helps most people fall asleep more readily.
If you need a nap during your day, take it between mid-morning and early afternoon. Limit it to 20 minutes.
Taking a longer or later nap may make it even harder to get off to sleep in time.
All of the other normal advice applies even moreso:
- Take a 20-minute walk after supper.
- No screen time for the last hour before bed.
- Listen to calm music after supper.
- Don't eat for 2 hours before bed.
- Don't have conflict-laden conversations ...
