BL @ Work - Surprising Twist

When I got to work this morning there was an envelope in my box saying that I won 3rd place in the Biggest Loser at Work contest. The prize was $20. I'm not sure how I won. In the end I gained a couple of pounds overall. So I guess maybe the other 3 people didn't weigh in or they gained more than me. I know one lady lost 29 pounds and she didn't even exercise.

She drank a gallon of water a day. She ate at least one monounsaturated fat with each meal. She did a couple of other things, but I can't remember what she told me.

So, today I decided to stop planning and just to make myself do something. I met a co-worker at a local track and I walked 1 3/4 miles. I thought my knee was going to be in a lot of pain when I got home, but it hasn't. It actually feels a little better.

Credit Card Spending

My credit card spending is getting out of control. These last couple of months I've nearly maxed out my card and used my extra debt repayment money to pay it off. I've got to get it together.

I guess I can consider this another ripple.

BL @ Work Finale

Okay today was the last day and I didn't lose a single pound. As a matter of fact I gained. I'm disappointed with myself for not doing anything. I just gave away $25.

Economic Stimulus Tax Rebate

I got my rebate on Friday, the same day that I got paid. It was awesome to see so much money in my checking accounts.

I spent all of it except for $60 on debt or savings. I'm so proud of myself. Last year I would blown the whole thing on clothes, electronics, food, hotels, etc. and I wouldn't have anything to show for it in 6 months. Hopefully in 6 months I'll have some decent interest to show for my discipline this year.

$5 Obsession!

I'm realizing I have a new $5 obsession. LOL! Well, not really, but lately I've been doing a couple of things in fives and it seems to be working.

Even though I have a list of things to try for my Money Games each month. I usually end up saving the new five dollar bills. They are so pretty!

This past week I decided to spend no more than $5/day. It's been going really well. I usually spend it on lunch because I haven't been to the market. This entire week I spent less than the $5 and I put the excess in my money games each night.

I'm going to the market this weekend, so next week I shouldn't spend much at all. I just remembered that I'll be proctoring for the next 2 weeks at school again. They have breakfast bars, fruit, chips and water for us. That means I don't have to buy some of those things when I go to the market. I'm going to buy a couple just in case they run out at work and don't replace it. It'll save me lunch money, grocery money and gas since I won't drive to the food place or home. I'll go up to my office instead. This will also help me in the BL @ Work contest. Yay!

BL @ Work Revived - For a Limited Time Only!

I called the teacher in charge of the contest yesterday because I still hadn't received my refund. She told me that the majority of the other members decided to keep the program going until May 21st. That doesn't make any sense at all to me. Why risk $25 for 2 weeks? So, I'm stuck.

Bad News
I injured my knee last week and could barely walk on it, but it's nearly back to normal now. So I'm going to give it a shot for the next two weeks. It's going to be tough. I'm selling chocolate for my 6th grade daughter and her birthday was last week so there is still half of a huge cake left.

Positive News
I saw a friend from my last job on Thursday. She's lost nearly 30 pounds. She's on some program called Melaleuca. She eats a breakfast bar for breakfast, a meal replacement bar for lunch and has a normal dinner. She cut out snacking on junk food. She doesn't eat anything after 7pm. She's not even exercising because of her sciatic nerve. She said she was starving in the beginning and then her body finally adjusted. I forgot to ask her how long that took. It's going to be hard, but I'm going to attempt a version of this.

My Breakfast

• Special K Bar
• A piece of fruit

My Lunch

• Sandwich
• A baggie of chips or crackers
• A baggies of carrots

My Snack

• A piece of fruit
• Yogurt

My Dinner

• Whatever
• Watch my portions
• Don't come back for seconds

My Snack

• Healthy Shake
• or something sweet and healthy

I also just remembered that I proctored all last week. The students are taking the state standardized text. We are testing in the large gym, which is an indoor regulation sized basketball court. Each proctor is assigned to a row that is 20 students long and spans the width of the gym. One of the PE teachers was proctoring last week and she said that 8 times across is a mile. I'll have to clarify if that's across and back or just across. In either event I got a lot of exercise last week on my bum knee. We have to go across and back for each task listed below.

Tasks (across and back for each task)

• pass out pencils
• pass out answer sheets
• pass out test booklets
• check that they filled in their demographic info correctly
• check that they write and bubble the correct test version number
• check they are bubbling in the correct section
• pass out good behavior tickets
• collect pencils
• collect answer sheets
• collect test booklets
• we also rove the aisles several times to answer questions, pass out tissue, replace pencils and pass out magazines to the students who finish early

That's all before lunch. Most days we test after lunch as well and we repeat the same process over again. So assuming that it's 8 times across and back. I get in a minimum of 2 miles before lunch and another 2 miles after lunch. That's awesome.

I found out yesterday that I'll be proctoring Monday - Thursday for the next 2 weeks. On Fridays I'll be in my office, which is upstairs and I'm sure I'll get plenty of stair work in.