Hey, I do the books here and I care, darn it.

::glares challengingly at ita

I care, darn it.

No doubt you do. The software probably doesn't though, and the larger the institution, the less leeway left to the individual. And that's before you get to bureaucracy, also large with the "we don't have time for you to care."

May I drop in and boast for a moment?

On my first week on WeightWatchers under the "must compete with DH" system, I lost 5.5 lbs.! I'm finally below my pre-pregnancy weight, and in fact weigh less than I have since sometime in early 2002.

(I know it's not healthy to lose that much per week on a regular basis, but my understanding is it's normal for the first few weeks even on a sensible diet, and then you settle in to losing a pound or two a week. And believe me, I'm eating toward the upper end of what the plan allows, and some days exceeding it slightly--I'd be fainting from hunger and low blood sugar at the minimum end.)

Oh, and after all my protesting the grossness of oatmeal, I've been breakfasting on...instant oatmeal. The silly kiddie flavors like s'mores and cinnamon toast, because I don't like the fruity stuff. And I like it because it lasts so much longer than an equivalent amount of regular cereal. I can have oatmeal at 8:00 or 9:00 and then go to 1:00 if I have to before needing lunch. With cereal I'm hungry again by 10:30.

I can see the mountains on the other side of the valley! Hallelujah, the inversion is gone!

It's grey and rainy, but during lulls when the clouds retreat up the sides of the mountains for a few hours

YOU CAN SEE THE FUCKING MOUNTAINS!

And don't you know that mountains hate being caught doing stuff like that when the clouds move without warning. It's like, "Oh! Humans! Nothing to see here, look over there. Hey, what's that in the lake!" But granite can't do subtle.

Right on, Susan!

And believe me, I'm eating toward the upper end of what the plan allows, and some days exceeding it slightly--I'd be fainting from hunger and low blood sugar at the minimum end.

Back in the day when I did Weight Watchers (this was, oh, 1998 or 1999), if I was exercising regularly, I consistently ate 2-5 points above the maximum for my weight group, and still lost 1-2 pounds a week.

The moral of the story? "Exercise and you can eat more." Or, perhaps, "People: different. Who knew?" Or, perhaps, "Buy American." t /S2 Xander

connie, isn't that the best feeling when the mountains reappear? Ours usually only disappear to inversion/pollution over the summer--in the winter it's the clouds. But either way, I love it when the air clears/the sun comes out, and it's like, "Hey! Mountains! Great big mountains! Still there after all."

ita, you're right.

:: smiles with deep satisfaction after glaring challengingly at ita, and living to tell the tale ::

"Hey! Mountains! Great big mountains! Still there afterall."

I looked out the back windows and actually did a double-take. "That's right! You can see those mountains from here!"

And don't you know that mountains hate being caught doing stuff like that when the clouds move without warning. It's like, "Oh! Humans! Nothing to see here, look over there. Hey, what's that in the lake!" But granite can't do subtle.

BWAH! Love it. So true.

I half-expect to get in a fender bender someday because I and/or the other driver drove around a bend and caught sight of Mount Rainier in all its monstrous volcanic glory after it's been absent or barely visible in faint outline form for a month or so.

It's really hard to make yourself watch the road on those days. Pretttyyyy giant dormant volcano.