RE: Can you please help me, cause I really need help?

[Guest guest]

I need help. I want to be healthier, but I see two entirely different and conflicting sides to eating.

I have found that the more I read, the more confused I get. Everyone will tell you something different and you don't know who's "right". You have to decide for yourself using common sense. Fresh vegetables and fruit are more nutritious than sugar-laden snacks...I think everyone would agree on that. Try to get organic. If you can't, don't let that stop you from eating more fruit and veggies. If you can't afford organic, just wash and scrub them well and peel them if possible and do the best you can. I still eat some soy (tofu, miso) even though there are pros and cons about it. I don't drink coffee anymore but I doubt if an occasional cup of it is going to kill you. I'd use real milk or cream before I'd use non-dairy creamer though. I'd say sugar, processed food of any kind and any kind of fast food or junk food should be avoided. You can drive yourself crazy weeding through all the conflicting opinions. I know because I've done it.

Gloria

[Guest guest]

Oh Jenn, soy is bad for lots of reasons. It does have its place in the world.

Organic is best but if you can't do it you just can't.

So, make your smoothie, add some yogurt instead of soy protein. Eat more fresh foods, toss the little debbie for allot of reasons. The bottom line with the soy is that the body does not need so much heavy duty protein. Too hard on the body to process it. Let the rest go (like the seeds its grown from, the estrogen factors, etc).

Even walmart has organic carrots and celery, kiwi and other stuff. The most important things to have organic are celery, spinach and carrots.

Don't stress yourself.

Oh, and coffee is not the end of the world as some folks say. I admit, I have one cup every morning with fresh raw goat milk for cream. Just me. I would opt for something not coffeemate, but that's me.

Certainly don't toss a healthier lifestyle out the window. You can do it.

Flo

lagoatgoddess@...

[Guest guest]

You've come to the right place if you want help. Welcome Jenn. If you can't get or afford organic then do the best you can - buy your veggies,e tc.. make sure you wash them before eating. Eating raw will help you tremendously or lightly steamed... cutting out dairy, junk or "boxed" food will also help.. Don't just dive in - take baby steps... you'll find you'll succeed this way. Exercise is good for everyone, whether it is just walking or working out. Check out the message archives for lots of info and recipes...(and about soy)... also check out the files - there is a recipe section you will find useful.. and there are other recipes thru out the message archives. Do a search on "drinks"..or "juices" How is your diet like right now?? There are conflicting reports about coffee... a cup a day would be the most I would do. I would

get rid of the coffee mate though. Any other questions we're all here to help you be healthier... but everyone is at their own pace and place in time.. Some here are totally raw, some are vegan, some are all organic, some are improving their eating habits, etc... so you're not alone here. SuziJenn <seething@...> wrote: I need help. I want to be healthier, but I see two entirely different and conflicting sides to eating. I read organic/natural websites, and healthy seems impossible to reach. One, I can't AFFORD to buy organic, it's too expensive, and two, I really find it overwhelming to even try to do better because of people like you who say "dump everything you know and dive in head

first!"Do you see how stressful this is for me? ........................... Please help me, or shoot me, or something, cause I really wanted to do better, and then I tried, and then it all fell apart before I even got started, and now I just don't even want to try anymore, I lost all my ... ummm.. ahh... I can't even remember the WORD for what I'm trying to say I lost now... :-( focus? no. Umm, gung-ho? No, not that one. Umm... inspiration? no, not that, that's not it either... Ahh, you can see how lost I am now, right? I need a freekin thesaurus to even try to figure out what I'm thinking. Oh, and if this isn't the right group for this type of discussion, can someone please tell me where to go? (other than to hell in an handbasket?)

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[Guest guest]

Thank you Gloria for the support. It's nice to know that I AM doing better to eat more fruit and veggies, and no meat. That is good to hear. It seems that other places I have gone have almost been saying "if you don't eliminate all this stuff (sugar, flour, grocery store produce, etc) then you're not doing anything good at all". It is really discouraging when I think I am doing good, and then I find another website that says that everything I am doing is NOT enough. It's like, gee, why bother trying? You know?

Last night I made taco dinner, but I didn't use any meat, I used TVP for the taco filling, and I used vegetarian beans, and fat free "cheese". It's still full of chemicals, but I guess I felt better about it than eating the normal ground beef and piles of cheddar cheese version. The thing that is hard is that our local Co-op (the only store that sells organic/natural foods) is small, and they don't carry things like dinner kits. I'm so used to going to the grocery and buying a meal in a box (just add meat, or milk, or water, or whatever), that I find it overwhelming to even try to buy a whole meal's worth of products at the co-op. It all has to be bought separately. So the taco dinner kit I paid $3.99 for at the grocery, all I had to do was buy a can of beans (the same isle), and TVP, which I had on hand already. At the co-op, I would have to buy a box of taco shells ($2.99), all the seasonings in separate bags (probably be $5.00 or better to buy, cause they wont sell pinches, you have to buy enough to register on their scale), which I'd have to weigh and measure myself out of jars (and who really even KNOWS what makes "taco seasoning" TASTE like tacos?!), buy the can of beans (other side of co-op, $2.50), buy salsa ($4.89 a jar for organic), buy some kinda cheese-type thing, which I would need to grate myself, so I'd have to buy a cheese grater, $4.50 cheese, $6.00 grater). See what I mean? I just can't afford to do it, it's not easy. You guys must all be rich or something. I don't know how anyone can afford to eat organic. My w-2 this year says I made $17,290 for 2005.... is that a lot less than everyone here makes? And if not, HOW do you do it?

OK, I'm gonna go make my frozen grocery store strawberry, grocery store produce banana, grocery store Quaker oats, and grocery store fat free milk smoothie now. Now that I know from someone that it IS better than coffee and little debbies....

Baby steps.. baby steps, right?

Jennhttp://ucat.us http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html Adopt a cat from UCAT rescue:http://ucat.us/adopt.html Adopt a FIV+ cat: http://ucat.us/AWrescue/FIV/ http://ucat.us/FIVadopt.html Adopt a FELV+ cat:http://ucat.us/FELVadopt.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The VT legislature is considering creating a bill that bans ear cropping on dogs in our state. They are also considering a bill that will require a license for anyone selling animals in our state. License fees would cover a staff to do inspections for humane welfare of the animals being sold. Please support these proposed bills by emailing Judiciary Committee Chairman Sears at rsears@... and the sponsor of this proposal, Senator Ann Cummings, at acummings@... and telling them you SUPPORT these proposed bills!

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[Guest guest]

Thanks Suzi. My diet now (as of two days ago, when I started this diet) consists of a fruit/oatmeal smoothie for breakfast (around 10am-1pm), a veggie sandwich or calzone for lunch (2pm-5pm, I work at a pizza/sub shop), and occasionally a dinner which usually comes out of a box, but that I try to improve with adding meatless options and fat free dairy products like TVP to hamburger helper, or taco dinner kits (9pm-1am). I work second shift, so my hours are very different from most peoples. Sometimes I am too tired to make dinner after work, so I only eat breakfast and lunch. My boyfriend is diabetic, so I usually try to bring something home from work for him or make dinner at night when I get home, so he wont go hypoglycemic in the night (sometimes he already is by the time I get home, and NO, he's not capable of feeding himself, he's a helpless baby of a man). Before I started this diet, I usually didn't eat breakfast at all, or if I did it was a little debbie cake and coffee, then I had a small personal sized pizza (meat, cheese, etc), or a sandwich (lunch meat, bacon, cheese, mayo, etc), or a calzone (cheese, meat, veggies) for lunch, and then something from a box for dinner (if I ate dinner, sometimes I just snacked on cookies or junk food until bedtime, or brought home a pizza, or just something for Jeff, my boyfriend and went to bed without eating at all). I would sometimes wake up in middle of the night and eat some cereal or chips, or cookies cause I'd wake up hungry (on the days I skipped breakfast and dinner). Just general BAD eating habits.

Oh, and I forgot to dump most of my sig on my last two post, apologies to the group, I really DID read the rules and know it's supposed to be limited to a couple of lines... I just forgot to go down and delete it.

Jennhttp://ucat.us

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[Guest guest]

Oh, and I drink a LOT of hot tea at work in winter, and a LOT of water in the summer. It's a physical job, and I get REALLY thirsty, in the summer sometimes I get so dehydrated that I get headaches. I'm looking for a better job though!

Jennhttp://ucat.us

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[Guest guest]

Jenn, Many figure that the meat omission makes up some of the difference plus sometimes buying on sale or in bulk.. or just add things when you can... Over the years, I've bought a grater, dehydrator, juicer, grinder... (notice I said over the yrs).. I am not totally organic as here it is hard to find or you have to travel some distance... but I watch the things I buy to a large extent. And if grains or veggies etc are on sale... (and especially in the summer) I buy and either dehydrate or freeze. It all takes time... and yes, baby steps is good.Jenn <seething@...> wrote: so I'd have to buy a cheese grater, $4.50 cheese, $6.00 grater). See what I mean? I just can't afford to do it, it's

not easy. You guys must all be rich or something. I don't know how anyone can afford to eat organic. My w-2 this year says I made $17,290 for 2005.... is that a lot less than everyone here makes? And if not, HOW do you do it? OK, I'm gonna go make my frozen grocery store strawberry, grocery store produce banana, grocery store Quaker oats, and grocery store fat free milk smoothie now. Now that I know from someone that it IS better than coffee and little debbies.... Baby steps.. baby steps, right?

Autos. Looking for a sweet ride? Get pricing, reviews, more on new and used cars.

[Guest guest]

so I'd have to buy a cheese grater, $4.50 cheese, $6.00 grater). See what I mean? I just can't afford to do it, it's not easy.

Jenn...done all at once, yes! it does appear to be expensive. I don't eat cheese, but I do have a nice cheese grater someone gave me (start checking yard sales in the summer), but you can also get the hand held graters at a Dollar Store and they grate fine. I have a great stainless steel juicer that I got for $10 (plus $5.00 shipping) on eBay last year. My best friend is my food processor...$29.95 at an outlet store and it will last me for years. I use it at least once every single day. You can even use it as a blender ...2 appliances in one for $29.95. I have a nut and seed grinder I bought for $10 over 15 years ago. You can probably get a new one for $10 now as they are more popular (as coffee grinders) than they were back then. Decide which appliance you will use the most and start looking around for sales, etc. I got my blender and my bread machine both on freecycle.org for nothing! I also got my gallon glass jars that I use for water and juices for free on my local freecycle. Don't get overwhelmed. There are ways to get things dirt cheap if you have patience and do a little hunting around.

Gloria

[Guest guest]

WHY organic bananas are so small and ugly (green/beige)?

The organic ones I get are always huge and yellow. I never saw the greenish little ugly ones. Don't sound very appetizing;-(.

Gloria

[Guest guest]

Jenn <seething@...> wrote: On another note, does anyone know WHY organic bananas are so small and ugly (green/beige)? The co-op's bananas are horrible. Is it just that they inject "color-enhancing" and "growth" chemicals into grocery store bananas, and I'm used to that? YES haven't tried them because they looked so horrible I didn't want to pay money for them just to throw them away. Oh, and I read that adding protein to a smoothie is what makes it "last" as far as keeping you full until the next meal, so that's why I was seeking to add soy to my smoothie. Is that a myth, or what? See, I work at a place where I might not get to eat lunch until 4:00pm, so it's really important that my breakfast smoothie "lasts" that long,

because I tend to get low blood sugar and feel faint if I go too long being hungry.Look into super or complete nutrition... will boost your energy and give you lots of good stuff for your body. My goal is to be healthy, and that's why I'm trying the smoothie diet thing. I'm fat, well, not really fat, just have a pot belly and some cellulite on my hips that I'd like to lose. I've managed to get my calorie intake down to right at 1000 a day, with almost low fat (30 grams or less), and no animal fats at all. I'm usually only slightly hungry, and can drink a quart of water to ease that. ADD LEMON JUICE (SQUEEZED LEMON) TO YOUR WATER) I'm only 5'2", so I don't think I need so many calories, but I'm really not sure. I'm 30 years old, my metabolism has slowed down a lot in the past 3 years. I don't exercise enough, I just can't make myself do it, I'm too lazy. I do stand/walk all day at work, 8-10

hours a day, 5 days a week. I haven't been sick in a long time, so I think I have my immune system well under control. I only take one medication daily, to prevent migraines, CHECK THE FILES FOR CURES/AIDS...IN THE NATURAL REMEDIES FILE.. Amitriptyline (very low dose). BUT, I want to do better for myself. I'm working on "mental health" right now. I'm seeking rewarding employment, where I can reach my potential, I'm fixing my credit report, and I'm taking care of back taxes this year (filing for the first time in 4 years). My cat rescue work is going well, and it's rewarding to me on an emotional level, it's a hobby. I'd like to turn it into something more official, and that's one of my reasons for the credit report and tax fixing work. I feel motivated, and like I'm actually getting somewhere, in all aspects of my life except my physical body. When I look at myself, I make myself sick. I've really it myself go. I want to gain control of ALL aspects

of my life, and my body is the one I am having the hardest time with. I guess what I need is the energy, or willpower, to make myself exercise. But what am I doing now? Sitting at my desk typing this out to you guys. The farthest (lol, farthest? can you tell I'm originally from down south?) I can get from exercise. At least I have my sense of humor still, I'd hate to become cynical, and this "health" thing is really close to making me that way. Maybe I should snag one of those horrible "fitness made simple" tapes I see on TV all the time: "when you take control of your body, you take control of your life, everything you want, you can achieve." THERE IS TRUTH IN PART OF THAT STATEMENT I'm so glad I found this group, and you guys have sincerely tried to help me get some objectivity on this whole healthy diet aspect of my life. I think I'm going to keep

trying, even though I know I'm a LONG way from where I need to be right now. Am I taking you guys really off topic? NOPE... BROWSE THE MESSAGE ARCHIVES AND YOU'LL SEE WE'RE NOT ANYWHERE NEAR OFF TOPIC. Suzi

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[Guest guest]

How about thinking salads, fruits or veggies?? instead of hamburger helper? Browse the recipe files and you'll get alot of ideas that may help you. The water drinking is good (distilled is best) Add lemon to your water.. Lemon has alot of benefits. Snack on seeds, nuts, grains, fruits, veggies (carrot sticks), etc. You're doing good as you are trying to change and improve your diet. and you'll keep going as you'll find you start to feel better with better eating. SuziJenn <seething@...> wrote: Thanks Suzi. My diet now (as of two days ago, when I started this diet) consists of a fruit/oatmeal smoothie for breakfast (around 10am-1pm), a veggie sandwich or calzone for lunch (2pm-5pm, I work

at a pizza/sub shop), and occasionally a dinner which usually comes out of a box, but that I try to improve with adding meatless options and fat free dairy products like TVP to hamburger helper, or taco dinner kits (9pm-1am). I work second shift, so my hours are very different from most peoples. Sometimes I am too tired to make dinner after work, so I only eat breakfast and lunch. My boyfriend is diabetic, so I usually try to bring something home from work for him or make dinner at night when I get home, so he wont go hypoglycemic in the night (sometimes he already is by the time I get home, and NO, he's not capable of feeding himself, he's a helpless baby of a man). Before I started this diet, I usually didn't eat breakfast at all, or if I did it was a little debbie cake and coffee, then I had a small personal sized pizza (meat, cheese, etc), or a sandwich (lunch meat, bacon, cheese, mayo, etc), or a calzone (cheese, meat, veggies) for lunch, and then something from a box for

dinner (if I ate dinner, sometimes I just snacked on cookies or junk food until bedtime, or brought home a pizza, or just something for Jeff, my boyfriend and went to bed without eating at all). I would sometimes wake up in middle of the night and eat some cereal or chips, or cookies cause I'd wake up hungry (on the days I skipped breakfast and dinner). Just general BAD eating habits.

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[Guest guest]

Hi Jenn,

I am new to this group and have been just "lurking" so you guys don't

really know me but I just had to reply to your letter.

I can relate to what you are saying and I want to assure you that You

can do it! You might not be able to remove every single toxin and bad

ingredient from your life immediately but at least do what you can when

you can. To my way of thinking, it is the *combination* of so many

different substances in our bodies that harm it so if the best you can

do is reduce or elimination some of them, you are on the right track.

You can't personally control many many different things in the world

but you can control what products you consume and which ones you clean

your house with... and that is a GREAT start!

Do the best you can with the food. Even if you can't always buy organic

products from the "organic section", do the best you can with "regular"

products. Always read labels thoroughly. If you can't buy the organic

things, at least pick products that don't have chemicals in them. And

there are plenty of them! It does take longer to read all those labels

but it's important and it's gotta be done. You just need to know what

to look for and what to avoid. Food color, MSG, high fructose corn

syrup, aspartame - those are my main ones and I WON'T buy products that

contain them. The high fructose corn syrup is the hardest to avoid

(seems like it is in everything these days) but it can be done, at

least for the majority of products anyway. Good salad dressing without

it is hard to find but as I only use a few tablespoons at a time so I

guess I can deal with that. But there are plenty of soups, salsa's,

spices, veggies, etc... that while they aren't strictly organic, they

aren't too pricey and don't contain the nasty ingredients that cause

ill health. There are more and more "mainstream" organics/all-naturals

all the time - some manufacturers are listening if the government

isn't. You just gotta learn which ones they are. Once you've done

that, shopping each week will be easier.

Here are some easy things you could do that will make a BIG difference

in your health:

-Buy organic when you can. The prices will never go down if the

products sit on the shelf forever.

-Ditch margarine and go back to butter.

-Eat yogurt, fruit or veggies for snacks instead of chips or things

like that.

-Make sure the yogurt you buy is free of food color and artificial

sweeteners.

-Get off caffeine.

-Do not consume aspartame in any form whatsoever. Ever.

-Cook from scratch so you know what the ingredients are and can control

them. Crockpots are a great and easy way to cook just about anything so

if you don't already have one, get one! ;-)

-Grow what you can yourself, even if it's get herbs on the kitchen

window. And join a veggie co-op to purchase organically grown produce

at a group rate.

-Don't drink soda pop. Ever. Especially cola's. Switch to decaf tea or

herbal tea for meals and water the rest of the time. If dining at a

restaurant, Sprite won't kill ya I guess... but water is better if it

tastes good at that location.

-Buy your veggies at the farmer's market or road side stand. They are

usually cheaper and fresher than what is at the grocery and it helps

out those local organic farmers. If we don't buy from them, they will

stop going to the trouble, ya know? So I like to support the local

farmers as much as I can.

-If you eat meat, buy local free range organic meat. Share with

another family to cover costs of a side of beef and you will have most

of the meat you need for the year on-hand, leaving more $ for trips to

the store. Tax check time is a great time to take care of this. ;-)

-If you drink milk, buy it fresh from a local dairy if you can. I live

in a rural area so I do have access to a small dairy but I know most

communities don't, but check around and see if you can find someone.

Sometimes there are "co-ops" for such things - just gotta find one...

or start one! There was an article about that sort of thing in "Mother

Earth News" last year... might find some info on their website if this

is something that interests you.

-Eat healthy whole grain breads, never white bread. Make your own

bread if you can.

-Make your own seasoning/spice mixes in bulk and store in canning jars.

-Use homemade natural cleaners in the house. Avoid chlorine - it

causes breast cancer. Make your own cleaners with vinegar, baking

soda, borax and essential oils. Natural cleaners are cheaper and won't

put toxic fumes into the house or poison anyone.

-Stop consuming fluoride. Get a healthy toothpaste at the health food

store... or do what I do and use soap. Yep, regular old hand soap.

Can't get any cheaper than that!! And that is waaaaay better for you

than fluoride is.

-Use homeopathy and alt meds instead of pharmaceuticals whenever

possible. Avoid Tylenol and other OTC drugs that are hard on the liver.

-Exercise is free. Talk a walk or a hike in the woods... fly a kite or

have a nature treasure hunt with your kids. Totally free.

One last thing... I know what you mean about organics being expensive

but it's worth it so buy them anyway. My pension is about $7000 a year

and child support is usually pretty sporactic but when I do get it,

that adds about another $3000 a year. So I'm lucky if I break 10K in

any given year... and I have learned how to be as healthy as possible

on this amount of money. If I can do it, so can you. ;-) I get food

stamps most months and I have to really really budget that... but I DO

buy organic as much as possible. The main things I always purchase from

the organic section are eggs, cereals/grains/beans, chips and snacks,

juices, herb salad mixes, salad dressings, and oils such as coconut and

olive oil. The organic oils are sorta pricey but last a while and are

worth it I think. My daughter likes choc soy milk so I get that for her

when it's on sale. The other thing I "splurge" on is a high quality

water. The one I get is reverse osmosis filtered and is free of

chlorine and fluoride, which is VERY important to me so I pay $17.00

per case for this water. That is the most expensive thing I buy so I

mainly drink it when we are out of the house. It's tedious to be

visiting folks and having nothing to drink but soda or coffee so I

never leave the house without either my expensive water or my decaf

tea.

Also, talk to the folks at your local grocery and let them know how

important these things are to you and that you want/need/demand that

they expand the organic/healthy selections at your store. Tell them to

offer more organics at sale prices more often and threaten to shop

somewhere else if they don't. I have done this and it really helps.

They don't want to lose your business and even if it takes a while,

they will comply if they can. I'm getting ready to talk to my local

grocery store again - they took my favorite MegaGreen juice off the

shelf and I'm not gonna stand for that!!! Gotta have that juice!

lol.... They are gonna have one very ticked off customer if they don't

bring it back... and I WILL start driving to the city to shop if they

don't listen to me.

You could also start a petition to get them to offer healthier product.

Writing to the corporate office is a Great idea and the more we ALL do

things like that, the sooner healthier products we can afford land on

the shelves.

On the same note, join survey groups such as the Poll. They

often do survey's on food products and that is an Awesome way to speak

directly to the companies making them. I am in several survey groups

and have completed at least 4 on organic products in the last few

months. They are listening... we just have to make sure we keep

talking and insisting on healthy products! Know what I mean?

Well, this is plenty long enough so I'll stop now. I just wanted you

to know that it can be done. Do what you can as much as you can and

you will be on the right path. Baby steps are perfectly acceptable. ;-)

Peace,

Mouse

Jenn wrote:

Thank you Gloria for the support. It's nice to know that I AM

doing better to eat more fruit and veggies, and no meat. That is good

to hear. It seems that other places I have gone have almost been saying

"if you don't eliminate all this stuff (sugar, flour, grocery store

produce, etc) then you're not doing anything good at all". It is really

discouraging when I think I am doing good, and then I find another

website that says that everything I am doing is NOT enough. It's like,

gee, why bother trying? You know?

Last night I made taco dinner, but I didn't use any meat, I used

TVP for the taco filling, and I used vegetarian beans, and fat free

"cheese". It's still full of chemicals, but I guess I felt better about

it than eating the normal ground beef and piles of cheddar

cheese version. The thing that is hard is that our local Co-op (the

only store that sells organic/natural foods) is small, and they don't

carry things like dinner kits. I'm so used to going to the grocery and

buying a meal in a box (just add meat, or milk, or water, or whatever),

that I find it overwhelming to even try to buy a whole meal's worth of

products at the co-op. It all has to be bought separately. So the taco

dinner kit I paid $3.99 for at the grocery, all I had to do was buy a

can of beans (the same isle), and TVP, which I had on hand already. At

the co-op, I would have to buy a box of taco shells ($2.99), all the

seasonings in separate bags (probably be $5.00 or better to buy, cause

they wont sell pinches, you have to buy enough to register on their

scale), which I'd have to weigh and measure myself out of jars (and who

really even KNOWS what makes "taco seasoning" TASTE like tacos?!), buy

the can of beans (other side of co-op, $2.50), buy salsa ($4.89 a jar

for organic), buy some kinda cheese-type thing, which I would need to

grate myself, so I'd have to buy a cheese grater, $4.50 cheese, $6.00

grater). See what I mean? I just can't afford to do it, it's not easy.

You guys must all be rich or something. I don't know how anyone can

afford to eat organic. My w-2 this year says I made $17,290 for

2005.... is that a lot less than everyone here makes? And if not, HOW

do you do it?

OK, I'm gonna go make my frozen grocery store strawberry,

grocery store produce banana, grocery store Quaker oats, and grocery

store fat free milk smoothie now. Now that I know from someone that it

IS better than coffee and little debbies....

Baby steps.. baby steps, right?

Jenn

http://ucat.us

http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html

Adopt a cat from UCAT rescue:

http://ucat.us/adopt.html

Adopt a FIV+ cat:

http://ucat.us/AWrescue/FIV/

http://ucat.us/FIVadopt.html

Adopt a FELV+ cat:

http://ucat.us/FELVadopt.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The VT legislature is considering creating a bill that bans ear

cropping on dogs in our state.

They are also considering a bill that will require a license for anyone

selling animals in our state.

License fees would cover a staff to do inspections for humane welfare

of the animals being sold.

Please support these proposed bills by emailing Judiciary Committee

Chairman Sears at rsears@...

and the sponsor of this proposal, Senator Ann Cummings, at acummings@...

and telling them you SUPPORT these proposed bills!

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--

[Guest guest]

Hi Jenn,

I've read your posts and notice that you talk a lot about fat free

and low fat. Those are probably the worst things you can drink and

eat. Fat does not make you fat. When they take out the fat they put

chemicals in which is much worse. Sugar free is the same poison only

worse. You say your boyfriend is diabetic, I hope he doesn't drink

diet pop?

You're 30 years old? That shouldn't be a problem as far as your

metabolism goes. Most diets I tried at that age worked, plus with

exercise you can get in shape in no time. It's after 50 that the

problems arise with losing weight! I never went on so called

conventional diets, I cut down on my portions and the amount of

times I ate during the day. I have learned better habits since then

even. But like everyone has been telling you, I'm taking baby steps

in changing my diet also. I try to stay out of the middle aisles in

teh grocery store and just shop the fresh foods on the outside.

Everything in the middle are filled with chemicals. It's not always

easy and I'm not always successful but if you put your mind to it

and stick to it, you will eventually have changed your whole way of

eating.

I'm not a vegetarian, I like my meat too much and I eat a hamburger

a day because I love them:o) My other meals are more nutritious but

they all include meat of some kind, either grass fed beef, or free

range chicken.

I also agree about the non-dairy creamer, it is also loaded with

chemicals. I love coffee but have cut down considerably to 2 cups a

day and I drink it black. I drink mostly water and Kombucha tea,

which by the way helped me to curb my desire for coffee.

I hope all of this didn't add to your confusion.

Judy

--- In health , " Jenn " <seething@v...>

wrote:

>

> Oh, and I drink a LOT of hot tea at work in winter, and a LOT of

water in the summer.

[Guest guest]

Oh my gosh! I love organic bananas..they are so much sweeter than the nasty walmart bananas or even the better ones from the fruit stand. I always thought I didn't like bananas, but then one day I tried a del monte banana, it was so good, then there was another kind very good also, tried a chiquita, and found out why I always didn't like bananas. Chiquita is awful. All that time I just thought it was bananas that 'grew' in my mouth, the more I chewed the more of it there was. But the others, mmmm mmmm good.

Flo

[Guest guest]

What do you use to freeze soups in? Baggies?

Some people do use heavy zip-lock Baggies. I bought a few plastic containers at the Dollar Store and use those. I have to leave myself a note to take one out to thaw while I'm at work. I don't have a microwave (or want one), but that's a whole other story.;-) I could live on homemade soup in the Winter, so eating a lot of it never gets boring to me. Potato soups don't freeze well (they can get soggy when thawed), so if I make a tater and corn chowder or something, I'll just keep that in the regular fridge for a few days...it only gets better the longer it sits. I'll whip up a huge veggie salad on Monday and eat bowls of it right into Wed. Sometimes I'll put some organic pasta in it. I don't use commercial dressings. I just make my own with olive oil, lemon juice or vinegar and some herbs. In fact I don't eat commercial anything! But I'm an extreme case. If I didn't make it, I don't eat it ;-). I live very frugally but still eat extremely well.

Gloria

[Guest guest]

Can you freeze filled mason jars, or will they break?

I've had some concerns about the plastic but I've had glass break on me when I've put it in the freezer. Nobody's perfect, so I just keep using the plastic containers.

Gloria

[Guest guest]

Let's see, mine says $13,283.00 and we eat ONLY organic

Mine is $13,340 and I eat only organic too. I just do a lot of shopping around for good prices and make everything from scratch. I went out to lunch last week...the first time in a year and did it because an old friend was in town. We went to a new Middle Eastern restaurant that had wonderful food that was as good and as fresh as I make at home. I was impressed. But dining out isn't the norm for me. I always think...I could have bought 3 stalks of organic celery and 4 heads of leaf lettuce for what lunch cost! ;-).

Gloria

[Guest guest]

I think that has always been my main problem, I never buy anything ahead. Every day, I go buy what I need for that day, occasionally I have a few items on hand from last time, but most things I buy each day. I need to learn how to use my freezer. I used to buy meats and freeze them, and then I would go to work and forget to take anything out, and I wouldn't have anything to make for dinner, so I just stopped using my freezer completely after a while. All it had in it for a year was an ice tray and some popcicles. I'm using it a bit now, I buy frozen berries, and I buy the old bananas that are almost "gone" and peel them all, break each one in half, and freeze them like that, so I have a half a banana for my smoothies in the morning. The thing about my freezer using skills is that I don't remember stuff is IN there, so I tend to let it get freezerburnt or spoil because I forget about it. I have my x-mas ham bone still in there, was going to make soup with it, but now.... it's probably too freezerburnt to use. I have always put my extra peppers and onions in a baggie in the freezer, since I only ever seem to use half of one at a time, then I have diced up peppers and onions for my meals for a few days. I should start doing that again. I need to figure out HOW to package things so they don't get freezerburnt... my gladware stuff isn't freezer-safe, and some things don't fit into freezer baggies... Foil? Is that how you do it? But then, you can't defrost it in the microwave and the foils get stuck in the food.... Maybe a layer of wax paper covered by a layer of foil? What do you use to freeze soups in? Baggies?

I've done really good today, I think. I had my smoothie for breakfast, then I made a meatless/cheeseless mini pizza for lunch, I had a spring mix salad with fat free dressing and three small fried dough balls with honey for a snack, and now I am debating on if I need to eat again or not. (I just got home from work) doughballs aside, so far I have been fat free all day (and they were fried in veggie oil, not animal fat derived gak).

Jennhttp://ucat.us http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html Adopt a cat from UCAT rescue:http://ucat.us/adopt.html Adopt a FIV+ cat: http://ucat.us/AWrescue/FIV/ http://ucat.us/FIVadopt.html Adopt a FELV+ cat:http://ucat.us/FELVadopt.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The VT legislature is considering creating a bill that bans ear cropping on dogs in our state. They are also considering a bill that will require a license for anyone selling animals in our state. License fees would cover a staff to do inspections for humane welfare of the animals being sold. Please support these proposed bills by emailing Judiciary Committee Chairman Sears at rsears@... and the sponsor of this proposal, Senator Ann Cummings, at acummings@... and telling them you SUPPORT these proposed bills!

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[Guest guest]

Well, I've had good success in the past with eliminating fat from my diet, and

lost

weight without trying. So I'm just going with what works for me. I can eat all I

want

so long as it doesn't have fat, and I tend to lose weight. I thought fat was bad

for

you? Clogs the arteries and such, leads to heart attack and stroke?

What do you guys think about rice milk, or any of the many " milk alternatives "

out

there? To be totally honest, the entire idea of milk makes me ill, but I can't

seem

to find anything better to float my cereal in or to make my smoothies out of

(I've

tried plain water, but it tastes really funny with cereal). I call milk " juice

of

dirty cow teat " , and cheese is " coagulated rotten juice of dirty cow teat " . I

live in

dairy-land, so I guess I have a more personal view of what a dairy farm is like

than

some... it REEKS! Eeww, like... DISGUSTING! Dairy just really makes me queasy if

I

think about it too much.

LOL, I have always had a favorite snack which is really weird, but as far as I

can

tell, fairly healthy. I call it hotdog san hotdog. I just take a piece of bread

and

put mustard and sweet relish on it and eat it like that. I can't eat hotdogs or

other

processed meats, it trigger's my migraines.

Jenn

http://ucat.us

http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html

Adopt a cat from UCAT rescue:

http://ucat.us/adopt.html

Adopt a FIV+ cat:

http://ucat.us/AWrescue/FIV/

http://ucat.us/FIVadopt.html

Adopt a FELV+ cat:

http://ucat.us/FELVadopt.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The VT legislature is considering creating a bill that bans ear cropping on dogs

in

our state.

They are also considering a bill that will require a license for anyone selling

animals in our state.

License fees would cover a staff to do inspections for humane welfare of the

animals

being sold.

Please support these proposed bills by emailing Judiciary Committee Chairman

Sears at rsears@...

and the sponsor of this proposal, Senator Ann Cummings, at

acummings@...

and telling them you SUPPORT these proposed bills!

--

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[Guest guest]

I read on one website that plastic containers are killing us all because the toxins in plastic leach into our foods. Myth? I don;t know how on earth people froze things before plastic was invented... oh, wait, did plastic come before refrigeration? Sometimes I forget how young I am in the grander scheme of things...

Can you freeze filled mason jars, or will they break? I know you can just CAN the stuff, but I mean for short term use, like soups from one week to the next couple weeks. Seems like a lot of trouble to can for that short term... I may try my hand at home canning come summer. Never tried it, though I grew up on it, my dad was an avid canner. He also made beer, wine, root beer, pickles, jams, etc. I wish he lived closer to me so he could teach me now.

Jennhttp://ucat.us http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html Adopt a cat from UCAT rescue:http://ucat.us/adopt.html Adopt a FIV+ cat: http://ucat.us/AWrescue/FIV/ http://ucat.us/FIVadopt.html Adopt a FELV+ cat:http://ucat.us/FELVadopt.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The VT legislature is considering creating a bill that bans ear cropping on dogs in our state. They are also considering a bill that will require a license for anyone selling animals in our state. License fees would cover a staff to do inspections for humane welfare of the animals being sold. Please support these proposed bills by emailing Judiciary Committee Chairman Sears at rsears@... and the sponsor of this proposal, Senator Ann Cummings, at acummings@... and telling them you SUPPORT these proposed bills!

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[Guest guest]

Let's see, mine says $13,283.00 and we eat ONLY organic and have a 23 year old son still living at home.

Shari

[Guest guest]

You can freeze in glass, just leave a couple of inches at the top and it won't break.

Shari

[Guest guest]

"How about thinking salads, fruits or veggies?? instead of hamburger helper?"

Two words: Boy Friend.

If I can't make him THINK there's meat in it, he wont be satisfied with the meal. A salad is fine for him, so long as it's served with a plate of FOOD. Veggies are something he pushes to the side of the plate or eats 3 bites of. Fruit isn't "dinner food" it's dessert food, or snack food. Now, if I could make the veggies into something that is hearty, and I can scoop a huge pile of it on his plate, and it's saucy and rich, THEN maybe I could get away with it... occasionally. But they only thing I know how to do with veggies is steam them, boil them, or stir-fry them, and my stir fry always comes out with no sauce, as it's watery and thin, and I don't know how to make any sauces that would make a meatless pile of dinner taste rich and hearty. That's the key, it has to be rich and hearty or he wont be happy.

Oh, and I really do not like salads. I make myself eat them ever now and then, but they really do not do anything for me. I like pasta salads, and slaws, and cucumber/tomato salad, but lettuce and mixed greens just really don't appeal to me that much.

Jennhttp://ucat.us http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html Adopt a cat from UCAT rescue:http://ucat.us/adopt.html Adopt a FIV+ cat: http://ucat.us/AWrescue/FIV/ http://ucat.us/FIVadopt.html Adopt a FELV+ cat:http://ucat.us/FELVadopt.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The VT legislature is considering creating a bill that bans ear cropping on dogs in our state. They are also considering a bill that will require a license for anyone selling animals in our state. License fees would cover a staff to do inspections for humane welfare of the animals being sold. Please support these proposed bills by emailing Judiciary Committee Chairman Sears at rsears@... and the sponsor of this proposal, Senator Ann Cummings, at acummings@... and telling them you SUPPORT these proposed bills!

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[Guest guest]

Let's see, mine says $13,283.00 and we eat ONLY organic and have a 23 year old son still living at home.

Shari

I must be really bad at budgeting.... anyone know of a good "how to make a budget/learning how to manage your money" group?

Jennhttp://ucat.us http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html Adopt a cat from UCAT rescue:http://ucat.us/adopt.html Adopt a FIV+ cat: http://ucat.us/AWrescue/FIV/ http://ucat.us/FIVadopt.html Adopt a FELV+ cat:http://ucat.us/FELVadopt.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The VT legislature is considering creating a bill that bans ear cropping on dogs in our state. They are also considering a bill that will require a license for anyone selling animals in our state. License fees would cover a staff to do inspections for humane welfare of the animals being sold. Please support these proposed bills by emailing Judiciary Committee Chairman Sears at rsears@... and the sponsor of this proposal, Senator Ann Cummings, at acummings@... and telling them you SUPPORT these proposed bills!

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[Guest guest]

I work at a pizza shop, and it amazes me what people will pay for a PIZZA and a SODA! We have what we call a "house special" pizza, and it has Green peppers, Onion, Mushrooms, Pepperoni, Ham, Sausage, and Hamburg on it. A 16" large (which is in reality only about 14.5-15 inches) is $17.99 with the tax. It has 8 slices, not big slices, mind you, it feeds 4 people, if they are mild eaters, or two average american pigs. AND, we sell LITERS of soda, ONE liters for $2.33 with tax! For ONE liter! If you get extra cheese on your pizza, it's almost $22.00!

I never eat where I work... I could go to a NICE restaurant for what we charge for pizza.

Jennhttp://ucat.us http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html Adopt a cat from UCAT rescue:http://ucat.us/adopt.html Adopt a FIV+ cat: http://ucat.us/AWrescue/FIV/ http://ucat.us/FIVadopt.html Adopt a FELV+ cat:http://ucat.us/FELVadopt.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The VT legislature is considering creating a bill that bans ear cropping on dogs in our state. They are also considering a bill that will require a license for anyone selling animals in our state. License fees would cover a staff to do inspections for humane welfare of the animals being sold. Please support these proposed bills by emailing Judiciary Committee Chairman Sears at rsears@... and the sponsor of this proposal, Senator Ann Cummings, at acummings@... and telling them you SUPPORT these proposed bills!

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