Class Description - Express: Kicking the Sugar Habit! (8.21.26-8.20.27)

Date: Register anytime between August 21, 2026 - August 20, 2027
Course #: LR 288:731
Number of License Renewal Credit Hours: 3
Registration Deadline: Last day to register is Friday, August 20th 2027 by 5:00 p.m.

How it Works:
Participants will have 2 full months after registration to complete their course.

Examples:

Register FEBRUARY 1ST and start the course as soon as your registration has been processed.
You will have until APRIL 30TH to complete the class.
Register FEBRUARY 25TH and start the course as soon as your registration has been processed.
You will have until APRIL 30TH to complete the class.

Students must monitor their progress and finish the course at the end of 2 months after registration.

If there is a problem, or any questions, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the instructor.

Course Description:

We all want to be healthy. Not just “not be sick” but to feel energetic and optimistic. We want to live life with passion and we can’t do that when we are slogging our way through each day. We have to fuel our bodies with food that will provide us with life sustaining vitamins and minerals. We need to eat “right.”

That’s a tall order, when we are faced with the constant lure of sugar. Any celebration, large or small, calls for loads of sugar laden foods and drinks. They are hard to resist. Sometimes we are pressured into eating these goodies to be part of the party. Most of us have developed a sweet tooth; however, this is simply a euphemistic term for addiction. Sugar is addictive and breaking away can be very, very difficult.

Participants in this class will be required to download the MyFitnessPal app to monitor their sugar (and all foods) intake. It is free. We teach you how to use the app through videos and online support. Starting on this journey will require consistent, daily monitoring. The culmination of the class will revolve around discussing your opinion of the app and what benefits you derived while using it.

This class will explore the amount of sugar found in our food, artificial sweeteners and sugar addiction. It will discuss the recommended daily sugar intake Americans should not go over vs the amount of sugar Americans are really getting in their diets. This class will look at antioxidants, free radicals and how sugar impacts your brain and your mental health. It will also focus on how to quit sugar, or at least, to lower your sugar intake.

Required Materials:
Participants are required to download the free MyFitnessPal app for iPhone or Android.

All other course materials are provided online.

Outcomes and Objectives:
By the end of the course participants will…

1. Understand the role sugar plays in our mental and physical health.

2. Understand where sugar lurks in our foods.

3. Understand the role artificial sweeteners play in our diet.

4. Understand food addiction, antioxidants, and free radicals.

5. Understand how to use MyFitnessPal and be able to monitor sugar/food intake.

Course Topics that Support Instructional Practices and Strategies:
Students must have physically and mentally healthy educators that strive to make learning enjoyable and meaningful. Educators must be in top form:

*To plan and implement daily lessons.

*To provide social/emotional support.

*To engage in professional learning.

*To keep abreast of the current information on student learning and achievement.

*To deliver effective and relevant behavior intervention plans.

*To deliver effective and relevant academic intervention plans.

*The health and well-being of the educator is of paramount importance to the student's health and well-being-both academically and social/emotionally.

Instructor Methods and Course Design:

This is a 3-credit hour Iowa license renewal course. Course objectives will be met through instructor designed lessons, activities, supplemental readings, videos, and forums.

How Does This Course Support The Iowa Core?
Teachers and students should have a good understanding of student health (health literacy) both mental and physical. These essential skills, needed to maintain mental and physical well-being, provide the 21st century citizen with the tools necessary to live a happy, healthy and productive life.

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**Important Registration Information for You**
Please read through as these are Frequently Asked Questions in which answers can be found within this page.

1. The instructor will email you once the start date arrives with information on how to get started in the class.

Emails regarding this class will come from the instructor/organization with an email address ending in professional.development@educateteachers.org;
Be sure to check your junk/spam/clutter folders-mailboxes in case the email address isn't recognized as a known address; and
IF YOU ARE USING A SCHOOL EMAIL ADDRESS, many schools have their network security filters set up to push unknown emails directly to spam and you will not even see it-if this is the case you will need to either talk to your IT department and request emails with the email address be allowed through or let us know you want to use a different email address.

2. The Tabs at the top of the registration page have important additional information regarding this class:

The Syllabus gives information of what will be expected of you in the course. Generally, it will include course policies, rules and regulations, required texts, and a schedule of assignments;
The Fees will let you know how much this class will cost depending on the type of credit you want to take it for as well as if you are an ISEA member or not;
The Cancellation Policy is important so you know how to cancel if you need to and how refunds are handled; and
The ISEA Official Transcript page tells you how to access your transcript once the class has ended.