Amen.

I, too, am back briefly to clean up anything I may have inadvertently contributed. It feels like going back "home", driving past your old house and looking to see what changes have occurred, reliving memories, looking to see if old neighbors might still be there and outside for a quick chat. I'm so sorry, SWB, for this mess. I'll help in whatever way I can.

Someone in my church passed this very interesting article along to me today. I love the article because I think it gives great food for thought. Before posting this, I searched to see if it had already been posted here. While I haven't seen this, I did see that Susan Cain's book and her talk on TED has already been linked (another source I was going to mention, but now I won't :D). I am posting this here for one main reason - to help those that are introverts not feel guilty at church and to maybe experience the freedom in Christ that might be difficult in such an extroverted society and church. As an INTJ, sometimes I feel guilty that my worship isn't as "worshipful" as others because I do NOT like to raise my arms or clap my hands. I like to really think about the words I'm singing, determine if they're true of me, and sing them in my heart to the Lord. My worship can be very powerful for me, but sometimes I think, since so many in my church will raise their hands or arms, that maybe I come off as arrogant or not as "spiritual," even though in my head I know that is silly and simply untrue. In addition to the point that introverts are most likely to come in to church service late in order to avoid the "meet and greet" portion (Yes! That is SO ME), I especially love the 4 points given on the 2nd page. They are spot on to me. So again, this is to hopefully ENCOURAGE someone who may be feeling less superior because they are more introverted and NOT to start a debate or negative thread. :D

:iagree:

Thanks, Shannon, for these tips and the encouragement!

She knows that in her head, and she's watched documentaries about this, but it's a lifestyle change that she just doesn't seem to have the willpower to do. I don't know why. I think she, like so many others, thinks that if you can just take a pill to fix things, not matter how much it costs, it's easier and faster. Proper nutrition is challenging (at first), expensive up front, takes time and dedication, and the results are slow. She seems genuinely intrigued when I give updates about my dad (a cancer patient who has chosen to forego chemo and fight with nutrition. His results have been outstanding) and I know it is his story that has peaked her interest more than anything else. But she is so resistant to change. It's SO FRUSTRATING. Especially when I see how her kids struggle with their bowels and when she complains about how much medication she is on (so much that it won't fit in the pill boxes). Last night she was telling me about her trip to get another ultrasound of her liver this morning, as well as her trip to the dietician. She said she knew the dietician would tell her that her problems would go away if she lost weight, at which point she would "shut down". She has heard that for years. What people don't understand *in her words*, is that she's "always been overweight. Even when doing competitive figure skating from 2nd grade to 9th grade, [she] was big." What I couldn't say, but was thinking, was that it doesn't matter how much exercise she does - if she's taking in more calories than she's burning, she's going to gain weight. And by her admittance that these are the same foods she grew up with (her parents and brother are also overweight) and her parents also have no idea how to eat healthfully, then the calories she was taking in during those years weren't only high, but empty. But she is convinced this is her body and she'll always be this way. It makes me sad for her. Seriously, how does one help that mentality?

Yes, this is by far going to be the biggest challenge.

That makes sense! Thanks!

All of these are wonderful, practical ideas. Thank you! Best wishes in your journey! Congrats on starting it!

These are fantastic ideas! How did that affect the cooking times, though? I wouldn't have thought to mix the pasta and grains because they take different times to cook. I can't see her being willing to use one pot with WW pasta, and a 2nd pot with regular pasta and then mixing them once they're cooked. She would consider that to be "fussy" and she insists she is NOT a "fuddy duddy"...whatever that means, lol.

Well let's start with this one first, since I'm a raw foodie, lol! Which one did you order? Inquiring minds want to know! What if she doesn't care about that? She's pretty defensive when it comes to changing to a more healthful diet, but at the same time, she knows she NEEDS to. What if they are the family that prides themselves on "extreme couponing" and how much they can get while spending virtually nothing, so eliminating HFCS eliminates virtually all of their food purchases? What if she works and doesn't "have time" to make homemade food? Until this changed, did you just have to keep telling yourself to eat it? How would you not give up if you didn't like it? My friend is at a dietician even as I type because she has recently been diagnosed with 2 autoimmune diseases, with the possibility of a 3rd. All 3 of her children suffer from bowel obstruction, with their youngest (she is 5yo) still pooping in her underwear sometimes because of her bowel issues, even on Miralax and they are sick all. the. time. Seriously, not a week goes by where her fb status doesn't say someone in the family is sick. I am 100% convinced her autoimmune issues are diet related. But, I also know that you can line up 20 dieticians and they'll all have something different to say. I can just her the one she's seeing today telling her to eat margarine, Sweet and Low and that HFCS is all a hype.:confused: She is a pretty close friend (more than an acquaintance anyway), and I KNOW I can help her, but 1.) she's so defensive about this and 2.) I think she's afraid I will tell her she needs to juice and eat spirulina and dulce regularly, lol. I wouldn't tell her that...on the first visit, anyway. :lol:

went from eating mainly packaged and canned foods to more nutritious, home-cooked foods, eating more fruits and veggies and whole grains? If so, how did you accomplish this? Was it before or after you had a family? If after, was your family supportive? Did your husband and children eat that way with you? How would you recommend to someone who is moderately overweight, if not obese, hates anything "green", grew up on canned and packaged foods but knows they need to change their eating habits, accomplish this? What would be the first thing to eliminate? How slowly (or quickly?) to said change?

OK. Well, I'll put a hold on it. There are several copies that the library owns, so it shouldn't be too long before one is up for me. In the meantime, may I ask why you want to go raw? A strong reason, with anything, is going to help you keep up with it. If it's something you just wanted to try, it's going to be easier to stop. But I want to reiterate, if you don't want to do everything raw, it's OK. I don't do everything raw every single day either. But 90% of my diet is. Some days, 100% of my diet is. It just depends on so many factors. Knowing that so much of the food I eat is raw makes it a lot easier on myself to have the very few things that aren't. Give yourself some grace. :)

Is it her "Essentials" or her "Raw Food Kitchen" book? The "essentials" has a hold on it, making me 2nd in the queue. The "Kitchen" one has one copy still available.

I've never had kefir water, so I can't help you there. I have books due at the library - when I take them back, I will check out Ani's book and give it a look through. I'm not sure why she would have so many sweeteners.

The only other one that *I* have found to be helpful, but not so much as Matt's, is Going Raw: Everything You Need to Start Your Own Raw Food Diet and Lifestyle Revolution at Home By Judita Wignall I have not checked out every book though. For instance, LizzyBee likes Ani's book. I haven't yet looked at that one. There are a lot of online resources for raw, but not as good as what are in the books at the library, in my opinion. For food, if I can't find things at Whole Foods, I have ordered from Sunfood and The Raw Food World with success. Both places had fast shipping and great service.

:hurray:

We have, which is when the owner told us their dog doesn't like little dogs. But whenever our dog is able to go just smell their dog, she's totally fine. Comes back in the house and doesn't care at all that the dog is out there. I have thought about constantly doing that, but it's only practical when the two neighbors are out with their kids. Otherwise, it's just the dog running through the cul-de-sac at mad speed to get the tennis ball, then bringing it back to the owner who throws it out again....

We do, but she barks and barks and barks while she's in there and knows that dog is out there, lol.

Have you looked at Matt Amsden's RAWvolution "cook"book? It, in my opinion, is the best raw "cook"book out there. There are pictures which are helpful and the recipes, while I raised my eyebrow at more than half of them at the beginning, are seriously delicious. He has a recipe for "tacos" made with raw walnuts, nama shoyu (raw, unfiltered soy sauce) and some other things and it seriously tastes and looks like taco meat. Putting it in a large lettuce (or turnip green) leaf as the shell and loading on tomatoes, onions and whatever else you want (avocado), is a very filling and satisfying meal that I eat happily. Yes, nuts have calories, but calories aren't bad. It's the type of calories that matter. You also have to remember that when our bodies transition to more healthful ways, there is a definite transition. I remember when I did the Eat to Live diet years ago, I was *so* frustrated. At the beginning I gained weight and cried about it. Everyone kept telling me to keep on keepin' on and I would. Everyday I would look at the scale and say "so help me, if tomorrow shows another pound gained, I'm done!" And the next day I would be at the same weight, or I would be down one pound. Frustratingly slow. And I felt HORRIBLE. Holy cow, did I feel bad all over! But after about 9 days, the clouds cleared and I felt amazing and the weight started to come off. But again, our bodies are different and people respond differently. Don't give up on eating mainly raw foods, though! Eat the meat too, if you need, but don't stop eating raw. And check out Matt's book if you can. The breakfast smoothie in there fills me up ALL DAY. I kid you not. By dinner time I'm *maybe* ready to eat again. (((hugs!)))

I am a raw foodist and my two thoughts are: most likely your diet wasn't balanced enough. It's important to get a variety of foods daily. When I don't, I am lethargic. I wonder what you were eating that was making you gain weight, though? Nuts(unless they're raw), cheese and PB aren't raw, so yes, I can see gaining weight on that. But, truly eating a raw diet wouldn't have a person gaining weight...usually. The other thought is that it *is* important to listen to your body. If you feel like you function better with some meat, or dairy products, then eat it. I do think a 90% raw diet though is for everybody. What you do with that 10% is up to you. Best wishes on this journey!

We acquired a dog not quite 2 years ago. She is 3 yrs old. We acquired her through friends who were contemplating finding an owner for her when my friend saw a post on my fb page inquiring reputable breeders for the type of dog they have. She called me and asked if I wanted theirs. They both worked full time, leaving her crated all day. When they would get home she would tear up their carpets by chewing, chew at their blinds and cause other destruction. By the time we got her she was already set with some poor behaviors that we have, for the most part, been successful with training out of her. Here's the problem. We live on a cul-de-sac. Neighbors a few houses down, not technically on the cul-de-sac, have an older Golden Retriever who hates little dogs (ours is a little dog). To exercise him, they throw a tennis ball down the street and into the cul-de-sac. This drives our dog absolutely wild. She is usually quite mild-mannered, but in this circumstance, she jumps on the couch in front of the window and tries to dive through the blinds and then, our front door has vertical windows on each side of the door and she will stand there and scratch on the windows frantically. Basically moving from front door to couch, all the while barking like mad. In the winter time it isn't quite so bad because it's colder and they don't throw the ball into the cul-de-sac as often. But now that it's warmer, it's at least twice a day. To make matters worse, they have a 1.5yo. The people across the street from us, also in the cul-de-sac, have a 1.5yo, too. They have, consequently, become very good friends. They are both SAHM's. So, during the day, now that the weather has been so fantastic, the moms will bring their kiddos out, the one with the dog will head over to the other's house, bring her golden and just hang in the front yard. Or, she and her child will go inside, leaving the golden sitting on the front step waiting. This can be for up to an hour. Directly in front of our house. Now, I know it's not their fault; I am not in any way blaming them for the distraction that is their dog. It is certainly safer to throw the ball into our cul-de-sac then down the street the opposite direction, lol. But our yards have nothing behind them but a golf course and there is plenty of space before getting to the green. Sometimes I want to ask them to throw the ball in the backyard. But honestly, it's not my place. Their dog isn't doing anything wrong...mine is. But, I am having a hard time training my dog not to freak out when she sees their dog. So I'm left closing the blinds to the front windows and standing in front of the door windows, to keep her from scratching them up. As you can imagine, I don't have time to do this multiple times a day and she just runs to and fro barking and whining until they finally go inside. Ugh. I hate it. Do you have any tips for me?

My new Bosch was delivered yesterday. Repair technician just left. Nothing is wrong with the machine - it is just very finicky. Meaning, I can't wash my king sized sheets in one load. I have to mix it up. That is ridiculous and requires way too much thinking and planning ahead to just do a load of laundry. So, I will be calling tomorrow to inquire about returns/refunds. In the meantime, I am now curious about whether a Miele would be a better fit, or a Speed Queen. The technician indicated that there are NO machines any more that will last more than 7 years except *maybe* Miele and Speed Queen. For the price, he recommended a Speed Queen - he said it was as simple as it gets and doesn't have the computers that these new machines have. He also recommended a top loader over a front load - completely opposite from our salesman. :glare: I won't deny that I'm a wee bit frustrated.

Oh, and one more. I don't see where the machine will turn off automatically when the load is finished. I see where I can turn the tones off, but what happens if I run a load while I'm out of the house all day? It stays on? And if I keep the tones on because I like the reminder when I'm home, but I forget to turn the tones off if I'm out for the day, will it keep beeping all.day.long? I don't like that at all.

I just got this yesterday. Jury is still out on whether I'm going to keep it. I have a few questions: On which cycle do you use for a large comforter if you don't have the "comforter" special setting? Most of my laundry is done in cold water. I can't select the water temperature unless it's cotton or permanent press. How do you account for this? Not all of the special settings tell what temp. the water is in the manual. I know that the max spin is intense, and had to sign a paper acknowledging this. We are on a slab (concrete), so it's not like it vibrates the floor. BUT, the machine vibrates violently, has a high pitch squeal and the door to the pedestal comes open. Is this: normal? because the washer is unbalanced (even though a level indicates otherwise)? because I need heavier weighted items in the pedestal drawer? I like that I can wash more things in this washer than my 16yo machine that is on the outs. But, I also liked that I could set the water temp and the size load with the old one, too. I'm still open to loving this machine as I go through a small learning curve, but the window is narrowing. Thoughts if you have one?