The problem was a flatmate I lived with was a hardcore vegan and blatantly mocked my decision to reintroduce animal products again. Well, he was a man. He didn't menstruate at all. He lacked of medical and experiential knowledge of having the period cycle disturbed. He didn't get autoimmunity symptoms. He ... basically he couldn't even comprehend the breadth and depth of the issues I had.
And even after leaving WFPB (whole foods plant based) and now I live on my own, I still relapsed a bit. The budget mindset was luckily not for foods, but for life in general.
My malnutrition caused Raynaud's and all sorts of seemingly unrelated issues but triggered by cold. And my weird mind picked literally every other action than switch on my radiators, could you believe that?
I bought warmer jumpers, electrical blankets, etc, because people on the internet said it's cheaper to warm up one's body than the entire room.
Well ... my room was small already. Buying new things cost money as well. While turning on radiators regularly won't cost a lot as the room is not freezing to begin with if it's heated regularly.
Like...why? And it wasn't that I was budget-deficit at all! I live modestly and have enough to pay for the bills, why did I have to be stingy for comfort? I even partook in the cold shower trend (I wrote a post on Substack as well last year, like a hall of fame of my "ascetic" "cold shower" "stoic" posts) because people said: iT hElPed wIth bUilDinG rEsisTance to CoLd
No wonder all my symptoms pointed to autoimmunity (which no! not at all, been cleared by rheum) or cardiac issue (which no! not at all, my heart had to work harder because of malnutrition but now I'm resolved to eat and rest more).
Amalie I'm so glad I came across your Substack. If you've got time feel free to browse my old posts (ca. 2023 - mid 2024), which showed how distorted the restrictive mindset was.
I put up my WFPB, ketogenic diet, cold showers, hiking, etc as a badge of honour. By no means I think less of those activities. It's just that I found them noble to do -- as if torturing my body was a desirable and exemplary action, right when I was in energy debt. If I have a normal metabolism and my body doesn't say no, I would try them out.
But I was in energy deficit for 4-5 years of constant restriction of all forms and on top of that, all those activities.
Yes, I relate very much to the budget orthorexia
The problem was a flatmate I lived with was a hardcore vegan and blatantly mocked my decision to reintroduce animal products again. Well, he was a man. He didn't menstruate at all. He lacked of medical and experiential knowledge of having the period cycle disturbed. He didn't get autoimmunity symptoms. He ... basically he couldn't even comprehend the breadth and depth of the issues I had.
And even after leaving WFPB (whole foods plant based) and now I live on my own, I still relapsed a bit. The budget mindset was luckily not for foods, but for life in general.
My malnutrition caused Raynaud's and all sorts of seemingly unrelated issues but triggered by cold. And my weird mind picked literally every other action than switch on my radiators, could you believe that?
I bought warmer jumpers, electrical blankets, etc, because people on the internet said it's cheaper to warm up one's body than the entire room.
Well ... my room was small already. Buying new things cost money as well. While turning on radiators regularly won't cost a lot as the room is not freezing to begin with if it's heated regularly.
Like...why? And it wasn't that I was budget-deficit at all! I live modestly and have enough to pay for the bills, why did I have to be stingy for comfort? I even partook in the cold shower trend (I wrote a post on Substack as well last year, like a hall of fame of my "ascetic" "cold shower" "stoic" posts) because people said: iT hElPed wIth bUilDinG rEsisTance to CoLd
No wonder all my symptoms pointed to autoimmunity (which no! not at all, been cleared by rheum) or cardiac issue (which no! not at all, my heart had to work harder because of malnutrition but now I'm resolved to eat and rest more).
Amalie I'm so glad I came across your Substack. If you've got time feel free to browse my old posts (ca. 2023 - mid 2024), which showed how distorted the restrictive mindset was.
I put up my WFPB, ketogenic diet, cold showers, hiking, etc as a badge of honour. By no means I think less of those activities. It's just that I found them noble to do -- as if torturing my body was a desirable and exemplary action, right when I was in energy debt. If I have a normal metabolism and my body doesn't say no, I would try them out.
But I was in energy deficit for 4-5 years of constant restriction of all forms and on top of that, all those activities.
I was sad and ashamed of how I had become.
👌🏽