socomary

...if you reflexively know the amount of Ghiradelli chocolate chips it takes to make one serving, and how many calories that one serving is...

Yessssssssssssss!!!

Podcasts, especially when I'm walking the dog, or doing the "slower" stuff. If I'm running (even on the treadmill), it's music I listen to.

Oh! And try not to overestimate your activity level. "Active" is active like a mail deliverer who can walk 3 miles per hour up to 10 or 12 miles a day. "Very Active" is like being a construction worker, a bike courier - someone who is rarely sitting, and probably carries a load or uses several muscle groups for most of the…

Use MFP's guide to establish your goals? I'm 5'1, 126 pounds, losing at 1/2 pound per week, and I'm on 1300 calories per day. Give it a try.

This has been around for a while, I think, before the word "cleanse" was used in a dieting sense. I think I saw this in a magazine back in 1988? I remember the "Day Four - Bananas and Milk" and remember thinking that if I ate bananas and milk all day, I'd feel pretty sick (on top of having banana-laced burps as a result).…

Glad to hear I am not the only one who does that! I'm curious about Spaghetti Carbonara - I think I'll try it tomorrow, but only after I go for a quick hike!

Harold and Maude (1971). From what I gather, it's either a movie you love or a movie you hate. I have settled on the latter emotion.

I don't know what your eating ethics are while trying to lose weight, but sometimes if I get a craving, I just go for it (corn chips are my weakness). I don't go for it in a piggish way, mind you. Just enough to settle the craving. I'll check the packaging to see what a serving is, count out the chips, eat it, and that's…

I chop a lot of wood to heat my house in the winter. Seriously. Don't know if that is an option for you, though.

For either, I usually toast it a bit in a hot pan (be careful not to burn) or saute/toast it in some fat (usually olive oil) before cooking it with liquids and the rest of the ingredients. Run a web search for recipes for either - you'll probably find that many recipes call for toasting them first before finalizing the…

The "8 glasses of water per day" is something that hasn't been "true" for a while now, but trying to get that message out is difficult considering the extremely loud volume of bottled water advertising... A person's daily fluids intake can depend on their activity level, ambient temperature, ambient humidity, and is…

Ever tried quinoa or amaranth? Those words are often followed by the word "grain", but they are not grains in the sense that oat, wheat, barley, and rye are. Oats, wheat, barley, and rye are grasses. Quinoa and amaranth are seeds of broadleaved plants - quinoa is in the Chenopodiacea family (related to spinach), and the…

Oops, I meant to add that if you're looking for a turkey "substitute", try looking for mushroom recipes under "mushroom pate". Not vegan by any stretch, but qualify as vegetarian as long as you're using a vegetarian stock.

A few years ago for Thanksgiving, one of my invited guests was a vegetarian. I opted to make shepherd's pie as the main course for everyone, and found a really great recipe on Epicurious for "Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie". It was a hit. (Yes, I made my own vegetable stock - I cook a lot.) If one is ok with mushrooms, have…

LOL!!! Thanks for the best laugh I've had all week. I really needed that. Seriously though...if you're here, you're already keeping a food diary, right? Maybe you can add notes about when you are feeling fine post-meal or when you do get a headache and maybe narrow down the culprit that way (if it's related to something…

Ack - I never buy brown sugar anymore. It's regular white sugar with molasses thrown back in. So what do I get now? Regular white sugar and a bottle of molasses. That way I never, ever have to fight with a rock-hard lump of brown sugar. If you need to know how to make "substitute" brown sugar, there are lots of cooking…

Look, if a spouse is considering cheating, it seems to me that the relationship between the two spouses has already deteriorated to the point where communication is difficult or non-existent. Telling someone that they are thinking of cheating is being brutally honest. Being honest is not something that occurs when…

Edamame, steamed or boiled, with salt sprinkled on top. I am often guilty of eating an entire bag by myself - they only take about 10 minutes from freezer to plate. Are you the type of person who might find a day or so a week to cook large portions ahead of time? Dishes with lentils and rice and vegetables, if cooked ahead…

Oh, if it were flat, I'd' have an easier time running mileage. Don't ask people who live in the mountains that question...