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.

Well if you're anything like most teachers, you'll have a mental health crisis in five years and anxiety can be slimming...

Sorry, very miserable teacher with Sunday night blues here.

First of all your NQT year is bloody hard. Well done you!
I used to do a cook up or two in the holidays to give me some healthier ready meals. Slow cooker is also a good idea.
Take lunch with you. Protein and veg heavy.
Drink water.
I used to take snacks with me to try and stave off the chocolate thing.
Caffeine was my pick me up of choice!!!

Oh boss. Massive x post. You ok? It's half term soon!

DP's mum was a teacher. She used to cook a meal from scratch every evening for the next day. So Sunday night, cook for Monday. Monday evening- home from work, eat, cook for Tuesday.

I've been teaching for 4 years, and still can't bring myself to start cooking on a Sunday evening, so can't really talk!

One thing that does work for me is I bought a nutribullet type blender - I have a juice at about 4 - bit of a sugar kick, something to do, stops you from snacking.

Thanks Bosswitch, I'll look forward to that. I know it's hard. I've worked in education - I went into it with my eyes open.
What would you recommend for lunch? I tried chicken salads and it lasted for about three days before I got bored of eating the same thing. I mostly work through lunch so normally take either crackers and low fat soft cheese and a yoghurt or a sandwich crisps and penguin biscuit I definitely need to drink more water - I have two or three cups of tea a day but will definitely start drinking water.

Just realise that sounds quite snappy Bosswitch, sorry I didn't mean it to be. Oooh nutribullet is a good idea! I need to stop taking a well meaning mugshot but then going to the Asda for a meal deal.

I take a water bottle into my classroom. Get into a routine of drinking one bottle each lesson (depending on bottle size, obviously). Break time = loo and refill. Repeat.

You will up your water intake without even noticing.

I do actually love salad! Look at the book
Salad love for inspiration. Goats cheese or smoked salmon. Roasted peppers and red onions or pasta salad. Lots of combos. And a good tasty dressing.
I always put ice in a wide necked bottle then add filtered water. Hate warm water or tap water!!

My DB and SIL both teach. SIL especially has lost loads of weight recently. She batch cooks healthy stuff to take for lunch, such as soups, and often sets up dinner in the slow cooker before she goes to work. I'm not a teacher but have a very chocolate-filled office, and I just have to pretend it's not there. If I allow myself to look at it I want to eat it.

Do you have children, OP? I have got into the habit of cooking a bit extra the evening before and taking it to school with me the next day (we have a microwave in the staffroom), also cook at the weekend - it's a nice break from the marking sometimes!

Do you have a slow cooker? You could put it on in the morning and it would be ready for when you get back, plus give you enough for lunch the next day - appreciate that this involves work the night before though. I do soups and stew-type meals in mine, but I've heard you can do baked potatoes etc. if you put a towel under the lid to remove the moisture. Whole roast chicken works nicely too (but stick it in the oven on high for 5 minutes when you get back or it looks really anaemic).

Thanks Wolfie will look into that :-) mine definitely lacked variety. I enjoy cous cous so that could be an option too actually. I have a chicken wrap for lunch tomorrow. Might have some Belvita breakfast biscuits - I never have breakfast so come lunch time I'm starving. I'll definitely take a water bottle too!

No children yet Brie. Yep I love my slow cooker in the holidays it just gets neglected in term time

Forget belvita biscuits. The key is the night before.
In an advert break or just before you go to bed, make a sandwich and put an apple in a Tupperware box. Put in fridge. Set out porridge in bowl ready for morning.

In morning, get porridge in microwave with milk and boil kettle. In those 2 mins get Tupperware box out of fridge and throw it in bag. Get out porridge and let it cool while you have shower. Eat it after shower!

I'm in my first year of TF and have put on 2 stone since starting training at the beginning of summer. I am a very similar weight to you and my BMI is 34something now - I was already obese when I started . I find the early starts and long days as well as the copious quantities of cookies and pastries at break time to be the real killer (although most of the weight gain came from emotional overeating). I now take 0% fat yogurt with honey in so I can have something sweet at break. I've also started calorie counting with nutracheck again, which has really worked for me in the past. Good luck!

Btw: growth mindset! Being disgusted at yourself won't change anything but it will make you feel bad! Also thinking, could you start bringing in healthy snacks to share out amongst colleagues? Pretty sure you're not the only one who finds the chocolate culture hard to deal with!

Planning and preparing!

Food that is, not resources.

I find it very easy to slip into chocolate and canteen habits during term time. The only way I can avoid it is through proper planning. There's a lunch bag on my doorstep right now with overnight oats (to eat during briefing), nuts (break) and a salad (lunch). In the fridge there's a Tupperware dish with leftovers from today's roast in it that I can heat up for tea.

It only takes a few minutes but makes a lot of difference.

Also, drink plenty. Move more.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

I didn't even notice that

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??

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!