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Been really enjoying this climbing gym that my INTP friend has been dragging me to (maybe once every two weeks). I didn't like it initially, but now I like bouldering a lot. I'm terrible at it, and I barely have enough upper body strength for it, but I like it.
OTOH I only like it when I go with other people. I like talking out the process and learning from my friends. (Not to mention, going with friends makes it less likely that you'll be mansplained to by complete strangers.) And I dunno if I'll be able to go climbing with INTP friend after she moves.
Been really enjoying this climbing gym that my INTP friend has been dragging me to (maybe once every two weeks). I didn't like it initially, but now I like bouldering a lot. I'm terrible at it, and I barely have enough upper body strength for it, but I like it.
OTOH I only like it when I go with other people. I like talking out the process and learning from my friends. (Not to mention, going with friends makes it less likely that you'll be mansplained to by complete strangers.) And I dunno if I'll be able to go climbing with INTP friend after she moves.
Meetup.com usually has circles of interest that helps find new friends. It's how I found HEMA class--WHICH I SLEPT THROUGH LAST NIGHT SO I DIDNT GO. @_@ We definitely need a quieter fan in the house... I couldn't hear my alarm clock over it and boom, before I know it it was 10pm and my hour nap was a 5 hour nap. I haaate naps -_-;;
Anyways, I found a DnD campaign group and I'm thinking once that group dissolves from the DM moving this fall I'll be going to the board game geeks meet up + this HEMA group meet up.... and I was even thinking of starting my own for fitness.
@_@ I have trouble doing fitness marshall in front of my boyfriend I realized. I dunno why.. it seems so dumb to be self conscious about it since I literally dance in front of him all the time. I think my brain is creating a stupid excuse to say no to doing something. I'll get over it.
I have this mental block too. It’s bizarre when sharing in intimate activity isn’t a problem - but then the self buckles at having actual exercise observed Let me know if you come up with any solutions to this…
Peaches are in season, and $2 a bucket right now. Hell Yes.
Mmmm…peaches. This weekend we made a sort of ‘Lazy Bellini’. Puree peach in a blender and then freeze. (I added a smudge of stevia and a bit of coconut water). Later, put frozen peach concoction in bottom of a glass, pour sparkling wine over and then a robust red wine on top as liquid garnish. (Licks lips)
[MENTION=4945]EJCC[/MENTION]
Been really enjoying this climbing gym that my INTP friend has been dragging me to (maybe once every two weeks). I didn't like it initially, but now I like bouldering a lot. I'm terrible at it, and I barely have enough upper body strength for it, but I like it.
OTOH I only like it when I go with other people. I like talking out the process and learning from my friends. (Not to mention, going with friends makes it less likely that you'll be mansplained to by complete strangers.) And I dunno if I'll be able to go climbing with INTP friend after she moves.
Meet up is a great suggestion. Sometimes I will use Yelp to find partners for stuff that doesn't interest my friends. You can ask questions in the 'talk' section. Looking over their reviews and profile allows you to get a small sense of what they might be like.
I suck so bad at upper arm strength! I always think I am doing ok, until I go climbing or surfing (so much paddling ).
[MENTION=13849]I have this mental block too. It’s bizarre when sharing in intimate activity isn’t a problem - but then the self buckles at having actual exercise observed Let me know if you come up with any solutions to this…
If I had any talent in dancing I might be less nervous.. but it's a work out vehicle for me.. sooo.. No problems lifting weights in front of my bf.. but this dancing? Maybe when I get better at it. Which I'm hoping will passively come from practicing once a day for 3 minutes. The reality? It's only 3 minutes... so whenever I catch him going outside for a short errand of some sort, I just do it then.
Mmmm…peaches. This weekend we made a sort of ‘Lazy Bellini’. Puree peach in a blender and then freeze. (I added a smudge of stevia and a bit of coconut water). Later, put frozen peach concoction in bottom of a glass, pour sparkling wine over and then a robust red wine on top as liquid garnish. (Licks lips)
Oh nice!! That does sound wonderfully lazy. I'm a fan of lazy recipes. I remember I used to make a bellini at the ren fest, and I could have sworn I saved the recipe but it's no where to be found. Needless to say, yours takes far less time and effort.
- Still waiting on word from my friend re: being my climbing buddy. Which is good because I definitely can't afford the climbing gym costs right now. Better to wait a few months I think. (Or, alternately, save a ton of money and just go 1-2x/month -- you only save money with monthly payments if you go more than 3x/month.)
- Was doing really well with going to bed early and waking up early/working out early... then fell off the wagon. Work stress, I think. Made it harder to relax in the evenings. Trying to get back on the wagon this week.
- I hate 30-day exercise challenges. I started trying another one, and I don't know why I did -- I already knew I hate them. I hate them because 1) no flexibility if your body says "no" to a particular thing on a particular day, and 2) no room to exercise the way you want on a particular day, e.g. climbing, or running. So I'm just going to haphazardly do some of these challenge items whenever I have the time. ([MENTION=4939]kyuuei[/MENTION] I tried out Betty Rocker after you mentioned it a few times in here. I like it but don't like the time constraint for the exact reasons I mentioned above.)
I have this mental block too. It’s bizarre when sharing in intimate activity isn’t a problem - but then the self buckles at having actual exercise observed Let me know if you come up with any solutions to this…
My husband comes down to the basement when I'm on the treadmill. For two reasons - he wants to see what I'm growling and grunting at (10 incline at speed 5 usually) and he thinks my music choice is hilarious and I'm usually singing along somewhat.
I don't care. I come watch him on it too. Sweaty...mmmmm....hot.
- Still waiting on word from my friend re: being my climbing buddy. Which is good because I definitely can't afford the climbing gym costs right now. Better to wait a few months I think. (Or, alternately, save a ton of money and just go 1-2x/month -- you only save money with monthly payments if you go more than 3x/month.)
- Was doing really well with going to bed early and waking up early/working out early... then fell off the wagon. Work stress, I think. Made it harder to relax in the evenings. Trying to get back on the wagon this week.
- I hate 30-day exercise challenges. I started trying another one, and I don't know why I did -- I already knew I hate them. I hate them because 1) no flexibility if your body says "no" to a particular thing on a particular day, and 2) no room to exercise the way you want on a particular day, e.g. climbing, or running. So I'm just going to haphazardly do some of these challenge items whenever I have the time. ([MENTION=4939]kyuuei[/MENTION] I tried out Betty Rocker after you mentioned it a few times in here. I like it but don't like the time constraint for the exact reasons I mentioned above.)
See I do like 30 day challenges, but I read them differently than you. Day 1 is day 1. If that's on a Monday, then Tuesday need not be day 2. It can be Thursday for all I care. As long as I finish what I started. It took me 65 days to do 30 days of p90x and it was a good pace. If I went running or something else that day I didn't do p90x and try burning myself out.
Like right now br has weekly tabata bikini shit, but I'm doing what I need out of those right now. The cool thing about Internet stuff is no one is waiting on you or expecting you. You just do you.
Be honest with me: Is it more expensive to buy pre-packaged health foods (for example, organic/gluten-free so and so), or to make your own versions of them at home from scratch?
Is it cheaper to buy pre-packaged healthy bread, or to bake your own with the flour they used and so forth?
Be honest with me: Is it more expensive to buy pre-packaged health foods (for example, organic/gluten-free so and so), or to make your own versions of them at home from scratch?
Is it cheaper to buy pre-packaged healthy bread, or to bake your own with the flour they used and so forth?
As a general rule, it's cheaper to make from scratch. Especially with enough comparison shopping.
That being said, it depends on how you value the time you spend preparing those things -- and it depends on whether you would use the necessary groceries enough to warrant buying them in larger quantities. (For example, you kind of have to buy whole flax seeds in big bags, but I only ever use it a tablespoon at a time.) So that affects your determination re: whether you'd be wasting money or not.
See I do like 30 day challenges, but I read them differently than you. Day 1 is day 1. If that's on a Monday, then Tuesday need not be day 2. It can be Thursday for all I care. As long as I finish what I started. It took me 65 days to do 30 days of p90x and it was a good pace. If I went running or something else that day I didn't do p90x and try burning myself out.
Like right now br has weekly tabata bikini shit, but I'm doing what I need out of those right now. The cool thing about Internet stuff is no one is waiting on you or expecting you. You just do you.
I don't know why this didn't occur to me before. Maybe because all the Betty Rocker videos are so serious about "Do this every day!" etc, and because they all say that the videos expire 24 hours after you receive them. (False, they expire 24 hours after you open the link, and the description of the workout lasts forever, so you can do it whenever so long as you have an interval timer.)
Anyway, those videos are going well now!
Also, cross training has made running more difficult, somehow. But in a good way. A lot more leg muscles are engaged when I run now, and many of those muscles are relatively weak. This is great for my knees and my overall health, but it's also a bit confusing.
Re: food, my CSA has started, which means I've had to eat significantly more plants than usual. The other day I had so many greens that I had to eat -- gasp -- lettuce wraps. Just throwing leftovers into the lettuce leaves and calling it a new meal. Not the worst thing ever, but lettuce is not my favorite.
I love cooking, but this CSA situation may end up forcing me not to cook. Or at least forcing me to cook more minimally. Or eat a lot of veggies/fruit as a snack every day. A good change re: my health, I think, but a difficult change. Old habits die hard.
Been really enjoying this climbing gym that my INTP friend has been dragging me to (maybe once every two weeks). I didn't like it initially, but now I like bouldering a lot. I'm terrible at it, and I barely have enough upper body strength for it, but I like it.
OTOH I only like it when I go with other people. I like talking out the process and learning from my friends. (Not to mention, going with friends makes it less likely that you'll be mansplained to by complete strangers.) And I dunno if I'll be able to go climbing with INTP friend after she moves.
Be honest with me: Is it more expensive to buy pre-packaged health foods (for example, organic/gluten-free so and so), or to make your own versions of them at home from scratch?
Is it cheaper to buy pre-packaged healthy bread, or to bake your own with the flour they used and so forth?
From a money spent standpoint it's almost always cheaper to make things yourself. The other plus is that you know exactly what is in them. Gluten free and organic is so much easier now, things like flour, grains and pasta is readily available and organic is nearly universal anywhere. But when discussing expense, you have to consider what your time is worth. In the cases where there is more money than time, I don't think pre-packaged is a bad thing. There are a lot of meal services that cater to any diet need, stores with excellent deli and grab and go food items. The only way you will really know is to try both and see how each works for you.
Re: food, my CSA has started, which means I've had to eat significantly more plants than usual. The other day I had so many greens that I had to eat -- gasp -- lettuce wraps. Just throwing leftovers into the lettuce leaves and calling it a new meal. Not the worst thing ever, but lettuce is not my favorite.
As a general rule, it's cheaper to make from scratch. Especially with enough comparison shopping.
That being said, it depends on how you value the time you spend preparing those things -- and it depends on whether you would use the necessary groceries enough to warrant buying them in larger quantities. (For example, you kind of have to buy whole flax seeds in big bags, but I only ever use it a tablespoon at a time.) So that affects your determination re: whether you'd be wasting money or not.
From a money spent standpoint it's almost always cheaper to make things yourself. The other plus is that you know exactly what is in them. Gluten free and organic is so much easier now, things like flour, grains and pasta is readily available and organic is nearly universal anywhere. But when discussing expense, you have to consider what your time is worth. In the cases where there is more money than time, I don't think pre-packaged is a bad thing. There are a lot of meal services that cater to any diet need, stores with excellent deli and grab and go food items. The only way you will really know is to try both and see how each works for you.
Very sage advice from the both of you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I just knew that healthy diets will always consist of making things from scratch and at home, and it makes sense. Not that there's anything inherently evil from pre-packaged 'health foods', especially when one is in a pinch of time. I am currently in love with my health store's canned tomatoes so that I can make my husband and I a delicious and nutritious dinner every weekend.
But yes, it's time to put on my big girl panties and start cooking and baking more if I want to save money while also eating sensibly. Thank you!
Be honest with me: Is it more expensive to buy pre-packaged health foods (for example, organic/gluten-free so and so), or to make your own versions of them at home from scratch?
Is it cheaper to buy pre-packaged healthy bread, or to bake your own with the flour they used and so forth?
depends. Bread? Generally cheaper to buy. the technique makes it difficult, and machines can make it expensive. Bread is reeeaallyy cheap to bake, and really easy with a good bread oven.. but really, just store-brand bread will be cheaper generally than making it if you're no chef. I got my bread machine cheap as hell (It's a Breville, which is one of the best makers imo) but even those have their limitations and generally slicing still doesn't give perfect bread slices like store bought. And bread freezes well, so if you have a discount bakery you can buy a loaf that day, split it into smaller loaves, and freeze them and thaw a little at a time.
Pre-packaged frozen foods are ALWAYS cheaper to make yourself. Like, 99.99% of the time. A frozen burrito from the healthier section is going to charge you an arm and a leg for.. what? Tortillas, beans, eggs, and spinach? All REALLY cheap. And, burritos have the added benefit of batch-cooking.. for 1 hour of serious effort, you could save a loooott of money and make a lot of frozen food. Breakfast sandwiches, pasta dishes, etc. They're all cheaper to make yourself. For the quality of those meals typically, you could cook a lot yourself. Batch cooking has the added benefit of being able to be separated by weeks. So, you're not stuck eating burrito forever. You can make Burritos, breakfast sandwiches, pasta dishes, and rice dishes and just rotate which ones you eat each week. Something different each day and you won't get super tired of it.. bonus: when you're in a hurry, it's there for you. It usually doesn't take me more than an hour to make a month's worth of a dish.. and I make multiple batches at the same time, so typically I'm in 3-4 hours of serious work and end up with 1-3 months of meals. All for a hell of a lot cheaper than $4 a meal.
Even though it's cheaper to buy salads by the head and make them, I just never do. Never will again. I don't do it myself, I don't take the time, and I don't like prepping salads. If I want salad, I buy a bag of salad. It isn't very expensive at TJ's and I get a great, decent salad I'll actually eat with no effort. Better to spend $6 on salad ingredients that week than to spend $4 and have half of it rot. So, keep what you LIKE prepping vs what you don't care for in mind. Like EJ said, lots of things come in giant containers of Nope and you can't get a small amount for that one recipe.
Generally speaking anything that requires technique (pizza, fage style yogurt, and bread for example) and/or are ingredients to a meal (cheese, butter, frozen vegetables, canned veggies/fruit, etc.) is easier/not that much more expensive/ sometimes even cheaper to buy unless you just want a new skill, and meals are cheaper to cook and prep. So for example, spinach is an ingredient.. it is cheaper to buy it than to grow it unless you're a decent gardener that has the time and resources to make that happen. However, spinach-chickpea-curry-dish is going to be far cheaper to cook yourself than to buy premade.
I don't know why this didn't occur to me before. Maybe because all the Betty Rocker videos are so serious about "Do this every day!" etc, and because they all say that the videos expire 24 hours after you receive them. (False, they expire 24 hours after you open the link, and the description of the workout lasts forever, so you can do it whenever so long as you have an interval timer.)
Yup! They do that to light a fire under your ass, but there's no need for all of that. I don't really agree with BR's principles, but I like her work outs themselves. I like the "set my own day pace" thing. I just make a checklist of days 1-30 and mark them off as complete as I go.. and like I said, if I go do something else that day that was a good work out, I don't bother to count it as a day. I'll get to the end eventually. I just take a rest day when life dictates it.. there's always going to be some event/lack of sleep day/something to intervene naturally, so I don't really create rest days anymore. I found that just makes multiple rest days for me.
Re: food, my CSA has started, which means I've had to eat significantly more plants than usual. The other day I had so many greens that I had to eat -- gasp -- lettuce wraps. Just throwing leftovers into the lettuce leaves and calling it a new meal. Not the worst thing ever, but lettuce is not my favorite.
I love cooking, but this CSA situation may end up forcing me not to cook. Or at least forcing me to cook more minimally. Or eat a lot of veggies/fruit as a snack every day. A good change re: my health, I think, but a difficult change. Old habits die hard.
I'm pretty sure our vegetable drawer is where we rescue plants from the horrors of vegetarians and let them die a peaceful death in one piece. I finally broke down and just realized that bagged salads and cherry tomatoes are the life for me all day everyday. Anything else is destined to die.
depends. Bread? Generally cheaper to buy. the technique makes it difficult, and machines can make it expensive. Bread is reeeaallyy cheap to bake, and really easy with a good bread oven.. but really, just store-brand bread will be cheaper generally than making it if you're no chef. I got my bread machine cheap as hell (It's a Breville, which is one of the best makers imo) but even those have their limitations and generally slicing still doesn't give perfect bread slices like store bought. And bread freezes well, so if you have a discount bakery you can buy a loaf that day, split it into smaller loaves, and freeze them and thaw a little at a time.
I am doing an experiment now because I have a hunch that I am suffering from gluten intolerance, as well as being lactose intolerant, so I'm going on this diet for the next few weeks and see if I feel better. This one special bread they sell at the health store cost a bit much for just a small loaf, so that's why I'm wondering if perhaps I am better off just baking it at home.
I've never used a bread maker before, are they easy to use?
Pre-packaged frozen foods are ALWAYS cheaper to make yourself. Like, 99.99% of the time. A frozen burrito from the healthier section is going to charge you an arm and a leg for.. what? Tortillas, beans, eggs, and spinach? All REALLY cheap. And, burritos have the added benefit of batch-cooking.. for 1 hour of serious effort, you could save a loooott of money and make a lot of frozen food. Breakfast sandwiches, pasta dishes, etc. They're all cheaper to make yourself. For the quality of those meals typically, you could cook a lot yourself. Batch cooking has the added benefit of being able to be separated by weeks. So, you're not stuck eating burrito forever. You can make Burritos, breakfast sandwiches, pasta dishes, and rice dishes and just rotate which ones you eat each week. Something different each day and you won't get super tired of it.. bonus: when you're in a hurry, it's there for you. It usually doesn't take me more than an hour to make a month's worth of a dish.. and I make multiple batches at the same time, so typically I'm in 3-4 hours of serious work and end up with 1-3 months of meals. All for a hell of a lot cheaper than $4 a meal.
I think that's what I'm going to do, then: Make a huge amount of foods once a month and then freeze them. Oh my, I need an ice box for all of that, I think!
Yes, its true what you say, that meals such as burritos are hell a lot cheaper to make from scratch than to buy them individually store-brought. And more fun, too, since I can customize it for my own taste!
Thank you for this, I have read about people who work very hard each month preparing large batches of food but then its worth it in the end, both for their time and money saved.
Even though it's cheaper to buy salads by the head and make them, I just never do. Never will again. I don't do it myself, I don't take the time, and I don't like prepping salads. If I want salad, I buy a bag of salad. It isn't very expensive at TJ's and I get a great, decent salad I'll actually eat with no effort. Better to spend $6 on salad ingredients that week than to spend $4 and have half of it rot. So, keep what you LIKE prepping vs what you don't care for in mind. Like EJ said, lots of things come in giant containers of Nope and you can't get a small amount for that one recipe.
Ha ha, what happened? Were they difficult to cut or something? I have watched my mother for many years cut the heads of salad and I don't know how she can do it so effortlessly. Can you freeze cabbage?
Generally speaking anything that requires technique (pizza, fage style yogurt, and bread for example) and/or are ingredients to a meal (cheese, butter, frozen vegetables, canned veggies/fruit, etc.) is easier/not that much more expensive/ sometimes even cheaper to buy unless you just want a new skill, and meals are cheaper to cook and prep. So for example, spinach is an ingredient.. it is cheaper to buy it than to grow it unless you're a decent gardener that has the time and resources to make that happen. However, spinach-chickpea-curry-dish is going to be far cheaper to cook yourself than to buy premade.
You make a lot of sense, actually. Its an even 50/50 split in the end. I don't live on a farm, so some of the things I enjoy I'll have to buy store-brought, but that is okay! I am glad you answered me, you've always had great advice when it comes to food.
I am doing an experiment now because I have a hunch that I am suffering from gluten intolerance, as well as being lactose intolerant, so I'm going on this diet for the next few weeks and see if I feel better. This one special bread they sell at the health store cost a bit much for just a small loaf, so that's why I'm wondering if perhaps I am better off just baking it at home.
I've never used a bread maker before, are they easy to use?
First, side note: usually those expensive breads are cheaper to bake at home vs buying in the store. If your bread costs more than $3 a loaf, it's worth it to bake it if you have the means and skill. But, also, sometimes those breads require a technique unique to making it palatable.. which may not be practical in normal cooking. So, it could be beneficial to just cut back on bread-based meals and have the bread as a special something vs a daily star of the show.. which is another way to save money while eating the expensive product.
Bread makers are very easy to use. I use a Breville, which is a brand I highly recommend in the kitchen for many of their products, and it makes a pretty damn good bread. A lot of bakers complain the breads come out badly in bread makers, but the dough always comes out great. I haven't had this issue too much with the Breville, but they are imperfect machines. Difficult to clean, but not so bad if you make a couple loaves at at time. However, a good bread slicer will probably be necessary too. I don't always use the bread maker, but I got it for cheap which made it worth it to have nice hot bread.. I give fresh bread as gifts many times, which saves me money because bread is cheap and soul-soothing at the same time. People appreciate it, and I appreciate the lack of effort and money into something consumable. It also does nicely on holidays. It makes the house smell great too, and it has a timer so I can have hot bread in the morning when I wake up if I want.
There are different theories on kitchen gadgets... for some, a uni-tool is awful and cluttering. To me? A cheap tool that does the job well is worth having around vs going out to eat. I bought a small, flat waffle iron for $4 at a thrift store, and it makes great waffles... which is awesome because my urge to eat IHOP went down 1000% after I bought it. I don't make waffles frequently, but if I crave them I'm not going and spending $9 to make it happen. I'll spend $2 on ingredients and boom, waffles. And I'll cook a bunch and freeze them, so boom, more waffles. I have a mini donut maker... because it was $1 and the donut trays were $10 on amazon. I don't hardly ever make donuts, but when I want them? The maker makes it easy and available. I look up a recipe based on what I have on hand, and boom, donuts. A bread machine doesn't do much else but bake bread and make dough, but I still found it worth it. A food processor is pretty much mandatory for my cooking style. I like collecting gadgets and having them on hand. If you have a small kitchen, it can be a clutter to have gadgets, but for me space wasn't a big deal at all, and having machines that help my cooking (I'm no chef by any means and have trouble cooking things well at times like breads and such) is more than worth it. It all depends on your philosophy.
What I dont recommend: buying a machine just because it's there. Look at what you need in it. For me, a big waffle iron was no good.. it had to be small, adjustable heat, and literally the size of the waffle itself, nothing more. My juicer and bread maker had to be Breville brand for cost effectiveness and high functionality. A bad machine wastes money. My sandwich maker is a mess, it sucks.. and I'm lucky I got it for free otherwise it would have been a total waste of money. It was a cheap $3-on-black-friday-square-one-setting-sandwich maker that gets gross easily and is difficult to clean. Instead, a good grilled cheese/panini maker is more up my alley. So, I have my eye out for one before I send this one to the graveyard that is the donation center.
The nurse in me is itching to educate, so I stuck it in a spoiler in case you don't feel like listening to me on a soapbox about stomach problems.
The thing is, a lot of that experimentation has a high risk of being confirmation bias. Things can improve naturally for all kinds of reasons, including the placebo effect, and be wrongly accredited to the thing being experimented on. I highly, highly recommend doing a step-up diet if you're going to experiment with food causing an upset stomach. Unless the equation is "Every time I eat milk I get diarrhea" or "everytime I eat gluten I get terrible stomach cramps" then chances are these things alone are not causing the symptoms. They could contribute, but they may not be the star of the show and you might spend unnecessary effort, time, and money on something that isn't beneficial. For me it was IBS, and I had thought I was having issues with tomatoes in particular.. So, per my doc, I ate a BRAT style diet for about a month, and added one kind of food in at a time after 2 weeks, 1 week at a time, to test it out. Turns out, my IBS has flare ups that have nothing to do with the food I eat. No matter what I ate, it had issues at times and no issues at other times. I did identify too much spicy food, and daily eating tomatoes/acids and caffeine will cause issues pretty consistently.. but I can still eat those foods in moderation with no adverse effects. I may not eat spaghetti every meal for a week, but I can eat a nice spaghetti once in a while. I can add some hot sauce to my food, but I don't add it to every meal like I used to. Turns out, for the bulk of my issues, I just needed to bulk my intestinal contents with rice (a constipation causing food for some) and that cleared up much of my stomach issues. No more running to the bathroom 2-3 times in a row for what should be a single session. So, now I eat rice nearly daily for at least one meal. I found that out of accident recently while on vacation.
I'm not saying don't give up.. but I am saying go to the cheapest, more reliable ways of diagnosing. Talk to a doctor, and work with them, and create a food structure that makes sense with measurable timelines and results... and don't buy into hype like gluten free diets automatically. It's the cool new thing to blame.. and it could be to blame... but it'll be something else soon enough and no one will remember gluten fads. In the 90s it was fat. Now fat is the cool thing to put IN our food. It's all relative.. If you're having stomach issues, it's probably a little more complex than gluten or lactose, and you'll need to take it slow and steady to realize what's going on with you. Stomach issues are multi-faceted... no one thing cures it typically. Lactose intolerance is an easy diagnosis for stomachs, but that's not normally the issue. It's a managed thing. Stress means issues no matter what you eat--even good stress like working out or waking up early for something exciting--can cause issues for example. I'd definitely recommend a good doctor that isn't automatically pandering to hype, and start low and slow.
I think that's what I'm going to do, then: Make a huge amount of foods once a month and then freeze them. Oh my, I need an ice box for all of that, I think!
just make sure it's foods you really like when you make them. It's okay to have failed experiments. If you don't like it, it'll rot in the back of the fridge. Also: a sharpie is essential. Label your food. You WONT remember what it is. Ask me how I know. XD
Ha ha, what happened? Were they difficult to cut or something? I have watched my mother for many years cut the heads of salad and I don't know how she can do it so effortlessly. Can you freeze cabbage?
No not at all... I just never take the time to prep it. The reality is, I get bored with salad on a whim, so a whole head of lettuce is too much for just me to eat. A few heads of anything to make a decent variety leads to a lot of waste... so it's actually cheaper and better for me to simply buy a bag of something. If I lose the feeling for salad that day, not much is wasted, and no time prepping it all was wasted.
You make a lot of sense, actually. Its an even 50/50 split in the end. I don't live on a farm, so some of the things I enjoy I'll have to buy store-brought, but that is okay! I am glad you answered me, you've always had great advice when it comes to food.
[MENTION=4939]kyuuei[/MENTION] Thanks so much for your sound advice. I will go see a doctor soon, you are right, it probably is something much more complicated, but I was curious about the elimination diet and I like trying things out once while I am alive, so why not. IBS definitely sound like the most likely diagnosis for me, and I am terrified if I am lactose intolerant since I love milk and dairy products. I read somewhere that raw milk and products made with raw milk doesn't cause intolerance in people that are normally reactive to typical supermarket milk, so I do feel somewhat hopeful.
[MENTION=4939]kyuuei[/MENTION] Thanks so much for your sound advice. I will go see a doctor soon, you are right, it probably is something much more complicated, but I was curious about the elimination diet and I like trying things out once while I am alive, so why not. IBS definitely sound like the most likely diagnosis for me, and I am terrified if I am lactose intolerant since I love milk and dairy products. I read somewhere that raw milk and products made with raw milk doesn't cause intolerance in people that are normally reactive to typical supermarket milk, so I do feel somewhat hopeful.
I mean, lactose intolerance is fairly easy to figure out.. Just have an empty stomach, eat a serving of milk, see if it reacts poorly to you within the hour. If not, have another serving in 30 minute intervals, and if you realize 2-3 servings in you have stomach cramps and awfulness going on you're likely intolerant. My bf can eat some milk and cheese, but a dinner designed based on those things hurts him terribly.. pizza, enchiladas, etc. they're all coated in cheese which hurts his stomach. But small amounts are tolerable for him.
An easy solution if it turns out you are intolerant is A2 milk or Mootopia (which is an HEB brand if you happen to have one near) which is the only lactose free milk I've tried that tastes genuinely like milk vs that weird sweet after taste. The Trader Joe's lactose free milks aren't so bad either for the price.
The elimination diet is one of the standards used for diagnosing IBS. Just keep a strict food log, and eat really awful bland food forever. I tried to be raw vegan for a while because I was swept up in the craze of "omg internet says be healthy this ways!" and I got super sick off of it... ended up eating normally and recovered, but still had bowel issues, and then went on the BRAT diet, and tried adding foods in one at a time, seeing if I reacted to them that day or not, etc. It was pretty annoying, and I didn't write about it much at the time because I hated it, but it did help the diagnosis tremendously.
It's how I found HEMA class--WHICH I SLEPT THROUGH LAST NIGHT SO I DIDNT GO. @_@ We definitely need a quieter fan in the house... I couldn't hear my alarm clock over it and boom, before I know it it was 10pm and my hour nap was a 5 hour nap. I haaate naps -_-;; 
Let me know if you come up with any solutions to this…
No problems lifting weights in front of my bf.. but this dancing? Maybe when I get better at it. Which I'm hoping will passively come from practicing once a day for 3 minutes. 
Needless to say, yours takes far less time and effort. 
