#and I am eating a crash diet amount of food

[tramontane-fire]

food/ed talk

[alittledisordered]

Sooo.

I keep going back and forth about my diet. On the one hand, maintaining keto is a bitch. I'm someone who (strictly judging from the "symptom data" I've collected over the last few months) has an extremely low threshold for getting kicked out of ketosis. I've heard that some folks can eat as many as 30-50 grams of carbs a day and it's smooth sailing.

I... am not one of them. It's nothing but chicken and eggs and like 15 net carbs' worth of fibrous veggies for me, or I'm stuck in that foggy "in-between" state, where I think my body is still trying to operate on whatever meager carbohydrate stores I give it instead of ketones. And that. Feeling. Sucks.

But whenever I try to balance my macros a little more, I find it extremely challenging to maintain any kind of caloric deficit. I'm not gaining heaps of weight, or anything. It's not as though I introduced a daily apple to my diet, and all of a sudden packed on pounds of fat.

But when your alarm goes off at 5:30 am, and you work 10 hour nursing shifts, the energy peaks and slumps that occur throughout the day can be difficult to manage. I usually don't have the energy to work out in a deficit. I haven't been lifting or progressing in the gym in any meaningful way. And I feel as though I'm constantly fixating on food, considering my next "micro-meal," filling up on apples and Greek yogurt and other high-volume foods only to feel desperately hungry an hour later.

And my relationship with the scale is still clearly s***.

I decided to do another three day egg fast this past week, because I saw my weight creep just over 130 lbs again and I wanted to see how much of it was water weight retained after introducing a moderate amount of carbs back into my diet.

Pre diet weight: 131.3 lbs

Post diet weight: 127.6 lbs

And now I'm at a crossroads. Once again in a comfortable and controlled state of ketosis. No energy crashes. No hunger migraines. No late night cravings, or obsessive gum chewing, or trying to find ways to "hack" my hunger.

But like.

How long can I keep this up?

[cumbunnywitch]

Body Positivity isn't just a mindset for other people, but a journey of self-acceptance too. Like, yes, obviously, bullying or harassing or whatever someone because they're fat or hairy or they don't meet some arbitrary definition of attractiveness is a really shitty thing to do.

But, it's also about learning to accept yourself for how you look. A lot of body-pos stuff really is taking a good long look at yourself and understanding if maybe some of the feelings you have towards the people you used to look down on were, in fact, internalized things. And I'll be honest, I needed to do this myself. I was not always the relatively nice but mouthy woman you know me as.

I don't talk about this a lot but I used to be really dang skinny. Like, very underweight. When I was 19, I weight 115 pounds at 5'6, and almost none of that was fat(I was a jock(and a boy, at the time)), and so I had a lot of exercise, and none of the massive amounts of food I ate went anywhere near my waistline or butt.

A few years later, I would weigh 150, sedentary from a job mostly sitting around answering calls all day, no gym membership to speak of. I gained weight really quick, actually. And then latent anorexia hit. I started getting worried, after a few months of this. I wasn't really sure why, but it turns out a lot of that was also dysmorphia and dysphoria kicking in from the Gender Questions I was asking myself and also trying to hide. A few years after transitioning though, I hit 187, and that feeling of being too fat was a gnawing anxiety. (un)Fortunately, my self-soothing for anxiety was overeating, so you can see where I fell into a vicious cycle of trying to lose weight desperately and the anxious need to eat to numb-out the stress of life, dysphoria, and being an adult.

At one point, I killed my desire to eat almost entirely, and went on a crash diet. Keto, plus low calorie, plus serving size restriction. I worked out for an hour a day, feeling like I was going to pass out the entire time. It wasn't healthy. I kept that up for almost 2 months, and went from around 185 to 165. I am not incredibly large, nor am I obese, but some part of myself needed me to hit arbitrary numbers.

At some point, I finally recognized that this wasn't healthy, and I was only feeling worse. I allowed myself a burger, and visited a therapist. I don't have full-blown anorexia, but a big part of what was causing my issues were internalized and arbitrary standards that not only conflicted with the way I wanted to treat other people, but with a healthy lifestyle.

Do I still want to lose weight? Yea. Have I found a healthier mindset and, arguably more importantly, a healthier reason? Also yes. I accept my body for what it looks like. I accept that my eating habits are not "the problem" or that I need to be thin.

I have killed the part of me that wants to be thin-as-string and I'm learning to accept that the journey to losing weight isn't about numbers and goals and forcing myself into unwinnable regiments of working out until I physically cannot stand and eating just enough to wake up the next day.

I wanna wear a dress I bought when I first started transitioning. I was already getting bigger, and it very nearly fits. When I suck in my tummy, I look fantastic in it. Thats it. That's my goal. No numbers, no waistline measurements. And I'm gonna take my fuckin' time doing it, because it's my body, and good food is worth enjoying if it takes another week or two.

I don't feel frustrated about my weight or my body anymore. I'm comfortable in my skin, and I've learned to examine my thoughts when I'm feeling gross. I'm getting better. I love myself.

I'm not trying to say anything here, either. This is just my personal journey. If you learn something from it, then great.

[oldcoyote]

i cannot believe after years of crash dieting and failures that the thing that's fucking working for me is literally just counting calories and being honest with the numbers?? like with a notebook and pen, no apps, nothing digital, just literally pen and paper and it's the best fucking system i have ever used. i am full and satiated every day and still losing weight??

i've tried it before with myfitnesspal and other apps that i fucking loathe because they are 99% USA based and all the food data for Australia is largely inaccurate or nonexistent, you have to enter it all manually yourself, and i hate it god do i hate it. but getting the info off the literal packaging the food is coming in makes it so simple? for some reason just the pen and paper maths is so calming to me, so easy, and i'm starting to memorise all the calories in my regular foods like my coffee, eggs on toast, dumpling soup, etc, which makes it even faster

my daily calorie intake dropped by over 1,000 calories per day and i'm still not hungry at all each day, which goes to show how violently i was overeating for emotional comfort and boredom. i drink so many of my calories in milky coffee and energy drink that i've started to reduce my worst of those habits to eat better, healthier food and more of it. it's making such a huge difference to everything, even my mood and my outlook, which i never expected

i know at some point my metabolism will slow down and i'll have to readjust, but hopefully the rollercoaster system i'm using (eating lower calories for a few days, then normal amounts, then higher, then lower, etc) will keep it from happening too soon so the progress can continue

i don't really care so much about my looks anymore; i've been so fat for so long there's no real recovery possible in terms of appearances - i just want my top surgery. i just want to be comfortable in my own body. and i finally feel like it's a real possibility, which is just - it means everything

[oak23]

What are your recommended go-to healthy meals?

Honestly, the only real approach I took to my healthier eating is "more protein less carbs" proportionally in a meal since I am an incredibly picky eater and the idea of eating a "healthy meal" initially seemed impossible.

And this isn't to say carbs are evil, but carbs don't really fill me up that much yet have higher calories compared to protein, so I tend to overeat on carbs if given the chance. I can eat a whole loaf of bread in one sitting if given the chance but I can only eat a much smaller amount of steak.

Plus protein is good for muscles and all the gym bro stuff, but it also helps you feel satiated for much longer and it doesn't give you the massive energy crashes that high carb meals can do.

Like, I love a burger with fries to round out a meal. But comparatively, that's a very high carb, low protein meal especially if I get a meal with a large fries and like, a single patty burger. If I go out to eat with friends nowadays, I usually get a burger with two or three patties and maybe a small fries so I still feel full but I eat less overall.

Same with rice and pasta dishes. Before, I could eat a whole bowl of rice or pasta with like, nothing but a sauce. But nowadays, I bulk up the meal with more vegetables and protein just so I'm eating the same volume of food but less carbs and more of everything else.

Proportionally, all of my meals are basically one third meat, one third vegetable, one third carbs. I know how hard it is to go from eating without ANY thought into what you eat, into having to count calories and shit, so I feel this approach of visualising food first then slowly building up to healthy meals is an easier method.

But yeah my go to meals are usually chicken, rice and vegetables since I can meal prep a bunch of it then have it ready to eat throughout the week. I usually leave it plain when I meal prep so I can switch it up when I reheat it with bottled sauces.

Sometimes I eat salmon or steak, not because it's healthy (it is though) but because I can pan fry it on each side for 4 minutes each and it's ready to eat soon after. I usually salt and pepper each side, pan fry it, then let it rest. You can also make a pan sauce with the fond on the pan using a bit of wine and butter then put the sauce into a separate vessel.

While it's resting, I fill the frying pan with water and blanch my vegetables for a few minutes. You can let meat rest but you want your vegetables to be as freshly cooked as possible for a good meal. Plus blanching it in the same pan means the water has made the pan easy to clean afterwards. I have a bag of frozen broccoli that I use but I do pick up fresh vegetables if I know I'm cooking it within the next few days.

Uhhh, for snacking or just, smaller meals, I really been loving flavoured greek yoghurt. I have a big tub of it that I graze upon throughout the week when I'm slightly peckish but not full blown hungry.

Roasted nuts is also a nice snack as it's protein too and it's something I keep in my bag for myself.

I also love apples and other fruit too but I know that's like, normal health food.

Like, I really don't think you need to overhaul your entire diet if you don't intend to be an athlete or body builder, and that you don't need to give up everything you like, the key is moderation in what you eat.

Side note, I do believe that you can indulge in cheat meals occasionally, but I do not recommend in indulging in cheat days. A cheat meal is a lot easier to go back on but I find that allowing a whole day to eat whatever really fucks me up really badly and I tend to binge like crazy because of it.

But yeah, my approach of less carbs more protein worked for me but I know everyone has unique eating habits and what worked for me might not work for others so I tried to be a lot more general than just "go eat boiled broccoli and protein shakes".

[whentherewerebicycles]

weight talk under the cut

I got really out of my food and exercise routines during the months of the job hunt + big move + adjusting to new bleh work stuff (understandable) and my weight swung up quite a bit higher than it’s been in a while. but I did a pretty focused reset of my eating habits maybe six-ish weeks ago and I am starting to slowly see some of that stress weight come off. to be clear I like my body as is and while I have vague targets for where I’d like my ‘resting’ weight to be eventually I don’t diet or calorie count and I don’t stress too much about hitting certain ~milestones or whatever the way I used to in my lightly disordered eating youth. that said I think I do want to prioritize steadily and sustainably losing weight this year, for the following reasons:

health reasons (mostly my PCOS + family risk factors for diabetes and heart issues etc)

fertility reasons (moderate weight loss is supposed to increase chances)

🤰reasons (I’ve been reading about this a lot and if it’s within my control I’d like to make a concerted effort to not put on a lot more weight than I need to sustain a healthy pregnancy, especially since PCOS makes it really difficult for me to lose excess weight once I’ve put it on)

emotional reasons (this isn’t weight specific but: I feel a LOT better and sleep better when I’m eating well and getting a good amount of exercise. since I will have to go off most/all of my meds if I get pregnant I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can to take care of myself in other ways!)

I don’t know how long the IUIs will take, but I have budgeted for up to 6 cycles and I think I’d like to focus my food/exercise habit-building plans on a 3-6 month timeline. gonna return to this later today to do some more journaling and planning I think! but for now I want to stop & recognize that I’ve made huge progress towards the goals I set back in the spring 2020, when I realized I needed to change everything about my relationship to food/exercise. I eat SO many more kinds of vegetables than I used to and have learned to prepare healthy delicious meals. I’ve virtually eliminated processed foods + refined carbs and sugars from my everyday diet and have figured out ways to make that feel positive rather than restrictive or punitive. I’m curious about food and interested in new foods in a way I never was before like, age 27 lol. and I’ve experienced a couple stress-related setbacks (where I relapse into old eating habits) and been able to gently reset/get myself back on track. I consistently get 5-7 hours of moderate intensity exercise every week and I’m going to work on gradually building up to an additional 2-4 hours of higher intensity exercise at the gym each week. and while the scale isn’t everything, I’ve lost between 25-30 lbs (it’s fluctuated a bit with stress) in a little under 3 years. which probably isn’t as much as I could lose with crash dieting or whatever but my goal isn’t to lose fast but to lose sustainably in a way that gradually lowers my ‘resting’ weight aka the weight my body seems to kinda settle into. that feels really good to me!!! an average of 10 lbs per year seems doable and sane and not punishing.

it doesn’t make a ton of sense to set weight loss goals given the uncertainty of babymaking lol but if it does take me a while, I’d love to try to use careful food management + more exercise to slowly shed 5-7 lbs in the next six months, just to get myself comfortably into the 160s. the periods in my life where I’ve been the most physically fit my resting weight was between 145-150 and that 150 range has always felt like a good weight on my frame. soooo just gotta keep doing what I’m doing! working on building those good habits! tuning out the noise of weight loss pressure etc! focusing on what feels good for my body and self!

[undeadorion-archive]

Bodies are just so goddamn weird.

Back in 2015/2016 I started to sort out a crap ton of health issues. Coming out as trans dragged me out of a deep dark hole I’d been in for probably a decade. Part of that adjustment was drastically altering my diet as I was in the early stages of a binge eating disorder and ate a lot of garbage food. The biggest change was drastically reducing how much sugar I had. Over the course of a year or so I managed to lose 60lbs. It was the best I’d ever felt.

Then in 2017 I ended up living with my mom. History time. She was the source and catayst of my eating disorder. Prior to a gastic bypass surgery she’d been over 400lbs at just 5′6. And to make herself feel better pushed her eating habits onto me and my sisters. She was also extremely controlling and couldn’t stand when I didn’t follow her everywhim. So my losing weight on my own was not something she could handle. Despite not being able to eat much herself anymore, she’d bake large batches of cookies and desserts then insist I have “just one.” Constantly. So I lied and said my doctor told me I had to go full no sugar. 

At first it was fine, just a small step down from what I’d already done. And I lived by it because I thought it was a step I needed to take. At first I felt just fine. But I got a huge life unheval in which I came home one day to find my mom had moved out (but that’s another story I’ve shared before). So I had to drop out of school and find a job and a place to live. And I chalked all of my exhaustion up to depression and stress. 

Only it really never went away. My energy level was just constantly low, with a minor spike here and there. But I also had a number of other problems, like needing massive amounts of emergecy dental work and working in a soul crushing job. 

Eventually I moved in with my dad in 2019, and thought maybe. Finally. I’d feel better. Only I didn’t. Maybe it was jumping back into school before I was ready. Maybe it was taking on a job that I was underqualified for. But then the pandemic hit, and I lost my job but got on unemployment. Finally. Minimal stress and all the recovery time I needed. Only...I never felt completely better. Every day was a dice roll on whether or  not I’d have the energy to do anything. 

I kept trying to be active, but I could manage 1 or 2 days of bike riding or going for a walk before I’d crash. And I gained all the weight back. 

Okay, maybe it was the anxiety causing me problems. Stress was a big thing, and anxiety is just stress, right? Talked to my doctor finally, got on anxiety meds. I felt better for a little bit, then a minor injury set me back. I mean, the anxiety was better but now I was just tired 24/7.

I figured it was a matter of excercise. So I tried and tried and tried. I’d get a few days in, then crash. Or I’d be so tired that trying to exercise made me feel ill. Finally, I asked my doctor about it and we decided fibromyalgia might be a likely cause (mostly due to other factors like chronic pain). But she ordered bloodwork to rule out things like diabetes. 

The reason I cut down on sugar to begin with was a blood test that showed I was prediabetic. After nearly 7 years of maintaining a healthy, low sugar diet...the needle hadn’t moved at all. I was still prediabetic. 

I spent that night mulling over “why am I even doing this, then?” cause a sugar free diet is no fun. It’s expensive and nothing tastes right. And there’s sugar in EVERYTHING. 

So the next day, out of sheer spite for my own body, I made a batch of full sugar muffins. And proceeded to eat 3 of them through the day. 

I expected to feel like utter garbage. Every other time I’d unexpectedly gotten sugar (usually ordering a diet soda and getting regular), I would feel like crap for like 2 full days. But...I didn’t. I felt better. So I proceeded to add sugar back into my diet, bit by bit. And each day I had more and more energy. 

I thought it was all temporary when I started to feel like crap again. But it resolved in a few days to be a cold. And I was prepared to be sick for weeks on end, as had been the trend. But it passed in just a few days. 

Over the course of the last few weeks, a ton of little mysterious issues have been clearing up. Like I was constantly dehydrated but drinking more water would just pass right through me. My heat intollerance got worse every year, anything over 68 degress and I’d feel like I was dying. Stuff like that. It turns out your body needs energy to actually do anything properly. And I guess mine can’t extract enough energy from other sources.

So now I’m required to have sugar. Little treats are now medically necessary.

[resiliencyprogram]

What Diet for Stress Management is Best to Build Students Resilience

The students today live in a fast-moving, pressured world, whether it be academics or social life. While they haggle through these various demands, maintaining mental and physical health is very important. Therefore, the way to handle stress and build up immunity would be through diet.

An appropriate diet for stress management can equip the resilience of a student to the buildup of stress and the capacity to deal with it. This will be a post in which I am going to share details on the best diet for managing stress in students.

The aim is to help them develop resilience and thrive academically. Additionally, this diet will support their personal well-being.

How Diet-Stress Links Work?

It makes its influences in the body, right from mood to physical well-being, through stress. Stress to one whose body is under feels hormonal imbalance, increased inflammation, and reduced energy. All of these stresses are alleviated through a well-balanced diet that supplies much-needed nutrients for proper mental and physical health.

He noted that some foods will tend to calm the body, while others may increase the stress. Interestingly, a high nutrient-dense diet allows students to begin building reserves. This helps them be better equipped to manage their stress and build resilience.

Omega-3 fatty acids: These essential fatty acids found in fish, walnuts, and flaxseeds will not only reduce inflammation but also feed the brain for better mood and cleaner, keener thinking. Eating food that's rich in omega-3 fatty acid intake is fighting the very bad effects brought about on a student's body through stressors.

Vitamin B: Now, the very reason B vitamins are nutritionally important is because B6, B9, and B12 are essential nutrients in brain functions and for the synthesis of some neurotransmitters, like serotonin and dopamine. Indeed, serotonin and dopamine have been noted as two neurotransmitters vital for mood, stress-regulating function, and mood control.

Major food sources for the B-group vitamins: Green vegetables, whole grains, eggs, milk products.

C vitamin: This is an extremely well-known immunity vitamin and helps the body fight off some of the physical symptoms from stress. Citrus fruits, strawberries, peppers, and broccoli are some good sources.

Magnesium: It allows a person to relax, and it is involved in the response of the body to stress. It may be obtained from food sources such as nuts and seeds, whole grain foods, and leafy vegetables. High-stress and anxiety levels may be related to low levels of this mineral.

Antioxidants: These are valuable against enhanced oxidative stress and inflammation, which is likely to be heightened more during stressful periods. It is rich in antioxidants that may be able to help insulate the body from the impact of stress.

Complex Carbohydrates: Complex carbohydrates release their energies slowly compared to simple carbohydrates, which can shoot the blood sugar rocketing up only to come crashing down. A good example would be oatmeal, brown rice, and sweet potatoes; these can keep blood sugar stable, avoiding alterations in mood and irritability.

Building a balanced diet for stress management

A healthy diet is the amount of food ingested that is nutrient-dense, containing all the body needs, and covers myriad challenges of stress a student undergoes per day.

Here are some practical tips on how one can design a diet to manage stress:

Snack Smart: Grab snacks that will hold you well for enough time with the stamina and focus needed to get through your busy day. Nuts, seeds, and fruits are great selections—this trio combines crunch with a nutrient-dense fuel.

Stay Hydrated: Dehydration increases symptoms of stress and more than halves the operation of our brains. Drink tons of water and avoid tons of coffee, sweetened juices, and sodas that make you much more thirsty afterward, with an energy crash.

Include a source of protein, a complex carbohydrate, and healthy fat in each meal: This will even out the sugar as best possible and keep one feeling great. Food examples include a salad with quinoa, chickpeas, and avocado, or a stir-fry with tofu and a variety of vegetables.

Avoid those foods which will most probably cause stress: Even foods and drinks may be stressful. Huge amounts of caffeine, sugar and mainly processed foods only lead to high stress. Lower intake of these foods will reduce stress feeding healthy physiology.

You may also read:

Resilience Program for Government Organizations: Supporting Employee Well-being

Resilience Program for Students: Building Mental Strength for Success

Conclusion

Find out the best-suited diet to keep your stress in control with the help of the Resiliency Program— best resilience program in India. It will assist students in harnessing their resiliency toward facing challenging environments by embedding good nutritional strategies into a comprehensive support pattern.

[the-duckless-pond]

My best friend has been radio silent for a while and I thought she might respond when I told her that Boo was sick but she didn’t and that’s okay and I’ll keep updating her on Boo’s health but I super need to vent and I have literally no other friends to talk to and am very alone because I would talk to my mother but whenever I try she just tells me she has too much info in her brain and can’t hear me. So. Yeah. I’m dealing with this absolutely alone. And I’m stressed as fuck.

Last Friday the 16th Miss Boo was diagnosed with probably stage 2 Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). It is terminal. There is no cure. But there is treatment, so that’s good. She could have months or even many many years left. There’s no way of knowing. I am trying to prepare for months but I am hoping for years.

She is on a diet now, Hill’s Prescription Kidney Care both wet and dry. Wet at specific time and dry for free feeding. Although as of today there is a strike or a protest or something because neither Boo nor Callie want to eat their wet food. I got so frustrated that I cried. Boo has lost an alarming amount of weight since April. Almost an entire pound. I need to get calories into this cat SOMEHOW. And I like to include Callie because I love her and want her to feel good and loved. So I tried the wet food today. Nothing. I tried mixing in their old wet foods. Nope. I tried CatSip. Nope. I tried their favorite treats. Nope. I tried homemade chicken broth. Nope. I tried turkey broth. Nope. They are just refusing. And I got so upset and frustrated and hopeless feeling that I collapsed on the floor very dramatically and cried because I don’t want my cat to waste away and I need Callie to eat her senior food because she is older too and it will help her. But they just refused everything. They are still snacking on the kibble so at least there is that, but hydration is a problem in CKD and I need Boo to be eating wet food. So I sobbed about it because it was just too much after the day I’ve had.

Jumping back to the lead in to the sobbing, when Boo had her blood work and urinalysis last week they found cocci bacteria in her urine but no blood cells so they assumed it was a contaminated sample. Which is dumb because it was taken directly from her bladder with a needle so like… how. But. Whatever. I talked to the vet and she assured me it was fine. It was not fine. I went on my support group and shared her test results and others noticed the cocci as well, and urged me to look into the symptoms of UTIs as they can be common in CKD cats. So I did, for hours I did. And then I spent the next 24 hours watching her. She was drinking more and urinating more than normal and in small amounts. And I found out that she even went outside the box twice - a first in all our thirteen years together. All signs pointed to a UTI.

So I made the soonest appointment I could get, which was next Tuesday. And then I panicked and watched her like a hawk and checked her urine for blood because these things can turn into kidney infections if left untreated which can speed up the progression of CKD and lead to crashing. So basically the nightmare. I spent hours panicking and debating on whether or not to take her to the kitty ER down the road. It was awful. And so very stressful. And I didn’t have any of my as needed anxiety meds.

Fortunately the vet contacted me this morning, literally right as I had decided to take her to the ER, and told me that given the symptoms I listed when making the Tuesday appointment they were concerned it was a UTI. I felt so vindicated! I was right! They wanted to start her on a trial of antibiotics and then check in four days after the course was complete, in roughly two weeks, to do another urinalysis and look for bacteria. If they are present then we will do another round of antibiotics.

God, that was such a relief. I was dreading hearing her crying out while urinating or something or finding blood in the box. Dreaded. It was stressing me the fuck out to the point where I had trouble sleeping. I even overnighted some puppy pee pads to place around the litter boxes in the spots she has been going so that I could know if there was blood in her urine (and also to protect my carpets but much less so).

Anyway, as soon as the medicine was ready I picked it up and took it home and read the instructions. This is my first time medicating a cat so I was, and am, feeling overwhelmed as fuck. I emailed the doctor a bunch of questions about how to give it to her and basically I could mix it into anything I wanted as long as I made sure she consumed the entire dose.

I chose CatSip, because that is her favorite treat (that is getting daily because any calories are good calories). I made a bowl for Callie too so that she wouldn’t feel left out. The antibiotic liquid is a creamy white just like the treat so I needed to separate the bowls so that I didn’t get them confused. So I set Callie’s bowl down and mixed the medicine into Boo’s and called her over. She didn’t come.

Where was she? Drinking Callie’s snack. Sigh. It was all gone, too. I apologized to Callie and told her she would need to wait just a little longer. I picked up Boo and took her and her medicine snack to the bedroom and closed the door. Thus began thirty minutes of trying to get her to finish it because she had already had some and didn’t want anymore. Ugh. So, that was stressful. She finally did finish it, and according to the website it starts working within two hours but I might not notice changes or her feeling better for a day or two. I choose to believe that she is starting to feel better already.

We left the bedroom and Callie finally got her snack. Boo tried to steal it again (naughty girl!!!) but I redirected her and Callie was able to have the entire serving.

Then everyone was happy and I felt better because Boo had medicine in her and that was an improvement over prior. They both napped in the living room with me while I read the news.

And then I realized boo’s next dose would be at 2:30am. And school starts in just a few days and I’m trying to fix my sleep schedule. And I got stressed all over again because what am I supposed to do? Just go to bed like normal and hope she doesn’t suffer overnight? Stay up to give her the medicine and hope it doesn’t fuck up my sleep schedule too much? How am I supposed to do this alone? Stress increasing by the second.

I decided to stay up until 2:30am to give her the medicine. And then tomorrow she won’t get her next dose until about 5pm. I am going to increase it by just over 2 hours, which is according to what I read online in articles, an acceptable grace period. Then I’ll wake up at 5am the next day, and her following dose won’t be until 7pm. Then, finally, we will be on a 7am and 7pm schedule. That gives me like 2 days to fully fix my sleep schedule which is only going to add to my stress levels but I honestly don’t know what else to do and I am so fucking tired

I haven’t been sleeping well at all. Ever since we got back from the vet last week, she hasn’t slept in bed with me. And this cat has not missed a single night in 13 years until now. I have gone to sleep with Boo snoring on my pillow since I was 17 years old. So you can imagine how poorly I am sleeping with silence. And how fucking lonely it all is without her. She sometimes comes to check on me but she never stays. Most nights I cry myself to sleep from missing her so much. It’s awful. I started having to put on podcasts to be able to fall asleep because Callie doesn’t snore. She started sleeping in the tower beside the bed so I’m not like alone alone but it’s not the same. She doesn’t snore and she’s not on my pillow where I can hold her little paw and whisper how much I love her. And meanwhile Boo is in her tower in the living room so far away from us and me and the walls in the new apartment are really good and I can’t hear her snoring through the wall. I can’t hear it at all. And it all makes me so fucking sad that I can’t help but cry.

And I know she is t feeling well and she is doing what she needs to do and I respect that and won’t disturb her but I miss my baby. I miss normal bed routine. I miss when she wasn’t nauseous in the mornings. I don’t have anything to help with that yet so she just has to deal with it. My poor girl. I just want to help her feel better. I guess at least I can do something about the UTI and keep giving her her antibiotics in the CatSip. That worked really well. I’ll just have to separate her from Callie before and after and Callie will have to wait until we are done to have hers. Sorry baby. I am doing my best but there is only one of me.

Everyone is resting but me now. It is almost 10pm. Four and a half ish hours to go. I am planning on either reading or watching a show. I might take a bubble bath. I might try to make muffins because they sound so soothing and nice and I sure could use something soothing right now I am so fucking stressed and overwhelmed and out of my depth.

Or maybe I’ll pass the time reading nonsense and pretending that it makes me feel better. I did that last time I couldn’t sleep and it kind of helped.

I keep wanting to work on my story but honestly how am I supposed to think like this? With all this on my plate? I have no clue how to do it. And school is starting soon, too. Gah. More things to enter my brain and distract me. And I’ll have to actually focus on that. Learn. Absorb. Ugh. I’m not ready.

It’s a lot. A lot a lot. I have a good vet and I have a good therapist but I really wish I had a friend right now. That’s all I really want right now. A friend to listen. Just so that I don’t feel quite as alone dealing with all this.

It doesn’t matter does it. Not like people actually care about me these days. It hasn’t felt like anyone has given a damn about me in a long time. I guess I just have to live with that.

[vegi1]

Do you know vegan singers female & male in 2022?

I think this sound can only be for a specific person with a clean eating plan. Because only a clan-eating plan can make you sound wonderful. Do you know this song’s owner?

I am Sara and in this article, we want to talk about vegan singers. Women and men with amazing sounds and songs and healthy lifestyles. Follow me to know vegan singers female & male.

1) Billie Eilish- my first vegan woman

I listen to music a lot, especially when I cook. I am a music addict really. And this is a surprise for you if you know I am a Billie Eilish fan and listen to all of her music more than twice.

Do you believe Billie is a vegan? When I heard her song, I was surprised and jumped up and down. Because Billie is my favorite singer and I have the same diet and lifestyle as her.

Billie started a vegan diet when she was 12 years old and never ate animal products. She says in her interview: “before I choose a vegan diet, l don’t eat meat a lot, and changing my lifestyle to clean eating don’t be hard.”

Also, I state vegan diet is very easy and I enjoy that. Because this is my favorite diet and I wonder why I choose this lifestyle. Because I love animals and I want them to be alive.

2) Travis Barker_ my first vegan man 

I know Travis Barker with his special tattoos before I listen to his song and know he is one of the vegan singers female & male. Do you know he is engaged to Kourtney Kardashian? I think this is amazing news about vegan celebrities because a lot of people today search for anything about Travis Barker and his lifestyle.

Travis ate food like other people before he had a devastating plane crash in 2008. After this happened, he started a vegan diet.

Because all of the time in the hospital, Travis eats meat food of his Physical weakness after that, he decided to continue his vegan lifestyle and doesn’t change his lifestyle ever.

Travis Barker in his interviews said: “the vegan lifestyle has endless amounts of energy for him and that is great for someone who is a beginner at veganism.”

3) Erykah Badu- one of the best vegan woman

Number three on vegan singers female & male on my list is Erykah Badu. When I was a child, I didn’t like milk, cheese, and meat like fish and chicken, but my mom believed these are necessary for my health and pushed me to eat them.

I think Erykah Badu is the same as me a lot. Because I started to research vegan diets when I was in high school and this is like a milestone for Erykah. Because she changes her lifestyle when she wants to go to high school.

Erykah in her interviews said, “If I was a Lamborghini, I would want to put the best gas in it. I think this is work on my life about my body too.  Because the Best gas for my body is a vegan lifestyle with vegetables, Fruits, and nothing of animal products.”

4) Morrissey-vegan Singer and songwriter

Morrissey is one of the vegan singers’ females & males and he started this lifestyle when he was only 11 years old. Morrissey talks about this diet a lot in his interviews to encourage people to change their lifestyles.

Morrissey said, “I refuse to eat anything that had a mother” and this is his guide on his eating lifestyle. Also, Morrissey has activities about this lifestyle like collecting petition signatures of stopped clothing manufacturers from using animal products like their fur.

1) What singer is vegan?

Today a lot of singers change their lifestyles and have a vegan diet. Because this lifestyle makes them younger, healthy, and sound stronger. In this article, we tell you the names of famous vegan singers like Travis, Morrissey, etc.

2) Is Justin Bieber a vegan?

Justin Bieber’s diet is not completely vegan but he has a healthy lifestyle eating salads, veggies, and salmon.

3) Is Brad Pitt a vegan?

Brad Pitt is not sing said in his interviews that he is a vegan for a long time, and I think he is one of the first celebrities to choose this lifestyle.

[overcomingbingeeating]

I'm going to be posting more I think. As in using this for true record keeping given how bad things are getting.

Today I know my triggers are that I am fighting with my boyfriend. Or, is he my boyfriend? That's part of the trigger. We aren't seeing other people but we also aren't technically together and it's creating this massive amount of stress in my world. This morning I picked a fight with him just to hear from him. The uncertainty and lack of consistency is killing me.

I'm also tired. I'm so tired all the time. My eyes are also puffy like I was out drinking, except that I wasn't. I look and feel like I've been on a bender. I went to bed early, woke for an hour in the middle of the night, and then got back to sleep. Why is my body so unhappy?

Things are rough at work too.

There's lots of stress that might trigger me today. I only had coffee for breakfast - not because I want to lose weight or crash diet! - because I have my period and am so bloated and sore I couldn't stomach food.

There are lots of triggers today so I will need to be mindful. I am going to plan to go to a dance class or do some exercise at home after work to try and break up the evening so I don't spend the entire time fighting against binge eating. Hopefully that helps. I'm on my own in an office today so maybe lots of walks when the urges get too high.

Hopefully I can get back on track quickly...

[shapeinsider3]

Intermittent Fasting and Keto: Should You Combine the Two?

Fitness tips

Intermittent fasting and the keto diet are two eating strategies that have gained a lot of popularity over the past few years and the benefits of the two styles overlap. Weight loss, consistent energy, better mood, better blood sugar control, and improved insulin resistance to name a few but should you combine the two, combining them leads to better and quicker results.

Fitness tips

Let’s answer those questions in today’s article. Hey, guys welcome to shape insider, if you’re new here my name is Swapan Patra I’m a certified health and nutrition coach. Before we get into it, let me know in the comment below whether you’ve tried the keto diet, intermittent fasting one or the other, or both.

I want to hear about your experience in the comments down below I’m curious if you had better results with one or the other or combined the two. The main reason that keto and intermittent fasting have such overlap with their benefits is that both strategies get you into ketosis.

What is Ketosis?

ketosis is a metabolic state where you are burning mainly fat for energy, both dietary and body fat. The body goes into ketosis and starts using fat for energy when carbohydrates are restricted.

Carbohydrates provide us with a different type of energy glucose, glucose is a quick but short-lived energy source because our bodies cannot store much of it. However, when it comes to Fat our bodies can store upwards of a hundred thousand calories worth of energy of fat as body fat.

And if you’re overweight this amount is much much more. when you were eating a keto diet you are restricting carbohydrates and you’re eating mainly fat and protein. So your body switches to mainly burning fat and you go into ketosis.

Intermittent fasting

But another way to get into ketosis is through fasting. Now when I say fast, I mean not eating anything for a period of time technically we’re all fasting when we’re sleeping but some people fast longer and when you’re fasting obviously, you’re not eating anything so you’re not eating any carbohydrates and you go into ketosis which is where most of the benefits start from.

So let’s talk a little bit more about what fasting is and why it can be a nice addition to the ketogenic diet. Anytime you are not eating throughout the day is known as fasting. From the time you take your last bite of food in the evening to the time you take your first bite the following day is known as your fasting window.

Now when you’re in ketosis a lot of people find it’s a lot easier to go in between meals without feeling hungry and without experiencing an energy crash and this goes back to the fact that you have a lot of stored energy as fat on your body.

So when you’re burning fat you can go hours at a time without needing to eat and this is why a lot of people who are eating a keto diet also practice Intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting which is sometimes shortened to it just means that you have a fasting schedule.

A popular variation is 16:8 where you fast for 16 hours a day and then eat all of your calories within an eight-hour window. If you have your last bit of food at 7 pm one day the next day you’ll have your first bite of food at 11 am.

Now one of the biggest benefits of the keto diet is that it regulates blood sugar and insulin and this is especially beneficial for anyone with insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes who is trying to reverse it.

But keeping blood sugar and Insulin stable has other benefits as well. It prevents huge crashes and energy throughout the day. You can go several hours between meals you’re more efficient at burning fat and weight loss are easier.

It helps keep your hormones balanced, can improve your sleep, and also reduces your disease risk. Fasting has the same effect another benefit that you get from fasting that you can also get from the keto diet is an increase in autophagy.

Autophagy is when damaged cells in our body are broken down and used to create new healthy cells the best way to really boost autophagy is through extended fasting. Usually autophagy Peaks around 24 to 72 hours but eating a low-carb ketogenic diet also triggers it and this is one of the reasons why people eat a keto diet its inflammation goes down.

So because the benefits of intermittent fasting and keto are so similar, keto is often said to mimic fasting. I do not think it’s necessary to stick to a strict intermittent fasting schedule if you’re already eating keto you don’t have to do this in order to get results but I do find that fasting tends to fall into place naturally.

Simply because you’re less hungry and you can go longer without eating, so instead of sticking to a strict 16 8 schedule for most people I recommend just letting fasting come naturally. for example, if you wake up in the morning and you’re not hungry you don’t have to force yourself to have breakfast wait until you’re hungry it extends your fasting window, and then eat.

Now before we wrap up there’s one final topic that I want to touch on and that is what breaks a fast this is really important to know because you don’t want to be consuming anything within your fasting window that could potentially take away from the benefits.

Now to break a fast means that your fasting window has ended, and you’ve consumed something that has taken away from the benefits of fasting. basically, anything that causes your blood sugar or insulin to rise will break a fast.

So of course water does not break a fast during your fasting window you should be drinking water and you should also be supplementing electrolytes. electrolytes on their own don’t break a fast but watch out some brands have added sugar has added other artificial ingredients and those will break a fast.

A good product I like is soda’s everyday hydration salts they have no added sugar and they also have a good amount of electrolytes, other drinks that don’t break a fast are black coffee and unsweetened tea so what does break a fast

Technically any food you consume or any sweetened drinks with calories, now there’s some debate over whether diet soda breaks a fast in some studies when an individual who is fasting consumed diet soda their insulin did not raise but when they drank the diet soda with a meal it caused a rise more significant than drinking the soda alone.

[mineofilms]

Fitness Tips: 2023

Fitness Tips: 2023 My History in/with Fitness, specifically WEIGHT-TRAINING…

From the time I was 13 till I was about 25; pretty much everyone that knew me or knew of my reputation in the SWFL area would praise me for my weightliting efforts. Not just the look but the numbers I could throw up for a small statured person. I was never even challenged in powerlifting till I went to State in my high school run and I still fared better than most being in the Top 5 twice out of 3 years in the state of FL. When I got older drinking, chasing girls, working with bands, film school, computer systems/networking school, took up a lot of my time; but when I finally got back into fitness I was going the bodybuilding route, due to the amount of weight I put on over the years. I didn’t know much about bodybuilding or using weight training to lose weight being into powerlifting most of my life. I was partying heavily and on ever OTC (Over the Counter) supplement I could find.

I was taking a heavy stim preworkout and drinking with it sometimes. Between all that my body decided to go into a diabetic state that just progressively got worse. I couldn't manage it. I still cannot manage it. The reason why I think the supplement had more to do with this than the lifestyle is because that is the great common denominator. I was always living this life. When I started adding these stimulant preworkouts is when I started to have problems and my dumbass just kept doubling down, like CNN on a given broadcast lol.

Eventually, my lifestyle was too much for my diabetic state and my body crashed several times over an 8 year span. Now I have even more problems. When you look at pics from those earlier years of my diabetic state you can see what my body was actually doing. It was literally eating my insides out from the inside out. Almost like a parasite would operate. First it went for all my fat reserves, then it started working on my physical strength, then it literally started to eat away my muscle mass. I was 188lbs in early 2012, by mid-2012 I was down to 150 lbs and even got down to 138 a year or so later. Sure I was working out, I wasn't dieting all that much but had choose better quality of foods. 2013-2014 my body leveled off a little because I eased up on the drinking; but that only lasted a year before I went back to hitting the bottle hard along with whatever female was around at the time to keep me, um, “occupied.” I was still taking heavy stim preworkouts. I was hospitalized in 2017 for an infection on my right middle finger. They wanted to chop it off, I wasn’t having any of that, nope... Then Covid happened. I got Covid halfway through the pandemic and it aggravated my diabetes to such a level that my body went into ketoshock and I had almost died. I have had serious and complex issues ever since.

So, yeah, if you look at pics of me from 2014, I am ripped, six pack, shredded but my strength was way down and getting worse. Now since I quit drinking, the drinking was making my condition worse, I was able to get my weight back up to around 157-162 on a given day. So, not ripped anymore but still pack a good punch. I am somewhere between fit dad bod and a natural bulldog look. I am happy with that. If I had a car and a better money situation I would be at a controlled environment like a gym. Right now I am training in my @home Garage Gym Life with what I have to work with, which is a decent setup for home gym. With the weather down here it is hard for me to really get after it. I cannot handle the heat very well anymore and the garage is not insulated. It gets hot in there even when it’s only in the 70s-80s. It will feel like 100+ in there. I have had to condense my training efforts significantly.

Some of you have ask for some general tips. So here are some…

TIPS: Some of this might sound basic as fuck but it’s important:

1)   Consistency – A steady balance of: Diet, Rest, Training and Repeat. All of these are equally difficult but Repeat is the hardest. You do not have to train every day. Actually you shouldn’t train every day but you should train 4-5 days a week and hit at least every body part once or twice pending on your schedule.

2)   Eat a well-balanced diet. If you want your body to grow you have to feed it. Protein based foods. You can never fail with meats and veggies people. No matter what all the articles, YouTube channels, professionals say about diet. You have to eat protein based meals. You cannot replace food with shakes. Shakes are not a meal replacement but are meal enhancements. You drink a shake with your meal if the meal doesn’t have the protein you need to sustain both muscle repair and muscle growth. You can/should have a protein shake or a BCAA drink after your workout. There is no magic number here. You need 60 grams of protein for breakfast alone to sustain muscular growth. You will have to look up what your bodyweight/height, all that stuff, and find a number that works for you per meal that triggers the body to respond to this stimulus.

3)   You need to rest your body. Your body grows/loses weight during rest/sleep. Do not short change yourself in that arena if your plan is to grow more. Your brain and body both need rest, so sleep… Even losing weight, the body needs to rest to repair what work you did to it.

4)   This goes back to consistency… Repeat… If you do all this you must make it habitual. If you are constantly breaking your routine of diet, rest, exercise and skip the repeat button your results will show this.

5)   Do not over train. Over training is a real thing but what “they” do not tell you is what that actually means. Over training simply means your diet/rest are not matching your effort in the gym. You might go in the gym and bust ass for 3 hour workouts and that is fine but you have to do both rest and eat at that same intensity or your body will not build upon itself as you expect it will.

6)   If your body feels flat, tired and your results are becoming hindered, most likely that is because your body isn’t getting enough nutrients and rest to match the breakdown of your body in the gym. Be mindful. This is the one single reason people quit their fitness journey. The science is real, however, it is not a one size fits all and trainers/coaches will treat you like it is, it isn’t, everyone is different. Everyone’s body is different and what triggers their own stimulus is different. It is a trainer’s/coach’s job to sell you on the premise that you cannot achieve your fitness goals without their help/guidance. That is only partially true. You can absolutely get in shape without paying the obscene amounts of money that trainers/coaches charge people. Especially in group training establishments. However, not all coaches/trainers are like this and you personally may need that extra help. Just know that this is doable on your own if you are willing to put in the time, energy, research, diet, rest, exercise, attention, acceptance, repeat onto yourself. It is more than just projecting this on yourself. You must actually DO IT… No level of belief will do this for you. You must comply and do the work or nothing that is wanted will be achieved.

7)   Look up split routines. Look up HITT training. Look up Hypertrophy or the process of how muscles are broken down and built back up. Look up the differences for training for power, endurance and growth. All 3 are different but share common attributes. They are also not all mutually exclusive.

8)   Supplements… Be careful with these. If you are gonna use supplementation do your research. Most supplements and/or companies are not regulated by the FDA. They have labels, sure, but what is on the label is not literally monitored by the FDA. You may buy protein and realize the protein has a bunch of fillers in there to make it taste better, but may be a substance that your digestive tract cannot process. I would also stay away from Stimulant based preworkouts. They make you feel great, but what they do not tell you, in a lot of cases, they are using one of like 30 different chemicals that are considered and/or in the meth family tree. You are not ingesting literal meth, but it will pop you as a positive drug test for meth. This is because your standard drug test for meth covers ALL of the whole family of meth-based-chemicals. Not all of them are illegal but they are still considered “meth.” You have to get a comprehensive drug test done so they can see the exact chemical make-up of what is in your urine/bloodstream. It costs more so they do not usually do that. Also if you are taking drug tests regularly you should bring in all the supplements you are taking and let the lab people see it for themselves. I almost got into trouble with probation when I was on probation because I got popped for meth and had to bring in the supplement I was taking that had that meth-family-chemical in it. That is how I know this lol. You can use protein freely for the most part. Plant based is better on the gut than others. There are all sorts of things you can take that are good. You can use a non-stim preworkout or just get Beta-Alanine which is the reason why most people take preworkout to begin with. Just do your research and do not trust that the supplement companies have your best interests in mind. They don’t. They just want you to buy their stuff. If that stuff hurts you or causes sickness or worse they will not help you or even show they care. ALL supplement companies should not be trusted with your health, but you can use supplementation to help garner a better diet and workout recovery. Just do your homework and research on the chemical make-up of the substance you are putting into your body. You should be mindful and doing this anyway…

9)   If you want better workout tips follow some of these channels and/or mine on YouTube. I can recommend a few. My channel mostly just shows some creative workouts you can do but I do not cover a lot of the things I have mentioned here. That is why I put this together for you all. You can always message me with your questions. I am not taking clients because to be honest I cannot give you what you really need and that is time, attention; plus I cannot literally monitor what you do on a given day.

Me – https://www.youtube.com/@mineofilms ATHLEAN-X™ - https://www.youtube.com/@athleanx BodyBuilding.com - https://www.youtube.com/bodybuildingcom BroScienceLife - https://www.youtube.com/@BroScienceLife FitnessBlender - https://www.youtube.com/@fitnessblender Tiger Fitness - https://www.youtube.com/@TigerFitness Mike O'Hearn - https://www.youtube.com/@MikeOHearnTitan

Hope this helps…. Mineo (pronounced Mini-O)

Fitness Tips: 2023 By David-Angelo Mineo 1/13/2023 1,918 Words

[deyadee]

The Most Terrifying Piece of Horror to Me was Taken Down

I am beyond furious. My favorite and most personally terrifying horror media has been taken down from YouTube and I’m so angry I can’t describe it.

I will not mention the specific story, as it’s pretty lesser-known on the whole of YouTube and other social media sites- and I’ve mentioned it frequently on the account I actually use to comment/interact/post outside of this rant and depression blog, so I will not say the name but it’s a webtoon and my favorite piece of horror media was a quiet reading of it by a small channel that I can’t find anymore.

It was a story of a fat girl who was constantly dieting but never losing weight griping about mukbangs at the beginning. Saying how much she hated watching them but she couldn’t stop watching because they were so addicting to her. But it was infuriating to see these borderline super-model-esque people gorging themselves on these immaculate feasts of greasy, fatty, sugary, oily, indulgent foods while continuing to seem so effortlessly perfect and beautiful. No matter how much they ate they were never insulted for being fat pigs or called disgusting- just an entire comment section of people saying “I wish I could eat that much” or “this makes me so hungry” or “You look so beautiful Lo-fu!” While if the main character were to eat that she’d go back to her previous weight and be seen as a disgusting slob.

I don’t watch mukbang because they make me feel uncomfortable watching someone eat, but I can more than relate to seeing thin and seemingly perfect looking people especially tiny thin girls with every last detail of them seemingly perfectly crafted by the gods to be the peak of cuteness and endearment eat ungodly amounts of food or extremely sweet indulgent things and being so envious that I could just snap their necks and bones like twigs. Not that I necessarily want to hurt them specifically or harm them just because they’re thing, just finally let out years of pent up rage and self-hatred out on the dozens of people that have looked on at me only in pity or disgust. I think I’d rather just break some 2x4s or take one of those crash test dummies and slam it into the wall until it broke. I hate my envy and hatred for innocent people, but it’s just one of those pieces of me that I can never get rid of.

Anyway, it’s just so relatable even from the beginning. Then she goes to work and talks to her friend which she complains about having to keep up with her weight, and while her friend is somewhat passive about it, her shitty boss just has to come along and tear her down calling her fat and telling the “lazy fat bitches” to go back to work. She later goes back to watching the mukbang videos and continues to slump next to her computer, watching this new girl to the mukbang scene put away thousands of calories like it’s nothing. The next day she accidentally bumps into this same girl and begs to know how to get thin and beautiful like her, and surprisingly she agrees to help her. The mukbang girl leads her back to her home and gives her this jerky which makes her thin. Just one strip and you’ll never gain a single pound back.

The next day the girl wakes up and she’s thin and beautiful and for about a week her life is amazing. No one humiliates her, people actually turn their head to look and don’t actively avoid her. She had confidence, she isn’t riddled with envy… until her hair starts to fall out. Which is even more relatable to me because I’m losing so much hair by the day. She gets thinner and thinner and weaker and weaker until she can’t leave bed. Eventually she dies in bed after realizing the mukbang girl was actually eating all that food because she had to otherwise she would die. That’s when the mukbang girl has her body taken away and suspiciously has more jerky which she tries to give to another girl.

It’s so haunting to me because the main girl (as unlikeable as she probably is to anyone who isn’t me) is like a mirror to me. The same burning anger and jealousy. The same thoughts, the same insecurities, the same one-track and shallow mind. All that matters is your appearance. All you can think about is your appearance. Appearance is more valuable than anything else in this world. Just for being attractive you’re assumed to be kind, caring, healthy, intelligent, talented, funny, what’s the point in having a personality if no one recognizes it unless they had to raise you from a baby? Just be pretty and everyone just assumes you’re this way. The same envy that clouds your judgement of everyone in the world. The same constant complaining. The same weight that’ll never change or go away. The same old habits that never die. And with the way the woman just presents a solution that’s so much easier than the years of fighting and clawing and continuously falling to the bottom of the pit of weight loss. Like a monkey’s paw. The thing you’ve wanted for eternities and seemingly never even got close to you could finally be yours. Who cares about the consequences? There’s no better alternative than this. You’ll die alone and miserable anyway, why not?

I know I would eat that jerky without a second thought. I know I wouldn’t care about the consequences. I know how happy I’d be afterwards when I was finally pretty. I’d finally have confidence. I’d finally not hate people for existing. It would be like a rebirth. And for the after effects which lead to death? I want to die anyway, if I’m given the choice of at best living a below mediocre life where I’ll die alone and still in misery when I’m old with nothing that matters- then why not give myself that week of perfection… then shoot myself?

This story is horrifying because it’s all the body horror and gut-wrenching twisted fates of horror, but a scenario that’s perfectly suited for me to be trapped. Like the holes in Enigma of Amigara Faults, this is my hole. This is my personal horror. This is everything that appeals to my struggles and personal woes I can’t believe I didn’t write this myself. It’s easy to see a piece of horror media and say “Well I could’ve survived, I would’ve just ran away!” Or “I wouldn’t have been tempted in the first place, my morals are too strong!” But this is the one situation where just as easily as any other main character in horror, I would be the perfect cog to be put in that machine.

So what makes me so angry then? I can still read the webtoon online and there’s still three other videos up of it besides the one that got taken down right? Well yes, but the thing that makes it more perfect is the reader. A sweet and soft-spoken woman. She described every food so deliciously, the anger and envy and regret so potent in her voice with every grumble, her desperation to be beautiful and thin sounded like a personal problem for her, and the final moment of truly becoming beautiful she described it like she was painting a canvas. A ray of sunshine so bright and cheery you can’t think of anything but joy, but a subtle twinge to her tone that made it clear the main character date was sealed for doom. Sure, I guess she’s not the perfect narrator, or that her mic quality wasn’t absolutely perfect, but her performance made me weep every time I watched this video. Her reading and the visuals and the story just made this the perfect horror for me.

So what do you think the other reading that was out at the time was like? It was being read by some dunce reading it with some idiotic over-the-top reaction to everything. Her boss would insult her and he’d be like “WOAH DUDE THAT’S NOT HOW YOU TREAT A GIRL! NO THAT’S BAD DUDE SHE SHOULD QUIT!” Every line about food had to be some shitty attempt at one of those Tik Tok thirst trap videos. He’d constantly stop reading the story to interject his own experiences that would instantly rip you out of the story the second you even slightly got invested or he’d make some comment like “Oh that good sounds good but I Don’t know about the last one.” He’d have to over-explain what was happening in the manga even though ITS ON THE FUCKING SCREEN or had to stop in the middle of it to explain mukbang or some other shit. I’m not saying he can’t explain what it is for the viewers who don’t know but either do it at the beginning of the story or before you start reading because he had this long ass unnecessary intro he could’ve simply put the explanation into. Not to mention his fucking face took up half of the screen and he looks very similar to one of the most famous mukbang creators (one of the ones that are extremely attractive of course). So it just makes my blood boil even further.

There are two others that I’ve seen but considering they have like 10 views and one of them started off with Joker-style laughing and the other had the most bored sounding and looking woman ever taking up most of the screen with the manga in the corner, I won’t be watching them anytime soon. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad more people are doing readings of it, but it hurts so much to see one of the best videos on YouTube is now gone forever.

[rahulkamra65]

What is the Best Diet For Losing Weight and Fat?

We have all heard about those fad diets like the grapefruit diet or the apple diet. I am here to tell you diets that work. All of those diets are fad, crash, "stupid" diets. A real diet contains a mix of muscle building protein, energy filling carbs, and healthy fats for your heart.

For weight loss, ketosis is the best diet and is not a fad. The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, sufficient protein, low-starch dietary treatment that in customary medication is utilized predominantly to treat hard-to-control (headstrong) epilepsy in kids. The eating regimen powers the body to consume fats as opposed to sugars.

Normally carbohydrates in food are converted into glucose, which is then transported around the body and is important in fueling brain function. In a healthy keto diet, one would eat lots of protein and fats and little carbohydrates to get their body in a state of ketosis. Since there is no more glycogen in your body, from the lack of carbohydrates, your body will build ketone bodies from your fat tissues to fuel your body and your brain. As long as you are eating enough protein, you will preserve your muscle and lose pounds of fat easily.

Getting into ketosis takes about 3-7 days depending on your current glycogen storage. Ketosis feels odd at first because you will be lethargic and may experience headaches and even nausea. However, these symptoms go away. You will also drop lots of weight at first because of water weight.

Typical foods on a Indian keto diet include nuts, whey protein, eggs, bacon, sausage, olive oil, butter, salmon, etc.; anything that contains a high amount of protein and fats and no carbs. A vitamin pill is often taken in a keto diet since you can't eat much vegetables. (however you can eat at least one bowl of salad)

There are several versions of the ketogenic diet, including:

Standard ketogenic diet (SKD): This is a very low carb, moderate protein and high fat diet. It typically contains 70% fat, 20% protein, and only 10% carbs.

Cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD): This diet involves periods of higher carb referees, such as 5 ketogenic days followed by 2 high carb days.

Targeted ketogenic diet (TKD): This diet allows you to add carbs around workouts.

High protein ketogenic diet: This is similar to a standard ketogenic diet, but includes more protein. The ratio is often 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs.

A ketogenic diet may provide many health benefits, especially with metabolic, neurological, or insulin-related diseases.

[iplaywithstring]

hi i hope this is okay to ask, i been recently diagnosed with cfs (past thursday) and my doctor didnt offer much help apart from recommending a change in my diet, exercise and giving me magnesium?

i was reading your posts and i was wondering what "pacing' means? and how do i do that? i feel very new to all this, very very tired (most days i am so exhausted that getting up and showering is very hard) and a bit scared tbh

i hope you are doing well! and if this as is out of place please ignore it! thanks in advance!

This is not out of place at all! These sorts of questions are super important, and unless you've got one of a handful of doctors, you're not going to get the information you need.

(this is going to be long. I'm wordy. I'll try to organize it into sections so you can skim for what you need).

First off, for the advice you did get:

Changing diet: some people with ME/CFS develop new or worse food sensitivities/intolerance. Personally, my digestive system turned into a bit of a mess and I can't eat wheat anymore without regrets. On top of that, a lot of people find that some foods are inflammatory (grains, sugar, dairy especially) and that can make symptoms feel worse. It's a bit of a trial and error thing to figure out, but for me, cutting out wheat, limiting other grains and trying to avoid sugar are worth the hassle.

Magnesium: can help with sleep and with joint pain, but personally I didn't notice much of a difference. That goes for almost any supplement. I highly recommend taking vit D regularly, but that's because most people outside of the equator are low on vit D. Some people have deficiencies because of digestive issues (I'm prone to anemia myself) or find supplementing certain things helpful, but it's really an individual thing. Taking magnesium can't really hurt (unless it's too much), so it's not a bad thing to try, just don't expect a cure.

Exercise: what sort of exercise did your doctor tell you to do? In general, exercise (in the sense of doing activity to raise your hear trate for a specified time and repeating at regular intervals regardless of how you're feeling at the time) is a bad idea. ME/CFS comes with something called Post-Exertional Malaise - PEM - which means that after exertion (emotional, physical or mental), there's a likelihood symptoms will get worse. Raising your heart rate, pushing yourself, and strenuous physical activity is risky. PEM usually doesn't kick in until after the activity is finished (once your body is back to baseline) and sometimes won't show up until a day after you've over done it. Really bad flare ups/PEM episodes are often called crashes (because it feels like you've been hit by a truck).

That said, for some people with mild or moderate symptoms (myself included), a certain amount of activity is good for things like muscle and joint pain. For me that means yoga and slow walking. I avoid getting my heart rate too far above 100 (110 seems to be ok, 120 usually comes with regrets). For people with ME/CFS, things like making the bed, standing to prepare a meal, and sometimes even sitting upright all count as exercise - we can't take anything our body does for granted. When I talk about "active time" that means time doing anything that takes more effort than laying in bed reading.

Which brings us to your question about pacing!

This is a good primer on pacing

Basically it's like fishing in Stardew Valley (hear me out! This is great if you've played it!) You have an energy envelope - that's the amount of activity you can do that feels good and doesn't cause a flare up. That's the bar in the fishing UI. You are the fish. In Stardew, you have to move the bar to keep it in line with the fish, with pacing, you have to keep yourself within the boundary of the bar. The bar will not be the same size or in the same place every day, you have to learn how to read yourself and your symptoms to understand what's going on and what sort of limits you need for the day.

For example, early on in my illness, I had constant tinnitus. It's a fairly common symptom, so neither myself or my doctor thought much of it. It would come and go seemingly at random. It took me years to realize that the tinnitus is a sign for me that I'm reaching the end of my energy envelope! Along with noise/light sensitivity and nausea, that's my early warning system. If I'm dealing with any of those things, I know I need to take it easy and slow down or I risk PEM. This is when I get off my feet as much as possible and try to keep my heart rate low.

The second layer of symptoms for me include temperature regulation - if I'm cold but no one else is, I've probably already triggered PEM, so I need to plan for symptom management for the next couple of days (which might mean cancelling plans). This is when I stop - recline with my feet up if possible, blankets and heating pad, lower sensory input and such. Other things I notice at this stage include brain fog (difficulty following conversations, memory recall problems, trouble concentrating) and dizziness. Basically I'm starting to feel ill - almost like coming down with the flu.

After that comes the actual PEM/crash, which is all of the above, plus pain, weakness, chills, almost feeling like I have the flu. It's awful. When in a crash, I stay in bed (or laying on the couch) as much as possible. Audio books or podcasts instead of watching anything. Keep sensory input and activity as limited as possible for as long as reasonably possible.

Learning to recognize the early signs of the boundaries of your energy is hard to do. There are SO MANY factors - it's not just the physical things you're doing, but temperature, sensory input, emotional state, etc. On a day when I'm relaxed and content and life is good I have a bigger envelope than on a day when everything is the same but I'm worried about something. Having a chat with a friend in a coffee shop uses up a lot more energy than having the same chat on my couch.

It's also tricky because things like cortisol and adrenaline - normal stress hormones that everyone releases in lots of situations - can mask symptoms and make it harder to realize how much a situation is taking out of you. For a long time I thought I was doing great and then ended up with PEM the next day because I went past my limit but adrenaline got me through. Recognizing signs of an adrenaline surge (burst of energy, feeling restless, talking faster etc.) and responding appropriately is important. For me this means that after being in class sometimes I'd come home and go right to bed, even if I felt like I could make supper and hang out with my family.

I use an activity tracking watch to help me manage all of this. Mine is a Garmin Lilly and it has a wonderful "body battery" tracker. I don't know what measurements go into it, but for me, it means if I'm above 80 I'm probably good, if I'm below 60 I need to watch it, and once I'm at 40 I better lay down. It also tracks "intensity minutes" (activity + elevated heart rate) - it wants me to have 150 a week, but I know if I've had any, I need to slow down and pull back on my activity a bit. For me, having the technology to help keep track of things is completely worth it.

Also, you mentioned showering - showering is the worst. It is hard for a lot of people with ME/CFS because it has so many components - standing/being upright (shower chairs help!), temperature change (temperature regulation is a big deal for a lot of us), activity (washing can get your heart rate up) and has a lot of sensory input (noise, heat, tactile sensations all add up). It's ok if you need to shower less and find other ways to keep yourself clean (sponge bath, washing your hair in the sink, whatever).

What I recommend is to rest as completely as reasonable for as many days as you can - low sensory input, sleeping and reclining, not walking around too much. If you can track your hear rate, try to keep it below 100 (unless you have POTS, in which case that will be very hard!) and then start to see how different activities affect you. Keeping track of your heart rate is a good first step if you can, but also pay attention to any sensory sensitivity, nausea or temperature issues. If you notice something that wasn't there when you were resting, pull back a bit. It's SO HARD and feels so limiting at first, but as you start to understand the signs of exertion, you can learn what triggers it and what is manageable.

For example, I've got OI and PH - orthostatic intolerance and postural hypotension. That means that I have difficulty changing positions (going from sitting to standing) and difficulty staying upright. However, by tracking my heart rate and my symptoms, I know that on good days, my OI only kicks in if I'm standing still. So I can walk (slowly, on flat ground) without issues, but standing in line at the grocery store will cause problems. Learning how to recognize that means I can go to the grocery store again, I just need someone to come with me to handle the checkout (usually while I browse the plants).

this is very long. I'll stop typing now, I hope it's helpful!