Well I'm glad I could make your day a little better. I really wish I could just simply stop. If I could flip a switch a turn off the addiction, I'd have done it a long time ago. Thanks for the tip by the way. Good luck to you too, and I seriously hope your mom is wrong!

Sorry about the alligators comment. I was coming down sick yesterday and didn't know it yet. I'd lost my appetite but was making myself eat because if I don't eat enough my blood sugar plummets and I get stupid.

That's the tightrope I was talking about. If I don't eat enough, my brain stops functioning properly and I get headaches and bad tempered and cold chills & my IQ drops significantly. If I eat too much, that leads to increased portion sizes and dropping the weightloss effort altogether.

It's a balancing act that I've been doing quite well for 8 months now, but food is slowly losing it's former place in my heart. I'm a calorie counter, and in the early parts of this diet I was making room for banana splits regularly because I liked them and could afford them, caloriewise. I don't even bother any more. Today and yesterday my appetite was gone and everything I eat is not very interesting. Early this morning I felt the first sting of a urinary tract infection, and the urine was to the bloody stage by two hours later! I've never had one progress that fast before.

So, I'm kinda unhappy at the moment, but I imagine it won't last long. I just wanted to point out there was a point in my experience where food became no longer a comfort, but almost an enemy. I haven't decided whether that's a good thing or a bad thing yet.

I sympathize with your financial aid/student loan woes.

My school messed up my student loans as well. I have a set amount I'm eligible for that goes for tuition (subsidized) and only tuition, and I was supposed to be receiving a set amount for cost of living, etc (unsubsidized) as well. As of today, they still haven't processed my unsubsidized loan, which means I'm not going to be able to get my books. They say it can take them up to three weeks to process, a week to appear in my student account, and then another week to disperse the money. Yeah, that's not working so well for me because before I buy my books, I have to pay $550/month in rent, my various bills, my husband's various bills, etc - and I don't have my parents to fall back on either. I haven't lived with them since I was 18, and yet this is the first year that I didn't have to use their income on my FAFSA. But since I'm married and have to claim my husband's income, I don't qualify for grants and etc. Gee, that makes a lot of sense.

Anyhow, I'll get off my soapbox and just wish you lots of luck with finding somewhere that will work with you!