please tell me

Slightly bigger vent but I hope you stick around-
I feel like whenever some hero has something that makes them unique, Dota's balancing team just kills that right off with strong nerfs until it becomes balanced and it becomes just another hero that cheeses with whatever item gets buffed in that meta.
Take Lifestealer - used to be a hero that absolutely demolished str heroes but his kit has been nerfed over and over because of meta items that he no longer feels unique at all. His str went to shit, his ATK went to shit, his W went to shit, his slow became his Shard and so on.
WR - used to be a good mid with high dmg on her ulty but now at best, she is a pos 4 who resurges with some meta item like right now you play her as pos 4 with Meteor. Her ulty is just an accessory, her Aghs that made her viable first removed 2 charges then changed to invisible then that also got removed and now she is just an unreliable stun into Meteor combo.
Invoker - used to be able to play him either E or W depending on the game. For the past few years, he has been nerfed all around until he got hammered down into the meta where he is mostly played as Exo.
Storm, Lesh, and other heroes got nerfed into the ground where their viability has been centered around Bloodstone or some cheese like 6 Nulls. Back in my days, you could jump over 2 times with Storm in the fight and Lesh was able to experiment with items instead of following a script.
Luna, Medusa,.. knew what their purpose was but lately everyone farms fast and everyone does damage so now they feel like garbage, range supports turning carries is better than old ranged carries.
Troll used to get on top of you and Bash the living hell out of you. He no longer can hold you reliably or himself with his Jesus take the wheel ulty.
NP used to be the rat but now he is picked simply for his teleport and fast farming.
​
Numerous examples, heroes that had a purpose are now just "there". You now see a hero picked and you can't guess his items, his goal, or his purpose, old counters no longer apply because you can just brute force everything, old items no longer counter heroes either (I play unranked with my new player gf so I play with all skill levels and when I see a carry building Silver Edge because enemies have BB. Timber or something like against them I immediately assume that that carry is low MMR because in high MMR nobody counters those heroes with items that have break, they just outkite them, outlive them or simply brutishly beat them down).
Everything is now viable (should be a blessing but it is a curse in disguise), all problems on heroes were fixed with Shards or Aghs (Superman Sven, Shard Ursa,...) but they were a certain way for a precise reason and now that those reasons are gone, it doesn't matter what you pick, you just follow a script and hope for the best.

I was thinking about this today, and I made it, two great big fucking potatoes and I ate both of them and the extra filling. Damn, I was hungry. Ordinarily, I wouldn't call this a recipe, but the reason I'm writing it down is because as I was gorging myself this afternoon I thought, "this would be a good one to convince non-vegans to stop murdering animals". And you know, maybe someone here hasn't had one.
Of course it's hard to convince people. But this is one of those ones that I reckon you can convince people to give it a go, because it tastes just like a high-school potato, without being "weird" vegan replacements.
What's a high-school potato? Maybe I'm just old, but when I went to high-school (1997-2002), in like, year 7 or 8, we all had to do home rec, it was a mandatory subject. One of the only things I learned in high-school that I retained, is this recipe.
That's why it's called high-school potato. I also learned to disrespect anyone who claimed to have authority, hate for our antiquated way of teaching (like we're all going to be factory workers), anyone who plays football is probably a rapist/abuser, and poverty breeds hate.

Ingredients

• Big potatoes. Probably the cheap unwashed ones from Colesworth because you can get biiiig ones. Royal Creme potatoes go pretty well, but I reckon all potatoes are the same (except kifler) so get whatever. They just need to be big. Wash them so they're clean.
• Chives
• Spring Onions (you can grow these super easy on your kitchen bench)
• Boar-Free Bacon. This stuff is fantastic, better than real bacon. If you fry it up for like breakfast or whatever, I always drop in some bread afterwards to soak and fry in the left over oil. Jesus it's delicious. You can use anything though, vegan bacon, beans, ham, tofurky, whatever. Really, you're just adding something delicious.
• A shallot
• As much garlic as you want, so like, 5 cloves
• Vegan Sour Cream (they're all pretty good I reckon)
• Vegan grated cheese. I tried the new BEGA stuff today for this, and yeah, it's pretty good, ngl.
• Vegan butter, I like Nutlex

Method

1. Hot frypan, like the middle setting on the stove. Olive oil in there.
2. Turn on the oven to like 180 or something, if you have a grill, we'll just use that instead.
3. Poke your potatoes with a fork or skewer, bunch of holes all over. Stick them on a plate, with paper towel over them, in the microwave for about 8 minutes on a high setting. If your microwave has a potato button, use that instead.
4. Chop up the shallot and the garlic, as big or small as you want
5. When the oil is hot, start frying
6. When the potato microwave bings, roll them over and cook again. Keep doing this until you can skewer them without much resistance. I.e., they're cooked through.
7. Chop up your boar-free bacon. As big or little as you want.
8. When the onion and shallot is fried a little, add the bacon pieces
9. Now you can get some scissors and cut up the spring onion and chives, just put them in a medium mixing bowl for now.
10. When your bacon onion garlic looks nice just take it off the heat for now
11. Get your potatoes, careful, they're hot, and cut the top off. Just like... 1 cm thick off the top, like you're scalping it. You want access to the inside.
12. Scoop the inside out the potato out with a spoon, and put the potato in the mixing bowl. You want to scoop out all of it, so there's just a thin casing of potato and skin left. Be careful not to break the potato, but it's not a big deal if you do.
13. Get a fork and mash up the potato in your mixing bowl, add some butter to make it a little easier. You want it somewhat creamy. Add you bacon onion garlic to it. Add some sour cream to it.
14. Mix it all up in the bowl. At this point, you can experiment with some other stuff. Vegan Worcestershire (I spelt that right first go) sauce is nice addition.
15. Now you stuff the potatoes. Like digging a grave, you're not going to get it all back in, but you can try. Any extra is just good to eat right now.
16. Press some shredded cheese into the top.
17. Under the grill, or in the oven.
18. The tops of the potato can be brushed in oil, bit of cheese and salt and pepper, and gilled/ovened and turned into a crunchy potato skin sort of thing to go with your high-school potato.

They're so good. Chives and sour cream are really the only mandatory ingredients, other than that you can put whatever you want. I think bacon or ham is what really sells it as a high-school potato, but that's just my personal experience, so add whatever you reckon goes well.

Hello everyone,
I am quite new to the cast iron way of life. One thing I noticed is that I need to use much more fat than I'm used to cook in a cast iron pan when compared to non-stick. This is ok for once in a while or weekend cooking but for everyday use I am worried about it being too unhealthy and caloric.
Do any of you have a way around that? Or some healthy-ish/low-calorie recipes on cast iron?
Thanks in advance!

How do you breakdown your 1200 calorie day? which meal do is the most calories
what time do you eat?
Today was 10 am breakfast, 1 pm smoothie lunch, 5 pm dinner, 7 pm snack.
I am just starting out with CICO and trying the 1200 a day calorie plan. today I went over [first week] and ended up eating 1479... [200 calories over]
3 egg veggie cheese omelet breakfast 468 calories - i can lower the calories this meal with 2 eggs instead of 3 - eggs, cheddar, baby spinach, scallions, salsa and olive oil
smoothie lunch + coffee 363 calories - 1 banana, 1 cup spinach, 15 almonds, 5 grapes, 1 apple, cinnamon, ice and water / black coffee with apriva
fish and veggie dinner 398 calories - air fryer salmon and mixed vegetables
tortilla with feta snack 250 calories - spray olive oil, xtreme wellness high fiber tortilla and feta made into a quesadilla + black coffee with lakonto sweetener

Six Sisters Stuff is a popular blog that features a wide range of delicious and easy-to-make dinner recipes. Here are some of their quick and easy dinner recipes:

1. Slow Cooker Creamy Ranch Chicken: Place chicken breasts in a slow cooker and top with cream cheese, ranch seasoning, and chicken broth. Cook on low for 6-8 hours and serve with rice or noodles.
2. One-Pan Baked Ziti: Cook ziti pasta according to package instructions. In a skillet, cook ground beef and onion, then add pasta sauce and cooked ziti. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and bake in the oven until cheese is melted.
3. 20-Minute Taco Salad: Cook ground beef and taco seasoning in a skillet, then serve over a bed of lettuce and top with cheese, tomatoes, avocado, and sour cream.
4. Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps: Grill chicken breasts and slice into strips. In a wrap, add lettuce, Caesar dressing, Parmesan cheese, and the grilled chicken strips.
5. Easy Chicken Alfredo: Cook fettuccine according to package instructions. In a skillet, cook chicken breasts and garlic, then add heavy cream and Parmesan cheese. Add the cooked fettuccine and serve.

These are just a few of the many quick and easy dinner recipes available on the Six Sisters Stuff blog.

[Edit: So maybe this wasn't puppy blues. I gave my anxiety the benefit of the doubt, but turns out it was right and she just wasn't the right dog for me.]
I had never heard of the puppy blues before, but wow I'm glad I'm not alone. (Though it's an adult dog, but still.)
I wish I had known about it before, and read any of the countless stories of it getting better. But here's what happened.
I have moderate anxiety, as well as social issues. My husband, family, psychiatrist, and I agreed that getting a dog could help keep me company and give me something to focus on as my husband is gone for work often - he's getting ready to deploy soon.
It's probably worth mentioning this would be the first dog I've been solely responsible for as an adult, I'm late 20s. I've watched my parents' dog several times over the last few years. My husband's family bred dogs, so he helped raise some but didn't train. So I would not consider us to be experienced owners at all. Cats, yes. Dogs, no.
We decided against a puppy, as we thought it'd be far more work than I could do on my own. But also wanted to get a dog soon so it could remember my husband and not be jealous or protective when he came back from deployment.
We visited a local shelter, and told them I was looking for a younger adult dog that would be suitable for possible service dog training. (I was already in contact with a trainer who recommended the specific shelter and said they were familiar with what he looks for as far as temperament).
They brought out a 2 year old that was just spayed, so she wasn't out for adoption quite yet. She looks like an Akita Husky mix, about the size of a smaller Husky. Absolutely gorgeous, was ok to walk, a little pulling because she was interested in the flowers, but not bad. Honestly relatable because ADHD.
They said she was independent, and I took that to mean she wasn't clingy, not that she was stubborn - though I knew how Huskies are. My parents have a golden doodle that's very clingy, and since I work from home, I don't want the dog attached to me 24/7. So independent sounded good.
We went home and thought about it. I didn't immediately say she was the one, but the next day I kept thinking about her, so I called and asked them if we could get her the following day.
We took her to a pet store to get the right size collar and crate (we had a slip lead). Very good in the store, friendly with people asking to pet her. Then she refused to get back in the car. She yipped and acted like my husband hurt her when he tried to pick her up, so we thought she'd pulled her stitches or something. Finally after me getting in the car and coaxing her in, she jumped up just fine. Can't blame her for not trying to get in the car with strangers twice.
She was pretty well mannered in the house, marked a few times in the living room but I started brushing her in there to show it wasn't a pee spot, and that seemed to work. Her temperament was fine, not reactive, didn't bark at all. She howled a few times which I thought was adorable. More like a wolf than a Husky song.
Her preferred activity was patrolling the house and yard. It seemed like she wasn't familiar with [carpeted] stairs because she slid down them for the first 10 or so times, but she got the hang of it. She really enjoyed being brushed, and could complete a lap while I cleaned out the fur. Kind of a fun game that she invented.
She was not interested in any of the treats I had, and she was on slow-kill heartworm treatment so I had to give her meds twice a day. Thankfully she liked cheese and would take the meds that way. Not sure if the aversion was from anxiety or she was previously trained to refuse food. She wouldn't eat from the bowl until I walked out of sight.
I could tell she was timid, and she slept a lot. I called the shelter and double checked what they told me about the heart worm treatment, since fast kill meant basically zero movement, but exercise with slow kill is okay as long as they're not overexerted and don't have symptoms. Just wanted to make sure I didn't do something wrong. Could've been just the quiet compared to the noisy shelter.
She would want out the front door, and would not want to come back in from walks. But no problem coming back in from the fenced backyard. (Maybe she didn't want to get in the car, which is impossible to avoid because our front yard and driveway are tiny).
She'd dig her heels in and wouldn't budge. I weigh barely twice as much as her, and was terrified she might take off. I was on the verge of a panic attack at the pet store, I can't imagine if my husband wasn't there.
Not even the end of the third day, I had an overwhelming feeling that I was in too deep. The worker at the shelter was so nice and helpful when I called about the heart worm treatment, so I was ok with that, but I didn't know if I could handle training her or her exercise needs.
Eventually she would've gone to service dog training, but I had to care for her in the meantime. And how could I do that if I couldn't handle her refusing to come inside?
I was so adamant that she (or whichever dog I ended up with) could help me keep a schedule and get out of the house more, but I couldn't eat or sleep the entire time.
I thought I caused her harm by making the impulsive decision to adopt her - even though I'd been planning for months and thinking for years. That I couldn't possibly give her a good life. But I was also afraid to take her back to the shelter.
All I could see or think about was how she may have been treated prior to becoming a stray, and how I could've made it worse.
My husband was looking up training videos, my mom was trying to make the 8+ hour drive to come help me, the dog was just wanting to play, and I couldn't see past the anguish I felt. I sobbed for 2 days straight.
I had a moment of clarity and thought even if I can stick it out and learn to train her, that I'm just not an active enough person for her needs - and not physically or mentally strong enough to help her through the stubbornness or what her previous owner may or may not have done.
I made the painful call to the shelter, and they accepted her back.
As soon as we got out of the car and walked towards the door, she froze and wouldn't look at me. I got her to do a lap and she froze again very close to the parking lot entrance, so cars were coming by. I completely understood her reluctance to go back to the shelter, I didn't want her to go back either, but the behavior was unsafe for both of us. She needed a strong leader and it wasn't me.
I knew I made the right decision, but it absolutely broke my heart.
It's been a couple days, and I still feel like I hurt her or made things worse somehow, or that she thinks she did something wrong. She was so good, she just needed guidance and somebody to trust.
Today we got the news that my husband's deployment date was delayed. And my first thought was I could've had more time to help her. I didn't have to give up on her, she could still be here. But I couldn't have known that.
My heart is shattered over a dog I knew for less than a week. The shelter posted her for adoption so I really hope she gets a nice loving family with a big yard to patrol.
I emailed them some photos and wrote some of the info they might want to know for potential adopters. A fleeting thought told me to go visit her, but that would just make it worse. Because I'd want to try again and make it right- and I can't.
I see a psychiatrist and my next appointment isn't for a few weeks. Maybe that will give me enough time to be able to talk about it without crying.
Not ready to consider another pet yet, but I'm afraid the same puppy blues will come.
Also not really sure what I'm looking for here. Reassurance, I suppose? There are so many stories about how it gets better, but those people kept the dog. I never would've considered returning or rehoming a pet before this, so at least it's given me a new perspective. A painful one.

I wanted to share my daily progress for those that are interested in coming off PPIs. Reading about the acid rebound effects can be scary, so I wanted to offer my experience and provide some data points.
Background: 41(M) took Pantoprazole 20mg for several years and then Omeprazole 20mg for the last few years.
How did it start? I am a little fuzzy on this but I remember my heartburn sticking with me more and more over time. I would have some tightness and discomfort after drinking coffee. My PCP at the time prescribed Pantoprazole and then everything went back to the norm.
How bad did it get? About 4 years ago, I was trying to wean my PPI medication but I did not have the goal of coming off completely. I thought it would be nice to take the medication every other day or skip a couple days. Fast forward to one evening with Chili for dinner, it was very hearty and hot and I ate it very quickly. I was in a lot of discomfort and it felt like all the food was backed up severely. I had never experienced anything like that, so I made a GI appointment and that brings me to the following diagnosis.
Clinical Diagnosis: Following a 2019 endoscopy: GERD, Dysphagia. Normal esophagus. Normal duodenum. Few benign polyps were removed.
Dietary Adjustments: Stopped daily coffee and soda intake. Staying away from red sauce and 10 feet away from Chili.
Inverted Snacking: Based on the following articles, I tried out this novel eating exercise where you eat in an inverted position to force your esophageal muscles to push food up against gravity. Personally, I am convinced it helps strengthen LES as I can feel the second push of food as it travels to the stomach. The custom position I am using is an elevated bridge using a bench or chair as you swallow some food/snack -- not an entire meal. The great thing about it is that all you have to do is eat and not break a sweat. Trying to do this daily for a few minutes. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9106553/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9550520/ General Exercise: 20 min stationary bike, 1 minute plank, 8 chin-ups, optional 40-60 crunches. The crunches can give me GERD symptoms, so avoiding those in this acid rebound period until everything stabilizes. About twice a week.
Expected Plan: Discussed with my GI doctor (of course). Wean for 10 days taking PPI every other day. Then, stop PPI usage and use H2 blocker as needed.
Realized Plan: The weaning period was not bothering me, so I decided to stop PPI usage earlier and off we go...
Daily Progress:
Day 0 - Medications {PPI,H2}. Had IHOP for breakfast. Feeling some tightness. Took Pepcid Complete.
Day 1 - Medications {None}. Goodbye PPI. Stomach feels warmer in the morning. Doing ok overall.
Day 2 - Medications {H2}. Stomach continues to feel warm. Took Pepcid before Happy Hour. Had 1 drink and some quesadillas.
Day 3 - Medications {H2}. For lunch I had chicken pot pie and a Twix candy bar. Both the left and the right Twix. Lots of physical discomfort. Took Pepcid right away. I was overly confident in how I thought I was progressing. Additional discomfort when my wife found out I had Twix and did not save any for her. Two for me. None for her.
Day 4 - Medications {None}. Slept well. Mild globus sensation in throat. Deep breathing helped. There is no spoon. Feel ok overall. Had salmon, potatoes, and vegetables for dinner. Throat is a little scratchy. Exercised.
Day 5 - Medications {None}. Slept well. No more globus sensation. Pretty good day.
Day 6 - Medications {None}. Slept well. Faint throat tingle. Breakfast biscuit, eggs, bacon, sausage. A little decaf coffee. Burps had hints of acidity but not bothersome.
Day 7 - Medications {None}. Slept well. Burps continue to have a hint of acidity. Some bloating/pressure sensation but not uncomfortable at all.
Day 8 - Medications {None}. AM Feeling better overall even after meals. Some faint warm stomach sensations. Burps are less often. For dinner I had Chicken Wings, Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans, and a handful of chocolate pretzels. Had moderate tightness/discomfort about 2 hours after the meal but subsided within 5-10 minutes. Then a warm stomach sensation. I think chocolate is trying to send me a message. Exercised.
Day 9 - Medications {None}. Continue to sleep well. Feeling very little symptoms. Dinner was quiche with spinach, eggs, tomatoes, and cheese. Not feeling discomfort. Some burping.

In the episode "You Gotta Have Hope", Rose tells the story of being in an orphanage for the first eight years of her life. However, in the episode where she meets her natural father (played by Don Ameche), the story was that she was left at the Linstrom's doorstep as a baby (along with some cheese, a beef stick, a ham and some crackers that didn't go with anything).
I hadn't noticed it before until tonight while watching the Bob Hope episode and thought it was rather strange that Rose has two different childhood stories. Thoughts?

I’ve had anxiety for years, since I was very young, I remember being afraid of everything and having phobias of germs, getting sick, heights, flying, driving, certain foods, etc. I was constantly scared as a child and eventually as I went off to college when I was 16 I slowly learned to live with my anxiety. I tried new things, I slowly came out of my shell. When I hit 34.. everything came to a head, I had gone through a major divorce at 33, lived through COVID under constant fear, I was diagnosed with PCOS, was moving across the country in May and was the heaviest I had ever been May 2022. By August 2022 I had lost 70lbs in almost two months because I was so afraid to eat I was basically crying every single day. I couldn’t eat and refused to, my emetophobia was so strong I could barely move everyday. I was in the ER multiple times, having procedures and CT scans done and no one could find out what was wrong with me.
It was then that I finally decided that I needed medication, I talked to a psychiatrist for the first time. I felt like a failure, I had been through so much but I couldn’t break this fear and horror of food. Therapy wasn’t helping and I had been so afraid of food that no one could get me to eat more than a bite or two for a whole day. I was prescribed medication because one of its side effects was to rise my appetite, and at first it didn’t work. I felt again, so defeated and exhausted. They put me on a higher dose.. and after a few weeks, I felt hungry. I had cravings again. I felt like finally eating and I was so famished, I finally ate a piece of pizza because the cheese looked so good I couldn’t not eat it.
September 2022 I decided to start going to the gym, I was scared at first, I only would go in for 20 minutes 3 times a week. I was so weak, I had lost all my muscle starving myself.
October 2022 I went to the gym for the first time for an hour. I went up to the free weights and was discouraged, but then watched some YouTube videos and started building workouts. I walked my first mile without pain. I was eating 1,800 calories a day. I wasn’t as afraid.
November 2022 I ate out at a restaurant for the first time in months! I had nachos and they were delicious. I wasn’t afraid! I had my colonoscopy and they found IBS and colitis. I finally had answers to my stomach pains.
December 2022 I made a big Christmas dinner with my partner and roommate and I ate a full meal! I was now lifting at the gym 5 times a week.
January 2023 I travelled out of the state on a plane! I ate out almost everyday! I enrolled back into school for my masters.
February 2023 to now: I workout 5 days a week and I walk 2-3 miles every single day. I keep my body on a routine for my chronic illnesses and I eat a focused healthy diet everyday.
Some days are still hard, some days have anxiety.. some days my stomach hurts and I have flare ups randomly. But every bad day has five times better ones. I focus on the positive, I try not to be afraid of anything anymore. And even if I am? I remember it can’t hurt me, and I’ll be okay tomorrow.
I wish everyone the best of luck in your journey and recovery 💜

Calories: 659 consumed - 670 active = -11 net
Macros: 60.2 g protein, 55.4 net carbs, 10.5 g fat
Food: mixed vegetables, lettuce salad, protein shake, kombucha, electrolytes, supplements, caffeine pills
Fasted: 21 hrs
Steps: 25,209

Notes

• Busy day at work, ate relatively normal meals during the day help with energy/focus, then burned it off with workout sessions in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Super proud of myself for sticking to my commitment regardless and not making the work stress an excuse to not maintain my calorie equilibrium.
• It probably goes without saying that a deficit to this degree is extremely difficult, but I’ve reconciled myself with that. This isn’t supposed be comfortable. There was a period of time during the afternoon today where I was feeling overwhelmed with work and stressed about the thought of adhering to my dietary commitments and felt momentarily full of self-doubt and despair. But in the midst of that I had a moment of clarity where I realized that a large part of my misery was because of how much I was resisting what I was experiencing—I wanted relief, I wanted comfort, and I momentarily believed that going without those things was beyond what I could handle, and that my commitment was impossible. But when I instead accepted what I was expeirencing and all the discomfort it involved without trying to escape or mentally reject it—it became infinitely more bearable. I think I’ll probably be realizing that anew quite often over the course of the coming days.
• So much of this is self-actualizing. If I believe it is possible, if I believe that I will adhere to my commitment—then I will. If I trust myself, then I will be someone worthy of that trust.
• I feel like this endeavor is making me much more mindful around food. Every calorie I consume has to be intentional because it must be counterbalanced with the calories I burn.

Been on keto for 6 days. I’ve been eating mostly salads, Keto wraps with lunch meat and cheese, spinach soup, meat sticks, sausage patties. But for some reason I’m not hungry all day so I do all my eating late afternoon, evening.
For example today, I ate for first time around 3pm. Spinach soup with chicken and cauliflower rice and a plain Caesar salad. Then I had keto chips and two sausage patties. Im still hungry! I want something good to eat so bad.
I think I already see results at my waist but the scale hasn’t moved.
How do you stay motivated when all you wanna do is eat a bunch of carbs?

I know this is not the most exciting post but I’m getting desperate so hear me out.
Long story short, mine and my partner’s mortgage has become extortionately expensive with inflation, and so we’ve had to get roommates (who also happen to be our couple friends). They’ve lived here for two weeks now and upon arriving they have filled our cupboards with assorted junk food snacks, and they cook large meals that are intended to be shared with the household with a ton of butter and cheese and infinite calories.
My problem is threefold:

1. I am TERRIBLE with change. Last time there was a big change like this was when we moved into this house and I completely lost control and gained the 25lbs im working to lose now. I am VERY scared that history is repeating itself.
2. I had a system that worked for me before, which was that I didn’t have much if any junk food type snacks in the house, and if there were they were out of sight so it wasn’t a constant mental battle to avoid eating them at inappropriate times. With roommates, I can’t control what they buy or where they put it, and by the end of the day I’m finding myself giving in to the cravings I’ve been fighting off all day. On top of this, I’ve not been taking part in the shared dinners because of the calories, but it makes me feel really shitty to constantly be saying no to my friends kind efforts because I have to lose weight.

I have tried to at least explain that I’m counting calories and trying to lose weight, but they’re the type of people who have never had to think about their exercise or eating habits and can still remain thin, so they don’t really get it. They also frequently comment on my food and what I’m eating, and they don’t mean anything by it but it makes me feel like even more of a freak.
I’ve never lived with roommates who eat like this, so I’m not sure what steps to take to keep myself on track when I’m surrounded by temptations and pressure and no control over the physical aspects of it.
Any tips, tricks, or possibly even a kick in the bum would be appreciated.
(Also bc it might affect the answers, im 29F)