Q: When you are struggling to make healthy changes to your body, it can be frustrating if you don't see fast results. Try to keep a positive attitude and don't give up. Doctors say that there actually is power in positive thinking. Keep your head up and keep trying. You will eventually achieve the results you want. Research indicates that positive thinking leads to lower stress levels. Lower stress levels mean you'll have more energy to focus on your strength training. When you are trying to gain weight in your arms, it can be easy to let that be your entire focus. It's often easier to focus on what you don't like, instead of what you do like. Try taking a minute every day to compliment yourself. Choose one thing each day that you like about yourself and focus on that. If you recently delivered an excellent presentation at work, remind yourself that you are a hard worker. Try taping a positive affirmation to your bathroom mirror. It can say something like, "You have a great smile. Don't forget to use it." When you are doing any sort of diet, whether it is to gain or lose weight, it can be useful to set mini-goals for yourself. For example, make it a point to add 200 calories to your diet each day. Once you've successfully done that, give yourself a reward. One idea is to award yourself an hour of guilt-free "me" time. Indulge in a bad TV show or trashy magazine. And don't feel bad about it for one minute. Indulge yourself by getting a massage after you've stuck to your workout routine for a month. Your muscles have earned it!
A: Stay positive. Focus on your strengths. Reward yourself.

Q: The eggs should be as fresh as possible and free of cracks. Make sure that the eggs are also clean. The use of room temperature eggs is not quite as important with this method since the egg white and/or yolk will be exposed to the heat more directly, but room temperature eggs are still slightly preferable with this method than cold eggs. Fill a large saucepan one-third to one-half full with water and set it on your stove over high heat. Allow it to reach a steady simmer and a steady steam before turning off the heat. Continue on with the following step as you wait for the water to heat up. You will also need a second stainless steel bowl that fits comfortably inside this large saucepan of water. The sides of your bowl need to be tall enough to prevent water from the outer pan from splashing inside. Do not place this bowl inside the water just yet, however. Crack your eggs and let the yolk and/or white fall directly into your second stainless steel bowl. With this method, you can pasteurize both the egg white and egg yolk at the same time. If you only need the yolk or the white, though, you can separate the eggs before dropping the portion you need into the bowl. Discard the unneeded portion by dumping it down the drain of your kitchen sink. Combine the raw egg with a little liquid, using 30 ml (2 Tbsp) of liquid for each complete egg, egg white, or egg yolk. Whisk the ingredients together thoroughly until the egg starts to look foamy. You can use any liquid called for within the recipe, including water, lemon juice, milk, or flavorings. Make sure that you do not add both lemon juice and milk at the same time, though, since the lemon juice (or any acidic liquid, for that matter) will cause the milk to curdle. Curdled milk can ruin the eggs by making them lumpy. Once the water is simmering and the heat has been turned off, place the bottom of the bowl inside your saucepan of water, holding it down using pliers or tongs if necessary. This method uses a double boiler technique to heat and pasteurize the eggs indirectly. You could technically heat the eggs directly by skipping the extra saucepan of water, but doing so increases the risk of accidentally cooking the eggs instead of pasteurizing them. If you do heat the eggs directly, though, make sure that you use the lowest heat setting possible on your stove. As soon as you place the bowl of eggs in the hot water, you need to begin whisking the eggs with a fork or wire whisk. Continue whisking for two to three minutes, or until the water drops down to a lukewarm temperature. The constant movement distributes the heat evenly throughout the egg mixture, thereby preventing the egg from cooking in any particular spot or from remaining partially unpasteurized. Let the eggs cool for three minutes or so, then use them as called for in your recipe. You should not attempt to refrigerate or freeze these eggs.
A: Use fresh eggs. Boil water in a large saucepan. Break open the eggs. Whisk in a little liquid. Place the bowl inside the saucepan. Whisk constantly for until the temperature of the water drops. Use the eggs immediately.

Q: When possible, it's a good idea to check your CRP sometime in your early to mid 30s, especially if you have an elevated risk for heart disease. Your doctor can check your CRP with a blood test. Your numbers might be healthy while you're young, but by checking them early in your life, you'll get a baseline number that you and your doctor can use to help predict your future risk. For most adults, CRP levels lower than 1.0 mg/L indicate a low risk of heart disease. CRP between 1.0 and 3.0 mg/L indicate an average risk, and levels above 3.0 mg/L indicate a high risk. If you have an intermediate risk of heart disease, you should consult your doctor about regular CRP testing as you get older. Depending on your health and circumstances, it might be wise to test every five years or so. Note that there are two CRP blood tests. One shows non-specific CRP levels that occur with general internal inflammation, while the other shows highly sensitive CRP (hs-CRP) levels. The latter measures inflammation within your blood vessels, so this is the test you'll need if you want to determine your risk for heart disease. If you have arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, or other autoimmune conditions, your doctor may need to give you an altered form of the CRP test since these conditions can raise your levels beyond the range used to assess cardiac health. When diet and lifestyle changes aren't enough to help drop your CRP levels, your doctor may recommend statin drugs. This is especially common for patients who also have elevated LDL cholesterol. Statin drugs have pros and cons, so you should carefully consider your options before opting for this form of medication. Some possible side effects include muscle pain, muscle damage, liver damage, digestive problems, rashes, increased blood sugar, and neurological effects.
A:
Check your numbers early. Keep checking your numbers. Talk to your doctor about statin drugs.