#it could be dehydration but tbh i'm dehydrated most of the time so i doubt

[bloodthirstymoonstone]

Well, that was fun while it lasted...

[emeraldhazeidentity]

You don't have to answer, but I'm super curious-- why did you choose a Cherry bitty? The description makes it seem like they'd be really difficult to take care of (and please don't take this the wrong way, but they don't sound like they'd be much fun to be around). How do you handle the anxiety and frequent crying? Is there anxiety medicine for bitties like there is for people to help them feel better?

First off, thank you so much for your question! I'm delighted to get the chance to talk about my bitty!

Answer under the Read More, because it's quite long 😅

Why I chose a Cherry Bitty:

There are a lot of reasons, tbh, but the main ones are:

- I adore UF Sans, but I doubt I could cope with the destruction and aggression of an Edgy

- As someone with a lot of social anxiety, self doubt and low self esteem myself, I have a lot of empathy with Cherries. Looking after Robin helps me to be kinder to myself.

- I work at a cat rescue/adoption centre. One of the most rewarding parts of the job is helping a scared, timid animal come out of its shell and learn to trust people again. Making that breakthrough where a cat that hides away all the time finally lets you fuss it, and you see its barriers start to crumble away as it realises "This is nice. I could get used to this" is just the best feeling in the world!

2. How I care for my Cherry

Robin reminds me of a timid little bird (which is how he got his name). I handle him the same way I'd handle a nervous cat at work, or a scared child: lots of reassurance and comfort, taking everything at his pace, never scolding him for things he can't help doing, like having an anxiety attack or lashing out in fear, and giving him lots of praise for even the smallest things, like making eye contact when someone speaks to him.

Like I said, anxiety is something I know all too well, so when he gets overwhelmed I take him away somewhere quieter so he can calm down. If he wants me to stay with him, I'll hold him and comfort him through the panic attack. If not, he has a little den in his room where he can bury himself away until he feels better. Like the cats at work, that den is his safe space, and I try to never invade it unless absolutely necessary.

As for the frequent crying: tears are healthy. Crying is like a safety valve that releases the pressure when it's built up too much. No one should ever feel ashamed of crying. I'll hold Robin and comfort him through the tears as many times as necessary. And then make sure he drinks a lot of water so he doesn't get dehydrated.

Robin actually does take anxiety medication when we have to go out somewhere busy or scary, like an airport or a doctor's office. It's actually the same stuff they give humans, just at a fraction of the dosage. It doesn't eliminate his anxiety, but it does help take the edge off so he can cope. He still afterwards needs several days of absolute quiet at home before he can cope with the world again, though. But there is no shame in taking medication for your mental health.

———————

Thank you so much for the ask! I am always happy to talk about bitties with anyone 🤗

[lazycollectionchaos]

I'm on day 6 now, it's 10am so everything has just begun. Anyways, day 5 went really well. I had my morning latte and went to work. At work, I got myself a mostly low-cal work meal and spent 8 hours moving and carrying things at my active job. I say 'mostly' because instead of a pineapple I got myself a brownie, though I knew that I could still stay under my daily calorie goal with that alteration. Overall while it was a greedy risky choice, the brownie was definitively the right option considering how wild and busy that shift got.

I walked home per usual, though my feet hurt so much after standing around for hours and I even went shopping to buy this great high protein, low calorie vegetarian/ vegan (I'm not quite sure) food that is near me but the shop was closed. So in the end I simply got extra steps in.

It does make me wonder how many calories I burn at my job because it is very physically demanding. I did check google and it does give estimates like 1500 calories for the average 155 person. I really doubt it. Firstly I'm not that weight and secondly while I can't remember the amount I burned by walking all day long, I'm sure it was a lot lower than that - maybe 800-900 calories for many hours of walking and walking. I do not recommend it, it is a big binge-eating trigger and well not something one can really keep doing

At the end of the day when I got home, I was so tired that I went straight to bed. I slept away most of yesterday and got up around 9am today. Day 5 went well, today is day 6.

The morning scale weight looked very good, though I guess it's mostly due to dehydration. I will give it a few more days and see how things go with that.

Today I might give myself like an extra 200 calories based on how I feel physically. I ate a lot lot more than that under my goal yesterday. and feel a bit out of it tbh. Yesterday when I was going to bed I was so cold. It was nice though, I missed that feeling and being wrapped around my many blankets and layers did make it easier.

When the time is right I may lower my daily maximum intake, but that all depends on how I feel physically and so on. Right now I have to balance this with uni, work and life. I do often wish that I could simply ignore everything else and focus on loosing and losing weight but I know that would lead me to being homeless and losing access all my safe foods and comforts (aka very likely binge phase and regain, big yikes ikr). Either way, as long as I reach my UGW, I reach my UGW. There is no point in me thinking about how things could have been if I started this when I was younger when back then I knew nothing of how losing actually works and I would have been most likely worse off for it. A lot worse off than I am now.

Other than that, it's day 6 now. Almost a week. I don't think I have maintained that long on restricting till the whole binge phase nightmare started so yay, good for me. Maybe this is a sign that this time I will keep and keep going until days turn to weeks, and weeks turn to months etc.? I hope so and will do what I can to make it happen.

Went off track again but I think I'm back on track now? It's a bit hard to say. I keep putting in the steps and so on to stabilize myself but things keep going wrong.

Recently the idea of mindfulness has come into my mind - maybe that will help? I think I used to do it before I went off track.

Yesterday I restricted well, today things are going well so far, but I am pulling an all-nighter because my sleep schedule is off. This does bring in an additional challenge as it may lead me to exhaustion binge eating. In all honestly, I have a feeling this won't happen tonight. To prevent this I will keep myself well caffeinated and busy as well as active so I won't feel hungry.

Even if I get hungry I am more aware of my eating now. If I need to binge, I will binge on low-calorie fruits and water. Then take an hour-long break and have some protein if the urge is still there. Additionally, I have also made a weight loss schedule based on my current data so I know when I will reach 50kg when I reach 45kg etc. Atm, my weight is 57 kg (big yikes, ikr) cuz I used to be 53-54 before but whatever. Feeling sorry or guilty won't get rid of the weight. Being motivated and excited to get super duper skinny will. I have also written up a list of why I need to lose weight.

2023 will be my year. It will be the year when I will get to 45kg. I have to make that happen. I am making that happen now. Those last few days till the end of the year will not be time for me to let myself go.

I will go back to the person I was during the summer. I was literally so freaking amazing at this. I will be great once again.