Hi all,
I've reached goal! OK - Happy April Fools Day!

I have a ton of catch up to do at work so I have to catch up on last week's post (hopefully) later today. I lost 0.6 - I was really pleased since last Thursday was the Passover seder. I really think not weighing myself really helped keep me on the straight and narrow. I OK yesterday at my sil's for Easter but had a few too many sweets when I got home - I think it had something to do with having to deal with some work stuff Saturday evening and yesterday morning - I was really dreading going back to work today. I've counted the points though and I know that even though I'm beginning the week with a deficit, I'll make them up.

Off to tackle my email,
Judy
163.6/155.6/135

Good Morning!

A new week, a new month! Don't know where the time goes.

Judy, congratulations on your loss, especially with all the food challenges you had towards the end of last week...I think no sneak peaking paid off for you! I know you'll exercise and bank that point deficit away pronto.

Still have the PMS thing raging, I had a run in with some tiramisu at my cousin's for Easter dinner last night; and my aunt sent home zillions of chocolate eggs. I'm setting a 5lb goal for the month of April, so must get right back on track.

Hope you're all having a great day!

Karen B

Karen B - thanks for the birthday wishes. I loved the cybercake! Good for you for stashing that scale away! It was really hard not to step on it the first 2 days and I was very tempted to step on it this morning (to see what damage I did on Easter) but I didn't! Yes, dig that knitting out. I have done it for a couple of evenings for a little bit (don't want to overdo) and it is a real help! Sorry to hear about PMS raging. You have a good attitude about the slip. If you can't stay away from those evil chocolate eggs, I say, throw 'em out! I have one Cadbury egg left and I've hidden it. Of course, I know where it is but I don't see it now. I want to save it for a treat sometime - maybe I can work it in once I've gotten rid of the deficit and banked some points.

Carla - thanks for the birthday wishes. Good for you for counting the blt's! Wow, on the job news. I know how difficult it has been there for you - heck, we've sort of been in the same boat. Well, I'll pull for you and John to work out you're being a SAHM. That's great about the 15% bonus. I have to continue to figure out if I want to change careers for education - I found out recently that the system I take care of (that's the only reason I think I'm still there) will be replaced in an 18-24 month timeframe - so something similar will probably be in my future - or at least I hope so once I've decided on my next career. Time to get going on more research. I can see where it would be hard to be there at this point but hang in there - think of the 15%! Part-time work might be just the ticket. Any ideas - are there any businesses near where you live? Getting something close by on a part-time basis would be great. How did Easter go at your cousin's? Way to go on banking those points.

Angie - I DID follow through on my plan - and it was soooo much easier to do so because I didn't know how I was doing because I didn't step on the scale! Hmmm, thinking of a career change too? Any ideas?

Hi everyone.

I'm on late today because I'm at home and this has been my first chance to get on the PC. John and I both took the day off. Didn't do much other than go to Costco.

Judy - Great job on the loss. Especially terrific in light of the eating challenges you had at the end of the week. Good for you for sticking to your Seder plan and for staying off the scale. Yea, it's been a Wow kind of a few days. Even though this is a good thing, when I think about how someone in finance can just make decisions on job cuts without taking into account experience, or even the manager's wishes..... Makes me glad to be almost out of corporate America. Keep on planning for what you might want to do next. That will put you a step ahead should your system's demise mean the end of your job. I'm seriously considering going into teaching too. I plan on starting some research into my options next week. I've looked at our finances and most likely staying at home full time won't be an option. But I'm still hoping for something less taxing and close to home. I have plenty of time to figure it all out, thankfully.

Karen B - Sorry the PMS monster has been so rough on you. Easter is definitely not a good time for him to come calling. As for chips, you know for the longest time I didn't care about them. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way I develope a liking for them. And I discovered that potato chips do taste better on Easter Sunday... when you haven't eaten any breakfast or lunch and you've had a glass of wine or two.

Actually, I had a good weekend. I managed to bank some points on Friday and, although I didn't journal on Saturday, I dd keep a running tally in my head and got some points banked then as well. Sunday I snacked mostly on the raw veggies at my cousin's house and when it came time for dinner, I stuck to the small portion plan. My cousin actually uses smaller than normal plates which makes the small portions easier. Did have some dessert, but didn't get carried away. I had considerable points in the bank and I just figured I wiped it clean. Have been a bit loose today with the counting and such, but have been sane and reasonable. Tonight's dinner will be a bowl of homemade chicken soup, so I should end up the day in good shape.

Talk to you all tomorrow.

Carla

Judy - Congratulations on the loss, especially considering the food challenges last week. Glad to hear not weighing yourself helped. Don't worry about yesterday...you know where you stand and will be able to make up the deficit. Way to go saving that Cadbury egg for a treat. I can't believe I only had two of them all season and that was several weeks ago.

Karen B - Yikes!! Get rid of those chocolate eggs. Stay on track and you'll make that goal.

Carla - Sounds like you did a great job handling the weekend. Wow on the job news. As you said, at least you have the time to decide what you want to do next. Hope you can find something part time or at least closer to home. I really enjoyed the part time while the kids were little. It gave me an opportunity to help at the school and take them to the pool during the summer, but still let me earn a little. I'm still hanging on at my job. Boss doesn't think he'll retire now...at least that's the story this week.

I did a pretty good job handling the weekend. I didn't buy any Easter candy this year. I had a couple of pieces at SIL's yesterday. Sara brought home cookies from work Saturday night (they had to clear out the store since they were closed Sunday) and I only ate one and took the rest to SIL house. I told them I did not want them back in my house so my SIL took some of them home for her kids and packed the rest to take to her job today. Yea!! No junk in the house. I got up this morning and did an upper body weight workout. I'm really feeling it now.

Talk to you later.
Pat

Carla - Way to go on dealing with Easter at your cousin's. It sounds like you should be fine. I know what you mean about cuts. There are still tons of times when someone asks who knows the answer to a question and it's my old boss (who was cut right before 9/11). I will be very glad to get out of corporate America! I hope to do some more research this weekend (find out who to talk to in some of the areas school districts).

Pat - Glad to hear you are still hanging on at the job. I think the back and forth with retirement would drive me nuts! Way to go on handling the weekend and not buying any Easter candy. Double way to go on getting that junk out of the house! With the weekend and the upper body workout, it sounds like you are on a roll!

I had a good day yesterday. I did an aerobics tape and had PT so my deficit is only a couple of points now. I did really well with the snacking last night (I knitted a bit) and hope to be able to bank some food points today. I hope to do a short yoga tape when I got home. My briefcase seemed really heavy today and I took the bus instead of walking from the station.

Have a great one!
Judy

Hi everyone.

Pat - Good job on handling the weekend and on getting rid of those cookies! And on the upper body weight workout too. Isn't a junk free house such a relief? Boy, your boss' will retire/won't retire routine would just about drive me nuts.

Judy - Great job on whittling down that deficit. The schools in Illinois are hurting for teachers. I need to find out if they've come up with any programs to encourage those in the corporate world to make the transition to teaching.

I had an ok day yesterday. A bit too much dipping into the leftover Easter candy. But I'm right back on track today. I'm guzzling water as I didn't do a good job of getting my water in on Sunday and Monday and I definitely don't want that to skew any results at the scale tomorrow.

Have a great day.

Carla

Wow, lost track of time and went MIA for a bit. Oops! Happy Think Thin Tuesday!

Judy- way to go on your loss and through your holiday to boot!! You stay off the scale this week too...and you'll be in the loser group again on Sat. Keep that Cadbury egg hidden! You'll work through your deficit shortly and then you can enjoy it. How many pts are they, anyway? Believe it or not, I'm actually entertaining (only in my mind so far) about going to school to become a dietician. Just kind of gathering prelim info these past few months.

KarenB- Good idea to set a goal to shoot for during the month. A manageable, realistic goal is the one to set. Looks like you've done that now you keep charging towards it!

Carla- looks like you breezed through the holidays too! Way to go. Hope your day off was enjoyable.

Pat- way to go on ridding yourself of the cookies and not buying Easter candy! Tough things to do. Hope your not too sore from your upper body workout. Just think of how toned and fit you'll be.

Carla- hopefully Illiniois does what MN does to encourage ex-corporate employees to get into teaching. You get an exemption on a lot of the coursework because you've worked in corporate America and have a 4 yr degree already. So you only have to do about 1 yr of coursework and you can be licensed to teach. I thought about that too since science and math is where they need teachers. But, I have some friends who are teachers and the drawback is that you can't readily participate in your own child's educational experience (like volunteering in the classroom, going on field trips, etc) because you would have to locate a sub for your class.

Well, I made it through Easter with flying colors. I snacked on yellow, orange and red peppers all day long. I weighed out my dinner as I was filling my plate and tried to concentrate on talking instead of snarfing (as everyone else was!). I went to my mtg yesterday, but with the snow storm we were having our leader cancelled our mtg. I was soooo bummed. I wanted a 'reward' on the scale for my hard work during the week. Oh well, Tony said it'll be a nice loss next Monday. So, I ended my week on plan but have no loss/gain/maintain to report

Catch ya later,
Angie

Hi Everybody!

Angie - sorry your meeting got cancelled, but you'll be whooping it up this time next week with a double loss! I have been dying to climb on the scale for days, but must stay strong till tomorrow for the official weigh in. Congratulations on showing such restraint over Easter...peppers are a great snack.

Carla - like you, I have been drinking copious quantities of water for the Wednesday weigh in. Good for you for getting right back on track after the run in with the Easter loot. No more "candy" events till Halloween now!

Judy - congratulations on driving down that points deficit! And congratulations on knitting instead of eating last night - I'm going to make a concerted effort to find my knitting on the weekend.

Pat - great that your house is junk food free! Your boss certainly can't make up his mind

Karen C - Is everything okay? Haven't heard from you for a few days.

It was a beautiful afternoon here; Mike and I had a very early supper, then packed up the dogs and walked them at the river for an hour, so I was able to get in my exercise without treadmilling. I'm going to be ultra careful for the next couple of days as I'll be out for lunch on Friday with my girlfriends for my birthday, and Mike is taking me out for dinner Friday night. Not an extra morsel shall pass my lips till then.

Bye for now...

Karen B

Carla - How about throwing out the rest of the Easter candy?? I'm so glad Tony brought home only the chocolate covered marshmellow egss (which I don't like) and he ate them already! I hope guzzling that water helped. NYC is hurting for teachers too and they have a program where you start teaching after a crash course in the summer (with a mentor) while you go for your masters (which they help pay for). In return, you teach at a "low performing" school. It's a very difficult teaching situation to be in though and NYC pays a lot less than the county I live in - still, it's one of the options.

Angie - Way to go on mastering Easter! I joined you in eat not snarfing down dinner. I'm sorry that you didn't get to have your meeting - I have a couple of online friends in Minneapolis and when they told me about the snow storm, I couldn't believe it!!! Is there another day you can weigh in this week? I have not stepped on the scale - and I'm finding it easier not to. I do think it is making a difference in how carefully I'm following program. I have not touched the Cadbury egg (4 points for the chocolate filled one) - I'm saving it for later in the week if I have the points (I'm even now - the deficit is gone but there's nothing in the bank).

Karen - Good for you for avoiding the scale! I hope you can find your knitting - not only does it keep my hands busy but it is relaxing too. Mmmm, your walk by the river sounds great (as long as it is not dead salmon time!) Is your birthday Friday??

Michelle - I hope you had a wonderful time!

I did well yesterday - we had leftover lasagna from Easter which is a whopping 10 points but I ate it really slowly and snacked on strawberries and ff/sf chocolate pudding (a very nice combination). I was going to walk from the train station today but got up with a sore thoat and some congestion so I just took the bus. I've got a number of things to do this morning and then I might leave early.

Have a great Water Filled Wednesday!
Judy

Good morning!

Judy - your dinner and snack sound delicious! Hope your sore throat and congestion don't amount to anything. Not to worry about the salmon, they come to the river in October and rot till around February. We're quite a bit further west now, so where I take the dogs to the river rarely gets dead fish, thank goodness! Yup, Friday is my 41st birthday.

Michele - if you're back today, I hope you had a wonderful, relaxing trip!

Weigh in this morning was -4.5 lbs. That's my 3 lb gain from last week plus 1.5 gone with it! Yay! Yippee! Yahoo!

Karen B

Hi everyone.

Angie - You really did a terrific job over Easter. I can feel your motivation and its contagious! Sorry to hear that your meeting as cancelled. I know when we make a concerted effort to be OP during a holiday, its nice to be rewarded for our efforts at the scale. Just think, next week you'll see a whopping loss! You know, I hadn't thought about that particular drawback to teaching - missing participating in your child's classroom activities. I was more focused being on the same schedule with Ana. I guess, like everything else, its a trade-off.

Karen B - Woo Hoo on a great loss! What a nice walk you must have had yesterday. I know you'll be able to be bank some points for Friday. I was thinking about Karen C. too. I don't think she was scheduled to go back to her mother until next week. I hope everything is ok.

Judy - The leftover Easter candy is gone and I think I'll be able to keep my hands out of Ana's basket. Your dinner yesterday sounds scrumptious. Chicago has a program, or at least they had, very similar to how you describe NY's. One of my friends switched careers and got her teaching degree that way. But if you work for the Chicago board of education, you must live in the city (pretty stupid requirement these days, given the teacher shortage). Even if they relax that requirement, the problem schools are all a horrific commute from my home. So I need to see if any of the districts near my house are doing anything creative. Hope your sore throat and congestion are gone soon.

I had a great weigh in this morning - 2.2 pounds gone forever. I'm closing in on a new "decade" so that's pumping me up. I know that last time I lost weight, when I got in the middle of the 250s I noticed my energy levels increasing and my problems with my knees decreasing, so I'm going to work really hard to get there sooner rather than later. I'm going with a couple of co-workers to a new restaurant by our office that specializes in burgers. I plan on having a burger, but I plan on eating very slowly and stopping when I'm full. I'll have a very light dinner tonight. Saturday we're having a surprise birthday dinner for my MIL at an Italian restaurant that serves more food than any human should eat. Luckily, it's served family style, so I'll just take small portions and I should be fine.

Have a great day.

Carla
269.6/262.8/243 - 1st 10%/140

Hi guys, I am back!

Lots to do at work today to catch up and get ahead cause my surgery is scheduled for Friday at 9am. Sorry I won't be able to post individually, hope to get a chance to read all posts and catch up.

Florida was nice, very relaxing. Weather was wonderful. My day at spa was also wonderful.

Best news is I showed a maintain on scale this morning after indulging over the past 4-5 days.

Keeping my chin up but starting to get nervous now.

I missed you guys, hope all is well and you are all big LOSERS

Have a great day.

Karen B - WOW!!! That's a fantastic loss - I think avoiding the scale might be a very good thing for us. I'm glad to hear that salmon is less of a problem - although the picture of (oh my gosh, I forgot his name) your dog rolling around in rotting fish is one that sticks in my mind!

Carla - Great loss!!!!! You'll be saying goodbye to that decade soon for sure. I'm glad to hear that closing in on it is getting you pumped up. So, how was the burger? It seems like ages since I had one. Sounds like a good plan for this Saturday - and the small portion plan definitely worked for Easter so you know you can do it!

Michele - I'm glad to hear that Florida was relaxing. Congratulations on the maintain - always a victory and even more so after vacation. I'll be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers for a GOOD result on Friday. I hope these help {{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Judy

Michele - welcome back!!!!!!!!! Glad you had a good break, and congratulations on your maintain. Will be keeping you close in thought.

Carla - it's great hearing you so motivated these days! Congratulations on your awesome loss this week! You're doing just great. I know what you mean about being pumped as you approach a new decade...I'm planning to leave the 230's behind forever next week.

Judy - The famous salmon-hound is Gillis. He has taught his younger sister Lucy all his tricks in regard to finding dead things, eg fish, seagulls, mice...and rolling in them. Every once in a while we have an extremely rancid trip home from our outings!

Karen B.