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consulting-celiac-in-the-tardis · 4 years ago

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31+ Totally Free Resources For Living with Celiac Disease

New blog post! I LOVE finding new resources that help people living with celiac disease...and I LOVE those resources even more when they're free! Going gluten free after a celiac disease diagnosis can be expensive since you often need to re-stock your pantry with gluten free foods and have medical bills to pay.

So I thought I'd round up 31+ resources that are totally FREE and can help anyone living with celiac disease! If you've recently received a celiac diagnosis, I hope this list provides you with valuable tools to make your transition to a gluten free diet even easier. And if you've lived with celiac disease for years, I hope this list helps you discover some new gluten free resources to take advantage of!

31+ TOTALLY FREE RESOURCES TO HELP ANYONE LIVING WITH CELIAC DISEASE:

1. Eat Out using Find Me Gluten Free.

This app makes life SO much easier when you want to eat out but need to adhere to a gluten free diet. You can enter an address or use your current location and find reviews and menus of nearby restaurants with gluten free options.

2. Save Money.

Ibotta is a money-saving app that lets you submit photographs of your receipts and get a small amount of cash back on certain products. Tons of stores participate in Ibotta, ranging from Walmart to Home Depot to Safeway, so you can get money back on more than just groceries. The cash-back products also change monthly, and I often see cash-back deals on gluten free brands like Bob's Red Mill and Enjoy Life Foods. If you want to give Ibotta a try, sign up using my referral code "qiarlqs" or by clicking this link -> Save Money With Ibotta, and you can earn a $10 welcome bonus.

3. When You Need a Laugh.

If you've yet to discover Gluten Free Street Gang on Instagram, change that ASAP. This Instagram profile always makes me laugh and hits home about many aspects of a gluten free diet.

4. Find New Gluten Free Foods.

Celiac and the Beast is a renowned gluten free blogger in the industry for MANY reasons...but I especially love that she regularly shares some of the latest and greatest gluten free products to hit the market.

5. Get a BS-Free Perspective on Celiac Life.

Gluten Dude and all of his posts always say it like it is, whether he's calling out someone for harming the celiac community or offering advice to one of his many emailers.

6. Learn More About Celiac Disease and Eating Gluten Free.

MI Gluten Free Gal is another one of my favorite gluten free bloggers because not only does she share delicious recipes, but she also regularly shares graphics and posts on important topics for the celiac community, such as how to get a proper celiac disease diagnosis.

7. Cook Gluten Free Like a Pro.

There are plenty of amazing gluten free bloggers sharing equally amazing gluten free recipes, but a few of my favorite resources include:

Vegetarian Mamma

Mama Knows Gluten Free

My Gluten-Free Kitchen

8. Make New Friends

Spokin is another phone app allows you to look for gluten free (and allergy friendly) restaurants nearby, but it also gives users access to product reviews, allergy friendly travel guides and educational articles. Spokin is a social networking app to some extent, too, as you can follow other people after you’ve set up your own account

9. Find Back-To-School Tips.

Are you the parent of a child with celiac disease or do you have celiac disease and you're going to school? Then check out this extensive list of back-to-school resources from the National Celiac Association. And if you're a college student with celiac disease (or you're about to head to college), I highly recommend my thorough post about being gluten free in college!

10. Grocery Shop Like a Master.

One of the most popular gluten free apps on iTunes is The Gluten Free Scanner, which lets you scan a product’s barcode and receive a quick report on whether it’s gluten free or not.

I personally prefer scanning product labels myself because I know technology - just like people - can make mistakes. As a result, I’d encourage you to read a product’s ingredient labels yourself even if The Gluten Free Scanner says the product is gluten free. However, especially if you’re newly diagnosed and still wondering, "What is gluten anyway?", this free scanner could make shopping for gluten free products a lot quicker, easier and less stressful.

11. Stay Up-To-Date.

Beyond Celiac is another awesome celiac disease organization that provides plenty of gluten free recipes, tips on living with celiac disease and news updates.

12. Access Gluten Free Food in a Time of Need.

The Food Equality Initiative is a new organization to me, but I love their mission of making gluten free food (and food free from other allergens) more accessible to everyone. They also provide access to a gluten free food pantry to those in need.

13. Connect with Fellow Gluten Free Teens.

Generation GF is an AMAZING program that provides a variety of resources to gluten free kids and teens, including educational resources, local support groups and virtual chats that allow gluten free teens to connect even if they don't live in the same area.

The Gluten Free Intolerance Group is also who hosts the GF Teen Summit!

14. Get Safety Alerts.

The Gluten-Free Certification Organization (GFCO) provide independent verification of gluten free products, and their symbol indicates that a product meets the strictest of gluten free standards. But I also love that they regularly release safety alerts on gluten free products.

15. Meet Up with Other Gluten Free Folks.

Search for the local gluten-free community in your area, or start a group of your own, on Meetup.com.

16. Learn about Research on a Cure for Celiac Disease.

The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center is on a mission to find a cure for celiac disease, and you can learn more about their work here.

17. Avoid the Top 10 Allergens.

Allergy Eats is another phone app that is very similar to Find Me Gluten Free except you can search for restaurants free of any of the top 10 allergens instead of just gluten. People can leave ratings and reviews, which, at least in my experience, makes eating out gluten free or allergy friendly a lot easier (and less scary) since you don't feel like you're making as "blind" of a restaurant choice.

18. Read Honest, Helpful Advice.

The information you can find on Reddit's gluten free channel - /r/GlutenFree - isn't always accurate or appropriate for all readers. However, you can find plenty of honest, helpful advice.

19. Download Gluten Free Restaurant Cards.

Make traveling a little easier with gluten free restaurant cards you can download in different languages.

20. Find the Best Gluten Free Products.

As regular readers know, I share gluten free product reviews pretty often on my blog and social media channels. But if you're looking for the best gluten free products to buy when you're just going gluten free, this post should definitely be on your reading list!

21. Kick Back with a Magazine.

It's amazing how many gluten-free-related magazines there are available nowadays. If you're looking for some reading material, you might look into:

Allergic Living

Delight Gluten Free

GFF Magazine

Gluten-Free Living

Gluten Free & More (formerly Living Without)

Simply Gluten Free

22. Save Money on Taxes.

Did you know you can receive tax deductions for gluten free food if you have celiac disease? Learn more here!

23. My blog and all my social media channels :)

As always, I'm here to offer as much support and education as I can. I may not always respond right away, but for the quickest response, DM me on Instagram.

My Goal With Sharing These Resources on Living With Celiac Disease

Depending on where you are in your celiac journey, you may be familiar with many of the gluten free resources on this list. But I hope even one of these links helps you feel less alone with celiac disease, less frustrated with a gluten free diet or more hopeful in how enjoyable living with celiac disease can be! Are there any other resources you would add to this list? Let me know in the comments! via Blogger https://ift.tt/35e79WS

#Blogger #college #celiac #gluten free #coeliac #celiacs #paleo #primal #foodporn #foodart

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confessionsofcharacter · 5 years ago

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I feel like I always have so much to say, until I go to say it. I will have come up with so many things during the day that I want to write out, And then my mind goes blank when I go to do it. But, I will attempt to pick my brain for the words I’m looking for. Today felt like a very long day. I went to T-Mobile, Sam’s club, and then the grocery store. Walking around that much always ends up putting me in bed for a couple of days afterwards due to my Fibromyalgia. I always tell myself that I’ll take it easy the next time around instead of trying to do everything at once, but... I never seem to follow through with that. I like getting things done in one day, just like trying to carry all of the grocery bags in at one time. Which, speaking of groceries, I’ve recently discovered that instead of being fully intolerant to gluten, only certain gluten products bother me. So now I’m including gluten back into my diet and making a food diary, that way I can try to determine what it is I can and cannot have. The only problem with that, is that I’m setting myself up for getting incredibly sick every time I eat something that doesn’t agree with me. I won’t go into grave detail, but I get incredibly sick when I have something that my stomach isn’t happy with. And the worst part is that the sickness lasts from four to five hours, on a good day. So once I eat something bad, the rest of my day is done for. At the moment, I can somehow have bagels (thank God, I’ve missed bread so much), but cannot have other gluten. Which I probably shouldn’t be eating bread anyways since I’ve magically gained ten pounds in a month... But I actually think my weight gain is somehow being caused from my stomach not properly digesting it’s food. For example, and forgive me for being crass, but if you’re shitting and vomiting on a daily basis, you would think you’d lose weight, not gain, right? Well, wrong. I just hope I’m able to find out the exact foods I am intolerant to because even though everything I eat makes me ill, the allergists have so far come up with nothing. But, my back is absolutely killing me right now, So I’m off like a dirty shirt. Goodnight!

#blog #blogger #bloggerlife #bloggergirl #bloggervibes #mylife #mystory #fibro #fibropain #pain #fibromyalgia #glutenfree

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music-my-angel · 6 years ago

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Eat without a care in the world

Prompt - Can you add a Connor fic to the January schedule please? One where he is allergic to a bunch of different foods and he has a feeding tube. He gets really frustrated and the guys of The Vamps help him. Thank you! My birthday is January 2.

Prompt - Hello! Can you do a prompt please? Could you do a The Vamps one with Connor? Connor is allergic to nuts, wheat, gluten, and seafood, dairy, he has diabetes and is lactose intolerant. The boys have an interview where they try foods and the interviewer keeps forcing food to Connor, even though he can’t have them. Later Connor gets angry because he could not eat what the boys are eating and the guys go and comfort him. Make it long and fluffy!

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Connor had learnt to make peace with his allergy issues. It wasn’t something that he could change. He could only keep it under control with medicines so he learnt to not be too upset about it. There was so many things that he was allergic to. He was allergic to nuts, wheat, gluten, seafood, dairy, and was lactose intolerant as well. And there was probably a lot to the list that he hadn’t discovered yet. But he’d learnt to not be disappointed with life and instead, he would readily forget his allergies until you’d literally shove it in his face.

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Connor was lucky enough to have a supportive family who was always looking out for him. And when he joined the band, The Vamps, the boys had stepped up to be that big brothers in his life who would care for him and watch out for him.

James was the one who always checked Connor’s food and made sure from beforehand that Connor wasn’t eating something that would cause an allergic reaction. Brad was more likely to ask Connor itself what he could and would eat while Tristan was ready to go at anyone’s throat if they’d feed Connor something that wasn’t good for his health.

With them, Connor slowly relaxed, trusting that they’d keep an eye on his allergies.

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But recently, they had an interview where things went quite wrong. The interviewer had suggested some kind of blindfold game where they’d have to identify food items by tasting them. While James, Brad and Tristan were all for it, Connor straight out refused.

“I don’t think so. I’d rather sit out and watch you all” Connor said but the interviewer wasn’t too happy with his answer.

“Come on it’s going to be fun” The interviewer tried to convince him.

“No, man! Let him be” Brad tried saying but the interviewer was already trying to force Connor to taste some kind of seafood.

Tristan and James were ready to step in and dissolve the situation but Connor was so ready to snap.

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“Do you think I’m doing this for fun? Do you think I’m so kind of prude who wouldn’t want to a fun game? I can’t eat seafood. I’m allergic. I’m allergic to so many things that I can’t even tell you…” Connor snapped.

The interviewer stood dumbfounded, staring at Connor who ran out of the studio.

“We won’t continue the interview” James said, ushering the boys out, seeing as Tristan was ready to have a go at the man.

“I so wanted to speak to that guy” Tristan argued.

“Connor is more important right now” Brad reminded Tristan.

The three boys shared a look with each other before running after Connor.

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They managed to catch up with the boy and were quite surprised to see him in tears.

“Con” Brad sighed.

“I’m so tired of this allergy thing. How I wished I could eat without a care in the world” the boy sniffled.

“Oh buddy! You’re not one who gets easily disappointed” Tristan said.

“Come on Con! You’ve always said how this allergy helped you discover other good foods so you can’t let yourself down with this. And don’t bother about what others say or do. They don’t know about your allergy. They don’t know you” James reassured him.

“Come on now! Give us a smile” Brad said.

Connor wiped away a tear as the boys pulled him in a hug, a smile appearing on his face.

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As long as the boys were watching his back, Connor had nothing to be worried about. Even regarding his allergy issues, he knew the boys would fight anything and anyone for him. As long as they were there, he could actually eat without a care in the world.

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A/N

Hope you all like it.

#the vamps #oneshot #connor centric #james #tristan #brad

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shamehill56-blog · 6 years ago

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Whole-Wheat Rosemary Focaccia Bread (with Pleasant Hill Grain)

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at focaccia bread for some time, so I’m excited to partner with Pleasant Hill Grain and share how it turned out in today’s sponsored post.

Freshly Ground Wheat Tastes Better

First of all, many people aren’t crazy about the taste of whole-wheat flour, especially if they’re just starting to transition from the Standard American Diet where everything is white, white, white! Trust me, I am a former white bread girl and used to feel exactly the same.

But early on in my mission to cut out processed food, I discovered that foods made with freshly ground flour taste SO much better than anything pre-made or even using the off-the-shelf whole grain flour. And I was willing to do whatever it took to make whole-wheat palatable enough for me not to hate it. At first, I thought grinding your own wheat sounded like someone going a little overboard with making their own food, but I promise it is a simple as grinding your own coffee.

I show you just how easy it is in this quick video clip with my KoMo Classic Grain Mill from Pleasant Hill Grain…

Know What’s In Your Food

Not only does freshly ground wheat taste better, but it’s better for you, as well. Pleasant Hill Grain offers electric and manual grain mills, as well as flakers/rollers and flour sifters, which can honestly be a fun way to provide your family with all that whole-grain goodness many of us are desiring (including gluten-free choices). It’s one sure-fire way to ensure you are truly getting 100% whole-grain, without making things too difficult or time-consuming. Not to mention the satisfaction of “truly scratch-made” foods that are really better in every way!

And for those who need to eat gluten-free due to an allergy or intolerance, milling gluten-free grains at home offers a thousand times more flexibility than buying processed gluten-free products. With freshly ground GF flour, you can make any recipe you can find or create… the sky’s the limit!

The KoMo Classic grain mill is handmade in Austria and built with either traditional beech wood or American walnut wood. It’s a rather stylish appliance—no ugly plastic!—that would look great sitting on your counter and grinds superfine flours, far finer than what you can get from something like a blender. It’s also a great value and includes a long 12-year warranty that will guarantee your investment.

Whole-Wheat Rosemary Focaccia Bread

And now back to that yummy focaccia bread I made. My girls recently made some in a local cooking class (with Chef Alyssa), and the little taste they brought home for me inspired me to try the recipe myself with whole-wheat flour (and a couple other little tweaks). Here’s the final recipe, just in time for Thanksgiving dinner … would be a yummy way to soak up the last bits of gravy off your plate!

Whole-Wheat Rosemary Focaccia Bread

Adapted from Chef Alyssa's Kitchen

Ingredients

1 envelope active dry yeast, about 2 1/4 teaspoons

1 cup warm water, between 100 and 110 degrees F

1 little squeeze honey, about 1/2 teaspoon

2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour, freshly ground tastes great in this recipe!

1 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons olive oil, divided

pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, coarsely minced

Instructions

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water then add a little squeeze of honey to help it bloom (this works in place of sugar). Set aside until the yeast foams up, 5 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the flour to a large stand mixer with a dough hook. Mix in the salt and then add 4 tablespoons of the olive oil along with the water/yeast mixture. Knead until smooth.

Remove the dough from the bowl and knead a little more by hand on a floured surface. Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand until it doubles in size, about 1 hour. I like to heat my oven to 200 degrees F, turn it off, and then place the bowl of dough in the warm oven to proof. If after 20 minutes or so you notice the dough is not rising, take it out, knead it a little more by hand (on a floured surface), and try again.

Transfer the dough to a 9 X 13-inch rimmed sheet pan (half of a normal-sized cookie sheet), stretching it out and tearing off pieces (if necessary) to press it down into one fairly even layer. Dimple the dough with your fingers and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Cover with plastic and let the dough rise again on the counter or in your still-warm oven until puffed up, about 20 minutes (pictured). At this point you can refrigerate overnight if you'd like to prep this recipe a day in advance.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Sprinkle the rosemary evenly over top, season with black pepper and additional salt (to taste), finish with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool before slicing and serving. Enjoy!

Source: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/whole-wheat-rosemary-focaccia-bread/

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fishyfishyfishtimes · 2 months ago

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At least the celiac was discovered in the first place! The not-getting-enough-nutrients thing is serious business. I’m sure I don’t have to list you the symptom details xO I think the “difficulty level” of celiac depends a ton on where you live, where I’m from there’s many options available and they keep coming up with new products to replace “old” gluten-having ones (recently gluten free “Pringles” and ice cream sandwiches :)). Then again, what you mention about restaurants and specific foods rings true for me, too! I never eat Chinese food. Deep fried food I’ll have once in a blue moon, and the majority of that is homemade. The times I have to go to a restaurant I’m not extremely familiar with I get very anxious. And it’s been a while since I was diagnosed, but I remember missing many foods in the first few years…

And then if you don’t have proper support, that makes it even worse! Seriously. I had the luck of being born into a family where gluten intolerance is frequent so my immediate family was understanding, but it tended to become a bit of a hassle outside of that, with relatives and family friends who just could not remember. My heart goes out to you, as someone who was diagnosed exactly ten years ago this month! It’s not always nice to think about, but you do get used to it, and it gets gradually easier (the world is going in a better direction too). And I’m so glad you don’t have to live in pain anymore.

If you need additional support, I recommend looking into gluten-free and celiac disease groups for a sense of community! They can give you tips and recommendations. Or you can also just see if there’s someone online who has celiac too and can talk about it. Like me :]

Sometimes I feel like celiac disease doesn't actually count as a disability since it's so easy and stress free compared to deadly allergies, but then I remember that I have to meticulously plan every trip I go to and play 4D chess with uni campus restaurant menus and for a brief moment there was genuine consideration if I should be put on growth hormones because I was so small from not getting enough nutrients

#we can do this! we are stronger than we realise!#not fish #long post

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sweetandsavageautistic · 6 years ago

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Sorry you’re getting shit on your recent post. People like that are why I just say I eat plant based. I don’t want to be associated with scum like that.

It’s not recent actually. I think that was about a week ago. Also not all vegans are like that. Evanna Lynch (who was Luna Lovegood in “Harry Potter,” Mackenzie Price in “GBF,” Emily in “My Name is Emily,” and most recently played Runt on stage in Enda Walsh’s play “Disco Pigs”), identifies as a vegan and follows a vegan lifestyle. She’s actually discussed that there ARE judgey vegans out there, vegans who say that you’re bad if you eat meat and are like the people that were bitching about my post.

But she’s one of the counterexamples, as I believe most vegans are (the judgey ones seem to be more prominent because they’re louder and more aggressive). She believes that veganism, at its core, isn’t about perfection; it’s about eliminating suffering and it’s about compassion not just for animals, but for yourself. It’s about going vegan at your own pace and forgiving yourself if you accidentally slip up. She said she went vegetarian at age 11 and it wasn’t until 2013 that she discovered her lifestyle was inconsistent with what she believed in. In fact, she’s said that it took her about two years before she became fully vegan.

I do like the taste of meat and it’s where I usually get my protein from as I’m Gluten and Casein intolerant (though sometimes I do eat dairy, I kinda like Reese’s and cake (but because I ate a lot of Gluten/Casein filled cake in college, I feel like GFCF cakes tastes much better now, especially cupcakes.)). However I also love animals.

And as we’re kinda on the topic for it, I kinda wanna share how I go about this; for the most part I’ve avoided dairy most of my life because I get kind of a stomachache if I eat it. I do eat chicken, beef, and pork. However I have promised myself that I will never eat veal or lamb because I personally believe it’s cruel to eat a baby animal. I also don’t want to eat rabbit, I don’t eat duck, and I don’t really eat fish.

But however you identify is up to you and if you choose to identify as plant-based, more power to you.

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flour2door · 4 years ago

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Gluten-Free Bread Ideas

I know great deals of gluten intolerant individuals that advocate packaged gluten cost-free bread, but I often tend to dislike them. For a long time, I wasn't able to consider any gluten complimentary bread ideas that served to my, , exceedingly choosy palate. I like foods that are authentic to the society that they come from, which can make life made complex when taking care of food intolerances. For instance, rice noodles in Oriental food preference delicious to me, however I don't like exactly how they taste with Italian pasta sauce over them. It's not a worth judgement, simply a choice. In any case, because of this, I have trouble locating bread that I want to eat.

Buy Flour Online

Marriages Flour

As I pointed out in another post, Southern cornbread fills the specific niche for me when eaten with Tex Mex chilis or soups. It isn't an all function bread, though, so I'm always on the prowl seeking something new to consume. I recently was delighted to discover of a tiny cheese flavorful roll from Brazil called pao de queijo. They're made with yucca or tapioca flour, as opposed to wheat, and are constantly gluten cost-free. They have actually shredded cheese blended into the batter and also a lot of it, so it's obtained a great solid taste. The outsides are crisp as well as the withins are deliciously cozy as well as chewy. They go flawlessly with a dish of tomato soup as opposed to barbequed cheese, but they can additionally be split open as well as made into little infant sandwiches.

Gluten Free Bread Flour

This is most definitely one of the most effective gluten complimentary bread concepts that I have actually encountered yet. The rolls don't call for unique or artificial active ingredients, they can be seasoned or full of other goodies. They can not really be formed like hot pockets, however you can place cheese as well as meat inside them. I bet they 'd be good with a pizza dental filling, too, though I haven't attempted making that yet. Most importantly, the dough can be made in advance as well as iced up for a last minute cheesy roll solution whenever you want.

Organic Flour

My children truly take pleasure in taking these to college in their lunch since they look enough like normal rolls to not stand out. Despite how much cheese I took into the dough, they're constantly asking me to place extra on the sandwich, too. They hold up well to lettuce and tomato for numerous hours as well. My other half and I delight in eating these rolls while fresh from the stove with a glass of wine. It's not difficult but is a classy hors d'oeuvre to serve at a cocktail hour. I do not see any kind of reason that you could not blend natural herbs, carefully diced olives or marinaded sundried tomato little bits right into the dough for extra taste, either.

If you're trying to find some brand-new gluten cost-free bread suggestions, I highly advise providing pao de queijo a shot. You can either locate the recipe online or you can discover them at Brazilian restaurants or import stores. The shops additionally often offer bags of frozen spheres of dough for you to cook fresh at home.

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carryforthtradition · 4 years ago

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My relationship with food, previously living with M.E. and recovering practicing an ancient, traditional self cultivation way.

I feel I need to write about food. This is a personal account. Here is a short video we made yesterday - an introduction into something very complex made simple - I hope this may help others -My relationship with food has always been healthy and I would consider it pretty traditional, in that I eat the way I was brought up to eat. I remember fondly watching my grandfather cooking the way I do now, standing in his kitchen under the clothes airer chopping up onions, carrots and potatoes for a stew and folding the vegetable peelings in newspaper to go in the compost.

Recently, under a lot of extra pressure and external stress I find myself becoming increasingly aware that I am comfort eating, and a lot of this involves sugar, and extra weight around my midriff! I’m not so concerned about how I look, but it is beginning to become an issue when I actually feel the extra weight when I am moving around, lifting myself up off the floor, tying my shoe laces and when I lie on my side it is like another body lying in front of me! I reckon I’m carrying and extra 2 stone - I don’t weigh myself, I can just grab it with two hands and at the front it is actually hanging over the waistband of my trousers.

My attitude towards food is also different to what I believe is the main narrative people are being sold (pushed) in mainstream media, be that on TV programmes, news, magazines, newspapers, food packaging, marketing… we are constantly being bombarded with different, quite often conflicting messages -

We are constantly being told - eat this and you will feel great; this is the magic pill to lose weight; the magic pill to heal everything; you need to eat this; you don’t need to eat that; omit this from your diet and you will feel great; you are glucose intolerant; have intolerances…. buy our vitamin supplements, processed foods, nitrates, phosphates, our food has been so tampered with it has additives, MSG, artificial sweeteners, flavourings, there is GMO food, monoculture farming, nutrient depleted soil, pesticides, we’re told all the bees are dying, the world is dying, our food is not nutritious any more; there is intensive farming, we need to eat organic, eat local, food shipped is across the globe, chicken from China is been sold in the US, we are eating bleached chicken scraped off the floor, inhumane practices, vegetarian, vegan, you are not human if you eat meat, if you don’t eat meat your body will be unwell, you’re a Hippy if you don’t eat meat, eat more greens, don’t take salt, or eggs, or pate if you are pregnant, or shrimps, drink vinegar if you’re losing your hair, you need this, you need that….. it is endless………

…….you get the idea. Even writing down what flew into my head just then illustrates the overload and chaotic mess we have been bombarded with for as long as I can remember. There must be some thread of truth running through all of this and this is what I am trying to discover. To strip away and break free from all the, what I perceive as, nonsense and social conditioning. It’s like one huge big experiment has been playing out to take us away from what is natural, God given, native, regional, locally grown or reared and to lead us to mess and experiment and with nature, overly rely on technology and science instead of the all the nourishing information and wisdom handed down to us over eons from experience. I personally find it disrespectful and ungrateful in some ways. Has this modern obsession with manufactured and processed food actually improved or enhanced our lives? If you ask me, I’d say no - return to tradition! Thankfully I have friends on this same quest.

In a nutshell - to see where I’m coming from - I realise that I enjoy everything I eat. There is nothing I won’t eat other than raw meat, raw fish or raw eggs. I don’t drink alcohol or take any drugs. I’m not vegetarian or vegan. I eat what I perceive as nourishing and healthy. I don’t drink enough water. I drink too much caffeine. I don’t take any supplements. Or medication. I don’t have set times when I eat and I sleep or exercise. I have little routine. Some weeks I eat loads and loads and some weeks I eat very little, and have been like this all my life since childhood. I tend to follow my instincts. I’m aware we need to eat a variety of foods and to have a balanced diet and not gorge on too much of the same thing - and I’m also aware that there are many people who are not as fortunate as I, who eat and survive on what they have available even if it is only a small amount of rice or millet and nothing else. The human body is incredible. The human mind and resilience is incredible.

To go back a little into my past, as I mentioned, I was raised eating what I would regard as traditional home made food, things such as a Sunday dinner of meat, vegetables, potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and gravy. I eat fish, salads, pasta and sauces, soups, rice and stir fries, curries, pies, vegetables, cooked breakfasts….. I buy the odd ready-made meal like a moussaka or lasagne, frozen breaded fish, fries, tinned food, some processed food. I go through phases like making bread at home in a machine/buying it, making my own preserves, batch cooking from scratch and freezing it. I quite often live on left-overs and sometimes even add new ingredients to a huge stew done in a earthenware clay pot, or our slow cooker, made the day before, to transform it into another meal. I will even eat a take away curry the next morning for breakfast! I lived in Singapore for years and for breakfast sometimes I would have rice, fried egg, fish and chilli, I’m more of a savoury fan than of sugar. I will try new foods quite happily, and new fruits and vegetables I’ve never seen before. I’m not aware that I have any crazy habits other than my recent comfort eating - which has been highlighted this year, which includes eating Haribo jelly sweets just before I go to sleep and wriggling around uncomfortably, probably due to all the sugar and weird additives. Do you actually know what it is you are eating half the time? I can’t even pronounce half the ingredients.

In 2005 I had a serious accident on the motorway, which led me to being diagnosed with M.E, and on top of that when I was 18 I’d had a car crash and my sacrum was twisted through whiplash and lodged in my pelvis, which cause serious pains in my spine and back most of my life. Another accident on a jet ski in Malaysia in 1996 - which I believe also nearly ended my life, meant I had been bashed around quite a lot - I had actually ended up in a hospital in Singapore - where I lived at the time - on a traction bed for a week which was fun I recall - I could lift myself up and down and the push of a button! (I could do with that now to lift up my lard ass - oops!)

From 2005 - 2011 I really struggled with M.E. and my spinal injuries. I remember lots of pain, problems at different times walking as swinging my leg forward was very painful. Sometimes I couldn’t feel my legs. M.E. is horrible., I was absolutely drained, exhausted. Pain in my body and head was relentless. I looked ok, and had lo live knowing many people thought I was making it up, and because sometimes I was ok, and lived pretty normal life, I would get lots of remarks like ‘pull yourself together’ which I eventually began to ignore, and understood people really didn’t understand, so it wasn’t their fault.

I had spent years trying different things to help my back problems, radiotherapy, massage, keeping myself fit, in Singapore where I lived from 1995 - 2001, I went swimming almost every day and walked everywhere and I did yoga every day for about 15 years. I was fit and healthy up until 2005.

For those of you reading this with M.E., you will understand. It is very difficult to live with. You have to learn to pace yourself. I could do one small thing in a day and end up in bed for a week or two afterwards. If, for example, a wedding came up, to prepare myself I would sleep most of the time for 2 weeks before the special day so I could get through it on the day. It’s like being trapped in your own body, my mind wanted to do things, but my body just couldn’t cope. I didn’t have depression, but it was becoming increasingly harder to remain optimistic as there was no cure.

I was told my organs would probably deteriorate earlier than others and that it could lead to heart problems, and my fitness levels decreased so much at times that I found it hard to get upstairs, never mind out the house for a walk. But this was off and on. It is sneaky, when you think you’re ok, you do too much, and pay the consequences. In the worst times, the ringing in my ears, pain in my eyes in bright light, the ability to talk for 5 minutes before my head hurt, then shutting down and needing to lie down and slip into sleep, the only place it didn’t hurt, was unbearable. My life shrank. I stopped communicating with many people because I just couldn’t handle talking. I relied on my family and close friends and they were amazing, because sometimes I was ok, and it must have been very frustrating and baffling for them too. I couldn’t watch T.V, read a book, go on the computer, or do anything that needed any amount of concentration for longer than minutes at a time before indescribable pain in my head, my brain would make me shut down. I couldn’t breathe and my whole body felt like it was bursting.

Over 6 years, obviously I looked into cures, as you would, and tried lots of different things. Food being the one I focussed on the most. I tired different diets, eating one thing, omitting another. I tried omitting dairy, it didn’t work. Sugar, it didn’t work. Gluten, didn’t work. Meat, didn’t work………. this went on and on. I tried supplements, different combinations, different amounts and I rattled with supplements at times. It didn’t work.

A slight breakthrough came when I came across ‘Forever Living’ Aloe Vera. It was the only improvement to my general well being - I even signed up to them so I could buy it cheaper, and would drink some every day, and I also took bee propolis - a natural anti biotic. I was on no other medication - a saving grace when I look back as I never became dependant on any drugs or medication - my doctor said there wasn’t anything she could prescribe. I didn’t take pain killers either. Nothing.

In 2009 I signed up for a short course called the Lighting Process, which was ‘NLP’ and it did help me realise I had more control over my brain than I had realised, but it didn’t cure me, although it helped me to think about things slightly differently. I’d had to give up teaching in 2006 aged and over 6 years of living with this illness, I gave up any desire to conquer the world, my ambitions, the many adventures to continue my travels in the world, doing the great British Coast to Coast walk, achieving anything significant, working outdoors, a career, having children….. In 2008 me and my husband decided to go for it and fly to New Zealand and live in a van for 6 months, which we did, and it was amazing. I was in beautiful surroundings ill, instead of at home ill! We had hoped it would cure me. We even swam with a dolphin (who actually looked like it felt sorry for me as I floated on the surface of the water in my wetsuit with loads of lead weights around my waist because I couldn’t sink and I couldn’t breathe properly through the snorkel - not as romantic or life changing as I had expected!) Being in nature did make me feel a lot happier, but I didn’t recover. (If you’re wondering how I got there - I just got there like anyone else, but just slept anytime I could and suffered knowing at the other end I would be somewhere quiet) The trip taught me a lot, by this time, I had resigned myself the the fact that I would be living with this for the rest of my life I began to realise I could be happy with my lot, and appreciated how incredibly fortunate and lucky I was. I still really enjoyed the whole experience, the precious time with my husband - who is a diamond. He stood firmly by my side and still does. I let go of more attachments and expectations and found some level of contentment.

In 2011, I received a leaflet though my door to learn Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) a traditional Buddhist self cultivation practice, a mind and body practice free to learn in a local community centre, with 4 exercises that reminded me of Tai Chi and a sitting meditation. It said the teachings focussed on the Universal Principles of truth, compassion and tolerance. After trying everything else, I decided to go and see what it was and I took my husband’s mum along too.

And it’s no secret that it was in fact by practicing Falun Dafa that I made a full recovery. There have been numerous studies written about the healing effects of this traditional, ancient practice. I am testimony to it. It means I am working on myself, looking deep inside myself to figure myself out and it highlights any addictions and attachments I may have that are not beneficial to either myself or to others - so it is all good. It has highlighted my comfort eating is a deep rooted issue I need to unearth and overcome, and at the moment I think it is linked to grief or fear…..

Since I began the practice in 2011, I have been campaigning on a huge scale (I’ve organised briefings in Parliament, run local campaigns, coordinated art exhibitions screened films, spent thousands of hours on the streets handing out information and lots of other things) about the persecution of Falun Gong who are being targeted and killed by the CCP Chinese communist party in China for their beliefs in truth, compassion and tolerance, and forcibly harvested for their organs whilst still alive - I will add some links below. It has been traumatic, to say the least, and stressful and taken a tremendous amount of energy, effort and courage for me to stand up to this and not be afraid. Last year on top of this continuous effort I looked after my dying aunt who I loved dearly. It was very intense. And now, of course, we have Covic-19 which I ‘lovingly’ call the #CCPVIRUS and we are locked in our homes, not really quite knowing what is going on any more! We are truly living in times of uncertainty. Yet, I believe everything will come good and am optimistic and will carry on doing what I do the best I can. The CCP’s days are indeed numbered.

So back to today - bearing all this in mind - I have fortunately discovered for myself through my own experience that food alone cannot heal my body and mind. I conclude that food is like a tool, something needed to nourish the body and when it is out of balance I’m becoming increasingly aware of the subtle messages my body gives to me. For example, if I eat too much I can’t move; too much sugar, I feel tired; my joints hurt, because there is too much acid in my body, probably from eating too much meat; if I don’t drink enough water, my skin is dry; and other noticeable sensations or manifestations. And I have yet to overcome the deep emotional pain I carry with me to make me strong enough to overcome cravings and break free!

So, I have turned to my dear friends for support and advice - and this is where our Carry Forth Tradition Quentin comes in - he has years of experience with food, nutrition and diet and all sorts of other amazing things and experiences. And he has kindly offered to see if there are any tweaks he can suggest to improve my diet a little, maybe a healthy food to cure a craving instead of a sugary one, a change to my routine, the amount I eat (I have been so brainwashed I don’t even know what a healthy amount is to eat), to help me get more control back and balance my food intake. This in turn will help me face my deeper demons and overcome them. Some of our Carry forth Tradition writers may join in too! We will log my eating habits, and daily routines and see what we discover.

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specialagentfluffstein · 5 years ago

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All those asks that you havent answered yet

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk? More cereal. I’m lactose intolerant so I try to use just enough milk that I’m not eating dry cereal. Dry cereal is a different snack.

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day? No.

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books? Whatever is close. Usually random coupons.

4: how do you take your coffee/tea? Coffee with creamer, tea on its own. Unless it’s chai. I like chai with oat milk or vanilla creamer.

5: are you self-conscious of your smile? I used to be, but now I love smiling for the camera, at strangers, pretty much all the time. But I also spent a lot of time practicing and figuring out how to smile without looking weird when I was 9 and super self conscious.

6: do you keep plants? Yes! I have a plant that might be a Kalanchoe that I’ve managed to keep alive for a few years, despite always forgetting to water it and 3 butt succulents (living stones).

7: do you name your plants? Nope. Although I do refer to the butts as “The Butts”.

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings? I write, mostly.

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself? Yes. I tend to sing song if I’m talking to myself.

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach? Side.

12: what’s your favorite planet? Jupiter! Even though that’s where boys go to get more stupider.

13: what’s something that made you smile today? I found some pictures of my mom in college and we look really similar.

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like? Lots of color. Lots of tchotckes and disney stuff. Jackson Pollock’s Circumcision above the couch.

15: go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is! Jupiter is the fastest spinning planet in our solar system.

16: what’s your favorite pasta dish? Is it pasta? It’s my favorite. Unless it has capers.

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair? Pink!

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up. So one time my BF and I went on a road trip up the oregon coast and then to Seattle. He was getting tired on our Seattle leg of the journey so we swapped and I drove for a while. I drive a ford and he drives a subaru. We were in the subaru, and I went to put it in drive, but instead turned the windshield wipers on full blast. Out of habit, I pulled down on it, since that’s where the gear shift is in my truck. His is not. I have yet to live it down.

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it? I do! I have a planner for dates and scheduling stuff, a Bullet Journal that I keep my mood tracker and habit tracker and various lists in, a gratitude log, and my ‘write about your day and your feelings’ journal. I just filled my last one, and now I get to start a new one!

20: what’s your favorite eye color? Blue.

21: talk about your favorite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces. I have a 5.11 backpack that I used in college, and then used to travel, and now I’m currently using it as my roller derby bag. It’s super versatile. And I can put patches and pins on it.

22: are you a morning person? Yes. Or at least I pretend to be.

23: what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations? Knit and watch TV.

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets? My counselor.

25: what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into? An old abandoned mansion. I was on a ride along and the cop I was with wanted to check for “juvenile delinquents.”

26: what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit? My pink double tongue low top converse.

27: what’s your favorite bubblegum flavor? I feel like there was a strawberry watermelon hubba bubba flavor I loved as a kid, but maybe I imagined it.

29: what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing? Pspsps’s at literally every cat they see.

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared? Yes.

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks. I love socks. I’ve knitted myself four pairs, and I love wearing disney socks and I just love socks.

32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends. My friends and I are boring old people and we are asleep at 3 am.

33: what’s your fave pastry? Uhhh.. At this point in my life anything gluten free that doesn’t taste like cardboard.

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it? A stuffed rabbit. Their name is ‘ruggy bunny’. It’s made from chenille. I still have them and as a full fledged adult sleep with them (and all my other squishy friends).

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often? So. Fucking. Much. I love Sakura Jelly Roll pens and washi tape and stickers and felt tip pens and ink joy pens and I love the crayola Take Note line and anything from The Happy Planner. I love it all so much.

36: which band’s sound would fit your mood right now? Deee-Lite or The The

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean? I like keeping it clean. I used to say my room always needed to be Teen Vogue ready, back when Teen Vogue would have pics of some famous girl in her bedroom on the last page.

38: tell us about your pet peeves! Other drivers.

39: what color do you wear the most? I usually wear quite a few different colors, especially in the summer.

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you? My uncle (who’s not my uncle, just a close family friend) bought me a diamond necklace when I was 10, because he said my first diamond shouldn’t be from a boy, so that way it would just be another piece of jewelry, and not my ‘first diamond.’ In hindsight, that was kind of a cool thing to do, because now I don’t feel like I have to keep or get rid of jewelry just because of who I associate it with. If it’s a nice piece, it’s a nice piece. It’s not my first diamond.

41: what’s the last book you remember really, really loving? Outlander. It’s so well researched, and it’s got political intrigue and smut but I never felt like I was being talked down to or treated like a dumb reader.

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it! I do! It’s a local place and it’s got old squashy couches and different tables and big windows. One location looks out over the marina here.

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with? My boyfriend.

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything? Not any time within recent memory.

45: do you trust your instincts a lot? Yes. They’re usually right.

46: tell us the worst pun you can think of. How does NASA throw a party? They Planet!

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe? Cashews.

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today? Yes. Getting left behind in the grocery store.

49: do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought? I love buying records, I’ve slowed down on CDs in favor of vinyl. I bought Johnny Jewel’s Themes for Television.

50: what’s an odd thing you collect? Taxidermy and furs.

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them? Joe Jacksons “Is She Really Going Out With Him?”

52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far? Anything Baby Yoda.

53: have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them? I’ve seen RHPS, and been to a midnight showing. I love it. I’ve also seen Beetlejuice, it’s not my fave, but it’s fun.

54: who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face? My boyfriend when we discovered our favorite pho place closed.

55: what’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point? Everything I do is a dramatic thing to prove a point.

56: what are some things you find endearing in people? Laughs! I love peoples laughs.

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics? So good. I’ve been drinking, and I sang it quietly to myself with all the voices.

58: who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? Why? I struggle with this classification of women and the exploitation of the rampant alcoholism among women who are likely suffering from depression in addition to alcoholism.

59: what’s your favorite myth? That David Bowie had two different colored eyes. And cryptid stuff.

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves? I like poetry from the 20th century, and I love slam Poetry. My all time favorite poem is William Carlos Williams’ “This is Just To Say”

61: what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received? Both of these can be answered with “Bath and Body Works Body Wash”

62: do you drink juice in the morning? which kind? Sometimes! I love orange juice.

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be? I want to be, when I have the space. My records are in alphabetical order.

64: what color is the sky where you are right now? Dark Blue

65: is there anyone you haven’t seen in a long time who you’d love to hang out with? My two besties who are kicking ass and living their best life in South Korea.

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like? Massive and full of really bright flowers. Sunflowers and carnations and gerber daisies and just so much color.

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel? They make me feel like cuddling by a fire.

68: what’s winter like where you live? Fucking. Miserable.

69: what are your favorite board games? Monopoly! I also like card games.

70: have you ever used a ouija board? Nope. I ain’t fucking around with that shit.

71: what’s your favorite kind of tea? Chai, green, and Thai.

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it? Yes.

73: what are some of your worst habits? Popping any joint I possibly can and peeling my nail polish (which is why I will never get gels).

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns. They are very tall and do the best John Mulaney impression.

75: tell us about your pets! I don’t have any. :( But I want three corgis named Navy Bean, Gerladine, and Jolene. And a pitbull named Korg.

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t? Probably going through my clothes so I can find my Star Wars shirt for Monday.

77: pink or yellow lemonade? Pink. I don’t really like lemonade, but I love the pink lemonade lip smackers chapstick I have.

78: are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub? Very firmly in the hateclub.

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you? My mom made me an advent calendar one year with little makeup things and trinkets wrapped individually and hung from the ceiling. It was so fun.

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why? Sleeping Beauty Castle Pink! One wall has glitter! Yes I did! I love pink and it looks nice with all my bright furniture.

81: describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of. The spine of my copy of The Hatchet.

82: are/were you good in school? Yes. I was built for the American School System and now that I can’t prove my worth with papers and multiple choice tests I’m kinda struggling.

83: what’s some of your favorite album art? I love the cover of The Velvet Underground and Nico that Andy Warhol did and the cover of Led Zeppelin III with the rotating art.

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones? Yeah! I want a lightning bolt (a la Bowie or The Killers) on my ankle and my sister and I want to get some matching ones of Chuckie Chickenhawk (my grandfather’s event mascot)

85: do you read comics? what are your faves? I do, although not as much as I used to. I love Nightwing.

86: do you like concept albums? which ones? Yeah! I love Marty Robbins’ Gunfighter Ballads, and of course David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust.

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy? Everything except minimalism, and even then I like that a little bit. But I love abstract and pop art. But really I just love art. I love going to museums when I travel.

89: are you close to your parents? My mom hell yeah!

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities. I love Seattle. I love the art and how much there is of it! I also have a soft spot for Meeker CO, weird republican little town that it is.

91: where do you plan on traveling this year? Ahahahahahahahaha. Ha. *soft crying*

92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch? Depends on the pasta dish.

93: what’s the hairstyle you wear the most? Well when I don’t have horrible too long quarantine hair, and it’s at shoulder length, I like wearing it down or half up. Lately it’s been in a ponytail or a bun.

94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday? My neighbor turned 30.

95: what are your plans for this weekend? Gonna go roller skate at the outdoor roller hockey rink on Saturday and then go do some shooting on blm land on Sunday.

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot? I am a horrible procrastinator.

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house? ESTJ, Virgo, Slytherin or Gryffindor. On my first pottermore account I got Gryffindor, and then I could figure out my password so I made another one and got Slytherin.

98: when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it? I went hiking two weekends ago and it was awesome!

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them. The Killers’ Battleborn, The The’s This Is The Day, Deee- Lite’s Groove Is In The Heart, Panic! At The Disco’s That Green Gentleman, The Avett Brothers’ Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise (actually, anything by the Avett Bros resonates with my soul.)

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? Why? Five years in the future. Because hopefully I’d be in a more stable place in my life.

Thanks for Asking!

#fluffy answers

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