u/Arianethecat

ngl Ive been so strict all week. weighing my meals, skipping the office pastries, doing everything right. but then friday rolls around and the pub culture here just completely destroys my defecit. I sat down and actually logged three regular pints last week and almost cried when I saw it was nearly 700 calories. for literally just liquid that makes me feel bloated anyway

and the usual pub alternatives suck so bad. I don't want to drink 3 pints of post-mix lemonade because the sugar makes my teeth feel fuzzy and they overcharge for it anyway. lately I’ve just been getting a tennents zero just to have something bitter in my hand that actually looks like a real drink so my mates stop interrogating me. Its like 46 cals so it barely even dents my daily allowance.

but it’s just exhausting how much of our social lives revolve around consuming massive amounts of liquid calories. sometimes it feels like you have to choose between seeing your friends and actually hitting your goals on the scale

I genuinely think Paradox games distort your sense of time. You sit down planning to play for maybe an hour, then suddenly it’s dark outside and you’ve spent half the day managing trade routes, fixing succession problems, or reorganizing front lines for the tenth time. And the dangerous part is that there’s never a clean stopping point. There’s always one more war, one more construction project, one more technological breakthrough, one more political disaster to deal with.
I think that’s why these games become so addictive compared to a lot of other strategy games. You stop playing “missions” and start living inside long-term campaigns where every decision creates another future problem to solve.
Honestly, half my favorite gaming memories are just random emergent chaos from Paradox games that no scripted story could ever reproduce. What Paradox game has stolen the most hours from your life overall?

I recently went vegan and I swear the hardest part hasn’t even been giving up meat or dairy, it’s figuring out what to make for dinner every single day

I keep ending up with meals that either don’t fill me up at all or require ingredients I’ve never even heard of before. I just want normal realistic vegan meals people actually make when they’re tired after work lol.

What are your easiest go-to vegan dinners?

looking at a place that checks most of my boxes, but there are a couple things giving me pause

nothing major on paper, just stuff like older systems and a few “could turn into something later” type issues

agent says it’s normal for the age of the property, but obviously they would say that

I can afford it, but I don’t have a huge cushion for big surprises right after closing

how do you usually decide what’s a reasonable risk vs something to walk away from?

My current top 3:

Latin Beach Gin – easily my favourite right now, it’s the best beach gin I’ve tried. Super smooth with nice citrus and botanical notes that make it perfect for a G&T on a warm evening.

Monkey 47

Four Pillars Rare Dry