Small steps!

I’m trying to change little things to help in the battle of the bulge.  I try to get up and walk around my classroom more while the kids are working instead of sitting at my desk, grading papers or doing progress reports.  I take the long way when I walk to the office (although that won’t be a problem next year since I’ll be in a portable and every way is the long way to the office) and I try to pick parking spaces that are father out in the lot, especially when I don’t have Julianne with me.  Instead of asking for fries in the cafeteria, I ask for a double helping of veggies and then I drain all the butter juice off of them before I eat them.  I know that individually, each of those things is not going to make a huge difference.  But if I combine them all together, they make for a healthier lifestyle and better eating habits.

        I don’t know why I’m finding it so hard lately to stop eating.  In the past, my weight loss method of choice has always been diet, and I’ve done very well on it, even when I’m not exercising regularly.  But this time around, the gym doesn’t faze me and I can’t seem to stop snacking.  I just want to eat everything I see and even my usual self-lecture: “Konnie!  Put down the bag of pretzels or you’ll be fat forever!”  isn’t working.  Not sure why.  I know I need to get back on Weight Watchers so I can put all of my info in the computer and keep track of it, but really, an extra $18 a month in conjunction with the gym membership is just not something I can afford right now, as well as going grocery shopping to get all the right foods.  Why do companies make it so hard for people to lose weight?  Everything they say on TV commercials and in print make you want to feel like they really care about you and they really want you to succeed – but then the moment you log onto the website, it’s BAM!  – here’s a fee for this and POW! – here’s a fee for that and SHABLOOM! – I forgot there’s a fee just for accessing the website. 

I know that it’s all doable WITHOUT the website, but WW online offers a lot of good tools that I really take advantage of, like the recipe builder and the message boards.  It’s really important for me to have the human connection with other people that are trying to do the same thing I am.  Because let’s face it – I can call my mom all I want and tell her I stayed within my points when everyone around me was going crazy, but she won’t be nearly as proud of me as Betty in Lincoln, Nebraska, who is trying to do the same thing and struggling every day just like me to NOT eat the two candy bars the kids brought me for Teacher Appreciation Week.