How the heck did that happen?

At the beginning of the school year I stepped on the scale and dreaded seeing that I weighed 242.5 pounds.  I was pretty disappointed that I had let myself get so far out of shape.  But I have to admit, for some reason it wasn't a "hitting bottom" moment.  I was down on myself for being that heavy, but I didn't break down because of it.  I think I just kinda sighed and got ready for work.

I made the decision to NOT eat school lunch this year.  At my previous school all the teachers ate in the cafeteria for lunch and I would often just eat the cafeteria lunch as opposed to bringing my own.  It was easy.  Of course school cafeteria lunches are designed for school age kids, full of calories for students who's bodies are growing and in need of extra fuel.  For an adult, the lunches aren't the best.  Add to the facts that at my old school, the cafeteria staff always made sure the teachers were well fed.  They were like our moms and, of course, food = love.  LOL

But at my new school, I eat with a group of teachers each day and we all bring our own lunch.  On occasion I do sneak over to Jimmy John's and grab a sandwich, but that's only maybe once every couple of weeks.  I've noticed that I've been eating a lot less at lunch and am fuller on less as well.  In addition, I've been eating out a lot less because Matt, my husband, accepted a lay-off from his job at the university, so we've been working to limit our extra expenses.

On Thursday I realized that I hadn't stepped on the scale since the first day and thought, "heck, let's do it".  My pants had been feeling a little looser in the waist and I was thinking that maybe I had dropped 2 or 3 pounds.  You can imagine my surprise when "231" popped up on the digital readout.  I think I about feel on the floor in shock.  I actually had to step off the scale and do it over again just to make sure the reading was correct.  It was.  :-)

To that end, I really have taken this as my "wake up call" to get into better shape.  I've made sure to get out and walk the past few days and I gave EVERYTHING I had this afternoon during rec volleyball (see my previous post).  I've made it a point to eat smaller meals (even when eating out) and I've set a goal of getting to 220 by Thanksgiving.