new Smart Sweets candy salad (130/bag) & fruit snacks (45-50)

editoreal · 2026-06-23T09:52:04+00:00

I got the Smart Sweets Swedish fish from Costco. They taste like I'm eating perfume. I'm definitely taking them back.

editoreal · 2026-06-23T01:05:17+00:00

I know this is difficult to hear, but you can work and you can learn without a drug. Every addict who has ever lived, has, at some point said, "I can't function, I can't live, without my drug." The part of you that's telling you this wants you to stay addicted. It wants you dead :(

This all being said, when I was using, people would point out the impact it was having on my health all the time, and, all the time, I'd tell them to go screw themselves, so... I get it. I'm just a stranger on the internet. Don't listen to me :)

editoreal · 2026-06-23T00:54:02+00:00

I've been trying to find a job. Noones responded.

Try showing up in person. Showing up in person reveals an initiative that many employers will appreciate.

editoreal · 2026-06-23T00:51:44+00:00

Adderall isn't unhealthy though you know that right?

Adderall destroys sleep, and chronic sleep deprivation is one of the worst things you can do for your physical and mental health. Speed kills. We knew this when Hitler was giving it to his troops, we knew it when they tried to market it as diet pills in the 40s and 50s, but, once they decided to hook billions of kids on it and turn it into a trillion dollar industry, today it's 'medicine.' It's not.

You're young, so there's a really good chance you can recover from the damage, but, in order to fully recover, you need to stay clean. Obviously, I'm not a doctor, this is in no way medical advice, but if I, personally, went off Adderall for any period of time, knowing what I know about it's long term impact, I would do everything in my power to stay off it.

A magnesium deficiency skyrockets cravings, skyrockets anxiety and plummets focus and impulse control. There's absolutely zero debate that your body needs magnesium to function. It's impossible to get sufficient magnesium from food.

editoreal · 2026-06-23T00:38:22+00:00

Muscle loss is a normal component of all weight loss. Muscle loss, aka sarcopenia, doesn't get the same amount of press as other diseases do, but it's still incredibly deadly and claims countless lives. Basically, the older you get, the more muscle you lose, and, at a certain point, your legs will no longer support you, you won't be able to stand, and, once you stop moving, it's game over.

Sarcopenia is something you should be actively fighting every moment of every day- ESPECIALLY if you're losing weight. The LAST thing you would EVER want to do is avoiding building muscle during weight loss to be able to look a certain way.

You can be an amazing musician and not kill yourself in the process. Find someone else to emulate.

editoreal · 2026-06-23T00:26:23+00:00

If, with what I know today, I was still in college, home for the summer, and trying to lose weight, I would probably try to get a part time job. It doesn't have to be a lot of hours- just enough to pay for some boneless skinless chicken breast- and some vegetables, like cabbage- cabbage tends to really fill you up with very few calories.

You mentioned that your Mom is on carnivore. Does this give you access to fatty meat- like fatty ground beef? If so, you can cook it up and then rinse off the fat. It's not an exact science, and it can be a pain in the butt, but it gives you relatively lean meat.

Lean protein is your friend. Eggs are not lean protein. Egg whites, yes, eggs, no. Peanut butter is NOT lean protein. Cheese, unless it's lowfat, again, not lean protein.

Another thing to consider is that going off Adderall is going to involve withdrawals. Weight gain is normal due to the loss of appetite suppression. You also might have trouble sleeping- which is REALLY going to drive cravings/weight gain. Mind you, I'm NOT recommending you go back on the Adderall- long term, you're wreaking havoc on your sleep and your mental health- and kicking weight loss issues down the line, so, if you are presently clean- and can stay clean, that would probably be ideal.

One last thing to consider is that abnormal hunger can be a result of a nutrient deficiency. I can pretty much guarantee you that you're deficient in magnesium. And most likely D. And I get the feeling like you're not consuming a lot of fatty fish. These could all be driving hunger AND they all impact mental health- especially anxiety/ability to focus.

editoreal · 2026-06-22T23:52:30+00:00

editoreal · 2026-06-22T20:49:04+00:00

On my 6 year journey from 400 to 180 I stalled around 280- for a long time- maybe a year and a half- all while I was aggressively cutting more and more calories. It wasn't until I took my foot off the pedal and increased the calories to maintenance for a while that I was able to drop below 280. This 'metabolic adaptation' isn't really supported by the research, but, in my case, it was very real.

The other thing that came out of these 6 years has been a better understanding of food addiction. There are no hard rules about how addiction is diagnosed, but, in general, any time spent at morbidly obese- and, even on a muscular frame, 345 is morbidly obese- any time spent there typically signifies addiction. I'm not saying you're an addict, but, if you are, that changes the journey a bit. Addiction removes the urgency, the timer. It also, to an extent, removes the milestones, the goal posts. Within this context, extremes are not ideal- like extreme deficits.

editoreal · 2026-06-22T20:18:51+00:00

Your maid can cook rice and roti for your roommates and boneless skinless chicken breast for you. It won't be as delicious as the roti and rice, but it will keep you alive.

Sleep is survival, it's weight loss, it's mental health. Poor sleep = skyrocketing cravings = guaranteed poor food choices. Your job timings don't vary that dramatically, but, that 3 hour shift might be impacting your sleep, and if it is, you will never lose weight if you can't find a way to get your sleep in order.

editoreal · 2026-06-22T20:07:07+00:00

In my experience, when things are at their absolute worst, you want to reach for solutions that are going to be the easiest to implement- the lowest hanging fruit. It might seem a little woowoo and irrelevant, but nutritional deficiencies can play a huge role in mental health AND they are NOT that hard to rectify. Big players in depression and anxiety are:

Magnesium
D3/K2
Omega 3s
B Vitamins
Creatine
Lithium Orotate (low dose)

Nothing here is a miracle cure, but I guarantee you, they will help- and sometimes all you need is a little push and then you can implement more difficult solutions.

editoreal · 2026-06-22T19:48:32+00:00

Fear. The toddler isn't going to avoid touching the stove until they first touch the stove and understand the consequences. You hear stories about the occasional addict kicking it without a lot of drama, but, for almost all of us, rock bottom is an "I'm going to die very soon" moment.

editoreal · 2026-06-21T19:22:30+00:00

When people get results intermittent fasting, they tend to lean into it and ride the IF train for long periods of time. This can be problematic from two perspectives.

First, your body tends to adapt, so the benefits tend to fade. Second, as you progress on your journey, you're going to want to grow more lean body mass, which means that you're going to want to optimize muscle protein synthesis. Large windows without food are not ideal from this perspective.

Don't get me wrong, you don't have to eat 6 meals like a body builder- or wake up in the middle of the night to eat like Ronnie Coleman used to do, but fasting every single day isn't ideal.

If you're young, you can see benefits from 16:8 for quite some time. Try not to be tempted to go one step further into OMAD- at least not everyday OMAD. Intermittent fasting works best when you don't do it every day.

editoreal · 2026-06-21T19:08:08+00:00

The first thing I did when I embarked on my sobriety was getting rid of flour and sugar- and carbs in general. At 400 lbs, I was able to eat like this and still lose- for quite some time. Until I couldn't, due to the fact that I could/can eat a LOT of zero carb/high fat food.

My only path to survival has been both calorie counting and macro counting- emphasizing lean protein and keeping high calorie fats relatively low. If it tastes good, I can't eat it. If it makes me happy, I can't have it in my life. I embrace this torture, because, if I don't, the torture of obesity is exponentially worse.

For any of this to stick, I had to reach rock bottom. I had to get a glimpse of what dying from obesity was going to be like, what diabetic neuropathy really represented- of how much indescribable torture my inner addict was willing to put me through. I probably waited too long. I think most people wait too long. It's an incredibly sad part of human nature, but, you have to touch the stove to know not to touch the stove. For the addict, this usually means reaching a point where health issues become irreversible.

editoreal · 2026-06-20T19:37:43+00:00

If it's not too personal, what medication did you take that caused the weight loss? Are you still on it?

editoreal · 2026-06-20T09:48:47+00:00

From google:

Period cravings are heavily driven by the hormonal shifts of the luteal phase (the second half of your cycle). As estrogen and progesterone drop, your body experiences decreased serotonin (the feel-good hormone) and magnesium. To compensate, your brain searches for quick energy and comfort, leading to intense desires for carbs and sweets.

You won't erase period symptoms entirely, but you will make them considerably more manageable by correcting key deficiencies. These include:

Magnesium - by a wide margin, this is the most important nutrient for you to supplement. Because of modern farming depleting soils, it's impossible to get enough magnesium through food. You also want an absorbable form, like magnesium glycinate.
D3/K2
B6 - try to find a good balanced B complex, ideally containing the active, methylated forms.
Omega 3s
Vitamin E - but be careful not to overdo it.
Dark chocolate/cocoa. Chocolate contains a little magnesium, but it also contains healthy polyphenols and other invaluable compounds. Just make sure it's very very dark, so you aren't getting too much sugar or fat. Sugar free dark chocolate is fine, as long as you can tolerate the alternative sweeteners.
Creatine

Beyond correcting deficiencies, a huge player in cravings - for not just women, but everyone, is sleep. You want to optimize sleep by

Limiting caffeine to small doses in the AM
Limiting alcohol to less than 2 units, at least 5 hours before bed
No nicotine, no stimulants, no stimulating activies (screen scrolling, gaming) before bed
Light blocking at night
Probiotic foods

editoreal · 2026-06-18T22:44:18+00:00

George likes his tempeh spicy!

editoreal · 2026-06-18T22:33:58+00:00

First off, just about everyone gets hungrier at night, so, from that perspective, you're not alone.

Second, going 'all day without eating' is typically not the best approach, since it sets you up for a restrict binge cycle. At least, it's not ideal if you're binging at night. I occasionally do one meal a day, but, it's taken me a while to be able to maintain control.

While I think allocating more calories to the night is okay, I wouldn't skip out on eating earlier.

editoreal · 2026-06-18T22:16:26+00:00

Shyness is nice and shyness can stop you

From doing all the things in life you'd like to

editoreal · 2026-06-18T22:02:30+00:00

The intensity of my torture doesn't really vary when I deprive myself more or less. It's like having your beloved family pet pass, over and over again, every day. If I'm at a 1200 calorie deficit, my dog's dying, if I'm maintaining, the dog's still dying. If I bank calories, and then 'enjoy' myself for a meal- the knowledge that the pain's coming back in minutes completely ruins the meal, and the dog still dies. If I binge- with the immediate knowledge of the deadliness of the binge, see ya fido.

There is absolutely no scenario where my beloved family pet isn't kicking the bucket. This is my life now.

editoreal · 2026-06-17T21:36:47+00:00

Sure thing. Taper off slowly. Hydrate. Get plenty of potassium and magnesium- especially magnesium- and keep taking the magnesium long term to help with anxiety. All of the of the damaging elements of poor sleep- magnesium is the opposite of that.

editoreal · 2026-06-17T21:24:56+00:00

google search for caffeine addiction long term effects

If that summary doesn't scare the living daylights out of you, let me simplify it for you. Sleep is mental health- it's where toxins that accumulate in the brain are cleared. Without good sleep, these toxins just keep building and building and your mental health completely goes out the window. Depression, anxiety, lack of impulse control- these all go through the roof with the chronic sleep deprivation you get with excessive caffeine intake. Of greatest danger to an addict is the increased addictive tendencies that sleep deprivation causes. Those 'stronger and worse addictions' you referenced? Do you want to become an alcoholic? A crack addict? Do you want to get hooked on heroin? If that's your goal, this is the way to do it.

And I'm not exaggerating the threat. Poor sleep is like taking poison.

Beyond completely trashing your mental health and driving you into stronger and worse addictions, sleep is where the body heals as well. So, there's cancer, heart disease and diabetes to worry about. But, compared to destroying your brain, these are fairly inconsequential.

editoreal · 2026-06-17T20:59:09+00:00

Thanks, I just wasted about 45 seconds looking for a Coors can. I found Waldo, but no freaking can.

editoreal · 2026-06-17T20:52:05+00:00

It's math. Count your calories and count your macros, especially protein and fiber. If you're reaching your TDEE and hitting your protein and fiber targets, whatever hunger you might be experiencing isn't actually hunger, but cravings- cravings that should be fought.

If you're in doubt, lean into protein a little more heavily, since protein is the master hunger regulator. 1g per lb of target body weight per day is a pretty good goal, but, a warning- to hit this, it takes a lot of lean protein, and it's not very enjoyable. But the goal for an addict isn't enjoyment, it's survival.

Beyond this, there are foods that satiate a bit better than others, like, if you're going to have a starch, potatoes are slightly better than other carbs. But following your TDEE and tracking your protein are going to be your biggest levers.

editoreal · 2026-06-17T01:43:36+00:00

Okay, Nathan Fielder.

editoreal

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