School Is Easier

I've been working at home for a few years now. My first time on WW, I was working for the same company, but I still went into the office every day. I would pack food for the whole day - usually leftovers or a Smart Ones frozen dinner, applesauce, a granola bar, a piece of string cheese, and some fruit - plus several water bottles and Kool-Aid packets. It worked well for me - I allowed myself just enough to eat that I didn't get too hungry, and packing my lunch kept portion sizes under control.

Shortly after I lost 80 pounds, I made the transition to working from home. At that point, the weight started coming back on rather quickly. Since I didn't need to pack a lunch, I had a tendency to not plan my meals - and usually I wound up grazing on whatever was in the house. My husband didn't see a need to follow my dietary regime, so there was usually ample junk food available. It didn't take long for me to gain it all back, and then some.

Fast forward a few years (and more than a few half-hearted attempts at WW). I'm still working from home, but that will be changing soon. Two to three nights a week I am in nursing school, so I'm back to packing lunches. If all goes well, I'll be taking a nurse tech job in a hospital soon and phase out my current work-at-home position. I stay tired and crazy all the time, and I grab fast far more often than I should.

But school nights - school nights are much, much better. Not only do I pack healthy food, but I also do more exercising. The Allied Health department (nursing, dental hygiene, PTAs, etc) just got this fancy brand-new building, and it has long hallways and big flights of stairs - long enough that I can just barely get in two laps on a ten-minute break. I will walk 2-4 laps before class, and then squeeze in as many as I can on the 4-5 breaks we get each evening.

I think I will miss school, although I suspect that counting points will be even more interesting when I get that nursing license. For now, though, I am thankful that there are at least two nights a week that I can keep under control.