2011-09-05 17:52:40 +02:00
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title: Fixing Concentration
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date: 2010-07-13
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2012-02-04 23:38:44 +01:00
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techne: :rough
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episteme: :broken
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2011-12-23 09:27:22 +01:00
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toc: true
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2011-09-05 17:52:40 +02:00
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---
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2010-07-13 23:20:19 +02:00
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I had serious problems concentrating. Typically, I rapidly lost focus or just
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felt blah and unmotivated the whole day, often with a (minor to medium)
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depression thrown in for good measure. Here's what I tried and how I finally
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fixed it.
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Diet and Drugs
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==============
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Caffeine
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--------
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2012-03-29 19:43:07 +02:00
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<%= image("coffee_cat.jpg", "totally safe") %>
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2010-07-13 23:20:19 +02:00
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2011-04-15 11:49:03 +02:00
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Caffeine drastically improves my concentration. It gives me an indiscriminate,
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but very narrow focus. I can work for hours on basically anything, but find it
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hard to change topics or decide what to do in the first place. But if I made
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those decisions early on and arranged it so that I could work all day without
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disturbances, then caffeine works really well. However, I noticed that this
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concentration isn't "real" concentration, but rather a synthetic kind. It
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*feels* similar, but instead of increasing my capacity it simply makes me ignore
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my tiredness. So I sit for hours, thinking I'm doing useful work, when I really
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only burn myself out and get really sloppy.
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And there are more problems with caffeine. Most importantly, it reduces
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serotonin and builds up a resistance. Because of the resistance, you either soon
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get diminishing returns while still dealing with all of the downsides, or you
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keep on increasing the dosage till you crash. I typically went the crash route.
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Reduced serotonin levels lead to an unstable mood, depression, crankiness and
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twitching muscles. All very sucky.
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2010-07-13 23:20:19 +02:00
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Furthermore, caffeine screws up my sleep. It improves some part of it, but makes
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it less regenerative and harder to fall asleep. However, a sudden large dose has
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the opposite effect. I fall asleep easily and dream very vividly, totally
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cocaine-fueled. While I won't *feel* sleep-deprived, I will still *be* it.
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2011-04-15 11:49:03 +02:00
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Because of this, I'd strongly advice against caffeine.
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2010-07-13 23:20:19 +02:00
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2011-04-15 11:49:03 +02:00
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Animal Fat
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----------
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2010-07-13 23:20:19 +02:00
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Despite what virtually all common wisdom is going to tell you, animal fat is
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probably the most important thing for you to eat. (The second-most important are
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bacteria[^bacteria]). As I'm a bit lazy, I'll do no convincing here and leave
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2011-09-05 17:52:40 +02:00
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this to the [Paleo][] crowd. (Ignore the libertarians. Just try it yourself for a
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2010-07-13 23:20:19 +02:00
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week and be amazed.) If you are an vegetarian, then you really shouldn't be one.
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But the very least don't be a vegan, k? Because then you are royally screwed
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with regards to food.
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2011-09-05 17:52:40 +02:00
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[^bacteria]: I'm just gonna send you over to [Seth Roberts][Seth Bacteria] on
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this. I completely agree with him on everything about nutrition, having
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tested it all myself. Seriously, grab yourself some strong jogurt (not the
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sweet stuff, but the good, sour one), kefir or miso and eat it. Every day.
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You can thank me later when most of the problems you just lived with are
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gone.
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2010-07-13 23:20:19 +02:00
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Eating about 50-100g of butter refuels my energy almost completely in less than
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20 minutes and greatly increases concentration. I perform better on all
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intelligence and memory tests I used and find learning (especially with Anki)
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to be easier and more enjoyable. I'm now reworking my diet to get in as much
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as I can. I eat plenty of quark, butter (even raw) and as fatty a dinner as I
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can get away with.
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Butter is my clear favorite. Very high-fat (>50%) cream, cheese or quark work as
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well, but I don't like their taste too much. I do eat a lot of quark with about
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15-20% fat content, though, and the occasional psychedelic cheese[^cheese].
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When choosing butter, be sure to pick one from grass-fed cows. It contains high
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levels of Omega-3, which also greatly increases all kinds of mental functions
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and general health. A good and wide-spread brand is Kerrygold, although there
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are often local alternatives as well.
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2011-09-05 17:52:40 +02:00
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[^cheese]: I'm not kidding here. I have no idea what exactly is causing it, but
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2010-07-13 23:20:19 +02:00
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*something* in certain cheeses is clearly psychedelic. I get a trippy mood,
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incredibly wild dreams and even some mild hallucinations. I suspect the
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tryptophan, but it doesn't really fit the dosage and only seems to happen
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with cheese. Anyway, I recommend Danish Havarti.
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The other component is protein. I'm not yet sure about a good base level, but I
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found that eating a lot more meat and eggs also helps. Not as noticeable as with
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fat (that is, the effect doesn't kick in right away), but it's certainly there.
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Just as with animal fat, this doesn't apply to any plant source. Soy or flour
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don't count as a good protein source because of all their other negative
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effects. I know how much living without grains sucks, being a big fan of pizza
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and tofu, but having collected data for months now, I can quite clearly say
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that, at least for me, grains are never worth it. They screw up your digestion,
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your mental performance and sap away your energy. That feeling of being totally
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sated and need for a nap after dinner? That's the grains. It's not normal.
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Eating dinner should have you *more* active than before, not *less*.
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2011-04-15 11:49:03 +02:00
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Protein
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-------
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2011-09-05 17:52:40 +02:00
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TODO
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2011-04-15 11:49:03 +02:00
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Sugar
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-----
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2011-09-05 17:52:40 +02:00
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TODO
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2010-07-13 23:20:19 +02:00
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St. John's Wort
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----------------
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St. John's Wort has gotten quite a bit of attention recently for being as least
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as effective as all other depression medicine while generally having far less
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side-effects.
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So far, it has been very successful in both preventing my typical seasonal
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depression beginning around November and in aborting an ongoing depression. I
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also took it during my most recent caffeine withdrawal and I think it greatly
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improved it, but I'm quite unwilling of doing another as a control.
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I'm unsure if there is any positive effect beyond preventing the depression. I
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had no noticeable side effects despite taking 900mg of it for months. As a test,
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I stopped a week after my caffeine withdrawal was over, as my serotonin levels
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were stable anyway and I suspected that St. John's Wort slightly decreases
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motivation, at least when it is unnecessary.
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Unfortunately, I had about a week of withdrawal, which mostly resulted in mild
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mania, severe tiredness and low motivation. Still more pleasant than caffeine
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withdrawal and certainly better (and shorter) than depression, which could last
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for months. I would still advocate slowly reducing the dose instead to avoid
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withdrawal.
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After that, my motivation didn't really recover. My mood was stable and my sleep
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returned to more normal levels, but I was still wasting a lot of time, as is
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typical for depression. So I went back to my daily dose and am quite happy with
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the result. I'm still trying to find the perfect dosage that is *just* beneath
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the overdose when my muscles start twitching and I get nervous. About 600mg work
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seems to work, though. I may try getting off again next spring, nonetheless,
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after everything has stabilized more.
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I suspect that 5-HTP works very well, too, although I never got to test it. I
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failed to try it a few years back when it was still unregulated in Germany,
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although I actually wanted to. It has a very good track record and I would
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recommend trying it if St. John's Wort doesn't work for you. I might... obtain
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it at some point, but so far, I am happy with St. John's Wort and see no
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advantage in switching.
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I have a relatively low opinion of most mainstream medication for depression,
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though especially SSRIs may be worth a try. Personally, I also had good
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short-term success with MAO inhibitors, but wouldn't recommend them because they
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are so incompatible with many other drugs or important food. It's just too hard
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2011-09-05 17:52:40 +02:00
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to eat right and too easy to kill yourself on MAO inhibitors. Also, raised
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serotonin levels and drugs don't mix at all, especially MDMA or DXM.
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[Serotonin syndrome] isn't nice. It's a bit of a pity, though, but I can live
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with that.
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2010-07-13 23:20:19 +02:00
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Tyrosine
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--------
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2012-03-29 19:43:07 +02:00
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<%= image("lolcats.jpg", "lolcatecholamines") %>
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2010-07-13 23:20:19 +02:00
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Now comes the magic bullet. Seriously, Tyrosine is among my favorite chemicals
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because it fixes a problem without creating new ones. That's quite rare.
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Tyrosine is basically a building block for many important neurotransmitters,
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most importantly the catecholamines (CATs) which are necessary for
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concentration and proper motivation. If you can't get yourself to do something
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you actually want to do (and enjoy), then you have a big CAT deficiency.
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Caffeine is by far the most common "cure", but with all its side-effects, it
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doesn't really fix the problem.
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Tyrosine, for me, does. On the first day, I took 900mg in the morning and all
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desire for caffeine was gone. I took another 900mg after dinner and kicked
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caffeine immediately. Without any side-effects or withdrawal symptoms. *None*.
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If you have ever done a caffeine withdrawal after heavy use, that might already
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be the selling point right there.
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I now use 900mg every morning and occasionally 900mg after a nap if I have a
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lazy day. I haven't yet experimented with higher doses (up to 4g) because I
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don't wanna jinx it. Taking the powder orally (keeping it in your mouth a bit)
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has a faster onset (and slight high), but taking capsules seems to have more or
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less the same effect. I'm still experimenting with this, though.
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I'm now completely caffeine free and have better long-term memory and a far more
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usable level of concentration. Full-on caffeine mode is slightly stronger, but
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so manic that it is utterly useless. Mental tunnel-vision is not a good thing,
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you know.
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With tyrosine, however, my concentration is as it should be. I don't have to
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trick myself into starting anything, but can just work right away. I only get
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exhausted when I actually did something (and can refuel with sleep and butter)
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and not at random times.
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2011-09-05 17:52:40 +02:00
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As a last piece of evidence, I'm just going to mention three numbers. They are
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the number of daily SRS repetitions I could do per day before my brain would
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shut down. A year ago, using almost no caffeine and no tyrosine, I managed about
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80 reps, max. A few months ago, using caffeine, I got up to 150, maybe 200, but
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that's a good day. 100 would be normal. The last two weeks, I did over 500 each
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day without breaking a sweat. I got up to 800 after 3 hours of continuous work
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and that's still not the maximum level. I just normally stop after an hour or so
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because it gets too time-consuming or boring otherwise.
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2010-07-13 23:20:19 +02:00
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Tyrosine is, however, useless when your serotonin levels are bad. You can be as
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concentrated as you want, if you are apathetic, nothing will get done. That's
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why I consider St. John's Wort more important, but tyrosine is more noticeable
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right away and ultimately the effect I was hoping for.
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2011-09-05 17:52:40 +02:00
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(Outdated, effect doesn't hold up long-term.)
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Nicotine
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--------
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TODO
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2010-07-13 23:20:19 +02:00
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Magnesium
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---------
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2011-04-15 11:49:03 +02:00
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I took about 150mg of magnesium for several months for my sore knee. While it
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improved the pain, I noticed a minor drop in motivation while using it. I'm not
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exactly sure why and I couldn't find many reports, but a friend who used a
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similar dose of magnesium at the same time noticed the same thing. This seems to
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happen most commonly with magnesium citrate.
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2010-07-13 23:20:19 +02:00
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Exercise
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========
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2011-04-15 11:49:03 +02:00
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For simplicity's sake, there are two kinds of exercise: resistance training
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(short, high strength, causes muscle growth) and long-term endurance training.
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The first one is good for you, the second one neutral at best, harmful at worst.
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I found endurance training to be utterly useless for concentration. As a
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reference, I have a caved-in chest (about medium) and can't swim. For most of my
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life, I had very poor fitness levels. During the summers of 2009 and 2010, I
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spend 3 months each on jogging. I went from not being able to run for 10 seconds
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to running for over 20 minutes without pause and overall jogging sessions of
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about an hour every two days. This did not affect my mental capacities in any
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way I could notice. It was enjoyable, but that's about it.
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Resistance training, however, is completely awesome. January 2011 I started a
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serious strength program, including weight gain (from 75kg to 85kg at 185cm of
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height) and everything[^strength]. Besides obviously improving my fitness and
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confidence, it also increased my energy levels and sleep. Highly recommended.
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2011-09-05 17:52:40 +02:00
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[^strength]: Specifically, I follow [Convict Conditioning][] and ensure at least
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150g of protein a day, mostly in the form of whole milk, meat and [quark][].
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I exercise twice per week (as prescribed) and level up about one step per
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month for each exercise.
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2010-07-13 23:20:19 +02:00
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Meditation
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==========
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Meditation works great, but has a serious disadvantage - it has a circular
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dependency on its own effect. In other words, when you practice meditation
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daily, it will greatly improve your discipline and concentration (among other
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things, like bringing you enlightenment), but to meditate successfully, you need
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discipline and concentration. You see how that's a problem?
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The typical solution to that problem has been either trying for years until you
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finally manage to bootstrap the process or going on retreats or entering a
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monastry, for a week to a whole year, where you are forced to meditate and have
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no alternative or escape route. It works, sure, but it's both kinda cruel and
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very inconvenient.
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Because of that, meditation is more of a middle- to end-game strategy. I highly
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recommend it, but you need a certain level of skill and concentration already to
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really use it. If you can't get out of bed, then meditation ain't gonna work,
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either. For introductions to meditation, I recommend going on a 10 day
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2011-09-05 17:52:40 +02:00
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[Vipassana][] retreat and [Shinzen Young's][Shinzen Young] videos.
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2011-04-15 11:49:03 +02:00
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Sunlight
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========
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2011-09-05 17:52:40 +02:00
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TODO
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