How do you accept the negative impact on your physical appearance in a superficial world?

[andyguitar]

That one really baffled me. Are the Koreans pranking us? Daring us? Laughing at us?

It's a mystery.

Have a look at bean curd.......

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

Have a look at bean curd.......

I used to like bean curd, back when I could eat any old thing I wanted to. It takes up the flavors of anything you mixi it with, and pressed and broiled, it's nice and chewy and tasty, and all that protein .... what can I say?

On it's own, its a little like soggy cardboard by-products.

In what frame of reference should I look at it? Cosmetic? Gastronoic? Humorous? Mushy peas ?

 

[andyguitar]

In what frame of reference should I look at it? Cosmetic? Gastronoic? Humorous?

All of them. The wives of 2 TCM Docs I got to know both said it is the number 1 thing to improve/maintain feminine health and wellbeing. They were in their 50s. Looked about 30ish.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

All of them. The wives of 2 TCM Docs I got to know both said it is the number 1 thing to improve/maintain feminine health and wellbeing. They were in their 50s. Looked about 30ish.

They're totally right, and so are you. That's because it's heavily estrogenic, which can be dangerous for anyone with estrogen-sensitive cancers or other illnesses that would respond unpleasantly to additional exogenous estrogen.

Still, it's a great tip AxeMan, and thank you for posting it.

I may try smearing some on my face tonight. And if I don't wake up looking 30-ish, I'm coming for you

Damn, I cant type for shite today. Ive had to go back and correct just about every word I typed. At least I wont have to do the dread EDIT .....

 

[andyguitar]

That's because it's heavily estrogenic, which can be dangerous for anyone with estrogen-sensitive cancers or other illnesses that would respond unpleasantly to additional exogenous estrogen.

Yes indeed, a good point. And it really comes down to the cost/benefit ratio. The use of diet to influence hormone levels can have a benefit but...... caution is advised.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

I used to like bean curd, back when I could eat any old thing I wanted to. It takes up the flavors of anything you mixi it with, and pressed and broiled, it's nice and chewy and tasty, and all that protein

I converted one teenage boy to veganism over my tofu "not fish" fish sticks. You bread them in nutritional yeast and chow down, really tasty and good (cook in butter, grass fed).

I stopped eating most of the soy products decades ago, so I failed to preserve my good looks, it seems...

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

@Replenished
Are y'all still with us, or have we talked you into a deep, soothing slumber?

I love this thread, and thank you again for it .

 

[BrightCandle]

Thank you for mentioning it here. How simple is it to use?

I think its pretty easy. It came with some videos on how to use it from the 1980s (4:3 ftw) and with a small mirror I could do my own basic cut. I also bought a number 10 attachment to do longer hair but it takes too long so I tend to make the longest part number 8. I have also cut womens hair with it too at shoulder length and its pretty quick and easy to do basic things as well as adding volume with under cutting. For the £20 or so it cost me its saved me a small fortune at this point as well as many many trips out of the house.

 

[tinacarroll27]

I understand how you feel. I've had ME since 1987 and I was very young at the time and I noticed how bad I looked. I do feel it's worse when you are young (20s 30s) because you are supposed to look your best at those ages and I looked awful and was upset and felt I missed out on my best years. As I've got older I care less but I still feel sad that I look a lot worse than I would if I had not got this illness but what can you do! It is what it is!

 

[hmnr asg]

"How do you accept the negative impact on your physical appearance in a superficial world?"
Simple: i dont leave my bedroom. Not because i look like crap and cant take showers, but simply because im housebound. I guess thats the silver lining of being housebound, i dont have to deal with this.

 

[Violeta]

What if the effect of this disease on one's physical appearance is caused by insufficient cortisol.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

What if the effect of this disease on one's physical appearance is caused by insufficient cortisol.

Can you expand on the connection between low cortisol and physical appearance? I cant seem to kick start the brain or memory banks sufficiently to connect the dots on my own ....

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Can you expand on the connection between low cortisol and physical appearance

there is something about the skin and low cortisol...sometbhing about more pigment or less pigment. Requires more thinking, not currently possible.

The eyes show this illness in some of us, then not in others. Or not yet.

And our ages vary of course.

I can sort of see the look in ME people on films, videos, who talk. Then sometimes I wonder why somebody seems so very bright eyed? Then I feel jealous, then I tell myself not to do that comparison BS.

 

[Violeta]

Can you expand on the connection between low cortisol and physical appearance? I cant seem to kick start the brain or memory banks sufficiently to connect the dots on my own ....

Maybe I have it backwards.

"Stress can cause wrinkles to form because high amounts of cortisol, the stress hormone, can break down the skin's collagen and elastin. Research has found that chronic stress can increase inflammation, causing skin aging and accelerating the formation of wrinkles."

This says high cortisol would be the cause, not low cortisol. I'll keep looking...when I'm not so tired.

I don't know. Just from reading the thread about vitamin C and cortisol and thinking that seems like it would be really helpful at least to how I feel I thought it would somehow help with appearance, too.


"Vitamin C (VitC) plays a critical role in the maintenance of a normal mature collagen network in humans (anti-scurvy properties) by preventing the auto-inactivation of lysyl and prolyl hyroxylase, two key enzymes in collagen biosynthesis."

Ah, this might be the reason: Dr Levy says that cortisol helps vitamin c get into the cells. So cortisol deficiency would cause intracellular vitamin c deficiency.

Well, this is just brainstorming with a tired brain.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

another aspect of this topic is we dont see our friends for long periods of time...then I imagine doing so now, I've deteriorated alot!

If I go visit my best friend, I've not seen her in 7 years. (egad) I could walk and hike when I last saw her and my husband wasn't a pretzel with a cane. And all she does is work daily on the Longevity Project.

Another friend wants me to come visit. She is an example of somebody who will not judge me. But my other friend already has judged me: hypochrondriac. But she is a friend: she said it. Out loud.

We discussed it, last summer and she apologized on the phone, that she better understands in theory something is messed up here.

There is this basic difference: people whose medical issues get addressed. Then there is us, and nothing gets addressed.

so this superficial world includes our good friends and people we love, too.

 

[Mouse girl]

When i was young, i sometimes wore fake glasses to cover the dark circles under my eyes. You know, just clear glasses as i had perfect vision then. I also would put on scarves or try to wear some jeans or something that made me feel better and often hid a bit under a baseball cap that was still cute.

As i got older and my health improved, i looked alot better. Now, i've aged a good 20 years in the last year and 1/2. I look horrid, I'm rail thin, skin all wacky, dark dark circles, face all saggy and sad, skin all over aged rapidly. Not much to do now, but i'm so down, sadly i don't really care. Most of my clothes really don't even fit as they are falling off me but i can barely ever get out.

I think sometimes we are harder on ourselves than others are but i also get that sometimes we do look sick. If you have any clothes that you like, that is something you can do to feel better about how you look. Sometimes just wearing clothes i liked did make me feel better. Even new tennies could make me smile in the past when i was more mentally healthy. If i could find my clothes or could go out, i might try to dress a wee bit better now. now, i'm lucky if i can bathe as much as i would like.

I hope you can find something, even if it's a just a sweater that you like could help just maybe a tiny bit.

 

[Violeta]

When i was young, i sometimes wore fake glasses to cover the dark circles under my eyes. You know, just clear glasses as i had perfect vision then. I also would put on scarves or try to wear some jeans or something that made me feel better and often hid a bit under a baseball cap that was still cute.

As i got older and my health improved, i looked alot better. Now, i've aged a good 20 years in the last year and 1/2. I look horrid, I'm rail thin, skin all wacky, dark dark circles, face all saggy and sad, skin all over aged rapidly. Not much to do now, but i'm so down, sadly i don't really care. Most of my clothes really don't even fit as they are falling off me but i can barely ever get out.

I think sometimes we are harder on ourselves than others are but i also get that sometimes we do look sick. If you have any clothes that you like, that is something you can do to feel better about how you look. Sometimes just wearing clothes i liked did make me feel better. Even new tennies could make me smile in the past when i was more mentally healthy. If i could find my clothes or could go out, i might try to dress a wee bit better now. now, i'm lucky if i can bathe as much as i would like.

I hope you can find something, even if it's a just a sweater that you like could help just maybe a tiny bit.

Did something happen right before the last year and a half that you can think of? I had shingles in Jan-April of 2017, and things went downhill really quickly after that. It's been a real battle ever since then.

Several times I tried to go low carb, and I think that had a negative effect. Finding food that doesn't bother me has been a real challenge for many years. That seems to have been improving since taking a good amount of vitamins. The things people take for granted! Being able to eat and sleep!

 

[Violeta]

What do y'all think of the part that peroxynitrite plays in the aging process and the part it plays is ME/CFS?

https://www.pnas.org/content/115/23/5839

Aerobic life in humans imposes the hazard of excess oxidation in cell and tissue components that may compromise cell function and viability. The formation and accumulation of oxidized products in biomolecules such as proteins and lipids are observed in various pathologies and during the normal aging process.

Oxygen radicals, nitric oxide, and peroxynitrite: Redox pathways in molecular medicine
Rafael Radi

 

[vision blue]

I dont think its shallow or superficial at all - in fact, quite the opposite. It doesn't get any deeper than this from an evolutionary perspective. Appearance is a major reflection of genetic fitness. So is critical for mate selection and spills over to everything else since i a core part of out being., including self perception

Not that tbis helps in answering your question, just pointing out its not a shallow question or superficial
Society.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

Not that tbis helps in answering your question, just pointing out its not a shallow question or superficial
Society.

Thanks for the back-up. That's pretty much exactly what I said a little earlier in this thread. It helps to hear it from someone else as well ....

There's absolutely NOTHING superficial about that. We live in a society that focuses on the external, and evaluates, judges, and determines our intrinsic value by that. And if you're a woman, raise that by a factor of at least 3.

I know, I know. We're all soooooo evolved and sooooo above all that, and after all, it's what's inside that really matters, right?

Maybe that's true in the long run, once you're been friends for years, or together for yonks, but even Socrates said "Love enters first thru the eyes ...."