How to calm job interview jitters

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b><i><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;"></span></i></b></span><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal arial, helvetica;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="tblContent"><tbody><tr id="trContent"><td align="center" class="cb_style tcContent" id="tcContent" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><div class="cbArticleWrapper" style="background-color: white; text-align: left; width: 750px;"><div class="cbArticleContentWrapper" style="margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 15px; width: 750px;"><div class="cbArticleRight" style="width: 560px;"><div class="RXart" style="padding-right: 20px;"><div class="ArticleHeadline" style="margin-top: -30px;"><div class="cbmsnArticleImage" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" src="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/fc/ar5l4176zxvzrpybs7fc.gif?time=6/7/2011%2011:49:48%20am" /></div><b><span id="cbArticle_lblByLine">Larry Buhl, Special to CareerBuilder</span></b> </div><br /><div class="ArticleContent"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Interviews can strike fear in the hearts of the most seasoned job seekers. If you don't have a lot of experience interviewing, it's not unusual to feel mild jitters or even outright terror at the thought of sitting down with a potential employer. But you don't have to let emotions turn that important hiring hurdle into a horror show. Experts offer several tips for preventing anxiety from torpedoing your chances of landing the job.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Put yourself in the interviewer's shoes.</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Interviewers are not trying to make your life miserable. Really. In fact, they are hoping you are "the one." They need to fill the job with the best person, and if they don't succeed their jobs could be on the line. Just keeping that in perspective can help calm your jitters.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Prepare, prepare, prepare.</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"Preparation is 90 percent of success in job interviews," says Dr. Linda Smith-Gaston, career advisor at <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/california/los+angeles/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">Los Angeles</a> Trade Technical College. Smith-Gaston encourages role-playing with a friend before the interview and anticipating the questions you'll likely hear. Typical interview questions include:</div><ul><br /><li>Why are you the best person for the job?</li><br /><li>Tell me about yourself.</li><br /><li>What are your best/worst traits?</li><br /><li>Why do you want to work here?</li><br /><li>What did you learn in school (or at an internship) that prepares you for this job?</li></ul><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"You should always know what the company actually does before the interview," Smith-Gaston adds. Finding out could be as simple as a two-minute Internet search.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Plan your day around the interview.</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Running late will stress you out. Avoid rushing by mapping out the directions to the interview site and allowing more time than you think you'll need. Budget for traffic jams, parking snafus, bad weather, road closures and just getting lost. Make sure you budget enough time off from your current job or school, so you don't feel like you have to run out of the interview if it runs longer than you anticipated. Hiring managers, like doctors, can sometimes keep you waiting.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>De-stress before the interview.</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">After you check in with the <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/receptionist/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">receptionist </a>-- being pleasant and professional when you do this -- try some relaxation techniques, recommends Smith-Gaston. This could be as simple as closing your eyes or doing a few deep breathing exercises. But beware: If your idea of relaxation is kick-boxing or a yoga routine, do those at home. "You want to be memorable to the employer, but not for making a scene in the waiting room," Smith-Gaston says. And don't even think about taking a drink or using substances to calm down; that should be obvious, but for some it isn't.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Listen, think, speak</b>.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Whether your interview is in person or over the phone, it is important to listen to what the interviewer has to say, and then think before responding, according to Paul Bailo, author of "The Official Phone Interview Handbook." "Take a few seconds to understand the question, and then prepare a quality answer before simply blurting out something less intelligent," he says. "Focusing on the interviewer will take your mind off your own jitters and actually help calm you down."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Prepare your own questions.</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">You'll know the interview is almost over when the interviewer asks whether you have any questions about the job or the company. When you hear this, don't say "no," and bolt for the door. Use this opportunity to solidify the good impression you've made. "Well-thought-out questions show you're really interested in the company and the job," Bailo says. Also, if you have sent in your résumé, have a copy in front of you (and make sure it's the same version). Always wait until the interviewer has finished asking about you and your background before launching into your own questions.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The day after the interview, send a thank you note to the interviewer. "Use the thank-you note to add something new, like an award or a small honor you received," Smith-Gaston says.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Larry Buhl researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues for CareerBuilder.com. Follow @CareerBuilder on Twitter.</i></div></div></div></div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>

How to calm job interview jitters

Larry Buhl, Special to CareerBuilder   Interviews can strike fear in the hearts of the most seasoned job seekers. If you don't have a lo...

Read more »

Greetings from Fairbanks

Last night I remembered why I moved away from here 25 years ago. It's too cold!<br /><br />For the first time in my entire life, I arrived at the airport here in Fairbanks and there was no one to greet me and give me a ride to their house. It used to be my mom, then my sister and her husband, then just my sister, then my crazy niece, then my almost depressed niece and her husband, and now....no one.<br /><br />My brother offered to pick me up, but he lives about 20 miles from the airport. Since I was going to my hotel and renting a car so I wouldn't be stranded for a week, I told him there really wasn't a need for him to meet me at the airport.<br /><br />It was an odd experience to come down the stairs to baggage and not see a smiling face greeting me. I didn't cry, but there certainly was a feeling of loss.<br /><br />I got my bag and picked up my keys for the rental car. Walking out to the car in freezing cold and dark at 5:30 p.m. was quite an experience. It was at the end of parking lot at the airport. It's a small airport but dragging my giant suitcase, backpack and my 20-pound purse through the ice and snow to get to it was a challenge.<br /><br />The doors and trunk of the car were frozen shut. I found one door that I was able to force open and then crawled in and managed to get the driver's door open from the inside. I never got the trunk open, and put my bags in the back seat.<br /><br />When I got in the car the light for the trunk said it was open. I guess technically it thought it was open but it was shut tight with ice. I finally forced it open with the snow scraper so I could shut it. I thought it was at least 20 degrees below zero, but it was actually 17 degrees above. This is exactly why I moved away from here. Alaska is beautiful and there's a lot to love about this state, but the cold weather is NOT one of them. <br /><br />I drove to the hotel and my suite is really nice. They upgraded me for the same price as my regular room ($72 a night for my airline discount - can't beat it). I have a microwave and fridge, a little kitchen with a table and chairs, a sitting room with chairs, TV and a computer desk, and then the bedroom with it's own TV. It's not a separate room, but has a half wall. It's pretty nice, although it's a bit large and I keep misplacing things (like my phone!).<br /><br />After getting settled into the hotel room last night, I went to see my sister. She was asleep so I sat next to her and held her hand. She woke up, saw me and started to cry. She cried for about ten minutes, even though I kept telling her it was okay. For some reason, I didn't cry, but just held her hand and tried to comfort her. She felt like ice and the room was freezing cold. She only had a sheet and a thin cotton blanket on her. The week I was here before she had a down comforter on her every day. There was another blanket in the room which I put on her and she pulled it up to her neck and said "ahhhh!". I know she must have been freezing.<br /><br />She kept trying to tell me things but I couldn't understand a word of what she was saying. She tried spelling words but I still couldn't get it what she wanted to tell me. I visited for about an hour, but my migraine headache was starting and I was starving. I told her I was going back to my hotel to sleep and kissed her goodnight. <br /><br />I talked to the nurses and they said she hadn't eaten a bite of anything for two days, Wednesday and Thursday. Since they put the morphine patch on her on Tuesday, all she's been doing is sleeping. They started the morphine patch at the insistence of my crazy niece, because she wants her to sleep all the time. I don't like this one bit and am going to do what I can to get my sister back on the morphine drops, on an as needed basis. My sister can't get better if she doesn't eat and is sleeping 24/7.<br /><br />I have a huge list of things to do today, talk with my sister's doctor, speech and physical therapists, bring my sister a strawberry milkshake from the homemade ice cream place down the street, and some organic bananas (she used to eat one every day), pick up the book on how to recover from a stroke from Barnes and Noble (should have done that last week), check with the home care people that visited her yesterday (who are they?), look at the bed sore on her heel and check her backside for bed sores, buy her some reading glasses at 2.25. I asked both nieces to do that while I was gone and neither one did. We forgot to bring a pair of hers from home when we moved her, and the only ones the the hotel gift shop I bought her the last time I was here were 1.75.There's one other thing I have to check on but I can't talk about it yet. It's the real reason I'm here.<br /><br />Number one thing right now is I'm heading down to the hotel gym to workout. I have to keep myself healthy and working out is really important now. Eating wasn't perfect last night, but not a total disaster. I started out tracking my food, but by last night I was too tired, too hungry and my head hurt too much to really even care about it. Today is a new day, and I'll do my best to track my food. At least I'll write down what I'm eating. I bought a few groceries last night so I can eat in my room, which will really help keep the calories in line.<br /><br />Wish me luck today, it's going to be a rough one. <br /><br /><br /><br />

Greetings from Fairbanks

Last night I remembered why I moved away from here 25 years ago. It's too cold! For the first time in my entire life, I arrived at the a...

Read more »

i can't sleep with you staring at me

I've long wanted sconces by our bed. It would free up some bedside table real estate and work toward that cozy master bedroom that I never seem to have time to create. While hardwired sconces were not in the budget, I set out to find an alternative that suited and scored a pair from Home Depot.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3wwR-ADOFJ7AmLXLTujBB67gkYVuitU0vdBM1G7Jarx_KmdhN-1HnGGpnS69AgjjWMNp1nQJtzfemRiaQ9nXGyfeh2F3YDqji3rRrXFkSqsVb4vGDhzZouDKDEL4rL7a4DhwCGtEqViP/s1600/PA079418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3wwR-ADOFJ7AmLXLTujBB67gkYVuitU0vdBM1G7Jarx_KmdhN-1HnGGpnS69AgjjWMNp1nQJtzfemRiaQ9nXGyfeh2F3YDqji3rRrXFkSqsVb4vGDhzZouDKDEL4rL7a4DhwCGtEqViP/s320/PA079418.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>And while I'm happy with them, the shades were just...sad. I wanted to do something with them but was trying to practice some self control (very unusual) and hold off until I knew what I wanted to do with our bedroom.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmeM3ZuoNsIyKneBXh6wSIImsAuB48XrJgaMR2Jqs9U8FOaGogEn3H1wJedtuTaCucYxbehm2KevGZnH1WXMJ4MPVahtknuiyyxaqq-nAh5iQX7tnghQiUojsE3_imlux-peRXu0D4OHA/s1600/PA079419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmeM3ZuoNsIyKneBXh6wSIImsAuB48XrJgaMR2Jqs9U8FOaGogEn3H1wJedtuTaCucYxbehm2KevGZnH1WXMJ4MPVahtknuiyyxaqq-nAh5iQX7tnghQiUojsE3_imlux-peRXu0D4OHA/s320/PA079419.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Sarah Richardson's words are always replaying in my <strike style="text-align: left;">DVR</strike> mind, and I remembered a trick she used in one of her <a href="http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/video/player/0,1000149,HGTV_32796_7041_42101-59885,00.html" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Farmhouse bedrooms</a>. I went on the hunt for some cool ribbon (yes there is such a thing) and found this little honey.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmi_SyvDLLviS73SkjSnfnEKp67BujDe_1xQnLDkQLQhLFp7AX0MmjX47qYRkwrw7iM0Ybwn52xTnazjddNn13DYHwcdTwAJo8K-x0Y2gRU2wedabBDTuyouT_8OfUhmkDtDwg2-ieSFQK/s1600/PA079422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmi_SyvDLLviS73SkjSnfnEKp67BujDe_1xQnLDkQLQhLFp7AX0MmjX47qYRkwrw7iM0Ybwn52xTnazjddNn13DYHwcdTwAJo8K-x0Y2gRU2wedabBDTuyouT_8OfUhmkDtDwg2-ieSFQK/s320/PA079422.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dark navy 'man ribbon' and I'm in love. With ribbon giddiness over taking me, I got to wrappin' (with ribbon, not rhymes. Although my rhymes are tight). The whole thing only took about 20 minutes and I only got tangled up once, okay maybe twice.<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV1ihJz544rjk1szzDomB2PVFcoXoALxGVnOkpnlLKPx-Sw_FNKhDpT59OL3ZU8rdZ_56pGqgoJfBalPT-Bj7i5Apd9swHM6xdiZhVI3vV3bUO8thzeidH5ZYKEk50vy1mQ4SKP78Telud/s1600/PB040717.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV1ihJz544rjk1szzDomB2PVFcoXoALxGVnOkpnlLKPx-Sw_FNKhDpT59OL3ZU8rdZ_56pGqgoJfBalPT-Bj7i5Apd9swHM6xdiZhVI3vV3bUO8thzeidH5ZYKEk50vy1mQ4SKP78Telud/s320/PB040717.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglUIdc-KNlJ9K4ub9M1LO67hyphenhyphenpOTQ49iUkzEpTLwgQrUNRlSaz9-Agi5JJaKveoRKv-yIk0FdoiuwlXARKwQk-A6vQROVV-sqAcujdijteVg9ulESjNY0YWEz1I2B_0eGKf4E4QZyLPjg_/s1600/PB040719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglUIdc-KNlJ9K4ub9M1LO67hyphenhyphenpOTQ49iUkzEpTLwgQrUNRlSaz9-Agi5JJaKveoRKv-yIk0FdoiuwlXARKwQk-A6vQROVV-sqAcujdijteVg9ulESjNY0YWEz1I2B_0eGKf4E4QZyLPjg_/s320/PB040719.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />This is by no means Elle Decor worthy but it was a cheap and easy way to give a bit more life to those shades and ease into this new room plan. I'm working on my inspiration board this weekend and then<br />its time to 'get to gettin' on this room. What little tricks have you tried to perk up a space?

i can't sleep with you staring at me

I've long wanted sconces by our bed. It would free up some bedside table real estate and work toward that cozy master bedroom that I nev...

Read more »

4th Weigh in Results + Sickness Update

Today brings Joel and I to our 4th weigh in together - with stellar results yet again!<br /><br />But first, the update on my sickness.  After work on Wednesday, I went to the local urgent care center and the nurse practitioner there deduced that I had food poisoning.   And because I had not been eating or drinking (pretty much, <i>at all</i>), I had become dehydrated.  The dehydration is what caused the heart palpitations.  She explained why at the time, and it made sense, but don't ask me to reiterate :).   My job was to go on the BRAT diet for 24 hours to get my GI-tract back to normal (i.e. so that all things I do consume don't immediately exit my body out the other end!).  If you've ever had dehydrated children, or know someone yourself who has been dehydrated, then you've probably heard of BRAT:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>B</b>ananas</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>R</b>ice</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A</b>pplesauce</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>T</b>oast</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>These are foods that will "stop you up", causing your body to start to retain some nutrients and not simply pass everything right through your system as quick as it went in.  I was also advised NOT to drink any water, but to drink Gatorade (I've been drinking the Powerade Zero - no calories), tea, diet soda, and/or chicken broth.  Water actually helps aid..... I'm just gonna go ahead and say it here, because we're all adults right?.... <i>diarrhea</i>.  So does milk.  And those are 2 things that I consume a lot of on a regular basis.  Even on Wednesday, I had tried to start normalizing myself and I started the day off with milk and 3 bottles of water - bad idea I realized about 30 minutes later!<br /><br />So for 24 hours, I ate rice/chicken broth, applesauce, toast and saltines (saltines was a sub-category of the toast).  AND, the heart palpitations have subsided substantially (by biggest concern).  By the time those 24 hours were up, I was the hungriest I had been all week.  All I wanted was a nice slice of lasagna (hence the trip to the Olive Garden)! <br /><br />Still, recognizing that I was sick this week and I didn't eat at all like I normally would, I had a 4.2 pound loss from last week.  BUT, I cannot help but be excited.  A loss is a loss and I'll take it!  I have not seen 247.6 on the scale in probably more than a year.  That means I've also met another one of my <a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/p/goals.html">5 pound goals</a> and today/tomorrow I will be going out to buy my Pandora bracelet and first charm - I'm so excited!! <br /><br />While I do hope to maintain this current weight loss in the upcoming weeks, I will not be too shocked if come next week I have gained a little, especially if I can get myself back to eating normally this week, which is slowly but surely starting to happen.  I'm not trying to stick to the BRAT forever :).  <i>But I will cross that bridge when I get there next week.  </i><br /><br />I have viewed this incident as a means for God reminding me that I shouldn't continuously put crap into my body - even if I do have the Points+ values for it!  Now, I'm not saying God was like - "punish this girl - poison her!!"  No, He doesn't do that.  But, everything happens for a reason.  This "clean out" of my system this week has made me only want to put good things <i>back in</i> to my fragile stomach, and not taint it with junk.    <br /><br />But, alas, the results:<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.loosemyobesity.com/index_files/page13-1008-full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.loosemyobesity.com/index_files/page13-1008-full.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.loosemyobesity.com/">source</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> <b>Joel (6'): 225.6</b><br /><b> Hilary (5'8"): 247.6</b></div><br />If you're on a weight loss journey, how did you do this week?  Would you "count" this weight loss this week if you were me? 

Loss Success Weight Loss Weight Watchers 4th Weigh in Results + Sickness Update

Today brings Joel and I to our 4th weigh in together - with stellar results yet again! But first, the update on my sickness.  After work on ...

Read more »

A "Normal" Trip to the Olive Garden

I'm up and at 'em bright and early this morning!<br /><br />After almost 4 days had passed since I got sick, where the main entree for me had been saltines, by 5 PM Thursday I felt famished and like I could really go for a nice slice of lasagna.  I wanted carbs and I wanted something heavy that would sit well in my stomach and make me feel satisfied and not so sickly as I've been feeling.  So we went to the Olive Garden. <br /><br />Ordinarily, a trip to the Olive Garden for me would involve an appetizer, the pasta fagioli soup with cheese on top, <i>at least</i> 2 breadsticks, and the main entree of either cheese ravioli OR the tour of Italy - both with plenty of added cheese.  Italian food is my favorite "international" cuisine - what can I say?  I cannot go there and have one of their more "healthy meals" - I want the Olive Garden for the pasta, not their version of fish.  <br /><br />Joel expressed some hesitation in going to the Olive Garden the night before our weigh in, rightfully so, but I reassured him that this trip would be different.  We would eat only until we were satisfied, and take the rest home.  There was no way, even if I <i>wanted </i>to indulge (and I didn't want to!), that I was going to put my stomach in the situation of being uncomfortable/stuffed/stretched out, etc. after all it had been through this week.  <br /><br />So, Joel prepared us with the Points+ values of the foods we enjoy (21 Points+ for the lasagna), and away we went.  I am proud to say that this is the first trip EVER to the Olive Garden where I felt like I ate like an <i>almost </i>normal human being.  I had 3/4 of my pasta fagioli soup (3 Points+ for the whole thing) WITHOUT the cheese.  I had 1/3 of a single breadstick.  Then I ate about 3 bites of my lasagna and I was done.  I could not have consumed another bite even if I wanted to.  And to be honest, I didn't.  I didn't want to, not only because I didn't want to put any undue stress on my stomach, but also because I was proud of myself for eating in moderation and to satisfaction - not because the food tasted so good that I was going to eat all of it in one sitting only to then feel extremely stuffed and uncomfortable later, not to mention guilty for just eating all those Points+ values.     <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhTcYDjGUY6aIFmrtpPrDCXD1loBKxe6hFVTHJWWJnb4RclFIQ7Bn-jUGZwXrVkThlPjICu8qvOtYsl3XDHnz_JC-J_7OXfQ1rmYUekJQ3i7iTYT7MxUADmQls79SvAKtc1TDAZlimw7k/s1600/olive+garden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhTcYDjGUY6aIFmrtpPrDCXD1loBKxe6hFVTHJWWJnb4RclFIQ7Bn-jUGZwXrVkThlPjICu8qvOtYsl3XDHnz_JC-J_7OXfQ1rmYUekJQ3i7iTYT7MxUADmQls79SvAKtc1TDAZlimw7k/s400/olive+garden.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I had 3 bites from mine, and Joel only ate half of his!</td></tr></tbody></table>Have you been able to recently express self control over one of your favorite cuisines?  What was your logic/rationale?<br />

Random Weight Loss Thoughts Weight Watchers A "Normal" Trip to the Olive Garden

I'm up and at 'em bright and early this morning! After almost 4 days had passed since I got sick, where the main entree for me had b...

Read more »