How to diet and Study at the same time?

Hi everybody,

I am doing my PhD and I have to finish my thesis in October. I have gained 51 pounds in 5 years. I can not fit in any of my cloths, I keep delaying my diet to November but I am afraid that I will not have any thing to wear if I gain any more pound. I have tried to count the calories that I eat but I can not follow everyday because of my study plan. I would love to hear someone experience about how to deal with the weight gain in situations of stress like that.

Thanks

Original Post by sheilaphysio:

Hi everybody,

I am doing my PhD and I have to finish my thesis in October. I have gained 51 pounds in 5 years. I can not fit in any of my cloths, I keep delaying my diet to November but I am afraid that I will not have any thing to wear if I gain any more pound. I have tried to count the calories that I eat but I can not follow everyday because of my study plan. I would love to hear someone experience about how to deal with the weight gain in situations of stress like that.

Thanks

I'm not nearly to the situation you are in yet, but I do have a couple suggestions that may help you out.

• First off, I'm guessing you have been gaining this weight from the stress of the study plan and having to do lots of studies and basically no time to be able to do your own thing and just heading off to McDonalds or some other fast food place. What I'd suggest is if you have a good sandwich place, like Subway nearby it could help boost your weight loss without the stress to count. Buy a foot long for five dollars and maybe only eat half for lunch if you are able to and save the other half for dinner. Saved you a trip to MickyD's and maybe a bit of money if you are able to do that. 
• Keep fresh fruit, ready to eat vegetables, nuts, good food to be able to snack on while continuing your studies. When having some free time you might be able to buy these in bulk at a nearby convenience store, grocery store or whatever suits you best. Cutting out pre-packaged processed foods or potato chips might help clean up some of those extra calories you may be consuming while studying. 
• Last, but not least, keep in mind that counting isn't everything to the key to weight loss. You don't have to count but keeping the concept of portion control in your mind is a great thing to do. If you have the free time, look up some of your common dinners, lunches, breakfasts, whatever you eat and see the calories. Then, decide a good number to settle for each meal and you can figure out how much of each thing you should be having. For example, if you usually get a Big Mac with small fries, and you only should have five hundred calories, you can maybe estimate half the big mac and maybe finish up your fries can net you a good amount around five hundred and save the rest you didn't finish for dinner. Estimation is the key. 

I wish the best of luck to you on your weight loss and your studies. :] 

I put on a couple of pounds too when I was working on my thesis - it's a stressful time and stress tends to make you put on weight.  Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to make yourself not-stressed.  Physical activities like yoga, team sports or walking can help lower the stress levels though - and, yes, you *do* have time to do that because it'll make the study time more efficient so you'll get the same amount of work done.  I used to take one Sunday a month as "me time" when I did no work/chores (except for fun shopping) and I didn't take any longer to get done than any of my peers. 

Also, make sure you're getting enough sleep.  Lack of sleep tends to make you overeat and also makes you less productive.  You'll gain back that extra hour of sleep in how much more work you get done while awake.

Finally, watch the snacks.  They may well be what's hurting you the most.  Buy bags of apples, tomatoes, baby carrots, etc. to munch on.  Stick to the less labour-intensive fruit and veg so you can't tell yourself you don't have time to make the snack.  If you want something crunchy, pour a bowl of cereal rather than grabbing a bag of chips.  If you're thirsty, have a glass of water rather than reaching right for the juice/pop/beer.  You may be doing some of these things already, but every little bit helps.

I know how you feel. I am hoping to hand in my thesis by the end of the year. I've spent the past 3 months travelling to conferences workshops etc, so starting Sept 1 when I finish the course I am currently doing and get back home, I'm going to have to really crack down on both my work and my eating etc.

I know I work most effectively when I am also pretty physically active. Exercise reduces stress, clothes fitting reduces stress, swimming reduces stress, eating well reduces stress. So my plan is to try and work in as much exercise in the day as possible, in small stints. eg work 50 minutes, do stretches, squats, leg exercises or whatever 10 minutes (depending on where you are), repeat. go for walks in the morning for 20mins on getting up, longer in the afternoon, and swim every second day.

I am also trying to figure out a food plan, Preferably something that is almost the same everyday and doesn't involve me cooking, and is cheap. At the moment I am thinking about BF yoghurt/fruit, Lunch Salad from supermarket/ cafeteria, fruit and ham/cheese for snacks, and I just need to figure out something for dinners.

Good luck with your work, what are you writting about?

Thanks Jane

I am very glad with all answers, ideas and support. I am just in love with this site, very good ;)

I am doing a PhD in Rehabilitation Science, specifically physical therapy in pediatrics.

I will try to plan some walks this week and I will post about it

Thanks Jester and Susie,

I wrote down all suggestions. I will keep you guys informed. Talk with  you here about my progress will motivate me.

Thanks a lot

So... it looks like there is a niche here.... given that the full swing for a lot of is (I'm a masters student) is about to get and running full force again, perhaps we should think about a group.....

 

I'd really like a group like this....

hint... hint...

 

Anyone interested?

Good luck on your thesis!

I've been a perpetual dieter and perpetual student most of my adult life. Now I am starting law school (in 3 days in fact). I think the key to being able to lose weight while in a stressful situation like research, school, studying, writing, (etc) is to MAKE the time to plan out your meals.

I have always made the time to put together my meals and snacks for the next day the night before. Sometimes I even do a couple days at a time (then I just grab and go in the morning). Also, do a lot of prep work when you come home from the store (bag baby carrots, trail mix, etc., make individual serving size bags of cereal, etc). Individually wrapped string cheese (the low fat kind) are great to eat with an apple, or some veggie sticks. Nuts are great with fruit for a quick snack. I eat loads of lunch meat (wrapped around celery, plain, on rice cakes) and while a bit high in sodium, it tends to be low calorie and high protein. Also, those small (3oz) cans/bags of tuna are awesome. I have a small insualted lunch bag and I throw a blue ice thing in it on my way out the door. It's a bit more work than running to McDonalds or something, but it's cheaper and healthier, and you get to control the ingredients....plus it's easier to avoid temptation. :-)

Just take a little time to plan and soon it will become second nature!

Good luck!

I wouldn't mind a group. I would like support not just with food/exercise, but also my work, i suffer from a pretty big procrastination problem ;-).

jesusgirl, good luck with starting law school, at least for me, I found it much easier to do what you suggest, in planning good snacks etc to take to uni with me during law school, than I do now while I am writing my phd. having all the best snacks in the world planned and packed doesn't stop visions of chocolate, and when you are writing there is nothing to stop you having that break to go and get it.

Hope your work is all going well,

I like to read while I'm on the treadmill or go over my notes for class.  I usually start my day at the gym that way there are no excuses.  Try to eat foods that fill you up, like apples, peanut butter, but limit your intake.  If you measure and prepare baggies the day before or even on the weekend for the week.

Good Luck

Hi everybody,

Right now I am struggling with my second paper, but GOOD NEWS! I decided to walk on the mountain, it will take at least 1hour from my study plan and after I felt renewed and full of energy. Other decision that I took was not eating after 9:00 pm. If I feel hungry, I will eat just an apple or drink water.

I really like the idea to form a group. Could anybody be the responsible for this?

Thanks

Hey, congratulations on being close to finishing your thesis! It will feel really great when it's over - I just turned mine in a few months ago and I'm still enjoying it :) I think I probably gained at least 20 lbs during the process. Now I'm trying to study for my comprehensive exams so I can get those out of the way and start my dissertation. I was going to put off losing weight until those are over in October, but I decided I wanted to make changes now to get a headstart. I thought it might add to my stress but I have to admit I'm feeling a lot better and probably getting more studying done because of some of the changes I've made.

I definitely agree with some of the suggestions above. Increasing my sleep was probably the best thing I've tried! I used to get 5 hours of sleep a night, but now I'm trying for 7-8. I feel so much better during the day and I'm less likely to snack late at night to try to stay awake. I've started exercising in the morning again, because I realized I never went at night when other things came up. I've also been packing my lunch as often as I can, because that time of day is so stressful and rushed for me that I was making terrible choices.

A group sounds like a good idea by the way. I agree with Jane3001 about support for procrastination along with diet/exercise :)