Momof3littles
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Posts posted by Momof3littles
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I'm glad you bumped this thread.
I would like to marry this sharpener: http://www.jetpens.com/Uni-KH-20-Hand-Crank-Wooden-Pencil-Sharpener-Red/pd/6546
Look around that site. I dare you.
I bought this staple-less stapler and then made up reasons to put papers in packets for all our music campers because it's SO COOL!
http://www.jetpens.com/Sun-Star-Paper-Stitch-Lock-Stand-Staple-Less-Stapler-Bamboo-Green/pd/8347
And I also have fallen for the Palomino Blackwings. They are fantastical.
I may have to just give up and move back to Japan.
DH travels for work sometimes and I have told him that the next time he goes to Japan he must bring back writing implements. I'm not sure that's normal.
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Yep, great for dipping in things like salsa.
I think it is really refreshing with lime juice and sea salt sprinkled over it.
Add it to slaw recipes.
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Yep, there are people left and right saying "my kid eats X and is thin." In high school I ranged from 92 lbs as a freshman to about 105 at graduation. I'm 120 as a 5'2" adult. Not skinny, but not overweight, and definitely at risk of type 2 due to PCOS and the associated IR. In high school I was a cross country running vegetarian girl and quite thin, but looking back I had PCOS and it was undiagnosed. As a result, I likely had IR issues even back then.
Everyone thought I wasn't getting my period because I was a long distance runner. Fast forward to my mid 20s, and I went off BCP to find out I had NO cycle at all. Zero ovulation, zero periods. I was 114 lbs and had trouble getting a PCOS diagnosis since my then OB/GYN thought I couldn't because I wasn't overweight :/ I did have PCOS, and had to do fertility meds, metformin, etc. to conceive my kids. It would have been bad to have that diagnosis missed. PCOS puts women at much higher risk of type 2, metabolic syndrome issues, endometrial cancer, and a whole host of issues that have nothing to do with fertility. So yeah, my IR started early, early, early looking back. And I was quite thin.
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I use costco.com frequently for things like laminating pouches, printer ink/toner, and combs for my binder. They're cheaper than Amazon in many cases, and I have free shipping. I also use them to pre-buy things like Amusement park tickets before vacation, and often consumer electronics are cheaper through them, and they have a good warranty. We have the Costco AMEX, and it really doesn't take much to get the membership/yearly fee paid by the cash-back on the card.
I don't know if Sam's carries GCs, but our Costco has good deals. Every year for Christmas we take our families for brunch at this amazing restaurant. We pay $80 for $100 worth of GCs, and you can use up to two GCs. That shaves off $40 with almost zero effort on our part. An annual membership is $55 if you don't do the Executive. Something like that almost pays for the membership in one day.
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We've done 1/4s a few times and a half once on grassfed beef.
My tips are 1). Make sure you understand how much you are getting in the end so you can calculate the price per pound. 2) If you can't swap cuts around, be realistic about your cooking skills. For example, certain cuts like short ribs may be more difficult to use if you aren't accustomed to certain things, kwim? 3). Some places list the weight of bones as part of the package. I like making stock, but if you don't, or aren't going to use them, then mentally factor things like that in to the price per pound you are paying. Do the cuts listed have value to *you* and will you use them? 4) Do you want everything vacuum sealed or butcher paper wrapped, and make sure you understand the price for that. 5) Since grassfed is leaner, if you are going that route, consider that there is less fat cooking off and more meat than you'd get out of a pound of 80/20 at the local grocery store. 6) do they age it? Is it tender? Have you tasted it before buying a bulk amount? Some grassfed beef is really gamey tasting to some people. I don't really take issue with that, but basically I'd suggest knowing you like the overall flavor of what you are buying before you are stuck with a massive amount of it, particularly if you think your family may have trouble adjusting if the meat has a slightly different taste. Some people really are supertasters and are very affected by that. 7) if you are splitting it, make sure you understand the cuts you are getting. Will they be reasonably easy to divide in a way that the value is correct for both of you? Sometimes when I look at packages I think it could be a challenge to split it with someone. 8) extra cost for things like patties vs. ground beef? Some places will interchange those pretty freely, others mark up the patties an extra 1.50/lb or so IME.
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I strongly prefer Costco. I like the organic and more natural item selecti theyon, the meat options work better for us, etc. I like how they treat their employees. I already buy things like Coleman products, and I love that Costco carries them.
I rarely buy non food items, but I will say they have some great items and things that really appeal to me. I just picked up a Replogle (?sp?) globe the other night for the kids. They carry things like ecofriendly dishsoap, organic apple chips, and Maranatha almond butter. I like the quality of the sheets I've purchased there, greeting card sets and wrapping paper are high quality, etc They also carry things like quality enameled cast iron that may be Staub. I admit that I do like that they carry some of those higher end items. The contact lens prices are very good and the savings on that vs. Walmart covers most of the $50 membership, although we have had the Executive Membership the past few years. On electronics like TVs, they often double the manufacturer's warranty automatically, so we have purchased quite a few of our electronics there. Their return policy is also excellent.
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I don't doubt there are people who do well with grazing. But for anyone with insulin issues, it may just result in running up and down the blood sugar and insulin rollercoaster all day. The foods you are mentioning are quite LC. Many people are snacking on "whole grain" goldfish crackers, pretzels, granola bars, sweetened yogurt, higher glycemic fruits, etc. for their snacks. For anyone with insulin resistance issues or a tendency toward that end of the spectrum, that may be an issue.I don't know about the snacking thing... we have always been grazers here (fruit and nuts mostly-- also veggies, cheese, plain yogurt, homemade treats) and all of us are thin and healthy. Maybe that's genetic though.
There was a recent study about rethinking the 6 meals vs. 3 meals thing. I don't know how many other recent studies have been done on that, but if you think about the 3 vs. 6 meals thing, it would also seem to possibly tie into some of the interesting research on intermittent fasting. Some studies on IF have indicated it may help people with their lipid levels, their insulin sensitivity, etc.
Everyone falls somewhere on the insulin resistant vs. sensitive spectrum. But a lot more people have IR tendencies than most people realize. Many people think it is only an issue if you are overweight or a type 2 diabetic, for example. But add in people with PCOS, people with family history of metabolic syndrome issues, etc. and you start talking about a substantial % of the population.
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In PA, some districts will say things like if a chorus or orchestra *ever* meets during school hours for a practice, it is no longer extracurricular. I haven't seen this challenged legally yet, but I have read several reports of people running into issues where their district has kind of sneaky workarounds, IMO.
I once asked about Odyssey of the Mind in my SD, and they passed me around on a bunch of different emails and never answered me about whether it is co-curricular or extracurricular :/
For a while some SDs were trying to demand proof of GPA and so forth but as far as I know that was shut down and clarified.
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In some cases I think the prolonged psychological implications make it nearly impossible.
My mom was a victim of DV with her first husband (not my father). She finally left when he turned on my half-brothers. My mom went on to marry my father, who is probably one of the nicest human beings on earth.
We had a story locally where a mom with a good professional background was killed by her H (professional background mentioned because theoretically she had the assets and education to make it slightly easier to leave than some women). Afterward the news broke that he had her involuntarily committed at one point in the past by saying she came after him with a knife. The inpatient hospital said there was no evidence of psychiatric issues and discharged her after the mandatory hold. They did note there was DV, IIRC from the news report. Their live in nanny refuted that the mom had ever come after the husband with the knife. The nanny stated the mom had been sleeping in a locked bedroom with her children for months. The husband was bold enough to show the wife he had taken out additional life insurance on her, and the mother texted the nanny and the nanny point blank told her, "he's going to kill you." She obviously felt like she had no way out, even with that info.
In this case, one child had SNs. If you thought your husband could possibly involuntarily commit you or have you arrested for a crime he made up (coming after you with a knife), and that level of terror was ongoing for years (hostage-like issues almost?), it would be very difficult to find the strength to leave. Or he could have had her children removed, made up some false claim to CPS (she would have not been able to work in her field), etc. The terror of that would be unimaginable. She WOH and definitely had assets and resources many women don't have. Many women don't have those things on their side, complicating things further. I knew this woman from an activity our DC were involved in, and obviously never had one inkling she was going through something like this.
Such a tragedy. She was barely 30.
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I love these. Did you get the .9mm? I find that these almost never break. I have the .9 for grades 4 and under and .7 for all others.
Usually the extra lead and erasers last us a whole year.
Cool. By dumb luck, I ended up with the 0.9mm. I was distracted by my 3 yo touching everything. Good to know that's a nice size. My older two are 9 and 6. My 6 yo has used cheaper mech. pencils before so I think she'll be able to handle it.
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I am looking at RR and there are two Mavis Beacon programs. One is the 25th Anniversary Edition and is more expensive but it says it has more bells and whistles. Should I just get the more basic one that is under $10?
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We use both Ticonderoga Noir and Mirado Black Warrior. I don't do the Microban Ticonderogas, and the boxes of Ticonderoga Noir don't say anything about it containing Microban. If they do, don't tell me, okay? Lalalalalala.
I'm happy with both.
We bought a decent 30 dollar sharpener a few years ago before a move, and then moved into a house with two mounted awesome old school sharpeners like I grew up with. It is sad that I considered them a small bonus when we purchased this house!
We use some mechanicals, but I usually just buy the cheap ones and they are more often annoying than not. I did pick up Papermate Clearpoints on sale today for $1 at Office Max, so we'll see how those go.
edited to add that I put some Smencils in our RR cart before reading this thread. I usually dislike anything with artificial scents, but I know the kids will enjoy them. Good to know they are a decent pencil.
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Green and Black's 85%.
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I went with the new one, but we're cycling back to ancients this year and I thought it would be cool to have the history in there. I also have two more kids to use it with down the road.
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Agree with PP that there are Otterboxes for the Fire. I have one on mine as we have a 3 yo in the house.
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Printer and looseleaf paper, spiral notebooks (I like having these for my own lists and so forth too), 4-pk Expo dry erase markers were $1 at office max today with coupon, sharpie 12 pk of fine point black markers was also $1 with coupon. Mechanical pencils. I won't buy the Ticonderogas with Microban so I usually shell out for Mirado BLack Warriors or other decent pencils without Microban. Index cards, glue sticks, Better Binders from Staples, some folders to use for covers for Proclick books (someone posted about this recently and I want to try it. I never can figure out what to use as a cover for my Proclicked stuff). I usually pick up a few packs of super cheap Crayolas to keep in the car, my purse, various activity bags, etc. for the 3 yo.
I skip the super cheapo brands. For example, today there were 1 cent folders at Officemax but they were so flimsy I had zero interest. I can't imagine they'd last 2 weeks with a kid in PS who is using them in a locker and backpack daily.
A lot of the stuff I stash I use personally. It isn't even for my kids necessarily.
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I go for index cards, writing implements, dry erase markers, spiral notebooks, sharpies, copy paper, post it flags or notes, glue sticks, extra packs of crayons to stash in the vacation/travel stuff, my purse for restaurants, etc.
I will pick up a few Better Binders. I bought 3 to try at Staples a few weeks ago and want a few more.
A lot of the items are things I use and keep in my desk.
Today I picked up the 12 pack of fine point sharpies and a 4 pk of Expo chisel tip dry erase for $1/each with coupon at Office Max. Oh, and Papermate Clearpoint mechanical pencils.
I am grabbing a few folders this year to use with my Proclick books as covers. Someone posted that on TWTM recently, and I had never attempted that, but thought it was worth trying.
Some of the super sale products are shoddy and I don't buy any of those. Today Office Max had folders for a penny, but they were so ridiculously thin I had no interest in even trying to use those for Proclick book covers.
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I really need a supply of good mechanical pencils. I think I have pretty much abandoned the use of regular pencils for the older 3 kids as they spend as much time getting up to sharpen them as they do using them. This is sad considering how many regular pencils I have around here (still using the ridiculous amount they had me buy for K in PS back when DD started school).
Office Max has a 2 pk for $1 (with coupon) on the Papermate Clearpoint. We've never used those, but apparently it is a good price.
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I know exactly how ravenous eating works, thanks to prescription steriods. However, as the nurse pointed out in advance, one doesn't have to eat the high cal items...one can stick with the veggies.
Personally I found it was easier to get on my bike and cycle for two hours and that took my attention off the ravenous, clean out the cabinet, steroid induced hunger. I did also clean out the cabinet so I wouldn't be eating mounds of high cal stuff that was easy to shove in. I found that there comes a point when the stomach says enough, even though the steroid says pack it in.
But it is ravenous accompanied by feeling faint, rapid pulse, wooziness, etc. There's no way to hop on a bike, trust me. It isn't just feeling hungry, it is a total blood sugar crash. Veggies won't fix it (and at the time I was experiencing my bouts of hypoglycemia looking back, I was a vegetarian. I was a vegetarian for about 8 years through high school and college). Some carrots and celery sticks, even in large amounts, weren't going to remedy it. A blood sugar crash like that can leave you feeling like you might die. I kid you not. Heart racing, sweaty, awful, awful, awful. It isn't just hunger.
Like a PP who talked about her experience with Atkins, many people with IR do great on higher calorie than they've ever eaten in their lives. For once they don't have to be super restrictive about quantity of food. Once they control the insulin spikes, their whole appetite becomes more in control. They are more easily satiated, they don't feel awful in between meals, their energy level is more stable.
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But a predisposition to IR can make people feel chronically hungry. That's the kicker. I am not overweight, but for years I wondered why a bowl of cereal or a bagel made me ravenous and so hungry I was shaky an hour later. I had the urge to just stuff my face because I could feel my blood sugar plummeting. Only years later once I got the PCOS diagnosis and pieced together the IR piece that is so prevalent with PCOS did it make sense.True, but on a percentage basis, the number who would not be diabetic if they beleived a pill would not take care of it is significiant. If they had to do injections, they would prevent getting to that weight by adjusting their intake, as their parents did. Instead, because of the belief that the Dr. can cure anything, they indulge themselves and eat what they know is inappropriate...a box of ice cream at one sitting, pounds of potato salad, yada yada. The total calories taken in daily adds up to more than anyone can possibly expend daily with physical exercise.
Eating those things made my blood sugar spike. My body pumps out too much insulin in response (hyperisulinemia), which then causes my blood sugar to drop too low. I feel hypoglycemic, hungry, cranky, brain foggy, and have the urge to find any kind of food I can to bring my blood sugar back up. If you've never experienced that, consider yourself lucky. I've controlled mine through my adult life by having those clues early. However, I also come at it from the privilege of having the ability to educate myself on it (master's degree in a healthcare field), and I'm in a financial position to afford to eat LC.
Some of these people binging, believe it or not, are truly hungry a lot of the time I think! Trying to regulate their appetite without getting their insulin levels under control is very difficult.
Even people with Type 2 are often told to eat modest amounts of whole grains, for example. But many of them have IR substantial enough that their blood sugars still soar with that approach. And the doctors tell them don't eat fat. They are told to cut back on meat, etc, and then they wonder what exactly they are supposed to eat. I think there's a lot of oversimplification and poor education taking place. I do believe in personal responsibility, but I can tell you that knowing how I feel when I have a blood sugar and insulin spike followed by a nice big drop in my blood sugar, it is easy to be ravenous having just eaten. And I'm a normal weight woman with no emotional eating issues or anything like that confounding things.
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Agree that the research on colonization of the gut in overweight vs. normal weight people is really interesting. I think antibiotic overuse is a factor, but research is showing that the method of birth also affects colonization long-term (c-section vs. vaginal birth). And of course what we eat and how that fuels the prominence of different strains in our gut.
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Ah, but that's the chicken and egg argument so many people find fascinating on this topic. THere are substantial numbers of people who are IR and are not overweight. About half of women with PCOS are normal weight or under that, and most have some degree of IR. I take metformin and eat LC for PCOS and to help with my IR long-term, although I am not diabetic. Yet I could definitely drift down that path quite easily due to the IR tendencies. It wouldn't take me getting "fat." I'm already predisposed to metabolic syndrome issues, type 2, etc. even if I never become overweight, let alone morbidly obese. It doesn't necessarily take being overweight to cause IR. Some researchers think people have IR tendencies, and the weight issues are just a symptom of that.My observations and thoughts, which include obese and morbidly obese extended family:
1. The invention of metformin.
Before metformin, one took care not to be overweight enough that diabetes and a daily injection would be part of one's life. Now one can pop a pill so it's hardly an inconvenience to be diabetic. Metformin is free at the local supermarket, with Dr.'s Rx.
edited to add that when I got diagnosed with PCOS, I was a 24 yo adult and weighed 114lbs. I am about 120 ten years later. I most definitely have IR tendencies, but have always had a normal BMI. Most docs used to assume all women with PCOS were overweight. Many researchers think IR is present to some degree in all women with PCOS, and that includes the substantial percentage or aren't overweight. PCOS alone (not counting IR more broadly) affects 5-10% of women of childbearing age.
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Are you wearing an orthotic or doing anything to prevent additional issues with the spurs?
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-Insulin resistance is more prevalent than many people realize. That is closely tied to metabolic syndrome, which affects a substantial % of adults. Yet most adults don't seem to know that IR and metabolic syndrome are closely related. Most people I know think insulin is only an issue if you are fat and type 2 diabetic. Most people I know also assume only the overweight get type 2 diabetes, and only the overweight folks need to be concerned about IR. I'm a normal weight woman with PCOS and some IR tendencies, with a family history of metabolic syndrome type of issues. I very much believe that many people have the IR tendencies before they get fat.
-Most people overeat. I do think this is closely intertwined with the above. If you are on the more IR end of the spectrum, eating carbs causes your body to pump out too much insulin, and then you end up with lower blood sugar afterward. For me, this means a carby snack or meal results in being hungrier than if I hadn't eaten in the first place. So I think controlling the insulin can make portion control more attainable for many people, and I think that simplifying it to mere "willpower" is really a disservice to those who are overweight. I think many kids and adults eat carby snacks all day long and are never satiated. I think many people would feel much more in control of their appetite without feeling deprived if they were not afraid to consume dietary fats and some protein.
-We are too sedentary, but the flip side is that I don't think exercise leads to as much weight loss as many people think. Taubes has some info on this as well. That doesn't mean exercise isn't beneficial to overall health or that some people can't lose weight by exercising, but I think we've oversold how much it helps people with weight loss. Many people just amp up their calorie intake when they exercise. To burn a serious number of calories, in general, it takes a LOT of exercise, and I think that's more than most people will ever carve time out for. Again, I totally think exercise has wonderful benefits, but I think we've sort of oversold the benefit of a little half hour walk as a *calorie burning* thing, you know? However, yes, there was a time when a large number of people had very physically demanding jobs where they worked their bodies all day long. Farming, construction, manual labor all probably helped keep some of that insulin sensitivity.
-Environmental estrogens/obesogens. BPA has been tied to central adiposity and insulin resistance in men, for example. edited to add: There's also interplay with this and genetics (epigenetics). What your grandmother or great grandmother was exposed to in terms of famine, scarcity of food, or chemical exposures may shape your tendency toward insulin resistance, for example.
-Portion sizes are insane. But again, I think if most people were consuming more fat and protein with their meals, they'd feel sated sooner and would have an easier time self-regulating.
-Loss of cooking skills, prevalence of quick food that is nutritionally devoid. Most people are running, running, running like crazy, particularly those with kids in school, sports, and other activities.
-Advice to eat 6 small meals a day ironically keeps some people riding the blood sugar rises and falls all day long. There's some newer research saying perhaps we need to encourage 3 a day again. I think this is also intertwined a bit with the idea about whether intermittent fasting is beneficial for preserving insulin sensitivity. Not to mention every single kid activity has to have a snack or multiple snacks, and they are usually garbage. When my son was playing little league, there was team snack, game day snack, kids eating team snack plus hitting the snack shack and ice cream afterward. THat's a lot of snacks ;) and it isn't as if the kids were burning hundreds and hundreds of calories playing baseball at that age. They swing, hit the ball, run a bit, and spend a lot of time standing out in the field doing nothing at that age. Schools have multiple parties for holidays, birthdays, etc.
-My local school district only stopped providing funnel cake as a breakfast option 3 years ago. I wish I was kidding. Then a kid eats that and is probably literally starving an hour later as his blood sugar plummets due to the insulin rise. I think there are a whole lot of overweight kids who actually are chronically hungry because of the insulin spikes they get with their meals. Many kids today are eating breakfast, lunch, and snack at school, and we know that most school options are probably awful for a kid with any tendency toward obesity or insulin resistance.
Potassium
in The Chat Board
Posted
Avocados are low in carbs, will get you some good fat, and have a lot of potassium. In fact, they have more than a banana.
http://www.sparkpeople.com/food_vs_food.asp?food=26_39_banana_versus_avocado