Floater's diary

Guys... I'm a doofus. I've been worrying and worrying about keeping my apartment cool enough for Heikki, but most of the info about chinchilla care is written in the US and UK where AC units aren't built into almost all buildings. In Finland it's actually illegal for landlords to allow the room temp to rise above 26. While that's still 3 degrees higher than what's comfortable for a chinchilla (and the risk of heatstroke starts at 26), the recommended indoor temp in Finland is 21 degrees year round; I personally prefer a cool home anyway so I keep my heaters switched off year round. For as long as I make sure to keep the blinders and curtains closed in my sunset facing wall, me and Heikki should be perfectly fine. AND if there's a horrid heat spell, as can sometimes happen, I can temporarily move his cage to the bathroom/sauna (for as long as I keep he door open so his internal clock doesn't get messed up) which is the coolest and driest room in the apartment when I'm not taking a shower lol.

I'm starting to think that I might be a very good match for a chinchilla. I just need to buy a good quality infrared thermometer so I can always hunt down the coolest spot in the apartment for him!
 
Assistance came over for a 2-hour visit, we walked to the supermarket to let me get out some steam, I bought a glass water bottle for Heikki and more Kombucha for myself. We took the scenic route home so we ended up walking for almost the whole two hours - yay for low impact cardio!

Meal #4 is rice and a two-egg omelette topped with lime juice, cashews, and carrot shavings. Simple, easy, cheap - and good!
 
Llama said:
Sounds like a good day. About time!
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Amen!

Meal #5: the side salad I prepped earlier and two rye bread sandwiches with salt beef. I'm HUNGRY!!

I packed my aqua jogging gear for tomorrow. The pool will close for summer break on 17.6. and reopen on 18.7 so I'll try to go on walks and swim in the lake instead.

My stomach is super bloated but I don't really mind it too much. Firstly, no wonder after all the stress, and secondly, the more buff I get the less aesthetically displeasing the distended tummy looks. Had BAD dysphoria about my chest after showering and decided to start writing those experiences down because there are times when I go "fuck it, I'll never get to medically transition anyway" which is bad for morale and makes me want to quit eating right and exercising, and I need to keep that motivation game strong.

Feeling tired but happy.
 
Prepped my bento breakfast: 100g of cottage cheese, fruit salad with banana and mango, feta salad with lime juice, cucumber and tomatoes, 4 dates, 4 Brazil nuts, and a green tea mochi.

I'm super tired and not really hungry but I do feel peckish for "something nice", so I guess I'll eat what I prepped earlier as meal #6: overnight oats and chia matcha pudding with a bit of yogurt, and try to go to sleep early. I'm surprised that I haven't had any sort of emotional breakdown but maybe Fri-Sat emptied that tank for a while? I'm sorry for being a creepy lunatic!

EDIT: fun chinchilla facts to take my mind off the fact that I'm insane: in the wild, chinchillas live in packs of up to 100 chillas, they eat Chilean needle grass as their main staple but also eat some cacti and roots, and their diet varies seasonally. Females are slightly larger than males and are dominant in the packs. There are two subspecies of wild chinchillas, and their closest relative is viscacha, which is slightly bigger than chinchilla and lives on the pampas instead of on the mountain slopes.
 
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You are NOT a creepy lunatic, my dude. And I'm very happy you didn't have more of a breakdown (what's an almost-breakdown, a bend-down?). I'm going to go ahead and say that's to do with how well you've been taking care of yourself.
 
Llama said:
You are NOT a creepy lunatic, my dude. And I'm very happy you didn't have more of a breakdown (what's an almost-breakdown, a bend-down?). I'm going to go ahead and say that's to do with how well you've been taking care of yourself.
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:grouphug:
 
I woke up at 11AM - I clearly needed the sleep - and had my bento breakfast. I was supposed to go aqua jogging right after, but in a true ADHDer fashion started noticing things that had to be taken care of around the home so... On the other hand, it's not really a bad thing. I did some plant care, took out my window washing stuff, washed the dishes, did some food prepping, and messaged with a friend. She contacted me about a friend's 5-year old dog who's looking for a new home because there's a baby in the house and the dog doesn't like the baby. I think it's telling that instead of doggy fever, I felt a mixture of shame and relief for having to decline the offer, because there's no way I can rehome a terrier with Heikki moving in. This tells me that my subconscious is well on it's way to becoming a chinchilla owner, with the joys and hardships, pros and cons that come with that fuzzy little man.

Meal #2 is like something straight out of a yoga retreat from Hell: green tea chia pudding with 2 tablespoons of hemp protein, yogurt, and banana slices. Looks like swamp gunk with frog eggs in it, but tastes surprisingly good. To the surprise of exactly zero people I really enjoy the taste and smell of hemp (the food variety lol). And of course my drink of choice is Kombucha. :jump:

After this I swear I'll go aqua jogging!
 
I left home, but had such a nervous feeling, like rats running up and down my legs, that I bought a beer and sat down in the park. I will go aqua jogging after drinking this and I won't drink more. I think I need to request a renewal of my anxiety meds... I avoid taking them whenever I can, but using them for a genuine need is just sensible.

Of course I forgot to put on sunscreen and it's still level 3UV radiation out here, but I am usually very diligent with it so...
 
Hope you don't burn too badly. Taking meds as needed is part of adult self-care: doesn't matter if the need is mental or physical because the brain is part of the body.
 
Llama said:
Hope you don't burn too badly. Taking meds as needed is part of adult self-care: doesn't matter if the need is mental or physical because the brain is part of the body.
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It was half cloudy and at 5PM the sun is fairly low in the sky, I should be fine, I only sat down for 15-20 mins. Good point about the meds.

I aqua jogged for an hour. I'm clearly underfueled as even that felt like pulling teeth and I had to have meal #3: locker room porridge BEFORE showering and sauna because I was scared I'd faint. In other words, my physical condition hasn't deteriorated but my CNS is out of whack. I need to up my kcals and go easy on exercise for a while. But I still aqua jogged for 60 mins and that's great. I'm proud.
 
Llama said:
Great work on pushing through AND on knowing when to stop and eat.
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Thanks! Went grocery shopping on my way home and ate an 80g pack of snack salami on my way home. I felt like I'd faint if I didn't so I don't consider it a binge - sure, it was 500 kcal and 4,5g of sodium, but also 20g of protein. Let's call it meal #4, and the two quesadillas I had at home and the red lentil stew with one pollock fillet that I just heated up and that's cooling a bit before eating constitute meal #5.

Now - I did go back on my word and buy two more beers, but with two conditions. I promised myself that I'd eat a hot meal first - halfway there as we speak - and that I wouldn't beat myself up about drinking a total of three beers tonight. It is acceptable to drink on occasion and in moderation and I have been doing very well in that regard.

While I'm waiting for the red lentil stew to cool, I think I'll prep tomorrow's post workout porridge. This time I'll go with overnight oats instead of a warm porridge because the weather is getting a bit warm for porridge, and also this way I can prep the oats in my thermos tonight, keep it in the fridge, and enjoy a nice cooling post workout snack after the gym.

EDIT: I plan meal #6 to be rice with a fried egg, scallions, and a can of tuna. And let's count those two more beers into it too. I haven't opened one yet but I'm pretty sure I will lol. Fruit and veg wise I'm all set for today so I can focus on high-energy, filling last meal of the day, along the alcohol it should knock me right out.
 
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500 kcal for 80 g of salami? That's so much! Mine is 356 for 100 g, with 25 g of protein 🤔 Still: if you needed it, you needed it.
 
Llama said:
500 kcal for 80 g of salami? That's so much! Mine is 356 for 100 g, with 25 g of protein 🤔 Still: if you needed it, you needed it.
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If I recall correctly, this one had 575 kcal per 100g? I may have read the label wrong though!

Prepped my bento box - feta salad, banana, chia pudding, Brazil nuts, chocolate and dates. I need to lie down for a minute before hanging my clean laundry.
 
It's absolutely possible. 20 g of protein for 80 kcal still leaves up to 60 g of fat for 540 kcal so it could even be higher. I guess I'd just never given it much thought.
Hope the lie-down gives you the energy you need to keep going until bedtime.
 
Llama said:
It's absolutely possible. 20 g of protein for 80 kcal still leaves up to 60 g of fat for 540 kcal so it could even be higher. I guess I'd just never given it much thought.
Hope the lie-down gives you the energy you need to keep going until bedtime.
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Yup - I try to not get too stuck on the numbers because meals #1 and #2 were light anyway and I underate during the weekend. Makes sense I needed something high kcal especially as I hit the gym pretty hard on Sun and Tue.

Laundry machine just finished so I'll hang the laundry and get my rice going because I feel weak in the legs. I'll crack open a beer while I'm waiting for the rice... I'm glad it's almost bedtime...
 
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