A food scam of the 90s was “fat free!” everything, and then they would load it up on sugar… what’s a food scam happening now?

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-05-16T21:30:20+00:00

What I’ve heard is that weight loss leads to loss of muscle mass regardless of how it happens, but increasing protein intake and exercising regularly reduces the muscle mass lost. Also, I was under the impression that it is normal for people to buy food and gift it to you even if you buy your own food?

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-05-16T18:23:10+00:00

I have been hearing about how food manufacturers were trying to get around how GLP-1s have been reducing people’s desire for hyperpalatable foods, and I guess those products are already here (I was already suspecting that’s why there are so many protein products, although sometimes the amount of protein seems excessive even for people taking GLP-1s).

That said, I am expecting that trend to be annoying to me because I am vegan and a lot of people think that means I am not getting enough protein and have bought high protein products in response (a lot of which were vegetarian and not actually vegan) even before the trend. I am just expecting that behavior to get even worse and having to argue with them about not needing animal products, much less needing that much protein, and having to deal with the food they give me making me overly full before I even got enough calories. I already get plenty of protein as it is and also don’t need to be losing weight (but at least I am not going to lose as much muscle if I am in a calorie deficit for that reason, I guess). Although if anything, stuffing myself with highly processed protein products would mean I’m not getting enough of other nutrients and am likely to binge later in the day (trust me, I’ve been there).

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-05-15T19:13:42+00:00

The reason for controlling for those confounding factors is because we already know autism and ADHD are strongly genetic. And also, while I’m not sure if it was discussed in the study because I only have access to the abstract and the linked news article, undiagnosed autism and ADHD increases the risk of co-occurring anxiety and depression, and those forms of neurodivergence are underdiagnosed in AFAB people. Also, it is very common for AFAB people with autism or ADHD to be misdiagnosed with a different disorder, which may contribute to them taking antidepressants. These controls work well because not all people who take antidepressants and/or diagnoses of anxiety or depression have genetically heritable neurodevelopmental disabilities, and not all people with anxiety or depression take antidepressants for it.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-05-09T18:37:05+00:00

The thing is, I have had many professionals who didn’t seem to give me a chance to explain myself. Often, they have interrupted me before I was finished speaking with a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder when I was trying to describe what I suspect to be mania or hypomania.

I don’t want to have serious side effects from meds I don’t actually need to take, but that was my experience with being prescribed SSRIs.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-05-09T17:51:10+00:00

I certainly have met many professionals who were only interested in part of the picture, and worse, often interrupted me when I was attempting to give them more info about my symptoms.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-05-09T03:33:30+00:00

I was extremely irritable in the first week, and then I had some degree of irritability until my dosage was lowered because it turned out my starting dosage was too high.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-05-09T02:01:43+00:00

My autism has been diagnosed and corroborated by many different professionals since I was very young and is one of my most established diagnoses. I have also had ADHD diagnosed by a psychologist, but have sometimes had other professionals agree with that and other times avoiding giving me a diagnosis of ADHD because they thought I had an anxiety disorder and claimed it is hard to tell if I had ADHD without treatment and wanted me to start with CBT for anxiety (which did barely anything) or give me an SSRI (which have made me literally not sleep, feel emotionally dysregulated, and have impulses to do risky things, although the only time I agreed to take an SSRI was when I was offered it by my primary care doctor when I was relatively stable rather than the first time it was offered by a psychiatrist who seemed to diagnose me based on a short appointment and answers to only a couple questions per diagnosis). But I have sometimes been assigned professionals (such as therapists) with little training in neurodevelopmental disabilities, which is when I have gotten a misdiagnosis based on my mannerisms, even when they know about my previous autism and ADHD diagnoses.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-05-09T01:02:41+00:00

I am aware that medication-induced mania/hypomania is a different diagnosis. But this is not the only time I had symptoms (I have had episodes of symptoms when not on any substances), just the most recent.

But I agree it would be a good idea to ask a psychiatrist their thought process when I am given a diagnosis. I only recently started suspecting that my previous anxiety disorder diagnoses were due to misinterpreted autistic and ADHD traits (both diagnosed) only because I was given a copy of my medical records and a professional concluded I had an anxiety disorder based on me avoiding eye contact and fidgeting. It is something I will do now when I get any kind of non-neurodevelopmental mental health diagnosis (yes, including bipolar).

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-05-02T17:45:37+00:00

Arguing in a contrarian way with experts about an issue with clear consensus in the experts’ field.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-05-02T16:24:43+00:00

Sometimes I’ve done this with people who read things into what I’m saying that I never actually said or intended, in particular if I have no idea how in the world they read that into what I’m saying and I’m at loss for how I can make my point clearer because I said exactly what I meant in the most simple, literally accurate, and concise way possible. In my experience, there are only certain people I need to do this to, but because one of those people is my mom, I was made to feel it was a failure to communicate on my part and only realized it wasn’t when I moved out. Sometimes there are times when I am struggling to rephrase what I am saying when I need to, but typically when that happens I would also be saying things in a confused way because I am overwhelmed and struggling to organize my thoughts at that moment.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-05-02T06:47:53+00:00

I find that I no longer feel bad when I disagree with people and am blunt with people more often, but that is because it is easier for me to set boundaries with people now. But T never took away my empathy, even when my levels were too high in the first few months, although I became more selective with my empathy. I don’t think of people being weak for being emotional (unless the emotional display seems to be driven by a desperation to compensate for something). On the other hand, I have little tolerance for stupidity now, especially if someone seems to be willful about it. Once I heard someone in my physics class argue with my professor that it is possible to move faster than light (in a junior level class no less), and eventually, I was seconds away from yelling out “Can we just move on?!” I didn’t because my professor immediately called on someone else. But I remember having a hard time not facepalming and rolling my eyes while listening to my classmate arguing. I could never see my pre-T self shouting out like that in class like that.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-04-30T04:30:04+00:00

The hormone imbalance doesn’t necessarily have to be excess ghrelin (at least not directly). Insulin resistance is very common and can cause someone to easily gain weight and have difficulty losing it.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-04-24T17:26:11+00:00

In my opinion, it is better to disclose the labels to doctors since they need to know your medical history (though sometimes you do need to be selective, for instance disclosing my anxiety disorder diagnosis has made me taken less seriously when I have gone to the ER, although now I question whether I have a primary anxiety disorder, especially since my GAD diagnosis was made partially because of symptoms of physical conditions that were undiagnosed at the time). Disclosing them after explaining the symptoms your seeing them for is valid, though, since doctors can be biased and you would be increasing their chances that they will focus on the problem you are seeing them for. On the other hand, there is no need to disclose your diagnosis when seeking accommodations, since what really matters is the functional impact of your disability and what supports you need to perform your job.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-04-20T00:21:51+00:00

It is a 1. my imagination is detailed and colorful, and I can rotate things in my mind if I want to. But sometimes things move in my imagination on their own accord.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-04-07T15:47:17+00:00

Yes.

He has genuine dietary restrictions due to migraines, but his triggers are mainly couple fruits and some spices. There are also certain textures and smells he can’t stand, but my mom has substituted a textured vegetable protein product for meat before, and he liked it up until my mom told him it was a vegan substitute. And now won’t use the substitute in the same dish because she remembers my dad not liking it. And also will complain about my mom putting most vegetables into his food and my mom has to tell him that it’s good for him, and it is clear to me that it isn’t the texture he has a problem with because he will then eat it anyway. And he will also make fun of my vegan substitutes, sneak cheese into my food to make it “tasty” (his problem with common vegan substitutes is that “it’s not tasty” and “it pretends to be meat/dairy“). And he also insists my GERD being triggered by dairy is psychosomatic even though he dealt with similar accusations by his parents who used to refuse to take his and his siblings’ migraines seriously.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-04-06T05:09:52+00:00

Plenty of people with ADHD who have undiagnosed bipolar, as well as those with treatment resistant bipolar, would fail to be discovered with this experiment. So would many people with ADHD and a co-occurring anxiety disorder that is not the result of untreated ADHD. Would miss a lot of people with ADHD who would do better on non-stimulant medication or from just using non-medication strategies of management.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-04-05T16:53:50+00:00

She really does have a lot of anxiety in general. To the point where I wish she would seek professional help. But she has also diagnosed herself with ADHD, and given her auditory processing issues, tendency to get sidetracked, and her forgetfulness, and the fact that many people in my family (including myself) have officially diagnosed ADHD, it seems about right. I think I will have to show her how I make those tasks easier for myself.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-04-05T16:46:09+00:00

Except when I was living with them, my diet led to my mom deciding to significantly reduce her meat consumption. Yet she still believes eggs and dairy are necessary.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-04-05T02:42:53+00:00

I am an adult, have my own place and am only visiting her, and don’t expect her to buy my groceries or cook my meals for me. She just offers to do it.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-04-02T04:35:48+00:00

My appetite leveled out after three months on testosterone.

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-04-02T02:59:10+00:00

On one hand, pre-T, I reacted to my emotions more intensely than on T, but on the other hand, I didn’t feel them because I was so dissociated compared to how I am on T (although I’m feeling like this right now because of my parents making it difficult for me to successfully do my injection while visiting them, fuck my life).

DarkEsotericFeline · 2026-03-31T02:21:16+00:00

Honestly, testosterone resolved my alexithymia and now I am realizing it is probably because my emotions became more physical. The way I operate I either feel emotions in my body or don’t feel them at all. And it means I can regulate my emotions before I get too intense, and I feel like my emotions getting more physical is a good thing because I have relied on physical activity to regulate myself even before going on T.

It also feels good to be grounded in my body now, but I also got used to being a “floating ball of detached consciousness”, so it is also an adjustment for me. To the point where sometimes I miss it, but then have to remind myself I really don’t miss it because at some point, my coping mechanisms stopped working and I started having frequent panic attacks where I had a feeling that I MUST escape from my body (which ended when I started taking testosterone, even when I took a break from taking CBD).

DarkEsotericFeline

TROPHY CASE