Planning a morning self-care routine that works for you!

Does your morning “routine” consist of hitting the snooze button, then rushing around to get yourself (and maybe your children) out the door? Let’s change that pattern & develop a morning routine that works for you!

WHY HAVE A MORNING ROUTINE?

Why have a morning routine?
*it sets the tone for your day
*it reduces anxiety & stress
*it boosts productivity & focus
*it helps you focus on your goals & priorities before the busy-ness of the day sets in
*it makes you healthier

According to Benjamin Spall and Michael Xander, authors of MY MORNING ROUTINE:

“The way you spend your morning has an outsized effect on the rest of your day. The choices we make during the first hour or so of our morning determines whether we have productivity and peace of mind for the rest of the day, or whether it will clobber us over the head. . . .”

“If you don’t dip into your inner reservoirs of energy, focus, and calm first thing, you won’t stand a chance. Start your morning with intentionality, and you can then bring these “wins” with you into the rest of your day.”

Let’s get started!

ROUTINES

So – what is a routine anyway? Routines are things that you do on a regular basis and that you have to intentionally practice. You might have to do them a certain number of times before they become “automatic” to you. It often helps to set a reminder on your phone or to leave post-it notes around to remind you to practice the routine

The authors of My Morning Routine share several people’s morning routines as examples. Another great resource is Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning. Hal suggests six different categories of activities to include in a morning routine. He uses the acronym SAVERS to help remember all six categories.

S = Silence
A = Affirmations
V = Visualization
E = Exercise
R = Reading
S = Scribing (writing)

You might change or adapt your morning routines throughout your life (or even throughout the year). For example, as a teacher, I have a very different morning routine during the school year (when I have to be at work by 7:15 a.m.) than I do during my summer break. If you have kids, your morning routine will be very different from that of someone who does not have kids (or no longer has kids living at home).

You have to decide what appeals to you, what you want to include, what is important for you to do in YOUR morning routine. The following suggestions are just that — suggestions. Pick and choose one or two things to try, then add on or change as you see fit.

Another tip: YOU decide the amounts of time you want to devote to different aspects of your routine. I will share some tips, but you need to choose what might work best for you!

As you read through the categories that follow and think about what might work for you, keep these guidelines in mind:

GUIDELINES FOR PLANNING YOUR MORNING ROUTINE

*YOU choose the amount of time to spend on each category. You might also consider spending a brief time on a category, such as reading, and then spending more time reading later in the day.

*Switch the order of the categories to best suit your needs. For example, maybe you want to spend some time reading or exercising BEFORE taking time for silence.

*Plan backward from the time you need to leave your home. Think about how long each part of your routine might take.

*If you are getting kids ready to leave the house in the morning, factor in more time than what you think you will need.

*If you are not getting enough sleep at night (which varies for everyone), work on going to bed just 5 minutes earlier every night until you hit your “sweet spot”.

*When the alarm goes off, DO NOT HIT SNOOZE! Go ahead and hop out of bed. Well, maybe hopping is a little too ambitious, but at least get out of bed as if you are ready to take on the day!

*Other than the apps listed in the Miracle Morning categories below, try to avoid using your phone. If you must use it, at least try to avoid work emails and social media until you have had time to do the most important parts of your morning routine.

*Turn on some lights OR play music OR turn on the morning news (but only if it is not a stressor or a distraction). Just like hopping out of bed when the alarm goes off, this sends the message to your body and your brain that you are up and ready to take on the day. Turning on a news station sometimes helps to remind you that other people are awake too!

NOTE: this may not be an option for you if you want other people to continue to sleep! You also might want to postpone turning on anything with sound until after you do the Silence part of your routine.

*Open your blinds or curtains or step outside for a deep breath of fresh air. Just like the lights/music/news tip above, this may not be an option if you want others to continue to sleep.

*Make your bed – unless someone else is still in it!

*Wash your face or splash water on your face and then look in the mirror and tell yourself that it’s going to be an amazing day! (It may sound silly, but it really works!)

*Diffuse essential oils or light a scented candle – if that is something you enjoy and if it brings you calm and focus.

*Hydrate! Drink hot lemon water, water, tea or coffee.

Here are some tips for incorporating Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning SAVERS into your routine.

SILENCE

Spend the first few minutes of your routine just sitting in silence and doing some deep breathing. The whole idea here is to start your day in a calm, focused state of mind. I also think of this as a time when I just listen.

How long? Try for 1 minute at first, and build up to 5 minutes or more!

Some ideas:
*say a prayer of gratitude or ask for guidance and direction for the day
*try meditation
*try a guided meditation app such as Headspace or Calm

AFFIRMATIONS

You become what you tell yourself. If you are always telling yourself that you are no good at something, guess what happens? Likewise, if you tell yourself things like, “I am strong. I am confident. I share joy with everyone I meet,” then you will begin to believe those things and will act accordingly. This might sound a little silly (similar to looking in the mirror and telling yourself it’s going to be a great day), but it really works!

Choose some affirmations from this site. You might just choose 3-5 affirmations to start. Write them down and read them out loud during your Affirmation time. Then, try to review them throughout your day. Change your affirmations as often as you like.

VISUALIZATION

Some people create a vision board, basically a collage of images that reflect their dreams and goals. If that appeals to you, create your own board on paper (using your own pictures or online images).

If vision boards are not your thing, you can just spend a minute or so visualizing your entire day from start to finish. Imagine yourself in all of the different settings you will be in on this day and imagine going through your day as your best self. Watch THIS VIDEO to see how athletes use visualization!

EXERCISE

Some people love to exercise first thing in the morning. Some people hate it! Even if you are not interested in doing a full workout routine in the morning, try doing something for just a few minutes to get your body moving.

Some ideas for quick morning workouts:
*Yoga with Adriene
*7 Minute Workout
*Blogilates
*Craig Ballentyne’s Turbulence Training metabolic resistance workouts
*see my PINTEREST BOARD for more ideas!

READING

Spend a few minutes reading something that inspires you. It could be a daily devotional, a Bible study passage, or just 10 pages from a book that helps you to be better and do better.

Some suggestions:

*Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis

*The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Freeman

*Deep Work by Cal Newport

*You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero

*Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

*The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

SCRIBING (WRITING)

The idea here is to write something that inspires and empowers you for the day ahead. There are many options for this writing. Some people keep a gratitude journal and list five things they are grateful for every day. Some people like to keep lists of goals or dreams or prayers.

Another form of writing is called Morning Pages. I learned about Morning Pages in Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way. Julia explains the process HERE.

WANT MORE IDEAS?

In addition to the Miracle Morning categories, you might consider adding some of these activities. (And remember that some of these activities could also be done later in the day as part of your afternoon or evening routine.)

*Take one day a week to set goals for yourself. Think about areas of your life such as personal (your own health or emotional well-being), marriage/relationship, parenting, career, financial, spiritual. Set some long-term goals, then identify short-term goals that will lead to the completion of your long-term goal.

*In the morning, check your short-term goals and set ONE goal for the day. This should be a goal that is helping you to improve some area of your life – not a “things to do” or “errands to run” kind of goal. What is one thing that would make you feel as if you are making progress on one of your bigger goals?

*Do a “brain dump” of things you would like to do today. Some of these items may come to mind while you are exercising or writing your daily pages.

*Check your things to do list and set up your time in “blocks”. For instance:
commute/work – 7:15 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.
errands – 4:15 – 5:15 p.m.
dinner prep – 5:15 – 6 p.m.
dinner with family – 6 – 6:30 p.m.
homework and bedtime routine – 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.; etc.

*Spend a few minutes (at least 10) working on some project BESIDES your day job. For teachers, this might involve doing some small task related to National Board certification, working towards a master’s degree or other continuing education, developing a product for Teachers Pay Teachers or for an Etsy shop. 10 minutes a day keeps your momentum going towards a larger goal. (This could also be done at another time of the day.)

*Think about how you could send love out into the world — call or text someone to let them you know are thinking about them.

*When you are ready to shower, use good smelling products that make you happy!

*Try to leave enough time to shower/dress without feeling frazzled.

*Eat something for breakfast. OR save yourself some time and try intermittent fasting!

*If you have an Amazon Echo, consider using Alexa flash briefing to get weather and news highlights.

Here is how you might structure your SAVERS and other parts of your morning routine:

Wake up at 5 a.m.
Silence – 5 min.
Affirmations – 2 min.
Visualization – 3 min.
Exercise – 15 min.
Reading – 5 min.
Scribing – 15 min.
Schedule your day – 5 min.
Work on non-day job project – 10 min.
Shower & dress; prep for the day – 45 min.
Send love to the world (via text, email, quick note, phone call) – 5 min.

I hope that these tips have helped you think about how to structure your own morning routine! Email me at stillteachingstilllearning@gmail.com if you have any questions or if you need some encouragement!

MAKING A “PARADIGM SHIFT” WITH STUDENTS

When I think about the importance of building student relationships, I think back to my third year of teaching.

That year I had a student named “Garrison” (names have been changed to protect privacy). I did not like this boy. He was passive aggressive, refused to do any work, and just sat there and grinned at me as if to say, “You can’t make me do anything” (which was pretty much true). Somehow that got on my nerves more than if he had openly defied me. He had no interest in making friends, no interest in anything we studied, no interest in being at school. I was not used to seeing that in the fourth grade.

I also had to confront my own racism. Even though I didn’t think I was racist, I needed to examine myself to see if unconscious racist attitudes might be behind my resentment of Garrison’s refusal to do any work and the beginning of my not caring about him or what he did.

One day I was telling my dad (who was very ill at the time) about this boy and how I had no idea what to do with him and that I was just giving up on him as a student. I had decided that we would just make our way through the year together with him getting bad grades and me not caring. I was failing at teaching this child. My dad looked at me and said, “You only fail when you give up. Please don’t ever give up on a child.” Knowing my dad’s belief in the value of every human life, I decided to try something different.

I started setting aside time to talk to Garrison every day. Not to fuss, not to give him the list of assignments he needed to do — just to talk. (He was suspicious at first, but I persisted.)

I asked him about his family, I asked him about what he liked to do at home after school, I asked him if there were any sports teams or musicians or movie stars he especially liked.

Little by little, I learned a lot about Garrison and actually started thinking that he was a great kid who was misunderstood. I learned that his parents were divorced and that his dad lived in another state with his two older brothers. He had moved here with his younger brother and his mom, who had family in the area. I learned how much he missed his dad and his brothers.

One day, I was driving home from school when I noticed a kid on the sidewalk, walking toward me. I recognized the jacket. It was Garrison. I saw that he was walking along, carrying a grocery bag and holding the hand of a small child. I slowed the car, rolled down the window and called “hello” to Garrison.

The look on his face was priceless. I don’t know when I have seen a bigger smile on the face of a child. He grinned at me, waved, yelled, “Hi, Ms. Smith!”

We had a brief conversation — he introduced his baby brother (about two years old) and said they were on their way home from the grocery store and they were going to fix dinner before his mom got home. I said goodbye and heard him say, “Bye! See you tomorrow!”

I drove on, wondering what just happened? I was driving to pick up my 2-year-old daughter from daycare. A student that I taught was clearly in charge of a 2-year-old little brother. I knew that he had walked about a half mile to a small neighborhood grocery store, with that little brother, and was now walking home. I would cook dinner for my family when I got home. Garrison was apparently doing the same for his family.

Suddenly, I had what Stephen Covey called a “paradigm shift” in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I saw Garrison in a completely new light: a strong, capable young man.

So our conversations changed. We still talked about whatever he wanted to talk about, but I also started talking to him more about his strengths and encouraged him to use that strength for academic work. I kept telling him I was not giving up on him, that I believed in him, that I knew he was capable (probably to convince myself as much I was trying to convince him).

I wish I could say that all of this completely transformed Garrison and that he turned into a model student. That did not happen, but he DID start putting a lot more effort into his work, finishing assignments, asking for help and for feedback.

My father died that year, after a brief illness. I was devastated. My class wrote me sympathy notes, but the most meaningful, heartfelt one came from Garrison who said he understood missing your dad and that he was praying for me.

On the last day of school, Garrison cried as we said goodbye. I did not see him again. I heard that he moved to live with his dad again. I hope that it was a good move and that his life was better for it. I know that my teaching and the way I look at kids was changed forever because of Garrison.

Another paradigm shift story — a couple of years later, I had a student named “Danielle.” While she was a sweet, loving child, she rarely completed homework and did not often complete classwork. She had a severe case of learned helplessness and drove me crazy with her “neediness.”

We were going on a big field trip to the mountains of North Carolina. The trip was rather expensive. We were raising money for scholarships and had a pretty good “bank” of scholarship money.

I had also talked to my students about the expense of the trip and suggested that they do extra chores at home or for relatives so that they could earn part of their way toward the trip. To my delight, several students actually did do that.

We were a couple of weeks away from the trip and Danielle had not returned her permission slip or any money toward the trip. I knew that she had a difficult financial situation (she was being raised by an elderly grandmother who worked in a fast food restaurant), so we were prepared to give Danielle a full scholarship.

I spoke with Danielle privately about this and assured her that all she needed to do was to return the permission slip. She told me that she would have the money and would bring it on Monday (the deadline to pay). I was skeptical, so I told her again that the permission slip was all we needed. I also jotted a note to myself to call her grandmother and tell her the same information.

But on the Monday payment deadline, Danielle arrived at school with a big smile on her face. She pulled out a bag of crumpled dollar bills and the signed permission slip. She was paying for the trip in full. She then proudly reminded me that I had told the kids to find a way to earn some money for the trip. Her uncle had a part-time job sweeping out movie theaters on Saturdays and Sundays. For the past three weeks, she had been getting up early to go with him to help and he gave her part of the money they earned. She had earned every dollar for that trip.

I was stunned. I remember that I could not even speak. All I could do was give her a big hug. She was so proud of herself, but not half as proud as I was.

I don’t think I need to tell you that, of all my students, Danielle enjoyed the trip the most. She had “skin in the game,” so to speak.

After that experience, I took a different approach to the learned helplessness. I had private conversations with Danielle to let her know how smart and strong and capable she was, and that I wanted her to apply that to her work and give it a try before asking for help. She did. She made great strides in reading that year, finishing the year at just slightly below grade level. But her math skills took a huge jump and she ended the year on solid grade level.

NEVER doubt what your students can do. And use everything you learn about them to remind them of just how strong and smart and capable they really are.

8 Tips for Building Relationships Throughout the School Year

Now that you are well into the school year, how do you continue to build relationships with students?

First – here is something to think about. It’s one thing to say we’re going to build relationships with kids, but Jennifer Hogan challenges us to do something even more important: think about whether you want to build relationships with certain kids. You can read her post
HERE.

One thing I would add — you cannot be afraid of the kids you teach. If you are afraid of a student, work on that first, THEN work on building a relationship with the student.

If you have the WANTING to build a relationship part down, here are 8 suggestions.

1 – Notice your students. Notice their facial expressions and body language. Ask how they are feeling or if they want to talk about something that might be bothering them. Make sure you are really SEEING them.

It’s easy to notice the kids who demand attention (especially if they’re doing that in negative ways), but what about the kids who are always doing the right thing? What about the ones who wait quietly when others are still being disruptive? What about the kids who put their best effort and energy into their work, every single day? A simple “I notice that you . . . “ private conversation goes a long way.

2 – Speaking of brief conversations, try having some with each of your students at odd moments of the day. I know that there do not seem to be any odd moments, but try keeping a sticky note of two or three names and try to find a minute or two to check in with just those kids.

Ask them how things are going in school, outside of school, if there is anything they are especially excited about in their life right now, etc. It may take a few of these brief conversations to get some students to really talk to you.
But it is so powerful when you find some nugget of information that will help you to incorporate that student’s interests or information into your teaching.

3 – Continue (or start) greeting kids at your classroom door every day when they enter your class. Just smile, say “good morning”, “I’m glad you’re here”, and any verbal greetings that are comfortable for you.

These verbal greetings actually make you have a positive attitude toward the child you are greeting (even if you did not have such a positive attitude toward them when you saw them). Bonus points for incorporating some sort of handshake/high five/hug type of greeting!

4 – If some child is getting on your last nerve: try to find ONE THING about them that you like or appreciate. Try to focus on that one thing.

Thank the child for it (“thank you for cleaning up your area every single day”, “thank you for working with ____ on that project”, “thank you for staying focused and finishing that assignment”). Mention it in front of the class, if you and the student are comfortable with that, and if it’s appropriate to share.

5 – Try to schedule a time to have lunch with each student. I usually allow them to invite one friend if they want to do that. During this time, we just talk and I always learn so much.

My school tends to have meetings during lunchtime (PLC, etc.), so I can only schedule these lunches once or twice a week. It takes several weeks to get to everyone, but it pays off during the rest of the year.

6 – Examine your own biases. We all have them and have to fight against them. Any time you have a reaction to a child or to a situation, stop and check yourself. Does your reaction have anything to do with your attitudes toward the child’s race, parents, ethnicity, gender, or sexual identity? What can you do to work on this? Talking honestly to a trusted colleague or coach might be one solution.

7 – Try to spend two minutes daily with a child who needs you in a different way. Choose just one child (preferably the one with whom you’re having the most trouble). These two minutes could be consecutive or it could be one minute at two different times of the day.

What do you talk about? Anything except all the things going “wrong” with the child. No disciplining, pep-talking, etc. Try to follow the child’s lead, conversation-wise. Ask the child how things are going – at school, at home. Ask them what they like to do after school, on weekends. Who is someone they like spending time with? What do they want to be when they grow up? Why? You get the idea.

Ask open-ended questions, asked with a genuine desire to know the answer. I promise you that you will gain a different perspective on the child.

8 – See them as you want them to be — not as they are. I noticed that I often referred to different kids in my class as “kind” or “thoughtful.” So I started trying to apply those same words when talking to kids who aren’t always that way. Whenever they do give you a glimmer of being “kind” or “thoughtful”, notice it and say something! The more you focus on the good, the more of it you will find.

I close with a link to one of my favorite TED talks of all time – “Every Kid Needs a Champion” by Rita Pierson.

I hope it will inspire you to keep building those relationships throughout the year!

Leaving the Classroom

You will think about leaving the classroom. It might happen after a few years of classroom teaching, or even just one year if it’s a tough one. Even if it’s still a mostly satisfying place to be and even if it feels like where you belong, you might wonder if there is something else out there that you should be doing.

My goal in this post is not to talk you out of leaving the classroom. I want to provide some tips and encouragement for your situation.

First, I get it. I’ve been there. I have been a classroom teacher for 21 years, but I left the classroom to serve as a coach for teachers for seven years. Despite those 21 years in the classroom, about every three to four years, I considered leaving the classroom and doing something else.

Let’s be clear. It’s not usually the students that make us want to leave. It could be any combination of these reasons:

lack of support from your team or your administration
lack of support from your students’ family community
a particularly challenging student or group of students
lack of resources
resentment about working so many hours for so little pay
burn out
feeling ineffective and helpless to make any changes

Some things to consider before you leave the classroom:

First, make a list of what you like about you classroom teaching job and what you do not like. A few times, when I compared my lists, I realized that staying in the classroom was what I really wanted to do. A few other times, I made a change.

Are you just tired of where you are? If you are feeling “stale” at what you are doing, could you make a change such as switching grade levels? How about transferring to another school in your district or teaching in another district? Either one of these would help re-energize you because you will have to learn something new and have to change up how you are currently doing your routine tasks.

Speaking of feeling “stale” — if you are not learning and growing and feeling supported by other teachers and the administration at your current school, consider a change of schools before leaving education altogether.

I have known so many teachers who were reluctant to do this (moving is never fun), but now claim that it was the best decision they ever made. Think about whether this might be the right decision for you.

Are you enjoying the planning more than the actual teaching and being with students daily? Consider searching for some kind of job where you help create curriculum or learning materials. Opening your own store on Teachers Pay Teachers or Etsy is a great way to get started and to see if this is something you really want to do.

Are you enjoying time with students? Is there some other role where you could still work with students, but not be a classroom teacher?

This might involve getting another certification or degree. Many people find it very satisfying to be an exceptional education teacher, an academically gifted teacher, or a teacher for ELL (English Language Learner) students.

Keep in mind that these other jobs are not necessarily less stressful — they are just different. Each group of students has its own challenges, paperwork, etc. But having a smaller “caseload” of students can be more rewarding, so it’s worth thinking about.

Consider a job where you train adults. This might be a coaching role in your school or district (which also may require another certification or degree).

But there are adult education opportunities in the private sector as well. Many companies and organizations employ their own training teams for various topics.

You could also search for an educational consulting job and consider leading professional development for teachers in different schools. Some cautions with this: adults have different learning needs. You will need to study this topic and consider whether that is something you want to do. Also, some of these types of jobs might involve travel, which may not fit your current life situation.

Would you like to impact the profession in an administrative role or a policy role? This will no doubt require you to go back to school, but investigate the options in your area. Many colleges and universities are working to revamp their programs and make them more accessible and “do-able” for classroom teachers.

How about teaching at the college level and training future teachers? This, too, will require more education on your part, but your experience as a classroom teacher will bring enormous credibility to your work with student teachers.

Then, there is always the option of leaving education altogether. After careful consideration of your options and what you think will really make you happy, this may be the best choice for you.

While I hate to even suggest it, I have known many people who are much happier in an entirely different career. They miss the students and the camaraderie of working in a school environment, but doing something different was the right choice for them.

The bottom line to think about — what will make you happy AND earn an income? Think about what really gives you joy in your current work situation and how you might be able to use that and replicate it in some other place or in some other way. Share your gifts with the world and enjoy what you do.

Please share your questions or stories with me!

7 TIPS FOR LONGEVITY IN TEACHING (OR ANY CARE-GIVING PROFESSION)

I have been teaching for 28 years, 21 of them in an elementary classroom. Even I can’t believe that I have “lasted” this long. Avoiding burnout is key.

With all of the demands and the stress of teaching, I have often been asked exactly what I do to keep myself going and to stay in teaching for so long. Here are seven of my best tips.

1 – Amplify the positive — in your students, in your principal/leader’s strengths, in your colleagues, and in policies or practices. When you look for the good, you will find it. You will find plenty of negatives, often without even looking.

But if you stay focused on what is the good in this situation or in this person, you will learn and grow and find something positive from it.

This is not to encourage toxic positivity. It is just having an awareness that yes, there are negative things (and they often need to be addressed somehow), but there are always positives too. If the negatives far outweigh the positives for you, it’s time to make a change for your own health.

2 – Be an encourager — this will follow from amplifying the positive. When you do find the good, share it with others who need some encouragement.

I find that what you “send out” to others tends to come back to you. Encouragement can be in the form of a verbal comment, a post-it note, an email, a hug, a cooked or baked treat — whatever is comfortable for you.

When I worked as an instructional coach, I would often leave a post-it note about something positive I saw in a teacher’s classroom (see #1 above).

I did this because I realize how “threatening” it can be to have someone you barely know (or someone in a perceived power role) come into your classroom, see what you are doing or what is happening, and then leave without saying anything or giving any feedback. So I just left a quick note and tried to follow up with more detailed feedback later.

When I returned to these classrooms, I would notice that every single teacher had the notes posted somewhere in their classroom where they would see them frequently.

It reminded me that we all need encouragement and positive feedback. If we don’t get it from those in “power”, we can still do that for each other. Try it and see how it affects you and other teachers around you.

3 – Keep learning more about your craft.

Read teacher books. Some of my favorites:
The Happy Teacher Habits by Michael Linsin
The Classroom Management Secret by Michael Linsin
I Wish My Teacher Knew by Kyle Schwartz
Your First Year – How to Survive & Thrive as a New Teacher by Todd Whitaker and others
Shifting the Balance by Jan Burkins & Kari Yates
The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo
The Writing Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo
Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You’d Had by Tracy Johnston Zager
Teaching Essentials by Regie Routman
Literacy Essentials by Regie Routman

Follow educational blogs or websites such as:
Edutopia
Scholastic
Learning for Justice
Math4Love
Youcubed
We Are Teachers
Smart Classroom Management
Responsive Classroom

Listen to teacher podcasts.

Attend an education conference (Ask if your school or district will pay the attendance fee. In this era of less funding for schools, it may not be possible but it doesn’t hurt to ask anyway! Plus, your leaders will see you as someone who is trying to learn and improve, which will only have positive effects for you.)

Try to find ONE good thing about every single professional development you attend (and you will probably find more if are looking. See tip #1 above.)

4 – Have some kind of daily quiet time. You can spend the time in prayer, in meditation, just sitting and taking deep breaths, reading something from an inspirational or devotional book — or a combination of all four! The amount of time does not matter as much as having some consistently quiet time where you just stop and listen.

5 – Engage in some kind of physical activity daily.

Just like with the quiet time suggestion above, the amount of time does not matter so much as the consistency.

Find something that you enjoy enough to actually do it, then schedule a time and stick to it.

Some examples: walking, jogging, yoga (find good videos on YouTube), Pilates or barre fitness (my favorite is Physique 57, weights or resistance training.

Exercise will relieve stress, clear your mind, help you to see situations and people in a more positive light, and will help you feel better about yourself.

6 – Eat healthier than you did yesterday. This might mean eating more fruits and vegetables, drinking more water, eating less sugar or processed food. Just do a little better than you did yesterday.

7 – Make a list of your favorite self-care activities and choose something from your list.
Here are 12 examples: take a warm bath, light a scented candle, take a walk in a favorite outdoor area, make a gratitude list, get (or give yourself) a manicure or pedicure, buy some fresh flowers, declutter some areas that is causing you stress, pet an animal, sit outside in a favorite space, listen to a favorite playlist, listen to a podcast that makes you laugh or inspires you, read something you enjoy.

I hope these tips will be helpful for you. I would love to hear your thoughts!

How I Got Started with Intermittent Fasting

I have been an intermittent faster for over a year. I’m sharing my story about how and why I got started with this healthy eating and wellness lifestyle in the hopes that it will help you as well.

First, a disclaimer. Do your homework — read about it first. I’m not a doctor and I am not offering medical advice. Intermittent fasting may not be the best approach for your particular needs. I am only sharing how I got started and how it works for me.

ONCE UPON A TIME . . .

I once heard a quote from Dr. Jerome Harste, a professor of education at Indiana University who said, “You must always assume that one of the pillars of your thinking is dead wrong.” While he was speaking about education in an entirely different context, that quote has stuck with me for many years.

When it comes to my eating habits, that quote comes to mind again. Let me explain.

When I was in middle school and high school, I did not like to eat breakfast until 10 or 11 a.m. My family typically ate dinner around 6 p.m., so I was “fasting” for about 16 – 17 hours per day.

That period of time in my life was when I felt the best, had the most energy, and maintained a healthy weight without much effort. (Okay, I was also a lot younger then, but I still remember how good I felt at that time!)

For years (like about 40 of them), I believed the popular nutritional idea that you need to eat 5-6 small meals per day to keep your metabolism high. I, like many people, fell for that idea since it seemed to make sense and also had some science behind it (or so I thought).

However, in addition to spending an obscene amount of time “prepping” all of these meals and snacks, I was losing energy and started slowly gaining weight. So I did what most people do — I cut calories and carbs even more, which did nothing to change things.

It should have occurred to me that this eating approach was not healthy for ME, based on the fact that I had low energy, was slowly gaining weight, and was obsessing about food. Then my thyroid levels dropped, which only made everything worse.

Every time I would mention my eating plan issues to friends, they would parrot the same advice that I was following, but I didn’t connect the dots to notice that these friends all struggled with maintaining their weight as well.

TIME FOR A CHANGE

Clearly, something needed to change. I refused to accept that I was getting older, everything was slowing down, blah blah blah. There had to be a better way. I started seeing a naturopathic doctor who helped me increase the fats in my diet and reduce the amount of gluten and processed foods I was eating.

I also started doing my own research. I heard about Amanda Tress and her “Faster Way to Fat Loss” program on someone’s blog. I was interested in learning more, so I went to her site and noticed a term called “intermittent fasting.”

At first, I thought, “Fasting? I could never do that. That would be too hard. It would shut my metabolism down. I would obsess about food. I would probably gain weight because I would be so hungry at the end of my fast, etc., etc.”

But — after reading her article, and remembering the time in my life when I actually was intermittently fasting — I realized that this approach might work for me. At least it was worth a try. (By the way, Amanda has an amazing eating plan and workout program. Check it out here

HOW I STARTED & THE RESULTS I GOT

So I started. At first, I only fasted for about 14 hours a day, noting the time when I “closed my eating window”, i.e., stopped eating at night, then “opened my eating window” 14 hours later.

Much of the fasting actually happened overnight. When I got used to that and was feeling great, I then slowly increased my fasting time. Now I regularly fast for 16-18 hours daily.

During my fast, I drink only water and black coffee. I learned about the importance of a “clean fast” from Gin Stephens’ blog post.

Guess what happened? I effortlessly lost 10 lbs (which was my goal), my thyroid hormones balanced themselves, and I have tons more energy. Even my hair and skin look better and healthier, which I attribute to autophagy (see below).

Best of all — I save tons of time by not preparing all those “mini-meals” and snacks for my teaching day. I basically take a snack to school and then eat dinner later at home.

Eating small meals all day long was one of those “pillars of thinking” that was dead wrong. At least for me.

Now I notice other people with their containers of food and how they eat every few hours. I also notice that every single one of them has weight issues of some type (either truly overweight or just highly conscious of weight).

I realize this approach may not be right for everyone, but I encourage you to look into it and see if it might be a good fit for you.

RESOURCES

My favorite resources for learning more:

*Delay, Don’t Deny by Gin Stephens

*AC: The Power of Appetite Correction by Bert Herring

*The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung

Updated in 2022 to add the following:

*Fast, Feast, Repeat by Gin Stephens

*Intermittent Fasting Transformation by Cynthia Thurlow

*Podcasts: I highly recommend Intermittent Fasting Podcast – with Melanie Avalon and Gin Stephens. I found this podcast when Gin and Melanie were on their second episode and I have been listening ever since. They give tons of information and helpful tips. They also discuss intermittent fasting research and explain it in a user-friendly way.

On their website, they include links to various studies in their show notes for each podcast.

Gin has also started a new podcast called Intermittent Fasting Stories.

OTHER TIPS

Within your eating window, make every effort to eat 8 – 10 fruit/vegetable servings. I know it sounds like a lot, but with each serving being only ½ cup, it’s not as hard as it sounds.

healthy

Exercise. In some way. Every day. I am a fan of brisk walking, using cardio machines, yoga, Pilates, and weight training.

Great workouts I recommend: Faster Way to Fat Loss workouts, Physique 57, and Chalene Johnson’s PiYo.

I started using exercise videos way back in 1986 and became a huge fan of the FIRM videos. There have been lots of changes in that company over the years, but the original FIRM workouts, designed by Anna & Cynthia Benson, remain favorites of mine.

(Try to ignore the hairstyles, etc. It was the 80’s. Everything was big and puffy. Except the people in the videos!)

SOME BENEFITS OF INTERMITTENT FASTING:

*balanced hormones, which helps make your stored body fat more accessible for fat burning

*lower insulin levels & higher human growth hormone levels, which leads to fat burning and muscle toning

*cellular repair & removal of waste material from cells. This is called autophagy, which protects against disease.

*reduced inflammation in the body, which slows the aging process and helps prevent disease

*improves heart health factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels

*may help to protect against neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

For more tips about intermittent fasting, check out my board on Pinterest.

If you try intermittent fasting, I would love to hear your story! Email me or comment below!

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