Tracking is NOT a dirty word

I'm a public school teacher, and in past years I hated snow days.  But over the past few years my district has started tracking time in school by minutes rather than days, and by "banking" extra minutes we have not had to make up snow days.  Guess what today is?  A SNOW DAY!  A free day to be home, relax and not have to worry about making up later.  Thankfully, someone is tracking the time in such a way that it makes my job and life easier.

For years, I had an ongoing joke with my students that "snow" was a profane word and if they used it in my classroom they would face disciplinary action.  I told them that all I had to write on the discipline slip is that they used a profane word that began with "S" and that no other explanation would be required from me.  This new tracking system has made that threat unnecessary, although I think the students may miss the fun we had with this.

Tracking also may sound like something profane to you like it did to me for a long time.  But the Weight Watchers' PointsPlus tracking is very easy.  I use the online tools, but there is also a purse/pocket calculator that is very easy to use, as well as booklets with many foods pre-calculated.  The system looks at 4 things from a standard food label: 1) total fat, 2) total carbohydrates, 3)  fiber and 4) protein.  The 4 nutrients combined result in a single score, and WW also calculates how many PointsPlus each individual is allowed daily based on age, current weight and gender. 

WW also builds in a weekly allowance that can be divided and used a little each day or saved and used all at once.  This allows for the flexibility of a birthday party (I went to one last weekend, ate what was on the menu including a small piece of cake and stayed within my PointsPlus allowance!).  All in all, the tracking system is easy to use, keeps me on target, lets me see visual proof that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing--it's GREAT. 

By the way, I attended my first meeting two weeks ago today, and as of today I've lost 4.4 lbs.  I'm happy with that.