Being healthy whilst teaching?

[y0rkier0se]

I'm in my NQT year and since beginning training I've gone up from 12st (where I was bordering on overweight anyway) to 14st 8. I'm disgusted in myself and need to do something about it but I'm finding it so hard! There's constantly cake/biscuits around, there seems to be a chocolate culture where it gets to 4pm and everyone pops in each other's classroom with chocolate and by the time I get home around 6.30 it's so much easier to get a takeaway or put something from the freezer in especially when there's marking and planning to be done in the evening. Does anyone have some tips to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and losing weight whilst teaching? Struggling fat NQT here! Thanks.

[OneOfTheGrundys]

And defo agree that the night before is your friend. Prep everything before bed...

[OneOfTheGrundys]

I gained a LOT of weight after taking a job I have to drive to.
Slimming World is sorting me out. Not everyone's thing but I'm afraid of the weigh in each week and that motivates me to keep trying!

[Rathkelter]

Option A: try the 5:2 or Fast Diet which is a quick way of losing weight, and the benefits are: no need to sort lunch out on two of your five working days, and dinners are super quick. But if you are a bit of an emotional eater it's tricky.
Option B: avoid bread. Be organised on a Sunday: roast some veg like squash, sweet potatoes, peppers and make salads with bulgar wheat, couscous or quinoa for Mon-Weds, put them in Tupperware and take for lunch. Eat natural yogurt and a handful of oatbran with fruit for breakfast; avoid eating between meals, cut the booze Mon-Thurs, exercise instead of marking books!!

[OliviaBonas]

You can buy fresh soup. Could your cook at school make you a salad or jacket potato for lunch sometimes? Definitely porridge for breakfast (you can buy individual microwaveable portions and eat it out the tub.)

Have a drawer of healthier snacks to dip into at breaktime - popcorn, rice cakes, oatcakes etc.

[DreamingofBrie]

So my lunch for the next two days consists of leftovers from the past few days , sticky soy beef ribs with mash and an assortment of leftover carrots, broccoli and sweetcorn! It's a bizarre combination but hopefully it'll be fine!

[Phantommagic]

No one sets foot in our staffroom ever so no longer have that problem. I've maintained my weight much easier since breaks or lunchtime went down the pan! Not fun though.

[Artandco]

Few tips:

Breakfast : take something you prep night before. Overnight oats (oats with yogurt and fruit and seeds/ nuts), or Greek yogurt with granola and fruit. Both can be made up quick into a jar or small Tupperware box and left in fridge. Grab in morning. Eat when arrive at work so you don't have to eat as soon as waking up

Dinner: make a good soup at weekend. Can freeze in portions so you have easy to eat food if tired. I like chicken and vegetable broth, and add rice noodles fresh (just heat noodles whilst soup defrosting in pan or microwave).
But also have basic easy meals in mind. Scrambled egg with avocado, beans on toast, microwave bake potato with tuna, large beetroot and feta salad. Porridge with fruit.
All easy prep, 10 ish mins start to eat.

[70ontheinside]

Following with interest... I have lost half a stone since Christmas by vaguely following the blood sugar diet, logging food on MFP and ignoring staff room biscuits. Until yesterday, when I had a bazillion cakes
I think the blood sugar friendliness helps with cravings. I usually have eggs or yoghurt with berries and nuts for breakfast, a pear at break and then egg & cress or avocado on Ryvita for lunch.
That seems to be working well. I don't stay in school after 3, have to rush home for dcs and have a "normal" early dinner with them.

I have to say that yesterday, after my epic cake binge, I was really snappy and grumpy with the dc later. Note to self: Stick with the low sugar!!

[y0rkier0se]

Thanks for the tips! Yep I'm primary. I've been taking crackers for lunch this week and that's worked for me. I did succumb to the breakfast biscuits at break time as an easy snack because sleep is precious and to have breakfast I'd have to get up 10 minutes earlier. Almost a week without chocolate I almost feel smug but I haven't unfortunately kicked the weekend alcohol - I've had some fruit cider tonight and I'm out for a meal tomorrow with some university friends which will no doubt result in wine. One bad habit at a time hey!

[junebirthdaygirl]

Your first step is to eat breakfast. It's practically impossible to teach all morning with no breakfast. Then break comes and you will be ravenous so ready to grab any snacks available. Eat a breakfast. Bring a proper lunch for early break and another one for main lunch. Eat more bur better food. I can guarantee you will lose weight.

[walruswhiskers]

You sound like primary, OP. I've worked in both sectors and primary is definitely worse for cakes etc at break time - all those middle aged ladies, I think! (I am a middle aged lady myself before I'm accused of ageism...)

I've learned to reeducate my taste buds. I still love sweet stuff but have got into the habit of less food at work which means I eat less crap by default. A typical day now is Greek yogurt at break time (no breakfast - no time or desire to eat it), a bowl of fruit and cheese followed by an apple and son nuts at lunch and then normal eating once I'm home. This means I have massively reduced bread intake (bread bloats me) and also means the odd day when I'm starving and buy a sausage bap at break doesn't screw it all up. I'm trying to lose weight at the moment (normal BMI but only just!) so I'm also making myself walk most evenings despite how tired/busy I feel.

NQT year is exhausting- but if you eat better, you will cope better as well as feel brighter cos not worrying about your weight.

[badhotfanny]

It's a bit antisocial, but I stay out of the staff room! We have biscuits every break and donuts on Fridays. I can't resist, so I stay away.

[RevealTheHiddenBeach]

I put on over a stone in my training year (schools direct) , so don't worry its not just you! I am nqt +1 now and fixing it with this:

• either a short morning workout (jillian!) Or yoga in the mornings before I leave
  
• walking to school (appreciate this isn't an option for everyone!)
  
• having a school lunch every day - it forces me to sit and eat and stops mindless snacking.
  
• as lunch is main meal, making up bags of mixed veg from fresh and having chicken or fish and veg for dinner (10 mins in microwave - my rule was it had to be easier than pizza! )
  
• "one nice thing" a day - so a cafe coffee OR a staffroom cake OR ppa crisps OR chocolate in front of the TV etc... that way I'm not depriving myself but it's not getting ridiculous!
  
  Good luck finding the balance that works for you - it will be different for everybody. Be kind to yourself!

[y0rkier0se]

Congrats! for you. I also have an observation tomorrow! The head is supposedly observing the children's resilience and not my teaching but she's in the classroom so it definitely will feel like an observation. Good luck - half term soon

[Maladicta]

How I've managed to stay on track this week, I have no idea...
Got a big observation and file scrutiny tomorrow, school's been utterly manic and as I went to print everything out tonight, the network went down

My treats involve buying random stationery stuff off Amazon Prime so even worse for my financial stress

Fingers crossed for the house!

[y0rkier0se]

Ok thanks Maladacta - there's highs and lows, today hasn't been a particular high and now I'm sat eating a tube of fruit pastilles whilst marking extended writing BUT I've vowed to give up chocolate until Easter - it's only day three but I'm committed! It makes sense that having a lot on your mind lowers your willpower - I always seem to think I work hard so I deserve a treat but that treat is always chocolate, I need to shift it too bubble baths or a night off marking. We're also buying a house at the moment so it's bloody stressful!

[Goldrill]

Ha - am sat here trying to build up enthusiasm to do some planning and have just eaten a huge bag of crisps, in the half hour I've been on MN. I didn't go for a run (20 mins) because I had too much to do.

Only a trainee too - dread to think what'll happen when I'm doing it properly!

[Maladicta]

NQT too and found I'd put on well over two stone since starting my PGCE. The combination of running a large family (4dcs) and the obvious uni then job pressure meant my diet was shocking.

I've managed to lose a stone of that since Christmas, a few factors helped. I made a resolution to look after myself better - I know I was just too grumpy because of the crap was eating. There's a long history of hypertension in my family, most start pills from their mid-forties and I'm on a year or two away from then. I also read the Michael Mosley Blood Sugar plan which made a lot of sense.

So I make sure I've a packed salad lunch every day, have reduced sugar and carbs dramatically and take a few mins to make a proper breakfast - poached eggs or proper porridge. I've also cut out alcohol which has helped tremendously. The weight's coming off and now I've been doing it a few weeks, resisting the staff room snack fest is actually quite easy.

I watched that C4 programme, 'How to Lose Weight Well' one week and a segment on it was about how your willpower is lower if you've lots on your mind - it makes a lot of sense that resisting snacks is so hard with how much you have one your mind!

Typically though after all this healthy eating I've just had my worst bout of illness in about 12 years!

You can do it! How's the NQT year going otherwise??

[y0rkier0se]

I didn't even notice that

[DandelionAndBedrock]

Ha - if I take any in that is exactly what happens! Also, habit not habitat - autocorrect has been doing too much shopping.

[y0rkier0se]

I'm not sure whether that would make me better or worse. I think you'd often find me hiding in my cupboard with a stash of dairy milk

[DandelionAndBedrock]

Habitat. My colleagues are very health aware. I like chocolate...

[y0rkier0se]

Is that a rule or just habit D&B?!

[DandelionAndBedrock]

Come and work in my school - no chocolate or chips in our staffroom .

[y0rkier0se]

Puffins it's so good to know that we're in the same boat! I have my PPA time with another NQT and we take it in turns to bring snacks plus the whole staff normally have chippy chips and cake on fat Fridays. Today was ok - I skipped breakfast again but had a chicken salad wrap for lunch (homemade, no mayo) and a fat free yoghurt then chicken breast and potatoes and salad for dinner. I shall go and prepare tomorrow's lunch now and a chicken is going in the slow cooker tomorrow morning for a roast chicken dinner tomorrow. I've decided to go cold turkey with chocolate - if I have one piece(or bar!) I need more. I also realised I'm drinking a lot more on a weekend a few g&ts on a Friday and Saturday night and a couple of glasses of wine in the week soon add up, so that's another thing to cut out. Target is at least a stone off for Easter - this first stone should come off easily enough as there's so much to loose.