new site design is nice-looking! woot!

My mom, who taught everything between grades 3-8 for almost 30 years and was born to be a teacher, is positive that if she were just starting out today, there’s no way she would put herself through it. All they can do is teach to the tests … teachers in public schools are no longer allowed to actually teach the kids anything useful. A good friend of ours is currently teaching middle school in Manhattan, and she’s only been at it 3 years and she’s already almost done for the exact same reason.

My aunt is in charge of the “no child left behind” program for the state of Maine, and she’s got some stories to tell too … :/

I come from somewhat of a biased position because I, too, never spent a day in a public school … but if I had kids, I would mortgage my life 3x to put them into a private high school, and figure out how to pay for college later. Only the private schools have the leeway to actually *teach*. And boy, is that ever a messed up situation.

Where I grew up we got toads, hardly ever frogs. There was always at least one living in our basement — we all knew to be careful whenever we went down there, lest we step on one. I’ll never forget the day my sister found one and was holding it and it peed all over her hand … hahahahaha

I hear ya about the bread. I grew up in a household where at least one person was always on a special diet (my dad’s diabetic diet) or dieting in some way, so I guess I just have the mindset that if it costs a little more to eat right, that’s just a cost of living and make it up elsewhere. I know that’s easier said than done, though.

It sounds like you’re definitely on the right track. Have you talked to your doctor about all this? I know you’re fighting DNA as well as calories :}, but sometimes there’s other factors involved, too. One of our good friends had a hell of a time losing weight until he went to the doctor and found out he had some thyroid issues. He started taking medication and the weight fell right off and has stayed off, it’s incredible.

what i need to work on is the one treat per day. yeah. i’m bad at that one. and i need to work on the portions, but i am getting there. i think, and hope, there will be a different me by the end of the year. i don’t care to be thin, i just don’t want to be fat anymore!

* As a rule, only drink water and (unsweetened) tea. Occasionally orange juice, to boost immunity when traveling. No soda, not even the diet kind!! Too many bad chemicals.

* Minimize white foods. Buy whole wheat pasta instead of regular. Brown rice instead of white. Whole grain breads. (All these are much tastier, anyway… and nowadays don’t have to cost any more than the alternatives.)

* When you go out for lunch, skip the chips and get a salad with your sandwich instead. Have mustard on the sandwich instead of mayo, and skip the cheese. (But it’s better to bring your lunch, as you then have control of exactly what you’re eating and how much. Plus, it’s cheaper!!)

* Eat smaller portions of everything. Don’t think of yourself as “on a diet”, you’ll psych yourself out totally. Just think of it as eating smarter, and go on with your day.

* Allow yourself one “bad thing” a day. Want a cookie at lunch? Fine, have a cookie. But that’s your quota until tomorrow.

* Probably most important: ELIMINATE HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP FROM THE DIET. This is very difficult to do in North America, but it’s getting easier. Lots of supermarket chains (including Wegman’s now have their own brands of natural foods that are priced very competitively, and are sometimes even cheaper than their regular counterparts. Cane juice or sugar are vastly preferable to corn syrup in anything. Plus, if you can’t pronounce all of the ingredients on a package of something, don’t buy it! The more stuff you ingest that’s not found in nature, the harder it is going to be for your body to deal with it. (I also extend this to always having butter over margarine. Margarine, which is created from a chemical reaction cannot possibly be good for anyone, whereas butter is 100% natural. “Everything in moderation…”)

This isn’t to say I’m good all the time, but these basic guidelines combined with going for regular walks have worked very well for me over the past 3.5 years.

Have you ever checked out the Weight Watchers “points” system? It’s based on portion control and eating sensibly, and not getting stuck into that head space of “I’m on a diet”. If you know anybody who’s ever done it and can loan you the book that runs down the points and how they work, you might want to look into that. That was really the first thing that ever worked well for my mom, who has been “on a diet” (whether she needed to be or not) since well before I was born. :}

Shutting up now …

So yeah, he’s really good. Yay!!

Back in the 80’s and 90’s this non-PC friend of mine always used the phrase “that is so tits”. Well, me being me, wasn’t fond of it, but I did want a unique way of saying something was cooler than cool. I happened to be holding a thing of tic-tacs this one time and, boom, the birth of south amherst slang…