Introduce Yourself

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Replies

  • Hello! I'm Chelsea, and I'm a senior elementary education major. I'll be doing my student teaching in the fall and graduating in December. I used to live on campus at my university, where I had an absolute cornucopia of free opportunities to work out with friends. Now, I'm a newlywed, living 20 miles away from campus and sharing a car with my husband, who works 9 hour days. We have a lot of local walking trails, and we've got a recreation center just down the road from us, but it's so expensive! We walk some, but usually, by the time we're done driving to and from work and school all day, we just want to come home and relax for a little while. It's so hard to find something that's convenient for me with our shared car and is a bit more enticing than just walking everyday.

    I have heart issues, diabetes, and obesity in my family, and I want the trend to end. I just don't feel healthy right now, and that's really my biggest goal. I want to feel healthy and I want to look smokin' when I wear my little black dress again. My goal is to lose 40 lbs. by Christmas, and I'd really love to lose 25-30 by mid-August, when I'm scheduled to begin student teaching. I want to set an example for my students and my family so that they can see what healthy living looks like in action.
  • literaryrose
    literaryrose Posts: 21 Member
    Hello, my name is Kate! I just graduated from West Virginia University with a Masters in Education and a Bachelors in English, and my goal is to find a full-time teaching position as a secondary education English teacher. Because I have dedicated the last 5 years to a dual degree program, I have had less time to focus on myself. I am nearly sixty pounds heavier than I was when I graduated from high school, and believe me it has been a very self-deprecating and stressful road trying to get myself back to the size I used to be. I wish I could go back in time and slap my senior year self for thinking I was fat then, when really I was at a healthy body weight and looking great!

    Now that I am no longer the student, and I am trying to focus my energy on developing a healthy lifestyle so that the weight will come off and stay off. I've been working out almost every day since I graduated, and I'm trying to focus on only buying groceries from the perimeter of the store (not in the aisles, where all of the processed food is) but it's really tough and I find myself constantly searching through my kitchen for less healthy snacks.

    I am hoping that by joining this group I can find a little more motivation to get my eating habits and body back on track. God knows I will all of the energy I can get when I finally get a classroom of my own!
  • Kacie_88
    Kacie_88 Posts: 26 Member
    Hello! I'm finishing up my first year of teaching. I graduated from The University of Florida with my bachelor's in Elementary Education and my master's in Special Education. I'm currently teaching at a small school in Florida. This year I taught 3rd grade and next year they're bumping me up to 5th!

    When I was in school I had a pretty good handle on my health and wellness, but this year completely derailed me. I wake up too early to workout in the morning (at least, I can't bring myself to wake up earlier than my already-set 5:30 alarm clock) and I was too tired at the end of the day to go home and go for a run like I could do as a student. This year I gained 17 pounds back and I am NOT happy about that. I'm hoping to get back on track and get some good habits going again over the summer so I will be more likely to carry them over into next school year.
  • Jaceface27
    Jaceface27 Posts: 43 Member
    Hello all!

    I'm very excited to have joined this group. My name is Sam and I just completed my first year teaching! (Celebrate!) I teach English at a Catholic high school and feel so fortunate to be working there during a time where teaching jobs are so hard to find (I applied to over 40 schools before landing this job last summer).

    My issue is that during the school year and being a track coach during the spring semester I had no time left! I would even contemplate about working out at 4 in the morning, but I needed to wake up at 4 in order to lesson plan, prepare, or grade for my 3 preps.

    My goal this summer is to make exercising and cooking meals habitual. Many nights during the week during the school year I would be on my way from work at 5 pm, or on my way home from a track meet at 10 pm that I would swing by any local fast food place to pick up something really easy. I want to implement daily exercise and meal planning so that when the next school year starts it won't seem as difficult to "change" since the "changes" will already be implemented.

    I would love any input you all may have! Especially fast, healthy recipes for dinners. My husband is diabetic; therefore, I would like to cook things that would be great for the both of us!

    And a question for those teachers that have been in the field longer than me-- does the 2nd and 3rd year get a little easier? I love my job, but I it was VERY tiring come the end of the school year.

    Please feel free to add me as a friend! Positive reinforcement is always the best route to take! :-)
  • Jaceface27
    Jaceface27 Posts: 43 Member
    In reply to Kacie--

    I'm definitely trying to make healthy changes a habit this summer too! I'm not letting myself sleep in too much-- I usually would wake up at 5 during the school year-- so I make myself be up by 6 am. The whole day is then left for the taking!
  • literaryrose
    literaryrose Posts: 21 Member
    Jaceface27, if I am lucky enough to find a teaching position I will be entering my first year of teaching (not counting 3 years of student teaching.) First, kudos to you for tackling track too. Here's one way that you can kill two birds with one stone. During track practice, run with your team when you get the chance. I know that the track coach at my student teaching placement did that, and he always seemed to stay in shape because he ran just as much as the team.

    As far as meals go, I remember when I was student teaching I would always come home exhausted with a huge pile of homework from my students. Is there any chance that your husband can chip in for making dinner? It would give you a little extra time to relax and a little more time to get some of your grading and planning done that you normally have to do at 4 AM.
  • Jaceface27
    Jaceface27 Posts: 43 Member
    literaryrose,

    Thanks for your advice! I'll be crossing my fingers for you that a permanent teaching position opens up for you! English is by far the best subject. :-)

    That was a good tip about track-- I think next year I will try exercising as the team is doing their drills, especially when we're in the weight room lifting. I started lifting with my track athletes this year but didn't feel confident enough to do so the way I wanted to. A part of me feels like a hypocrite since I'm trying to coach athletes on running and throwing and yet I'm currently not in "athlete" shape.

    It would definitely help to tackle multiple things at once though! Thanks! :-)
  • Hello! My name is Emily and I am blessed to be starting my first year teaching after 4 years of working retail while searching for a job. I know the pain, stress, and dissapointment of not being able to find a full time teaching job. IT SUCKS! I know I am lucky because I worked a job I loved the past four years while waiting, but I started becoming depressed about not teaching. My new teaching job is a PERFECT FIT though, and now all of those "no's" I heard for years finally make sense because I have heard the perfect "yes". My heart reaches out to all of you struggling with finding a teaching job.

    Starting in August I will be teaching 6th geography, 7th world history, and 8th U.S. history at an Illinois Catholic grade school. We are implementing Understanding by Design (which I actually learned in college) and starting Standard Based Grading (which is new to me) so lots of newness and stress. Also, I am going through a painful divorce. I weigh more now than I ever have in my life, and I'd like to weigh about 30 pounds less soon.
  • mezzo13
    mezzo13 Posts: 1 Member
    I'm so glad I found this group! My name is Katie and I am a 3rd year elementary school music teacher. Unfortunately, I work between two schools. My furthest school is 40 minutes away and by the end of the day I'm just absolutely exhausted! Right now since we're off for the summer I've been really really good about my food intake and I'm working out 4 days a week but I'm really not sure how I'll be able to keep it up once school starts back in August.

    Anyone else wait until it's time to run out the door to pack a lunch and end up with something frozen? I also have the teacher's lounge directly across the hall and it has Reese's! On a bad behavior day, chocolate is my go-to.
  • Cedura
    Cedura Posts: 184 Member
    Hi, my name is Heather. I am working on my masters in education, and start my internship in January. I will be teaching high school English once I am finished with my program. My weight loss goal is to lose close to 100 lbs and then to also tone, and maintain healthy eating and living habits.
    I am looking for people who can be weight loss buddies through MFP, and solutions for "snacks" and meals on the go. Since I am a student, and work a full time job, its hard to pack a lunch that wont go bad, and I find I turn to fast food WAY more often than I should between work and school.
  • Hi, I'm Stephany. I'm a first year teacher. I teach first grade and would love to set a great example for the kids in my class. I also have a miniature schnauzer puppy named Pax. This is the first group I've joined on here, but hopefully it'll help me get off to a good start on my journey to getting healthy!
  • Hello everyone! I'm Shana, a second year music teacher. I work mostly with K-8, and am presently working on expanding the program into the high school. I teach band, chorus, and general music as well as give lessons. I love my job and working with the kids, its something I've wanted to do since I was in middle school. My job now is very challenging with being the only music teacher within my district, but I've always been one who has loved a challenge. Starting in January I will be beginning my master's in music education, which I'm very excited about.

    Good luck to those of you who are searching for jobs, I know how hard it can be, it took my two years to find mine. That time was really hard for me, I put on about 40 lbs in that time, and I was already overweight. That's why I'm here though :)

    Feel free to add me, and best of luck to all of you teaching.
  • Hi All!

    Just found this group and I'm so excited that there is already a community out there that I fit into! I am in my second year of teaching 9th & 11th grade English in a small town in Wyoming... There are a lot of challenges and stress, daily, and my body is taking the toll. Hoping to find some success in the craziness!
  • Hey Everyone!

    I'm Angelica and I'm a 2nd grade teacher teaching in Atlanta, Ga. This is my third year teaching and by far the most challenging year yet. My work hours are from 7:00 - 4:00 and work on my Master's degree two days out of the week. I try my best to get to the gym after work, but once I'm on my way home, I'm exhausted and no longer feel motivated to hit the gym. I'm a huge stress and emotional eater, thus since working I have gained 20 pounds. Since being on Winter Break, I have been in the gym every day and eating healthier, but once school kicks back in gear in January, I know these habits will change.

    I'm looking forward to meeting all the young teachers like myself, who have advice and motivation for me. Talk to you all soon :)
  • happilyeveractive
    happilyeveractive Posts: 167 Member
    Hi all! I actually started this group well over a year ago. I'm a third grade teacher, a tutor of 10 kids, a fitness junkie, and a Beachbody coach. Feel free to add me on MFP and also feel free to join my fitness group on Facebook:

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/hulkupbulkup/
  • happilyeveractive
    happilyeveractive Posts: 167 Member
    I actually created a similar group on here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/18463-hulk-fitness
  • callimo
    callimo Posts: 1 Member
    Hi! I'm Calli, a 5th grade math teacher in Texas! I'm 27 and I can't stand the carb carts that come by my room once a week full of goodies that are not good for me!! I also find it hard to turn down the PTA when they have "goodie days." I wan to lose about 30 lbs and be in a bikini for summer! I feel like food is always in my face and I can't say NO!! I just started logging and I ordered T25. I want to be strong and have will power!! Sometimes its hard to find time between meetings and planning to take care of myself! I have to do it now!!!
  • EMG319
    EMG319 Posts: 2
    Hi guys!

    Well, I'm a certified special education and elementary education teacher in Illinois. I'm currently working as a special education TA, and hoping to find my first official teaching job soon. This is my first day on the site and I have high hopes for it. Although I'm only a TA, I struggle managing my application-stress and on top of that I'm taking 9 credit hours towards my ESL endorsement. HECTIC. I guess I'm just looking for some encouragement - from people who understand. :)

    Erin
  • Hi! I am 27 and have a 4 year old son and 10 week old twins (boy and girl). I went a little nuts with the food over the holidays and even though I am breastfeeding the babies, I am gaining weight like crazy right now!

    I teach 1st grade and go back to work from maternity leave next week. It will be interesting how my food choices and intake change once I am back at work and don't have an opportunity to snack all day. This is my 2nd year teaching altogether and last year I taught 6th grade.

    My favorite ways to work out are indoor soccer, running (love/hate relationship), and the circuits at Planet Fitness. I am glad I get to be a part of this group because I need people to help encourage me!.
  • blou_van
    blou_van Posts: 1
    Hi, I'm 23 and a first year teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I teach 4th grade in a private catholic school in the city. I'm finding that eating a balanced diet is so hard because of how much running around I have to do all the time. It's been a really horrible winter up here with a lot of indoor recess, so nothing like having 10 minutes to eat, gather my thoughts and run to the bathroom. I'm sure I am not the only one in this boat. I'm looking to keep myself accountable for what I eat and some people who know what it's like to be encouragement for me! :D

    Elizabeth
  • I'm Nicole and I am a 4th grade teacher at a charter school in Tennessee. I am going into my second year of teaching and am excited as can be. I learned so much my first year teaching and teaching in general and myself. I am already getting myself together for the new school year.

    I am came to the school year on a healthy track, but once the school year got started the stress hit me hard. I will say that this past school year I gained back 20 pounds I had previously lost. I know that it was all stress eating because it was a lot of sweet stuff that I craved that I had never really craved before. Since I know this ahead of time now, I am making a plan to not do the stress eating and to have healthy alternatives to dealing with my stress.

    I am glad I found this group! Does anyone have suggestions on how to plan healthy meals for during the school year and how to fit in that exercise?

    :happy: :happy:
  • jbeth2292
    jbeth2292 Posts: 8 Member
    Hi! I'm Jesse, a 7th grade teacher in Monterrey, Mexico! This is my first year teaching and I'm beyond nervous. Besides starting my first year teaching, I'm planning and preparing for my wedding, which will be this December! I'm almost exactly 4 months away from my wedding and I'm ready to make a change. I want to model healthy eating and living habits for my new students. I can't wait to learn about teaching and heathy living from more experienced teachers!