Mermaid711

I am not as heavy now as I was when I first joined this forum. And that's because of many things. But one of the most important ones is I improved my snacks as I learned to listen to my body and it's needs. Now before I begin, I AM NOT A CERTIFIED NUTRITIONIST. Before changing your lifestyle, please talk it over with your doc. Cravings are your body's way of telling you it needs something. So here, I will list 3 common cravings and substitutes for them, and a reason as to why it's better. So you're craving some thing. . .: Sweet: You need a quick burst of energy. What'd you'd normally grab is cookies or a candy bar. However, you can get the same energy without grabbing the sweets. Instead, try making a mini-meal. Take half of a whole-wheat english muffin, put some pizza or spaggetti sauce on it, a relatively thin layer of mozzerella cheese and bake it in a toster oven until the chese is melted. Why it's better? When you grab the sweets (and trust me, I love me some sweets lol) you get a sugar high, but then you crash. And that is no bueno because then you can't burn off the calories you ate if you're in bed. But when you get the complex carbs in the mini pizza, you get a steady flow of energy instead. There is a lot more to how good a food is for you besides the number of calories. However, if you don't have time to make the pizza, try a bowl of fruit instead. And a small bar of DARK chocolate wouldn't hurt on occasion. Salty: You need sodium. This time, you might try for a thing of french fries or some potato chips. But these are bad due to the ammount of grease on them. Instead, cut up a cucumber (or other fruit/veggie) and put some salt on it. This is a better alternative for many reasons. Cucumbers have lots of water, to keep the salt from puffing you up. They also have fiber and are not filled with the artery clogging grease either. A small handful of nuts is good too. As a matter of fact, if you're craving sweet and salty, there are some delicious dark-cocoa covered almonds that are okay in small amounts. Creamy and Rich: This could mean a bunch of different things. Okay. Try yougurt or something like that. This is much better for you than chocolate ice cream (duh) due to the reduced fat and sugar content. There are also sorbets you could try, which are very nice on a summer day. Or, take a piece of whole-wheat toast and spread reduced or fat-free cream cheese on it. These are all better options as opposed to cheesecake and brownies (my personal weeknesses) or that double fudge chocolate icecream. They have far less sugar and the ones that have a high ammount of sugar in them have healthier forms of sugar as opposed to high frutose corn syrup or sucrose. Any other snack ideas? I'd love to hear them.

Actually, if you go to Whole Foods or North Central Market (or any big food store really, I just prefer these two), you can find vegetarian and vegan ramens.Of course if you have more time you can cook real noodles. But I'm 15 and always on the go.

So I was reading the ingredients on the ramen flavor packet and appearently powdered (insert animal here) is in them. And I find that rather disturbing.So instead of eating powdered animal, why not try this?You will need:A package of ramen (doesn't matter what flavor, you won't be using the packet)One lemon (juiced)A pinch of salt1/4 of a teaspoon of garlic salt1 teaspoon of parsleyA pinch of Rosemary2 teaspoons of Chili poder1/2 a teaspoon of dillA teaspoon of your favorite extra spicy thai hotsauce (I like Sriracha)1/2 teaspoon of seasoning saltLess that 1/4 of a cup of waterFeel free to add more or less of each spice. This is just what I like to use.Instructions:Boil the ramen. When finished, just move the unflavored ramen into a bowl. In the pot, mix the other above listed ingredients (with the exception of the hotsauce) and stir well. Let it boil for a bit, and when the mixture turns a red-ish brown-ish color, take it off the heat. Add the mixture to the ramen and then add the hot sauce. Stir well.If you would like, you can add some immitation chicken or beef, I personally like to add cucumbers and some other veggies instead.Comments?

Try looking in your local grocerie store. I know Wal-Mart sells them, but I despise going into the freezer section at wal-mart, so disorganized lol.And the hot sauce I use is probably the mexican equivilant to Louisiana hot sauce.As for the taste, I'm not big on imatation meat, but these patties are yummy. I like them because they are a good mix of black beans, corn and some spices. The only bad thing is they can be kinda greasy, so I just pat mine down with a paper towel after I microwave them.I plan on posting more recipes later...what do you think?

Okay, so for my New Year's resolution, I've decided to make the transition into going vegetarian (not vegan-there is a difference)So I discovered these at my local grocerie store: Morning Star Farms Spicy Black Bean Burger PattiesAnd I decided to give them a whirl.So instead of fixing it up old school I decided to make quesadillas with it (or however you spell it, I'm not hispanic haha.)So you will need:1 8 inch whole wheat (or any kind you like) tortilla1 cooked Black Bean Patty (I just microwave mine-35 seconds on each side)1/4 a cup of mozzerella cheezeAbout a teaspoon of your favorite mexican hot sauce (I use Tapatio or Chalula)1/8-1/4 cup of bagged spinachNon-stick cooking sprayNow before you begin I highly recommend that you wash of the spinach very well before cooking. I forgot to and got a nasty case of food poisoning. But as long as you give it a good rinse in luke-warm water you should be okay. :)Anyway, nuke the tortilla in the microwave for about 10 seconds to make it easier to bend without breaking. Put down half the cheese on HALF the tortilla (you'll be folding it over), HALF the spinach, and then tear the black bean burger patty in to small bits and arrange it on the tortilla. Then lay down the other half of the spinach, and then the other half of the cheese, and fold the tortilla over.Spray a pan really well with non-stick cooking spray and let it heat on the stove. When you have assembled the quesadilla, put it down and let it heat for about 30-45 seconds, and then flip. Continue this until the tortilla has turned a nice brown-ish color, or until the cheese has melted.This is really yummy and if you have people in your house who have an adversion to veggies, this is a good way to get them eating beans, spinach, corn and a few other veggies. Each quesadilla serves one and is a great dish for the beginner vegetarian.I'm sure vegan additions of this can be made, however due to past health problems of mine I probably should not go vegan.Try it and tell me what you think!

That's why you dilute it with water. Lol. I dilute mine with a honey-water ratio of 1:2. Just make sure your boil the water to remove impurities and to make the honey disolve better.

It didn't change it, persay, but it did clear up the color. My eyes are hazel and used to have a foggy quality to them but now they appear much cleared. And yes it did get rid of redness.

Well I've been experiencing chronic pain and swelling in the eyes, probably due to allergies.So I looked up natural remedies online and found out that honey has been used in the eyes for centuries. This didn't suprise me because honey has multiple medicinal qualities and now many doctors are recomending that their patients take it.Anyway, you dilute honey with water (use as strong of a concentration as you can stand) and drip it in your eyes.You must boil the water and honey first, mix, and then let cool for an hour or so. Just use your finger to stick the honey in your eye (as if putting in a contact.)So I tried it, and I noticed that after the initial sting, my eyes didn't hurt as much. Went to sleep, woke up, and my eyes weren't swollen anymore. My eye color has become much more clear.Questions, comments?

So it's been a really really REALLY long time since I've gotten a good night's sleep.I keep seeing the same person in my dreams every night, and when I see them, it's almost as if I realize that I'm dreaming and then it's like I'm not asleep at all, just halucinating.This is really frustrating because I don't know what's causing it. This person is a real person but the problem is who I'm dreaming about is who he used to be, not who he is now.The dreams are like. . .well. . .what should have been. . .what needs to be but isn't, and now it's too late.Am I losing my mind?

Hey there. I've posted a topic similar to this one before, but I've changed since then. ALOT.Anyway, seeing as how it's been a year since I've been asked out by someone who I can legally date, I figured, maybe something is wrong with me.I don't think I'm extremely pretty, but not horridly hiddeous, just, you know, average. I am kind of an oddball I guess. I still play tennis, I still act, I still sing, I still am in band/colorguard. I've changed alot though, you know matured a bit. I'm in the top five percent in my class and in honest to goodness I don't think I'm all that different from the girls who get asked out all the time. I wear a happy look on my face, and try to seem confident. I've gotten a smaller waist, more womanly curves since my previous post, and niether seem to help.I guess this is starting to eat away at my self confidence a bit. I just don't know why I am not good enough for anyone. I get lead on all the time but then get ditched for some other girl. . . What can I do/change to fix this? I know guys shouldn't be that big of a deal to me, but I'm not happy with my status.

Hey you guys.I'm 14 now, and I would like to shape up for summer. The problem is, everywhere you go, you here completely different ideas so it's a little hard to know where to start.I am about 5'7. I weigh 147 poumds.I would like to get my weight down to around 140 pounds or so.I play tennis at least twice a week.I put my weight on my stomach.That is some information about me. So what should I do about meals? I get really hungry alot if that helps anything. . .

Okay so as we all know, America's economy is pretty much in the toilet right now. So many of our nation's businesses are tanking right now that it's just flat out terrible.So Barack HUSSEIN Obama suggests that we come up with a stimulus bill to fix the economy (AFTER FEAR MONGORING) which looks good on paper, but honestly you guys, what good is giving trillions of dollars to people who can't manage money or a business in the first place going to do for us? If Barack was smart, he would know that the obvious way to get the economy flowing would be to 1.) stop fear mongoring like revalations has arrived, and 2.) cut taxes so people have more money to spend. I mean come on you guys think for a second! Giving billions of dollars to GM isn't going to get the small business owner his business back. It's just going to send the national debt sky rocketing up.Thoughts?

Okay so I have been contemplating color contacts for a while (the plano kind of course, having 20/20 vision roxs!) and wanted to try on colors with out paying for the doctor's visit. So I used paint shop pro. The tools in paint shop pro not only vary from those in photoshop, but I think they vary slightly from version to version of PSP. It can be adapted to versions 6 and up. Okay so for this tutorial, I will be using Edward Cullen's photo: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/hollywoodbacklot/ MMMM! So sexy! Hahaha. Okay sorry. Open up Paint Shop Pro. Paste the photo as a new image (Ctrl+V) Go over to the layer toolbar. It will look like this: And click the new RASTER layer button. This dialogue box will come up: Name your new raster layer eye color. (Technically you don't have to name it, it just avoids confusion if you plan on doing other speciall effects.) Then go over to your tools toolbar and select airbrush. For this picture, I used a size 5 airbrush with a hardness of 50. Now go over to your materials pallet and select the color you would like his eyes to be. I used gold in the spirit of twilight but it can be just any color. . .even pink! Airbrush the IRISES (not the pupil) with your gold color. It should look like this: Now for simplicity's sake, I just stuck to one color, but if you want to add other rings of color or some shading, knock yourself out. However, don't add highlights to the eyes. (The little white dots that show up in the eyes when light hits them). Go back to the layer toolbar and look left of the transparancy slider. (You may have to scroll.) You will see a button that says "normal". Click that and select dodge. Now, you will have some REALLY bright colored eyes, so make that layer transparent. I used about 62% transparancy on it, because gold ends up really really really bright. Adjusting the transparancy also helps since the eye's natural coronas show throw. Here is the finished product: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/404.png

Twilight is so popular amongst people of my age group (I'm a 14 year-old girl) because it's sooooo easy to relate to.There really isn't anything quite like the kiss of someone whom you really like. . . or even love (I try to be carefull with the word Love, like hate, it's a strong word) and looking into there eyes and knowing, hey! They like me too!I looooove Twilight! I even have a Team Edward banner on my myspace (Thanks to saint_michael).Spoiler! Here's the storyline of Twilight.Bella moves away from her hometown of Pheonix, Arizona to go live with her dad in Forks, Washington. She dreads the move and even describes the town of Forks as her own personal "Hell on Earth". She ends up making some friends. . . and catching the eye of a few boys at the school too. And then during her first lunch, she sees a beautiful group of people, which one stands out the most (Edward Cullen). He has russett colored hair. She ends up sitting next to him in biology, where he is rather spitefull towards her. But the next day he's completely nice. She has his suspicions about him untill she meets an idian boy named Jacob Black. He tells here why his family does not associate with them, because they are supposedly vampires. Bella does her research and figures out that, yes, the Cullens are in fact vampires. Bella and Edward start spending more and more time with each other where they learn more and more about eachother. Well, one day Edward invites Bella to come play baseball with his whole family. By this point in time the Cullens are very found of Bella, with the exception of Rosalie. Anyway, when they are out playing baseball, three other vampires here them playing and ask if they can play to. . .but then they spot Bella, who just happens to be a human. Carlisle Cullen (Edwards father) tells the foreign vampires to back off, that bella is with them. Two of the vampires are okay with the fact, but the third vampire keeps shooting looks at Bella. Edward snarels at him, which only angers him more. She runs away to pheonix, because both the other two foreign vampires and the Cullens are afraid that now she has no choice, that James thirsts for her blood. He ends up tracking her down, and attempts to kill her. Bella is seriously injured but does survive, thanks to the Cullens. It does have alot of action, but I will say it tends to be more girl oriented. I love it because it gives me warm fuzzies on the inside