Hello Again:

AJ's mommy, did you go to school for 2yrs or did you take a certificate program? I have an AS Degree from 1978 and I'm thinking about the certificate program. Is there a difference in pay? Also I'm a little nervous about taking blood, is that a requirement too? It seems that there are lots of jobs out there for this field because the medical field is growing so much.

Thanks,

melloyan

Melloyan,
I went to Ross Medical Education Center, it's a 7 month full time program and I highly recommend those type of schools. You get the same education w/out all the extra classes you really don't need. I'm not sure if there is a difference in pay, I'm thinking, at least where I live...a Medical Assistant is a Medical Assistant, regardless of where the education comes from, therefore we get paid roughly the same. I do know though, however...working in a more specialty office, will pay more. I am leaving my job at the pediatricans office, Friday is my last day and moving to an Oncology office and I'll be getting $2.00/hr MORE than the other.
When I was younger, I always wanted to be a nurse...but the thought of injections or blood draws scared the bejeebies out of me...so I went into the dental field and worked as an assistant for 5 yrs. Once we got married and had our child, I didn't work for several years...finally about 2 yrs ago, I thought enough already, just do it....so I bit the bullet and signed up for Ross, blood draws and all...I was alittle nervous at first, but to be completely honest with you.....Blood draws are my favorite thing to do! In the pediatric office I don't do them, we send them all to the hospital, but the oncology we'll do them alot, which is part why I wanted to swich too....
As with anything, you'll be nervous...I know I was, but it soon passed after my first successful draw...and now I'm one of the girls that others come to, when they need help...or ppl request because they know I'm good.
Let me know what you think/decide...and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask...you'll love it!!

Hi all...been pretty busy the last few weeks; haven't been tracking but have still lost a few lbs.

Start-26
Breakfast-All bran breakfast bar-2
coffee w/ff creamer-.5

Lunch-Spinach salad w/deli roast beef, ff dressing, serving of moz cheese-5

Snack-cin toast crunch-6

I have 12.5 left for the day. I did also go to the gym this morning, and earned 6 aps.

School starts back for me tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if I can get dd to the babysitters, get my other dd to preschool, and get myself to class on time at 9am! Thursday is even worse, as my class starts at 8am!

Hope everyone is doing well!
Paige

Hi All!! I just had to stop what I was doing and post....DH pulled the scale he uses for measuring freon (residential a/c) out of the garage for me and says the scale is accurate.....well, I hopped on and I've lost 7 POUNDS!!! Can you say happy dance??

I'll post points later this evening after dinner, but I couldn't wait until then to post my weigh-in.

Thank you, EVERYONE, for all your continued support on this forum!
I know I wouldn't have made it this far without all of you!

I have a question for anyone that does Curves...What do you count as your AP's earned there?? I've always counted 2, but my slider says it could be 4?? I'm alittle confused...

I didn't w/out yet today, but did run into Curves to weigh and see if I've lost any of the 5 I put on last week....I lost 1, so we're back on track and doing good.
B: fruit loops w/milk 4pts
L: ham on ww bread 2pts, 100 cal pack 3pts
S: apple w/cinnamon & sugar and some marshmellows 2pts
D: chicken/lettuce/bacon/ bbq salad 9pts & a dry breadstick w/butter 2pt
22/24 so far... prob. just enough for popcorn/oil later unless I can make it back to Curves after my PTA meeting.

Hey guys,
I'm still here. I've not done too bad on food. But I still cough my head off when I exercise and get hot. I hope to get back to curves tomorrow,
I'm sure this will be another week of no loss...
When I get to curves 3x a week. I usually have a steady 2lb a week loss.

B-ww yogurt 1

L- lean cuisine meal 6
salad w/rf dressing 2

S-sunflower seeds 5? (I lost count)
cookie 2

Oh yeah!! great news. I rained here! Woo Hoo. finally. Our high is only in the upper 80's.

Later

Hello everyone. Hope you are all having a great day. Mine is nice but not in a food sort of way. Woke up and skipped breakfast. Took DS to meet his preschool teacher. He starts there tomorrow. Wend to the gym. Worked out at a slow pace for an hour. I burned 319 calories. So, then I was ready to chew my arm off. I called my friend and after a shower met her at Peter Piper Pizza for the buffet. AHHHHHHHh~~ don't go to one when you are ravenous. I ate 5 slices of cheese pizza, salad with ranch, and three slivers of dessert pizza. So much for getting back on track today. I am at the end of Tom, so I hope to be back to normal tomorrow. Good news, scale this am said I am still at 179. Will close for now. Have a good night. I will check in tomorrow.

---Amy

Hi all!! Melloyan you have probably got a lot of water retention going on. I know when I eat things I shouldn't or go over on my points my rings get tight. Anyway you are back on track and back to schedule so thats good. Those 2 lbs will probably fall off in 2 or 3 days. Breakfast-all bran cereal bar/grapes/banana=4 pts. lunch-lean cuisine/grapes=7 pts. dinner-lean cuisine=7 pts. My last 3 pts will be for a snack later. I worked out at curves and rode my exercise bike 10 miles. I bought a pair of capris today. Size 10!!! I am getting there, just slowly. Everyone have a great night.

Hi All:

Paula, thanks for the encouragement. My rings are tight too. I didn't have them when I posted previously.

AJ's Mommy...how did you do the 7 months full time and stay sane with studying and taking care of everyone at home? I'll have to find a school here in Mass. like you went too. Funny too that you wanted to be a nurse. I did too, but things scrared me too. My two older children are actually in nursing school. My oldest wants to become a nurse practioner. I told her to go for it.

Boater's Wife...congrats on your 7lb loss...I'm so happy for you!

Today's diet:

1 Egg, WW Bread, Butter, 1 Slice Bacom 1/2 C Milk - 6 pts

WW Pizza - 7 pts

S/Stacey's Cinnachips....4pts

8 sushi crabmeat rolls - I'll say 8 pts....25pts today.

No exercise today...but tomorrow morning first thing I'll hit the treadmill.

See you all tomorrow.

melloyan

melloyan,
The school I went to, was Monday-Friday 8:30am-1:00pm. My son was in 2nd grade that year, so it worked out well...I went to school when he did, and tried to study afterwards while he was still in school, which unfortunately, didn't happen often, as I met some wonderful friends there and we'd go to lunch nearly everyday, which attributed to my heaviest weight...Anyhow, I'd study at night, some "mods" were easier than others, and flash cards were my friend, I'd find time whenever I could, to study them. A "mod" is what they call their semesters..You learn a topic for a 4 week period, then you move to something else. They definitely cram alot into 7 months, but it is definitely manageable...I graduated top of my class. So to help reassure you for the blood draws and injections, you only have to do it for 4 weeks if you find a school like I went to

Here's a link for the school I went to
http://www.rossmedicaleducation.com/index.htm

Can't catch up with today, but posting mine:
Breakfast: latte (2)
sNACK: bAR THING (2)
CREAMER (1)
dINNER; Chicken (12) - it was alot of chicken, salad (0), crackers (2), fruit (1)
Snack: sbdb (2), crispy bar (2), thins (3)\
27 point day

0h- and I finally had a real loss- 2.6 lbs!

Congrats on the loss morrigan!!!

Morrigan...FABULOUS!!

Well, I finally made it to a real scale today and my total loss was 5# instead of 7#. Before I hopped on the scale, I thought "I'm going to be upset if it's not the amount that I think it is". But I got on, found out the correct amount, and realized I wasn't upset at all! I'm so happy with how far I've come in such a short time, and not just the pounds either. I'm happy with ME. I'm happy with the choices I'm making. So those two pounds? No big deal. I'll make them up over the next couple weeks and keep going!

Today:

Breakfast: english muffin with jelly 3pts, banana 2pts
Lunch: Hillshire farms ham sandwich on Wonder Lite bread 2pts, baked chips 2pts
Dinner: Smoked sausage/rice/mixed veggie concoction 6pts.

15 total for the day so far.....I think I'm going to go enjoy a skinny cow!

My day in a nutshell:
B: Fruit loops w/milk 5pts ( I had more than a cup of the loops, lol)
L: Slim fast/oil/banana 6pts
S: granola bar 2pts
D: Smart one 4pts, corn 2pts
S: pb crackers 5pts
Then I induldged in a small snack bag of cheetos 4pts
I did go to Curves, so I'm only over by 2...but...WI is tomorrow am...and I still show a gain from my vacation. I hate gains!

I decided to be brave today and dye my hair, I'm always up for a fun change...so I went from my brownish w/blonde highlights to a dark brown w/reddish undertones...Everyone seems to like it, although my son says I look like a teenage rock start now...lol. My hair stylist loves me, she never knows what I'm up for next.

Woo Hoo Morrigan! Great job on the loss.

I weighed in tonight as well. Down .4?????????? I guess even though I am not journaling or counting points, I am just making better choices than before. I really want to get back to journaling and staying OP. I will try tomorrow. I have a friend coming into town on the 14th of Sept. I would LOVE to be down 5 more pounds by then. I am to the point where about 10 pounds seems to be one size. You can really see 5-10 pounds now. That is a great feeling.

Jennifer, your hair color sounds great. I highlighted my hair once. I hated it. I have a really dark brown hair. Never dyed it before. I do have about 6 gray hairs now. Hmmmmmmm???? We will see. Perhaps I will want to change a few more things after I take off the last 24 pounds.

Kelly, congrats on your loss too. You are doing great!!!

Have a good night everyone!!!

---Amy