kykaree--good job not overeating at home--I would have had a food field day all week long! Staying home alone is VERY dangerous for me food-wise...

So, I have some news to report on the job front. My boss came and took me to have a chat with her a little while ago. Apparently, she talked to her boss about what we had discussed yesterday, and they wanted to know if they could come close to what I was asking for, if I would stay here. Heck yeah, I'll stay if they give me $8000 more a year to keep doing what I'm doing! I tried not to act too excited about it, of course, but I was definitely happy to hear that they want to keep me so badly :D She said she won't have any numbers for me right away, but hopefully by the end of next week, I will hear something regarding how much and when. Yay!

Well, just had to share my happy job tidbit with ya'll...back to the grinding stone!

From out of the depths of a textbook....lmao
 

I can breathe! Its a miracle! lol. For a minute I thought finals would eat me alive. :lol: Luckily they didn't. I have missed you guys. Things here are crazy. Had finals, the kids activities, and now we have roughly 40 people coming here tomorrow to celebrate my bday from last month, my dads bday from last week, and my husbands bday this sat. IM suprising him too by having his family and best friend come in from out of town to the party. Then my new classes start on monday, Ms. Fabulous Di is coming to visit me on Friday(after what Di, 12 years?), and IM trying like heck to keep on point w/ the eating and exercising. Still, it was nice to be missed, and I really missed you guys too. I will try and catch up on what everyone is doing. Also, feel free to catch me on yahoo or aol, im not on often, but when I am I love to chat about whatever..lol.
Well, I better get the gift for DH finished. I'll be back on tomorrow morning for a short bit if anyone wants to catch me then. Stay safe all of my friends, Good luck on your jobs, your interviews, your new cars, your wonderful bodies, and your beautiful hearts and souls.

Goodmorning! I still have a few minutes left to my morning.. I got to sleep in .. kinda this morning.. it was nice :) Tomorrow though.. watch out, I plan to spend as much time in bed as I can!! I say that now, but likely I'll be out all day.. poo poo! heh.

Jill - congrats on the raise... it's funny what a company can do if they realize you'd leave if you aren't getting more money. When Josh gave notice at his current job, they REALLY didn't want to lose him, so they gave him 5 more dollars an hour, and full time hours. It was enough for him to stay with them, plus he gets normal hours now.. no more 12am-8:30am shifts :) Do you think it will be hard to give up the tips you are getting from the serving/hostess job?

Kimberley - nice pics :) You are looking pretty tiny there.. Howie too, you two are the unstoppable couple! :)

kykaree - I'm not very good with eating 100% on plan when I'm home for an entire week, I can do a couple of days.. and it definitely helps that I have to hike a fricking mountain to get ANY kind of junk food. You are really kicking it up a notch this week, with all that exercising and good eating.. you are going to knock off those 8 pounds before your bday if you keep it up :) Good luck with the interview, do you have a power outfit? I call outfits that make me look really put together and professional, and at the same time represent me a power outfit.. you feel like you can do anything in it!

Heather - my goodness, you are so busy you make me head spin!

As for me? I am off to work, I am working 12:30-9:30, have a healthy lunch packed, and am walking 2km's to get to work. And since I get paid tomorrow.. I have NO money today, so I don't have to worry about hitting up starbucks or the chocolate shop next door to my store.. heh. Have a great day ladies! And Marge? Diana? Where are YOU!?!?!??!

-Aimee

LOL! You made my day! :D :D

Jilly, you're doing great - way to plan! Great you got to talk so frankly with your boss, too. Be nice if they'd get you enough money to stay.

P.S. Aimee, we cross posted! Hey there!

I missed your second post, too, Jill -- Crossing all fingers, toes, arms, legs and eyes here in hopes you can get the raise you need! My friend got an insane raise when he told his boss he was leaving if he didn't get more money. He ended up leaving, anyway, but not for a while and only when he got an outstanding offer elsewhere. Must be nice, huh?

Missed yours, too, Heather. Glad to hear your finals are over. What are you taking again? Brain fart here, sorry.

Hi everyone

Jill - good luck with the raise, I hope you get what your looking for, I am sure it's less than you deserve!!! If we were paid what we were worth we would all be millionaires!!!

Aimee - I have got a navy dress suit, which is loose on me at the moment, but seems to fit whatever dress size I am, I think I will wear that, otherwise it might just be black pants and a nice blouse. It's fairly casual in my office, I had heaps of business suits that I wore in Australia but if I wear them here, people think I am "acting above my station" Office politics, gotta love it!!! NOT

I've really enjoyed this week, I have been so busy and not lonely and especially not comfort eating. I used to do that all the time when I was on my own, so it looks like my brain is finally getting into gear with this lifestyle change. I get such a buzz from the gym. I'll really miss swimming every morning when I go back to work.

Hubby is off today and we are meeting some of his friends and going out for lunch. I am going to relax and enjoy and aim for 2000 calories today instead of my usual 1200 - 1500.

It's weird going out with his friends, he is 20 years older than me, so of course all of his friends are older too, the couple we are going out with are the same age as him. Don't tell him I said this, but it's a bit like going out with your parents, Colin and I seem the same age when we are together, but with them, he acts a lot older!!!!

Sooo sleeeeepy...I was supposed to serve last night, and if I had, I would have been home by about 9:30 (since the guy who would have been my artner in my section left a little before that). But, of course, that was too good to be true. No, instead the girl who was supposed to hostess last night called out, so guess who they asked to do it instead. No, not Darrin or Jin or Kali or Patrick or Amy or Josh or Nick or Katie or Bean. Nope, I was the first person they asked. And, as per usual, I said I would do it IF no one else would. I'm pretty sure they didn't even ask anyone else. I need to grow some balls and stop just saying yes to them all the time! So I ended up being there until close (11pm), and I bet I only made about $35. GRR! That is the 4th night in a row I had to stay until 11 this week. NOT cool!

Aimee--If I get the raise I'm hoping for at my full-time job, I'll probably still keep just a shift or two during the week at Ruby's for the cash flow. It's nice to not have to use my debit card for EVERYTHING--nice to just throw some cash around sometimes :)

I did get an email from a company that saw my resume on CareerBuilder.com. Now normally, when they contact me like that, it's for some crappy sales job or "marketing" company job (there are these companies that say they have "marketing positions with management opportunities"...what they actually are is those annoying people at mall kiosks and WalMart sidewalk stands and stuff who try to make people try their products--NOT my idea of a good marketing career move!). This was different, though...for starters, they actually used my name in the letter they sent me, which means it wasn't automatically generated to anyone with the words "sales" or "marketing" in their resumes. Also, they listed their company's website, and it seems quite legitimate. Their clients include McDonald's and AT&T (I'm assuming before they merged with Cingular), so it's not some weenie little company. They're a marketing firm that comes up with advertising campaigns and stuff. FUN! It also said their starting salary is $41,700 annually. Now maybe this is too peronal to share online or whatever, but here I go anyway. Right now, I make $31,400 at my full-time job. This pending increase should get me close to $40,000 (since that's what I was asking for in a new job). That said, I took the chance and applied to this company that emailed me. What could it hurt, right? They'll call me, and I'll ask the appropriate questions to know if it's something I want to pursue before I go anywhere for a live interview. No harm done, and totally worth exploring. Maybe it'll be the higher-paying job of my dreams :o

So yeah, I hopped on the scale this morning--holding steady at 299.5. Considering I had 3 12-oz cups of regular soda and 2 cups of regular-mixed-with-diet soda at the restaurant last night, a whole wrap AND big salad for lunch yesterday, and 1/4 of a cheeseburger and fries and coleslaw at the restaurant Wednesday, that's not horrible. I definitely went on a soda binge last night for the caffeine and sugar high since I actually fell asleep at a table in the restaurant for about 20 minutes before my shift started (my manager had to wake me up to ask me if I would hostess instead of serve) :dizzy:

Heather--so glad you survived your finals! Sounds like you've got a lot of great stuff coming up (Di visiting, bug party, etc.). Have fun--you've earned it!!

Kylie--one thing I actually LOVE about my job is that I DON'T have to dress up. I hate wearing suits and skirts and yuck. Not that I come in in jeans and t-shirt's every day, but I'll wear like a plain black t-shirt and some gray slacks or something confy. I would hate to have to give that up for a position that pays more but requires me to spend the entire increase of salary on a new grown-up wardrobe :p

Kimberley--Thanks for the crossed fingers! I know I am very fortunate to have a boss that I get along with really well. I feel like I can talk to her about almost anything. She's the opposite of my previous boss, who happened to be VERY micro-managing. My current boss LOVES that she can say, "Jill, here's a project. Figure it out," and I'll do it. My last boss would spell out EVERYTHING--probably spent more time telling me what to do and how to do it (and correcting every undotted i and such) than actually LETTING me do it. That was quite frustrating, but it definitely makes me appreciate my boss here a LOT more, so it was good experience, and I will keep it in mind in the event that I end up being someone else's boss in the future (which I hope isn't TOO far down the road--I'd like to NOT be at the bottom of the totem pole forever!).

Alright, off to work. I have 2 projects to do for our pain-in-the-butt client. Apparently, after today, she will be on vacation for 8 days, so nothing will be due to her until after then, but if I can finish the work today, then I can relax next week, so might as well get crackin'. Have a FABULOUS FRIDAY my FABULOUS FRIENDS!!

morning ladies.....
 

I have a million things to do before the party tonite, but I wanted to jump on and say hi. I hope things are going well with all of you. I do have two things to say to Jill before I go any further. 1. I now have the toe thingy...lol. and 2. I am soooo jealous of you. Didn't you say you were going to the MD festival? Well, if its the same one I'm thinking of, my fave band in the world will be there. I am absolutely crazy for Foo Fighters and Dave Grohl in particular. Just the fact that you will be at the same place as him......*huge sigh*...lol. Oh, and if you arent going to that festival....nevermind...lol.
There, whew, I feel better. Had my starstruck moment. I hope everyone has a magnificent Friday, and I will try to see you tomorrow. Aimee, Kimberly, Jill, Marge(miss you Marge) Sara, Di, and everyone else I may have forgotten, you are all wonderful people that have so much going on in your lives, that I'm so proud of you to be dealing with these life changes like you are. :)

Kykaree, I laughed when I read about your lunch plans. I have another friend online in a "May-October" marriage, and she describes similar situations. Hope you have a great time and don't have to sit at the children's table! ;) ;)

Jill, that's cool you have a response already. Howie received a call at work from a headhunter the other day. The company the man was hiring for was another direct mail company in Maryland. We're very happy here in Ohio and don't want to move, plus Howie doesn't want to get another job in direct mail if he does seek another job.

And me...Scale-wise, I was up 1/2 pound this week - might as well say a pound. Howie was up 2 pounds. We're chalking it up to the very salty meal we had Tuesday, plus it was probably more calories than we counted that day. We also didn't drink much water this week.

But enough excuses. Excuses don't solve anything, ya know? We've otherwise been on plan, and we're not planning on a treat night this weekend since Tuesday was more than likely our inadvertant treat night.

Hey, Heather - I even hit refresh before posting and still managed to miss you! ;) Have fun tonight!

Hey ladies! Today was just insane, we went to get that car we wanted.. but the salesman was just being a b*tch with the numbers.. so after saying no for 2 hours, they finally let us go. We still have our car, but with renewed satisfaction, because we own about 3,000 less than we thought :) Afterwards I came home, got ready and went shopping with my friend, we were out for 9 hours!! I bought a hairband (it's really cute), a new ring, and a little wedding present for a friend. Also I went to Old Navy and got a pink cardigan for 5 bucks! :) I was impressed with my spending, or lack of. Sorry this is such a short post but I am SO tired after such a long day! Have a great one and I'll try and post more tomorrow! :)

-Aimee

Oopps.. I also got on my scale today (for some reason I thought it was Thursday), and I am down to 256! :) I had been steady between 259-257. Yay!

La la la...Shopping, friends, weight loss....Sounds like a great day! :D G'night -- I'm heading bedward, too.

I survived lunch with our friends, we went for a long walk before lunch, no tapas, as they were on a "Friday menu" which was just filled baguettes, so no wandering off plan for me.....until...our friends suggested we come and stay with them and go out for dinner. They are big drinkers, and I can sometimes fall off the wagon with drink and end up over eating. Anyway I had one glass of wine and reacted to the sulphites, went red, blotchy, puffed up and wheezing so no more drink for me!!! That's one way of staying On Plan!!!

Then we went to a Spanish place for tapas, and I stuck more or less on plan (I did have dessert but I kept my choices for mains healthy so I could lash out)

I am so proud of myself and am feeling really good, I have had a good week. I weighed at my friends place and found over the last two weeks I have lost 8 pounds, I have revised that to six, as I normally weigh with clothes, but at my friends place I could weigh nekkid, which I can't quite do in the middle of my gym!!!! It would make my I-have-lost-weight happy dance a most alarming sight!!!!

Great for you! Sounds like the day was a success (with the exception of the sulphites fun, but that had its own backwards purpose).

I slept in and started cleaning before I'd eaten -- just now eating! What a tasty brunch it is, too: Kashi GoLean with 1 oz. slivered blanched almonds, blueberries, a banana and skim milk. It's 560 calories of sublime goodness!

Sounds like my kind of breakfast, except I don't know what Kashi is like, not having that in this neck of the woods. I got 4 boxes of blueberries today, they were so cheap!!! Normally they are £2.99 (that's about $4.50 to you guys I think) for one little box, but I got four for that today!!! I love them!!!

I always have oatmeal/porridge for breakfast, except on special occasions, I have baked beans with wholemeal toast. I can't believe I never used to eat breakfast!!!

Swimming tomorrow morning, I can't wait. Going to try for a mile tomorrow, 60 lengths. It might take me two hours, but that's ok. Then leg weights in the afternoon. Did arms yesterday, my gym instructor IS trying to kill me (see your non scale victories thread in the 100 lb forums for details) they hurt today!!! Back to work Monday :( I like this staying at home thing.

GM all, I am back!!!;) anyhoo, WTG everyone with weight loss, jobs, cars, etc...I got my gorgeous Jet Black Camry on Friday...woo-hoo, pure luxury really...Dh is buying me an elliptical trainer after I get to 250...so that is a goal within my reach.. I will be at curves 7 weeks on Tuesday...Went to a first BDay party for a lady's baby down the street at 1pm, no worrys about going off plan there she had about 35 people, and only enough food for 10...other than burgers...they had plenty of those. we each got a tablespoon of store bought potato and macaroni salad, too...needles to say, by 6 pm we were starved. Oh, same with the cake we each got a tiny sliver and one little spoonful of icecream too...I guess with me, I make everything myself, so I always make more than enough food, never quite been to a party that had too little, so little that people were afraid to take anything. But, what do I know, lol... anyhoo, raining today, so am inside, doing some crafts and the like...will measure myself tomorrow morning...cannot find my tape measure so will be using the one at the gym...And, yes, Heather my dear, it is 12 years going on 13 since we have been together thanks to BEEAZLEBUB...I am so excited...I am not even thinking of dieting while I am there, MEXICAN, CHINESE..nah, won't even worry about it, will just be very very careful with things the week after to make up for it. My friend's mom and her hubby went on Physicians Diet plan and since Easter weekend they have each lost 25 pounds, so she is making copies of everything for me. She says you eat so much food, it is unbelieveable. And they love the food choices too. I figure, with that, Curves, Biking, Some walking, and when I get the elliptical, WOWWWWWWEEE! When Heather comes to visit me, ( And they had better or else j/k) I will be a totally different looking person...okay ladies, guess that is all for now, HAG next cpl of days if I don't see ya all...Where is our Marge? Wow, she has not been on in awhile...Hope all is okay with her...Take care, Diana

Morning ladies! I feel hung over this morning.. lol.. I'm totally not though. I got enough sleep last night and now feel funny, possibly rested? ;)

kykaree - It would be easier to lose weight if we were at home all the time, eh? I know when I had a few months off from work, and didn't have to go look for a job, I was working out 2-3 times a day. I'd get up, go for a run, and in the afternoon I'd do weights, and at night I went for a walk, that wasn't for fitness though.. I needed time to think. That was great how you stuck to plan.. even if part of it wasn't intentional (the wine thing), I think I'd eat light and splurge on a really GREAT dessert :)

Kimberley - blueberries are my FAV ever :) I've been having oatmeal with strawberries on it every morning this week, the strawberries are really good this year. I am addicted to fruit this year, I'm seriously eating 1-2 fruit salads a day.. it's like I'm craving freshness.. lol.

Diana - Can I have an elliptical too? ;) Uhm, and a new car too.. lol. 7 weeks at Curves, wowsers... I remember before you started... and your first week. Time really flies, eh?

I'm doing alright these days, Friday was my "cheat day", it was a pretty good cheat, and it made me pretty ill.. lol. Totally worth it. I am back on plan as of yesterday, doing good. This thing I've been trying has been going pretty good, my body feels pretty good. I gotta do some laundry today, and am going to take it easy mostly. This is my first day off where I can actually do nothing, yay :)

-Aimee

Morning all. Feeling quite under the weather today. On Friday, I had a sore throat, but I had blamed it on sleeping with my windows open on a cool night, so I thought little of it. On Saturday, though, my nose started running like a leaky faucet all day! And of course, that was the day of the big music festival in Baltimore, so needless to say, I was pretty miserable. I hadn't anticipated the runny nose, so I had to use public restroom paper towels and napkins all day instead of tissue since I hadn't packed any. Now my nose is still runny and VERY red and sore, my throat still hurts a bit, and I am sooooo hot I'm sweating even sitting still--should be good for business at the restaurant tonight :p

Other than being sick, the weekend was pretty good. The concert was excellent except that it started raining toward the end. We left before Coldplay and the Foo Fighters, but I was feeling crappy and cold and wet and I knew Jeff didn't really care to see either of them perform anyway, so no biggie. We were there for a good 8 hours anyway, so certainly go our money's worth for the tickets. Yesterday, I slept nearly ALL day. I got up arounf 9:15 and took a shower. Then I fell asleep on the couch while Jeff too his shower, and he came down and woke me up. We relocated to the bed to watch a movie, and I immediately fell back to sleep. It was almost 5pm before I actually woke up and stayed awake. Then we went to get some dinner, and on the way, he got a flat tire. Neither of us had ever had to change a tire before, and we were sure we could have figured it out if we had to (it's really not rocket science--jack up the car, remove old tire, replace with spare), but I was still tired and feeling crappy, so we took the easy way out and just called his cousin to come help us since we were only about 3 miles from the house. So this morning, poor Jeff has to go in to work late so he can get a new tire first. Turned out there was about a 6-inch screw stuck in his tire, and as the air had slowly seeped out from where the screw stuck it, it actually ripped a hole in the outside of the tire, too. So once th tire was good to go, we had dinner, then went back to his house, watched I Heart Huckabees (pretty good movie, if you can follow it), thenwatched the new Family Guy episode, and then I left. I was home around 11, in bed by 11:30, and asleep by about 11:35--I thought I might have trouble sleeping since I had slept all day, but nope! Not a problem (and I feel like I could go right back to bed about now, too)! :dizzy: I didn't bother calling out sick today only because I don't have a whole lot of sick time available (it's cumulative throughout the year, so it's not like I automatically get 5 days at the start of the year, it accumulates a certain number of hours per pay period until you reach 5 days total). Hopefully I will be better by Friday when Julie (my sister), her fiance (another Jeff), and Jackie (his daughter) come up.

Well, I didn't pack any food today. I didn't have time/didn't feel like it. I doubt I'll bw too hungry anyway--I don't even feel like drinking any water (though I know I should stay hydrated to help beat off this cold). I suppose loss of appetite is okay for today since I definitely ate my share over the weekend (as per usual). Alright, I'm too beat to keep babbling. Hope everyone else feels better than I do!

Good morning ladies! I've been so busy at work the last few weeks! Been keeping up with your posts but haven't had time to put anything in myself!

I had a great big leap off my darn 3 week plateau this morning! 7 pound drop! I couldn't believe it!!! Sam made me get off and move the scale 3 times to make sure! Was still reading 257! I made it to the 50's!!!! woo hoo for me!

Got a new vehicle on thursday, a 2001 GMC Jimmy. It's really nice. Big enough for all our camping gear and the dog and her kennel. Our first camping trip is at the end of this week already! I can't wait!

Today is my last day of work for the next 9 days... finally some time off!

Goodmorning ladies!!

Jill - sorry you are feeling so sick.. take some vitamin C and get tons of sleep! As for working at the restaurant.. if you are serving, be careful! I would think they would send you home if you are sick.. as a restaurant go-er... I wouldn't be fond of a sick server. Get better soon! :) I spent most of my day in bed yesterday.. watching cheesy movies on TV. It's my only day off this week where I can be lazy, the rest of the week will be spent cleaning because my mom is coming for the Canadian long weekend. Cleaning sucks.. but my mom will be here :)

Sara - woohoo! Congrats on those 7 pounds, thats so awesome! That time off will be great... everyone around here is getting time off.. I WANT SOME TOO! ;)

As for me, I'm heading to work soon, I'm closing by myself tonight. I'm not sure how I feel about it.. everyone keeps showing me different ways. grr. After work tonight I am walking home... yup.. hiking 2km's straight up! Great exercise after a 8 hour work day... I am looking forward to getting home.. lol. Have a great day gals! And Marge? MARGEEE?!?!? Where are youuuuu?

-Aimee

I've been lurking this weekend, too, reading but not posting. We have to cram so much socializing and stuff into weekends because of Howie's hours...They're not always real relaxing. Come Monday, I'm ready to relax a little, LOL!

Sara, that's GREAT! Yes, I'd say you sure broke through that plateau!

Jill, hope you feel better, too. I agree with Aimee...Get thyself home and bundle under some covers with your sweaty hands wrapped around a cup of hot tea and a bottle of vitamin C. ;)

Aimee, nice to have a day to laze around finally, eh? I can imagine. You'll definitely have your exercise in for the day after hoofing it up 1.24 miles (had to convert it to wrap my mind around the number, LOL).

Wow Ladies! I FINALLY have a day off to get caught up with everyone and there is not a single post from anyone since yesterday afternoon!?!?!!! This is crazy!!! I'm missing super late night posts from Aimee and Kimberly, a way too early post from Jill and a random one from Diane who probably is still in her room crafting away, and where IS Marge?! I fell like I'm missing my family! Where's all my sisters?!

I'm here, I'm here! I had a project to work on this morning first thing, so I didn't have time to post. I also came in to find the fire alarms going off. There were signs posted that they were testing the system and to ignore the alarms. They went off for over an hour straight!! I had to go in someone else's office and close the door so I could actually think and not cover my ears.

Well, busy day for me, I have more work to do. I'll catch up with ya'll later!

Goodmorning Gals! I stopped the late night posts because nothing has been happening when I'm gone! Also last night I was feeling SO sick, and when I got home I pretty much went straight for the couch, and stayed there until I had to make food.

I've been going pretty good with this whole eating more healthy thing, and watching my fat grams.. and calories. I somehow expected to lose some more weight, I lost the initial water weight I was carrying. And on Friday I weighed at 256, and today I was 257-259, I got off the scale when I saw 259 and got back on and it said 257. I just expected to see 256 again, and feel discouraged! I know my period is approaching, I can feel my belly expanding a little. That could also be why I feel so discouraged this morning, but it's hard to want to eat healthy when I feel like this. I've packed left over spaghetti and extra lean ground beef, and low fat spaghetti sauce. bad bad aimee!

Alrighty! I'm going to go fake being happy, even though I switched a shift to have today off, and then the girl called in sick, and my manager told me I was the only one who could take it (she lied, because a staff member called after she left). Big smile! ;)

-Aimee

well, I had a long post ready earlier today, and *POOF* I had a browser crash. In a nutshell: Hey, great to see ya'll...I haven't had a lot going on other than sinus headaches and can't take pseudoephedrine because the doctor told me to lay off of it until my BP is back in line.

Whew, all that in one breath!

Jill, I hate those ear-piercing alarms. I had a really fun time when I set off our church's alarm one time, back when I worked in the office. Still makes my toes curl to think about it!

Aimee, the scale is not your friend. Do the right things, keep moving and eating right, and the weight will fall away. Maybe measurements and clothes sizes would be better for you to track, more encouraging? The main thing is, stick with a plan for more than a week or two -- give it a chance. You'll find what works for you! :) :)

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

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

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

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

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

Hey!!

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

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

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

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

-Aimee

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-Aimee

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

-Aimee

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

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

30% of 1600 = 480 calories

There are 9 calories in each gram of fat

480 / 9 = 53.33 grams fat/day

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




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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-Aimee

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

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

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

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

-Aimee

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

I hanker for a hunk of cheese!

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

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

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

-Aimee