Have you gained or lost weight since med school?

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What has happened since the start of medical school?

  • Lost weight

    Votes: 80 35.6%
  • Gained weight

    Votes: 85 37.8%
  • Stayed the same

    Votes: 60 26.7%

  • Total voters
    225

drshark

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Since beginning medical school have you lost, maintained, or gained weight? Is there adequate time to workout and stay fit?

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I really believe that the set-point theory applies to me, which is the body's natural tendency to return to a specific set weight. I have been 200 lbs on my 5'10" frame for the past three years, with less than 10% body fat (hence, very muscular). I work out often, but whether or not I lose or gain definition, I have remained at my weight.
 
1st year stayed same weight (kept running 5 times a week)
2nd year gained a decent amount of weight (stopped running)
3rd year stayed about the same

Hopefully I can lose weight 4th year and return to my pre medical school weight now that I have more spare time.
 
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put on 25lbs over the 4 years.. sigh. been working out more 4th year but there are lots of parties so that doesnt help.
hoping to lose weight intern year with all the crazy hours
 
I lost weight. Actually found time to workout more than in undergrad and drank less ate better.

Survivor DO
 
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I gained 20 pounds in med school. Most of it has been during this past semester while studying for Step 1.
 
4th year will afford you time to workout. I lost a considerable amount of weight and now am less than what I weighed before going into school.

Yeah, I plan on working out the rest of this year and during 4th year to regain my original weight.
 
I usually end up losing between 5 to 10 pounds throughout a term and it quickly gets put back on in the short breaks I have. I'm about 200 usually though and it takes a decent amount of eating/gym-work for me to maintain that and to maintain it on a non-sloppy build. There is plenty of time in medical school for you to schedule in a few things that are important to you.
 
oh step 1.. i lost about 13 lbs while studying for that...
 
My biggest problem was when I got to my clinicals. The hospital I trained at for clinical, internship and residency had free food for the docs. I was a sucker for chicken finger tuesday, pizza wednesday, and sunrise sunday look out! You'll have time to work out only if you make time to work out. That's up to you. A healthy body makes for a healthy mind.
 
Gained weight (muscle).

Med school forced me to go into a routine and drink way less.
 
Gained weight from muscle mass.

I'm a regular at the ortho library.
 
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Probably gained a few pounds due to getting older, less physical activity while in classes/cognitive type rotations, crappier diet. But, my clothes still fit and i already trapped a spouse some years ago, so whatever.
 
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10 happy years and counting! You can't be early-20s and speedo/string-bikiniworthy forever, at least not with the amount that I care about being so.

Yeah 12 years here and counting. I just liked the way you said it. I still wear the bikini but only under my work clothes.
 
I don't understand why people in healthcare are obese >30bmi. No excuse if you don't have an organic condition causing it. And if you're so muscular that you're over 30bmi, then that's not healthy either.
 
MS1 - lost weight. By the end of first semester I was at 170. Parents thought I was doing drugs/anorexic. Worked out some more and came back to 180 lbs.

Had an accident last summer - lost 25 pounds (160 lbs) because it's kind of hard to eat when you're hooked up to morphine and are in pain.

Started working out like crazy and again went back to 180 lbs. Then I started studying for step 1 and I don't even want to know the amount of weight I've lost. NO GYM TIME FOR ME!
 
Then I started studying for step 1 and I don't even want to know the amount of weight I've lost. NO GYM TIME FOR ME!

You need to make the time. Healthy body=healthy mind.


I don't understand why people in healthcare are obese >30bmi. No excuse if you don't have an organic condition causing it. And if you're so muscular that you're over 30bmi, then that's not healthy either.

I agree with this. Just like the smoking pulmonologist.
 
I don't understand why people in healthcare are obese >30bmi. No excuse if you don't have an organic condition causing it. And if you're so muscular that you're over 30bmi, then that's not healthy either.

Cause they don't feel like practicing what they preach :p
 
I don't understand why people in healthcare are obese >30bmi. No excuse if you don't have an organic condition causing it. And if you're so muscular that you're over 30bmi, then that's not healthy either.

Don't want to derail the thread too much but is that really true regarding being very muscular?
Isn't the point of BMI that its supposed to be an approximation of the amount of body fat a person is carrying? If that's the case then why would there be health risks involved with having a high bmi due to muscle?
 
Over the first year and a half I gained 20 lbs yikes. I worked out a lot before med school but then stopped and the sedentary lifestyle of podcasting during the first 2 years got to me lol. I honestly attribute a lot of it to not having a scale at home and never weighing myself.

Half way through 2nd year when I realized how much I gained, I went into diet mode but no exercise and lost 15 lbs in about 2 months. By the end of 2nd year I was only 5 lbs above my pre-med school weight.

Over 3rd year I have gone back and forth between gaining and losing 5 lbs. Now that I weigh myself a few times per week I can easily catch when I gained a few lbs and then make sure I lose it the next week. So I'm currently at 5-10 lbs more than when I started 3 years ago. Fourth year starts next week and I can already tell my schedule is going to be a million times easier than it has been in med school so far. I def can see myself easily getting to the gym several times a week over this next year.
 
For those who gained weight. If y'all familiar with the Hodge Twins you will get it.

tumblr_mhf6vnM8RC1rjch8eo1_500.jpg
 
Don't want to derail the thread too much but is that really true regarding being very muscular?
Isn't the point of BMI that its supposed to be an approximation of the amount of body fat a person is carrying? If that's the case then why would there be health risks involved with having a high bmi due to muscle?

To sustain a bmi around 30 with a fat % that is jacked/ripped/swol, you end up putting considerable strain on your kidneys. This happens over time though. Another equally important risk is due to taking in enough cholesterol to make testosterone for the anabolic muscle process-- to achieve the swol effect. Autopsies on US GIs have been showing blocked coronaries at 25yo! Keep in mind that these are at extremes of physique, but even fluctuating up and down puts stress on the kidneys heart and liver over time. This doesn't even include use of supplements. Just because someone looks healthy doesn't mean that they are, and studies have been suggesting that overweight folks who get regular exercise have fewer cardiac events than normal bmi sedentary folks.
 
To sustain a bmi around 30 with a fat % that is jacked/ripped/swol, you end up putting considerable strain on your kidneys. This happens over time though. Another equally important risk is due to taking in enough cholesterol to make testosterone for the anabolic muscle process-- to achieve the swol effect. Autopsies on US GIs have been showing blocked coronaries at 25yo! Keep in mind that these are at extremes of physique, but even fluctuating up and down puts stress on the kidneys heart and liver over time. This doesn't even include use of supplements. Just because someone looks healthy doesn't mean that they are, and studies have been suggesting that overweight folks who get regular exercise have fewer cardiac events than normal bmi sedentary folks.

Resources? I've done some searches on this topic, and I have yet to find any studies in non-drug using populations.
 
I played a lot of pick-up basketball in UG (have never been a fan of just lifting or just running), and never really found an equally fun option to workout in medical school. I think I've put on about 15-20 pounds in the past 3 years, probably a little more during M3 because of the crazy schedules. Yeah, I theoretically had time to work out, but working in the hospital, leaving around 5, then going to the gym immediately (b/c the hospital gym closes by 7) was too much for me to do on any consistent basis.
 
I lost a couple pounds in the first few months due to the stress, then went up about 7 once I knew I would pass everything first semester and could let loose a little :). Second semester I decided with all my sitting I'm not going to lose any weight if I don't learn how to eat way less, so I learned to eat less and lost 14 pounds. I've never had a problem with exercising, just eating :).

Having a scale is key, I still feel 10 pounds heavier now even though I look better in pictures and ditto for when I gain weight without realizing. Don't trust "how your clothes fit" or any of that!
 
I would have gained 10 lbs by now had I not ________ so much so I've stayed the same. Exam stress eating is what kills me everytime :(
 
I would have gained 10 lbs by now had I not ________ so much so I've stayed the same. Exam stress eating is what kills me everytime :(

Ooh! I love ad-lib games!!!

Is it "slept-around" ?
 
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Lost.
If you do 4 major meals daily and dont eat anything else while studying or whatever. You will lose weight even if you dont do any kind of programmed physical activity.
 
You need to make the time. Healthy body=healthy mind.

I know/agree. Now that I'm in my new condo w/ full workout facilities, it won't be a hassle. I can go in/out at my own time and not worry about hours of operation. I won't give up on working out. I refuse to become...those kinds.

I agree with this. Just like the smoking pulmonologist.

Do Anesthesiologists that take narcotics/benzo's count as doing it right? :smuggrin:
 
My weight stayed pretty level during the first two years of med school, then dropped off about 15 lbs in third year. Most came back by 4th year when I wasn't running around like a lunatic so much.

In residency, it's been about the same too. But it's a struggle sometimes to actually keep my weight up when I'm working. I'll see 10-15lbs disappear in a few weeks on a pretty stressful rotation, and all of a sudden I look like the walking dead.
 
I would say I stayed about the same weight, but my muscle mass turned into fat mass.
 
Gained probably about 5 lbs over the course of the first two years. Based on starting trauma today, I am going to lose a lot over the next few weeks lawlz
 
Resources? I've done some searches on this topic, and I have yet to find any studies in non-drug using populations.

Im not 100% but ask a sports med doc. Trainers and dieticians will tell you the same thing, but I'm not sure about studies. I did a sports med rotation and saw this and spoke with my attending about it. Several of my friends lift hard and have done tours overseas and they attest to it. I know that's weak anecdotal from a random user online. If you think about overworking the kidneys and eating a ton of cholesterol, then it makes sense on any scale. Keep in mind that you'd be going to extremes to cause damage if you're healthy initially.
 
Gained about 18 pounds, but that has been intentional. I find 4-6 days/week to exercise. It's very doable.
 
Lost.
If you do 4 major meals daily and dont eat anything else while studying or whatever. You will lose weight even if you dont do any kind of programmed physical activity.

let me guess you are a man
 
I did great during m1, was in the best shape of my life in early M2.

Christmas after m2 it went downhill. Too much research, class work, and then board studying.

I gained 10-15 pounds during step 1 studying. No joke, I did nothing but sit on my ass and eat terrible crap because it helped me get through studying. I am hoping to lose it here in the next two months.
 

The way you phrased your advice, like it could work for everyone. It's no secret that women tend to struggle more with their weight, and a lot of that is related to the fact that an ideal BMI for a woman is more like 19 or 20, and a man can easily get away with 24, 25 and look good.

I kind of have to do what works for my mental state to control my weight, and a lot of my friends do completely different things. I didn't mean the comment as boo-hoo us, but I think men don't realize that we a) usually like to be a lot smaller than you guys and b) have to be more conscientious to do that (for me that means eating a lot less).
 
lost about 40 lbs before m1 started by ditching processed crap food, lost another 10 lbs in the first few months school then hit a plateau. Recently fell off plateau and started losing again when I started making "bulletproof coffee" concoctions (coffee + coconut/mct oil + unsalted butter=adderall in a cup)
 
The way you phrased your advice, like it could work for everyone. It's no secret that women tend to struggle more with their weight, and a lot of that is related to the fact that an ideal BMI for a woman is more like 19 or 20, and a man can easily get away with 24, 25 and look good.

I kind of have to do what works for my mental state to control my weight, and a lot of my friends do completely different things. I didn't mean the comment as boo-hoo us, but I think men don't realize that we a) usually like to be a lot smaller than you guys and b) have to be more conscientious to do that (for me that means eating a lot less).

ok, it is true that women have a lower basal metabolism.

And are somehow less resistant to the call of nice sweet snacks :smuggrin:
 
Yes, I forgot to add that we eat our emotions. But even so, my ideal BMI is lower than a guys. I've never been overweight but I have to be a lot hungrier for a BMI of 20 than a BMI of 23.
 
BMI can be misleading. Woman naturally have more fat vs lean mass than man.

How do you calculate your ideal weight, Use the Lorenz Formula. It takes gender, age and height in consideration.
 
1st year - gained 10 lbs, lost some fat and gained muscle
 
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