# Cramming for a lab test **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 17, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832 "2024-08-17T15:16:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/1 "2024-08-17T15:16:28Z")
I have whatever insurance is calling an annual physical next week and am having labs done Monday. I realized I had this unrealistic plan to eat REALLY healthy before the test and now we are down to this weekend. Last year, both my cholesterol and my A1C were slightly higher than is good and I was going to change that over the last year. Instead, I started a job in a kitchen and now I am sneak eating what I have available to me: mostly bacon and fruit smoothies. I really need to stop that. My point is, cramming for any test at the last minute isn’t the best plan. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/2 "2024-08-17T15:33:06Z")
Unlike in many areas of life, IMO in the case of med tests, you want the truth, not the most lipstick you can possibly stick on the pig. That may not give the answer you / I / somebody wants to hear, but it’s probably the answer they need to hear. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/3 "2024-08-17T15:35:02Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > you want the truth sigh. I guess I should, eh? it was just last night I realized I was “cramming” . dumb. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/4 "2024-08-17T15:46:48Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > my cholesterol and my A1C > [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > cramming for any test Especially since those tests have a 3-month reachback. You would need a time machine to cram for those starting the night before. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/5 "2024-08-17T17:07:03Z")
From a voice of experience - be very hydrated. Very. Easier on you. Easier blood draw. And pee. Easier for testers. Drink lots of Smart water, Core water or Path water. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/6 "2024-08-17T17:09:57Z")
No cramming, last week, semiannual physical: Cholesterol, Total: 149 HDL: 88 LDL: 48 Triglycerides: 45 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/7 "2024-08-17T17:33:23Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > mostly bacon and fruit smoothies Is that “(bacon and fruit) smoothies” or “bacon and (fruit smoothies)”? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/8 "2024-08-17T17:46:15Z")
A bacon smoothie? I think that sounds kinda good. Hmmm 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/9 "2024-08-17T18:07:23Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Is that “(bacon and fruit) smoothies” or “bacon and (fruit smoothies)”? Lol, I’ve been having them separately I have been having kale in the smoothies but suspect it’s not enough to balance out the bacon ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/10 "2024-08-17T18:11:35Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > you want the truth, not the most lipstick you can possibly stick on the pig. While I can’t render an informed opinion as to the totality of the OPs dress-up and courtship rituals, my sense is that it isn’t ending well for the pig in question. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/11 "2024-08-17T18:19:53Z")
Pigs. Lipstick. Bacon smoothies? I’m getting a _Deliverance_ vibe. 😳 🐖 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/12 "2024-08-17T18:29:10Z")
“render” … “ending well for the pig in question” Yeah; probably not. 😉 I’m stumped thinking about the OP’s occupation in a kitchen where the available foodstuffs are fruit, kale, and bacon. What sort of a restaurant or food truck or whatever just stocks that combo? Or perhaps they mean they work in a fully stocked kitchen with many kinds of real food but fruit and bacon are their favorite snitches. As a diabetic for well over 10 years now I can say that the good news is the only tool most (not all) folks need to control their health is a spoon. The bad news is they’re the ones steering that spoon and so have to make that choice every time they pick it up. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/13 "2024-08-17T18:38:37Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’m stumped thinking about the OP’s occupation in a kitchen where the available foodstuffs are fruit, kale, and bacon. What sort of a restaurant or food truck or whatever just stocks that combo? it’s a kitchen/deli restaurant inside a grocery store that primarily stocks organic food and supplements (meaning somewhere I can’t afford to shop, frankly). We have a huge variety of good food including home made soups (usually we have one with meat and one vegan). We also have smoothies that are mostly fruit but also kale, protein powder and various other options in milk or nut milk . (peanuts in the PB&J) we use a lot of bacon (BLTs, Turkey Club) and that, plus the smoothies, is just what is easiest to graze on when there is a slack moment and I’m hungry. of course, I’m not supposed to be doing this. I’m supposed to buy a meal and eat it on my break. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/14 "2024-08-18T00:27:55Z")
Roy Clark told a joke on Hee Haw about a person who stayed up all night studying for a hearing test. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/15 "2024-08-18T00:36:41Z")
I wanna work there. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cramming-for-a-lab-test/1005832/16 "2024-08-18T00:47:15Z")
I wish you would, I get tired of all my co-workers being in high school. 😉