Oh My goodness...She is so clueless and doesn't know how to do her job and (imho) should be fired! If you mail a Bubble Envelope, regardless of the size or the thickness, it will be charged at the Parcel Rate of $1.22 and up. She said they don't use the device at the counter for measuring a Bubble envelope for thickness, it automatically gets charged the parcel rate. If the Bubble envelope of any size, even empty goes through their machines, it comes out ruined, so they have to put all the bubble envelopes through a different system. She is so wrong! She has been wrong ever since Shape Based pricing went into effect in May 2007...so those employees have ALL been OVERCHARGING now for going on to 4 YEARS! When will this madness end? In order to attempt to get her properly trained (isn't it sad the customers are trying to train USPS supervisors?) I suggest you print out this bulletin...First-Class Mail Fact Sheet At the bottom of it under First-Class Mail Quick Tips, it says"For padded bags (e.g., ReadyPost "cushion mailer"), when the thickness is 3/4" or less and the item is flat-size and somewhat flexible, the item should be classified and priced as a large envelope." Why is that so hard for postal employees to understand? I think even a caveman could understand that! She said that if you put the seeds in a long white envelope, with a small amount of padding in it, and if it is under an ounce, you can put a $.44 cent stamp on it and ask for the 'non machinable' rate. They would charge you another $.20 for that and so the total cost of your envelope would be $.64. hmmm...and we ALL know how well seeds do in regular envelopes with bubble wrap in them. The envelopes end up torn up and the seeds destroyed, if the envelope and seeds even make it to their destination and aren't totally destroyed. What about those who live in the rural and don't have the convenience of getting into the PO very often? What about those that get dropped into the blue mailboxes? Does she think that every envelope is read and sorted by hand so marking something Hand Stamp will be seen? Give me a break. I asked about the little gadget to measure the thickness of the envelope and she said they don't give them out, but they keep one at the counter, but they don't use it to measure bubble envelopes. It seems strange that some of were able to get them from our post offices without any problems. Would you mind posting her name and telephone number here along with her address? I will personally contact her superior from the list at the link below that lists all Vice Presidents and District Managers. It shows the zip code areas that are covered by each one. Imho, she needs to be reported littleonefb, Fran I really don't think anyone associated with the PO is reading this or is attempting to get anything done. I sure wish I could get NBC, CBS, or one of the major networks to pick up on this stealing that has been going on for almost 4 years. A lot of folks should be fired for not knowing how to do their job correctly. In the private sector, a lot of these employees would have been fired long ago. Here is a link that might be useful: USPS Management-it is an 11 page pdf file that will need to load

I started the diet doing a program called medifast. I would drink a shake at 6am, oatmeal at 9am, soup or tuna salad at noon, protein bar at 3pm, then 4-5 ounces of lean meat plus a vegetable serving at 6pm, then another shake at 9pm (or bedtime). All the meals except the 6pm dinner were meals I purchased from medifast, but when I transitioned off their program, I knew I wanted to lose more weight, so I pretty much eat the same things now, just with products I buy at the store. I replaced the shakes with either 8oz skim milk or 8oz lite soy milk. I replaced the oatmeal with yogurt or kashi cereal. For lunch I usually eat packaged tuna, canned chicken or lite cottage cheese, plus veggies, for the protein bar I eat different low carb low fat store bought bars. I still eat lean meat and veggies for supper. I know it may not sound like alot of food, but really I felt and still feel like I'm always eating. It's just a plan that really works for me because I pretty much never get hungry so I have much less tendancy to snack on something that I shouldn't have.

Hi babygirl88 - When I first did SS(SomerSizing) years ago, I did not lost weight in the beginning. I really think that your body goes through a period of adjustment and then the weight loss kicks in. We used to call it "The Melt". SS is similar to South Beach in that it does limit carbs. My advice would be to follow the plan without straying for a few more weeks and stay off the scale. Use a favorite piece of clothing that is too tight now as an indicator and when it is starting to get loose, get on the scale. If you are not cheating and just keep eating within the SBD quidelines, you will start to lose in time. Be patient and hopefully you will experience "The Melt" before you know it. Once that happens, the weight usually comes off in slow but steady increments. Good luck! Marci

For 3 weeks you should ideally follow the "maintenance phase" in order to allow your body to stabiliaze at your new weight. After your 3 days of eating 500 calories once discontinuing the HCG, you can start to eat other foods, but avoid sugars and starches whenever possible. They say it is imperative to weigh yourself every day, without fail, and if you gain more than 2 pounds, have a "steak day". This means, you go all day without eating anything, but drinking as much of the allowable liquids as you want. Then, for dinner you have a huge steak with either a raw tomato or an apple. This must be done on the day your weight goes above 2 pounds from your final weight on the HCG. I have not gotten to this phase yet but this was the information I was given with my HCG order (I am using the sublingual homeopathic HCG drops). Good luck!