Nursing school weight gain

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I'm taking a short study break and wanted to ask about weight help!!

My school has a buffet..it's so good. That combined with no cardio exercise anymore and sitting a whole lot more, I gained almost 15 lbs since July!:bag: I was impressed my clinical uniform still fit me since I'd gotten it in August. My other clothes don't fit as well. I'm at my heaviest weight. My BMI is 22.8 right now, which is normal still but I'm not in shape.

When I used to jog every day I could eat whatever I wanted. I don't have time to jog anymore, and even though I walk a lot at work I also sit a lot. I still walk my dogs for 1 hour a day.

Any advice? What do you guys do to keep the weight down when you need to sit for a long time?

What do you eat for a snack to fill you up and stay at a good weight?

I get hungry a lot! I stopped snacking though. So I only eat breakfast, lunch and dinner now. No night snack. I choose the wrong foods though and need some ideas please! Also do you do any quick exercise routine that works? Like a 20 minute work out routine? Thanks.

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Specializes in Telemetry.

I'm probably a terrible person to give advice - when I started nursing school I needed extra small scrub tops - after finishing school and then five years on the floor I needed extra large. :thumbdown:

Part of my problem was probably that my metabolism plummeted as I started nursing school (I was in my mid 20s).

I think cortisol, night shift, poor food choices, exhaustion, and oh yeah STRESS all make it easy to gain weight.

So while I know I don't practice what I preach, I can say sleep hygiene is very important. Time with family/friends to de-stress. Protein snacks easily available - I like the P3 Protein snacks from Oscar Mayer have nuts, cheese, chicken, ham etc.

I know you haveva lot to read for school but maybe download a book or two that is not nursing related and listen while you walk.

Play with the dogs and laugh at their antics. Just laugh whenever you can! Hey, All Nurses can be good for that - and a place to vent and let iff some steam.

Yeah I need to take my own advice but I am so a work in progress.

Best of luck to you! (And heck, me too!;) )

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Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

I do keep working out throughout the semester, although not as regularly. I typically end up gaining those annoying 10-15 lbs. But in the summer I go all out and lose them, so it washes out. :scrying: It can't be good for my body.

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I do a once a week food prep for things like lunches. quick to go breakfasts, etc. ( my fave is prepping a weeks worth of wraps made with spinach/egg/tomato/feta)

I have a 2nd yoga mat, which stays in my car.. i do a few quick sun salutations, or a few bodyweight exercises n my break in the back room.

I work at a Starbucks now (flexible but a double edgd sword with all the bad food at my disposal), I go for a quick walk, or do some jump squats/step downs/tricep dips off the patio edge.

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I just finished my first full case study (5 pages later...:woot:)

Can't wait to get up out of this chair!

Nurse Leigh those are great ideas! I like more sleep and more play haha! I haven't really been as playful with the dogs..maybe I'll make time to just play inside with them that won't take up too much time. I like the book idea too, I don't have ebooks but I could read my notes on a recorder and play them when I'm out.

umbdude yeah that sounds like how I am, really. In the nice weather I just want to be outside and jog so I'll lose weight but this is the most I've ever gained and it surprised me that it was such a short time.

wannbenny I think your post helped me discover why I'm so hungry all the time, maybe. When you wrote about your breakfast. I either skip breakfast or eat ... no wait I skip breakfast. I did eat it during winter break but haven't this week. If I did eat it during school it would be a low fat yogurt. That wrap sounds like it would be filling and help me during the day!

Thanks for the replies.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.

During long lectures 4-8 hrs, I feel like I get hungry, but I actually think it's simple boredom. Last semester I tried really hard to pack raw fruits and veggies just so I'd have something to keep my mouth and hands busy.

If I want a "snack" but not really fuel, I eat triscuits or wheat thins or snap pea crisps. There are lots of different flavors of these and I tend to choose spicy ones that taste similar to Doritos or salsa.

I always eat breakfast on lecture or clinical days! Boiled eggs and fresh fruit were my go-to breakfast almost every school

day because I could boil the eggs at the beginning of the week and grab a banana on the way out the door.

I often don't end up eating until after I get to school or to the hospital, but I think breakfast is very important. A few times, I brought steel cut oats with cranberries and nuts. But because of the prep time, that was rare.

I always pack a lunch for school (I think I forgot once or twice.) I eat a lot of vegetarian meals, and typically my lunches for lecture or clinical were brown rice plus beans and some kind of sauce, either salsa or curry or hot sauce. When I hadn't meal prepped, I'd bring Amy's Lentil soup from a can or Madres Lentil / Red bean premade individual portions of soup.

As far as exercise..... I too have a doggie. I used to take a break after every hour of studying to take her on a 10-15 min walk around the neighborhood.

I also made myself commit to exercise by signing up for a half marathon during the last semester. This forced me to have to run a few times per week as part of training. I'm going to sign up for another one this semester.

Make the time to jog. The endorphins and other chemicals released help your memory and reduce stress. Therefore, the amount of time you take away from studying to work out will actually give you benefits in learning.

Complex carbohydrates are very crucial to me feeling satiated. When I'm also working out regularly, I add more protein to my diet to keep my stamina up.

My other tip, which isn't diet or exercise related, but helps with weight management and monitoring: do not buy scrubs with full elastic waists. Do not buy big bulky scrubs. Buy scrubs that fit well so that you can notice when the weight is creeping up. Both of my nursing programs (LVN and RN) allowed us to purchase scrubs from outside vendors as long as we buy the correct color. I spent a little more money to buy koi brand scrubs so that I could force myself not to gain weight.

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If u can squeeze in some workout time. Research T25. It's jut 25 minutes of workout. If you think you can spare more time than that, like maybe an hour you can do insanity. It's hard but you get results. Idk about T25 but as for insanity all of the videos are for free online. Just google the insanity calendar, look at the which videos you have to do each day, Google the names of the video and workout for free!

As for food, I bought whey protein for less than 20 bucks at cvs (shop rite has it too) and it seriously fills me up. 1 scoop is 200 calories and 30g of protein. After that drink I can barely eat any real food after.

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I operate best on a low carb high fat/ketogenic/Atkins diet. I actually find that I eat less then before. One of my favorites is a low carb wrap and tuna. I get the packages of tuna so I don't have to deal with the oil. Add a little mayo, your cheese of choice and its quick, easy, and filling. I prefer to have it heated. Also I drink coffee with half and half and coconut oil and/or butter. The extra day is super filling but it can be an aquired taste.

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Specializes in Telemetry.
I operate best on a low carb high fat/ketogenic/Atkins diet. I actually find that I eat less then before. One of my favorites is a low carb wrap and tuna. I get the packages of tuna so I don't have to deal with the oil. Add a little mayo, your cheese of choice and its quick, easy, and filling. I prefer to have it heated. Also I drink coffee with half and half and coconut oil and/or butter. The extra day is super filling but it can be an aquired taste.

The part with all the bacon sounds great but then I remember NO BREAD?!?! NO PASTA?!?! No way...

I'm not a tuna person but I do love the foil packets of boneless skinless salmon.

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Why do you have an hour to walk the dog, but don't have time to jog? Can you run with the dog? Even 20 min to jog a day is great!

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Why do you have an hour to walk the dog, but don't have time to jog? Can you run with the dog? Even 20 min to jog a day is great!

One of my dogs loves running with me, the other won't. He's a herding breed so I wondered if that's why because he'll pull to get behind me and I feel like to jog I'm pulling him and I don't want to do that, then eventually he tries to circle me and my other dog. I've tried it a few times. I think he can't help his genetics! So I usually take them out to woods or fields, like a county park or something, and let them off the leashes. If I start doing lunges they act like I'm dying haha. They're kind of funny. I guess they'd get used to it though eventually!!

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I operate best on a low carb high fat/ketogenic/Atkins diet. I actually find that I eat less then before. One of my favorites is a low carb wrap and tuna. I get the packages of tuna so I don't have to deal with the oil. Add a little mayo, your cheese of choice and its quick, easy, and filling. I prefer to have it heated. Also I drink coffee with half and half and coconut oil and/or butter. The extra day is super filling but it can be an aquired taste.

I'm like Nurse Leigh and hate tuna but I love salmon. One time I stopped eating excess sugar and carbs, and I really stopped even craving it as long as I ate enough protein. That's the problem I think. I'm going to try the whey protein like Lils suggested too. Thanks guys I appreciate the ideas!

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