Teaching...the struggle is real

My dad swears by his slow cooker. This year he's teaching 6th grade science with one period of social studies (thrown in right before school started). He's at a new school; teaching almost twenty years. But he's always loved the slow cooker. He eats a lot of pork and beans. I don't teach, but I use mine a lot, too. And I've found tons of variety. Pintrest has a ziti recipe that uses raw noodles; it only takes like three/four hours, but its great during the weekend when you want to relax. Chicken and dumplings works really well for me. Chili becomes Frito Pie in thirty seconds and can feed a whole bunch of teens if needed. During the week you could make things like soft tacos, that can be ready when you get home and/or kept warm until your kid is ready to eat. If you already ate and want to sit down together you could just have an apple or something.

I find it easiest to figure out dinner in the morning before I eat anything, or the night before if I know what I'm cooking. That might be something you could do while you eat dinner. It takes like five minutes once you get it down. Plan in advance. Even if you just block out an estimate of how many calories you want for dinner with the "quick add". Then the rest of the day is just a game of budgeting with what's left over. I feel like its less pressure, because I know my dinner is "safe"!

Also, when I don't have time to cook and end up eating on the run for a few weeks, its very easy to just feel like its pointless. I move my calories up to maintenance, or the .5lb setting and try to stay in that range instead. Sometimes it just doesn't work that way and I go over. But, I've been able to keep my weight stable when things go crazy, and not gain back what I have lost. Even a mental tally is better than nothing.

Can you take your dogs for a walk during that time? If you truly aren't hungry and eating out of boredom or habit, being active is the best solution.

As others have mentioned, so is meal planning and having something ready when you get home.

I am also a teacher (year 10!) and what works best for me is a light breakfast and coffee on the way to school. I pack my lunch every day so I know exactly how many calories it will be. I personally like to eat a smaller lunch around 300-400 calories (oatmeal, yogurt, light cheese stick, etc) so I can "save" more calories for dinner. Sometimes I'll bring a light snack but often don't even have time to eat it (gotta love chaotic school!) I try to drink lots of water - that's a work in progress! The first few days, I was a little hungry throughout the day but now I am used to it and never feel like I'm starving.

I completely understand being tired in the evenings. I second the slow cooker suggestion. The slow cooker is a great idea-you can even prep it the night before if you don't have time in the morning! Also prepping a few dinners on the weekends for the week may help with this as well. There are lost of recipes online for this or freezer meals to make weeknights less stressful.

Feel free to add me as a friend if you want other support! Good luck and don't give up!

try getting a fitbit watch it will be worth the price...I work in an office job zero movement full time...but since I got my watch I can sync every step during the whole day and what I eat to the watch as well from myfitpal...Now I make every excuse to walk everywhere even a few times around the copier as I wait for printing...to add more steps....another friend at work has one and we have a healthy competition...it is addictive also...in two weeks of commiting to myfitpal and fitbit goals I have lost 2 kilos without trying.