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Tell us a bit about yourself. What/where do you teach? Are you a newbie or teaching veteran? What are your weight loss/exercise goals?

I am a psychology professor at a community college and have been teaching full time for one year now. I absolutely love it but find that I end up taking my work home quite a bit and prioritizing it over exercise. I also find that the vending machines everywhere on campus call my name a bit too often! :-) I gained quite a bit of weight during my first year of teaching, and want to come up with a good plan for this year to lose those pounds!

Replies

  • greekstress27
    greekstress27 Posts: 7 Member
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    Hi, All! I teach English and have found myself chained to my desk when advising, grading, conferencing, researching and writing. My struggle with weight has been life long and I'm finally winning.

    Here are some ways I'm going to make it through Fall semester:

    Walk regularly with colleagues. A bunch of other people from various departments have set up walking times for Fall. We have tunnels on our campus, so we can take advantage of this rain or snow!

    Bring an exercise ball in to my office and use it as my chair (works those abs and improves balance).

    Set a timer on my computer and walk the 3 flights of stairs every hour. This also offers a great, regimented break from grading

    How are all of you going to combat the Fall semester 15 that plagues us as much as the students?
  • tobielauren
    tobielauren Posts: 184 Member
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    I am a doctoral student, teaching fellow, was an adjunct last year, and an asst. track coach (pole vault).

    My program is sport and exercise psychology (in the exercise science department, not psychology department).

    My research specialty is parental influence on pa behaviors of children. Being in the exercise field, I find I sometimes have too much info to help myself and not enough time to sort my brain for myself.

    My lifestyle is incredibly active and I know what to do and what to eat but am human and have issues with portion and probably used to under eat.

    Anyway, a fun tidbit...at dinner the other night with friends, we were all plugging our stuff into mfp...kinda fun.

    Once the semester starts back up, I'm going to start posting sport psych stuff for everyone :)
  • BigDnSW
    BigDnSW Posts: 641 Member
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    Hello! I taught History and Religion at a university and enjoyed my season there. Due to unfortunate circumstances, I had to take a leave of absence (2 accidents). After 5 years of meds, being immobile, eating....I gained 135 lbs. Finally, last November, I began the road back to getting more mobile, got off the meds, and in April got serious about proper diet.

    Though I am no longer confined to the bed and chair, I cannot walk very far or very long...however, I have learned many great exercises to do from my office chair...even cardio. So now I am semi-retired, but I do speak as a guest lecturer, tutor, and mentor students. I miss the classroom, but feel so fortunate to be living again and contributing to the lives of others. My wife is an educator as well on the other end of the spectrum...she's a Kindergarten teacher (34 years).

    MFP has been a great help since I joined. If you are interested, I have some great exercises that can be done while your "confined" to your chair in your office.

    Best of luck to all and as this has been said many times, "We are not seeking perfection, we are seeking progress."
  • carenj1990
    carenj1990 Posts: 27 Member
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    Hello All,

    I teach reading at a community college, and I am frequently grading papers etc. I make sure I stay on my feet all sessions of my classes. I only sit when I'm in my office. It is a challenge everyday to stay active.

    Please share exercise ideas. Thanks.
  • Mellie289
    Mellie289 Posts: 1,191 Member
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    Hi everyone. I teach biology at a masters-serving state university, so I teach during the spring and fall, and supervise a research lab with graduate and undergraduate students year round. This is going to be a busy year for me... sitting at my desk writing. I need to get some papers out for my tenure bid next fall. I had hypothyroid a couple years ago that really set me back on this track and caused me to gain 45 pounds in one year. I've been working hard to undo that this year and to get back into good health.

    I ran my first 5K in June and would like to do another in fall with a faster time. That will give me a target to work toward during the semester. I can usually manage to find time to run a few times a week. Right now, I'm doing Ripped in 30 and hope to finish before the semester starts to get too busy.
  • jayeh2005
    jayeh2005 Posts: 9 Member
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    Hi, all!

    I am an instructor in Medieval Studies at a midwest university. I am working towards my phd, and my specialty is fourteenth century literature and religious authority.

    I began grad school at 49, and I've been working on my health for ten years. I've lost 110 pounds, and I have 90 more to go before I can have knee surgery. Part of my problem is that I have both psoriatic arthritis in my back, feet and hands, and reactive arthritis in my left knee from a torn meniscus.

    I exercise when I can, but when the legs flare up, it's difficult. Dcraton, I am very interested in those chair exercises.

    Greekstress, I am definitely getting me an exercise ball for the office. That's a great idea.

    MFP was suggested by a colleague, and I'm really glad she did.

    :glasses:
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
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    Hi, I'm Jane, I am a university lecturer (recently became an associate professor) in psychology at a UK university. (Associate professor is a pretty senior appointment in the UK - the only appointment above it would be a full professor - I know the US system is a bit different). I've been working in academia for a fairly long time, and in a previous life was a practising psychologist. I'm responsible for all the masters programmes in my school (about 15 in total) and also for the day to day running of two psychology based masters programmes. I have a good sized doctoral programme (with 10 PhD students) and am responsible for several undergraduate modules. In other words, I'm kept rather busy! My own research is quite eclectic, but is mostly focused on mental health, wellbeing, family life, and indices of 'exclusion'.

    Worklife balance is a key challenge for me - my work has a habit of working its way into every corner, leaving no space for family / friends / looking after myself.

    I did get through the last academic year, managing to work out regularly. I'm very keen on running, and try to run 5 times a week, and I lift weights and cycle. I also swim a little and do some other bits and pieces of activity through the week. I'm determined that my running in particular not be too disrupted by the mania of term time in a few weeks.
  • geonbaeLeilee
    geonbaeLeilee Posts: 606 Member
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    Hello, I'm Leina (not my real name, but it's what I prefer to be called), and I teach American Media and Culture for an online university (I'm an adjunct, so my position isn't as glamorous). I've been there for two years, and I will start my third year in November. I can't believe it's been that long since it feels like I just started! I cannot complain; the work is constant, but I do wish the pay was better for what I do. :grumble: I am currently looking for another teaching job, but finding an English teaching position is quite difficult since there are hundreds jockeying for the same positions as well. :cry:

    I have to sit for long hours almost every day due to grading papers and responding to forum posts and student questions (I teach two-to-three classes every nine weeks). Along with this, a bout of depression and a sluggish thyroid assisted in my 104-pound weight gain since college (in college, seven classes per semester, tons of homework, and a tutoring job didn't help). To be honest, my studies and helping my students were way more important than my health. Now I wish I balanced both. :angry:

    I need to lose 100 pounds. Currently, I am switching off every day between Taebo and Zumba. As soon as I can get some money together, I plan on getting a gym membership so I can incorporate weight training. This time next year, I will be in Disney World for my honeymoon (a year and a half later!), so I don't want to be a fatty like I was during my last trip. :( Disney World is my main motivation, as well as fitting into a dress for my church wedding (as insisted by my family). I also want a belly-button piercing! :laugh:

    I hope I didn't bore anybody. Good luck, everyone, and give it your best!
  • fxdl2k2
    fxdl2k2 Posts: 250 Member
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    I'm Tamra and I am in the Business Teacher Education program. It's part of the College of Business (yeah!) at my university and I teach content classes and supervise student teachers.

    I am also newly engaged, planning the wedding for summer. It's a second wedding for each of us, so a very low-key affair. My doc told me to drop a minimum of 30 pounds and I am now ready to do it.
  • danielleinict
    danielleinict Posts: 5 Member
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    I'm Danielle, I'm an advisor and social science/humanities instructor at a technical college. I have been on a frustrating plateau just 15 pounds outside of my goal for close to 3 years. In that time I learned to love the high of working out! I run fun races around my State for cool swag as my motivators! I've been doing plyometric "boot camp" style fitness classes that I've just become absolutely addicted to and I've recently fell in love with boxing! While my plateau is frustrating, life is good!
  • tempest678
    tempest678 Posts: 12 Member
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    Hi I'm Audrey, and I teach English at a state college. I joined My Fitness Pal this past summer, and since I was only teaching one class, I had a great routine of going to the gym and beach boot camp, and I had the time to try out some healthy recipes. I hit my goal weight, but now I'm SO busy with a full load of classes and grading that I'm not eating quite as well, and going to the gym is much harder. I have found strength training to be the key to losing weight for me. I still do cardio a few times a week, but building some muscle has really helped me drop pounds. I love sweets and struggle to avoid temptation, but my weight is creeping back up. I'm hoping my scale is broken :smile:
  • tempest678
    tempest678 Posts: 12 Member
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    Those all sound like great strategies. I try to go to the gym a couple of times a week after work for boot camp and spin, but that's becoming harder and harder to do. I still work out on Saturdays and Sundays regularly. I pack healthy snacks to bring to work and avoid our campus cafeteria as much as possible. I find that having lots of low calorie snacks throughout the day keeps me from eating sugar and junk, but it's still hard to resist when someone brings cookies or other treats to share.
  • drveale
    drveale Posts: 19
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    Hi, I'm Natasha. I'm married with 3 kids ages 13, 10 and 4. I am 5'2, currently weighing 161. My immediate goal is to get down to 150 by August. I do Intermittent Fasting and have lost 9 pounds in the month of June. I'm a college professor at a private liberal arts college in North Carolina. I have a PhD in Education. I teach special education courses to students earning their licenses to teach. I've been an assistant professor for 2 years. I gained almost 10 pounds this past school year because of the change from teaching in a fast paced public schools to the slow college life. I almost lost them all this summer and I do not plan on gaining them back once school starts this August. I would love to become friends and stay on track throughout the year. Feel free to add me.
  • Kenasam
    Kenasam Posts: 3 Member
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    Hello all,

    I teach in the music department at our local community college. I am adjunct and love everything that I do there. I've been teaching at the college for 34 years. I am retired from teaching music in public schools (30 years). So no, I am not 80 years old! There were many years that I taught both places concurrently. After retiring from public schools, it allowed me to transition from nights and weekend teaching to daytime teaching through the week at the college.

    I joined My Fitness Pal back in 2012, but until now, did not do anything very seriously about losing my extra weight. I have been a yo-yo dieter all my life with many gains and losses of weight. I have found that as I get older, it is definitely slower to lose the weight. But I have a new determination and am being successful. I like how this web site charts your progress that you can readily view.

    I wish much success for everyone!

    :smile:
  • Ccricfo
    Ccricfo Posts: 156 Member
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    I am a professor at Regis University, teaching accounting and finance. My goal is to lose 84 pounds total.