photo by: Eugene Wei
It is an up hill battle to not gain a spare tire while in the teaching profession. There are tempting foods everywhere. Between birthday cupcakes and staff room coffee sweeteners, it’s amazing they don’t have to roll teachers out of the building at the end of the year. Being healthy and a teacher can be a lot of work. Teaching is an all or nothing profession. The demands it makes often leads to a denial of self in exchange for the success of our students. Still, I think that this self-sacrifice comes at a high price to not only the teacher but also their students. In the long run, a healthy teacher misses less school and is able to be more present for their students.
Here are some ideas about how you can set yourself on the path for a healthy school year.
Decide what you are willing to eat at school.
The school years where I didn’t do this, I found that I gained about five to ten pounds by June. My most successful years were when I set limits about the amount of crap I was allowed to eat in a week. Having pre-set boundaries around tantalizing junk food at very least makes you more conscious of your consumption decisions.
Sign up for a 5K or something similar.
I love open water swim races. But running works better for non-aquatic people. Training with a purpose has always been a great motivator for me. The concept of wanting to be healthy is never enough to keep me going to the gym. The fear of drowning or being fatigued and eaten by a shark in the middle of a race, work to bust through my exercise ennui.
Buy a pair of pants that fit you perfectly.
Use them as a way to gauge weight gain and lost. This is a lot easier than taking measurements or weighing yourself. If you can no longer button them, you know you need to make some serious lifestyle changes.
Freeze some deliciously healthy meals
While you still have a bit of time on your hands, make some good food to eat for when you are too tired to move. Chicken chili with veggies or Cauliflower Shepherd’s Pie sound gross and are still not as healthy kale salad; but they are a good compromise when all you want is pizza and take-out Chinese food.