How I fought teacher burnout with good nutrition

"Doctor, I feel burned out at my job," I said to my physician, explaining that I felt great in the morning, but fired and grumpy by the afternoon. I usually left school, grabbed whatever I could find for dinner, and spent the evening glued to the sofa.

Already that day I had taught for eight hours, photocopied 200 sets of papers for my team, laminated letters for my bulletin board, attended a faculty meeting, and prepared manipulatives for the next day's math lesson. I had scarfed down lunch, and was planning to heat up a frozen dinner.

My doctor gave me a physical, and after the test results came in, called me to say, "Your afternoon feelings of fatigue are probably your body's response to burning the candle at both ends. Better nutrition may help you feel more energetic."

Determined to revive my zest for teaching and to foil fatigue, I reminded myself that I had gone into teaching because I love kids and am devoted to improving the quality of education. "I'm not a quitter," I suddenly said aloud, and stopped at the local bookstore where I hit the healthy-living section. "I worry about my students' nutrition," I mused, "but I've been neglecting my own." What foods could help boost my energy?

According to several books, in an otherwise healthy person, it can help to stock up on certain vitamins in the body such as B vitamins. Defidendes in [B.sub.1] (thiamine), [B.sub.2] (riboflavin), [B.sub.3] (niacin), [B.sub.5] (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine) [B.sub.12], and folic add can make a person feel tired. I vowed to stop by the grocery store and fill my cart with foods rich in B vitamins.

A lack of iron, I learned, may sap a body's energy Because my iron level was borderline, my doctor had suggested I take a multivitamin plus iron. The books I read recommended eating iron-rich foods such as lentils, dark meat, peas, leeks, broccoli, spring greens, watercress, radishes, butter beans, raisins, prunes, and some berries. I'd heard that dark meat and lentils were iron-rich, but radishes and raisins? This was news to me.

To battle fatigue. I had typically reached for a mid-afternoon sweet treat. Big mistake. Every book warned that high-sugar foods cause a surge in energy followed by a drop. Coming down from a sugar rush can cause irritability and fatigue. "When I get to school tomorrow," I promised myself, "I'll throw out the candy bars stashed in my desk. If I need a boost, I'll eat a piece of fruit instead."

As I continued to read, I learned more about the foods that can help maintain higher energy levels. They were foods I enjoyed, but didn't get may fill of on a regular basis. I needed to eat more whole-grain breads; long-cooking oats; kidney, pinto, and lima beans; apples, pears, plums, peaches; sweet potatoes; pasta; most vegetables; lean proteins; and low-fat dairy products.

It has been a year since I started watching my diet and exercising to combat stress and burnout, and it's made all the difference in my life - in and out of school. Although I'm still sleepy at night, I don't experience the lags and lows I used to. I wake in the morning eager to go. Better nutrition has worked for me. It's food for thought.

Joy Williams is a teacher in Austin, Texas.

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