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diplexchimera · 3 years

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Hey people considering college-

I have some tips for you. Now, take into consideration that I am technically a college drop-out (didn't have enough money for a second semester).

- my college required Freshman to be in a campus dorm. We got to select whether we preferred someone quiet, someone loud, or someone in between. In my experience, someone loud = an extrovert who will have many people visit them, someone quiet = a person who prefers to keep their room more private, and someone in between = a person who wants their roommate to be okay with a noisy room & people over, but also wants to be able to say they need quiet time (or they aren't sure what they want, but want neither a silent room or a busy room).

- if you have to eat from the cafeteria, that's okay. They tend to have a wider selection anyway but! I would suggest memorizing the breakfast/lunch/dinner availability hours. Some schools are very strict, and will lock the doors which = a skipped meal for you.

-I would also suggest getting the app 'MyPlate Calorie Tracker'. College meals will most likely be different than what you've eaten at home and school. The MyPlate app is pretty simple, and can help you make sure you're getting the right amount of food into yourself, as opposed to too much or too little. If I remember correctly, it also keeps track of how much protein and stuff your food is supplying you.

- sugars, fats, calories, and carbs are not bad for you. Your body requires them. Your brain literally will not function if you cut out any one of those items. Remember, you don't need to avoid being fat, you need work today being healthy. Your body will sort itself out (over time dude, give it time) if you supply it with the necessary nutrients and such.

- dude, vitamins. They can be expensive, but if you have insurance, ask your doctor how much of every vitamin you should be having. They can tell you, give you a list, and they can ask your insurance if vitamins are covered. If you can't get to a doctor, try to do research. Here is one from Harvard that I think is good, but you should always cross check things. Getting all the vitamins and minerals you need is exceedingly important. They help you go to sleep, stay asleep, and wake up, help your brain and body to function and adjust, help keep you feeling healthy and happy. If you feel tired and depressed, it can be really difficult to accomplish tasks and enjoy/ appreciate being alive.

- I would not suggest starting your year by completing assignments before the start date of said assignments. For one, doing assignments as they come helps you get a feel for a natural schedule. Another reason is because it helps to be in the moment, instead of too far ahead to be able to keep track of what's going on and when. Wait until you have a hang of how and where to research, and a firm idea of how much you can hold onto mentally, so you don't fail tests. You'll also likely feel guilty later on when you begin to struggle to stay ahead as assignments get longer and more difficult.

- yo if you can get a used textbook that comes as a three ring binder instead of a hard or soft back, do it. It's cheaper, and so much easier to handle and copy. Heck, you can even take the pages out of the section you're using and put them in a folder -- boom, no more 40lb back pack. Also makes more room in any bag you use for the essentials, which I'll list next.

- here are some backpack essentials:

• earbuds, Bluetooth if possible. It's okay to have more than one type of listening device. "I prefer headphones!" You say. You can't hide over-the-ear headphones if you end up in a classroom which doesn't allow something like that. Sometimes you're just having a sucky day, sometimes you need extra stimulation to concentrate, sometimes you want to spend your time listening to a podcast that explains the current subject better than your teacher does. Sometimes you want to watch a movie casually. Earbuds also take up MUCH less space.

• an extra charging cable for every portable device you use. Roll them up, and secure each one individually with cable ties or bread bag twist ties. I say extra, as in, keep your original cords in your dorm room and Don't Take Them out. Get a secondary cable and charger for each device, and let them live in your backpack.

• 3 or 4 different colors of pen. Multiple colors, for whatever reason you want-- easily scanned notes, for different subjects, etc. These can serve a variety of purposes, and you never know when you need them.

• 3 regular pencils, and a good hand sharpener or silent mechanical sharpener. 3 in case the other two get broken lead or happen to suck. Regular pencils can be finicky.

• 2 mechanical pencils. 2 in case one of them fails, runs out of lead, or the lead breaks up.

• decoy pens and pencils! Get as cheap or expensive as you want. At some point, someone is likely to ask for one, and you don't want someone else using your favorites. You also may not get them back, or they get broken. I would suggest a couple of each, as it may happen in more than one class. You don't have to have decoys, but that way, at least you don't have to choose between either feeling guilty for not loaning out the items you like, or being uncomfortable that you did have to loan one. If you loan the decoys out, and don't get any back, and someone asks you for a utensil later that day, you have both a convenient reason you don't have an extra you're willing to share, and you already put the minimum effort towards being prepared.

• Water! You're going to get so dang dehydrated! You're going to have full days, much of the time, from trekking across campus, to class time, to meal times, to study time, to hang out time -- you need to have water with you, as opposed to having to track it down, and possibly have to pay for a bottle of water. Hydration is a main component in bodily functionality and brain processes. I would suggest a minimum of a 30-ish ounce container of any sort. A plastic water bottle you refill, a thermos, a sippy cup, a hydro flask, a camp flask, whatever works for you.

• I would say snacks. If you're eating meals throughout the day, I guess they aren't "technically" essential, but can confidently say, they are useful. Snacks can be an energy boost, a brain function boost, a hunger soother, a friend-maker, or just plain stimulation. Cut up some apple slices, maybe grab some peanut butter, or a portion of nuts, or a tangerine, crackers, pretzels, chips, the choice is yours. It helps if you can get ahold of some of those cheap reusable silicone ziplock baggies. You can wash them to be used again, and you don't have to deal with carrying plastic trash around with you.

• a pair of socks. I know that sounds weird, but it doesn't take up much space, and weird stuff happens. They get wet, or it's hot and your feet get sweaty and yucky, or food get spilled on your feet. Stuff happens.

• b12 tablets. They work with your system in a healthy way, as opposed to caffeine, and does the same trick. Just follow the directions on the bottle, and may I suggest, start with half the recommended dose. It affects different people more or less. My husband takes the recommended two, while I only need a half. We both have adhd, and are closely similar in body weight. If you need a wake up boost, don't slam your system with caffeine.

• baby wipes. You can get a small pack, and they can help clean up almost anything. Someone spill sticky tea? Got it. Fell and scraped a knee, and it has dirt all over it? Baby wipes and a little water. Need to blow your nose, and there are no tissues, or just feel like you need to rinse your face off in class? You're covered.

• chapstick is a very small item, but Lordy Lord if those classrooms aren't parched of all moisture in the air. You gone get cracked, chapped lips.

That's kinda it for now on backpack essentials. There is definitely more you could have, so supplement whatever helps you. You could add a hairbrush or comb, a hat and rain jacket for cold weather times, sunscreen during the hot times, hair ties and bobby pins, etc. It's all for you pal.

- keep in touch with your professors. Make yourself known to them. An occasional casual compliment is often helpful, and a good way to connect (you explained stuff really well today/your teaching style is helpful/I appreciated you taking time to answer my questions). They are people after all.

- if you have stuff going on, let your professors know. If your pet is sick at home and you're worried about them, give your professors a heads-up that you may seem less attentive that week, but that it isn't disinterest. If you figure out you have depression, and you're struggling to complete assignments/sleep/wake-up, tell them. Let them know you don't expect special treatment, you just wanted them to know that it isn't due to immaturity or lack of interest.

- always do studying and homework first. If you're able to accomplish these things while with friends, that's great, but if you can tell you're struggling, prioritize schoolwork. You'll have time for fun stuff later, usually later that evening.

- it's okay to drop a class. In fact, if you severely dislike a class, don't understand the coursework, or you realize you've taken on too much at once, it's better for your overall wellness and your grades if you drop it. If you have a professor suggest you drop a class in mean way, don't feel like you have to prove them wrong. This is your experience, and they can stuff it for being a rude brat. You don't need to prove yourself to them, and you cannot control their thoughts or actions.

- try to take classes that happen twice a week, which start later in the day than 8 am, at least for your first semester. There is a lot going on in college. A lot of changes to acclimate to. Take it a little easier at first, to give yourself time to work out what all is where, and how everything works.

Well, that's the end of 'dip's (college) tips' for now.

#dip shares stuff #stuff to know #dip's tips #college

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elliementarymydears · 4 years

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ADHD-friendly/low-effort cooking

* Grilled cheese and French fries

* Baked potato

Wrap in wet paper towel, microwave for 4-6 minutes until fork goes in easily. Use fork to flatten and top with fixins 1. Butter, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and green onion; 2. Grilled onion and mushrooms with Parmesan; 3. Chopped broccoli, cheddar cheese; 4 vegetarian chili and cheddar cheese (For a meat option: Add leftover/chopped pork to grilled onion and mushroom potato; use chili with meat for chili potato)

* Stovetop Mac and cheese

Cook pasta, drain. Mix pasta with milk, butter, and slices of American cheese over medium heat until smooth. Add more cheese as needed for taste and milk as needed for creaminess

* Buttered pasta with fresh Parmesan

* Smoothie

Once bananas start to go bad, peel and put in a bag and freeze. Combine with any other fresh fruit or iced coffee/oats/peanut butter

* Bean and cheese burrito (refried beans, cheese, taco sauce)

* Rice topped with an over easy egg

* Scrambled eggs and toast/bagel

* Sandwich with a cheese stick

pb&j; green apple, cheddar cheese and jam (huckleberry; boysenberry; blackberry). (For a meat option: your choice of sandwich meats, sliced cheese, and condiments with lettuce)

* Spaghetti or fettuccine alfredo

(For a meat option: Mix cooked sausage or ground beef into marinara sauce before topping pasta; mix chopped chicken or shrimp into Alfredo before topping pasta)

* Caesar salad

Easiest salad to make from scratch- just lettuce, Parmesan cheese, and Caesar dressing. Croutons and shredded carrots are optional. (For a meat option: add chopped chicken or shrimp)

* Pancakes (from a mix)

* Veggie corn dogs or nuggets with french fries

(For meat option: Use regular corn dogs or nuggets)

* Frozen pizzas

* Boxed dinners

Things to keep on hand:

*Pasta

*Pre-chopped vegetables

*Fruit

*American, cheddar, and fresh Parmesan cheese

*Sliced bread

I’m vegetarian but if you’re not:

*Pre-cooked meats (shrimp, chopped chicken) and raw ground beef/sausage (all of which can be cooked/heated up on the stovetop)

*Sandwich meat

When you don’t even have enough motivation to make low-effort meals:

*Snacks and protein bars

*Microwaveable dinners

*Pre-assembled salads/other meals

*Raw fruit/vegetables with whip cream, peanut butter, or ranch dip

When you have more motivation:

*Make things you can eat for several days (ie muffins, family sized meals with leftovers you can heat up, etc)

*Pre-chop up fruit and vegetables if you don’t buy them already chopped

*Shred cheese if you don’t buy it already shredded

*Hard boil eggs

*Make pasta or rice so you just have to heat it up later

#adhd #adhd mood #adhd culture #living with adhd #adhd things #adhd brain #adhd problems #actually adhd #adhd post #adhd stuff #asd #depression #anxiety #executive dysfunction

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actuallyadhd · 5 years

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wow this is so long im so sorry

okay so it took me a while to get diagnosed with adhd bc i’ve always been a “high achieving / gifted kid” except when i went to middle school everything fell apart and didn’t get back on track till i got meds. i’ve increased the dose slightly over the years, but high school i was able to manage and succeed as long as i put in effort

i am now a freshman in college and even tho i’ve upped my dose, and put in way more effort than any of my friends, everything is a DISASTER. i keep prioritizing homework and studying over everything (from meals to sleep to showering to laundry to hanging out with friends to doing anything i remotely enjoy) yet i can still never get everything done?? and im so stressed about needing to get everything done that i can’t make myself do any of these “healthy” things?? like sure eating regular meals would probably help to some extent but it takes so long like walking to a dining hall??what?? that’s so stressful!! too stressful!! the idea of doing anything besides homework makes me so stressed i freeze under the pressure and just jklafdafklda; die?

like is this a thing? college just making everything go to shit? it’s like middle school all over again but i already have meds so what can be done?? if medication isn’t enough like what are the options lol …. like feels like my only option is just to cry

i’ve never had any accommodations before bc i’ve never needed them and have always been opposed to the idea of having any for myself bc my entire life is just me striving to prove i am not an idiot? idk. welp. yeah

Sent February 26, 2019

Okay, deep breath.

Yes, this is a thing. Post-secondary is really hard because there is so much less external structure imposed on us. You do 12 or 13 years of school where everything you do is laid out for you, and then suddenly you’re not told what to do, or when, or how, beyond when and where your classes are.

So what we need to do is create that structure. And yes, we’re going to include socializing and fun stuff, because life sucks without those. We’re also going to include eating food.

Creating a Weekly Schedule

Here’s a page that talks about creating a weekly schedule. It includes links for a PDF and a Word version of a schedule sheet. Choose one of those templates and print it off, or copy it by hand onto a piece of paper, because figuring out your schedule is best done using a pencil and paper. That page is about doing each week, one at a time, but we’re going to do a basic overview kind of schedule.

Start by putting in your classes and anything else that’s regular, like if you go to church or always work Saturday afternoons. Use pen for these, since then you can write other stuff in pencil and be able to make changes without worrying about having to rewrite the permanent stuff. Oh, and include time for walking between classrooms where necessary.

Next, put in meal times in pencil. Allow at least an hour for each meal. One thing I did in first year university was, I would go to the dining centre for breakfast and pick up a sandwich and a couple of other things to go, for lunch, and carry them in my bag to eat later. (I lived in residence for first year.) Depending on whether or not there’s a break in the middle of your day when you could go and get lunch, you might find this a good solution for you too, since then you can eat wherever you happen to be at lunch time.

Next up is socialization and other fun activities. Give yourself at least an hour every day for leisure reading, watching TV, or just hanging out playing board games or whatever, and block off Friday and maybe Saturday evenings both for nights out: parties, movies, etc. If you’re really ambitious, mark off some times to go to the gym/work out, too.

Now use a pen to mark off your bed time and wake time, and include at least half an hour to get ready (so half an hour to get ready for bed and half an hour to get ready for the day). Except for Friday and Saturday, aim for bed time and wake time to be the same, even if you don’t have early classes every day. Getting up at the same time every day is really helpful. Also, make sure that you have at least 7 hours in bed scheduled for every night.

Finally, you schedule your studying time. Block out any available time period that is at least one hour long, to be for studying and homework. Don’t worry about what you’re going to do during that time, because you’ll figure that out each week/day.

Now you have your weekly schedule. You can enter it into your phone calendar so that you have it with you at all times, and have your phone give you reminders of each upcoming thing. That will help you feel more secure about what’s going on.

Moving on, let’s talk about actually doing the work.

Organizing Studying and Assignments

I’ve talked about how to do this elsewhere, but I’m going to talk about it again here because it can’t be repeated enough.

You are going to need a planner of some kind. It can be a bullet journal or a printed planner or just your phone calendar, whatever works best for you. I have a planner that I put together using printables I found online, and I use that together with my phone.

You probably got a course outline for each of your courses. Pull those out and read each one over carefully. Note in your planner due dates for assignments and any testing dates that are listed.

Break assignments down into their component parts (e.g., for a paper you might have choose topic, research, outline, write, edit, turn in) and give yourself interim due dates for those. Write those due dates in your planner as well.

If your course outline indicates what material will be covered in each class (e.g., text book chapters, short stories or novels, case studies), pull out the material and divide it evenly over the days between classes, so that you can read it before you attend the related class(es). Put that information into your planner as well.

Studying and Homework

Look at your schedule and your studying blocks. For those hour-long blocks, choose just one course that you’ll work on. If the block is in the middle of the day, it’s probably best to choose something that you’ll have your materials on hand for already, such as an earlier class.

Plan to structure your sessions as follows:

Read and take notes on the material you scheduled for the day.

Complete that day’s assignment-related work.

Review your lecture notes from your last class, comparing them with your notes on the related reading material.

When you take notes on your reading material, just write down the main idea of a paragraph. You might also want to have a list of important people and dates along with why they are important, and a glossary of terms where you write your own definitions for new terms.

As for accommodations, there is absolutely nothing wrong with talking to your school’s disability services office about what they can do to help you out. It’s important to remember that ADHD really does impact your ability to do certain things in the same way as non-ADHDers, and all accommodations do is make it so that you have the same opportunities as they do to complete specific tasks. Using accommodations doesn’t mean that you are less smart than someone who doesn’t need them, it simply means that you need help with a particular type of task that comes more easily to them. (Not that there’s anything wrong with being “less smart” than someone else, but I understand the difficulty of being gifted and feeling like struggling in non-academic areas makes you not-smart. It’s hard when you aren’t doing as well as you could at something academic because of a seemingly unrelated skill!)

I hope this helps!

-J

#submission #Actually ADHD #ADHD #a disaster #school #accommodations #time management #studying #planner #tips and tricks

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peachdoxie · 5 years

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Could you maybe explain what executive dysfunction is and how one might be able to tell if they have it?

Tonight on “So You Think You Might Have Executive Dysfunction: How to tell if this is what’s ruining your life right now.”

Have you ever woken up, starting scrolling aimlessly through things on your phone, and just continued doing that for three hours despite knowing you have errands to run, food to eat, bathrooms to use, and materials to study?

Have you ever sat in a chair and stared at the carpet for hours instead of starting that new book you bought, all the while thinking “I want to start that new book I bought”?

Have you ever wanted or needed to do something but instead didn’t for absolutely no discernible reason?

If you said yes to any of these questions and deal with this shit on a regular basis, then you might have executive dysfunction!

Executive dysfunction describes the case where there are problems regulating the executive functions, which are the brain processes that control behavior. Essentially, it’s when you have problems planning, starting, and finishing tasks and goals. In my experience as someone with executive functioning problems, it’s pretty much when you just can’t get yourself to do something you know you need/want to do.

I’ve heard it described before as being constantly “stuck”, or that you’re waiting for something so you can start doing what you need to do, but you don’t know what you’re waiting for or when it will happen, so you just do nothing instead. (I can’t find the post that talks about being “stuck”, but here’s the one about waiting for something to happen.) If you want some more expressions of what executive dysfunction feels like, here are some posts I’ve reblogged that talk about it:

one two donald duck executive dysfunction meals.

Executive dysfunction comes often with anxiety, depression, ADD/ADHD, autism, and a variety of other mental or physical health problems, since all of them impact your ability to moderate your behavior and get things done. Though I’ve dealt with anxiety and depression issues for most of my life, I didn’t have problems with executive dysfunction until about two years ago between my sophomore and junior years of college when I developed fibromyalgia, which is a chronic fatigue and pain disorder. However, it’s not a prerequisite that you have to have any mental or physical health issues in order to struggle with executive dysfunction.

Personally, a lot of times when I say I’m having executive dysfunction issues, it’s because I’m struggling to get things done even when I’m not feeling the effects of fibromyalgia, anxiety, or depression. For example, on days I have off from school or work but still have things to do, I’ll often wake up feeling okay, but just play on my phone for like four hours (not an exaggeration) without getting out of bed, even though I’m hungry, have to use the bathroom, need to charge my phone, and have other things to do that require more steps, like go run errands or work on grad school applications.

People with executive dysfunction also often have memory and concentration issues. My reading speed for non-fiction slowed down by a lot when executive dysfunction hit me because it takes that much more mental energy to focus on what I’m reading and not forget the preceding sentence. In my last two years of college, I had to take really good notes because otherwise I’d barely remember what we talked about. It impacted my grades in class because I’d often lose out on participation points because I’d have to focus really hard on taking notes and what people literally just said or else I’ll forget. It takes me longer now to formulate thoughts and speak well without preparation because my brain feels slower. It’s not just in a class or work setting, either, that these things cause problems, but in most parts of my life as well.

In the process of writing this post, I kept stopping and staring at the wall or the fork on my table or the piece of link on my sock or something and thinking about what I wanted to write. I had the words in my head, already planned out, but just...couldn’t type them. Thought about it, but just didn’t. There was nothing stopping me. Talking about this stuff doesn’t give me anxiety, and I’m not depressed at the moment (I actually got a lot of stuff done today so I’m in a good mood). My head is relatively clear and I’m not dealing with fatigue or extreme sleepiness. Continuing with the post was just not something I could do at those moments until I was able to break myself out of it. (Also, don’t feel like it’s a burden asking me about executive dysfunction. I’m more than happy to talk about it and help someone. That has nothing to do with me having problems writing it.)

I haven’t paid my rent yet and it’s overdue. I didn’t clean most of my dishes for over a week and so they just sat in the bathroom sink until this afternoon when I finally had the mental capacity to do it. It’s often too much to open the closet door and toss my dirty clothes where they should go, so there’s a pile of them sitting right outside the closet door. I need to fix a problem with my Amazon account so that my orders stop being cancelled, but I haven’t done that yet. I’m supposed to take a variety of supplements and medications for my multitude of health issues, but most nights I can only manage to make myself take the prescription ones (aka the ones where if I don’t take them, I will have a VERY crappy next day.) My leg has been in pain for about half an hour and even though the ibuprofen bottle is within reach, I still haven’t taken some to make the pain lessen.

Though this post is long, I hope it’s given you a bit of a look into what life with executive dysfunction is like. My experiences are, of course, not universal, but from my understanding, I have fairly standard executive dysfunction problems. If you want to know more, I recommend reading through the Wikipedia page, though that’s fairly dense and full of jargon. This page talks about executive dysfunction as the result of a traumatic brain injury, which is one way but not the only way that executive dysfunction can arise, but I found it a good overview of what the symptoms and effects are.

Of course, if you or anyone else has any further questions for me, I’m more than happy to give a go at answering them.

#justdecadentcollectiondestiny #executive dysfunction

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sheislegend23 · 6 years

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10.21.18

Here it goes:: the topic today is PCOS.

PCOS means polycystic ovarian syndrome. There are a lot of things that you can google, but I am going to be talking about my own personal journey and what that means for me now in this moment in time. There’s TMI in here, but reading personal accounts has helped me broaden my mind and knowledge and has certainly helped me realize I’m not alone in my struggles.

First thing you should know is that while some little girls plan their weddings, I planned baby names. I used to say I wanted as many children as I could, and I have ALWAYS wanted to have a family of my own.

Body wise, I was healthy and “normal” until I was about 8 or 9 years old. I slowly gained weight and got “husky”, but nothing to be terribly concerned about. By 12, I was obese. I didn’t get my first period until I was 16, which some say is just being a late bloomer, but in my case was probably the beginning effects of PCOS.

At 11, my parents divorced and my dad and I went off our own way. We had a huuuge learning curve, and I remember eating spaghetti with sauce (and when that ran out - butter) for weeks at a time until he got paid again because spaghetti was cheap, cheap, cheap. We moved again and again and readjusted our lifestyle over and over so we would never have to go back to those rough days, but that period of time was when I went from “husky” to obese.

I hated my body and didn’t understand why eating what was presented as “healthy” as a child wasn’t helping me. At 14, I started dance classes and later tried out and made my high school drill teams. All the dancing and cardio didn’t help my waistline. I didn’t let anyone’s mean comments or my fat body stop me from dancing, which inspired some and repulsed others. I didn’t have regular periods which I chalked up to being so active and fat at the same time. A stressed out body could possibly decide that’s not the best place for a baby to grow, right??

Enter adulthood. Here’s a few things I learned::

1.) Bread is NOT healthy. My mother drilled in my head that bread is good for you and could be a good anytime healthy snack as well as something you HAD to eat at least twice a day. Not sure where she got that information because, especially with my body type, starch and carbs are the enemy. I didn’t learn this til much later, I will alert when it is time.

2.) I have ADD. Specifically, ring of fire ADD (NOT ADHD) which helped explain why I am patient and extremely slow to anger, but once I’m angry, just back off and let me blow off my steam to cool down again. I thought it was because I’m southern. This diagnosis was at the age of 19.

3.) I have PCOS. The doctor I went to perhaps had good intentions, but conveyed very incorrect information and can give you, the reader, a glimpse at how one obese patient was given said info.

At my first OBGYN appointment, she told me that with 95% accuracy, I definitely had PCOS. She glanced over what that meant, but then came to the part she grilled me on - my weight. My weight was most likely causing the PCOS so if I could just stop eating bad and go exercise, I could probably reverse the effects and have a normal body again. I explained that I had danced for years and hadn’t eaten that terribly since I had had to at 12, and she said that I simply must not have been exercising hard enough and eating too much. Insert a HUUUGE eye roll here because as any drill team alum know, it’s plenty.

The real troubling thing came next when I talked about my want for a family in the future. She looked at me very gravely and said that my chances for conception are extremely slim, and if I ever did successfully conceive and didn’t miscarry, I would need to quit my job and stay at home and never be stressed for the whole 9 months because I would be at a very high risk of miscarriage up until the baby came out. Also, “don’t get attached to the first one” because I will likely lose it. Reminder:: A REAL DOCTOR TOLD ME THIS. AT 19. For real.

Her solution: birth control. I was very weary of all types of female birth control because there are a lot of side effects. I took them for a few months, and then stopped.

I don’t hold any ill will towards her, but I later found out that that information is VERY incorrect. My journey however has included believing that lie until 2 years ago.

Shortly after that, I found out I had ADD, so I started taking adderall. I took a high dose because my fat body would absorb it, and when friends or whoever would ask my dosage and I’d tell them, they were horrified and assured me that my heart would definitely explode and they were surprised I wasn’t already dead as a door nail. That’s the problem with opinions, it’s all very personally based. They weren’t thinking of MY fat body at all.

The adderall worked wonders. I could concentrate! I could multitask! I stopped making so many dang piles! Mostly, I stopped eating. I ate regular or smaller meals at “regular” times in the day and if I skipped something, it didn’t matter because I was definitely not hungry.

On weekends, sometimes I would want a break. So I wouldn’t take my adderall and I’d sleep and sleep and sleep and then binge eat and go right back to sleep. My roommates were worried but I felt so healed and cleansed with all that sleep, I wasn’t worried at all.

I grew skinnier and skinnier, and my PCOS symptoms had began to disappear. I was having regular periods, I wasn’t growing hair in weird places, and BY GOD, I could cross my legs like a proper southern belle. Everyone was soooo proud. I was proud, my family, my friends. Everyone from high school was wondering, “how did she do it?!?” My self confidence grew, and for the first time in my life, I started dating.

One day, I met the man who would be my husband. We both expressed our want of children which raised a big ole question:: how could I treat my ADD without adderall? I was scared because I knew what being on adderall is like and what not being on it is like, and my identity as an adult had revolved around and relied on it. If I stopped the medicine, I would get fat again! I was just about to get into single digit clothing, I was beautiful, and yet, I knew I had to stop.

I couldn’t think of any good time to stop, so I just did cold turkey. I was ridiculously tired for 2 weeks, and then I started to feel normal again. Sure enough, I started gaining weight again, eating a lot more, etc etc. I had my soulmate, so it didn’t seem like such a bad deal, but it was depressing nonetheless. The cringes on faces when they saw my weight regain was painful, talks about “what happened to you???” stung, and I felt so ashamed.

Insert that number 1 revelation, bread is BAD. Bad, bad, bad. I learned all about processed foods, and tried the keto diet. It worked and I lost a little bit of weight, but it was unrealistic for long term. Once you’re off keto, all that weight springs back on you, and so it did.

After our marriage, I was off insurance for some time and when I got back on, I was put on metformin for my A1C. My day to day numbers are fine, but my A1C number was ridiculously high. It’s under control now, and we are looking to the next step.

I have researched PCOS and here is the real kicker:: it makes it hard to lose weight but if you could just lose weight, it would get the symptoms under control. However, one of the symptoms is that it is hard to lose weight. It’s a great big freakin’ circle. I’m not talking “stop eating bread” hard. I’m talking “don’t even think about looking at carbs” hard. The only thing that helped was dropping all carbs and then I got yelled at for a non balanced diet. IT’S FRUSTRATING!

Here’s my plan:: cut out things in baby steps.

Step 1:: no more drinking my sugar intake. Proud to say, I have completed this step. This is one southern woman who drinks UNsweet iced tea and water only, please.

Step 2:: no more fast food. Still working on this one, it’s so easy and yummy but I have cut it to once a week.

Step 3:: no more junk food.

Step 4:: healthy meals only.

The scary thing is that the help for conception is all very expensive. The words of my previous OBGYN keep swimming through my head. I struggle to force myself to go to baby showers because while I am thrilled for my friend and their new little one, I am envious and that is an ugly color. Every time I see a child that’s been abused, it makes me tear up because I would love to adopt a child and love them to pieces. Adoption isn’t an option for us sadly due to things out of our hands (still looking into this, but the process of adoption of American children is hard and expensive), but the thought still hurts.

God wouldn’t put such a strong desire for having children in my heart if I wasn’t meant to have any, right?

I hope that anyone who got this far will remember this:: a lot of this struggle was silent as it was happening. I certainly know that if given the choice, I would have the correct BMI for my height. I didn’t choose this struggle, and unkind words make it harder to shoulder. As the Beatles say, “I get by with a little help from my friends.” Thanks to those who have supported me and let me vent to them about these struggles, and for those who have been with me as I navigate my way into the future.

#pcos #polycystic ovarian syndrome #attention defecit #fat #fat women #lose weight #goals #bodypositivity #struggle #infertility #pcoscysters #obesity

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tipsycad147 · 5 years

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A Joyful Cup!

by Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

With our non-stop, busy lives, it’s hard to find a quiet moment to relax and recharge. But even the practice of pouring a cup of tea can bring peace of mind – especially with the right herbs. Whether you take your tea at high noon or prefer a bedtime brew, these garden herbs provide the perfect mood-boosting cuppa.

Making and sipping a cup of tea is one of the easiest and most enjoyable self-care rituals. In fact, studies show that simply holding a warm cup {regardless of its contents} makes people friendlier and perceive the world in a more optimistic light. Add to that cup some relaxing and restorative teas, and the effects become even more powerful. As many gardeners will attest, stepping out into one’s very own backyard to harvest herbs for that cup of tea furthers a connection with nature, and you discover how deeply enjoyable plant empowerment can be. Looking for a tasty tea featuring herbs you can grow easily in your yard to soothe frayed nerves, help you sleep, or improve your energy? Here are some of my absolute favourites.

Holy Basil {Ocimmum tennuiflorum, syn. O. sanctum}

Also called tulsi, holy basil fits almost any niche you might need for your nervous-adrenal system. Aromatic and delicious with heady notes of clove, mint, and bubblegum, holy basil lends itself fresh or dry to hot and cold water. It quickly calms but gently energises, with effects that improve if you sip it regularly. As a stress-busting adaptogen, tulsi helps modulate the stress hormone cortisol, which also helps lower and balance blood sugar. The aromatics improve focus, lift the spirits, and ease anxiety. It blends well with other herbs too: peppermint for a perk, lemon balm for relaxation after dinner, rose to nourish the heart and spirit, and green tea for energy and stable blood sugar with a meal. Grow it as you would culinary basil: primarily as an annual in good soil with regular moisture, good drainage, and full sun. An Indian herb, it thrives in hot weather and tolerates containers. Harvest regularly, pinching back and using those prolific flowering stalks. Various species and varieties can be used interchangeably. The Kapoor/temperate {and often unnamed} variety grows most vigorously; new evidence suggests that it’s actually a variety of O. africanum, but most seed sellers still label it as O. sanctum. Homegrown or direct-from-the-farm dried tulsi is vastly superior to what is commonly sold in stores.

Lemon Balm {Melissa officinalis}

This is one of the most popular medicinal herbs cultivated in the garden – and for good reason: the perennial grows prolifically and has many uses, and it’s one of the most-revered nervine herbs to nourish and support the nervous system. It quickly eases anxiety and calms frayed nerves, agitation, hyperactivity, anger, and hypervigilance, yet it doesn’t over-sedate during the daytime and also uplifts the spirits, gladdens the heart, and improves focus. Studies have found it useful for memory, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder {ADHD}, and cognitive decline in children to seniors. Fresh or dry, hot or cold, lemon balm’s nice on its own, but tastes better and is more effective in combination with other herbs: holy basil for a calm-alert sate, mint for a pick-me-up, lemongrass or lemon verbena for lemony flavor, skullcap, and passionflower for sleep.

For tea: Dry lemon balm carefully – in a single layer or hanging with good airflow and not too much heat. It loses its lemon flavor pretty quickly once dried. Commercial dried lemon balm pales in comparison to home-grown or direct-from-the-farm.

Ashwagandha {Withania somnifera}

Compared to the other herbs mentioned in this article, ashwagandha takes a bit more time to grow and yields a smaller harvest because we use the roots. Taken daily, the adaptogen promotes deep energy and the strength, vitality {and yes, libido} of a stallion. It gently boosts thyroid function and also acts as a nervine. Some find it helps sleep. Simmer it with chai spices for tea or add the powder to hot milk with honey and nutmeg.

This Ayurvedic Indian herb prefers hot, sunny, somewhat dry spots with minimal competition from other plants. The size it reaches is a good indicator of how big the root harvest will be. Dig the roots in fall of the first year in cooler climates {it won’t survive winter} or wait until the second autumn in warmer zones 8 and up.

For tea: Scrub the roots clean in cold water, chop with clippers, and dry them in a single layer in a warmish spot with good ventilation or a dehydrator. It stinks as it’s drying, but the odour mellows with time. Once it’s dry, you can powder it by grinding it in a bullet blender and sifting through a fine-mesh strainer. Use caution if you have a hyperthyroid disease or are sensitive to nightshade family plants like potatoes and tomatoes.

Gotu Kola {Centella asiatica}

This plant hails from India and Sri Lanka, where it thrives in hot, soggy, rich soil in dappled sun. You can plant it as an annual or keep it in a pot to winter indoors, being mindful to water regularly. Gotu kola offers subtle yet profound benefits that accumulate when taken routinely for months at a time, particularly in high doses {up to an ounce per day}. It has gentle stress-relieving adaptogen properties, eases anxiety and jumpy nerves, but is most popular for its cognition-boosting and nerve-restoring effects. Rumour has it that the elephant’s diet of Gotu kola is why the animal has such a great memory! You can cook it as a leafy green, eat it fresh, or juice it. which is popular in its native lands.

For tea: While the flavor isn’t amazing, it’s bland enough to add to more palatable herbs like mint, holy basil, and lemon balm or broths cooked with garlic and onions. Use the leaves and all aerial parts.

Rose {Rosa spp.}

The petals add a splash of colour to tea blends to lift the spirits and encourage us to be kinder to ourselves. The aromatics of these petals extract well in cold water or seltzer {let a full fresh blossom or two steep for several hours}. I infuse them in a glass bottle so I can “stop and see and sip the roses” when I’m busy, stressed, and overworked. Any rose that smells and tastes good and isn’t sprayed with chemicals will do – typically these include wild and heirloom species such as the moderately invasive seaside {R. rugosa} as well as Damask {R. damascena}, apothecary {R. gallica var. officinalis}, and cabbage {R. centifolia} rose. You can forage invasive multiflora rose {R. muliflora}, but do not plant it.

For tea: Harvest buds, full blossoms, and fresh petals, preferably early in the day before the heat has cooked out the aroma. Dry buds and petals for tea in a single layer with minimal heat.

Skullcap {Scutellaria lateriflora}

This wild plant of the woodland water’s edge {growing among wild mint and bugleweed} prefers slightly damp, rich-to-sandy soil in partial to full sun. It can be a bit persnickety in the garden with good and bad years. When it thrives, harvest in abundance because it’s so useful, and good-quality skullcap is rare on the market. Skullcap has relaxing nervine properties well-suited for people who feel edgy, anxious, or hyperactive, as if their nervous system is in overdrive – when scents, sounds, and even touch make everything worse. When the sound of your bed partner’s breathing keeps you from sleeping and oncoming headlights make your migraine feel like someone’s stabbing you through the eyes – there’s skullcap. Combined with more sedative herbs like passionflower, it helps lull you to sleep. Paired with the gentle energising and focus effects of holy basil or lemon balm, it makes a lovely tea in daytime blends for anxiety. Occasionally {but rarely}, regular use can aggravate depression or prove too sedating for daytime use.

For tea: Harvest once aerial parts are in bloom and dry carefully to avoid blackening, placing them in a thin layer or hanging in a place with good airflow and not too much moisture or heat {ideally in the dehydrator at 95-100 degrees F or so}.

Passionflower {Passiflora incarnata}

Coming from the Southeast, where the sprawling vine can be a bit of a pest, passionflower produces stunning, otherworldly flowers, inspiring missionaries to name it after the Passion of Christ. Passionflower’s aerial parts cool, calm, and sedate, and it’s one of our safest and most effective sleep ease {much more pleasant tasting than valerian and hops!}, easily enhanced with some spearmint, lemongrass, holy basil, or other flavorful herbs.

Also, consider a little passionflower solo or in blends for anxiety, anger, frustration, agitation, and stress-induced hypertension – just be aware that some people find it too sedating for daytime use. You can cultivate passionflower in a warm full- to part-sun spot with decent moisture and good soil, allowing it to amble along a fence, arbour, or trellis. It does well in pots and greenhouses too and can overwinter indoors in cooler climates. As a perennial, zone 6 is the edge of its winter-hardy range.

For tea: Simply prune back vines with happy-looking, vibrant growth, ideally in flower. Use the entire vine – stem, leaves, and flowers. Dry on low heat in a dehydrator to ensure thorough drying of the flower middles or use fresh in other recipes like tinctures.

Flavor With Purpose

Alongside your “relax and revive” teas, consider planting tried-and-true flavorful herbs. Though they’re not as specific for the nervous system, they do impact your mood and the medicinal activity of your blends, and they’ll also make them more delicious.

Mint {Mentha spp.} has probably already tucked itself into some corner of your garden – or threatened to take it over with its ambitious root runners. Perhaps no other herb is as useful for delicious tea blends, hot or cold. Peppermint {M. x piperita} and chocolate mint {a peppermint variety} provide perky and alert properties backed by science. Spearmint {M. spicata} more gently supports cognition and focus and makes a nice flavouring agent for sleep blends as well. Use apple mint {M. suaveolens} much like spearmint, and feel free to play around with other mints, such as pineapple mint {which is quite tasty but may not survive cold winter climates} and banana mint. Bear in mind it spreads and can also interbreed into bland minty hybrids. Consider slowing it down by planting it in big pots or out-of-the-way spots, keeping different species a bit spaced apart.

Rosemary {Rosmarinus officinalis}, like peppermint, offers perky-alert properties but also has a bit of a bitter, piney, resinous edge that adds complexity to tea blends. It’s fine dried but tastes better fresh.

Lemon verbena {Aloysia citrodora} and Lemongrass {Cymbopogon citratus} taste vastly better than lemon balm, adding a pleasant lemon flavor to tea blends that lift and calms the spirits. Lemon verbena resembles lemon cake {especially if combined with vanilla bean or extract and steeped in not-quite-boiling water}, whereas you may recognise lemongrass’s tropical flavor from Thai soups and curry. Of all the lemony herbs, lemongrass holds its flavor the longest but will still lose quite a bit after a year. For tea, dry the grassy tops and then cut them into small pieces with sharp scissors. Freeze the tightly rolled bottom stalks for cooking, cordials, seltzer, and broth. I prefer to keep dried lemon verbena leaves whole to hold their flavor longer, adding a few to my teapot, water bottle, or mug. Both are nice with lemon balm, sleep blends, green tea, or vanilla. Grow these tropical herbs in a pampered garden bed or large pot with full sun, warmth, good soil, and regular water. They don’t like to be crowded by other plants. Be aware that lemongrass can give you a nasty paper cut.

Korean liquorice mint {Agastache rugosa} and Anise hyssop {A. foeniculum} grow into beautiful purple flower spikes that self-seed all over the garden, and they’re so yummy, pretty, and easy enough to pull up or move around that you won’t mind. The two are nearly indistinguishable, with a flower profile ranging from honey-fennel to fennel-mint. Medicinally, this mint-family herb soothes the throat and tummy and has gentle nervine, calming activity. It tastes delicious with almost any other green, leafy herb. It will grow in part shade to full sun, good soil and moderate moisture are most important for big, happy plants. The short-lived perennial will die off after a few years, but by then the babies will be ready to take off.

Harvesting, Drying and Storing Herbs

Harvest leaves {with or without flowers} when the plant looks, smells, and tastes its best, usually just before or after it begins flowering. Cut the top one-third to two-thirds of the plant, making sure to leave at least a few sets of leaves behind. They’re best trimmed right above a leaf node, but you can also grab a bunch of plant material together and give it a “bad haircut.” Keep them on the stem for drying. You can cut lemongrass’s grassy tops for tea this way or if you want to also harvest the thick stalks for other recipes, cut up to one-third of the plant right at the base.

Dry your herbs in a thin or single layer with good airflow until they’re crispy dry. You can use a dehydrator {set to 95-110 degree F for best results}, but good dehydrators are expensive and fill up quickly. Alternately, air-dry in bundles or on hanging screens {I love mt iPomelo hanging herb-drying rack}, but humidity may prevent your herbs from getting totally dry. You can also loosely pack a brown paper bag with herbs, cinch shut with a clothespin, and leave it inside the car windshield on a warm, sunny day {if it’s really hot, place it in a shady spot, a clean trunk, and/or crack the windows}. Sensitive herbs like basil, lemon balm, and skullcap may blacken and degrade via the brown bag method due to the heat and reduced airflow; use a dehydrator instead or air-dry and then crisp in the car if needed when the herb is mostly dry.

Once your herbs are totally crisp-dry {no bendy stems}, you can move the leaves from the stems by stripping with your hands or rubbing over a screen. Store in a clean, air-tight glass jar in a cool, dark, dry spot like a cabinet or pantry.

Tea Blends To Try

Sleep Tea: 1/2 teaspoon each passionflower, skullcap, lemon balm, and spearmint steeped in hot water for 15 minutes in a 4- to a 6-ounce teacup and sweetened with honey.

Perky Alert Blend: 1/2 teaspoon each peppermint, spearmint, lemon balm, and Gotu kola plus a sprig of fresh rosemary steeped in 16 ounces of hot water for 15 minutes.

Happy Day Infused Water: A few sprigs of fresh holy basil and one or two rose blossoms in a glass bottle of cold water, steeped for 2 or more hours {holy basil and rose also blend well hot and/or dry}.

Ashwagandha Golden Milk: Simmer 1 teaspoon ashwagandha roots in 16 ounces of hot whole milk, oat milk, or almond milk with 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder and a pinch each of nutmeg and cardamom for 15 minutes. Strain and add honey or maple syrup to taste.

Ashwagandha Chai: Simmer 1 teaspoon ashwagandha with 2 cinnamon sticks, 2 cardamom pods, 1-star anise, and 5 cloves for 20 minutes. Strain and add milk/cream and sweetener if desired.

Happy Holy Lemon Tea: Combine equal parts lemon balm and holy basil fresh or dry in hot or cold water and let steep for 15 minutes. Exact quantities do not matter; it comes out nicely no matter what.

Good Morning, Tulsi: 1/2 teaspoon each holy basil and green tea {preferably jasmine green}, with a few optional lemon verbena leaves, steeped in 12 ounces of near-boiling water for 4 minutes.

Goddess Bless! GrannyMoon

★☽✪☾★ http://GoddessSchool.com https://twitter.com/GrannyMooninVA https://grannymoon.wordpress.com/

https://www.instagram.com/grannymooninva/

https://www.facebook.com/GrandMotherMoon

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amarietie · 7 years

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Fic Ask: Blind Date, 3 per chapter

Ohhh goodness it definitely took me longer than necessary to get around to this, but here we are! Also, it’s very possible that these lines are more like sections than lines, and sort of toe the line between ‘significant’ and ‘I just really like them.”

And wellllll I was going to stick this behind a 'read more' but I don't know how to do that in HTML and every time I do an edit in rich text, it deletes all of my HTML formatting, so... please excuse the long ass post

From this meme:

Chapter 1

“So, have you decided what courses you’re going to take yet?” [Mikleo] opted to ask instead, thankfully feeling like he was regaining a bit of his composure. And from that calmer perspective, he realized that he was maybe having fun with this. It was kind of like a game - how to go about exchanging all of the most basic, introductory information while still making it look like they knew each other well.

This is the moment when Mikleo flips from flustered to enjoying himself. And I think this is the kind of game that both of them would absolutely enjoy.

If asked later at what point the evening had stopped feeling like a fake date and more like talking with someone he had known for years, Mikleo couldn’t exactly say. But as they exited the restaurant into the faintly chilly evening, he felt entirely content.

I really enjoyed this line because I feel like the two of them would just fall into an easy friendship effortlessly, even beyond any sort of physical attraction. No matter what they’re both coming out of this one conversation feeling like best friends already.

Later,Mikleo would wonder what exactly had made him so bold. Perhaps it was the second drink he had over the course of the meal, or maybe the stars were in the right alignment, or maybe he just really likedSorey. Whatever, the cause, he worked uphis courage to reach out and grab the hand still scratching at Sorey’s cheek, and then plant a feather-light kiss in its place.

Kind of similar to the lats line and kind of in conjunction to it - Mikleo can get flustered, sure, but he’s feeling content and he likes this boy a lot already, and that lets him be a bit bold.

Chapter 2

“Good afternoon and welcome to Seraph Ice CreamParlor. How can I help you today?” Mikleo asked in a very goodcustomer-service voice as Sorey approached the counter. He was betrayed,however, by the sly grin on his face and sparkle in his eye.Oh, so that’s how this was going to be. “Well, I’m supposed to be meeting up with this really good looking guyfor a date. Seen anyone like that around here?”“I can’t say that I’ve seen anyoneparticularly attractive at all today.”“Not even me?”“Nope.”“Harsh,” Sorey said, deflating a little. “This is revenge for implying you might work at a chain shop, isn’t it?”“Perhaps. And you really did walkinto that one.”

Nothing like a little bit of flirty banter

He had always been picky about vanilla ice cream, because its simplicitymeant that every component had to be perfect, and this was perfect. It felt like silkon his tongue, and the vanilla flavor came through, instead of just tasting ofmilk and sugar. He closed his eyes for amoment to savor the experience, and when he opened them again Mikleo was hidinga laugh behind his hand that brightened his face in the most wonderfulway. The thought rose unbidden toSorey’s mind that he really was amazing. Two dates with the guy, one ofthem not even official, and I’m completely doomed.

Sorey’s fucking crush goggles, on both Mikleo and his ice cream…

This time, [Sorey] was ready for the attack on his dessert and tried to block with his own spoonas Mikleo made a second pass at the mango sorbet. After a few minutes struggle, Mikleo emergedvictorious, and took his second bite with what looked like a challenge. “Hah, I win this time.”No way, that was not going to stand. But there was hardly an equivalent way toretaliate. That’s when Sorey got anidea. He could feel the wheels in hishead start to turn, trying to tell him why it was a bad idea, or that he had noidea what he was doing, but he clamped down on that quick; this was not a momentto be overthinking. Instead, he leanedslightly to the side to press their mouths together in a kiss.

A little bit of competitiveness, and first kiss!

Chapter 3

In search of a distraction, Soreyreached into his bag of snacks and pulled out the first thing he grabbed. It was a bag of gummy boars, labeled with apicture of a little, cartoon-ish prickly boar, in case anyone happened to beconfused about the contents. “Do youwant a gummy boar? They’re that organicbrand, so no gelatin. I checked,” heexplained before Mikleo had the chance to ask.“Youdidn’t have to get those. They’re twicethe price of the regular ones.”“Igot all of this stuff for us to eat, though. It would be no fun if we couldn’t share.”

Half of why I like this is because I’m a nerd to who likes working in as many random little Zesty bits as possible, but also Sorey being considerate of Mikleo’s preferences.

Rose scoffed from where she waswaiting for her turn off to the side. “More like show off in front of your boyfriend.”Soreycould feel the heat in his cheeks, and a quick glance at Mikleo confirmed thathe was blushing too. They hadn’t had anyofficial conversations about what to call themselves, but Sorey didn’tparticularly want to refute that statement. Mikleo stayed silent on the matter as well. Did that mean that he considered themboyfriends? They would have to talkabout it at some point, but just the implications made Sorey feel a littlegiddy.Itmust have shown on his face, because a moment later, Edna scoffed and said, “Ohgross. Now look what you’ve done, Rose.”

This is the first mention of them being in an actual relationship, rather than just having a few dates, and of course it’s Rose who said it, before they even did. And then I just had to include Edna’s reaction for the snark.

Mikleo sighed with relief and hisposture relaxed. “Well, that’s good tohear. If you didn’t like my friends, itwould be a lot harder to try to keep you around.”“You’retrying to keep me around, huh?”“Well,yeah. Cute, willing to let me kick hisbutt at pool, and an ancient history nerd? Where else am I going to find that?”Soreyducked his head and fiddled with his earring, sheepish in the face of thecompliment. But there was a big smilegrowing across his face. “I’d like tokeep you around, too.”

Actual confirmation (sort of, you know, without actually saying the words) from the boys that yest, they do want this to be a real relationship.

Chapter 4

‘Energetic’ was certainly amongst the first words that came to mind whenthinking about Sorey, but it turns out he was just plain good at directing thatenergy. That came at the price of tuning out the rest of the world, andan apparent inability to keep track of writing utensils.

This line is kind of important to Sorey’s characterization for this story, actually. The more and more I’ve written Blind Date Sorey, the more it seems like he has a little bit of ADHD to me. Now, of course, this doesn’t eliminate the fact that he’s smart and a great student - one of my best friends from college had ADHD and she was very bright and made good grades - but it does have an effect on how I’ve been viewing him, personally.

Even as he picked up his spoon and set into the whipped cream on top ofthe shake, he could feel himself starting to droop to the side. Soreygave him a small, sweet smile as he came to rest against his shoulder, and thenskillfully went to work distracting Rose and Dezel by asking about Dezel’smajor and classes. Between bites, he managed to tease out information bitby bit on his self-designed program in animal behavior in hopes of one daytraining service animals. Mikleo couldn’t quite remember if he’d everheard Dezel say so many words in one sitting, and it came to him then exactlywhat a wonderful person everyone at Ladylake University had managed to miss.

I like this bit both for Sorey casually distracting the others from sleepy Mik because he knows sleepy Mik will be embarrassed about it. And also, Mikleo kinda has it bad for Sorey, too.

Sorey pouted, but then his face brightenedagain. He reached out to tap Mikleo’s nose with a finger, and said,“Luzrov Rulay.”Mikleo had been busy going cross-eyed tosee the finger on his nose, but he looked back out to meet Sorey’s eyes. He looked incredibly proud of himself. It took a moment for Mikleoto piece together a translation, because he hadn’t taken any Ancient Tonguesince last spring, but when he did, he shot him an incredulous glare and asked,“Did you seriously just call me ‘Mikleo the Enforcer?’”

This was one of the bits I was most excited about from this chapter, mostly because, once again, I’m a nerd and wanted to work in Mikleo’s true name. Props to Sorey, too, for whipping out that Ancient Language translation.

Alright, wow, thanks everybody who stuck through this whole thing, it’s damn long as expected. But it was also kinda cool. When I first got this ask, I was thinking I would be hard pressed to find 3 lines from each chapter, but as I worked on it, I was actually having a hard time cutting down to 3 lines per chapter, lol. Also, thank you to the lovely @neodiji for asking!!

#amarietie answers an ask #neodiji #Blind Date #tales of zestiria #long post

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shateandino · 7 years

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Food Variation and Why It’s Important For Your Health

Are you eating the same foods day in and day out? Is this good for you? Let’s find out why food variation is so important for optimal health.

Have you ever prepped your meals for the week? Do you do batch cooking each week?

Does this picture look familiar:

I think we’ve all been there, the desire to be able to prep our meals for the week with ease.

Prepping our meals like this makes it easy, right? You already know the amount of calories and macros you are going to consume by eating this way. You can just cook up a huge batch of the same thing and divide it out for the week.

Not only does it make meal prep easy, but it also helps us stay on track with our healthy eating.

But what if I were to tell you that by eating the same things over and over each day, you may actually be doing more harm than good!

Food Variation and Gut Health

You may have been hearing a lot about gut health lately.

Why? Because it’s thought that 70% of our immune system is in our gut! So you can see why it’s so important to keep our gut healthy.

How do we do that?

We eat a wide variety of foods!

Eating a wide variety of foods creates a larger bacterial diversity in your gut. Having a larger bacterial diversity in your gut helps us to avoid some serious diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, and cancer.

Gut bacterial diversity is also related to weight loss. It seems that the healthier your gut, the easier it is to lose weight.

Let’s look at an example:

If you’re loading up on chicken breast and broccoli everyday, and never eat something like kale and raspberries, then the bugs that favour using the nutrients from chicken breast and broccoli are going to have a leg up over the bugs that favour using the nutrients from kale and raspberries. Eventually, they might wipe out the kale and raspberry loving bacteria for good!

Not only are we getting more good gut bacteria by eating different foods, but we are also getting more micronutrients. If we are eating the same foods over and over, we are getting the same micronutrients over and over.

The more we vary our food, the more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants our body will receive.

Food Variation and Food Sensitivities

Let me first explain the difference between a food sensitivity and a food allergy.

Food allergy: an immune response triggered by eating a certain food.

Food sensitivity: a physiological response associated with a certain food.

A food sensitivity/intolerance, is caused by an inability to digest a food and occurs in the digestive tract and not the bloodstream, like a food allergy. Symptoms are “delayed onset”, where symptoms do not appear for hours or even days. Food sensitivities can come and go during the course of one’s life.

Some of the most common food allergens are:

GMO, genetically modified foods

Gluten ( in wheat, rye, barley and some oats)

Dairy

Corn

Eggs

Soy

Tree nuts (such as almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, and chestnuts)

Peanuts

Nightshades are a family of vegetables that include potatoes (except sweet potatoes and yams), tomatoes, peppers (green, red, yellow, orange, jalapeno, chili, and pimentos), eggplant, tobacco, spices (from peppers like cayenne, chili, red pepper, curry mixes, paprika)

You can also develop a food sensitivity by eating the same food too often.

Let’s take myself for example.

I got a food sensitivity test a few years ago. At the time, I was eating the same things for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. I was eating a lot of eggs (about 4 per day) and a lot of peanut butter (about 4 Tbsp per day.)

Guess what foods are on the most common food allergen list? Eggs and peanuts!

Guess which foods I developed a food sensitivity to? Eggs and peanuts!

I was also eating a lot of whole grains and soy milk at the time.

I was also eating pineapple about 4 – 5 times a week:

I immediately stopped eating eggs, peanuts, gluten, and soy milk. I cut them out of my diet completely.

My symptoms of gas and bloating went away as soon as I cut those foods out.

But guess what? I replaced that peanut butter with almonds. Almond butter, almond milk, almond flour…almonds, almonds, almonds!

Guess who now has a sensitivity to almonds? ME!!

Now, instead of eating almonds all the time, I rotate between other types of nuts like cashews, walnuts, pecans, macadamia, Brazil, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, etc. (You can make nut butter out of ANY of these nuts BTW!)

I also make sure to vary ALL of the foods I’m eating.

My RULE is this: I don’t eat the same food again for 3 days.

For example, I vary my breakfast every 3 days:

DAY 1 BREAKFAST: zucchini, bell pepper, mushrooms, and kale sautéed in coconut oil, served with grain free oatmeal.

DAY 2 BREAKFAST: Chocolate Vegan Shakeology.

DAY 3 BREAKFAST: Leftovers (which is typically a serving of protein, veggies, and healthy fats.)

If I have Shakeology one day, then I won’t have it again for 3 days, I’ll have my Keto Chocolate Milkshake or Mojito Smoothie if I want a shake. If I have cashew butter one day, then I won’t have it for 3 days, I’ll have another nut butter like tahini or pecan butter.

I try to stick to that rule as best I can. Of course, it doesn’t ALWAYS happen, but I try to vary my foods from day to day as much as I can. That means I buy a LOT of different vegetables and eat a lot of different healthy fats and meats.

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I do notice a huge difference when I don’t eat the same foods over and over. I’m less bloated, have less gas, and am more regular. I also enjoy my food more! When I was eating the same things each day, it got a little boring after a while. But now, I enjoy a bunch of different foods and I never get bored of the same things.

The problem is that most people eat foods they have become sensitive to several times a day. Every time that food enters the body, the immune system whips itself into a frenzy. But because symptoms are delayed up to 72 hours after eating, a food sensitivity can be hard to spot. Without diagnosis or awareness, the damage is repeated over and over, meal after meal. Eventually, inflammation seeps throughout the body, establishing an environment ripe for weight gain and chronic disease.

Here are some common symptoms of a food sensitivity:

Headaches

Migraines

Fatigue

Gas/Bloating

Weight Loss Resistance

Thyroid Dysfunction

Chronic Pain/ Inflammation

Stomach ache

Acid Reflux/ GERD

Diarrhea

Constipation

Chronic pain/ Arthritis

Dark circles under the eyes

Anxiety / Depression

ADHD

Eczema/Psoriasis/Rashes/Hives

Sinus Problems

If you think you may have a food sensitivity, or you find you’re eating the same foods over and over again, I highly recommend you get tested! I suggest the delayed sensitivity response test. It’s just a simple finger prick test which is painless. Who knows, it might open your eyes to some symptoms you’ve been having.

But even if you aren’t experiencing any symptoms, I suggest you start to vary your food more. This will give your body more micronutrients and help support good gut health!

Do you vary your food? Are you open to trying new foods and adding more rotation to your diet?

Article source here:The Fit Housewife

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