ELENATION

Again, I second everything "readytogo" said. You definitely have the right to your opinion, thanks to your goverment and to the fact that you live in this country. If you lived in Cuba you couldn't express absolutely nothing... Batista may have not been the right person, but I tell you, by comparison with Castro, he was still much more deserving of help than Castro. Do you really think that our country has terrorized more countries than any other in the world? Maybe you should live somewhere else, what are you still doing here? If I felt that way, I definitely wouldn't live here, that is exactly why I left Cuba, because Castro is a terrorist. I'm really shocked at this statement.... I feel very bad that civilians have to die in Irak , unfortunately that's how much is taking to help them establish a better life for them in the future, sacrifices have to be made sometimes to obtain what you want and need. It happens all over the world and even in our personal lives. It's unfortunate but a fact. A good school system in Cuba...That's exactly why I know that you are extremelly and wrongly informed. I grew up there remember? Since you are 10 years old, they make you go 3 months every year to what looks like concentration camps with no electricity or even the basic human needs, no clean Water, no food, but water, bread and maybe coffee, without the consent of your family to work 10 hours a day doing very hard work and you must do this every year until you graduate, if you don't go, the goverment won't let you stay in school and your family will be harrased in a daily basis and forever and the child will have no right to education, and I'm not going to talk about the brain washing and the lies that they teach the children in school and all the anti-God propaganda and the communist bullcrap. That's how the children and parents pay for school in Cuba, it's not free, it comes at a very high price.... As far as medical system.....I could be writing here for hours, but I don't have the time, however, the hospitals in Cuba have no basic needs either, no A/C, the patients and families are sweating while they are dying, there is no medicines available, sometimes not even aspiring, but they are available to the big shot comunist, while you see your relative dying because they won't give them the medicine that they need, it's ver sad...... the bathrooms are clogged with excrement and urine, no toilet paper, you can't even bring your own fan for your dying relative, because they don't want you to use their electricity, the hospital beds are old, broken, dirty, the sheets tear up, once my grandmother was being transfered from one hospital bed to another and the sheets teared up in half and my grandmother in her 70's an ill ended up on the floor, the doctors and nurses make such a small salary that they don't care for anybody, they are tired and frustrated and don't care to provide good service, and I could go on and on....but you wouldn't understand , you had to be there, you really don't want to land in a hospital in Cubaif you live there, unless you are paying top dollars, then Castro will love you, because he loves the allmighty dollar. Is that the medical system that you long for? or maybe you don't believe me............... So you really think that someone wouldn't mind dying in the ocean because they heard stories about golden paved streets? These people come the US and many of them make a good life for themselves after a while , many of them have relatives and/or friends here and know exactly how we live here, I don't think that they risk their lives for a lying fairy tale, cubans are smarter than that..........they come here because it is practically impossible to survive there, that is the sad but honest truth. I'm sorry that you have nothing to be proud about your country, yes, obviously we disagree, I am very proud of this country, which is my country , for soooo many reasons, and in my opinion, you express yourself in a manner that shows shame for this country, bitterness for this country and hatred for your country. You being 61 and born here in the US proves a lot......Proves that you really don't know what it is to live in Cuba, like "readytogo" said, what cubans experience when they are born under Castro and have lived under Castro can NEVER be completely understood by reading about it or watching documentary, believe me, never... You said that you have no axe to grindeither for or agains Cuba, the exile or Castro...........but you are grinding..........in a very high scale.........you really sound like a communist.....and that's fine if you are, but again, if you feel so much different from our country's ideas and goverment, it would be great if you tried living somewhere else where you may agree more with their goverment........you could always try Cuba, I'm sure Castro would love to have you there.........you may find it a great place to retire.....this is just a suggestion.........or how about Chavez in Venezuela? you do have a couple of options........that way you don't have to stay here under our goverment that you disagree so much with.........I know I would, well, actually, I know I did.......... Best wishes,

maybe so, but I'm happy that they didn't dosey up to Castro, hey at least one down, that's a victory

I'm sorry, bu i disagree with you in many of your views, Firstly I don't think that it was the US goverment's responsability or even moral duty to help Castro when he came asking for help, because he was definitely the wrong person, with disgusting moral values and known to many the kind of person he was, in fact I think the US made a very informed and wise decision by not helping him. Your second point..I don't think that the US should negotiate with Castro in ANY way, even if that entails helping them economically in exchange for civil rights in Cuba, sorry, but I don believe in negotiating with terrorists and murderers. And if you don't think that he has been behind many terrorists attacks, financed terrorists and has ordered the killing of many innocent people, think again.......He should allow for free true elections and allow civil rights in Cuba, without any country having to negotiate with him, that is my opinion. Your next point....Some of the cuban exiles may have been benefited by the Batista regime, I don't think that "so many of them" but I agree that some may have, actually that goes on on every goverment in most countries, even the on most decent goverments, is it ok? of course not, but it's a fact. Batista, by the way was 100 times better person that Castro, you may think I'm crazy by saying that, but I'm not, you may want to look deeper into that, Batista never killed as many innocent people as Castro has , that's for sure. Actually, if Castro has helped the poor and the blacks that much, I wonder why so many blacks, mixed and poor people have been willing to risk their lives and have dies in a raft in the ocean trying to leave Cuba in the past decades? Another point....I don't know what part of the country you live, but I have lived in different states, I'm Cuban, I look white that's true, my last name is Muguire, and it's my maiden's name, because my parents were born in Spain, my grandparents from my father' side were irish, but i still tell everyone that I'm cuban, at work, everywhere, since I'm proud and have nothing to hide, and I have NEVER and I mean never been discriminated against, maybe I'm just lucky..... I have friends that are cuban, have accents, look hispanic and they have NEVER been discriminated against either, in jobs, school days, etc. I think this country and it's people has changed for the better very much from the old days and lastly, I strongly disagree with you when you say that A LOT of US whites complain about the state of race relations in the US, and they long for the good old days, maybe a few, sure, because racism has always existed in the world , not just here, and I think that unfortunately will always be there, but in a much lower scale, but to say "a lot" I find it preposterous. It's sad that anybody can feel the way you do, I wasn't born here and I believe that I trust this country, it's goverment and it's people a lot more than you, I give it/them credit for so much, because I believe that this country is nobel and absolutely great and what makes this country great is its people and it's yes, its goverment as well, we may have good or not so great goverments sometimes, but at the end of the day, it is still our goverment which by the way has blacks in positions of very high rank and in my opinion we shouldn't bash it, I as you may have realized by now, am a republican, but have never bashed the democrats either, I vote republican, but again, at the end, we all must come together... call me crazy, idealist or naive.........but I just love my country. Honestly, I don't think that you are well informed and are qualified to speak about cuban affairs, I can definitely see that you are not well informed, and I only say this, because I'm 44 years old and have paid attention and have been informing myself for the past 40 years, plus it was my country of birth and where I grew up for 14 years and know so many cubans with so many stories that are too many to count, etc. so don't take it personally, it's just my opinion...

Agree Indeed

I'm cuban as well, came to this country when I was 14, I second everything that "readytogo" said. My story is pretty similar and I feel the same way, this is my country, my father was one of the first cubans to volunteer to defend this country on WWII, since he was born in Cuba, but lived here since he was 8 and returned to Cuba when he was on his 30's. However, I would like to let you know, that you need to live in Cuba under the dictatorship of Castro to even begin to understand the pain that these people in Miami, and all over have gone through, unless you have walked in their shoes, it's better not to even form an opinion or or try to judge them or even understand them. The pain that they have insde is way too deep and great, I for one thing am a christian , but would be happy the day that Castro dies, am I a bad christian?maybe..but an honest one..

Good morning guys, I've heard people who swear by it and others who swear against it. I've talked to a couple of personal trainers in the past and both insisted that strengh training is essential in weight loss and that you should do it since you start your weight loss journey, because gaining muscles boosts your metabolism, etc. I also talked to a nutritionist before who told me that I should wait until I have lost a larger amount of weight and then start strengh, otherwise my scale won't move. Losing inches is great, but I love to see my scale go down as well, I guess I can say that I'm addicted to the scale. (I know, I shouldn't) Ultimately, I just want to do what's right, not what I want. I've done my research and from what I've read I think it's a good idea to do strengh exercise along with your cardio since the beginning of our journeys, I tried at the beginning, but I was never consistent, but now, I've been doing it consistenly for 2 weeks, I do 20 minutes weights and then 45 minutes cardio, 3-4 times a week. What has been your experience? Have you done strengh/weights since the beginning and lost weight steadly? or Did your weight loss stop when you started doing strengh exercise? , and if it did, when did you start losing again, a few weeks/months? Or Did you wait to start your strengh training later on, after you lost more weight? I just would like to hear your experiences on this. Thank you guys, and have a great day! Love, Elena

Good morning guys, I've heard people who swear by it and others who swear against it. I've talked to a couple of personal trainers in the past and both insisted that strengh training is essential in weight loss and that you should do it since you start your weight loss journey, because gaining muscles boosts your metabolism, etc. I also talked to a nutritionist before who told me that I should wait until I have lost a larger amount of weight and then start strengh, otherwise my scale won't move. Losing inches is great, but I love to see my scale go down as well, I guess I can say that I'm addicted to the scale. (I know, I shouldn't) Ultimately, I just want to do what's right, not what I want. I've done my research and from what I've read I think it's a good idea to do strengh exercise along with your cardio since the beginning of our journeys, I tried at the beginning, but I was never consistent, but now, I've been doing it consistenly for 2 weeks, I do 20 minutes weights and then 45 minutes cardio, 3-4 times a week. What has been your experience? Have you done strengh/weights since the beginning and lost weight steadly? or Did your weight loss stop when you started doing strengh exercise? , and if it did, when did you start losing again, a few weeks/months? Or Did you wait to start your strengh training later on, after you lost more weight? I just would like to hear your experiences on this. Thank you guys, and have a great day! Love, Elena

okie dokie LOL!!!!!! we are in this together!

oh I know, I know, I'm sorry if I said it wrong, I meant, that I think that I'm convinced to do it now LOL! I really appreciate very much your response and opinion! Hugs, Elena

I hear you! and I will continue with my strengh as well! Elena

I hear you! but I think I will continue to do mine! Best wishes, Elena

I now agree 100% , thank you so much for your advises! Hugs, Elena

So good to know, Thank you so much! Hugs, Helen

Thank you so much. I will keep doing my strengh! Hugs, Helen

Well, that's good info. Thank you so much!!!! I will continue with my strengh training. Hugs, Elena

Oh Kat, thank you so much! I have never measured myself since I had surgery, I know I've lost a lot of inches because I've gone down 2-3 dress sizes, but I should do it because those are scale victories as well! Thank youso much! Hugs, Elena

Thank you very much for responding, I posted on the exercise forum as well. Hugs, Elena

:help: I'm thinking to use some kind of fat burner to help my weight loss. Do you recommend any? I don't want anything with stimulants or caffeine in it, but basically to burn fat and/or gain some muscle. Thank you, Elena

Thank you so much, Elena

Thank you for responding. I will go to GNC and ask and I will share. Hugs, Elena

Thank you so much, I will try that! Elena

I'm pretty new to this board, I posted only once before, and now I forgot how to do it, hopefully I'm posting in the right board, I just couldn't figure out how to start a thread to ask this question: I'm eating now between 1200-1350 for the past two weeks, before I was doiong 1500-1600 and I was in a long plateau, I broke it after my last fill, but I'm concerned that I may still be eating too many calories? Can you tell you how many are you eating? any advises please? I weight 249 now, I walk 30-45 min per day. Thank you for your help. Elena:help: <!-- / message -->

How come you don't lose at all?

Serena, thank you so much, You are doing great, I need to do what you are doing!Elena

I'm pretty new to this board, I posted only once before, and now I forgot how to do it, hopefully I'm posting in the right board, I just couldn't figure out how to start a thread to ask this question: I'm eating now between 1200-1350 for the past two weeks, before I was doiong 1500-1600 and I was in a long plateau, I broke it after my last fill, but I'm concerned that I may still be eating too many calories? Can you tell you how many are you eating? any advises please? I weight 249 now, I walk 30-45 min per day. Thank you for your help. Elena:help: