Crazies' Consumer Endorsements

[bjornolf]

I would like to endorse Medifast. My wife got me to join last month, and it's been pretty amazing. In 30 days, she's lost 15 pounds and two jean sizes. In those same 30 days, I've lost 31 pounds and 3 belt loops. We're both ecstatic. Got a ways to go, and it's not easy, but we're doing it. The best part about this plan is that they give you an exact date that you'll reach your goal by. Most plans that we've tried just give you a vague idea. As long as you stick to it, you'll lose the weight by this date, according to Medifast. So far it looks like we're right on schedule. That's so encouraging. Also, when you're done, they don't make you keep buying their stuff. They put you through a six week, monitored reintroduction to "real" food, when they tach you how to eat right to maintain your new body. Then you go in and reweigh for the next year, or however long you want to, to help make sure you're maintaining. Anyway, we're so excited, and my wife says me going on it with her is a godsend.

I also love their N body machine. It measures your skeletal muscle mass, fat percentage, weight, and hydration level. It's far more accurate for determining goal weight than that sucky BMI, which says I should weight what I did in 9th grade.

Anyway, I'll update this as we get further along, but so far, I give Medifast 5 stars.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I would like to endorse Medifast. My wife got me to join last month, and it's been pretty amazing. In 30 days, she's lost 15 pounds and two jean sizes. In those same 30 days, I've lost 31 pounds and 3 belt loops. We're both ecstatic. Got a ways to go, and it's not easy, but we're doing it. The best part about this plan is that they give you an exact date that you'll reach your goal by. Most plans that we've tried just give you a vague idea. As long as you stick to it, you'll lose the weight by this date, according to Medifast. So far it looks like we're right on schedule. That's so encouraging. Also, when you're done, they don't make you keep buying their stuff. They put you through a six week, monitored reintroduction to "real" food, when they tach you how to eat right to maintain your new body. Then you go in and reweigh for the next year, or however long you want to, to help make sure you're maintaining. Anyway, we're so excited, and my wife says me going on it with her is a godsend.

I also love their N body machine. It measures your skeletal muscle mass, fat percentage, weight, and hydration level. It's far more accurate for determining goal weight than that sucky BMI, which says I should weight what I did in 9th grade.

Anyway, I'll update this as we get further along, but so far, I give Medifast 5 stars.

Great for you guys!

BMI = Bullshit Moneymaking Index for the drug and weight loss industries, or the insurance companies who give you higher rates because of it.

[lawgrad91]

I would like to endorse Medifast. My wife got me to join last month, and it's been pretty amazing. In 30 days, she's lost 15 pounds and two jean sizes. In those same 30 days, I've lost 31 pounds and 3 belt loops. We're both ecstatic. Got a ways to go, and it's not easy, but we're doing it. The best part about this plan is that they give you an exact date that you'll reach your goal by. Most plans that we've tried just give you a vague idea. As long as you stick to it, you'll lose the weight by this date, according to Medifast. So far it looks like we're right on schedule. That's so encouraging. Also, when you're done, they don't make you keep buying their stuff. They put you through a six week, monitored reintroduction to "real" food, when they tach you how to eat right to maintain your new body. Then you go in and reweigh for the next year, or however long you want to, to help make sure you're maintaining. Anyway, we're so excited, and my wife says me going on it with her is a godsend.

I also love their N body machine. It measures your skeletal muscle mass, fat percentage, weight, and hydration level. It's far more accurate for determining goal weight than that sucky BMI, which says I should weight what I did in 9th grade.

Anyway, I'll update this as we get further along, but so far, I give Medifast 5 stars.

Way to go!

Bjornolf, it is terrific that you are doing Medifast with your wife. It works so much better when all the adults in a household are doing the same thing.

I am trying to lose weight before our cruise in September. Unfortunately, being married to Captain Sabotage and having Cadet Sabotage staying with us, it isn't easy.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

When I got down here (Ft. Lauderdale) last weekend, I knew I wanted to shred a ton of stuff that has accumulated in the last 4 years that wasn't needed. I went to Costco to see what they had in the way of heavy duty shredders. At home, I'm on my second shredder, what I'll call a medium duty unit, rated at either 8 or 10 sheets at a time, but in reality, try more than 5 sheets and it'll usually jam. (It replaced a light duty, ie cheap, unit, that could only handle a couple of sheets without jamming).

Costco had a unit on sale, right up front, $20 off the regular price, selling for $79.99, rated at 12 sheets. Yeah, sure, I believed that. Let me tell you, this thing is TERRIFIC! It has zipped through 8 to 12 sheets perfectly, quickly and quietly! It has a "Power Jam" button in case something hangs up, and it gives it extra juice - I've used it twice in 4 buckets full of shredding!

I highly recommend the Fellows PowerShred model DM1200Ct, described on the box as "the worlds toughest shredder". This thing is terrific - did I mention that? When I bring my mom back here in a couple of weeks, I think I'll bring the unit at home with me and take the new unit back with me. Not doing it tomorrow because I have barely touched what needs to be shredded. But once I do get it done, she'll only have light duty (current) stuff to shred.

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

I have TWO permanently jammed shredders. NOW you tell me!
Love, Ima

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

I highly recommend to everybody to listen to ANY music Dave Ahern plays on Spotify!
Love, Ima

[captmojo]

The latest album by Curtis Salgado! Soul Shot
Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Get it immediately, if not sooner. If you take any pleasure from hearing an expertly talented soul singer, this man will NOT disappoint. A few short years ago, he was on his deathbed. A transplant and a change in lifestyle saved him from the grave.
He is one of the best ever. Well, one of my very favorites.

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

All you barbeque fanatics save up your money and gitcherself a BBQ Guru smoker controller! This thing is absolutely genius! There are several models and you can put the perfect package together to suit your smoker or grill.

The simplest version is the DigiQDX, but you can get a gazillion more bells and whistles if you wanna spend. I got the OP a CyberQ II package and it sat around here for months before he finally tried it out. (He's not much on gadgetry) I finally shamed him into giving it a try and after it's maiden voyage he's absolutely hooked! So simple. Takes all the guesswork out of keeping the temp and charcoal at the right setting for the long haul.

On Sunday night at eight o'clock we fired up the Big Green Egg, plugged in the Cyber Q, set the controls, watched it for a while to see it was working and then went to bed.

There is a sensor to control the pit that uses a little blower to control it with puffs of air; and a thermometer for the meat that you set a "done" temp for. They each plug into this little cell phone sized computer thingy. It keeps the smoker set at the temp you choose and when the meat reaches the "done" setting you've programmed, it ramps the pit temp up or down, keeping it at the same temp as the meat until you come and rescue everything.

Over night it kept the fire at 230 degrees and then held everything at the 190 we had set for the meat once it reached that temp. We got up the next day to the best smoked shoulder we've ever done, and with absolutely NO effort at fire control!

The extra thing the Cyber Q will do if you want is connect with the software provided for your computer, so you can tinker with the controls from there or just check on the smoker monitor via your computer screen.It has ports for a second set of controls if you wanted to do a second project at the same time.

Now they've even come up with a WiFi version! This thing is wayyyyy cool. It's designed in the first place to use with a BGE or you can get an adaptor to make it work with a Weber or any bowl shaped grill.

http://www.thebbqguru.com It's a no-brainer.
Love, Ima

[CameronBornAndBred]

That's pretty cool....and popular. Lots of those are used in the competitions, but I'm torn. Part of the fun is hovering over the grill...but then there's that need to sleep.

[CathyCA]

I was in the Dollar Tree this morning looking for champagne flutes for a gift basket that I am putting together. They didn't have the champagne glasses I wanted, but I saw the following book on sale for $1.00:



It's a great book. I paid full price for mine at The Gothic Bookstore a few years ago and had Coach K and his talented co-author, Jamie Spatola, sign it for me.

I picked up a copy today to give as a gift. It's a great book at an even greater price.

I'm wondering whether I can get him to sign this book for the recipient.

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

That's pretty cool....and popular. Lots of those are used in the competitions, but I'm torn. Part of the fun is hovering over the grill...but then there's that need to sleep.

The OP turns "hovering" into nerve-wracking WORK like everything else! It's hard to make a Type A quit taking things so seriously. To watch that man sweat and worry and open and close that lid and jiggle the vents incessantly is a painful thing. Once I convinced him to just plug it in and go to bed,I couldn't believe the difference. The CyberQ actually gave him peace and that's a miracle around here.!

My own fancy kitchen oven doesn't come close to the accuracy of the thermostat on this thing. I may start using it instead.

Love, Ima

[ArkieDukie]

I am having issues with plantar fasciitis. My feet often hurt so badly that it's difficult to walk. When attending the big science nerd meeting in Vancouver last week, a friend recommended that I buy a pair of Danskos. I finally did so this weekend. I'm amazed at the fact that I can already tell the difference. Expensive shoes, but well worth the price.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I am having issues with plantar fasciitis. My feet often hurt so badly that it's difficult to walk. When attending the big science nerd meeting in Vancouver last week, a friend recommended that I buy a pair of Danskos. I finally did so this weekend. I'm amazed at the fact that I can already tell the difference. Expensive shoes, but well worth the price.

I've never had it bad, and I'm not a doctor and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but when it started to bother me in one foot, someone suggested trying Aleve/naproxen sodium (I've always been an ibuprofen fan for everyday aches and headaches, but in this case it didn't help, and neither did Tylenol). 3 days later and my mild case disappeared.

[ArkieDukie]

I am having issues with plantar fasciitis. My feet often hurt so badly that it's difficult to walk. When attending the big science nerd meeting in Vancouver last week, a friend recommended that I buy a pair of Danskos. I finally did so this weekend. I'm amazed at the fact that I can already tell the difference. Expensive shoes, but well worth the price.

I've never had it bad, and I'm not a doctor and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but when it started to bother me in one foot, someone suggested trying Aleve/naproxen sodium (I've always been an ibuprofen fan for everyday aches and headaches, but in this case it didn't help, and neither did Tylenol). 3 days later and my mild case disappeared.

Thanks for the tip! The friend that recommended the Dansko shoes also gave me a couple of ibuprofen to take. It didn't seem to help. I'll be sure to purchase some Aleve.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I am having issues with plantar fasciitis. My feet often hurt so badly that it's difficult to walk. When attending the big science nerd meeting in Vancouver last week, a friend recommended that I buy a pair of Danskos. I finally did so this weekend. I'm amazed at the fact that I can already tell the difference. Expensive shoes, but well worth the price.

I've never had it bad, and I'm not a doctor and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but when it started to bother me in one foot, someone suggested trying Aleve/naproxen sodium (I've always been an ibuprofen fan for everyday aches and headaches, but in this case it didn't help, and neither did Tylenol). 3 days later and my mild case disappeared.

Thanks for the tip! The friend that recommended the Dansko shoes also gave me a couple of ibuprofen to take. It didn't seem to help. I'll be sure to purchase some Aleve.

Follow label directions, but it took full dosage for about 3 days to work.

[DukeForester]

I had the pleasure of meeting CameronBornAndBred and his significant other this past Memorial Day on the way home from a Memorial Day minivaction to Morehead City. Knowing his love of Que and smoking meat in general, I want to highly recommend the Masterbuilt propane smoker. It is huge with 5 racks and only needs very few mods to make it a great smoker. I know those smoking purists will poo poo the fact that it is propane and not a charcoal/wood smoker, but it is so easy to control the temps. Can easily keep it in the 225-240 degree range. And it does a great job of smoking meat and lots of it. So far I've smoked whole chickens, whole turkeys, baby back ribs, St Louis ribs, chuck roasts and pork loins. All came out perfection. Have yet to try a pork butt, but that is next as I just ran out of Que (and thanks to CBB, our supply was increased this past Monday). I plan to smoke 4 butts at once to give me a Summer/Fall supply of Que. Got it at Bass Pro for $180.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I plan to smoke 4 butts at once

CB&B's, TNT's, Cowboy's and DD's? I don't think your cooker is big enough...

[devildeac]

I plan to smoke 4 butts at once

CB&B's, TNT's, Cowboy's and DD's? I don't think your cooker is big enough...

Just 4? I've seek K "smoke" a dozen of them at the same time in a huddle in at least one game every year for the last decade or more .

Seriously, excellent first post and welcome to CTN, even if I did place the greeting in the wrong thread ;) .

[DukeForester]

I earlier posted an endorsement of the Masterbuilt Propane Smoker. Here is what it looks like.

[CathyCA]

I earlier posted an endorsement of the Masterbuilt Propane Smoker. Here is what it looks like.

DSC_0303.JPG

DSC_0304.JPG

It looks like a burned-out mini-fridge.

Hey! That gives me an idea for my malfunctioning. . .

Seriously, thank you for posting this picture. It helps me to visualize how one could smoke four different types of meat at the same time.