What a day.......glad this week is over.......

My luxury vehicle passed DOT this am,I am so happy to have it back.

Pam- Hopefully I can get here tomorrow to offer my review of the WATP tapes. My question for you is how tired are you after doing the one you have 2X? Some of the higher milel tapes are more rigoruous than others. Congrats on the marine alert being off......what a relief. Gross story about the bathroom too.....and you have to put the spoon under the pillow. I have a 3rd grade expert who says so.

Mouse- what a bummer with your supervisor........hope your day went well! Its Friday!

Welcome Racoon!!!!!! (what should we call you?). Lots of humor and support here......

Gotta go. Have a great evening!
Ginny

Good Morning!
Just a quick hello before I begin the crazyiness of this day. Have a few short hours to get everything done before the party. Just need to finish mopping the kitchen and that room will be finished. I am on strike! I weighed today, and was at 183.5 . I know it's almost time for my tom but gosh it's so irritating. I'm just going to keep excercising and eating right. Ok well today is pizza and ice cream cake, but not a whole lot I can do about that.
Ginny: Glad all is well. As far as how tired I am? I don't know. I don't even really get out of breath. My husband did the one mile with me last night for the first time, after kind of making fun when I first got it, and he was sweating and out of breath during the first one. It was sort of comical. I think my husband and son both have the same rythym problem. :lol: I may just keep doing this one for a while, but would like to be able to progress to the next level. Although, I have a hard time with the weights after doing it the first time. Maybe I should just do it the second time without the weights. I am really amazed at how tired your muscles can become with just using very light weights.
Have a good day everyone!
Pam

I have come to the unmistakable conclusion that as long as I let my TA do whatever she wants, whenever she wants or follow her directions, she's perfectly fine. This was borne out yesterday: she helped another teacher 1st period, was allowed to do what she wanted 2nd period because I had to pull a student to do a vocational inventory, got mad 3rd period and walked in and out of the room because I presented the information differently than she wanted, and 4th period was perfectly happy to work with the small groups that I broke the kids into.
Then I went to have the bloodwork done, and to see the medical endocrinologist. I always get this stupid lady at the lab who doesn't even know how to log into the computer or do what she's supposed to do. Its SOOOO annoying! Fortunately, she has learned that she can't get blood out of me and turns me over to one of the other technicians.
The doctor's appointment just sucked. I'm so tired of specialists and nurses and doctors. You want to call it PCOS? Fine. Call it that. I don't have cysts, and I haven't responded positively to any of the medical treatments for that disorder. I still don't have a menstrual cycle. I never have one. My testosterone is going up again, and I'm gaining weight along with it. In December when she weighed me with my sweatshirt, turtleneck, the whole deal on... I was 10 pounds lighter than I am now with nearly the same clothing on. How did I gain 10 pounds?!?!?!
I told her about being tired, and she immediately suggested a sleep study. WHAT? I'm on how many medications that carry warnings or suggestions about dizziness/drowsiness and you think that I'm tired because I have sleep apnea? Where'd that come from?!
And if that weren't bad enough... although she and I hashed it out during the first visit, and I thought it was a dead issue (if I hadn't thought so, I would never have gone back), she is insistant that the only way I'll ever lose weight is to have bariatric surgery. Like :censored: I'm going to have that done. I am not interested, its not on the table for discussion and it WILL NOT HAPPEN. I don't know ANYBODY that hasn't had major issues with the surgery, and many of them are unhappy about either the surgery itself or the limits on the diet (not the amount of food eaten, but what they can and cannot eat). My diet is already so limited, I don't think I could deal with making it even more limited. I asked her, since a lot of times I throw up and even if I eat more than I should, I rarely go over 2500 calories. Most days I'm comfortably between 1500-1700 calories. I asked her what, exactly, she thought the bariatric surgery would do to help me lose weight that I'm not already doing, and her answer was that it would allow me to lower my eating below even my baseline needs. In other words, I'd get medical intervention to starve myself. Isn't that what she is saying, afterall? She recognizes that I already don't eat a whole lot, and probably don't eat more than I should, but that I still don't lose weight... and that its somewhat related to this endocrine disorder, but that the only way I will lose the weight is to have surgery that allows me to starve myself.
I told about all the visits to plastic surgeons last spring/summer/fall, and she agreed that surgery (to remove the panniculus) might be a valid alternative. I told her we couldn't find a surgeon who accepted my insurance that was willing to perform the procedure, and she told me that the insurance company is required to pay for weight loss procedures because of a law the state legislature passed a year and a half ago. :(
And when I kept saying no to the bariatric surgery, she just got up and walked out of the exam room. So, I guess there goes another endocrinologist down the drain.
Why can't I find more than ONE doctor that will listen to me and do something to help me????? I don't understand. I try not to eat too much, I've given up soda, most white stuff, most fried foods, lots of sweets. I can't eat any type of chicken products, and I throw up a lot. What more am I supposed to do!?
:mouse:

Hi!

Mouse- what a frustrating ordeal for you. To me this is starting to sound like there are maybe 2 Dr's in the country who are able to diagnose and treat your particular condition and the awful thing is that you have not found any of them. Just an idea, and I am sure a rather expensive one- is there a teaching hospital (and I am sure it is probably New York, or Boston - could be Balitimore- you catch my drift- major city) that specializes in endocrine disorders? We have a friend who after years of messing around with local doctors (and he lives in a suburb of NYC) finally went to a specialist in Columbia Presbyterian Hosp in NYC. Finally a real diagnosis, and appropriate meds. I also know that in my neck of the woods, a person with a dire cancer diagnosis should go to Sloan Kettering in NYC. They can treat some otherwise untreatable patients. I know you have been to Baltimore to see Drs there. And there is the healthcare network issue. And the last thing I want to do is frustrate you. As far as your TA goes, sounds as though she has some major maturity issues. I am sure that you can come up with some creative way to get some cooperation from her, and still get things done.
You, my friend, deserve the Nobel Peace prize for putting up with her.

Pam- sorry about the bad WI. Salt is a killer....and with TOM around the corner, it is most likely that. (my WI was awful yesterday too!). Got a busy day today, huh? As far as the WATP tapes....I have the kickbox one, but I think Kerry will agree that is the most strenuous of them. Bang for the buck- as far as the most intense workout (other than the kick box one which is more intense) would probably be the WATP Express Walk Strong. It is a 2 mile tape- 30 minutes and you can use an excersise stretchie with it. She does crank up the tempo a bit, and it is somewhat more intense. But I also like her 3 mile and 4 mile tapes. The 3 mile one is all one workout- 47 minutes and calls for 2# hand weights. Pretty intense. The 4 mile is great because it is broken down into 3, 20 minute segments. One 1 mile segment, and 2, 1 1/2 mile segments (they are a bit faster paced). The total tape is 1 hour, a long time but it gives you the option to do any combination of segments....and intensity. Very versatile.

Gotta go.......BIL and SIL on phone. See ya later.
GInny

Mouse, I am blown away by what you are going through with doctors. Have they forgotten that this is your body? You most certainly have the right to refuse a surgery that you don't feel comfortable with. Have you researched the doctors at Yale? I'm also sorry you are getting zero support from your supervisor. It seems like as soon as someone gets promoted to administration, they lose their balls.

Welcome Raccoon!!!

Pam, Congrats on your son's job. I will pray that those :p marine recruits :p will leave him alone. Regarding your weight, maybe it would be better if you weighed yourself less frequently and relied instead on measurements to keep track of your progress.

Ginny, Congrats on getting your luxury vehicle back!

I still have the cold, and right now it is deciding whether to settle in my sinuses or my chest. I won't be surprised if I am on antibiotics soon.

I found a used bookstore today called, "The Whistle Stop Book Shop." How cute is that? I turned in several books, got a credit of $30.00, picked out seven great trashy novels and two chapter books for DD, and paid only $4.00!!! I don't bother with our library because the selection sucks. :p But now that I've found this cute little "hole in the wall," I can get good books really cheap!

We just got a Target store in my neighborhood. I am excited because we really needed a store like Target. DH applied for a parttime job there but didn't get it. When I went there today and saw all the "lowlifes" they hired and read the sign, "Now Hiring," I wanted to scream at somebody. (Perimenopausal woman raises h*ll in new Target. See page A2.) I controlled myself and toured the store. It has a Starbucks coffeeshop! It is a really nice store, so maybe I will forgive them. I guess he is overqualified, but what are educated white middle-class males supposed to do when they need to make extra money? HELP!!!

On Friday, we had our "Black History Month" assembly. :?: Are you wondering why we are celebrating Black History Month in March when it is no longer Black History Month? :dizzy: Don't ask me. The Home School Coordinator dropped the ball in February and INSISTED that we have it in March. So, the 2nd and 3rd graders put on a musical play that was OUTSTANDING and brought everyone to tears. I was asked to have my classes sing. Since we learned "This Little Light of Mine" during February, the actual Black History Month, my kids sang that. It went well. However, no other classes performed. Afterward, the special ed teachers approached me and asked when I found out about the show. I told them about two weeks ago. They flipped because they weren't invited to perform and didn't know about the show until the day before when the invitations went home. I can't blame them for being upset. They are threatening a law-suit because it is against the law to exclude the special education classes. Oh Boy! The kindergarten teachers found out three days prior and refused to throw something together. Again, I can't blame them. I didn't hear from first grade. All I can say is that the Home School Coordinator surely screwed up! :(

My eating has been both good and bad. But, I got back to the gym and had an excellent workout. So, I'm on my way to being back on track.

Miss you Robyn and Kerry!!! :(

Just me again. Summer, I hope you are feeling better~ sounds as though you are not too optimistic at beating this cold without the help of antibiotics.
Just remember to take care of yourself......and get to the Dr if you need to.
Stinks about the employment situation at Target. I wonder why they do stuff like that???? But congrats on getting a decent store nearby. EVERYTHING is 1/2 hour from my house, except for the bare necessities like a food store and pharmacy. Glad that you are getting your eating/excercising under control. Spring has a way of inspiring that in us!! Oh, happy Black history month :lol: :dizzy: ! Oh, there is probably some good reason for the delayed observance, I would love to hear what the excuse is!

No walk for me today....and I am pooped. Did ok with my eating until I had some chocolate........I will have to be a good girl tomorrow, that is for sure.
Gotta go- see ya tomorrow.
Ginny

Hey!
Was a semi-successful birthday party. We took four boys to the skating rink. That was a mistake. I don't think we'll do that again. My son went around once and said his feet hurt. Two of the boys decided they weren't going to skate at all, so, they just wanted to play in the play area, that was an extra cost. The other boy skated a couple of times, and then played video games the whole time. My hubby and I were the only ones skating! Omigosh my legs are sooooooooooooooooo sore this morning. I have muscles hurting today that I didn't even know I had. ON the bright side, I only wiped out once. It was fun. I hadn't been skating since my nineteen year old was in the second grade! My husband skated with me, and had only been skating once in his life. It was comical. I especialy loved it because he is always good at everything he does and I could actually do this better than him. I told him that and that we should go more often. He said No, I don't think so. ;) :D They all came home and had a silly string fight in the back yard. My back yard looks like a mixture of green, purple, yellow, snot strings. We also bought these little plastic guns from the dollar store that you put these little poppers in and they shoot out confetti, and streamers. So, they loved that as well. Overall it was a good day.
I am pleased to say that I only had two pieces of pizza, and a small but yummy piece of chocolate cake. MMMMMMMMMMMM!

Summer: Yes, I know you shouldn't weigh so often, but I can not help it. It doesn't send me over the edge when I don't weigh a certain amount, but believe it or not, if the numbers are what I don't want them to be, it helps me to eat right. I have been recording my measurements, and am pleased to report, that since January I have lost five inches off my waist and four off my hips, and various other amounts. I have been using this pair of jeans as a guide too. I had one pair of jeans that I kept in a drawer, because I loved them. They never really fit me right, and I could barely button them, and went without oxygen once I did, if you know what I mean. Today, they were a perfect fit! Yeah!

Ginny: Thanks for the advice on the Watp tapes. I have been using two pound weights with the one mile, and I am really seeing a difference. I have been looking for the two mile here, and I did see a watp express it has the one and two mile on it. I may get that.

Mouse: Geez, that does sound like a frustrating doctor's appointment. I hope you'll be able to find a doc that you are happy with that can actually find out what exactly the problem is. Atleast you finally had one peaceful day without sulking from your TA.
Four more days til spring break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D
Pam

Pam,
congrats on surviving the party....hey you got a workout from it even if the boys did not quite follow suit! And some skating time with Dh. Sounds like a bit of fun anyway. And great news on your jeans fitting better and the improved measurements... bet that feels great!!! Look for the WATP tapes on Walmart.com or even ebay. they are sold new there sometimes too.
Gotta go, I want to get a WATP session in myself. We have some wet rainy weather here.....so no outside activity.
See ya later!
Ginny

G'afternoon, all.
Pam: Sounds like a great party. I was never a big skater, at least not after I skated myself down the steps at my grandmother's apartment complex when I was 5 or 6. I might have been younger, couldn't have been older. I remember a hurried trip to a nearby military base for medical treatment (that's what you get when you have parents in the military!).
Ginny: Congrats on the bus, I forgot that the other day.
Summer: Oooh, icky cold. If I haven't ever recommended it before, you might want to try Stash's Wintermint tea. Some grocery stores have it, but I typically order larger boxes from Stash's directly on-line. It is spearmint, wintergreen and other herbs. The mints have the same chemical compound as aspirin (which is, believe it or not, a naturally occuring compound!) salicyates. Yea, yea.... I was an herbalist one summer at the PA Renaissance Faire. I got paid $5/hour to learn that stuff and pretend that I was part of a Cornish pirate group. I worked 3 days a week, and that was a great job with great money for a freshman in college! Oh, yea, we also got 10% of 10% of the total take from the game booths that we ran. I made enough to pay for 18 credits at the community college the year I worked there. ;)
As for the doctors: I have had so many doctors recommend that damn surgery. They all tell me that I can't lose the amount of weight I need to lose, and only a few of them recognize that its complicated by the endocrine disorder.
It really does sound as if they are telling me that starving myself through a medical procedure is the best way for me to go when they recommend the procedure.
I don't know where to turn to get help. If I had the $12000 for the panniculus removal, I'd pay it in a heart beat even though the thought of surgery scares me. Especially a major operation like that.
I even have the sick leave now that I need from work, so I could do it this summer. I have 2.5 weeks of sick leave, 2 free days, and a week of comp time. But I don't know where to look to even find a decent plastic surgeon anymore. I just can't go through that degradation that I went through last summer/fall again. Calling all those doctors offices, and then meeting the physicians in person only to find out that many of them were just awful people. Rude, arrogant, uncaring.
I don't know what else I can do about my weight. I know it needs to come off, and I recognize that I do eat badly occasionally ... But who doesn't? And even my "bad" probably isn't as bad as most people. Yesterday would be a "bad" day: 2 peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast on whole grain bread: 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, and sugar-free fruit butter made at a local place near my mom's house. Its JUST fruit, no sweetner added at all. I have strawberry-rhubarb right now which isn't my favorite, but they're closed for the winter. I'm trying to make it last till they open again in May. They also have pumpkin, peach, pear, cherry, and apple in the sugar free. Pumpkin and peach are my favorite. Both are great with peanut butter, in plain yogurt, oatmeal, or cottage cheese.
Lunch was a sugar-free frappacino from Barnes and Noble, and fish from Long John Silver. I don't eat cole slaw, and it comes with small fries. I also had a chocolate chip cookie.
Dinner was 3 pieces of salmon sushi and a hot dog without the bun.
Exercise: I went to the gym, lifted weights for 35 minutes, then did the water aerobics class which is 55 minutes, took a shower, came back to the gym later for swimming lessons (90 minutes of chasing kids around the pool) and before lessons I swam for 45 minutes.
Today: Leftover lobster rangoon for breakfast, and then nothing till dinner. I hit a local buffet for take out, so it was a mishmash... but I have the leftovers in the fridge. I got a lot of baked coated shrimp, so that is what is left. I had a little bit of beef & macaroni, green beans, half a slice of pizza, and 2 small hot dogs. I have sugar-free mini-cheesecake in the fridge later if I'm hungry. Exercise was doing my grocery shopping, driving, taking a shower. I was going to the gym, but we had thunderstorms, so I know the pool was closed.
I will definitely be at the gym tomorrow, though on Mondays I usually only have time to lift weights or swim, not both because I won't do the Monday night water aerobics class. The instructor is rude. I also have to go to BJs for school, so that'll be Monday or Tuesday. Its right near the gym.
I don't think I'm slacking on the exericse, I don't think I'm being a huge over-eater.
I already know what tomorrow's food will be: "fake eggs' (egg beaters), canadian bacon, on a bagel for breakfast, a dannon smoothie, with cottage cheese or yogurt and soup (maybe) for lunch, then the left-over shrimp with salad for dinner. I also found a key-lime pie (individual size) at the store, so I might have that.
When I go to BJs, I'm going to buy more water, but I also want the snack-pack they have from Frito-Lay... they have all the baked stuff/low-fat in a snack pack now. That way I can portion control snacks easier.
I don't know what else I can do.... or where to look, who to talk to, anything. I'm relatively positive that the tiredness is a combination of factors: I've had trouble sleeping ever since I originally hurt my ankle because it twitches/jumps, and there are times I can't bear to having anything touching it. I have to take tylenol or something to stop that at night. At least 3 of the medications I take carry warnings about dizziness and/or lightheadeness. And that doesn't include the benedryl I take for the insect allergy. I'm also insanely busy lately... I work full-time, I teach swimming part-time, workout at the gym, I'm in grad school, and I do all that community service stuff for the kids, plus my own work with the Red Cross.
That doesn't exactly scream sleep apnea to me... It screams that I have too much I'm doing, that I'm on medication that makes me dizzy/unfocused, and that I probably don't sleep enough at night. I get up at 5:00 a.m.,and leave at 6:15 but I don't usually get HOME until 6:30 or 7:00 at night.
But I was completely unable to convince the endocrinologist of any of this. What's the point of paying her if she's not going to listen to me?!
I don't know if any of you are fans of the band "They Might Be Giants", but right now I'm thinking about the song, "Twisting in the Wind".
:mouse:

Mouse-
I will get that WW stuff off to you later this week, after all the nonsense here dies down. Dh and Ds are leaving for Florida tomorrow, and Dd just came home from her softball trip to SanFrancisco. So I have been rather up to my eyeballs getting other peoples lives in gear. Not that I am trying to shove WW down your throat.....I just wish I could help you somehow.
Hope your day goes well with the Torture TA....perhaps this week will at least be peaceful.
Gotta go drive the kiddies in......
Ginny

I am so tired I could scream.......don't know why, however. And I have a crummy headache. And my asthma is acting up a wee bit. Maybe I need this spring break!! :lol: Got thru today, kiddies were ok, for the most part. That probably means I am in for a rough day tomorrow. Oh well, I will get there when I get there.

I suppose I should go do something productive. See ya later!
Ginny

Hey guys!
One down and three to go!
Day was ok today. Nothing majorly monumental which is always good for a Monday. Most of my kids are back from ISS today. The one girl who I would like to knock out, was already on my nerves. She has absolutely no respect for anything. The day the water went out in the building, the principal happened to walk into my room and he asked her to sit down and she just looked at him and kept on standing up. She is just rude. Today she yelled out that the GD teacher and yes she used the initials, and then said mother effer. I said you know whether or not you used the word, I find it totally unacceptable. She said well my momma don't care. I said well I do care. Tried to call the mother. Unreachable. She is a mess. Other than that, not to bad.
Ginny: I did the two and a half mile walk and jog last night, and with my legs already sore from skating, it wasn't fun. I made it through however.
I think I will just go back to the one mile today. I added these one pound weights to the walk and jog.
Mouse: Your bad eating days are much better than mine. Here's my yesterday: piece of cold cheese pizza breakfast.with a pepsi, two peices of cold pizza for lunch with a pepsi, piece of chocolate cake. Dinner: grilled chicken breast and salad. I was hungry! You certainly out excercise me that's for sure. Although, I have noticed that since I have been excercising everyday, I miss it when I don't do it. I remember those trips to the navy clinics. I hated it.
Well, gotta go, talk to you all later!
Pam

Evening.
Okay, I left at 6:15 this morning, and I just got home now. The cat was insanely hungry because he emptied his feeder this morning, and had to wait till I brought the bag of cat food in from the car tonight (not enough hands last night!).
The food changed just a tiny bit: Breakfast was exactly what I wrote. Lunch was low-carb/fat-free yogurt, weight watchers cereal, and a smoothie. Snack was a bag of chips (150 calories), and a sugar-free mocha with skim milk from the gym... about a 6 ounce cup. Dinner is the left-over shrimp, salad, vegetable lo-mein and 3 pieces of salmon sushi. Snack tonight will be the mini-cheesecake.
About 1500 calories today, all told. I went to the gym and swam for an hour, then did the shopping for the student's fun day... that involves not just pushing the cart in BJs, but hefting the cases of soda, juice, snacks, etc. I didn't buy the baked snack pack from Frito-Lay: I looked at the nutrition information, and its awful. A REGULAR bag of Doritos is 140. The baked bag is 180! The pretzels in that bag are 220 calories, too. I went with a multi-pack of the new Nabisco 100 calorie packs: oreos and wheat thins. I like both. Anyway, this is what I have planned for tomorrow:
Either my bagel sandwiches or a frozen breakfast with eggs, ham, cheese, and potatoes: 250 calories. I might add a bagel to that, since my bagel sandwiches are usually 370. Lunch: cottage cheese, 2 hard-boiled eggs, wheat thins. Dinner: Left over sushi, salad, frozen dinner that is a veggie eggroll, brown rice, and garlic shrimp. Oh, and either a smoothie or slim fast for the afternoon snack, since I'm going to the gym.
Ginny: :dizzy: Maybe you have sleep apnea, too? :devil:
Pam: Well, then I wish somebody could explain to me why I just don't lose weight. It SUCKS. :cry:

:mouse:

I think it is time that I start a new thread. See you on the flipside!