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Leaving the Classroom Made Me Fat -- UPDATE

Good News

It has been about three and a half months since I blogged about my fatness and vowed to do something about it. Three and a half months since I walked into Miss Fit and begged for a miracle. I'll keep it short and sweet and just report my results:
*I have lost just over 15 pounds.
*I have lost almost 11 inches of fat from my waist, hips, and flabby bum and thighs.
*I'm building muscle.
*My blood pressure is normal.
*I am energetic and now able to do physical activity without getting winded.

Still Working At It

I have a ways to go before reaching my goal, but the progress I've made so far has really helped me function better at work. No more blaming leaving the classroom!

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Leaving the Classroom Made Me Fat

It Could Have Also Been the Fact That I Love Chocolate and Brownies and Ice Cream and Candy and Doughnuts, but Whatever

It's no secret that teaching is a physically taxing job. You are on your feet almost every minute of the day -- and not just standing, either, but zipping around the room from student to student, trekking from one end of the school building to the other, climbing stairs (in some cases), even running and jumping from time to time. There's hardly time to eat lunch, let alone have a snack. Besides, the stress level is so high, you can't stomach much food anyway.

For these reasons, year after year, what weight I gained during my lazy summer I easily shed the first few weeks of school. And I could easily maintain a comfortable weight without having to worry about what I ate (see subtitle). I was happy with my size and fitness level (even though "fitness" didn't mean aerobics classes and lifting weights, but rather teaching and all that the job entails).

But, alas, all good things must come to an end. Since August, I have gained approximately 25 pounds and have had to go up two sizes in pants (and even those are becoming too tight now). 

Clearly, this is a drastic change, so, naturally, I would like to blame something -- or someone -- for it. So here are all the factors that may or may not have contributed to my saddening and maddening flabbening:

* I'm getting old. At 44, it is not as easy to drop weight as it was when I was 43. Obviously that one year of aging must have done something to my metabolism.

* Possible thyroid issue? I have no evidence of this (other than the rapid weight gain), but I will get it checked.

* I spent two summers doing virtually no physical activity. First, I was doing online grad school, which meant hours upon hours of sitting on the couch working on my laptop. Then I started my TeachersPayTeachers store, which meant more hours upon hours sitting on the couch working on my store. I felt fine at the time, but perhaps all of that inactivy has caught up with me.

* See subtitle. I have always had a bit of a sweet tooth. If I make a pan of brownies "for the kids," I could seriously eat every single one of those brownies in one sitting. "Sorry, kids. I was just testing them to make sure they were good for you to eat." And now my sweet tooth is making me pay.

But here is the real reason I'm getting fat:

* I am no longer in the classroom. All that exercise that teachers get every day? I'm not getting that anymore. I have to sit at a desk more often, or sit behind the wheel as I drive to different campuses. I have actual proof that this is to blame for my growing waistline: I have a Fitbit, and when I do the Workweek Hustle challenge with my teacher friends, I have to try really hard just to get 8,000 steps in a day, while they're easily getting 15,000 or more. And you know how teachers hardly have time to eat a decent lunch? For eight years I had to scarf down a Hot Pocket in 20 minutes or less. These days, I usually have a little bit more time to eat lunch -- and sometimes that means running to Jack in the Box, which is right next to our building, or zipping through Braum's in between campus visits. And then there's the fact that we have a basket of chocolate in our office -- it's for guests, honestly.

It was a real eye-opener when we had a rare "jeans day," and my favorite jeans that I used to wear just last school year would not even fit over my thighs. I was so distraught, I went out and bought elastic-waist pants. Elastic-waist pants!

So, What Am I Going to Do About It?

I knew I had to do something when I started to jiggle when I walked down the hall. The first thing I did was ask for the aforementioned Fitbit for my birthday, and my husband got me one. I was so sure that, just like the Wii video game system helped me lose the baby weight after my last pregnancy, the Fitbit would help me slim down and shape up.

I quickly discovered that I was going to need to do more than count my steps, because no matter how many steps I managed to take in a day, I was still gaining weight. So I downloaded the FitStar app, a companion to the Fitbit app. It contains a variety of video workouts, and I would have gotten more out of them if it didn't take 10 minutes for one video to load on my phone. Disenchanted, I started looking into gym memberships, but I found that the big-box gyms are so expensive. What I really wanted was to be able to just take some zumba classes or something like that, without having to pay an outrageous gym membership fee.

Then I stumbled upon Miss Fit, a women-only fitness and 

nutrition center in my neighborhood. They offer a variety 

of classes -- the first one I tried was zumba -- and they have 

a smoothie bar where they make high-protein shakes. After 

a couple of classes and trying a couple of shakes, I had a 

consultation and was introduced to Herbalife and talked into 

a three-day trial of the nutrition products. I was skeptical but 

willing to try. I just completed the three-day trial, and I don't 

want to jinx anything, but I seriously can see and feel results 

after just three days. I have more energy; I feel comfortably 

full all day; I feel good about myself for eating well and 

drinking more water; and even my after pictures compared to 

my three-days-earlier pictures show a tiny improvement.

So, I will try to keep up the pace with three classes a week 

along with the Herbalife meal replacement system, 

and I hope to update you soon with the great news that I can 

fit into my favorite jeans again. I may no longer be in the 

classroom, but that doesn't mean I have to totally let myself go. 

I will get back down to my normal weight and my normal 

clothing size. I will triumph!