Yratorm, LightMage

I personally believe that there is insufficient data on this subject.I believe that in the not so far distant future (say in the next ten to twenty thousand years), humans will perhaps learn to create universes of their own.Therefore will humans then be gods? To other humans, no - to those in the created universes, perhaps yes.It is possible that there is a god (in the sense - a being who created the universe) - it is also more than likely that if this is so, that god is little or nothing like what religious people believe 'him' to be.A god, if he exists, is probably a creature far beyond human understanding (not even necessarily much superior, but certainly very, very different). And perhaps god 'cares' for the universe (if 'he' is a creature even capable of caring, which is a HUMAN emotion, please note - we do not know that 'he' is capable of human emotions for certain).As I said, there is little data on the subject. To make definite statements in these conditions of darkness is the height of arrogance. There is no data, only postulation put in a positive, definite light by blind faith.Humility is the knowledge of ignorance, that one day leads us into the light of knowledge. Blind faith - the words 'I KNOW' are arrogant, and can only result in the perpetuation of ignorance.What are we, truly? - a little spark of life on a tiny rock dwarfed by the vastness of this universe. Let us not hold ourselves higher or greater than we are, voicing opinions beyond our understanding. The human race is here today, and perhaps it will be gone tomorrow. Or perhaps not. Who knows?All we can do is do our best to learn, to advance towards a distant perfection - to be fully worthy of this moment in which we exist.

There's a simple deep-breathing exercise that has a very calming effect:Concentrate and focus your whole mind on your breathing. Breathe in deeply, through your nose, in TWO inward breaths, drawing the air down into your stomach. Hold the breath here for two heartbeats.Now breathe out through your mouth, in TWO outward breaths. Your stomach should move when you breathe in this way, not your chest.Do this from ten to fifteen times. This is a form of breathing exercise used at the basic level in many martial arts. If you'd like to enhance it's effect, you can imagine that you're underwater in a calm, calm pool while doing it - Breathing in the calmness, allowing it to spread through your mind and body.

Hmm, there's a LOT of good advice in this thread, so I'll put in my two cents as well. Use a two-pronged approach to deal with depression. Firstly, start exercising. It doesn't have to be anything special - go for a run in the park, sit under some trees, feed the ducks, commune with nature. Stand in the sunlight; - see how beautiful the world is. Relax your mind. You'll find this calming - and the exercise will do you good. Do some pushups when you get home, some kneebends/squats and crunches. Just as much as you can. Your body produces a lot of substances that help you towards a positive outlook when you're healthy.Ever hear the saying 'a healthy mind in a healthy body?' well those ancient greeks had something there. First start with your body - maintain it well, and you'll find that helps your mind feel better as well.Then you could start with a hobby or interest - preferably something that doesn't cost too much and involves other people - some artists or poets club if you have that bent - or whatever your particular talent is. And we are ALL talented in one way or another, so find yours and work at it WITH others. You'll improve your people skills, and since you're doing something you like, you'll be more confident with people who like the same thing.As your health and confidence improves, you'll find that you can face the world better. Give it a shot - you have nothing to lose.

Hmm, I stand by what I said, the body needs a mix of several exercises. Running is great, but if you just do running and nothing else, your fitness will tend to be one-sided. I wouldn't hold with just running, just as I wouldn't hold with just weight training to the exclusion of all else. A healthy body should be capable of extending it's capabilities in any direction, not just into cardio or aerobic exercise. There was a time when I used to look down on weight training (I was very young) - later, when I tried it, I found it had benefits of it's own, benefits which running couldn't give me (I've won a marathon, so I do know running). There's no one perfect exercise for perfect fitness - rather there has to be a subtle blend of several - train all the aspects of your body and you'll find that the benefits are incredible. For losing weight alone, I agree, running is probably the best, with strenuous aerobics or martial arts coming a close second.

Yeah, I know what you mean - I feel sluggish, I lack energy, if I'm dehydrated. A certain amount of water is a must.

Okay, if you follow these instructions, you should gain weight. First of all - don't push too hard. This is most important at your age. If you push too hard (and I'm going to suggest weight training below) - you might damage your joints, and while this will surely heal as you grow (I've seen it happen in a growing person), it will effectively stop any training program you might have until you're much older. So be careful. The second point is - eat. Your body is growing so it needs a great deal of 'building material' shall we say. If you add exercises to this, you need even more building material, i.e. food. Exercise rips and stresses the muscle fibres, then this needs to be repaired by the body. If you don't want to be affected height-wise, you MUST take in enough nourishment both for your growing body and for the exercise you're doing.Okay, down to business:1) Eat six meals a day. They don't have to be heavy meals, but they have to be high on protien, low on fat, and medium on carbs. Go for lean meat and potatoes as a base. Dividing your intake into six equal meals allows your body to absorb much more from the food than it normally would.2) Sleep well. This is VERY important - the body builds and repairs tissue in sleep. You NEED your sleep if you're training hard for bulk.3) Drink plenty of water - water is one of your body's building materials! Remember, a good percentage of your body is water. So, to build muscle, you not only need surplus protein, you need water too.4) Exercise different muscles on different days. For example, if you exercise your arms and upper body on one day, then exercise your legs on another. This way, the muscles get more time for repair and 'building' - if you exercise the same muscles every day, they will never get the time to build, and you just won't put on much mass no matter what you do (remember, the body works slowly - think of the way a cut heals).5) The MOST important point of all. Exercise with weights. If you can afford to, buy a blank dumbell and add as much weight to it as you feel comfortable with. These are the weight exercises that build most bulk:a) Bench Press (can be done with a dumbell with you laying at the side of a bed or a sofa, with the hand doing the exercise over the side) - I'm assuming here that you don't have the cash for a bench, barbell, etc. so I'm suggesting things that can be done cheap. Shoulder pressc) Squats (knee bends) with weight in your hands. These are the best exercises for building bulk - they'll build bulk muscle in your chest, in your arms, in your legs and lower back and abs. After you've built sufficient bulk muscle you can 'fine tune' your body with other weight exercises, but the exercises above are a quick way to bulk up.You can use a brick or stone (that you can grip) if you can't afford a blank dumbell and some weights, but I'd say go for the dumbell and weights if you can - that way you know EXACTLY what weight you're doing and exactly how much you're increasing by when you increase. Buy a used one if you can, they aren't too expensive.A hint - if you can do less than ten repetitions with a weight, it's probably too heavy for you - if you can do more than ten repetitions, it's too light. Somewhere around ten is optimal.If you'd like I could post more clear instructions on exactly how to do each of the exercises above. I train people in the martial arts and physical fitness, so feel free to ask about anything.I hope this was of some help. Good luck.

I don't really care one way or another - I used to HATE having shots as a kid, and even when I was older. When I was a kid I used to create a big scene - later, when I was older, a doc noticed that I was nervous and he said - just look at the needle as it goes in - you'll see it's a very little thing and nothing to be worried about. So I did, and realized that yes, it was a very little thing; and while looking at it go in, I realized that yes, it didn't really hurt so much at all. Since then needles haven't worried me. I must say that some docs & medics are really skilled at giving injections (as compared to others) - if a person who knows what they're doing gives you an injection you actually hardly feel a thing. As for the arm paining afterwards - if you rub the area vigorously for a few minutes after you take the shot, and give it a rub again after every half hour or so for an hour or two, this tends to reduce the arm pain a bit.

Why not try wristbands for your wrists? Especially if your forearms are normal, a nice set of wristbands or broad close-fitting bracelets should easily disguise it. Physically, there isn't much that you can do about it - some earlier posters here mentioned this. The wrist contains almost no muscle at all - if you see a person with thick wrists, that person either has 1) thick wrists genetically, or 2) has a layer of fat covering his/her body (including the wrists) that makes the wrists look thicker. My advice? - don't ruin your overall figure by overeating - once you put on fat in the wrong places, it's extremely difficult to get it off, so please be careful. Fat cells (especially in the stomach area) tend to produce substances that prevent them from being eliminated, which is why many people have trouble getting the weight off these areas. The best idea I can give you is.. work on the rest of your figure - exercise well. Become so damn sexy, overall (excuse the language, hehe) that no one in their right mind looks at (or comments) on your wrists - their eyes should be.. elsewhere, shall we say I know body-builders (I train people at fitness and the martial arts) who have skinny wrists. No one passes comments, because the rest of their bodies are so perfect that the wrist somehow doesn't matter. Anyway, this is just my take on things.. don't focus on the negative - work on building the positive so much that ultimately the negative ceases to matter at all. And the comments you get then will be compliments (except for a few people who are just plain jealous, hehehehehe )

An early post mentioned that a large percentage of the human body is water - I think that it's important to remember this when you exercise. If you want to build muscle after a strenuous exercise routine, for example, you have to not only take in protien but also a great deal of water - you have to not only replace the water you lost in sweat, but also take in enough so the body can build and repair muscle. As for different tasting waters - I wouldn't be surprised if mineral water companies put some mild additive into the water to make it taste a little different. Well, it's just a shot in the dark, but I wouldn't be surprised if they do. The best water I ever tasted was from a glacial mountain stream - cold, clean, clear as crystal and totally refreshing.

Yup, chocolate has a lot of good effects - it stimulates the body to produce endorphins, which in turn stimulate the body to produce powerful antibodies (strengthening your immune system) - it produces higher anti-oxidants, which can actually cut cholestrol. And it contains serotonin, an active anti-depressant (which explains why people tend to eat chocolate when they're depressed or have the blues - it's a good 'pick me up'). The only downside is it has a lot of calories, of course - if you're feeling low on energy, there's nothing like a bar of chocolate to give you a boost - but you have to burn that energy, is all. If you exercise enough, then eating chocolate can definitely be good for you.

Sugar makes for great energy - if you use it. If you're doing strenuous aerobics, running, martial arts workouts, then sugar gives you a lot of energy to burn. It's not at all a bad thing if you burn it. I generally eat food with sugars in it on the days I'm working out a lot - it helps keep me going, provides the energy my body is using. Even for diabetics, exercise is a very good idea - a lot of running/strenuous exercises will reduce blood sugar like anything. This doesn't mean you can gorge on sweets or anything, but it's a healthy way to deal with the disease AND improve your physical condition.

Hmm - for a person who wants to gain weight, I'd say follow these simple steps: 1) Take a look at your diet - check that you're not taking in more simple carbs and less protein. 2) Weight training is best for healthy weight gain - build muscle mass. Some of the best exercises for building mass are the bench press and shoulder press (for the upper body), and squats (for the legs, abdominals and lower back). I can post more detailed info on diet and exercise to increase pure muscle bulk, if you'd like.

Right - exactly. Modern humans can lead such a sedentary existence - mix that with taking in even a little more calories than you need and you get excess weight. Even taking up a rigorous sport is good strategy. Get out of the chair, get out of the house, get physical LOL. It's all about balancing the calorie intake with those burned. If a person pushes themselves hard enough and far enough, they begin to recognise real hunger (as in, the body's need for nourishment) rather than psychological 'hunger pangs' or just plain eating too much rich food. If you burn enough, you can eat well, but (especially in this season, hehe) a lot of people go beyond eating well into adding that extra weight where it really isn't needed.

Hmm, I don't have a problem with weight personally - I train a lot and conduct fitness classes. But, I have an uncle who is pretty obese. But he's comfortable with it. As a matter of fact, he's so comfortable with it that when I think of him, the word 'fat' doesn't come to mind at all - rather, I'd think of the words charming, or witty, or helpful, or just plain happy. He has so many positive points that it's just impossible to think of him in a negative way. And I don't think anyone's called my uncle fat, ever - I have the feeling everyone thinks of him as I do, as charming and humorous and helpful. So I think that if you're comfortable enough and happy enough with yourself, and just plain nice to people, pretty soon you'll have the people around you smiling and nodding and just plain liking you. Of course there are exceptions, there are always those; people who will be mean and rude - but if they can't see through to what a person is inside, it's really more their loss than anyone else's don't you think? If you want to reduce a little extra weight, or have a health problem that requires weight reduction, go ahead and work at reducing it - but because it's what you want, or what you need, not because of what others think. And as for what other's might think of you - hey, I feel that it's what people really are inside that matters - their talents, humor, intellect, their caring, etc. The outside isn't important (well, at least to me). Yup, a bit off topic, I know, but couldn't resist LOL - I'm just irritated that some people look at a person and say 'look, fat' sort of like passing judgement; it's rude, immature, nasty - it's just plain wrong.

Lots of good advice above, in this thread. For an exercise regime, I'd say mix different exercises to prevent the body developing a resistance to one type of exercise. If you're really 'set' in your jogging regime, then keep with that. I'd say that losing 8 kilos is a considerable success - keep it up, you're doing great! If you just keep to jogging, your weight should continue to drop, but this process will slow a bit with time - why not alternate it with aerobics or some strenuous martial arts class, say twice a week. I recommend joining a cheap class if there's any nearby, especially if you think their routines are strenuous (ask to observe a lesson) - this way, even if the aerobics/martial arts class is only twice a week, you'll still be varying the training your body's getting, and it won't be used to any one regime. It should help your weight-loss. Another nice thing about a class is that with a lot of people working together, it's easier to 'go along' with them, and so you can push yourself harder. A training partner is another cool idea, but he/she's got to be as dedicated as you, or it will ruin your own exercise program (nothing like an irregular partner to do that).Later on, when your weight has dropped to a level you're happy with, you could consider adding weights to your exercise program for strength training as well. For example, do your jogging/cardio on one day, and medium to heavy weights (whatever you can manage) on another. This will build strength as well as endurance - I really believe in all-round training for perfect physical fitness. Hope this was of some help. Take care.