School Clothes

So, I'm a teacher. 1st grade. The cool part about being a teacher (besides the AMAZING 3 month summer vacation) is that I get to go back to school shopping still-even at 25. 

I hit up Kohls the other day on my way back from a meeting and decided to get some new pants- I basically only have spandex in my closet right now and that just won't do for, you know, my job. I've worn nothing but spandex and running shoes for the last 3 months so it was about time I updated my wardrobe.

So I go to Kohls, and for the first time in years decided maybe I should try shopping for women's pants- I always shop in the mens section, those are just the clothes I'm most comfortable in. Now, since it's probably been since the 90's that I've shopped for women's clothes I had no idea what sizes to take with me into the dressing room. I grabbed a few sizes in a style I liked and headed to try them on. 

GUYS! To my astonishment the 16 was too big, the 14 was too big but the 12 was just right! My non scale victory for this month is that I'm a size 12, and when I started this whole shabang I was right about a 24/26. So needless to say I left Kohls with some very cute pants and a whole lot of confidence.

When I got home from the store I decided to break out some shorts that I had bought back in March-ish, to try them on and see how they fit now, here are the results:

I think I have spent more money on clothes this past year, than in any other year of my life.  About every 2 months or so I have needed to buy some new clothes because the old ones were melting off of me. 

I think I am starting to slow down a little, and the weight isn't dropping off as fast, or as drastically (which is good) but it's also taking some getting used to. I'm having to find a "maintaining" balance of eating and exercise. Maintaining a healthy weight and not gaining. I do still have a few pounds to loose, but I know that will come with continued nutrition and training for triathlons. 

I think the best gift I can give myself this coming school year is to keep eating clean, because even when life (and my class) feels out of control, the one thing I can control is what I eat and when and how often I exercise. 

Speaking of school, my cute mom came and had lunch with me the other day while I was setting up my classroom.

How cute is she!

I got pretty panicked after spending a few hours in my class that day, knowing that my summer is drawing to a close. I started to feel panicky that all my free time to train will be gone and all my old thoughts and fears started to enter my head, thoughts about;

"what if I don't have enough time to exercise"

"what if I let my nutrition slip."

"What if I get so stressed out I slip back into old habbits."

I fled school pretty quickly and went and found peace and calm on my favorite trail. 

I had to remind myself that although school is starting, the good weather isn't going with it. We still have a few months of hot and then the wonderful season of fall, jackets and pumpkin flavored everything, which I love. I also had to remind myself that ski season is just around the corner and I am really looking forward to a full season on the slopes with my wife!  It was Kathy who helped me the most, when I voiced my fears to her, she said, 

"Remember, it will just take you a few weeks to find your new normal, and a new balance for all the things in your life-and then things will be back to normal again."

So ya'll, the next few weeks for me might be kind of crazy, getting back into the groove of a full time job, kids, paper work, parents, screaming, crying, boogers and weird smells...wish me luck.