Posts by javagen3

Original Post by trancendenz:

Original Post by meghanything:

Original Post by javagen3:

In my mind I have created a sort of animal hierarchy- it's hard to explain, but the animals at the top of my hierarchy I would never consider eating; such as horses, dogs, cats, (any domestic pets really), dolphins and any other obviously intelligent creature.

Do you include pigs, which are smarter than several of the animals you listed?

 And how does one define intelligence anyway? I don't think that's a very logical way to determine what to or not to eat.

 Exactly. It isn't logical, which is what led me to consider what might pass for consciousness/intelligence/suffering for plants; and how each of us draws that line. For vegetarians and vegans, the line is simply in a different place than mine.

Please know that I have the utmost respect for your diet choices and I hope my thoughts aren't taken as an attack towards vegetarians. I was simply responding to the opening post.

In my mind I have created a sort of animal hierarchy- it's hard to explain, but the animals at the top of my hierarchy I would never consider eating; such as horses, dogs, cats, (any domestic pets really), dolphins and any other obviously intelligent creature. This might be better termed as a food hierarchy because at the bottom, I place fruits, vegetables and edible plants like flowers. Do plants feel pain? Does the apple feel anything being plucked away from its "parent"? Does the tree lament its lost ability to reproduce at will? Do plants think? Probably not in terms that we would recognize as intelligence compared to animals. But, I believe that this sort of overall philosophy of not eating something because of the pain it might cause that thing cannot totally ignore the fact that everything we eat was alive at one point. Then again, I might be guilty of overthinking things and taking theories to their extremes. :)

Original Post by wordsmithmkuk:

The rest of the time, we muddle through. If the meal is calorie-heavy, I take a smaller chunk of the main part, and top up with more veggies, as does my younger daughter. My older daughter is undeweight so we tend to give her a more calorie-laden plateful and ease back on the lo-cal "fillers".

 I suppose I just need to find some more willpower! I try to eat this way. My 12 year old daughter is on the lighter side and my 2 year old is supposed to be eating high calorie foods to bring her up to an average weight so I can relate to your situation.

I had to laugh when you mentioned the teenagers preferring to eat whatever is on the table over having to cook and clean up! I am very familiar with that ploy. I do try to get them to plan, cook and clean up once in a while though. But I figure that homework has to take priority and so this doesn't happen very often.

Regarding my husband, believe me when I say I've tried all sorts of ways to cook a wide variety of veggies. I think that where he's concerned, I simply have to try to provide low calorie meat dishes. It's so frustrating for me to try to get through to him about what he can really be eating. I'm gearing up here for an uncomfortable and blunt conversation very soon.

Um. Again. This is a really old thread. The person who started it probably has already found a solution to this issue-- so addressing her directly just seems really odd to me. :)

Original Post by jp5074139:

I didn't say toxins.  I said kidney stones.  Those aren't formed by toxins but by calcium and other kinds of deposits.  Drinking more keeps them from forming.  If you've ever had one you'd happily trade a "small strain", however small or however a strain that actually is, to never have one again.  I've had several, but none since upping my intake several years ago to the 1oz/2lbs-body-weight recommendation you'll commonly see around here.

Ugh. I know about kidney stones. My younger brother has had that problem. Glad to hear you haven't had to suffer any recently! 

I did make the leap from kidney stones to toxins-- sorry-- it's just that I hear that line so much about water clearing out toxins, I suppose it makes me a bit, erm, jumpy... The article from NPR might indeed be a bit unimpressive-- I think the first one I linked to was better. And I guess this is me being too lazy at this point to bother to look up anything else.

My main argument here, I suppose, is that there are a lot of very persuasive and well beloved myths surrounding the consumption of water. Instead of just blindly accepting advice about water on diet sites, I think it is a better idea to do a little research on the science behind this advice and see if it really does apply to you and your needs.

Anything you eat or drink will help to hydrate your body. Drink when you are thirsty-- no need to force yourself to drink tons of water at certain times of the day.

The advice to drink 8 glasses of water a day is essentialy, a myth. See here for a very good and brief article on the topic:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm ?id=eight-glasses-water-per-day

Have a male friend with a deep voice record your greeting message on your voicemail. This may put a kink in your stalker's plans. This method has worked for people I know.

Have you aleady considered food allergies? I always watch for this with my kids since I have two brothers with gluten and dairy allergies. When my younger brother was a kid, so many foods made him ill that he too would rarely try something new. It took him until he was an adult to figure out his food allergies. There are many common allergens besides dairy and gluten-- like corn and soy. Have you documented exactly what makes him vomit?

I'm guessing there also might be certain psychological conditions that could make him behave that way too-- I really don't know much about that sort of thing but it sounds like he might have something along the lines of an obsessive compulsive disorder?

Good luck!

I did nude modeling for an art photographer back in my 30s. I'm actually very proud of the pictures. They are beautiful and make me smile. I heard that they won some awards. There's no way my (new) husband would let me do that now though and I'm fine with that.

Sorry to hear about the break in! And glad to hear you had insurance. I hope you are able to sell you place as quick as you would like. We've had a place on the market for over two years now; we at least are able to rent it for a portion of the mortgage on it. 

So for the weekend, I plan to take care of some projects around the house and then meet up with friends on Saturday night for a dinner at a crummy restaurant. I didn't pick the place but it's really more about visiting than eating.