Hi all

I'm new to teaching (started over the summer) and now have a nearly full timetable of private pupils. Due to constraints of my own family (I have a 4 year old and a 10 month old) I have quite a restricted amount of time available to teach. However, what I am finding most difficult is organising when to eat for me!

I teach on Monday to Wednesday evenings and on a Saturday morning. Before I start teaching in the week I have usually sorted out dinner for the baby and the four year old and occasionally food for myself and my partner. However, this has the knock on effect that we're both hungry again by the time I finish later in the evening. Sometimes (most times) we're not organised enough and end up not eating before I start teaching which means that I spend the last couple of lessons with a growling stomach accompaniment! Then we end up with a takeaway as neither of us want to cook!

I just wondered what people's ploys were to avoid this - or are you all just a bit more organised than me?!

Would love to hear your thoughts!

Catherine

Well you probbaly do need to sort this out - teaching is demanding enough without being weakened by hunger.

I have similar constraints to you (although my children are a bit older, so we can all eat together when I stop teaching). I have got into the pattern of preparing huge vats of casserole or bake type meals during the day, so these can be plonked in the oven and cook while I teach. (Perhaps I should devise a "One-pot meals for teachers" recipe book?)

I noticed how reliant I was on this approach when I had to do jury service recently and lost my daytime hours - and when the overn timer packed up! The system slightly fell apart both times. Short of employing a cook, I don't know how people cope if they are juggling teaching in the evening with work outside the home during the day....

I mainly teach 2 evenings a week. One evening I have 6 pupils and the other 4. On the 6 pupil evening, I have a cup of T before the first one at 3.30, then in the break 3.50 - 4.10 I have a banana. I have a 10 minute break about 5.50 but I don't generally eat until the last one's gone at 7pm.

On the 4 pupil evening, I have a banana before I begin (4.15 on this day) and eat a cold meal at 6pm, in the half hour gap before the last pupil at 6.30.

This works quite well because I can eat a hot meal at lunchtime on both of these days. I need half an hour to eat something, otherwise I get indigestion, so that's why on the busier day I don't eat til everyone's gone and I can relax.

I'm lucky that my son will microwave something - so I often leave a shop-bought ready meal for him on those 2 days (my reasoning is that he's well-fed on other days), and my OH eats when I do on the whole - but he's big enough to organise something for himself too.

My theory is that if I feel too hungry I don't do as good a job, and a banana just hits the spot. You need to create a pattern for your teaching days so you don't get too hungry. I have a couple of teaching friends who do like Hils and rely on food that can be cooking in the oven - that's probably the way to go for you too.

At school I keep a supply of coffee, tube of condensed milk (nice and sweet for flagging energy), some canned drinks in case it's hot and a stock of cereal bars or dry biscuits. I simply have to eat a biscuit or drink a coffee while I'm teaching. I have no alternative because of an awkward timetable. It isn't ideal but if I didn't some days I wouldn't be able to cope. I sometimes take an apple which I cut into eatable size pieces and wrap in foil.

One good standby for late winter evenings once I get home (or rushed lunches before I leave) is a large saucepan of vegetable soup. Either I or my partner make it at the weekend and if you boil it twice a day it lasts a while. The other quicke is a sandwich - ham or cheese - French style -but then with our scrumptious French bread it can be a meal in itself.

Teaching only part time I've had to arrange my teaching hours around our tea time as my husband would not really be happy if I didn't. This means that on the 3 days I teach I have space for 2 after school students finishing by 5 or absolutely no later that half past and 2 after tea starting at 7.
Occasionally The 7 o' clock needs to be 6.30 and this needs careful planning as the piano is in the kitchen so on top of having to have eaten I also need to allow time for my husband to have finished the washin up. It also means that microwave meals being prepared while I'm teaching is not an option.
As I don't yet have a full timetable I've not yet had to test this fully.

I usually have a good breakfast. Since I am not really a lunch person and hate it if the whole flat smells of food whilst teaching, I very often will just snack after that. Sometimes healthy things like fruit and nuts, but sometimes sadly also unhealthy stuff like cake, biscuits and chocolate - my worst downfall.

I usually have dinner, but hardly before 9pm (I usually finish teaching around 8).
If we plan it well enough, we cook something decent in advance, but every now and again, it will just be pasta or pizza.

My eating habits were always quite irregular though. I would sometimes eat during the night after coming out of a show, because there would have been no way I could have had a heavy meal before going on stage. So I am really quite used to many small nacks during the day, and it somehow works for me.

What doesn't work and is the reason why I put on weight since I exlusively teach is the lack of physical exercise. Thank God I recently got into the habit of changing that again, and the pounds started dropping immediately. I am not complaining though, because I am very tall and naturally quite slim, and going from a size 10/12 to a 12/14 was not really a problem looks-wise. I was more concerned about being completely sedentary, since I always moved a lot - the weight is one thing, but more important is the effect it had on my overall well-being and my circulation. Not recommended ...

I always have a cooked meal at lunchtime (around 1.30) so that I'm not hungry during teaching hours, which are from 3.30 - 6.30. I have a snack meal when I've finished teaching, followed by a much longed-for cup of tea! I don't think it's very healthy to eat in the evenings anyway, so this suits me fine. My husband is rarely at home during the day, so we don't very often eat together during the week, but we make up for this at weekends if he's at home. I've also started walking every day, so am actually feeling a lot healthier lately.

As for eating late: You will probably always find two camps - the ones who say it's unhealthy and the ones who say it doesn't really matter.

I talked to a nutritionist whilst being an active performer (because I was worried myself), and she actually told me that it doesn't matter WHEN during the day you have the calories - you won't put on weight because you eat late, but because you have too many calories.
The only reason for not eating too late is that you might not be able to sleep that well with a stomach full of food, so she advised me to have the last meal at least 4 hours before going to bed. Since I hardly ever go to bed before 1am, I am hopefully sort of on the safe side

Hasn't always been the case though, and I noticed myself that my sleep was lighter with a full belly. On the other hand, I cannot sleep at all if my stomach is rumbling, so that's the smaller evil

I eat a late lunch and then not again until I finish at about 8-8.30 pm. I have been doing this with no breaks at all for 17 years so my body is used to it. My partner brings me a coffee every couple of hours and if I feel my blood sugar dipping (rare but does occasionally happen) I ask him to bring a hot chocolate.

I completely sympathise with this problem of when and what to eat. What I have found out through experience and also through consulting a nutrional therapist is that eating anything to do with brown rice for breakfast sets up the body for the day in terms of blood sugar. There is a really good book called Cooking Without by Barbara Cousins which I found really helpful - it is very practical as well as informative.

Good Luck

I'm so organised about food that it was only after finding this thread I realised I forgot to have lunch!

If there's time I try to have breakfast, then only on Wednesday and Thursday do I have time for lunch, sort of! My husband makes pasta salad for his lunches and leaves me some for those two days as I have time to eat, not make and eat. The others, Im at school for so I tend to grab the odd snack bar if I have a moment, but mainly fill up on a large coffee on the way home before teaching again. Bad habits I know, but it works for me.
I am lucky my husband cooks but it means dinner is quite late as he is not home until 7ish.

I work until about 8 or 8.30pm, my hubby waits until I have finished teaching to eat dinner, although he's home around 5.45 and is absolutely starving by the time we eat. My daughter is in nursery on Mondays and Fridays, so I try and cook 3 meals on each of these days, enough to last through the days when I am teaching. We bung the food in the oven about 30 minutes before I finish teaching then when my last pupil is out of the door, dinner is ready for me on a plate! Does require lots of juggling though!

Organising food has been one of those things that made me initially reluctant to teach full-time! I have to have my 3 meals at reasonable times and work much better this way. In the past I used to snack and have meals all over the place which really didn't work for me.

I mainly do home visits and don't take on any students if it means I'll get home after 7.30. If I'm teaching a student during luchtime I always pack a wholemeal sandwich with plenty of vegs. I work at schools 2 days a week and take packed lunches then too along with breakfast bars and fruit. I teach at home once a week and always teach after a 45 minute dinner break. Dinner is usually cooked in advance, a casserole type works best, as many of you seem to have found!

My hubby doesn't cook much, he's always tired so it's usually up to me food is so important to me that I'll sacrifice students for the sake of having a relaxing dinner. It also makes it easier for me to teach afterwards. I never buy ready meals and only eat out if I haven't organised something in advance.

A slow cooker is wonderful, as you can prepare the food earlier in the day, and it cooks away slowly whilst you get on with other things.

I thought eating was an unaffordable luxury for musicians.

I found this out on tour. When we performed in the evening we would not get to the restaurant that was pre booked until at least 10pm, usually 10.30pm.

It is turning into that for me! Not unaffordable, but I never seem able to find the time.... and I'm not even a teacher!

also I go to orchestra after college on monday and don't get back until 10, so I don't get any food until then.

On thursday I have orchestra as well but have time to go home for an hour or so so have time to make some early dinner before going out.

Its worth the sacrafice to be able to be a musician.

Slightly off topic, but I have just realised how cultural this thread is. Most French people consider 8.00 pm a normal time to eat (including those with young children).

Funny, I was thinking the same thing.

For me, eating is not a problem. My last student leaves at 7.30, 7.45 or 8, depending on the day. I reckon on 30 mins for preparing dinner (often having done something towards it earlier in the day) so we eat between 8 and 8.30.

Funnily enough, during the holidays, we often revert to type and eat at 6 or 6.30 (much to the horror of our neighbours who think I'm guilty of child abuse : "don't they wake up hungry in the night ?").
I've realised that I care a lot about WHAT I eat but very little about WHEN I eat.

I'd have to have endless supplies of Alka Seltzer.
Anythnig more than a snack at that time and I'd be feeling rather ill all night.

Many thanks for all the interesting replies. I think it has given me food for thought! (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

I think I've realised I need to have thought a bit more about what to eat before I start teaching rather than mooching round the cupboards afterwards.

I'm going to look into a slow cooker - maybe Father Christmas will bring me one? I like the idea of having something that can be ready as soon as I finish.

Here are a couple of strategies that I got from my own teacher and mentor which really helped me:

Big cook-ins once a week, freeze, save, portion up what you can

Roast dinner at weekends, do 'too much' then eat up during the week. (Yes, left over veg and roast potatoes go into a very flexible Spanish Omlette with a bit of chorizo for extra bite!)

Keep a few quick, handy meals in the freezer for emergencies - pizza/stuffed pastas/oven fish-and-chips cand be lifesavers

Flask of soup, chunky sandwich and cake for lasting lunch

Banana or another filling snack mid-late afternoon

Drink lots of water

Exercise! Even a 15-20 minute run or cycle round the block first thing in the morning makes a huge difference to how you feel about yourself.

Finally, don't worry if all of the above fail.... THEN RESORT TO THE TAKEAWAY!

Hi,

Due to being left with a huge debt by my previous partner I have to work every evening until 7:30 (9 on monday), saturday morning and 4 days a week at school - wednesdays are my day off school. I have a 20 minute break for lunch at school but none in the evenings. I have got used to planning my meals. On sundays I tend to cook 2 or 3 meals to eat in the next few days (sherpherds pie tonight - yum) and then do more instant meals for thurs and friday. I know how long each meal takes to cook and so I turn my oven on just before my last pupil so it's ready for when I finish work. As for anything else, composition, social life(!) seeing my son etc, it's done at the weekend and school hols. It's actually a really hard life - but one I chose so I can't complain.

Definitely timetable in a break for you to have something sensible like a glass of fruit juice and a small sandwich. Going for too long without sustenance is not healthy for your body or your brain. Four hours is the maximum apparently. And it can be done sensibly and healthily.

Hmm yes, having time to eat is always difficult. I try to leave gaps during the day for, dare I say it, a loo break as well as a food break, but am often running late after four or five lessons. I try to keep a stock of nut bars, or halva (yes, I know, it's not terribly healthy but has some nutritional value!) in my bag, but if all else fails can be seen whizzing up to the corner shop for a snickers bar. Appalling! But it get me through at times.

Nut and cereal bars are good though - but not the ones that are packed with sugar. I also agree with the brown rice idea. Slow release carbs - that's what it's all about! I missed breakfast today, as I didn't get myself organised properly last night and so had to do it this morning to the detriment of my stomach, and my tummy was drowning out my students by noon!

Fruit-bowl raid for bananas is quite normal in our house as we all rush out in the morning!