Jeans Pass
Because of jeans passes, today may be a day to mark in the history of Rodney Bettis.
So, some backstory. As one of the two CTE teachers on campus, I attend ALOT of ADR meetings. ARD meetings are not enjoyable, especially if you do not know the student. Because of this, attendance at these mandatory meetings can be sparse. So, as an incentive, the ARD facilitator started giving jeans passes to teachers who showed up on time to the meetings.
Over the course of the year, I accumulated over 50 jeans passes. I don't really like to wear jeans, I'm a comfort waist fella. But since I earned them, I decided to cash them in. So, I calculated the number of days remaining in the school year and handed a fat stack of jeans passes to my designated assistant principal to ride out the year in denim.
As mentioned, I do not like jeans; to some, snug jeans are a purposeful fashion decision, but the tightness of my jeans are not a conscious aesthetic choice, it is more a consequence of lifestyle. My tight jeans would not be fashionable to any discerning eye of fashion considering the silhouette they constrain.
On this jeans pass day, fifteen days away from my forty-second birthday, I waddled out of school to fetch a minimally nutritional lunch from McDonald's. I was waddling due to my constrictingly tight pair of Levi's and I glanced to my left and caught a glimpse of my corpulent profile. This is not the guy that my health conscious teenage self envisioned when he speculated about turning 42. My teenaged self pictured a guy that might be employed bettering the physical health of others partially through inspiration. Teenaged Rodney, known to most by the moniker Rod, would have been judgmentally disgusted by my present voluminous figure. He was a shallow chap, but he could comfortably wear (and sit in) skin tight Wranglers.
Now, knocking on the door of 42, I may not achieve the svelteness of my 18 year old self. I may struggle to reach the well marbled dad bod I had settled into upon college graduation, but this has got to change. I need to be comfortably in the 30s for jeans. The scale should not need numbers above 200 to measure my weight. And I should be able to roll into just about any retailer and buy clothes prêt-à-porter. I need to accomplish this, or minimally be well on my way, during my forty-second year.
So those are my goals, I'm going to achieve it by working in the kitchen and working in and out of the gym. I hope to detail my progress and strategies here on this seldom used blog. I relish your support and accountability. As an educator, I am always teetering on the brink of financial ruin so my methods will be frugal. That was a blatant statement to head off any budding entrepreneur from pelting me with snake oils and elixirs. They may be legit, but I have nary a farthing to cast in a wishing well. Just secretly hope for my failure so that you can sell me on a quick fix at a later date.
To start, in the kitchen, I am going to cast off carbonated soft drinks drinking only coffee, green tea and water and track my caloric intake using My Fitness Pal. In and out of the gym, I will get a hour of activity each day tracked by my FitBit Blaze 2 and iPhone app. Next week, I will update you on my starting measurements and next steps. Each week I will make a change for the better and document it here. There is your promise. Hold me to it.
So, some backstory. As one of the two CTE teachers on campus, I attend ALOT of ADR meetings. ARD meetings are not enjoyable, especially if you do not know the student. Because of this, attendance at these mandatory meetings can be sparse. So, as an incentive, the ARD facilitator started giving jeans passes to teachers who showed up on time to the meetings.
Over the course of the year, I accumulated over 50 jeans passes. I don't really like to wear jeans, I'm a comfort waist fella. But since I earned them, I decided to cash them in. So, I calculated the number of days remaining in the school year and handed a fat stack of jeans passes to my designated assistant principal to ride out the year in denim.
As mentioned, I do not like jeans; to some, snug jeans are a purposeful fashion decision, but the tightness of my jeans are not a conscious aesthetic choice, it is more a consequence of lifestyle. My tight jeans would not be fashionable to any discerning eye of fashion considering the silhouette they constrain.
On this jeans pass day, fifteen days away from my forty-second birthday, I waddled out of school to fetch a minimally nutritional lunch from McDonald's. I was waddling due to my constrictingly tight pair of Levi's and I glanced to my left and caught a glimpse of my corpulent profile. This is not the guy that my health conscious teenage self envisioned when he speculated about turning 42. My teenaged self pictured a guy that might be employed bettering the physical health of others partially through inspiration. Teenaged Rodney, known to most by the moniker Rod, would have been judgmentally disgusted by my present voluminous figure. He was a shallow chap, but he could comfortably wear (and sit in) skin tight Wranglers.
Now, knocking on the door of 42, I may not achieve the svelteness of my 18 year old self. I may struggle to reach the well marbled dad bod I had settled into upon college graduation, but this has got to change. I need to be comfortably in the 30s for jeans. The scale should not need numbers above 200 to measure my weight. And I should be able to roll into just about any retailer and buy clothes prêt-à-porter. I need to accomplish this, or minimally be well on my way, during my forty-second year.
So those are my goals, I'm going to achieve it by working in the kitchen and working in and out of the gym. I hope to detail my progress and strategies here on this seldom used blog. I relish your support and accountability. As an educator, I am always teetering on the brink of financial ruin so my methods will be frugal. That was a blatant statement to head off any budding entrepreneur from pelting me with snake oils and elixirs. They may be legit, but I have nary a farthing to cast in a wishing well. Just secretly hope for my failure so that you can sell me on a quick fix at a later date.
To start, in the kitchen, I am going to cast off carbonated soft drinks drinking only coffee, green tea and water and track my caloric intake using My Fitness Pal. In and out of the gym, I will get a hour of activity each day tracked by my FitBit Blaze 2 and iPhone app. Next week, I will update you on my starting measurements and next steps. Each week I will make a change for the better and document it here. There is your promise. Hold me to it.
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