Premed Lifestyle = Getting a bit chubby

[swifteagle43]

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Alright guys

Has anyone found a way to control their weight while doing the premed thing? How do you guys make time for working out? What kind of excercises do you perform to keep in shape? I have noticed that I put on 5 pounds of weight this semester by doing the premed thing..

 

[NRAI2001]

Alright guys

Has anyone found a way to control their weight while doing the premed thing? How do you guys make time for working out? What kind of excercises do you perform to keep in shape? I have noticed that I put on 5 pounds of weight this semester by doing the premed thing..

I don't eat on the weekdays.

 

[tigress]

My best semester in college, in terms of GPA, other activities, social life, just everything, was also the semester that I exercised 4-5x/week throughout. The dorm I lived in had a small exercise room, and I would go run on the treadmill every evening after class and before dinner. I just put it in my schedule and made it a habit. I would leave class, go to the cafeteria and buy dinner, take it to my room and get my exercise clothes on, go for a run, come back and shower and eat dinner and then study and hang out with my friends.

One thing you'll notice if you do start exercising is that you'll actually study better and have more energy during the day. It's a really good way to get rid of stress, too. I myself love to run, while some of my friends prefered using an elliptical trainer, or doing aerobics, or getting together to play frisbee or something. It just depends on what suits you. The important thing is to put it in your schedule, make yourself do it the first few times, and then let it become a habit.

 

[JuicyDay]

Alright guys

Has anyone found a way to control their weight while doing the premed thing? How do you guys make time for working out? What kind of excercises do you perform to keep in shape? I have noticed that I put on 5 pounds of weight this semester by doing the premed thing..

eat breakfast (cereal/bagel & cream cheese), eat a nice big lunch with some carbs, and eat a tiny dinner with fewer carbs, more protein (like a turkey sandwich on wheat, soup, chicken salad, etc.)

when i was studying for the mcat, i put on about 10 lbs because i didn't go to the gym and at fries almost everyday. but even if you take the time to just run 1 mile every other day, it makes a big difference. a good time to go is right before dinner.

oh yeah, drink lots and lots of water!!

and refuse to eat late-night junk food. that's the worst thing you could do. try nibbling on a cucumber or something instead.

your five pounds will just melt away quickly if you do the above for a month...

 

[fightingsaint]

If you can't even spare an extra hour per day in pre-med, you're spending too much time studying. The best part about pre-med is only having 2-3 tough science classes as opposed to the 6-8 we'll get in med school. Enjoy college...it's not all hard work.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Alright guys

Has anyone found a way to control their weight while doing the premed thing? How do you guys make time for working out? What kind of excercises do you perform to keep in shape? I have noticed that I put on 5 pounds of weight this semester by doing the premed thing..

i lost 20 pounds on the "no dessert" plan (199 lbs --> 179 lbs)

(i don't workout by the way)

 

[Shades McCool]

I workout 5 days a week for about an hour and a half a workout. I know it seems like a lot but being in top physical shape is more important to me than studying during the afternoon. This spring my goal is 5-6% bodyfat at 6' 180lbs (right now I am sitting at about 187-190 and 8-9%).

 

[dr_pepper]

Plenty of people in the world work long hours with high stress jobs or courseloads...premeds really aren't that special. Just get fat like everyone else.

 

[masterMood]

easiest way? EAT HEALTHIER. how? eat lots of unprocessed foods. in general you want to eat most of your carbohydrates early in the day (to burn them off b/c your metabolism is high and it boosts your metabolism), and gradually taylor down the amount of carbs you eat as you hit dinner. Make sure you drink water throughout the day so as to help your body metabolize fat, to let the kidneys filter well, AND IT SUPPRESSES YOUR APPETITE. YOU WILL NOT BE HUNGRY FOR FOOD IF YOU DRINK AMPLE AMOUNTS OF IT.
Eat more fruits in the morning and less and less throughout the day (so u can bu rn off the sugars)
And as dinner approaches make sure your diet consists mostly of protein and vegetables.

Thats the general way nutrition wise. This way you will never starve yourself, and you will never have hunger pangs thus not eating candys and junk foods at nice, not to mention the improved look you will have (skin complexion, tautness, etc)

You can start out doing 20 minutes of nice slow jog 2-3 times a week for a month or so then progress to doing 30 minutes for 3 times a week.

You can incorporate weight lifting to look really good, but thats not necessary to stay in shape.

 

[goheel]

Eat 2 meals a day. Lunch and Dinner.

 

[masterMood]

Eat 2 meals a day. Lunch and Dinner.

No. What happens is that you don't eat as much and then you overeat when you have hunger pangs. You will lose weight, but you will be sacrificing metabolism and muscle both which are necessary to maintain a good weight.

You can only eat badly for a month or two, and then you go back to your normal eating habits and actually gain MORE weight than what you're weighing now because your metabolism ahs slowed down in the process.

Bad no-no. 👎

 

[MrTee]

Eating bagel and cream cheese with juice is pretty much the worst kind of food you can eat if your goal is to not be fat. Bagel = white flour, cheese = fat, juice = sugar. All this does is jack up your blood sugar and insulin, then drives that fat you just ate into your fat cells. A better choice for breakfast would be oatmeal, a whole fruit (not the juice), and some eggs w/o yolks. Eating 1-2 big meals a day is a great way to get fat too...smaller, more frequent meals will reduce your appetite overall and keep your energy levels on a more even keel. The previous poster has it right--gotta eat the unprocessed foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. That will automatically force you to eat foods that are low in calorie density, and thus keep your weight down.

Regarding being premed and gaining weight, that's a pretty bad excuse to let oneself go. It's not like college is so hard/time consuming such that you can't lay off of junk food and exercise once in a while.

 

[llort]

seriously, swifteagle, if you cant find time to stay healthy now, then you are going to balloon in med school. Its alright though, fat doctors still can practice medicine, they just dont get laid as much.

 

[MEG@COOL]

Alright guys

Has anyone found a way to control their weight while doing the premed thing? How do you guys make time for working out? What kind of excercises do you perform to keep in shape? I have noticed that I put on 5 pounds of weight this semester by doing the premed thing..

What's another 5 pounds when you are already morbidly obese? It's not like anyone will notice... And since all you wear are sweat pants Im sure they can stretch another inch or two.

 

[PreMedAdAG]

i was lucky enough to play a sport in college, so I had to work out 2.5 hours a day, but now that I've graduated, it is hard, I've gained a few lbs., but I'm noticing that when I take a break, I do some pushups, some situps, some squats, some lunges, back to studying... even hopping on the treadmill at the gym, walking slowly while going over flashcards can work. Good Luck.. and the whole eating heatlhy thing.. yea.. that helps too...just force yourself to stop eating out so much and buy heatlhier foods at the store.. i just skip the freezer section in addition to the chips and cookie aisles.

 

[45408]

I eat as much as I can and pump heavy iron. I've gained ~40+ pounds this way. Muscle, baby!

 

[Fed Meat]

The easiest way to keep from getting fat is to add on muscle.

Adding muscle is 10x more effective than cardio.

And diet trumps all else. Stay away from the beer and the potato chips. Your body will thank you.

 

[Law2Doc]

You can incorporate weight lifting to look really good, but thats not necessary to stay in shape.

While I generally agree with Hermit's post, I think it's incorrect to dismiss weight training as merely cosmetic and non-necessary. As other posters have correctly mentioned, muscle sucks up calories big-time just to maintain itself, and so adding muscle mass (especially to bigger muscles like upper legs) will boost your metabolism significantly, and you will continue to burn calories even when you are not working out (i.e you can continue to lose weight when you are sleeping, sitting etc.). Diet is critical, and cardio's benefits to the circulatory system are non-trivial, but a few hours of weight training a week on top of these really works magic...

 

[Cerberus]

There is no excuse for letting your health go to **** just because you are premed. If you cant take care of yourself how can you take care of other people?

 

[PineappleGirl]

I've lost a lot of weight on a sort of modified low carb diet. I rarely eat certain notoriously high carb foods like white bread, bagels, breakfast cereals and pasta (although low carb pasta's not a bad option if you really have to have some spaghetti) and I load up on protein and veggies during dinner. An omlette made with Eggbeaters, red peppers and a little bit of feta cheese is one of my favorite quick and easy meals. It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare, less if you buy the peppers already sliced. I also completely agree with what others said above: several small meals throughout the day, cardio and some weight training. I used to take the train home from work, which in Boston, can be a pretty stressful experience during rush hour. Now, instead, I walk. It takes about the same time it did for me to take the train, is stress relieving instead of stress inducing, and has helped me to lose weight. Try to walk as much as you can. It might seem like a long way to walk at first, but as you get fitter and more used to walking, what seems like a long walk will become routine. I also highly recommend snacking on nuts instead of high carb things like chips. Peanuts and almonds are my favorite. I keep a jar of them on my desk and will munch on them when I feel hungry. Just a handful of almonds can really take the edge off of hunger between meals.
The Harvard School of Public Health has a great website on nutrition,
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/

 

[bidster]

Dude, incorporate your studying into your workout routine. Go the gym, hop on that treadmill, and walk while reading biology or something. This is totally psycho of me, but I recorded myself reading bio or orgo formulas and listened to them when I walked, ran, or lifted weights. Every little bit helps! Also, those big old textbooks make great weights. 😉

It's okay unskinnybop....during the MCAT, to help myself review, I would make these "cram sheets" of condensed info, put them in plastic sleeves, and then take them on the elliptical or treadmill, along with the flashcards. I always inevitably started watching one of the gym TVs after 15 minutes or so, but making those sheets helped me study, and going to the gym kept me sane 😛

as for the OP, most of the other posts are right on target....cutting out a lot of processed foods will help. And it's easy to replace them with "normal" tasting whole grains....go for whole-grain bread, cereal, bagels, pasta, etc--all of it is way more filling and it basically tastes the same. try to keep your fats all from unsaturated sources (i.e. natural peanut butter, olive oil, nuts, beans, etc) and not from saturated or ANY trans fats.

 

[Doc Ivy]

I couldn't agree more with the processed food theory. I rarely eat anything that comes in a box. If it doesn't look like it comes from nature don't put it in your mouth, it's just empty calories that don't fill you up.