Tag Archives: health

What’s New???

With 11 class days remaining to the school year, I am surprisingly energetic.  I say, surprisingly, because I am usually dragging my butt.  However, I have changed my diet, which seems to be reaping benefits physically, emotionally, and mentally.  Having osteoarthritis of both knees, my orthopedic specialist is constantly on my back about my weight.  My most recent follow up visit led me to take my doc’s words to heart.  I began by changing my eating habits during lunch, which led me to this blog.  It’s been a transformative experience.  So much so, that I began to cook in earnest, which led to the need to purchase real food. Consequently, I am no longer eating  the processed, packaged frozen stuff I had been eating in over abundance.   A dear friend who is also a professional cook told me, “What you can buy you can cook.”  So, I cook breakfast and dinner, and eat salads at lunch.  I also begin dinner with a small salad. Not only am I eating better, I have also developed a more positive relationship with food.  I was often so hungry between meals, my snacking was out-of-control; it scared me.  Additionally, my dinner meals left me unsatisfied, leading me to eat two desserts, and snack late at night, or early in the morning.

Once I changed my patterns and habits of eating, I realized that my carb-heavy diet led me to crave carbs even more.  What I needed instead was to consume protein at every meal, including breakfast.  I’ve also ramped up my water intake significantly.  I strive to consume one bottle of water before breakfast and lunch.

In addition to a new and improved diet, I’ve tried different activities in the classroom, and have met with great success. I’ll write more about them in an upcoming post.

Winning Advice

The title is facetious.  You’ll see why in a hot minute.

Over the course of my teaching career, I’ve received so-called advice from so-called veteran teachers and administrators – sometimes one and the same – that, as my Dear Dad would say, wasn’t hitting on a quarter. Here are some of the more memorable:

“If you’re having issues, and would like to talk, let me know.”  This was said to me by an administrator who was moody and unpredictable.  Additionally, she yelled at me for calling in sick on the morning of a school day, and asked me why I didn’t call her the night before.  Not sure what angered her more: The fact that I was sick, or, the fact that I did not call when it was more convenient for her to deal with the situation.  She apparently thought her relationship with me was better than I perceived my relationship with her.  Call her – for WHAT?!?

“Do you think it might be your style?”  Independent schools are notorious for mandating desiring that everyone drink the institutional Flavor Aid.  Therefore, my challenges with select students and select colleagues at this particular independent school, in the mind of this particular administrator, were pretty much my fault.  In other words, I didn’t fit in.  Perhaps that was true, but, to blame the entirety of the situation on my style? Totally out-of-line, not to mention, unprofessional.

“Just look at the Table of Contents.”  Sage advice bestowed upon me by the department chair during the first hours of my tenure at my first teaching job, and said in a very exasperated, “I don’t have time for this” tone. I guess nobody told this woman that being a department chair also included mentoring and supporting those in her department. The rest of the year, not to mention my two-year tenure, didn’t include much better guidance and advice  from her.

And, the coup de grace, for those in supervisory positions: If you’re ever backed into a proverbial corner, and are not woman enough to apologize and admit you were wrong? CRY in the presence of your subordinate. This happened to me during my teaching career; I cannot make this stuff up.  Personally, I have never been given to tears. But, I guess that is how some roll.  That said, I think this “out” is most unbecoming and unprofessional for a female supervisor.  For me, it’s akin to a male supervisor using a truckload of choice, juicy explicatives in a similar situation.  In any case, neither crying or swearing do much to garner my respect.

Others???

Weekly Wrap Up #2

Before the clock strikes midnight, and before I fall asleep on the living room sofa, I figured I had better write my post.

This time last week, I was in the early stages of what was diagnosed two days later by my primary care physician as a muscle spasm. Its greatest impact was to the neck, preventing from moving my head in any direction. I also had referred pain in the right shoulder. What followed was four days’ sick leave from school, and two visits to outpatient physical therapy. Yes; the pain was that bad.

While I have a distance to travel on the road to recovery, I am feeling significantly better. I have learned more about muscle spasms than I had ever hoped to learn. Additionally, I am blessed to have a wonderful family and wonderful friends – both virtual and in-person – who checked in on me on a daily basis. I am also blessed to have a talented and personable physical therapist who has made my first phyisical therapy experience a pleasant one thus far.

Consequently, I have not much to report from the trenches of the classroom. That said, I had gotten my students far enough along in their respective new chapters for them to take the first in a series of short mini-vocabulary quizzes, complete writing exercises where they used the vocabulary in context, and, enjoy a lesson on the history of chocolate. I returned to school on Friday, which was, to my utter surprise, remarkably stress-free, and far better than I had anticipated. I am always reluctant to face the piles of paperwork that an absence generates, which was easier to organize than I had feared. I was even able to mark two sets of vocabulary quizzes, and note which student had (not) completed which assignment (s).

I also learned several things during my time away, which bear noting in list form:

1. Students and colleagues manage fine without you. Also known as, “Out of sight, out of mind.” As much as we would like to think that our presence or, in this case, lack thereof, has a significant impact, think again. A rather sobering realization, but, one that made me even more grateful for having taken those four days off to rest and recuperate, and even more blessed for my family and friends.

2. Have sub plans at the ready. This wasn’t always the case for me. But, it isn’t fun having to think of what the students are going to do when one is in the throws of an illness. We teachers are out for planned and unplanned events. The unplanned events call for sub plans that one can attach to an email to a supervisor, if one isn’t too incapacitated. Better, yet, have hard copies of sub plan activities in a folder in a desk drawer that can be photocopied. I was feeling blessed to be able to go to my laptop, quickly locate an activity, and send it on its way.

3. Use the illness or injury to make significant lifestyle changes. My bout with a neck spasm was the result of an injury, and/or stress. Not sure which. But, given the stressors that teaching inflicts, as well as the way most of us run around all day, I could have sustained an injury that I had forgotten about. I am also a rough sleeper, which could have had an impact. So, I have purchased a laptop backpack on wheels, will invest in a Tempurpedic pillow, and, I am going to make a more significant investment in daily self-care.

I felt well enough today to do some lesson planning for the upcoming week. Tuesday is St. Valentine‘s Day. So, fun activities are indicated for Monday and Tuesday.

Be well, and, remember: Take Care of You. :)

Treadmill Workout Playlist

Chicken Noodle Soup (song)

Image via Wikipedia

Here are the songs to which I listen over and again while on the treadmill:

“Air Force Ones“, Nelly

“Atomic Dog“,  George Clinton

“Chicken Noodle Soup“,  Webstar and Young B

“The Choice is Yours” Black Sheep

“Crank That”,  Soulja Boy

“Dirt Off Your Shoulder“,  Jay-Z

“Eminence Front”,  The Who

“Gonna Make You Sweat”,  C+C Music Factory

“Hot in Herre“,  Nelly

“Hypnotize”, The Notorious B.I.G.

“The Next Episode”, Dr. Dre

“O.P.P.”, Naughty By Nature

“Push It”, Salt-n-Pepa

“Rock Box“, Run-DMC

“Rub You The Right Way“, Johnny Gill

“Set It Off”, Old School Players

“Smooth Criminal”, Michael Jackson

“White Horse”, Laid Back

“Young’n”, Fabolous

When I am cooling down, I like to listen to Bob Marley, or nueva canción, or classic pop and r&b from the 1960s.

Total Body Transformation: Summer 2011

Workout

Image by Joel Price via Flickr

I have decided to get serious about my health, my diet and my body. During a mentally and intellectually transformative week-long experience at the NAIS Summer Diversity Institute 2011, which I will write more about in the near future, it became immediately apparent to me that: 1. I am out of shape; 2. I need to eat healthier food; and 3. I need to get back into a regular workout routine.  The Institute took place on a very spacious, very hilly campus. Walking the campus, and up several flights of stairs while carrying a backpack containing my MacBook to the classrooms where the sessions took place, brought the point home quite vividly for me.

So, with the help of a friend, who is a cook, I have been walking on the treadmill and outdoors six days per week, weight-training two days per week, and eating a protein-rich diet.  I am also striving to cut out cheese, and white bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes.

So far, so good.  So much so, I really feel the regression in progress after taking only one day off from working out.  I will provide periodic updates re: my progress. :)

No Makeup Week

I’ve already missed three days of No Makeup Week, just having learned about it on the Afrobella blog.  No worries, though; I haven’t worn makeup in that time, anyway.  LOL!

Not sure about posting pics of myself on the ‘Net, sin maquillaje, but, I am *definitely* feeling not wearing makeup.

I do, however, love my Bare Minerals. :)

What about you?  What is your relationship with cosmetics?

Product Review: HPO Happy Scalp Oil

HPO Happy Scalp Oil is the single best hair care investment I have ever made.

When I first used the oil, I didn’t like it.  Maybe I used too much.  Maybe I applied too much to the hair.  In any event, it left my hair greasy and still.  Now I detangle/pre-treat my strands with coconut oil, and the scalp with the HPO Happy Scalp Oil.

The HPO Happy Scalp Oil leaves my scalp feeling nourished and moisturized.  I realize that oil technically doesn’t moisturize, but, it is the way my scalp feels, nonetheless.  Actually, for a girl who thought she was nourishing her scalp with mineral oil-laden/petroleum-laden/beeswax-laden products since time immemorial, the HPO Happy Scalp Oil is a pleasant and healthy change.

Here are the ingredients: Olive oil, extracts of spearmint, and HPO essential oil blend.

Happy Scalp Oil retails for about $11.00, and may be purchased directly from the HPO Spa Treatments website. :)

Burnout

It may seem strange that I would discuss burnout just as summer vacation is ending. But, here is a story:

The other day, I was talking with a neighbor at the apartment complex where she and I reside. She is a fellow educator: An assistant principal, to be exact. She asked me the all-too-common late August question: “When is your first day?” Given her role, she spent much of the summer on her campus, a PK-8 public magnet elementary school, and was greatly disturbed and dismayed by all of the teachers who spent much of their summer vacation on campus along with her. She remarked, “Don’t these teachers have a life?” She even asked some of them, “Why are you on campus?” In her mind, the worst thing they could have done was to spend July and August on campus. Instead, they should have been re-charging the personal batteries, e.g. spending time with family and friends, and finding other places to be and other things to do.

Every summer vacation, I spend as little time on campus as I possibly can, which, more to the point, is no time. This summer was no exception. Once my final year-end obligations are fulfilled, I shift into summer mode. That’s not to say that I don’t think about school and all the things associated with it. I simply maintain a hard line between my space – both psychic and physical – and school space, and I return a much different and more refreshed person in late August than I was when I departed in mid-June.

My neighbor and colleague is going to make a point to talk with the teachers during pre-planning week. Her message? How not to burn out during the school year, despite the fact that due to their lack of summer vacation, they are well on their way. Still, she is hopeful that the message will have an impact. Which I find rather novel: An administrator instructing and encouraging teachers to take care of themselves. I give her mad props.