Med students- did u gain or lose weight since starting med school?

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ponybreeder4

ponybreeder4

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I like to eat. A LOT. And im guessing med school will be more sedentary. So did u guys gain or loose weight since starting and what did u do differently?
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I peaked in fitness (for my lifetime) half way through first year. 160lbs, benching 270. Jacked.

Step 1 studying came around, i went up to 190lbs, benching 225....

now in my fourth year im back down to 175lbs, benching 250.

I gained weight. Alot. Comfort food, nervous food, sad food, (sad booze). It all worked out in my favor. Except for my weight.
 
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ponybreeder4 said:
I like to eat. A LOT. And im guessing med school will be more sedentary. So did u guys gain or loose weight since starting and what did u do differently?
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To be honest...there is no excuse to get out of shape. I don't care if you work 100 hrs a week. You can find 45 mins 4x a week and train hard. And you can always eat healthy...you're smart enough to be in med school- so don't tell me your not smart enough to eat clean. That being said, I had a slump where I ate kinda bad and skipped a few workouts...but I'm better now.

I lift 4x a week hard, then try to run 3-4x a week and bike @ home on the other days.

If you're that cramped for time, watch podcasts on the treadmill or something.
 
I have an uber metabolism. For some reason I have lost tons of weight and yet I'm always hungry. It's a lose-lose scenario :(
 
I was good until 2nd year 2nd semester when we got hit with Resp path/pharm, then renal path/pharm, and now neuro path/pharm, and the gym has been happening less and less.

Overall, +10 lbs :(
 
Yeeds said:
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This might be the greatest thing I have ever seen.

+5 or 10 lbs, but I was 5'6" and 125ish. So I probably needed the weight. And Im a dude.
 
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Gained about 10 pounds since staring, but it's presumably all muscle since I don't have a gut to speak of. You can definitely exercise quite a lot during med school if you want to.
 
Both. I cycle between working out to gain muscle where I eat A LOT (but its healthy food), so I certainly gain weight, but that's the goal. Right now my goal is to cut body fat, and that's been going well too (down 17 lbs in 10 weeks). Basically, you can do either in med school depending what your goals are; however, med school is absolutely not an excuse to become a big fattie. Just be aware that eating pizza from the cafeteria and sitting around studying all day and going home and zoning out in front of the TV is a recipe for a disaster. Get a salad instead of pizza and hit the gym instead of the remote.
 
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Read on the treadmill. Read during breaks in sets. The gym is in fact where I studied board material all second year and listened to Goljan while lifting.
 
Up about 15 pounds from the start, mostly gained during third year. I cook less (more cafeteria/free food), work out less, and do fewer outdoor hobbies. Could you do it without the weight gain? Probably. I'm sure a flood of people are about to explain in excruciating detail how you can (and how it's a moral failure if you don't).
 
I'm like 5'6 and 120, but I don't want more weight, haha. Thankfully I havent gained a lot, but I lost like a few pounds during Step 1 studying, since I lose my appetite when I study :/
 
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Nearing the end of year 1. Currently 5 lbs heavier than I was when I started (for reference I'm 5'1). Started school at 105, went down to 100 first block (still learning how to stock my fridge and cook everyday while living on my own and having tons of studying to do!), up to 115 second block (roughest block for me on many levels and ate a lot of pity food during the holiday season to cheer myself up...dark times). And over the next two blocks I've been slowly coming down again, settling around 109-110.

I'm often too tired to motivate myself to hit the gym/the outdoors regularly so despite the time available, it doesn't happen often for me. What does happen often is free lunches/dinners/receptions where they load you with rich southern comfort foods and sugary drinks...sigh.
 
Krazykyle said:
Read on the treadmill. Read during breaks in sets. The gym is in fact where I studied board material all second year and listened to Goljan while lifting.
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This is cash money. I used PharmCards and MicroCards while I was on an eliptical or stationary bike. Sometimes I would bring them or other notes to look at between sets. Other students asked our profs to make audio recordings of lectures available as .mp3 files to listen to while running. I rode the bus to campus too and would study then so I didn't feel like exercise was stealing from my study time. I went from 170 to 190 in school, some of that is muscle and some is fat. I would say I was in the best shape of my life around M1-M2.
 
Gained about 8-10 pounds last semester after starting school. Probably the worst I've ever eaten - all time weight high.

Since this semester started in January, I've lost about 30 pounds in three months and am eating a lot less and way healthier. Definitely possible to diet and/or work out a lot in med school. My grades have also gone up since I started. It's good motivation that I have a wedding in the summer to get in shape for.
 
That sounds awful.
 
LOST!

I don't cook to begin with. Then compound that with the fact that I lived on my own.

Came back looking like a skeleton.
 
UAAWolf said:
To be honest...there is no excuse to get out of shape. I don't care if you work 100 hrs a week. You can find 45 mins 4x a week and train hard. And you can always eat healthy...you're smart enough to be in med school- so don't tell me your not smart enough to eat clean. That being said, I had a slump where I ate kinda bad and skipped a few workouts...but I'm better now.

I lift 4x a week hard, then try to run 3-4x a week and bike @ home on the other days.

If you're that cramped for time, watch podcasts on the treadmill or something.
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Honestly, though, if you're smart enough to get into medical school and pass you should easily be able to never fall out of your routine. That's just a sign that you're lazy and pathetic.
 
xanthomondo said:
Honestly, though, if you're smart enough to get into medical school and pass you should easily be able to never fall out of your routine. That's just a sign that you're lazy and pathetic.
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This is why people hate SDN users. You gonna call all your patients lazy/pathetic too?
 
I lost a large amount of weight.

Remember, all your routines get pretty strongly realigned when you start medical school. No matter what your background is, this is a huge life change. Get into good habits early. It can be easy for poor diet/exercise to just show up out of nowhere when you're completely reformulating your daily life.
 
I wonder if more medical students gain weight these days than medical students 20 or 30 years ago.
 
I've maintained by weight but that's only because I realized I wasn't eating as much as I was in undergrad, where I would easily walk 3-4 miles a day around campus. Now I sit on my behind for 8 hours but thankfully have stayed within range; I do go to the gym and run daily though.
 
Finish med school in a week. At the end of the run - I'm about 5-7 lbs lighter than when I entered.

Lost weight during MS1 (running regularly). Gained weight during MS2 (new SO + step 1). Lost weight during MS3 (the no-time-to-eat diet). Gained weight during MS4 (travel, interview dinner+EtOH, senioritis).

xanthomondo said:
Honestly, though, if you're smart enough to get into medical school and pass you should easily be able to never fall out of your routine. That's just a sign that you're lazy and pathetic.
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Hahahaha, wait until you're in your clincal years on a trauma/ICU rotation and putting in 90+ hour weeks and Q3 call. Then call and talk to me about your "routine."
 
6', started M1 at 170. I'm nearing the end of M2. A few months ago I about to hit 200 and decided that wasn't going to happen. So I made a pact with a classmate to hit the gym 5x per week for a solid, intense hour and also cut down on the sheer amount of food I eat and cut out restaurants completely.

It's hard. Definitely a stress eater, also one of those guys who's like a moving garbage disposal. But you can feel the difference after a few weeks, and I'll try not to forget how much easier it is to gain weight than lose it.
 
I had lost 20 pounds in the months before school started and it all slowly came back on during the first semester. Its a lot to adjust to and having to take care of a child and family did not help with the situation. But since the beginning of 2nd semester I have found more time to exercise. I have been able to loose 12 lbs. in a little over a month. I have been able to find time to work out 3X a week for hour and a half and no my grades have not suffered at all. My grades have actually improved drastically since I started working out. I know most of us fall into this trap of thinking that it takes time away from studying. You can find ways to study while on a treadmill or an elliptical. Take notes to read with you or I invested in an iPad which is great and a lot easier to carry to the gym. I think as future health professionals it is important that we practice first what we preach. I want to be able to tell my patients to watch what they eat and exercise even if they are busy without them thinking why dont you follow your own advice first.
 
+15... i used to dance 4x a week but its hard to find time for a dance class bc they are at set hours and last 1.5hrs... im 5'7 and now 130lbs, used to be around 115.... just started step 1 time and planning on going ot the gym every evening for 30-45min to do the elliptical or bike or something and listen to goljan.
 
ZagDoc said:
Finish med school in a week. At the end of the run - I'm about 5-7 lbs lighter than when I entered.

Lost weight during MS1 (running regularly). Gained weight during MS2 (new SO + step 1). Lost weight during MS3 (the no-time-to-eat diet). Gained weight during MS4 (travel, interview dinner+EtOH, senioritis).



Hahahaha, wait until you're in your clincal years on a trauma/ICU rotation and putting in 90+ hour weeks and Q3 call. Then call and talk to me about your "routine."
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Fail. I was mocking his d-bag high and almighty post.

Also apparantly wolf thinks that if you're working 90 hours a week you obviously have 10+ hours a week to workout!!!

But please do tell me about these clinical years you speak of...what are they like?

UAAWolf said:
To be honest...there is no excuse to get out of shape. I don't care if you work 100 hrs a week. You can find 45 mins 4x a week and train hard. And you can always eat healthy...you're smart enough to be in med school- so don't tell me your not smart enough to eat clean. That being said, I had a slump where I ate kinda bad and skipped a few workouts...but I'm better now.

I lift 4x a week hard, then try to run 3-4x a week and bike @ home on the other days.

If you're that cramped for time, watch podcasts on the treadmill or something.
Click to expand...

UAAWolf said:
This is why people hate SDN users. You gonna call all your patients lazy/pathetic too?
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Nah I'm pretty sure posts like yours are the reason why.
 
First year I exercised religiously for one hour 3 times a week. So no change in my weight for 1st year.

Second year I started 3 times a week, but quit back in October. I have noticed no real change in my weight. I guess it is because I tend to eat my normal diet and maybe a little in excess up until a week before the exam. A few days before exams I tend to get super stressed out and my appetite decreases. I can go without eating, but I will force myself to eat a few bananas or a pack of crackers.
 
UAAWolf said:
To be honest...there is no excuse to get out of shape. I don't care if you work 100 hrs a week. You can find 45 mins 4x a week and train hard. And you can always eat healthy...you're smart enough to be in med school- so don't tell me your not smart enough to eat clean. That being said, I had a slump where I ate kinda bad and skipped a few workouts...but I'm better now.

I lift 4x a week hard, then try to run 3-4x a week and bike @ home on the other days.

If you're that cramped for time, watch podcasts on the treadmill or something.
Click to expand...

I love it when everyone says this. What a joke.

Why is it, then, that nearly everyone in my class who maintains a regular work out schedule is in the bottom half of the class? I know for a fact that they haven't been doing board prep...

OP - to answer your question, it depends on where you're going. Every school is different. Here, our first two years are miserable, and if you can manage to stay in shape at all, you're a success. Third and fourth year are both wonderful (my theory is because we are very well prepared due to the misery of first and second year), so if you slacked out of shape, you can get back into shape fairly easily. Just depends on the curriculum.

Edit add: For people that say, "Just do Crossfit..." I did crossfit for about 6 months in second year and absolutely loved it. However, even crossfit takes up at least an hour of your day. 15 minutes to the gym, stretch/warm up for 5, workout for 15-30, shower for 10, 15 minutes to drive home. No matter what you do, it's going to accumulate a significant amount of time.
 
Delete facebook, lawyer up, hit the gym

oops, this isn't reddit
 
Peaked fitness between first and second year: trained on the bike like a maniac and raced all over the Eastern seaboard from March through September. 5'8", 136lbs, vo2max 73. Since then, I've gained about 7lbs, and most of it was upper body muscle given that I've started rock climbing.

The only time I haven't been able to work out at least 3x/week through medical school was when I was hit by a car and broke my patella. I had a knee immobilizer for 3 weeks.

And no. I am definitely not in the bottom half of my class. You don't have to sacrifice board prep to work out.
 
dienekes88 said:
Peaked fitness between first and second year: trained on the bike like a maniac and raced all over the Eastern seaboard from March through September. 5'8", 136lbs, vo2max 73. Since then, I've gained about 7lbs, and most of it was upper body muscle given that I've started rock climbing.

The only time I haven't been able to work out at least 3x/week through medical school was when I was hit by a car and broke my patella. I had a knee immobilizer for 3 weeks.

And no. I am definitely not in the bottom half of my class. You don't have to sacrifice board prep to work out.
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Someone reads my posts "really good like."

You must save a lot of time by only reading half of what someone writes, and assuming the rest.
 
Why is it, then, that nearly everyone in my class who maintains a regular work out schedule is in the bottom half of the class? I know for a fact that they haven't been doing board prep...
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Uh...most of UAMS's AOA M4s are serious meatheads and crushed Step 1. My roommate is AOA and while not a meathead, does work out a ton. I had more than enough time to study and go to the gym last year. I also worked out during Step 1 prep. I could've been there for 3+ hours a day during the first 2 years if I'd really wanted to. Don't be a jackass. I'm not going to go as far as Wolfie there seems to want to, but if you get out of shape during the first 2 years, it's either your fault, or you're one of the have-to-study-constantly-or-fail people I alluded to earlier. It is not hard at all for most people to find a half hour every other day to get some aerobics and/or weight lifting in.
 
MilkmanAl said:
Uh...most of UAMS's AOA M4s are serious meatheads and crushed Step 1. My roommate is AOA and while not a meathead, does work out a ton. I had more than enough time to study and go to the gym last year. I also worked out during Step 1 prep. I could've been there for 3+ hours a day during the first 2 years if I'd really wanted to. Don't be a jackass. I'm not going to go as far as Wolfie there seems to want to, but if you get out of shape during the first 2 years, it's either your fault, or you're one of the have-to-study-constantly-or-fail people I alluded to earlier. It is not hard at all for most people to find a half hour every other day to get some aerobics and/or weight lifting in.
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This^ Now that exams are done, I can re-state what I said in a less aggressive way :D

Ways to stay in shape include:
-Walk to class, or in-between class, take the stairs etc.
-Eat healthy overall. This is primarily will power, and a few bad meals here and there won't hurt anyone
-If you are the study24 or die type like mentioned, you can even watch podcasts while riding a stationary bike.

And to the guy who said meatheads are at the bottom of the class- Please explain to me why so many "meatheads" are in orthopedic surgery, a field that has very high step scores.

You and me both know making broad generalizations like that is inaccurate
 
tco said:
I love it when everyone says this. What a joke.

Why is it, then, that nearly everyone in my class who maintains a regular work out schedule is in the bottom half of the class? I know for a fact that they haven't been doing board prep...
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Why are you getting mad about this? Who cares? They do their thing, you do yours. And I'm not sure how you could know it for a fact?

Let's be honest. There are guys in every class who slack off and do awesome, and seem like they have tons of time. Other people (majority) have to put in a ton of time. It's all variant on the individual.

And I regret using the wording "There's no excuse for people to be out of shape"...I meant to say that I personally feel there's no excuse for ME to get out of shape. What other people do is not my business or concern. So I'm sorry if I made you mad
 
I'm a 6'2'' guy. At the beginning of med school (just after undergrad), I was pushing 240 and definitely becoming a fatty. I decided that I needed to get back in shape, particularly given my chosen profession (patients like healthy doctors... practice what you preach and all that), so I dropped 40 lbs in a few months with diet/exercise. I lost another 10 lbs at the beginning of 2nd year, which put me at 190. I've pretty much stayed at that weight since then, although I think I put on a few lbs this year beginning with residency interview season (all the free dinners/booze) and going out more with friends since I have less work to do. Ideally, I'd like to take off another 15 lbs or so, so I'm planning to get back to a better diet/exercise routine before residency starts.
 
I'm not as smart as everyone else here. If I'm lucky, I'll go to the gym or play basketball once a week. So yea, of course I'm losing weight. I really don't care though because over the break I plan to work out twice a day.
 
tco said:
Someone reads my posts "really good like."

You must save a lot of time by only reading half of what someone writes, and assuming the rest.
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Not sure I follow, but I'm a dumb meathead.

You said: You love it when you hear about people working out all the time. People you know of who work out all the time are in the bottom half of the class and don't study for boards. Unlike other schools, my school is sooo hard. Crossfit takes too much time.

Maybe I just go to a really easy school. Anyway, the boards are easier when your VO2max is sky high. That's a fact.

Even with a hard schedule, it's possible to work out. Drink less; watch less TV.
 
lost weight. or maybe maintained.... haven't checked. everyone i see tells me i'm thinner though. who cares about the actual weight? What about body fat???? Anyone know anything about being "skinny fat"?? I've even asked a few attendings and they have looked at me like i'm from another planet.
 
skinny fat = skinny but dont workout so you have no muscle strength/tone ?
i think my best friend is skinny fat... but she's a model.. and kinda looks like the anorexic chick in RR path.. who really isnt that skinny
 
I gained, and I'm not too happy about it. I tend to use more of my extra time napping than exercising. It's easier if you get into a routine.

Every time we see atherosclerosis in path I start to feel guilty and get my butt to the gym, though.
 
dienekes88 said:
Not sure I follow, but I'm a dumb meathead.

You said: You love it when you hear about people working out all the time. People you know of who work out all the time are in the bottom half of the class and don't study for boards. Unlike other schools, my school is sooo hard. Crossfit takes too much time.

Maybe I just go to a really easy school. Anyway, the boards are easier when your VO2max is sky high. That's a fact.

Even with a hard schedule, it's possible to work out. Drink less; watch less TV.
Click to expand...

A lot of doctors I know who work 80 hrs+ get up at 4:30am to lift. It's badass
 
gr33n said:
lost weight. or maybe maintained.... haven't checked. everyone i see tells me i'm thinner though. who cares about the actual weight? What about body fat???? Anyone know anything about being "skinny fat"?? I've even asked a few attendings and they have looked at me like i'm from another planet.
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Thin, but flabby.
 
jeez.. getting up at 430 am to work out? f*ck that. id rather sleep and eat less. i love my sleep.. ive never been able to wake up early just to work out which is why my gym time is at 8-9pm during step 1 study time after i have put in a solid day of work.
 
My breakdown:


1st year started at 114 lbs and 5'6"; by the end of the first half of first year was at 103 lbs from the stress. Then, by end of 2nd year was at 120 lbs. Hated 3rd year and ate alot-- went up to 135 lbs. 4th year-- got sick of feeling like a couch potato so lost weight and down to 124 lbs. Continuing to run and calorie limit myself to get back to weight of 115 lbs.
 
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