Hi, Red, looks like you've already done some great work -- half way there! Congrats :)

Jen, I'm glad to hear you're working with your doctor.

Wow, Kimberley, that does not sound like fun. Hope you get rid of that soon. Have you ever tried a relaxation tape? I had a college roommate that used to do that. I heard Dr. Phil mention something like that for use for people going through weight loss, it lowers the anxiety/stress level.

Jill, I had a feeling that the insurance would kick in much faster than a year. Sounds good.

The cat has been a pain in the rear this past couple of days. She meows all morning starting at about 6, then goes to sleep at 10am. She's seriously cutting into our rest time.

I'm planning stuff for my friend's visit in a couple of weeks. I bought a couple of tickets to see some live music, which should be really fun. I hope the weather is good so we can spend some time in Central Park. Boy, the time off will be really welcome. These past few months have been stressful.

Heh, cats are really good at cutting into the zzzz's. We have to shut our two cats out of the bedroom at night. Sure, they come snuggle up and purr, but the youngest one incites riots throughout the night. Oh, and she meows like her heart's breaking. Thank God she doesn't have a loud Siamese voice! Here's hoping she grows out of some of her craziness. LOL

Last night I had more stressful dreams. The dreams I've been having are the searching ones -- in college, can't find the classroom or realizing I've blown off one class almost completely and am going to fail it or my degree is going to be taken back when they see I did that. Oh, man those are stressors. Last night's was one of my ultra-detailed sort of sci-fi dreams, intricate plot and all. My mind is just churning away over something. I hope I can resolve whatever issues are bugging me. I should try playing our nature sounds at night - they always are relaxing.

Ahh, cats. I wish we could get one. In our apartment, it's $30 a month extra for "pet rent" plus a $300 non-refundable pet fee PLUS a $150 pet deposit :dizzy: How's that for a "pet-friendly" community that obviously doesn't want anyone to have any pets! However, I'm thinking once my credit card is paid off, I might work on convincing Jeff to get a cat. By that time, I'll be at the new job, so I'll be bringing home almost $150 more a week, and I won't have my huge credit card payments (I've been trying to make $500 payments each month until it's gone--that's how badly I want to be debt-free!).

It's official--I begin my new job on Monday, March 27. That means I will have full benefits starting May 1, so I'll only have to go one month without. Now to figure everything out with my 401k and pension...

I bet there are a lot of renters there who have kitties on the sly. wink wink nudge nudge Of course, keeping a kitty out of a sunny window is impossible, but you can always hope the landlord doesn't see the window and realize it belongs to a non-pet-clause renter's apartment. *snort*

Jill: It is so worth it to be debt free! And you are young enough to learn good credit habits now. Don't do what I did and run up thousands in credit card debt that took me YEARS to pay off! Now, I don't even own a credit card--I just use my debit card with the Visa symbol on it if I need a CC for anything.

We had talked about owning a pet, but so far we've been against it. We have a very carefree lifestylle now, and having a pet would cut into that. Still, I'm holding out hope to get a schnauzer....some day.

hello all!
Thanks for the welcome!
Hope everyone is having a great day!
Can't stay long, will check back in later!

Yay Jill!! You definitely have a handle on it!!

We have an accordian door for our bedroom, ahhhhh! no escape from the spoiled cat with the big mouth! heh heh. At about 7 she'll come in and meow until I move so she can sleep in my spot. I'm such a sucker!! Jill, I'll send you Chloe and even throw in the pet rent and deposits!

I have both those types of dreams, Kimberley. Late for a test, and it's the last class I have to take to earn my degree or some variation. Aliens invading, heh heh. (Jen, do you ever watch Invasion? I have a friend in Florida who says that they really are being overrun by weird creatures down there -- New Yorkers, heh heh heh.)

We're expecting snow on Friday, yikes! so much for the spring fling last Saturday! Last night was the most beautiful full moon. Well, I'd better get back to the billing, even though I'm fighting against doing it.

MDs AI predictions: Catherine rocked last night. She's going to give Mandisa a run for her money. I think Melissa might get the axe tonight.

Hey girl....

You're right--Florida is LOUSY with New Yawkers! Especially right now!

And I agree--Catherine did awesome last night. But my man, Tayor, was fabulous as well! I think it's either Melissa or Kevin (a/k/a Chicken Little) that will go tonight.

Hey Gals... just wanted to let yah'll know I'm still alive! I've been busy with work, spending time with Josh.. and getting a darn appointment to get my toe fixed. I am going today... I will work for 2.5 hours, get surgery on my toenail and then return to work for 5 more hours. Aren't you all jealous? I will let yah know how it went either tonight or tomorrow after work.. I'm sure it'll be fine.. I'm just crazy nervous. I'm soaking it now so maybe they'll say it's fine... I am a dreamer! Talk to yah'll later!

-Aimee

Well, I lived, and it wasn't as bad as I thought. The needle itself was worse than I thought actually.. but it's all done. Josh was there to hold my hand thankgoodness... so I get to hear tales of what the doctor did. Eek! One more shift left of work.. I shall post more when things are so hectic on this end!

-Aimee

Thank goodness I havent had any foot ailments (knock on wood!) Sounds painful!

So far, I'm doing well on the liquid diet. I haven't been off plan at all for three days in a row (some kind of record for me!) This morning, the scale shows me down 6.5 lbs from Monday. It's pretty common with a diet like this to lose really big the very first week, since most of it is water.

Jen, my neighborhood here in Brooklyn is lousy with native Californians (including me). They come here, and the New Yorkers go to Florida. Ha. Do you think Taylor will dye his hair? I'd be sad to see the gray go.

Congrats on sticking with the liquid diet and losing the weight. I'm right in the middle of TOM so, well, that's that!!

Hey, Aimee. I can't believe you have to work 5 hours after having toe surgery. You're going to have to play crane and keep one food in the air. Josh is a good guy (here in Brooklyn we say "mensch").

I hurt the muscle in my Achilles tendon about a year ago and it was painful to walk, took forever to get rid of that. Hurt like ****.

Well, better get some work done, the day goes fast.

Oh man! I just looked at my toe! The nail looks so slender, I should get this done more often ;) It's really not THAT gross either, but definitely not something I want to repeat..

Jill - they did put two needles, and the guy put one in, and then turned it.. Josh said it almost came out the other side.. they were both pretty painful.

Marge - He's a good boy :) He took offf the bandage for me, I just couldn't handle looking at it at first.

I may have repeated most of what I've said before.. I'm just crazy right now!

Jen - congrats on the weight loss :)

I am off to work... my last shift for 5 weeks!

-Aimee

Ooooh, free woman. When do you leave for your brother's, Aimee? Your talk of toe-jammin' needles made my toes curl.

Wednesday, when Howie and I walked at Dawes arboretum, this one particularly nasty hill kicked my :censored: and I begged off finishing the walk with him. Instead, I stopped at the half-way point and enjoyed about a half hour of just sitting on a little island, listening to the water lap against the rocks and watching the Canada geese and ducks swim. It was very windy, but the sun was out and I had on my warm coat (thank you yet again, Land's End!).

Today we took the same trails, but in the opposite direction. So, the :censored:-kicking hill was a downhill walk for me. The other hills were more gradual and I was able to walk the whole time with Howie. We walked for a little over an hour. Gosh, it felt good.

Tonight we went on a Mystery Guest secret shop at Smokey Bones restaurant in Columbus. We split an entree of sliced smoked turkey and 1/4 BBQ chicken along with steamed asparagus and green beans. We also got two tomato, cucumber & onion salads with feta cheese and white balsamic vinegar. The salads were HUGE - we could have split one of them. It was a wonderful meal and we'll be reimbursed for it. Yippee. :)

Tomorrow I'm setting my drafting table up in our office, re-arranging the other furniture. We're going to put in adjustable shelving so I can have an area to work on crafts and artwork. I sit in this recliner and get complacent, just putter around online and don't do anything creative at home. That's changing. Tomorrow. The recliner's going out in the living room and I'm going to do some living in our office. :D

Sounds like a plan, Kimberley! It helps to have the right set-up furniture wise to get the most creativity out of you!

Smokey Bones is a great restaurant! They have a chicken portabello wrap that is quite tasty!

Someone brought donuts today and it is taking all my willpower to stay away. I'm NOT gonna let it get to me, though!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day :drinkup: Guess what's happening in NY? That's right! a parade. And next month there will be another parade. New Yorkers like their parades. heh heh.

Enjoy those 5 weeks, Aimee. Yahoo! At least the toe ordeal is basically behind you now.

Kimberley, it all sounds good. I can't wait until it warms up a little here so we can get out more. The sun is so bright today. Rob has a pepper plant he keeps inside the bedroom window and it's sprouting veggies this week, because of all the extra sun. I love it.

We went out to lunch today, got a couple of movies (do you see a pattern forming? heh heh), did a little shopping, took a short walk. I need to spend some time learning to cook fish. We eat very little fish and I think that would be a good change for our diets. We get into food ruts pretty easily.

Have a good one! (the new deli down the street is selling green bagels today, heh)

I am down to 199 again! It was teetering between 199 and 200 so I'm going for 199. ;)

We walked today, but I pooped out early. If you take the circuit one direction, it's not too bad. This direction today, though, kicks my heiney. My knee started having sharp pains with each step on one particular incline. I just couldn't do it, so I sat in the sun at a picnic table and awaited the van. Actually, by the time he came around to get me, I was stretched out on top of the table, almost dozing off. Gosh the sun felt good.

I've got a killer headache and think I'll lie down for a while before tackling any furniture re-arrangement.

YAY Kimberley! Welcome back to ONEderland!! :)

Woohoo Kimberley!

Marge - I'm strangely nervously excited.. my stomach hurts! I gotta remember to breathe!

Well I am off to Seattle! Talk to you all in a day or two!

-Aimee

Good Sunday morning!!

It is a beautiful day here in FL. Headed to see some friends in a bit. TOM has arrived, bringing three extra pounds with him--the JERK!! LOL

Well, not tryin' to jump on Jen's bandwagon or anything, but I bought another pack of Slim Fast Optima today (Rich Chocolate Royale). I have been WAY off plan lately, and with the whole calorie cycling thing, I'd ended up not eating ANYTHING all day and then coming home and just eating dinner with Jeff in order to lower my calories enough to balance out the insanely high-cal days--NOT a good plan, but it's happened on multiple occasions. To get myself out of this cycle without going to the extreme opposite end (stuffing my face all day long), I'm going to try having a Slim Fast for breakfast and another for lunch and then still have a normal dinner with Jeff at home (I believe that was the original Slim Fast plan, actually...from the commercials: "I grab a shake for breakfast, another for lunch, and then a sensible dinner!" Good advertising if I remember that ;)). I looked for the AdvantEdge shakes (since they only have 100 calories each), but they didn't have chocolate (I'm afraid to try the French Vanilla or Strawberry--I've only ever had luck with chocolate shakes in the past), so I got these instead. The Rich Chocolate Royale have 190 cals each, and the other chocolate flavor I got have 180. I don't want to use them for too long, though, since they apparently have some trans fats hidden in there (hydrogenated soybean oil is one of the ingredients, so I KNOW there's trans fats even if the label says 0 since they don't have to include it in the label if it's less than .5g).

One thing I noticed was that I went into Fitday to put the shakes in as a custom food. It says on the label that they have Vitamin K, but there's no place to put Vitamin K in Fitday, but then when I go to the report for my nutrition for the day, it says I have zero Vitamin K :mad: Guess it's not the most reliable report--oh well, at least I KNOW I actually am getting most of my vitamins, even if it doesn't show up in Fitday.

Jen--Yeah, TOM is a jerk, but if you were already down over 6 pounds, then an extra 3 for a few days shouldn't be too bad ;)

Aimee--Hope you're LOVING Seattle!

Congrats on getting yourself back into ONEderland so quickly, Kimberley!

Goodmorning! It's very beautiful day here in Seattle, definitely warrents a walk along the ocean. Oooh, and maybe I'll get a slight tan on my face (even tho I always put an spf on it)... I look sickly when I'm all white, altho I never get too white thanks to some native blood in me.

I've been sleeping SO much since I got here, 11 hours both nights! I must really need it. No exercise yet, I had some crazy headache yesterday. My body is detoxing I figure, I've started drinking like 3-4Litre's of water a day to combate this nasty antibiotic tasting metal thing.

Alright, I must confess I am buying a meal replacement shake thing for my 2am antibiotic taking, heh. I just can't eat at that time, but can't take the antibiotic on an empty stomach... there must be something in the air?

I am off! Have a good one :)

-Aimee

:carrot: Great job, Kimberley! :carrot:

Jen, I hear you, those TOM lbs are coming off of me now. even though I know they're coming, I expect them, and the whole bit, I still hate seeing it on the scale numbers.

I've thought about the slimfast shakes but never got around to trying them.

Hey, how's Seattle, Aimee? You're lucky to have some natural coloring, let me tell you! once spring really gets here (not this chilly, still wearing coats spring), I'm going to be a ghost. Luckily here on the east coast there are many of us ghosts, so at least I'm not alone heh heh. In California (where I grew up) it always seemed like everyone was tan, while I stayed pale.

I was a bad worker and put some spread sheets on a to do pile that I never got to. I've been working on that on my own time to try and catch up. Eeek.

I'm aiming at getting out of the 50s by the time I go to Washington in mid April. If I don't overdo it with my friend coming next weekend, I think that's a reasonable goal.

Did you all see the Prime Time on ABC where they had a group of heavy people put on skimpy bathing suits, took pictures of them, then had them sign a contract that if they didn't loose 15 lbs in 60 days the show would air the picture of them on national TV? heh heh heh. All but one person did it (no, they didn't show her bikini pic, it turned out to be an empty threat).

Here's hoping for a good Monday tomorrow!

Ya know, I wish I had worn tighter-fitting clothing in my progress pictures. When I see the contestants on The Biggest Loser, the losses are so obvious. I don't know that I'd have wanted to be in a little bathing suit, though!

Glad to hear you're catching up on the ZZZ's, Aimee. Sounds like you could use it. There's nothing like decompressing and finally getting good sleep.

If my jaw does not loosen up and quit hurting soon, I'm about ready to do the Slim-Fast route, just to save on chewing. I have an appointment at the dentist's tomorrow to have my permanent crowns put in, and I'll talk to him about the jaw thing then. The last several days, it's escalated again, and I find myself unconsciously chomping down - kind of like a muscle spasm. Sometimes, just out of the blue, my jaw kind of jerks slightly to the side, making my front teeth knock into each other. It's the weirdest thing, very frustrating!

Morning ladies....

UGH...day 3 of TOM and I feel pretty sick. I'm here at work with 800 mg of Ibuprofen in my system and a heating pad on my belly. I'm going to do my best to stick it out, but if things don't improve, I'll be home at noontime.

My official weigh-in today was 316.5, so I am down 5.5 lbs. It bums me out though, because I was down as low as 312 before TOM. Oh well, that means it will be a big loss next week!

TOM can be brutal, a real abuser. Hope you feel better soon. You'll lose that water gain, no problem. :)

Thanks Kimberley....I hope your jaw gets sorted soon....

About meal replacement shakes/bars: I think there are some better choices out there on the market now than there used to be. The best thing about using EAS AdvantEdge is the 15g of protein in each shake. Yes, your calories may be low, but your protein is definitely high! Slim-Fast seems to keep improving their products as well.

Seems to be a running theme...my TOM has not yet started, but my PMS sure has :devil:

Yeah, the Slim-Fast shakes I picked up have 10g of protein. The thing that really kinda bothers me is just the trans fats (even though it says 0 on the label). They are cheaper than the EAS ones, though--same price for 6 SFs as for 4 EASs. I ended up not having a shake for lunch--by the time lunch time came around today, I was RAVENOUS for some reason (PMS?). I had some baked Doritos and a tuna wrap (no cheese) from the cafeteria instead. I still accounted for all the calories in my fitday, though, and am still lower than I have been lately for the day, so not all was lost ;)

I am SO over this job. I am SO glad this is my last week. I am SO ready to move on. I am SO sick of some of the people in this office...:dizzy:

Wow, it's really a Monday today. The phone hasn't stopped ringing for the last 5 hours. I think people save it up over the weekend and just explode come Monday.

Gotta go to the post office, it's a nice 1/2 mile walk. Kind of chilly here for the first day of spring, 40 degrees. The sun keeps trying to come out at least.

Hey, go hold a 5 lb bag of sugar, it's heavy. That's a good loss. I'm sure you'll lose mega lbs after TOM too.

Maybe the doc will have some idea what to do about the jaw problem. When I was young I had a high tolerance for pain, now.... not so.

Yeah, I get hungry like a hibernating bear the day or two before my TOM, hate that.

The new job sounds exciting.

I have been listening to some... different music lately. I got some spanish rap and have been throughly enjoying it. Even if I don't understand what I'm singing to. heh..

Jen - 5.5 pounds? Thats GREAT!! Wow, I'd love to lose that much! I am hoping for a hefty weight loss with how much I've changed my eating! Josh will be bringing me my scale on Sunday, I am very much looking forward to that. I was so silly to think I could live without a scale! Have you ever tried taking Essential Fatty Acids, aka fish oil pills during your period? I think I've mentioned this before.. but I get CRAZY cramps, to the point where I'll stand in a boiling hot shower and just cry until some of the pain goes away. I strongly encourage you to take some fish oil pills, and cal/mag suppliment!

Jill - hehe, I can't help but giggle at all the "SO"'s in your post. That last week reallly drags, eh? I know last week I wanted to just call in sick for the rest of the week, it was brutal. And everyone expects you to be MORE productive because it's your LAST week.. pfft.

Kimberley - you gotta get that jaw thing sorted out... that sounds completely painful. I know I sometimes eat lightly when things are hurting, lots of yogurt and smoothies. I tend to drink all my calories. The funny thing about my sleeping is that I was sleeping very well in the past 4-5 weeks, I get into bed, and am out until the morning. No waking in the night, I was very happy with that. There really isnothing like sleeping soundly.

Marge - I try to the least amount of calling I can on Monday's, I hate being put on hold! Did i tell you that we signed up for Netflix? We are getting 3 unlimited I believe, and I'm gonna get some workot DVD's! Just to mix things up.

On the exercise thing, I don't quite know how to get lots of exercise in.. I'd like to do about 3-5 hours of exercise a day. Sounds excessive, but I've got the time and ability.. so why not! I'll do an hour of walking a day, and am going to do some yoga.. which is like 30-45 minutes. Which leaves me with another hour and a half. Every second day Ryan (my bro) and I are training, running/walking, which is 45 minutes. I am also weight training, phew, this may be a challenge! It would be nice to have a stationary bike here, I could bike and watch the ferries and boats while listening to music. Well I am just babbling.. so I'm going to go read for a bit.

-Aimee

Morning ladies!

Aimee you know alot about supplements! Do you work in a GNC store? LOL I'll find some fish oil caps.

Cramps aren't as bad today....I headed it off with some ibu and am currently using my heating pad at my desk. I may switch the pad to my back in a minute....

Jen - I don't work for GNC... altho... maybe i should ;)

TOM arrived for me today, I was expecting it, but not prepared for cramps. I am heading mine off by starting a new pill package today.. I don't really want to deal with 7 days of cramps and other ickyness, the pill stops it after day 2 or 3. I will definitely be taking it easy today though... I'll do some exercise, but it'll all definitely be at home. I find I have to pee more this TOM.

My first batch of Netflix arrive today, I am pretty excited, and on the next round I have a workout video coming, WATP 3 or 4 mile running/walking one. I am excited for that!

I am off.. why is it so quiet in here today??

-Aimee

Anybody else having a heck of a time posting today? Keeps asking for my password.

Aimee, you already sound super energized! Sounds like you have real plan for the exercise too. Let me know what exercise DVDs you like. Our library carries some, might be an interesting way to kick up my routine. Seattle sounds so pretty. I've always thought it would be cool to live in a houseboat for a while.

I've been gnoshing a little bit too much lately. No excuse except for I had such a craving for cheese and crackers last night. Gotta get back into the swing and out of the 50s. Onward and downward.

Marge, I wouldn't go so far as to say I have a real plan for exercise, I have made a plan... but it's very crude, and I'm not sure if I'm overworking myself or whatnot. I'd like to get an opinion from a personal trainer, but who wants to pay for that. I'd say I'm more full of energy than I have been, especially when it comes to exercise. Altho for lunch I had a mini pizza with 8 grams of fat, and an apple.. I am trying my BEST to stay away from bread as it doesn't do good things in my body. But you jut can't beat the fullness it provides.

I was reading somewhere about snacking, I find myself eating every 2-3 hours, and sometimes more frequently. Sometimes they are just a cup of grapes, but when will it become too much? Also, is it really bad to snack on fruit and veggies? I eat them plain.. I don't know. It's too complicated with what everyone says, and I have a hard time because I don't want to do anythign wrong and want to lose the max amount of weight I can.

On the lines of that, I might have to invest in a stationary bike, I enjoy watching tv, and spend too much time doing that... but if I could be exercising at the same time, that would solve that!

Phew, I've talked all of your ears off. BTW, where IS everyone? I know I had a few issues this morning with the site but everything has been working smoothly for me all afternoon.

-Aimee

Hey, everyone - The dentist went fine today. He didn't want to replace the crowns today since my jaw's been so bad. I brought my night guard with me and he said he'd hoped I would. The fit was good, but it needed some of its bulk shaved back and smoothed. I'm to try it tonight and see if I keep it in while I sleep. If it ends up out or I wake up chewing on it, then I probably do need a custom splint (mouth guard) made by him. I *really* hope the adjustments he made to mine work.

Good news: My size 16-junior Levi's are now getting loose. I can't believe it, but I'm able to slip them off without unzipping them. When I got them, they were very tight...Very, very tight.

We walked at the arboretum today, but I couldn't stay out long. The wind was really strong and the cold was more than I could take in my face. Still, we walked for 30 or 40 minutes, so that was good.