Friday, May 27, 2022

Fat Friday: A Diet Is a Diet is a Diet

 

This was my response to a post by Heather Awad, MD.

https://www.kevinmd.com/2022/05/dont-give-up-on-intermittent-fasting-just-yet.html

This was not as awful as I expected it to be, but, nonetheless, is really nothing but dieting rebranded.

Weight gain is one of the side effects of dieting. Food insecurity causes the body to store fat. Dieting is a form of self-imposed food insecurity. Very few dieters lose significant amounts of weight long-term. The pounds that come off return with friends because diets are unsustainable. Eventually, chronic dieters cease losing weight even when engaging in severe caloric restriction. Googling "Biggest Loser Weight Regain" will bring up articles illustrating this phenomenon.

Unfortunately, these articles come with the suggestion that individuals who are unable to lose weight through food restriction should opt for weight loss surgery. However, weight loss surgery, like dieting, has a low long-term success rate and serious irreversible side effects including dumping syndrome, malnutrition from impaired ability to absorb nutrients, explosive diarrhea, and premature death.

A health at every size approach is better for all bodies. Rather than a stigma-based size normative approach, it encourages patients to care for themselves, whatever their size. 


Check out Ragen Chastain's cards for dealing with fatphobia in a medical setting.

https://danceswithfat.org/2019/12/16/cards-to-help-fat-patients-at-the-doctors-office-english-and-french-versions/

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~


Fat and Ornery
Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors


Hangry Wyrm sez:
"Hot damn, it's Fat Friday! Riots, not diets!"
Free use image from Pixabay


Saturday, May 21, 2022

Blow Your Stack Saturday: Remember Then

 


If you were to aspire a little higher right now, with no miss-understandings to handicap you, what would be your desire?

I remember what it was like to just write what I wanted to write without worrying about any commercial potential. 

I remember what it was like when exercise was fun before the worries about being good enough or whether it had the potential to make me lose weight.

I remember what it was like to take a walk without having to worry about randos hollering at me or well-meaning but ultimately discouraging people telling me they'll pray for me or admonishing me that if I just prayed harder all my handicaps would fall away.

I have a bad back. My upright walker means I can sit down when it starts hurting and then roll on my way when I'm ready. It helps keep my spine in good alignment. Walking without support, my right side slumps. For fuck's sake, if prayer works, there are people who actually need it. People with terminal or degenerative conditions. Not me. You'd think these people had never seen anyone use a walker before. 

I need to encourage myself to put on my headphones (the universal symbol for "fuck off and leave me alone") and get rolling again. Not today, though. It's cold today.

I have a sketchpad. I should get out there and start sketching again.

Why do people see the need to put stupid conditions on things? Find things you like to do and do them. That's my only advice. I'd rather encourage than discourage.

As a reminder, this blog is a diet talk and weight loss talk-free zone. It's fine to discuss how diet and weight-loss culture have impacted your life. It is not fine to encourage dieting or exercise with weight loss as a goal. That shit fucked up my already fucked up metabolism even worse. I will have to contend with body dysmorphia and my abusive life partner, ED (Eating Disorder), for the rest of this incarnation. ED doesn't need any encouragement. Don't feed him.

I'm answering a question from The Maestro Monologue.


https://amzn.to/3ltlntN

White, Rob. The Maestro Monologue: Discover Your Genius. Defeat Your Intruder. Design Your Destiny. (p. 15). The Mind Adventure Inc.. Kindle Edition. 

If you purchase a copy of the book through this link, I will earn a small commission from Amazon.



~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~


Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors
Ornery Owl is Fat, Fierce, and Done With This Shyyyyyt


Free use image from Pixabay
Hangry Wyrm says:
"If you're hungry, eat!"






Friday, May 20, 2022

Book Beginnings/First Line Friday: The Maestro Monologue

 


For Book Beginnings and First Line Friday, here is the First Beginning Line from The Maestro Monologue by Rob White.

IT’S TRICKY Grab hold, you are about to awaken to what you “already know” about yourself but aren’t yet aware that you know.

White, Rob. The Maestro Monologue: Discover Your Genius. Defeat Your Intruder. Design Your Destiny. (p. 1). The Mind Adventure Inc.. Kindle Edition. 

I am reviewing the book for the Online Book Club.

If you purchase a copy of the book through the following link, I will earn a small commission from Amazon.



I've been having a little trouble coming to terms with myself this year. If this book can help me get closer to doing that, then it will exceed my expectations. It's well written, but I often find that self-help books only get me so far. I tend to engage better when I'm able to do something active, like play a game or answer a question.

 Back in school, I always learned better through games than with methods such as flashcards. I had a very good instructor for my medical terminology class in nursing. She noticed that I was distracted when practicing with the flashcards. She said, "you aren't getting anything out of this, are you?" 

Surprised, I said, "honestly, no." 

She said, "then try some of the other activities and find one that works for you."

I excelled when doing the crossword puzzles and other word games and ended up with an A in the class.

I like to discuss learning and coping strategies for ADHD because I hope that if someone recognizes themselves in the stories I'm telling, they'll realize that they aren't stupid, they simply learn and interact with the world differently. Many people have been punished for not learning in a very specific, rigid way. 

Okay ProWritingAid, that's a terrible suggestion. ProWritingAid is telling me that I should replace "many people have been punished" with "I have punished many people." I did nothing of the kind, and I resent that accusation.

That's about it for now. I may do these blog hops again, although I tend to be a sporadic participant.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~


Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors


Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Insecure Writers Support Group 4 May 2022: The Crappy Times

 

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

May 4 question - It's the best of times; it's the worst of times. What are your writer highs (the good times)? And what are your writer lows (the crappy times)?

I describe one of my good times in my Haibun of Encouragement.

https://crazycreativescheerleadingcamp.blogspot.com/2022/03/tackle-it-tuesday-for-reasons-they-dont.html

To sum things up, back in January of this year, I submitted a selection of ten poems and a short story for consideration in an anthology. Eight of the poems were rejected in quick succession. Then on March 23, the short story and one of the poems were accepted! 

That felt pretty damn good. But the title of my post on March 14 was "I'm Losing Myself."

https://crazycreativescheerleadingcamp.blogspot.com/2022/03/about-me-monday-im-losing-myself.html

To sum things up, I felt a little bit something like this:

I've lost the healing aspects of writing. I feel like I've been kicked out of my own universe. I don't really have anyone I can bounce these thoughts off. I just feel lost.

I made the mistake of looking into the horrible void of my Submittable account and seeing 40 rejections staring back at me. It was a soul-draining feeling. 

I will now recall my own sage wisdom from my Make It Happen Thursday Fairytale, The Hobyahs.

https://crazycreativescheerleadingcamp.blogspot.com/2022/03/make-it-happen-thursday-hobyahs.html

I realized that while most of the time my attitude towards rejection from publishers is like my attitude about taking tests, seeing the metric butt-ton of rejections in my Submittable account did a number on me. Writing was feeling like working a job and that is one thing I can never allow it to become. The stuff I create when I must rather than because I want to is stale, lifeless, and two-dimensional. When I feel like I'm selling my soul to gain approval, it's time to take a step back.

Again I ask myself, what are the things I really love to write.

I hope maybe what I've shared will help you during the Crappy Times. 

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~



Free use image from Pixabay




Music for your enjoyment.

The link in case you can't see the player.

Sunday, May 1, 2022

DEFENDING THE PEN: WEP - A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall

DEFENDING THE PEN: WEP - A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall:  It's that time again.  A new challenge was posted by the gals at the WEP. Write...Edit...Publish Flash fiction at it's best! Are yo...

This could have been written about me. I still deal with suicide ideation, but not to the intense levels that I did when I was younger. I'm one of those people where Heaven wouldn't want me and Hell would be afraid that I'd take over. They'll probably just leave me here on Earth to haunt those who deserve a good haunting.