I'm a primary school teacher and find it hard to eat healthily and have enough energy during work. Often I'll have breakfast, cereal bar or fruit at break then sandwich, yogurt, and fruit for lunch. But after work around half four my energy crashes and so I'm desperate to get home and eat.

What do you eat?

Hi Lindsay

I take sandwiches for lunch and always have a plate of soup too - that keeps me going for most of the afternoon. I take fruit and try and keep it until about 4pm - a bunch of grapes or some blueberries are good.

I wonder if you had porridge for breakfast it might keep you going for longer, and you could save the cereal bar for the afternoon? There's a good "Porridge" thread on here with some interesting ideas!

My downfall is when I come home and start faffing around wondering what to have for dinner. That's when I want to break into crisps etc!

Hi Lindsay, I'm a secondary school teacher (back to school tomorrow after Easter hols ) and as Fiona suggests, I have a big bowl of porridge every morning. I add all sorts to it - dried cranberries, raisins, pumpkin & sunflower seeds, cinnamon, dried coriander, ground ginger.... I cook it with water and then put fruit on the top... goji berries, blueberries,... whatever fruit I can find! After that lot at 7am I'm rarely hungry till lunchtime! A lot of staff take a banana for break. I just have a wholemeal roll for lunch - something lo cal no butter, and then at the end of the day have a flask of tea and a banana and it stops me getting hungry! Hope that helps!!

Hi
I'm not a teacher but I work at a secondary as a designer/IT Tech/photographer etc (I too go back to work in the morning). I have a bowl of all bran and soya milk for breakfast (around 100g of all bran) which keeps me going a fair while even if I'm whizzing round school fixing things (it's a large school). I always make sure I have 1-2 plums mid-morning then for lunch I take a smallish sandwich tub with red pepper, mushrooms (sliced raw), peas, sweetcorn and around 50g (dry weight) of wholewheat pasta which pushed me through to the end of the day at 4.30. I then go to the gym for around a 2 hour workout (cardio + weights) which gives me even more energy even though I'm burning it up through the exercise. Finally I have a cooked dinner around 7.30 so I'm done n dusted by 8pm.

I've found that starting to take supplements has helped my energy levels too. In addition to the normal multi-vits, omega 3, cod liver oils etc I take a supplement called L-Carnitine. Carnitine is the chemical that body normally uses to release the stored energy from the body's fat cells and then transport it so it can be used. Most of our normal Carnitine levels come from red meats but with today's healthy eating society ("don't eat too much red meat" etc) we tend not to have enough Carnitine and so the body can't get at the energy locked in the fat cells and instead, usually takes it from our lean muscle mass. Taking Carnitine allows this energy reserve to be used and not only causes weight loss but also increased energy levels because the body has now found that reservoir of energy we normally find hard to get rid of. I found my weight on the scales had stuck for 2-3 weeks (although I was losing inches) but since starting taking L-Carnitine 2 weeks ago I've lost 5lbs on the scales and I've got more energy!

Daz

That sounds interesting Darren - I think I might try that. Do you only get it it red meat, or are there other foods that contain it? I'm asking as I don't eat meat at all, and since I joined THC have more or less given up cheese. I do have soya milk on my porridge every morning though - don't know if that's any good?

Hi Fiona
Apparently the primary sources of dietary Carnitine are red meats and dairy. Check out this site
http://www.vitalhealthzone.com/nutrition/amino-aci ds/carnitine.html

It's just one of many sources of info on Carnitine. Some sites say it doesn't work and some say it does. I think the ones who say it does are tending to use newer data as more research is done on the role of Carnitine. I know one thing, it's working for me! Coupled with plenty of exercise of course.

Daz

... I'm definitely carnitine deficient -

"A deficiency of carnitine may present with the following symptoms:
confusion
obesity "

Thanks for the link Darren. I'm sure I must be deficient and it's a bit worrying if that affects heart health as my family has a history of heart disease. I'll definitely look into taking supplements, as the only source I have just now is the occasional tofu meal and putting Shoyu on rice or pasta.


I knew there would be a downside!

Thanks for the replies guys.

I know lots of people find porridge great but I hate the texture.

But today I had some left over butternut squash risotto for lunch and that kept me going till I got home at 6pm.

I track my calories on weightlossresources.

Hi,

I am a reception teacher, so I'm always on the go.

Just a few suggestions to stop the hunger pangs. Try and have a little protein in every meal. I eat fruit and a handful of nuts for breakfast, have some fruit mid morning, avocado and hummus for lunch with fruit for pudding and I always have extra dried fruit etc for those mid afternoon sugar lows. Finally I have fish and veg or something similar for dinner.

I also take quite a few supplements, just to make sure I get all that I need, Glucosamine and Cod liver oil, Vitamin B complex, multivitamins and Chromium.

Good luck

I am also interested in this Carnitine thing, as I am not a meat fan, especially not red meat and dairy is often fatty and so it doesn't fit into a low fat diet in any quantity. I might give it a try. Even if it doesn't help me lose weight, if it sorted out the 'confusion' issue, it would be worth a fortune to me! I'm only 39 and despite not eating too much red meat I have been convinced for some time that I am devloping BSE!
I was in a permanent primary post until recently but I left to go supply. My main problems were and still are not making the time to eat. Often I will get absorbed in one thing or another at school, as you do, and find it is 1pm before you've even made it to the staffroom!

I try and keep a portion of the previous night's tea to heat up in the microwave. Failing that, a healthy sandwich on wholemeal bread with loads of salad in, and a bag of dried apricots and brazil nuts or an orange before I leave school at the end of the day boosts my energy levels enough to see me through to tea time.

Like you Darren - it I make it to the gym after work, I feel great! It's just the effort of walking up the stairs to the gym that's hard!!

Aha - I knew I'd been mis-quoted in today's Body & Soul - naughty Times - did I give you poetic licence to alter my words?????