This sounds very mature and appropriate :) I like it.

I agree with this :). I tried to be careful to make it personal - do YOU work hard rather than should we work hard or is it worth it for people (in general) to work hard. It is fair for those who don't work hard to reply honestly. It isn't fair if they said "we don't believe that you can be that weight and watch what you eat". I haven't heard anyone say that on this thread ( I have heard it before).

It's pure human nature. We typically don't understand the struggles of others if what they struggle with comes relatively easy to us. Especially if it something that typically can be achieved with daily decisions. The majority of people can get pretty thin with diet exercise and remain a healthy weight by maintaining exercise and diet. The judgement is harshest from those who are thin because they have worked hard to be that way. Those who truly are naturally thin don't usually judge. DH had a guy in his unit in the air force who was dismissed because of his weight. He went through basic and didn't lose a thing. At one point they put him on calorie restriction and he had a special workout regimen and at the end of the month he had gained 5 pounds. He wasn't severely overweight but they had tried everything scientifically to reduce his bmi and all it did was increase. He was muscular but also needed to lose about 20 pounds of fat.

A few thoughts... 1) I didn't mean to offend anyone. If I watch what I eat, if I workout, if I am careful...my weight ranges from 140-210 and bounces everywhere in between. NOT because of yo-yo dieting but because of an instable autoimmune thyroid problem. I imagine if I ate whatever I felt like eating my upper weight would be much higher. If you work hard and your upper weight is higher then that is ok. We all have different cards dealt to us. 2) For those who claim it isn't work - I just don't think you understand where I am truly coming from. I eat healthy and I love eating healthy. I don't eat fried foods, drink soft drinks, etc. I am happy this way. It isn't work in that regard but when you are eating like that AND gaining weight and having to calculate and rethink the apple you want, it IS work. It is always being consciously aware of what you eat - even the healthy stuff. And working out is usually something I enjoy but when you do the same workout and you are gaining weight for some inexplicable reason and the exercises are getting more and more difficult, it begins to feel like work. Not everyone will understand and that is ok. You don't have to understand and it is a HUGE blessing that you can eat great and workout and not have to understand the pain.

If her score is bad I might do that because realistically she is a high scorer so her score shouldn't come back awful unless the answer sheet got messed up in this process.

DD had a close call today. She misnumbered and had only a few minutes left on the test before she realized she'd skipped a problem. She had to rush to change 20 MC answers. The only thing that saved her is that she circles the right answer in her booklet so she just worked backwards using her circled answers in her booklet. Her only fear is that in the lack of time she's afraid she didn't erase good enough or mark dark enough. She is nervous about this one, ya'll.

Love this idea - book burning would be stress relieving.

So can I legitimately budget the "after AP lunches" and the necessary SB frappy hour purchases as an educational expense? My kids have deemed these things as a necessary part of the AP exam process. haha

For me it's a constant mental reminder that I'm just not normal. I treat it like a diabetic with sugar. I just can't eat what others around me are eating and I know that if I allow myself to do that then I'm done. If I allow myself to think I'm normal then I'll eat normal and then It's all downhill from there. I treat a plate of cheese fries ordered as an appetizer to share just like turning down dessert for a diabetic. I mess up sometimes and it usually comes back to the fact that I've let my mental state slip and forget that I'm not normal. Jean I'm sorry for your struggles. I could have written much of your post. I've been gluten free for years and paleo or autoimmune paleo for much of that time. It didn't change my weight at all. That plus serious exercise works when it does ... Until it doesn't because my thyroid goes haywire and I gain until we figure out what's going on and then we adjust and I fight harder until I've lost what I gained and seriously .... My weight yo yo's even when my diet and exercise remain the same.

I also find that a super low carb diet makes me feel awful. I have Hashimoto's. I feel absolute best when I eat grain free (no corn, wheat, rice, oats, etc) and eat tons of fresh fruits and veggies. To cut out all carb means to limit veggies and fruits and I simply can't gag down but so much meat. I also sort of intermittent fast. For breakfast I only have my coffe and a cup of organic chicken broth with 1/3 tbs of coconut oil. I don't eat anything from supper until lunch except those things. That helps alot.

I'm so sorry. Again, ds has this and I hate when I hear of anyone getting this awful disease. (((hugs))) DS is not doing the chemo meds they suggest and he is doing very well. The side effects of the meds aren't a gamble we personally desired to risk. Some people do great on the meds though so no judgement if that is your decision. If you want to know what he does, just PM me.

On a totally different thought..... People say I don't eat enough. When I get over the mental hurdle of not eating certain foods or eating so much less than others, I'm actually not hungry very often. I think I just have a super crappy metabolism. I eat so little to stay overweight or on my best day/month/year in the higher end of my normal BMI (because of thyroid issues my weight is all over the place). As I mentioned on another post....why does this bother people? If I am healthy and not hungry/cranky/irritable then why do others feel the need to tell me that my problem is that I'm not eating enough? I tried the "increase" that everyone keeps speaking of and I gained like mad. It irks me that others can't accept that the average calories need by a woman my height is not intended for everyone? I have friends who are skinny and eat a ton of calories - way over the recommended and no one tells them to stop. Everyone can accept that they need to eat more because of a higher than normal metabolism. Why can't they accept that my metabolism is shot? Rant over.

I've said these exact things before. I have had friends say that they lost 20 pounds cutting soda and then peeps like us are like "what soda?" "what chips?" "what cake?" ugh.

l like the weight watchers points plus program for this reason. It encourages the veggies and fruits which are actually filling. At least for me :)

I want to move where you live :001_wub: Ya'll would be in complete and utter culture shock here. ​

Ok, so about work.... For me it is just as much about time. I need to make a conscious decision to carve time to track and exercise. I'm very busy, work part-time, homeschool and volunteer, etc. It is work to make the time, if nothing else. Ok, for me it is work. period. I wish it wasn't but it is.

First of all, there are 5-10 pounds of water weight that is lost just from the removal of carbs and that will come back. After that, fat loss is fat loss. Most people find they can maintain anything beyond that water weight (which will return with carbs) by keeping their carbs around 100-150 per day, depending on the person. It is something you need to play with. If you go from low carb to no idea how many carbs you eat, you will regain I'm sure. As far as how many calories to eat, don't let anyone tell you that. Everyone has a different body makeup and metabolism. No one tells my skinny friend who eats 3,000 calories a day that she is eating too many because she is outside of some type of norm. Yet, if you say you must keep your calories low everyone jumps all over that because it doesn't fit the norm. You eat what you need to feel good. Period.

"If you take the two and two" :lol: Loved it ​

Ya'll know I've worked so hard to avoid CC :lol: I'm scared to death of it. I'll look but I won't make an account. ​

DD is taking her last exam for the year this morning. Yay! World History. She really didn't put a ton of prep into this one so I am hopeful it goes ok.

DD was just joking with a friend about applying to Georgia Tech because the guy/gal ratio is totally in her favor. She wasn't talking about admissions though. Haha

DD already has competitive test scores, course load, and extra curriculars. What will Questbridge add to this? They emailed dd quite a bit and she decided last minute to apply. She has been named a Questbridge Prep scholar. I really don't even know what this means, what it does, etc. I need to look into it more. I have a slight fear that it will harm her in admissions if she isn't matched but surely it wouldn't, right? From the little I do know, not many kiddos are actually matched.

I'm not sure if the email stated that or not. I'll ask dd.