In addition to the cookies and ice cream, my mother brought over two pair of new pants for me yesterday. They're Royal Robbins capris, which I would definitely wear -- if only I could get more than one leg in them at a time.

According to my mother, she bought them on clearance for $10 each and didn't bother to check the size. (Who cares what the size is as long as they're dirt cheap. Yeah, ma. This thinking really works for me.... ) She's now banking on my sister fitting into them, which is highly unlikely since my sister is shorter and a little rounder than I am. If that doesn't work, I'm in charge of finding someone who can wear them, so eBay here we come.

What is it with my family buying clothing/shoes that don't fit just because they're on clearance????

Kim was right! Dieting and budgeting are a lot alike. I'm sitting here counting out nuts so I don't go over in the calorie department like I'm counting pennies....

Speaking of calories, yesterday was a total bust on that front thanks to an impromptu Chinese dinner out. (NOTE TO SELF: Must STOP impromptu dinners out!) But today is looking better.

I have been working out like a mad woman when I'm not working on making money. I used to work out religiously 6 days a week, but haven't been as good about it the last two years due to some health issues and plain ol' laziness. The last week has been a good reminder of how much I enjoy it.

On to other things...

Today would have been a no spend day if not for Mini Me having an evaluation with the eye doctor. That set us back $101, which is in addition to the $97 a week we pay out of pocket for actual vision therapy. Personally, I'm ready for a little "check book therapy," so I'll be glad to see vision therapy come to an end sometime in the next three months.

The plan is to temporarily put the bulk of the vision therapy money toward the new car fund. I say "temporarily" because Mini Me is one costly kid. She's got some serious learning differences that we're still working on getting diagnosed, so we're always paying for something related to that. Right now it's vision therapy and OT. This summer it'll be a private tutor, who thankfully isn't as expensive as the vision therapist. God only knows what it'll be in the fall.

I got the glass grinder shipped today, so I'm adding $75.57 to the challenge for a total of $3,603.83.

I also weighed myself this morning as promised and was pleasantly surprised to find I weigh 145 pounds instead of the 150 I thought based on my last encounter with the scale.

The weight times 10 formula isn't going to work for me since I am fairly active, so I figured out my calorie requirements using an online calculator. This is what I came up with:

To maintain my weight, I need to consume: 1730 calories on sedentary days, 1799 on light activity days, 2076 on moderate activity days and 2352 for very active days.

To lose weight, the numbers are: 1230 calories for sedentary, 1299 for light activity, 1576 for moderate activity, 1,852 for very active days.

Now my problem is figuring out what qualifies as moderately active and very active. My guess is most days I fall in the moderately active category. I alternate running with swimming. And the duration varies from 3 to 6 miles on the running, and a half mile to 1 mile on the swimming. And, I'm not always consistent about working out every day. (Any trainers or dieticians out there want to chime in here, feel free....)

The good news is I'm never sedentary and only "lightly active" a couple times a week when I do little more than walk from here to the corner to meet the school bus.

Gosh, this weight management stuff is almost as confusing as financial matters....