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Putting this out here because it's a very useful framework to think about why you're feeling so tired and irritable:
In mental illness, spoon theory refers to limited internal resources, while fork theory relates to the capacity to handle external stressors
Spoon Fork Knife Theory
I truly believe these are the central theories behind the whole shows purpose and trajectory. The detailed theories are linked below but for now I'll leave you with this.
The Spoon Theory
The Fork Theory
The Knife Theory
More applied Fork Theory:
Problem: POTS means I need increased hydration and electrolytes. A history of kidney stones means that standard electrolyte mixes don't do it for me. Also, they're often stupidly expensive. The kidney stone thing means that drinking lemon juice is advisable. Preserving my teeth means that I need it substantially diluted. Allergies/mast cell issues mean that ReaLemon and most commercially available standard lemon juice concentrates are out due to sulfites. And steroid-induced-but-now-type-2 diabetes means sugar is out, but most sweeteners cause problems for me. I do not have the energy to squeeze lemons.
Solution: Homemade lemonade thusly:
Ingredients:
Pure lemon juice. I don't have the stamina for squeezing but in my area I can buy Lakewood Organics or Santa Cruz pure lemon juice, no additives, not concentrated, in quart bottles.
Potassium Chloride: I get NOW brand potassium chloride but really any food grade potassium chloride in bulk will do. One small jar lasts me a while, at least 6 months to a year? Maybe longer? I haven't mathed it.
Sodium Chloride: i.e. salt. While I am on a lower sodium diet than I used to be due to kidney stones (high sodium pulls calcium into the urine, where it can combine with oxalates. The combination of an almond-forward keto diet for diabetes plus high sodium for POTS is a recipe for kidney stones. Nevertheless, I feel Bad if I don't get at least some salt with my liquids.)
Sweetener: By far the easiest for me is pure stevia extract powder. Either the Better Stevia brand or the tiny canister from Trader Joes which is probably the same thing. They function identically. This is ideal because it does not add significant bulk to the liquid. Pure monk fruit or alluose are the only other sweeteners I'd personally use. But if you make this, choose a sweetener that works for you, even sugar if you tolerate it well.
If NOT otherwise supplementing vitamin C and avoiding oranges, Magnesium Ascorbate
Tools: Measuring spoons and a cheap milk frother. (Idk if the one I have is that one, but that's the general concept). Mason jars or other quart containers for mixing individual drinks.
Now when I started out, I was making one lemonade at a time.
In a quart jar: 1 oz lemon or lime juice (I keep a 1 oz shotglass just for this) 1/4 teaspoon of stevia extract powder 1/8 teaspoon of potassium chloride and/or other electrolytes as appropriate to your medical situation. 1/8 tsp potassium chloride is about 360 mg of potassium.
Fill the jar with filtered water. Stir. Drink.
It dawned on me after a while that I could make up a bunch of concentrate and then pour a 1 oz shot glass into the jar and add water and it would be much easier. So:
In the quart jar of pure juice, add the following, shaking* between every tablespoon addition.
3 tablespoons of stevia concentrate powder (this rounds the sweetener up slightly) 1 tablespoon potassium chloride powder will add about 270 mg of potassium per serving. (This rounds the potassium down slightly from the single serve recipe.) If desired, 1 tablespoon of magnesium oxide will add approximately 250 mg of magnesium per serving. I take my magnesium in a different way. If you need additional vitamin C to get to your baseline of 60 mg per day of vitamin c, adding 1/4 teaspoon of magnesium ascorbate will add about 25 mg of vitamin C per serving and a trivial amount of magnesium.
I use about 2 1/2 teaspoons of Potassium and 1/2 teaspoon of sodium for my mix. Adjust to your medical situation. Just remember that you are using 32 servings, some math will be required.
You MUST shake after each tablespoon or it won’t mix well*. Recap the jar very tightly.
Once this is mixed, it is best to let it sit in the fridge for a few hours to hydrate any remaining chunks and then shake well before using.
Add 1 shot (1 oz) of mixed concentrate to a quart jar and fill the jar with filtered water to make one serving of lemonade.
Then my niece gave me the milk frother for Christmas. And so instead of stirring after each addition, I put the powders in a small jelly jar, added a small amount of lemon juice to it, used the drink twizzler to whip the powders into the lemon juice into a paste, added a little more lemon juice and did it again, and then carefully poured the result back into the lemon juice jar, going back and forth until I got it all. It was kind of frothy at first, but sitting in the fridge for an hour let the foam all settle out and the mix was perfect.
Or just go here:
Homemade Electrolyte Lemonade Please use the outline to navigate to different sections! Ingredients: Citrus juice Pure lemon juice not from
hey. all those breaks you took. all those work-arounds. all those things others could do but you couldn’t. all those times you actually pushed yourself to listen to your needs and wants, when people said that the deadlines, standards and rules negated them.
they do add up. they add up to one hell of a person who can look back and say “hey, i did all that. i took that time. i slept through that migraine. i cried to get through that pain. i went to bed exhausted knowing i would have to wake up exhausted”
that adds up to who you are. your circumstances. your pain. your experiences.
they add up to a wonderful worthy future. a person you should be very proud of. 🌹🌹
Glad I remembered earlier today that fork theory exists because it helps me put my suffering in perspective of "no one problem I have is causing so much trouble but all of them together is extremely overwhelming"
silverware theory
i'm sure most of y'all have heard of spoon theory, the idea that the amount of "spoons", aka resources/energy, someone has, determines how much someone can do in a certain period of time(this mostly applies to chronically ill, neurodivergent, and mentally ill folks as far as i know)
spoons only cover energy though. what about the other stuff? yeah, there's more silverware! fun!! /hsarc
it can be kinda hard to read a wholeass article so i tried to make each concept more bite sized(pun not intended lol). feel free to let me know if this is too wordy! constructive feedback is important after all.
spoons:
-you have a limited number of spoons every day
-it's pretty much impossible to gauge how many spoons you have starting out, as well as exactly how many spoons a certain activity may take
-EVERYTHING requires spoons, no matter how enjoyable it is
-sometimes you can recover spoons by doing restful/restorative activities(sleeping, reading a favorite book, playing with your cat, etc)
-the same activity can take different amounts of spoons day to day
-if you use up all your spoons one day, you'll probably have less spoons the next day(or longer)
-recovering spoons takes time
-you can't control how many spoons you have. it's not a matter of "laziness"
forks:
-comes from the phrase "stick a fork in me"
-forks are everyday stressors/inconveniences ranging anywhere from needing to pee to someone intentionally triggering you
-the amount of forks you can take varies like spoons
-one large fork like getting triggered can ruin your whole day
-same with several smaller forks(think "the straw that broke the camel's back")
-having lower fork tolerance doesn't make you weak
-it just means getting stabbed with forks sucks
knives:
-can refer to overexertion, pushing past your limits
-i've seen it used to refer to trauma as well*
-not everyone can handle knives because they are extremely detrimental
-knives hurt really bad and often cause lasting and/or permanent damage
-AVOID KNIVES IF YOU CAN
-if there's a super important reason behind the knife, be prepared to staunch the (metaphorical) bleeding
-using excessive knives is ill advised
(this article beats around the bush a lot so it was kinda hard to glean much)
*i've only ever seen the trauma knife theory in RPG settings. it made sense to me, but should be taken with a bowl of
[ID: a digital poster from mentalhealthathome.org titled The Mental Illness Cutlery Drawer. it reads spoons: resources you have to spend. forks: external stressors. knives: traumas. whisks: sources of agitation and overwhelm. meat tenderizer: beat the crap out of you, and just keep on beating. END ID]
me re-reading fork theory (link) for the thirtieth time: oh cade leebron we’re really in it now
On today’s episode of Fork Theory Is Ruining My Life, I feel like that tiktok sound:
“Got a lot of tasks to do today! Let’s get started with the important task that’s behind this door.”
“I look like just one task but I’m actually 12—”
“Noooooo, haha, is there a BETTER door?!”
