Basic Needs: Sleep, Exercise, Nutrition
We have been told that we need to take care of ourselves, but to some teachers (and mothers) it can seem selfish to get a good night sleep or take time out to exercise. However, over time we will pay for neglecting our health.
I never saw myself as a morning person, and I was never a person who did well without a good night sleep. In high school, I had to get the bus at 6 am, and I always put myself to bed at 9:30. In college, many of my friends (particularly architects and engineers) would stay up all night working and still be able to function the next day. If I skipped a night of sleep, I (and everyone around me) paid for it the next day.
It wasn't until I had got a part-time job at FedEx while I was homeschooling my children that I learned to be a morning person. My shift started at 3:30 am, so I needed to wake up at 2:30 am. After a few years of that schedule, sleeping until 6 am seemed luxurious. I found that getting up before anyone else in the house allowed me to focus on myself for a bit, and I have kept that habit when I became a teacher.
I aim for bed at 8:30, hours before my husband and kids, but since I teach night school sometimes that is not possible. Or sometimes I have to attend an event at my kids' school. But I always aim to get to bed as early as I can. My alarm goes off at 4:30. I have medication to take on an empty stomach. At 5 am the coffee starts brewing and I get into the kitchen to start the day with some scripture reading. I get my work out in first thing in the morning. In the past I have been very unforgiving of myself -- requiring a minimum of 45 minutes of hard interval training in the morning and running at least 20 miles per week. But now that I am older and my knees are feeling all that impact, I only say that I need to break a sweat in the morning. Sometimes it is weights and sometimes it is yoga. I started working out with DVDs when my kids were young. I know a lot of people like to go the gym, but I would find the extra time and money a deterrent to my working out. I would like to get outside more in the afternoon, but I will probably aim to walk rather than further destroy my aching knees.
Nutrition has been a focus of mine since I became a mom 26 years ago. We eat a "wide variety of food in as close to a natural state as possible." My husband is a good cook, and we do healthy foods in our house. I enjoy eating too much, though and enjoy food more than I should.
I never saw myself as a morning person, and I was never a person who did well without a good night sleep. In high school, I had to get the bus at 6 am, and I always put myself to bed at 9:30. In college, many of my friends (particularly architects and engineers) would stay up all night working and still be able to function the next day. If I skipped a night of sleep, I (and everyone around me) paid for it the next day.
It wasn't until I had got a part-time job at FedEx while I was homeschooling my children that I learned to be a morning person. My shift started at 3:30 am, so I needed to wake up at 2:30 am. After a few years of that schedule, sleeping until 6 am seemed luxurious. I found that getting up before anyone else in the house allowed me to focus on myself for a bit, and I have kept that habit when I became a teacher.
I aim for bed at 8:30, hours before my husband and kids, but since I teach night school sometimes that is not possible. Or sometimes I have to attend an event at my kids' school. But I always aim to get to bed as early as I can. My alarm goes off at 4:30. I have medication to take on an empty stomach. At 5 am the coffee starts brewing and I get into the kitchen to start the day with some scripture reading. I get my work out in first thing in the morning. In the past I have been very unforgiving of myself -- requiring a minimum of 45 minutes of hard interval training in the morning and running at least 20 miles per week. But now that I am older and my knees are feeling all that impact, I only say that I need to break a sweat in the morning. Sometimes it is weights and sometimes it is yoga. I started working out with DVDs when my kids were young. I know a lot of people like to go the gym, but I would find the extra time and money a deterrent to my working out. I would like to get outside more in the afternoon, but I will probably aim to walk rather than further destroy my aching knees.
Nutrition has been a focus of mine since I became a mom 26 years ago. We eat a "wide variety of food in as close to a natural state as possible." My husband is a good cook, and we do healthy foods in our house. I enjoy eating too much, though and enjoy food more than I should.
Comments
Post a Comment