Curiosity got the best of me this morning so I climbed up onto the scale. 159.5 lbs! Yippee! It does work. That is a 4 lb loss from what I weighed on Friday or Saturday last week. Unfortunately, I did not write it down. I remember 163.5, but I can't remember which day it was. I am just happy to be under 160. I sure did learn a lot this past week. Especially about eating the right portions. I don't have that stuffed feeling after I eat dinner that I use to have either. Tonight we went to TGI Friday's. I planned out what I would have before we left the house and I stuck to it. I especially used to overeat at restaurants because they give you such large portions. Well, I really noticed that when I finished eating what I wanted, that I didn't feel so full. It is a good thing. Interestingly, I feel somewhat lighter, but not skinnier. Well, while it is amazing that I lost those 4 lbs, I'm not overly impressed by it. I mean, I am glad that I lost it and it was a really great start. I certainly don't expect to lose this weight too fast. I just mean that I can see my weight fluctuating 4 or 5 lbs for no reason at all. What I am really looking forward to seeing is 10 lbs come off. Not at once, but a total of 10 lbs. Then it will seem real to me. I just think that if I could lose 4 lbs in one week, I could just as easily gain 4 lbs in one week. I'm skeptical of my ability to stick with it, I guess. Or maybe I just have a teensy bit of doubt that it is really due to the changes I made.

As PP mentioned above, the average joe just doesn't care - they load the machine, drop in a dose of detergent (and in a lot of cases, actually overdose above what the manufacture states) comeback to wet clothes to move to the dryer and as long as look and smell clean - they're happy/not bothered. However, for those who do care, it becomes just like chemistry - everybodys laundry is completely different: detergent type, water type/temp/level, machine type, cycle type/temp, load size, fabric type in the load (and what's loaded in together or not), stain types and even down to how long an article has gone between last wash, what its been subjected to, and even what its made of (2 items of 100% cotton could be different due to manufacturing processes and dyes etc) - I'm waffling, but this list won't even be all that's at play. Detergent manufacturers are a business, they need to make money; they have stakeholders, employees, suppliers, contractors and marketers to pay - so they must drive value and revenues. Don't' suppose it'll ever be proven (or ever admitted), but it's in their interest to give customers what they're happy with/what is acceptable, whilst maximising revenue - end of the day, if they dont make money, what are they doing it for? I did read somewhere (and I wish I could remember where) that a certain big manufacturer of a very famous detergent was starting to see revenues drop to a level below what they were aiming for/happy with, and it was centred around the launch of single dose detergents - on the one hand, they carry a premium price tag and it guarantees that a user gets no more than the stated amount of loads - but what they actually found was customers weren't purchasing detergent at the store as often due to the fact that compared to when the same users were using powder/liquid format, the overdoing (just dumping 1 full cap in) was causing people to repeat purchase more often than that of pod users. And what do you know, the dosing recommendations for pods were increased - going from 1 pod for any load, to 1 for medium, 2 for large and 3 for high capacity/extra dirty. The same has now become true of liquids - dose increased - line 1 for medium, 3 for large and line 5 for "full he loads" as "they are a higher capacity than standard top loaders and of course more clothes = more dirt)" --their tag line-- All this in a time when detergents are becoming more "concentrated" and front loaders use as much as a quarter the amount of water than that of a TL. Now how can detergents be being concentrated, Used in machines that use less water (which is what will ultimately determine the strength of the solution that detergents are dissolved within) and the doses are going up? Add this to the fact that washer manufacturers often say use less than recommended. Makes you think.

I've tried all the "high quality" brands, and most of them are made in China. I won't feed my cat anything not made in the U.S. since one of my cats died of melamine poisoning. I feed my cats Purina and Good Life when I can afford it. I don't feed her store brands. When she was young, she had bladder problems, which we figured out was because of her food. The only foods other than Good Life that don't make her bleed are indoor formulas and urinary tract formulas. There is only so much I can do on a near-poverty level income. I give her the safest and best food I can afford, sometimes doing without myself so she can have the safest food. I'd gladly feed her canned food if she would eat it, but she won't. I've wasted I don't know how much money trying to get her to eat something other than dry food, so that is a moot question. She just won't eat it. Period.

Thank you for responding. I'm not sure if they are getting enough water honestly - I watered them once every three/four days for many months, but I cut back recently because I read on many gardening forums that I may have been over-watering. Some sources say once a week, others say once a month in the winter, but they live inside with us so I figured once a week would be ok. The sources I found had one element in common - let the soil dry out almost completely before the next water. No drainage holes, but have new gritty mix soil and little planters WITH drainage holes arriving by Thursday night. I don't know a lot about gardening (very much looking to build the hobby though). Do you think I should remove them from their little containers before then and see how the roots look? Is there anything specific to look for that might help diagnose? Thanks again.