I actually think that he should be in either Geometry (because of how much more challenging the AOPS course is) or Algebra 3, if he learned well with Tabletclass. AOPS Algebra A and B is the two halves of their introductory book, and Algebra 3 is their intermediate book, which is the algebra part of precalc plus a bunch of extra stuff.

I would not try and squish what she does next year into her senior year post-graduation. If she were chomping at the bit to graduate, I would graduate her. But given as she has plans that she wants to do and does not want to graduate, I would prefer to retroactively declare her PS freshman courses to have been "8th grade" and just move all the rest down 1.

+1 for the post-test. You should take the post-tests for algebra 2 and geometry. http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/school/recommendations#state/32 I also think, for a kid this young, throwing in intro number theory would be fun and interesting.

As far as the eggs, I think they *are* unwashed -- just brushed off. Eggs usually aren't that dirty unless the hen really is living in squalor. The funny thing is that all the things I've eaten where I've been like "I hope I don't get food poisoning from this, but I have NO money to get more" were fine. There've been some of those where if anyone asked here I'd say "NO NO NO" and yet I ate them anyway because it was better than going hungry or going begging, which were the only other two options. The only time I got food poisoning (and it was a mild case) was from McDonalds. ETA: (btw, I'm fully aware that I've just been lucky. I toss the stuff now because I'm employed.)

If it's THAT warm, they can go off -- I've had it happen when it was 80+. I cracked it open, it smelled terrible, so I tossed it. The pig ate those -- they didn't seem to bother him.

This is why I went with a setup similar to Laurie4b. I do pushups, squats, bridges, handstands, and chinups. The only equipment I need is a bar, and honestly I started by putting my bar at waist-height, leaning back, and pulling myself towards it. I found that when I started thinking about getting weights and all those other things, I got so overwhelmed with everything to do that I just ... shut down and didn't do ANYTHING. Since your arms are your problem area, just start by adding pushups 3 times a week. Here's a progression -- http://www.stumptuous.com/mistressing-the-pushup(her tone is a little irreverent, but I like her attitude).

Because you NEVER SLEPT AGAIN.

I do bodyweight exercises focusing on a progression. When I started I could maybe do 10 knee pushups, but over the past 4-5 years I've moved up to being able to do 50+ regular pushups without stopping. (it takes time though). My arms look fab!

True. But this doesn't mean that a person shouldn't *try*. (It does mean that we shouldn't judge people who have tried and failed). This is especially true for people who haven't had repeated, unsuccessful attempts to keep it off already.

Totally, and it would suck and be horribly expensive for me as well. I carefully made absolutely no claims about these diets being good for everyone. Just that I have seen all of them work for at least one person.

Honestly, I think the big thing is to find something that you feel happy on and can live with. For me, the permanent changes I've made are: 1) No sugary sodas. 2) No baked goods/snack foods in the house. This is because I do not have self-control there. If I have bread in the house, I will eat toast and jam instead of a proper meal, and be hungry again quickly. I do not deny myself these things completely, but if I want potato chips, I go to the store and buy the 50c single-serving size instead. 3) I don't eat breakfast on most days. I realize this flies in the face of prevailing weight-loss advice, but I cannot sleep when I'm hungry. When I'm trying to maintain, I don't eat until lunchtime, at which point I have a moderate lunch (it frequently involves breakfast food, such as oatmeal + bacon + eggs), and then in the evening I have a hearty supper and go to bed full and sleep soundly. I'm at work all day, so I just don't think about food during the morning and I don't feel hungry. 4) These don't apply if I have a heavy exercise day, such as a weekend hike. If I go hiking on the weekend, I happily indulge myself in cinnamon rolls for breakfast and everything else, because I know I'm going to burn it off. I have seen great and long-term results from a wide variety of diets, including: 1) low-carb transitioning to moderate-carb 2) raw vegan transitioning to some-cooked vegan (two people) 3) paleo 4) no-S 5) WW 6) IF (this includes 8:16 and 2:7) 7) probably more that I've forgotten, but I just can't think of them right now. The one thing that most of them have in common is that they cut down on constantly drinking your calories and on constant grazing through the day, as well as cutting down on snack foods period. Depending on your personality, though, some of them are going to be better than others. For me IF on non-exercise days works just great, and is something that I can do without thinking.

Yeah, I had to get over this when I started driving a Volvo.

I had the same reaction to the same quote. Holy cow I'm so glad I opened this thread. (get well soon, Martha ... but that was hilarious).

Yep. But I do have a good friend who ten years ago went from morbidly obese to overweight. She regained some, but is still in the obese range rather than morbidly obese and has been stable for 5 years. She said it was too much denying herself the food she wanted to eat (and the wine she wanted to drink) to stay lower than that -- but even at dropping from morbidly obese to obese, her health is much better than it was. EMWV (everyone's mileage will vary), as always.

Just don't put a red light on your porch. :)

Are you sure that it's 10% of excess weight? The study you linked and anything else I can find on google just says "a 10% weight loss", which I'm reading as 10% of original weight, e.g. a 300 lb person who keeps 30 lbs off.

I don't know if it qualifies as "keeping off", but here's my story: I was always tall and somewhat overweight. Even as a preteen I had a B cup and a double chin, and wore a size 14 ladies. I moved into obese territory before I was twenty and stayed there, creeping up maybe 5lbs/year. When I was in my mid-twenties I started doing martial arts. I loved it and did it all the time, but made no other modifications to my activity. This halted the weight gain so I was stable at 230 lbs (BMI 33 for my height) and a size 20. I had constant knee and back issues and took birth control to control the symptoms of PCOS. A few years ago I went through a really traumatic split-up and a friend convinced me to TRY myfitnesspal. (she actually used the phrase "the best revenge is getting slim and hawt".) I lost 40 lbs in about 6 months, but then quit tracking for a while. I stayed at 190 for a while without tracking my intake, but just weighing daily and being mindful of what I ate, but went through a brief period of depression/stress/emotional eating where I gained 20 lbs back in about 2 months. As soon as the stress was resolved, I lost that 20 lbs and an extra 20 bonus (again, about 6 months). I got tired of dieting, so stayed there for a while, again, just weighing daily and being mindful of what I ate, and trying not to eat if I wasn't actually hungry. Recently (maybe 3 months ago) I started trying to drop again, more for vanity's sake (180 lbs is still overweight by BMI, but it puts me in a healthy bodyfat range) than for anything else. Right now I'm at 165. We'll see if I'm able to maintain this, but I know from experience that I'm able to maintain 180 as long as I weigh regularly and eat mindfully. Physical issues: Since I lost the weight the first time my back issues have completely cleared up. My knee still bothers me but it is much better, and the more weight I lose the better it feels. I no longer take medication and do not have symptoms of PCOS. Size: At 230 I was a size 20, at 190 a size 14, at 180 a size 12, and right now I'm wearing a size 8. We'll see if I'm able to maintain this, but I know from experience that I'm able to maintain 180 as long as I weigh daily and eat mindfully. I really think the real key is the daily weighing though -- if I see it go up a couple of pounds after a party, I'm not concerned (because it's usually water weight) but if it stays up for a week, I know I need to cut back again a bit. The only really significant dietary change I made was cutting out soda. As far as the "why bother", well, I *know* that nothing is going to happen if I do nothing. It is a good thing that I didn't read the 95% statistic on weight regain because frankly I would probably have given up before I started, and since I no longer have as much free time I would probably have moved into the morbidly obese category. The 95% doesn't seem to have been that well founded -- here's a more recent, rather interesting study. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/74/5/579.long I will also add that probably, as someone who was not always fat, you have the habits to help you keep it off if you are able to lose it in the first place -- but you will need to readjust yourself to whatever you were doing before you started gaining weight so rapidly.

If it were in isolation I'd totally agree, but it's not in isolation here.

Sorry, I was talking about swimmermom's family, where she did say "not heavy".

Right, and this was actually what I was referring to as "matronly" (I think in a different thread?). Not heavy, just solid and not really slim anymore.

I agree with this. Certainly not all homeschoolers are religious, but that is where the primary "even if you don't feel you should homeschool, you MUST homeschool" push is coming from. A friend of mine works at a private, very conservative religious school. They see a fair number (a few every year) of middle/high school ex-homeschoolers come in who are frighteningly far behind, in some cases completely illiterate. In most cases it seems their parents bought the "you must homeschool" for a while and then when it became obvious that the kids were very, very far behind decided that the private religious school was the next best. (This person is quite anti-HS as a result, which I find understandable given their situation, although clearly I do not agree)

Don't hold a kid back for speed drills. If you DO want to do speed drills, treat it as a separate skill and move each at their own pace. Like reading and writing, it is ok to have concepts ahead of memorized facts.

Yes there is. And the growth of radical Islam in Europe is scary from a distance. Not this specific dude but the numbers of them. As far as WBC, the only reason I brought it up was because him harassing people on the street in London was mentioned.

As far as frightening: I find people who want to pass laws regulating what others wear, eat, do, etc. frightening when they have some prospect of their laws actually being passed. I consider us having Sharia laws passed in the US within the next few decades vanishingly unlikely -- it would really require a profound demographic shift. As far as harassing people in London, I don't see it as any different from Brother Jed/Sister Cindy or the Westboro Baptist church harassing people here.

Interesting and related article: http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/25/health/95-regain-lost-weight-or-do-they.html