dreamydeary's Profile

You have to consume enough calories to meet the needs of your basal metabolic rate (here's a calculator). Eating below that will not make you lose weight faster -- it'll make you unhealthy, and you'll lose muscle mass, not fat. It will not make you lose weight faster, but it can make you sick. It sounds boring and like a platitude, but moderation! A 500 calorie deficit from what you expend (which is ABOVE your basal metabolic rate -- here's a calculator) will help you lose one pound a week, which is widely cited as a healthy, reasonable goal.

If you're really curious about how many calories you burn in a day, consider something like a Fitbit. It's a pedometer-sized device that you wear all day, every day, and it measures your physical activity, calculating calories probably as accurately as you're gonna get.

If you're exercising so much (too much?), maybe you're adding muscle mass, and as we all know, muscle weighs more than fat.

When people say things like, "losing more than a pound a week is unhealthy," or "don't consumer fewer calories than your basal metabolic rate," we tend to think that we're the exception -- or at least I do. But I'm not an exception, and you're not, either. "Unhealthy" sounds vague and like a small price to pay, but it's no joke, and making yourself sick is NOT the way to go. And more importantly, you'll lose weight faster when you do it "healthily." Medical professionals are not holding out on you or lying to you about the best way to lose weight -- eating too few calories (and fewer than 1200 most certainly, by any estimation, is too few) and exercising too much IS unhealthy.

Please, please go ask your doctor for advice, if you have insurance and the ability to go do so. If you do, you're a very lucky person, so take advantage of your privilege. If not, there're a ton of great resources on the internet, but there're also a lot of really horrible ones, so please, please choose carefully!

I always buy off the registry. The point is to get them something that they want, need, and will use, not to show off my gift-giving prowess or excellent (cough) taste. I don't think it's tacky at all.

If the bride registered for a simple white ceramic teapot but got a bright red one instead, she might be disappointed. What if she has a thing for simple, white tea sets? Or has a white color scheme going on, or wants to have one? Or hates the color red, or already has a red teapot? Seems much simpler and kinder to get the one they asked for.

I might throw in a smaller, personal gift on the side, too, for people I know well. But that's more of a "cherry on top," and usually something everyday-practical or consumable, not something permanent or the sort of thing you'd register for.

When they melt, wouldn't they just be sort of sad in your drink? Hmm...

I love her recipe, too. I normally eat them double-decker style with these flat multigrain buns from the bodega. So, so good.

Though I have never had the patience to get as developed a golden crust as the one in the photo, even with two pans going at a time!

Are there a decent amount of vegetarian recipes? I don't want to buy a $5 app filled mostly with meat-y recipes, on top of my existing Real Simple subscription, but if there're some nice vegetarian recipes in there, maybe I'll spring for it. I wish there was a way to preview apps!

I love the Teeny Chocolate and Green Tea Pudding recipe -- one of my very favorite desserts, and it's super easy. I make it with a stick blender in a big Pyrex measuring cup, and then I pour it into those little 1/2 cup Gladwares, dust with matcha, and take them to work instead of yogurt for a change.

I've made it with all silken tofu in the past (instead of mostly silken and some soft), and it turned out wonderfully, too.

Mr Clean Magic Erasers work AMAZINGLY well on stovetops -- I haven't met some stovetop gunk that could withstand the power of both the Magic Eraser. If it's a little stubborn, I just drop a damp/wet rag on it for a minute or two first, and then Mr Clean does the rest. I sound like an ad, but, I promise, it's great.

Miriam in Brooklyn has really delicious iced tea, and it's my favorite to make at home now, too -- four or five bags of black tea with two or three bags of chamomile, served with some fresh mint in the glass. So delicious, so refreshing!

I love my Oxo knife, which was recommended by David Lebovitz, bought from Amazon - http://tinyurl.com/23dezh7. And now I'm probably going to order this one, too!

I made this for a picnic today, and it was heavenly. This recipe strikes the perfect balance between sour, sweet, and lavender-y. Thanks for sharing!

Now I'm planning to bring some to work to share, but I'm not sure what to bake and bring along with it... hmm...