I admin the.coolest.zone, the coolest site on the net for online social engagement.

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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 17th, 2023

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  • Calorie counting through MyFitnessPal. I am unable to accurately gauge how many calories I’m consuming just by eyeballing it, and this is especially difficult given my TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is about 1350 calories. (I’m short.) The only way I’ve been able to manage my weight is by turning it into concrete understandable numbers.

    I have a 3,312 day streak of calorie counting now. It’s the one habit I’ve managed to keep up, and while my weight has gone up and down I’ve kept track of it all. At my starting point, I weighed 150lb (obese by BMI), and I’m currently down to 118 (high end of normal by BMI).


  • I always thought this was my ADHD talking, but from some googling… It could be this as well, or instead of. I’m definitely very monotropic and I also recognize the symptoms of Pathological Demand Avoidance in myself.

    Unfortunately, at work I manage three different tracks which each have their own roadmaps and deadlines, so constantly shifting attention is required. It’s taken a decade of practice to get where I am – forcing my body and my brain past perceived obstacles and discomfort. It’s possible to train your brain out of certain desire paths with enough effort, but it’s not easy, and I wouldn’t say I’m cured to any measure. I’m just better at managing my symptoms and getting things done than I used to be.

    I hate to say “it’s a bootstrap thing” but frankly there’s no magic cure, only increasingly difficult iterative steps that you achieve through a ton of practice. I do hope my neurodivergent compatriots here have been able to find jobs that work with their unique skills and brain structures, rather than against as I have found myself.



  • Which language are you trying to learn? There are different answers depending on that.

    As someone learning Hindi, I’ve found that Duolingo is wholly insufficient in grammar and vocabulary (the entire course is far too short) and did not concentrate on listening comprehension. I’ve started using a combination of the following:

    • Clozemaster for vocabulary in context of (sometimes pretty wild) sentences. (I’ve got a lifetime subscription to Clozemaster, it goes on sale during holidays.) Clozemaster has grouped “common words” and a combination of reading/listening skill and multiple choice / vocab word transcription / entire sentence transcription. It feels very overwhelming at first as you’re just thrown in but keep at it - start with reading and multiple choice and once you know the words and sentences in your grouped section start typing them out via listening.
    • A combination of textbooks and websites to explain certain grammatical concepts.
    • A listening-based podcast, example Innovative Language, for listening comprehension. (This also goes on sale regularly.)

  • Somewhat unrelated, but I do find it funny that farts aren’t considered acceptable, but sneezes and coughs are. Like, farts have an extra barrier in the form of your clothing (assuming you’re not at a nudist colony or bathhouse) and won’t make other people sick. I guess it’s just because they’re stinky.

    I vote to normalize farting with an “excuse me”, and saying “bless you” to people when they fart.