Posts by meredithgonzalez

i have been having headaches and mild yet persistant dizziness and first everyone said blood pressure but it just did not seem right to me. i am awaiting my docs appt but i think it may be low iron based on family history and my eating habits. that is another option to look into. im not going too crazy until i get blood work done tho.

Original Post by flonklar:

My question then is: Why is it such a problem for a "vegetarian" to "slip" and eat some meat?  Obviously, if meat is knowingly being eaten by the "vegetarian," it is his choice to do so, but I don't understand the "guilt" that accompanies these "relapses."  It's not a crime, it's not an addiction or illness, and as far as I can tell, it's not a morality issue (or is it?).  He just feels the need or desire to eat meat at that point in time (which of course negates his self-imposed status as a true vegetarian). 

For example:  I'm on a quest to lose some weight.  I am a self-proclaimed "dieter."  I have sworn off Krispy Kreme in an effort to improve my general health and facilitate my goal of weight loss.  But once in 4 months, someone brings donuts into the office, and I eat one.  I choose to do so.  I don't feel bad about it, or walk around with a guilty conscience all day.  I simply have decided that 5 minutes of a favorable taste sensation is a reasonable trade-off for introducing a few extra calories into my diet.  It doesn't ruin my disposition for the day, I don't immediately get on the CC forums and lament my lack of self-control.

In my mind, a vegetarian just DOESN'T desire to eat meat, regardless of his level of intoxication.  If the temptation remains to eat meat after proclaiming vegetarianism, how (or even WHY?) can the person claim to be vegetarian?        

Could some knowing vegetarian please help to put this in terms that I can relate to?

Thanks. 

 First, I think for most vegetarians, it IS a morality issue. That is the main problem. Some times when i smell some of my old favorites I am tempted. (I am a relatively new vegetarian.) Some things i will never be tempted by again such as a steak. I have absolutely NO DESIRE to ever eat a steak or anything with such a texture again. i would not eat this while drunk, sober, nothing. it has no appeal. however, more processed foods which i know are more terrible for me and more terrible for moral reasons are the things i have cravings for. i think that the processing almost removes the animal "feel" of a meat. or if the meat is finely chopped or otherwise well hidden -- this could pose a problem. and again, these are my personal obstacles only.

as for not lamenting on your donut issues on CC, i think that is a personal choice bc i have seen many a post from a disheartened dieter who needs the support after having just chowed through some pastries. that is what CC is here for. this forum is for vegetarians......so maybe that is why the vegetarians are here asking for support? idk makes sense to me.

yes it is complicated. no you may never understand. i did not for years. i make no judgement on anybody's choices for eating meat or not. it is a personal choice and i hope that my choices may make a tiny difference.

I have had a similar journey. After my 2nd baby i was 215. i never thought i would get back to where i was. i got down to 144 and then just went off track for about a year tho. i snapped out of it finally (not too long ago) and was at 156-8 pounds. i got myself together and made a commitment to just do it and lose the last bit of weight. im down to 138 now. and i still have fat days.

all this time no matter how big or how small i have been, i have always felt the same. at my biggest i was in denial that i was that big, stuffing myself into the largest size i would buy, a 16. i wore alot of elastic lol. now that i am smaller i still dont feel as skinny as ppl tell me i am. i think it is human nature.

so i guess i dont have much advice...that commitment has to come from a place in you. i have just gotten fed up everytime i have lost weight.

i have been here for 3 yrs, its an ongoing thing. if you lost all that before, then it is in there to finish the job. dont beat yourself up, keep focusing on what you have accomplished, and just know that it will come. :-)

I have been with Sprint for 6-8 yrs, cant remember. Dont know how to get out of the contract but I agree that they suck. Well, customer service sucks. I dont really have a problem with the actual service or price. But i DREAD when i have to call them for anything!

Im all for globalization, really. but there are some things that should not be outsourced to someone who speaks english as a second language. Over the phone customer service is one. My husband is Cuban and has a very thick accent. He makes me do his phone calls most of the time bc ppl have a hard time understanding him sometimes. common sense, sprint. common sense...

I live in KY. I am the manager of a gas station (not the owner!).

I love economics.

With that intro -- the prices of gasoline should stabilize. Overall demand declined for the first time in many years, this is a sign that the market price is reaching equilibrium. The economy will recover soon (bc it always does) and inflation will slow. These factors will stabilize the market.

I also have something to say about panic and price raising. The laws of supply and demand play a role in this. First, a hurricane is coming. Production in hte gulf halts until it passes. Supply goes down -- price goes up to lower demand. People freak out and panic and instead of doing what the market needs and lower our demand, we run right out and buy every drop of gas we can. We have increased our demand and further depleted the supply, causing prices to raise AGAIN to combat the demand until we reach equilibrium again.

Lesson -- When the prices jump up, simply buy only the gas you need to get by until it goes back down bc it will. I generally sell 5-6 thousand gallons of gas a day. When the town i live in panicked, I sold close to 12 thousand. What happened the next day? Prices went up again. The independent dealer operating next to me told a shared vendor that his cost for gas went up .63 cents when he had fuel delivered.

Now I do not defend the actions of every retail gasoline outlet NOR do I agree with "Big Oil" companies. I just know my end of things and with all the stuff that happened really got me thinking. People in my town were asking me the craziest things. "Are they really going to ration gas?" "Is the price really going to 6.00 a gallon?" I finally told people to stop watching so much TV. This panic got reflected in the pump price. We were 3.49 before the cost increase, then I know we ended up at 3.99 or 4.09 before it was all over and we are back at 3.79 now. I saw a 3.69 on the way home yesterday so it will likely be 3.69 at my store towards the end of the week.

How does that happen? Well take the guy next to me. He raises prices bc his cost increased. He may even raise his price in anticipation of the delivery bc he knows that once it gets there he will be making pennies on the gallon. My company although still small has more buying power. So although we may get gas cheaper, if we leave our price .10 lower everyone will bum rush our store and we run out of gas. Then we lose inside sales too. And we have to buy at the higher price sooner. So thats why when one station raises they all do. A friend got into a heated discussion with me about that....I truely hate to raise prices .20-.25 at a time but I have to. Our prices increase at the terminal and that has to be reflected at the pump. We can not sell gas at cost. How would we pay wages and the rent or utilities?

So prices drop at the terminal. They lower slowly bc first businesses need to recoup what they have lost selling for pennies on the gallon. Then somebody says, hey if I drop a little now I will be more competitive and get more business. Once everybody sees that somebody went down, others will follow suit or they will lose sales.

Well, that is my thoery based on what I see.

Now lets see if anybody bites my head off lol.

Can i step in on this, drea? lol

GDP is kinda like all the $$ we make from the goods and services we produce. Therefore, buying a car in Germany or a plane in France only increases their GDP, not ours. If you bought the car here, perhaps that would increase our GDP a little for the service but since the car was not produced here it does not increase our GDP. (Technically saying the same thing as subtracting imports i supposed but just another way to think about it...)

As for your lottery winning purchase of a jet (which i would caution you to think twice about this decision lol)...i dont think that is included in GDP. I think we are concerned with first time purchases not used as far as goods go. Feel free to challlenge that thought bc it has been awhile since i had my intro finance class and this is memory talking here....

there are 2 more new ones as well. apple streusel and strawberry and something. they all rock!

1200-1250 would still result in weight loss. just at a slightly slower pace. it is still a deficit. and exercise may not be the best thing to cut out. maybe you should work on toning up. i fit crunches and push ups in the space of less than 10 minutes and both of them make a huge difference.

Oh! Check your labels if you want to make a cut in sodium. Green Giants' simply steam veggies are way lower than the regular ones. Today I entered the stats off of some frozen green beans and the sodium was ZERO! Different brands are obviously more conscious about it.

Buy no salt added canned veggies and look for the lower sodium soups as well.

 I believe the general rule is 2500, although the body needs only about 200 for proper function.

You prolly need alot less than 2500 if you have health issues like hbp.

Also, potassium helps balance sodium in the body.

Light Frappuccino is my current obesssion. Cafe Vanilla. with a shot of espresso blended in. mmmmm....

I have also taken to Monster energy drinks new java monster. i recommend mean bean. 200 calories, but it has lots of protein. way cheaper than 'bucks, but a few more calories...