Teachers attend a lot of professional developments throughout the school year, but the bulk of our training occurs during Summer months, when we’re “off” for vacation. I attended my first PD session of the summer yesterday and sat next to a women claiming that she is “trying to lose weight and eat healthy,” as she pulled out her Redbull and strawberry yogurt. It took everything in me not to say anything. Do you realize what you put into your body? Do you take a peek at the nutrition label on the products you purchase? Maybe you should! Let’s take a gander at an “average” day for a teacher attending professional development.
Breakfast:
Red Bull (110 calories) and strawberry yogurt by Dannon (80 calories). Wow! A fast breakfast for only 190 calories? Go you! Right? Wrong. Way way wrong. The recommended daily sugar intake for an adult woman is 17g, and with just your breakfast, you’re already over by 10g. Wow!
What’s a good alternative? Try a protein shake instead! If you really enjoy your energy drinks (guilty as charged) try a sugar free energy drink instead. Our house favorite is Monster Ultra Sunrise! It tastes like an orange soda, but has zero calories and zero sugar :).
Snack:
Let’s grab a bag of Cheez Itz and a can of Sprite from the vending machine! A “snack bag” of Cheez Itz is 210 calories and a can of Sprite is 140 calories and 38g of sugar.
A healthier snack would be 1/4 cup of cashews or alsmonds and a can of LaCroix (carbonated, flavored water)
Lunch:
Chick-Fil-A! Yum yum yum! Let’s go healthy with a salad. Score! A Grilled Market Salad is only 200 calories. Let’s get buttermilk ranch dressing and use both the Harvest Granola (80 calories) and Roasted Nut Mix (60 calories) packets onto our salad. Let’s also get a delicious sweet tea to wash it all down (130 calories)! Sounds pretty healthy, doesn’t it? The salad was only 200 calories, after all. Where you went wrong is with the dressing. Ranch dressing is usually hug in calories and fat. Chick-Fil-A’s buttermilk ranch dressing has 280 calories! This meal has a total of 750 calories and 47g of sugar.
I make this meal healthier by selecting Light Italian dressing (25 calories) and nixing the granola, nut mix, and sweet tea, bringing my total down to 225 calories and 10g of sugar. It’s always best to choose water over any sweet drink. (The Grilled Market Salad has a sprinkle of strawberries, blueberries, and apples, so there is some natural sugar in the salad.)
Dinner:
You’ve been out at training all day, but now you’re home, so let’s make something healthy for dinner.
Let’s make a lean turkey burger with 1/2 cup brown rice and 1/2 cup steamed green beans with a cup of 2% milk for dinner. Your sweet tooth kicks in after dinner, and you help yourself to one browni bite (140 calories). This meal comes out to 612 calories and 26g of sugar. (Green beans and milk have natural sugars.)
Don’t get me wrong, milk is good for the body, but if you’re conscience of your sugar intake, water or almond milk are wiser choices.
Overview:
So what did our day look like, overall? We had a light breakfast, a salad for lunch, and a healthy dinner.. So we didn’t do so horribly right?
Our total calorie count for the day comes out to 1,903! And our sugar count comes out to a whopping 144g of sugar. That’s nearly 8.5x the recommended amount for a heathy woman!
This is very similar to how I used to eat. Since making lifestyle changes and becoming more aware of how I eat, I’ve reduced my sugar intake to 15-20g a day. Some days I go over the 17g recommended allotment, but not by much. I stay away from soda, cakes, and candies. I control my fruit consumption, and I read nutritional facts and labels before making an informed decision about what I eat at a restaurant.
Did you know that obesity and diabetes are on the rise? Everyday, more and more people are being diagnosed with illnesses and diseases that could’ve been prevented with proper nutrition and exercise. Our health is the most important thing we have control of in our lives. Our health is what keeps us going, and it is our job to keep ourselves healthy. Be aware of what you’re putting into your mouth and the mouths of your loved ones. Be informed. Make good choices.
Some final tips from me:
1) It will be hard to make changes at first. Nobody said it’s going to be easy. Things worth having are worth working for. Good health is worth it.
2) it’s okay to make small changes little by little. First cut the candies, then cut the sodas – go step by step. Taking small steps makes it easier to be more consistent.
3) LaCroix is a great alternative to soda! It’s just carbonated, flavored water, so there’s no sugar. My husband and I swear by these, and because we’ve gone so long without soda, these taste like soda to us! My favorite is orange and his is lime.
4) It’s okay to have a cheat day every once in a while, but don’t go crazy!
5) It’s important to control your carb and sugar intake, because carbs become sugars!
6) Last tip! My Fitness Pal is a great app that helps you track your caloric intake as well as other nutritional values :).
It doesn’t matter what profession you are in, eating totally junky on a regular basis is not okay. It’s okay to be busy and on the run. It’s okay to grab fast food.. As long as you are making healthy (or healthier) choices. It’s totally possible! Take it step by step, if you have to. Choose the lighter salad dressing, say no to the cheese, skip the French fries, order water instead of soda. And before you know it, making healthier choices has become second nature!
Live.Love.Fully 