Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with healthy

What's your "go-to" salad?

Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 06:04:42 -0800

Inspired by this post, I'm working on my own "go-to" salad that I'll always be able to make. The criteria are: "fresh ingredients you can get in most stores, which you will never tire of, and can eat twice a week for the rest of your life." Do you have a "go-to" salad or something similar? - I'm looking for inspiration here so the more unusual/personal the better!

I'm looking for healthy, yummy, portable snacks for a toddler.

Alison — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:31:37 -0800

My two year old likes to snack and enjoys trying new foods. What are some healthy, nutritious snacks that I can keep in my bag for when she needs something to eat? I'm looking for stuff that I can make myself or buy off the shelf. Ideally, I would like things that don't cost too much money, but I'm willing to try anything. I typically keep a box filled with five or six snacks in my backpack so that I am always prepared. She'll usually eat two or three snacks during an outing, so we rotate frequently. However, we are not on the go every single day, so I need things that can survive in a box for a few days without refrigeration.

She likes to try new things but does not like snacks that are messy or stick to her hands.

In the box right now:
- Almonds
- Clementines
- Freeze-dried apples
- Crackers of several varieties
- Tomato chips from the dehydrator
- Roasted Seaweed

I'm going to walk across the street and buy dried anchovies during lunch time (as suggested by an article I googled), so don't hold back if you have a less than usual suggestion. In fact, I'm really hoping that AskMeFi will yield lots of tasty suggestions that I never would have imagined.

Obviously, "healthy" is a subjective word. I'm of the "eat lots of different kinds of things and everything will work itself out" school of eating, so every suggestion does not have to be a perfect example of low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar, low-carb, low-whatever snacking.

Lunch: It's complicated.

wintersweet — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 10:41:45 -0800

I need help figuring out hearty sandwiches, a sandwich + a single-item side, or make-ahead one-dish lunches. Difficulty: Low-oxalate diet, extremely pressed for time, despise food prep. I'm on this incredibly annoying low-oxalate diet by doctor's orders. (Don't google it: most lists are nonsensical and contradictory.) So you don't have to guess at it, here are some of the restrictions--sorry for the length!

Among the things I should virtually never eat are spinach, almonds (and most other nuts), turmeric, curry powder, soy milk, almond milk, and miso (except in tiny servings).

Among the things I should avoid or eat very, very infrequently (and only in combination with calcium-rich foods if possible) are tomato paste, yellow squash, eggplant, green beans, parsley, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, swiss chard, chocolate (!), tempeh, TVP, virtually all beans, and EVERY WHOLE GRAIN EVER (oats, wheat, buckwheat, quinoa, etc.).

Things that are more OK to eat include acorn squash, arugula, dino kale (in moderation), onions, zucchini squash, avocado, peeled apples, melons, bananas, sweet/bing cherries, citrus (but not the peel), wild rice, peas, coconut, most stone fruit, pineapple, certain lettuces (romaine, bibb, butter, Boston, iceberg), cabbages (but not brussels sprouts), rapini (in moderation), broccoli, flax, mushrooms, butternut squash, kabocha, and virtually all cheeses, yogurts, other dairy products, meat of all kinds, and fish.

Things that are iffy but are OK sometimes or with calcium-rich ingredients: collard greens, mustard greens, split peas, barley, shallots, Belgian endive, corn, asparagus, brussels sprouts, fresh tomatoes, and tofu.

Given that in the past 5 years I've been shifting to a very low meat, vegetable heavy, whole grain only diet, this has been quite a blow. The oats-and-almond-butter breakfast that I've mentioned a few times on MeFi, which helped me lose weight and survive mornings better, is out and might have helped cause my problem in the first place (so expect a breakfast help post at some point!). My go-to easy meals that create leftovers for lunch were a meatless bean-based chili, which is right out, and pasta with jarred tomato sauce (fresh tomato sauce takes a lot longer because of all the chopping). I'm feeling frustrated, negative, and sort of angry about the whole thing.

I need a filling lunch because I eat it before work and don't eat again until much later in the evening, and I do not have time for snacks at work (I am a teacher). Please help me figure out how to make hearty sandwiches (or a sandwich + a no-effort side) that I can prepare mostly or entirely the night before (I have about 2 minutes for lunch prep in the morning) or one-dish meals that I can make on Sunday and eat again on Monday or Tuesday. But because I'm a teacher, the scant time that I have on weekends that doesn't involve unpaid work is extremely precious, and I don't want to spend it all chopping and cooking. The easier the better! Finally, I do have access to both a fridge and microwave at work.

Thanks!

Help me not go to Mars and get more candy bars

silly me — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 07:49:45 -0800

Help me eat well during a conference! I'd like tips for food that travels well on airplanes, as well as anything specific to the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago. Many picky eater details within. I’m headed to a multi-day conference next month at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place (full address: 2233 S Martin Luther King Dr., Chicago, IL 60616). I hate conferences, I hate traveling, I hate staying in hotels, I hate not eating the food I’m used to. What usually ends up happening is that I get sad and homesick and start trying to “comfort” myself by eating readily available junk food, thus triggering a feedback loop of feeling crappy and eating crappy food. This time, I’d like it to be different.

What I normally eat: vast salads, lots of beans, nuts, fresh eggs, corn tortillas and occasional fish. I almost never eat out. I’m ardently against factory farming on ethical grounds, and it would have to be pretty exceptional circumstances for me to eat an egg from a battery hen (for instance). I mention this because it makes ordering in restaurants difficult. If I go with a salad with no animal products, I get a sad little affair that leaves me hungry fifteen minutes after dinner.

I’m wondering what else I can do. Are there any decent grocery stores in walking distance? I’m going on my employer’s dime, and our time there will be pretty tightly controlled, so will probably not have much time to go on food-gathering trips. Being from a small town, I’m also stupid when it comes to “how to take a bus or taxi,” making longer trips to get food somewhat challenging.

And if that’s not an option, are there any types of foods that travel well on planes? Cans of beans are probably out, but I was thinking bags of nuts, free-range meat jerky of some kind…other options? I need something that will fill me up and keep me running but not give me a carb crash. Energy and protein bars of all stripes give me carb crashes. Breakfast is especially challenging. I need something protein-y, and the fruit and bagel options just don't cut it.

Help us eat healthy and save money with an infant

ThaBombShelterSmith — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:44:29 -0800

Mrs. Thabombshelter and I have a four month old son and would love to eat more meals that aren't takeout. Plus, with a baby, money is obviously a valuable and precious commodity. Easy prep and inexpensive ingredients are a priority. So please, help us with some suggestions for easy-ish, healthy-ish, cheap-ish meals that can help us avoid Papa Johns or Chinese takeout. Both of us love eating well and making food at home. Before the boy came, we cooked about 4 or 5 meals at home a week, but now we're lucky if we can manage 2. We love using the crockpot (and have a great crockpot cookbook already), but can't really manage more than about 1 crockpot meal a week.

Here are some snowflakes:

-Thanks to our exersaucer, I have found that some light prep is possible, like: chopping an onion or two, chopping carrots or peppers or celery. However, deboning an entire chicken or chopping stew meat from a 3lb roast is too much.

-We both really want to avoid prepared/processed ingredients like frozen meal starters etc. I also want to steer away from the old school casseroles that involve canned soup-like methods.

-We ARE vegetarian friendly, but we're also happy meat eaters and enjoy our protein. Tofu isn't really in our wheelhouse, but beans and other legumes are awesome.

-We are NOT looking for "Make a huge batch of X on Sunday and eat it all week," or "Make all of your meals for the week on Sunday and freeze them." I'm okay with meals that cook for an hour or so, as long as the prep is simple. I made a great baked pasta dish on Wednesday that took about 45 minutes to cook, all told, but the only active prep was chopping two onions and tossing in a can of pureed tomatoes.

-If I can take any of these meals to lunch the next day, that would be an added bonus.

PS- Assume we have a fully stocked kitchen, and while we have a pressure cooker, I'm not 100% comfortable with relying on it as a primary cooking tool (plus, we have a crappy glass-top electric range)

PPS- We also have access to ANY ethnic or exotic ingredients and we are located in Cincinnati, OH, USA

Healthy-ish Dessert Recipes

fruitopia — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 05:56:38 -0800

Do you have any dessert recipes that are sugar-free? Bonus points for also being flour free. I need inspiration for healthy dessert recipes that do not contain granulated sugar, powdered sugar, or sugar substitutes. The only sweeteners I would be okay using are honey, maple syrup, or molasses.

Right now I'm getting my chocolate fix by making raw cookies consisting of oats, coconut oil, honey, ground almonds, and cocoa powder, but I'd like a little variety.

I'm planning on trying black bean brownies sweetened, but I can't find recipes that don't use Splenda or Stevia. I also keep forgetting to soak the beans before going to bed.

To make it even more complicated, I'm trying to limit the amount of flour I eat, so if your recipes don't contain flour either, even better. I've found websites that offer low-carb recipes and websites that offer "sugar-free" recipes but none that offer both, and most sugar-free recipes use sugar substitutes.

How to use up peanut butter?

macsigler — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 00:27:43 -0800

I have a bunch of peanut butter that I need to use up, but I'm running out of ideas. I would particularly appreciate recipe ideas that I can use in meals, though all I can ever really think of is perhaps Thai-style chicken/noodles, or PB&J sandwiches, or fruit with peanut butter dip. I know there's also stuff like peanut butter cookies and other baking goodies, but I'm trying to avoid sugar-bombing my diet too badly. Please help me with ideas!

Motivational Fitness Blogs

odayoday — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:31:57 -0800

I'm looking for good inspirational fitness blogs! Like many of you, I want to get healthier, and I've found that inspirational fitness blogs are great motivators. Which ones have you found that help get you moving?

I'm not looking for blogs that detail specific exercises, but ones in which people discuss their efforts to be more active/healthier. In the past I've really enjoyed Bitchcakes's (http://www.sherylyvette.com/), Jennette Fulda's (http://www.jenful.com/) and diet girl's (http://www.dietgirl.org/) blogs, but they post much less frequently, and much less about weight loss/exercise than they used to. Have you found any that are similar in tone, or that are maybe not similar, but are similarly awesome?

Will pomegranate seeds hurt my young daughter?

lynnie-the-pooh — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 14:48:03 -0800

Are pomegranate seeds safe for my 8 year old daughter to eat? I heard that pomegranate seeds were really healthy and I bought them for me, but my 8 year old daughter loves them. She eats spoonfuls of them. But now I'm reading that they have something in them like estrogen? I don't want to hurt her with high estrogen. Do any of you have a better understanding about this than me.

I just don't want to be giving her something that could harm her.

Thanks.

All I want for Xmas is airport peace, quiet and wifi

Wordshore — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:10:28 -0800

How can one keep sane with a 6 (six) hour layover in Detroit airport during the Xmas travel rush? Arriving late afternoon, a few days before Christmas. Departing late evening on a flight to Europe. Carrying a laptop and an android.

Looking for:
- wifi, either free and/or reliable
- quiet spaces and places
- power socket

Shot-in-the-dark less likely options, but would also be nice:
- light and healthy meal option (no fast food, fries, similar)
- decent tea
- cat petting or viewing place (as will be missing mine)

Do these exist (together) in any specific non-lounge areas? If not, is there is a cheap / cost effective way of getting lounge access? Infrequent flyer (a few times a year).

Thank you.

Meal Solutions for the Common Sense Inept

Sine_Agraphia — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:45:11 -0800

What are some handy, affordable, healthy meal solutions for a kitchen-less existence? In the effort to replenish my daily stock of free time I've decided to spend 5 nights a week sleeping over at the office. For the record, my higher-ups are totally comfortable with this (and, for better or worse, encourage it). Looking over my expenses for the past month, as well as the ever-expanding circumference of my waistline, I've come to the realization that eating take-out 5 days a week for lunch and dinner probably isn't the most intelligent way I could be spending my money. Especially when I make peanuts per/hr.

Well then.

So, we have a mini-fridge here, but no stove, no oven, no microwave, no toaster, nor nothin' else. However, there is a well-stocked supermarket just 50 feet across the street. Hmm...

For the survivalists and spendthrifts out there, as well as other creative minds of all kinds, I ask you: how would you nutritionally sustain yourself under such circumstances?

And, bonus points!: in the absence of being able to cook raw meat/poultry, how would I best consume adequate amounts of protein for a weight lifting regime? I'm looking at you, vegetarian and vegan mefites.

All tips, suggestions, pointers and recommendations are most welcome, even if they may seem absurdly obvious. To me, they probably are not so obvious. I've never lived all on my own (in a sense) before, so this is crossing more than one threshold for me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, all who may contribute! :)

what are movies about independent women in a relationship?

valdesm — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 04:35:36 -0800

help me find movies depicting women in a healthy relationship, where her space, interest or financial independence are respected. A friend is a social worker, working with women coming from abusive marriages, and is looking for examples of what a normal, healthy relationship looks like. This is not necessarily about strong women, but about respect as part of being in a relationship.

I think good examples could be Frances McDormand's role in Fargo, Rebecca Pidgeon's in State and Main, Meryl Streep's in Julie Julia.

Good resources for nutrition information

vignettist — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 10:52:45 -0800

I feel awful. Please share your resources for reasonable, safe and sane information about nutrition. First off, YANMD, I understand. I plan to work with my GP and have some bloodwork done to see if anything is off in that respect.

I have been feeling tired, run-down, low energy. I have put on about 10-15 pounds in the last year. I just don't feel like myself. I have a toddler and I am still nursing, so sleep deprivation and extra demands on my body are definitely contributing factors. But I know a lot of moms with kids that are the same age that mine is, and I just don't feel like I have bounced back the way that most of them have.

I feel that a lot of how we feel can be reasonably controlled through the way we eat. I eat reasonably well most of the time; I prepare most of my own meals from fresh ingredients, eat steamed veggies as opposed to fried or sauce-laden, etc. Most of my fluid intake throughout the day is water.

My question is, there is so much noise out there with regard to how to eat well. I feel like I have only seen either Follow This Diet! type literature, or books that are just too dense with the science behind whatever theory they are putting forward to be easily read and understood. I would like to find some reasonable, not extreme type of nutrition education (example: I recently learned from a tv program that the body can more easily absorb iron from meat if the meal contains veggies that have more vitamin C, such as peppers or tomatoes. Which leads me to wonder if some of my tiredness could be attributed to borderline low iron due to poor food combinations).

I would appreciate hearing about whatever resources you found helpful; books, textbooks, podcasts, websites, youtube videos... Thanks.

Slow cook me some healthy complete meals

PuppetMcSockerson — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 10:16:32 -0800

Bought a slow cooker and I love it so far, but dear god is it hard to find slow cooker recipes that are 1) healthy (no cans of cream of ____ soup) 2) taste good 3) include vegetables. Help. I go to the gym after work so if I were to cook supper it wouldn't be served until 7pm-ish, which is too late for our 5 year old. I didn't like that my schedule basically forced my partner in to doing the majority of the cooking, so two weeks ago I purchased a slow cooker mostly to try to take up some of that responsibility. He's been really glad for it and has really liked the couple of meals I have made in it so far, but I'm finding it hard finding meals that suit our tastes and needs. And again because of my schedule, he has defauled in to the "veggie side" preparer, which sort of undermines my desire to let him off the hook for cooking.

I bought Slow Cooker Revolution and intend to start trying out some of those recipes. I found the blog of the woman who used her crock pot every day for year and that had a few workable recipes. I also have checked out the slow cooker section on Allrecipes.com, but it seems like the vast VAST majority either involve cans of cream soup, a ton of fat, a whack of cheese, or a jesus load of carbs. And vegetables are noticibly scant.

Basically I'm trying to find more recipes that
a) I can turn on in the morning and have it cook all day while I'm at work. I have one that has a timer, and after the set amount of time it automatically switches to "warm" so that helps, but in general I'm looking for things that take 6 hours or more to cook.
b) are relatively healthy
c) are relatively tasty
d) don't include cream of _______ soup or garbagy stuff like that. (I'm fine with adding cheese or what have you at the end, but cooking something in cream of mushroom soup all day sicks me out)
e) are a complete meal so that I don't have to prepare something else to go on the side.
f) filling
g) (optional) kid friendly

I know that slow cookers lend themselves to meats and that is where they shine. The whole chicken I cooked in the slow cooker was incredible. However, I wish I didn't have to prepare vegetables when I got home to go with it. And something about having carrots or what have you cook all day in the fat that comes out of the chicken seems really unappetizing.

So what kinds of recipes involving veg am I overlooking? Should I just suck it up and prepare veg to go on the side? Is there some magical way to keep veg from overcooking in a slow cooker?

bonus side question: I also have a little dipper but am having trouble figuing out what the hell I should use it for.

Shit or get off the pot can't mean 20 minutes, right?

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:15:24 -0800

How long does it take you or a loved one to poop? It takes Hubby around 20 minutes to poop...once in the morning before work and once when he gets home from work (doesn't matter what time of day). 20 minutes a poop seemed really excessive to me so I asked if he was spending a bunch of that time reading or enjoying alone time, but he insists that he needs the entire time to get the deed done and that he is healthy. He absolutely denies having any other issues (i.e. constipation) that would require extra time. I do not go the same time every day but when I have to go, it seriously takes no more than a minute or two from sitting to flushing and fully dressed again.

I think 20 minutes is an absurd amount of time on the crapper absent some digestive problem. So now we are curious...what is the norm in this department? Do not include time spent reading or whatever else might be going on in there. Just the average time really needed to get deed done.

I know this is a super weird question but since our son has been born 3 years ago, I find it slightly annoying having to accommodate an adult human's pooping schedule to the degree I do. Seriously, Hubby spends 40 minutes of home/quality time per day pooping! I know this is my Price of Admission and that the Price is cheap. Hubby is super awesome and this is not an argument or point of contention between us. We have laughed about it for years and last night we finally decided to take the plunge and seek "The Truth" on the Green--Grab Bag category, not Human Relations.

Easy side dishes to go with chili?

rainbowbrite — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 19:47:21 -0800

Easy side dishes to go with chili? I'm cooking dinner for a large-ish group and am planning on an easy chili as the main dish. I wanted to serve a veggie side dish to lighten things up a little, but I'm drawing a blank as to what would be good. Needs to be easy/relatively few ingredients as I'll be prepping in a friend's kitchen, and ideally on the healthier side.

The Quest for the Forbidden Snacks

Flying Saucer — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 09:25:10 -0800

Help me find Reduced Fat Doritos in NYC From a hotel vending machine in North Carolina, I bought a bag of Sweet and Spicy Reduced Fat Doritos. They were very good, even better than Baked Doritos, with a low of amount of fat -- which I care about far more than calories.

When I got back to NYC, I couldn't find them in stores. I visited the Doritos website and saw that they also made Cool Ranch and Nacho Cheese in the Reduced Fat versions. I couldn't search by specific varieties on their site, so I called Frito-Lay and asked where I could find any RF Doritos in my area.

The rep said that all three RF varieties are made as healthful alternatives for children and are only available in schools.

That's not true, I told her. I bought one from a vending machine.

That must have been a "one-off," she said. Or "that person had an inside connection." Either way, they're aren't for sale in stores.

Well, this is America. More to the point: this is New York City. If the chips can be in a hotel vending machine in North Carolina, they can be here. So I'm asking MeFites for help in finding these chips. I'm looking for legal, legitimate ways to purchase them.

Does anyone know of a "one-off" or "inside connection" where I can buy Reduced Fat Doritos?

I just want real food.

Urban Winter — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 10:23:34 -0800

I want to eat like it's 1909 and have no idea how to plan meals. I will learn to cook. Does anyone have advice and/or resources for me? Online recipes are full of ingredients like "X-Brand Low Fat Cheese" and "Canned Y in Syrup." I don't want to eat that crap, and I don't know enough about cooking to pull apart all the crappy ingredients and make something good - nor do I have the inclination to do so.

I want to eat like it's 1909. Take vegetables, cut them up, cook them, eat them. Same with fruit (well, minus the cooking). Same with meat. I want to eat only about two meals a week with meat in them - for my purposes, eggs are not meat, but fish and poultry is. I want to reduce my contact with dairy (not eliminate). I like bread, I like pasta, and I like rice, and I intend to continue eating them (though I could certainly stand to eat less pasta).

I'm not a picky eater. I like food other people would consider bland. I don't like frying things up in grease, and I'm very sparing with my spices. I know about as much as any college student about cooking: I can use the appliances without breaking anything, but when it comes to making any meal that takes longer than 10-15 minutes to prepare (including time for the water to boil) I'm clueless. I'm also on my own here. The other people in my house fill the fridge/freezer with soda, meat, frozen pizzas, etc, and the pantry is filled with microwave-ready just-add-water dishes, chips/cookies, and cereal. I am buying food for one single person (and one without a large appetite at that). I also don't mind eating leftovers, however.

So. How do I do this? How did grandma do it, or great-grandma? I don't want to "go on a diet." I just want to eat real food without an "ingredients" list on the back. Broccoli is made of broccoli. Flour is made of flour. I want to eat food where the ingredients are the food.

Food is an important part of a balanced diet

b33j — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 05:31:41 -0800

Cooking for one (non-foodie edition) Resources for creating menu and shopping list: overweight non-foodie edition.

So here's what I want to be able to do:
Shop to cook a simple meal for dinner for one every night that's quick, easy, and healthy and doesn't require special tools. This rules out any "4 ingredients" cookbook, because the 4th ingredient is invariably a can of cream of something multiplied by sodium can of soup.

Part of the problem I'm having is if I buy (for example) a cabbage, I have to eat cabbage every night for a week or it goes off. Yes I do have a freezer, but it's relatively small, so making 17 litres of soup and freezing it will mean I can't freeze meat.

Please note there is some slight hyperbole above.

One other issue is that I tend to travel for work irregularly, and unexpectedly, so if I buy x, y and z hoping for fresh food for the week, it might turn out that I only have time to eat x. Then, when I get back, the only thing left to eat is squillions of pasta, and a couple of tins of tomatoes, and the black slimy things in the fridge.

Oh, and I don't have a car - buying food means catching a bus to the shops and back - which is not a huge task, but time that could be more profitably spent (for example, on metafilter), so popping into the corner shop and back in 10 minutes just can't happen. I have to spend an hour round trip, so would rather not buy food every day.

Bonus points for easily transportable lunch that is not sandwhiches. Soup for example or other gooey food may get dislodged (opened) while travelling in my backpack. Okay, I could use a thermos for soup, but maybe not so much for a chunkier wet meal.

Added difficulty level: I am Australian so I like to use kilojoules instead of calories, and cup measures etc are metric which are different to US measures - so a US recipe site will be problematic.

In short, how to manage buying and making healthy food for one that will give a balanced, varied diet (and not go off, or be prohibitively expensive)?

Healthy vegan gifts for the road

Mila — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:57:40 -0800

I need ideas for reasonably healthy, vegan snacks for the road that I can give as a gift. My co-worker and his family are moving. I want to give an edible going-away gift for their road trip. It should look nice when I present it as a gift, so things like peanut butter on celery are not quite what I'm looking for.

Other restrictions: vegan, fairly healthy, and not requiring refrigeration or reheating.

Thanks!

How to safely un-quit drinking?

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:12:47 -0800

My partner and I have decided that we would like to learn to drink in moderation, and have already begun to see if it will work for us. But we're not trying to reduce our intake-- we've each abstained from alcohol for over five years and are starting from a place of not drinking at all. Basically, we're un-quitting drinking, and want some guidance. Is there some sort of support or literature that can help us make sure we're on the right track as we learn to have a healthy and casual relationship with alcohol? Recently we each came to the conclusion that it's entirely possible that our prior dependence was due to external factors that have now been addressed and mitigated, and that there's an excellent chance that we can learn to have a healthy relationship with alcohol. We each had untreated mental health issues that are now well-managed. We have learned to face, deal with, and process difficult emotions without the use of mood-altering substances, and intend to keep doing so. Neither of us has a family history that includes alcoholism or abuse. In fact, we're not doing this because we especially feel the need or want to drink, it's because there are elements of life (especially social) that we'd like to re-introduce to ourselves in a healthy manner. This is an experiment, one that will end if it doesn't work out for either one of us, and as with all things our open communication is the key to seeing if this will work. The following are things that have been discussed and on which we are in complete agreement.

Here's what we're thinking constitutes healthy, moderate drinking:
-- A few social drinks on Friday or Saturday nights
-- Playing board games or some such activity together once or twice a week (to replace our current 3-4 hours a night of mindless television watching)
-- A couple of glasses of wine on the rare "date night" that we'll be able to have together (once every 2 months or so)
-- 1-2 glasses of wine with a nice meal that we've made, once or twice a week, maybe
-- On vacation, should we ever be able to take one
-- Absolute maximum 9 drinks each week (per recommended guidelines for women), no more than 2 on any night, and no drinking at all for at least two nights each week
+++ All of the above will be our guidelines for a couple of months down the road-- we're currently limiting ourselves to two drinks each on only one weekend night per week, until we have a better idea of where we stand+++

And here are some of the things that, should they present themselves for either of us, will stop this experiment immediately:
-- Desire to drink to drown feelings or to "deal with" stress
-- Inability to have alcohol in the house without consuming it
-- Any form of obsession or planning activities to "create" reasons to drink

I'm looking for support and/or literature to guide us in this process-- we met after we stopped drinking, and neither of us had occasion to learn what moderate drinking looked like before we stopped. I'm trying to determine if my lists above sound right to someone who has experience drinking in moderation.

Our experiment is going well for us so far-- no obsession, no need to "control", etc. I'm sure there will be many opinions on what my partner and I have decided to do, but what we could really use is some guidance on what drinking in moderation looks like so that we have a yardstick against which to measure our intake--but mostly against which we can determine if we can have a healthy, normal relationship with alcohol after all. If we can't, then we have plans in place and support to "catch" us, but we are already in the process of giving this a shot and would appreciate comments, advice, and resources that can help us in this direction.

We are fully aware of all the ways in which this can go wrong, and have heard all of the stories and warnings, I assure you (we both have multiple years of AA under our belts). We also believe that it can go well, definitely not for everybody but in our specific cases, and with the right guidance. We are both mentally healthy and have built a pretty great life together. I'm looking for support, guidance, literature, or programs-- and if you have any, examples of what worked for you or someone you know. Throwaway email: moderationexperiment@gmail.com

Where can I find liquid baby powder?

karizma — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 11:17:03 -0800

Why is it so hard to find liquid baby powder? So, for quite a while now, I have been a fan of liquid baby powder. I use it on myself (not for a baby) and it's a great product that helps alleviate and prevent discomfort in many circumstances, especially during the warm summer months.

This product has always seemed to be fairly difficult to locate in stores, however. Whenever I did find it, I typically bought the store's entire supply, which was never more than a few bottles. I started out using the Huggies brand liquid baby powder when it could be found in stores for $4-5 a bottle. Now, as that link shows, it's in extremely short supply and is going for $19.99 (and up). I then, through sheer luck, discovered that the Dollar Tree stores carried an Angel of Mine brand that was, you guessed it, only $1 a bottle and they had what seemed like an endless supply. Ok, I thought - problem solved! Not so fast. Now it seems Dollar Tree is no longer carrying this item (I cannot find it stocked in any of the local stores, and the customer comments on their site indicate that they have discontinued it) and people who did find it have turned to eBay to sell it at a massive mark-up. I have checked Target, Walmart, local drugstores, etc. and cannot find it anywhere.

Does anyone know why this stuff is so hard to find? Is there a reason why manufacturers are (apparently) no longer making it?

Also, does anyone know where I might be able to find it at a reasonable ($5 or less) price? Online is great, or anywhere in the Western WA area is good too.

(And yes, I'm aware of and have tried using good ol' baby powder. It's ok in a pinch, but it is more messy and is not as easy to thoroughly apply. It also tends to lose effectiveness more quickly, at least in my experience.)

I appreciate your help. Thanks!

Comfort foods that FILL ME WITH HEALTH AND VIGOR

Rory Marinich — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 05:48:50 -0800

I want your best recipes for turning comfort foods into health foods without sacrificing satisfaction. Burgers, tacos, lo mein, oatmeal, eggs, mac and cheese, you name it. I want recipes for when I need something utterly, morbidly delicious, but which won't sink me into a pit of eating fattier and saltier foods until I'm back to bad-habit eating.

I want to keep the bar HIGH for the comfort-food-ness: the recipe should taste close enough to the ordinary brand of delicious sin food that I feel like I'm still eating my childhood favorites. Oatmeal that's savory rather than sweet is cool, but it's going to taste like a whole new kind of food, and that's not what I want. Replacing eggs with tofu? I don't mind tofu now and then, but it would take a lot to convince me tofu tastes like eggs. Nondairy mac and cheese? Yeah, no.

That said, I am all for making my comfort food less indulgent. If there's a way to slip a zillion healthy things into mac and cheese that combine to taste close enough to the original that I end up eating less pasta, less cheese, then that's totally great. Ditto if there's a way to, say, add food types that will taste equally delicious when cheesy. If my burger still tastes like a burger I don't mind if there's less meat or a whole bunch of things I'm not used to being on a burger – just keep in mind the satisfaction of biting into a juicy beef burger and try not to diminish that indulgent joy.

Cheap is better because I'm a recent college grad with limited funds. Indulgent-style foods that I haven't explicitly mentioned are more-than-welcome, especially if they're actually very healthy. These recipes are for when I need food to make me happier in the most primal, hedonistic way, though, so ultimately if it's healthy but "grown-up" food it's not what I'm looking for.

BONUS POINTS: I came upon a foodie blog a few months ago whose author would occasionally "reinvent" (I forget the phrase she used) traditional foods, such as chicken lo mein, General Tso's, chicken parmesan, but with an emphasis on lightweight, healthier recipes. For some reason I haven't been able to track it down through diligent re-Googling. Does this blog sound familiar to anybody? You'll be paid in gold doubloons.

running = weight loss?

buck:fuller — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 02:16:41 -0800

Previously. Now I'm running 20 miles a week. Now what? Thanks to you, I'm off medication. I completed C25K in April and now I'm on to 10K. I bought a HRM thinking it would help, but I'm too thick to understand it.
My goal is to lose all the weight I put on during my horrible depression of last year. Please tell me what kind of training is best for this purpose.
I'm confused: should I run really slowly to stay in the fat burning zone? It's kind of counter-intuitive. I also read somewhere that one has to "teach the body to burn fat". How do I do that?
(I'm 32, F, 30 lbs overweight)

Square Meal: Blandest Foods?

defmute — Thu, 24 May 2012 01:30:13 -0800

What can I eat that's bland as hell and healthy as hell? I want to eat as bland as I can for a month so that when I eat extremely awesome food after that it'll be extremely extremely awesome (it's like the idea of saving sex for marriage). What foods can I eat that are bland as hell but will also be nutritious and give my body what it needs (I plan on taking whatever vitamins/supplements necessary to cover any potential holes in my diet). I'm not doing this to lose weight or even eat more nutritiously: I'm just doing it so that I can eat a pizza after a month and have it taste like the best pizza I've ever had. So, what're the blandest ass foods I can eat while maintaining a healthy diet? Thanks yall.

P.S. I plan to do P90X during this period.