Beware of quickly advancing through math in high school

Tip of the Day-
Those of you with children entering middle or high school- Beware of rushing them through the math process and explain this information to your older children entering high school so they can make an informed decision.
In 7th grade my son's pre-algebra teacher recommended that he take algebra at the community college over the summer. She said it was just a formality to move ahead to geometry next year. He was great in math and flew through pre-algebra earning an A. Same with the college algebra 1 class. In fact, he had taken the highest level math offered in his school by 11th grade, AP Calculus. Here is the problem. College entrance exams include math through algebra 2. My son was in 9th grade the last time he routinely worked algebra equations. That means he had three years without the math that he would need to be placed in college level math. So many are having to take costly remedial math classes in college when they just completed a much higher level of math in their senior year of high school. It is less stressful to take it a bit slower and not have to take remedial classes upon entering our impacted colleges and universities. Unless a student takes AP Calculus and actually passes the AP test given outside of the school, they will have to repeat it in college anyway. Some universities are not even acknowledging AP anymore. Know the facts before you push ahead and take life a little slower.

Introduction to healthy eating lifestyle change

As I am getting started and learning how to blog about this experience for the first time please be patient. There is going to be some repetitive information in the entries so I apologize in advance.

So many people have asked me how I lost 80 pounds in about ten months and the answer comes as a surprise to most.

I had been over weight for as long as I can remember so I will call it my whole life. Two years ago I was at my heaviest weighing 200 pounds at 5’1”. I had lots of overwhelming issues going on in my life so my focus was not on dieting. In fact, I had decided never to go on a diet again. I did not have the will to stay on a diet. I would start a diet and one hour later I had to have something I was craving like a hot fudge sundae or tacos. My husband was a co-dependent to my compulsive eating and would often succumb to my requests for fast food and ice cream in the middle of the night. My sister is an amazing dieter, having lost and gained many pounds. My husband’s family has some incredible dieters, also. I was not a successful dieter, to say the least. Every new blog entry will give insight to healthier eating and weight loss. The next blog entry will ease you into the start of your new healthy eating and the lose of cravings. I hope to read about how this lifestyle change works for you.

Getting ready for a lifestyle change

For all of you who are interested in how I lost weight, here is the first step.
1. If you are an emotional eater of ANY kind, seek therapy! By this I mean Social Walking or exercising, daily or weekly visiting with a friend, daily or weekly pampering (pedicure, massage etc...), a daily hobby (other than eating!), or seeing a therapist that you enjoy and trust. Even if you don't ever mention eating or weight (I rarely did), this step is extremely important!

Social Walking- This is my preferred form of exercise. This is my daily walk with my neighbor, friend or my Ipod. At least once a week if not more this walk includes a stop for breakfast or coffee.
Don't be concerned with how fast or far you walk. I will talk more about Social Walking in step 3.

It doesn't hurt to ask

Tip of the Day- JoAnn's Fabrics accepts competitors coupons! My daughter printed coupons online for a local craft store and they didn't have the fabric she wanted so off to JoAnn's we went. We bought several fabrics that were on sale but two were not. We asked the sales guy if they took competitor coupons and he said, "Sure". He let us use both coupons that we had even though everything else was already on sale!

Hi! I am 44 years old and have been a compulsive over- eater my whole life. I am a foodie! I love to eat and I love good food. I had been very over weight since I was in 8th grade. Through mindful eating, social exercise and therapy, I was able to lose 80 lbs and maintain the weight loss for over a year now. I would like to share with you how I was able to accomplish this without a struggle and without dieting or strenuous exercise. Stick with it. It is a process with many components. You might be surprised by how easy it can be to not be controlled by food. Also, I will share tips about food, health and everything else I come across in my day to day endeavors. I am passionate about great products, restaurants, helpful books and deals. I would love to hear from you!