Now that's more like it! Posts yipee!!

Aimee - isn't it odd that you're upset about 257 and I'm estatic about it?! It's gonna come off, don't give up eating the right things and exercising. I was stuck for 3 weeks... and getting very angry, but I didn't change my food at all and I revamped my exercise a little bit and BAM! a 7 pound drop (and no it's not my TOM).

Jill - you're actually so busy today that you have no time to post?!?! I can hardly believe it! Are you feeling better yet?

Kimberly - I hate it when all your thought's disappear right before you can hit send! Arrgh! For your headaches can you take an allergy medication? I know that this time of year I get migrane's due to pollen in the air. If I take a non-drowsy allergy medication that seems to help almost immediately.

I made the best soup today for lunch! I diced 2 tomatoes and sauted (no oil)them with basil, then I added a can of campbells select tomato soup, then I stired in a half can of Fat Free evaporated milk. Oh my goodness was it rich and creamy and there was zero fat!

Hey!!

Sara - I started very close to where I am now.. so I'm still near the beginning of my journey. Not to mention I can't seem to get below that darn number! I just wanna be out of the 250's, and then I'd feel like I accomplished something, yah know? It'll happen I'm sure..

Kimberley - those headaches SUCK.. hopefully you can find something to take them away soon.

I will stick to this, and will try to cut out more pasta/sugar things I've been having. Which isn't much.. but it still exists. I'm also going to rein in my fat grams... how many do you think is good? I've been aiming for 40-45 ish. I'm thinking I shouldn't go over 40 a day.. I don't really know how to find that out either.. I'm seriously google-illiterate. I think I really need to get some exercise in.. I need to time manage myself better, so that I have the time for it. And did you guys notice I'm TOTALLY not doing weights anymore.. lol.. I've got exercise ADD

Well I'm going to go eat dinner as my stomach is grumbling. I'll talk to you guys later (if anyone posts) or tomorrow!

-Aimee

Here I am, bright and early, back to normal! Well, normal except for the fact that we're still MISSING MARGE! Our fearless leader has gone MIA--hope things are okay.

I served last night (no luck in getting off completely like the night before), and my partner and I were cut at about 7:30 because it was so dead. Of course, RIGHT after we got cut, the restaurant got SLAMMED! The two other sections were completely full, plus they were taking tables in closed sections, so the 4 remaining servers each had about 5-6 tables (which is a lot--4 is enough to keep you quite busy). So of course, being the wonderfully kind people that we are, my partner and I stayed and helped out as much as we could--seating people when the host was already busy, getting drink refills, greeting tables and taking their drink orders if it had been to long since they'd been sat and not yet greeted, running food from the kitchen, cleaning off tables as guests left...I love helping other people out, but we were doing nothing but helping the other servers for 2 HOURS! Yeah, that's right, I got cut at 7:30 and didn't actually get to leave until 9:30. I'm not complaining about leaving late, of course--9:30 is way early compared to when I normally leave, which is great. It's just annoying that we were cut (which meant we couldn't take any more tables), so we were helping and running around with the other servers for only $2.13 an hour (our base pay before tips). So in my last 2 hours, I did just as much work as earlier and made less than $5 But it's all good. I had 7 tables before any of the other servers came on (I started at 4 and no one else came on until 5:15, so I had every table that came in), so I ended up making about $48 anyway. Not bad overall. I'm DEFINITELY loving getting out before 10:30-11pm, though. The extra hour or 2 of sleep a night is SOOOOO worth it!

I got an email from my boss at the office job yesterday afternoon after I left (so I just read it when I got in this morning). She said the last manager doing salary stuff is going to be done this week, so they should be able to get me an actual number (rather than saying "as close to $40,000 as possible combining salary and bonus") by the end of this week/early next week. Keeping my fingers crossed for something truly worthwhile...

OH my boss at the restaurant denied my request for the 4th of July off! I was so mad! If I have a day off from my full-time job, I certainly don't want to waste it by having to work at the restaurant. Only like 2 other people have requested that day off so far, so I know it's not a staffing issue. He told me it's based on seniority, that those who have been there longer get first dibs on the day off. My argument to that is: if they have been there for so long, then they should know by now that they have to request off as far in advance as possible, so they should have done so by now! UGH, I have never worked someplace where requested time off was NOT on a first-come, first-served basis. I talked to the woman who makes the schedule, though, and she loves me, so she said she'll see what she can do. It's good to get "in" with the truly important people

Kimberley--gotta love it when you have your post all written out and it just disappears. How frustrating! Of course, as ya'll can tell, I don't have much trouble finding plenty more things to say Seems like every sentence I write turns into an entire paragraph. Guess it comes with the territory of being a technical writer--I feel the need to explain everything as much as possible. Nature of the beast, I suppose.

Sara--tomato soup is my all-time FAVORITE soup! Oh, there is nothing better than some creamy tomato soup and a squishy grilled cheese sandwich--YUM! Good thing I'm feeling much better (my cold is weakening--nothing left but a little nasal congestion and a LOT of red on the skin on my nose!), or else I might be tempted to indulge in some of that soup and cheese sandwich idea as comfort food

Aimee--damm!t, girl, stay off that scale! I do the same thing sometimes, too, but I know the only number that counts is those Thursday morning weigh-ins. I sometimes weigh myself at different times and under different circumstances just to see what a difference some things can make (for example, after eating cereal, I can be up by as much as 3 pounds--I find that interesting since I KNOW my cereal and milk didn't weigh 3 pounds, so where does it come from?!). Welcome to the complexities of the human body. STOP STRESSING OVER NON-WEIGH-IN DAY WEIGHTS!

OH, good news on the boyfriend front--I have successfully convinced Jeff to make the leap and move from Maryland to Virginia. YAY! That means when we move in together, neither of us will have to find a new job since we will be able to live at a good middle ground for both job locations. That makes life SO much easier! I had originally said I would be willing to switch jobs, but now, if they're going to give me more money to stay here, then I might as well stay. Jeff also finally caved and signed up for a credit card (he has never had one before). I told him he just needs to use it every once in a while for like gas or whatever he might normally buy anyway--like once every other month, even. His argument was always that he didn't need a credit card--if he doesn't have the $$, then he doesn't buy it. That's AWESOME and extremely responsible of him, but my argument was that he needs to establish a credit history. That doesn't mean incur heaps of debt, just establish responsibility. He had to jump through all kinds of hoops and it took him FOREVER to get approved for his car loan last May without a co-signer because of his lack of credit history. It's not that he has bad credit, just that he has none at all. I was like, if you're going to be listed as a leaseholder on an apartment, you need credit or else the deposit is going to be much higher. I'm not trying to push him into anything, but I don't want his lack of credit to hurt us (if there is an "us" in the more distant future) in things like trying to buy a house and such. The night I tried explaining all of this to him (this past Friday night) is the night he finally signed up for a credit card, so I guess something sunk in. What I really need to do is explain to him (and make sure he understands) that it's not just this one thing in particular that got to me, but rather that it showed a lack of planning for the future, which shows me that he's not sure we have a future together, ya know? That's a hard discussion to have, but I think we need it If he doesn't see me in his future, I need to know because he is 95% of the reason I even moved up to this area. Of course, I won't put it that harshly, but you get the idea. Before I go naming our grandchildren, I better make sure we have the same future in mind

Alright, I know, too long of a post. I talk a lot. Like I said, nature of the beast. I apologize. I'm gonna go now. Have a great hump day, everyone!

Jill - Wow! Nothing like making up for yesterday! I hope everything works out as you have planned on the job front and the BF front. As for the Grilled Cheese sandwich... well as great as it sounds, it's just one of those things I stay away from so I don't fall back into bad habits. I had a smoked turkey, lettuce and tomato sandwich with spicy brown mustard instead! Mmmm yummy, and good for me!

Aimee - I also can't wait to get out of the 250's... I just got here and I can already taste the 40's! I've got a reward coming at 240 so it's extra incentive for me. You were wondering about fat grams... I stay within 20grams of fat per day. The food plan I use was given to me by a nutritionist several years ago and it works for me. It's based on calories but I don't count calories... too much work! I pay attention to servings of each catagory. I'm allowed:
9 servings of starch (serving = 1 slice of bread, 1/2 c potatoes, 1/2 c rice, 1 c pasta),
3 servings fruit (serving = 15 grapes, 1/2 grapefruit, medium banana),
3 servings veges (1/2 c cooked, 1 c raw), 4 servings fat (serving = 5 grams, 1 tsp butter, 1 tblsp margarine, 3 tblsp light miracle whip, 1 tblsp light cream cheese),
2 servings dairy (serving = 6 oz FF yogurt, 8 oz FF milk),
and 6 oz meat (meats include beans, cheese and eggs along with lower fat meats).
I rarely eat everything I'm allowed in a day, but I also never allow myself to go over in any catagory. That way I'm consistantly balanced. I hope you find a plan that really works well for you that you're happy with being on for a long time! I've stayed on this one since the beginning of January and it's just become second nature for me now. I do keep track of my servings on a chart everyday too so I can stay accurate and accountable.

Well, I'm sorry that ended up being so long winded! I have to go grocery shopping tonight for our camping trip this weekend. I hate grocery shopping. It's a major pain. I have to plan (based on my food plan) 4 days of food for 3 people. Sam and my mom are going too. My mom is supportive of my eating but she's gonna be p/o'd that there's no junk food! So I'm trying to come up with things that will stick with us a while as most of our consumption is of the adult liquid variety ! We camp in a tent and use a campfire to cook meals on, we do this at my mom's aunts house so we have a real bathroom and running water. But regardless, it's still away from home and the convienence factor is gone! I'm just rambling... I'll shut up. Have a great day!

Goodmorning! I am having a rough start to my day, woke up with a call from work, no one will close tonight, so I have to. Seriously, the girls I work with have issues, they always complain about their hours, but all of them turned down 16 hours this week. If any of them say anything about me having nearly full time hours this week, I'm going to bite my tongue... but also going to say something about how none of them would come in. And the manager will n ow need to hire someone else, because with the hours I'm getting, she can't really call me in. The only reason this week I came in was because I had asked for the days off.. I'm just cranky towards them!

Jill - nice post! Ah yes, a regular long post! Stay off the scale eh? THE HECK YOU SAY! hehe.. I'm totally addicted to my scale. And it loved me today! I am not counting this weigh in... but it said 255, yay! Friday I'll weigh in for real.. Glad to hear about Jeff agreeing to move. I wonder if guys don't get it that it's about give and take, compromise.. They confuse me sometimes. I wouldn't take it personally that he doesn't seem like he's planning for the future, many many guys don't know how to do that, and don't always see the point of that. I recently got Josh into RRSP's which I believe like a 401K in the US.

Sara - 20 grams of fat a day?? Good lord, I think I'd die! How do you stay within that and be so active? Now I'm not the most active person ever, but my job is pretty physical at times, and I'm on my feet walking about 8-10 hours most days.. I'm thinking I should aim for 30.. we'll see.. I'm going to ask around a bit more. The last time I ever really considered counting fat grams I was 15-16, and weighed a lot less.

Well ladies, I am off to clean my house, and do some laundry before I head off to work! I will talk to you ladies later or tomorrow!

-Aimee

So you know what... I'm wondering if Marge got taken away for her Bday? It was May 13th... COME BACK SOON!!

-Aimee

Treefrogtoes, that sounds very similar to what Howie and I stick to...

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The Pyramid diet page gives good explanations of the various food groups. I have 1600 calories/day, 30% of which can come from fat. So, it works like this:

30% of 1600 = 480 calories

There are 9 calories in each gram of fat

480 / 9 = 53.33 grams fat/day

I rarely have that many grams of fat a day, though. Usually it's more between 25-40 grams. Our bodies need some fat (healthy fats) for things like shiny hair, healthy skin, etc.




There's no reason to limit yourself - there's a world of tasty treats out there, be creative! Eating well can be really fun, honest!

Kimberly - That is really similar to mine! And aren't we doing a good job!?! I don't ever feel cheated or lacking of anything I want to have. I choose not to eat real butter and go with Smart Beat spread, no trans fats and it's approved by the Heart Association, it dosen't really ever melt but a tblsp only has 3 g of fat so yipee I can spread that on my toast liberally!

Even before I changed all my eating habits I was eating FF yogurt, sour cream and milk, so that wasn't a streach. The only time I really feel like I'm missing out is full fat cheese. I AM from Wisconsin after all!! Everything else just became psychological after a while. For instance, at work last Saturday they brought in fried chicken for everyone... well, uuughhh, did that smell nasty! The smell alone of the grease made me want to vomit! So I certainly didn't want to actually EAT any of it! Well enough about food.

My nuts-o dog has zero empathy. I've never met a less compasionate dog in my life! She really just dosen't care! This morning I was doing my floor exercises and Sam was on the elliptical and as usual I was throwing a ball for Lexi. Well she comes running straight at me with her ball in her chops and does she slow down... no! BLAM! She slams her squll right into my forehead! So guess which one of us was crying, holding a giant goose egg on our head and which one of us snorted and trotted off with our ball?!! Yup, you got it. Lexi just walks away, drops her ball and looks at me like, "are you DONE yet, throw my damn ball already!" What a brat! Not even a obligatory sloppy toungue slurp to make it all better! The nerve, I swear she's part cat!

We've been eating regular cheese, but still staying low in other areas fat-wise. Once we are out of the stockpile of cheese we got at Kroger, we'll start buying lower-fat cheeses. Maybe.

Thanks for the info Kimberley! I didn't really know where to find out that information, but thought you might know. I'm aiming for 1400-1600 calories a day, which is hard some days. Especially on days I work, I get one break, and can't go off the floor to eat (the manager frowns on that.. even tho she herself is trying to lose weight, go figure).

So cleaning, not so much fun. I've started with the kitchen, and at the same time am doing laundry. I should really keep up with the cleaning so it's not so overwhelming... coulda.. woulda.. shoulda.. right.. RIGHT!

-Aimee

There's only a few that are any good. FF one suck really bad. We get a local cheese that's reduced fat 4 g / oz of cheeder, if they're out of it then we get the Kraft 2%, and we use regular motzarella and parmesean cause it's lower in fat anyway and is really nice and melty! MMMM can you tell it's homemade pizza night tonight? Allready salivating over melty cheese!

Kroger's brand of cheese is lower in fat on some types. We use a shredded "pizza cheese" mix that's 80 calories/6g fat for 1 oz. We don't like the fat-free sour cream or most cottage cheese brands, so that's another area where we eat the lower-fat but not fat-free.

How you cook your food can make such a difference, can't it? The difference between a cold turkey and cheese sandwich and one where you've popped it under the broiler open-face...Mmmmmmmm!

We have low fat marble cheese, sooooo yummy! Tastes exactly like the full fat counter-part! Lots of the time I use parmesan cheese to accent certain foods which can be dull.. I also can't stand fat free anything! I'd rather use less of the light version. I want a pizza night.. I think it would be dangerous though.. heh

-Aimee

We bought a hunk of parmesan cheese and I grate a little of that one food; it has a stronger flavor than the pre-grated stuff and a little goes a long way.

I hanker for a hunk of cheese!

My kitchen looks SOO good! And I also tackled my laundry room, and it looks the best it can, considering it has to hold all of our storage stuff. We have way too much stuff, and while we got rid of over 8 garbage bags full of stuff the other day, we still have so much more. Friday I will tackle the livingroom and bedroom, and will get the bf to do the bathroom. Which just needs a few things done to it. Anywho, boring cleaning talk.

Kimberley - my mom does that too.. personally.. I'm just so lazy.. lol..

Well I am off to work! I am planning to leave a few minutes early, it's the season finale of Gilmore Girls tonight... my fav show EVER! I'll miss about 15 minutes of it.. poo!

-Aimee