I have nice jugs.

I love a little double entendre.

A coupe of weeks ago I was out shopping for a cute, professional outfit to wear to do some teacher observation at the local high school. I was surprised at how expensive relatively shoddy apparel has gotten. To make matters worse, I've gained a fair amount of weight in the last two years. I could sit here and list a hundred excuses for why, but it all boils down to: I have been putting too much of the wrong kinds of foods (and drinks) into my mouth for far too long and it caught up to me in a big way.

This whole teaching thing... I feel like a torch has been lit under my butt - I haven't been this motivated to do something in a long time. And, while I'm focused on learning everything I need to that will make me a good teacher, I realize that my physical appearance affects me, my self-esteem, my confidence, my physical endurance, and last but not least, how others perceive me. Standing in front of a room full of high schoolers is going to be one of the bravest things I'll ever do. And I'm not going to lie - the idea of student teaching scares me half to death. I'm thinking Depends might be appropriate for that first week or so. (kidding)(I hope)

Do you see where I'm going here?

On the way home from shopping I had this moment of clarity concerning something I had been mulling around for a couple of months. With my current body, I would require a whole new wardrobe of teacher-appropriate clothing for student teaching and long term teaching position. OR, I could get serious about finally losing all this weight I've gained. I could feel better about myself, and avoid buying new clothes for a body I was really unhappy with. I'd been eying up NutriSystem, but the price: OY. And yes, it will cost me more than buying new clothes. And I'm not promising that I won't buy new clothes when this is done. At least I'll have the option. Right now, I don't.

So now I'm 2½ weeks into it. Just far enough into to assess whether it's long term doable. So far so good. I've always thought of NutriSystem as just eating their pre-packaged food, and there is prepackaged food, only supplemented with LOTS of fresh fruits, vegetables, protein and dairy. And did I mention the jugs? Holy cow: I start every day with filling the two jugs shown with filtered water (I ♥ my Brita water pitcher!) and end every day by making my 97th trip to the potty. It's about portion control, eating healthy foods and drinking more water than I previously thought possible. All good habits to make and keep. Here's hoping.