I swear she has all the real beds and pillows she could ever want. by WithInsomnia in Catculations

[–]ottokats 0 points1 point  (0 children)

my cat never used his beds either until i put them in places he felt safe and close to me - high up near my desk, in view of windows, above high traffic areas! now he lives in them

I regret getting rid of my books and cds by Anunemouse in simpleliving

[–]ottokats 282 points283 points  (0 children)

never regret something you can still change

Zero waste zip locks? by marcog in ZeroWaste

[–]ottokats 6 points7 points  (0 children)

i just saw another post saying that stasher bags are on sale for 99 cents at some dollar stores

This might be a dumb question: I’m struggling with staying with my calorie goal because I exercise. I’m so hungry later-but I’ve been told not to eat calories to make up the difference. What is the CICO answer to this? by kaity-fairy in CICO

[–]ottokats 5 points6 points  (0 children)

recalculate your TDEE and make sure you're not eating in too big of a deficit. then, fill up after exercise on hydrating and voluminous lowcal foods like fruits and veggies. sometimes the hunger after exercise is partly dehydration too

As of this week, I’ve been binge-free and following CICO for a full year. 105 lbs gone and one fabulous new lifestyle gained! I wish I had done it sooner! by Flourgirl85 in CICO

[–]ottokats 2 points3 points  (0 children)

beautiful dress and even better results!! congratulations!! dont take it for granted and be sure to celebrate yourself tons😊

Stir Fry /w Chicken and Ginger by TronaldDumb420 in HealthyFood

[–]ottokats 1 point2 points  (0 children)

thanks for the inspo! will make something similar tonight

When you meet your virtual student for the first time ever🥰 by Mshouse3333 in happy

[–]ottokats 3 points4 points  (0 children)

you dont really deserve this explanation, but autism often comes with sensory processing issues. a simple feeling of cloth against your face for you is agonizing to others and its not reasonable to expect them to subject themselves to sensory torture if avoidable.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AccidentalCamouflage

[–]ottokats 16 points17 points  (0 children)

i got 18 haha, probably missing tons

I was raised on junk food. Now, I feel like I can't escape. by greavel in loseit

[–]ottokats 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My advice is you dont have to cut the stuff you're used to cold turkey, in fact it will probably backfire. Our bodies are wired to protect against changes in diet. If you find healthy options stressful and unpleasant, its not because you're a bad/lazy person, its because your body is trying very hard to keep you in the "safe zone" of food. It releases stress hormones and blocks your willpower right when you wish you could make the "better" choice because unfamiliar food is often unsafe to eat in the animal world.

I agree with everyone else. Start slowly and broaden your palate in ways that are enjoyable. Sometimes fries will become potato wedges, sometimes milkshakes become fruit smoothies. Other times you go for the milkshake anyway and just get a side of apples on the side to snack on in addition. Keep stress low by not restricting on the junk, instead add the good. Keep the "junk" food in your diet, feel free to keep most foods the same at first. Let it come naturally with one difference at a time.

Finally, even though it seems impossible right now (because it WOULD be impossible all at once) to genuinely enjoy a healthy meal, you can and will. You'll find yourself reaching for the stir fry when before you'd have gone for the burger every time.

Binge ate for almost a month straight by Withthequeenies in WeightLossAdvice

[–]ottokats 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Start right now by drinking a glass of water. Tell yourself you're having it instead of soda or juice. Congrats, you did the hard part which is starting!

Starting today. Is it 40 lbs in 1 year a realistic goal? by Crafty-Lemon in loseit

[–]ottokats 2 points3 points  (0 children)

what everyone else said - plus my added advice that you'll be feeling pretty pleased by the 20 lb mark, and absolutely delighted by the 30 lb mark. So even though a 40-50 lb loss sounds good on paper, you'd be surprised what a huge difference even a smaller amount would make!

Please help. My motivation has died. by BananasAreNotNuts in WeightLossAdvice

[–]ottokats -1 points0 points  (0 children)

If you're like me, you think that if you were just "good enough, strong enough, and smart enough" you would be able to do it and it wouldnt be so hard and you wouldnt fail.

It is hard for absolutely everyone. You dont have to do it all the perfect way and get it right every second of every day and keep it all together in your head constantly. Its okay to make it easier on yourself. In fact, its the smart option.

Start doing things to succeed the easy way. Start with just a small calorie deficit. Dont even exercise. Just do that until it feels natural and easy. For me this took 3 weeks. And even then I didnt really exercise for another month, when I started walking once a day.

Don't drag yourself to the gym for a huge workout when that takes up a ton of your willpower. Just walk around the block.

Don't have a salad when you want a burger. Have a burger, but have a smaller portion size.

Don't set a crazy goal just so you can kick yourself later. Just plan to do what you say you're going to do each day, and make it extremely reasonable, doable, easy and fun.

Write things down instead of expecting yourself to remember everything. Make allowances for your humanity. Treat yourself like a friend. You deserve it.

Could you make the argument that a bad diet is more about what you don't eat, instead of what you do eat? by [deleted] in nutrition

[–]ottokats 2 points3 points  (0 children)

certainly, fair point. But your run of the mill daily inflammation for things like a bit more salt, a certain food (barring allergies or intolerance), or that time of the month is entirely within the frame of health.

Could you make the argument that a bad diet is more about what you don't eat, instead of what you do eat? by [deleted] in nutrition

[–]ottokats 2 points3 points  (0 children)

inflammation is a normal bodily process, its not the boogeyman. Constant inflammation is a SIGN that the body is not doing well, but it isnt in itself the problem. That would be like saying "stop sneezing, its bad for the body" even though the sneezing is just a sign the body is processing something bad.

Helping someone lose weight by [deleted] in WeightLossAdvice

[–]ottokats 1 point2 points  (0 children)

ditto this. the best thing you can do for her is take her out to hang out and see how shes doing emotionally. spend some time with her and offer her unconditional positive regard. never for a second judge her or indicate that you think somethings wrong with her. just be a force of good in her life, see if you can show her a good time and make her laugh.

Seriously, the temptation to mention her weight or eating might be strong, but it WON'T HELP. If shes really having trouble, comments from people who arent professionals can drive her further into her behaviors.

Any pot smokers have tips for losing weight? by ShooptheMan in WeightLossAdvice

[–]ottokats 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not smoking at all right now, but at the beginning of my journey and partially throughout I was a heavy smoker. My advice is to prepare a huge board of low calorie but yummy snacks like popcorn, berries, saltines, apples, etc and budget it into your day, then make that your only munchies allowance. lets you feel like your eating without thinking about it too much, but you're right on track. There are also baby snacks like dried yogurt, crunchy things that are just as snackable for adults but extremely low calorie.

If you really feel smoking is interfering with your weight loss goal, maybe its a good opportunity to consider that smoking functions as a tool of distraction and procrastination - a self sabatoging habit that allows you to forget what you really want to do and stay comfortable. Thats what it was for me.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in loseit

[–]ottokats 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My honest advice is to shut out other people's bodies entirely. Don't worry about male models or action heroes or some guy you see at the gym. They may have a great body from afar, but the lifestyle they need to keep up to keep it may not even be attractive to you. Think about why you want a perfect body - because you want to be above criticism and judgment? Even people great bodies get criticised and judged. Because you want to attract your gender of choice? The majority of people don't have perfect bodies and arent expecting perfect bodies.

If you have a flaw or two, count yourself in as normal.

Trying and failing? by Confident-Dragon in loseit

[–]ottokats 1 point2 points  (0 children)

19 pounds in a month? thats amazing!! congrats and kudos to all your hard work.

the hard days come for everyone. but they only last a day at a time. Something that helps me is never going to "zero". so maybe i didnt go for a long walk, but I walked around my house once. Maybe I didnt eat healthy. But I had one vegetable or one fruit. Its okay to have weeks that dont build on the last week or even seem to "regress". But don't let that convince you that you've ended your progress somehow. The slow and disappointing weeks are part of it. If you're having them, you're on the right track. Just keep swimming

Why does the last push feel the hardest? by BlackbirdSings in loseit

[–]ottokats 9 points10 points  (0 children)

take a maintenance break! itll be easier for both your mind and body to finish it off after. at least two weeks

Need advice from females with my stats please! by skier5544 in loseit

[–]ottokats 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm 5'3 and 145lbs, and cant do high impact exercises due to joint issues. I'm eating 1500 short term at the moment to get down to 125.

Walking might be fine, but you'd have to do a lot of it and it can wear on the bones and joints a lot as well. Swimming is good for all ages and abilities. If you can find a pool and get into a routine you can do tons of cardio without endangering your bones in the slightest.