Important problem, need help

[Shiori Ailill]

So I need help with something that I've had issues with for a decent portion of my life and probably for the rest of my life. I ask for your help 'cause well, I want to change my life and have taken a couple of (baby) steps but knowledge is power as they say and I feel I have little in regards to this.

I am overweight. Actually according to the BMI or whatever it's called I'm in the obese category. If you want dimensions 5'2" and last time I was on a scale I was at 220lbs. Now loosing weight to look great is fine but I really want to loose it more for my health. There are heart conditions on both sides of my family and the last thing I want is a heart attack before I reach 30.

I've changed my diet from when I first moved out of my parents place. My boyfriend and I both either didn't want to cook (him) or didn't really know how (me) so this lead to spending my food stamp money on micro/quick fix crap for the two of us. Last time I went down to visit my parents I learned a few things about cooking from my dad and since then I've stopped buying the processed junk and have been cooking meals most nights. While this is definitely better than what was, I'm now looking at some of the meals I'm making and wondering how much healthier they are sometimes.

So Tales friends who know cooking better than I (which I would say is probably a number of you considering what I can do can be counted on one hand...) What do you cook? I'm assuming since most of us are in college/college age that you're on a budget as we are.

I also know a big thing (probably bigger than the cooking currently) is my physical activity or lack thereof. I hate running (always have and the extra weight just compounds it.), can't afford a gym-type program, and I have sports induced asthma (meaning if I push myself too hard I give myself an attack, I've done it multiple times, not fun) >_<U. I do try and go out walking and at times I'm consistent at it... then I forget a day, perhaps two and next thing I know I haven't walked in over two weeks.

That last sentence makes me angry and a bit upset at myself because I do want to change. So Tales friends who are more active than I am... What do you do to stay active? How do you motivate or remind yourself to do so?

Oh a little tidbit. Brian (my bf) is very supportive of me in this, but we're similar in the "get butt into gear" mindset... he basically says to me "Get me off my butt so we'll walk together" Which is nice but that doesn't really help when I personally forget to go walking and next thing I know it's 3-5 am and we're both far too tired to walk then.

Thanks in advance all of you.

[P-chan]

okay, first of all you need some of this: /hugs Shiori

I'll turn on my punctuation/capitalization because this is serious business.

I have some friends who are in the same situation you are right now, and I'll try to give the best advice I can!

(read: don't expect much orz)

Food-wise I don't know how much help I'll be since I just eat whatever's at the buffet on campus, but I typically go to the salad bar first. Not only because veggies are good for you, but because that's where the smaller plates are in our dining hall and apparently they think that makes us eat less or something, I dunno. (I do get less food when I use a smaller plate though, but I'm still full after eating somehow...)

I also no longer use dressing and eat those veggies raw, straight up.

After I eat one plate I'll chat with my friends at the table a bit before getting more food (because I seem to be hungry) but after a while, like 15 minutes or so, sometimes I won't be hungry anymore... So if you think you're still hungry it might be a false alarm and getting more food too fast might make you overeat or something.

AND THEN I GET FROYO EVERYDAY AFTER DINNER, THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED

Sorry a lot of this is just common sense, I don't think I can help with actual cooking haha. At home my mom always makes sure we eat some sort of green vegetables during lunch and dinner. (usually it's kale, spinach, asparagus, or brocolli) She keeps telling me to cut down on my rice intake too but rice is so nummy I just don't even can't I just what do you nope ;n;

For exercise, I make it a point to walk everywhere instead of taking my bike/the shuttle around campus. My math class is 0.8 miles away from my dorm but I still walk sometimes when it's really nice outside! (mostly just to rack up steps on my 3DS but don't tell anyone shh)

When I was at home I would just sit around all the time haha.

Also I've started to learn dances with my friends, and it's actually fantastic exercise!

They're nothing serious, just vocaloid dances, but I've learned about 4 of them so far and after doing them all in succession I'm left huffing and puffing.

Sometimes after I dance and go to bed that night I'll wake up and my limbs will be sore (I don't know) so they're more of a workout than they seem.

I'm sure the others will have better advice but good luck Shiori! I know you can do it! ;o;

[Jukka]

First off, its great that you're wanting to lose weight moreso for health than looking good ^_^ its so overlooked how really hard it is on your body to be overweight.

Reemphasizing some great stuff that P said, green vegetables = amazing for you. Eat 'em as much as possible. I'm not really the person to turn to for diet/cooking tips since to be completely honest I tend to eat horribly myself so I shouldn't really be preaching about this but a few tips ive found that help me are dont even make the bad stuff available, dont buy it! and by that i guess i mean snacks - avoid chips, cookies, candy etc. Use fruit, animal crackers, yogurt etc as snacks.

And if you're hungry between meals or still feel hungry after a regular sized portioned meal, try a strawberry banana smoothie ^_^ 8 strawberries, 1-2 bananas, a cup of strawberry banana yogurt and some milk. Filling, delicious, nutritious.

Also, eat breakfast!!! not only does it help you cognitively (our brains function off glucose only, and those levels are low in the morning and will stay low until you eat) but you wanna keep your metabolism active, so eating smaller sized meals with consistent (healthy) snacks in between helps a lot.

OK, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, HERE WE GO

Don't get discouraged ^_^ whatever you choose to start for your physical activity routine is gonna be rough at first, but it doesn't have to be strenuous/exhausting. Like P said, dancing is actually great exercise, works a lot of different muscle groups and gets your heart rate up!

So the main thing here is finding a form of physical activity you enjoy. I don't know of many overweight people that DO enjoy running. Yes its a great way to burn calories off fast, but you're not likely to stick with it if you don't find it enjoyable. Walking, dancing, biking, just ANYTHING that involves getting up and moving and that you find fun is gonna be good for you and show some big changes if you're living a pretty much sedentary lifestyle right now. The more pounds that come off, the more you can eventually challenge yourself with more intense dances/furthur walks or even mixing in running. Btw if you've ever played Just Dance games for wii or xbox kinect they're incredibly fun and can definitely get your heart rate up ;D And more minor things like that shouldn't aggravate your asthma much

you can also get a lotta extra calories burnt throughout the day - walk or bike to class (ive actually grown to hate the bus, i walk to my kines classes which are 1.5 miles away from my apt). Talk ont he phone, walk to class w someone, or listen to music on the way, makes it more entertaining. Stop taking elevators! its actually sad how overused they get, and climbing stairs is probably the number one way to shed extra calories without actually going to the gym, especially if you live/work ina tall building.

As far as motivation to actually go for the walk and whatnot, just don't allow yourself to do something you enjoy until you've done whatever exercise you have planned for the day. No TV/games/computer time until you've done it. It helps to pre-plan with someone so that they're relying on you to exercise with them!

i feel like ive spewed out a lot of common sense O.o but weight loss really IS a lot of common sense, motivation is just a huge factor. Myself included. I used to run quite a lot but ive fallen off the wagon a lot and just blessed with a good metabolism i guess O.o but i signed up for a half marathon and a Tough Mudder race so thats motivating me again now! so set attainable and realistic goals, maybe that will help ^_^

oh and dont be afraid to reward yourself with a day off or a bad meal/snack once in a while ^_^

[Arynielle]

*glomps* Aw, don't you worry! I know it's hard to get the motivation to exercise, but that's only half of it.

Let's start with diet. I have a slow metabolism too, so I tend to gain weight if I don't watch what I eat. There's a lot of interesting stuff that can help, small things that can really make a big difference.

1. Drink water. I tend to be terrible with this, but seriously, if you drink a glass of water before every meal you won't feel as hungry, and you'll eat less. Also, drink water throughout the day for the same affect so you'll avoid empty calories by snacking.

2. Drinking water is a good segue -- do not drink sodas or other fruit drinks that rack up a lot of calories. Drinking in your calories is the worst way to do it, especially with soda because it doesn't make you full for only a short while, doesn't give you energy and the calories add up super quickly.

3. Avoid sugar. There has been recent research suggesting that there is a hormone/chemical/whatever-you-call-it in your body that is inversely proportional to the amount of sugar you consume. The greater your sugar intake, the more it decreases. And what does this hormone do? It helps dissolve fat, so you want to keep this hormone's level up by consuming less sugar.

4. Eat fruit and vegetables. They're not only good for you, but they're low in fat and keep you relatively full compared to junk food.

5. Try to eat less more often. By this, I mean to eat more meals, but little at each meal. I've been unconsciously doing this for the past month or so because I've been busy, but I've actually slimmed down a few pounds. Put yourself on a schedule and eat when it's time to eat -- if you space out your mealtimes, you'll be less likely to be hungry. Instead, you'll be eating because it's time to eat. Also, make sure these meals are healthy and small. Maybe have an apple with a teaspoon of peanut butter or a smoothie or a few carrots with hummus. If you want something a little heartier, consider grilling chicken or cooking up fish -- the important thing is to avoid fats.

6. As Jukka mentioned, eat breakfast! It helps your metabolism immensely. There is an old Chinese saying that tells you to eat like a king for breakfast, a prince for lunch and a pauper at dinnertime. I'm actually really bad at this; my boyfriend lectures me all the time, but it's important to keep trying.

7. Count your calories. I know it's a pain, but count them anyway. It'll give you an idea of what you're eating and how many calories you're getting from whatever you eat.

8. No more microwave foods. XD I think if you prepare your own meals, you're inclined to eat less -- plus, you can make them healthier and you know exactly what you're consuming.

I have one diet that my mom introduced me to that has helped me lose weight -- about ten pounds or so in about three weeks, but it's not terribly healthy for you. It certainly won't hurt if you do it correctly, but you'll be kind of hungry during those few weeks. If you're interested, let me know.

Since it's a pain to cook in the dorm kitchen, I don't cook anything extravagant, but it's not unhealthy either, so let me know if you want a few recipes.

And then there's exercise. I am awful at this. I used to have taekwondo, which was offered at my high school, but I've slipped so much as far as exercise goes since I've been to college. I was once an athlete who competed on a quarterly basis, and now I'm a fattie who bakes and eats ice cream. >.>;

But, to be fair, I've slimmed down since last year because of a coupla reasons.

1. I don't regularly go to the gym, but I walk nearly everywhere I go. Same as P, the business college is about .8 miles from my dorm. With my misadventures and visits to my boyfriend's place, I walk over two miles a day. It's not much, but it does burn calories and keep me in semi-fit shape.

2. Take the stairs. Jukka mentioned this, but seriously -- take the stairs. Never take the elevator unless you're in a hurry, and even then, take the stairs. XD

3. Go on leisurely walks. Is it scenic where you live? The campus is beautiful here, so my boyfriend and I go on walks all the time. There's a little turtle pond a short ways away from his place, and we like feeding the turtles and the fish. Every little bit helps. Make Brian go with you.

Really, I just walk a lot. When I'm on duty, I walk for about 30 minutes per round (including stairs), so I tend to get a lot of exercise when I'm on duty.

4. Go shopping. You don't have to buy anything (I don't because I'm a poor college student), but go to the mall. You get air conditioning and pretty things to look at. As long as you're on your feet and moving, you're burning calories!

5. Dancing is also good. It's fun, and Brian could dance with you too. I used to take ballroom dancing here, and it had me working up a sweat. If you're on a budget and can't afford classes, try finding videos online that can help you. I love the rumba, salsa and the waltz, just to get you started. Oh, West Coast is fun too -- I actually won a competition doing West Coast.

6. As Jukka said, the wii games worked for me in the summer. Wii Fit is actually pretty cool about helping you lose weight.

7. Taichi. Taichi works miracles. It's slow and won't make your heart explode, and I doubt it'll induce asthma. If you want to know how my mom does it, just let me know. I can give you more specific instruction. I lost about five pounds my first week of this regime -- just three half hour commitments a day in front of the TV.

8. Speaking of exercising in front of the TV, do that. Jog in place when you're watching TV. You can do jumping jacks, stretch, do crunches, anything!

9. Laughing burns calories. Strangely a lot. Oh, and sex. Sex burns calories too. Just say'n.

I hope this helps, if even a little. I'm rooting for you! If you have questions, let me know.

[Shiori Ailill]

Thanks again for the comments ^-^. I think I also just needed to hear more support. Always seems to help.

Edit: GAH it posted before I was finished! DX fixing that so if it looks like it's trailing... that's why

Edit 2: actually done XD

@ P-chan: I know of the smaller plate and waiting for seconds ^-^. I do try and make sure I do both. Unfortunately my set of plates is pretty much big ones and ones that are those saucer plates for cups . Waiting for more food normally works 'cause of the whole thing of it takes time for food to digest and if you eat too quickly you might have reached "full" before the body has figured it out yet and send the signal to brain "you're full stop eating now".

I need to get better with the veggies >_<U Especially at dinner. With my slow-cooker cooking it's mostly potatoes, carrots, onions, and sometimes celery and green peppers. I haven't experimented yet on how to cook the others yet DX Although I do love spinach on my sandwiches when we go to Subway since it has so much more than blah lettuce (although I have that too and tomatoes and green peppers) But as for actual salads I normally can't stand them, they're so unfilling and normally taste horrible to me without a lot of something to make it taste better (although I haven't had salads in awhile I do like balsamic vinegar on salads which I believe is non-fat) Mind you there was this Thai salad that I've had when my dad has come to visit (he takes Brian and I out) that was really good... I probably should look that up.


@ Jukka I figured you would be more with the exercising advice you crazy runner you! ;D Good luck with the marathons and runs. I should ask for a blender for my birthday or something. Smoothies would probably be a good idea considering the next paragraph.

My (well our as Brian's included here) current eating habits are two meals a day (or with me currently since I'm sick and forgetting to eat meals that sometimes can be 1 >_<U) Breakfast and dinner. And rarely do we buy snacks. Although we do splurdge sometimes for them, they don't tend to be filling for the price at the store :/ . We more often splurdge for something sweet... I need to fix that at least what the sweet is. I would like to try the multiple smaller meals it just means I need to work at meal/food planning a bit more with the food stamp budget we're on.

@ Ari Oddly enough the glass of water trick doesn't work on me. I get even hungrier after I've had some water before a meal . I do need to drink more water anyway though. Although it's not the best way, the non-water drinks I have available are milk and 100% juice. The juice is currently the way I get my fruit intake (another things I need to fix) >_<U Also ANY RECIPES WOULD BE WONDERFUL!!! I've been trying to find some healthy, cheap recipes online and only been getting mixed results (I find some nice ones but they might be too expensive or higher on cooking difficulty). And the only time I've gotten microwaveable foods since I've started cooking myself I think has been this week since I've been since and it's been canned chunky chicken noodle soup and some random ramen things 'cause I've been sick and just picked out what I believed I could keep down.

Walking everywhere... I wish I was closer to people/places XD I also currently am not going to school or have a job (that's another depressing topic I will not go into) so reasons to get out of the house I need to be more creative. Although there is one friend who's about 2 mi away that I have walked to before and I think another friend is about the same distance in his new apartment. I should go bug them more randomly >:} I also should drag Brian out to do the mall walk with me more often when the weather is crappy (he hates getting wet with clothes on, reminds him of drowning) They actually have it labeled for the walkers.

Brian and I do want to learn more dancing although I think dancing in front of the tv together is out of the question (tiny apartment). I still need to rearrange things so I can get my wii fit back out. I actually got another set of rechargeable batteries for that purpose. And now my old set are nowhere to be found so I still have only 4 batteries -_- **Shiori is NOT amused** I need to go out to get more anyway 'cause I needed more than an extra 4 anyway it was just the amount I needed to get the wii-fit box away from makeshift table duty.

@ Jukka And I should start doing the "You can't do this until you've done this" sort of thing 'cause there have been so many times I've done "I'll do this one thing and then I'll go out walking" and next thing I know it's been 5 hours in front of the computer >_<U

@ Ari Taichi has interested me although I didn't know that you could loose that much weight with it. Mind you I also know very little about it in general. From what little I've seen though it looks like it doesn't take a lot of ground space to do. I would love to know how you do it.

[Shiori Ailill]

UPDATE!
I hope people don't mind the double post. If I had enough coins I'll buy a forum journal thing and start adding stuff there about this but I wanted to mention this to people.

So a friend has introduced me to an online site that helps you track calories you eat and what you're loosing with exercising. Myfitnesspal.com. It's rather cool, I've only done it for about a week but I'm rather excited about it. It also helps that my friend is also trying to loose weight and we're basically talking to each other every day now with support (and bs XD). I've also realized that some of what I'm eating has less calories than I thought. Although I need to figure out what to do with the amount of ground beef I was given from a neighbor as the one recipe I have will make it hard to keep under my cal limit (I can it's just not as filling as other dinners and yet has more calories, I stay under but I have to work at it more). It basically gives you a set number of calories that you can intake but if you exercise you're allowed some more calories.

I also brought out my WiiFit finally (was able buy some more batteries, and then I find the ones I lost, fitting right? But there are enough electronic devices that need them and I walked to the store that day so it's all good). OH DEAR GOODNESS I forgot how painful the strength training is for someone who's as horrible out of shape as I am. But yeah ten min of ST burns about 130 calories for me so I hope to do it more often.

I was worried that I might have gained in the months since I last stepped on a scale when I got on the WiiFit but I've actually lost some weight! Not much really (4lbs) but if I've lost a little when I didn't have a record of the amount I was eating or exercise I was doing/not doing I'm excited for what I'll be able to do now that I'm using the site.

@ari You still haven't sent me that info about the Taichi or the recipes you mentioned no worries I just remembered that when looking over a few of these posts and remembered one of our conversations.

[Aleu]

Rah rah you can do it Shiori! It's a great feeling to be tracking your progress and I find that keeping an eye on things tends to really help give you motivation and to ward you away from falling into bad habits. When you look at some of the things you think are just snacks I find myself saying "omfg why am I eating this" more often than not

One little thing I'll recommend as a side-thing is to start a multivitamin regime as well. Vitamins are really important for your body and often get overlooked. It's really important to have enough vitamins and minerals to support your diet and a lot of times when your eating patterns shift it's hard to fill all your nutritional requirements in a way that gets you what you need while not tasting awful xP It's not meant to be a primary source but just a supplement, to give yourself a little boost. Remember, the vitamins always say ___% but it's rare for all of that to be absorbed effectively, so it can't hurt!

ALSO ALEUTIP: Don't underestimate the power of the potato! Everyone says that carbs are just sugars that go straight into fat (this is true), and complex carbs are better for making you full without all the fat and other stuff that comes with red meat and other typical protein sources, but the potato (I'm not kidding) is like a holy grail of being full on like nothing. They're a few hundred calories and they don't have a lot in terms of nutritional value, but they keep you from getting hungry foreverrrrrr. Forever.

Also, no snacks! I'm watching my weight recently and I was a little surprised to find out that like 70% of the calories I intake daily are actually from little snacks and not from meals (this is mostly because I usually eat only 1 meal a day but still).

[Arynielle]

I'm trying to find some information about Taichi online because it's very specific and there's a lot of Asian theory and medicine about it. XD I'll get the information to you asap -- if I can't find anything, I'll type things out for you manually, but I'm sure there's some sort of online resource that can explain it better than I can.

As for recipes, what kinds of foods do you like? o.o I recommend eating tons of veggies, most of which I just saute with garlic and salt. xD

Apr 27, 2012 12:03:10 GMT -8 Aleu said:

they keep you from getting hungry foreverrrrrr. Forever.

Panda Express does the exact same thing for very different reasons, except I don't recommend eating Panda because it's terrible for you and won't help you lose weight. XDDD Har har har [/endstupidcomment]

[Kriven]

The first thing to do to improve the health quality of your cooking is evaluate just how necessary oils are to the recipes. Lots of places will tell you to add various oils to various recipes, but I've found that they're unhealthy and unneeded in a lot of dishes. It takes more vigilance to cook without the oils, but since you slow cook like I do, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

The next thing you'll want to do: EAT ALL THE FRUIT. Fruit is like magic. It goes in, and then it comes right back out, and takes all the other toxic crap you ate with it. You can literally gorge yourself on fruit and not have much of a weight problem at all, not to mention how healthy it all is for you. There's a reason fruit, of all the natural foods, tastes so delicious: Because humans are meant to devour it.

Whatever you do, do not let yourself enter Survival Mode. If you cut off your current eating habits cold turkey, your body will freak out and start storing every pound you eat. You have to wean yourself into a smaller daily intake of food. You also need to eat something (an apple, an orange) at the first signs of hunger. Letting yourself go hungry makes your body believe food is scarce, and that's not what you want to happen.

Exercising is nifty, but remember one crucial thing: You don't have to get it done all at once. If you take ten minutes after every two-hour period, you'd have exercised for nearly two hours assuming you never sleep. This makes the whole task a lot less daunting, and it doesn't require you to plan your entire day around "That annoying half-hour chunk where I can't do anything else or I'll get fat."

[Shiori Ailill]

@ Ari I actually had to look up one of the chats to find out exactly what it was but I found it (Chat on Mar 27th XD). Mentioned liking Asian recipes and you said that you could help me get some more XD. I'll also look up prices on Taichi classes 'cause I'm pretty sure that there are some 'cause I think one of my friends is taking it at the college....

Aleu And that comment about the potato makes sense. There are these two recipes that I've been making lately and one I feel like coming back for seconds. At first I was thinking it was like a Tshirt I saw that had a dragon surrounded by Chinese armor/clothing and him saying that the problem with Chinese food is that you're hungry an hour later (it was an Asian type recipe). And the other one had potatoes in it and fill me up rather well. Mind you I love Asian recipes and don't always have the "I'm hungry" problem later

@kriv: Yeah I know about the survival mode. I've been trying to figure out good snacking ideas so that I don't go into that 'cause I'm actually coming from 2 meals a day with no snacks. I do really like fruit, and have been getting apple now for snacking, although I'm not always wanting something sweet when I need a snack so I recently found out that some deli meats don't have that many calories either per serving so I'll probably be getting that more.

In other news. So I've been at least weighing myself each day on the WiiFit and a little unsure on what my weight actually is... So started at 220 a few months ago. Weighed myself and was at 216 (forgot time of day I think quasi-middle). Weighed myself the next day (end of day, bad I know) and was at 218. Weighed myself the following morning (basically right after I got up) and was near 216 again. Then weighed myself again today (after I got up again) and I'm near 214. I know you're supposed to weigh yourself every day but I also know that you can fluctuate between 2lbs every day...

[Aleu]

Well, water weight is a big factor, and you tend to fluctuate daily based on how much water you have / need. You should weigh yourself every day, but you shouldn't think too much about what each day's numbers mean :3 Look for a trend over time rather than improvement/fluctuation on the day-to-day scale.

Also Asian food owns but it's not necessarily the healthiest thing in the world, regardless of what most people say :x A lot of it, even the authentic stuff, is actually really bad for you xD

[Arynielle]

lol, I think people associate Asian food with being healthier because it's easier to go vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free with Asian foods. XD Of course, while a lot of it is good for you, as Aleu mentioned, a lot of it is also terrible for you, like fried tofu, which is one of my favorites. ;_; But, fortunately, most of what I eat is fairly healthy.

Let's start with an easy Taiwanese recipe I made for my residents. (They're all pasty white and they said they really enjoyed it. XD Non-scary ingredients and all.) It's called liang ban mien, which I guess translates as "chilled mixed noodles" = peanut butter sauce noodles, eaten cold. By the way, I never measure -- I just eyeball/taste as I go.

You'll need;
For sauce:
Peanut butter
Soy sauce
Hot water (microwaved till close to boiling)
Garlic
Sesame oil

Everything else:
Pasta (any kind will do, but I usually use spaghetti)
Shredded cucumber
Shredded carrot (but really, you can use whatever vegetables you want)
Egg
Meat (I usually go healthier and use cold cut turkey or shredded chicken - something light and relatively low in fat)

For the sauce, heat the water and pour into a mixing bowl. Spoon in hunks of peanut butter and mix until it dissolves. It should be relatively thick -- when you spoon and drop it, it should be kind of viscous. Then add soy sauce until it's salty enough for you. Remember that this is a sauce, and your pasta has no flavor, so it should be on the saltier side. Then add drops of sesame oil, tasting as you go. Finally, drop in a peeled clove of garlic or two, or however many you'd like. XD I love garlic, so I tend to drop in a lot, but it also depends on how much sauce you're making. Stir until everything is creamy and delicious. Taste as you go! When you're satisfied, let the sauce chill in the fridge.

For the cucumber, carrot and meat, just shred them. I use a grate for the vegetables and a knife for the meat. As for the egg, I beat eggs, mix in some salt and pepper, and then poor thin layers of it into a heat, oiled pan. After making sure the egg cooks through on both sides, I take it out and slice it thinly with a knife to get strips.

Pile the pasta on a plate, drench sauce over it, and then add all the veggies, meat and eggs you want!

It should look something like this, minus the egg. XD I just add the egg because I like the flavor, and it's a little more sustenance. Oh, and a pretty color. X3



Let me know how it goes!

[Shiori Ailill]

Well I think one of the biggest reasons I like Asian style is that I eat more veggies that way. With more western style and having veggies on the side really tastes bleh to me.

When I first read that you didn't have measurements Ari it worried me because of how little I know of cooking but the way you described it you at least give an idea of what I'm looking for on when I'm done. Now I need to get a shredder (yeah there are a lot of kitchen stuff that we need XD)

[Arynielle]

I do agree that Asian style veggies taste better than western style veggies -- I also think this might be because Asians tend to incorporate vegetables more in their cooking as a whole, as opposed to just throwing veggies on a plate as a side. I could totally be a vegetarian if I lived in Asian -- the selection there is immense, and the preparation is waaaaay better.

Oh, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask. ^_^ Also, if you don't have a grater, you can use a knife and chop everything up finely.

[Shiori Ailill]

Well I'll definitely want to try it out, although I don't think my current peanut butter would be a good candidate for this. It has a bit of white chocolate in it (and is a little bit healthier than the normal peanut butter we get to my pleasant surprise). Tastes super yummy though especially when I want some sort of dessert but don't want eat something I shouldn't