#Like say I want to know if people at a certain BMI were at a higher weight percentile as infants

[vamptastic]

wish that studies on weight gain and loss were more in depth especially on the patient's weight history and their families' statistics.

i think that, basically, there are lots of people that are naturally fat- their families are fat, they were fat for most or all of their life, and anecdotally people that have been lifelong fat seem to have better health wrt the standard stuff like cholesterol, heart disease, etc. and there are also life events that can lead to (usually smallish but enough to change BMI categories) weight gain that seems for most to be irreversible, like pregnancy. it's pretty well established that long term (5-year mark) weight loss is statistically rare, only 5-10%. essentially i wonder if there's some unifying factor for that 5-10% and my unfounded hypothesis is that it's probably people with endocrine and metabolic disorders whose 'set point' or 'natural weight' or what have you is lower than their previous weight but who experienced weight gain as a part of their disorder.

pretty impossible to actually ever answer my question though because long-term weight loss studies are pretty rare (because they're hard to conduct) and they never include data on weight before the study nor family history (because it's hard to gather). where the data can be found, it's an issue of like, a paper studying weight cycling doesn't bother with family history because it's not relevant to proving their hypothesis.

it could also very much be that people who lose weight longterm are just engaging in disordered eating. given that most diet programs are just that, and one generally regains weight when they quit an extreme diet.

[tobeabatman]

fatness and health

Being fat means that people call me unhealthy even though I’ve been to all possible blood tests and I’ve been described as ”healthy” by all the health professionals I’ve met… And there’s no reason they would believe otherwise besides my weight.

And so what if I will become sick in the future? I probably will: my family already has all sorts of conditions that me, and my skinny siblings alike, will most likely develop in the future. You too, will become sick at some point, regardless of how good you think your health is. You might also get into an accident and die any day.

You see, if fatness was as unhealthy as you think, fatphobia would have started as an actual medical concern, and not as eugenicist propaganda. I’m not saying that fatness and certain conditions have no correlation: we know that they do. However, this doesn’t mean that fatness causes those conditions: researchers and doctors have kind of just assumed that it does, and further research is still ongoing.

We also have research stating that ”obesity paradox” exists. And there is research claiming that slightly overweight people (BMI under 30) live even longer than skinny people.

And whether that or any research is true or not, it doesn’t change the fact that fat people don’t need to change their bodies. Heavy smokers can die even 12-13 years earlier than non-smokers, but heavy smokers still do not owe you smoking cessation. We fat people also don’t owe you weight-loss, just because some research states that people with a BMI higher than 30 die about 4-6 years earlier than people with a ”normal” BMI (BMI is not accurate, but it is also what most weight-related research uses).

(…Even just an every-day (non-heavy) smoker can lose 8 years of their lifetime: if you cared about our health and lives so much, then you’d also go harass skinny cigarette users about their health (I’m not advocating for it, but I recognize that there is a clear difference in how much shit we fat people get for our health vs skinny smokers). And for stuff like vapes, we don’t even know what they do to our bodies in a long term, yet! But I digress.)

Whether you think that we are ”glorifying obesity” or whatever, it doesn’t change the fact that we are human. We are not a type of subhumans you can bully or joke about. If we say we deserve respect, you should realize that that is a basic ass human right, and not a reason to whine about ”glorifying obesity”.

Especially if you are a part of another marginalized group, then it’s about time you educate yourself on fat experiences. I for sure want the queer community to accept my body the way it is.

We just don’t owe you weight-loss, we don’t owe you our health history, we shouldn’t have to listen to any bullshit on how we are a burden on society. The point of society is to take care of the people who need care!!

If you ask me, I believe a massive part of why we fat people die faster isn’t our fatness: it’s medical mistreatment, unemployment, homelessness, and poverty, all of which are more prevelent among fat people.

I know of too many fat people who have died because of medical professionals not taking them or their health seriously: my ”obese” grandpa actually died in surgery in which not all safety protocols were followed. This isn’t necessarily proof of medical mistreatment because of fatness, but he was a 70 year old ”obese” man with type 2 diabetes, BED, and sleep apnea. This make him at least an example of a fat person who died not because of his fatness, or other conditions that are correlated with fatness. My other, skinny, grandpa died 7 years earlier than my fat grandpa with diabetes and sleep apnea.

And I know that some troll will likely reblog this as well: someone even reblogged my book recommendation on a book that debunks parts of fatphobia. You guys are literally broken records that dedicate their entire accounts on reblogging fat people’s content as a way to get back at them… Kinda pathetic and useless: you guys think you can say anything more hurtful about my weight than my own literal mom said to me at 9? You’re most likely grown ass adults: go do something else instead of scrolling tags related to fatness and reblogging every single post with the same talking points.

[vergess]

Eridan and Dirk for the ships! And then for funzies because you've seen me reblog about them endlessly, Griddlehark!

[Send me a ship and I'll give you my honest opinion]

Okay so the thing about EriDirk is simple, it's easy:

These idiots would absolutely make each other SO much WORSE.

If you're into that (I am), then it's a grand old time watching two unbelievably toxic bros react in a controlled environment until they explode horribly. Absolute train wreck of a ship. They don't merely have The Spark, they have Catastrophic Meltdown.

This stands in sharp contrast to the much more normal toxicity that, say, Dirk and Cronus might manage.

I like this for them.

I also think it's very funny if Dirk becomes a total Hope Player Chaser.

Now as for the Griddlehark, which I have now confirmed with my GF is indeed "The harrowhark and her fucked up jock right," my opinion is, if you're gonna have a canon ship, this is probably the way to go about it.

You can tell by the way that one of these bitches has "the" in her name and the other one I can only effectively describe as "a fucked up jock."

I am enthused by the way many of the art people in the fandom have taken what I can only assume was a canonical difference in body types between "17 year old rugby player" and "17 year old who hasn't eaten in two weeks" and run absolutely hog wild with it.

I refuse to believe that the fucked up jock, who again I think is around 17, is actually 6'5" and 300lbs of pure beef. I'm fairly certain the goth one is not, in fact, 3 feet tall with a BMI of transparent.

But they could be, and it's very funny to look at, 15/10

(Bonus: I happen to know that these lesbians were once upon another era Stridercest. With that in mind, I just want to add that the only thing I think could possibly make Stridercest more emotionally unhinged is adding a sexy serving of internalized misogyny to the mixture. I am pleased to see this seems to be true.)

[vvussyboy]

TW: weight loss, talk of lower surgery, mentions of anorexia

I LOST TEN WHOLE POUNDS. And I did it without relapsing, I did it without starving myself, I did it without giving up food I like, I did it without making myself ill. It’s made me healthier! I don’t puke like I used to.

I know it’s not a lot of weight, I do, but the thing is… With a history of such a terrible eating disorder, I wasn’t sure I could lose even five pounds without starving myself or going back to killing myself and who I am just to lose weight.

Anyway… I don’t know what my BMI is currently but I don’t want to share it, anyway, because it’s high and I don’t trust people online. I’ve got a long way to go. I’m trying to have an #altphalloplasty and I’ve heard it’s important to have a bmi of roughly <25. That scares me quite a bit. I think, in order for me to achieve that, I’d have to weigh about 155 max. Which is probably fine. I felt my best when was 150 pounds. I had a lot of muscle and could move how I wanted so that’s what I’ve set my goal at. Within the range of 150-155.

One thing I worry about is loose skin. I worry about that a lot because I know I’ll have a lot. I’ve learned to appreciate and respect my body as it is now, as it was when I was most active, but I’ve never dealt with loose skin. Hearing people who were at my size now who lost the weight say the skin is painful and hard to deal with scares the FUCK out of me. A quote I remember: “I am more active but I have to wear things like shape wear just to run. Running and jumping without things tight around my stomach and thighs is too painful.” I don’t got skin reduction money, either. I’ve heard insurance covers this because you can’t have a lot of loose skin on your stomach when having certain lower surgeries - so fucking pray for me.

[ed-recovery-affirmations]

I'm scared to recover because it kind of feels like who i am now, and I'm really scared of gaining weight because I'm already considered a healthy weight. Since i was about age 4, i was considered "unhealthy" by the bmi chart. And I'm so scared to get back to that. The mean comments get to me so much, and things online about foods being unhealthy and my unrestricted body being bad or unhealthy too. Do you have any advice or tips? I'm also autistic and I don't get hunger cues. Professional eating disorder treatments haven't helped me, and I want to be able to make my own choices (they never seem to understand my autism and say it's the ed when it's not.) , so if i tried recovery, it would be at home with my family.

I can understand that. I think hopelessness and self-destruction are easy to embrace because they feel achievable, whereas hope is scary because it's easy to lose and can be taken away from you, and it hurts when that happens. Once you settle into that, it can be especially hard to feel hopeful enough to change, especially when that life affects the person you have become.

But the truth is, life would change you no matter what. You're not going to be the same person you were today when you look back five years from now, because you'll have had new life experiences. You might as well make attempts at healing, because for better or for worse, change will continue to occur as life moves on. (This is one of the hardest things for me to accept, personally. I'm very resistant to change!)

I am a believer of health at any size. That is, if you're not restricting to the point of hurting your body, and you're eating generally enough to energize yourself throughout the day, getting your core nutrient needs met, and throwing a treat in here and there, AND you don't stay thin, you don't need to restrict and it would in fact be healthier not to. This applies unless you have been diagnosed with a specific medical condition that requires you to cut out certain things. If you're thin but have to constantly restrict to stay there, I think it's okay to stop restricting and get enough food. But you will encounter a lot of fatphobia if you do this, which sucks a lot and makes it very hard to recover. I think if you search around, you will find other people whose "health at every size" journeys might help you understand your own better. (If anyone has a story to share about their health improving after they stopped restricting, if it came with significant weight gain, you can let anon know in the comments/reblogs!)

It's really hard to recover when you have comorbid conditions! It sucks that ED treatment professionals don't understand autism better, since a lot of autistic people have eating disorders caused by a variety of factors. (Sensory processing issues around food, for example, or the interoception issues you seem to have.) My suggestion would be to find nutritious recipes that you like and prepare them in bulk. Have a family member help you portion out what you eat so that you don't end up sick or overfed, but still get "enough." Perhaps keep small snacks like granola bars or fruit on hand. You may not get hunger cues, but if you find yourself jittery, lightheaded, irritable, or low-energy at any point between meals, with no discernable reason why - it might be that you need a little snack. I'd recommend setting timers during the day to remind you to eat a meal-sized portion, and that way you know you're at least getting enough.

[fizzingwizard]

moar health/diet/weight/food-related venting

so one of the things written on my physical results was my waist circumference, and it was like, oh, your waist is 28 inches, and 30 is a danger zone. which read to ME like shit, my bmi might be fine but my waist circumference is only just below the danger zone which signals hidden dangers

well apparently 28 inches is... fine...??? I WAS a little surprised to be told it wasn't bc I've lost a couple inches since high school, and no one ever said I should be concerned when I was a teen. however i never did have much of a womanly figure, i'm basically just a rectangle, and it's hard to say for certain if that's genetics or if i could have an actual figure if i got super thin.

I am now more confused than ever. are physical results just designed to scare the fuck out of you for no reason? it's not like i go around asking people what their measurements are. and here in Japan sizes go to XXS and I sometimes don't fit in S if it's form-fitting.

obvs I don't know what I'm doing. like at all. the cholesterol reading is the one thing I'm concerned about. but a few years ago i did go to the doctor about that specifically and he was like hmm well tbh i don't want to see your physical results, if you're worried come back in a few months and we'll check again. like he was totally blase even tho my physical was shouting danger will robinson. sooooo.

it is good that i'm eating less fried food and sugary stuff, in general. and im making sure to get more fiber. so this experiment hasn't been totally worthless. i wish it were just the tiiiniest bit more straightforward. how worried should i be. is what im doing actually useful for my purpose at all. im not dieting to be one of meghan trainor's skinny bitches. it has a purpose. otherwise id eat burgers every day bahahaha

[pangchou-vent]

welp, i've relapsed

tw ahead for eating disorders (specifically restriction), fatphobia, suicidal ideation, toxic shame/self loathing

earlier this year, i went to my gp for a general physical and got referred to a weight management clinic, since my bmi is in the class 3 obesity category. i decided to agree. i'm sick of how i get treated for being fat. i'm sick of my mom badgering me to lose weight, sick of the way that i feel when i see myself, sick of the lack of clothes, sick of the way doctors treat me, sick of the snide comments. there were times before that day (and since it) where i felt outright suicidal due to my weight. i felt like a moral failure, a pathetic person who couldn't keep myself in line. while i rationally understand the underpinnings of fatphobia, and i don't logically think that being fat is a moral failure, at my lowest points it's something i like to pick on myself for.

i don't know why, going in with that attitude, i thought this time was going to be different than last time.

i've lost weight and regained some old habits. i am strict with my calorie intake. if i go above it, i feel horrible, earth-shattering shame. i cannot eat something without knowing its calorie intake. i can only eat a certain number of homecooked meals because i cannot eat it without shame if i don't know what the calories would roughly be. i will calculate that out myself. i have dreams of being on ozempic or having gastric bypass and the degree and relative ease it would be to restrict even more. when i feel hunger i feel both agony (over obsessing over what to eat) and also relief.

the only good thing i can say is that i've been keeping my calorie level reasonable. it's the lower end of what the doctor suggested. i am nowhere near my high school levels of restriction and over exercising. but i feel myself slipping into it and i'm frustrated and scared and it feels like a hell i'm never going to escape.

and tbh it doesn't help that if i tell some people about this, they'll act like it's a good thing. good thing you're losing weight and watching what you eat! who cares if you feel a constant agonizing over what you're eating! like i'm sure if i tell the doctor, as we discussed in my intake, he'd take me out of the program and refer me to a specialized therapist. but i don't want to do that. i'm scared of gaining weight. i'm scared of failing again.

[uozlulu]

It’s that time of night again. Alone with the thoughts. So many thoughts.

Still thinking about the quandary of desire. What would it feel like? What would it be like? Would it be consuming? What would it feel like? Would it be like a perseveration? Would it be less intense? Would it be like how people try to convey it in stories or would it be kind of muted? More subtle?

Would it be like being the center of attention? That seems absolutely horrible. Although I don’t mind sharing the stage with others, of doing solos as long as someone else is with me. Maybe I was just built for more than one person? Although it seems like the more people you add the more complicated something that seems complicated becomes, and then if it’s two against one that’s double the center of attention and that sounds very unappealing.

I used to feel very heart poundy around certain people and I used to blush and so forth. Sometimes I’d trip over myself and stuff. I don’t really do that anymore and haven’t for a long time. Sometimes I wonder if desire is connected to stuff like that but at the same time I’m not sure if it was a desire for those particular people or a desire to know things. I used to be very curious about kissing, if it was really going to be like stories promised or if it’d just end up feeling like it looks, like just mouths. I mean you know every builds alcohol up and it tastes like poison so....I also think a big part of it was a desire to be understood, to be loved, to be accepted for myself. Like people around me loved me but I felt very alien, very out of space, out of place, and I just wanted to feel like I was a person for once in my life, that I had some kind of intrinsic existential worth. But since then I’ve figured out that that’s a bit too out of reach and I’ve adjusted myself accordingly. I’m much more content with who I am than I used to be because of it. I wouldn’t say I feel particularly human, but I at least have healed enough to not feel like an object deserving of abuse.

But despite all this wondering and contemplation, it still feels ridiculously pointless because at the end of the day these are things I will never know most likely. I mean I’m thirty-eight and despite going on a handful of dates with a handful of boys in high school never once - not ever - has anyone ever tried to kiss me. I’ve thought about kissing some people in my life when I was younger but sometimes I wonder if it was out of desire or out of curiosity. I’m very science brained and I used to be so desperate to be loved so so so so so desperate. Honestly thank goodness I was considered very ugly or I might have gotten myself into repercussions.

Anyway, I’m still thinking about desire. I’ve started to read E rated fics more though I stick to the ones with actual plot and kind of like skim the E portions because it’s not really my monkey or circus. But I think it’s part of this desire curiosity. What draws people into such things? What draws estranged lovers together again? What might make someone who knew you when you were younger and in your prime still consider you an option even now? Even if your hands shake? Even if your memory isn’t what it used to be?

I mean like back when my BMI was 18 and I had my health relatively, everyone called me fat and ugly every day. I was fake asked out so many times I lost track of how many. One time a guy fake asked me out in math class loudly before class started and I went from 0 to LIVID in picoseconds but I didn’t say anything before I didn’t want to tell him to fuck off and get in trouble with the teacher if they were to walk in suddenly. Some other kid went, “She looks so hopeful,” and everyone.

Everyone.

Everyone laughed.

I can’t even remember how I responded. I think I got so angry there’s no way even pre-seizure return me would have remembered.

But I think that’s part of what drives this too. I’ve always been so undesireable even if I did manage to date a few boys here and there. I mean no one asked me out in university even before I got so super inflamed and stuff.

That said, I did make peace with some of this after turning thirty. I do feel more happy and light now that I’ve let go of my expectations of ever being anything other than forever alone. But I guess I can’t stop feeling curious about things. - Maybe I’ll get lucky and these thoughts will run their course sooner than later.

[swimfaye]

Patience Now for Sale

I have been observing and taking notes of late. From about the six months that Elon to when a vlogger ( a well respected ) vlogger started a melt down.

The common thread between these #CultofPersonalities is drugs. Oh, not the good stuff like cocaine or heroin but stuff like Adderall and Wegrovy diabetic medication.

First sign, is this "come clean" persona that they have to tell EVERYONE that they are taking these #prescription medications for XYZ issue. Even though they don't actually have the high BMI or the clinical therapist diagnoses to take ( except possibly in ONE case out of like 10 people ). Yet, there is the compulsion to announce that they are on this #doctorprescribed medicine (so many damn questions I have about that damn doctor)

Next, what appears to happen and trust me you if you look back at just a few basic time frames you see the evidence. Every time the person speaks they mention the drug and the effects on their #betterlife or to say how much better they are now they are taking #medication for conditions that they had.

What I am calling stage two of #takingsaidmedication is kinda a switch of personality. This is actually found to be a clinical study in the early 80's and reconfirmed in aughts as people dealt with what we call anxiety. Stage Two appears benign but in reality its the equvialent of barfing everywhere. The social media posts expand, there is a literal volcano eruption of content including merchandising and "events". Its a series of hyper extension of them in your face. Whether it be #makingnewsup ( Elon is guilty of this) to #makinganewsarticle ( a certain youtube vlogger is very guilty of this ) they suddenly spend hours to days in the media cycle posting "updates" or "In Case You Didn't Know" or flat out going on a #roadshow.

The response to stage two content volcano doesn't even register. There is no feedback that isn't seen as positive reinforcement. Where cocaine makes you feel like your a deity WeGrovy makes you forget you are human and subject to outside influences. Case in Point, there is literally a rocket debris due to a failure by Space X in the ocean that is causing damage to the ocean and Elon don't care. It happened on a live stream.

Now, you think after the #contentvolcano the individual might be needing a nap....NOPE ....because the worst part of this is the medical community is talking about these drugs too and so now there is a catastrophic #SHORTAGE and that means the #CultofPersonality has to talk more about it ...if Wendy Williams show wants them they will run over and talk about a) themselves before said medication b) how they got the medication c) how much better they are now because of medication. NO ONE mentions that 1- They have to pay an enormous amounts of money for their 3 month supply 2- They are getting sponsored for said medication because they saying Their doctor or medical facility name 3-they have been on the #medication longer than actually reported.

So stage 3 - the literal hyperloop of critics to redemption to talking about how great you are. The Ozemic face is a reality that people talk about side effects AS A GOOD THING. The content volcano is on a loop you see one article then a video then its on the local news. What isn't talked about is how the pancreas, liver and even the colon are effected by these drugs including Adderall on the heart. There is a 1% chance of dying from taking these drugs. Its increasing every time you take the drug because the side effects are legit to causing cancer ...Straight up Cancer folks ...

Now, you are thinking they have only taken the drug for 3 months ...NOPE.

Most patients are on the drugs for over a year to two to five years. Because if the doctor they were getting the subscription says no or goes out of business the new doctor subscribes another three months because how else do doctors make money? Pharmaceutical industry has nothing better to do.

So, Today what am I selling patience for? The redemption the claim they were benign and unaware of the side effects ...Remember William Shatner he got a new liver not because he had been on the waiting list for years and was known to have some serious liver disease but because he paid for it. There is nearly a Million people waiting for a liver today and trust me there is going to be a reckoning because the study of use of these drugs is so small. literally one drug had not been study and tested longer than 5 months before it hit the market. The FDA is literally the Failed Department of Arseholes.

So, I am selling a bag of patience because one thing I am pretty sure I am going to outlive these people.

[islandpcosjourney]

Next stage

7th March 2023

Well, here we are, we’ve exhausted our other options and after our referral 6 months ago, we now have our first appointment date at the Assisted Conception Unit next month.

It has been a rollercoaster of emotions so far. From realising that our last cycle (before we leave it in the hands of the scientists) had failed, to feeling denial about our “need” for scientists to take over, the natural rhythm of life failing us and the possibility that this isn’t meant to be, from the perspective of continuing to seek a family through medical interventions.

It has been no secret that we were told years ago that we’d need medical intervention but I still refused to believe it. I still had hope where others may not have. I wanted and so badly did believe that it WOULD happen and that we wouldn’t need to push onto this stage. I never wanted it. Yes, I accepted the referral but didn’t quite compute what it all meant in terms of it being a deadline for us to make this decision - we now only have til we’re 40.

It’s not been easy on either of us. We’re seeking further help out-with our own capabilities because deep down, we’re just not coping. Or I think it’s just that I’ve realised how much we’ve been dealing with and “coping” in a certain way by not facing it head on. It is so much easier to not say the words when you feel rubbish and useless. I find it much easier to just cuddle up to Kevin, cry and leave it at that. Saying words out loud however, make it real and making it real helps you to heal.

But neither of us have been through this before, no matter how much I might know about the process from documentaries or dramas or talking to people, we will still be going through this together, afresh, at the same time and that partly does worry me as this isn’t a trial run, this is real and happening! Will I know how to comfort Kevin? Will he know how to comfort me? Will there be part of the process when he won’t be there to help me? Well, there must be because on average its a 6 week-long process going through an IVF round (just found that out yesterday, that’s how clueless I am!) and he’s only ever home for 5 weeks at a time. Not entirely sure why I thought it took months. Maybe because I know people can be going through it for months but that might actually be because there’s time between monitoring, drugs, scans, various appointments etc before a 6-wk cycle even begins! Then of course there’s the failed transfers, which might mean that you’re 6 weeks down the line, not pregnant but might have frozen embryos in storage so you might get to try again the next month. Now presumably, if that happens to us, Kevin wouldn’t need to be around for future transfers, as they’re frozen, already fertilised embryos, but this is me just guessing.

As far as we can understand, our first appointment has to include us both and presumably that’s because they’ll be talking us through the process and finding out more about us. I will have my AMH tested, which will test my blood for levels indicative of my age, to see about my ovarian egg reserves. Women are born with a finite number of eggs whereas men can produce new sperm every day, forevermore. I’m kind of hoping that I won’t have any problems in that department as, even though I’m 35, I haven’t had many periods before the last 2 years, I basically only had around 30 in 10 years so my ovaries haven’t been spitting out eggs like they should have, therefore I’m assuming they’re still in there 🤷🏻‍♀️ The AMH level will indicate what hormone protocol you’re put on for treatment.

I’ll also have a carbon monoxide test - me?! I’m a non-smoker but it’s been Kevin that’s cheekily been sneaking cigarettes for years, not me. He’s off them now but our documentation doesn't say anything about him being tested. It says we’ll be asked but it specifically says that I'll be tested - random. 

I’ll also be weighed - to make sure my BMI is under 30, which it is not at the moment (still carrying Christmas weight - oops!) but it will be in 5 weeks - that I am certain of!

Other than those 3 things that will be measured, we have no idea what the rest of the appointment will entail but it’s annoying that Kevin isn’t having any tests done because we postponed our first offer appointment which was this week because he isn’t around and when it said that we both had to be available, we assumed that was because we were both needed for tests. I'm told that staff shortages etc mean that they’re using our previous test results to start off and if anything else is required, we’d have to be referred somewhere else like Aberdeen for that - frustrating. Having Kevin away 5 wks at a time, I’m used to dealing with appointments on my own, relaying info to him etc but their policy must be that both parties must be present for the first consult and there was no way around that.

Then came the realisation of getting into a whole new ball-game with the local Health Board here and phoning up to arrange patient travel. I’m already down in Edinburgh anyway so it’s only Kevin that needed a flight arranged, one way but still, that process spiked a lot of anxiety in me and I could hear my voice breaking down the phone, getting emotional about silly little things! Well I say silly but when I told the lady that I was already down and staying with my mum, after that she kept referring to me as staying with my parents and after a while I felt I had to correct her as she shouldn’t have assumed that it was my “parents” when I had said “mum”. I had to say that my Dad had died. She should’ve maybe said “family” or perhaps I will in future. What was going through my head also was that I’m disappointed that we’ve had to get to this stage. It’s a realisation, an acceptance that we couldn’t manage it ourselves, even with medications and that we now have to go about it in the most clinical way possible. However, it will all be worth it for a child to enter into our lives, to bless our marriage and make us a family (although I am not saying that we’re not blessed already and that we’re not a family, but you get what I mean - bless us further and make us a family of more than 2 adults plus fur babies 😂)

I also had a horrid realisation yesterday that we wouldn’t be able to afford this financially. Yes, we’re entitled to 3 NHS funded cycles, yes we get our travel paid and (to a certain extent) accommodation when required but as a self-employed music teacher, I don’t get sick pay, I don’t get holiday pay, I don’t get maternity pay. When I don’t work, I don’t have an income. An average teaching week would cover my mortgage, another week would cover my council tax (which is 200% atm because the house isn’t fit to live in), another week would cover my car payment, another week covers the month’s electricity. There’s not much left over each month because of the rising costs facing us and when I am either forced to take a week off due to school holidays or because I need time off for something else, it has to be done with care and thought because most of the time, I might be relying on my overdraft to get me through that month. So, when hearing someone else who went through IVF tell me that they took 3 wks staying on the mainland during treatment - that freaked me out! I really can’t afford to take 3 weeks off. Is having a baby worth going bankrupt for? Worth losing my house and therefore my living? Then, if we can’t afford that, how on earth can I afford maternity leave? We have a long-term plan but it isn’t in force yet and thoughts, financially like this, always have me questioning whether or not we’re in the right position to have a family and then it dawns on me that maybe that’s why we don’t already..... that God is saving us from that stress. Perhaps.

However, Kevin insists that we’ll be fine and I prayed on it this morning. Hours later when I was getting ready to leave for work, it dawned on me that there must be advice out there for musicians going through IVF or similar and I googled it and found a charity called “Help musicians”. I just rattled off a quick email to them as I couldn’t read their FAQs well-enough on my phone and I got a response really soon after, asking me about more specifics. There might be help available! Who knew?! Praise the Lord. It’s in these moments when you cry out, you feel rock bottom and have no clue where or who to turn to for help, that prayers really can be answered. Nothing may come of it, I have no idea yet but at least I didn’t get a straight NO from them. I am being put in touch with the right people to decide what application forms are best to fill out etc but what a weight off my mind that we might possibly get some support - one less stress.

Yes it’s our choice to want a family and to want to pursue this treatment option 200 miles away but neither of us made the choice to get an infertility diagnosis. We do not have the simple choice of deciding when to be parents, in the comfort of our own home. We have to make sacrifices and this is where it begins. If we want this bad enough, we’ll be making the hardest choices we’ve ever had to make in our lives over the next weeks, months & years. This is where adult life gets really complicated and serious and scary. I’m learning to reach out to others now because we can’t do this on our own. We’re being open and honest about where we’re headed and that in itself will breed a different type of stress when we may well have several folk checking in on us, asking us how things are going, BUT to be honest, that’s parenthood starting early - the crazy life with no privacy beginning! 

The time for “surprise” pregnancy announcements is over. There’s no hiding from this process now. Once you start a cycle, you either end up pregnant weeks later or you don’t. Everyone will know that. Every time we leave the island for an appointment, I don’t want to be hiding it because there is no hiding on this island! Everyone knows your business and that’s that. I don’t want to be made to feel like I’m ashamed of what we’re doing because I’m not. Best to be open and honest and upfront, which I’ll respect myself for even more too. Several times this week I have been asked if I’m ok and I have without hesitation said NO. 

It is ok not to be ok. 

[mingus-archives]

Hey! Med student here! This is by far an abridged and incomplete explanation but my perspective is that essentially fatphobia exists around two false assumptions: a) the assumption that added weight leads to a decline in health and b) that health is an objective, known, universal ideal to strive for.

That is, it has been shown that added weight causing adverse health effects is not absolutely true and much more complicated. Studies have found (please someone add citations if you know them I just dont have them off hand) that increased weight does not always lead to health issues and if it does, the weight may not be the cause but instead the health inequities and oppression by those around fat people. Furthermore, many fat people have lower socioeconomic status and for many years research did not take this into account, making it seem like fatness alone was responsible for adverse outcomes and not poverty, food deserts, chronic stress, etc.

Onto part B, a huge problem in our world today is the idea that "healthy" is something achievable and something people should achieve. In Western Medicine, "healthy" has historically been defined as a standard of living of a white, cis, straight man. That is, a disabled person, a person with a chronic health condition, etc. are not healthy, because they don't conform to this standard. Does this mean they should want to be that way? No! And why should the standard be set arbitrarily there? Yes, evidence has shown certain blood pressures, GFRs, habits (e.g. not smoking) are correlated with reduced mortality. And it is great if you personally want to achieve those, but that might not be possible and it is okay to not do that! You are not morally obligated to be healthy, and the societal idea that everyone should be healthy is often best described as a moral panic. More than that, the previously stated definition of healthy is often achievable only by those with specific genetic predispositions and/or large amounts of wealth and time.

To illustrate, imagine if instead of a BMI under whatever, the health standard was a six pack, and everyone was expected to have a six pack. At your doctor’s office, if you didn’t have a six pack, your doctor would spend less time with you, care for you as a person less, and prescribe more medications and procedures. When you would tell them about health issues, they would blame it all on you not having a six pack. Back pain? You just need a six pack? Shortness of breath? Six pack. You would see other people without six packs with missed diagnoses or cancers caught late because of this. Nurses, other healthcare staff wouldn’t care about you, and would often make cruel comments about you not having a six pack. Your work would require everyone to do ab exercises, even though that had nothing to do with the job you were doing, and any accommodations for clothes or chairs or desks made for people without a six pack were disregarded and viewed as “supporting an unhealthy lifestyle.” When you brought it up, people would say “Well, having a six pack is shown to make you healthy, and not having a six pack is related to increased mortality and cardiovascular disease” even when that data is outdated, barely correlative, and in some cases just untrue. This is followed with the knowledge that a six pack is really really difficult to achieve and requires a lot of time, the proper genetics, and the proper arrangement of internal organs. If you have a uterus, for instance, it’s even more challenging to get a six pack simply because the organ can take up space. Feminizing hormones also add a challenge because they prioritize belly fat distribution. So yes, a six pack is a potential marker of “health,” but it’s not always achievable and frankly it’s just not that simple.

Fatphobia is a real issue, especially in healthcare. It is also heavily tied to racism and Christian fears of sloth and gluttony. I really appreciate you reaching out about this subject, and I hope this gave you a good start to understanding fatphobia and the many issues it perpetuates.

Some book recs for more info:

-Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia (https://www.amazon.com/Fearing-Black-Body-Racial-Origins/dp/1479886750/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1DITZH70OSQZE&keywords=fearing+the+black+body&qid=1676783411&sprefix=fearing+the+%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-1)

-Against Health: How Health Became the New Morality (Biopolitics, 18)     (https://www.amazon.com/Against-Health-Became-Morality-Biopolitics/dp/0814795935/ref=sr_1_1?crid=C8PP85656C6O&keywords=against+health&qid=1676783439&sprefix=against+health%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-1)

I need someone to explain fatphobia to me I'm all for body positivity and I've always been a little chunky myself but when it gets in the way of your health/quality of life how is that not a problem?

[marzipanandminutiae]

so, my retail job involves selling certain types of artisanal food. we don’t actually do any cooking or baking or food prep of any kind; we just package and sell things. think like a fancy candy store or bread store or similar

and the comment I hate the absolute most. the one that makes me want to launch myself into the sun

is, “how do you stay so thin working here?”

it generally comes from older women, which just makes me want to hug them and ask who hurt them (just kidding. as a fellow woman, I know the answer is All Of Goddamn Society). but I got it from a man the other day. and just like

1. if we go by BMI- which I know is a deeply flawed system -I have like one toe across the Overweight line (4′11″, 127 lbs/57 kg at my last doctor’s appointment). which just might mean that a lot of assumptions need to be challenged, ranging from what “thin” or “overweight” bodies look like to what “overweight” even means to, again, the validity of the BMI metric

2. holy shit, that is not okay to say to a stranger. I get that a lot of people were raised to consider calling someone thin a compliment. I grew up with some DEEPLY toxic messages about bodies, weight, food, etc. from my mother and grandmother. but it’s pretty high on the list of Unacceptable Alleged Compliments

you don’t know if someone has an eating disorder, or is recovering from one. you don’t know if they have a wasting illness. you don’t know if they have a health condition preventing them from eating whatever they sell (and if they told you that, you’d probably just say something like “oh, that’s so lucky!” knowing the crowd who usually gets into these conversations). it’s just. it’s a huge minefield to walk into, and you really really shouldn’t

plus- and I say this especially to the man who addressed me thus -YOU SHOULD NOT BE EVALUATING A RETAIL WORKER’S BODY SIZE AS THEY’RE HELPING YOU. it’s not pertinent to the interaction. and if you are, for gods’ sakes, don’t tell them! don’t make your private thoughts their problem!

just stick to the classic rule of only complimenting attributes people have control over, okay, folks? at least vis a vis strangers

[ny-3aets]

Alright, so I might lose some followers for this, but I don’t care. This is the blog where I get to be honest about my views, so I’m going to be honest about this, too:

“Fatphobia” isn’t fucking real.

Yeah, some people treat others like shit human beings because they jump to conclusions about their circumstances. I’m not denying that. It sucks. However, it doesn’t reach into the territory of some kind of epidemic of oppression because not only is being fat something objective, it’s also not something people are born with and it’s absolutely something that you can change.

”Diet culture“ is only as harmful as you allow it to be if you take everything given to you at face value and don’t do any of your own research or contact someone like a nutritionist or a personal trainer to figure out what specifications work for you. The reason there are hundreds of different diets is because there are hundreds of different people that wrote each of them, and for each of them that specific method works, and it may not work for you.

With that in mind, nothing’s gonna fucking work if you do not commit to it for months or even years. A diet isn’t something you do for a month or two like you’re an actor prepping for a movie and then you get to go back to whatever you were doing before. Maybe if you’re already at a moderate shape and it corresponds to the needs of a new sport you‘re pursuing, it might, but for overall change at a casual pace, this isn’t how it works. You pursue a diet as in, that is your diet now. That is what you eat, period.

Your unhealthy codependency on unhealthy foods because they’ve trained your brain into assuming that they are vital in bringing you comfort and joy is exactly that — unhealthy, codependent behavior. No diet is extreme for asking you to give up desserts or extremely calorie-rich foods — being able to do this means maturing enough to understand that food is just that — food. It’s an energy source, nothing more, nothing less. Whether or not you choose to still eat unhealthy food “every once in a while” is entirely your choice because it’s your body and you can choose what you do with it, but in potentially compromising a diet you‘ve selected, you have absolutely no place to say that a diet does or doesn’t work.

When you start pursuing any diet specifically in order to lose weight however, you need to be at a calorie deficit. This, once again, takes some independent research as well as arithmetic to understand how much of a calorie deficit is right for you, depending on how active your lifestyle is. This isn’t me taking the high ground and pretending to be something I’m not. This is just a fact.

Not all forms of exercise work for everyone. Either go into the gym and obsessively (although safely) try everything for a two-week period at a time, or do intense research, and, if you can afford it (and I’m positive that there are online ones that will offer their services for free or discounted prices from an in-person gym) hire a personal trainer. Hiring a trainer doesn’t negate your research, however — question everything she says, look it up at home, see if there are opinions of other trainers online (YouTube has an entire hub of these guys).

Yes, there are cases in which people have genetic disorders which make it nearly impossible for them to lose weight. Those are A) rare and B) vary in degree of hinderance, meaning in certain circumstances there will absolutely be tons of research right at your fingertips to find a way to maneuver around it.

Yes, the BMI rating is a joke, specifically for people with extreme amounts of muscle mass (as muscle is heavier than fat), but I think you know if you look like Dwayne Johnson or you can achieve some of the same shit as a Sumo wrestler or a Siberian grandma. Either way it’s a mostly arbitrary number, although it can be a rough guide of where you “should” be.

Yes, there are people out there that are fat by societal standards but are more than capable of achieving extreme physical feats. Most of the people competing in throwing events at the Olympics or Strongman events look very different from the hypertrophied Greek statues of bikini competitions. I don’t have to tell you that this requires an extreme amount of training and dedication (and perhaps a winning ticket of the genetic lottery), but if it’s something you achieve, more power to you; I don‘t care.

I am not calling fat people lazy. Anyone can be lazy.

I am not calling fat people selfish. Anyone can be selfish.

I am not calling fat people terrible or disgusting or worthless or whatever the fuck else you want to extract from this because I decided to look you in the eye and tell you that your excuses suck.

Whether or not you’re fat doesn’t determine your worth as a human being, however, being fat, 9/10 times is something you can control and something you can work with. Finding a way to lose weight safely and effectively is something that takes years and years of trial and error and the negative psychological effects of what you see online are no one’s problem except your own — take everything with a grain of salt and do your own research instead of pretending that the world is out to get you. If you feel that people’s posts promoting something that works for them just fine is somehow a personal attack on you, I think it’s time to evaluate your relationship with the online media sphere at large, methinks.

I’m not a personal trainer, I’m not a nutritionist, I’m not going to tell you what to do, I’m not gonna look up and evaluate every single diet plan and workout regimen known to man — I already did it for myself, I spent the sweat and tears on it for the last five years of my life, and I know what works for me. I cannot tell you what is going to work for you and I cannot tell you that losing weight is something you must do but I can tell you that there is something that will work for you, if you want to lose weight. You just aren’t looking hard enough.

While at the end of the day, I don’t care what people do because it’s not my place to control their actions or their words, but I do care when people fucking lie. When they regurgitate the same “diets don’t work!” over every insinuation that maybe there needs to be some kind of change in their food intake, when they so boldly say that they can’t lose weight, that they’ve tried everything, that diet culture is “toxic” because they can’t take the time to impersonally and carefully evaluate whatever is being peddled to them, or when I want a friend or a significant other to support me on a lifestyle that I’m pursuing and they throw me the: “Oh, but you’re so beautiful regardless!” because that shit doesn’t fuck help me, that shit doesn’t make me feel any better and is a worthless statement when I want to approach something objectively and it’s clear that there are set goals with visible obstacles to overcome.

Yes, yes you can lose weight and the people telling you that you can do not wish any kind of harm upon you.

Yeah, we‘re all gonna die in the end anyway, but I don’t want to get there absolutely winded after every staircase I’ve climbed.

[ssarawrr]

Trigger warning

This isn’t poetry, but this is my story. And what better time to share it than national eating disorder awareness month. I have not been very vocal about this via social media because I prefer to think of this part of my past as behind me. However, it will always be a part of me.

I grew up on the typical American diet of the occasional McDonald’s and frequent Disney movies. I remember the impossibly slim cartoonish figures of Ariel and Cinderella being seared into my child mind. While we’re at it, why not bring awareness to verbal abuse, which is something else I was raised on. From a verb young age, I was taught that my body was wrong. A certain family member refused to ever hug or kiss me, because he was “afraid” of getting accused of sexually abusing me. That family member also said very horrible and cruel things to me growing up. I was called many bad names, viciously yelled at, and emotionally neglected and degraded. And so as a result, my self-esteem was quite shitty from the very beginning.

By the time I was in 5th grade, I was an early bloomer. I had bigger boobs and put on more weight than my female peers. I remember feeling ugly and desperate to look skinnier. I even started dieting. By the time I was in 7th grade, I started wearing thongs and essentially became one of the “mean girls.” I wanted to fit in and for boys to like me. On a school trip in Yosemite, some girls and I were accused of having boys in our cabin and were punished by being separated. This never happened, but this rumor was easy for them to believe because of our “reputations.” I was even called “promiscuous” by one of the chaperones, even though I was a virgin, and far from anything that word insinuates.

That next year, I consciously decided that I would disappear. I wouldn’t give anyone anything to say about me anymore. I wore baggy band T’s and began to emotionally eat. I was depressed. I felt that I was not good at anything. That year, I gained 20 pounds.

When I went in for a physical, the Dr showed me a BMI chart. She pointed to it and said, “this is overweight, and you are right on the boarder.”

I had never in my life been told I was “overweight” before. Before puberty, I was told I was “too skinny.”

Then and there, I decided I would lose weight, and do whatever it takes. So I began to seriously diet.

At first I eliminated all the junk food I was consuming. But one day, I accidentally didn’t eat all day. I stepped on the scale to see that I had lost a whole pound. This inspired me to continue to use this strategy. And so I began to fast all day, only eating a light meal at night. This progressed to more and more restricting, which turned into anorexia/orthorexia.

By the time I was in highschool, I had lost a significant amount of weight. People complimented me, and it made me feel good on the surface. But deep down, I was still the same depressed girl with low self-esteem who wanted nothing more than to disappear.

I always kept my head down, worked hard, and continue to restrict what I ate. I couldn’t enjoy anything. Social gatherings were nightmares. They always ended in me binge eating and then promptly restricting and running 6 miles or sweating on the elliptical for 2 hours the next day.

I lost my period, always felt cold, and became obsessive with losing more and more weight, as well as food in general. I knew I had a problem, but I was so deep into my disorder, then instead of getting better, I progressed into bulimia.

This is the worst and hardest part for me to accept and talk about. Binge eating is shameful. I would do it alone, even in a bathroom. Anywhere I could get my fix, without anyone there to stop me or see me. It started with exercise bulimia, as I thought I could never in a million years muster the courage to stick my finger down my throat and forcibly upchuck bile laden baked goods and ice cream, but eating disorders are way more powerful than you could ever imagine.

This is when I started having suicidal thoughts. I remember them getting really bad in college. I had also started self-harming early on, and that was progressing too. My jaw became swollen and I constantly felt fatigued, and my throat always burned. I decided to move back home to focus on getting better. I wanted my life back. I finally wanted to get better.

Therapy, eating-disorder self-help books, and psychedelics helped me recover. I am so grateful for the better place I am in now. For the first time in my life, as a 27 year old woman, I am not only comfortable in my own skin, but I am also in love with it. Please know that recovery is possible, and you don��t have to hurt yourself to appease others and look a certain way. If you’re in pain and unhappy, then it isn’t worth it. Trust me.

And remember: a little cake ain’t never hurt nobody ;)

[sapphirewolf1122]

Coming in, Fat

Summary: All you want to do is use your quirk to help others. But sometimes, you go a little overboard.

Word Count: 1, 477

A/N: Sorry, got distracted by another project and didn’t finish my research in time to post this yesterday! But on the bright side, put together a wedding compilation video that I meant to do like three months ago! Anywho, this is just a scene that came from a convo I had with my sister about someone who had a quirk that let them manipulate their fat all around their body and, potentially, others. Which led to the idea of her swatting Fat Gum clear across a room...soooo, here ya ago. My sister may post a romantic version of this but I don’t wanna tag her and call her out like that. Thanks for reading and hope you like it!

“One bowl of miso ramen, topped with ajitama and negi, please. Oh, and ten onigiri, all tuna.”

The vendor eyed you doubtfully; you had distributed your fat pretty evenly today so you appeared to have a fairly thin figure. “Where you planning on putting all that food?”

“Food powers my quirk, so I have a heartier appetite than you might think,” you said with a smirk.

Seemingly satisfied with that answer, the vendor got to preparing your order. Soon, you were walking down the street, munching on one of your rice bowls. You had eaten the ramen by the vending cart before starting your patrol.

You hummed contentedly as you reached into your food bag for another rice bowl, though you still kept a sharp eye on the surrounding streets. There had been a rise in crime in this district recently so you’d decided to check it out. The one that was part of your usual patrol route had been very quiet lately, so you’d grown bored with it. Though your chest swelled with pride at the thought that you’d been part of the reason it had quieted down so much.

Your friends over at Naruhata had advised against patrolling out of your own town, saying that it led to a greater chance of getting caught red-handed. But you had brushed off their concerns. Disguising yourself was a specialty of yours after all.

Reaching into the bag again, your mind wandered back to when you were still in school. Many had been quite envious of your quirk, especially the girls. But no one had ever considered it worthy of hero work. Not even your parents, who had refused to let you even attend the hero course entrance exam at your local high school. To them, your quirk was all about looks. 

Which reminded you. Stopping to look at yourself in a shop window, you squinted, thinking about what to do with your features today. You didn’t want to be too recognizable after all. Hm…you’d go more masculine today. Your profile had you pegged as female, so assuming a male look would really throw them off.

Concentrating, you broaden your shoulders and maneuver some fat into your face so that your features were a bit more rugged. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much you could do about your height.  But you found that it often worked to your advantage anyway. Thugs didn’t normally expect those who were smaller than them to beat them up so much. In fact, it sometimes became a bit of an issue…

You’re too hot-headed and brash with your quirk. And that’s what’s gonna get you in a load of trouble one day.

Tch. Hot-headed...it’s not hot-headed if they had it coming. They're the ones who decided to pick a fight. You were completely reasonable. Satisfied with your disguise, you pulled up your hood and turned to continue your patrol.

Only to be knocked back as a body slammed into you, causing you to drop your food as you landed on your behind. Dumbfounded, you stared at the scattered contents. None of the remaining rice balls were salvageable. You heard the person mumble something but that didn’t stop your vision from filling with red. What kind of monster exhibited such a nonchalant and wasteful attitude towards food?

Whipping around to the rapidly retreating figure, you watched as they turned down a side street. As they did, you thought you saw the glint of a weapon in their hand. Your eyes widened. Could this person be a villain in more ways than one?

Rushing to your feet, you chased after them, rounding the corner to the side street to find that it was relatively deserted. The villain was a ways ahead; you wouldn’t be able to catch up by running after them. Good, you hated running. 

Leaping into the air, you rapidly directed the majority of your fat into your legs, concentrating them around certain muscles for the most effective energy absorption. As you landed, you used the accumulated fat to send you springing forward again, this time higher and further than before. In fact, you may have overshot it a bit…

Suddenly, a yellow mass appeared in front of you with a yell. Unable to stop your fall at this point, you crashed into them, fully expecting both of you to go tumbling. Except...you didn’t? You’d barely registered that you were actually sinking into them before you shot back out.

As you flew back, your mind was racing. There was only one person who could’ve done that...only one hero.

You landed hard on the pavement. It took a lot of quick quirk improvisation on your part to keep you from getting too banged up; you managed to absorb most of the energy by concentrating your fat at key impact points. Still, you were left quite stunned once your tumble session was over.

Staring up at the sky, you had pretty much forgotten about the villain as your brain tried to process who had just launched you across the street. 

Could it really be him? What district was this again? You weren’t on his patrolling grounds, were you? How could you not know if it were his patrolling grounds? No, there was no way. You would totally know if you had a chance of running into Fa—

“Hiya.” A big, grinning face in a yellow hood appeared above you.

“Gah, Fat Gum!” You practically jumped out of your skin as you rolled upright.

“Sure am. You all right there? Seemed like a pretty nasty tumble.”

“I-I’m fine.”

The BMI Hero: Fat Gum, the pro hero whom you admire more than any other, cocked his head. “Yeah, looks like it. Got some sort of absorption quirk? What was that jump you just made? Y’know using your quirk in public is illegal right; if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were chasin’ that guy. Actaully, you seem kinda familiar…”

Fat Gum recognized you?!

Before your mind could spiral any further on what that could mean, you heard a shout behind you. Turning, you saw a red-headed boy holding onto the guy who had knocked you over.

“Hey Fat, I got ‘im! Didn’t put up much of a fight. That other hero okay? That sure was a manly jump!” He gave you a sharp-toothed grin.

“Good job, Red. Detain him til the cops can get here. And all good here; was actually just about to ask our friend some questions. For one, they ain’t no hero.”

Crap, that didn’t sound good. “I...uh…” You started to back away but froze when Fat Gum placed his hand on your shoulder.

“In fact, looks like we got ourselves the vigilante, Futoi. She’s normally pretty hard to catch since she can manipulate her looks with her quirk but it seems she’s used up her excess fat.”

At his remark, you automatically went to touch your face to find that he was right. Your disguise had melted away due to the lack of fat left in your body. You felt a spark of your anger from before come back; this is why you’d needed those rice balls!

“Now young lady, please come with me. You’re wanted for several counts of illegal quirk use.”

Shaking off his hand, you backed away with a shake of your head. “I just use my quirk to help people! To help heroes like you catch the bad guys!”

Fat Gum’s smile seemed to soften. “While that is very noble of you, without a license, that is considered the work of a vigilante.”

“It’s not my fault my quirk wasn’t deemed worthy of one,” you scowled, aware that you sounded rather bitter.

“Perhaps not, but that doesn’t negate the fact that you’ve performed illegal actions and for that—” 

Fat Gum had started to reach for you again but, panicked, you swung at him, using his own excess fat to your advantage to send him flying. He crashed into a wall, blinking at you in surprise. Both you and Red Riot stared after him in shock. You recovered your senses first though and turned to sprint away.

Holding back tears, you mentally yelled at yourself. You attacked Fat Gum! Your hero role model! You had dreamed of joining his agency if you ever managed to obtain a license. Now you had made sure that would never happen. Ugh, Koichi would never let you hear the end of this.

~~~~~~~

Back in the alley, Fat Gum still lay among the rubble where he had landed, staring after you in shock. Kirishima rushed towards him, dragging the unconscious thug with him.

“Fat, you okay?! How could she send you flying like that?”

It was several moments before Fat answered. “Someone get that girl a license and sign her up for my agency immediately. Also, find me some takoyaki, will ya?”

~~~~~~~

A/N2: Yes, I know, I wasn’t very original with the vigilante name...but I like names to have meaning and I feel like Reader wouldn’t have really put much thought into it.

I tried to incorporate a few references to the Vigilante series; that was actually what my extra research was, haha. Wasn’t til after I wrote up the first draft of this that I remembered that Fat Gum literally featured in the series about vigilantes. Obviously, this is set a lot further down the timeline than where the current volumes are at.

Finally, if anyone has any name suggestions for the fic, I’m open to recommendations. Thank you again for reading!

[oladele22]

 What is the best weight loss diet

In my previous article, we discussed "what everyone should know about weight loss", now we would be discussing the best weight loss diet.

After spending almost a year at home, relaxing and watching Netflix due to the circumstances the pandemic placed us in, so many people are looking forward to bouncing back to their usual daily routine, getting active, and burning all those extra fats gotten during the break (laughs)

Amanda Beaver a dietician of Houston Methodist wellness services said: "Eating a nutrient-rich diet can make us feel better and more energized and it let us know we are taking steps towards a healthier life".

Based on research I would be listing quite a several diets that help with weight loss. Like I always say losing weight doesn't have a cemented out particular plan that works, different things work for different people, so just find out what works for you.

1) Vegan Diet: Vegan diet is a diet based exclusively on plants foods, it excludes all forms of animal exploitation and with the era of plant-based meat, going vegan is easier now than ever

A vegan diet helps to lose weight, if you eat high-quality vegan food, like leafy greens and plant-based proteins you can lose more weight than those who eat animal products.

A 2020 Australian study concluded that vegans are more likely to stick with the diet over the long run because they were motivated not only by the desire to lose weight but by ethical and moral beliefs.

2) Mediterranean Diet:

Mediterranean diet consists of vegetables, fruits, herbs, nuts, beans, and whole grains. Its meals are built around these plant-based foods. Moderate amounts of dairy and poultry products are present and red meat is only eaten occasionally.

Though this diet's primary appeal is in its numerous health benefits, it can lower your risk of chronic disease. It also leads to weight loss if you limit your calorie intake. The diet is easy to maintain because the meals are delicious.

3) WW (weight watchers):

This is one of the most popular weight loss programs worldwide. While it doesn't restrict any food groups, people on the WW plan must eat within their set points to reach their ideal weight.

WW is a plant-based system that assigns different foods and beverages a value, depending on their calories, fat, and fiber content. To reach your desired weight you must stay within your daily point allowance

Many research shows that the WW program is really helpful when one wants to lose weight. People who follow WW programs are more successful at maintaining weight loss after several years, compared with those who follow other diets.

4) Intermittent Fasting:

Intermittent fasting is a pattern of eating that involves regular short term fast and consuming meal within a short time.

Various forms exist including the 16/8 method which involves limiting your calorie intake to 8 hours per day and the 5:2 method which restricts your daily calorie intake to 500-600 calories twice per week.

In research, intermittent fasting was shown to cause 3-8% weight loss over 3-24 weeks, which is a significantly greater percentage than other methods. It also showed that intermittent fasting can increase fat burning while preserving muscle mass.

Intermittent fasting also helps with anti-aging effects, increases insulin sensitivity, improved brain health, reduced inflammation, and many other benefits.

5) the Flexitarian diet:

Dawn Jackson Blatner R.D nutritionist and author of the Flexitarian diet explained that a flexitarian diet is a pro plant diet, but it gives you the flexibility to have a hot dog at a ballpark or to eat some turkey at thanksgiving there are no strict calorie limitations.

By filling your plate with more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and plant proteins one can lose weight and improve your health.

A recent review found that people who followed a flexitarian diet had lower BMIs and lower rates of metabolic syndrome than people who regularly ate meat.

6) Plant-based diets:

In plant-based diet vegetarianism and veganism are the most popular versions, which restricts animal products for health, ethical, moral, and environmental reasons.

There are many types of vegetarianism but most involve eliminating all meat, poultry, and fish.

A vegan diet takes it a step further by restricting all animal products as well as animal-derived products.

Many of the restricted food groups are high in calories so limiting them may aid in weight loss. Research shows that a plant-based diet is effective for weight loss. They tend to be rich in fiber which can help you stay fuller for longer and low in high-calorie fat.

It also helps in reducing the risk of chronic conditions like heart disease, certain cancers, and diabetes.

Many diets can help you lose weight. While all of the above diets are effective for weight loss, the diet you choose should depend on your lifestyle and food preferences. This ensures that you are more likely to stick to it in the long term.