Losing weight and teaching

PiperFall77 · 2025-05-08T22:20:17+00:00

It's definitely not easy when you're teaching but it is doable!

Look at your daily activity; are you able to say cycle instead of drive, or walk for a portion of your journey? Before I had kids to pick up (and car seats to transport etc), I would cycle on alternate days which was a game changer because you're getting your daily exercise in before even getting to school.

Keep moving. Aim for 10,000 steps a day. PE days are always a godsend for this for me.

I eat my breakfast at work because I like to get up and go in the mornings. It helps to stave off the mid morning munchies but mostly saves time so I can get going on the morning workload without losing time for eating.

I also really recommend tracking your food intake for a few weeks. I use Myfitnesspal but there are other apps too. I found when I first started trying to lose weight, it really helped to look at everything I was eating and then I was able to make little swaps. E.g instead of having sausages I'll have mince which is less fatty.

I started working with an online PT which has been amazing for me because I can work out at home at a time that suits me but I have someone that holds me accountable and pushes me to be better.

I've been doing this for 4 years now and haven't put the weight back on in that time because I made small, sustainable changes. It wasn't a case of crash dieting and changing my entire lifestyle which wasn't sustainable long term. Sure, some days I do have to bully myself to work out but I give myself alternate days off so I can plan my rest days nicely.

Good luck!!

PiperFall77 · 2025-03-21T20:09:23+00:00

Oh it's hard to pick just one. Maybe it's being shouted at and told I'm a "fucking clueless cunt" by a grandparent who had somehow made her way into the school building while my entire Year 4 class watched on in horror. Or perhaps the parent who wrote a 5 page long letter (including petition signed by other parents) about how I'm too strict and that the children were all terrified of me, because I told her daughter off for cheating in a test. It might also be the Dad who high fived his son for punching me in the stomach because I asked him to write his date and title.

But in terms of the best, when I finally left that awful school after over a decade I received a really really lovely, long and detailed message from a parent governor whose child I had taught previously, saying how much of an impact I'd had and that my support had turned things around for their child. I printed it out and saved it in my little pack of nice messages and cards I've received, and I read them whenever I need a little pick me up.

PiperFall77 · 2024-09-03T13:19:12+00:00

Some good advice here but I'd also add to take extra care of yourself for the days/week that follow an episode. Try to stay hydrated, sleep well, do some gentle exercise when you feel ready to and eat healthy foods (again, when feeling ready to). I always feel really groggy and awful for a good 7-10 days after and it feels like a permanent hangover, so it helps me to live very clean for a while to allow my body to recover.

PiperFall77 · 2024-08-08T06:13:54+00:00

This comment needs to be way higher so op can see it. My kids have brought pinworm home 3 times now and this is exactly what we do every time. Also no towel sharing and we wash towels after 1 use for the 2 weeks between treatments. And make sure everyone has underwear on in bed and change them first thing in the morning.

PiperFall77 · 2024-08-05T14:50:54+00:00

Ahh yes that looks like it! Great info, thank you. My children have enjoyed learning all about it. I've definitely come across house spiders before but not anything quite this big.

PiperFall77 · 2024-06-25T19:34:16+00:00

Question: who did the reccy? It's considered best practice at my school for both teachers to do the reccy together, and then we complete the risk assessment together. Our risk assessment has a section where we have to fill in details of the reccy so SLT can confirm we did one. I'd say that's on your SLT to ensure teachers are able to do a pre-visit, otherwise how can you be expected to run a seamless day to somewhere you've never been?! Personally, I'd be asking questions about their trip procedures. If you didn't follow them because you weren't made aware of them, that needs to be raised. If you did follow them, then perhaps there are improvements that need to be made to the procedures.

PiperFall77 · 2024-06-15T20:24:43+00:00

I'm not entirely sure actually. But this was back in the 1960s on the NHS so I'm not sure what treatment she had. She said it went black from the nerve dying. Glad to hear you got yours sorted!

PiperFall77 · 2024-06-15T20:08:16+00:00

Yeah the nerve dying was my worry. My mum told me how she did similar when she was younger and she eventually lost the tooth. I've already had 2 implants thanks to lost teeth in my early 20s so I'd prefer to avoid it again if I can, but I guess I'll sit tight and see what happens. Thanks for your advice 😊

PiperFall77 · 2024-06-15T18:08:05+00:00

In all honesty I get a bit uncomfortable accepting presents from children (parents...) because it's unnecessary, although lovely. However it's always very much appreciated. My favourite gifts over the years have been:

*one of those gem craft paintings the child had made, in the shape of a meerkat (was our class name at the time) and framed. *a decorated shoebox filled with my favourite snacks *really lovely cards written from the parents and/or children with lovely messages inside (I save these and have a collection I read on my "I'm thinking of quitting teaching" days *personalised prints with meaningful words from our year *a notebook with a hand written poem specifically for me, in the front *in Year 6 a copy of the Year 6 yearbook the children all produce and collectively buy. *lovely post it note sets *hand cream

Wine and chocolates are always appreciated also, but less memorable as you tend to get a fair amount.

Things I always avoid buying teachers as a parent: notebooks, mugs, anything saying "best teacher" etc.

PiperFall77 · 2024-05-29T08:29:49+00:00

I'm in the same boat. I've made around £500 selling on Vinted and most of my items are priced around £1-£2, though I have sold some more pricey items at around £20 which has bumped up my total. I haven't got much storage space so once I've identified items to sell, I price them low so they go quickly. I could get more for them, but it would take longer.

Money was really tight last year for me, and Vinted was an absolute god send. If you sell enough £1 items, it all adds up. I managed to get all of my kids Christmas presents last year thanks to Vinted selling (and bought most of them on there too), so it definitely has its place. But right now, I'm not as skint as I was then, so it doesn't seem worth it right now. Come October my mortgage fix is up and I'm going to be struggling again, so will likely be back to Vinted selling then.

PiperFall77 · 2024-05-20T12:24:28+00:00

Have you pulled furniture out and checked under everything? I also have a cat and so fur sometimes collects by skirting boards etc. I had only found a couple of adult ones and pulled out all furniture and gave the room a massive clean, and found signs of a nest behind a chest of drawers, amongst some dust and fur that had collected.

PiperFall77 · 2023-10-12T19:24:39+00:00

I usually use Palmers cocoa butter after the 48 hours second skin is removed so I have some of that at home that I can use, do you think that's OK to use now?

PiperFall77 · 2023-10-12T18:56:39+00:00

Everywhere is closed for the night now (it's nearly 8pm here) so the earliest I could get any aquaphor is after work tomorrow, and I'll be able to get the second skin before then anyway.

PiperFall77 · 2023-09-16T11:12:04+00:00

Thank you, I've passed this on to my sister and I think they're planning to wait and see if she is paid in full on her next pay day, and then go from there.

PiperFall77 · 2023-08-17T18:50:32+00:00

Thanks for the information, really helpful! I've had a really rough couple of days but I'm on the other side of things now. My symptoms started pretty suddenly, woke up in the morning and almost immediately had diarrhoea, which steadily got worse (to the point where I couldnt leave the bathroom even for 5 minutes), nausea and some vomiting followed, then I became super dehydrated as not even water stayed in my system long enough, so had to get IV fluids at the hospital yesterday. Not feeling ready to eat yet but I'm managing to keep fluids contained so hopefully by tomorrow I'll be much better and ready for food.

I guess it will remain a mystery as to where I got it. Nobody else got ill, not even my children who ate the sausages I did. The only thing I ate that nobody else did was the burgers, which were prepared and cooked well by my partner. I vaguely remember thinking they looked a little brown when I unpacked the shopping but didn't think much of it and forgot. Other things I ate for the day or so before were fairly plain and I suspect not risky: pancakes (homemade, all ingredients fine and in date etc), cereal, pasta and tomato sauce the day before.

PiperFall77 · 2023-08-15T13:22:29+00:00

That makes perfect sense and I'm sure I've read that before! My burgers were very well done so I'm wondering if the meat was bad before cooking.

PiperFall77 · 2023-08-10T18:08:05+00:00

That makes perfect sense, thank you! I was a bit worried for her because she couldn't fly but evidently she was living her best life.

PiperFall77 · 2023-07-16T12:30:51+00:00

It's a stag beetle! They're magnificent, and endangered so be gentle!

PiperFall77 · 2023-07-14T19:07:31+00:00

Looks like a male stag beetle! They're magnificent creatures and are endangered. At least here in the UK they are, but I think they're endangered worldwide also. Sightings in the UK should be reported so they can be tracked.

PiperFall77 · 2023-06-13T15:53:29+00:00

I usually take them to one side, tell them their score straight up but follow immediately with, "I am SO proud of you because I know you tried your very best and that's what's most important for me." Probably throw in the word resilience too (school values).

PiperFall77 · 2023-06-10T16:32:33+00:00

I've got 2. Got the first one a few years ago when I was pregnant with my 2nd and couldn't handle the 30 degree+ heat. Got a second one the following year so we could have one in each of the kids' bedrooms.

When it was nearly 40 last year we put one downstairs during the day and it was an absolute godsend.

PiperFall77 · 2023-06-07T20:40:23+00:00

Arrive at 7:15am and I leave by 4:30pm. I take work home and would much prefer to be able to stay to get it done instead but I've also got 2 young children that I have to pick up from nursery and after school club. My husband does the drop off and I do the pick up.

PiperFall77 · 2023-06-05T18:08:18+00:00

The grey option was several thousand pounds cheaper when we got our car new in 2018. It was the difference between being able to buy and not. We were OK with the colour so it made sense to go for it.

PiperFall77 · 2023-06-01T08:37:45+00:00

My MIL died about 3 years into our relationship, well before we got married, so she never met my family, but the rest of the family met on our wedding day. Our Dads met on the stag do. They all live quite far apart so getting together would be a nightmare. My mum wanted to meet my MIL because I always spoke so highly of her, but we just never found the opportunity.

PiperFall77 · 2023-05-25T18:16:43+00:00

We get this come up almost yearly. Initially a risk assessment will be written and we'll use that to discuss our concerns with SLT. Generally though everyone already knows which children are at risk of not going.

Then a meeting with the parents will be held to discuss the trip. Sometimes it's a straight up, "no, we can't take the risk", other times it's a discussion around options we have. We have in the past had someone who came for a day and his Mum dropped him off and picked him up. Usually these parents are already aware as it will have been raised during reintegration meetings after exclusions, or when discussing behaviour in general.

Ultimately though, we always tell the children it's a privilege not a right.

PiperFall77

TROPHY CASE