Hey all!

Well, had a FUN weekend--my sister, her fiance, and his daughter (girl in my pic) came up to visit. We went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore--fun times! In the course of the weekend, I managed to eat Papa John's pizza, Silver Diner, Taxas Roadhouse, Hard Rock Cafe, and Maggiano's (amazing family-style Italian restaurant). Mind you, I did NOT get just a salad at any of them. So today (well, yesterday really), it's back to the grinding stone. I am usually able to bounce back from a bad food weekend pretty easily by limiting my calories during the week, so here's hoping that'll be enough this time. I'm also starting back to the gym--I did 20 minutes on the eliptical yesterday before I got a sharp pinching pain in my knee and had to call it quits. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish my full 30 minutes between jobs today.

I have a job interview on Thursday. If I get it, it will be quite the commute (it's in downtown DC), but it will be a huge increase in pay (almost 1.5 times what I am making now), so I think the good would outweigh the bad. In any case, it doesn't hurt to check it out and, if nothing else, gain further interviewing experience.

I would join the 2x2, but for strters, I weigh in on Thursdays. I also haven't been consistently losing a pound a week, yet I am still down overall. It's so spurty, even though I seem to have the same habits every week. Sometimes, I'll only be down a 1/2 pound in 2 weeks, and sometimes, I'll be down 4 or 5 pounds in 2 weeks. I'm not complaining by any means--going down is going down, no matter what the rate. It's just confusing is all

Well, hope everyone's week has been of to a great start so far. Have a Terrific tuesday!

I seem to get one every time I spend more than 6 hours in bed; so much for ever sleeping in! But seriously, back pain is not fun.

I didn't weigh in yesterday like I normally do on Mondays. I ended up having to work extra on Friday and didn't have time for my workout, and I was so stressed out over taking my CDL test Monday that I didn't work out then, either! (Besides, I needed to touch up on my studying.) Man, I have some serious catching up to do!

I ended up getting a B, whew! Now I need a physical exam (fun ) and a little practice on that little bus before I take the actual driving test. Then I'll be all ready for the summer.

In fact, I may just forget about the 13 pounds thing and just start swimming once summer camp begins. We'll see.

I'm still excitied about my new digital camera; I posted another photo over in the picture page yesterday.

Well, hope everyone's doing well! I must be off to work now.

Dogpal-That wasn't me for a change. I have People on my shopping list for today. When I was in the 400+ and 500+ neighborhood, I hadn't found this website yet. I was isolated. I'm really glad that you found it earlier than I did.

Missmeliss-Back pain. I could write a book on in. I've always been heavy off an on my whole life, but this outrageous almost 600 pounds thing happened after a bad back injury. 15 years ago I was stalked, stabbed and thrown down a large marble staircase. The stab wound was in the middle of my left hand, a defensive wound. To this day, I can not remember if the stab came first at the top, or last at the bottom. At the time I weighed 215 pounds. I hurt my back, left knee and head in addition to my hand. My concussion was so bad that by the time I remembered enough of what happened, it was too late to prosecute the guy. This incident was a big reason why I moved to Florida. I've hurt my back a couple more times since then, mostly because of my weight. I've never really had a good diagnosis of what is going on. I was only able to have an x-ray the last time, I was too big for MRI, and all they could tell was arthritis. The best they can figure, is torn muscle or ligament or tendon, or some kind of disk thing. The main pain is sciatica. That has gone almost away since I've been doinf the water aerobics 3 times a week, except for the week they had the pool closed for cleaning on a Friday. I went 5 days without being in the water that week, and just about stiffened like a mummy. When I was at my worst, and my scatica was really hurting, I found lying on my stomach, with a pillow under my stomach to "invert" the curve of my lower back helped. I'd lay cross ways on my bed with my legs hanging off from about the knees down, and gently did some flutter kicks. Somehow or other that seemed to get my scatica "unhooked" from where it was pinched. Nothing scientific, just something that worked for me.

Any other Mac users on the list? I've just switched to a new mac and no matter what browser I use I have trouble doing some things I used to do on here.

Another slow starting day, but at least I got up a little earlier. Stayed OP all day yesterday, so aiming to make it 2 for 2.

ANDREA---Hope the WI shows all your hard work.

MELISS---Take that back ache seriously... do whatever it takes to get rid of it... they can spiral and take a long time to recover! I just finished a memoir by Saira Shah, _The Storyteller's Daughter_. Shah's a half-Afghani who grew up in Britain and became a reporter covering the Afghan-Soviet struggle. She made the documentary _Beneath the Veil_ about women under the Taliban. The book is really beautiful, about storytelling and cultural identity as much as anything.

JILL--Sounds like a fun weekend in any case. Good luck with that job interview.

KAREN--Good job on that CDL.

Lilion...what's my fault? What did I do now??? LOL no worries...

I was never much of a Diet Coke drinker...I like some of the flavored Diet sodas but Diet Coke and I were never friends. BF loves Diet Pepsi which I think is vile (and I don't buy pepsi products anyways) so finding this was a good thing.

Nothing much to comment...I slept like a rock last night and didn't really want to get out of bed this morning.

Oh well another day...maybe it will start to cool down finally.

Hi all! Although I have read the posts daily, I haven't had to time to actually post, and really don't have time for now! I worked all weekend preparing for trial, and unfortunately, was stuck downtown in the office and did horrible for food, escpecially Sunday. I should have thought ahead and brought my own lunch instead of depending on what my atty ordered in - Pizza - the worst "pack on the pounds" food there is! Oh well, it was either eat that or do without. I got right back OP yesterday, and went to a local park and walked the 1.5 mile trail they have. Of course, my monthly friend showed up this morning, but am still going to work hard to have some kind of loss this week.

Shadie - Big congrats to you! That's great. Keep up the "losing" streak you're on!!

MissMeliss - I often have back pain if I have slept more than 6 years and we even have a Sleep Number bed. I know its probably more my weight, but do pay special attention to that pain and if it doesn't go away, go see your doctor.

Also, to all of you that also mentioned back pain, I see a massage therapist at least once a month, try for at least twice, and he has given me stretching exercises that really do help when I get the back pain - and it is also very relaxing.

HippieVanLady - I am so sorry to hear what happened to you years ago. You are obviously a very strong and dynamic woman to have overcome such an incident. You are an inspiration to me!

I really do have to run. Hope to have more time later in the week to really catch up with everyone. Everyone have a great week!

Catherine -

Oh my lord!! That story is absolutely horrifying...I am so glad you've come a long way with your weight loss. I never gained a significant amount of weight at a time. Basically for me I've consistently gained about ten pounds a year since...oh since birth it seems!!

Seriously, though...I'm glad that you mentioned that water aerobics seem to have helped your sciatica, I needed the reassurance. See I havent exercised in TWO WEEKS, and i doubt it's a coincidence that in those two weeks, i've taken to using more back pain pills than i had in two MONTHS.

Good Morning Ladies! (and Gentleman - Teddy Bear, you still with us?)

Well, it was a busy day Monday, but a good food day for the most part. Bad on water, not enough veggies, but under on points, so that's something. Today is nearly a carbon copy, food-wise and busy-ness too. No time for a "real" dinner again and I imagine we'll be having sandwiches in the car on our way to a demo we're doing for a neighboring town's library's "medieval day". Just as well we never unpacked from the weekend!

Julee: I was referring to the 2x2 challenge. You apparently copied from Detroit Lady and missed that I had already added my name two posts later. I just wanted to point at someone and laugh when I put myself back on! You were the one!

Jill: I weigh on Fridays and still do the 2x2. I just pretend that what I weighed on the Friday I still weigh on Monday. I like weighing on Fridays, makes me feel like I can "play" a little on the weekend. Probably not a good attitude, but it's worked for me so far. Good luck on the interview!

Back pain...don't get me started. Although I can't even begin to match Catherine's horror story - How absolutly awful! I don't know what's wrong with my back really and don't recall ever injuring it, but I know I do have some "bulging" disks that cause pain. My lower back has been bad enough that I had to have epidural steroid injections. The spasms felt like someone was trying to rip off my right buttock! But I get generic back pain from laying in bed too. DH and I spent over $2000 on a Sterns & Foster mattress and boxspring to help, and it has, but I still get up and take Motrin and go back to bed some mornings. We considered a sleep number bed but decided against it for two reasons. 1. We're snugglers and having the "hump" between the two mattresses felt odd and 2. each side is only for 500 lbs. Now each of us separately would be fine, but...well...sometimes married people do end up on the same side of the bed! I didn't want to have to try to claim the warranty if we had a blow-out!

Meliss: Happy to see you back and with the positive attitude! you GO girl!

Well, I think that's about it for now! I should probably be working so I can enjoy the upcoming 3-day weekend!

Have a happy, healthy OP day!

Catherine ~ Do you have any bleeding problems? The reason I ask is I have family members who have VonWillebrand's disease, a bleeding disorder. You can live your whole life with it and never have a problem, or you could be one of those who bleeds every time they sneeze.

Anyway, people with VWd have problems clotting, but also have weird cholesterol readings (and are supposed to be at low risk for heart disease, which is a good thing). You might want to check into it. You can do research on it on Web sites for hemophiliacs. They have to do special tests to determine if you have it.

I will tell you that the doctors are pretty stupid about it though (lots of misconceptions). Several of my family members have it, but they won't test me. They say my bleeding problems are caused by my... (what else?)... "weight."

P.S.: You have led one **** of a life. I can't wait to read your book. I'll be the first one in line to buy it and your biggest fan.

Lilion ~ It was you who recommended that I not be so strict with myself. For me, any restriction is restriction (even with WW and the high number of points they allow me). Maybe I can go back on it later, but right now I feel like I need to shed the diet mentality (I did WW for over a year and binged back everything I lost).

And... I'm happy to say...

I lost 1 pound!!!

All on my own!!!

Yea!!!

Thanks everybody for your support!!! Hi to all!!!

SHHHHHhhhhh!!! *whispering* I not suppose to be here… My psychology teacher cancelled our 2-4 class, and I decided to skip my chemistry 5-9 class. BUT! I have a very good reason for this. I have a psych paper due Thursday and a midterm in Calculus to study for… I’m taking advantage of the class cancellation to come home at 2 instead of 9 and work on stuff.

Lilion – HUGS right back.. thanks!

Julee – OOOH I just started drinking diet pepsi because I seem to be able to handle the after taste better than diet coke. I’ll have to try the Diet Coke one… Blue lable? Thanks for the tip!!!

Dogpal – I didn’t join the 2x2 this time around… with everything going on, I can’t keep track of my head so thank GOODNESS it’s screwed on tight! Not to mention, I gained 2lbs I think…. EEK, but see I’m not sure if that’s because of the stress that has been going on for the past two weeks, or because I’m using weight machines at the Gym and I gained muscle or what. I thought I had at least maintained, but that was a farce hehehe… EEK Ah well… times have been stressful… once I get things back on track, I hope to be back on the 2x2’s

Jillybean – GOOD LUCK ON THE INTERVIEW

Tashabella – CONGRATS on the 1lb GONE!

I hope everyone is doing well… anyone think they can lend me a hand with all my To-Do stuff? Actually… lend me a hand, and arm, a few legs, and a few other body parts and I think everything will be alright I will take some before and after pictures of the backyard and show you what I turned it into after everything is done… assuming we got the money to get it all done. I’m going to be applying for a second job, well not really a second job, but I thinking about applying for summer school for work. They looking for someone instructional assistants to help out during summer school… extra income can really help BIG time during all this money spending happiness we’ve done. We shall see tho…

Take care everyone!
Sue…

Hi Everyone,

Well, today was my weekly wi and I am down 4 pounds! I was so disappointed but then I said hey, a loss is a loss and I will never see that 4 pounds again. So, all of my hard work is paying off!

Miss Melis: I sure hope that your back ache gets better soon. That is miserable.

Jillybean: Good luck with the job interview. I hope you get it and congrats on continuing to go down in the scales.

Catherine: Wow, about your attack earlier. You are a strong lady. What state did you live in when that happened to you? I am so thankful that you are alive. You inspire me and so many people on this site.

Angela: Thanks for the good wi wishes. So far so good. Since I started coming here I am down in 3 weeks 21 pounds!

Doximom: My husband and I were seriously thinking about a sleepnumber bed. That is until I read Lilion's post about the warrenty info. Yes married folks do end up on the same side at times! I didn't realize there was a bump in the middle. I can imagine the conversation or being the first couple to pop a sleepnumber bed. Lindsey Wagner would just be amazed!

Tashabella: Yea! -1 keep up the great work.

SueMarie: Your small gain was probably muscle. Hang in there. It will come off again plus more!

Blessings to everyone,
Dogpal,
Andrea

Hello Women, Just a quick one as it's after 12 and I have to be up in 7 hrs... Congrats to all you losers!!! especially you Tasha! See, things were stressful, but you saw the light! You go Girl!!

Sciatica - the MOST painful thing that ever happened to me! lol Lilion, your description of feeling like someone is trying to rip your right buttock off is right on! lol That's exactly how I felt when I had my major flare ups last year. I was reduced to tears, walking round my apt hunched over and wondering what the **** was wrong. Went to a lot of doctors, had a lot of tests done, took some useless 'pain medication' and you know what finally worked? Moving my BIG BUTT! LOL For the first time in years, this sciatica is not interrupting my daily life! My right butt cheek is still tender, but that burning, stinging pain is outta here (I've traded it for that sore I work out every day thing lol).

Well, I'm going to try and catch some Zzzzz.... sleep well girls and be good to yourselves tomorrow!!!

Love you all!

Dogpal..my first official WI at Weight Watchers I posed a 6.3 lbs loss. The next week was only half that. It is typical to have a more substantial loss in your first week...lots of water there. But keep that mindset..a loss is a loss. I beat myself up some weeks when I have worked my tail off and all I post is .5 lbs..or worse even gain .5. I am trying so hard not to be such a perfectionist and sabotage myself but some weeks it is my biggest challenge.

Ahhh sciatica..my old nemesis. When mine flared up I had never felt such a pain in such odd places. Through my butt and down my leg. The worst, and what scared me the most, was the numbness down the front of my leg. I was worried that I would develop permanent nerve damage and hurt myself one day...and not know it. More often than not, what is inflamed is the piriformus muscle (deep in the butt) and it irritates the sciatic nerve. My physical therapy focused on that muscle and then later everything else around it and strengthening my lower back. No fun though...no sirree.

I forgot to tape AI tonight....GO BO!!!!!! I'm relying on someone for a good recap in the morning!!!

Good evening ladies! Hope everyone is good. I have kept up with the postings the last few days, but didnt post myself. I am doing well with food and excersise, i feel so much better if i do something everynight. Even though i am doing very well and people are starting to notice (again) i sometimes get so discouraged and feel like i will never get to goal wt. Your stories and support truly mean so much to me, i read the posts time and time again when i am feeling down
Speaking of diet sodas, has anyone tried the diet pepsi with lime? im not much of a pepsi fan, but this is good
Have a great night, and thanks to all you wonderful ladies who keep me motivated

Finally have time to sit for few minutes (at 9:30 p.m.) but hey, at least I have a few minutes. Have done well and stayed OP the last few days, and have walked 1.5 miles both nights. Having some shin-splint flare-up issues, but will work to keep those at bay. I am prone to them and they are very painful when I have a full blown flare-up, leaving me unable to do any type of walking exercise.

BIG CONGRATS to everyone that has posted a loss this week, and to those that didn't lose, don't let it get you down. You'll get there, just keep plugging away!

Dogpal (and Lilion) - I'm not sure what "lump" in the middle you are referring to with the Sleep Number. The hubby and I LOVE our Sleep Number bed. We have a king size "cadillac" model, but we will both tell anyone who will listen that it was worth every penny. We tell folks it was an investment, and not an expense. My younger sister laughed at us until she came over, stretched out on it and found her number. She totally agrees it is an investment. Nothing is more important than a good night's sleep. It's true that there are two separate chambers, but the mattress that covers the chambers is very thick with "space foam" insulation and then a 2" pillow top. Neither of us have ever had any kind of lump issues. Dogpal, go to your local Sleep Number store and try them out. You can lay on each model in the store and get comfy. Also, Dogpal, hurray for you on those four pounds. DO NOT be discouraged over four pounds. I'll take that four pounds in a minute! Four pounds = 16 sticks of butter! Visualize that one!

JuleeCees - I'm with you - GO BO!!! He's my boy and I voted on all three of his numbers, with my cell phone and my hubbie's!!! Let's keep our fingers crossed tomorrow night.

Futurediva - I've tried the Diet Pepsi with Lime and really like it. I thought it sounded rather gross, but I'm such a Pepsi fan I thought I would try it anyway. I've actually had more than one and will buy it again.

Have to run and get my lunch prepared for tomorrow (preplanning is defenitely a key for me in weight loss). Warm smiles to all and sleep tight.