Whimsical is my middle name

A reminder that sell-buy dates or best-used-by dates are not the same as expiration dates.

The website puts a link to the USDA site which links to foodsafety dot gov who really wants you to use the app, but you can bypass it.

Also a link to the Canadian government's advisory on best-before dates.

Did you know that in post-mortem examinations there is zero correlation between weight and levels of arteriosclerosis and related diseases found?

Did you know that people with an overweight BMI have the longest life expectancy, that those with an “ideal” and an “obese” have about the same life expectancy, and that being “underweight” raises mortality rates more than being “morbidly obese”?

Did you know that losing weight and then gaining it back is worse for your heart than remaining at the weight you started consistently?

Did you know that 95% of people who lose weight do gain it back, and there has never been a single documented weight loss program that has been demonstrated to keep the weight off for five years or more in the majority or even a significant minority of people? Like, telling people to lose weight isn’t much use if we don’t know HOW to make that happen.

Like I have read The Obesity Myth by Paul Campos and Rethinking Thin by Gina Kolata and Big Fat Lies by Glenn A Gaesser (Ph.D!) And Fat!So? and several other books that I don’t own and so don’t remember all of their names I spent like four years reading every single study coming out and looking at the methodology and noting which ones had huge holes or terrible methods and which didn’t (the holes were almost always in the pro-weight-loss studies) and like

Big Fat Lies has 27 pages of bibliography. 27 pages worth of scientific citation. The book content itself is only 197 pages. That’s a page of references for every 7 pages of book. Reading the book is just reference after reference and study after study. Most of these doctors (like Linda Bacon, author of Health at Every Size) started out the same way. They wanted to use the scientific method to find a real weight loss program or health solution that worked and could be proven to work, and so studied everything they could about weight and fitness only to find out that we didn’t need weight loss in the first place. That all the studies calling for it were lacking or nonexistent. That weight and underlying metabolic health have very little relation. That the history of our relationship with health and obesity has little basis in fact and a LOT of basis in capitalism, politics, and fashion. No, really, the association between weight and health was first proposed by insurance companies looking for ways to charge people more by claiming risk. They also charged tall and short people more. And people with different skin colors. When they got in trouble for charging people for things they had no control over and had no bearing on their health, they set out to prove that weight was controllable and that fat was unhealthy to make money. 

These are also a lot of the same people who went on to invent the President’s fitness program, so if you went to public school you probably already hate them. 

It delves into most of the points raised by the OP and takes it one step further by investigating how many health issues attributed to obesity are, in fact, often byproducts of the stress of being fat and not the weight itself. While this commonly includes conditions like depression, anxiety, and disordered eating, it can also translate to heart problems as a result of the body producing more of the stress hormone cortisol, which can increase blood cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, and blood pressure–all common risk factors for heart disease. Cortisol can also promote buildup or plaque in the arteries. Some studies have started to look at the life expectancy of those who are stigmatized and bullied for being fat vs. those who aren’t. Spoiler alert: people who are tortured and traumatized for their weight don’t live longer.

And none of this even scratches the surface of medical bias and the subpar treatment many fat folks face when seeking medical advice for something completely unrelated to diet or nutrition.

If people focused less on stigmatizing fat folks and wailing about health while also upholding systemic barriers that prevent fat folks from being able to participate in fitness activities in the same way as their thinner counterparts, a greater number of people might find an active lifestyle more accessible to them, thus promoting better exercise habits and overall strength and fitness. Many, many people, including those medically considered “overweight” or “obese,” enjoy being active–whatever that might look like on an individual level–and participating in activities such as organized sports, but avoid doing so because of fear of ridicule or stigma, or various barriers that are systematically placed in their way. 

For instance: do you know how impossible it is to pursue a hobby in long-distance cycling while fat? How about kayaking? Surfing? Or equestrian? If you think any of the clothing or equipment necessary for these sports–such as cycling jerseys or one-piece suits, wetsuits, actual kayaks, or breeches–are easily accessible to people over a US women’s size 10/12, think again. And that is to say nothing about how fat folks can be ostracized or bullied for even trying to participate in fitness activities, even ones as basic as going for a jog or hitting the gym.

While thinness isn’t an indicator of health or physical fitness, the same also holds true: fatness isn’t an indicator of lack of health or physical fitness. They aren’t mutually exclusive concepts, but fat people are often barred from fitness or active spaces without experiencing some form of alienation or barriers to their participation, whether social, economic, physical, or otherwise.

(And none of this is to say that anyone, especially fat people, owe others fitness or “good” health, because that is how we slide firmly into ableism.)

We don’t owe the world anything period. Fatness doesn’t preclude us from being able to enjoy the same happiness and acceptance as thin folks, and we sure as fuck shouldn’t have to participate in health or diet culture to “earn” respect or acknowledgement of our basic human rights.

also as an aside, the “eat a tasty [snack]” captions never fail to make my entire week. i eats a tasty poast :]

i know i've posted these a lot but here are what comes to mind...

Mexican Mole Lizard (Bipes biporus), family Bipedidae, endemic to the Baja California peninsula of Mexico

photograph by Mike Pingleton

photograph by Carl J Franklin

AND

Secret Toadhead Agama (Phrynocephalus mystaceus), defensive display, family Agamidae, found in found in Iran, North Afghanistan, Eastern Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan

If you’re persodivergent or know someone else who’s persodivergent, I’m sure you’ve heard the term supply before, and you likely have a pretty good understanding of it based on the way it circulates in the community. However, I haven’t been able to find a good resource that accurately describes what supply looks like overall. Sure, there’s plenty of resources for specific pd supply sources, especially the more ‘popular’ pds, but what is supply at its core?

Supply is something that makes a persodivergent individual feel good about themselves to a degree that persotypicals have a hard time grasping. It’s something that gives feelings like euphoria, energy, etc. Supply fuels them, makes them feel good and like they’re able to function normally. When someone is low on supply they may get snappy, nervous, low on energy, etc. Supply can sometimes even be powerful enough to break splitting! It’s like a battery for persodivergent people, when your supply battery runs low your disorder will start acting up in negative ways. This is why it’s important to surround yourself with people willing to give you what you need without sacrificing anything by doing so. Otherwise, you’ll both be miserable, and that’d suck. Not all persodivergent individuals have this supply battery, of course, but for those that do it’s important to them to have this battery be filled every once in a while. It’s always best to ask what is most helpful for these individuals when their supply is running low, however, as every persodivergent individual is different.

Personality disorders tend to develop due to emotional neglect in certain areas, meaning that those with persodivergence will be particularly excited when they aren’t being neglected in that same way. As stated in this post by @thatnarcissisticfeel, when an individual is constantly faced with being ignored or getting negative feedback as a child and their natural coping mechanism is that everyone else is wrong and that they’re better than everyone, they may end up with NPD. Therefore, giving a pwNPD positive feedback and making sure not to ignore them and to include them in things can be supply for them, as that’s actively going against the neglect they went through that caused the personality disorder in the first place. Of course, compliments and telling them they’re the best could also feed into this supply battery, as that proves their coping mechanism of being the best correct. However, if it’s suspected to be disingenuous, that can have the opposite effect. 

Certain disorders, such as ASPD, SZPD, PPD, and STPD are less likely to have a supply battery due to the fact the coping mechanism is detaching themselves from the need for what they were neglected with. This does not make it impossible for supply to exist for these disorders, but there tends to be less of a need for outside validation due to the nature of these disorders. It’s best to ask if there’s anything you can do for these individuals, as it's a lot more subjective and uncertain when it comes to them. 

Supply for a handful of other disorders include: ✧ Giving your full attention to someone with HPD when they talk about their interests and engaging to show you’re actually listening. ✧ Applauding someone with OCPD for doing so well on a test or other project, especially if you engage and say what exactly you loved about it.

✧ Assurance and actions to prove to a pwBPD that you won’t leave and that you enjoy being in their presence. Reaching out to a pwBPD first can give supply, too.

✧ Checking in on someone with AVPD when you suspect they’re isolating and letting them know you appreciate them and that nobody hates them for just existing.

✧ Helping someone with DPD to make decisions and talking them through it logically so you aren’t just telling them what to do but also helping them think about it without making them decide completely alone.

Some general supply ideas include:

✧ Asking specific questions about interest(s)

✧ Specific compliments

✧ Reaching out first

✧ Remembering little details

✧ Celebrating meeting goals (anything from just acknowledgement to maybe even a party if a bigger thing like a job promotion)

Supply Resources + the general supply ideas taken from @a-jagged-nightmare. The resources are mostly npd based. Unfortunately not a lot of resources out there for other pds

Supply, NPD specifically (linked above in my npd example)

Self Supply Tips, NPD & HPD focused by @narcissism-positivity

NPD, Asexuality, Hypersexuality, and Supply by @narc-rants

NPD Supply Ideas by @clusterrune

Related:

Supply Person (SUP):A SUP is someone the persodivergent individual can obtain supply from of any kind.