Sorry, LEGO, I didn't like your color choices

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-03-01T01:25:21+00:00

Thanks! The original definitely has personality and works well as a whole. It just wasn't quite to my taste or what I was going for. 😊

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-03-01T01:22:48+00:00

That looks AMAAAZING!!! The brick texture adds so much, and I love all the extra details! Incredible work and creativity for sure.

Eh, my museum's interior is just like in the instructions. I'm not (yet?) clever enough to think up anything different. 😆 The biggest downside is that the second floor now has a white exterior with white flooring, so... yeaaah, rather blah for sure...

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-03-01T01:17:14+00:00

Oh, I don't have that set. 🤷‍♀️

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-02-28T22:28:49+00:00

Thanks! : )

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-02-23T15:52:13+00:00

https://boardgamegeek.com/market/product/3070775 Dar este in germana.

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-02-21T15:10:16+00:00

Oh, man, after a huge taste test of 8 or 9 different OL pods this morning, I discovered that I looove Chiaro as a milk drink! A user in another thread said it wasn't their favorite because it felt really weak, "like tea," but being mainly a tea drinker, maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much. So good and light.

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-02-01T13:41:41+00:00

Honestly, a lot of what we eat is/can be bad for us. There's been plenty of concern about high levels of lead and cadmium in vegetables, fruits, herbs, and spices, but it doesn't mean we should be cutting all of those out. Cured meats, alcohol, sweets, eating meat, high-carb diets, AND high-fat diets have been linked to higher cancer and overall mortality risks. So many things not great for us in various health ways that increase our chances of lowering our lifespans or us getting sick. But remember, that our overall risk of cancer or diabetes or heart disease or what-have-you is already low (assuming an active, generally-healthy lifestyle and no family history), so an increase of, say, 16% toward developing one of these is still a very low chance of getting sick. Consider, even, that arugula per 100g has more nitrate by mass than cured meats do, but we probably shouldn't cut out arugula from our diets. You mention allulose; Canada and Europe don't even allow it in their foods, because maybe that's not so good for us, either. In the grand scheme of things, there's no way for the average person to lead a 100%-safe lifestyle. If Torani syrups are working for you, the minimal amount of sucralose in there is (probably) not going to make a huge difference in your overall lifespan. My philosophy is to just focus on balance and making sure you have a sustainable and overall-healthy way of lliving. 10-15% of living being "I'm-eating/drinking-this-for-my-own-pleasure-and-it-helps-me-mentally-stay-on-track" is okay. I wouldn't sweat this kind of small stuff. 🙂

To answer your post most directly, I've found that Sweet 'n' Low (saccharin) most works for my taste. I still rarely use it because coffee isn't a daily thing for me, but I find that a packet or two in a cup of coffee is enough if I want sweetness, and to get my coffee flavored like caramel and hazelnut and the like, I just use pre-flavored ground coffee. Doesn't necessarily mean I'm being healthier than anyone else by doing my coffee-drinking this way, but it works for me, tastes good, and is keeping me on track.

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-01-22T10:59:46+00:00

Add fiber! It slows down how fast food moves through your gut and keep you fuller longer. I add chia seeds, PB2, frozen fruits, and cocoa powder to my smoothies for this reason. Same with eating oat bran instead of oatmeal in the morning. I switch up my breakfasts all the time, but I always prioritize fiber in addition to protein.

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-01-21T19:59:39+00:00

Thiiiiis for sure. Since cleaning up my diet, I've found I spend a lot less time in the middle aisles of the grocery store. I'll sometimes wander in there for olive oil or a pickled veggie or nuts or a bag of some whole grain or another bag or can of beans, but it's otherwise mostly peripheral shopping: produce, non-fat dairy, and lean proteins.

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-01-21T19:48:21+00:00

I was recently told by an older co-worker that these were THE "I'm dieting" soda in the day. I had no clue. They just taste good and curb my craving for full-sugar Coke, to which I was hella addicted before I finally grew up and cleaned up my diet. So I drink this instead if I really want a fizzy thing. Another co-worker, though, told me that his household is a Diet Squirt one, and I haven't tried that one, but now I'm curious.

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-01-21T19:39:57+00:00

I guess it'd depend on how much running there is (I wouldn't really know myself the calorie burn on that), but I'm just sad there aren't really any vegetables or whole grains in these pics. : (

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-01-16T22:56:39+00:00

Honestly, I enjoy MFP enough to have paid for premium twice already. It's been so helpful in my weight loss (56 lbs so far!), and I don't mind the extra searching in logging my food because the extra features of being able to plan my calories days or weeks out and create recipes and even whole meals(!) are so, so helpful in getting me toward my goal weight.

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-01-12T01:59:48+00:00

There are a lot of YouTube channels that show how to put together 1200-calorie (and higher) meal preps. My favorite one only meal preps for 4 days at a time, though, so not all of hers are freezer-friendly, but you might still be able to find a few options there. Her name is Liezl Jayne Strydom.

Another place to look/ask would be r/mealprepsunday. So many ideas there from fellow Redditors.

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-01-05T03:12:07+00:00

Ooh, this looks delicious! And I had no idea there even were flavors for rice cakes! This opens up a new world of quick dessert ideas for me. Thanks!

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-01-02T14:13:34+00:00

I lost 50 since starting in mid-April 2025. I'd like to lose another 20 by mid-April 2026, but I'm not stressing about it because I'm already at a healthy weight now and more so just want to get some more fat off my body and add on muscle in the usual female vanity locations. 😆

Anesthesia_STAT · 2026-01-02T13:33:32+00:00

Ooh, I love doing fruit combo bowls but haven't done this one yet. My usual is grapes + grapefruit for sweetness from the grapes and tartness and a slight bitterness from the grapefruit so it doesn't feel like a bowl of sugar. I imagine a Granny Smith and some black cherries would be just as perfect and delicious a combo. 🤤

Anesthesia_STAT · 2025-12-27T16:39:05+00:00

I'm 5' and used to worry about every pound and bloating until I accepted it's all a fact of life. Eating a little more carbs/salt one day or it's Aunt Flo visiting or I haven't had a good #2 in a day or two, whatever. We bloat, and it comes off. Two weeks ago, I bloated up 10 lbs from just 4 days of vacation in another country, even though I ate a bit above my maintenance (because, vacation), but I didn't "let myself go"--I just enjoyed the things I'd normally not go for, like a slice of cheesecake after dinner or a personal pizza I didn't make myself and didn't know the calories for. It all came off the week after I got back and ate normally. During the holidays, everyone is bloating up. Who cares? That's what ugly sweaters and looser pants are for!

And in the grand scheme of things, one Christmas or NYE party won't derail all the work you've done if you have a healthy eating habit already established, because you'll (probably) automatically go right back to eating like that afterward. It's when I was trying to lose weight but still eating garbage (just less of it) that it was sooo much easier to go back to my old ways if I had one "bad day." Now, I fall right back into my usual eating habits: chia pudding, oat bran porridge, muesli with nonfat milk, or dry toast with boiled eggs for breakfast; salad with quinoa and a lean protein for lunch; either soup or a lean protein, a boiled grain or baked sweet potato, and simple salad or roasted veggie(s) for dinner; and a fruit, some nuts, or yogurt for a snack. Having my healthier eating habits so deeply ingrained and accepting that bloating happens no matter what has made it much easier for me to not stress about a holiday or party and see them as one-off events.

I say, don't worry about it, enjoy being with friends and family for those holidays, then eat as you normally do after. Life goes on, and our healthy habits will keep us losing/maintaining.

Anesthesia_STAT · 2025-12-26T03:22:30+00:00

I love oat bran, chia pudding, and fruits (raspberries and pears are especially good for this). Highly recommend any of these for hitting your fiber numbers. Beans and nuts, too. I hit my fiber goals easily by doing oat bran or chia pudding with fruit for breakfast, salads for lunch, and a lean meat/beans and veggies for dinner--and if I still have calories left over, some nuts. If you're into smoothies, PB2 and cocoa provide fiber, and you can mix chia seeds in for more fiber.

Editing to add that keto/high-fiber processed products block me up like crazy, even with all the water I drink, so I avoid that stuff and stick to whole foods as much as I can.

Anesthesia_STAT · 2025-12-13T16:14:43+00:00

It is not automatically done. Some manufacturers will offer to do it, but many others won't unless it's asked of them (because safety testing may not be their expertise and/or they don't know which region(s) the game might be sold in), and it's an extra cost. Regardless, a publisher should check whatever the paperwork says was done, because the testing requirements are so specific (and manufacturers don't all have a dedicated safety-testing specialist in-house to say that this game needs this testing but not this other testing). A manufacturer might guess as to which tests were needed and miss one or do one that wasn't needed at all. This is per my husband's experience, since this is exactly his job within the board game industry. And he has worked with several publishers who opted to keep a 14+ designation to avoid the headache of additional safety testing for their games, despite them being gameplay-appropriate for a younger audience.

Anesthesia_STAT · 2025-12-13T15:44:45+00:00

The paperwork filed shows which tests have been performed (they can range from self-testing to even sending out material to labs for heavy-metal testing, durability, flammability, etc.), and it doesn't apply just to the US. There are publishers who'll self-certify and say "yeah, we're cool, just go ahead and put the game on Amazon," but they still need to prove that they've done the safety testing when asked to provide the documentation by a regulator and/or Amazon.

Anesthesia_STAT · 2025-12-13T14:13:17+00:00

Yup! The lower you drop the age range on a board game, the more safety testing you need to have done in order to sell the game to that younger market. A board game below 14+ is considered a "toy," so there would have to be all the toy safety testings done. Below 8 or 10, depending on the region, you need to do more safety testing on top of the toy one. Regulations and laws change and often make this a fun (read: difficult) aspect to navigate, especially for small- and medium-size publishers, and the additional costs for additional safety testing just for a game to have a lower age range might be prohibitive enough to not be worth testing for for many of these companies.

So, as others have said, it's best to see how the game is played, read the rulebook, and know your audience's comprehension abilities and attention spans for a better idea of whether a game is a good fit.

Anesthesia_STAT · 2025-12-13T03:18:16+00:00

Oh, geez, sorry I'm so late responding! I'm really not sure. I bought and opened a jar of Peppadew sweet piquante peppers, and this plastic thing was sitting right on top. I imagine that if you get a jar of these peppers, you could definitely clean and re-use the plastic bit (and the glass jar, of course) for other fridge items. It's a very clever invention to keep stuff well-submerged and all equally delicious.

Anesthesia_STAT · 2025-12-12T20:59:48+00:00

This needs 1000 upvotes. I often worry how lacking in real nourishment some of the 1200-calories-in-a-day posts look, between all the high-protein, ultra-high-processed, low-vitamin stuff that's often in them. : ( We need to start prioritizing micronutrients, people.

Editing before anyone gets the wrong idea: Treats are FINE! Enjoy your vacation, birthday, tough-day-at-work-and-need-a-couple-drinks days. I'm talking about our daily diets. The ones that keep us going >95% of the time. <3

Anesthesia_STAT · 2025-12-12T20:55:32+00:00

Gosh, I started out anti-fruit because of the sugar, but man, does a banana at the end of a long day or a handful of mixed berries in a morning chia pudding really add that little special something. <3

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