Biggest loser and SLAM Fair

So this Friday will be bringing a couple of fun things. 

The first is that my school's "Biggest Loser" competition will be starting, and I will be competing. I stepped on the scale a couple weeks ago and realized that I'm bigger than I have ever been in my life. I mean, I'm relatively average sized...but I used to be fit. So I decided to do something about it! Two things in fact!

The first thing is that I've been using an app called Lose it! If you haven't heard of it or used it before, it is basically a calorie tracking/budgeting app. It really helps you think about how much and what kind of foods you're eating. Cupcakes in the faculty room? Not worth it when you realize you could eat a mountain of carrots and hummus instead. 

The second thing I've been doing is using this fun little "fitbit" gadget. It's essentially a really tiny and accurate pedometer that automatically syncs with my phone. It also tracks my calories burned and my sleep. I've found it to be pretty accurate too. My wife also has one and it is fun to track/compete with each others steps. The website awards you little virtual achievements for walking a certain number of miles, etc. I'm a sucker for the essentially pointless virtual badges. 

Long story short, it's already working! I'm down two pounds already! Of course, this is bittersweet since the first weigh in for the school's biggest loser competition is on Friday!

Also, this Friday night is my school's SLAM Fair. The SLAM stands for Science, Literature, Art and Music. We have students and guests set up presentations all over the school and parents and kids come and look at or participate in the activities. The fifth grade teachers in my school work with the 5th graders after school and the kids do most of the work. I think the fair will be a lot of fun, and the kids will be proud of their projects. 

Of course, I'm also excited to reclaim the hour I have been volunteering after school each week for this. That hour often turns into an hour and half when a student is forgotten by their parents and picked up late. Today one of kids wasn't picked up until 5pm. A full hour late. It's kind of aggravating. But the fair will be fun!

Those are my biggies for the week! Kind of hard to believe that there are only 2 months of school left in the year! We've got a jam packed calendar for the next two months though!