Thursday ... Part 1

I had a wonderful day yesterday. It started just after 7:30am with me having gone to sleep just after 2am. Short night preceded by a long day though I still felt good.

TOPS is my every Thursday morning 'thing'. This week, as co-leader of our group and with our leader away, I led the meeting. I was told later that I did a really good job of it. I was glad to hear that as it was only my second time doing this job and many of the others were away the first time I did it. I had been feeling like I may have 'found' some weight again, and was happy to find I'd 'released' 3/4 of a pound. Not a huge drop, though still going in the right direction. Pat (a friend from Toastmasters & TOPS) did a 'program' on Mindful Eating. She did a great job of it and I think we all learned a little something. I know that I at least will be more aware of eating slower and actually enjoying the taste and textures of the food rather than just woofing it down. Well, at least I hope I will... didn't remember to do so last night... sigh. After the meeting closed, most of us went to our usual restaurant for lunch. This is the only one in town that will work around DJ's eating needs as she has celiac disease. After lunch, as usual, some of us went to our favorite thrift store. I had decided to not buy much if anything as I am having financial difficulties this month... ya, best laid plans. I did need pants as with dropping weight my clothes tent to get to big after awhile. This is a good thing. There was a 10 cents per item sale on in the 'general' area and all green tags in 'quality' section were reduced to $1. In 'general' I got a belt to use for making Reba a harness for trike riding, a few nice purses, a cool scarf for riding my trike on cool days, and a cute little ornament to give to Mom. At 10 cents each that was not at all bad. Then Pat and DJ (my personal shoppers) found me a skirt & 2 pairs of pants so up to the till again and bought them. Then Pat found a pair of even better pants, with a green tag, in 'quality' and they didn't fit her so I tried them and they were perfect... DJ found me a really nice black leather jacket that is perfect for on or off my trike, so hey, can't beat something like that for only $5!! By the time I left I had spent over $8 there. Off we went to McDonald's for a ice cream treat and tea... another $5. So, add up my spending for my TOPS day ... $18. Not bad when you think of everything I got for my money, that leather jacket by itself in most second hand places would have been a lot more than that... however, with my current situation and the end of the month still a ways away, I should not be spending like that. This happens every week. I figure I spend $80 to $100 extra dollars per month on my Thursday TOPS socialization. Must cut back and have a plan to do so. Pack lunch, eat in park for summer months, then go for a walk instead of shopping. This will help the finances as well as the figure. I emailed my TOPS friends to invite them to join me.

I read on the internet one of those lipozene reviews, for a product that supposedly helps people loose weight. I was surprised that it was a very negative review as usually they are touting the advantages of taking these things. Then it went on to tell us about some other products that 'work'. I don't know if these kind of things work or not... I just know that, for me and many others, TOPS works... and I have some really great friends now that I didn't have before I joined the group!