u/Specialist_Push5624

Yesterday I started therapy because my eating has felt out of control. She told me I should try to identify my emotions causing me to overeat and to ask myself what the food is giving me besides nutrition.

I am really struggling with this because I can’t think of any emotions. The emotions usually come after eating and it’s feelings of disgust towards myself, embarrassment, and like I’m out of alignment with my body and values because I can’t just keep it together. Before eating I can’t even try to come up with an emotion because all I’m thinking of is food.

Today I ate a protein shake followed by 8oz grilled chicken breast with grilled veggies and 2 fried eggs, followed by frozen yogurt, then an empanada, then 2 crumbl cookies. I don’t know. That was all within 4 hour span, 3600 calories. No emotions. On top of that I’m still not even full. If you handed me broccoli right now I’d eat it until my stomach physically couldn’t hold anymore. And then I’d go back for more after a few minutes.

Help??

I had the greatest mentor teacher when I was student teaching a few years ago. If it had not been for her, I probably would’ve never even started, let alone sustained, my teaching career.

Here are the two biggest lessons I learned that EVERY new teacher should take to heart.

1. Don’t stay late, don’t take work home. Personally, I always show up about 20-30 minutes early for prep. I also worked through lunch when I had no prep period. But I stayed, at most, 20 min past my contact hours. And that was rare. I usually was stepping out the door the second the clock struck 2:25. Keep things simple. Follow routines. Work when the kids work. Do NOT bring work home.
2. They’ll remember how you made them feel more than the content you taught them. This may be a controversial take, but do not get caught up on teaching everything perfectly. Do not tie yourself to data points or how closely you follow the standards. Focus on being a caring and empathetic role model in their lives. I really like Rita Pierson‘s ted talk.

That‘s it. I‘d also add they will feed off your energy, so try to focus your lessons not just on their interests but your own.

This is a really tough job but it can be extremely simple, fun, and rewarding if you let it.

Diabling feels like a strong word but like factually that’s how bad my issues with food are becoming.

On more than one occasion I’ve had to leave work early because food noise was so strong and affected my ability to focus or be a decent human so much that I had to leave.

I‘m pretty sure I’m not going to be able to go to work at all tomorrow because I can’t stand to be surrounded by all the noise and for fear of spending all my money buying tons of food.

I eat so much that I become exhausted and can’t be as active or productive I want to be. My clothes don’t fit anymore so it makes it hard to leave the house at all, practically and because of self shame and embarrassment.

I do not feel like myself at all. Not mentally, not physically, not socially.

I’ve become a shell of myself who isn’t as vibrant or happy and who is exploding in size and all I can do is eat.

I’m worried this will never end and before I know it I’m a My 600 lb Life star.

Help??

I used to carry a backpack with me to the gym before I started walking/biking there. I always kept in my backpack water, hairbrush, deodorant, some cash, and sometimes a change of clothes. But honestly never really brought much to the gym.

Now I just take my water bottle and purse. However I’m starting a new gym and will drive there again so could bring more with me.

I‘m wondering what you all take with you to the gym?

I am moving back in with my parents soon and already have a job lined up. I also know what area gym I want to go to.

The job is about 4 miles away from home, google says 1.5 hour walk. The gym is about the halfway point.

I was thinking maybe I’d walk to work, then walk to the gym after and then home from the gym?

Reason: obviously to get steps in, also because cars, gas, insurance, etc are expensive, especially if Ill mostly be staying in a 4 mile radius.

Cons: I do live in a cold state so I could see this being difficult to maintain when winter comes. Although I don’t like driving in the snow much either. And obviously if I’ll be on my feet so much of the day (including at work, where I’ll be standing but not exactly walking most of the day) I think maintaining a running habit might be more difficult.

Does this seem doable or like a bad/unsustainable idea?

I know the more obvious answer would be to run to work but that creates a big logistical problem as I’d have a backpack full of stuff to carry and obviously can’t show up to work sweaty and in run clothes

I am currently dealing with extreme hunger and don’t know how to handle it.

I have almost no food at home as it is, and I’m literally considering eating boiled eggs with peanut butter or protein powder mixed with sprite.

I am also considering going to the store and buy more food. This is not normal especially because I’ve already eaten 2200 calories of mostly whole foods today.

What’s causing this and how do I deal with it?

I gained a lot of resources during student teaching and my first couple years teaching, but most were tied to the schools specific curriculum and scope and sequence. I was doing ELA, and now I’ll be moving to a new school/district and bilingual ELA/SLA.

Im sure I can use some of my past lessons, but I have no info about the schools resources or curriculum with makes it a little hard to prepare in advance. I did email the principal about a scope and sequence but its been a week and haven’t received a response.

How can I prepare so I’m not totally lost on day 1?

Logistically, emotionally, socially, physically, financially, etc

Eating consistent meals is a piece of advice that I’ve heard regularly but I struggle to implement it. Most apps just track calories, bit I’m hoping for something with like meal and hunger timing and tracking, reminders, etc.

Does anyone know of an app like this?

Both are typical commercial gyms (think Crunch, EOS, LA fitness, etc). So overall they’re about the same quality. Both solid choices.

Gym A:

-8 min from home

-6 min from work

-Includes pool, hot tub, sauna, massage ($25/month) classes/inbody ($45/month)

-Next to Jewel, Panera, 7Brew

Gym B:

-6 min from work

-11 min from home

-Includes massage, sauna, classes, inbody ($25/month), women’s area, infrared yoga, tracking app ($40/month)

-Next to Menards, Chipotle, Dunkin

Option C would be both which I could see not being a terrible idea either.

TLDR: A or B

Yes, I’m definitely overthinking this. I don’t care. Which would you pick?

Both are typical commercial gyms (think Crunch, EOS, LA fitness, etc). So overall they’re about the same quality. Both solid choices.

Gym A:

-8 min from home

-6 min from work

-Includes pool, hot tub, sauna, massage ($25/month) classes/inbody ($45/month)

-Next to Jewel, Panera, 7Brew

Gym B:

-6 min from work

-11 min from home

-Includes massage, sauna, classes, inbody ($25/month), women’s area, infrared yoga, tracking app ($40/month)

-Next to Menards, Chipotle, Dunkin

Option C would be both which I could see not being a terrible idea either.

Yes, I’m definitely overthinking this. I don’t care. Which would you pick?

I noticed my watch was losing battery much quicker than usual this past week or so.

I charged it to 100% this morning (and Ibe been charging it basically daily bc it’s losing battery so much). It’s been 12 hours and it’s already at 60%.

It’s a vivoactive 5. I’ve tried turning it off and charging to 100% several times. I haven’t changed any settings but this is a new problem. The pulse ox is definitely off.

Is my watch broken? What else can I try? I’ve had it for 6 months

I will be moving soon and there is a Lifetime Fitness in my area (about 10 min/4 miles away).

The cost is $150 a month which is much more than I’ve ever paid for a gym membership.

Apparently there are several benefits to this gym, but I can’t really figure out if it’s worth it for me.

As far as affordability, I will be working full time (plus maybe also a second part time job) while living with my parents so I will have disposable income.

As far as use, I love the gym and could easily spend several hours there in a day. However, I really just lift and do cardio. I also do a lot of stretching and bodyweight stuff so a big turf area is nice. I don’t typically do classes or even swim while I’m at the gym. I used to be a member of EOS and there was nothing I felt like I was missing out on there.

If you’re a member of a luxury gym, do you like it? Is it worth the price? Why/why not?

I don’t know how to eat small meals. I have never in my life done that. I’m not a huge snacker either. If I were to eat “intuitively”, I would eat 1000 calorie meals 3-4 times a day.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a giant bowl of ice cream or four pounds of fruit and vegetables.

I know a lot of people eat small 400-600 calorie meals. I don’t really understand. I can’t eat 500 calories and be full. In fact its literally like any bite of food opens up this giant hole in my stomach and I actually become ravenous after eating something small.

I fasted for 24 hours because I thought maybe one meal a day would work for me. But that just led to me eating 2000 calories in 20 minutes and still not feeling satisfied. So I tried to go the balanced method but then I ate two big meals and was at 2000 calories by noon.

So why dont you just start with something small? You may ask. I CANT. If I eat something small it genuinely feels like a primal hunger comes over me and I eat whatever I can. I’m tired of binging on protein powder.

What can I do to break this pattern?