March Series: Weight-Loss Made Easy for Teachers Week 1
Have you gotten the Spring Edition of The Healthy Teacher School Lunch Planner yet? Start planning your seasonal, balanced, easy-to-transport lunches by getting your free planner here.
Hello, beautiful souls! This March many of you requested tips to lose weight with a busy teacher’s schedule, and that is exactly what we are jumping into! Get ready for a month full of easy recipes, snack ideas, and even some tips that have nothing to do with food.
Before we boogie on into these tips (yes, we will be boogie-ing), I want to touch quickly upon my philosophy for weight-loss. I am a firm believer that weight-loss should be a side effect of a health journey, not the main focus. Focusing on weight-loss alone can lead to things like negative self-image, restriction, subsequent bingeing, and gaining back any lost weight plus more. And I’ll say it, restrictive diets and intense exercise programs simply suck. Instead, I always promote listening to your body, finding a balance that makes you feel good in body and mind, and working on nourishing all aspects of life.
In three years teaching I gained over 30 pounds while trying different restrictive diets, and in the past two years I dropped all that nonsense and have lost the weight in a very sustainable, enjoyable way. No quick fixes, no restrictive diets, and no added stress of hating and punishing my body into a certain shape or size.
With all that in mind, this March I will be sharing some of my go-to nutrition strategies, recipes, and habits that helped me lose the extra weight on my frame.
If you want to get these tips early, make sure to like and follow The Whole Adventure Facebook page. We will be going strong with these tips all month long!
As far as nutrition goes, the most important thing I do to nourish my body is include 5 components to my meals and snacks to make them energizing and satiating. What are they?
Protein
Complex carbs
Healthy fats
Colors
Flavor
That’s right, no more cutting fat or carbs. Our body needs all of the macronutrients to function optimally, and if we limit one, cravings are sure to hit. Want more info on what counts for each category? I go into more detail to help build meals with this formula in The Healthy Teacher School Lunch Planner.
My Quick Chickpea Salad is this week’s example of a lunch that you can throw together quickly and easily with all of the above components.
And here are some examples of after-school snacks that follow the same formula:
This week I shared two tips for weight-loss that have nothing to do with food. They are:
Stay hydrated
Hydration is great for the skin, great for your energy, great for flushing out toxins, and can even help prevent overeating and cravings for more processed foods.
Have trouble drinking enough water during the day? Bring a water bottle with you, stay motivated by tracking your water intake (if that works for you), make water drinking fun by adding fruits, chia seeds, or ice to your water...
Prioritize sleep
Lack of sleep can cause an imbalance in our hunger and satiety hormones so that we are hungrier than usual. Ever been ravenous for carbs after pulling an all-nighter? That might be why!
For overall health it is SO important to get enough sleep, so get in your pjs a little earlier, set the alarm back ten extra minutes...do whatever you need to start prioritizing that sleep.
That’s all for this week!
What are your biggest struggles when it comes to weight-loss? What resources are you loving, and which would you like to see more of? Let me know all in the comments below :)