Exam pressures + revising = bingeing + grazing

I am a uni student and am currently in the middle of my exams end of year exams... its playing havoc on my diet I’m bingeing more than ever. Now I’m always feeling bloated and unattractive. I know it’s important to have a healthy diet, especially round exam time to help with concentration, but I seem to be eating huge amounts of junk and quick fixes... My main down falls is grazing when I’m revising....

Any helpful ideas or suggestions??? ...xxXxx...

I'm going through the exact same thing right now...I had it all together until like 2 days ago as it really starts to get down to the wire. I'm trying to limit my portions but I just can't deal with counting at the moment. =/ On the bright side, it's only temporary.

Try to keep plenty of water around you so at least then you don't have to worry about drink calories. Also make sure you take time to eat proper meals so you aren't grazing out of hunger!

I am exactly the same with the grazing - I've got my finals next week (gulp...).  I'm trying to keep the grazing to low cal snacks - radishes, grapes, carrott sticks - I can eat tonnes of them without too much impact on my calories I hope.  I don't have any "unhealthy" stuff in the house, but I have been eyeing a jar of my flatmate's nutella lol!!!  I'm drinking lots of fizzy water, as it keeps me feeling full, and getting up early to schedule in an hour's exercise, as it helps increase my deficit while I'm spending the rest of my day sitting down.

Worst case scenario for me is to eat at maintenance during my exams and then get back to it when they are all over.  It is only temporary after all!  GOOD LUCK xxxx

while studying you could snack on cut up fruit, pretzels, or rice cakes, or stuff like that. its lower cal than chips or something at least!

The only solution is to periodically stop what you are doing, get up, stretch, and do something new and totally relaxing for like 15 mins. Crochet, knitting, drawing, whatever. (I call it "emotional crochet" - far better than emotional eating!!)

 But keep it productive and distracting, don't just sit down in front of the TV or surf the web.

And make sure you air the room and move a bit, lack of oxygen and low blood pressure heighten stress and dull your thinking.

Take 10 minutes of your time and plan out what you are going to eat that day, with plenty of snacks. Pre-portion your snacks so you don't end up eating an entire bag of grapes. Make sure you have protein-rich snacks handy, such as low fat dairy (yogurt, cheese sticks), hard boiled eggs, canned beans, etc.

If you just take some time to plan and pre-portion, you won't have to worry about anything the rest of the day. :)

I hear you about the stress of the final exams. However my downfall is that I feel bad about not exercising!!! I feel like my body is turning to all fat because I have not been on a rigid schedule. Of course I hope it is all just psychological. Seriously though, get some gum and some carbonated water. The water fills me up with all the bubbles. Good luck on your exams and try not to stress too much!

Hiya, I'm having the same problem.  I have a 3000word essay due in nest week followed by my finals and project presentation the week after.  I've already had module exams and an interview for an MSc which I didnt get so I'm very stressed and tired of work!

I think its best not to try and lose weight when your stressed about exams, its just another thing for your body to deal with and your more likely to binge if you get hungry, so just eat at maintenance for now and concentrate on losing once you're more relaxed.  At the end of the day its only a few weeks so it wont make a difference to your life if you do put on a bit of weight.

I set aside specific times for decent meals, and snacks throughout the day, when I eat in a different place from where I'm working. I try not to let myself eat at all whilst I work so that eating and working aren't associated, (but sometimes I fail so badly at that!).  If you do have to have something have carrot sticks, cucumber sticks etc.  Also drinking coffee and diet drinks, which i know are not healthy, but fill you up and give you something to have without calories.

Also setting aside an hour to do some exercise/go for a walk, really help me to feel better about myself, and get some oxygen so I can concentrate better!

Hope this helps xx

YAY! i think ive cracked it... whats working best for me is making a meal plan for each day and setting aside time for breaks...

its going well!

good luck to all in your exams! ...xxXxx...

I'm going opposite! I've completely lost my appetite for over a week now...ahh...