I started working in a fast food kitchen 2 weeks ago and it’s physically stressful so far. I do a lot of meal prep which includes a lot of chopping, carrying, and cleaning. Being on my feet for ~7 hours a day is slowly taking a toll on me and I really want to take preventive measures for long term problems that come with it. My right thumb is numb as I type down this post at 1am because I somehow woke up before 4:30am.

For a little background, this is my first official job where I’m being paid actual money for my work. As per usual, I can’t quit because of finances and I like my coworkers and managers so far. I just want my body to cope with it better and I’m not sure how I should go with it. I was pretty sedentary before I started working. I wear comfortable non-slip shoes with orthotics to better support my arch. I also bought a muscle rolling stick to help massage my feet and leg muscles after work. I think the compression socks I recently got isn’t doing much so I’m going to invest in some Bombas socks soon. What else can I do to prevent breaking my body doing this job?

It took us three days with breaks in between but we finally finished this giant puzzle. Never underestimate how difficult a thousand pieces could be. It was a really nice offline activity to spend with my partner ♡

Took me a second to fill up because we buy the same produce from the same store regularly

Husband and I just wanted to make some cake so we had fun decorating it. intentional misspelling btw

Recently, I wanted a white board to have a physical list of homemade healthy food available at home. We didn’t have the money for one so we bought some dry-erase markers and taped old paper bags onto the back of the glass of our rarely used china cabinet. I like having a big visible list in the kitchen so my husband and I could refrain from opening the fridge several times a day. I also like planning a day before or on the day of so I can gouge what we’re craving for and which ingredients we have available that day.

Forgive the handwriting but I listed down several foods and recipes that we enjoy and have been repeats in our diet. We also wanted it to be relatively cheap so we process and prep meals at home to save food. All of the meals and food items listed are vegan. So far, we’ve been saving up great and feeling better with relatively healthier eating :D

How do you plan your meals?

image description: A china cabinet with its glass doors used like a white board. Brown paper bags are taped behind the glass to make the text visible.

I'm really bad at sticking to things. Every time I try to do something slow and good for me, I do it for a month or two tops and I just revert back into the habits that are bad for me.

For example, I did weightlifting for 2-3 months and I had a lot of fun doing it but I just slowly lost interest and stopped. I did daily journaling and meditation and it gave me a lot of peace and clarity but it only took one mental breakdown for me to quit. I read books daily for a month but I eventually got sucked back into consuming mostly digital media.

I know that all of the former activities were good for me and I genuinely enjoyed doing all of them but I just eventually get sucked back into my old bad habits. How do you break away from that?

For some additional information: I get therapy every 2 weeks and I'm not on any medication. Clinically diagnosed with depression and anxiety

Recently, I decided to delete Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok from my phone. It was a conscious choice I had to make after experiencing an anxious meltdown last week. Reddit wasn't any better for me, and we all know where that place is headed. I haven't deleted my accounts yet, but prioritizing the loss of easy access to those sites was important.

As usual, I feel better now. A lot of the content on those platforms brings me hateful and unpleasant feelings. It's addicting, like a mess you just can't seem to take your eyes off of. I had to be honest with myself and accept the truth that profit-driven social media has a net-negative impact on my life.

I'm glad I'm here now. I'll never stop repeating this until it becomes untrue (hopefully not), but I enjoy being here. I don't see this place as an alternative to anywhere else. It's helping me break the habit of skipping long paragraphs of text and only relying on article titles at face value. The nuance present in several discussions feels more human.

Anyway, enough about me. How have your experiences been with other social media platforms? How do they compare to Beehaw?