It's hard for me to imagine a culture of renting - I can get the principle, and can see that if its a culture, then people could rent the same place for years if they want. They would also be adapted to it , eg some people have cats that never go outside. Here we have a culture of home ownership (fading as prices become inaccessible) so anyone who rents a house faces the likelihood of the landlord selling it, renovating it, moving a relative in, or moving back himself. its unstable, and not very good for kids.

There are very few apartment buildings, and they are often owner-occupied.

Bread puts the weight on me like nothing else too. I do sniff it when I am making sandwiches for
my husband, but even that could be risky lol. Sad.

It's sad about the failed cooking classes. Don't they say some things can be learned but not taught.

Britain has a culture of property ownership and renting does have some of the problems you mention, but it depends on the landlord. One can quickly get the feel of which landlord is likely to try to sell or move back in. You can usually tell what sort of person a landlord is by the state of the flat (apartment). By careful choice and a bit of luck, we rented one flat for about six years. We could have stayed longer, but that's when we moved to France.

In the UK, assured shorthold tenancies, which are the norm, allow one at least six months in the same flat, but most landlords want people to stay longer and most contracts are initially for a year and then one either signs a new contract or the contract rolls over. Tenants have to give a notice of one month, usually, and landlords a notice of two months. In France, the rental contract is typically for three years with break clauses which depend on the reason for the move. As well, one cannot be evicted in the winter. As we had no French references and had just started work, we had to put up a year's rent in addition to the deposit, but it wasn't so bad because we got to keep the money in our bank account until the work contract was sorted.

The great thing about renting is that we can more easily move to where the work is. If we decide to go to the south of France in a few years, then it's as simple as arranging things with the landlord's agent and finding a place to rent in our new area. We don't have to look for a property, put ours on the market, obtain a mortagage, rent while we wait for everything to fall into place, etc. In today's economy, that is a definite advantage.



I've found that it isn't so bad now. I seem to have re-set my metabolism or something, but I find that I can now eat a bit more without gaining weight, as long as I am careful and get plenty of exercise.



Well, whatever the saying, it's not things that can't be learnt, but people who can't or won't learn. It's sad to say but many people out there are not all that bright. Used to be that society would allow nature to take its course with these sort of people, but these days, they are rewarded. The less you use your brain, it seems, the more people offer you.

When I worked at a pet shop we had "cheap" cat food and "expensive" cat food. Although Nutro (the most expensive kind we sold!) was expensive it was the better buy. It contained less corn and fillers compared to the other brands. because of this animals feel full without having to eat so much and they poop less. We had customers come in all the time and tell us how they actually saved money switching and how much better the animal's coat was ect.

I think the same is for humans. We can buy the cheaper stuff, but we will eat more (and probably poop more too!). Where as if we eat smaller amounts of "good food" we feel more satisfied and eat less. So I think it's eather cheaper to eat healthy or at least the same. Even if it was a few $$ more, wouldn't your better health = less doctor visits = cheaper in the long run?

You know, I think there's something to that idea.

There is some evidence that the highly processed carbohydrate that you find bulking out a lot of junk food doesn't trigger the same "full" feeling that less refined carbs, proteins and fats do. It's one of the reasons Atkins can work, the huge amounts of proteins you eat make you feel full very quickly compared to thinks like bread.

Over the years I've tried cutting out fats and sugars, but it never really worked. Now I have taken to just having less of everything, but still having some fats and sugars (I can't go without cheese and chocolate completely ), but in much smaller quantities. I find it actually fills me up. It's like if I have just a simple salad I'll feel hungry two hours later, but put some protein in the form of a little cooked meat or fish (I love anchovies) and a little feta cheese, and I'm full for hours.

I think this is part of the so-called "French Paradox". Yes, the French do eat richer foods, but they don't actually tend to eat that much of it, because it is intrinsically satisfying. Although they now appear to have discovered fast food in a big way, and seem to be trying to catch up the UK and Germany in the obesity stakes.

I hail from the tropics so I have always had better overall access to fresh fruits and veggies. Especially citrus and tomatoes.

Actually the healthiest I ever ate in my life was when I was poorest. Lettuce was cheap, carrots were also cheap so I ate an obscene amount of salad. I worked part time at a deli and I only ate meat while I was there because it was free. I did eat a lot of pasta but I almost always ate it with tomato sauce. Dairy was too expensive.

It all boils down to choice. If you want something badly enough you can find a way.

Two years ago I've started eating right for my type (my blood type is AB Rh-) - such a relief

Actually, what I find important is proper nutrition (which includes how the food is being prepared), I don't care about the calories at all.
I'm full-time student myself, so I'm a "living proof" that it's possible to eat rather decently on low cost.
Speaking of supermarkets, here, they've fruits and vegetables really high priced (and aren't organic ), but during the season you can get them fresh at much lower price from street sellers (the ones who, in fact, grew their stock by themselves) - too bad, they're not much of them nowadays, but that's the result of having the pro-"food industry" government.

Also on the low-cost, good nutrition meals, I find rice being really good. Also, you can try quinoa.

Given the fact, that eating right, will hopefully keep you away from doctor (I was being cured by them for years...), so you (it worked for me) don't have to waste money on medicines, I think it is actually cheaper to give yourself proper nutrition.

Out of curiosity, how does one eat right for a blood type?

Really short explaination: try to avoid lectins that are causing harm to you (for example causing agglutination of your blood cells).

I'm sorry, English isn't my native language, and I've only read the translated literature on this, so I guess, my best would be just link you to: http://www.dadamo.com/science_lectins_mitogens.htm

I don't think it's really a matter of cost but accessibility. I think many families in the inner-cities don't have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Most get their groceries or food from convenient stores. They probably have more access to liquor than fresh foods.

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I'd rather be working out than working. Lauron, Health Insurance Advisor