Are those STRING BEANS in your purse...
 

or are you just happy to see me? Just kidding.

I was thinking that some (many?) people would think it quite odd that I never leave my house without a bag full of string beans in my purse. I mean I know it for sure. People have commented on it. For me it's the perfect little snack. It's easy to eat and it tides me over til I can get to my real meal. I don't want to be caught somewhere longer then I anticipated, like in the middle of grocery shopping or in the mall and have to succumb to one of "those" foods because I wasn't prepared. Heaven forbid. ;)

So, what are some, shall we say, unusual things that you do to keep on plan?

This is actually amusing because I went to a class a few months ago where there was provided snacks (lunch on our own). Snacks were sweets, nothing remotely healthy. Pastries, brownies, cakes, etc.

I took roasted green beans with me every day. I was sitting next to a guy for the duration of the class. On the first day, he looked at my green beans and said 'I'm not even going to ask'.

This is so funny!
My DD actually loves to eat raw string beans. Favors them over candy. I always thought that higly unusual, but it seems I am mistaken!

I've gotta give string beans another try. It's a texture thing for me.

Weird stuff I eat.....cottage cheese everyday. :drool: My dinners are probably weird for some people though. A bowlful of steamed veggies topped with ground turkey (with red chile or tomato sauce), a little cheese, and chopped onion. I could eat that every day. A variation would be to add cottage cheese to the bowl too.

I *want* to munch on raw green beans. I like veggies. But I just don't care for the raw green beans.

I might try the roasted ones. I like them fresh from the oven, but cold may work. But a little greasy for finger food.

I'm not sure if I've ever tried raw green beans. Pea pods? Yes. I love those with baby carrots. Maybe celery, too. I'd even throw in a few sticks of red or orange pepper to mix it up a bit, but I've never even thought about green beans.

Ok, since we're on the topic of weird things to keep on plan...we live in earthquake-ville, right? I refuse to ever get low on canned beans (of all kinds). Seriously? I could live on canned beans for a few weeks without feeling deprived (or depraved?!?!).

Nelie, that IS funny. I can certainly relate. I LOVE roasted green beans even better then the raw ones, but I find the raw ones suit my purpose better as a quick munchie. It's kinda like my "emergency food."

Midwife, how I wish I liked cottage cheese. Such a nutritional powerhouse. But I can't tolerate it. It turns me off something wicked.

Alison, our supermarket here is having their annual "can-can" sale and people are walking out of there with cases upon cases of beans. Other canned items as well. But those beans are more popular then I thought. I stocked up myself. Part of that sale is non-stick cooking spray and boy have I loaded up on those.

I do other "unusual" things too. I mean even my friends think I'm totally nuts and just can't picture themselves doing it. Though a few of them sound quite envious that I DO do them. Did that make sense?

-The first thing that I eat of the day is often salad. I like to push off my "real breakfast" til about 10 or 10:30. So I start out with some salad. Usually cucumber or a tomato/cucucmber/onion salad.

-I have no problems eating the same food day after day after day after, I think you get it.

-I shop for food at least 5X a week.

-I eat an ENORMOUS amount of vegetables, hence why I shop at least 5X a week.

-You wouldn't think this one is so weird, but many of my friends do - I rarely eat the white stuff. Ya know, flour, rice, pasta. I rarely eat ANY grains. I know many folks here do, but I keep them to a bare minimum.

Weird? Unusual? Perhaps. I have no problem with that label. Whatsoever. Works for me.

I'm laughing at all the crazy things I do that I don't even think of as crazy anymore. Nor do my co-workers, friends, or my BF (bless his heart for putting up with me) - they've seen me do it all so often none of it's a big deal.

Bring veggies, salads, fruit, packets of tuna, yogurt... really any food, anywhere and everywhere. Yup, I've whipped food out of my purse just about anywhere you can think of. Literally do not leave the house, office, boat, anywhere without it, just in case I get hungry.

Since I live in such a rural area it's my local stores don't carry some foods I really like (e.g. Jennie-O Lean ground frozen turkey), sell things I can easily afford since I live on a budget (I can get organic peanut butter here but pay an arm & a leg), never have things that I like on sale (e.g. high price of Kashi cereal) and just have very little selection (e.g. only 2 kinds of Kashi cereal, sad produce selection...). So every 2-3 months I go to the city and hit the co-op, Publix grocery store, and Walmart and stock up on "my foods".

Go on business trips and bring breakfast and snacks for every day I'll be gone.

Go on business trips with other people and bring lunch, that I will eat in the parking lot, when I know full well that everyone I'm going with will want to stop and eat in a restaurant. I eat, stretch my legs in the parking lot, and then go sit with them while they finish their meal.

Ditto with what Robin said about eating tons of veggies and stopping for them often (I have to stop for bananas every 3 days since they turn so quickly).

Refuse to drink alcohol in social situations when everyone else is and it's being pushed upon me repeatedly. Geez, I said NO, people.

Generally being picky about what I'll eat. If I don't get my glass of skim milk with breakfast, I'm not happy. etc.

Does this make me high maintenance? :angel:

Oh, I forgot, my old roommate thought it was really strange that I would set out tupperwares on the weekend and chop up 5 days of veggies, several days of salads, make lunch en masse, make dinners to take with me when I wouldn't be home to eat, etc. She did not appreciate my weekly prep-work!

LOL, that is too funny. I don't carry food around with me usually, except for a box of tic-tacs which are my emergency food. I do, however, keep food in a drawer in my desk at work, and I have an entire desk drawer full of different teas.

Probably the main weird thing I do that a lot of people don't do is that every Sunday I pick out recipes for the week, then I buy all my ingredients in one grocery trip. Not as hard-core as Megan chopping veggies on the weekend, but I do plan!

Jessica~not only do I plan a week of menus, but my grocery list is divided up for ease as well. I don't know how anyone can go to the store for 40-50 items and have it all as a list. Mine is divided like this:

fruits & vegetables
Frozen
Meats
Dairy and bread
Canned and bottled
Packaged
Misc (things like toilet paper, etc.)

Originally Posted by alinnell:
Jessica~not only do I plan a week of menus, but my grocery list is divided up for ease as well. I don't know how anyone can go to the store for 40-50 items and have it all as a list. Mine is divided like this:

fruits & vegetables
Frozen
Meats
Dairy and bread
Canned and bottled
Packaged
Misc (things like toilet paper, etc.)

Oh. I do that too. Add another weird thing to my list. :D

My grocery list is usually all crazy, but I almost always have a healthy snack on hand. My usual is a Dark Chocolate Nectar bar (mmm 140 calories of pure numminess). I also carry around dried mango quite a bit.

I used to carry around vegetables ALL THE TIME but I had that weird swallowing issue last year and fibrous raw vegetables made me feel like I was choking. I switched my afternoon snack to string cheese and I haven't been brave enough to try my old standby of baby carrots, sugar snap peas, red pepper strips and grape tomatoes. I might try them at work, but I'd be worried to eat them "on the road" just in case I get that "can't swallow" feeling (I think it's in my head though, after the mono cleared up, I haven't experienced that problem - but it was plenty scary and my mind remembers!)

Add me to the weirdness list too. Robin, have you had dried green beans? They are delicious and don't make a mess in your purse. I found a store that carries them unsalted.

I always carry string cheese and a apple for emergencies.

And I eat virtually the same thing day after day after day.....

Mel

Glory - Are we TWINS? I am having that same issue right now, with more than just veggies (sometimes chicken breast, or bread...anything on the drier side). It's terrible! I have to keep water near me all the time in case I start to panic.

My grocery list involves a grid of menus for the week at the top, divided first by store (I have to go to multiple...because I eat so many veggies I have to watch the grocery bill on those, so I go to a produce stand...then I go to my organic-type market for some stuff and to Food4Less for others...), then by section. The planned menu is then written on a kitchen whiteboard, mostly to help me remember what to defrost each night for the meal the next day.

I also carry snacks, less for me than for Sarah, who has a terrible tendency to not plan and then drive the car (with me in it!) into a drive through. Too much temptation, so we keep snacks on hand.

I take pictures of my food and blog about it. It makes DH laugh a lot, but it really keeps me accountable and gives me a place to store recipes and stuff.
I even took pictures of all the food I ate in New Orleans :eek:

Originally Posted by mandalinn82:
Glory - Are we TWINS? I am having that same issue right now, with more than just veggies (sometimes chicken breast, or bread...anything on the drier side). It's terrible! I have to keep water near me all the time in case I start to panic..

Hey Amanda, it was really scary. The doctor started ticking off stuff on his fingers, the third tick was "cancer." Eeep! I ended up getting an upper GI exam, which found nothing (drink the barium, they take xrays of everything going down). I was scheduled for an...um, the thing where the scope goes down your throat where you have to be semi-sedated and get a ride home.

While they were prepping for that second test, they did some tests and found out I had...mono! Turns out the mono made my throat swell, which made swallowing difficult. Mono takes about 8 weeks to clear up (and they couldn't tell me where I was in the 8 week duration). The swallowing problems slowly disappeared. (I never did get the scope test). I was pretty lucky, except for some tiredness (and I didn't feel so tired I couldn't function) I was spared the rest of the terrible mono symptoms, I would never have known I had it.

I did a lot of research into it. Some of the other possibilities were:

1. Gastric reflux -which would burn the esophagus and damage it. I tried Tums and cutting back on diet soda
2. A stricture of the esophagus, it just gets narrow and needs to be gently widened, out patient procedure

I think Barbara had a swallowing difficulty and she ended up having to have her esophagus gently widened which fixed her problem (sorry if I am misremembering Barbara). I found out later that my step father also had to have this procedure (it must be more common than we think??)

Sorry for the derail! I just know what it's like to have to have the water ON HAND.

I did something really weird this afternoon. I felt like a kid in a very weird candy store (I guess two weird candy stores, actually). We did our first paycheck of the month shopping trip - which is to an overstock store (like a private Big Lots) and picked up anything that was on our list, or could substitute for items on our list (you've got to stop these shores with an open mind). We were lucky that they'd just received their big gourmet and health food shipment yesterday so we picked up whole wheat pasta, cans of whole water chestnuts, no salt added green beans, and diced beets (they got a HUGE beet shipment in about a month ago, and it looks like I'm the only one buying them sliced, diced, and even pickled), and a few unexpected finds (some protein and whole grain breakfast bars, and some flavored almonds all in individual bags). We got about $200 to $400 worth of groceries for $40. I can't really say that exactly, because I would never pay the health food store price, so in my mind, we got maybe $80 worth of groceries.

If that wasn't exciting enough, we went to the oriental grocery nearby, and I only needed gourmet soy sauce (I love buying soy sauce in small oriental groceries, you get a quart or more of gourmet soy sauce for the same price as a 12oz bottle of Kikkoman's - not that there's anything wrong with Kikkoman's). I bought green onions and cilantro while I was there, but an aisle caught my eye that hadn't before. They had a whole aisle of canned fish, and since I've been watching carbs, I've been eating sardines as a snack, especially if I can find them canned in liquids other than oil. Tomato paste, water and mustard are the only varieties I've found in the large grocery chains, but the oriental grocery had six or more flavors in just one brand. Three different curries, tomato sauce, and chili paste.

My husband thought I had flipped my lid that I was so excited over canned sardines. They even had smoked eek, which I LOVE (but I didn't buy, because I'd already picked out the sardines, besides it's often packed in a sweetened soy sauce that can be full of sugar).

I hope the ones I picked are good, because if they are, I'll be stocking up next time. At about a dollar a can, the price isn't too bad, either.

I should probably go to a doctor, huh?

ETA: I know it isn't mono, I had that already almost 8 years ago...and the problem is newer...

Yeah, I would definitely go. There's a chance it could be one of the easy to fix things - like gastric reflux or a stricture! It was a very scary time when I felt afraid to swallow, I remember asking my boyfriend "what if they can't fix me?" I dreaded having to live with it!

OH

If you get the stupid barium test, let me just warn you what they did NOT warn me. Okay, I'm an idiot. I drink two big ole cups of radioactive barium AND some carbon dioxide to bubble my stomach (you know, make it big so they can see). I get done and the techs and everybody just say "buh bye!" I say "I'm going to work!" and they smile and say "buh bye!" and I skip out singing "la la la la I drank two cups of barium and now I'm going to work!"

Jason had driven me and we ended going to the Original Pancake House for pancakes since I couldn't eat before the procedure. Then, I was going to run home to pick something up before heading to work ( I had told my boss I was going to take a half day). I get about two stoplights from the house and WOW extreme bathroom urgency!

I barely made it to the home and to the bathroom. I will spare you the extent of the gruesome details, but let me just say it was a very MEMORABLE bathroom visit - and STARK WHITE due to the barium (apologies for any delicate readers but DAMN).

So, I'm shaking and trembly and go sit down for a minute thinking I would feel better soon. NOPE! After the second episode, I called my boss and let him know I was feeling "indisposed." I look online and guess what a potential side effect of the procedure is? Constipation or the opposite!

I think it would have been NICE of the doctors to have WARNED me I wouldn't want to be 3 feet from a bathroom the rest of the day.

Mandalinn,
FYI my hubby suffered from this too, his was an acid reflux problem, food would get stuck daily & he would gag it got so bad, he had to drink a ton too wash things down. He was so miserable, he had ortho surgery a few years ago and it is way better now.
His surgery was called a Nissen Fundoplication, if you google it, maybe your symptoms are similar to his, it certainly sounds like the same misery as his was.

On any given day, there is more food than anything else in my purse. Today's emergency stash included: herbal tea, "Tide Me Over" drink pouch, raw sugar snap peas, Balance bar, and light string cheese.

Othere purse regulars: baby carrots, Fiber One (in a baggie), South Beach bars, cocoa roast almonds, walnuts, raw green beans, raw colored peppers, clementine, banana, hard boiled egg.

I have been known to pull out food at the strangest times.

Maybe I need to try them! Never heard of eating Green Beans Raw. Love them cooked though!

Hmmmmm, honestly the strangest thing I carry with me is a bottle of water. Not too strange at all folks, its pretty normal to stay hydrated!

Amanda, yeah, I too think you should check it out with a doctor.

Glory, dried mango is just like candy or should I say cocaine to me. I can NOT eat that moderately. MAN is that stuff good.

Mel, dried green beans? Oh I gotta look for these.

Megan, I you said something that rang out to me. That your friends think you are a picky eater. Yup, mine too. They just don't GET me. They think I'm being, well - picky. At a restaurant, I really question the waiter about what's in the food. How much oil/fat and stuff. They also see me at times completely refraining from ANYTHING that is remotely high calorie and they just don't - GET me.

Countingdown, I also keep Fiber One in a little baggie with me. Oh the faces I get about THAT one. I'll never forget when Megan once stated, sorry if I don't remember it exactly "Why does it have to look like rabbit food? Why oh why couldn't they have made it a flake?. Certainly would have elminated lots of comments on it.

Originally Posted by rockinrobin:
[B] I'll never forget when Megan once stated, sorry if I don't remember it exactly "Why does it have to look like rabbit food? Why oh why couldn't they have made it a flake?. Certainly would have elminated lots of comments on it.

:lol: I did say that once! Maybe one day I'll make Fiber One-like cereal that looks like lucky charms. I'll be rich!

Amanda, definitely check it out. Could be a liver problem, could be that your mono has reactivated, just really hard to know. Sometimes a drug can cause it. I once had this happen because of tetracycline I was taking, and I can't take tetracycline any more as a result.

Jay

I was just thinking about this. If people think what I do now is a bit, ummm, "odd", imagine what they would think of what I was doing BEFORE I started doing all this. Now that WAS bizarre.

Originally Posted by alinnell:
Jessica~not only do I plan a week of menus, but my grocery list is divided up for ease as well. I don't know how anyone can go to the store for 40-50 items and have it all as a list. Mine is divided like this:

fruits & vegetables
Frozen
Meats
Dairy and bread
Canned and bottled
Packaged
Misc (things like toilet paper, etc.)

I know what you mean about lists. If I try to go to the store with just a straight list, I'll miss 3-5 items. This may seem over the top, but I organize my list by the way the store is set up. I've been going there since I was around 6, so I even know what order the vegetables are in. :o

I don't usually snack, so I only carry sugar free peppermint gum for sudden cravings for junk food.

Amanda and Glory~my Mom had a swallowing problem also and after her upper GI they determined she had an esophageal ulcer probably due to meds not getting all the way down when she took them (note to self, always drink plenty of water when taking any meds). Anyway, she was put on Prilosec (I think) and within a couple of days she stopped having the difficulty swallowing.

And one more note on swallowing issues. My friend's DH was seen in ER with this and it turned out to be something manageable out-pt.

AND, I have a 2 pound bag of STRING BEANs with me today. I have been looking at them everyday since I bought them. Been too lazy to roast them (now that is really lazy bc they are prepped already-- costco french beans)

Today they are on the egde, datewise, so I stuck them in my back pack for munching. It's a late day at work and then I'm meeting DH for kids teacher conferences.

Sadly, it would not have occurred to me if you had not started this thread Robin!! :)

You guys are freaking me out! Sigh - guess I need to call someone.

Just the opposite Amanda. Don't be freaked out. It can most definitely be something really simple. Don't think the worst. But yes, get thyself to a doctor. You'll get this little mystery solved & be relieved and then you can once again down massive quantities of those healthy foods with ease. :hug:

Originally Posted by rockinrobin:
Just the opposite Amanda. Don't be freaked out. It can most definitely be something really simple. Don't think the worst. But yes, get thyself to a doctor. You'll get this little mystery solved & be relieved and then you can once again down massive quantities of those healthy foods with ease. :hug:

my thoughts as well. just well put. :D

It was a great relief when they finally figured out what was causing the problem!

Originally Posted by :
Amanda and Glory~my Mom had a swallowing problem also and after her upper GI they determined she had an esophageal ulcer probably due to meds not getting all the way down when she took them (note to self, always drink plenty of water when taking any meds). Anyway, she was put on Prilosec (I think) and within a couple of days she stopped having the difficulty swallowing

My DH also had an esophageal ulcer which he ignored for a long time. He took priolosec, which cleared up the ulcer, but he had a bad reaction to it, so now takes - what? my mind just blanked here - something else and he's fine, but the underlying problem is acid reflux, and if he misses the medication for a few days, the reflux comes back, and a few more would bring back the ulcer. The difficultly swallowing and feeling like he had rocks in his throat (his words) were the only symptoms of the acid reflux. He's never felt anything like heartburn or the other symptoms.

I also have a weird swallowing issue. Anything stringy, like asparagus, celery, or fatty meats like beef, I chew and chew and chew and I can't swallow the dang stuff. My problem is in my head unfortunately, so there's no cure. A couple of years ago I started having panic attacks while eating/exercising and the problem has been with me ever since. Also, I think several incidents in my childhood helped exacerabate a phobia of choking/suffocating. My mom was a CPR teacher and I witnessed her save people from choking many times, my dad was always telling me not to eat things too fast or I'll choke, and bad memories of being sick and not being able to swallow large pills, etc.... I've been to doctors and there's nothing physically wrong with me, I'm just plain crazy :dizzy:

Anyway, one weird thing I do that always raises eyebrows is keep a large markerboard in my kitchen of everything I ate for lunch and dinner that week, and well as track exercise minutes and alcohol calories. Whenever somebody comes over to my house, they look at me like I'm a nut. They especially eye the alcohol calories lololol.

Today someone at work actually commented on my (outwardly) oddest habit, which is that I spend between 2 and 4 hours of my work day standing, with my keyboard and my mouse up on piles of stuff so that I can still work at my computer. For me it's a good extra calorie-burn and it helps with minor back pain that I get from sitting on my tush all day. Also, I seriously just NEED to get up and move around, with all the extra energy I have from my healthy eating and sufficient sleep and all that!

No one else ever stands to work, of course...heh. Good thing none of them can see what's in my lunch box, or they'd think I'm really kooky!

Hi Sarah,
I just had to comment on your post..the secretary at my work actually has a special desk that can be raised or lowered...because she HAS to stand for part of the day for her back problems. if she does not do that, she ends up at sick leave !

I'll have to check out roasted or dried string beans.

Rabbit

rabbit

Yes, I was visiting a new library in another town last fall, and they have a worktable where they repair/process books and it can be raised and lowered depending on whether the person working wants to sit or stand, and is adjustable enough for people of different heights to work comfortablly. I asked about price - definitely not cheap! :lol: