Please explain how this--learning to cook--is "triggering." Is this an American concern? I don't get it.
People like to believe that fat Americans are somehow forced to be fat by their economic circumstances. They follow this ridiculous notion that being poor = having to eat at McDonalds all the time, when in reality it would be cheaper to make healthy food at home than to get fat eating fast food.
I see. I think the above notion becomes less ridiculous when you consider the varied motivations beyond $ calculations that guide poor Americans' unhealthy food choices [one quick example is that fast food is often one of the few ways poor families can deliver satisfaction and happiness for children, particularly when these parents are unable to do so in ways that wealthier parents can]. Sorry to go off topic, but if anyone wants to continue this discussion, I suggest checking out Priya Fielding-Singh's very readable 2021 study of nutritional inequality in the US, How the Other Half Eats: The Untold Story of Food and Inequality in America.
Yeah buy some clippers and cut your own hair. Doing this for 10 yrs now! Then you’ll never have to go drive to get a haircut and have to tip the big chested girl who never massages your pecker.
If you have an electric water heater, use it as an on-demand appliance. Just turn it on and off at the breaker box. Don't let it sit there idling for the 23 hours per day you don't need hot water. Standby heat loss is real. OR install a tankless water heater. It will pay for itself within two-three years.
If you own a house with a shake roof, treat the shakes as you would your siding. Clean leaves and debris off once a year and seal the shakes every five years or so. A shake roof can last as long as siding -- at least fifty years. Do the same for a composite roof, though it might not last as long.
If you live near an Xfinity HotSpot, have somebody you know who subscirbes to Xfinity add you as a sub account. Buy them a few bottles of wine for their trouble. Don't contaminate their account by being a dick on the Internet.
-Cooking veggie stuff more often. If you keep it to whole foods like eggs and beans it’s
- using frozen produce over fresh in meals where it doesn’t make a huge difference taste-wise. Also sticking to in-season produce makes a huge difference if you’re buying fresh.
-Cycle commuting. Gets the cross-training in too.
- Using one of those small portable heaters or an electric blanket instead of heating the whole house.
-Thrift shopping. Usually nicer than the cheap mass-produced stuff anyway.
- Obvious, but seems to get a lot of people: keep an eye on your subscription costs (netflix, Spotify etc.) They add up and people often don’t notice when they raise the fees.
Learn how to use a fan. Moving air is cooler so a fan or ceiling fan will be cooler, but it's still mostly moving hot air. When it's cooler outside than inside, as at night in summer where I live, open your bedroom window and put a fan blowing out on the opposite side of the house. It will cool the bedroom first by pulling the cooler outside air in the bedroom window and eventually cool the rest of the house by morning.
Use linen sheets in the summer (cooler) and flannel sheets or even micro fleece blankets instead of sheets in the winter. Turn the thermostat way down or even off at night in the winter. In winter, wear fleece pajamas, loose wool socks, or even a nightshirt with a hoodie. Sleeping in a very cold room is actually very comfortable. Getting up is uncomfortable, but that's where the parabolic heaters come into play... see below.
Close off rooms and the air vents in rooms you don't use.
Learn how to use ceiling fans. They can blow up or down. Set the fan to move hot air from the ceiling down to you in the winter and the opposite in summer. The optimal setting will depend on where you sit in the room relative to the fan.
Use parabolic space heaters. These heaters send instant, directional heat directly to you and use a third less watts than a traditional space heater. These are AWESOME. Costco has them in fall for $69 or so. They are WAY better than traditional space heaters.
In winter when the sun is shining, open the curtains on the south side of the house to get solar heating. close the curtains at night to provide extra insulation. In summer, close the curtains.
To check for drafts in the winter, use a lighted incense stick and check the edges of windows, doors, power outlets, fireplace, etc. for drafts. Normally, the smoke should curl slowly up. If it blows down or away from the window, door, etc, you have found a draft. Seal it. If you have drafty doors that you can't really seal, hang a heavy blanket or plastic sheet over it in winter.
If you live in an arid area, a wet cloth or towel in front or behind a floor fan will provide evaporative cooling and humidify the dry air.
Adjust your meals. We have soups, stews, and chili in the winter and switch to cold dishes in the summer. These hot dishes warm you. In summer, avoid a lot of prolonged cooking. The AC will have to work harder to offset the 400 degree heat produced by the oven. Plus, hot food will make you feel hotter. In summer, I'll have frozen smoothies a lot more often than in the winter. A frozen smoothie is a great way to cool off, especially after a hot summer run.
When you go out to eat with people who don’t finish all their food, ask to box their leftovers for you to take home.
that's a good one. my nan would always go to the condiment counter at like burger king or KFC and fill her purse with ketchups/mustards/honey/etc. condiments from a store are expensive, but free condiments at restaurants are free.