How do you workout? (Retail)

[Chris co2012]

So, I'm fat. (Great way to start this thread)

I need to lose weight, and I have this crazy dream of completely transforming my body. However, 1.) I know this goal is impossible since I won't follow through and 2.) I'll be standing up for a possible 12 hours per shift.

How do you retail pharmacists workout? Do your legs feel like crap? Wait... of course they do!

So is it possible to put in a lot of effort at the gym and still survive the day? I kind of know the answer to this question, but I want to hear personal stories about it.

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[ValeRx]

So, I'm fat. (Great way to start this thread)

I need to lose weight, and I have this crazy dream of completely transforming my body. However, 1.) I know this goal is impossible since I won't follow through and 2.) I'll be standing up for a possible 12 hours per shift.

How do you retail pharmacists workout? Do your legs feel like crap? Wait... of course they do!

So is it possible to put in a lot of effort at the gym and still survive the day? I kind of know the answer to this question, but I want to hear personal stories about it.

Well, I'm not a pharmacist yet but between classes and work, I'm pretty busy. Now that it's break I'm working more hours. If I'm morning shift, I'm hitting the gym almost right after work. If it's night shift, I go about 2 hours after waking up and give myself an hour to shower and cool down before my work shift.

You need to keep a positive attitude and using the days frustrations at work can give you plenty of motivation and steam to blow off. If you're wanting to transform your body, start off by changing up your diet. Take several small meals with you. Just eating smaller, 4-5 times per day can help you speed your metabolism up and burn fat. Granted these are HEALTHY meals, not a snickers bar or potato chips. I'm talking 4oz grilled chicken or lean meat or fish, a small salad or vegetables and some sort of carb like rice. Drink plenty of water too.

Working on your core/lower body strength and endurance will definitely help out with those hours of aching legs and feet.

 

[fluorometholone]

You need to keep a positive attitude and using the days frustrations at work can give you plenty of motivation and steam to blow off. If you're wanting to transform your body, start off by changing up your diet. Take several small meals with you. Just eating smaller, 4-5 times per day can help you speed your metabolism up and burn fat.

This is totally true. Changing your diet could fix some of your problems. Use your day off to make a few easy meals that can be thrown in tupperware and heated at work. And don't eat when you get home after a long day! I had this bad habit of eating (well, inhaling food) around 6 or 7 at work, then trying to eat a proper dinner or unhealthy snack when I got home at 9 or 10. It worked out to 1.5-2 times what I should have been consuming!
If you belong to a gym with a pool, use it. Swimming is 100% the best exercise in the world (although I'm biased as a former competitive swimmer...). It's easy on joints and relaxing in general. Otherwise, try using a stationary bike or an elliptical. Might be easier than hopping on a treadmill right away

 

[diplomat]

As long as you work for one of the retail giants that forcefully disallow you from having time to eat you will never lose weight. The key to losing weight is eating right and it is impossible to eat correctly when you are staring into a computer screen for 13 hours a day with no time set aside for even one single meal break. Sorry, but if you are overweight now, and plan to work fulltime retail, for one of the giants, it is only going to get worse.

 

[rx2010]

As long as you work for one of the retail giants that forcefully disallow you from having time to eat you will never lose weight. The key to losing weight is eating right and it is impossible to eat correctly when you are staring into a computer screen for 13 hours a day with no time set aside for even one single meal break. Sorry, but if you are overweight now, and plan to work fulltime retail, for one of the giants, it is only going to get worse.

This is true... I gained 8 lbs since starting my retail job 1.5 years ago. I literally never eat or drink anything at work. I would go 14-15 hours without eating or drinking anything. I would eat a small breakfast in the morning and eat when I get home, that's it.

 

[xoo]

This is true... I gained 8 lbs since starting my retail job 1.5 years ago. I literally never eat or drink anything at work. I would go 14-15 hours without eating or drinking anything. I would eat a small breakfast in the morning and eat when I get home, that's it.

how many hours do you work each week? this sounds just like pharmacy school.

 

[diplomat]

how many hours do you work each week? this sounds just like pharmacy school.

If you werent finding time to eat in pharmacy school you are doomed in the retail Giant world. Ive never eaten so good in my life during pharmacy school.

 

[ValeRx]

If you werent finding time to eat in pharmacy school you are doomed in the retail Giant world. Ive never eaten so good in my life during pharmacy school.

Yep.. it takes up way too much time to go reheat something on a 10 minute break.

 

[heart goes boOm]

So, I'm fat. (Great way to start this thread)

I need to lose weight, and I have this crazy dream of completely transforming my body. However, 1.) I know this goal is impossible since I won't follow through and 2.) I'll be standing up for a possible 12 hours per shift.

How do you retail pharmacists workout? Do your legs feel like crap? Wait... of course they do!

So is it possible to put in a lot of effort at the gym and still survive the day? I kind of know the answer to this question, but I want to hear personal stories about it.

are you a guy? lol, coz if you are, i doubt you'll like my recommendation for your legs feeling like crap. but i'm girl who wore compression stockings when i was a pharmacy student in retail because my feet would hurt and i did not want varicose veins. haha.

 

[Hope1974]

I agree. It's tough to maintain a health diet working retail. You can bring healthy snacks like carots, celery, apples, etc. I remember a pharmacist I used to work for that did this, and she was in shape. She also wore compression stockings. Another pharmacist I knew, continually ordered out and was starting to get out of shape. It's really tough though, expecially when you work odd shifts every day and don't come home to a family where there might be an already prepared meal.


But, it's true, as told to me by several of my kick boxing coaches in the past, and a body builder, of the two things that affect weight loss greatly 1. health diet and 2. excercise, the number ONE thing that has the greatest impact is the diet.

So I try to drink lots of water at work (regardless of workload), and when I can bring an apple or a bannana. But in the very busy busy stores, its tough. I have also tried to cut out sweets and sodas, and junk, and have tried not to order pizza- it's tough though.

 

[delano2000]

Not a pharmacist yet but I work out 1-3 times per week during the semester. Just this year I went from 230lbs to ~165lbs. If you put your mind to it then you can lose the weight.

 

[ValeRx]

Prepare all your meals ahead of time. I usually cook at least 5 cups of rice and 2-3 pounds of chicken every 4 days or so. Get some fat free greek yogurt and cut yourself up some romaine lettuce and tomatoes/cucumbers. It is NOT that hard to eat healthy by preparing. If you're too lazy to pre-cook your meals you're going to fail. Cut up some apples and take a few tablespoonfuls of natural peanut butter in a tupperware container. Load everything up in a thermal lunch box and take it with you. It will work, I do it every day.

 

[SHC1984]

I am not a pharmacist yet, but I know how it is being super busy. I just do 100 sit ups every night before bedtime and I do the stairmaster every Saturday morning for an hour. That's about it for me! haha....I gain 13 pound since I started pharmacy school though b/c I am getting older and my metabolism is slowing down.

Anyways, to answer your question. Working out is about quality not quantity. If you sign up for a gym membership there are fitness intructors there to help you out. It will cost you extra money of course but they can help you out either 1 hour per day three times a week or 2 hours per day three times a week. Those instructors are usually really good and know what they are doing so they can help you exercise the right way and lose weight even faster.

I used one two summers ago and it was helpful...but can be a little bit expensive I think I paid like 300 or 400 dollars a month for my sessions.

Oh and running is always a good option! Does well in burning fat off and it's free.

 

[Pharmacy Kid]

I am not a pharmacist yet, but I know how it is being super busy. I just do 100 sit ups every night before bedtime and I do the stairmaster every Saturday morning for an hour. That's about it for me! haha....I gain 13 pound since I started pharmacy school though b/c I am getting older and my metabolism is slowing down.

Excuses, excuses.

 

[SHC1984]

Excuses, excuses.

:cry:

Godiva is my weakness too.

 

[Ackj]

By the time you graduate and are working, your habits and diet are pretty much set in stone and you're very unlikely to make major changes. If you've always worked out, you'll find time, if you've never worked out, you'll find excuses. I've worked with a pharmacist who rides his bike ~15 miles each way to and from work, no matter the weather (including snow). Is that extreme? Sure, but he does it. His wife is also a pharmacist, and she simply wakes up a few hours earlier and hits the gym before work.

I personally don't like working out before work/school because you have to use their showers. I've done it a few times, but home showers are much nicer than any gym shower. Working out after a long day may seem exhausting, but I think it's a great stress relief if you can muster the energy to turn your 12 hour day into a 13. Or even if you just work out on your off days, 3x a week is plenty for a good exercise routine.

For meals, I usually have a decent breakfast (eggs + oatmeal) and then pack a bunch of snacky foods. You never know how long you'll get to eat, so something you can grab a quick bite of is great. Cheese sticks, almonds, baby carrots, an apple, etc. I usually also pack something that is closer to an actual meal, like a sandwich or salad with yogurt, and eat that in the late afternoon, maybe about 3-4pm when it generally slows down a bit. Then you can continue to eat your snacks prn until it's time to close up, have a shake pre or post-workout, and go home and have a small dinner. You don't want to eat a lot before bed, which seems to be a problem that the previous posters were having since they didn't eat all day, and were starving by the time they finally got home.

I also recommend using something like FitDay or Daily Plate to count your calories so they're around whatever your goal is and make sure you're getting your macronutrients. I like to input things a day ahead of time so I know how much food to pack, rather than getting home and saying "oh man, I should've eaten more/less."

 

[Quiksilver]

on the contrary, when I worked retail, I was so busy I literally ate nothing for 12-15 hrs straight. And because I lived over an hr away from this job, I didn't eat sometimes til I got home 15 hrs later. While I was there I lost about 8 pounds fairly rapidly. While you metabolism likely slows down, you still burn calories.

None of that matters anymore because now I have lunch breaks and I can find time every day to go to the gym.

 

[Twinsmom]

I always feel very tired and hungry after work or study. I need to change my diet and start to work out, too!

 

[SoylentGreen]

Diet is more important than exercise for weight loss. If you look at the number of calories you burn working out, you can easily make up for it by eating just a little bit of crap food, unless you're a hardcore athlete who lives in the gym.

I lost 40 pounds between the time when I applied to school and when I graduated by going low carb without working out much. Of course I didn't get buff that way, but I'm sure most people my age weigh more than they did 4 years ago, not less.