Today is my travel day back home. I will not get into JFK until 12:30 am. Yes, I have to work tomorrow and that is daunting. As I take a moment to look back at some of the pictures from this trip, I was struck by the Christmas tree standing in the park from my hotel window.
Thinking about staying present and not looking so far ahead even if the world tells me to get moving.
I want to be really mindful of being present in the moment and not letting myself get pulled into a frenzy of the holiday season. Yes, Thanksgiving is the week, and yes Christmas is right around the corner. That’s kind of stressful. One of my brilliant Saturday morning members shared that there was research done and that Christmas music prokes stress reactions in people. That makes sense but that’s also sad.
what does this mean for my weight loss and good health goals? When I struggle to pay attention and maintain my stamina for the program during a stressful time of year I find that I begin to disengage. My leader, Bonnie, said that she sees membership drop off during the holidays so I think I might be onto something.
I will most likely be writing about this because I realize how easy it would be to go on autopilot (no pun intended since I will be boarding a plane soon) and just eat mindlessly, or use it as an excuse to as Rose said, “Throw on my sneakers and go for a walk.”
For me, one goal is to name my struggles and work from there. Please think of me and wish me safe travels. More tomorrow…
When I think of November, I think of family and tradition. I think of great food and comfort and home. November makes me feel a deep appreciation and gratitude for all the people I love.
You’ll notice all the high smartpoint value foods on the table.
Tonight was my last night at the #NCTE17 Conference in St. Louis,. No matter what state the conference is held, Scholastic hosts a free Thanksgiving dinner for teachers. Tonight, was the 85th year of this long tradition.
The first dinner was hosted by Maurice Robinson in 1932. His son, Dick Robinson, continues this tradition in great style and grace. Like a good host, he greets everyone’s table, and then he reads the same speech, the same one his father wrote all those years ago. What a beautiful act of gratitude for teachers and homage to his father. There are so many things to be thankful for all we have to do is look for them.
I know I usually reflect on my how I’m doing with staying on plan (dinner was estimated at 19sp and yes I did eat the little slice of pumpkin pie) but I thought you might be inspired to hear this story. I think gratitude fills us up with a kind of fullness that we can’t get from food. Gratitude draws us together connecting us with all that we have instead of all that we lack. What if we were all thankful every day? That’s what I’m thinking about so it must be relevant to this journey.
We were allowed to take the centerpieces, so I took ours as a way to say thank you to our hotel maid (with a tip of course)
I hope you had a successful day. I am sending out well wishes to my Saturday morning friends I miss you too and look forward to seeing you all next week.
My friend Gravity took this picture isn’t it amazing?
Today was the first full day of conferences. My brain is very full of many new and inspired ideas about teaching and learning. The people of St. Louis have been very warm and welcoming. It is very interesting to be in a different city:
I’ve been very mindful of my food choices. I monitored my hunger levels and even brought along a high protein so I would not get to a point of feeling famished.
Almonds 4sp
Going to this conference gives me an opportunity to see colleagues who live in other states and have vastly different experiences. You see, I created an educational #Twitter Chat called #G2Great. Based on Dr. Mary Howard’s remarkable book, Good to Great Teaching (Heinemann). Amazingly, Dr. Howard, Mary, decided to be part of the chat. It turned out that we were a very strong team. We could have predicted, 3 years ago, how the chat would grow into this dynamic group. You never know how your work will change lives:
I am in the middle
Tomorrow is my regular meeting day, and I’m sorry to be missing it because, as you know, I do love going to my meetings. I am thinking of my WW friends and hoping everyone had a successful week.
After a 4:00 AM wake-up, two flights and a shuttle I am here in St. Louis. I came with my colleague and friend to learn from the best educational researchers our country has. I am blessed to be here, and I am up for the challenge of all the learning ahead:
I am blessed, but I’m also on a budget. So, like a squirrel hoarding nuts for winter, I hoarded the snacks from the plane. So that if I need a little something to tide my hunger over I was prepared:
Almonds 4sp; Biscotti 4sp; Kind Bar 5sp; Snyder’s Mini Pretzels 1sp
I didn’t eat while traveling because I was a little nervous. By the time I checked into the hotel, I was very hungry. Lunch was delicous:
I didn’t use all the dressing, and I think there was probably 1 1/2 oz of chicken there were a few slivered almonds mixed in – I counted it as 5sp
So, I feel like I have a good handle on how things are going so far. We are about a 15 -20-minute walk from the convention center so, I’ll be getting in my activity.
Thank you for reading and for all the support to ore tomorrow…
I am all packed and as ready as I can be to go to the National Council of Teachers of English (#NCTE17) annual conference in St. Louis Missouri. I am ready to learn a lot and make professional connections that will help to push my teaching forward.
You will note my snacks left over from Halloween. LOL
I love everything about learning because it is a chance to see the world in a new way. Working with children is a privilege and I am so fortunate to get to teach them to how to read, write, discuss, and think about themselves and the world around them. Better, I get to learn from their perspective too. I believe great teaching is reciprocal. I’m as much a learner as they are. I think that is why I’m drawn to this blog. This blog is a vehicle for reflection and reflection is how we learn. If I were to go through life thinking I already have all the answers then, I think I would be missing the point.
This is good advice for us all.
Book rec. from students
Meet Jesse Sam
I was thinking about my last post, and some advice I received from my friend, Rose. I was sharing how I was not able to get to my spin class, and Rose reminded me that there were more ways to get in the exercise just grab some sneakers and go. She was so wise to remind me not to get stuck on missing a spin class. I think that’s how I get myself in trouble. I think when I make my routines too rigid I turn my journey into a good/bad thing. Have you ever said this, “I was so bad today.” or “I was so good today.” I’m learning that this kind of fixed mindset is counter-productive for me. So, I’m working on that.
I am not the kind of person who can just go it alone on this journey. I need a tribe. I need a friend who will lend her perspective when I need a fresh take on things. So, truly thank you for reading.
I did not go to spin this morning and I tell you I missed going today. I had to spend another late day at work and I have another one tomorrow. I’m pretty tired and I don’t want to get run down. Although spin probably would have given me an energy burst. Managing time is another challenge. How am I supposed to manage it all when other parts of my life get more demanding? I don’t pretend to have the answer, it is so hard to find and maintain balance.
Sometimes you have to be flexible and take it as it comes. Today was one of those days for me, and it’s been awhile since I was posting so close to the wire at 11:57 PM. Today could have been a disaster because my schedule and routines were totally disrupted.
It began early when I found out I had to be the substitute music teacher. I don’t sing very well, and I don’t play an instrument. So, it was interesting.
I had to eat my lunch at 11:00 AM and that was a little tricky because I was worried that I would be famished by the time I got home. I was pretty hungry by 4:30 PM when I walked in the door. But I managed to keep my cool and go about the work of preparing dinner. We had baked ziti, but I made mine separately so that I would know exactly how many smartpoints it would be:
This requires some discipline, being very hungry and having to weigh and measure out my portions apart from making dinner for everyone. As I was doing this, I realized that I forgot to sign up for 5:15 AM spin so, I ended up being on the Waitlist. So, I have to be flexible again – I think I’m going to try to make it.
Finally, I went to a show at The Paramount in Huntington. Yes, on a school night. My husband is a big King Crimson fan and I went along. If you don’t know King Crimson it’s sort of like listening to abstract art. You’re not really sure how it all goes together but in the end, it works.
I think so much of getting to goal is wrapped up in being persistent, and patient. That, and I’ve got to believe I can do this; especially on days that are unpredictable and challenging. More tomorrow…
“Well, what if I just don’t go to spin. If I don’t go, I can get a lot of work done. It’s such a late class, I have a lot to do, and by the time I get back so much of the morning will be gone.” That was my thought process after a semi-stressful meeting over Google Hangout this morning. I felt somewhat defeated, and a little vulnerable; which (of course) made me want to retreat into my shell. I put on my Nikes and well I decided to – “Just do it”
Out the door and to spin even though it was a struggle today.
When you’re feeling small these are the kinds of mini-barriers that are hard to breach. It’s just the sort of moment that would keep me from achieving my goal. For me, it’s about weight loss, for someone else, it could be starting their own business. No matter what the challenge at some point, it’s not going to be very fun.
I wish I could say once I got to class I felt much better…but more negativity invaded my thinking “The instructor is hard to follow, and what’s with the lights? She has them set weird the changing colors are erratic and jarring This music is not my favorite either.” That’s when I caught it… I realized that this is something I’m doing for myself. Going to this class is something that will make me stronger, and then I started to problem solve. “I will count out in my head and follow my rhythm. It doesn’t matter if I’m in a different position. It matters that I hold the position correctly. This is your time, you make the most of it.” That worked, and it changed my perspective and had a dramatic impact on the rest of the day:
I came home feeling validated and proud that I went to class even when it was not so easy. I went food shopping and bought a lot of healthy food, prepped foods for a short work week, and made my lunch and breakfast for tomorrow.
These are really good! It is very helpful to have some frozen fruit in the house. I am having these over 1/4 cup low-fat ricotta cheese for breakfast tomorrow. I definitely need variety.
I am going to St. Louis from Thursday – Sunday. With that will come many challenges I’m sure. I am thinking about what travel snacks/foods to bring along that would be helpful. If you have any ideas, please feel free to post them in my comments box below!
I hope you had a good day. I hope you were able to make choices that will help you achieve whatever goal you’re striving towards. More tomorrow…
Meeting Day!I’ve said this before, but I do love may meetings. Today, our WW leader Bonnie posed the question, “What do you like about coming to meetings?” Just as I thought to myself,” The community…” another member said, “It’s the people.” The conversation that followed was all about the caring supportive group we’ve become. Somewhere along the line, we shifted away from strangers in a room to a dynamic relationship. It feels like a team, all of us working together to help each other to be our best selves.
I did lose weight this week, I’m down another 1.8:
With kindess and sincerity I tell myself, “This is a great loss.” In truth, there is a resentful part of me believes I should be getting bigger numbers. I can tell you if this happened last year, I would have thrown my hands up in the air and been angry and frustrated. The truth is it’s a lot of work to lose weight, and I am changing more on the inside than I am on the outside. Well, maybe that’s where the real shift is happening – this isn’t really the work, in the: you do something and check it off a list way. It’s more meta: this work is to shift my inner perspective in a holistic way. I am learning about what living a healthy life is really all about. So when I look through that healthy living lens I can say (rationally) that I am honestly satisfied with the loss. That can be true as a well as the small seed of disappointment (emotionally) I wish it were more:
My Learning… During the meeting, we shared strategies and tips to help each other be successful. We were challenged to think about what we need to continue doing or consider what needs to change. Here were some of the suggestions that came out of the meeting room:
“Consider your weekly Weight Watchers meetings ‘me time’ it’s important.”
“When you see other foods out, think to yourself, ‘that’s not my food.’ that just clicked for me.”
“My food, my choice. I can decide what I will or will not eat. I can make choices to have what I want.”
“Buy foods you enjoy, don’t worry if it costs a little bit extra. You buy things for others all athe time. If you want something special just for you go for it.”
My Plan: This is coming right out of my notebook:
Focus on the journey. I do this each day when I write these posts.
Focus on the goal. Stay connected to my why: I want to be healthy (feeling/looking).
Focus on strategy. Plan out my week, and evaluate my hunger signals.
Feeling Gratitude: This Veteran’s Day was a beauty. I did get the opportunity to thank a veteran for his service. It was a small meaningful moment. There was an older man outside the Bagel Cafe wearing a Vietnam War hat, I held the door and said, “Thank you for your service sir. Happy Veteran’s Day.” He looked at me, sort of surprised, and said, “Oh! Thank you.” and smiled warmly. I sensed that this little exchange was special to us both.
I hope you got to enjoy the day and had some fun. More tomorrow…
I can’t help but love November. I bundle up and the cold air envelops me like an old friend. As I walk down the street I breathe in wood smoke knowing it will permeate my hair as it whips in and out from under the hood of my jacket. My hands buried deep in pockets and I am instantly reminded of childhood. I would spend hours raking leaves for the sole purpose of jumping into them. Throwing them up in the air with my head turned upward to watch them dip and sail back to earth. I think my ongoing search for beauty in the world, comes from a desire to get closer to that kind of appreciation for nature:
It was the first really cold day. We drove into Northport Village and were greeted with blustery winds and white caps:
Tomorrow is my weigh-in day. I had a devil and angel on my shoulder as I thought to myself, “What will you do if you stay the same again? What will you do if you don’t get a big number? How will you feel, if after all this careful planning and work you lose a pound?” Instantly another thought came to mind, “Well then that’s another pound off that will not come back. If you could trade a big weight loss number for how you’ve been feeling, would you do it? No, no you wouldn’t Jennifer. You deserve to feel good about everything you’re doing for yourself. Don’t let fear and doubt cloud your intention.” This was my thought process, and I think it is important to be transparent about these things if this blog is going to be an honest portrayal of my journey to goal.
After that exchange, I did try on a bunch of clothes and some things fit that didn’t fit last week!
Weight Watcher Pro Tip: I just polished off 1/3 cup of Pistachios for 3sp and I can say that is a handy little snack to have. It takes a while to eat them and they are delicious.
Thank you for listening and all the encouragement. I can do this, and so can you; all we have to do is work at it and be patient.
Getting to Goal 