fudgebudget Member

I like to turn to produce for occasions like this. Baked sweet potato fries are good if you want something sweet (or put them with ranch dressing for a saltier snack), so are baked apples with cinnamon and little brown sugar or poached pears. If you make homemade hot chocolate (with your own milk, lots of unsweetened cocoa…

I really doubt you actually gained 6 pounds in a weekend. That's like an excess of 21,000 calories in just a couple of days. More likely, you consumed a lot of sodium which is causing you to retain water, and THAT is the gain. Drink a ton of water over the next few days and you should "lose" a few pounds just with that.

Ditto - I love my Mirena, but I've been bleeding every time I run and it's getting old.

Bolthouse Farms makes a really good ranch with yogurt (and sans HFCS) - it's 70 calories for 2 tablespoons, but it goes a long way. I have a habit of dipping baked sweet potato fries in it, which tastes AMAZING.

I have this issue, too, although the more I exercise the better it's gotten. What also helps is to keep the arms bent 90 degrees at the elbow and hold something in your hands (like your phone/iPod/water). I ran/walked 4 miles like this the other day and the swelling was markedly better than previous attempts.

THAT'S a dangerous road to go down. I'm adopted - closed adoption - and I can't imagine doing it any other way. With an open adoption you risk a lot of confusion on the child's part and grief on the part of the adoptive parents. I'm sure that there are situations where this can work out, but I don't think it's the…

I think that the right to NOT have children should be more emphasized than any right TO have them - I would feel much better about my tax dollars going to provide free universal birth control and family planning services for those who want them than I do about them going to subsidize families who have no intention of…

This. Running hills, lunges, and squats have done great things for my legs/butt. Try incorporating some strength training in addition to the cardio you're doing. It will help bring your body fat percentage down and build more lean muscle mass that will help in bikini times.

Let's say I like bell peppers, onions, spinach, and tomatoes on my sub. The last time I went to the grocery store that would have cost me $1.50 per bell pepper, about $1 for an onion, $4 for baby spinach, and $3 for a couple of tomatoes. That's already over $8 just for the veggies, and the tomatoes are only going to make 2…

Someone who lives in NY like this author is the beneficiary of a popular local fresh food culture with easy and cheap public transportation to make it all even more accessible. I can go to the farmers market once a week in Santa Fe where the prices are jacked up as high as the local grocery stores, and that's pretty much…

I'm planning on going next year, but couldn't get my act together in time to get tickets this year. Have fun and have several beers for me! :)

I had terrible shin splint issues the first couple of times I tried doing C25K and ended up quitting in the second week. This time, I did a lot of preparation for it with calf raises and lunges, and it has made ALL the difference. The calf raises will not only strengthen your calves, but also the muscle that covers the…

I don't typically keep my weaknesses at home anymore: ice cream, chocolate, or Baked Lays (seriously, I have problems with Baked Lays ... I don't know why). If I want ice cream, I have to want it badly enough to get out of the house and go to Baskin Robbins or Sonic for a single serving. If I want chocolate, I have to wait…

Once a week or every other week I'll have a cheat meal. It helps me stay on track since I know that all of this is pointless if I don't learn how to handle the foods I love when I go back to maintenance mode.

It's important to get a good amount of vitamin C and zinc for cold recoveries. You might want to also make sure that you're netting enough protein and calories in general - I can't see your diary, so I don't know what a typical food day is for you, but make sure that you're staying well-nourished.

You eat them for different reasons: salmon has all kinds of omega 3s and other nutrients in it, but wild caught is best for those nutritive values and taste (and that is expensive) - tilapia is a bottom feeder fish and does well in farms, and this means that you can get tilapia much cheaper while still getting some really…

I find that when I eat eggs in the morning it prevents me from getting really hungry by the time lunch rolls around. My lunch is usually either a 6" sub from Subway or a big bowl of oatmeal (SO filling) and then I eat some yogurt before I go home so I'm not starving while making dinner.

I count any liquid that will hydrate me (so, not coffee or alcohol) as water. If it has calories in it (eg milk) then I will log it into my calories in addition to being whatever-cup-equivalent of water. Some people on here are so strict with the "IT MUST BE WATER ZOMG," but it really doesn't have to be. You just don't…

I don't think you need to eat more, just eat smart, and get plenty of fluids. Also, zinc is proven to help get over a cold faster :)

The whole point of Rocky Horror is to be shameless. So, go forth and be shameless!! :)

I hate exercising, too, but like Lolyballs said, I do SO much better if I make an appointment and have someone else holding me accountable. I got a trainer just for a couple of months so I could learn the proper ways to use the weight machines, etc., and I've really enjoyed it (I lucked out and found a trainer that only…

Agreed. I've seen my cat go to town on random stuff with her back claws, although she won't do it to people unless you mess with her. For biting, if the cat gets a hold of your hand or something, though, if you push back farther into their mouths it freaks them out (they're using to things they're biting trying to run…

Yeah, you can't train a cat like that. You can spray them with a water bottle if they scratch something you care about to discourage them from that particular object, but if they have claws they WILL find something to scratch. Also, if the cat is on you or near you when they startle, inevitably you're going to get…

I agree with cdstadt - SoftPaws are awesome. I've been using them on my cat for over a year and they work beautifully. Plus, now that it's football season again, my cat's claws are decked out in maize and blue for Michigan! :) Go Blue!!

I had mine out last year - it wasn't too bad. I wasn't experiencing a ton of pain when they admitted me to the hospital, but I'd gone because my eyes had gotten yellow and turns out I had a stone lodged in the common bile duct. This is probably what your doctor expected you to have if he dismissed gallbladder issues…

Honestly, what worked best for me was just cold turkey for a few days. Once you go some time without it, you don't crave it as much.

As long as hair is not approaching yeti status, I really don't care. Thankfully, I receive the same consideration from my boyfriend who loves me even if I don't get around to shaving my legs every week :) Really, the best is when he feels my legs and says, "Oh, smooth! When did you shave?" And I say, "Like 3 weeks ago, the…

I've been staggering my meals throughout the day when I have a 6pm workout - I might have a snack when I wake up, then do a proper breakfast at about 10am, then a larger meal between 3-4pm. Then I don't get hungry during the workout, but I don't feel gross either. I tend to eat oatmeal or something I can make in the office…

If you ever had me before, you lost me there. I don't understand why people try to make points like this. "I HAVE THE ANSWERS TO EVERYTHING." We have more medical advances now. We can diagnose and treat more cancers now - ditto with infertility. In the 1930s, the answer to infertility was adoption. I'm not a fan of…

Yes!! GO BLUE!!!