Echoceanic

Yay! I got my food intake under control. Honestly, mostly I needed to calm down. Once I got my head on straight I knew what to do. Thanks to everyone that checked up on me, even if I didn't post a lot.

I've been tracking one way or another in bullet journal form since 2012 or so, so this is exciting.

The mattress thing sounds exhausting, but hopefully you get used to the new one too. My only experience with that is the first time I slept on a mattress that wasn't a decade older than me, I overslept so badly I woke up at 2pm and missed everything.  

On 8/18/2021 at 9:12 PM, Jupiter said:

Yay, you're back! Following!  

For a bit yeah! It's nice to see you!

15 hours ago, Defining said:

Belated reply, my apologies. You may want to check out  YTer named Stephanie Buttermore, she took an eating approach that she dubbed 'all in' to address hunger issues that were closely tied to hormonal problems.

Thanks I'll check her out.

A bit of an overview of the past few days:

- I pretty much get hungry every 3 hours again, apart from epic fails like the eggs.  If I time it I might get rid of the starving feeling.

- I consistently wake up stomach-gnawing-hungry, so that's a bit rude.

- We don't really have what is considered snacks in the house?

- I'm on a pasta moratorium (apart from lasagne) and resting the peanut butter a bit too. Tired a bit. 

Hi Sal! Another drive by hug coming your way. :))

It's okay to have times where everything is on hold due to strong emotions. If you let yourself feel them they do less damage.

She picked you. She likes you. You can talk about at least some of it with her, at least she'll be aware of it and know it's an issue. But yeah liking yourself is really hard. 

7 hours ago, Defining said:

Protein and soluble fiber are the most satiating of foods, and less dense in kcal/g vs stuff like fats (cheese, peanut butter, etc.) and simple starches. NOT that kcal is the most important metric, but presumably you don't want to double your caloric intake, even if you do want to bump up your total food. What are you hoping more meat will do? It's substantially more expensive than legumes & lentil proteins....

Mostly because I already eat a  lot of legumes - they are usually my main protein for the day. The  meal  mentioned usually has either a can of beans or a can of chickpeas in it, sorry I didn't mention it. Though yeah I will pay more attention to those too. More potatoes is always a good idea too, thanks.

I think the heat kinda messed up my usual meals too because cooking is a lot in this weather and hot food is too. Thought about this last night.

My caloric intake is... not really a thing I think about? As long as I'm full and and not crying at the end of the month money-wise, I don't really care about it.

7 hours ago, Defining said:

In the meantime, is 'more sleep' an option? Individuals have different needs, some folks just don't do well on only 8hrs/night.

The option is still available now, but wont be when I need to get up at 5 or 6 am for my first shift soon. I was trying to get used to it, and since I wake up naturally at around that time too (I was oversleeping actually, hence the drummer in my head). 

7 hours ago, Defining said:

Is the option available to chat with a doctor? The new hunger could be a symptom of a hormonal imbalance (even without anything that you may have noticed), might still be worth checking out if it won't cost an arm and a leg.

Due to the cost and the general hassle - I fully expect their response to just be 'eat more' - I'm avoiding it unless I am sure something is wrong. The less sleep = more food happened at my last job, but it was exacerbated by all the stress - I basically had to eat every two or so hours. 

I'm back for the rest of this challenge! Hope everyone has been doing well.

I didn't really have much to say over the course of the almost a year I've been away from here (reason why I took a break) but these days I find myself with a problem, so I thought I'd better post here before I go crazy in confusion. If anyone can help it's you guys.

See, I've always had a good relationship with food. I did have outside pressure about the amount of food I ate (aka people thought I didn't eat, then acted surprised I did) but it didn't manifest into anything. And I have always eaten quite a lot. 

But also I have slept a lot.

And now I stepped sleeping as much and got to a nice 7-8 hours a night that didn't make me feel like a drummer used my head as a practice space on the daily.  Due to the heat I've also gotten in the habit of drinking about 10 glasses of water a day from my usual 4. All great stuff.

But, my appetite has gotten bigger. Like, a lot bigger.

Like, I had three fried eggs with cottage cheese, and was hungry half an hour later - had to eat one and a half gyros in order for my stomach to stop freaking out. Five meals a day, all pretty large, all about three hours apart. 

I'm hungry all the time, the stomach hurting kind of hunger. I have a few go to meals and snacks but they have begun to take a tool on me (I can't eat another peace of bread with peanut butter or I'm going to scream). This naturally leads to frustration and anger and stress which of course make the situation worse.

And I have no ideas left. 

I am also on a pretty tight budget.

So this month I'm gonna try and see what to do. If anyone has any tips, or can just reassure me a bit, I'd appreciate it. 

Current plan is to introduce a lot more meat in my diet - I'm not a vegetarian, but I eat more vegetarian meals than meals with meat in a week. I don't think 'increase the physical amount of  food in one meal' will work because I don't want to make myself sick but I'm gonna try and see if I can get into the habit of refilling my plate (a full plate used to fill me, now not so much).  I also know I've been eating a lot more simple carbs just due to the fact I can't think of what to cook and the veggies with tomato puree and mushrooms get annoying. So I'm going to switch out pasta with frittatas for a while as a 'we have nothing in the house' meal. 

Updates will happen when I figure stuff out.

An addendum - I haven't had any extra physical activity - actually exercising less these days due to heat, knee inflammation that just passed and just general reshuffling of priorities. And my weight hasn't changed. I also don't have any other symptoms, not fatigue, nothing, so I'm pretty confident it's not a medical thing. The less sleep = bigger appetite has happened before, hence why I connect the two.

So let's see if I can stop being hungry.

1 hour ago, Salinger said:

Manchester Orchestra

And now April Fool is stuck in my head. Not a bad thing mind you.

23 hours ago, Rurik Harrgath said:

I keep a copy of my budget on an app in my phone so I always know what's going out and when.  It helps ease my mind so much!

I have a habit of doing it by hand in a notebook. With dates and amount and everything.

Also, this is your reminder to keep copies of everything. Everything you sign, everything that is sent to you. File (and backups) or physical copy. That way if something gets messed up form their end, you can have proof. And you can remember everything like that.

I had an idea that might work with your visual inclinations - in regards to your self talk. I had someone I know use an empty jar, and every time they stopped themselves from talking negatively about themselves (like, "no I'm not stupid, I made a mistake like any person would and that doesn't invalidate all of my other choices"), they put something in the jar. It could be a piece of paper with the thought, or a marble, coins, or really anything you have laying around (I don't remember what theirs was). The jar will sit and remind you, and eventually the act will get easier (it's gonna be really hard at first, sop expect the jar to be semi-empty for a while) so you can feel a sense of accomplishment to see physical proof of you improving your mindset - that is a big gotcha for my brain "see? I do things!".

10 hours ago, Salinger said:

Yes, please do

Okay, so I buy some canned stuff (tomatoes, chickpeas) to have to add to meals when I need to bulk up things, and I always have lentils, rice and beans in the house. I usually make sure I at least have a plan for what I'm gonna eat for a few days - when I have the mental energy I go to the fridge and plan meals. The fact I know what I'll eat tomorrow for at least one meal makes it way easier. A checklist helps - every meal needs a source of protein and a source of carbs (not an exact science but this fits with what I usually like eating) and I add veggies and seeds to everything.

I usually prep half of the meal in advance - example, I'll buy chicken and cook it, then divide it in three boxes and store it in the fridge and have one with a bag of frozen veggies, one with rice, and one with another thing. You can do this with vegetarian meals too. You can heat stuff up in your oven very easily (I tend to not care about this that much I eat cold food all the time, but that's me). If I have leftovers, I either eat them for breakfast/dinner, or I combine two leftovers. I usually prep up to four meals, and make a little more than I need to, so I can have that in the fridge. Bulk cooking stew/chilly/beans, dividing into a few parts and adding other stuff to it for variety daily. I tend to like my veggies raw-ish so I don't cook them a long time.

Another tip is having a list of meals you can do when you literally can't even. I feel like grilled cheese (toasties?) would be on your list. Frittatas with mushrooms and peppers is on mine. Basically, something you can do even when you can't do anything and that will make you feel full and better, with stuff you always have at home. It helps you save money on takeout, and it is generally healthier than it. Though sometimes you will have takeout and that is fine.

Hope this helps!

21 minutes ago, spezzy said:

I'm also rethinking having very specific number goals for the end of the year - this is just how I've always done challenges and I get excited about big numbers, but my priorities have really changed this year and I don't care as much about the numbers, and I hate that if I focus on taking care of myself, I feel like I'm letting my goals down, and this was a great reminder of that. 

 

I also have a lot of really important videos to film for work that I need my shoulder to be functional for, and that's going to be a thing that doesn't stop for the rest of the year - and that's kind of a big deal, so that feels more important than specific lift numbers. 

So basically if you manage to have a routine and do all of this stuff without collapsing/hurting yourself (sleeping injuries notwithstanding) you win.

On 9/16/2020 at 11:25 PM, Salinger said:

Today my mum said she would lend me the 2000 to pay off the overdraft (meaning i can close that account) and i will pay her back £50 per month or something. So NO interest loan kind of

This is great. Interest on debts can get wild, so doing it this way would be good. I'm glad your mom was willing and able to help.

On 9/16/2020 at 11:25 PM, Salinger said:

My plan is in 6 years, i have a house and a greyhound dog  

You are doing really well. I'm glad to see it.

14 hours ago, Salinger said:

Yes, i may speak to my mum tbh, we are being much more open with each other since dad died. Maybe i need to be honest with her?

In my experience telling people when you need alone time for whatever reason makes everything easier. 

On 9/16/2020 at 9:42 AM, Salinger said:

I am thinking it may be good to prep some food, BUT i dont have a microwave. Is there any easy (ish) was to do this? I obviously have an oven but is it pointless doing it without a microwave?

Uuuum... I have never had a microwave (I don't even have a freezer right now and my oven is older than me). I prep meals (I have three different levels of prep) all the time. I can write what I do if it would help? 

Remember to breathe. You're doing alright. You have made so much progress don't let your mind gaslight you into thinking you haven't. Argue with it if you have to (sometimes saying things aloud helps).

16 hours ago, Lateral Planet said:

Oh no, that sounds dreadful! Best of luck with that. I'm very lucky that the one causing problems was the one that had already emerged, so they were able to just yank it out. But I know the other three are still there lurking under the surface, biding their time and waiting to strike, not unlike this:

 

I'm waiting till all four of em emerge. Especially because on one side I have a tooth that is basically three walls and a filling (it kept hurting until the dentist hollowed it out) so I'm thinking if the wisdom tooth is healthy (good chance, I haven't had many problems) they can just yank this one out. 

On 9/11/2020 at 9:04 AM, Lateral Planet said:

Also, I just had to get a wisdom tooth removed and now my face feels really weird. I'm going to be on a soft food diet for the next couple of days, so I stocked up on yoghurt and soup bases and custard. Not very substantial or nutritious, but hey I'll probably lose some weight as a side effect.

I will have to have some of my wisdom teeth removed, because my other teeth will crowd. So this sounds awful. 

11 hours ago, Jupiter said:

Ugh. Anyway, after work I put that aggravation to good use and it got me through my strength training routine. I even did a couple extra reps with the 10 pound dumbbell on the dumbbell deadlifts and single arm overhead press, and I added a couple extra seconds on my planks.

I haven't had a day like this in a while, but I remember them. 

11 hours ago, Jupiter said:

and two, because I was worrying too much about staying within word count. The place I want to submit to only takes 4000 word stories and it looks like mine will go past that.

Ugh yeah this kneecaps me so much.

27 minutes ago, Salinger said:

Not the best day in the world, ate a mcdonalds  because i was feeling lazy and sorry for myself. Kitchen is a state and starting to smell. Flat is a tip, yard is a mess....feels impossible to sort. 

It happens. You sort one thing at a time, when you feel like you can. 

On 9/11/2020 at 1:44 PM, Bean Sidhe said:

All are about a mile maybe less, so its helping, but still feeling like I should do more like I had been before my knee. Which is still swollen but doesn't hurt but I don't have the flexibility I use to.

You are injured. Pushing yourself will only make it worse. You are allowed to take care of yourself by doing less. 

I don't think I'm doing a challenge this time around but I am for sure going to hang around with my blueberry tea. 

27 minutes ago, spezzy said:

ha, yeah And you don't realize it until you try to do something and your body just will not go to where you want it to go. 

 

I used to think my hamstrings were the tightest portion of my body. Nope, apparently it's my calves. So much that walking in flats for more than a few hours makes my lower back hurt. So I have a love/hate relationship with stretching/flexibility/mobility in general. 

4 hours ago, Artemis Prime said:

but I need to figure out what to do with "the chair" that gets buried in stuff all the time.

I designated mine to housing my home workout things, and use a hanger at the back of my door for the not quite dirty clothes. But depending on the size of your chair it might not work (mine is so small I can't fit in it).

5 minutes ago, Salinger said:

Just written in a cheap £1 notepad no fancy stuff here x

The only reason I use my relatively expensive journal is because it's the only thing I could find that has enough pages so I don't have a notebook pile up.

58 minutes ago, spezzy said:

*flexibility is a big thing holding me back on any sort of flips

I feel like everyone I know has an issue with flexibility.

14 hours ago, Lateral Planet said:

The one exception is we put our own laundry away. I can start a load, I can hang it all up to dry, I can put it in separate baskets for his stuff and my stuff. But for whatever reason I just hit a wall when it comes to putting my stuff back in the cupboard, and then I have to rummage through a basket of clean clothes to find what I want to wear. I've just decided I'm going to tackle the current basketfull this afternoon!

I think I don't have this problem because we don't have a basket. We've always just remove the clothes from the hanger and put them away immediately (or left them on the chair for a few hours and then put them away).

56 minutes ago, Wild Wolf said:

What's one of your favorite tips you've used so far?

I'm currently doing his posture routine and that has been super helpful. I mostly find a video and use him as a form check guide and wind up with new exercises to try. 

56 minutes ago, Wild Wolf said:

My kids ask me a LOT of questions. Some of them relevant, some of them not so much lol.

As a previously talkative kid with the energy of a Labrador puppy, I am eternally grateful for patient parents.