Here is a little food for thought, I used to fast all day every Saturday because it was and I quote – myself – “A day where I was the most distracted”. My logic being that since I was extra busy, it would be easy to not eat. Which I thought was the healthiest thing I could do for myself.

Of course it was just ruminants of my disordered eating patterns, me, trying to have control over my self esteem by making myself smaller. The idea that I could eat whatever I want, as long as I don’t eat during certain windows was very appealing to someone who had struggled with her self image and dieting for years.

I revolved my sense of worth around my pant size, and thought if I could make myself smaller I would be more accepted, more loved, more seen. But I would say I was doing it for health.

I have thankfully realized since then that, that is a huge, steaming pile of bull shit. I made myself smaller alright, but I was far from healthy, both mentally and physically.

During this time that I was fasting during my busiest teaching day of the week, I started feeling lack lustre about teaching, and started having a bit of an identity crisis. I have adored teaching – all subjects! – for my entire life, going all the way back to when I was a little girl. Don’t get me wrong, it can be insanely challenging and frustrating, but I love it!

In my ridiculousness I did not make the correlation of not eating and my lack of patience. It got so bad at one point that I could see my students being effected as well. I was short tempered and extremely strict for no reason.

Lots of things shifted after I started realizing my “health and fitness’ regimes where hurting, rather than helping me, but one of the really big changes was when I started eating properly on Saturdays.

All of a sudden – like literally overnight – I had a new found passion for teaching like never before, and it showed in my students. They started getting more involved in lessons, my lesson plans improved and everyone started enjoying the whole process again. It seems so obvious, and I’d very much like to go back and slap myself for ever thinking that was a good idea!

Now that was a hugely round about way of leading into a recipe, but here it is, my recipe for a very nutrient dense, oatmeal recipe. 😉 It’s a way that I have devised to fit a lot of energy and nutrients into a small portion, so it’s easy to put together and quick to eat, but also doesn’t leave me feeling overly full, or drowsy.

I know that it’s not just me and my misguided attempts at weight loss that had experiences like this. coaches and teachers get so wrapped up in our jobs, we skip lunches and breaks and ignore our own needs in lieu of those of our students’ needs.

Don’t forget we cannot pour from an empty cup, fuel yourself, take care of your needs so that you can better serve your students! 🙂

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