victoriaaa

Another question for anyone in the know! I'm trying to apply for a TA position on the CaPS website, but it keeps telling me my username or password are incorrect. I'm able to use both these things to log in other places, but not CaPS for some reason. Anyone else having the same problem?

I feel like a bit of a derp, but am I the only one confused by McGill's Minerva system? I did my undergrad at UBC where the registration process was just really intuitive. The important dates site just leaves me more confused than I was when I started. Am I correct in thinking that graduate registration doesn't open until July 4?

Same here! What department are you in? I'll be doing second language education in the DISE.

Any other second language eduation folks around? We seem to be a rare breed. If you're out there, what made you want to teach English to second language learners?

(sorry, didn't notice what board this was on! I'll show myself out now.)

I'm in the same boat. I've been an English teacher overseas for the past 5 years and am just heading into my last week before the end of my contract. I've been given the green light to go ahead and start telling the kids, and I'm really not sure how to go about it. My employer and schools aren't holding it against me, but having classes of kids tell me that they're looking forward to seeing me in April is breaking my heart.

I'll be 29 going on 30 when I start in the fall!

I've just chosen to accept the offer from McGill because Alberta isn't going to get back to me until April and the pros for attending McGill were numerous. Plus, the apartment I wanted to rent starting in July was going to be given to someone else if I didn't put down a deposit, so it kind of forced my hand. Not mad about it at all, though, since McGill was my first choice! Fingers crossed that I get picked for one of their merit scholarships!

If you don't mind sharing, I've found some nice looking places for affordable prices on easyroommate.com

Nice! I just accepted my offer today.

Yes on the dividing up large bags of snacks! I use this trick too. It takes some willpower, but it works for me. If I just have a big bag of chips or cookies or whatever, I'll eat the whole thing in one go, but if they're divided up, it gives me just enough to satisfy a craving without going overboard.

For me, I: 1. try to get in at least 10,000 steps a day (this sounds like a lot, but it amounts to around an hour of walking a day). This is just my personal goal, doing any additional walking on top of what you normally do is going to reap a benefit. If you usually only get 4000 steps a day, aiming for 6000 is fine! 2. use MyFitnessPal to track my food and drink intake to keep me accountable. I find that I think twice before eating something if I know I have to record it, so it prevents a lot of mindless eating. 3. plan and prep my meals ahead of time. This can take time and energy that you may not always have as a busy student, but it is definitely worth it. Lowers your chance of buying take out when you're too tired to cook, eliminates the temptation to buy unhealthy food when you don't know what to make, etc. 4. keep healthy snacks on hand for when cravings hit. Whole foods are best. 5. find healthier alternatives for comfort foods (for instance, mashed cauliflower tastes a lot like mashed potatoes but with a lot fewer carbs and calories. Not exactly the same, but close enough that I'm not tempted to stray very often) 6. buy cheat food items like chips or cookies in as small a size as possible so they can satiate a craving without the temptation to over indulge. If you buy a big bag of chips, it's easy to just eat them all in one sitting, but if you get the little snack pack sizes, you can enjoy something you want without the ability to eat more (so long as you don't just head for the next mini bag!) 7. drink lots and lots of water. It helps keep you hydrated and feeling full. Obviously, willpower is the most important part and none of these things will work if you're not determined to make them work, but if you're willing to put in the effort, it doesn't have to be that hard to keep your weight under control.

Let's swap battle wound stories! I have a pretty great one in my chin from where a girl accidentally stepped on the back of my shoe while we were playing tag in first or second grade. I went face first into the gravel, broke a few teeth, got stones in my elbows and knees. I was taken to the doctor's office right across the road from my school, and apparently, my mom was at a friend's house having lunch, so the first emergency contact to pick up was my grandfather who drove from the other side of the city to see me. Then, as it turned out, he had such a gentle heart that he couldn't bear to give the doctor permission to stitch up my torn open chin, so they had to wait for my mom to get there so she could sign off on it (they picked the gravel out in the meantime.) That man was so sweet, but I'm not sure if I went through more or less pain having to wait until my mom finally got there. I've also got a pretty nice one in the side of my wrist from where I scraped it taking down a box of stacked cups while working at Tim Hortons. That story's not quite as good as the first, though.

Not sure if OP is still looking for advice, but here's my top 3 tips on what helped me lose 70lbs in just over a year. 1. Keep a food diary. MyFitnessPal is a great app for it. If you track what you eat, you feel more accountable for it. It makes you think twice before eating something if you know you'll have to record it. 2. Figure out roughly how many calories you're burning a day. You can do this with a fancy gadget like a FitBit, or if you don't mind it not being as precise, there are lots of free online calculators that can do it for you based on your height, weight and activity level. So long as you don't eat above this number, you shouldn't gain weight. 3. Try a carb cycling diet! Basically, pick two or three days a week (preferrably days you exercise on) where you eat healthy carbs (whole wheat bread, pasta, etc.) and your consumed calories are about how much you burn, then the rest of the week eat low carb (but high protein and fat instead.) You should keep your protein intake about the same all week, but on high carb days, drop your fat consumption. On low carb days, up your fat consumption! This keeps your body from plateauing if you just eat low carb all the time, and it makes controlling your eating a lot easier if you can occasionally eat your favourite carby foods a few times a week. I stopped eating pasta for about 7 months when I was just eating low carb and it made me so sad, but switching to carb cycling let me bring them back in. It sounds weird, but eating more calories and carbs can actually speed up your weight loss.

I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs waiting to hear back from the University of Alberta (Educational Psychology) since their deadline isn't until March 31. I have acceptances from McGill and Carleton, but I want all my options in front of me before I make a final decision, but I don't know what to do with myself until then.