Do you eat well/exercise while in the program?

Nursing Students General Students

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I was just curious if anyone is taking care of themselves by eating well/exercising while in the program? And if so, what do you do for exercise and how often? Are you strict on your eating?

Right now for exercise I'm doing C210k 2-3 days a week, 1-2 days of Jillian Michaels strength training DVDs, and I'm thinking of buying a yoga DVD to throw into my regimen. I don't have time for workouts in long duration (nor can I afford a gym membership) so right now this system works well for me as the workout times are doable and they are free (except for the one time cost of the DVDs).

For eating, I'm a pretty routine person with my food. I am gluten free due to celiac, so that guides my choices. Breakfast is usually greek yogurt with GF granola and a side of fruit (lately it has been either grapefruit or pineapple). Lunch is usually a sandwich (GF bread) with a side of grapes and sweet potato tortilla chips. Dinner varies. I drink just water most of the time.

Thoughts?! Me and a friend in my nursing program are determined not to pack on weight while in school, lol. We act as each others support system and hold ourselves accountable with one another.

You guys have some great tips/insight! I appreciate you all sharing your health habits. :)

My breakfast set up works REALLY well for me and I'm very happy with it. I am not the biggest fan of eating breakfast and most breakfast foods, but the greek yogurt is not much while at the same time keeping me satiated for a few hours. The granola has all sorts of nuts in it - pecans, almonds, brazil nuts (which I love) and hazlenuts. I buy a bag of it at Trader Joes and then use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure it all out in individual baggies. So the night before, I cut up and package my fresh fruit, fill up my water bottle, set aside my yogurt cup, granola bag and utensils, then in the morning just literally throw it all in my purse and go. Needless to say it makes breakfast a joy now. ;)

I am going to change lunch I think. The sandwiches aren't working out too well (partly because of cost - one bread loaf is usually $8.50). I'm thinking of just forgoing the bread and doing some sort of meat/cheese combo with my grapes and sweet potato chips. Hmmm...

Ordered two workout DVDs. They're not as awesome as Crossfit but I gotta work with what I can, lol. In fact, I attempted to participate in Crossfit classes and they worked us hard (of course, because Crossfit is balls to the wall like that). Anyway, I ended up pulling my external oblique that first day and had to drop out of not only the Crossfit classes but also my first ever 5k that I planned for myself that was right around the corner at the time. It sucked horribly and was very painful.

I still didn't get to run my 5k. Now since I fell off my game I have to retrain for one. Gah.

I don't but in my case it is an extension of my self injuring stuff (I eat when I feel out of control or stressed to explicitly harm myself for not living up to my own expectations of myself). There has been a lot of that around the board. Everyone handles the stress differently, so I don't think you should feel bad if you are out of control or just can't seem to work out. Some people simply don't feel that stress as much (just better at grasping the nursing stuff, better at time management, etc). Don't go comparing your struggles to other people or beating yourself up; I go to class with a girl focusing on becoming a Nurse Practitioner who is just naturally good at this stuff and a natural at clinical and theory - if I compared myself to her, I would always feel bad. Just do what you can.

Anyone try Shawn T's T-25 yet? I have been doing Bodyrock exercises for over a year, I love the results, but I'm not as consistent as I was when I did P90 and TurboFire for some reason.

It is time management, and money.... I have always been active and I try to eat healthy but I find myself failing for a few reasons: 1) I still work, so on days when I have work and am cramming for a test I have to give up my run/workout or I will see it in my grades

2) I eat when I am stressed (Exams are like every week, Hello?!?) and I eat when I am bored (constant munching in class or while studying) I really need to work on my motivation and just say no. Or eat veggies/fruit rather than granola bars, cereal, etc.

3) When you are barely getting by it is hard to put the money into healthy foods and sometimes grabbing a quick bite somewhere is cheaper than buying all the supplies to pack a lunch daily or cook dinner. Just have to figure out some cheap, healthy alternatives

I know a lot of people struggle with this. Don't let anyone tell you it is "easy" it isn't. What helps me with the exercise is setting goals to keep me motivated (for me it's trail running). I run my first half marathon tomorrow morning and a second next Sunday. Then I will sign up for my next race, I always have one to look forward too. My best friend (who lives an hour away and is in a Speech therapist program) is my partner and we aim to get meet in the middle once a week and run together to train. It really helps with my motivation. Though I have gone from running 6-7 days/week to 4-5 days/week. I just face it that sometimes I have lots of exams and studying and that week I may only run twice. But it's better than nothing.

As for the eating, that is my problem. I need to find a motivator that sticks. Everyday I fluctuate between "I will stay motivated, I will eat healthy, and I will not mindlessly snack while studying" and "But it makes me happy, why not?" then "Ugh I am so disgusted with myself!" So that is not healthy....anyone have any tips on staying motivated/on track with food?

BTW I also have the "UP" band by jawbone and now 2 other girls in my clinical group have it as well. Look it up, it is a great way to keep track and stay motivated when it comes to exercise and watching your sleep habits.

Best of luck to everyone in their journey!

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