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This book has been one of the greatest "aha" moments of this semester.  We are so busy with our day-to-day, that we forget to stop and think about some of the most simple things.  I'm especially guilty of ignoring my needs for sleep and food.
When I originally was planning this assignment, I wanted to do something with sleep.  However, I realized there were too many other moving parts in my life to tackle my ability to rest.  I decided to focus on the most basic need of water.  Instead of focusing on how much water I wanted to drink (at that time, zero/day) I decided to omit pop.  I was drinking about 4 cans per day with two being before noon.  There isn't pop at my house, but it is available at both of my jobs. It's mostly habitual at school.
I noticed a change in my energy levels after the first week. Headaches were prevalent. I didn't need to log anything as I decided to quit "cold turkey."
I will continue to drink less pop, but I don't think I want to give it up completely just yet. Instead, I'm going to focus on drinking more water. I plan to join one of my coworkers as she has a simple way to keep track of her consumption. I hope that drinking the recommended amount of water will help control and regulate my appetite, which will allow me to be in control of my sleep schedule. I'm hoping this domino effect is epic!

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When reading through chapter 2 in the Well Balanced Teacher, there were many areas of my personal self-care I identified that I wanted to change. I have made two big changes within the past 2 weeks.

The first change I have not been documenting, but I was inspired to do by reading the WBT.  I began doing weight watchers.  I tried Weight Watcher once before and successfully lost 20 pounds.  I stopped following weight watchers when I got pregnant with my son.  My son is now 10 months old,  and although I have lost the weight I gained during the pregnancy,  I wanted to pick up weight watchers again to continue the weight loss I started before my pregnancy. I have stayed within my points range every day since I started and I am really  excited to start seeing results!

The second change I made is setting a strict bedtime for myself. Over the past two weeks, I made sure that I went to bed by 10. I try to wake up by 6 so 10 seemed to be a good bedtime to set. I chose to commit to this activity, because I often find myself feeling exhausted. So I thought if I focused on moving my bedtime up, it might help with this. I have been tracking this by logging my sleep on my iphone as well as how much energy I felt as though I had throughout the day.

Unfortunately, I did not feel as though I felt a significant impact from this change (personally or professionally).  The first thought that comes to my mind is that perhaps I did not set my bedtime early enough and I would have noticed more of a change if I had set my bedtime even earlier.  However, I feel torn.  If I move my bedtime up earlier, than that is really reducing the amount of time I have to spend with my husband.  My son usually goes to be around 7:30, so I really value the time I have for just my husband and myself.

For that reason, at this point in time, I do not think I will go to bed that early on a regular basis, however, I may on occasion,  go to bed earlier.

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I decided to start keeping track of my exercise. Before beginning this, I did not exercise as often as I knew I should, which lead to built up stress, wonky sleep habits, weight gain, and overall tiredness. I typically like to work out at night that way I can just shower after and go to bed. However, my nights are busy and between activities, sporting events, or grading, I was not getting to the gym but rather, choosing sleep instead. I do not consider myself to be a morning person because I am someone who likes to stay up really late. However, mornings when I do get up early, for whatever reason, are some of my favorite mornings and days where I feel productive. Working out in the morning sounded like a big hassle to me; waking up early, it’s really cold outside, work out, shower, get ready for work, pack a lot of things to prepare for the work day, and then showing up to school with wet hair. But I realized that mornings just might have been my best time to work out so I could get it out of the way and stop making excuses. I started keeping a log of days I exercised, the time of day it was (AM or PM) and the type of exercise I did/how it impacted my day. For the first week, I actually followed through and worked out most mornings before school. AND IT WAS AWESOME. Every excuse I had made before felt ridiculous. However, I got sick this past week and was not able to work out as much, which definitely impacted me in a negative way. I hope to keep up my exercise log after this assignment because I did notice the impact it had on my overall well being; less stress, not as tired, awake early and ready for my school day, etc.

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I chose sleep! I want to get 8 hours a nigh, so that was my plan. I wrote down when I went to sleep every night, as well as when I woke up. Before my plan, the constant was the wake-up time. I wake up at 6:00 every morning. The variable was bedtime. So I made it a point to be in bed (With the attempt to sleep) at 10:00 sharp. It is actually going well. I used to do this every night, then I got away from it. But lately it's been consistent. I notice that I am more alert in the mornings when I get a full 8 hours, and I also notice I don't get as tired mid-day. I will absolutely continue this. It isn't so much a challenge, as it is a commitment. The only thing getting in my was is the coursework from AVB3 :)

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What I found most difficult to wrap my head around was trying to take care of myself when I have taken on even more by diving into the Masters program.  However, I choose to start by logging what I was eating.  The stash of snickers and goldfish cracker at my desk needed to go.  Stress eating has been a pitfall of mine.  After logging my meals and water intake, I chose to make a plan for the week to replace the bad eating habits with replacements.  I brought celery and almond butter to replace the goldfish crackers and green cinnamon tea to replace the sweet craving.  I planned healthy lunches and brought all of them to work on Monday. I also made a protein smoothy every morning.

I found that I had more energy and since I had the food planned and at work already it saved me time in the morning.  It was a really simple change and I really needed the energy the past few weeks since behaviors were high and report cards were due.

I will continue doing this because it was such an easy, small change that made a big difference. I had more energy and even through a lot of stress, I was more focused and relaxed. It is the only change I made so I completely believe my lack of focus and mood was effected by my diet. It is so typical to think quick easy snacks are the only choice when we are busy but it really has negative effects. I know a good diet is important but I was not being intentional.

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Exercise!  I needed to start exercising. I've started and stopped and started and stopped. I used to run and did not mind it but for health reasons I had to stop for awhile. So I started walking (in the summer). But walking does not help the weight come off.
After reading Chapter 2, I decided enough with the excuses. I need to start running. I have a treadmill in my basement. I really have no excuse. So I decided I would start running.
I know that I have to exercise in the morning. If I wait until after school too many things come up and it is too easy to make excuses. So it has to be in the morning.
I started slow and eased into it. I have worked up to running 1.25 miles. I know it is not good to run 7 days a week so I decided I would do it Monday-Friday. It only involved me getting up about 15-20 minutes earlier.
I have to admit, the first week plus I was cranky. I was not sore but cranky from getting up earlier.
Since starting November 19th, I have only missed one day and that was because I did not feel well.
I was hoping to see some results but it has only been 3 weeks. As much as I really want to lose weight, I really just want my clothes to fit better.
I will stick with exercising. I know it is good for me.
I have been keeping track of my exercise journey by taking a picture of the treadmill screen when I finish.

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After reading chapter two I reflected on what needs I thought I was struggling with that were in my control. The basic need of mine that is not being met frequently is being able to use the restroom at school. However, I believe this is somewhat out of my control because I cannot leave my class to use the restroom. I decided I would focus on my diet because that is something I have tried to work on for awhile.

In order to get the most out of my efforts I downloaded a one month plan of meals. This meal plan is very low in grains and sugar. There is high protein and high fat (healthy fats). To start I went grocery shopping for all of my groceries for the first week. This was a huge change for me because I do not usually grocery shop. The next step was taking the time each night to meal prep for the next day. I found this step critical in my success. At the end of the day I logged all the food I ate the entire day.

I am very proud of myself for how disciplined I have been for the last two weeks. I have learned many new recipes that I will continue to use. I have noticed an increase in my mood and energy levels because of the diet changes I have made. One struggle for myself is not snacking. I did still snack (snacks that were NOT in the meal plan), but I cut back tremendously! Now of course I still ate a snack in between meals, but it was a planned and prepped snack that was nutritional and followed my meal plan.

In the future I plan to continue finding healthy meals and snacks that do not have grain in them, but I will not continue logging my food each day.

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Sleep -- I know that I function best with my full 8 hours of sleep, and one thing that had been causing me anxiety was snoozing my alarm, rushing to get ready in the morning, and often times getting to work late. I decided to pick a specific bedtime and wake up time to stick to consistently so my body clock would become more routine and I would get a proper night's sleep. I chose to get in bed by 9:30pm to be asleep by 10pm, and wake up at 6am. I documented my bedtime and wake up time on a Google Doc. I noticed that I am simply not getting enough sleep each night. I also learned that I'm really bad at self discipline and self control because I knew that I was supposed to be going to bed but I would find myself doing other things jeopardizing my sleep. I want to continue working on getting into a better sleep routine because it still needs improvement.

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After reading chapter two I was very motivated to change many parts of my lifestyle.  I have always devoted all of my time and energy to teaching.  It is important to me to have a balance in my life between work and home, but I often do not take the time to improve that balance.  This book has allowed me to see the importance in taking care of myself before I am able to take care of others.

I have limited the amount of school work I bring home to do.  When I am at home, I make it a priority to reflect, recharge, and connect with my husband and other loved ones.  I get to school plenty early and always stay after school late, so I have also set reasonable times to leave at the end of the day. If I do not set a time limit, I end up staying at school until 9 or 10pm!!  Now that I have limited school work to school and home life to home, I feel so much more relaxed and recharged at home and at work.

I have also increased my water intake during the day and created a weekly meal plan.  Every morning I fill up two water bottles so I know I will have enough to last me before lunch.  In the past, I would run out of water before lunch and dehydrate myself because I could not fill up my bottle.  I am finding that increasing my water intake has reduced my headaches at the end of the day.  In addition to increasing my water intake, I started to create a weekly meal plan.  I was recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder (Hashimotos Thyroiditis) and am on an elimination diet to heal my thyroid.  I had to cut out gluten and dairy.  This was a challenge for me (and my husband who loves both of those!), but I found that meal planning made it fun and do-able.  My husband and I choose our meal plan for the week and I grocery shop every Sunday to make sure we have our food for the week.  I plan my breakfasts and lunches out ahead of time as well to ensure I am eating a well-balanced meal that does not contain gluten and dairy.  I find myself feeling more confident about my eating habits and I feel good about what I am putting into my body.

My plan to take my self-care to the next step is to start walking at least 30 minutes each day.  I am excited to see how I feel in the long run after implementing these new routines.

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I am such a hypocrite! I'm always telling my students to take care of themselves first, yet I don't take my own advice... Therefore, I chose to list ways to disconnect from school and refresh my spirit. I chose this because I feel like I'm always in "teacher-mode." Honestly, the few changes that I've made have influenced me so positively and even my students have noticed that I'm actively working to take care of myself. I like to keep them updated on my journey's, and they like to do the same :) One of the changes that I've made is making time after school to just talk with my colleagues for 10 - 20 minutes. It's very refreshing!

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After reading the assigned Chapter, there were so many things that stuck out to me that I wanted to try.  I have many bad habits that I know I need to try to do better with.  The activity that I chose to work on was setting a bedtime for myself and actually trying to stick with it.  Before doing this activity, I would find myself up late each night grading assessments, making lesson plans or searching for resources. If I got 6 hours of sleep on a weekday, I was lucky. By midday, my energy would be pretty low.  I am hoping that by setting a bedtime and trying to stick with it as much as I can, I would see that sleep helps with my energy which will then help my teaching.
To document my progress, I created a chart in Google Drive that I can fill in each morning with my times. The week of Thanksgiving was a challenge, I only met my goal a couple times that week. After the holiday, I was able to see my progress and days that I had the most sleep compared to the days that are much less. I have noticed that I need to have 8 hours or more of sleep to have the best energy. When I get that much sleep, I don't have the midday blues and have the energy to put in my best efforts in the afternoon. Personally, going to bed earlier has made communication with my husband and I a bit better. He used to go to bed alot earlier than I did, which he would grumble about. He always said that I wasn't taking care of myself and stretching myself to thin. Now, we go to bed at about the same time which he likes because he said it shows that I'm putting in an effort to take better care of myself. This has has helped me have more energy when I get home too compared to coming home with an empty tank. Yes, I plan on continuing with the bedtime afterwards. I know that I will have some hiccups but if I can shoot for at least 8 hours of sleep I will have the energy to work on other areas that I need to improve.

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After reading chapter 2 a few weeks ago I was READY to start my new healthy eating lifestyle!  I would eat breakfast every morning, cut back on the high caloric Caribou drinks, and pack a home lunch with healthy options each day!  Well...that lasted 3 days!  Instead of giving up as I have in the past I decided to go with something a little more fun, hula hooping!  I saw an actress from one of my favorite shows that I don't’ have time to watch anymore on Instagram ( don’t judge me) Thanksgiving night hooping off the mac & cheese and cornbread dressing.  I immediately ordered my weighted hula hoop from Amazon, gotta love PRIME!  At first, I could only get a few wobbly rotations before it dropped, not to mention the sore hips because I could keep it on my waist.  I just kept at it and now I’m on week 2 and can hoop a full song!  I just put on some jams and start hooping!

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After reading Chapter 2, I really thought about what would help me the most in my self-care. I decided I was going to create a meal plan for myself for two weeks. Last week was the first week that I did this. As I looked at my week last Sunday, November 25, I had a few obstacles to jump around. I knew I had a busy weekend and would not be at my house or in control of the meals I was having over the weekend of December 1st and 2nd. I chose to make a meal plan for during the week because of this. Each Sunday, I have made up a plan for that weeks food. I have been writing it on a sheet of paper, then hanging it on my refrigerator to remind myself each time I went to the fridge. I have really loved it! It has helped me plan out my weeks and I feel like I am eating so much better. I meal prepped both Sundays and last Wednesday, and I will meal prep again this Wednesday. The thing I have loved the most is not sitting at school trying to figure out what I am going to do for dinner that night. I already know what I am going to make or that I already have something waiting for me. I think it has helped me a lot personally because I feel like some of the stress of the week has been taken off of me. On top of that, I am eating healthier. I feel must better about myself. I definitely plan on continuing to do this! What has worked for me, especially to keep me on track and inspired, is the fact that my girlfriend chose to do it with me. She has helped me plan it out and has helped keep me accountable. It was very nice having someone to try this plan with!!- Chris

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After reading Chapter 2, there were many different areas of self-care I realized I could work on. I chose to focus on implementing a meal plan for two weeks. I chose this because I often find myself throwing together a quick lunch in the morning, not packing enough throughout the day, or eating an unhealthy snack when I get home from work because I did not pack a filling lunch. Planning out each meal would me to make healthy choices throughout the week. I also thought this would help simplify my week because making a plan early on in the week would help me to have a plan to stick to and not have to think twice about it. At the beginning of the week (usually Sundays), I looked through my pantry and refrigerator to see what ingredients/foods I had. Based on what I had, I made a list of things I would like to cook for the week. I then made sure to stop at the grocery store to get any needed ingredients that I did not already have. I wrote out each meal and snack for each day of the week. I found planning out each meal to be very helpful because it was one less thing to plan throughout the week. I also was making healthier choices and using up ingredients I already had. I plan to continue this.

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When reading Chapter 2, there were many ideas that I wanted to implement. I believe that I have fallen into bad habits the past few years of letting my self-care fall low on my priority list. The first activity I wanted to try was making a meal plan for each week. During the week, I find myself eating junk food out of the teacher's lounge or hardly eating anything throughout the day and then gorging when I get home from school. I wanted to make a meal plan so I knew exactly what I was having for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner each day, no excuses. In chapter 2 the author mentioned how he would reward himself after a hard day at school with junk food or an unhealthy dinner. I catch myself doing this as well. My meal plan kept me on track (for the most part) and helped me to plan ahead each day. I ate healthier throughout the day and although I was tempted by treats in the lounge I stuck to my plan. Overall, I would like to continue doing weekly meal planning. The next activity I would like to implement is some sort of work out schedule!

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What resonated with me while reading chapter 2 was everything. : ) However, I choose to improve my bad eating habits.  Although, I do not snack up after the students leave, I have been in the habit of not eating much during the day. But, then get home at 6:30 or 7:00, I pretty much "binge".  I choose to eat in a more balanced way throughout the day., I was  intentional to make hard boiled eggs, and lunches the night before the following day. I brought fruit, almonds and veggies as snacks, and stuck to a travel mug of coffee, which is about 2 cups. I kept a daily journal of what I ate and my intake of water, which I still need to work on.  However, I have found that I do have more energy throughout the day, (since I am not running on fumes),  I am thinking clearer, and I am sleeping much better.  I plan on continuing with this plan. Now, I need to fit in that exercise ....:  )
I have not been so good this past week, (after entering here the first time) .  I am not "binge"eating at night, but things have been really busy this week and I have missed meals.  I have not been grabbing anything for breakfast, except for my travel mug of coffee.  A couple of days , I grabbed some carrots, turkey meat and a couple slices of gluten free bread, which are very small.  My work night have been long and by the time I get home, I am not hungry.  I ate a little cereal, or made some popcorn. My diet has been poor. However, after reading many entries, I have found I can exercise using a hula hoop!. I am missing running because I will not run in the dark, for fear of falling and still having concussion symptoms. I miss the exercise more than anything. LaKeisha, I am going to work your jam.

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Since I can become a bit of a workaholic when it comes to my job or my own home work, I decided to work on disconnecting from both.  I wrote up a list of things that I would enjoy doing and have tried to incorporate them into my week.  In the past two weeks I have:  Had dinner with a friend, taken a walk with a different friend, had lunch with one of my sons, gone to a school play my grandson was in, listened to audiobooks, read other books, gone shopping, and spent the holiday with family. Yes, I count that too! I keep track on a Google Doc.
While I enjoy doing these things, when it is a requirement, it becomes just another thing for me to accomplish and check off my list. Also, because of my personality, I have a hard time enjoying myself when I know I am not done with what I am responsible for. It sits in the back of my mind and can take away from the joy of the moment. I know that this is an area that I have struggled with for years, so I am going to continue to make an effort to disconnect and have a life. There will ALWAYS be something more that I can do for work, but that´s not always the best choice, nor the healthiest.

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After reading chapter 2 from The Well Balanced Teacher book, I decided to track my food/water intake. It is so easy to not drink much water during the day because I feel trapped in my classroom as I feel bad asking for someone to cover for me while I run to the restroom. I have learned however that I have so much more energy when I do drink an appropriate amount of water! The other thing I have started doing is meal planning all of our dinners for the week. That way, I always stick to our plan because we already have the ingredients and i'll have leftovers for lunch. This holds me accountable! I really like having a dinner menu planned as when I get home from school I am starving and also don't want to spend hours cooking! :) I plan to continue this for the rest of the school year!

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While reading chapter 2, I realized there are many self care areas I could focus on. However, I chose tracking my exercise. I chose to track my exercise because life is just busy- work, grad. school, husband/family/friends, etc. I wasn't making time for exercise like I should. My husband gets up for work at 5:30am, and I used to sleep until 6:15 or so. Instead of going back to sleep for that 45 minutes of restless sleep, I decided to get up when my husband does and exercise. Although I am NOT a morning person, I made the goal of getting up earlier 4/5 days per week, and have been pretty good about sticking to it! I have been tracking my exercise on a Google doc which helps me stay accountable. The simple fact of knowing I don't want to see a gap in the Google Doc has motivate me to get at least some sort of exercise in. This is absolutely something that I will stick to beyond this trial period. Even when I was getting an extra 45ish minutes of sleep, it wasn't quality sleep as I could hear my husband getting ready and getting out of the door. I also feel so much better mentally when I workout on a regular basis.

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When reading this chapter there were many ideas I wanted to try. I know I have fallen into some bad habits this past year and I am trying to make changes to get better. I wanted to try many of the activities but thought about which is the most realistic activity I could put all my effort into (They week before Thanksgiving Olivia, our daughter, was sick with a double ear infection and the week after my husband ruptured an eardrum so our house was very hectic). I chose keeping track of my steps. I have a fitbit so I knew it would be easy to keep track. The first week I noticed I wasn't get as many steps as I thought I was. On average 8,000-9,000 steps a day. I was thinking of what I could do to change that. One thing that I changed was I moved the stool that was by my doc cam. There are many times throughout the day that I am using the doc cam and I was sitting doing the work. I would still get up and walk around but not as often. When I moved the stool away I started walking around more. I increased my steps. When I was not at school I did not get nearly as many steps. I had to think a little more about it. I will continue to use the fitbit and keep track of my steps to hold me more accountable. I want to now try another activity to help me get a more balanced work-life. I want to choose something that will be
an easy transition. I know I need to start small and build up in order to succeed and not get overwhelmed.

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After reading chapter 2 I self reflected on how it was going meeting my basic needs. Very quickly I realized that there were many of these activities that I could focus on. For this specific assignment I chose to focus on sleep and setting a bed time. Far too often I find myself dragging out of bed in the morning and not wanting to get up due to a wacky sleep schedule that comes from being busy. Some nights I would be up until 11:00, then would spend the next day tired and go to bed at 8:30. I wanted to explore to see if I set a bedtime and got in a routine if that would help getting out of bed easier in the morning. I set a goal of 10:15 to be in bed. I am documenting my sleep schedule in a table labeled with the date and time I went to bed at. During the week I did pretty good but ended up being in bed at 10:15 and probably sleeping more towards 10:30. I got in a good routine of getting home, working out, eating dinner, working on school stuff, winding down and then bed at 10:15. Being in bed at 10:15 seemed to work pretty good for me. In the beginning of the week I wasn't really noticing a change. Thursday was the first day I actually felt that I didn't "need" my afternoon cup of coffee! I noticed that I was more energized at the end of the week, which typically is the opposite. I also realized that I was feeling more "awake" in the mornings once I was actually out of bed. I am going to continue this into this week to see if I continue to see a change in my energy level. If so, this is something I would like to try to stick to as much as possible to help live a well balanced life!

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After reading chapter 2, I decided to keep track of the times I exercise, and what type of exercise I do through a log. I decided to do this option because not only is working out important for our physical health, it benefits me emotionally, too. I enjoy working out after work because it helps my mind unwind from the day by listening to music and running on the treadmill or going on the elliptical. Also, now that winter is here, the darkness all of the time influences the way I feel and my overall mood. Exercise helps improve my mood to be more positive. Some weeks are more difficult to find time to workout than others. I will continue to remind myself and with the visual of a log, remember the importance of working out and allowing me to live a more well-balanced life!

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After reading chapter 2 I realized that I wear a fitbit but don't always keep track of everything it has to offer.  I decided that I would track my steps one week and my sleep the next.  Both are super important to our basic needs.  For my first week of tracking my steps, I noticed that I would hit my goal of 10,500 steps a day if I was at work.  On days that I wasn't at work, I would have to push myself to get to my goal.  Weekends were usually where I saw myself not getting as many steps in.  I took it upon myself to walk the dogs during this time so that I could get them some exercise and myself as well.  Last week, I tracked my sleep schedule.  I noticed that when I was more dedicated to a regular sleep schedule I would get more sleep.  My average sleep according to my fitbit last week was: 8 hours 3 minutes.  The week before that my average was 7 hours 34 minutes.  This extra sleep has allowed me to feel more energized.  I plan on continuing to use my fitbit the way it was designed.  To track my steps and my sleep.  I want to be more purposeful when using the data my fitbit collects.

I would suggest others get a fitbit if they are looking to monitor these same areas or perhaps use an app on your phone that can track exercise.  There are a lot of free apps in the app store.

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While I was reading Chapter 2, there were a lot of self-care activities that I wanted to work on. I chose to focus on "Take Care of Your Spirit" because I wanted to improve my mindset and find strategies to help myself recharge. I decided to listen to a podcast every day on my way home from work. I have a 45-50 minute drive because my family just moved so I wanted to use this time in a beneficial way as well as give me positive energy.

I chose a "personal development" podcast that was motivational and encouraging (Rachel Hollis: strongly suggest if your looking for something!!! or her book, "Girl Wash your Face"). Instantly, I was hooked! And I loved how it changed my mood and helped me take time to reflect and grow personally. I thought initially that I wasn't going to like to listen to a podcast, but every day when I got in my car I looked forward to it. I am happy I tried something new and I am going to continue to do this to create this positive reflection time and personal growth. It also helped me make better choices, think of situations from a new lens and be GRATEFUL for the life I have. Even on hard teaching days, there is always something to be grateful for.

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The activity I chose was to track my food and drink consumption over a two week time period. I chose this because I am very quick to grab any type of snack that is out for us in the lounge or at home. I am a sucker for any sweets and treats, even though I know it is not healthy for me to eat them so often. My hope is that documenting all I eat and drink will show me that I consume way too much sugar and need to bring that down. I began documenting this on a google doc so I could type it in an organized table. I have been pretty good about remembering everything I ate and drank during the week because I would remember to write it down as soon as I could. On the weekends if I am off doing something with friends or family, I found it was harder to think back to what I was eating/drinking. As of now, I do not see it effecting the way I eat/drink. I know that when I look back at it, I am disappointed in some of my choices, but it hasn't necessarily motivated me to change those choices yet. Part of me thinks it is because I have had some very odd weeks! I have been busy doing things I normally do not have to do (for instance, Thanksgivings with families and my Wolf Ridge trip with my students last week). I plan to continue doing this to see if it has an effect on me during a normal week. I hope I am going to see the choices I have made and work harder to make better choices!

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The self care activity I decided to work on is #7 on the list: Create a list of ways you can disconnect from school and refresh your spirit. Then, attempt several of these items and document the impact.  When I noticed I had listed twelve ways in which I could disconnect and refresh I thought I would refer to it as the "Twelve Days of Christmas" list. I feel so much better incorporating the things from my list into my daily/weekly routine.  Something that I think was holding me back was the feeling of guilt in doing things that fed MY spirit.  Why do we do that to ourselves?    I will definitely continue implementing these routines.
Here's a picture of a few from my list: decorating for christmas, lighting a candle more often and listening to Jazz while doing coursework.

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I am re-writing mine, I got kicked off and it wouldn’t allow me to edit. Please ignore my previous post :)...

The self care item I chose to focus on was putting more intention into making time for exercise. I chose this self care item because I truly love to be active and feel my best when I have activity built into my routine. I often find myself in a rut during the cold winter months, as with the shorter days and less accessibility to being outside, I am not as active as I am during the spring, summer and fall months. I am documenting my activity on a Google Doc. While I haven’t been perfect, I have improved! I definitely have more energy with more exercise. On the days I’ve made time for exercise, I feel more accomplished in giving my best self as a wife, mother, and teacher. I will certainly continue to implement exercise into my weekly routine, as it greatly impacts me in a positive way. It gives me mental peace. I find it works best for me when I set my alarm early and commit to making it happen. I have to mentally tell myself to just start. The hardest part is getting out of bed, but I always feel so much better once I start.

# data[].attributes.body
The self care item chose to focus on was putting more intention into making time for exercise. I chose this self care item because I truly love to be active and feel my best when I have activity built into my routine. I often find myself in a rut during the cold winter months, as with the shorter days and less accessibility to being outside, I am not as active as I am during the spring, summer and fall months.

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Over the last two weeks I have been tracking everything I eat and drink. I chose to do this because I know how often I choose to eat the unhealthy snacks in the lounge, snack at night, and do not drink enough water throughout the day. I chose to track this in a composition notebook I had lying around and it traveled to and from school with me in my backpack. During the last two weeks I have noticed several things. ONE...my water consumption has been significantly better since beginning. I have been finishing a 48oz. container both the morning and afternoon. TWO...knowing I had to write down what I was eating deterred me from eating snacks I would normally eat. The first day I started there was a box of cake donuts in the lounge (with white frosting none the less), and I passed on them since I knew I'd had to write it down. This process continued for me with things like candy, chips, and other snacks that appeared in the lounge. I would consider continuing this if I find that I am slacking again with lounge snacks and water consumption. As I move forward I would like to tackle a couple other tasks on the list that may be more impactful for my daily life. I would love to start exercising and tracking it as well as setting a bedtime to meet. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Over the last two weeks I have been tracking everything I eat and drink. I chose to do this because I know how often I choose to eat the unhealthy snacks in the lounge, snack at night, and do not drink enough water throughout the day. I chose to track this in a composition notebook I had lying around and it traveled to and from school with me in my backpack. During the last two weeks I have noticed several things. ONE...my water consumption has been significantly better since beginning. I have been finishing a 48oz. container both the morning and afternoon. TWO...knowing I had to write down what I was eating deterred me from eating snacks I would normally eat. The first day I started there was a box of cake donuts in the lounge (with white frosting none the less), and I passed on them since I knew I'd had to write it down. This process continued for me with things like candy, chips, and other snacks that appeared in the lounge. I would consider continuing this if I find that I am slacking again with lounge snacks and water consumption. As I move forward I would like to tackle a couple other tasks on the list that may be more impactful for my daily life. I would love to start exercising and tracking it as well as setting a bedtime to meet. 

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Meeting my own most basic needs has unfortunately been something I have been neglecting far too often lately. As I'm sure many of us do, I have ben putting the needs of my kids, my students, and others before mine. The suggested activities helped me to realize just how many different areas of self care I need to work on! I decided that the most realistic activity for me to complete right now was sticking to a bedtime. Once I get my girls home, make dinner, give baths, and complete their bedtime routines, I typically spend a couple of hours either doing school work, homework, housework, or catching up with my husband. Then, I like to take a little time to watch a mindless TV show or scroll social media. If I do all of these things, I find myself awake at 11:00 and needing more coffee than my bathroom breaks allow for the next day! I set a goal of a 9:45 bedtime. So far, I've struggled following through. Most nights it has been 10:15. Although, I haven't met my goal time very often, I am much more aware of the time I'm taking for different tasks in the evening and am making an effort to better prioritize the amount of sleep I'm getting. I will absolutely keep trying as I know the more sleep I get, the more patient, alert, and energetic I am for my own family and for my students.

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I chose to keep track of my exercise. In the past, I have found that running has been such an effective way for me to "escape" from the stress of teaching. This year I have struggled to convince myself to go to the gym after school and find myself saying, "I'll just go home, eat dinner, and then go to the gym later", which often turns into relaxing at home the rest of the night. Therefore, I wanted to see if I would benefit from waking up early and going to the gym before school. While there are a number of days that I reset my alarm, I find that I am more energized and am sometimes even in a better mood towards students on days that I work out in the morning. While I like to sleep in as much as possible, I hope to continue my goal of getting my exercise done in the morning throughout the remainder of the school year.

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I chose to keep track of my sleep. I felt pretty comfortable with a few of the things on the list of challenges, but sleep has always alluded me. I set a goal for going to bed and used my FitBit to track the total amount of sleep I got. I tried for being in bed by 10 and asleep by 10:10. I was not able to do it often. Between putting the kids to bed and school work, I was often later. I did start to get closer though. Usually in bed by 10:15 and asleep by 10:30. I felt more rested and patient (with kids at school and my own at home) on those days that I got the most sleep. I am definitely going to keep trying to get to 10:00 in bed. I'm getting so close. I can already feel the benefits of getting more sleep and I want that to continue.

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I chose the seventh suggested activity which was to create a list of ways I could take care of my spirit, attempt several of these ways, and document the impact. I chose this activity because I was feeling like I was always working on school stuff and never taking time for myself. I created the list of ways I could take care of my spirit on a Google Doc, and am documenting the ways I have attempted and their impact in a table on a Google Doc. This activity helped me realize that I have been taking at least thirty minutes each day to take care of myself. I have felt happier as a result of doing these things.