ExpatWomen Confession:


Dear EW Girlfriend,

I am a French citizen and live in Brazil, where I work as a teacher in an international school. I’m 28 years old and single, and one of the things that is on my list of meaningful things to do this year, is to eat healthier and become more fit. After school hours, I tutor often until at least 8 pm at night, then it’s time for eating and basically, by that time I’m so tired I want to go to sleep early on a work-day! Basically, I work long hours and don’t have time or energy to get fit and actively pursue a healthier lifestyle. Do you have any advice on my health concerns?

BT

ExpatWomen Girlfriend:

Dear BT

Working as an overseas teacher in an international school must be very challenging and rewarding at the same time. It sounds as if you have your hands full with not only teaching, but also with tutoring after school. It seems typical in a lot of cases, that working overseas often means working long days. Loss of energy and burnout are a few of the consequences that can happen if you don’t make time for other things besides work. While it is important to focus on your career, please keep in mind that you’re in the prime of your life, and there are other things that are important as well – namely your health! Without good health you will not be able to function properly. Ask yourself what’s important in life, and really try to realize that the answer is something that you should work towards, and stick with.

Make it a personal goal to do something about it and follow through. Working out for example, might be the last thing on your mind after a tiring day at the job, but your body actually produces endorphins which release energy and send off’ ‘happy’ triggers, that’s why people always feel so good after a work out. The adrenaline that rushes through your body when your heartbeat is up will make you feel physically challenged, which can also work as a mood enhancer. One of the things you could do, is to join a gym and try to go either before class, at lunchtime or after your tuition classes. Another option is to reconsider the hours you are working, and to cut down on some of the extra tuitions after school. Set some hours apart for working out; make a time schedule and see if you can afford to cut down on some of the after-school hours that you tutor. If you spend 2 - 4 hours a week exercising you’ll be amazed at how much more energy you have!

Also, there are some fabulous trainers available with interesting programs that will help you not to get bored with your routine. Often there are packages available of for example buying 30 sessions in one go, and ending up paying a pretty affordable price per time that way. Or you might even make friends at the gym with which you could develop a ‘buddy-workout’, which wouldn’t cost you anything extra.

If you find all of these suggestions a little overwhelming at first, perhaps you need to think about how you can incorporate smaller exercise feats into your weekly schedule. For example, can you walk out or around the school of a lunchtime? Or walk to the grocery store when you need just a couple of food items, rather than driving? Can you take the stairs more often? Or can you volunteer to take some of the sports classes at school, so you might at least have the opportunity to get some subtle exercise each week?

Another area to look at might be your weekend activities. For example, do you spend your weekend lazing around, recovering from the hard working (and possibly partying) week? Or do you make an effort to participate in individual or team sports, or perhaps go for a bushwalk, or exploratory walk around different areas of the city in which you are living?

Nutrition is also important, there’s a lot of nutritional information available online, and again, trainers at the gym are often very knowledgeable regarding food intake combined with a work out. If you don’t have time to cook your own food, or if you depend on canteen food at school, try to stay away from the easy greasy choices, and choose the healthier options. Once you become more informed about healthier foods, you’ll see that even in unlikely places there are things you can choose that are not so bad for you. So, apart from becoming healthier due to exercising and better nutrition, you will start to feel and look better inside and out!

ExpatWomen Girlfriend
July 2007 

Our New ExpatWomen Girlfriend is originally from The Netherlands. She has lived as an Expat Woman in India, Canada, Indonesia, Chile and Thailand – where she is currently a ‘trailing spouse’ to a husband of a different nationality to hers. She is a mother of two children, born in Asia, that have dual nationalities. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in European Communications (Marketing) and she will soon graduate from her Master of Science degree in Counselling Psychology. She works in a private mental health clinic, plus counsels expatriate women.

Disclaimer: This column is intended to be of general interest to ExpatWomen.com visitors. Its suggestions and/or inferences are generalisations and do not address the needs of individuals, nor should they be relied upon in any shape or form. Please seek professional advice/counselling/therapy If you genuinely need assistance to talk through issues in your life right now.