A NYT article this morning -- Nutrition for One? Scientists Stalk the Dream of a Personalized Diet It corroborates the video that @Katy posted above -- it's looking more and more likely that what foods are "good" or "bad" vary from one individual to the next. This is interesting, so I'm also going to post it on the other current weight/health thread. From the article:

Yes, this topic got quite contentious before! I'm old school and of the opinion that, unless you know the person well and know they'll be up, one shouldn't call or text after 9:00 or so, and certainly not after 10:00. Thankfully all the close people in my life seem to adhere to old school rules, too, so it hasn't been much of an issue. I prefer to leave the ringer on at night. Sure I could set it to allow calls/texts from the important folks to come through, or for the two-calls-in-a-row-from-the-same-number thing. But I don't trust either of those. In emergencies someone could be calling me from a number not in my contacts, or not know or have enough time to fool with the two-calls-in-a-row thing. I may feel differently in a few years, when the boys are both more settled.

My sister in law had to have a large, flat polyp removed. She had no problem with it, and it was benign. My MIL had also had to have ones like that removed. I hope it goes well for your mother. ETA: If she's okay on her on after a regular colonoscopy then she should be okay after this one. It's mostly just different equipment, I think the procedure and the anesthesia are very similar.

True story--I had lunch last Saturday with my best friends. We've known each other for decades. One friend and I chose the salad bar (and although it's irrelevant the other two got pizza). My friend has always struggled with insecurity issues. About everything, not just about food. She's only ever been mildly overweight at most, now she's quite thin. She weighs in at WW regularly. She commented on my salad bar choices the whole time, comparing them to hers. She asked me why I chose Romaine and passed on the field greens (I don't really like them, and they tend to stick to the inside of my mouth). Then she commented on the dressing. "Oh, you got oil and vinegar. I should have." I don't know what kind of dressing she got--I wasn't paying attention to anything but myself--but I assume it was something less healthy/higher calorie. We went back for seconds and she got some banana pudding and I got a bit more pineapple and cottage cheese. I got them because they were what I wanted, not because I was avoiding the desserts. And she commented on that, bashing herself for her "bad" choices. I so wish she could have just enjoyed her own food rather than comparing. As far as affordability -- The study about an ultra processed diet versus a minimally processed one that came out a week or two ago concluded that the minimally processed diet cost forty percent more than the ultra processed one. Forty percent more. And from what I remember their minimally processed foods weren't extravagant by any stretch of the imagination. That would be a difficult to impossible stretch for many food budgets. And while I know some people claim they can whip out a super duper healthy, home cooked meal in thirty minutes w/o breaking a sweat I don't believe most people can achieve that. I know I sure can't, and I think I'm a fairly skilled cook. I think the time factor is a huge deal for many people, especially in the majority of families where both parents work. There are many sides to the problem, and the biggest obstacles probably vary from person to person/family to family.

I hear you. Loud and clear. But I don't have any answers other than I think we all need to get over ourselves. Everyone thinks "their" way of eating is the right way, and anyone who doesn't do it their way is wrong. If you (generic) aren't avoiding or downright villifying some food group then you're not trendy. Get over it. It's truly not hard to say "this is what has worked for me" and then let it go. Be encouraging rather than beating people over the head to do it your (unproven) way. As far as I can tell about the only two things that are widely agreed upon are that (1) eating lots of veggies is good and (2) limiting/eliminating ultra processed food is good. Beyond that -- one can cite a study or guru of the month to support any way of eating. That doesn't mean it's right, and I really don't think lauding your WOE or guru of the month as "the" one to follow is impressing anyone or affecting their choices. For most people it's just making things more frustrating and complicated. We need to get back some common sense and sense of moderation. But I fear those things are as gone as the dinosaurs. Here's a related opinion piece from the NYT titled "Smash the Wellness Industry." One of my favorite paragraphs highlights the fact that the diet/wellness industry certainly has its own agenda, and is perhaps as damaging and dangerous as big corporations pushing their unhealthy processed foods:

I think it's normal mourning. Or at least I hope it is, as I've been going through something similar, although much longer term. I think that we (rightly) put so much attention on depression nowadays that it's easy to buy into the idea that we're always supposed to be happy and upbeat, and to bounce back quickly when things knock us down. And that's just not true. Sometimes life is dang hard. And I think we need to understand that it's okay to feel grief and sadness during those times, and we need to fully allow ourselves to feel those feelings without a timetable for when they should end. Good luck in your hunt for a new purpose. You will find one!

She may not have pooped midday today because of the vomiting that was induced yesterday (which got rid of whatever was in her stomach at the time, leaving less to digest).

If she were my dog I would wait and watch, and try not to drive myself crazy with the watching. I'm guessing from the tone of your posting that you know your dog well. Trust yourself to notice if she goes off--not eating or drinking as much, less energy, seems uncomfortable in any way, and of course if there's any vomiting or diarrhea. Dogs eat foreign things all the time. All the time. The overwhelming majority are just fine.

Tons of good thoughts headed your way, Terabith!

Everything I've read in the veterinary literature says that a true allergic reaction to a food is always triggered by protein molecules. That's why many of the "prescription" foods for allergies are hydrolyzed protein diets--the protein molecules have (somehow) been broken down small enough that they fly under the dog's immune system radar. There's zero protein in fat, so . . . at least theoretically it's impossible for fat to trigger an allergic reaction. BUT . . . most sources say that if diarrhea is the only symptom for a dog--no scratching or other skin related issues, etc.--then it isn't likely a true allergy, but rather an intolerance. So I suppose it's possible that a particular fat source could be the culprit in an intolerance. (It's been several years since I've really kept up to date on this stuff, so it's possible new studies have come out in the interim that dispute the above.)

I've used regular Secret Invisible (not the clinical strength) forever and have never had any trouble with white streaks. I do wear a lot of Nike Dri Fit shirts, but not in black, and I buy them more on the loose side than tight.

My youngest DS is 20 now. He was diagnosed with GAD when he was around 15 and was started on Prozac. It's been a miracle for him. It has resulted in some weight gain, but that's a very small price to pay for the benefits.

Please don't ruin glorious, healthy fruit by putting anything on it. If you want to give guests the option then have a separate bowl of dressing.

It's a scam. In general the SSA does not initiate phone calls. If there was a problem they would contact you by mail.

I grew up using spring fed well water. I don't recall that it was ever tested--it was back in the day before anybody really thought about stuff like that.

I pull it out and check it whenever I think about it. Maybe every couple of months? But I've never found much of anything in it. But keep in mind it's just me and DH here most of the time, and we eat fairly simply, so our dishwasher typically only gets used about three times a week. This is the first dishwasher I've ever had that I've needed to check a filter, but it's really not a big deal.

I have never had a dishwasher that didn't work excellently. We currently have a Bosch. It's okay. Works as well as the others and is almost as quiet as the Samsung we used to have. But it is very difficult (impossible, really) to load efficiently. I can see that being a real problem for a larger family.

The 8 is the oldest I'd feel really comfortable with. I just upgraded from a 6s to a XR, and other than battery the 6s was still working well. But still . . .those are getting pretty darn old in phone years.

That *might* explain it. Show and field bred dogs are vastly different in some breeds (like Labs). Although I wouldn't think that would be true in smaller breeds, as most aren't bred for field or any other activity. Our Shih Tzu has a truly stellar show pedigree (as in multiple recent ancestors who showed at Westminster, most of whose feet I'm positive were never allowed to touch grass ), and he can still easily handle several miles of walking. Does he need it? No, of course not. But we've always been active, and that's what he's used to, and he thoroughly enjoys it. Which leads me to this -- And yes, that's possible. Most dogs are very adaptable to their people (see my comment above about our activity). But . . . even within a breed--any breed--there will be considerable variation between individuals.

I would certainly think a MS could handle it. I know our neighbor’s could. Shoot, even our Shih Tzu loves 2 to 3 mile walks, and on the whole Tzus are much less active than MS.

One of our neighbors up the street has one who is getting close to a year old. Our dog plays with her a few times a week. She's a nice, sweet dog but she's pretty wild in the energy department. But they have a youngish son (maybe 8-9) and I think she feeds off of his energy a lot. I suspect in an all adult home or with older, calmer kids she'd be considerably calmer. You do need to be a bit careful with their diet and keep it relatively low fat, since the breed has a tendency toward dietary induced pancreatitis. And ditto the potential skin issues @Arctic Mama mentioned.

Lacing technique can make an absolute world of difference. I have numerous foot issues, most of them due to RA. I went to an athletic store that does 3D imaging/stride analysis and bought the shoes and inserts they recommended, which are fairly wonderful. But I also fiddled around with different lacing techniques to make them even better. I use the lacing technique that works best for whichever part(s) of my feet are bothering me the most on any given day.

We've been fortunate to be able to cover the cost of our boys' college. So they've been able to save their money from paid internships and part-time jobs. Youngest DS also has quite the nest egg from birthday and Christmas gifts he's saved over the years that I seriously doubt he'll spend before he needs an apartment of his own. DS23 had some college graduation money gifts from relatives and some of our friends. That said, I did help him out by doing a bit of housewarming for his first apartment of his own (the one he had in college was furnished). I bought him a mattress, all the essential cleaning supplies I thought he'd need, some non-perishable food supplies, laundry detergent, shower curtain, toilet paper, paper towels, etc. I gifted him a few still-good-enough bath towels and dish towels. He had a job lined up almost a year before graduation, so he knew he was going to be staying in his college area and had all that time to decide where he wanted to get an apartment, knew what his budget would be, etc.

DS23 did one part-time, private sector internship during the school year (while taking a full class load). I seriously doubt anything remotely near the quality of that internship would have been available in a small town.

I've heard of saving ticks for a few weeks, just in case the person/pet shows signs of sickness. I've never heard of being able to have ticks tested just in case. Here that would no doubt mean zillions of ticks needing to be tested daily. But maybe it's different in other places? We usually either flush them down the toilet or drown them (soapy water in a old plastic container).