It was fun reading all of this, especially since it goes back to '06. That first post of Lars with the cherry cream soda...yummmy. I only consume coffee if it's ice cream, Kahlua or some other dessert. I like tea, black, green, but not any spiced teas. Really dislike mint too. Mostly I drink flavored unsweetened seltzer, iced tea or lemonade. Occasionally I'll have a fruit soda, but I find them too sweet these days so I mix them with my seltzer. Alcohol? Not really. Don't like wine as a rule. I can deal with a little champagne or Asti. Will drink vodka, that Kahlua making it a Black Russian. Smiles. I can go several years or more without having any alcohol. Last year I turned my current [at the time] vodka into vanilla. This fall an old friend from high school came to visit and brought a bottle of vodka. I had 2 light Cape Cods and when he left I turned the Svedka into vanilla. LOL. In winter in the evening we either have hot tea or hot cocoa often. I do love hot chocolate made with cocoa or even a nice chocolate bar.

Am I the only one who would just buy more juice? I think that teenage boys require a whole lot more food than a 10 year old girl does. I've always had lots of food in the house. Fruit and veggies cut and ready to snack on, various chips and snacks and I usually bake cookies or brownies once a week. There is also a big bin of candy in the kitchen. My kids (girl 19, boy 15) have always just sort of balanced their own diets with the choices we have day to day. I always ended up tossing their Halloween candy at Christmas, their Christmas candy at Easter...etc. That said, I think If their habits were different I suppose I would limit some things. My son right now is just about to turn 15, he is 6'2" tall and weighs in at about 150 pounds. I'm trying to find ways to get him to eat MORE! Nothing like making French toast every morning at 5:45. He probably drinks a half gallon of OJ a week, a big Powerade every day, lots of water and about a half gallon of milk a week. (he plays football). For lunch he has a big turkey sub, chips or pretzels, a cookie or brownie, red peppers cut up, a granola bar and DH usually tosses in a snack sized candy bar. This has to last him from lunch until after practice, when he usually has something small, then we have dinner around 7. It's been funny over the years when other kids visit they don't quite know what to do. But the carrots and red peppers go just as fast as Chex Mix and chips when they're playing football or swimming. The cookies are another story. In the summer when all of his friends are around I make about 2 dozen a week. Beth P.

1) When you're hungry and wanting a snack, are you more likely to crave a sweet or salty/spicy snack? if it's the daytime, something salty/spicy... late at night after dinner, then usually something sweet. 2) The 3 junk-type foods that are hardest for you to resist: doritos LOVE tostitos with either a good con queso dip or guacomole-i can eat many calories with those! chewy candy--swedish fish, twizzlers, gummy lifesaves, etc. or peppermint patties. 3) Complete the following sentence: Do NOT bring any ________ into this house, because I can (will?) personally eat all of it . . . or at least waaay too much! i'm really good if it's in the house UNOPENED! lol. i usually can resist opening something, but once it's open, forget it-usually doritos, etc. 4) Although you may not eat at fast food restaurants a lot, what are your 3 favorite yummy-but-not-very-good-for you foods and from where? i really hardly ever eat fast food, but if i do i tend to order the 'wraps'... mcdonalds have them and wendy's have the chicken caeser wraps which i'll eat. i'm not big into burgers and only like the fries if they're HOT and CRISPY, which is often so hit and miss that i don't bother! 5) At nicer restaurants, what 2 or 3 foods do you have to force yourself not to order? i'll often pass on the french onion soup and choose something healthier even though i LOVE a good french onion soup crock with melted cheese and crusty bread!! i love all pastas, but will steer away sometimes to order something lighter. i love a really good carrot cake and if i see someplace has one that looks REALLY good, it's hard to pass! 6) Favorite comfort foods at home that are (sigh!) yummy but fat and/or calories-wise not that great for you or your waistline? i love making/eating pasta carbonara, but only do so occasionally. love creamy soups---buying fat free half and half makes me feels better but they still often have butter...(currently have broccoli and cheese soup leftover in the fridge--YUM!!) LOVE fruit pies/cobblers. 7) Favorite drink that you wish was "no calorie"? sweet drinks like margaritas sweet wines, like white zinfandel-love it! love chocolate coffee creamers---would be great if they were 0 calorie and still tasted great!! 8) What are 3 of your favorite "more healthful foods" to (try and) fall back on when the cravings hit? i guess popcorn is better than chips, but i usually don't really fall back on it... i buy those mini flavored rice cakes and feel better about those! i often will order fish or salad in restaurants- to either avoid fat or increase my veggie consumption! will order sorbet at the end of a meal when i'm really craving a dessert, but don't want the calories. 9) Favorite more healthful drinks? peppermint tea (with honey), icewater.

I don't think 4 oz of H2O is quite enough. The tooth decay also depends on what you call 'juice'. Kool-aid is not juice (not that anyone here thinks so, but I have met folks who think it is) :-) Neither is HiC or Coke (again, I didn't realize how many 18-month olds out there are already hooked on soda until I became a mom). (btw DD has never had soda and she's 4 now) Our doctor recommends a total of 6 oz of fruit juice per day for my 4-year-old. We have diabetes in our family so we're probably a little overly careful, but our doctor has looked closely at some endocrinological studies. New studies she found, show that children who drink mostly juice and little water are at high risk for future obesity. Forgive my rambling, I haven't had my coffee so I may not be being short enough here :-) But another key thing is to only give beverages at mealtime or snacktime (be it juice or milk). And in-between meal beverage should be water. Then you're probably hitting just the right combination. (again, I see a lot of my friends who are moms, who let the children hang onto a drink of some sort all day long sipping throughout the day).