15 EASY HEALTHY SNACKS

One of the most common questions I get in my day-to-day is: "What can I snack on?". Here are a few options that are healthy and easy and just might make you feel like you're back in kindergarten.  I'm not exactly re-inventing the wheel here with this list; in fact, it's pretty simple.  If you're looking for snacks that will unlock the gourmet secrets of the universe, you're in the wrong place. On the plus side, most of these snacks have mobile options so you can take them with you!

1. Cheese sticks (or cheese wedges, or cheese circles... basically, pieces of cheese in some shape):  So, cheese has some good stuff for your body: calcium and yumminess and all that. I always recommend that when you snack on cheese, get it prepackaged.  By this, I mean have the cheese portioned out before you start eating it... because cheese is delicious and you wouldn't be the first person to overindulge because you didn't measure before hand.

2. Almonds or other nuts: They have lots of yummy, healthy fats and vitamins and minerals that are good for your body.  Make sure you get raw unsalted ones, and again, make sure you measure them out beforehand.  Usually, a serving of nuts is around a quarter cup, but check the bag before you start munching.

3. Hummus and veggies: I like carrots with my hummus, personally, but go on and get crazy - try out cucumbers and tomatoes (technically fruit, but I did say get crazy). Have a wild time with it. Scream into the night while you enjoy your hummus/veggie combo.  Plus, hummus is relatively low calorie, so this is a good option when you are extra hungry.

4. Yogurt: This category can be a little tricky, 'cause yogurt can be full of added refined sugar or artifical sweeteners.  I recommend getting a plain yogurt with no added sugar (Greek yogurt if you want some extra protein). Then you can add some honey and fruit to flavor it.

5. Pretty much any fruit ever:  I'm not sure if this needs to be explained: fruit is good for you.  It will have vitamins and minerals - Yay!  Exciting stuff, I know.  The only thing I have to add is that fruit has a lot of natural sugar. So if you're trying to lose weight in addition to eating healthier, I would recommend eating fruit in the morning and limiting it to only a few servings a day.

why is that blueberry so big?

6. Pretty much any veggie ever:  Again, pretty simple. No restrictions this time. Just eat veggies.  Just do it.  I don't care if they taste gross, they are good for you.  Your parents were right.

7. Celery or carrots or apples with peanut butter/almond butter:  There is a reason five-year-olds love this food.  It is delicious. A perfect pairing of sweet and salty.  Just measure the peanut butter before you eat it.

8. Sunflower seeds: Same rules as the nuts - get them unsalted and raw.  They won't be as tasty as the ranch flavored ones, but they will be much healthier.

9. Beef jerky: This is another tricky category, because beef jerky usually has a ton of sodium and chemicals.  If you have any heart problems, I would avoid this as a snack because of the sodium.  I would also see if you could get an organic or homemade jerky over the typical brand.  However, if you're stuck at a gas station and your choice is chips or beef jerky, pick the jerky.

10. Hard boiled eggs:  Super simple snack and tons of protein.  If you're worried about the cholesterol simple fix just don't eat the yolk.

11. Granola with only natural sugar: Like the jerky, this may be hard to find outside of a health food store, but avoiding granola that has white sugar added is worth your time.  Look for words like 'honey' and 'agave' on the ingredient list, and put back the ones with 'sugar'.

12. Banana chips:  So, this is another snack that is tasty but can pack a punch to your calories for the day. They are usually made by frying banana slices in some type of oil: olive oil, or more commonly, coconut oil, are great choices. If it says something else, put them back.  You should also put them back if you look at the ingredient list and it has something besides the banana and oil.  Sometimes people add sugar to the banana chips, which is pretty redundant since bananas have natural sugar.

13. Veggies and guacamole: Admittedly not as delicious as chips and guac, but definitely a lot healthier.

14. Apples and cheese: I've already mentioned fruit and fruit in combination with other stuff and cheese, but this snack is so good I think it deserves its own number.  Seriously, it's amazing. I recommend a sharp cheddar and a sweet apple, but it's hard to mess this one up.  Try it at least once before you knock it.

15. Protein shake/ various smoothie-type drinks: Most people reserve protein shakes for after a workout, but believe it or not, there isn't actually a rule that says you can't drink them whenever you want.  My only stipulation is don't try to have them for every single snack. Your diet shouldn't be completely liquid, because you miss out on fiber and other stuff.

Hopefully you guys like this list and I've given you at least one new snack option!  If you have any snack ideas you'd like to share, feel free to post them in the comments section.

NO PAIN NO GAIN

I absolutely hate the phrase "no pain, no gain".  I understand the basic meaning behind it, and yeah, I get it -  working out isn't easy.  But ignoring pain can lead to some serious injuries.  I've had a few clients ask me about what they are feeling, whether it's normal or if they need to see a doctor.  Or even if they should be headed to the emergency room.  So I'm writing this post to help you better understand what you might be feeling.  keep in mind while you read this, it's important that you already know what sore muscles feel like, because the pain I will be explaining will be different than the expected post workout soreness you feel the next day.  Please also keep in mind that every situation is different and I am speaking in generalities for this post.

boom roasted

Burning: Okay, so there is "Oh my God, I'm working hard and my muscles are burning" and then there is "No, but really, get a bucket of water, cause I'm on fire".  If you have ever had a good workout, you should be familiar with the first feeling. It's the "burning" feeling associated with muscular fatigue.  I'm going to talk about the second type of pain here.  Most nerve pain presents as a burning sensation, and it feels like actual burning, not muscle fatigue.  Like 'you grabbed a hot pan' burning.  It may also be accompanied by tingling, and some numbness or cramping in the muscles the nerve runs through.  Unless you are experiencing extreme symptoms, like total muscle failure, this isn't an emergency. But there are a ton of causes for nerve symptoms, and you'll need to figure out the cause before you can figure out the treatment (Captain Obvious, right?).  
If you are experiencing the burning for the first time and you do not have an explanation for the symptoms, my advice would be to stop what you're currently doing and do some light stretching in the area.  You should rest until all of the nerve symptoms go away.  Just like you can fatigue muscles, you can also fatigue nerves when you work out, so if this is your first experience with nerve pain and there is no real explanation it may just be time to rest.  Now, if you do have an explanation for the symptoms (a car crash, your best friend tackled you and hit you in that area) or if the nerve symptoms keep coming back, I would stop the activity that causes the symptoms until a doctor is able to evaluate the injury.

Pulling/ Ripping:  This type of pain is most commonly associated with a pulled muscle.  A pulled muscle is called a "strain", or a strained muscle, and is graded in severity on a scale of 1-3.  A grade 1 is stretching of the muscle, a grade 2 is partial tearing of the muscle fibers (which is a big category - it can be one muscle fiber torn all the way up, to all of the  fibers in the muscle torn except one, and anywhere in between), and a grade 3 is complete rupture of the muscle.  So if you are working out and experience ripping or pulling pain, and then you look at the muscle and it looks like your muscle has been replaced by a swollen ball and there's a caved in area right next to it, first try not to throw up because you probably just ruptured the muscle. Then go to the emergency room. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200.  Ruptured muscles are a real emergency - not because you might die, but because if they aren't treated right away the muscle can become permanently shorted and may never get back to its original form or function. This is very bad.

These are both pictures of what a ruptured biceps looks like

So, we know that a ruptured muscle is a grade three strain.  What about the other two?  Glad you asked.  A grade one and grade two strain will present very similarly at first (a grade two will hurt a lot more, but if this is your first strain, how would you know which hurts worse?).  Let's say you were working out, and you felt a sharp pain in your muscle, but it's not ruptured.  You should stop what you're doing and rest (also, throw some ice on that muscle).  When a strain is a grade two, the muscle is partially torn, which mean that it will eventually shows signs of the tear (sometimes the signs won't show up until the next day).  A partial tear in the muscle fibers will show with bruising to the area, or to the areas below the tear (gravity may pull the blood/ bruises down).  The amount of bruising will depend on how severe the tear is.  As I mentioned, a grade two strain is a huge category, so if you see that bruising you need to make an appointment with your doctor so they can assess the severity of the injury. Again, if you see that deformity I mentioned before, go to the emergency room.

looks cool but hurts like a witch

It can also be confusing because a mild strain (grade one) and an extremely sore muscle can also feel the same.  And I mean EXTREMELY sore muscle.  So how do you tell the difference?  Man, you are asking some great questions.  First of all, when you were working out, did you feel any sharp pain during the workout?  If yes, you probably strained the muscle. If no, you may simply be sore (but there's still a possibility you have a strained muscle).  Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is the soreness you feel the day after a workout, and it is usually the worst on the second day after the workout.  Luckily, it is easy to figure out if you have DOMS or an injury.  If you feel that extreme soreness, and are concerned it may be more than soreness, get up and walk around. If you have DOMS, the soreness should start to subside after a few minutes of movement and light stretching (DOMS means you are building muscle, so you should rest that muscle group until the soreness goes away. But if it's just DOMS, it means you don't have an injury).  If you have a mild strain, the pain will usually get worse with light stretching.  Remember to give it about 10 minutes though, 'cause if you're extremely sore the activity will hurt before it gets better, but the strained muscle will just keep getting worse.  Also, if you are sore for more than a week after the workout, then it is likely that you strained a muscle.  If you have a strained muscle and none of the other signs, you should see your doctor (but let's face it, you probably won't). Here's my advice - ice and rest for at least three days. And you really should go see your doctor.  After three days, you can switch to heat from the ice, and start light stretching (sometimes the light stretching will make the pain worse again, temporarily. If that happens, ease off and ice again).  When your strained muscle can tolerate the stretching, you can add in light activity and then gradually work up to full activity (don't try to push too hard too fast, because every set back puts you back to day one).  If you want to speed up returning to your regular workout, I recommend seeing a therapist because they will be able to evaluate your specific injury and maximize your rehab better than the general guidelines I mentioned.  Either way, though, a grade one strain means you'll be fine in the long run.

Stabbing/ Shooting:  This is pain, very sharp pain, that may start in one area (as stabbing pain, usually) and move to another (shooting).  It will feel sharp, and you will be able to clearly track the path of the pain.  It can be associated with pulled muscles or an inflamed nerve, or really just about any injury.  Woooohoo! Super specific, this is helpful, I know, you're welcome.  So what do you do about it?  Well, if the pain is in your abdominal or chest region, or your head, go to the doctor RIGHT NOW. If you have a clearly broken bone (like you can see the break through your skin) go to the doctor RIGHT NOW!  If the pain feels like it's in a muscle group, you should rest that area, put some ice on it, and re-read the section above where I talked about pulling a muscle.  But muscles aren't the only area you might feel stabbing or shooting pain.  You may also feel it in your connective tissue, in bones, and in joints.  My advice is this: if the pain comes from an impact (being tackled) go to the emergency room - you may have a broken bone, but it may not be displaced.  I also advise going to the emergency room if the pain comes on very suddenly - you may have torn a ligament.  If the pain comes on gradually (I mean over the course of weeks or months, not hours. If it comes on in a few hours, it's still an emergency) and escalates into sharp, stabbing, or shooting pain, it is not an emergency. But in this case, you have a very real injury so you will need to be seen by a professional in order to figure out what the injury is, and how to best address it.  Sorry, stabbing or shooting pain is never a good sign, just go see your doctor.

Referred:  Referred pain is pain that you feel in one area due to an illness or injury in another area.  It usually feels like a dull throb or ache, and it can be very general pain and hard to figure out where it originates from (there is a possibility it may also be sharp pain).  The most common example of this is the referred pain people who are experiencing a heart attack feel in their left arm/shoulder.  If you are having referred pain in your left arm or shoulder and think you may be having a heart attack, stop reading this and call 9-1-1 (seriously what are you doing).  There are actually a ton of organs that, when injured or sick, will cause referred pain, but I'm not going to get into that.  
It is also possible to have referred pain due to an orthopedic issue.  Usually, if the pain is orthopedic in nature, it is caused by some injury or inflammation of the myofacia (connective tissue that encases pretty much every muscle and your bones).  If the pain is orthopedic in nature, you will (usually) also be able to feel "tender" and "trigger" points.  A tender point is basically a knot in the muscle - you push on it, and it hurts. A trigger point will cause referred pain.  For example, a trigger point in the Trapezius (shoulder muscle) often causes referred pain in the neck, arm or back.  The problem, though, comes when you can't find the trigger point - because sometimes trigger points are in completely different areas of the body (anatomy is weird).  So my advice is: if you have unexplained pain in an area, make an appointment right meow to get it checked out (especially if you are feeling other symptoms, like light-headedness or nausea), 'cause it could be an emergency (better your doctor tell you nothing is wrong than you ignore the pain and end up in the emergency room).  If you have a trigger point that you have been able to locate, however, this is not an emergency.  Usually, stretching and massage combined with heat help the trigger points.  If you try those and don't see any relief in the pain, try to make an appointment with a therapist, because you may be focusing on the trigger point and not the cause of the trigger point.  Anatomy is weird, and sometimes the trigger point is just another symptom, of say, something like postural misalignment ('cause referred pain isn't enough right?).  

Clicking or popping:  For the most part, clicks and pops are nothing to worry about - usually they are just tendons or ligaments moving around, or gas escaping out of your joint capsule (and hopefully not escaping other places.... fart joke).  If you have clicking or popping with no pain, I wouldn't be concerned, it's probably the norm for you when you do that specific exercise.  However, when they are accompanied by sharp or shooting pain (on a regular basis), then you have a problem. If the pain happened once, I wouldn't worry you probably just moved in a weird way for one repetition.  Usually, clicking will occur in a joint, and when accompanied by pain on a regular basis can indicate problems with cartilage or fiborus tissue in the joint - the most common example being a meniscal tear in the knee.  This isn't an emergency, but it's also not normal, so get it checked out.  If you ignore the pain, it may progress to the point where the joint also locks into place (still not an emergency). That usually means the tear is large enough that it is moving into the joint space, and it can cause complications (like extra wear and tear, or early arthritis).  Most tears in connective tissue won't heal on their own like muscles will, so you'll need to see your doctor to figure out what you need.  Sometimes rehab is enough to manage the pain, sometimes surgery is required.

Aching: This is a very tricky category.  The good new is that achiness is rarely an emergency, and often times not even something to be worried about.  It usually occurs in joint spaces like your knees or spine or shoulders... or any joint in your body.  We already talked about referred pain, which can feel achy, and clicking and popping in a joint, so let's rule those categories out first, then move on to just general achy pain.  So, when you work out you fatigue your muscles right?  That's the whole goal, but when muscles are fatigued, they have a harder time supporting your body, so the impact of daily life normally absorbed by your muscles (like carrying groceries up three flights of stairs), has to be absorbed by something else - i.e. your joints and ligaments.  If you have done a workout on a specific body part, and later that day or the next day you have achiness in associated joints, its probably a result of muscular fatigue (this could be caused by lifting weights or by cardio).  I usually don't worry about achiness unless it is accompanied by other symptoms.  Now, if you experience achiness (with no other symptoms) during your workout, that is a sign your body needs to rest.  It doesn't mean you injured yourself, it just means you should stop for the day.  My rule of thumb is this: achiness with other symptoms may be an injury. Achiness by itself - rest until it goes away, then go back to working out.  Now, for some clarification, if you are working out and you feel achy and you rest, and then it goes away and then you do the exact same workout and feel achy (but again there are no other symptoms), it may be a sign that you are working out at a level your body is not adapted to yet. My advice would be to scale back the workout and then gradually work up to that level.  Achiness can be the first sign of an overuse injury, which is usually caused by working out at a level your body is not adapted to.  Every body is different and will have strengths and weaknesses, so you may be able to adapt to running 5 miles very quickly but weight training may take longer for your body to adapt to (or visa versa). Just be patient and listen to your body.  Oh, and bonus lesson: ice is awesome for achiness.

Again, please keep in mind, every person is an individual and I am generalizing in this post based on how symptoms present for the average person.  Hopefully, you guys have found this post informative.  If there is an area you would like clarification on, or you have questions, feel free to post in the comments!

**NOTE: This post is meant to be educational, not as a substitution for an actual diagnosis.  If you are experiencing pain, you should see your doctor so that you can get a specific diagnosis on your condition.  I mean, come on, I can't diagnose your pain over the Internet - what am I, Web MD? (but really, don't use Web MD either ... seriously it doesn't work)**

Baloomi la zeegsna? THE SIMS 4

So. The Sims 4 just came out, and it has been my recent obsession. But this new Sims game has also gotten a lot of negative reviews.  So I thought I'd put my opinion out there, just sharing some pros and cons in case you're on the fence about buying the game.  I'm not endorsed in any way by EA, but I do love the games in general, and I went into it with an optimistic outlook.  SPOILER: I really like the game.  

Just as a disclaimer, I am still learning the game. Unfortunately, I don't have as much time as I'd like to invest in it, so I haven't even played through a full generation.  I'm just gonna apologize in advance for any inaccuracies I may accidentally state.

So if you like the Sims, I'm sure you've already seen how amazing the Create a Sim tool is in this latest version. Just in case, though, let me reiterate: IT IS AMAZING!  It's also very user friendly, so that's a nice change from the advanced options of the Sims3 version of Create a Sim, which made all my Sims look like something from nightmares (OK, I mean, I may have made my Sims 4 sim look like a man, but now she's a hot man instead of a creepy horror side show!). I know you can go to YouTube and watch all kinds of sims wizards do amazing custom things in the Sims 3, but that's never how it worked out for me

My sims looked more like this

Now, you just click and pull, and you can change everything. Seriously... everything. There's so much control, I mean, I can't even emphasize how awesome it is.  Plus, the hair styles and outfits have been updated and modernized to follow trends, which is fun. I can dress my sim in things that I would actually wear (Bonus: I am a stereotypical white girl, so I rock the shit out of the side bang braid).  You can even customize walking now.  It's these types of small details that really add to the game. There are, however, some changes that I'm not a fan of as far as customization options, especially in terms of the advanced color wheel and ability to swap out different fabric patterns. In the Sims 4, you only have the clothing/ make-up and hair colors available in the colors that the creators have selected. There is no way to change to, say, a slightly brighter blue.

I mean, check out this Nigel Thornberry that someone made - SMASHING

The build functions also have some new goodies, for instance: Can I get a hallelujah! You can put the stairs next to the wall!  Also, I'm digging the pre-made rooms, they make things pretty easy.  And, oh my gosh! the kitchen islands can actually be made into islands.  I know that there was a hack in the Sims 3 that let you place objects wherever you wanted, regardless of boundaries of the other objects, but other than that, you could never have a true kitchen island. BOOM! now you can have the island, and it all connects, and you can set up some bar stools, and I like it.  AND you can change the height of the windows, so nice.  Plus, the foundations have been updated, so there are a ton of patterns, and you can have them at different levels in case you wanna make, like, a split level house.  But again, the advanced design tool is missing from this part of the game as well.  At least everything has been updated, so the preset options are wayyyyyyy better than in the Sims 3. I feel like I'm decorating my house, not my grandma's.  Hopefully, we will get that ability to customize back in future expansions. I'm not really sure why it was taken out in the first place.

One thing that I actually really do not like is the interaction between your sim and the world.  In Sims 3, you could switch between the world view and your sim's house very easily.  In this Sims, there is no switching back and forth.  To move your sim around the world, you have to first click on the road, then click travel, then a new screen loads so you can get to the world map, and then you can finally click where you want your sim to travel.  This is obnoxious, and you have to deal with two loading screens. Plus there aren't very many places to travel ... there's a total of about five, really (and the houses).  I'm hoping that as more expansions come out there will be more places to move around, but the world is pretty small so I'm not sure how it will work. To make matters worse, when you travel with one sim, you no longer have the capability to control the other sims you leave behind.  So, you find this out, and you're like, "oh, that's ok, I'll just queue them up a bunch of actions and then switch back and forth between the two groups. Problem solved, I'm so smart".  NOPE, once you switch, whatever actions you've made them do are cancelled.  Poop on a stick.  Of course the game does run smoother with this set-up, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.  Unfortunately, I don't know if they plan on changing this part back, they may keep it this way.

The aging mechanic in this game has changed a lot, too. Every day brings your sim closer to their birthday, but once their birthday comes, they don't automatically age up.  One of your sims must bake a birthday cake, and then the aging sim must interact with the cake in some way to age up.  This is kinda cool, because you get to control at what point your sims age.  I'm assuming that this also means if you do not want your sim to age and die, then it doesn't have to.  At this point, I have not played through a full generation in the game, though, so I don't know for sure. Along those lines, the new options for the sims lifetime are definitely a negative change in my opinion.  You now have the many varied choices of: short, normal, or long lifespan. Not much personal input there. Before, you could actually dictate how many days the sims spent in each portion in their life, but now there's no option for that.  So, if you liked the children, but didn't like the toddlers or teenagers, you could extend one portion and shorten another portion.  I suppose you can still do an early age up with the cake, but I don't think that option was something they needed to take out of the game.  

If you make a baby sim, however, you will notice an odd thing about the new sim society: there are no toddlers.  I mean, your toddler didn't really do much before anyway, except make life more complicated (kinda like real life).  But it is weird that your sim baby just skips an entire life stage, like, nope, not important, fuck learning to talk and walk.  I am happy that potty training is no longer necessary, though.  

I have heard a few people say that the game is a bit glitchy, and yeah, I've seen a few. But honestly, there were way more in the Sims 3, and I kinda expect a bit of glitchiness in any game this new.  While playing, I've personally only had to witness two times when it glitched on me. Once, my sim got frozen in place for about an hour sim time, and another time the bowl my sim was eating from got glitched onto her hand in an awkward way (thankfully I haven't experienced the creepy baby glitch).  I may see more as I keep playing the game, but I also expect that there will be some patches coming out to smooth out any of the big ones.  

Okay, so in all the commercials for the new game, they advertise that the new sims are so smart it's weird, and it's kinda true.  New emotions, new interactions... overall the game is just better.  I don't want to tell you all the emotions and ruin your experience of the game, but seriously this new one is better. It just is.  The emotions they have now are on a much wider spectrum than the old happy to sad/mad emotions, which depend on their 6 bars and then small buff/debuffs that the sim receives. And that can be easily overcome by having a well decorated house.  There are a TON of emotions this time around, and their emotions are affected by their jobs/ school, by social interactions, by their current action, and even, weirdly, by certain decor.  And the emotions will affect game play, so just like in real life, they are actually important.  Seriously, though, in the Sims 3, your sim dies and all the other sims are like, "I'm in mourning, but I'm still really happy, 'cause, man, the decor in here is off the charts. But don't worry, I'll cry out every 4 hours or so, so you know I'm still mourning".  I'm actually a bit worried about what's gonna happen this time when my sims finally die.

The game is overall much more realistic as well.  I already mentioned that the clothing and build functions are modernized.  You can no longer can socialize at work/ school without affecting performance, which means your sim will actually have to get friends. They may even have to leave their house! WHAT!  You mean, I can't just hang out at work and talk and still get promoted? .. Bummer.  Speaking of promotions, they are harder to get this time around.  There are actually requirements for promotions. You know, kinda like in real life. They have also increased the amount of decisions that you make for your sim while they are at work and school, which makes the game a bit more interactive.  Your sims move smoother and more realistic, and they do things, and you're just like, I do that shit too!  Like make phone calls on the toilet. And when you tell them to get out of bed, they actually get up instead of wasting an hour complaining about how you ruined their sleep.  Tough shit, my alarm wakes me up all the time.  Not to mention, if you don't make your sim workout they will get fat. They will get fat rolls on their back.  But, not only do they gain weight, it's a slow process. They don't go from fat, to normal, to skinny, to muscular.  They slowly put on weight, and they slowly lose it, just like freaking real life. It's awesome.  You can slowly see muscles coming in.  Obviously, this makes me super excited because I help people work out for a living, and I love seeing their results happening.

One thing that was added to the game, that I really think is awesome, is that now children have lifetime wishes and a special set of skills.  The child's wish is like a normal kid's wish. I'm not sure what they all are, my sims only had one kid, but her goal was to be the smartest kid in school.  They also have special skills: motor, social, mental, and creative. They can level up to 10 like normal skills, and then they unlock normal skills related to the category.  For example, maxing the mental skill (child), unlocks the logic skill (adult), but maxing the motor skill doesn't unlock the athletic skill.  Even when the child skills are leveled out, however, it doesn't seem to add to the regular adult skills.  I'll need to play through more at the child level to really figure out what happens if you don't max all the skills and other stuff.  Side note: When the children play the violin it sounds horrible.

Lifetime wishes have multiple stages now, too. So you have multiple mini goals, which finally culminate in your sim achieving their lifetime goal.  I think it makes you more invested in the end goal, and makes it seem like more of an achievement.  Plus, it adds a little bit of complexity, which I like. 


But so far, what has really made the game worth it for me are all the little ridiculous things that have happened.  I don't want to tell you guys all of them, cause discovering them makes the game so awesome, but I'll let you in on a few of my favorites:

My child sim was bullied at school and she came home angry.  She had to use the toilet when she came home so I clicked on it and saw the option "Take an angry poop". After I finished wiping the tears from my eyes from laughing, she took that angry poop. She took that poop, her anger emote went away. Ridiculous. I died.  So keep in mind, everyone, next time you're mad -  the solution is simple: just go poop.

As a personality option, your sim can be a bro.  This is hysterically awesome to me.  Maybe it just hit me in my giggle box at the right time, but I'm giving it up to EA for expanding the game and making it so interesting.  Also, I made my sister into a bro sim. Her interactions are fantastic.

Awkwardly, your sims now get feedback from their partners about how good is the woo hoo, and it affects their emotions.  The other day my sim got embarrassed, cause the woohoo wasn't that great.

And for all of you who are missing certain things from the Sims 3, keep in mind that there are bound to be a ton of expansions coming out for this game.  This is just the base game so far, and look how amazing it already is.  I can't wait for the new expansions to come out.  My personal favorite was the seasons expansion, and I can't wait for more.

If you've been playing the new sims, let me know what your favorite parts are in the comments!