Hey everyone. I was wondering if there are any other teachers hanging out at 3FC? I teach kindergarten and this upcoming school year will be my second full year teaching.

First of all, I was wondering if any other teachers gain weight during the school year? I find that I'm so stressed and busy that I tend to snack on junk food at work (why are there ALWAYS pastries!?) and that I have a hard time feeling motivated to workout when I get home because I'm so exhausted by the end of the day.

Also? Has anyone else lost weight and then gotten comments from people at your school about it? I generally don't mind it, except when it's in front of my students! I don't like giving 5 and 6 year olds the idea that oh "Ms. R didn't like her body so she lost weight and now everyone is telling her how thin and awesome she looks." It just makes me uncomfortable. I might just be over-thinking it though.


Anyway, any other teachers here? Anybody else dreading going back to school? I'm dreading the doughnuts at all the meetings and the candy I get as presents from my students and I'm dreading having no time for the amount of exercise I like to do everyday.


.....I do love teaching though!

I teach special education pre-k. There is food thrown at us all year! I give any food gifts my kids give me to the office staff, or leave it in the lounge. I am trying to bring in my own food to luncheons. Sometimes, the other people are jealous and want the recipe!
Good luck!

I need to get into a strict habit of putting food gifts into the lounge. After a stressful day of teaching I would tell myself to do that, but I would end up sitting at my desk and eating it instead.

Thanks chickybird, good luck to you! Have a good school year.

I teach the other end--juniors and seniors in high school. Every teacher in school has mentioned my weight loss, but almost none of my students did. I NEVER talked about my weight before (I was never one to make fat jokes about myself) and so it just never came up.

My weight loss is the ONLY thing I've ever avoided bringing into my teaching, which shows you how sensitive a topic it is for me!

As far as summer goes, that's when I gain weight: so much more time to snack, and I tend to eat out more because I meet all my school friends for lunch, which works out to be 2-3 lunches a week sometimes! This year I've been meeting them for coffee instead. I find it much easier to stick to an eating/exercise routine when my day is regulated by bells anyway.

I'm not a teacher but does a school nurse count.
I've been doing this for 5 years now and have really put on the pounds.
I know that you can't eat school lunches because they are full of carbs.
I have been watching my diet and exercising almost daily since June 28th.
I am currently exercising in the morning because I sweat like a dog and need to cool of before showering but when school starts up I'll have to do it when I get home. Hopefully by then it will have become a habit for me and I will keep it up.

Thanks for listening
Leann

Yes - I teach high school too. I've done very well this summer (10 lbs down) and am really worried about going back in the fall --- sugary treats abound, my stress is up, and that's not a good mix.

I'm going to try really hard to get a good strategy for healthy lunches, breakfasts, snacks, and I'll try my best to stay away from the donuts, pizza, cupcakes that I am offered constantly.

Ugh!

I'm going to be a first-year music teacher in August. I'm so nervous!

During student teaching, weight loss was a lot easier, I think, because I was on my feet all day, so I'm glad that school is starting soon. Also, I have a cross-country relocation coming up in the next few weeks, so lots of physical labor should make things go a bit quicker.

I'm pretty good at resisting food -- teachers may come close, but no one gets more food thrown at them than graduate students. I was an RA, too, so there was free pizza available pretty much every night of the week.

I'm looking forward to being in a new environment where no one knows me 50 lbs heavier.

Wow, good luck! Moving across the country and starting your new job... that should be very exciting! If you're good at resisting food then you probably won't have too big of a problem at your school. I'm sure you'll be very busy though, so hopefully you'll have time for fitness as well.

Also, what a nice idea that no one knows you as a heavier person. It would be nice to leave that behind.

Good luck!

Yes, the school lunches at my school are definitely not something I would eat. They always seem very fatty and just generally gross.

I'm hoping too that I'll keep up the exercise once school starts again. I like to workout in the morning as well and I'll have to do it after work instead which I don't really like as much.

Good luck Leann!

Ugh, now I'm scared. I start credential classes in the Fall and will be spending at least three days a week in a high school for Fall semester and then five days a week in a classroom Spring semester.

At least you ladies have had good results, so I know it can be done

You know what one of the worst things is about teaching and weight? The people you spend all day with don't care if you are fat or not. Kids don't even think of their teachers as a person--more like a force of nature, and they will like you/admire you/love you fat just as much as they will thin. There is a subtle peer pressure in most offices that just isn't there in teaching (SAHMs have the same problem, I think. Kids love mommy any way she looks)

Me! I teach kinder too. This will be my second year in k, 15th year over all teaching.

Some years I gain weight, sometimes I lose. I have been up and down the scale like a roller coaster, it's really pathetic. I'm on my way down now, after 1 week dieting. 3 lbs! But school is coming and I hope I can keep it up. I know there will be stress and that's when I binge the most. I'm crossing my fingers I can keep this new eating lifestyle up! I'm getting real nervous.

Heidi

I'm a middle school teacher, and I gained about 40 pounds in my first four years of teaching. I kind of let my job take over my life for a while there and was constantly stressed out. I would always snack while I worked, and always thought I was just too tired to work out when I got home.

I actually started my weight loss journey on the first day of school this year, which was my fifth year teaching middle school. I promised myself I would get into the habit of working out as soon as I got home, and started on day one. For me, it is all about routine, and starting the school year off with a good one this year was the best decision I could have made. I stuck with it for the majority of the year, and I actually find the routine beneficial to my weight loss and my overall happiness. Working out gives me the chance to get rid of my work stress everyday. In fact, when I have a bad day, my workouts are much better and I have an easier time forgetting about what happened by the time I'm done working out.

Just about every adult in the building has commented on my weight loss, since it all happened throughout the school year. Some of my former students have commented (I overhear them talk about it a lot. They always think I can't hear). The adults don't make me uncomfortable, but the high school boys (my former students) definitely do. I have had to talk to a few about inappropriate comments. . .

Overall, the work routine helped me lose weight, and losing weight made me a better teacher. I am happier. I have more energy, and I hope to keep it up next school year.

Good luck everyone!