Ladies I'm so proud of both of you!! I have been going through some rough stuff the past 3 weeks and I'm finally seeing the light. I think now that the emotional problems are being dealt with constructively I'll be able to get back on the wagon. You ladies give me hope that if you keep plugging away, we will reach our goals!

Hello Nurse, I'm so happy about your new house, etc! That's so exciting!

Nice to meet you! Feel free to jump into convos anytime:)

Well I'm down to 147.4 so still losing which is good considering the weekend I had. Homemade ice cream and brownies AHHHHHHHH! Not much exercise at all the last week or so, I need to get back on that. Have a great week everyone!

Wahoo! Good job! Sorry I haven't been around lately everyone, I'm hoping to be around more often. Keep up the good work!

234. 2 more lbs lost.

That's great!! I'll post it.

***********

So, today I started over. I had gained a few pounds back, stopped eating right, and stopped exercising for misc. reasons, but I'm going to try again! That's all we can do. I've eaten good so far, and I plan to go to the gym later this afternoon. I hope everyone is doing well:)

Sounds like everyone is doing a great job on the weight loss front! We must keep at it :) I am down to 130 but my progress is slowing as I get smaller. No more big drops for me.

Haven't had much time to post because the kids are involved in so many things. Fortunately things will slow down when August rolls around-atleast until school starts up again. I can hardly wait!

Sending will power dust to all! Keep up the fantastic work :)

233. I lost another pound.
We did VBS at our church this week. and for snack each day they had nachos and cheese, brownies, pizza bites, cookies, or ice cream. I resisted temptation and just drank water while my group had their snack. I am so proud of myself.

Where is everyone? I hope you're all doing ok.
I weighed 230 today. 3 pounds down from last week.

Congrats Skinnycow! 3 lbs is great.

I am down to the upper 120's but it changes all the time so I am just gonna be happy with that. I've discovered that just about any pair of size 4 jeans fits now and even some 2's. That is like a major thing for me considering I'm 44 and not getting any younger, LOL.

I'm not sure where everyone has been, probably really busy. Hopefully we'll see some posts in the near future. On the bright side, only 4 weeks until school starts. Obviously I have kids at home :)

We just got our invitation to our annual back to school meeting for bus drivers. There is an open route at the school my kids go to. I am considering bidding for it but am not sure if I want to. Its at our South Transporation location which is farther from my home and the middle school attached to the route is a notoriously bad place to drive out of. I am a bit spoiled at the North Transportation Center and have a nice bus up here. Atleast nice for my seniority level, LOL Its a 2004 Bluebird All American. I know that doesn't mean much to non bus drivers but its much better than a 2001 International which is probably what I would get out South.

Well keep up the great work Skinnycow! You should be proud of what you've accomplished so far :)

YAY! Great job!! I'll post.

That's so great, your weight loss I mean. You have 4 weeks till school? I only have 2 and a half...:( I am kind of excited though, perhaps the schedule will help me get out of my rut. I've been trying to think of planning lessons today and it's really got me going. Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

I just wanted to post as a fellow teacher... I know it's probably too late to start this challenge... but wanted to say hi to you all!

I've been teaching 12 years... kindergarten, 1st, 3rd, and 6th. I worked summer school this summer... so only two weeks break for me.

Good luck with your challenge! If you keep a teacher challenge going through the year, please let me know!

TinyTina,

Gosh only 2 and 1/2 weeks? You start early! We are starting a week later than normal up here and of course going until June 9th next summer. Unfortunately thanks to our friend Mitch we have lost our parent teacher conference days (1/2 days for those of us who drive only middle and elementary level). Our teachers didn't lose the Professional Development days but its only a matter of time at this point. Good luck with your lesson plans, sounds like alot of work. My only lesson plan is a set of bus rules starting with #1 The Bus Driver is always Right! and #2 Any other problems, see rule #1.
Welcome Paula, its never too late to join in! Glad to have you:)

I have 6 1/2 weeks until school starts. We always start the Wednesday after labor day. We'll end either June 4th or 11th (I can't remember)

Hi! I'm Sue. I have been lurking on 3FC for a bit, but I need some accountability and this looks like just the place for me. Can I join the summer challenge? It only took me till July 11th to have a long talk with myself about what I want to look like when I go back to school in the Fall. I do not want to be the "fat" teacher. I am an elementary Special Education teacher for K-4 students with learning disabilities. I have 5 weeks till all my peers see me again and 6 weeks till school starts. I have been journaling, exercising, and counting calories for 2 1/2 weeks and have lost 5.2 lbs, though most of the loss was the first week. Going with Yoda's advice right now...Do or Do not, there is no try.

Welcome Sue! Congrats on your success so far:) You can do this and it sounds like you have a great plan of action. I'm not much into counting calories or exercising much ;(, I just do a low carb approach and avoid sugar (my downfall) like the plague. Can't wait to here of your progress!

Skinnycow, wow I just looked at your ticker, you are doing absolutely fabulous! Keep at it :)

Thanks, Tami. I figure I need to go for it now, because when school starts I will let the stress take over, lose focus, and lose time to follow through on journaling, etc. I sound like I am making excuses already for Fall. Seriously though, my goal for the school year is just to eat in moderation and continue walking at least 30-40 minutes each day even if I break it up. Right now I am trying to walk in the morning and at night 60 minutes each time. I am going for distance rather than speed right now. I also released the carbs mostly, but still haven't been able to let go of sugar...my downfall also. I must start my morning with tea and 2 tsp. of sugar. sigh. Not a morning person.

Sue, sounds like a good steady plan to me. I understand the stress thing completely. I can hardly wait to see the smiling faces of all 70 of my middle schoolers crammed onto my bus on Aug 24th, LOL Yea Right.....
Walking is probably the best thing you can do! I walk the dog every morning, although I won't admit to more than 30 minutes at a time. Unlike you I am a morning person, but, instead of tea I drink about a 2 liter bottle of diet coke. And thats just before lunch :)

I lost 0 this week. I've been bouncing between 230 and 233 for a few weeks now. I really want to see 229. Maybe this will be the week.

I'm down 1.4, but really struggling to keep up the exercise. I keep thinking I should have lots of time right now to do it, but with four kids to run here, there, and everywhere my time slips away.

Hang in there Skinnycow, you can do it! I know 0 is a disappointment, but maintaining is great.

229. Down 1 pound.

Awesome Skinny Cow! You are so close to your next mini-goal! I am down another 1.2 this week. I was hoping for a little more like 2lbs per week before school starts, but I will take it.

Congrats Skinny Cow and Sue! Weight loss is slow but steady at times but its soooo worth the effort! I am down another pound to 127 this week. I think it may be time to try to maintain for awhile....never been good at that, LOL

Haha, ya...Actually it's been so long since I posted...I start on Thursday...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! (Home Alone face). But, maybe I can get on the right track weight loss wise with a new schedule. Sadly, I'm back to my starting weight.

So lucky!!!!!

Oh, and congrats! I'll post!

Way to go everyone!!! Tamil I'll post your progress.

*************

To all, I know I started this forum but you all are kicking so much but it's fabulous!! Turns out I was a lot of talk this summer, not much action to make a difference. BUT two or three of you have TOTALLY dominated this summer and I'm SO proud of you!! You give me hope that if deep down I find the will power I can make weight loss happen. To those newbies on the board, WELCOME! I'll start adding names to the ticker and once the 100 lbs. is reached we'll start a year goal, sound good?? Thanks all for being such an inspiration! I go back to school Thursday, and I'm gearing up for a healthier life this semester. Actually, I'm making my food shopping list right now! Anyone want to post their lists to give us all ideas on healthy choices??

Hey all!! Sorry for the double post but...have some awesome news!!! With Sues numbers (GREAT JOB SUE!) we are past the halfway point with 44 lbs. left to loose!! My goal is to contribute to this ticker if it kills me, haha. Have a good day all;)

226! 3 lbs lost!

YESSSS!!!! Great job!!! I bet that high number feels good, haha. I'll post.

Well, nothing happening this week, but I'm trying to tweak my calorie intake a little.

A school year goal sounds like a good plan, Tina. Two weeks 'till I go back. Sound I'd better start planning lunch menus now. I really like buying a bag of shredded lettuce to use for the week. I'll add tuna, cukes, olives, and peas on top of it for a meal. I tend to like quick convenient at school, lunch seems to zip by so fast. I also like vegetable soup. On the side I'll take bananas, clementines, applesauce, grapes. Can you tell I need sweet fruits so I avoid chocolate? I need more ideas.

Hey there! Clementines have been my savior on the battle against the sweets, I know what you're talking about! Although, I have to admit your salad combination is a little strange to me, haha. BUT, whatever works, yes? I usually buy the Spa Lean Cuisines because they have twice the amount of veggies and are made with 100% whole grains...so good! That or salads, but I'm with you, I love salads. So quick and easy. Greek salads are my all time fave...kalamata olives....mmmmmmmmmm.....and feta cheese. Athenos brand makes a great reduced fat feta, check it out if you like that kind of thing.

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well!

Wow Skinnycow! 3 more lbs is incredible! I'll do a happy dance here for you:)

I like the idea of a school year goal since summer is like gone now, LOL My goal will be not losing weight but maintaining. I am down to my goal weight of 125 now (actually a bit lower if I weigh first thing but I am afraid to find out because hubby is on my butt about getting too thin).

We had our annual start of the school year meeting yesterday for all of our bus drivers. I had several NSVs of sorts. Since I transferred from South garage to North garage last October I hadn't seen some of the people at South since. I went up to talk to a few people and one of them honestly didn't know who I was. She looked at me and said "How do you know me?" She thought I was a new girl. Then it dawned on me, instead of the bleached blonde girl with 3 chins I am now a redhead with barely one, LOL Several people said I look really good and much younger than my almost 45 years. It was really weird but exciting as well. The difference less than a year makes is awesome!

Kalamata olives, yum! Feta cheese, double yum! Not really into the clementines, my little guy is though. I am into watermelon big time. Do you know that watermelon causes you to actually lose water weight? I never would of thought that but it really brought me out of a plateau.

Well summer is winding down up here. Most of our area school districts have started classes. Let the party begin! And lets keep this goal going all year long!

Congratulations Tami on moving into maintenance!! Awesome job. That must be so fun to go back to school with all your changes.

I am down another pound!

Tina, not to really gross you out but sometimes I add Feta also. Our family loves to eat Shopska salad with just cukes, peppers, olives, feta, tomatoes, and olive oil. YUM. I'll have to check out the lower fat feta as I usually by athenos.

Thank you Sue! Yes it is fun, I am so excited to see all my kids again (my bus kids-----my kids can go back to school any day now, LOL)

Woo hoo another pound! That is wonderful :)

224. another 2 lbs.

Hi Everyone! Better really late than never!
 

Hi Everyone.
I am new to this site and I was really excited to see that there is a group for teachers. Is it too late to say hi? Here is a little bit about me.
I am going to be thirty years old on the first day of work this year (eyes filling up right now!) and I am going in to my fifth year of teaching. This year I am teaching grade 9-12 drama at a largish school in Canada. I am really nervous about this year because it will be the first time that I have taught only drama and I will be very busy with extracurriculars this year. I am slowly getting more confident though.
Here is my weight thing. I have always bounced around the scales. A couple of years ago I decided to join weight watchers as I felt that my weight was getting out of hand (I am not talking about putting on the fat clothes, I am talking about needing to buy bigger shoes because my feet were becoming to fat for my shoes...). So when I went to WW I weighed in and looked at the card (I never liked to look at scales so I had no idea what to really expect). The booklet said 210...and I thought it was my registration number. I thought maybe 180-185. I immediately burst into tears especially when I factored in my height (a TALL 5'2" thank you very much!) and saw that my ideal weight was to be between 136 and 109. How would I ever lose that much weight??? Needless to say I was devestated. I do not have a great sense of will power. I was overwhelmed for sure. So I threw myself into WW and it was great for about 6 months. I lost 30 pounds! Then it stopped. I stalled. FOR NINE MONTHS!!!! So, I threw in the towel. I couldnt afford to go every week and see nothing. So I went to my doctor who did a full screening and decided that a low carb, no sugar diet was the way to go with me as my blood sugar was a bit high. I don't know what the diet is called as I do not count carbs or whatever. All I eat are nuts, veggies (no root veg or corn except for raw carrots), small amounts of blueberries, blackberries or raspberries, unprocessed meats, high fat yogurt, and huge amounts of cheese and lots of water or other sugar fee drinks. I dropped 9 pounds in a long weekend! I am guessing I was retaining a huge amount of water...so far I have lost 20 lbs (in a couple of months which is good)! Unfortunately Summer came and the routine went out the window. I travelled to my home province for a while which is not known for healthy eating and of course being home, I wanted to eat all the things that I couldn't get where I am living now. I also stood at a wedding which meant going out a lot and eating a lot. Anyhow, I got home and found that I kept making excuses as to why I couldn't get back on track...so I gained 10 pounds. I started again this week and I was doing fantastic, until I started to paint a room with a friend who came with a Tim Horton's French Vanilla (I don't know if there are any Canadians here who can feel my pain on this one) which contains more sugar than a gallon of cola and a chocolate bar. With that I continued on to McDonald's, onion rings, chips, cola, and a chocolate bar...So I am going to try it again today.

So I have 50 (well 40 but I don't want to dwell on the setback) pounds gone and 35 more to go and would love to have a group of teachers (who know what our schedules and our cafeterias are like!) to bounce ideas off of and get support from. Is there any way that this group can continue during the school year (since many of you are already back in the classroom)?
Sorry for the long intro but I got a little excited seeing a teacher forum.

Thanks!

Can I join you ladies? I only have a few weeks before school lets in, and I'd like to drop another 2-3 lbs.

My name's Erin. I teach English as a foreign language just outside of Busan, South Korea for grades 6-9. This is my first year teaching kids; normally I teach university students. I have a degree in Medieval History, but somehow I found myself becoming an English teacher. :D

Welcome, Spitey and Canadia! I'm fairly new to this thread myself. We did agree back on page 7 we would keep this going right through the school year! That is when it will really be challenging for me. I don't do well with stress and eating healthy, so that is a goal of mine. I teach special education RK-4th. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, but I absolutely love the kids.

Skinnycow, you are doing amazing!!!!!

Let's hear some more ideas for healthy lunches we can pack for school.

Didn't lose anything this week. Still at 224. I'm so close to being only over-weight and not obese!

Welcome Spitey and Canadia, you will find much support here!

Skinnycow....I was just looking at the bmi calculator myself. I am down another 1 1/2 lbs and in one more pound I will be overweight instead of obese.
Can't wait. Keep up the motivation....we can both be their by next week!


How's maintenance Tami?

That is awesome!!!!!!:carrot::carrot::carrot:

Maintenance isn't going so well for me. School started this week and with it my stress level is through the roof. That means literally, I do not eat unless forced to. I'm weird like that. Hubby said I am too anxious and should slow down for 5 minutes and make myself eat something. He is in worry mode, LOL

Yesterday I had a fight on the bus between 2 girls. I pulled into the middle of a very busy 4 lane road. One of the girls was down in the back with blood on her face screaming that she needed an ambulance. The other girl was coming at me screaming about the other girl. 60 or so other middle schoolers were in the midst of the chaos. I yelled until they sat down so I could get to the injured girl. I am not a medic, only a mother. I called my dispatcher and told him that I needed an ambulance and mobile units at the scene. It took a good 10 minutes before any help arrived. My bus was pretty calm for most of this time since I had calmed down one of the girls and moved her to the front. The ambulance came, the girl was taken off.......nothing was broken, thank goodness. The police units arrived along with our local transportation enforcer and both girls were escorted to juvee in hand cuffs and squad cars. One of the girls told me that she had just recently gotten out of "Lock Up". So a new year, not much different from the last, begins.

To add insult to injury here, a man pulled up across the street with a camera and began taking pictures of the scene. School officials talked to him so hopefully this will not make the news. Generally it does anyways, then the public will start the negative comments about how bad the public schools are. In reality it has nothing to do with the quality of the schools, its the quality of the home situation.......parents really need to be parents again!! Spare the rod, spoil the child.......now we are reaping what we have sown.

Sorry for the downer story, I just had to get this off my chest.....