It's the end of July, and some teachers may be ready to start setting up their classroom and utilizing all of the wonderful materials they read and skills and tips learned in trainings attended all summer. Others, like me, may be in a panic thinking that I slacked off and only read one script and didn't update any unit plans nor did I continue reading and planning after attending an awesome training. One of my flaws as a teacher is that I am constantly comparing myself to others.
I had a fellow colleague my first few years of teaching who always made me feel like I wasn't doing enough for my students. This feeling has never left me. When I leave at 5:30 pm when my students do, am I doing enough? When I don't add extra trips and parties, am I doing enough? When I step back, I can clearly see that I am doing more than enough for these kids. Our performances and contest results validate that for me several times throughout the year. But, I still have this feeling in the back of my mind that I'm just not working hard enough.
Ten hour days and spending my own time and money shopping for supplies for plays is most definitely enough. Planning field trips and parties is definitely enough. The fact is: every teacher has their own style, and their own method of doing the work they need to do in order to achieve their individual goals. As teachers, we need to stop judging other teachers for what we see them do, or don't do. We need to support one another even more now than ever. So, when your colleague leaves at the end of contract time while you're still working, don't judge. When your colleague stays until 7 every night, don't judge. How about we all work towards asking one another for help or offering it? I admit, I have a hard time asking for help, but I really appreciate it when someone does so.
I promise to work harder for my students AND my colleagues this year.
Let's get ready for another school year! (Or take more time to relax before getting ready!)
Whatever sprinkles your doughnut!
Cheers,
Kasey
Monday, July 23, 2018
Friday, July 20, 2018
Plastic is EVERYWHERE
I dare you to pay attention to the products you use for 24 hours. I triple dog dare you. How much do you throw away in an average day? How much do you recycle? Do you know what happens to your trash when you put it on the curb?
Do you even care?
I grew up in the late 80s and 90s, and I remember learning about Reduce Reuse Recycle. I remember turning off light switches constantly, making sure we didn't use too much water. Anyone else remember this, or is it just me, from my small town in Wisconsin the 90s? Have we lost our consciousness about how we are treating the Earth?
I watched this video produced by Buzzfeed a while back and I felt like her mission of producing ZERO TRASH was completely impossible. I still feel like it's impossible. I always want to have a more full recycle bin than the trash, but it's not. My city doesn't even recycle glass! I bring my own bags to the grocery store, but sometimes I stop on my way home. Or I don't bring them to Target or Walmart, or Old Navy. I use a grocery delivery service and ask for paper, but most of the time the grocery store is out of paper. My stash of plastic bags was embarrassing! I took them to Walmart and put them in the box they have at the entrance to recycle them, and I pray that they actually do recycle them and not just throw them in the dumpster in the back of the store.
It's all so overwhelming, but there are little things I realized I can do that will hopefully make a difference. The most recent trend in environmental conservation is banning the use of plastic straws. I don't really use straws at home, but we do go out to eat frequently, and I use straws then. Why? I don't need a straw. But, I bought some reusable, stainless steel straws. I use them with my water bottles and cups at home now. (In the summer heat, I always have a large cup of water near by.) However, I have yet to bring them with me when we go out to eat. Major fail on my part! Sorry, turtles! I promise to try harder.
I found that I also use a lot of plastic storage bags once, then throw them away. I bought some reusable bags from Amazon and so far they are great. One of them tore at the seal, but I super glued it back together and it's holding up well. I used the disposable ones to store the half of avocado I didn't use with my eggs, or the half of cucumber I didn't use in my salad. These reusable ones are saving us money on buying the disposable bags, and saving the amount of waste we throw out. The company that I bought the straws from was offering a deal to get a set of 15 mesh bags for free, so I added those to my cart, as well. I haven't used the mesh bags yet, but I bet they would be great for buying produce at the grocery store, or at the farmer's market. I might just use them when we go to the river on Sunday. I will put a link to these items at the end of this post.
Now that I only have a month of summer left, I feel like I didn't achieve much with the goal of eliminating plastic from our house. So many items are wrapped in plastic at the store (mushrooms! They come a recyclable container but are wrapped in plastic wrap!), and Amazon items come shipped wrapped in plastic. (Even the reusable stuff I bought above arrived wrapped in plastic!) Sometimes I wish I could run with a trash bag and pick up trash on the run but honestly I would be stopping so much that it wouldn't be a run. I know the more populated an area is, the more likely trash will be left on the side of the street. It can all be prevented if people didn't throw trash in their open truck beds before driving off, or literally throwing trash out of their car windows, or making sure your trash bags are secure in your trash cans when they are picked up by waste management.
Everyone has to be all in to stop the waste. I know there were some people who thought my reusable bag purchase was silly, as they reach for their disposable bags and then throw them out the next day. And that is the problem: we've forgotten our impact on this Earth. We are just living our lives in the now and not preparing for the future. What kind of Earth will our kids have to live with in 25 years? In 50 years? What are you doing in your daily life to make sure your kids and grand kids will have a place to live in the future?
My goal of eliminating our waste is not over; it's never over. I will give you updates on what we are doing to eliminate trash and the use of non-recyclables in the near future. Hopefully I've inspired someone to bring their reusable shopping bags to the grocery store, or recycle more often. We all have to do our part.
Cheers,
Kasey
Links:
YIHONG set of 8 Stainless Steel Straws
YIHONG Reusable Mesh Bags, set of 15
E-Z Seal EXTRA THICK Reusable Storage Bags
Do you even care?
I grew up in the late 80s and 90s, and I remember learning about Reduce Reuse Recycle. I remember turning off light switches constantly, making sure we didn't use too much water. Anyone else remember this, or is it just me, from my small town in Wisconsin the 90s? Have we lost our consciousness about how we are treating the Earth?
I watched this video produced by Buzzfeed a while back and I felt like her mission of producing ZERO TRASH was completely impossible. I still feel like it's impossible. I always want to have a more full recycle bin than the trash, but it's not. My city doesn't even recycle glass! I bring my own bags to the grocery store, but sometimes I stop on my way home. Or I don't bring them to Target or Walmart, or Old Navy. I use a grocery delivery service and ask for paper, but most of the time the grocery store is out of paper. My stash of plastic bags was embarrassing! I took them to Walmart and put them in the box they have at the entrance to recycle them, and I pray that they actually do recycle them and not just throw them in the dumpster in the back of the store.
It's all so overwhelming, but there are little things I realized I can do that will hopefully make a difference. The most recent trend in environmental conservation is banning the use of plastic straws. I don't really use straws at home, but we do go out to eat frequently, and I use straws then. Why? I don't need a straw. But, I bought some reusable, stainless steel straws. I use them with my water bottles and cups at home now. (In the summer heat, I always have a large cup of water near by.) However, I have yet to bring them with me when we go out to eat. Major fail on my part! Sorry, turtles! I promise to try harder.
Now that I only have a month of summer left, I feel like I didn't achieve much with the goal of eliminating plastic from our house. So many items are wrapped in plastic at the store (mushrooms! They come a recyclable container but are wrapped in plastic wrap!), and Amazon items come shipped wrapped in plastic. (Even the reusable stuff I bought above arrived wrapped in plastic!) Sometimes I wish I could run with a trash bag and pick up trash on the run but honestly I would be stopping so much that it wouldn't be a run. I know the more populated an area is, the more likely trash will be left on the side of the street. It can all be prevented if people didn't throw trash in their open truck beds before driving off, or literally throwing trash out of their car windows, or making sure your trash bags are secure in your trash cans when they are picked up by waste management.
Everyone has to be all in to stop the waste. I know there were some people who thought my reusable bag purchase was silly, as they reach for their disposable bags and then throw them out the next day. And that is the problem: we've forgotten our impact on this Earth. We are just living our lives in the now and not preparing for the future. What kind of Earth will our kids have to live with in 25 years? In 50 years? What are you doing in your daily life to make sure your kids and grand kids will have a place to live in the future?
My goal of eliminating our waste is not over; it's never over. I will give you updates on what we are doing to eliminate trash and the use of non-recyclables in the near future. Hopefully I've inspired someone to bring their reusable shopping bags to the grocery store, or recycle more often. We all have to do our part.
Cheers,
Kasey
Links:
YIHONG set of 8 Stainless Steel Straws
YIHONG Reusable Mesh Bags, set of 15
E-Z Seal EXTRA THICK Reusable Storage Bags
Sunday, July 8, 2018
My CG Fit Experience
I first learned about Camp Gladiator two years ago, right before our wedding. I received a postcard for a teacher appreciation deal and decided to give it a try. A year and a half later, I signed up for their 9 year Birthday Deal and went Bold after that 4 week camp. (Going Bold means you've signed up for at least a year instead of just a 4 week camp. There's a shirt and everything!)
Since September I've been making time to get to camp 2-3 times a week, along with running. I'm at 89 check-ins at this point and hope to hit 100 before school starts. I'm choosing to stick with Camp Gladiator because I believe it really helped me to train better for the half marathon I ran in February. I only ran 2 days a week, did CG 3-4 times a week, and ran faster than my previous record by 11 minutes!
Every few months they run a special program called CG Fit. There's a fee to join and it depends on your Bold status. I also used points that I acquired by checking in to workouts since September so I didn't have to pay the full price.
I was skeptical at first. I didn't understand what I was paying for, but I wanted to use the body composition scale, be serious about meal planning, and increase weights at camp. So, I signed up.
I was really surprised with my first body composition test. I know I need to lose fat, but I thought my percentage was lower than the scale showed me. As I get older, I'm finding it increasingly harder to lose the weight I need to lose. My body just wants to make sure I always have a cushion-like seat with me everywhere I go!
I really wanted CG Fit to meal plan for me because my husband and I were in a food rut. We were tired of making the same things every week and feeling like our options as vegetarians were small. You can purchase planned meals from an outside company through CG Fit, but I can't afford that on my teacher's salary. So, I did lots of research online (Pinterest, mainly) and found several recipes to try. I printed them all, added them into MyFitnessPal, and wrote down their macro nutrient content. I printed a meal planning page and wrote down what I would be eating at every meal, including snacks.
CG Fit advised that if I wanted to lose fat, I needed to increase my protein intake. That was the super challenging aspect of meal planning. Even when I wasn't a vegetarian, I found it difficult to get 40% of my calories to be protein instead of carbs. If I worked out that day, I didn't beat myself up about going over on carbs.
The end of the school year is so tough, but I'm glad I signed up for CG Fit to make me stay on track. That doesn't mean that I didn't skip happy hour on the last day of school, but I considered it to be balance. Yes, I need to lose weight, but I also need to train my body to learn what balance feels like. I didn't exclude treats, but I made sure to eat in moderation during CG Fit.
I was concerned about paying for the program, but I felt it kept me going knowing that I did pay for it. If I ever felt like quitting, I told myself it would be a waste of money to do so. I paid for it; I better see results!
Overall, I lost 7 lbs and increased my weights at camp. I didn't run as much as I would have liked because it's so damn hot here in the summer, but I know that will change when temperatures cool in the fall. That being said, I would love to do CG Fit again because it keeps my results so I can compare to different points throughout the year. It also forced me to find new recipes and sit down to really meal plan for nutrition instead of just for a shopping list.
Now that CG Fit is over, I need to create new fitness goals to carry me through the rest of the year. I know I will be running the Wurst 5 Miler in November, but I want another longer race to train for this winter.
Thanks for reading about my experience with Camp Gladiator and their CG Fit program! If you follow me on Facebook you may be tired of hearing about it! If you are interested in trying it out, I have a code that will give you the next three weeks free. If you sign up to be a Bold member, ask me for my email address; I can't "level up" from Bronze to Silver until I get 2 referrals. :)
Cheers!
Kasey
Other dieting things I like or have tried:
Diet Bet: Find a game, pay your part of the pot, lose 4-6% of your body weight, and win! I played a game led by Chris and Heidi Powell and won $40, which gave me a $6 profit. :) If you play with higher pots and less people, then the payout will be greater, though!
MyFitnessPal: This is my favorite calorie counting tool to use. I mainly use the app on my phone to scan and add foods I eat throughout the day. It breaks it down into macro and micro nutrients, as well. I used the website on my computer to copy and paste recipe links to load into my database so when I ate that food for dinner, all of the ingredients were already there in the recipe title. Super easy!
Nike Run Club app: Before I got my Garmin watch, I loved using the Nike app to track my runs. Great data break down and I could see my pace on my phone. I stopped using it because I didn't want to use phone data, but it's still a great app!
Recipes We Liked:
Pinch of Yum: Spicy Sofritas Veggie Bowls
This was really spicy (we added a 2nd pinch of sugar the third time we made it and it wasn't so bad!) but we LOVE putting this stuff on rice with pico, guac, cheese, etc. It's like Chipotle has come to your kitchen!
One Pot Cheesy Mexican Lentils, Black Beans and Rice - Recipe Runner
Delicious, chili-like meal that's full of protein and very filling. We cooked the lentils and rice ahead of time to cut the cooking time down.
Greek salads:
I created a greek salad with seasoned tempeh, lettuce, black olives, cucumbers, and italian dressing.
Taco salads:
Taco seasoned tempeh, tortilla strips, red bell pepper, and cilantro-avocado dressing.
And greek yogurt as a snack for protein!
Since September I've been making time to get to camp 2-3 times a week, along with running. I'm at 89 check-ins at this point and hope to hit 100 before school starts. I'm choosing to stick with Camp Gladiator because I believe it really helped me to train better for the half marathon I ran in February. I only ran 2 days a week, did CG 3-4 times a week, and ran faster than my previous record by 11 minutes!
Every few months they run a special program called CG Fit. There's a fee to join and it depends on your Bold status. I also used points that I acquired by checking in to workouts since September so I didn't have to pay the full price.
I was skeptical at first. I didn't understand what I was paying for, but I wanted to use the body composition scale, be serious about meal planning, and increase weights at camp. So, I signed up.
I was really surprised with my first body composition test. I know I need to lose fat, but I thought my percentage was lower than the scale showed me. As I get older, I'm finding it increasingly harder to lose the weight I need to lose. My body just wants to make sure I always have a cushion-like seat with me everywhere I go!
I really wanted CG Fit to meal plan for me because my husband and I were in a food rut. We were tired of making the same things every week and feeling like our options as vegetarians were small. You can purchase planned meals from an outside company through CG Fit, but I can't afford that on my teacher's salary. So, I did lots of research online (Pinterest, mainly) and found several recipes to try. I printed them all, added them into MyFitnessPal, and wrote down their macro nutrient content. I printed a meal planning page and wrote down what I would be eating at every meal, including snacks.
CG Fit advised that if I wanted to lose fat, I needed to increase my protein intake. That was the super challenging aspect of meal planning. Even when I wasn't a vegetarian, I found it difficult to get 40% of my calories to be protein instead of carbs. If I worked out that day, I didn't beat myself up about going over on carbs.
The end of the school year is so tough, but I'm glad I signed up for CG Fit to make me stay on track. That doesn't mean that I didn't skip happy hour on the last day of school, but I considered it to be balance. Yes, I need to lose weight, but I also need to train my body to learn what balance feels like. I didn't exclude treats, but I made sure to eat in moderation during CG Fit.
I was concerned about paying for the program, but I felt it kept me going knowing that I did pay for it. If I ever felt like quitting, I told myself it would be a waste of money to do so. I paid for it; I better see results!
Overall, I lost 7 lbs and increased my weights at camp. I didn't run as much as I would have liked because it's so damn hot here in the summer, but I know that will change when temperatures cool in the fall. That being said, I would love to do CG Fit again because it keeps my results so I can compare to different points throughout the year. It also forced me to find new recipes and sit down to really meal plan for nutrition instead of just for a shopping list.
Now that CG Fit is over, I need to create new fitness goals to carry me through the rest of the year. I know I will be running the Wurst 5 Miler in November, but I want another longer race to train for this winter.
Thanks for reading about my experience with Camp Gladiator and their CG Fit program! If you follow me on Facebook you may be tired of hearing about it! If you are interested in trying it out, I have a code that will give you the next three weeks free. If you sign up to be a Bold member, ask me for my email address; I can't "level up" from Bronze to Silver until I get 2 referrals. :)
Cheers!
Kasey
Other dieting things I like or have tried:
Diet Bet: Find a game, pay your part of the pot, lose 4-6% of your body weight, and win! I played a game led by Chris and Heidi Powell and won $40, which gave me a $6 profit. :) If you play with higher pots and less people, then the payout will be greater, though!
MyFitnessPal: This is my favorite calorie counting tool to use. I mainly use the app on my phone to scan and add foods I eat throughout the day. It breaks it down into macro and micro nutrients, as well. I used the website on my computer to copy and paste recipe links to load into my database so when I ate that food for dinner, all of the ingredients were already there in the recipe title. Super easy!
Nike Run Club app: Before I got my Garmin watch, I loved using the Nike app to track my runs. Great data break down and I could see my pace on my phone. I stopped using it because I didn't want to use phone data, but it's still a great app!
Recipes We Liked:
Pinch of Yum: Spicy Sofritas Veggie Bowls
This was really spicy (we added a 2nd pinch of sugar the third time we made it and it wasn't so bad!) but we LOVE putting this stuff on rice with pico, guac, cheese, etc. It's like Chipotle has come to your kitchen!
One Pot Cheesy Mexican Lentils, Black Beans and Rice - Recipe Runner
Delicious, chili-like meal that's full of protein and very filling. We cooked the lentils and rice ahead of time to cut the cooking time down.
Greek salads:
I created a greek salad with seasoned tempeh, lettuce, black olives, cucumbers, and italian dressing.
Taco salads:
Taco seasoned tempeh, tortilla strips, red bell pepper, and cilantro-avocado dressing.
And greek yogurt as a snack for protein!
Friday, July 6, 2018
My Running Playlist
Do you run with headphones? Do you listen to music, podcasts, or books? Personally, I need to have music playing, and I rotate out my playlist every few months to keep it fresh. There are a few songs that I've kept on my list for the last 9 years, like "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga, but for the most part I need to have a good beat to keep me going.
Below is my Running List from Spotify; this is my time to listen to those guilty pleasure pop songs that make you move! Enjoy, and happy running!
As always, safety should be your number one priority when you're out running, so make sure the volume is low enough for you to hear your surroundings. Or you could purchase fancy Aftershokz headphones so you can still hear your music and surroundings. Maybe if I make enough in my side gig I can splurge on those!
Cheers,
Kasey
Below is my Running List from Spotify; this is my time to listen to those guilty pleasure pop songs that make you move! Enjoy, and happy running!
As always, safety should be your number one priority when you're out running, so make sure the volume is low enough for you to hear your surroundings. Or you could purchase fancy Aftershokz headphones so you can still hear your music and surroundings. Maybe if I make enough in my side gig I can splurge on those!
Cheers,
Kasey
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