Cie~my own self diagnosed IBS troubles are usually brought on by high fat foods (fried chicken) which I don't eat much of any longer. But I do find that a daily probiotic sure helps the symptoms. I can't imagine why that book would say that over 40's don't get it--that just doesn't make sense. My MIL determined in her 40's that foods she had eaten her whole life suddenly gave her severe problems. I think our bodies change as we age and anything can happen. But it is good that your doctor is looking into other possible causes.

Oh Allison, now I'm having food porn fantasies... I had a small version of that a couple of weeks ago at Red Lobster, only they baked it in aindividual pie pan and it had melted chocolate in the center.... Good job splitting something intended for four between six people! And not bad on the 1/2 cookie/1/2 scoop!

Iris - I desperately want a dog, but we don't have a fenced back yard for a doggie door and just aren't home enough to walk one yet... I claim ownership on my folks dogs, too! :-)

Cie - Welcome! Come out and post more! My mom is over 40 with IBS. She is a nurse so just wouldn't take her doctor not taking her seriously about it. I can't remember what medicine she takes now, but I know there are certain foods that she avoids.

Thanks for the information. What brand of probiotics do you use? I have heard that some brands work better than others?

Cie, my DH has IBS and a brand of probiotics called Culturelle has helped immensely. It's made by ConAgra and is available at drugstore.com if you can't find it locally. His GI doctor believes it works as well as medication, and for him it has. BTW, DH is also lactose intolerant -- I think it often goes hand in hand with IBS. Good luck in sorting it out -- it can be miserable.

Cie~I started out using a thing called Colon Cleanse from Arbonne but didn't re-up my membership so I tried several other things that had similar probiotics. I've had fairly good results with Acidophilus Pearls, BioBeads, Align and Culturelle. Culturelle and BioBeads are the easiest to find. I can get either one at my grocery store. Align is only sold in certain states so I order it from Amazon--but due to the cost of shipping I may just stick with the others.

for the information.

Good Monday maintainers!!
Wow! I didn't get on earlier and you all are already on page 2.... a chatty bunch! That is good though....lots of sharing, motivation and inspiration!

I hear ya'll on that special sauce. SODIUM....... dh likes to use it too when he cooks. He swears he is cooking healthy but he salts everything to death. He will deny it too. He will say he used zero salt but then he doesn't count garlic salt or other salty spices!!

Dd is home for Spring Break! I'm so happy but bummed I have to work and not spend too much time with her. I wish I could call in sick for a day but things are too hectic at work.....

She went with me to get my tattoo on Friday!!! I am very happy with it. Still getting used to it but think I like it. I feel very "bad"!

Dh and dd are home from shopping so I better go visit with them and check back in later......

. . . with DH last night and today am not able to turn my head to the right without my shoulder and butt hurting. Talk about your body weirdness .

It was a cheesy sci-fi movie and, with too much CGI and not enough plot, I fell asleep for about 10 minutes during the last part of the movie (close to 3 hours long - too, too, long ). I guess I was in a really relaxed but weird upright position.

Reversing the car today was not fun. And the dogs sensed that I was "wrong" today and took full advantage. Monkeys!

I'm hoping everything will right itself tonite. I have a dog sit starting on Friday and I want to get in a couple of strength workouts before then.

Have a great evening all!

Dagmar ouch!

I totally agree that it is! However I usually do remove any larger jewelry that I'm wearing, or make-up (though I rarely have it on anyway) - I don't want earrings or bracelets getting caught or mascara smearing down my face with me unawares. However I could wear my string of pearls - I'd only need to remove it for front squats, don't want the barbell dinging my pretties...

Got in a good leg workout yesterday along with my ellipticizing. Then when I got home I decided to walk to my friend's house to pick up my bike, and bike home, rather than beg a ride off my boyfriend. The weather was so beautiful I wanted to enjoy it! I'm still hoping to get some soil for my garden beds today - my plan to get some yesterday was foiled b/c neither of the trucks I had asked to borrow were available.

I must say the spring weather really has lifted my mood, which was sort of down for the last few weeks.

Dagmar, sorry for your body weirdness. I hope it resolves itself! Maybe if you watch a movie opposite of how you watched the first one - like with your head crooked to the opposite side - that will balance it out?

Michele, your husband's cooking sounds funny. "No, no salt in garlic salt, honey. None in seasoned salt either. Soy sauce? Salt free!" What a fun mother-daughter thing, your tattoos! Post a picture when you get a chance!

Cie, I hope you always feel comfortable joining in the chat! I hope the probiotics everyone has recommended help your IBS.

Hi Iris! Yes, if we "couldn't" post in the maintainers forum every time we were a little above goal, umm... well I wouldn't be here. I completely understand the commandeering of one's parent's dogs as one's own - my parents live with their dog in PA and I still call him mine too! He's (oh, and them too, lol) are coming to visit this weekend and I'm very excited.

Meg, take notes at your class tonight! I need makeup instruction

Have a great day everyone.

Michele - on the feeling a little 'bad' from the tattoo! Glad you and DD are having fun this week!

Dagmar - Hope you feel better today! What movie was it? DH has a list of things he wants to see and a couple are sci-fi...

Megan - I'm glad spring is cheering you up! It has had the same effect on me the last couple of days, too!

I'm pretty proud of my exercise the last two days - I got up yesterday morning and did an hour of cardio yoga, ran five miles at the park on the way home last night and got up this morning for 65 mins of strength training. The motivation is likely to wear back down soon, so I'm using the springy surge while I can!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Hello maintainers!

Meg & Megan - No pearls at the gym for me, but once I forgot to remove my make-up. I don't put some very often, so I had completely forgot I had lipstick on. Black lipstick. That must have been pretty weird for the others.

Allison - "Pizzookie"? Now that's a concept I hadn't envisioned... uhm... can I just forget about it now, before I start thinking about it?

Shannon - The birthday situation sucks. I hope things will change in that regard in years to come.

Iris - Hi again!

Cie - Welcome to the chat then! And good luck with the IBS.

Dagmar - I second, what movie did you see?

Major major stress here. The written part of my competitive exam starts tomorrow, and it's taking all my willpower to... avoid going on revising now. >.< I hadn't realized I had turned into such a workaholic. :|

It's still raining all day long, so I admit I wasn't too thrilled on running; instead I went to town on foot and spent like three hours walking. Either way feels good, after all.

I tried the "healthy lunch" meal at a campus restaurant (one I usually don't go to... probably because they have delicious pizzas and flammekueche ). I don't know if it was that healthy in the end (soup with some pasta in it and leek pie, on top of the heap of salad, and the lentils had some sauce mixed with them), but heh, it probably can't be worse than a whole pizza... I hope.

Also I've found a pretty good method to avoid snacking right after dinner: watching House M.D. I really like that series, but all those close-ups on intestines bursting out blood and other very showy medical stuff are enough to disgust me, so... no ice-cream after that. (To think that one could actually die of too much eating... Another incentive against bingeing, huh.)

One of our employees just brought in his dog to the office. A 1 year old bloodhound (I've never really seen a bloodhound in the flesh). What a beautiful dog! And so soft!

I had a good day yesterday but ended it with a cookie for dessert. I must stop that.

I have begun the day on a very good note--egg whites fixed with red onion and red pepper with a little cheese and some salsa. Very good, but unfortunately I was hungry all the way to work and I've already eaten my 10 o'clock apple at 9 AM. I hope it keeps me until noon!

I don't know what it is, but I never have a problem with after dinner snacking. I do have a problem with before dinner snacking. I managed to get through without a snack yesterday and hope to continue it.

DS is going to the Museum of Tolerance today in LA and won't be home until about 6:30 PM so dinner will be a bit rushed as soon as I get him home (we have to take a buddy of his home first). I'm planning on egg mcmuffins as I can get it pretty much all ready to go and then cook it up in just a few minutes.

Did I tell you all that DS took his black belt test? He didn't pass. It's a 3 hour long test and he ran out of stamina. So in order to get more stamina, he's started running a mile each night after Karate. He wants to work up to 2 miles. He runs a mile in just under 9 minutes right now. I was also thinking that an hour long kick-boxing class would help increase his stamina, but I haven't found one around here yet.

Allison - I have an inexpensive weight bag in my garage that I bang on in lieu of taking a kickboxing class - it is the angled one, I think it is technically an uppercut bag, maybe? I think I got it for $45 or so at Target about three years ago? You fill the base with water to anchor it down - they have some good training videos and books out there, so if you don't find a class you could try putting a bag up and timing him at home while he pounds on it. I used to take kickboxing several years ago at a martial arts studio and a lot of the karate students would come in and practice some of their karate moves on the bag, too, they just had to be careful because I guess most of the karate workouts are done barefoot?

That's a good idea, Shannon. Thanks! We're also going to discuss putting him in the Karate's Krav Maga class. Basically it is an adult class that learns the Israeli defense fighting, but it is a lot more intense than his Karate classes. We can also start doing private lessons which will help as well. And, yes, my son does go barefoot, however a lot of the kids are switching to Karate shoes which are worn on the mat but not outside.

Hello Maintainers,

It's been a loooooong time, but I'm back for a while. I had a baby girl two years ago and have been struggling w/my weight ever since her birth. I'm 10 pounds away from goal, but that's a lot for my small frame. So, spring is near and I'd like to get back on track with my eating and exercise plan! I see some familiar names and some new names, so I'm looking forward to chatting with all of you.

Anne