#I literally cannot function properly because of this pic | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

achoirofcritters · 7 years ago

Text

dog-of-the-times replied to your link “Click here to support Help Evie's Medical Costs”

<b>Vets are aware that their clients often can’t drop thousands of dollars at a moments notice. Most are prepared to set up a payment plan. If the vet won’t help out like this, just pay what you can afford as you can afford it. If the vet tries litigation, they won’t have a leg to stand on. Also, hashtags and pics notwithstanding, cranking up the amount you need just after you almost reach the first amount makes this look like a scam.</b>

So I probably shouldn't give this reply much attention, as I don't think they are a follower and from what I can tell, not a dogblr either. But there are a few insinuations here that need to be clarified. It's very plainly clear to me this person did not read my post and/or the information on the fundraising page.

1) Not every vet offers payment plans. My primary care vet doesn't. Even if you are a regular visitor and he knows you well, he's been burned too many times before. Assuming you know someone's medical situation better than them, as if they haven't gone over the options already themselves, is incredibly arrogant. Our "payment plan" option is CareCredit. Which is great in that I didn't have to empty my savings account right then and there. But CareCredit is like a medical credit card and if you don't pay it within 6 months, they charge a whooping 24% interest. I barely make $5000 in 6 months. Even so, I'm realistic enough to know we probably won't get the bill paid off that quickly. That's taking into account that I still have other expenses; two other dogs, other pets, groceries, bills, etc. I live either just below or just above the poverty line income-wise, my raise earlier this year may have bumped me over it but I'm not sure. The care of my animals is first and foremost to me but this was a massive bill and I need help.

2) The amount was never "cranked" up. This is a sign this individual did not read my post. We were given an estimate of $3000-$5000 by the medical professionals before the scans and the surgery and such. We were told typically surgeries like this for dogs her size range around $4500 depending on length of hospital stay and such. If you had been following this since the beginning, you'll notice I have never increased the "goal" of the actual fundraiser. Although I have thought of bumping it up to $3500 because while YouCaring does not take fees, their credit card processing service, WebPay, does take 2%. But I haven't made that increase yet. The increase in bills is stated plainly - the first receipt was the DEPOSIT, the second is the final total cost, of which we DID NOT KNOW until we brought Evie home and I was responsible for paying it, which I did with CareCredit. The first "bill" image even states "This is not your final receipt"; I did not "crank up" the amount, I got my final receipt. That first "bill" image was never my initial "goal" of what we were hoping to raise, the goal on the fundraiser was ALWAYS set at $3000 because we knew that was the bare minimum of the cost estimate of the procedure. That first "receipt" was JUST FOR THE PRE-SURGERY DEPOSIT.

Like... please actually read and pay attention before insinuating that I got to $1500 and then was like "LOL BETTER BUMP UP THAT END GOAL". That never happened. It was literally always stated the amount would be somewhere between $3000 and $5000.

3) Transparency has been very important to me this entire time. I do not think I am capable of "faking" that incision on my dog, or the shaved patches of her back, which are visible in multiple photos as well as in a video here on my blog. I also did not photoshop her back legs hanging limp. And I'd be happy to get video of them dragging across the floor and ground because she cannot yet use them, and we are having to "sling" her way through the yard for every bathroom break. I am aware dogblr has been scammed before. This is why transparency has been so important to me. My dog cannot walk. I've even been pretty upfront about how if there's anything else I can do to "show proof" that this is actually happening to me, which I wish it wasn't, then to please let me know. That is why I've provided those pictures of our payments and bills and the paperwork of the referral thus far, as well as images of Evie's incision and her legs and videos of us seeing her in the vet clinic. You are more than welcome to not donate, but to insinuate my post is a scam, no, you don't get to tell me that when I'm the one living through the nightmare of my young dog being unable to function properly, and of suddenly being profoundly in debt, just because you didn't pay attention to the information provided to you.

#dog-of-the-times #dogblr #replies #text post #also please do not harass this person #I just needed to defend myself here

12 notes · View notes

samosasandchutney · 8 years ago

Text

okay, so let me try and give you some information on how lacking the Caribbean is in free-thinking and addressing mental health. Some background info first, I am a petite Indian-Hindu girl, stereotypically nerdy, antisocial and awkward af around new people, with the glasses, had the braces and am always in a book and always dressing in oversized tees and jeans. So, people generally place me in the stereotyped category of “nerdy, demure, innocent Indian girl”. With that said, I am an Indian girl who lives in a predominantly black country and the Indian community, as small as it is, is extremely extreeemely like, (woh boy) so socialist, even divided so much so that there’s a group of what we call Sindhis (people that came directly from India in more recent times) and the Guyanese community (descendants of the indentured Indians between the years of, roughly, 1833-1920). Even though I technically fall in the second grouping, I never really belong there because of the ‘nerdy, demure, innocent, indian girl’ stereotype as well as the fact that I’m not “Guyanese” enough. So being isolated from your own community and then not finding any way to connect with the people around you, it’s tiring. Facing this and my depression, chronic panic disorder and developing ocd, life gets trying. So these mental illnesses are kind of crippling, especially since they’re not being treated properly.

The first person I did go to try and get some sort of help was this priest that was recommended to my mother. At the time I was thirteen and my mom believed my ‘acting out’ was because my father had died three years prior (I was suffering from panic attacks but she assumed it was ‘attitude’ because my panic attacks included moments of anger, frustration and crying). On the first visit the priest started to criticize me for being Hindu and told me that my lack of belief in God is what is causing these problems. Not only that but then he started to guilt trip me about how my mother, a now single mother, cannot afford to have her daughter ‘act out’ and ‘ruin’ any chances of her advancing in her life. which like. .. what?? The second person I went to was an Indo-Trini Christian. School was a rather stressful time for me at this moment because during my two years in sixth form I was so crippled by my mental illness that it took a terrible toll on my physical health and I was also suffering from a severe case of costochondritis. I was trying to explain to this lady that at home I was suffering from some situations that was affecting my depression and anxiety. All she kept focusing on was school. Like she was telling me, “oh you have to get out of bed, you have to go to school, do your best,” Like it was all my personal decision to miss school. (> > really? really?) Then she started talking about going to school overseas and I immediately was sent into panic, because I had mentioned literally a session prior stating how money is a large source of my anxiety. I immediately just walked out.

Third person I went to, was a ‘family friend’, so she had previous information on my family dynamics etc. So when i tried to explain that there were problems at home that I need help with either ignoring or dealing with, she also made me focus on school and I’m like ??? School is like, a secondary source of anxiety - that’s kind of normal, what I’m dealing with at home, is more a concern atm. She then had me try and write out a list as to what I want in life and I’m just like ???? Did what she told me to and when I went in with my list she immediately started telling me that I am a ‘dreamer’. Apparently, my wanting the basic needs of my own home, to have a stable job and to end up living in Canada was too far stretched and I’m just like :| Why? Then she started to try and guilt me into ‘understanding’ that I’d be placing a financial pressure on my family and ‘how can I just up and leave my family’. . . like ??? How. IS. THIS. SUPPOSED. TO. HELP??? Fourth person I went to, was some, white woman who adopted Hindu practices into her life ( :| really?) Her first couple of sessions were that of ‘meditative’ purposes, which, cool okay. Imma hold these rocks and just, breathe. I can somewhat understand that this helps with my panic attacks etc (like, I would have liked to have gone through some sort of descriptive, introductory walkthrough but eh.) When it finally comes to a point where we talk about the situation I am in. I say “I’m suffering from depression and anxiety and I need help trying to mediate my way through it.” This woman. She laughs. Like “oh, you poor child” laugh. And asks “why would you think that?” My brain instantly clicks off and I’m like “Because. . .I don’t want to live anymore? I get panic attacks on a daily basis? I can’t get up and face the day?” Like take your pic, I genuinely have more. She then proceeds to laugh again and tells me I must ‘face reality.’ That I have to ‘wake up and realise life is constantly going on and that I can never change that.’ I’ve never been back to that lady.

The fifth person wasn’t actually someone I attended professionally. On the day of a midterm, I got a terrible panic attack and could barely move. My friends had to half-carry me to the on-campus clinic. I waited for about 20 minutes before I was finally ‘allowed’ to see the doctor and was promptly giving a side eye and a stupse (kissing of teeth). Apparently I needed to stop ‘playing around’ and ‘making excuses’ and ‘just go do the exam’. It gets even worse. Apparently she’s tired of ‘people always making excuses about missing exams, if you’re stupid you should just not be in uwi’. And she proceeded to rant and shout at me for about 20 minutes. While. I. Am. In. The. Middle. Of. A. Panic. Attack. . .. Like. In Barbados and the extended Caribbean. Mental illness is NOT a thing. It’s always pushed to the back burner. And what happens if you try and gain some sort of help you’re stereotyped. Given my stories, you can tell that being an Indian -school was a priority over getting help. As the daughter of a single-mother, I needed to care for her needs over mine. And as a female, I must put ideas of ‘fantasy’ out of my head and ‘face reality’. And as an Indian stereotype of ‘demure, innocent, nerd’ people feel that they can say whatever they want to me because Indian stereotypes state that I must ‘allow’ them to do whatever. And this is all ONE person’s story. Imagine this situation, happening to the thousands of children within the Caribbean. Males. Females. All of different races. Faced with pretty much only TWO options: 1. If the parents and/or the children themselves actually have some understanding of mental illness and are suffering from it. The person then faces the options of either pushing the situation under the rug because it’s socially debilitating or the person is shoved in a mental hospital which leads to them to go into a literally senile state or they’re so drugged up they don’t know how to function like a normal person. 2. the parents don’t know anything about mental illness and therefore cannot give the child the support and help the child needs. The child is then left in this constantly traumatic situation and some cannot even make it out of their family’s care / leave their Caribbean home because A. finances and B. the stigma of leaving the country. So basically, for a place that always tries to claim that there is a constant advancing within their community. They are not advancing in which really matters, the people and their health.

#op #texts #rant #sort of #personal #long post #sorry but i kind of am not at the same time #because im really frustrated by how stupid we as caribbean people ar #*are #sigh #mental illnesses #caribbean #indo-caribbean #mental health

2 notes · View notes

evolutiosportsphysioblog · 6 years ago

Text

Honest Conversations, Motorcycles and Weight Loss

I’ve been out of the private training scene for a month or two now and I while I don’t feel like that’s enough time to properly collect my thoughts on this subject, I’ve started. And it’s a deep, fraught, emotional rabbit hole.

When you’re in the fitness industry there is a question that comes up more often than any other.

"How do I lose weight?"

Whenever I felt it coming I freeze.

Then I back away mumbling something about not being the person to ask because I’m only qualified in training, not nutrition.

It never fails to break my heart, as well as put me into a mild panic. Why? The question is simple enough and the answer has always been the same, so why so uncomfortable? Because 99 times out of 100 it came from someone of a healthy, normal weight. Who was nearly always a woman. Who has spent their entire life being manipulated and marketed into a horrible web of lies about the one thing that belongs to them and no other person or corporation.

So this article is for the woman who is an expert in her field but still asked me how to lose weight. This is for the woman who can deadlift a small motorcycle but still asked me how to lose weight. This is for the woman whose partner looks at her as if the sun shone directly out of her arse but still asked me how to lose weight. This is for the man who raised great leaders of the next generation but still asked me how to lose weight. This is for the person who never stops lifting everyone around them up but still asked me how to lose weight. This is for the people who would have a shot at being content if they could just stop asking how to lose weight.

It’s my attempt at putting into words everything I wish I had said to each of those clients and friends, and to my younger self. It’s a conversation I never actually had because it was easier to tell myself it wasn’t my problem and I didn’t have enough time to get into it.

But in not being part of the solution I was definitely part of the problem. I’m sorry. I let you down by not saying it when you asked.

This is what I think you should know.

Protein is not as important as you may think it is, it’s just easy to sell. There is nothing bad about carbohydrates. Fat is good for you, but there is no evidence it should constitute the biggest or the tiniest part of your calorie intake. Ketones are bullshit, or as close to bullshit as to be indistinguishable from it. In the absence of medical test results showing otherwise, your insulin response/thyroid/cortisol/adrenal glands/gut biome are probably not making you fat. Sugar isn’t either, but it may be making you unhappy.

Anyone who tells you otherwise has a vested interest in either robbing you of your money or your joy.

Healthy is not always lean and lean is not always healthy. The normal body fat range is around 20-30% for women, 10-20% for men (slightly lower for athletes, slightly higher with age). Not a lot of the Instagram #fitspo set would be inside that, and many appear to be well below it. Looking a certain way personally is not a qualification for involving yourself in other people’s health, and giving out diet advice with no training or education in nutrition can be dangerous. Medical and allied health practitioners would call this practising outside your scope and it is a very serious, potentially criminal, breach of ethics.

The ways we measure and track body composition are shady, at best. The body varies, sometimes significantly, from day to day. Splitting measurements down into single centimeters or kilograms is an exercise in deceit - that fine a fluctuation can come from nowhere and does not necessarily reflect actual change. In contrast, your perception of your body can turn on a dime. Weight, bio-impedence and circumference measurements give a rough idea, but are actually an inaccurate and misleading way of analysing composition. They are, however, an extremely effective way of depressing mood and self esteem.

Body weight, unless you are preparing for competition in a weight-classed sport, is rarely relevant to your training. Unless you count competitive bodybuilding, size and leanness are not performance metrics in sport. Time trials, VO2 max testing, weights lifted, sports-specific task completion, competition results – are all ways to measure athletic progress and achievement. Body measurements, even if sometimes vaguely relevant to performance, are not a way of measuring performance.

1200 calories a day is enough... if you’re 4’6’’, 40 kg and don’t move. Attempting to restrict your intake by that much only to wake up at night to eat a tub of ice cream IS NOT FAILURE - it's evolution taking the wheel. You are the latest model of a 2 million-year old survival machine, and starvation is a red alert problem. It will pull out all the stops to make sure you eat. In cases of actual starvation your body will make you want to eat dirt for the minerals it needs to continue basic function. In a massive energy deficit, the irresistible compulsion to eat more is not lack of self control - it’s the body ensuring you survive. And not just survive miserably, but thrive, dominate and have the strength to reproduce.

The fault was in deciding that less than 1500-2000 calories would do, not in picking up the spoon.

You can’t “cure” cellulite because Cellulite. Is. Not. A. Disease. It’s as normal as freckles. There is nothing wrong with it and you’re in good company - up to 90% of women have it. Can we instead talk about the sick, twisted business decisions that have deliberately turned something that nine out of ten women naturally have into a ‘problem’ so that the cosmetic industry can sell more products?

You CANNOT ‘spot reduce’ fat.

The amount you can ‘spot increase’ muscle in any one area has a limit.

For example: any self-respecting strength program that results in gluteal hypertrophy will also add mass to the quads, hamstrings and trunk and produce adductors that crush “thigh gap” into oblivion. Butts are made of muscle and fat and if you have a big chunk of that in one area of your body you’re usually going to have it all over. While some people can be naturally lean with booty, it’s the equivalent of winning the genetic lottery on similar odds as having different-coloured eyes or several sets of teeth.

Way more often, that booty is totally fake. If you don’t believe me I need you to familiarise yourself with Detox or Kalorie Carbdashian from the Rupaul Drag Race alumni.

Amenorrhea, or not having your period, is not some sick badge of honour that you’re ‘really fit’ or ‘thin enough’. It’s a sign that conditions have become so bad that reproduction needs to be shut down because either the offspring, the parent or both would die. That is serious fucking shit. Organisms don’t care about how jeans fit or bikini pics or careers or sports or anything. They only care about surviving and even that is only in order to reproduce. If that gets shut down THINGS ARE NOT OKAY.

Irregular periods or missing a few is not a cause to worry. But going extended periods of time without menstruating can have serious impact on hormones, metabolism, bone density, psychiatric health and many, many other things.

Less than 10% body fat is a critical health problem for women. Amenorrhea is most often observed at 11-13% and less. Six packs are usually visible on women up to around 15%. Again: the normal range is 20-30%.

In order to lose weight, you must be in an energy deficit. That is, consuming fewer calories of energy than you are expending. This causes your body to break down cells in order to have the energy it needs. You don’t get to choose what type of cells – some muscle will go along with fat.

In order to build muscle mass, you must be in an energy surplus and training for hypertrophy and you will also put on some fat with that muscle.

There is no way of arranging your macros, nutrient timing, fasting or supplementing that will allow you to lose significant fat while simultaneously gaining significant muscle.

At the end of the day, your body either has too much food energy available and it will store it or it doesn’t have enough and it will use stored energy.

There is no product or method that will make you lose weight without being in deficit. Only the supplement/diet food industry wants you to believe that.

Weight gain is from the body squirrelling away energy stores for a rainy day; it doesn’t want to give them up easy. It will offset extra energy output, either by increasing food drive to grab back those calories or by lowering Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. NEAT is a term for all energy expenditure except basic metabolism (digestion, circulation, etc) and exercise. NEAT could go down simply by feeling the need to keep a jumper on during the day, spending more time in bed before getting up, or fidgeting less. This being impossible to accurately track means that the old ‘calories in - calories out’ equation is an obfuscation.

Extra exercise will make you fitter, stronger and healthier and happier. However if you’re trying to measure everything to the last wretched calorie it may not create as much of a deficit as calculated. Boosting your NEAT is usually a more effective place to start. Only the exercise industry wants you to believe otherwise.

We have become so saturated with images of “perfect” bodies that things made of steroids, peptides, clenbuterol, implants, injectables, surgeries and disordered eating have stopped being unattractive and abnormal and become admired. And there is an imperceptible layer of posing, filters and editing on top of that. At this point we literally have no way of knowing what goes into an image. When in doubt, assume total fabrication.

Delete. Unfollow. Choose aggressively ethical influencers. Or no influencers; follow puppies instead. Spend your time and money on things that make your life or someone else’s better.

The worst of these industries, their advertisers and those who peddle this slow poison should be in prison. And no, that is not hysterical and I will not calm down.

It’s hard to even see it because all of our brains have literally formed steeped in this marketing, and the line between advertising and everything else is getting blurrier by the day.

But luckily the economics are simple: if starved of attention they will have to change their content or go out of business.

And that, my friends, we can do.

Peta works as our Head Remedial Therapist and S & C Coach. She’s in the VIC state team for Surfboat Rowing and owns the world record for the 1km Ergo at 30-39yrs Female category. She can also hipthrust 200kgs. You can book in with her at Evolutio here

#sports physio #physiotherapy #melbourne #crossfit #strength training #strength & conditioning #olympic lifting #nutrition #healthy #richmond sports physio #richmond massage #massage melbourne

0 notes