Unfortunately finding an approved counselor who has time isn't as easy as I would have hoped. It may be a while before I can see someone. At least it's something. Meanwhile I had another small accident in my basement yesterday and hurt the same foot. I don't think it's ever going to be the same again. Who knows when I'll be able to run again. If I can get in the shoes, I'm going to try and bike this weekend.

mette - I think you're right that we need to discuss the thread. I would be happy to have a couple people join us but don't really know how we would go about that unless we started a new thread with a new 'inviting' name. Have you visited any other threads that seem like a fit for us? I think it would be ideal if we could find 2 or 3 other people so it's busy enough for support but small enough that we can really get to know each other pretty well. With no internet at home I definitely won't be able to do everyday but I don't want to lose touch with you ladies.

Renee - what do you think? How are you? I hope everything is going well for you.

mette - I'm so glad that even in your 'tough' times you are able to maintain without too much trouble. I think it is a testament as to how good your habits are and how healthy your lifestyle has become. With the better weather you may naturally increase your activity and may each less just because you are busier. It'll come. It's good that you aren't stressing over it.

Anybody have plans for the weekend? I was supposed to go away with bf for the first time but that got postponed since he blew a stitch in his mouth and has to see the doctor tomorrow. It's so frustrating that we can't seem to get to the next step. Oh well, there are plenty of other things to do around the house this weekend and I think I am going to take advantage of a big Filene's sale this weekend and go get some of those clothes I was talking about.

Happy Friday!

Hey ladies. I had intended to read up and write last night, but Comcast seemed to have nationwide issues and therefore I had no internet at all. I ended up watching Stuck on You (Which was surprisingly sweet and 'feel good') and going to bed way early.

I had an orthodontist appt. yesterday and I got those elastic rubber bands now! Yikes. They are horrible, I feel like my jaw is being wired shut! I am supposed to wear them all the time, and I go back in 6 weeks. Hopefully I will only have one run with this things. I really dislike them.

Weigh in was good on Monday. (But I think I wrote about that already) I still weigh myself every day, just as a means to keep myself on track. If I start seeing days with consistent ups, I know something needs to be looked at. I have seen three days of 147 in the morning though, so I feel like I have lost at least something already this week. Yaay.

I can't believe how close it seems to be getting. I mean, 12-17 pounds left. That doesn't even /sound/ bad now. I also have noticed my size 14 jeans are starting to feel a little loose! How exciting.

Work is going better lately. I had a pow wow with my one boss on Tuesday I think, and have been very much better since then.

It has also been sunny for a lot of days in a row. AND, I may work the horse farm this weekend.

Sorry I never talk about your guys stuff - I feel like at work, I am rushing to spit something out... I will try to get better at that.

Renee - I don't remember you telling us about your weigh in last week. Please refresh my memory and let us know how it goes tonight.

Good for you for talking to your boss! I'm glad it helped. Did you go to the horse farm?

I spent a lot of time outside this weekend raking and doing other stuff in the yard. I didn't get too much done alone but it was a start and it felt good to be outside. I also went for a short bike ride. It was the first time since last fall. It was tough but good to get out on the bike again. No running since the foot still causing problems. I'm thinking of going to a doctor to get it checked out and just biting the bullet on the cost of the x-ray.

mette - how was your weekend?

Yeah for the sunshine. I got out for a short walk at lunch but haven't really gotten any work done today because of distraction. Sorry to keep it short but work calls. More later...

Keeping it short and sweet! ()
Ang – sorry that your foot got hurt again. If it’s not getting better, then x-ray might sound like a good idea. And still: your weekend does sound very nice – both biking and yard-stuff!

As for us finding another thread to merge with – I haven’t read other threads here in the support group area either. Should we start looking, do you think? It’s not as if we’re in a hurry or anything, but maybe there are other nice threads with 2-3 people out there.

My weekend was nice enough, too. I got my 3 workouts for the week, and that always makes me happy! I also arranged for a session with an instructor to renew my program, next week. I’m looking forward to some changes in my program, and some new exercises. I want to focus more on strength and upper body once I have this last weight off me, so that’ll be the goal for when I’m done losing weight. And for now I just want to focus on keeping up the strength I have, while increasing cardio and losing (mostly) body fat.

Have a nice Monday, girls!

I am due for a physical so I may just get my foot looked at then. I'm postponing the physical though since I don't want the doctor to tell me what I already know - lose weight so you can be healthier and lower your cholesterol. The foot may be a good enough reason though to go.

As we get time (I know, something none of us have a lot of) maybe we can look around the threads a little to see what's out there. I agree no rush though as long as we can stop in for 'short and sweet' messages once in a while.

Congratulations mette on getting in your 3 workouts. Are you only working in the gym or getting outside at all? What cardio are you doing these days? After I get into some cardio routine (running and biking - foot permitting) I am determined to get to lifting some weights. The extra room/workout room should be ready soon. You are very lucky to have an instructor right there. Keep up the great work. If you get any good tips pass them along. Have you been able to start your weight loss again?

Renee - what's been up with you? How was your weigh in?

I am freezing at work today in my office (the AC is set for a sunny part of the building I guess) but making some progress on my work. Of course I also picked up two new things to do. It's never ending. Oh well.

Last night I started some demolition in my house so I hope to continue with it tonight. Even if it's only a little bit, I feel good when I make progress on projects in and outside. At least it gives me a moment to not obsess about the progress I am not making with my health.

Enjoy the sunshine if you have it!

Ang, you shouldn’t let your doctor bully you or make you feel bad about yourself!
If she/he tells you to lose weight, you should ask how. Ask her/him to be very specific, and for every suggestions: think about whether it’s helpful or not for you, whether you’ve already tried it or not, whether it’s something you just can’t do right now. Push it right back on her/him and refuse to let your doctor make you feel bad about how your life is right now.
I know it’s important to get information about your health, but it’s also important not to feel guilty and bad about what you’re not able to do right now.
Getting your foot looked at sounds like a very good idea, though!
(I’m sorry about the rant – I hate doctors that make me feel bad about myself! They’re supposed to help me, not make it worse! It’s quite possible I’m projecting – so feel free to ignore me! )

My 3 weekly workouts in the gym normally consist of 40-50 minutes weightlifting and 30 minutes cardio (I’m slowly increasing the cardio; up from 20 minutes): one day biking, one day jogging on the threadmill and the third day on the elliptical machine. I’m trying to increase the cardio sessions up to 45 minutes.
I walk to and from work on Tues-Fri; a 45 minutes walk each way (I *love* my iPod! Right now I’m obsessively listening to Fiona Apple and Tori Amos while walking… ). So I do move a lot right now: I get my recommended 90 minutes activities a day! (Yey!)

And I don’t think I can claim to have started my weight loss again yet, but I lost one pound last week – so let’s keep our fingers crossed that it will continue!

Demolition in your house sounds very exciting!?! Make sure you don’t hurt yourself!!!

I love working with many of the patients I have; it’s always great when they’re doing well. But I do find it hard to work with the ones who don’t do well. I know the most important thing is how the patient is doing, not how I’m doing; but I have to deal with my own emotions too. I have another young patient with terminal cancer right now, and it’s really hard for everybody involved.

This weeks weigh in - +/- Zero pounds.
Which, is not too bad, considering I ate three days off plan and got my period the day of the weigh in. So not so bad really.

Work has been really busy, but I've been coping pretty well.

I had an ortho. appt. last week and they put rubber bands on my teeth! It is horrible and it's left my inside lips torn to shreds and makes eating painful. They are banding my top teeth down to my bottom, so it's a triangle at my canines. /_\ Like that. I can't lick my lips, press my lips together, it's horrid.

So that is pretty depressing.

The weather has been great though, so that is keeping my spirits up a bit. I keep intending to write out replies at night, but comcast is having major issues lately, like nationwide issues, and I get stuck at home with no internet.

Hopefully that will pass soon. Well back to work!

mette, I agree with your ideas about doctors but wouldn't say I am afraid he will bully me. Actually, last year he sent my test results back with something like a form letter saying that I should lose weight because my cholesterol was a little high. Maybe I'm just in a little denial and don't want to make it official at the doctor. The foot will get me there though. It was even a little uncomfortable today while I was walking.

mette - your workouts seem really good. When I used to run I found it made a big difference going from 30 to 45 minutes at a time. The longer durations really give your body a chance to burn fat. You're lucky you can walk to work. Congratulations on the weight loss!!!!

Renee - it sounds like last week wasn't great for your plan but congratulations on not gaining any weight. You must be doing something right. Do you find it easier to exercise and eat better when you aren't as stressed at work? Have you done anything differently to deal with the work stress?

The 'closets' in my bedroom were taken apart last night and thrown out the window. Except that I still have to move the wood, it was fun and now there is so much more room. One more step closer!

I give you a lot of credit, mette, for working with ill people. I would love to help people but can be too empathetic and don't think my heart could handle the emotions. I guess you learn how to keep a therapeutic distance? Do you find that it helps you learn things about yourself?

btw - I am STILL trying to find a counselor who has some time to talk to me about my mother's death. I guess there are too many crazy people around here.

Renee - I had rubber bands with braces when I was younger. It does stink. I hope you only need to deal with them for a short amount of time. Are you eating less because of it? Hang in there. Just think of how great your teeth will look when you are done.

It's a little chaotic at work so I'm off to deal with that right now so maybe one day I can really focus on writing one of my papers.

Enjoy the sunshine!

Wow! We were on page 3!?! Obviously we’re not feeling up to writing much these days, huh?

Or perhaps we’re just writing other stuff? I just finished a paper on “genetic influences on religiousness” for our student newspaper.

Hope you all had a good week, it’s Friday and the weekend is here. I desperately need to clean up my apartment, but hopefully I’ll get to do some fun stuff too.
I also have to start looking for a summer job. I’m not really sure what to look into: should I spend the last summer away from psychology – since that probably won’t happen again, or should I just embrace it and look for something that is relevant for the real jobs I’ll apply for in just a few months? It’s a dilemma!

Btw, do you guys watch TV at all? (It’s mostly been me rambling about shows I’m watching here, hasn't it?)
Are you guys watching Veronica Mars?? It’s really, really good – the best series on TV right now, in my opinion! High school based detective show, with strong female lead, dark themes and wonderful writing!

Have good weekends!

I was out of the office last week so no internet access. I've also been busy writing journal articles and doing work but mette, your stuff always sound more interesting. What channel has Veronica Mars? I haven't ever heard of it. I watch some television but usually just find something to watch at the moment I sit down since there is no schedule to when I will be watching and I don't bother taping anything.

mette - did you clean your apartment this weekend? How about having some fun? I've been making progress on my yard (with a little help ). I no longer have hedges in my front yard. Luckily I can burn brush through April. I love bonfires!

mette, if you think you have enough "experience and credentials" to get a job in psychology without working this summer, I would suggest doing something for yourself. It may be the last time so have a good time (not that psychology isn't fun for you). I guess it truly depends on what you need to get out of the summer. Also, when do you plan to graduate?

I hope you're all doing well. I'll try to stop by again later. I have to get going on my morning right now - too much work to do as always.

Ang, so nice that you took time to post! I miss you guys when we haven’t been around in a few days. It sounds as if work is busy, but good? You do enjoy writing, don’t you?

Veronica Mars is on upn - http://www.upn.com/shows/veronica_mars_tmpl/index.shtml - only 3 episodes left of the season!!! A lot of questions need to be answered!
I started watching it after reading about it in Salon – somebody said it was time to stop rewinding Buffy tapes, and check out Veronica Mars. It’s both completely different from Buffy (nothing supernatural, no superheroes), and a lot like it (strong female lead, great writing, fun, high school angst, etc).

I must say I like your approach to TV, Ang. I’ve never had the ‘in-the-moment-watching’ myself though: I’ve always had favorite shows and series, and made sure I didn’t miss them. This year started out with me desperately missing Angel, so I was very happy to find a new show I absolutely love.
Ah, well. Excuse me for rambling! ;-)

As for the weekend, I’m happy to report that I both cleaned and had fun! (but not necessarily at the same time! )
I assume you’re happy with your weekend too, Ang? Sounds like you got a lot of work done. How are things between you and the bf now that you’ve been together for a while? When you talked about him before, everything was new and not settled yet. And I just wondered, with everything that has happened in your lives – he losing his uncle, and you losing your mother - how the two of you are doing. It sounds as if it’s going very well?

Hope you all have a good Monday!

Work is always busy and good when I can get something done. I like the work but don't like feeling like I'm not getting enough done. I'm not a big fan of writing because I am a perfectionist so writing takes a long time. I used to have my advisor to read things but not here. I just can't stand the thought of publishing something that isn't good. I guess that's why the journals have editors. I'm just always striving to get better and don't know how to improve my writing with no help at work. Oh well, I'll just keep trying. Do you like writing better than helping people? I'll assume no but I'm sure the diversity is good.

I'll have to see what channel UPN is and see if I can check out Veronica Mars if I'm around. I have shows I like but I just chose this year to not let t.v. be a priority. It works for the most part for me right now. I don't need extra reasons for sitting on the couch. I need to be doing so many other things.

Ramble away...I miss you ladies when I can't get to the computer and love to hear what's going on with you.

I am relatively happy with my weekend. I actually cooked dinner for a friend last night - Thai based. Nothing gourmet but she ate it so it couldn't have been all bad. I spent some time with bf, which was good. We are working through some scheduling stuff but things are pretty good. We are being supportive with each other in our family life. I am 'teaching' him how to be supportive for me. He tries and is willing to learn, which is excellent, but right now he still acts like a guy and just needs to learn how to listen more and provide solutions less. I have been struggling with my mother's death a lot lately and haven't quite gotten back into life but I'm working on it. I've started to control my eating a little and trying to get activity back into my life. I'm behind schedule but still trying and hope to be in the groove by May. I may actually go for a walk/run today.

Are you back to your presick routine? Reading any good books? I'm reading the History of the Pink Carnation (or something like that) for my book club. I'll never finish it in time but at least it gets me reading more.

Have a good evening and I'll be back tomorrow. Renee - you out there?

Hey gals, sounds like everyone is doing well! I have been busy and at the same time bored. How that can happen, I have no idea - but I really don't like it. And I agree with Ang, it always sounds like everyone else has such more interesting lives than I do!

The weather decided to play a trick here and give us one last (I hope it's the last) swoop at wintery stuff. It's not FREEZING, but it is way not as warm as it should be for nearing May.

Weight loss is going well. (I have to tell myself this, because I think I am mentally slowing myself down- is that possible?) I have been on weight watchers for ten weeks now and have not gained anything during this time. Mostly, (lately) my losses are under a pound. So last night I took some new pictures and slid them up next to my befores. Holy cow. That was definitely a boost of 'good job girl, keep it up!'

I have 18lbs to go to get to my goal weight, and I cannot believe that my screwy mind twists that into sounding more impossible than when I started and needed to lose 60!

I've been good about working out. 2-3x a week at the gym and the days I am not at the gym I am at home playing DDR. (Dance Dance Revolution) It tracks calories burnt based on your weight and the vigorousity of the songs you choose and how many steps you supposed to take. (also how many extra steps you take too) I end up burning around 400 calories in an hour with it, so it's just as much cardio/aerobic as the gym sessions. Monday is always my off day. (Timewise there is no point for exercise, and it's also weigh in day.)

Softball starts soon, I am curious/anxious to see how I do this year with a more in shape body!

Keep up the cheerfulness girls, it's really inspiring!

Writing is more about having fun for me, but I don’t write serious stuff all the time either, not like you do, Ang. And I really don’t envy perfectionists when it comes to writing assignments; I’ve worked with a few of them (friends and fellow students), and it’s really hard when we never can agree on how good is good enough. On normal assignments I’ve always thought that the last 5-10 percentages isn’t worth the extra work, but some of my friends (and frequent writing buddies) will never let anything go that isn’t 100% perfect. It can be quite stressful!
But I *do* get that you don’t want to publish something that isn't good, Ang! (And I’m sure that never happens!) But you’re right that it’s why the journals have editors. And can you perhaps get another adviser, get someone at work maybe? I agree that it’s really helpful!

I really like writing for fun – essays and comments on psychology and research – it’s why I like to write for the student newspaper. You can be a little personal, you can joke about stuff, and still say something serious about theories or practices you’re reading about or trying out.
But I do like the people-part of this job too, so ideally I want to have both!

It’s good that your bf is willing to learn, Ang. And that things are getting better. I’m so happy for you, and you deserve somebody supportive and caring in your life. I’m sorry you’re struggling with your mother’s death too: do you find different things to be hard, than you expected? I can remember being surprised about some of the things I missed when my brother died. Hope you got your walk/run yesterday – how is your foot these days? Are you better?

Renee – congratulations on your continued weight loss! You’re really doing very well!

I bought a pedometer – and tracked my steps while walking to and from work yesterday: the result was about 9.500 steps. It’s not so bad actually, I think the recommended is 10.000 steps every day. So – at least I’m OK on the days I walk to and from work. Not so sure about the other days though….
But I have improved my cardio-sessions at the gym: last weekend I actually ran 5K on the treadmill!

Btw, did we decide earlier that inviting people we hit it off with into the thread is OK? Every now and then I reply on posts in the “Buddy Up! forum”, and sometimes I want to invite people over to check out our thread too. Give them the opportunity to check us out a little, and maybe they would want to post too! Which would be nice, don’t you think?

I am cool with more people! The more the merrier! (Unless we are talking about pounds I think heehee!) Sometimes I go to post but see no posts since my last post and just hide low for a while. More posting is good!