Congrats to Megan-- that's amazing!

Hugs to you Jen. I'm so sorry. If it makes you feel better about your weight-- mine is spiking too and I don't know why-- I'm super frustrated-- misery loves company?

Megan That sounds like a tough test -

I too think Shatner is a guy you could sit with and listen to while drinking beer (although his preference is for wine if I recall a program I saw about him correctly)

Shannon I hope you are really better, not just toughing it out and going to work. Glad you got to see Shatner.

saef DH is a huge "Walking Dead" fan and I like it (though the smashing of zombie heads does get tedious sometimes). I can see you charging through Walgreens waving your katana and screaming "where the h*ll is the Prozac. Get me some NOW!!!"

I have been working since I was 16 years old - full time since I was 21. I only ever had any kind of benefits for about 10 of those 40 years, and that was mainly unemployment insurance if I got laid off (which came off my paycheque every week). I only had any medical/dental etc. for about 4 months at one job and DH had coverage for about 6 months at one job and I was partially covered too. Now I work no matter what - literally. I was forced to take 10 days off when I had a cast on my wrist and couldn't drive but that's been the only lengthy sick time off I've had in the last 18 years.

I do now take 2 weeks of vacation every year but no one pays me for that. I love what I do but there are no financial benefits of any kind for the self-employed in my line of work.

Oops - dinner is probably burning.

Dagmar

My former job was in the tax department of an accounting firm. We joked that, during tax season, we were all expected to come to work unless we had lost a limb, so everyone came to work sick. I once came to work after a stop at the ER for a fainting spell! Now I work at a big oral surgery practice where everyone but me is paid hourly, so they have to use their meager time off if they want sick time. I guess we're all supposed to be happy just to have a job, and grateful if we get medical benefits. Gah.

I'm still really struggling with my eating but am keeping up with my workouts so I am barely maintaining. Sometimes, I'm just sick of myself.

Is anyone going to watch the Lance Armstrong interview with Oprah? I always figured he was doping but it seems like it was a well-orchestrated program involving many people. I'm not sure I want to hear his side of it.

My current job does have sick pay, per se, however with 2 FT employees and 2 PT, our boss told us if you are sick stay home. He always pays us for sick days. However, it's a perk we don't abuse.

I've been having a hard time the last 5 days or so, but it's been so darn cold here. I'm freezing and want to eat hot food. We don't have a lunch/break room at work, and our boss prefers we do not eat in the building, so, we pack our lunch or go out to lunch. Since I pack mine, I end up eating in my car with the heater running. Sucks.

I did go invest in a thermos, so I can at least have some hot soup.

The boss also has a bad habit of opening the back door, that leads to the large animal vet room that we don't heat all that much and leaving it open all day. It's friggin' 0 outside and the cold air rushes up the hallway and it's freezing in the office!

A few weeks ago, the vet tech and I shut off the heat vent to the Doc's office, and cracked open a window in his office, he still leaves the dang door open.

Tomorrow, I'm taking the vent front off of his office vent and plugging it with cardboard, and cracking his other window open!

The dumb thing is this guy will pinch pennies in the dumbest ways, and then pay an astronomical heat bill, because he won't shut the doors!

Ok, I kinda got off on a vent!

Janelle, I got cold just reading your post.My suggestion, thermal underwear.

I feel bad that you are experiencing this, too, but it is always good to know that you are not alone! Scale remains 4 pounds up today

My friend texted me last night and she made all the funeral arrangements - on her own. She said that she is going to call me today to talk a little more. I asked if she was eating and she hadn't been. I gave her a text lecture about how she is going to end up hospitalized and she agreed to eat something.

I am cold all the time, so just the thought of having a door wide open when it is freezing out makes me SHUDDER. I love my maintenance guy - he has my office heat CRANKED and (shhh.... don't tell anyone) he even turned up the heat a little in the spare room that is ONLY used when I work out in there a couple days per week!

Jen

Speaking of food dreams... I do get them occasionally, but only ever when I have been in losing mode and restricting calories quite low (bc in order to lose, I can't "just make better choices" and there is some hunger involved). Last night I had a dream about a Chinese buffet. There were really flimsy paper plates and every time I served myself something, the plate would fold or buckle, food would slide off, and I never got to eat. Once I had a dream I was a contestant on the bachelor. I had no interest in the bachelor bc I still had my real-life BF, but I didn't want to get eliminated bc they had a big dessert buffet with this delicious chocolate cake. Jen, when I get in this state there are usually buffets involved in the dreams and they are about eating a lot of food. Though more often trying to eat the food than doing. Like the paper plate collapsing or getting kicked off the bachelor, something is keeping me from it.

Janelle, I don't know if you're comfortable enough with your boss to do this, but perhaps meet ridiculous behavior with ridiculous behavior. If he is going to leave his door wide open when it's this cold, you & the other techs wear snuggies to work, or wear hats and gloves and coats the whole day, etc. Or tell him if he's going to keep it that cold, he needs to let you bring in a microwave to heat up tea to keep you warm. Or install a padlock on the outside of the door in the middle of the night so he can't open it. Brrrr.

How did I miss the imagine of Saef fighting the zombies for her Prozac? I can see the tank top showing off your nicely toned upper body, too. Love it!

Megan, I ,personally, like the padlock idea. Genius !

Sorry I've been AWOL/lurking/not posting! I'm fighting off a cold and needing to do that makes me pretty crabby and antisocial. Usually I can tell within a day or two if I'm going to win or lose; this one's dragging on, leaving me at 80-90% and not doing much except keeping me from doing all the stuff I want to do! My only option seems to be continuing with the vitamin C bombs, getting an extra hour of sleep, yadayadayadayada until the decision goes one way or the other.

As an employee of an automotive OEM, I have probably some of the best benefits in the country, despite them being scaled back multiple times. At least in my department, the support for staying home while sick is total. I've been requested to call in to a meeting once or twice ... I do appreciate that the insurance changes force us to learn about how much medical and dental costs are, and I personally think that the new initiative that boils down to "live a healthy lifestyle, or pay more for your premiums" is a good thing. One can choose not to participate, but it will cost you big $$$!

Megan-- your food dreams made me chuckle!

Janelle-- brrrr..... I'm cold too just thinking about it. When I get to work in the winter, the library is always frigid (56-59) and I crank the heat-- it takes hours to get up to 68-70 but it eventually gets there. What bugs me is ALL day the teachers/staff/students will open my doors and leave them open. I have to walk over and close them. I've had birds fly in the library, get up in the rafters and not leave-- very messy! I've put signs on the doors that show a bird and say close the door-- I would just think it is common sense but apparently not!

The scale was down a little today but it's got a long way to go. I think it was afraid of my wrath if it went any higher. I came home to an awful mess yesterday. Pretty much the worst animal mess I've ever come home to. Jozi (my Great Dane) must have eaten something (dead?) outside-- it looked like brown paint had been dumped all over the floors-- sorry for the TMI-- hope no one is eating breakfast! She seems okay now-- I pray she is because if I come home to that today I will cry...... I was cleaning floors all night (luckily we don't have carpet!).

Re: sick days-- technically I have them but I never take them because the school district won't get a sub if I'm gone and the library is closed. I will take them if I'm very ill but that rarely happens.

I love the image of saef fighting the zombies for meds. It made me snicker this morning, I'm totally picturing scenes from Terminator 2 with saef in the lead role.

I discovered that my strep came from a woman working in the restaurant downstairs. No sick time, hourly employee, single mother with two kids who felt like she had no choice but to come to work. I ranted for a while yesterday on our employment system forcing sick people to work. I've been the hourly employee with no sick time in the past, too, so I understand where she was coming from absolutely.

Jen - I'm sorry about your client. On the tails of your friend that had to be hard. Other than eating is your friend doing okay? And your weight will settle back down. Be careful on the IT Band - it could tweak for a while.

Dagmar - yes, I think Shat's taste is for wine.

Janelle - you need a space heater. LOL You mentioned baking chicken pieces in the oven with hot sauce as a sub for wings, what do you do? DH and I LOVE wings.

Becky - hope you feel better soon!

I'm still a little tired and draggy. I might go home early today. I want the tired to go away.

everyone!

I'm writing to avoid the huge spread that just arrived in my staff room to celebrate January birthdays. I glanced at the sweet, sugary stuff and snagged a couple of pieces of fruit before hightailing it out of there.

I'm wondering if part of my weight woes are the fact that I'm eating at maintenance levels instead of weight loss levels. I think that some of us (myself at least) lose the weight with a combination of diet and exercise, and then keep up the exercise, but loosen the rigidity of the food. I need to quit "experimenting" to see what will happen if I eat something off plan-- I know what happens--- I gain..... I have so many future food events that I need to not eat off plan AT ALL except for those rare occasions. The next one is my hubby's 50th birthday-- we are going to Napa and eating at one of the top restaurants in the country (the chef is on Food Network a lot)... I know that weekend will be way off plan. Then, I have a cruise the end of March (plus my birthday in March)-- other than that, I will stick to plan!!!!

I joined the Bunco group on Meetup and now realize that there will be a lot of food involved! Each month has a theme-- for example February is BBQ-- each person brings something-- I signed up for "salad"-- I'll figure it out later but I will make it yummy and healthy! I hate to go meet new people and be the weirdo who doesn't eat so I'll have to be very careful at these evenings-- I already don't drink and it looks like drinking is involved too....sigh...

That's really interesting that the dreams seem similar but that I was stuffing myself and you don't get to eat! I only remember having a dream like this once before (early on) where I was walking from Wendy's and cramming french fries in my mouth and I KNEW I should stop, but I COULDN'T.

Shannon - Hard to tell with my friend - hoping she will call today. I am trying to respect her grief but he was SO TERRIBLE to her that I want her to be mad at him instead of sad. She asked that in lieu of flowers that donations be made to a local drug/alcohol treatment program, and I thought that was awesome.


Speaking of the Walking Dead, I love this show but we watch it when it comes out on DVD so I've seen none of season 3 - so no spoilers, please! I love, love, love getting scared - and scaring people. I am infamous for hiding in closets and jumping out and scaring people or under things and grabbing ankes - I'm a sick puppy!

Jen

Am I the only one who wants to eat & eat when she's in a room that is very cold? I've struggled with the temperature in my apartment, which is steam-heated, though with the radiators hidden in the walls. When winter finally arrived, and the radiators heated up for the first time, I found it was so stifling in here that the candles that I've stuck into the wall sconces were bending and drooping, and remained soft enough for me to take them down & straighten them. So when my mother visited, we both painstakingly pried off the wall grates and turned the knobs to shut down the radiators. But we seem to have shut down too many because during the daytime -- as with today, after sleet and snow -- there's a slightly dank chill in the air. It's good for my antique furniture but it's hard because I'm sedentary & just typing on a keyboard, so I'm not moving around enough to give off heat. And I'm certain that it makes me eat more. I shudder after cold drinks. Probably I should go for the herbal tea but -- I'm really not an herbal tea type of person.

Shannon, I'm somehow fascinated that you were actually able to trace the source of your illness. And yes, who could blame that woman for working while ill?

I'm another one who's salaried. At the start of every year, my employer gives us a batch of PTO days (for "paid time off"), which aren't designated as sick days or vacation days. Since I've worked here a while, I get about 30 of them. They are just neutral days off that you use when needed. I tend to rarely use mine for sick days, since my department has a fairly flexible work-from-home policy. When I take a sick day, I am really sick. But really, I don't get sick as often as I did when I was fat. My male coworkers who work from home a lot & have grade school children get sick a lot.

My co-op just chartered a bus yesterday to attend another meeting of the municipal zoning board, to once again beg for permission to raise our flood wall. The neighboring apartment complexes and people who own houses and who have also been flooded also appeared to voice their opposition. Our engineer has sent along voluminous reports that show that our displacing the flood water will not affect them. Two members of the zoning board who spoke up during the meeting seem favorably inclined. The opposition got a one-week extension for delivery of further materials ... but the board plans to make a decision on February 19th.

Anyway, I got in from that late-running meeting at 9 PM, unhappy at getting to bed late, knowing I've got a full day today, which includes my year-end performance review and also, a conversation about a managerial position in my department that just opened up. It was a fact-finding conversation, not officially part of the interview process, but I knew it was important. The guy with whom I spoke beat me out for the previous management position that opened up. I tried to reassure him that if I got the new position, I'd consider us collaborators, rather than competitors. I do have a competitive nature at the office. If only I were able to think of him as someone on this board who's lost a lot of weight & struggles with maintenance, then truly I would be collaborating with him as an equal & brother.