Skip Navigation
Jump
Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them
  • It sorta went the opposite for me, when I first started with a vegan diet I abstained from all substitutes and eventually I learned to use them to recreate foods I thought I wouldn't be able to eat again.

    1
  • Jump
    What are your best tips for falling asleep?
  • Oh boy.

    First of all, form good "sleep hygiene" habits, read: https://health.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/data/Sleep Hygiene.pdf

    A lot of it is obvious, like go to bed at the same time every night (set a timer to get yourself reliable at first!), and wake up at the same time every morning. Give yourself more "sleep opportunity" than the hours you want to sleep so you actually get enough sleep (e.g. if you want to sleep 8 hours, maybe give yourself 10 hours in bed with the lights out).

    Don't use screens several hours before bed, don't do anything but sleep in your bed, and wind-down before bed with something like reading a book (again, in a chair in another room, not in your bed).

    Now for more advanced tips I've learned from dealing with insomnia:

    A problem I have sometimes had is that tasks like meditation can actually cause me to become more alert, and it turns out meditation actually does cause insomnia.

    When struggling with meditation related insomnia, I got lots of practice navigating falling asleep.

    What I found most helpful was rather than focusing on an object in a meditation like way, to instead allow mind-wandering and rumination and to try to cultivate a lack of metacognitive awareness about that rumination. Basically, the opposite of meditation. Meditators will hopefully know what I mean by this - but basically, don't pay too much attention to what you are thinking, just get absorbed into the mind-wandering.

    Sometimes if the mind-wandering leads to thoughts or feelings that are "strong" or engaging enough it can prevent me from sleeping, like when I'm anxious or my mind is preparing or rehearsing for an important event or the next day. In that case, a little bit of meta-awareness can be helpful to alert you to the need to redirect your rumination to something actively boring or benign.

    In the most extreme instances, I visualize myself working in a factory performing a repetitive motion like pulling a level to operate a press. I essentially constantly try to pay attention to that mundane task and ensure that it remains mundane / uninteresting - just keep pulling the lever and keep paying attention to that task. This is akin to the counting sheep method, but I always found counting sheep too interesting or engaging of a task.

    After hours of boredom I usually lose consciousness.

    Sometimes I threaten myself with getting out of bed, and often in response I feel a resistance and that makes me realize how tired I actually am, and I threaten myself with doing something boring like sitting in a chair and staring at a wall. Sometimes that is enough to kick me out of my energized thinking into a milder / more boring and repetitive mind-wandering that leads to dreams and unconsciousness.

    Sometimes I actually do have to get out of bed and do something, often I will stretch and if I'm not feeling overwhelmed with sleep that way, I find it helpful to exhaust myself with forearm planks - just hold until you can't anymore (you can also use a timer for 30 seconds or 60 seconds, whatever pushes you past comfort but all the way to failure), maybe try this a couple times. You will sweat and it's miserable the whole time, and you will be tired and want to crawl back into bed. That has helped me fall asleep really well before, and sometimes I think it's because the blood also gets into my muscles and somehow this helps me relax.

    Anyway, hope this helps!

    45
  • Jump
    The fact you can't tell anyone to go f themselves online anymore without getting banned is absurd and sad
  • Have you considered that your anger can have consequences for people on the other side, and that this can even be harmful - and that if you feel disgusted or upset about something it doesn't always give you the right to express that anger directly at someone?

    I mean, I want to be sympathetic, I get how a corporate and sanitized internet can feel wrong and changes the kinds of community that are possible, e.g. young boys on Xbox live were known for saying vile things and riling one another up (as boys commonly do), but as someone who was also present in that culture at the time, not everyone felt at home or comfortable in that environment, and the bullying and culture often made me feel like I couldn't enjoy those games.

    Sometimes tolerance and civility is a small price to pay in exchange for making spaces accessible to other people. That said, I'm not sure every space needs to be like this - so again, I want to be sympathetic here.

    10
  • Jump
    Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them
  • ah yeah, good points - I'm just always wary of the way health fads misrepresent problems, e.g. organic foods being somehow a part of the solution for climate change, etc.

    2
  • Jump
    The fact you can't tell anyone to go f themselves online anymore without getting banned is absurd and sad
  • Why do you feel entitled to express anger or hatred toward people?

    10
  • Jump
    Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them
  • that makes sense, especially as sugar is not particularly filling and refined carbs are less filling as well - so it's easier to accidentally eat too much

    Still, the focus then would be on the metabolic impact and how refined the food is, theoretically something could be ultra-processed and not have too much sugar. Seems like the wrong kind of categorization, if that makes sense.

    2
  • Jump
    Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them
  • that's helpful, thank you.

    I guess a real question is whether there is anything actually bad about being ultra-processed, and what non-arbitrarily determines what is ultra-processed and thus bad?

    4
  • Jump
    Donald Trump tells the biggest anti-trans lie of his campaign
  • “Who would want men playing in women’s sports?” Trump asked at the Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, event, bringing up a topic that has been a mainstay of his campaign this year even though the only people who want to require men to play in women’s sports are generally in his own party. “They want it.”

    “Who would want transgender operations for almost everybody in the world? They want that,” he said. This is not true. Democrats and trans rights advocates want to keep gender-affirming care accessible for those who want and need it. There are no instances of people being forced by Democrats to transition against their will.

    “This is a sick group of people,” he continued. “I’m telling you, there’s a great evil in this. You know, we want to come together as a country, but there’s a lot of, there’s a lot of evil there.”

    saved you a click

    12
  • Jump
    Do you give out candy to kids without a costume on Halloween night?
  • That does assume the kid has the time and resources to hang together a costume even if homemade. I was maybe a preteen when this happened, so that may have played into some adults' hesitancy to give me candy, but also looking back I just think the people in the neighborhood I was in had bad values. I also had zero time for a costume, I wasn't planning on trick-or-treating at all, and it was only because my friends were kind enough to invite me anyway.

    But I would give candy to teens, adults, or kids regardless of whether they have a costume or not. :-)

    4
  • Jump
    I'm trying to go Deadpool here and break the 4th wall.
  • Are you, in your estimation, intelligent?

    No. Particularly I get the impression other people get things faster than me, and I seem to have to do more cognitive labor than my peers. I guess I would ask what "intelligence" is, that seems like a difficult thing to quantify or answer.

    Are you wise in the way you apply that intelligence? (interpretation yours)

    No, I generally consider myself unwise. (It takes me a long time to learn from my mistakes or change self-destructive behaviors, etc. - it often feels like I have trouble "adulting".)

    Do you view yourself as unique and individual, or as a data point on the spectrum of humanity?

    Both, how else could it be? (We are both subjects and objects, unique but usually only slight variations of a theme.)

    2
  • Jump
    Do you give out candy to kids without a costume on Halloween night?
  • The only time I went without a costume as a kid was because I lived in a dysfunctional household and I was super stressed and didn't have enough time or support to plan a costume - so I threw on an oversized coat and went with my friends; some adults tried to give me trouble and refused me candy, and that was a bummer because I felt like I had failed ... anyway - I guess my point is that maybe some kids are being lazy or something, but you don't really know.

    I personally would definitely give kids candy regardless, but I wish people would actually trick-or-treat where I live, it makes me so sad that nobody does.

    63
  • Jump
    Transfem healthcare in the UK with no money
  • To be honest, trans healthcare is not something you can or should depend on providers for at this point. There isn't adequate research and the community has done more to understand the needs than clinicians have. I strongly advise self-educating and approaching providers critically even if you don't self-medicate. This is a good starting place: https://transfemscience.org/articles/transfem-intro/

    I do think it's more common for trans folks to self-medicate precisely because clinicians provide such inadequate care, in addition to cases where care is made illegal or difficult to access.

    Either way, if DIY isn't an option the next best option pragmatically is to get on a Gender Clinic waiting list ASAP and ensure she has access to mental health care and has strongly supportive friends and/or family during this period.

    The point is to mitigate and reduce harm in whatever ways are left, and not being medicated for a lot of people can lead to worse mental health, read more here: https://genderdysphoria.fyi/en/biochemical-dysphoria

    3
  • Jump
    Transfem healthcare in the UK with no money
  • Any particular reason? I think you'll find suitable education on this would probably dispel most fears.

    I don't think DIY is extreme, to the contrary it's rather common.

    2
  • Jump
    Reishi, girl for scale
  • It's commonly regarded as sexist in most contexts, at least that is / was my understanding. The thesis reiterates the harm outside of a workplace setting:

    This suggests that the infantilizing label girl has the most impact and is most harmful in contexts where qualities of maturity, leadership, and adultness are most critical, such as in workplace and leadership settings. I do not mean to suggest, however, that being called girl in a non-workplace setting is unproblematic, as it is possible that such labels could have a cumulative effect over time in any setting: the connotations of naivety and innocence may take their toll on women in the long-term.

    While referring to a man as a boy likewise has problematic features (esp. as a racist slur, like when a white man referring to a black man as "boy"), I think it is considered more harmful to refer to a woman as a "girl" due to the context of women being marginalized historically and presently by undermining their sense of personal autonomy and authority (e.g. the way Hegel described women as akin plants, or the way Aristotle argued women are natural mutilations and aberrations of the proper male form who do not exercise their will and require men to manage their affairs for their own good, the way parents must for their children).

    This is all contextual though - women peers referring to one another as "girl" can be affirming or positive without the infantilizing meaning or impact, so part of the problem is the context of a man referring to a woman as "girl".

    And of course you probably didn't intend this, or even been aware it has any sexist connotation, in fact I suspect this kind of behavior is rather common (lots of men can be clueless about the subtle differences in language and the impact it can have on women).

    This is somewhat touched on in the article as well:

    Indeed, this study may be the first to show that a commonly used label for a group of people (and one that is even preferred by members of that group in many contexts) can have a detrimental effect on members of that group. Previous research (e.g., Boeckmann & Liew, 2002; Carnaghi & Maass, 2007; Evans & Chapman, 2014; Leets, 2002; Leets & Giles, 1997) has documented the effects of hate speech and overtly derogatory labels on minority group members. The term girl reveals another insidious type of language effect that passes by relatively unnoticed and is deemed “normal,” yet has deleterious consequences.

    By the way, I want to be clear that the take-away here isn't that you're sexist or bad, the take-away should just be that many women feel infantilized by being referred to as a girl and that it's good to be aware of and sensitive to that.

    Besides the harm it can cause, it's also probably just pragmatically useful for you to know that other women seeing you refer to another woman as "girl" might have a chilling effect or even spark anger, since it is seen as sexist. I think the context matters here, but a lot of women are victims of physical and sexual assault on top of all the other ways they can be marginalized in this society, and the resulting trauma can cause outsized / disproportionate responses or outbursts. It's just worth noting that if someone seems to be overreacting to something you don't see as that big of a deal, there might be deeper issues there. I don't want you to feel like you have to walk on egg-shells, but it's also good to be aware and empathetic if you are willing to.

    -1
  • Jump
    Transfem healthcare in the UK with no money
  • yeah, obviously DIY is the way to go while waiting for the Gender Clinic, maybe start here: https://old.reddit.com/r/TransDIY/wiki/index

    12
  • Jump
    Reishi, girl for scale
  • That just wasn't the part of the title I was focused on / expecting to be fixed.

    2
  • Jump
    Tough choice
  • In fact, this whole elections thing is just so expensive, a burdensome cost to the people. Wouldn't you prefer to save money and enjoy the reduced risk with knowing a qualified expert is running things (\s)

    (this legit is how the Heritage Foundation sounds)

    6
  • Jump
    Reishi, girl for scale
  • Sorry, I was so focused on how you called a woman a "girl" I missed that you also misspelled reishi.

    1
  • www.erininthemorning.com New Poll: Likely Voters Are Tired Of Anti-Trans Ads

    A new poll run by Data For Progress found that voters are more likely to support candidates who support trans rights. People also believe political attack ads have gotten out of hand.

    Link to poll: https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2024/10/23/voters-prefer-candidates-who-are-supportive-of-transgender-rights-think-recent-political-ads-have-gotten-mean-spirited-and-out-of-hand

    > When voters are asked whether they are more inclined to support a candidate who backs transgender rights or one who opposes them, voters overwhelmingly choose the candidate in favor of transgender rights, by a margin of 21 points. This trend holds true among Independents, with a 19-point preference. Even 22% of Republicans indicate they are more likely to support a candidate who favors trans rights—a significantly higher percentage than the share of Democrats who would back a candidate opposing them.

    > Furthermore, voters showed frustration with the wave of anti-trans advertisements. When asked if they thought political attack ads against the transgender community have gotten mean spirited and out of hand, far more voters agree than disagree (+28 points). This finding holds true for independents (+23 points) as well, with even 31% of Republicans finding that there were too many political attack ads.

    17

    Just wondering for those who have seen it, what your thoughts are about the recent documentary Will & Harper.

    5
    https:// www.npr.org /2024/10/20/g-s1-29118/trump-elon-musk-pennsylvania-voters

    > Musk announced the $1 million giveaway at an event in Harrisburg, Pa., on Saturday. The event was part of a tour supporting Trump.

    > “I have a surprise for you," Musk said shortly before bringing out a giant check. "We are going to be awarding $1 million to people who have signed the petition — every day, from now until the election.”

    > "If you look at the conditions, you must be a registered voter," Hasen said. "And so this is essentially a lottery that's open only to people who register to vote. So it’s either an incentive for someone to vote or it’s a reward. And either way, it violates federal law."

    > He calls Musk's actions "clearly illegal" because it violates statute 52 U.S.C. 10307(c) and the Department of Justice’s election manual.

    > Hasen said willful violation of statute 52 U.S.C. 10307(c) comes with a $10,000 fine and up to five years in prison.

    > "I don't think it would be likely that he would suffer such a serious fine," Hasen said of Musk. "Although, if he was warned that this is illegal activity and continued to do it, I think that would create a different kind of situation."

    13

    I can't seem to shake imposter syndrome or doubts about whether I'm "trans" or whether I'm a woman, etc.

    Just wondering what you all do when you feel that way, if you have any recommendations?

    It makes me feel awful, there is so much commitment to a transition it feels like you have to be certain, but I just don't have constant certainty.

    Sometimes I'll sit down and try to analyze it objectively, basically considering the "null hypothecis" - if I am not trans, then I would be cis, if I were cis then a certain set of things would be true (like, estrogen would probably not feel so great, testosterone would not make me depressed, etc.).

    52

    For chkn I shredded and baked some oyster mushrooms and baked some home-made seitan in a convection oven until it was poofy and crispy, which added a lot of flavor to the seitan (which I normally don't love because it has that distinct flavor that is hard to mask).

    4

    Just wanted to put it on your radar in case you didn't know about the show (I only found out about it by accident). I think it's available on Netflix.

    The show was written by an enby and the cast includes a trans man and Suzy Eddie Izzard.

    4

    Hello, I was wondering if anyone has recommendations for tools to help with digital detox / digital minimalism.

    I struggle with mild impulsivity. Whenever I open my computer I almost automatically open a browser and check social media.

    It used to be a problem primarily with Reddit and news sites, but since joining Lemmy my behavior has switched to regularly checking Lemmy.

    I'm looking for any tools or advice, whether cognitive-behavioral or technical like browser extensions.

    In the past I used the Firefox extension called Redirector to redirect myself from certain subreddits like /r/all to something more benign (I like /r/sewing or /r/books for example), and this intervention helped break up automatic behavior and was a kind of harm reduction: still feeding the impulsivity, but with healthier content.

    I was wondering if there is something like Redirector that redirects randomly with some probability (like 20% of the time it redirects to the target you specify).

    19

    ingredients:

    • beyond beef with onions & taco seasoning,
    • nacho cheez (homemade, the base is cashews, potato, and carrot),
    • pickled onion,
    • pickled jalapeno,
    • lettuce,
    • tomato,
    • flour burrito tortilla,
    • fried 6" corn tortilla for tostada, and
    • homemade cashew sour cream.

    recipes to get you going the right direction (not all are vegan):

    • https://minimalistbaker.com/5-minute-vegan-cashew-queso/
    • https://www.food.com/recipe/copycat-taco-bell-seasoned-beef-537562
    • Joshua Weissman

    For the sour cream, I put 1 cup cashews with 1 TB vinegar (preferably something like sherry vinegar, ACV works too), maybe 1/4 tsp of salt (to taste), and enough water to get to the desired consistency ("as needed"). Blend in a high-powered blender like a Vitamix until smooth.

    Can also inoculate with a yogurt culture and skip the vinegar and then ferment it if you have the time (use a yogurt maker and instructions, then ferment longer for a more sour flavor).

    0

    Habituation and how to change your inner voice

    Hi, just wondering if anyone else has a similar struggle as me.

    Sometimes when I'm thinking in my mind, I have a voice (I know not everyone experiences this, but it sounds common enough) and this "inner" narrative voice has habituated to a masculine sounding voice.

    I have noticed when I'm feeling connected with my gender and it's easier to stick with a feminized voice when speaking aloud (i.e. to others, not internal), my internal voice is likewise easier to be subconsciously feminine as well.

    Some days I have a really good gender day and I wake up the next morning and my mind has reverted back to that masculine-sounding voice in my head. This isn't necessarily inherently distressing as much as it can feel invalidating or make me feel doubt and cognitive dissonance, like I am not a valid woman because my unconscious has this masculine voice, or the internal masculine voice makes it harder to feel authentic using my feminine voice. Some mornings I try to consciously make it sound more feminine and that is helpful, but some mornings it can feel overwhelming or difficult to constantly correct that masculine voice, and the practice becomes a bit like when I try to use my feminine voice with others - an exercise that makes me feel inauthentic, fake, performative, and anxious.

    So far the only real solution I have to these dual problems of habituation (for inner voice and outer) is to just keep trying and persist. I have a tendency towards perfectionism, which makes me feel constantly like I am failing, and this can lead me to feel less motivated to keep trying. However, I am continuing to make an effort. I find having a weekly speech therapy appointment keeps me engaged in that process, and from letting it drop due to other pressures. It also usually makes me feel extremely affirmed, as my therapist is much happier with my progress than I am, and this usually results in finding using my femme voice easy and natural (though usually this only lasts the rest of the day, again, sleeping seems to reset everything and the next morning I wake up with a masculine voice again).

    Was wondering if anyone else has habituated their inner narrative voice, how long it took for them to do that (or if they just stopped noticing or it became less relevant?), and if anyone has tips for overcoming the anxiety of using your voice in everyday situations.

    I feel like forcing myself over and over into the situations has been effective in reducing how anxious I feel. Over time it has gone from feeling like I almost physically couldn't do it and a rising panic sensation to now it just feels like a bit of performance anxiety right before and I usually slip into it without too much issue - though sustaining it over a long period when speaking a lot can be challenging, and how anxious I feel seems connected to how confident I feel in my gender.

    So to summarize, things that have worked for me:

    • noticing masculine inner narrative voice and willfully feminizing it in my head when I notice
    • persisting in forcing myself to feminize my voice at work and in public full-time, even when it is terrifying and just continuing to get regular exposure and ignoring the anxiety that is there
    • building confidence in my gender with styling my hair, wearing jewelry, putting on makeup, wearing feminine clothes, etc. help a little with getting on-board with using a feminine voice (I think of it as I have to pass to myself before I feel like I can try to pass with others, so finding ways to look more like your gender to yourself to build confidence will help with using your voice)

    Wondering if anyone else has experiences to share or advice.

    Thank you!

    2

    Adapted from this recipe:

    https://ifoodreal.com/ukrainian-borscht/

    0

    Hi!

    tl;dr after injecting the same amount of estradiol valerate (subq) for a month or so, I started to experience more dysphoria and signs of testosterone (esp. mental) started to come back. Any reason this might be?

    Longer version / details:

    I injected 5 mg (0.25 mL) of estradiol valerate subq into my thighs every four days for a while, and for a couple weeks I started injecting into my abdomen instead to avoid blood supplies.

    This dose seemed like more than enough. In the past 3.4 mg every 3 days gave me blood estradiol levels of ~350 pg/mL at trough. Recent labs showed 5 mg every 4 days had ~300 pg/mL at trough for me, which was lower than I expected.

    It's a good level, but I was having weird dysphoric experiences that commonly happen when my hormones are out of wack (usually when I'm taking too little estrogen). Things like really doubting my gender identity, depression (lack of motivation, lethargic), anhedonia (little pleasure, flat affect, often leads to craving short-term reward behaviors). Physiological signs of T were not as evident in this case, and the dysphoria was not as severe as in the past when my estrogen was too low. Still, it seemed a lot like my estrogen was too low.

    I increased my dose to 5.4 mg and the dysphoria went away within a day and I felt amazing and continued to feel amazing. I intended to switch to 5.4 mg / 4 days instead, but on day 3 I could feel my hormones coming down and trusting my experience I injected 5 mg a day early with the intention of trying 5 mg / 3 days (which is a lot more than I have taken before in terms of what this should do to my overall levels). Still not sure what I will do next. Part of me wants to stick with a 4 day cycle to keep lower peaks and to minimize overall levels (out of principle, I know injecting is not as risky as oral routes).

    I'm trying to figure out why a stable dose that seems so high and was for the most part effective would suddenly not be "enough" (assuming that's indeed what's happening).

    For context I'm close to 4 months on HRT, I took bicalutamide for a bit but stopped because I don't think it helped my mental symptoms and that's the most important therapeutic goal for me with taking HRT. I switched to monotherapy after 2 months which is when I started the 5 mg / 4 days.

    I've heard sometimes the body can go through phases as it adjusts to estrogen early in HRT, so maybe this is just one of those lurches or adjustments?

    Anyway here are some guesses I came up with:

    • I gained some weight (like 15 lbs), some maybe I need a little more EV than before?
    • injecting into abdomen depots the oil differently than the thigh, so maybe I am seeing a slower or lower circulation of EV (or alternatively a much faster circulation that is causing a crash earlier?)
    • maybe the estrogen receptors are downregulating due to taking too high of a dose too regularly? (I see lots of debate about whether this is a thing, mostly people on Reddit rejecting the idea that this has any clinical relevance.)

    Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this or has suggestions.

    Thanks so much!

    6

    Non-binary seems like it could have several non-compatible meanings, so I wanted to list some of those meanings and see if there are any others out there I don't know.

    One way I could think of non-binary is as being a kind of third gender category, like there are men, women, and non-binary people. In this sense of non-binary a butch woman who considers themselves a woman would not be non-binary because they are a woman.

    Sometimes non-binary is used like "genderqueer" is sometimes used, as a generic description of anyone who doesn't fit perfectly in the narrow confines of the binary genders (i.e. men and women). In this sense a butch woman could see themselves as a woman, but also as genderqueer and non-binary, as they do not conform to binary gender norms for women.

    Another way non-binary seems to be used (related to genderqueer in its historical context) is as a political term, an identity taken up by otherwise cis-sexual and even cis-gendered people who wish to resist binary gender norms and policing. In this sense even a femme cis-sexual woman might identify as non-binary. Sometimes this political identity label might come with a gender expression that cuts against the gender expectations for the assigned sex at birth, but it doesn't have to. (I recently met two people whose gender expressions matched their assigned sex at birth but who identified as non-binary in this political sense.)

    I was wondering what other meanings of non-binary are out there, and how they are commonly used.

    Note: gatekeeping what is "really" non-binary seems pointless to me, since I agree with Wittgenstein that "language is use".

    I know people get heated about policing what a word means (and I am guilty of this myself), but in the interest of inclusion, pluralism, and general cooperation in our community I think we can find a way to communicate with overlapping and different meanings of a shared term.

    53

    More photos of the pizza being made: https://imgur.com/a/npeE1e8

    based on this recipe (not intended as an endorsement):

    https://www.eatfigsnotpigs.com/chicken-caesar-salad-pizza-vegan/

    toppings:

    • herbed compound butter (fresh parsley, minced garlic, oregano)
    • tomato slices
    • red onion slices
    • mozz.
    • breaded and fried tofu (as a kind of chkn)
    • caesar salad dressing (mayo, cashew cream, mustard, capers, parm, lemon juice)
    • lettuce
    • parm
    • bacon bits (used this recipe)
    4

    I recently had an injection that seemed to go wrong (CW: blood, I inject EV subq and I hit something like a capillary, there was a lot of blood and it bruised badly afterwards). Within a couple days I felt unusually dysphoric as a result of what I assume was a failure for the oil to depot and slowly release over time.

    I get these "dysphoric thoughts" that maybe the estrogen is causing the problems, that I don't have objective proof that I'm trans, etc. Lots of doubt, paranoia, and increasing amounts of anxiety and irrational fear (about transition, but also in general, e.g. thinking spiders are in my bed), and I start to experience depression and anhedonia (things aren't as pleasurable, everything feels pretty flat emotionally, I just feel "bad").

    Of course when I inject again and it goes well, I feel much better and I forget about these problems.

    I was just wondering if anyone has advice on how to deal with dysphoria when there are gaps in the HRT. Obviously in the long term, surgery will fix the hormone issue and I suspect that will fix this problem. Until then, though, I am stuck in a rather fragile place where I feel normal (even good, even amazing) when my estrogen levels are high and suppressing my testosterone. Any small slip in that and I barely function as a person.

    Before HRT I would just do whatever I could to increase mental well-being:

    • physical exertion (aerobic exercise, weightlifting, etc.)
    • going outside and getting sunshine
    • keeping up with hydration
    • keeping good sleep hygiene (sleeping enough, going to sleep at the same times, etc.)
    • meditation every day

    But now it feels harder for me to "bootstrap" when there are gaps in HRT and my hormones aren't right, it's like I'm no longer used to how hard it was before.

    Anyway - any tips or thoughts, would like to hear other's experiences.

    27

    Toppings:

    • tofu scramble (pressed tofu blocks broken up and flavored with black salt, turmeric, onion & garlic powder, nooch, smoked paprika, black pepper; allowed to sit in the fridge for a long time to absorb the flavor; then pan-fried with onions)
    • spicy beyond breakfast sausage
    • some violife "feta" cheez (tasted like the mildest goat cheese, could sub with Miyokos cashew mozzarella, or go with a cheddar cheez)
    • bacon bits (I was going to use Horray foods bacon but ran out, so I made some roughly based on Pot Thickens's recipe)
    • extra nooch for cheezy flavor
    • slices were garnished with green onions

    Sauce was a sausage gravy, basically I made a roux with flour and Melt vegan butter, soaked cashews and blended them with a high powered blender into a cream, added maybe 1 tsp of white miso paste and maybe a few TB of mushroom powder and a 1/2 tsp of Better Than Bouillon no-chkn bouillon. Slowly incorporated broth into the roux until it formed a paste, then I added the cream. I cooked up a single patty of Original Beyond Breakfast Sausage and broke it into pieces and then incorporated that into the gravy.

    The crust was made out of freshly milled whole wheat (I used spelt, hard red winter wheat, and soft white wheat berries) and used a sourdough starter. I also subbed a Dos Equis beer for the water (just trying to use it up) and that added some flavor.

    This pizza was much, much better than I expected. Far exceeded expectations. I had never heard of a breakfast pizza before, apparently it's something people get at gas stations? Either way, this pizza is a winner.

    Next time I plan to use omelette toppings, like:

    • spinach
    • black olives
    • tomatoes
    • avocado
    • bell pepper
    • mushrooms
    6