Mr Young's Dorky Accomplishment

It is not uncommon during class to hear a student say "Mr Young, how many steps are you at today?" Following the question, I look down at my belt and you guessed it, I read my pedometor. Yes, I wear a pedometor every day on my belt. And Yes, it does make me dorky. The students have actually gotten a kick out of it, but we do tend to run into some problems where regurally a student will say, "Mr Young, I have been watching your Pedometor for the last couple of minutes and it missed a couple of steps you took." Of course these 2 minutes the student watched the pedometer also encompassed the time I either explained the day's assignment or gave notes. Educationally speaking it might lack merit, but for me personally it has been great.

While it has turned me into a self professed dork (Those who have known me for a while would probably tell you I have always been one), it has also led to a sort of dorky accomplishment. For the first time in about 5 years, my weight has made it to the 180's. On my weekly weigh in this morning, I registered in at 188. For those of you quick to think the scale might be broke, I weighed in last week at 190 so it's not to far off. While 188 may not still be the goal weight for a guy that likes to say he is 5'10 (That's 1.75 meters here, my students have no idea of inches and feet and I am one of the world's few science teachers who has not mastered the metric system!) it's not bad when just two Christmas' ago I was trying not to break 210!

That has been one of the many blessings I feel I have personally received here in Mexico. The beautiful weather, a beautiful, Mexico before modernization, neighborhood to walk daily, and a local market that rivals any great August Midwestern farmer's market have helped create a healthier lifestyle. If the scale reading wasn't enough encouragment, Edan last night (unprompted and out of context) said "Dad in Mexico your belly has gone from big to regular."

I thought about doing a before and after picture for you as they do in all weight loss commercials, but I couldn't find a bottle of spray on suntan lotion that is a prerequisite for the after photo!

Here's to being dorky, and here's to 188!