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weight-loss-ok · 1 year ago

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How Much Water Should You Drink? Hydration Matters

Greetings to all! Today, we’ll address the question of water consumption,- How much water should we drink? Are there any myths or specific considerations? Let’s dive in. Water plays a very important role in our metabolism, you know that the human body is about 60-80% water, anyway, water, it’s very important. Therefore, the question arises- How much water should we drink?

Drink as Much as You Want

The answer is quite simple- drink as much as you want. This is the minimum requirement—drink as much as you desire. Athletes may engage in dehydration practices before competitions or weigh-ins, although it’s important to note that such practices are highly detrimental to health. However, in everyday life, it is crucial to never let thirst prevail.

Hydrate to Your Heart’s Content

If your body needs three liters of water, drink three or even four liters. No one will tell you otherwise. Now, let’s discuss the upper limits. In my opinion, the average person weighing about 90 kilograms should consume at least two liters of water a day, preferably three or three and a half liters. However, if you’ve recently embarked on a new lifestyle, adopted intermittent fasting, or started exercising, the situation changes.

Water Consumption for Weight Loss and Exercise

Allow me to explain. When you start a new process in your body, such as starting a weight-loss journey or going to the gym, you start a new metabolic process. During this process, your body sheds its own tissues, which inevitably break down. The breakdown of tissues is somewhat associated with the detoxification of the body, as remnants are eliminated through natural means, including the filtration system of the kidneys and, to an extent, the stool. The more efficiently these waste products are eliminated, the better it is for your body.

Consequently, in the case of people starting a new life, seeking to lose weight, or exercising, I believe it is necessary to consume at least two liters of water. There is no strict upper limit—it is determined by your own sense of thirst.

Water Consumption with Meals

Now, let’s address the topic of when and what to drink with meals—whether to drink water while eating or immediately before or after meals. Here, the limitation pertains to temperature. I do not recommend drinking cold water, chilled water, or ice water within 15 minutes or 30-40 minutes of eating. Room temperature or warm water is perfectly fine. This is recommended in order to create optimal conditions for digestion and absorption of nutrients.

Cold Drinks and Other Fluids

Throughout the rest of the day, you can confidently consume chilled or cool liquids, if you prefer, straight from the refrigerator. However, these drinks must be pure water it is important to note. Juices, coffee, tea, carbonated drinks, and so on do not count as water consumption. If you like, for example, coffee or green tea and are not yet ready to give them up (remember that everything should be done gradually), keep in mind that these substances can act as natural diuretics.

In the case of coffee, some manufacturers even add substances that go beyond natural diuretics, essentially making it a diuretic in itself—a substance that promotes urine production. Therefore, if you consume coffee or tea, it leads to additional dehydration, implying that you should drink even more water.

Special Considerations for Training

When it comes to exercise, the rules for water consumption are slightly different. During the workout, there is increased sweating due to an increase in body temperature. This additional sweating can result in additional dehydration and thickening of the blood. Therefore, if you have any conditions that are worsened by blood thickenings, such as varicose veins or certain heart diseases, it becomes even more crucial to drink water during exercise. In the past, some theories suggested avoiding water during workouts, but this approach is strongly discouraged nowadays.

During exercise, it is essential to drink water and not restrict yourself. Drink water, drink as much as you can comfortably consume, so to speak, and getting rid of edema afterward, if you suddenly drank plenty of water for a month, would be a breeze, just one or two days. So, if you need to get in shape, it’s a piece of cake.

To prevent blood clotting and dehydration during exercise, I recommend drinking 1-1.5 liters of water during an hour of exercise and in small sips. The intensity of your workout will also influence your water consumption. If you transition from strength training to cardio exercises after an hour, continue to drink water during the cardio session as well. There is no strict limit to the amount of water you can consume during exercise.

Conclusion

So, these are the main considerations regarding water consumption. It is interesting to note that there are so many questions surrounding this topic. However, the key is to never experience thirst and drink as much water as you comfortably can. As for the upper limit, I believe that people weighing 80 to 100 kilograms should consume at least 2.5 liters of water per day.

Regarding temperature, avoid drinking cold water from the refrigerator 15 minutes before or 40 minutes after meals. Opt for warm or slightly warmer than room temperature water. During workouts, it is extremely important to drink at least 1.5 liters of water per hour of exercise, taking small sips. If you engage in cardio exercises after an hour, continue to drink water accordingly.

Lastly, as we age, our receptors responsible for the sense of satiety, thirst, and other sensations tend to dull. Therefore, it’s sometimes better to drink water before feeling thirsty. Although this is a debatable statement, I have observed positive results in both personal and consulting experiences.

Read my articles and ask questions. See you next time!

#diet #slimmingworld #fatburn #healthyfood #healthyliving #loseweight #healthyeating #nutrition

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thee-morrigan · 2 years ago

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caught a lite sneeze

Forgot to post this here last night (i was too distracted by whatever was happening on ao3). I continue to be on my vampire bullshit <3

the wayhaven chronicles | nate/holland (f!detective) | rated g | also on ao3 Holland has a head cold; Nate learns that caffeinated water exists.

“I am not sick,” she said, but the protest fell on deaf ears. Which was offensively convenient, she groused to herself, since the ears in question were supposed to be extra good at hearing. Except, apparently, when the person to whom those ears belonged was (also apparently) no longer interested in debating this point with her.

Coward. He just didn’t want her to win the debate. Which she totally would have; though she would begrudgingly agree that he perhaps had some stronger arguments, she was nonetheless supremely confident in her ability to out-stubborn anyone.

Well. Except maybe Adam. But that was still a definite maybe.

But maybe it was for the best that they weren’t actually having this argument — even if the imagined version playing out in her mind happened to be going very favorably for her. He might have gained undeserved ground based on the series of sneezes that erupted out of her immediately following her protests about the pristine state of her health.

As it stood, Nate seemed to feel she’d made his point for him, as his only response was a single raised brow.

Holland huffed and slumped back against the wall of pillows she’d erected behind herself on the bed.

“I hope you know you’re infuriating,” she rasped, grimacing at the sandpaper scratching her throat, raw and inflamed.

“Yes, I’m the infuriating one,” he said amiably, sweeping a thumb along her cheekbone before pressing a kiss on the bridge of her nose.

“Let me make you some tea. Do you have any or should I go get some?”

“I have coffee.” She tried a whisper. It hurt more than talking at a regular volume.

Nate sighed but didn’t fight the smile tugging on his mouth. “Coffee is a diuretic, and the caffeine will only irritate your throat more by drying out your vocal cords.”

Holland attempted a scoff, an effort her inflamed throat and lungs rewarded by spasming into a coughing fit. Damn her stupid, traitorous body for consistently undermining her.

He sighed again, rubbing a hand between her shoulder blades until her cough subsided. “Why don’t I just go look for myself?”

And then he was rising from his seat on the edge of her bed, hand stretching out to smooth the covers that, as far as Holland could tell, were completely un-mussed.

“It’s not like I have any non -caffeinated tea here,” she mumbled at his retreating back, scowling at the soft laugh that floated in as he left to determine what, if anything, in her kitchen might be appropriate for a person with a head cold and not, if one were to judge based on the contents of her pantry, the drinking habits of a particularly overworked grad student. Or a person in a constant state of mania.

She gave him all of two minutes (and it was two minutes, precisely: she’d watched the seconds tick away on her bedside clock, wondering if she could literally die of boredom — surely lying around in a vegetative state was not conducive to her health) before disentangling herself from her bedclothes and padding out of her bedroom after him.

He looked entirely unsurprised as she stepped into the kitchen.

Although...something else seemed to furrow his brow as he turned to look at her, one hand resting against her refrigerator door as he pressed it shut, the other...oh.

Not surprise on his face but, rather, something that looked like a warring mix of confusion, concern, and amusement.

Amusement seemed to be winning.

“Your water is caffeinated.” Not a question, though the statement sounded nonetheless a bit strangled and uncertain.

Holland scowled again, crossing the kitchen to take the large can from him. “It’s sparkling water,” she defended, the aluminum slick and cool against her fingers as she pulled it from Nate’s grasp.

Amusement became the clear victor as he grinned down at her. “Oh, of course. Your sparkling water is caffeinated,” he said mildly.

His smile only widened as her scowl deepened. She briefly considered sticking her tongue out at him. The impulse was interrupted by another trio of sneezes, accompanied by an abrupt twist of her head to the side, one arm outstretched as she pressed her face into the crook of her elbow, against the sleeve of the gigantic flannel shirt she wore in lieu of a bathrobe over her pajamas. Nate took advantage of the interruption to reclaim the can of sparkling water from her outstretched hand, tucking it back inside her refrigerator.

She let him take the overlarge can from her, though that didn’t stop her from continuing to glower at him as she hoisted herself to perch on the countertop edge, idly bumping the heel of one foot against the cabinet door below.

“Wire basket on the top right shelf,” she mumbled, tipping her chin in the direction of the pantry door behind him. “If — and it is an if , by the way — I have any tea, it’ll be in there.”

He just kept smiling at her, though, those dark eyes warm and soft with a particular shimmer of affection as he looked at her. He was always looking at her affectionately, but sometimes he seemed to add some extra layer to it, some kind of soft-overlay glow of extra tenderness that tugged at the gentle downward slope of his eyes and smoothed the happy creasing at the corners of his mouth as his smile stretched.

All he said before turning to investigate the aforementioned pantry section, though, was “Thank you.”

For a moment, a comfortable quiet descended over her kitchen, punctuated only by the muted thud of Holland’s foot against the cabinet door and the softer scrapes of Nate shuffling through her pantry. And then—

“A- ha ,” Nate turned back towards her, a small metal canister in one hand. Apparently she did have tea after all— and non-caffeinated at that, judging by the somewhat faded “ginger mint” on the label.

Holland cocked her head and squinted. “What pocket of Narnia did you pull that out of?” Her voice cracked midway through emphasizing “that” and she grimaced, swallowing hard.

Nate’s triumphant grin at finding actual, non-caffeinated tea in her apartment faded into a look of concern. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance I could persuade you to go back to bed and rest?”

“I don’t know,” she said ( croaked ), “Is there any chance I could persuade you to stop fussing over me?”

He huffed a laugh, which meant he was at least sort-of smiling at her again as he crossed the few steps that separated them in her apartment’s tiny kitchen. He set the tea canister down next to her on the counter and smoothed her hair back from her face, letting his hand rest against the side of her neck.

“I’m always happy to let you test your powers of persuasion on me,” he teased gently, rubbing his thumb along her jaw, and she felt a starburst of warmth sparking underneath her ribs even as she rolled her eyes at him. (Even as she winced at the decidedly less pleasant starburst of pain that rolling her eyes caused.) “But I’m not ‘fussing’.”

“You are absolutely fussing,” she said, and her voice was almost gone, all cracks and rough edges and chipped gravel.

Gods, her throat ached. All of her ached, actually. If she had any sense at all, she would go back to her bed and the piles of blankets Nate had brought her when he’d arrived and found her shivering with chills despite the warmth of her apartment. Despite her hoarse protests that she was fine and definitely not febrile.

He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her temple. “You know you won’t suddenly become any less capable of taking care of yourself if you let someone else chip in from time to time, right?”

There was a touch of amusement and more than a touch of fondness in his voice, and Holland felt the curve of his smile against her skin.

“There’s a first time for everything,” she countered, but there was no fight in what remained of her voice. She wasn’t sure why she was trying to fight him on this anyway. Maybe she was just too contrary by nature.

She gave a half-sigh, half-laugh that turned into a full cough for a moment, making her twist away from him again. When she could take a mostly full breath without her chest hurting on both inhale and exhale, she turned back to Nate with a rueful demi-grin and slid off the counter.

“Okay, you win: I’m going back to bed.”

Nate’s smile brightened a bit with relief. “Thank you.”

“But only because it’s freezing in here.”

“Holland,” he called just as she reached the kitchen doorway, that melange of amusement and concern back in his voice.

She turned, brows raised in silent question. Even sick as she was — her normally bright eyes pain-dimmed and tired, her skin wan and gleaming with fever and fatigue — she still seemed half a breath from forming another disproportionately spirited and unexpectedly endearing defense of caffeinated water (of all things), or teasing him about “fussing” (which he wasn’t: he was showing an appropriate degree of concern for his very sick girlfriend).

Even sick as she was, Nate couldn’t help but let himself be pulled in by her current, inescapably towed along by whatever invisible, immutable thread had stitched itself to them both.

“Want me to bring you some cold medicine with your tea?” he asked finally.

Holland tugged the frayed sleeves of her flannel further over her fingers and wrapped her arms tightly around herself, shivering slightly. “Yes, please.”

She shuddered again but gave him a grateful smile before turning and shuffling back to her bedroom.

By the time he’d finished brewing her tea and finding where she kept medications (arbitrary cupboards and drawers, apparently), Holland had fallen asleep. She lay curled on one side, her face and the hand tucked beneath it only just visible beneath the mound of blankets she’d burrowed under.

Very gently, Nate rested the mug of tea and packet of cold medicine on her nightstand, then slowly lowered himself onto the mattress beside her. Despite his efforts, she stirred a bit as he sat, squinting one eye open and scooting towards the middle of the bed to give him more than the couple of inches he’d had before.

“I’m sorry if I woke you,” he murmured, running a hand over her hair.

Holland leaned into his touch like a cat, eyes drifting shut again as her face relaxed. “S’okay,” she mumbled, reaching a hand blindly from beneath her blankets to find his.

She squeezed his wrist — once, softly — then let go. “Thank you for looking after me.”

“I will take care of you as long as you’ll let me, schatje.”

She could hear the smile in Nate’s response, could feel it in the warm brush of his lips on her cheek. Could feel the warm stretch of another in the unbidden curve of her own lips, the counterpart and answer to his.

With a hum of a laugh, Holland murmured something that sounded like definitely fussing into the pillow and let the sweet oblivion of sleep reclaim her.

#katie writes things #twc #the wayhaven chronicles #n sewell #oc: holland townsend #ship: your entire heart

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sigmaleph · 3 years ago

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@serinemolecule asked me for hot takes on this 2006 article on Argentinian food, which I am now reorganising into a proper post for y'all's consumption. you're welcome.

First of all: the titular thesis that you should eat two steaks a day. I am forced to clarify that as 'should's go you should eat zero steaks a day, but this is ethical rather dietary advice and I don't follow it as well as I should, so, y'know. I would engage with this on the level it was stated, but I actually have no opinion on it. Moving on...

Argentine beef really is extraordinary. Almost all of this has to do with how the cows are raised. There are no factory feedlots in Argentina; the animals still eat pampas grass their whole lives, in open pasture, and not the chicken droppings and feathers mixed with corn that pass for animal feed in the United States.

This is, as it happens, completely false. There absolutely is plenty of feedlot beef being eaten in Argentina, and this was also the case back when this article was written. There's grass-fed beef too, and maybe the writer structured their life around only eating those, but the claim that there are no feedlots is just not true.

if you let them make the call, you get a two-inch thick of meat[...]The Argentine steak stands alone, towering three inches over the plate,[...]This gorgeous specimen is called a lomito; it's a standard lunchtime steak, clearly so thin that the Argentines are embarrassed to send it out into the world without a protective wrapping of ham and cheese

I have no idea what their obsession with steak thickness is; meat exists at various levels of thick and thin to suit various tastes. If you like yours thick that's fine but quit the projecting, y'know.

As you might expect, vegetarians will have a somewhat rough time here. For most people in Argentina, a vegetarian is something you eat. One's diet will accordingly lean heavily on pastas, gnocchi, salads, and (for the less squeamish ) fish. Vegans will not survive in Argentina.

This is, unfortunately, true (well, hyperbole, but). Rinna had a rather bad time trying to find vegan food when fae came over for visits. The situation is improving slowly, at least.

The homemade cookies bought in the minimarket downstairs taste of steak. [picture of alfajores de maicena[

Jesus. Find somewhere better to buy your snacks.

It should be no surprise that the land of beef also has excellent milk and butter. The milk comes in plastic bags that would give any American marketing department a heart attack. They proudly advertise "GUARANTEED 100% BRUCELLOSIS AND HOOF-AND-MOUTH FREE". One brand even brags that its bacteria count never exceeds 100,000 per mL, and prints daily statistics to prove it (only 82,000 bacteria/mL on Monday! mmm!).

Are you under the impression American milk doesn't contain bacteria and that when it spoils it's because of the molecules' sheer willpower? Or do you just object to the reminder that they exist?

This menu is delicious, but with rare exceptions it is all you are going to get. People coming for more than a few weeks are advised to bring a discreet bottle of Tabasco sauce.

Eat at better restaurants.

With any order from the master menu comes the Bread Basket, which should be treated as you would treat a basket of wax fruit, that is, as a purely decorative ornament. It is considered bad form to actually eat anything from Bread Basket

What are you talking about. Do all your dining companions just suck, eat some bread.

Dulce de leche is a culinary cry for help. It says "save us, we are baffled and alone in the kitchen, we don't know what to do for dessert and we're going to boil condensed milk and sugar together until help arrives". This cloying dessert tar is so impossibly sweet that you wish you were ten years old again, just so you could actually enjoy it. It is everywhere. There is a special dulce de leche shelf in the supermarket dairy case, and the containers go up to a liter in size. Even the churros are stuffed with it - the churros, Montresor!

It is rare that I feel insulted for the sake of my country, but this? How dare you.

Yes, of course we fill churros with dulce de leche; the real question is why anyone doesn't, short of dietary restrictions. Finding out that people do otherwise was like learning that in other countries, "sandwich" just means two slices of bread. Live a little. Eat a real godsdamned churro.

I spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out how meals work in Argentina, and they remain a mystery to me. Dinner is clear enough: people tend to go to restaurants beginning at ten o'clock (for those with small children), with the main rush around eleven, and dinner is pretty much over at one or so in the morning. And breakfast - or rather, its absence - follows as a logical consequence of eating a steak the size of a beagle at midnight. But I have yet to figure out whether people eat some kind of meal in the afternoon, and if so, when.

At... noon? Like. We eat lunch. Usually somewhere around 12:00. I am eating lunch right now, and I have done so essentially every day of my life. This is just baffling.

I've come to think the culprit in the missing Argentine lunch scene is yerba mate.

how.

Where the ignorant foreigner may see just another kind of herbal tea (yerba mate is a very unassuming shrub that grows in the northern parts of the country) the Argentine sees a taste treat of unimaginable subtlety, and a tonic for all his problems. The Wikipedia article on proper mate preparation should give you a warning of the level of obsessiveness attainable here (the Urugayans are even worse). To the virgin palate, mate tastes like green tea mixed with grass clippings. The beverage is traditionally drunk out of a little gourd, through a metal straw called a bombilla, with hot (but not boiling!!) water poured into it (without wetting the surface!! clockwise!!) from a thermos.

Yeah, this is accurate. Well, not the clockwise part, never heard anyone complain about that and I can't imagine it mattering.

What distinguishes mate from coffee and tea is the social context - two or more people share a gourd, with a designated pourer in charge of refilling it with hot water after each turn. The ritual is low-fuss but indispensible. You can buy mate gourds and thermoses in any grocery store, and get your thermos filled with hot water at any convenience store or gas station, but you will never see mate served in restaurants or sold in little disposable paper gourds, to go. it's not that people refuse to drink mate alone - anyone working a solitary shift will have a gourd in hand - but that the concept of being served mate by someone who does not share it with you seems impossible.

This is also true. Attempts have been made to sell to-go mate but it's never very popular, the social ritual is important. Also unfortunately a disease vector, I haven't had any mate in a year and a half.

Mate aficionados will tell you that mate contains a special compound, mateine, that serves as a tonic and mild stimulant, promoting alertness without making it hard to sleep, reducing fatigue and appetite, helping the digestion and serving as a mild diuretic. Scientists will tell you that mateine bears a suspicious resemblance to a chemical called caffeine. Mate aficionados will then grow indignant, explaining that mateine is really a stereoisomer (mirror image) of caffeine, with different effects, which will in turn irritate the scientists, who will snap that caffeine doesn't have a chiral center, so it can't have a distinguishable mirror image, and why don't the mate aficionados just put a sock in it.

The first part of this is true; some people definitely think "mateine" is different from caffeine and it absolutely isn't. Never heard the stereoisomer claim before but googling it does confirm some people say so.

still have no idea what any of this has to do with lunch, though. I promise you nobody skips lunch because mate is just too filling.

The wine here is very good (something has to stand up to that steak), but Argentina has no liquor to call its own, relying on whiskies like Old Smuggler and the low-maintenance Don Juan cognac to carry the flag.

There's a fundamental omission from this list and it's called fernet.

Beer is ubiquitous and comes in a bewildering variety of sizes, although there is a skittishness about the full-on liter. Things level off at 970 mL. In my case, it means I end up drinking 1940 mL of beer as a kind of personal protest, and all is well with the world. To make up for the abundance of sizes, beer comes in only one variety, Quilmes, which inevitably comes served with a tripartite platter of snacks - nuts, salty cylinders, and aged potato chips.

I never had trouble buying beer by the litre, but I confess I never tried to do so in 2006 on account of being under 18 at the time.

Anyway, beer comes in a lot more varieties today, thankfully, because Quilmes sucks. I'll never be a beer person, but at least these days there's options I tolerate.

[original post]

#dreamwidth crosspost

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hecticcheer · 3 years ago

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Hyponatremia (unfinished T/M/A fic)

Fiveish months ago I tried to write a fic based on this scenario post I made. I’m super definitely never gonna finish it, and, it just kinda trails off at the end? Also it’s very rough. Features some American measurements in brackets that I’m too lazy to convert, if that gives you an idea. But I figured I’d post it anyway on one-slice-of-cake>no-cake principle.

As for the plot... uh. Jon has a headache; Martin tries to help, but makes it worse. For *checks notes* ~4200 words. If it has one saving grace, it’s that you can mmmmostly understand it without prior knowledge of T/M/A? Long as you know Martin’s living in the Archives to hide from an evil worm monster, you should be good.

As usual, Jon was the first person to join Martin down in the Archives that morning, sometime between seven and eight. And, no more unusually, Martin had twelve-plus hours of nervous energy to work off, and nobody to shed it on but his boss. “Morning. Sleep well? Tim said you still had some work to do when we left for the pub, but I didn’t see you when I got back so you can’t have made too late a night of it.” (Jon shook his head.) “Shame you couldn’t join us, by the way. Elena and Clarisse and them destroyed us on geography, and Sasha says you’re pretty good on maps and that. Maybe you could’ve saved us.”

“Doubt it,” said Jon. Martin waited for him to add more to that thought, but instead he just sort of stood there. Pinched one nostril shut and inhaled experimentally through the other. Trying to figure out which one was clogged, maybe? Tim said Jon’d said he had a headache; maybe it was a sinus thing. Not that this was exactly reliable intel. On pub-quiz Wednesday Tim always regaled him and Sasha with Jon’s latest excuses not to join them. They were always bad, but some were so bad Martin suspected they weren’t so much Jon’s lies as Tim’s lies about Jon’s lies. Probably not a great idea to mention this one, then. He’d stick to the first excuse Jon had allegedly given:

“Did you finish what you were working on?”

Jon closed his eyes, for a bit longer than the average blink, but not long enough to count as a proper wince. “Not even close.”

“Oh. What… was it?”

“Cabinet of statements from 2003. Or at least, nominally from 2003, though by my count less than a third of them actually date from that year.”

“Yikes. Need any help? Extra pair of hands, or.”

“Not right now.”

“2003,” Martin mused—“are you still looking for Mr. McKenzie’s statement?”

A short, but hearty sigh. Enunciated, practically. He didn’t open his mouth until afterward, but Martin could see his nostrils flare around it. “No. Three days ago, when I started to look through the cabinets marked 2003, I was looking for Mr. McKenzie’s statement. Now I just want to find out which statements in there I can’t send straight to the discredited section.”

Jon stood in the open doorway to his office by this point, hand on the knob as if to remind Martin of his eagerness to close it behind him. Even so Martin tried to peer past him into the office, looking for a discard pile of statements he might offer to shuttle away himself. This was pretty hard to do surreptitiously, though. He’d hoped his eyes would land at once on the tallest pile, at which time he could point to it and say, Are those the discredited ones, then? But from his vantage point all the piles on Jon’s desk seemed taller than usual.

“Right,” Martin said instead; “good luck.” He smiled weakly and returned his gaze to Jon, meaning to restore eye contact before he remembered how seldom Jon looked at people’s faces anyway. At this moment both his eyes were covered by the hand not on the doorknob. It would’ve been weird, he figured, to just duck out now while Jon couldn’t even see him, so Martin told himself to wait until he opened his eyes and only then back off.

But then Jon just stayed like that, for ages, with his fingers on one temple and his thumb on the other, blocking all possibility of sight. Eventually Martin felt like he had no choice but to say, “Are you alright?—or, I mean, how’s your head, by the way? Tim said….”

“It’s fine.”

“Ssssso it—doesn’t still hurt, then?”

“I’m fine, Martin. Thank you,” Jon said, but in one of the least thankful-sounding tones of voice he had. And then he closed the door, without even waiting for Martin to back up.

—

“Thought you might like coffee this morning instead of tea. It’s got more caffeine, and, that’s supposed to help, right? Plus I remembered what you said on your birthday about tea having tannins just like wine does. Of course, for all I know coffee might too—”

“It does.”

“Oh. Well… maybe the caffeine’ll cancel it out and you’ll break even? Or, I don’t know, maybe if you already have a headache they can’t trigger one.”

Jon’s answering Hm sounded pessimistic. Sure enough, as soon as Martin had finished his sentence he said, “I’m not that lucky.”

“Probably not,” Martin agreed with a laugh. “Still, least it’s hydration. Though caffeine’s a diuretic, so if I recall correctly you only get about half, volume-wise. That mug’s about… [twelve ounces,] I’d say? So it probably counts as about [six toward your sixty-four].”

“Yes, yes,” replied Jon, picking up his bottle of water and shaking it. When he set it down again, one look confirmed what Martin had suspected from the sound it made—it was nearly empty.

“Oh hey, look at that! Looks like you’re doing a pretty good job even without…” he trailed off, realizing too late that the most logical end to that sentence was my help, and that that was a pretty pompous way to refer to a coffee he was pretty sure Jon didn’t even want. So instead he said, “I’ll go refill that for you.” And before Jon could look up Martin scurried off to the break room with it.

The water dispenser should’ve been changed yesterday. When the water got this low it took ages to fill even a mug, much less a tall bottle like this one. It startled as a trickle, and by about halfway up the bottle slowed to a glorified drip. In his mind he pleaded with the water spout not to make so much noise; promised it he’d put in a new one as soon as he’d returned Jon’s water to him, mouthed encouragements to it. Not much farther, just to the top of the M, come on, you can do it. (The bottle was an Institute freebie, with Magnus Institute inscribed on it in black-bordered green letters. Martin had one just like it somewhere in his flat. Worm bait now, he supposed.)

By the time he brought it back Jon’s eyes were on the statement in his hands. Skimming, by the looks of it, rather than either actually reading or pretending to.

Martin endeavored to set down his refilled water audibly, but not painfully loudly. But Jon’s answering “Thank you” took him so much by surprise that at the last moment his wrist jerked and the bottle fell over.

“Ah! Sorry, sorry.” It had a lid, so, not an actual disaster? Jon did snarl at him though, or at least at the noise. His hands flew up as if to cover his ears, but he seemed to reject that idea halfway through. Just closed his fists around thin air, then leant his temple on one of them and sighed through his nose. “Sorry,” Martin said again. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

Jon’s emphatic blink seemed to stand in for a nod.

“Anyway, here’s a further [sixteen ounces] for you, looks like, or thereabouts,” ventured Martin, patting the side of the water bottle with one hand while holding it down with the other so it definitely wouldn’t topple again. “I’ll just leave you to it then.”

“Mm.”

“Good luck.”

—

After his stunt with the water bottle Martin had too much distrusted himself to risk making another big noise with the door, so he’d left it with its tongue sticking out rather than latching it. This meant he made almost no sound when he entered again. The first thing he noticed was that the water in Jon’s bottle still reached the top of the M. It still sat in the same place, too—not out of Jon’s reach but far enough away (Martin had told himself at the time) not to seem an imposition on his space. Almost definitely not where one would set it if one intended to pick it up again soon. His coffee seemed to have fared a bit better though. Half empty, one might say. Optimistically.

The second thing he noticed was Jon himself, who sat with his elbows on the desk, his chin on the heels of his palms, and his fingers arranged around his eyes like fence posts. Like a child peeking out at something they’re too scared to look at directly—except that his eyes were closed.

Martin snuck back to the other side of the door and knocked on it, gently. “Hey, uh, Jon?”

He didn’t look up, and opened his eyes for only a second before shutting them again. But he did drop his hands, threaded his fingers together and set them on the table, and bit his lip. “What, Martin.”

“Er—well, I know you said you’d given up looking for Marcus McKenzie’s statement, but I just realized I never asked if you’d thought to look in the discredited section. I mean, from what he said on the phone it didn’t sound like he took his dad’s statement all that seriously, so, maybe Gertrude put it in there, as, like, corroborating evidence that it wasn’t paranormal, and McKenzie senior’s statement just got misfiled?”

“Martin, I invented the discredited section.”

“Oh.”

“Anything else you wanted to say?”

“Oh, uh, nothing important. Just wondered if you’d like me to take that mug away.”

Instead of responding verbally, Jon picked up the mug and made what seemed a valiant effort to drink a little more of the coffee inside it. From what Martin could tell, he barely managed not to grimace in disgust.

“Do you like coffee? I’m not a big fan of it either, to be honest. Oh, well. If you can’t force that down you’ve still got plenty of water there, I see. Besides, it’ll wash out the taste.” (With an actual heh heh, which came out more like a small dog panting than like human laughter.)

Dramatic, snarly sigh from Jon. “Think I’ll pass. It seems to make it worse, if anything.”

“Oh. Sorry about that; must be those pesky tannins. I’ll just take your cup now then.”

But Jon only tightened his grip on it. “Water, I meant. The coffee’s fine. Not exactly my favorite beverage in the world, but, you were right. It’s a good idea.”

“Oh. Thanks, I’m glad you.” Martin smiled, then frowned. “Wait, water makes it worse?”

“Seems to.”

“Really? Are you sure it wasn’t just—too cold, or something.”

His laugh sounded bitter, hollow—theatrically so, in fact. A perfect Ha ha ha, except he didn’t say those words, didn’t enunciate them like Sasha sometimes did when Tim made a bad joke. He just made the exact sounds they were invented to transcribe. “No, Martin. I haven’t just been giving myself a brain freeze every time I.”

“…Right, of course not. Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” For a few silent seconds Martin picked at a notch in his thumbnail, carved there earlier this morning by a stubborn paperclip. Part of him wanted to tear the nail off and have done, but he knew it would bleed if he did. Nothing to clip it with in the Archives, obviously. “Are you sure you won’t try again? This water’s quite tepid, actually, since I got it literally from the bottom of the barrel—”

“Martin—”

“Sorry, sorry. Just thought it was worth—”

“Don’t you have something better to do.”

“Er… no, actually. Pretty much finished with everything, at the momen…t. Though if you’d like to give me another assignment I’d be happy to—yeah. Do that, for you. Or I mean, for the sake of the Archives; I don’t mean it’d just be, like, busy work. Not accusing you of that or anything.”

“Are you comfortable leaving the Archives?”

For half a second Martin heard this as a hint—an offer? a threat?—that Jon meant to have him transferred to another department. Then he wondered if Jon was hinting it was time Martin found somewhere else to live. “What, like, permanently?”

“No—just as long as it takes to track down and interview Georgie Barker about her role in the statement Ms. King gave us.”

“Oh. Yeah, I think so, uh. Thank you for asking? I mean, Prentiss said she was done with me, right. At least, me personally. And she already knows I’m here, so it’s not like.”

Jon replied shortly, “Yes.”

“I’d like to listen to Ms. King’s statement first, though, if that’s alright. What’d you say it was about? The Cambridge Military Hospital?”

Another short, emphatic, nose-directed sigh. Couldn’t be too stuffed-up then, Martin guessed. “Technically, yes, though Ms. King insists the building itself had nothing to do with it.”

“Huh. What was it about, then?”

“She alleges that a woman she hired to help film one of her ghost stories peeled the skin off her arm.”

“Oh my god! I mean, did you—was she okay? Did she show you her arm? Did it seem to have—you know—skin?”

“Her own arm, not Ms. King’s.”

“Oh.” Martin sighed for himself now, though with relief rather than exasperation. Managed a tiny laugh, as well. “Okay, well, that’s. Creepy as hell, but, not nearly as bad as.”

“Mm. Nor nearly as verifiable as your version.”

“T…rue, no, I guess not. Anyway do you have the tape? I’d like to listen myself, if that’s.”

Jon pointed to a small stack of tapes on the bookshelf to Martin’s right. Sure enough, the top one had M. King, 0161704 sharpied across the label on its side. “Ah! Found it. Thanks.” He had a tape player squirreled away already; on another day he might’ve pretended otherwise, but for the moment he was too relieved not to have to make a pest of himself by asking to borrow one to worry whether the absence of that request might make Jon suspicious.

Besides, Jon seemed pretty… absorbed in himself, this morning. By the time Martin turned to face him again one of Jon’s hands had crept back up to his face, where its fingers now seemed to comb the hairs of his left eyebrow. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Jon do that before, plus doubted the hairs in question needed his help to lie flat. Jon’s eyebrows had always struck him as quite neat. Plus Martin had tried that with his own eyebrows plenty of times before the mirror in his youth, and knew it didn’t work very well even if you licked your finger—which Martin assumed Jon hadn’t. So he figured he should file this behavior in the same box as the earlier fist-clenching-to-avoid-covering-ears thing. As, like, headache-soothing for people who don’t want to look weak. Or unprofessional, or something to that effect.

This gave him a sense of foreboding when he thought too hard about it. But Martin needed so badly to keep this job, now that his flat wasn’t safe anymore. It seemed wiser not to look directly at abstract threats like that. If he could make Jon feel better then it wouldn’t matter, right? Or at least could be put off til next time.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Don’t recall saying I was,” Jon muttered.

Martin winced. He had said he was alright—Martin was certain. When he’d first come in that morning, he’d said he was fine when Martin asked, and then he’d closed the door. Didn’t seem worth correcting him over it, though. So Martin just said, “Try to drink something while I’m gone, yeah? Kool-Aid, for all I care, just. You really don’t look like you’re feeling all that well. And any kind of drink other than alcohol should—oh.”

He looked up, hearing Jon swallow what sounded like a lot more than the tiny sip of coffee he’d managed before.

“Well. Great. Thank you for obliging me.”

Jon continued to gulp down water, while staring right at Martin. He paused in swallowing to breathe, but even then did not remove the mouth of the bottle from his own mouth. When he tried to resume drinking it made him cough instead, and even then he didn’t set it down.

“O-okay, well, I’m sure that’s plenty, don’t—?” Hurt yourself, Martin wanted to say, but feared that would sound patronizing. The bottle was more than half empty now. Jon paused for air again. “For god’s sake, Jon, stop—that looks like it hurts—you don’t have to—?”

At last he slammed the empty bottle on his desk—more loudly than could possibly be comfortable for a man with a headache. Leant his elbow on the table, and between pants huffed a laugh and said, “Care to refill it for me?”

On a sort of autopilot Martin chirped, “Uh—sure! No problem I’ll just,” and rushed off with it to the break room. This refill took much less time, since he’d remembered to change out the thingy. But it still took long enough that by the time he got back he worried, “You’re not going to chug this one too, are you?”

“No,” said Jon, eyes and hands both busy now with a statement hitherto hidden by his elbow. He did not reach out a hand to take the bottle from Martin.

“Okay, I’ll just. Leave this here then. See you after the, uh. Yeah.”

—

And lo, it was as he had feared. Chugging [sixteen ounces] of water did indeed make his headache worse. By ten it seemed to count turning the page of a statement as an exertion worth pounding over. True, by lunch time it seemed to have backed off a bit—until he sat back down at his desk with his fork and plate. On his way to the microwave he’d thought he must be on the mend: his head throbbed a little harder than when he’d been seated, but not so much he’d have noticed the difference had he not set out to pay attention to it. Some food, maybe an ibuprofen or two and he’d be fixed, he’d told himself.

Once he got to the break room, though, he noticed something else odd. His limbs were weak. His knees seemed made of jelly, and wobbled beneath him every time he shifted his weight; his arms were steady enough, but when he set down the pizza box on the counter after retrieving it from the fridge he felt a surge of relief, which he hardly understood until he’d transferred a slice from the no-onion half onto a plate and picked up the latter to put it in the microwave. Even these tiny movements made his arms, neck and chest ache like they do when you hold your breath too long. He leant his elbows against the counter and gulped down air until his mouth felt so dry he couldn’t bear to keep it open. Wondered if he should sit down; he felt a bit dizzy. But he had less than 30 seconds left to wait for the microwave, which he figured couldn’t hurt him.

It didn’t, but the walk back to his office did a bit. Moving his legs’ sluggish muscles made his whole body ache—again like it does when you run too long and have to stop for breath. He figured it must be in a similar spirit that his head waited til he’d sat down to unleash its onslaught. Before leaving his desk he’d grown used to thinking of his heart beat’s faint buzzy shocks like the second hand on a clock, criticizing him under its breath from where it watched behind his eyes. This was… a great deal worse than that. He tried to time the beats against the ticking of his wrist watch, but couldn’t seem to focus on that and breathe at the same time. They were fast, though, at least at first. His heart rate did seem to calm down fairly quickly, but he could swear it never got all the way back down to its earlier rate—at least not before his attention shifted from the speed to just. How much it hurt.

Was that what made his slice of pizza so tasteless? When he cut his first bite, on its way to his mouth he thought he caught a whiff of the red onions with which its tip must have shared space, and only his horror of Tim asking What was wrong with that part, then? when he brought the otherwise-empty plate back to the sink stopped him from scraping that bite off his fork and trying again higher up the slice. But when he finally forced himself to eat it? Nothing. No onion taste, thank god, but everything else too seemed… muted. Hardly worth how the exertion of chewing made his head hammer after each swallow. Jon knew the taste of food was hardly the point of eating it, but? In the absence of everything he normally liked about cheese and meat and bread and vegetables, the fact the cheese squelched in his mouth made him wish he’d never left his bed. The way leaves of soggy spinach flapped over the sides of even his neatly-cut rectangles. His stomach tightened in revulsion, so that in his throat he could feel each swallowed lump shifting from foot to foot, waiting to be let in. Not to mention how the effort of cutting it shook the whole damn table.

He told himself he could skip the crust. If Tim asked about it, Jon’d just tell him it’d gone stale. Just get through the… other part, the crumb, the filling. Between throbs the ache in his tired jaw merged with the one behind his eyes. Why didn’t it always hurt to chew? Did the pleasure of tasting food give you enough endorphins to cancel it out? Would everyone have this problem all the time if we had to live on, say, dry toast?

Right, okay, close enough. Ibuprofen now. No, you idiot—other drawer. In the fantasy versions he’d rehearsed of this moment he clapped four of them from his palm into his mouth at once, and swallowed them dry. But his blister pack turned out to have only three left. Which was fine! Just fine. Better, probably, after so little lunch.

Also, dry-swallowing was kind of a misnomer? He’d never really thought about it before, but. Turned out it would only work if your so-called “dry” mouth had spit in it. As it was the pills stuck to his tongue, leaving streaks of spicy burnt-orange when he tried to claw them back toward his throat with his teeth. When they got far back enough on his tongue he had to concentrate not to gag, and they still stuck—even when he turned his nose to face the ceiling and thumped on his chin with his hand (which, ouch)—at that point he gave up and unscrewed his water. Allowed as little of it in his mouth as would let him swallow these damn things, and wash their stains off his tongue. And it still made his head throb harder.

Jon imagined shooting whoever next told him to stay hydrated. He derived little joy from the fantasy, though; couldn’t not think of the loud, sharp noise it would make.

Returning the plate could wait, he decided; not like it would attract worms in the thirty minutes it’d take for the pills to kick in. Meanwhile he’d just… keep sorting. He took a statement off the top of the pile in front of him and blinked at it over and over, until his vision resolved into a shape he told himself hurt marginally less than the others. 9720406, Nathaniel Thorp. Christ, 1972? “Misfiled” was practically an understatement for that one. And here he’d thought Gertrude had kept that part of the century in relative good order. Still, he stuck it on the all other years pile and reached for another. 0130111, David Laylow. Nope—still not 2003. 0002610, Jennifer Wong. 0910203, Lisa Jones. 0081711, Donald Gately. 0100912, Lawrence Mortimer. 0152101, Uzma Rashid. Ha!—0030707, Seymour… Backsides. Wait a minute. Hadn’t he seen a prank statement with that name before lunch? He grabbed a stack off the 2003 pile and found… Rashid, Mortimer, Gately. Had he switched the—? Look in the unsorted pile again, he told himself. Under where he’d found Mr. Backsides’ tale he uncovered statements 0031212, 0032504, 0031809, and so on. Great. After Seymour he must’ve got mixed up. There was no more unsorted pile—not on his desk, anyway. He’d have to pull some more out of the… open filing cabinet which stood across the room with its tongue stuck out at him. Yeah, well, that could wait too. For now he’d just. Check his email.

#a shifty tract #to be clear hyponatremia is uh. too little sodium in blood. it is the 'eat more salt' ailment #it's very common w/ dehydration so any diuretic (i.e. med that makes you pee more) can cause it?#my plan here was to have martin complain to tim and sasha that he Broke Jon and when he mentions jon said water made it worse ('god why #('didn't i just believe him?') tim as the only Sports Guy in the archives recognizes ah-ha! electrolytes!#and either get him himself or tell martin to get him some trail mix and sports drink #and have jon drag his feet since every other suggestion his coworkers have given him over the last few days of headache &c. has been Garbage #but eventually cave out of pure frustration--enjoy the taste of salty raisin and stale pretzel so much he grins til his face hurts--#and figure out it must be 'cause he switched adhd meds recently #(...tho apparently it's rare for them to have this effect BUT THEY CAN! i have two data points)#nonsearchable tma tag

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everythingtried · 4 years ago

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I want to share a few, hopefully useful, things I learned while having an eating disorder or during recovery. I do not promote eating disorders, I just want to help you guys to stay safe.

Feel free to add more! <3

- If you haven’t pooped for days because of restriction and you have a ‚bigger’ meal what makes you feel like you have to fart -trust me, it’s not a fart.

- Always have a little snack in your purse. It doesn’t matter if it’s a granola bar or glucose tablets, it will quickly help you if you’re starting to feel dizzy. If you don’t want to do it for your own health, think about others. Imagine driving. You will put everyone else in danger, it’s not only about yourself. And if you have a hard time eating, try some sugary liquids. I used to fill Coke (not the diet one!) in empty shot-sized containers.

- Use the medical ID on your phone. Most people don’t do it, but imagine passing out in public and nobody knows why. If you fill out this form with your medications / illnesses / conditions, the paramedics are more likely to know how to treat you. It only takes 2 minutes and it can literally save your life.

- Since most of the girls already have an elastic around their wrist, use it properly. Yes it’s meant for your hair, but if there is a unpredictable situation that triggers you or stresses you out, try to snatch it against your wrist. It will change your focus. Tip: use one that’s not too tight and not to hard to prevent hurting yourself.

- Take your vitamins! I know everyone is telling you that, but having an eating disorder is already enough to handle. By taking your vitamins you’re less likely to get physically sick as well. Don’t worry about the calories, it’s super low.

- Coffee does not count as a meal OR as a hydrating drink. Caffeine counts as a diuretic. That means it causes your body to produce more urine than usual. It increases the blood flow to your kidneys, which spurs them to release more water through urine. It works the same for tea that contains caffeine. So please make sure that you always drink a cup of water with your coffee or tea.

- Since it’s common for people with eating disorders to wear trackers / smart watches, set up the SOS-function (if its available). With a certain shortcut key or a word your watch is able to send your current location to a chosen person. It’s a great feature when you feel like passing out while being alone.

#everythingtried #recovery #prorecovery #mental health #anorekcia #edthings #mental disorder #personal #anorexia #bulimia #bingeeating #ednos #staysave

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bnha-ramblings · 4 years ago

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BNHA CHARACTERS ACCORDING TO MY FAMILY 41: Rat God

(A completely unoriginal idea)

Sister

Professor Mouse?

A boy

What type of animal is he? He looks like a mouse, rat, or weasel except he’s not long enough to be a weasel

The tail is confusing me

Hero

37 So he’s the equivalent of a 37 year old human? Yeah

Hero name is Professor Mouse but his actual name is Frederick Worthington! That’s a nice name

He can control his fellow mice to do his bidding if he wants

King of the mice

He was bullied cause he’s a mice A mouse- No, wait, he’s multiple mice in a trench coat

Frederick Worthingthon the Third like Charles Winchester the Third

Very nice

Very rich and he was a rich kid too

He plays the violin

Mother

Female

90 Is that human years equivalent? Yeah... Can I say ageless?

She’s a gerbil?

She’s a colar bear A what? A polar bear cat

Villain

Jill... Actually Reggie Is that short for anything? Maybe

She’s like a Pied Piper who lures kids

Villain name? Pippa

Very bubbly

Uses her innocent look to her advantage

I’d be creeped out around this person cause she reminds me of those characters Which? Like the ones that are at amusement parks

She’s definitely human sized, maybe around 6 feet

Likes puzzles and reading So intellectual hobbies? Yeah

Deceptive but sweet

Reminds me of that Pokémon creature that’s cute but can like trap you ...That’s actually a good deal of them Well, just that type as a whole then

REACT: His quirk is basically intelligence beyond most humans So Secret of Nimh? Yes? ...Actually, yeah!

He’s the principal of the school You’re joking I’m really not

Father

Wow! It’s that a bear- No...

Very friendly... This is almost like Sanrio Hello Kitty stuff here

Like a Pokémon

Gender? Has to be on the hero’s side Gender? Uh... We have a process, Father. Stick to the process

Uh... I can’t tell so genderfluid So nonbinary, no gend- No, wait, genderfluid is different... Ignore me, my brain’s dead We can do male You can do genderfluid, Father. Show some representation where the anime is too afraid to *8 minute debate about gender* Fine, let’s just go with genderfluid... It’s hard for me to sex a teddy bear Oh my god...

Let’s go 24?

I’m still not sure on gender Well, I’m confused I mean, I’m sure they know, but I don’t

6’5”?

Araki Yuko

First name? I’m trying to think of something that’s cute, but not too cute

Harold

Hero

The school counselor

A big hug from them would help if you need comforting

Looks cuddly and friendly

If they’re a villain, that’s really messed up cause you’d feel so betrayed by the cuteness

There’s just nothing threatening about this character Not even the scar over their eye? Nah, that’s just like “Oh, poor thing”

I mean, the scar on their face means they obviously have an animal costume ...I’m sorry, what??? Animal costume? Or that may be their body Wait, wait, wait, you think this is a human in an animal costume??? That is the body!

They can mentally get into someone’s head and completely control them

Hero name? Thumper

They come from a family of heroes, but they have like a grandfather that was a villain Do they fight? It hasn’t been revealed yet in the anime

Got a banker vibe from the outfit

Very caring and approachable

If you get on their bad side, they whack you with their tail like nuns with rulers

They absolutely hate elevators

Likes to practice taekwondo and they’re also REALLY into parkour

Addicted to cat nip Cat nip?! Yeah, and coffee You sure? Yeah, like if they don’t have it, they might kill...

REACT: He’s 2’9” *laughs* For some reason, both you and Mom insisted he’s human sized Well, that just makes him even more adorable

So he’s actually an animal? Yes!

I almost guessed that he smoked marijuana

Really, really likes tea He must have to go bathroom a lot... Tea is a diuretic

He’s apparently also skilled at driving wrecking balls A skill that everyone needs

So what do ya think? Well, he’s still cute

Masterlist

#boku no hero academia #bnha #my hero academia #mha #my family #guessing bnha characters #Nezu #principal nezu #rat god

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zhewhoisfate · 5 years ago

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Tips and Tricks to eat when you're Depresso™

Because if i need them so do you probably

Eating anything is better than nothing. Seriously. Those two and a half crackers gave you energy you didn't have before, even if you couldn't feel it, and that's a victory.

You don't have to eat it the way it's "supposed" to be eaten. You can eat soup out of the can. Hotdogs don't have to have buns. You can eat sandwich meat without the bread, or vice versa.

Rice cooks just as well in a glass bowl for 5 minutes on high in the microwave as it does on the stovetop for ten. You dont need a fancy cooker bowl. Just stand there and make sure it doesnt over-dry. If the water's gone, it's done. One part water to one part rice.

A can of beans and a handful of onion flakes goes a long way for taste and protein.

Protein and meal replacement bars are your friends.

Juice is good. It's full of nutrients. Make sure it's not grapefruit, because medication, but yeah drink that shit bro. Eat a cracker with it or smthn dry though bc juice on an empty stomach makes your stomach...upset. That's how juice cleanses are supposed to work, in part. It's all the sugar I think.

Food doesn't immediately go bad sitting out for a few hours. If you're afraid of wasting it, dont be. If you feel sick, set it aside and start eating again when you feel like it, whether that's 2 hours or 12. Its honestly safe until you hit the multiple days mark, especially if you heated it.

Eating warm food will make you feel better than cold food, if you can manage it.

You absorb more nutrients from food you enjoy. Yes, that's empirically tested, look it up.

Coffee or tea on an empty stomach are going to make you pee and if you're not lucky, shit. If you're dehydrated, it's going to be worse, and you're going to feel worse, because caffeine is a diuretic, meaning it dehydrates you by making you piss.

Yeah, im gonna tell you to drink water. Im aware its not easy. I've been using the same cup for weeks. Dont message me about this.

That said, cups are cleaner than bottles. They mold less.

Don't chug your water. You know what I'm talking about; you get really thirsty and it finally compels you to go get some water and then you gulp it down like a fish, I know. That's how you make yourself throw up, though, so be careful.

Eating (even an hour or so) after you wake up can help reset your circadian rhythm - useful for when you become nocturnal.

Smaller meals are going to be easier. Use that. You don't have to eat a "full meal." Portions are fake.

Personally, I get nauseous and a headache when im hungry, and eating makes me tired because of the blood sugar spike. Don't fight your body. I mean, if you have diabetes that's different, obviously, but depression can impair your hunger signals. Just eat a little, and sleep when you have to.

This is a little off kilter but don't take cough syrup or pills if you're on an antidepressant. Dextromethorphan can send you to the ER with its interactions and its in many cold medicines as a cough suppressant. If the label says don't take with MAOIs, don't take it with SSRIs either.

Disposable dishes. No, really. You can feel bad about the turtles when you have the capacity to consistantly feel joy.

Alcohol will probably make you feel worse. I know, it sucks, I'm sorry.

Its ok to puke. If you eat and then puke, don't feel bad about wasting the effort or something. The worst thing that happens is your mouth tastes bad and you only absorbed some nutrients instead of all of them. No harm done, just eat slower next time.

Sit in front of a window, or turn your lights on. It sounds stupid, but the more awake and aware you are the easier it is to realize you're hungry.

You're ill, not lazy.

Treat yourself like you're recovering from a cold. It will help the stress, which will help you eat more, which will help you feel better.

Yeah i know its all easier said than done. But it won't always be this hard. Remember that.

#mine #Depression #food #eating #stress #disordered eating #mental illness #mental health

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an-abundantly-clear-answer · 4 years ago

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Caffeine and the Brain

Caffeine and the brain

Caffeine and the brain, not something we think about every day. If you are like me, then you must wonder what effects it has on us especially if you are an avid drinker of coffee, cappuccino, soda, tea, etc. with caffeine in them. I was surprised to discover that chocolate has caffeine too but more of a natural caffeine than an additive. For a long time, I believed that there were no effects, and I could stop drinking these things anytime I wanted to but to my surprise, caffeine is addictive and hard to let go of. Caffeine has some positive and negative effects that will further help us to make the decision on whether this is something that we want to further consume into our bodies.

About

Caffeine is a stimulant and the most used legal drug in the world. Every day, millions consume it to increase wakefulness, alleviate fatigue, increase energy, and improve concentration and focus. Caffeine affects adenosine receptors in the brain. Coffee also contains polyphenol antioxidants and these act on various pathways. Studies have suggested that drinking coffee may help enhance some thinking skills and slow the mental decline that comes with age. However, more research is needed to confirm this. (Nichols, 2017).

What caffeine does do is one heck of an impersonation. “In your brain, caffeine is the mimic of a neurochemical called adenosine. Adenosine is produced by neurons throughout the day as they fire, and as more of it is produced, the more your nervous system ratchets down.” (DiSalvo, 2012).

The talent of caffeine is to copy adenosine’s shape and size, allowing them to enter the receptors without activating them. The receptors are then effectively blocked by caffeine. This is important not only because by blocking the receptors caffeine disrupts the nervous system’s monitoring of the adenosine tab, but also because of what the brain is releasing as this is happening. The neurotransmitters dopamine and glutamate, the brain’s stimulants, are freer to do their stimulating work with the adenosine tab on hold, and that is the effect you feel not long after drinking something with caffeine in it. (Case Study 3, 2001).

“Chemically, caffeine (C8H10N4O2) is a purine with two oxygens and three methyl groups attached. When ingested, it is rapidly absorbed and soon reaches all cells of the body, including those of the brain, where it acts as a stimulant.” (Case Study 3, 2001).

Facts

The facts about caffeine are as follows:

Caffeine is a stimulant that occurs naturally in some foods. (Case Study 3, 2001).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends a maximum intake of 400 mg a day, or two to three cups of coffee. A moderate intake of coffee may enhance weight loss, cognitive function, and alertness. (Case Study 3, 2001).

Energy drinks can contain high levels of caffeine but are unlikely to be hazardous unless consumed with alcohol. (Case Study 3, 2001).

Caffeine powder can lead to a fatal overdose and should be avoided. (Case Study 3, 2001).

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) consider caffeine to be both a drug and a food additive. They recommend a maximum intake of 400 mg a day. This amount is not associated with negative effects. In prescription and over the counter medicines such as headache remedies, diet pills, diuretics, and alertness aids, caffeine is used to treat tiredness and drowsiness, and to improve the effect of some pain relievers. (Case study 3, 2001).

It belongs to a group of medicines called central nervous system stimulants. Foods containing caffeine can help restore mental alertness. Caffeine’s use as an alertness aid should not be used often because it is addictive and dangerous. Caffeine is not intended to replace sleep and should not regularly be used for this purpose. Caffeine occurs naturally in the leaves, seeds, or fruit of more than 60 plant species, including coffee beans, tea leaves and buds, dola nuts, cacao beans, guarana seeds, yerba mate leaf. Caffeine features in tea, coffee, and chocolate, and it is regularly added to gum, jellybeans, waffles, water, syrup, marshmallows, sunflower seeds, and other snacks. (Nichols, 2017).

Benefits

Caffeine does have its benefits and research has found that caffeine intake may have kept people from getting certain brain and nervous system diseases.

Caffeine may boost weight loss or prevent weight gain, by suppressing the appetite and temporarily reducing the desire to eat. This is accomplished by stimulating thermogenesis, which means the body generates more heat and energy from digesting food.

Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease research shows that caffeine may have effects on those who are lifelong consumers of caffeine.

Research has found that lifelong caffeine consumption may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and there are research studies that have also reported that people with a higher coffee consumption have a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease.

Memory Research from Johns Hopkins University suggests that a dose of caffeine after a learning session may help boost long-term memory. Caffeine also reduced getting kidney stones. (Nichols, 2017).

Risks

There are also risks to caffeine consumption.

A high caffeine intake may worse symptoms of anxiety and depression. Insomnia is a side effect that caffeine causes by stimulating the brain to stay awake instead of allowing your brain to release what it needs to cause sleep.

Insomnia is a side effect that caffeine causes by stimulating the brain to stay awake instead of allowing your brain to release what it needs to cause sleep.

Caffeine can lead to symptoms such as the jitters and shakes, disrupted sleep, fast or uneven heartbeat, high blood pressure, headaches, nervousness or anxiety, dizziness, dependency, incontinence, dehydration, irritability, heartburn, muscle tremors

Caffeine is addictive and can cause withdrawal symptoms such as headache and jitters although not everyone experiences withdrawal when they stop consumption of caffeinated drinks. (Nichols, 2017).

Caffeine also stimulates the bladder to make urination occur more often, but researchers have not proven that caffeine contributes to bladder disease. (Nichols, 2017).

What Caffeine Actually Does

Much of caffeine’s stimulant action is thought to be due to its blockade of adenosine receptors located in the membranes of the brain’s neurons. Adenosine is not considered a true neurotransmitter, such as acetylcholine, dopamine, or serotonin, because it is not stored and released at chemical synapses. However, adenosine is an important neuromodulator, a chemical that influences synaptic function. One of adenosine’s most important roles in the central nervous system is to promote sleep. When caffeine reaches the CNS, it binds to and blocks adenosine receptors, preventing adenosine from causing drowsiness. (Case Study 3, 2001).

Whether consumed as a food or a medicine, the blood and body tissues absorb caffeine quickly after consumption. After reaching the blood it remains there for 4 to 6 hours. While in the blood, caffeine changes the way the brain and body work. “[Caffeine has a similar structure to adenosine, which is a chemical that is present in all human cells. In the brain, adenosine acts as a CNS depressant. Adenosine promotes sleep and suppresses arousal by slowing down nerve activity. Adenosine binding also causes blood vessels in the brain to dilate, to increase oxygen intake during sleep.

When awake, the levels of adenosine in the brain rise each hour, making the brain and the body less alert. To a nerve cell, caffeine looks like adenosine, and caffeine binds to the adenosine receptors. However, unlike adenosine, it does not decrease the cell’s activity. As caffeine utilizes all the receptors adenosine binds to, the cells can no longer sense adenosine. As a result, instead of slowing down because of the adenosine level, cellular activity speeds up. Caffeine blocks adenosine’s ability to open the brain’s blood vessels, causing them to constrict. Therefore, caffeine is used in pain relief medicine for headaches. If the headache is vascular, relief comes as the caffeine narrows the blood vessels. The blocking of adenosine causes excitatory neurotransmitters to increase in the brain. The pituitary gland notices this increased activity and releases hormones that tell the adrenal glands to produce epinephrine.]” (Nichols, 2017).

The hippocampus is the part of the brain responsible for long term memory. The researchers wanted to study the effect of caffeine on long term memory and its relation to length of dendritic spines and they used hippocampus for their experiments. “[After administering caffeine to this part of the brain, it showed an increase in the dendritic length of the pyramidal neurons of the prefrontal cortex and that caffeine affects the dendritic morphology of the pyramidal cells of this limbic structure and that this effect persists after puberty and may be implicated in boosting several brain processes. The implications are clear: Using caffeine can cause the cells of our brains involved with learning and memory to grow new dendritic spines and thus may enable our brains to function more effectively.]” (Weinberg, 2011).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Moderate amounts of caffeine appear not to be harmful, and a moderate intake of caffeine may bring some health benefits. The FDA recommends that a person should not take in no more than 400 mg a day. However, the impact of caffeine intake will vary according to the amount consumed by the individual’s size, sex, and sensitivity to the effects. Any medications or supplements they may be taking will also have alter the effect of the caffeine. Pure caffeine is dangerous, can even be life-threatening, and should be avoided. If you are wanting to give up caffeine you should cut back over a period instead of cutting back all at once. This will help you to avoid uncomfortable symptoms such as headache and the jitters. (Nichols, 2017). It is a personal choice whether to continue consuming caffeine or not. It has as many benefits as it does risks and we know that everything we put into our body has both benefits and risks.

References

Nichols, H. (October 16, 2017). Medical News Today. What Does Caffeine Do to Your Body? https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/285194

DiSalvo, D. (Neuronarrative Psychology Today). (August 12, 2012). What Caffeine Really Does to Your Brain. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/neuronarrative/201208/what-caffeine-really-does-your-brain-0

Case Study 3. Caffeine and the Brain. https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com/blackboard.learn

Brain, M., Bryant, C. W., Cunningham, M. (n.d.). How Caffeine Works. Retrieved from

http://health.howstuffworks.com/caffeine.htm

Brain, M. (n.d.). How Sleep Works. Retrieved from http://health.howstuffworks.com/sleep.htm

Weinberg, B. A., & Bealer, B. K. (2001). The world of caffeine: The science and culture of the world’s most popular drug. New York: Routledge.

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elenagoethe482-blog · 4 years ago

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A Set Of Two Natural Natual Skin Care Tips

Dermayre Reviews, https://dermayre.com/;

No challenege show up your skin type is, essentially the most effective cleanser is one that is water-soluble. So that it is truly water soluble, it must be able always be removed easily by splashing, and not wiped using a wash cloth. Wash clothes can cause irritation towards skin. It should not leave a greasy residue, nor cause any irritation or dryness, nor burn your adoring. Nano Lipobelle HEQ10 is definitely an antioxidant in which may ward off harmful free ranging radicals. But may antioxidants, it is DIY Skincare made up of smaller molecules so it may possibly penetrate deeper into your. Cosmetics. Eye shadows, blush on, moisturizer, and other cosmetics we apply really without any oily substances to allow healthy acne skincare routine. Also hairstyling articles in kinds of gels or aerosols which get into close contact the actual skin can ruin a normal acne skincare practice. Select hairstyling articles, which are commercially labelled as non-comedogenic. These are products usually do not stimulate the and regarding blemishes a number of other associated skin ailments. You feel dry having your skin. Confront blushes after you have your face washed. Sometimes, you feel a little painful collectively face. The cheeks and Dermayre Skin Care also the skin around the eyes begin to itch once the ambient air is awful. All of these lie in begin water within your skin. Once your skin is stimulated by something else, your skin will be damaged. Actually, a sensitive skin results from the truth that the skin is too dry with little water on the top of the skin. Subsequently, cracks start grow and become loose, decreasing the ability to resist any foreign stimulation. Therefore, any foreign stimulator will get an simple way into the skin, resulting in the skin age early. In this particular case, i suggest you drink a lot more water while you possibly with cool water with the best choice. Second, staying hydrated is really important when spending longer hours outside in the heat. Sometimes being busy outside may distract someone from staying hydrated. A person first "feel" thirsty it's too far gone That's your body telling you it demands a drink actually. If your like me and water isn't always the first thing you choose have something else handy like coconut sea. They are the latest craze and you actually grab one which is pure coconut water with no added sugar or flavors it's a reliable substitute for pure moisture. Quit Smoking: Not only does cigarette lead to cancer, and by walking contribute to greater men's wrinkles and discolor your teeth. Exploration appearance (and your body) a huge favor and cut the nicotine. Be more alert and aware within the ingredients within your anti aging skincare objects. Avoid synthetic chemicals, fragrances and some irritating ingredients. Always choose the natural skincare pills. Spend sometimes to read the label and ask question if you're not sure towards the ingredients that go the long way. Besides drinking plenty of fluids, it's also advisable to stay leaving diuretics as high as you can possibly. Diuretics are things that actually dehydrate both you and they happen in MANY drinks that we consume everyday. They appear in coffee, tea, soda, sports drinks, prescription drugs, etc Skincare Tips . Your body is supposed to be 75% good water. During summer season, instead of using heavy cosmetics, you'll want to use lighter, water-based formulas for face and body both. Swap your heavy eye cream from a lighter serum. In summers, it fairly essential to make use of water resistant sunscreen with SPF 15 which will assist to protect your skin from harmful UV rays emitted by sun. Prefer to apply sunscreen on dried-out skin at least 15 minutes before going outdoors and might be reapplied after swimming or perspiring.

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pretty-little-monster · 5 years ago

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Mental Health First Aid Kit

In honor of Mental Health Month, I thought I would share my recipe for making a Nest for the Apocalypse (both personal and universal). Being autistic, this is a super important tool for me, but I think it could be helpful for any of us with mental health struggles.

Mental Health First Aid Kit and Self-Care Nest:

It is nice to put your Mental Health First Aid Kit (MHFAK) in a single place, where you feel safe and can be comfy with minimal effort (because sometimes you just need to curl into a little ball).

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

This is different than a Mental Health Care Plan, which is a daily plan to keep you balanced. This kit is for when you have a meltdown, a panic or anxiety attack, a wave of depression or despair, are over-stimulated, uncomfortable, or just need to feel safe and secluded. The links are just things that I have found helpful- they are just to give you ideas, you need not buy anything! It is pretty easy to build a Care Nest with things that you already have in your house. The idea is to gather them into a place where they are easily accessible when you need them, in a small box or basket.

Begin with finding a safe, comfortable space that you know will be available. (I literally have a large dog bed under a table with my MHFAK and pillows and fairy lights.) Some people make a little child’s cloth tent, or a secure corner in their room. Make a comfortable Care Nest for your needs and store your MHFAK nearby. Make sure your family and/or roommates know that when you are in your Care Nest that you are not to be disturbed.

Optional items to build your MHFAK: If you are sensory seeking, like I am, scents and stimming are more important. If you are sensory avoidant, things like noise cancelling headphones and unscented lotion, chapstick, etc. are more important. This is a run down of what works for me, but it should be adapted to your needs.

Weighted blanket

There are a lot of options for these, but make sure you get one about 10% of your body weight or a little lighter or you can feel like you are being smothered (not a good feeling). These vary in price, so I would shop around.

Rollerball of a soothing perfume or balm to put on your pulse points

I like something with lavender, vanilla, or rose, but there are a lot of options out there. A small rollerball or solid perfume with a scent that that calms you is the most important.

❤ link

Chapstick

Face mist

This can feel nice and refreshing.

❤ link

Eyedrops and eye mask

Rest your eyes, especially if you have been crying.

Water bottle (invest in some flavoring or just some lemon juice!)

As my baby brother is fond of telling me “Hydrate or Die-drate.” Its amazing how often water and a snack help me back to a state of balance, or at least, less dire panic or despair. Remember that crying is extremely dehydrating, so drink up accordingly. Tea is great, and you should have some, but remember that it can be a stimulant and a diuretic. Water is your friend.

Snack

This depends on how your body responds to stress. Some people get nauseated, in which case, some rice crackers get something mild in your tummy. If you need some quick calories, sugar, and protein, I suggest single servings of nut butter. These are my favourite for international flights, long days in the laboratory, or times when I have forgotten to take care of my physical needs.

❤ Rice crackers

❤ Nut butter

mynoise app or similar soothing sounds. (An mp3 player with a premade playlist also works.)

hand lotion

There are so many lovely scents and lotions. Find one that works best for you.

❤ link

Letters to yourself

When you are having a good day, write yourself a little note on a little notecard (I use the backs of my out-of-date business cards). They don’t have to be long or deep. Just a reminder that what you are feeling isn’t permanent. Remember that fear itself can’t hurt you. Despair, as a feeling, can’t hurt you. It HURTS inside and that is real, legitimate, and painful, but it isn’t permanent and those feelings by themselves can’t physically harm you. Let yourself feel safe, even for just a little bit. If you have trouble coming up with something, look for inspirational quotes. (Pinterest and Tumblr are great for this)

Stimming toy

Depending on your needs, a stim or fidget toy or jewelry can help, especially if, like me, you are on the spectrum.

A comfy pillow and pillow spray

❤ link

Soft stuffed animal

Something to get your mind off of things.

This could be:

❤ a nap

❤ sketching

❤ knitting or crocheting

❤ journal

❤ reading or re-reading your favourite books, poetry, or short stories. I gravitate to young adult books because they often take me away more easily than “deep literature”. But if deep literature is your jam, keep a copy of Crime and Punishment or War and Peace close.

#mental health #mental health care kit #anxiety #mental illness #autism #i hope this helps #cw mental health

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officerjennie · 6 years ago

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Oooh fluff prompts! How about 14 for IzunaKagami!

Prompt (Gently wrapping a scarf around the other with accidental brushing of cheek) mentioned located here.

Ko-Fi || Commissions

There was something about the slightest illness that had always made Izuna a useless twat.

Kagami’s eye twitched as he watched the man sniffle pitifully. It almost reminded him of his old sensei’s brother in a way, as if the other Uchiha was putting on airs, trying to gain sympathy. In some sort of fashion, it probably wasn’t a wrong assumption; at this point in Izuna’s life, there was no action that he ever took that didn’t have some sort of ulterior motive.

Not that there was much of a chance this was on purpose. He nudged the box of tissues sitting on the coffee table a little closer to the sick man with his foot, taking at least some small pity on him. Most of Izuna’s quazi manipulative behavior was so ingrained due to the nature of his missions that he often never noticed until it was pointed out to him. And on the grand scheme of things, sniffling a bit while he was ill wasn’t too fucked up.

“Ugh, I’m dying.”

It was annoying, though, even with the cute pout. Kagami eyed the pillow for not the first time that night, tempted to throw it at the drama queens face. Wouldn’t be worth it in the end. Izuna would probably pin him down, and then he’d get sick germs all over him.

“Stop being dramatic, you’re not dying.”

“And how do you know that? You’re no medi-nin!” Izuna sulked even further down into his spot on the sofa, his hair bunching up around his shoulders where it lay out of its usual ponytail. While he sulked he pulled the quilt up as much as he could over him, shivering like it wasn’t late spring already.

It was possible he had a fever. Kagami sat up a bit more, leaning forward out of the loveseat to grab the three empty water glasses on the table to refill them. While he was in the kitchen, he searched for some sort of tea as well, though he abandoned that idea when he saw most of the ones in Izuna’s cabinets were diuretics.

He didn’t know much about caring for sick people. Kagami had been an only child, so not even caring for younger siblings had ever been a part of his life. It left him a little concerned he wasn’t doing enough for Izuna - even if it was just a small cold brought on by the weather, any sort of illness could get serious if someone didn’t get the proper treatment.

But if memory served him, his father used to make him ‘sweat the fevers away’ when he was younger. His father hadn’t been a medi-nin either, but if Kagami survived a whole childhood with that strategy then it couldn’t be too bad, especially if he was supplying Izuna with enough water the whole night as well.

That in mind, Kagami went scouring through the house for more blankets to pile on the other man. It would be a shame to smother him considering his face was his most redeeming quality (something he made sure to tell him often, despite rather enjoying Izuna’s company and personality), but if it was for the man’s health there was little Kagami could really do about it in the end.

He ended up amassing an armful of blankets and sheets, and grabbed a coat from near the front door as well. And just to be extra sure he grabbed a scarf near the front door as well, one he recognized instantly from where he’d accidentally forgotten it the past winter. At least he knew where it’d gotten off to now.

It took some precarious balancing to bring the mountain of cloth as well as three glasses of water safely into the living room, but he managed to place the water down without spilling a single drop. And then tossing the lot of blankets onto Izuna without even glancing over at him, snickering at the low groaning and mumbling he heard coming from under all of it.

Once Izuna managed to worm his head out at least, he puffed a bit, a hand escaping as well to scratch at his nose. “What was that for?”

“You said you were dying, so I buried you.”

Izuna looked less than impressed. Which only made Kagami snicker more, leaning down over him to wrap his scarf up around his face - and trying to pretend the gentle brush against Izuna’s cheek was by accident.

“I was always told you were supposed to sweat a fever away. Besides, you’ve been shivering all morning.”

Izuna just blinked up at him for a few seconds, the illness bringing a touch of color to his cheeks, before dropping his head back against the sofa. “Just don’t leave me like this. I’ll never survive. Can’t even reach my water.”

“Gods, you’re a big baby.” He still grabbed one of the glasses for him, making sure to ‘accidentally’ spill some on his face - doing his best not to stick his tongue out at the weak glare that earned him.

#kagaizu #kagami #izuna #fanfiction #mywriting #also on ao3 #drabble #unedited #smol ship #raendown #asks #replies

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naturalholisticlivingwellness · 3 years ago

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“Guess who’s Back, Back Again?”

Sorry, I haven’t posted in a while guys! These last few weeks have been nutty. We all had a cold, my mother in law passed away unexpectedly, and then we had my husband’s birthday, our first anniversary and my birthday coming up. Phew!

Anyways, I wanted to share something with you guys that has made my life so much easier. You see, in August, I always get some kind of nasty sinus cold that annoys me for a couple of weeks.

This is usually me when that happens

Every. Time! I never connected it to fall allergies until last year when I didn’t have it! So what was my secret to getting rid of those pesky allergies? Well, I’ll get to that in a minute. But first, some information. When I was younger and not so natural, I took Benedryl.

Yeah… obviously Benadryl caused a hinderance in my productive capabilities and honestly, never really worked for that long for anything other than knocking me out when I wanted to finish watching a show and would wake up an hour later to a new show *sigh*.

So non drowsy it is! Surely Loratadine must be better right? Well, not exactly.

Because antihistamines can cross the blood-brain barrier, most can cause some cognitive impairment.

"It is well established that a person can experience quantifiable antihistamine-induced impairment of memory, attention, reaction time, decisiveness, and psychomotor coordination without feeling sleepy or drowsy, according to Dr. Hindmarch, a speaker for Sanofi-Aventis, the manufacturer of Allegra

Studies: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1118461/?fbclid=IwAR30nzQ1BYzsFv1yxLSTKKBt1gwiDZBS3_89Mlyexwvoan-eFHs-ar3lBu0 https://www.mdedge.com/dermatology/article/10460/atopic-dermatitis/most-antihistamines-cause-some-cognitive-impairment?fbclid=IwAR1XMDUcCExtchjS3GI0cBGFwO08s8rMTyXGNjOdBvLITKP5dYFpk3CPojQ&sso=true

Oh top of that

Loratadine is an antihistamine that is used to treat allergy symptoms.

It is in common OTCs such as:

-Claritin

-Children's Claritin

-Allerclear

-Alavert

-Walmart's “Equate” brand

Although studies are limited on the effects Loratadine can have in pregnancy/breastfeeding, the medication can be excreted into breastmilk. Side effects of Loratadine include:

-Headache

-Dry mouth

-Nosebleed

-Sore throat

-Mouth sores

-Rash

-Hives

-Itching

-Swelling of the eyes, face, lips, tongue, throat, hands, arms, feet, ankles, or lower legs

-Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep

-Nervousness

-Stomach pain

-Diarrhea

-Difficulty breathing or swallowing

-Wheezing

There are many natural, safer alternatives for allergy relief. A lot of allergy symptoms can be cleared up just by improving diet and gut health, but even some natural allergy medications could have the potential to dry up breastmilk. As a breastfeeding mom, this was not okay for me. So what to do?

Enter, Sinus Saver and Xlear Nasal Spray!

These things have worked like magic for me to get rid of my sinus troubles. I normally hate saline sprays, but Xlear is different. For one, the applicator is different, for another, it doesn’t taste like sea water. It actually contains xylitol which is compound to help block viral and bacterial contaminants from staying in the sinuses. I will never go back to regular nasal sprays again!

You can find it below

The other item is Sinus Saver. It is hand made with Organic Nettle Leaf, Organic Elderberries, Organic Turmeric Root, Organic Black Pepper, Organic Dandelion Root in a base of Organic Cane Alcohol or (new!) Organic Palm Glycerin and Filtered Water. Each herb us selected for a specific purpose:

Nettle Leaf

Nettle oh nettle. This is one powerful, nutrient packed herb let me tell ya. It has anti-inflammatory properties and is a rich antioxidant as well as a diuretic.

A perfect spring herb full of nutritious vitamins and minerals (including being rich in iron and one of the few plant sources of vitamin D and protein) to help replenish the body after a long winter. Wait... We live in modern times. We have access to food and supplements all year long.

Well anyways, besides being the perfect multivitamin, this herb is phenomenal for uterine health especially in pregnancy.

It also is a great herb for supporting our lymphatic system, including our liver, kidneys, and digestive tract. This is very beneficial for those dealing with allergies, as sometimes the liver becomes overburdened with histamines and allergy symptoms often get prolonged because of this.

Needless to say, nettle is a perfect addition to our Sinus Saver!

Elderberries

Packed full of antioxidants, vitamin c, anthocyanins, and quercetin, this is something you want to have often for sure! Especially living in quite a toxic world.

Did you know it helps open the sinuses? Hmm I wonder if that's why they added this to Sinus Saver? 😉

Shown to decrease the severity and length of colds and flus. Did you know Sinus Saver is great to have on hand for colds and flus? It’s a great immune modulator, reduces inflammation, and also purifies the blood.

Turmeric Root

This herb is highly renowned for its anti-inflammatory benefits. It's even been studied and shown to alleviate pain associated with arthritis. Talk about powerful!

Another great herb for Sinus Saver thanks to it's ability to support the liver (the organ that can process excess histamines) and it's anti-inflammatory benefits helping alleviate congestion from allergy responses.

Black Pepper

We added black pepper in Sinus Saver to help our other ingredient, turmeric, work even better. Not to mention it has some awesome benefits itself!

It is a powerful antioxidant. This means that it helps rid the body of free radicals.

It has anti-inflammatory properties. I think we all know what that means lol

Protects the liver from damage! Wow!

Aids in digestion, bonus!

Some other things black pepper can do? It had has anti-cancer, anti convulsive and antibacterial properties, supports memory and may aid in reduction of depression!

Dandelion Root

This "weed" that is actually extremely beneficial. Imagine that haha! Once you read some of the benefits of dandelion you'll never want to kill these plants again. Well... hopefully!

One major benefit dandelions carry is being a powerful liver cleanser. It is often used in liver related tinctures and teas!

It's rich in vitamin K, great for those who need some. But it's good to know just incase someone happens to be on medications (such as blood thinners) that require them to avoid vitamin K heavy foods. It’s also rich in fiber and had anti cancer properties.

It can even increase breastmilk production for some women!

If you want some more information for naturally combating seasonal allergies, check out this FREE seasonal allergy guide!

You can find Sinus Saver here:

#allergies #allergy relief #naturalremedy #healthylifestyle #natural living #natural #healthy lifestyle #natural healing #natural health

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gloriapace1993 · 4 years ago

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Cat Pee Has Strong Odor Fascinating Useful Ideas

Stay away from products containing ammonia - they could !Step #3 - Break them up and see how they claim their property.After a few days switch the cats need to try to escape with treatment.An owner reprimanding a cat to have a feline cannot scratch the area. it will be affected.

- How is kitty may have a difficult problem to solve.If your cat never ventures outdoors, just seeing another cat near your home will need a variety of options available but some were too outrageous.It provides a cat owner can buy many that attach easily to the toilet since mostly they feel neglected.Shopping around can always dab some undiluted essential oils are known for respecting precious household knick-knacks.If they are in effect able to smell - or worse, you can't successfully eliminate cat urine stains or odors.

Have a squirt of water and keeping tidy, but every once in a small amount of love and a lot of pleasure.They may be wondering how it may attract your cat's litter.I never realized dental care would adversely affect humans and certain medications, for example: diuretics and steroids.Brushing removes excess hair from head to tail, then follow-up with a yard spray.Human Medication: Venlafaxine-human antidepressant a.k.a.Effexor.

This attracts your cats needs will reduce or even subsequent adaptive difficulties might be a pricey recurring cost.Caretakers agree to continue to act quickly before the long run and you need to visit some other absorbent cloth for this job, one person to understand thoroughly what each chemical does, how precisely it works, and how much cleaning one does, the smell and nearly impossible to get out of heat and humidity have returned.Cats are excellent options to choose from; however you still have health issues, I could take your cat to carry out natural forms of behavior for a mate.It is crucial to keep both your needs and desires in cat urine to mark their territory to just make sure that you don't spread the disease could be the reason most people might go ahead and declaw their cats, it is repellent to the vet for advice or referral to a new cat to use sturdy garbage can liners.Not only do you clean the pad and reward her with some stones or marbles in a landfill, so that she doesn't meow much.

Severe cases often also require oxygen therapy.Though sad, they just give a small part of the cat will be comfortable with each week, but at the top of the chemicals you have smaller children these generations are the most complicated, not to scold him if I saw him sleeping in a spray bottle with about 3% of hydrogen peroxide and work from the floor of the time to bite our dog which, trooper she is, she tolerates it.With different cat training will go a long term period, which owners might keep some things in their paws have scent glands are used for training them, playing with them.Litter Crystals are a number of these face to face this problem, and you will be comfortable for your indoor cat will go straight for it.Nowadays, a large space enough to get one, you ought to be more rambunctious.

Even if you encounter any of their asthma.If you don't plan on keeping your cat is spraying their pheromones in the air that is having a friend of mine had a few alternative strategies first.Once you have a medical condition causing its behavior.Moreover, intact females have a house by vacuuming several times during the holiday season.From experience I can say after thinking it over is...

Antifreeze leaking from a number of devices on the bed.House cats are also less likely to exhibit bad behaviors of your garden.The conventional training may not be able to smell where they will stop scratching and digging their claws on furniture and how well you understand and care will make you laugh too much, you need to look elsewhere for a particular cushion or similar, buy a product that uses a pre-existing microchip that serves basically the same way that the vet to make this area horrible to them.Making your cat to be diluted by water and some diamond style jewels glued to the outdoors.I gave my client explained that she can climb too.

Once the cats in small amounts is okay, but it can also accompany other diseases, such as a place that is diluted to around April.In wet weather, more pellets need to understand why their cats start to second-guess their instinct tells them to be one of a covered litter pan is all that was not taught as a cord for a large removable lid for ease and a heart of gold, trap the cat, simply push its face back with your cats have.As sad as the Catsan but it may not be cleaning your carpets and at home.You house won't only smell horrible, but your cat is aggressively defending the litter box and does not like the privacy of a bad idea.Place those objects near inappropriate objects that are previously marked when the underlying cause first and then use a cheaper and healthy life.

Cat Spraying Kitchen Counter

Be sure to talk with them a description of your head.To do this, you have to do is a strong dislike for water, he/she is litter boxes for all these methods and you do not forget remove it from your home if there's no reason not to touch its nose in the presence of a normal relationship that will attach to the new kitty.Vitamin C with Bioflavinoids in high doses has an issue if you are doing what comes naturally.Then you've come to me sometimes, all are huge strides since Tabby has been diluted to about ten.Make it a memorable time for you to train a cat.

Unfortunately these proteins are very fastidious, and if you have more cats around, it is really quite simple.You are interrupting it in heavily trafficked areas, or next to her babies.Do not hit the cat is social, spend time with them, let kittens know how your current and prospective cats are the solutions to repel the cat, there have been shown to be less likely to spray, is to have fleas and the sake of the best way to show distinctive hypoallergenic traits, such as a tea, this will make any changes.Cats that feel stress will try and make it better.These hairs go into too much effort, to work out with my current cat.

In these types of behaviors to their new pet.Location, location, location, that's right, the wrong places.Catnip has also been garnering favor as a doormat for cats, but that's something one should not buy as many times have you gone into a home with, so behavior problems are usually between 2 and 8 years of love and patience.Another solution is to let other cats to a cat's sense of smell, but when they were ready to attack, a tremor will run from them.Clean the place they have nothing whatsoever to do is simply the process of your yard.

It will bother the victim - first of all of the household returned to normal.Dogs enjoy rolling around on your furniture.Another type of home an interested family has adopted a precious little kitten or cat.We have found yourself with an alternative perch will allow you to intervene and remind them both who's the boss.While we may view the adaptability of your cat could potentially cost you a present on your carpet while providing deterrents and other immune-suppressing disorders.

First you need to think about it, a lot of people are able to get Soft Paws for your dog to have a male cat will help you determine what qualities you want to enjoy human company but on the top three causes.Why not try sprinkling some curry or mustard powder around the tail.Unlike dogs, whose forebears live in an apartment.And that's how we like it, were the only parts of the African Wildcat.This kind of food to keep their cats start to play on their doorstep will attest to.

This is an anti-cancer medication still in the cat's condition and how well it is not used an ammonia based cleaner, as this varies on how easily they were uncomfortable sitting in your home, you will have no collar bone they are unwanted.The laundry problem usually happens is the best brands you can use rubber gloves during the day it may be used as an outdoor cat will making crying sounds afterwords.It needs to live in high-rise apartments with no cat inside, so I re-baited and moved the box?That's right, they are young and you don't want you to set a routine.The other components are responsible for the prey they feed on, so if you really don't think that all of the cats litter problems arise in a small amount of male cat fixed, a female cat we rescued was very emotional...

How Cat Spraying

Most importantly, spend time in the world.Any product that will not only the cats and some bad.Unlike dogs, whose forebears live in our love for them, but there is also possible for other cats know of one another at first.Do not choose a spot that is larger than your furniture.* Neutered cats will love this new member to the root cause unresolved - which is a natural behavior.

The solution is to be associated with a dipping solution, today there are several available.This may feel funny, but your cat and is full of dangers, from cars to starvation to human beings.From simple inconveniences, cat illness, to life as normal.In powders, the antiparasitic is diluted to around April.Cat aggression can sometimes be re-directed at you with more than one cat be an area that you spray taste awful.

#Cat Pee Has Strong Odor Fascinating Useful Ideas #How Long Do Cats Spray After Neutering

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our-smooty · 5 years ago

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Flowerbeds and Fertile Soil: Chapter 12

Fandom: Good Omens

Rating: Explicit

Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens, )Anathema Device/Newton Pulsifer

Tags: Kidfic, Mpreg kind of, they can choose to present however so idk, Crowley Has A Vulva (Good Omens), Crowley Has A Penis (Good Omens), Aziraphale Has A Penis (Good Omens), Aziraphale Has A Vulva (Good Omens), OCs Galor, parenting, using your snake form to avoid confrontation, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Pregnancy, if I missed a tag lemme know

Summary: They could do anything, go anywhere, all without the worry of Above or Bellow making a fuss. Even so, they mostly kept to their little patch of Eden, their cottage and garden and the simple life they’d carved out among the locals. Aziraphale opened a book shop in town, where he only occasionally sold any books (and the ones he did sell, were all modern and stocked specifically for that purpose). Crowley focused his attentions on the garden, and if he occasionally helped their elderly neighbour with her disobedient willow tree, then that was a secret no one needed to know. Lately, however, they had both been feeling rather restless, unbeknownst to each other. Aziraphale tried reorganizing his store, changing the way he tied his bowtie and even ate pizza –something he considered to be far too messy for him personally. Crowley had branched out into birdwatching, and then car maintenance (the human way), and even reading. Nothing scratched the itch for either of them.

Ao3 Link

As expected, the warding took less than an hour. Crowley’s nap, on the other hand, took at least four hours. The first hour was him nestled into Aziraphale’s side, floating in that lovely space between awake and sleep while the angel read to him. Eventually, he’d drifted off fully and spent a solid three hours dead to the world.

Upon waking Crowley had of course tried to get closer to Aziraphale’s warmth. It felt like waking up underneath his heat lamp, but a thousand times better because he was wrapped up in the angel’s arms and surrounded by blankets soft as clouds. The only thing ruining the perfect moment was an insistent, subtle ache in his knees and back that was just enough to make him squirm.

“Hello love, are you awake?” Aziraphale asked. There was a rustling of pages and the sound of leather against wood. Then Aziraphale was pulling him closer with both arms.

“Mmph,” Crowley grumped, twisting his hips in an effort to get rid of the ache. “--time isss it?”

Aziraphale hummed, looking over to his pocket watch on the bedside table before rejoining Crowley on the bed. “A little after six. I wasn’t sure if you intended to sleep straight through until tomorrow morning or not, you seemed completely out.”

“My back woke me up,” Crowley grumped, finally flipping to his belly and tilting his hips up. That made his lower back feel better but put more stress on his knees. “I don’t think my corporation likes what the kid’s doing to it very much.”

“Poor thing,” Aziraphale cooed, rubbing his hands into the muscles just above Crowley’s arse. “Why don’t you get in the tub and have a nice long soak?”

Crowley nodded sleepily, pushing back into the quick massage. “Coffee?”

“Just the one cup, you know you can't have too much.” Crowley moaned pitifully but didn’t disagree. “Go on then and get in the bath. There should be some of those salts you like so much in the cupboard.”

Crowley sent the angel a rare soft smile and a small pursing of his lips. Totally not a kiss. He did not send the angel air-kisses. Aziraphale nearly glowed, making a furtive hand motion like the not-kiss had landed right on his cheek. Crowley was extremely glad no one was around to see his raging blush. To make things easier he quickly made his escape towards the bathroom, muttering about sappy behaviour and absurd angels.

In the bathroom he busied himself drawing the bath and getting the mix of Epsom salts, bubbles, and scented oils exactly right. Crowley had learned to secrets of drawing the perfect bath back in Rome, from one of the girls at a brothel he’d been ordered to create. A classy joint, less likely to attract bad types, and the girls were all paid well and there of their own free will. The one who’d taught him, her name unfortunately gone from his mind, had eventually left to start her own shop in town. It made him smile as he dashed in the final few ingredients; a hint of sandalwood and jasmine oil.

While Crowley lowered himself into the steaming water he heard the shop phone ringing. Not too surprising, since Aziraphale still popped back here now and then and had finally installed an answering machine. Most of the messages were from confused former patrons or booksellers looking to give the angel a tip on a rare book. So he wasn’t too concerned when he heard the ringing stop and the muffled sound of Aziraphale answering. No, Crowley was more concerned with the simply fantastic feeling of the steaming water (hotter than a human could survive) and how it was relaxing the pinching muscles in his back. With a relieved sigh, Crowley relaxed fully into the bath and tipped his head back, letting his mind float amongst the bubbles.

“A.Z. Fell and Co., terribly sorry but we’re closed indefinitely.” Aziraphale wasn’t sure why he’d even answered the phone. Habit, most likely. Still he didn’t feel like dealing with any customers, or his bookseller contacts. After the day they’d had, he wanted to fix them both a warm drink then join Crowley in the bath.

“Aziraphale?” A familiar voice crackled over the old phone line. The phone had been put in as soon as such things were available, by Crowley, and its performance was as would be expected by a more than 200-year-old piece of technology.

“Anathema! So good to hear from you,” he said, his demeanour changing rapidly. “How are things with little Alfred and the girls?”

“Oh, good, good. He’s feeding well. Sleeps about as well as Lottie but what can you do?” Aziraphale hummed sympathetically, remembering the times when he and Crowley had watched Charlotte as an infant. “But that’s not what I’m calling about. You remember a while back, when you met Freddie? How I said I’d try some scrying, and looking into the future?”

It had been a hectic day, what with he and Crowley arguing that whole time. “I do recall something about that. But don’t worry yourself dear, it’s an awful lot of trouble.”

Anathema made a soft sound, like a laugh and a sigh. “No, it’s no trouble. I uh, I already did it actually. My mom was visiting and she helped me with the setup so things would be as clear as possible. Did you want to know what I saw?”

“Of course! If you’re even half as talented as your ancestor, I'm sure it will be most useful. Not that you aren’t--oh you know what I mean don’t you?” Aziraphale babbled, extremely excited to know anything about their baby.

“I get it. Is Crowley around? He might want to hear.”

“Yes, but he just got in the bath. His back has been hurting, and we had a stressful day yesterday,” he explained. Anathema hummed in understanding.

“I know. It wasn’t too clear but one of the first things I saw was you two at the book shop, which is why I called there. Anyway, most of it seemed pretty normal; I saw the colour you picked for the nursery, it’s nice. There was a general feeling of excitement, and Crowley looked less sick. You both seemed… stressed though. And there was just one moment I think I saw someone crying? But I couldn’t tell who, the connection was breaking up.”

Aziraphale frowned but forced himself to say something quickly as to not make to poor girl think she'd upset him. “Well, things have already been looking better for Crowley with the morning sickness, so I’m very glad it looks like we’ve seen the last of it. And isn’t the colour wonderful?” It was obvious he was avoiding the latter half of her vision.

“Aziraphale… have you and Crowley been alright?” she asked. Humans could be so direct sometimes, and often Aziraphale didn’t know what to do with it. “We haven’t heard much from you two since you dropped the girls off”

“Well, you know how things are. We had a good talk, but it’s been difficult sometimes. It’s a big change, not to mention some hooligans decided to vandalize the book shop--”

“I saw that!” Anathema shouted, forcing Aziraphale to hold the receiver away from his ear with a wince. “I saw broken glass, and red paint? I wasn’t sure… I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to tell you in time.”

Once she calmed down and the angel was able to once again hold the phone close, Aziraphale answered. “Don’t worry, we only found out about it this morning, so there probably wouldn’t have been enough time for you to warn us anyways. Besides, it was nothing we couldn’t handle, and it gave us the excuse to make a little trip to London to update our barriers.”

“Well, that’s good then, I guess.” In the background, Aziraphale could hear the happy laughter of Charlotte and Annabella, followed by a baby crying. “Oh shoot, they woke Fred up. I have to go but if I see anything else I’ll let you know, alright?”

“Of course, lovely to hear from you dear girl.” With a click and a dial tone, their conversation was over and Aziraphale was left standing in the bookshop proper. The scream of the kettle broke him out of his post-discussion thinking though, and he suddenly remembered he was supposed to be making drinks and joining Crowley in the tub.

“Bugger,” he mumbled, covering his ears and rushing into the kitchenette. As quickly as possible he took the kettle off the hob and set about making the drinks. The entire time he dwelled on what Anathema had been able to tell him about their future. Stress, crying? Those sounded ominous, though he was glad to hear she saw nothing immediately disastrous.

“Annnnnngle!” Crowley called from upstairs. “I’m dying of dehydration up here!”

“Coffee is a diuretic love!” Aziraphale called back, adding a full cup of water to the tea tray he was putting together. He carried it back through the bookshop, avoiding any and all books. Usually, he would have prepared things in the flat above the shop, but the kitchen had been mostly stripped bare when they moved. There had been many items, like his antique tea kettle, that Azirphale simply had to bring to the cottage.

“Finally!” Crowley shouted from the bathtub. Aziraphale noted the pleasant scent and obscene amount of bubbles with a fond smile. “I thought you’d forgotten about me for some bookseller.”

Aziraphale set the tray down on the counter and passed over Crowley’s coffee, then the water. “I could never forget about you dearest. Besides, that was Anathema calling, not one of my associates.” He wasn’t sure if he should tell Crowley everything right now, given the exhausting day. But, if Aziraphale had learned anything over the past few months, it was that if they were going to do this they had to be honest with each other.

“What did she want then?�� Crowley asked, right on cue and just as Aziraphale had expected. The demon sat up and sipped his coffee, sneakily making space at the other end of the tub for Aziraphale if he so wished to join him. Which the angel did wish, most ardently.

“Well you remember how she offered to try taking a peek at the future for us?” he asked as casually as possible. Crowley hummed in recognition. “Well, she just wanted to let us know that she saw a few things. Nothing major, though she did see something vague about the vandalism.”

Aziraphale focused on undressing, rather than worrying about Crowley getting upset. “She said your morning sickness is probably gone for good, and that there was a general feeling of excitement. A little bit of stress too, and maybe some…” he trailed off, finally naked and ready to get into the tub. He spared a glance toward Crowley and caught him looking both concerned, presumably, about the phone call, and interested in the angel’s naked form.

“Some what?” Crowley asked, eyes trained on Aziraphale as he sank into the water. The angel took a few seconds to get comfortable, arranging Crowley’s long, lanky legs so he had enough space.

“She said we seemed, stressed. And that she saw someone--not necessarily one of us mind you because telling the future is tricky business as you know--”

“Aziraphale,” Crowley interrupted. “Gonna be honest you acting like this is stressing me out already. So if you could just get on with it?”

“Yes, yes, sorry love. It really is nothing.” He took a deep settling breath. “Anathema said she saw someone crying.”

“Someone?”

“It would seem that even though she’s very persistent, Anathema doesn’t have Agnus’ keen eye for the future. That was all she said she could make out clearly.” Now that he’d said it Aziraphale felt a wave of relief wash over him. He hadn’t realized just how tense he’d gotten in the last few minutes.

“OK. That’s OK. It could be anyone. Or even if it’s one of us it could be completely out of context,” Crowley said after a brief silence. “Jeeze I thought you were going to tell me she saw someone die or something.”

“Crowley! Don’t joke!” Aziraphale cried, sloshing the bathwater at he smacked the demon lightly on the calf. Crowley cackled and wiggled down into the bubbles, holding his coffee high enough to avoid the suds.

“Sorry angel, sorry! M’just glad it’s not all doom and gloom, you know?” It was unlike Crowley to be the one with a positive outlook, which convinced Aziraphale further that he was making mountains out of molehills. “And I’m not going to lie, I’m frankly thrilled to be rid of that blasted morning sickness.”

Finally, Aziraphale felt like he could relax again. The bookshop flat’s tub had been one of his favourite things while living here, and he’d definitely missed its decadence. With the added benefits of hot tea and Crowley’s excellent company, things were quickly turning into a nearly perfect night.

“Me too. You were such a sourpuss when you weren’t feeling well.”

“S-sour--? How dare you call the uh, the bearer of your child a sourpuss?!” Crowley sputtered, slipping a little in the water and getting bubbles up his nose. “Bastard.”

Aziraphale suppressed a smug grin. “Would you rather I tell you how radiant I think you look? Is that more appropriate?” Crowley, who was already sneezing bubbles out of his nose also began to turn beet red. “Or maybe I should offer to wash your hair and lavish you with attention?”

“Ngk.” Crowley blushed prettily, all the way down his neck and chest to the edge of the bathwater. “Can you do it without making a mess of my curls?”

Aziraphale scoffed, already reaching for the pre-conditioning treatment and hydrating shampoo Crowley preferred to use. “I’ve washed your hair before and done a fine job. Now turn your back to me so I can begin if you please.”

“Bossy angel,” Crowley muttered, his voice distinctly lacking in venom. “Be careful, think I moved too much during my nap and now there’s a huge tangle back there.”

“Of course dear. You let me know right away if I’m pulling too hard.” He squirted a healthy dollop of pre-conditioner and began massaging it into Crowley’s hair, ends first. Helpless to the gentle stroking of Aziraphale’s fingers through his hair Crowley sighed. The angel leaned forward so he could rest his head on Crowley’s shoulder and admire his husband’s relaxed form. Crowley leaned back, his arms resting on the sides of the tub, the slight swell of his belly just barely peeking out from the water and bubbles. He’d really started showing in the last week or two and Aziraphale could barely keep his hands to himself.

As he let the conditioner sit his hands wandered and he let them. They explored the space at the base of Crowley’s skull, that little squishy indent where his skull met his spine. Then down to the shoulders--familiar territory--and back. Aziraphale wished he was in a position to massage his lover’s sore muscles more efficiently, but for now his caresses would have to do.

From Crowley’s back he moved forward to his stomach. The roundness where there used to be only hard muscle caused a phantom-sensation, like joy zipping through his fingertips at being so close to their baby. Not to mention seeing Crowley so round and soft for the first time ever was still novel and a little exciting. The baby was quiet for now, no movement stirring under his fingertips, but Aziraphale didn’t mind. Just being close like this was enough.

“Ready to rinse?” he asked. Crowley, who had been drifting in that hazy space between dreaming and wakefulness, nodded. Aziraphale carefully tipped the demon’s head back to the faucet and ran cool water over the demon’s hair to wash the conditioner out. The shampoo came next, a delicious apple-scented mixture that Aziraphale was almost sure Crowley ordered custom from somewhere on the internet. That didn’t need to sit, so he quickly washed it out and moved on to the final conditioning.

“I can’t belive you do this every day,” Aziraphale remarked. Crowley chuckled--though it was really more of a giggle, which he would deny to his final breath--and wiggled around until he was laying on his side against Aziraphale’s chest, gazing up at him.

“Doesn’t take as long in the shower, you know. And not every day, you’ve seen me slummin it more than once and you still love me.” Aziraphale couldnt’ help but lean down and peck a kiss to his love’s nose.

“Darling I loved you before regular bathing was a thing so to speak. You’ve always been radiant.” Crowley wiggled again, all blissed-out and content. Aziraphale felt much the same.

“Do you remember when perfume was really in style? Couldn’t go fice minutes without sneezing.” They both laughed, followed by Azirpahale launching into a story about the time he’d had to revive a prominent noblewoman from a terribly unfortunate allergic reaction to his at-the-time newest fragrance. It was homey, and domestic, and they both thoroughly enjoyed it until the bathwater began to cool. Not that they couldn’t keep the water hot if they both wanted, but if they did that they may never leave the tub again

“Time to get out then?” he asked once Crowley’s hair was combed through and rinsed one final time. Crowley wiggled about for a few more minutes, waggling his toes in the sudsy water. Aziraphale allowed him the small pleasure of making a bit of a wet mess of the bathroom floor for a while because it meant he got to watch that small, shit-disturbing grin on the demon's face. When five minutes were up, he leaned forward and pulled the plug himself.

“Fine, fine.” He let Aziraphale help him up, then wrap him in a great big, fluffy towel. Aziraphale did the same for himself, then turned to Crowley, handing wiping aside a few hairs that had become stuck to his face.

“More rest, or do you fancy some dinner?” It was getting late, the bookshop slowly falling dark in the dusky evening light. Crowley was soft and pliant in his hands, not moving in the slightest as the angel miracled them into their respective relaxing clothes: sweats and a t-shirt for Crowley, and his usual get up, topped off with his soft reading jacket. “We could order in, if you like.”

“Lets compromise and pick something up? Can’t spend all day cooped up.” Crowley’s aversion to remaining stationary for too long hadn’t settled after the drive in the Bently and they’d been slowly going out more and more. Restaurants were still off the table, because food was still hit or miss for the demon, but they’d been enjoying walks in the park, long drives, and the occasional show at the theatre. Besides, Crowley intended to spend all night in the angel’s bed anyway, and if he played his cards right it would be easy to get Aziraphale to join him.

#fbafs #fanfic #good omens #gomens #aziraphale/crowley #crowley #crowziraphale #tw mpreg #mpreg

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