At my boys' school the week leading up to Halloween is always dress up week. It's so fun, and since my youngest is in school now, I have two little boys to dress up! Monday was Sports Day where the kids wore sports jerseys. Tuesday was Pajama Day, and the little one loved wearing his flannel Spiderman pajama bottoms to school. He even asked if he could wear them to school again sometime. Wednesday was Wacky Day, and I let the boys handle it themselves. They both went to school wearing...

I'm not one to believe in the romantic idea that there is one right person for everyone. I believe that there are people out there who can be WRONG for each other, but I believe that for each person there are tons and tons of people they could make it work and be happy with. Having said that, I'm amazed that I ended up with such a good match. I come from a small town, where dating a local is like dating your brother. I mean, my dating experience was so limited by my age and the availa...

Not so great today. At suppertime I had one of my biggest problem foods, hehe...spaghetti. Ugh. Breakfast: 4 cups of coffee (fixed the usual way): 120 cal 2 slices centercut bacon: 50 cal Nestle Crunch Bar (bad, I know): 220 cal Lunch: Sandwich (sourdough bread, tomatoes, Swiss cheese, Dijon mustard): 249 cal Snack: Banana: 105 cal Supper: 2 serv. (1/4 of box) angel hair noodles (some kind of supercharged, wheat-y kind): 400 cal 1 c. canned spaghetti...

Well, I'm still feeling motivated. Not even motivated, really, more like...normal. Surprisingly, I'm not having much, if any, difficulty keeping my eating in check. It may get harder later, but for now I'm just coasting along. Starting tomorrow I'm going to be exercising at a friend's house. She has a ton of different videos, a treadmill (so jealous!), and some other various exercise equipment. She also has a trampoline, which I love oh-so-much, but it's put away right now. It will b...

Breakfast: 1 slice sour dough bread w/1 tsp. butter: 120 cal 2 slices centercut bacon: 50 cal 1/2 banana: 53 cal 3 cups of coffee (w/3 tsp. creamer, and Splenda, ea.): 90 cal Lunch: Frozen Single Serving cheese pizza: 460 cal Supper: Veggie burger: 230 cal Snack: 1/3 bag of Sweet & Buttery Popcorn: 40 cal 2 single serving bags of Teddy Grahams: 120 cal 5 glasses of water Total Calories: 1,163 Another day down.

Breakfast: Omlet (egg, cheese, tomatoes, onions): 182 cal 3 Coffees (with 3 tsp. creamer, Splenda): 90 cal Lunch: Weight Watchers cheese pizza: 390 calories Supper: (Delicious!) Thai crab legs (crab, spicy chili sauce, onions): 440 cal. (I guestimated on that one based on what's in it, it may be a bit higher or lower) Sprite Zero 5 glasses of water Total Calories: 1,102 I keep falling a tad bit short, but I'm just not feeling all that hungry. I did clean my ...

Breakfast: 3 Musketeers Candy Bar (ok, Adrian brought that and a rose home to surprise me this morning, and I couldn't turn down his gift, hehe): 260 cal 4 c. coffee (with 3 tsp. creamer and a couple of scoops of Splenda each): 120 cal Lunch: Sandwich (2 slices sourdough bread, Dijon mustard, slice Swiss cheese): 240 cal Supper: 2 bowls of veggie and rice gumbo: 460 cal 4 slices of cantelope: 50 cal 5 glasses of water Total Calories: 1,130 I still came up...

I went to the grocery store today...yay!...and I tried to get more fruits and veggies, so hopefully that will round out my diet a bit. Breakfast: 1 4" pancake (proud of myself for not putting syrup on it!): 54 cal 3 small canned (in light syrup) pears: 60 cal 3 cups of coffee with Splenda and 1 c. skim milk: 80 Supper: 12 pc. sushi maki (rice, nori, cream cheese, avocado, had pollock in it as well, but I poked that stuff out): 480 cal 5 glasses of water I haven't don...

Breakfast: 1 c. skim milk: 80 cal 3 c. coffee: 0 cal 1 slice white bread with 1 egg: 144 cal Lunch: Veggie burger (veggie patty and white bread burger bun): 230 cal Supper: Double Decker Taco w/beans instead of beef: 113 cal Baja Gordita w/beans instead of beef: 110 cal Snack: 2 c. "sweet and buttery" popcorn: 360 cal Dr. Pepper: 150 cal 6 glasses of water Total Calories for the day: 1,108 Not too bad.

Ok, so I didn't really plan to start this today, so I really overshot on the calories. And I'm not proud of the lack of fresh fruits and veggies in my diet, but I haven't died yet, so it can't be too bad. Breakfast: 5 cups of coffee with 5 tsps.creamer and 2 tsps. Splenda/cup: 300 cal 1 and 1/2 c. cubed, fried potatoes (not proud, but there's a good reason for it!): 200 cal 3 tbsps. ketchup: 48 cal Lunch: Sandwich with 2 slices white bread, 2 slices thin deli Swiss cheese...

A big mahalo to alison for her suggestion that we form a blog group for dieting moral support. The purpose of the blog group is to lend support, encouragement, tips, and accountability to fellow JoeUsers who are working on losing a few (or a buncha) pounds. Anything weight loss or diet related is welcomed. Some ideas for things to post are meal plans, food journals, exercise logs, motivational/encouragement blogs, and dieting rants. This blog site is open for anything and everything (...

I just saved a bunch of money...and NOT by switching to Geico! I'm so excited! And it's really sad that this is all it takes to excite me. I got an email from gap.com with a promo code for free shipping. This alone is very cool. That's a savings of at least $6 on my order. So, I went to the site and looked at clearance kids clothes (NEVER buy full price GAP kids clothes, ever), but they mostly had winter clothes and the summer clothes they did have are still overpriced. Bummer....

Yesterday Adrian installed an air conditioner in the living room. Today we put up the Halloween decorations. The strange thing about this place is how your body adapts to the climate. I suppose it's the same in other places, too, but I haven't been other places, so I don't really know. It doesn't get too hot here. Temperatures rarely exceed 90 degrees (highest recorded temp for Honolulu was 95). It doesn't get very cold, either. Lows are usually in the 60 degree range (53 was the...