I can't believe I missed two days with you. I really didn't know it. Oops! I HAVE TO SLEEP so I'll catch up as soon as I can. No time at work and just pooped at home so little e-mail to anyone. Sorry.

Mette - your paper sounds like it is coming along nicely.

Jessica - glad to hear that things at work are good. Isn't it always the case that the 'better' people get more work. :D In the long run hopefully it will be a great thing for you though. It seems that the praise is already a good thing. Flowers - wow - that must have made your day as I know it would have mine. I haven't gotten flowers from anyone in a very long time. I hope you brought them home and are enjoying them every chance you get.

Glad to hear the doctor visit went well - Jessica. I hope the patch helps you. I know I don't have nearly the cramps when I am on the pill. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

mette - thanks for letting us know about the protein powder. I am still trying to remember to put my flax meal in stuff but will give the protein powder a try if I think I need more protein. One of these days I am going to sit down and really analyze my diet. I even have a running friend who is a personal trainer and is willing to look at my food with me. I'm not sure how I feel about that but that is to worry about at another time.

Have a great night - the farm calls me and the bike tomorrow but I'll try to stop in to say hello. Have wonderful Saturdays.

Jessica - I really should take my measurements. That would be a good thing to start doing while maintaining I suppose, I could see if my measurements change even if the scale (hopefully) doesn’t. Good idea!

And how wonderful that you actually got flowers for doing such a great job!!!! Wow! That is so great – no wonder you got all warm and fuzzy!!
You’re really experiencing the extremes aren’t you? One week you’re being yelled at – another week you’re getting flowers! :D

Hope you had a nice dinner with your friend (and overeating sushi? How bad can that be?). But I get that you want to get a tighter grip on your food – I’m sure it will be easier when there’s no family vacations or hospital admittances involved. ;)

Ang – good to ‘see’ you again. We missed you, you know. Good to hear you’re doing well: busy – but well.
Analyzing your diet and getting help from your running buddy too, sound like good ideas. When you feel like it, when you want to, and when it’s time for that. Maybe it’s not something you need to stress with – I think your strategy of finding out what you want to eat first is very good.

Hope you get a wonderful Saturday at the farm Ang, lots of nice weather – and remember to bring food! “Woman does not live on tomato alone!”, remember? ;)

I’m doing patient-work this weekend; writing journals, making treatment plans, reading up on problem areas and possible approaches toward those. I feel myself getting back into student-mode, the new semester is on!

I’ve been thinking a bit about my body, what I see when I look at my body – especially at the gym with all the mirrors. One of the reasons I started the weight maintenance 2 months earlier than planned, was that I didn’t really see whether I had lost weight when I looked in the mirror. I know I have – according to the scale it’s 25lbs, and my clothes are bigger. But since I had problems seeing it, I knew my head was having problems keeping up with my body. It’s back to the phenomenon of phantom fat. If I maintain for 9 months – hopefully my head will reach up with my body, and I’ll get it all together again. :p
What I think, is that being at the gym will help this process too – and not just because of the weightlifting. At the gym I look more at my body than what I normally would for an entire week (I have been trying to ignore the fact that I have a body for years now…. :lol: ). And watching myself 3 times a week for 9 months must to do good, I think.
I have fat on my back, I have a belt of fat around my waist falling over my pants when I sit down (with clothes that actually fit, like my gym clothes!). It’s visible when I squat, when I sit on the bench doing biceps curls and shoulder presses. I look at my body and I see this, but these are the things I got to get used to. I need to know what my body really looks like.
When I lost weight before I was never satisfied with the loss, it was never enough. As long as fat was visible on my body: the weight loss I had achieved had no meaning, it was no achievement, no success because I had not achieved my goal.
I do feel safer and saner now; I’m not in such a hurry. I accept that it takes time. This doesn’t mean that I don’t struggle, but at least the struggles change. Thank god for that. ;)

Have great Saturdays everybody!

Good morning!

Mette: I know, work has been a series of extremes lately! Hopefully the good will outweigh the bad. I'm still amazed I got flowers; I guess it's a lesson to all of us that the nice, little things we do to show appreciation for people in our daily lives really DO make a difference and can brighten someone's day. I'm going to pay more attention to letting people know that I appreciate them.

Dinner last night was really good. I don't spend enough time with my "girlfriends" (the few I have) so it was nice to talk and catch up. The food was really good. Of course, we don't get the healthy sushi, we get the stuff with rich sauces and tempura, so I know it's not very good for me. I also got green tea ice cream to bring home with me and it was yummy.

Mike and I are also going out to dinner tonight, and then we'll probably go out for breakfast tomorrow. He has to go back out again on Monday at 2:30 a.m., and then he'll be home that night, and then back out on Tuesday. He's been working so hard. I guess we both have in different ways. The California Lottery is up to like 97 million $$; maybe I should play, just in case!

You have been so good at being honest with yourself about your body and self-image. That's not always an easy thing to do and I know you've had a long hard road to get to this point. You should commend yourself for all of the progress you've made, not only physically but mentally too. I think when you're a cerebral person, it's too easy to just live in your head and forget that you have a body. And without your body, there is no way your brain can function. We have to find that middle ground between the two and learn to see what's really there, which is why I think your approach is such a good one. All these smart women!!

I've pretty much frittered away this morning, but it's nice being lazy sometimes. No big plans for today. I'm just glad to have Mike home. Hope Saturday is wonderful for everyone!

Measurements sound like a good idea all around. I have actually been taking measurements on and off for a couple of years. Maybe it is time for new ones - just in case the clothes are not telling the whole truth. :lol:

Today I spent 5 hours on the farm doing not much of anything but it was relaxing. I got to do some thinking, which can be good (and bad sometimes). I did get in 40 minutes of bike riding too. I planned on doubling that but got a little side tracked. Sometimes I can't be alone exercising if my mind is not in the right place - it wasn't today. I am hoping to get up early to run 6 miles with my club (or behind my club :lol: ) in the morning at 7am. Tonight I went out with friends and ate whatever I wanted at dinner. I know I shouldn't have but...

mette - can we trade jobs? :D Your work sounds so interesting. To spend all your time examining people. Maybe I wouldn't spend so much time examining myself. :)

mette - it is unbelieveable how in tune you are with your thoughts and feelings. It really sounds like you learned a lot from the past and have a healthy outlook and process going on now with weight loss. Body and self image are a tricky thing. When I was 235 I knew I was big but until I saw some pictures I really didn't realize how big in a practical sense. Now I am a little smaller but still see myself as being very large. Perception is not always truth. Good luck and continue to share your thoughts because I know it helps me too.

Good for you Jessica that you are going to take this good experience (getting flowers) and share it with others. About a year ago I really realized how easy it is for people to share negative things and complain, since then I really try to share nice things with people when I can. Just the other day I told my 'farm friend' how much I appreciated her assistance with the farm (she ahs a lot more knowledge than I do) and her company, etc. It was out of the blue but I had never told her that and she should know that she is liked and appreciated. It wasn't a big thing, she may not have even cared, but it was the right thing. We can all share a smile or a nice gesutre or a kiind word more often. I just wish it wasn't so hard to do sometimes to the people that are closest to us. Hmmm....I need to work on that one.

Sorry Jessica that time has been so tight with Mike. I hope you enjoyed your day together. Will it get better soon now that September is almost here? And couldn't we all stand to win the lottery. :lol:

Wish me luck that I do all the exercise tomorrow that I have planned and that it does not rain. Run in morning followed by much needed mowing, some time at farm doing who knows what, and then a bike ride around town (probably won't be too hard) with some friends at the farm.

I'll let you know what happens.

Are we having excellent weekends so far?! :smug:

Jessica, did you have a nice time going out for dinner last night? Hope you and Mike are enjoying your time together.
Ang, your activity level during weekends is truly impressive: biking, farmwork, running, etc. I can’t believe you’re not losing weight!

Heh. I would love to trade places and jobs for a little while, Ang. It would be great to try out somebody else’s job for a while. But I’m sure we both would want to get back to our own eventually…? ;)

It’s very motivating to share thoughts and feelings with you guys, because you’re always giving such nice feedback. It’s much appreciated! :D
Ang, you’re not just a little smaller – you’re 55lbs smaller! – so yes, I think we both need to work on our perception a bit. ;) Maybe you should look for some honest feedback, do you know anybody you trust to give you that? I've found that sometimes it's very helpful to have somebody else tell you how they see you.
Also: hope it didn’t rain on your Sunday!

I don’t have much to report actually. It’s Sunday, the weather is fairly nice, I’m going out with some friends – we’re not sure whether we’ll end up drinking coffee or hiking (or both!?). Yesterday I went to the marked and got blueberries and made the world’s best smoothie: blueberries, plain yogurt and protein powder! Tasty!
I have been eating 11.500 calories this week – 1000 more than the weeks I lost weight. If all goes well I’m aiming for 12.500 next week. I’ve found that I don’t eat the same amount of calories on weekdays, so basically I count up by Friday night – see how many calories I have left for the week and then split those on Saturday and Sunday. Normally I end up eating less those days than the weekdays, which is a bit different from what everybody else is doing. Are you guys eating more during the weekend or during the week?

Have nice Sundays everybody!

Quick check-in.

I did go for a run this morning (52 minutes). I didn't go with my group though because it was early and I would have been running by myself so I opted for more sleep and running near my house. I then mowed my back yard, went to the farm and did not much, went for a 3 hour bike ride (leisurely with some scenic stops), and then feverishly picked veggies for 1 1/2 hours. Pasta for dinner because I was so rushed and it was late - didn't get to go grocery shopping so NO FOOD for tomorrow - yikes! Even with all the activity I don't think I lost anything. Oh well. I had fun and there is something in that by itself.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. This week will be so hectic for me. Subjects crammed in at work and I have started taking some initiative at the farm to pick and sell (bf is not doing enough) but I don't really have time. Why does everything happen at once.

More later - have to get up early to get ready for my week. Sweet dreams!

Hi everybody – hope you’re having good Mondays.
Ang, great going on the exercise this weekend! Running, farmwork and biking – and having fun too! :D

I suppose we’re all having busy days this week. Where is Renee, btw? Does anybody know?

I’ve lost another pound, and: 1) I’m down to the weight I want to maintain, 2) I’ve lost 60lbs, *and* 3) my BMI just crossed over to the “normal weight” category – it’s 24,9! Heh. And this week I’m going to aim for more than 1700 calories a day. Yey! :D
I’m having some problems organizing my days – being at school the whole day, and then going to the gym after. I’m tired, the place is full of people, I’m crabby – it’s not the making of a great hour at the gym.
I’m going to look into whether I can go before school in the morning – they open at 7, so I’ll try that. My lectures don’t start until 9 most mornings, so that should work.
I was going to do lower body today, but the place was so overcrowded that I only got to the cardio machines – so I did 15 minutes on a bike, and then 15 minutes on an elliptical trainer. This will have to count as my Tuesday-morning-jog, and then I’ll get up early tomorrow morning, go to the gym at 7, do my Monday-lower-body-weightlift, and see if that works better for me.
I just have to try out the different possibilities – and see what works. And my weeks differ too, so something that works this week, probably won’t work next week.

Ah well. I’m off to organize and prepare a meeting we’re doing tomorrow about the results from my summer research – I’m going to present the results and have to make some nice power point slides.

Hope you’re all doing well!

Where are Jessica and Renee? Maybe they're off together having fun. :lol:

mette - congratulations on losing that last pound. I'm not surprised given that you only increased your calories by 1000. How did you feel at that level? Are there any particular ways that you increase your calories? More foods or just more of the same foods or different foods altogether?

60 pounds is amazing! :strong: :jig: :bravo: :cp: :cb: :dance: :balloons:

Even more impressive is your BMI. I know it's not the best indicator or fitness but it can be better than weight alone. Have you ever done your body fat?

I think going to the gym in themorning would be great for you given the way you describe the events later in the day. You were so excited about lifting before and I would hate to see that enthusiasm wane because of your schedule. Luckily your classes don't start too early. Since you run in the mornings I am going to guess that getting up to go to the gym shouldn't be too hard for you. Let us know how that works out for you. I love flexibility in my schedule but can also sympathize that an unstable schedule can be difficult. I'm confident you will work out something good for you.

Good luck with you presentation. Don't you love making PPT slides? :lol: I ahve to write a presentation soon for a conference later in September. Can't forget or I'll be writing the day before I leave. :o

Today was an ok day for me. To take some stress off I decided to not worry this week about editing my article. My morning subject did not show up (some people are so inconsiderate) so I was able to get a lot of 'administrative' stuff done today. I feel a lot less stressed since I don't have to worry about all those 'little' things that I had to do. Did I mention that I was going on a business trip Wednesday until Friday? I need to find time to clean up my house a little so it is not a disaster when I come home (need to take care of cats and clean all dishes and stuff). After work I picked tomatoes for over 1 1/2 hours. I am so into it now that I was sort of shown what to do - it isn't as easy as it may sound. Tomorrow I go to finish picking and selling the stuff wholesale to a farm stand thing down the street. We have so much that I just need to unload some of it before it goes bad. I am excited about taking the morning off to do this and wish I could quit work and just farm full time. Not going to happen anytime soon unfortunately. I am seriously looking into a new career though as I realize that sitting at a desk (even if some of the time is in a lab) and being 'confined' is not for me. I need to be outside, working with my brain AND hands and doing something that really makes a difference. A friend suggested an environmental engineer or something in agriculture. It would have to be something that I could do without going back to school since I just got out after so many years - unfortunately I need the money from a job. We'll see what happens. It's kind of nice to know that there may be options. I just need to feel free and I don't in the environment I am in so I get unhappy.

Off to bed - hope to hear from everyone soon. mette - good luck at the gym in the morning.

Hey guys! I know I know, been a long time. I meant to write before I took off to let you all know I took off. But, my friends have gone home now and back to the grind. I am really tired today so heading to bed, but I got some new discoveries to tell you all about tomorrow!

Just a quick check in, I started Day 1 of south beach today. While my friends were still here, and while eating out. I made the best choices I could and I think I did it! Tomorrow, I have actual SB recipes, so I am excited. Now then, if this headache would scram. ;)

Catch up tomorrow!

Hi everyone,

Wow, I haven't posted in a couple of days almost, huh... Haven't been busy, just been pretty lazy and my eating has gone to sh**, and no exercise, of course. Haven't weighed myself in close to two weeks... this month has just reeked havoc with my schedule and I feel out of sorts in pretty much all areas of my life. Hm. I'm not upset about it, just kind of apathetic, going about my business and not making much of an effort at anything except work. Just a slump, I guess.

Mike and I had a nice weekend together. Dinner Saturday was great; we hardly ever go out anymore so it's always a treat. Watched a couple of rented movies, just relaxed and again, were lazy. He had to leave at 2:30 this morning and just got home a little before 9 p.m. Work's busy, as always, and tonight when I got home I just vegged out in front of my pc playing card games. Hm, again... Anyone have any ideas on jumpstarting myself back into my routine? Maybe I'm just burned out. Was hoping my week off would cure that, but I guess not.

Mette: I hope you figure out a workout schedule that works for you. Sixty pounds really is AWSOME and you should be so proud. I know you'll make it the 9 months of mainaining and I'm interested to hear if your brain catches up with your body by then.

Ang: You really should find something new to do if you're unhappy in your current work environment. It was funny because as I was reading I was thinking "environmental science" and then you said it. Would that require more schooling? Can you find something related to what you currently do, only observing people in outside enviroments like construction sites and such? I wish we could all just persue our dreams and not have to worry about a paycheck. What a different world it would be, huh?

Renee: Congrats on starting the SBD today! Sounds like you did really well. What's your news?

Alright guys, time to get ready for bed. Talk with you all tomorrow! Nite!!

Well, as I mentioned last night, I found out some things while off work and away from the stress and boredom of work. I had no cravings. In fact, I had only mild reminders of hunger. I ate smaller portions, got filled up faster and didn't crave junk food at all! I guess that means that nearly all of my eating stems from stress or boredom related issues. Good news to have discovered that, bad news to have to find ways around it. I always knew that I ate when bored, or upset. I never realized though, how so many signals I thought were genuine, were still coming from those triggers.

So far though, I feel refreshed. I've stuck to the diet so far again today and have my momentum going. I had the egg muffin things for breakfast, and am about to eat my 30 pistachios hah. Work is not bugging me out and I feel over all 'pretty good'. I guess the time off really did wonders. I'm trying to keep a more positive attitude on things - but am still going to look into finding a new job/career.

Gonna try and catch up on all the posts I've missed after work calms down a bit more. I do hate getting back into the swing of things! Anyway. I guess if you guys have any suggestions on ways that I can teach myself better stress management or what not, that'd be helpful. I should search online some. :)

Ang – I just wanted to be careful when I added calories, you know? Everybody is saying that you should add calories very slowly – so I thought I should do that. I have basically just eaten more of the same, but I want to add some more sweets. Maybe I should make some cookies that are relatively healthy – with little sugar and fat?

I have never done my body fat, so I have no idea. Have you measured yours?

I went to the gym this morning. Up at 6.25, got dressed (gym clothes), had a smoothie (plain yogurt, blueberries and protein powder), walked to the gym (15 minutes), was there at 7 and had a short warm up (I was already warm): 10 minutes on the bike. I did lower body on the weights, and was home again by 8.
And I added weights today – I lifted 45lbs on the squats (just the bar) the last 4 weeks, and added 10lbs today. I thought about – and wanted to - add more, but I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to lift the bar off the rack and/or from my shoulders and back on the rack. I’m doing OK with the bar on my shoulders, because my shoulders and legs are strong – my arms…. not so much… ;) – so I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get it off my shoulders and lift it back up on the rack without dropping it to the floor. (That would have been embarrassing, you see that – right?)
I suppose that’s another kind of fear I have to get over, huh? :D

My presentation today was very short; I just made some PP slides of our main findings and talked about them. It wasn’t a conference presentation like you’re doing – what are you going to talk about?

Good to hear you didn’t have a stressful day at work yesterday, and good luck on your trip tomorrow.
Your career ideas are really great! It’s so nice to start looking at things from another perspective: knowing more about what you *don’t* want to do is always a good thing: it makes for a better starting point. And like you say: there are always options!

Renee – good to have you back! And congratulations on getting started on the diet! I’m sending good vibes! :goodvibes
And the fact that you don’t have any cravings for food when you’re not working? Yeah, it pretty much says it all, doesn’t it?

Jessica – not being upset about your eating is probably a good thing, don’t you think? :lol:
Good to hear you and Mike had a nice weekend. He’s really working a lot, isn’t he?
How to get jumpstarted into your routine? Isn’t this where we all go back and look at the reasons why we started this in the first place? Reading the archives of Skinnydaily? Reading other stuff that inspired you when you got started? Does anybody else have any good ideas?
If you’re burned out Jessica, the best thing is probably to get some rest, sleep and try to get your energy back.

OK. I have some more work to do. I’m going to the gym again tomorrow morning, upper body, and I’m planning to add weights there too. Have a nice evening everybody!

Jessica and Renee - good to have you back.

Sorry about your slump Jessica. Unfortunately we all get into moods sometimes. I guess it is just a part of life. I am glad that you are not upset about how things are progressing. A good perspective is key to rebounding when you are ready. Nice to hear that you had a good weekend. It must have been nice to spend some time with Mike. Now that you are in the week again, could you pick one thing about your 'old' routine that you could focus on putting back into your schedule? Decide and then make a promise to yourself to do it no matter what. Maybe if you start getting back into the habit with one or two things the rest will just come back.

I'm going to try and find someone to help me find a new career. My therapist says that there are specialist for changing careers and they should be able to help me find something I like that would not require going back to school or at least not getting a whole new degree. Anyone have any ideas on where to find such a specialist?

Renee - congratulations on your success with the SB diet so far. Does the book give a lot of suggestions for things to eat? I'm VERY curious to hear about your progress and thoughts on this diet to see if I might want to look into it more and give it a try (once the veggies die at the farm of course). :D Keep up your momentum and continue the good work.

I think it's great Renee that you have identified some triggers for eating. Knowing the problem is half the battle. I think we could all use some stress management tips. Have you ever tried relaxation techniques (breathing or muscle relaxing exercises)? Short walks could be good too.

I think if we all had stress free lives we would be perfectly healthy. :lol:

mette - I think you are very smart to add the calories slowly. More of the same seems like a good idea so you are still eating healthy. Some sweets now and then are a plus. Do they actually 'make' cookies that are relatively healthy? :lol:

I have measured my body fat but not recently. It's not a pretty picture. If you don't want to buy a scale that does it, you may be able to find a place at school that will do it free or very cheap. Through our town community center we used to have someone come in once a quarter and charge $3 to do caliper testing for body fat. The best thing is to measure it the same way every so often and use it as a relative measure. When you have muscles it can be a lot more accurate or representative than weight. Women are supposed to have <25% bf. It's not hard to be in the 30s or even 40s though.

mette - your activity today sounds wonderful. How did you feel about getting up this morning to workout? The walk to the gym sounds like a great added bonus. You get the activity and a warm up/cool down all in one, actually saving you time. Congratulations on adding weight. I don't blame you for not adding more weight to the squat. I think it's important to hold good form and not injure yourself trying to move the weights around. The embarrassment factor you'll have to work on, but injuries are not something to take lightly. You do what you feel comfortable doing. Did you feel like you were working hard with the 10 pounds added? If not, there's always the next workout for adding a little more weight. Slow is good.

My presentation is going to be on a study about perceptions of slip distance when walking across a floor that is slippery. Basically we measured how far people actually slipped and related to the person's rating of slipperiness. FYI - people are not a good judge of how much they slip. One of these days I'll start my slides. I'm glad your presentation went well though mette.

I need to write during the day more - I find myself being less focused and rambling at night. That's my cue to go off to sleep. I'll do my best to check in as much as I can while I am away. I will be back home on Friday anyway. I'm not sure if I am looking forward to this trip or not. I know I am looking forward to not having to go into the office for 3 days. :D

Good luck tomorrow to everybody.

Ang, hope you’ll have a nice trip! Maybe it will be fun? Or isn’t it that kind of trip?

A career consultant sounds like a very good idea, Ang. I have no idea where to find one, but I know we have some at the career center at the university. There are probably a lot of consultants out there though.

As for the “almost healthy cookies” – maybe I should look for some recipes for cookies with less sugar, fat, nuts – cookies where you use honey and some whole grains or oatmeal, or something. I’ll look around. I know that I do want to eat something sweet on most days, and it doesn’t have to be refined sugar products – I’m fine with dark sugar free chocolate and no sugar on my oatmeal now – so I would probably be fine with cookies with little sugar too.

I’m back to the protein problem though: as I eat more calories, I’m having problems adding the proteins. At 1785 calories a day (which is what I eat this week), I should eat 134 grams of protein every day. That’s really a lot of protein!! I can totally understand why people are eating protein powder: without a smoothie or two a day (each about 20grams of protein, depending on whether I put yogurt into it) it would be difficult for me to get over 100 a day. The hassles of a non-meat-eater, huh?! ;)

And the body fat thing – it would be interesting to do if I came across an easy and cheap way to do it, but probably not a priority. It doesn’t sound as you had much use of it, Ang?

The morning work-out was wonderful! I did it again today, I did my usual “Wednesday upper body” today, except at 7 in the morning. And I added weights to all the exercises and lifted to failure! I have no problems lifting in the morning as long as I get to bed early enough and get enough sleep. I like the routine of starting my day with exercise, where I don’t have to worry about it later in the day.
And sometimes I think about the things I struggled with in April and May when I had started losing weight, but couldn’t get into an exercising routine. If you had told me then, that by September I would get up at 6:30 every morning of the week and lift weights 3 mornings and jog 2 mornings – I wouldn’t have believed you! No way! :D
And I do agree with you Ang: injuries are not to be taken lightly. I am very careful, and I always keep good form!

So do people think they slip more or less than they actually slip? Or does that wary from person to person – where some people have a exaggeration-bias and some a underestimation-bias?

Again Ang: hope you enjoy your trip and your 3 days out of the office!

And where are Jessica and Renee? Are you leaving me here to talk to myself for 3 days? :lol:

Woo woo! Oh man, this is exciting! Well I have just gotten through day 3 on the South Beach Diet - even after softball, I was good and had noooo beer, not nunchers, nothing. I stuck to it. Breakfast was the egg thingies. 15 almonds for a snack at 10ish. Lunch was a salad with chicken and I used blue cheese dressing, which I think is illegal, but it had the fewest sugars and carbs, and I thought that seemed a good idea. (That's the whole plan the first phase right? No carb/sugars?) Anyway. String Cheese for snack. Fish and veggies, with sliced tomatoes for dinner. I am just about totally used to diet soda now. (27 years now I have said that day would never come) I have not had a single conniption (sp?) fit at work since doing this. I haven't been hungry, or craving sweets like I usually do. Like, if I were to eat fast food, I always always want to follow it up with a sweet. Milkshake or candy or something. Hasn't been that way. Anyway.

Just for kicks I decided to sneak a peek at the scale tonight. Tonight! When you're not supposed to weigh yourself, aaaand I am down 2 lbs!! :goodscale: What's better, is that it dips me to 181, the lowest weight I have seen on the scale in like.. probably like 6 months. I am ecstatic!

So far, I haven't had too much problem finding stuff to eat on the diet. But that is because dear old sis is cooking it up. Ask me again in another like 4 days :p

That career analyst thing sounds like a good idea! Work might be getting even more crazy soon because my friend is engaged and living with her fiance, and going to be married... soon? And well anyway, the fiance has a five year old son, whose mother just up and said 'custody is yours from now on during the week' - so the coworker needs to adjust her work hours to accomodate the kid after school and we are not sure they are going to. The second they let her go or fire her, if they do, I am going to walk in and ask for a raise or a bonus or something. Or maybe, I should not ask and just use that as collateral for getting those extra two vacation days.

Anyway, feeling pretty good right now. It's amazing, I feel so less bloated lately. I know I have a long way to go, but the way I feel right now, makes me not feel so totally fat. :) Anyway, hopefully all this extra excitement and motivation will ooze out and help you ladies too! I know you guys pulled me through the last few weeks!!