Temporary Carbohydrate Intolerance and Why the Keto Diet Can Cause It: other possible names include “adaptive insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance, physiological insulin resistance, peripheral insulin resistance”

Temporary glucose intolerance is likely a natural consequence of the body’s transition to fat adaptation. In making this shift, the body makes innumerable metabolic changes to prefer fat to carbohydrates. Then, when you eat a large dose of concentrated carbs, the body is simply unprepared. It hasn’t turned on the carb-burning apparatus in some time.

…Many keto dieters will decide that the occasional blood sugar spike, in the context of an otherwise insulin- and glucose-lowering diet, isn’t worth worrying much about. Others may find inspiration to adhere even more rigidly to a low-carb approach, avoiding or entirely eliminating those glucose-spiking cheat meals. A third group may find the idea of temporary glucose intolerance uncomfortable, and seek to add more healthy carbohydrates to prevent temporary carbohydrate intolerance.

How to Balance Blood Sugar on a Low-Carb Diet

If you follow a strict low-carb regime, you may experience a condition called “physiologic insulin resistance,” also called adaptive glucose sparing.

People who are on ketogenic diets or other very low carbohydrate programs train their bodies to use fat, rather than sugar, as fuel. If you do this effectively, your muscles start to reject sugar when it is available. That means more sugar stays in your bloodstream, even when you consume very little of it.

High Blood Sugar you Don’t Need to Worry About (Keto/Carnivores Relax): Dr Ken Berry, 3:46 pathological vs physiological hyperglycemic episode

What’s the Difference Between Pathologic and Physiologic Insulin Resistance?: Dr. Paul Saladino

Is Keto Linked to Insulin Resistance? What the Research Says: 04:15 adaptive glucose sparing or physiologic insulin resistance

You’re Going to Become Insulin Resistant on a Keto Diet: Dr. Brett Osborn, they talk about insulin resistance on a long-term keto diet

Physiological Insulin Resistance & Adaptive Glucose Sparing

One of the clearest explanations of physiological insulin resistance I’ve seen comes from Paul Jaminet who says that physiological insulin resistance is a protective response of the body that ensures that the brain gets the benefit of a limited supply of glucose….

…I have seen some people run at very low carbohydrate levels and end up with progressively higher fasting blood sugars. Others see their fasting blood sugars continue to come down and ketones go up as they decrease the insulin load of their diet.

When on a lower carbohydrate diet you won’t have high levels of insulin floating around in your system and your body may choose to run blood glucose levels a little bit higher by secreting more glucose from the liver. This is not really a problem if you feel OK.

Many people find this to be a passing phase and after a time of keeping the insulin load of their diet low see their blood sugars come down.

As you keep the glucose load of your diet low you will ‘dry up the root’ and eventually after glucose stores in the liver are depleted, your fatty liver is resolved and your body fat levels are reduced you just won’t have as much glucose available for your liver to keep pumping into your bloodstream.

Physiological Insulin Resistance (2/2011) – Robb Wolf podcast, Harvard biochemist Mathieu Lalonde, 053-11:45

Does going low carb make you insulin resistant?: Compare and constrast pathological and physiological insulin resistance

High Glucose on Keto Diet – Adaptive Glucose Sparing

Blood Sugar Still High On The Keto Diet?: Curtis Alexander, Pharmacist, Here’s How I Fixed It. He mentions physiologic insulin resistance at 2:42

Can a Low Carb Diet Raise Blood Sugar?: Dr. Brian Mowll, 01:40 mentions physiological or transient insulin resistance

Help me explain to family how insulin resistance and glucose sparing isn’t diabetes

The Effect of Prior Carbohydrate Intake on the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test: study from 1960Sept-Oct, showing physiologic insulin resistance, loss of carbohydrate tolerance, then called “impaired glucose tolerance”

1. Eighteen healthy men and women, after showing normal glucose tolerance curves without any previous
dietary preparation, were placed on a 20-gm. carbohydrate, 1600-calorie daily diet for five days. Impaired carbohydrate tolerance on the 20-gm. carbohydrate diet was observed in both male and female participants, however, only two females showed curves diagnostic of diabetes by the criteria currently used in Public Health Service diabetes studies. Carbohydrate restriction in the females produced a greater loss of carbohydrate tolerance than it did in the males.
2. In an effort to restore normal glucose tolerance, the subjects were placed on a 150-gm. carbohydrate, 1640-calorie daily diet for four days. At the end of that period, normal carbohydrate tolerance (in terms of United States Public Health Service criteria) was fully restored and none of the subjects had curves indicative of diabetes or “possible” diabetes.

Is your fasting blood glucose higher on low carb or keto? Five things to know

Relax, it is normal — call it “adaptive glucose sparing”

“We definitely see that in people who are doing low carb long term, the majority will find that their fasting blood glucose becomes their highest value of the day,” says Dr. Sarah Hallberg. “They are not actually having issues with blood sugar. They are doing really well. But if you are looking at a log of 24 hours of blood glucose you will see a high first thing in the morning and then a steady decline throughout the day, with no big excursions [in glucose levels] even after meals.”

The scientific name is “physiologic insulin resistance” and it’s likely a good thing.

..So let’s call physiologic insulin resistance instead “adaptive glucose sparing,” a name that has been proposed by many to reduce the confusion. Dr. Ted Naiman describes it as muscles that are in “glucose refusal mode.”

Prior to converting to the ketogenic diet, your muscles were the major sites to soak up and use glucose in the blood for energy. On a long-term keto diet, however, they now prefer fat as fuel. So the muscles are resisting the action of insulin to bring sugar into cells for energy, saying, in essence: “We don’t want or need your sugar anymore, so move it along.” Hence, the slightly elevated, but generally stable, glucose circulating in the blood.

Higher Fasting Glucose on Ketogenic Diets: Reason to Worry?

Another reason for higher than expected fasting glucose is something called physiological insulin resistance. This is a phenomenon that occurs in people who’ve followed a very low carb or ketogenic diet for a significant length of time, and it’s somewhat related to the dawn phenomenon. In people who are keto-adapted or fat-adapted—that is, they’ve adhered to a very low carbohydrate intake for a long time—most of the body’s cells run happily on fatty acids and ketones, with a much lower requirement for glucose than in people on a higher carb diet. Since these cells are fueled effectively and efficiently by fats and ketones, they need only minimal glucose.

The majority of glucose is spared for tissues with an absolute requirement for it, such as the brain. With muscle tissue “refusing” the glucose in order to keep it available for the brain, the blood glucose rises, especially first thing in the morning. This is sometimes called “physiological insulin resistance” in order to differentiate it from pathological insulin resistance, but a better name for it is adaptive glucose sparing—an adaptation some people’s bodies make as a healthy, normal, and to-be-expected response to a very low carbohydrate intake.

Glucose & Keto: What You Need to Know & Monitor

Keto diets help to lower insulin levels. But, another common trend that we see is slightly higher glucose responses to a small amount of carbs. Individuals who follow a very low carb diet may have lower insulin sensitivity compared to someone who consumes more carbs. Keto diets can lead to a temporary physiological insulin resistance, in which the body overreacts when carbs are introduced.

Physiological insulin resistance is different from pathological insulin resistance. Pathological insulin resistance is a disease state, whereas physiological insulin resistance is a temporary adaptation.

Similar to the elevated fasting glucose levels with a keto diet, this does not appear to be a bad thing. What is happening is that the muscles, which typically prefer glucose, start to prefer fatty acids for fuel instead. Muscles are a huge sinkhole for glucose. So, when the muscles start to prefer fatty acids over glucose, consuming carbs tend to cause larger glucose elevations.

High fasting blood glucose on keto

Physiologic insulin resistance is sometimes called adaptive glucose sparing. When you are on a HIGH carbohydrate diet your muscles are the biggest users of glucose for energy. If you switch to a ketogenic lifestyle your muscles start to prefer fat for fuel. So the muscles start to actively resist insulin bringing sugar into the cells for energy. It is as if they are saying: ‘We do not need your sugar anymore, please take it elsewhere’. This then causes a slightly elevated, but generally stable, amount of glucose circulating in the blood.

…It also means, because of the body’s ability for gluconeogenesis, your body simply adapts. If you are fully keto adapted your liver will produce large amounts of ketones that can replace glucose as fuel for your brain, fatty acids then supply energy for muscles. And last but not least, glucose production from non-carbohydrate sources via gluconeogenesis supplies the carbons for the few cells that still depend on glycolysis (using sugar for energy).

Elevated fasting glucose while on low carb/ketogenic diet?

Low Carb Diets Causing Insulin Resistance? : Thomas DeLauer at 01:24 mentions “peripheral insulin resistance”

Insulin Resistance: You eat too many carbs and sugars. They are converted to glucose but your body cannot absorb so much. Your insulin levels rise to force glucose into your muscles. Over time it takes more insulin to do this. This is your typical T2 diabetes.

BREAKING THE BLOOD GLUCOSE MYTH WITH DR. ROBERT CYWES: Dr Ken Berry’s talk with Dr. Robert Cywes about diabetes, insulin, and low carb diets.

Insulin Suppression 18:56 : When you are on a low carb/keto/carnivore diet for a prolonged time, over a year, you eat very little carbs or sugars. Your body becomes fat adapted and thus makes and burns ketones. Your muscles burn ketones. Your insulin producing mechanism lags behind as it is no longer needed as much. When you do eat carbs or sugar you get a higher than normal glucose level spike and A1C because your insulin making mechanism is no longer required, so is slow to react.

In humans 20:18 the prime hormone for insulin release is an intestinal hormone GLP-1

Insulin is an important hormone and does many jobs. It may be better to eat between 50-75g of carbs/day 1:03:01, preferably early in the day, so that you maintain a little of the insulin response but still keep you in ketosis and enjoy the benefits of a low carb diet. A balance may be required to maintain this mechanism. Having this little bit of carbs also uses the GLP-1 agonist hormone, which makes you feel fuller, yet another benefit of having minimal carbs.

Another option 1:13:35 is to have a carb meal every 3d or 4th day. This is similar to giving yourself a GLP-1 bolus, which carries you for the next 3 days. 20:40 Small amount of sugar in your diet triggers 70% of GLP-1. GLP-1 increases insulin and lowers glucagon in the pancreas. This may be called carb cycling. Once you cure insulin resistance you can then transition into a maintenance phase where you need not be so strict.

In summary you want just enough carbs to keep insulin sensitive, the insulin mechanism working and responsive, but then quickly stops working so that most of the time you are using ketones as fuel and in fat burning mode.

While you can happily live with a low carb diet, there are tradeoffs. If and when you do eat some carbs, your body will not be well prepared and poised to deal with it, and you will see a glucose spike.

Insulin suppression: When you are so completely fat adapted that your insulin pathway becomes lazy. When you do eat carbs you get a huge insulin spike. The solution is to eat dairy, as dairy has both fat and glucose, or to eat a small amount of glucose/carbs. Insulin as a hormone is important and does much more than just fat storage.
2024 Mar 25 Ep:363 BRILLIANT EXPLANATION OF INSULIN SUPPRESSION: @BENBIKMAN, by Dr. Cywes, 17:12 carnivore diet is optimal but you must consume some milk. The milk triggers the insulin and GLP-1 pathway, 17:37 50-75g carbs, tops 100g

2025 Oct 05 MOST IMPORTANT DIET TALK YOU WILL EVER WATCH! pt 1Dr. Robert Cywes; explains insulin suppression; important charts at 40:56 and 57:27

2025 Oct 09 IS YOUR DIET MAKING YOU BETTER OR WORSE? pt 2 15:41 8-10% of diet should be carbs, 1:02:45 carbs are needed in the human diet to regulate hormonal homeostasis; “stay LCHF (low carb high fat), add 8-10% of slow carbs early in eating window or every 2-3 days”, avoid triggers to binge on carbs

Logitech-v-u0018-webcam, vertical lines problem and fix

This Logitech V-U0018 webcam problem is quite odd: you see a lot of coloured vertical lines, and no image. It happened all of a sudden, with no software or OS changes. The fix, after a Google Search, is removal of the cover and a slight upward pull on the camera lens. Very odd, however it worked!

I used a flat head screwdriver to remove the outer cover. There is a bottom cutout void for this on the cover. Then you’ll need a magnetic screwdriver to remove the three screws holding the inner cover on. These came out very easily. Connect your camera to your computer, pull gently on the camera lens, and the image returned as normal.

This fix was like magic!

Logitech-V-U0018-fix, only 3 steps, from Reddit

Logitech V-U0018 webcam: vertical Lines

Chinese calendar with lunar dates, monthly, January, graphics manipulation by Don Tai

We were looking for a simple 2025 Chinese calendar, a single page per month, but could not easily find one. There are a couple of Calendars that have special Chinese calendar dates written on the bottom of the actual calendar, but did not show the Chinese lunar dates 农历 within each day box, which is not good for us.

I did find one Chinese calendar with the lunar dates in the date boxes, but it was written for a single page for the year, and we wanted a page per month. Old eyes need bigger fonts. With some manipulation I converted it to a monthly calendar. It has red for the weekends, and Chinese New Year, and black for the weekdays. There is not much space within the days square to add things, but we’ll just write important dates in anyway. There is no English on the month titles, only Chinese. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.

May we all experience a safe, prosperous and happy 2025!

Chinese calendar with lunar dates, monthly, January, graphics manipulation by Don Tai

This graphic is for January, just as an example. Free download for the complete calendar year.

Chinese calendar with Lunar dates, monthly. Graphics manipulation by Don Tai

No ID Required to Use the Fitness Centre

The old policy was pretty simple. Each person can receive a free bar coded badge that they use to enter. As a Toronto resident, every year you show the fitness centre some ID and your bar coded badge gets updated for another year. The system worked quite well.

The new policy, implemented in 2024 Jan, was to completely disband the badge system. You no longer need any ID to enter or work out. While this may seem more convenient for the public, those of us that regularly work out at the fitness centre, and those that work at the fitness centre have seen a couple of problems.

1. Cannot identify offending people: If there a violent incident between two people at the gym, neither the worker at the gym nor other people might be able to identify those involved. I have seen multiple incidents where two people have had altercations and one party was kicked out and told not to return. This cannot now happen. Such a “free for all” system puts anyone that works out at the gym in more danger than before. All commercial gyms have some sort of ID requirement, even if only visiting. Gym owners want to know who is attending their gym, but not the City of Toronto
2. City of Toronto gym use used to be limited to people who live in the City of Toronto. With no ID required, now people who live in neighbouring cities of Markham and Ajax-Pickering can now work out when they wish, all equipment paid for by the City of Toronto. This is a travesty to Toronto ratepayers. I have heard from others that non-Toronto people are also attending the free classes and edging out City of Toronto residents. This is simply wrong.
3. Dumbells and plates are going missing: With no ID required, people are free to enter the gym somewhat anonymously. This has resulted in more theft of gym equipment. This is a problem for regular gym users because we now are short of plates for certain exercises. Since the 2.5lb plates were stolen, we now have to up our weights by 10 lbs instead of the more gradual 5 lb increments
4. Whereas before there were statistics on how much the gyms were being used, without badging in the City of Toronto has no clue how often and by whom uses the gyms. Maybe this is unimportant to City of Toronto managers, but it should be important to know this in order to budget supplies, wear and tear on equipment, etc.
5. If there is any need to contact those that have recently used the gym, there is no audit trail to do this. Some examples include the detection of an infectious disease outbreak, theft of goods from the locker room, tracking of members, or even a pandemic. Should not this matter to the City of Toronto?

The rationale that I have been told as to why no ID is now required is that this discriminates against people who do not wish to provide ID, and to this I say this is utter bull crap. This is not a grocery store that is open to the public, but a gym, where someone could easily get hurt. If commercial gyms require ID to enter, then the City of Toronto gym should also. They have very valid reasons for asking for ID.

Kids 13 years and Older can Work Out Without Supervision

A new policy change was allowing kids 13 years and older to work out unsupervised. In general, there is no other place where kids and adults can intermingle unsupervised, but now the City of Toronto gym is one of them. While there is usually someone working at the gym, this person cannot supervise the kids that may attend, as the gym is too large and odd shaped. Further there are often periods when there is no one at the gym to supervise at all.

This intermingling of kids and adults has not been a problem so far, but with an unsupervised change room and spotty supervision within the gym, there is a potential for abuse. I do hope nothing goes wrong, but negligence on the part of the City of Toronto certainly does not help.

Some new policies can improve the lives of residents and others, well, they make our lives worse. This new policy has made working out at City of Toronto fitness centres much more risky, and prone to more abuse.

Carbohydrates are good for you, until they are not
This is actually true, when you are young and your body can handle near anything. As you grow older your body changes and you can no longer handle a high amount of carbs. The result of unchecked carb consumption, over a long period of time, is increased weight, high blood sugar, increased insulin resistance, high blood pressure, fatty liver disease (non-alcoholic), Parkinson’s and other cognitive issues and what is termed as “metabolic syndrome”. All these symptoms are related. Prolonged high blood glucose levels result in type 2 diabetes and can damage multiple body organs and systems.

How will you know when your body cannot absorb as much carbs and sugar as you used to? You will need to do a blood glucose test. If after a meal your blood glucose level does not drop to safe levels with 2 hrs, then you know you have a problem.

When you eat enough protein or fats, there are hormonal signals that tell you that you’ve had enough to eat. You experience satiety and stop eating. There are no such hormonal control signals for carbs, which allows us to eat to our heart’s content, until your stomach is so full that you get the hint. These carbs are converted to glucose, which elevates your blood glucose level. Insulin becomes elevated, and when your body cannot absorb all the excess glucose, insulin tells the body to store all excess glucose as body fat. We then gain weight.

Just a side note that carbs as a macro-nutrient is not necessary and not essential for human life. The human body can use dietary proteins and fats to produce glucose in a process called gluconeogenesis. Therefore we are overly gorging ourselves on a food that makes us not only sick but one that we don’t need in the first place.

When you are young you can easily burn off glucose and this weight gain rather quickly, but as you age, this becomes much harder. We are seeing in the West an obesity epidemic that we cannot seem to control. Weight gain also increases your blood pressure.

Have too much glucose in your blood, over many years, leads to insulin resistance and then to type 2 diabetes.

Our Carboydrate-heavy Society Contributes to Obesity
For many people, we are eating an excessive amount of carbs that our bodies cannot handle. It is not surprising to understand why. It seems like the majority of TV commercials, fast food, grocery store ads, restaurant menus all promote high carbohydrate meals. It is easy to understand why: carbs are delicious, relatively inexpensive, and are in high demand. Society’s demand for carbs is being delivered, in spades, but this is negatively affecting our health.

Unfortunately it is quite difficult to not participate in this carb movement, as we are surrounded by carb messaging every which way we turn. Habits are formed when young and continue into middle age, where the problems begin.

Carbohydrates are Addictive: True
Regular eaters of high carb meals include just about everyone. We have grown up with this way of life.

Our bodies have two main fuel sources: carbohydrates and ketones. Carbs are most easily obtained by eating foods and quickly converted into glucose, our fuel source of preference. Once the body detects this fuel source it asks for more. When you don’t regularly eat carbs, such as skipping a meal, your body begins to have cravings or hunger pangs, a not so polite way of asking you for more carbs.

This is our carb addiction, which affect nearly everyone around you. There are alternative ways of living, which includes intermittent fasting and keto/carnivore (low carb) diets that rely more on animal proteins and fats. These are more slowly converted to ketones, which the body can also burn. Such processes are low in carbs and sugars, don’t cause an insulin spike, and also encourage the body to burn body fat as fuel, a critical point if you wish to lose weight (ideally body fat). Everyone has, at minimum, 10,000 calories of body fat that we can burn. When the body is trained to burn either glucose or ketones, called “metabolic flexibility”, you almost never feel hungry and the hunger pangs all disappear. I do admit that this is initially an odd feeling, but you get used to it.

When you eat carbs, insulin is produced, which promotes body fat storage of any excess glucose the body cannot immediately use. Body fat is created as a way to store energy for a rainy day, which, in our society never comes. Unfortunately you can almost never burn body fat if you continue to eat carbs because elevated insulin levels does not allow the body to do this, but only to store body fat. Over time we gain weight and become obese.

Food Manufacturers Produce Delicious Ultra-Processed Foods UPF
Because carbs are so delicious it is quite easy to tempt customers into buying more of them. Food manufacturers go one step further and invent ever more delicious carbs. In the West this has greatly contributed to the obesity epidemic, with unfortunate consequences.

I cannot really blame the food manufacturers. There is a need from consumers and they rush to fill this need. This is happening all over the world. Still, UPFs are a great contributor to the worldwide obesity epidemic. While these foods are popular and in demand, the fact that they damage so many people should be cause for concern.

Bread is a highly ultra-processed food that is high in carbs, often high in sugar, contains a huge number of additive and provides almost no fiber. Treat bread like a snack: sparingly and eaten only on occasion, and not daily

Low Fat Products reduces Body Fat: False
This is completely incorrect. Fat provides flavour. When you reduce fats you need something to add back flavour, or it will taste like cardboard. That additive is sugar and carbs. Protein and fats can be combined to create glucose, which is then burned for body fuel. Further, if you eat too much fat, your have hormones that will tell you to stop eating.

In summary, don’t be afraid of fat. Eating fat will not make you put on body fat. There is a digestive process that the dietary fat needs to go through, which transforms it to fuel. Fat also makes you feel fuller, more satiated, thereby reducing the amount of food you eat.

Natural Foods are not all Healthy: True
I thought that non-processed foods such as fruits and vegetables would all surely be healthy, but this is not the case.

Some fruits and veg contain high levels of sugar and carbs. It does not matter to your body if the sugar comes from natural fruit such as mango, pineapple or banana, or from a glazed donut, because both are not healthy for some people, and both are treated the same by the body. Fruit juices are also natural, but when broken down into a juice is very high in sugar and has the fiber broken down, so also not good. Potatoes and below ground vegetables are high in starches and therefore carbs, and will be stored as body fat for those that are insulin resistant.

The body cannot tell the difference between natural and ultra-processed foods, and digests them the same. If you metabolize sugar and carbs to body fat due to insulin resistance, either are not good for you.

Does your Gut need Fiber? Maybe not
It seems your gut does need fiber, but there are many ways to get fiber. Fiber from above ground vegetables such as zuchini/corgettes or eggplant is nutritious and has low starch and sugar. You can also get fiber from grains such as oats but it also comes packed with high carbs, which will spike your blood sugar and is therefore not good for you.

There are others who have irritable bowl syndrome IBS who cannot take any fiber, and do well and recover with none. Some doctors also say that fiber is unnecessary and for those with IBS can be debilitating. It seems like the need for dietary fiber is not as clear as possible.

I went low fiber and did not suffer at all.

Medical Community Does Not Protect the Public
The flip side of this is that the medical community, which includes doctors, does not warn the public against eating so many carbs, Instead they recommend taking drugs to increase our ability to digest carbs with fewer side effects. Unfortunately this is not working. Thus their complicity contributes to the obesity epidemic. Carbs are regularly recommended for all to eat on a daily basis, as part of a healthy diet. This is so wrong for many people.

Here in Ontario, Canada my doc will test for fasting glucose, but he claims will not test for insulin resistance. I can therefore never calculate my HOMA-IR score. While fasting glucose levels can be stable when I visit the doc’s office, my insulin level can be slowly increasing, predisposing me to type 2 diabetes.

Society Predisposes People to become Obese
It is unsurprising that a combination of all the above influences encourages people to over-eat carbs, which results in obesity, high blood pressure, insulin resistance and eventually, type 2 diabetes. The environment that society has created encourages this for all of us.

Yet all is not lost. If we go back to eating habits from before the 1960s, when obesity was quite rare, we can reverse our obesity epidemic. It does take a lot of radical thinking about food, how and when we eat, but it can be done.

Reduced eating of carbs can result in weight loss, reduced high blood pressure, lower A1C and type 2 diabetes. It is as simple as eating like how your grandmother used to eat. Not all progress is beneficial to society, and our carb addiction is one of them.

2025 Jan 16 Ultra-processed Foods: How these foods trick you into loving them: How UPFs destroy our diets and health, how food companies can maximize profits, links to tobacco companies owning food companies, effects on kids, snacks, UPF addictions

2025 May 16 Do You Actually Need CARBS To Live?: Dr. Westman critiques 8:28 Institute of Human Anatomy: gluconeogenesis max limit is 180-220g/day of glucose

e-clip installed on a metal shaft for my home gym, leg extension. Photo01 by Don Tai

My metal needs are quite simple and one-off. I needed to cut a single slot into a metal rod to insert an e-clip. This DIY slot cutter is quite simple, using 2 ball bearing drawer hinges, some scrap wood I had in my garage, and my rotary cutting tool. The slots it cuts are acceptable for an amateur like myself. It works.

Internet searches for slot cutting into a rod revealed only metal lathe recommendations and advice. Metal lathes look really cool, but I don’t have one, currently have no need for one, and they are intricate with a steep learning curve, like everything else.

I am modifying my home gym and replaced the crude bolt pivot hinge for leg extensions, with ball bearings and a 5/16″ shaft. I could have used a 5/16″ shaft collar to terminate the shaft, but this would have been bulky and more expensive at $4CAD for a single shaft collar. Instead I bought an e-clip kit for $9CAD. I often run into e-clips when taking apart broken tools, so was interested in learning more about them anyway. Circlips are often used in commercial gym equipment because they hold tight, are strong, streamlined and take up very little space.

Tools needed

• ball bearing drawer slides (2): You may have these lying around the house. Use 2 identical ones
• wood: plywood for the base and sliding platform, solid wood for the rod holders
• rotary tool, cutoff blade: I have an off-brand one from Crappy Tire. It works
• wood screws
• drill press
• drill bit: The diameter of your rod
• face shield, gloves

Why Choose a E-Clip
I had the choice of e-clips/C-clips or circlips. I even have circlip pliers. The ease of removal of the e-clip makes it much easier for me to install and maintain, just in case I need to take the hinge joint apart. I only need a small needle nose plier to install and a flat head screwdriver to remove. This is quite convenient. The e-clip slot does not need to be perfectly symmetrical around the rod to work.

The clip will not be under very much pressure or tension, it only needs to not fall off. The sealed ball bearings will have no more than 200 lb of radial force. The e-clip will have no radial nor axial force. It will just sit there and ensure the sealed ball bearings do not come out of their bearing holder.

General Design
I wanted to keep the rotary tool stationary when cutting. I would have the metal rod perpendicular to the cutoff wheel but also able to easily slide into the cutting wheel to increase the cut depth. The metal rod needed to be able to rotate so I can cut around the rod’s perimeter.

Sliding with Drawer Slides
I used ball bearing drawer slides because they are relatively smooth and I had them in my house. These need not be fancy nor large, but they should be ball bearing and all metal.

Attach the drawer slides to the sliding platform parallel to each other. If they are not parallel, when you try to slide the platform they will bind up. I used a 2×4 spacer between them to ensure they are parallel. The height of the screw heads will depend on the drawer slide. You may need to hunt down flatter screw heads if there is any binding.

Attach the drawer slides and sliding platform to the plywood base. How you do this depends on your drawer slide design, so you may need to look it up.

e-Clip slot cutter, sliding platform top position, furthest away from you, rod holders are on the sliding platform, the rotary tool holder is to the right, Photo02 by Don Tai

e-Clip slot cutter, sliding platform bottom position, closest to you, rod holders are on the sliding platform, the rotary tool holder is to the right, Photo03 by Don Tai

Drilling and installing the Rod Holder
Find wood that is thick enough to keep the rod off the sliding platform, with enough space on either side of the rod hole to attach it to the sliding platform with screws. I used a drill press to ensure the rod holder hole is straight, with very little slop. You do need to be able to rotate the rod though.

When installing the rod holders they need to be perpendicular to the drawer slides and the right edge of the sliding platform. You want to ensure accuracy here because if you are a bit out your slot will not cut in a straight line.

I only needed to cut a single slot into a 5/16″ rod, but drilled 2 identical rod holders, because I wasn’t sure this tool would work. If and when I need a different diameter I can add more rod holder sizes.

Build and Install a Rotary Tool Holder
Each rotary tool will be different. My rotary tool had a plastic bump out half way up the tool, so I had to account for that. Somehow be able to stop your rotary tool body from rotating or moving and allow it to cut parallel to the drawer slides and sliding platform.

Using the Slot Cutter

1. Put a cutoff wheel in your rotary tool and place it into the rotary tool holder.
2. place your metal rod into the metal rod holder. Move the metal rod far enough to the right to your rod’s cut line. Ensure the rod is not touching the cutoff wheel.
3. Wear eye protection. In the past I have had cutoff wheels shatter in use, so protect your eyes. You are not getting any prettier with age.
4. turn the rotary cutter on
5. carefully move the sliding platform either forward or backward so that the metal rod touches the cutoff disk
6. rotate the metal rod so you make a cut all the way around
7. try your e-clip. You may need multiple passes to cut deeper.

e-clip slot cutter, rod inserted into rod holder, rotary tool with cutoff wheel held in place, ready to cut, Photo04 by Don Tai

e-clip slot cutter, rod inserted into rod holder, rotary tool with cutoff wheel in place, ready to cut, Photo05 by Don Tai

e-clip slot cutter, rod inserted into rod holder, rotary tool with cutoff wheel in place, ready to cut, macro view Photo06 by Don Tai

e-clip installed on a metal shaft for my home gym, leg extension. Photo01 by Don Tai

e-clip kit, Princess Auto, $9, Photo07 by Don Tai

My rotary tool had a red screw-on cap behind the rotating bit. This interfered with the depth of my cut, so I simply screwed it off. The cap is just cosmetic.

The actual cutting of the rod is quite fast. It took a couple of tries to get the e-clip diameter correct because my e-clip kit has 1/4″ and 3/8″ sizes, but no 5/16″ size. In the end the 3/8″ clip fit quite snugly but was still easy to remove with a small flat head screwdriver. The single slot I cut with my rotary tool cutoff wheel was wide enough for my e-clip.

As for sparks, this tiny rotary cutter cutoff disk is quite small compared to my 4.5″ angle grinder. There were few sparks and therefore little excitement. In use the cutoff wheel will wear away and become smaller, but this does not affect the slot cutter at all.

If you make one of these tools, please let me know how it went. As for when I will need to cut yet another slot in a rod, I have no idea, but not in the foreseeable future.

Thane Orbitrek elliptical, right side view

I was not looking for an elliptical trainer, as I am not really heavily into cardio, but one popped up curbside, so I brought it home. The Thane Orbitrek elliptical trainer needed a lot of work in order to function. Thankfully it all turned out well and I now have another option for cardio to add to rope skipping and a stationary bike.

Though it was intact, the two side covers were broken. More importantly the chain was missing, and the front and rear sprockets were not standard bicycle sizes. A quick search for replacement parts from Thane Canada revealed that they only do warranty work, and even then very sparingly. It was an unfortunate design choice for Thane to not use standard bicycle sprockets and chain, as this would have been much easier for me.

The benefits of an Elliptical cardio machine
An elliptical machine can give you a great cardio workout. While it is still weight bearing, unlike a bicycle, the elliptical is much easier on your joints as there are no jarring movements. You can also use your upper body to work out, but compared to strength training, this would be pretty minimal. Most of your workout will be lower body and core. The elliptical movement is somewhat similar to running, but with much less stress on joints. It is supposedly good for recovery from injury.

Tools/Parts Required
-angle grinder, welder
-large bicycle sprocket, small bicycle sprocket
-bicycle chain, chain breaker
-jigsaw, files
-drill, drill bits

Sprocket replacement
The two sprockets, the larger 8″ rear sprocket and really small 1.5″ front sprocket, were not standard bicycle sizes, with very small but more plentiful teeth. I could not find a replacement chain from the manufacturer.

Interestingly the large rear sprocket used a standard bicycle single piece hub, so I was able to easily remove it. The large sprocket, which has very small teeth, not standard bicycle sprocket teeth, was welded on, so I needed to grind off the welds with an angle grinder, install a similar sized bicycle sprocket, and then weld it on in its place. I chose to reuse the single piece bicycle crank. A similar sized single piece bicycle crank I had also worked, but a 3 sprocket front derailleur gear set and crank also fit. I did not try a more modern 2 piece crankset, but I think it would also work. Using a multi-sprocket front crank may have some issues with width.

Thane Orbitrek elliptical, old rear chainring, welds needed to be ground off, Photo 04 by Don Tai

Thane Orbitrek elliptical, old rear chainring, Photo 05 by Don Tai

Thane Orbitrek elliptical, old rear chainring, note the closely spaced teeth, Photo 06 by Don Tai

Thane Orbitrek elliptical, new rear chainring, welded, Photo 07 by Don Tai

The very small front sprocket, the one attached to the large wheel, was problematic. The front sprocket was not threaded onto the axle, so I could not remove it. As well, the usually threaded metal sprocket was moulded into the ABS rear wheel. Since I could not remove the front sprocket I decided to weld an additional small sprocket right on top of the original sprocket, and hope for the best. The new small sprocket came from a 14″ kid’s bicycle. The ABS wheel had to be taken apart in order to protect the ABS from being melted. There was a metal band strip in the middle of the wheel, where the friction strap goes, that had to be disassembled.

Thane Orbitrek elliptical, welded front chainring, Photo 03 by Don Tai

I ground the paint and grease off the original small sprocket, as well as the newer small sprocket. I found a bicycle seat post that fit the hub so I could, as best i can, ensure the new sprocket was centered. I then used thin wire to clamp down the position of the new sprocket so it would not move during welding. The welding grounding clamp had to be used on the newer small sprocket because the original sprocket would be hidden and the hub and wheel are ABS and therefore non-conductive.

I was concerned that the SMAW (shielded metal arc welding) stick welding process of melting metal at 6k C would also melt and damage the ABS hub and wheel, so took great precautions reduce the welding heat to a minimum. During welding I dabbed two welds on opposite sides, cracked the slag off and then let the welds cool to the touch. I also used a very thin welding rod, 1/16″ 6013 at 40 amps, in order to reduce the heat. This is tricky because with such low amps striking an arc is more difficult, and especially so with a new rod. I heated up the new rod on a piece of scrap metal by successfully striking an arc, before trying to weld the sprockets. While this took a long time, I was able to complete the welding while not melting the ABS hub and wheel. I hope I have enough penetration into the original small sprocket, as rewelding this would be quite difficult.

Adding the new bicycle chain was very easy, but then found out that the original chainstay was designed too low. I had to cut and grind down the original chainstay on the chain side, bend it up and reweld it at a higher position. This was not too difficult.

I then tried to reassembled the ABS wheel and its metal inner track. Since the new sprocket is larger than the original one, the hole in the ABS wheel cover would not fit, so I had to use a jigsaw to enlarge the opening. I was then able to reassemble the wheel and metal strip.

Wheel alignment problematic
It took a while to fiddle with the wheel hub, the speed sensor and the axle bolts. The speed sensor, which plugs into a display that tells you some statistics about your workout, would want to move, which would pull on its wire. This would be bad. The speed sensor connects to the speed display, which when tested actually still works. When the wheel is out of alignment with the large sprocket, the chain would come off. Front wheel alignment was quite time consuming and tricky.

Thane Orbitrek elliptical, replaced chain drive, note the chainstay needed moving up higher to provide chain clearance, Photo 01 by Don Tai

Moving the footplates
As a home elliptical machine, it is short in length. Compact in size is good for storage and not taking up precious real estate in your home, but not for use as an elliptical. This is because the shorter the length the higher the distance from the top of the stroke to the bottom of the stroke. Such a height difference makes the elliptical very uncomfortable to use. While I could cut and lengthen the frame, for now I decided to move the footplates 18cm forward. I would reuse the front hole as the new rear hole, and drill a new front hole. This worked out pretty well, after I measured properly.

Thane Orbitrek elliptical, moved footplate forward, Photo 02 by Don Tai

Greasing all joints
Once I got the elliptical to move well, I had to take all the parts apart, grease al the joints and reassemble.

Thane Orbitrek elliptical, reassembled, side view, Photo 08 by Don Tai

Thane Orbitrek elliptical, right side view

Result
24 Sept 22: I’ve been using this elliptical for a couple of weeks now and it does give you a good workout and elevates your heart rate. I only do 10 minutes of low intensity zone 2 cardio, but I do sweat. The foot pads work at somewhat of a steep angle and my feet seem to slip forward and then need adjustment. It is not too bad though.

You really need to coordinate your arms and legs to get a fluid motion with this machine. The flywheel is quite light and therefore has very little momentum. Your feet are a little wider than walking or running, which again is unnatural and needs getting used to. It is a learned skill and this takes some time. Still, I find it acceptable. The whole movement is very gentle on your joints.

The small computer monitor has a scan mode with time, speed, distance and calories, but I just put it into dedicated time mode, without scanning through all the options. I welded up an additional stand that puts the monitor higher up, so I can see it more easily.

Addendum 2025 Mar 28: Over time the wheel goes out of alignment with the chain, tilts to the left, and then the chain jams between the gear and the frame. When behind the wheel, as you would use the elliptical, look at the wheel rim. If you see the rim’s closest part to you not the same as the rim’s farthest part, then you must make these two the same. Tighten the left wheel nut until it is the same as the right wheel nut, and that the rim is even in front and behind the axle. I also added locktite to the left wheel nut.

Strength training weight stack pin with an additional ring, photo 1 by Don Tai

The ring is 1/4″ 6mm thick and is not easily bent. I cut the garage door spring lengthwise, resulting in many rings, but they are slightly twisted. These then need to be bent into alignment. My welding is a work in progress, meaning I need a lot of improvement. Welding rings is interesting because you cannot get an angle grinder into the middle of the ring.

Garage door springs act as a counterweight and help to open the heavy garage door. They occasionally break and need to be replaced. This discarded metal can be reused and made into rings.

The weight stack pin is quite old and well beaten up. There is no cable to attach to the machine. This is unfortunate as it could easily get “lost”. Maintenance is required.

Strength training machine weight stack pin with an additional ring, photo 1 by Don Tai

Strength training machine weight stack pin with an additional ring, photo 2 by Don Tai

In the future I will continue to try to strengthen my grip strength naturally and only use lifting straps on my last set, when my grip gives out. As well, the lifting straps should be placed not at the wrist but below the ulnar head, the bulbous bone on the outside of your wrist, closer to your body, by about 1″. This should allow the strap to pull from your radius-ulna and not your carpal tunnel area.

There are other cautionary notes about using lifting straps. While these straps are simple devices, there is more to them than meets the eye.

That was the worst planned environment day ever at L’Amoreaux Community Center today 2024 Jul 06. At 10:10am over 60 cars idling for 30 minutes before I could deposit my recyclables. The actual deposit of recyclables took less than 30 seconds.

What is the city doing to be so inefficient? The car queue snaked through the community centre parking lot, which was so long. It also clogged up the parking for those attending classes as the centre. The police would not allow cars to exit normally on McNicholl Ave? What? Meanwhile the actual recycling dropoff area was almost empty of cars. This was so bad.

Next time I’d rather not recycle because the logistics of idling my car for 30 minutes is just not worthwhile. Please do a better job of logistics than you did today, which was abysmal. The City did a very poor and pathetic job today.

I think it is better to not recycle rather than waste so much gas and time going to the Environment Day. The world doesn’t need such a waste fuel, resources and time. The City of Toronto often does a terrible job, and today proved it in spade.