Fiddleman

There is just something a little naughty that comes out the phrase "grinding nuts" when it comes from a woman. Lol. Maybe I am a little too silly. you get in a certain frame of mind and everything is funny!

Apple martini - awesome. I use apple schnapps , but I think apple juice would be a little better for a person, no?

I also want to say that eating clean and consuming veggie drinks goes a long way in eradicating fat from the hard to eliminate areas ( stomach for me). There are two green drinksi a drinking now on alternating days. The first is called Tonic Alchemy (bought from Amazon) and the second is called green essence (bought from vitamin shoppe). The green drinks are super high in Antioxidants which really do help to eliminate toxicity in the body that holds onto stubborn fat. Some others make their own green drinks from natural ingredients. I just do not have the time or patience to gather the 80 different types of fruits and veggies in my green drinks. Eliminating stored toxins will change your body composition and is required before you can expect cardio or weight lifting to change your body composition. Working out is useless if your body is constantly fighting inflammation caused by excess toxicity in the body from unclean eating.

Laura, I think your response is perfectly fine as it is a valid opinion. All opinions should be unshackled on this forum without fear of negative consequence for the poster. If everyone took an open minded view of the discussions, there would less of a need for holy wars. Instead, the forum would be fertile grounds for the growth of every member through the sharing of opposing ideology. Iron sharpens iron so opposing views are always needed for maturing of self through this WLS journey. There is little to gain from attacking others or from taking perceived attacks personally, but everything to gain by taking the high road and turning the cheek.

Chuckled a little bit when I read your use of "butthurt", sounds like a beavisism.

Yes, I could start eating steamed or cooked veggies at around 6-7 weeks. It still wasn't easy with some sliming, but not impossible. As I recall, I ate a lot of steamed brocolli with light cheese on top back then with my dinner serving of Protein.

I have been using yogurt based dressings lately. They have way less calories and fat then the regular dressings, yet taste so much better then the low fat dressings. Honey mustard is my favorite dressing, but asian sesame sounds good also.

Yes, it took that long for me. I could not west raw veggies until about month 5 unfortunately. Raw veggies like brocolli, cucumber, red pepper, etc. I can eat any veggie now but do have to be careful on my seaweed salad as the long strands sometimes cause discomfort if eaten after the satiety point.

Sure, I know exactly where that Safeway is at in Silver Firs ( used to live in Highlands community up the street). Now that I live near Frontier Village of Lake Stevens, I will see if they grind nuts. I know they have a huge nuts center up front with fresh nuts, but have never checked it out before now.

It seems like whenever I mention some food you get hungry for it Laura. I better be sure I am mentioning healthy things...

Tomato protein soup is awesome as a balance to protein shakes during the first few weeks. You can add some lobster bouillon for a yummy lobster bisque. I drank this as an alternative to shakes until the purée stage. Tomato protein soup has about 12-15 g of protein depending on the brand you buy or you can mix in some flavorless protein powder ( might end up a little chunky).

Interesting. I did not know this. Thanks for the heads up!

Thanks for all the great suggestions. They all look like viable options. I will just have to try one and see how it goes. My fridge is already packed, so I would prefer not to refrigerate if possible.

Yes, I am in agreement with you and am in the anti smoking group myself. I hate 2nd hand cig smoke. However, putting my bias aside, I still think people have a right to put things in their body if they wish, as long as it is not harming others. If it is truly causing harm, them yes, I agree that they should smoke in the privacy of their own home. However, if they are not causing harm and the smoke is merely annoying then they have a right as long as they are within the boundaries of the law ( in Washington, they need to be away 25 feet from public openings and cannot smoke in public buildings).

There is nothing like issues that question our morales to start a holy war. There are always going to be "us and them" or "them and us" so might as well come to peace over it. To drink / smoke / take drugs / etc is always going to be divisive like politics every 4 years. Everyone has a right to their own decisions in a free society, especially when it comes to decisions about their body. The exception is in my mind is if a decision going to harm them or harm others around them.

You got that right! Eating all day from wake to sleep. Lol. Meals are generally 150 calories or less so the BMR really likes these small bursts of energy every 2-3 hours.

I search on google just by typing in location keyword and race type keyword. I found quite a few local races by doing this.