Staying healthy on rotations

[sunshine02]

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About to start rotations soon and was wondering if anyone has tips on how to eat healthy on rotations (since I heard there are no meal times and you basically have to eat on the go)? Any recommendations for healthy foods that provide lasting energy?

Also, how did people who've been on rotations balance the lack of sleep and little time to exercise? Any tips to maintaining a healthy lifestyle while on rotations are much appreciated! Thanks!

 

[jcorpsmanMD]

I'm not in medical school yet but I've learned a quick, healthy and semi-cheap alternative to breakfast or mid-day meals are hefty protein shakes. I recommend chocolate whey or vegan protein powder (for the vegetable nutrients), almond milk, good amount of peanut butter and strawberries! It's a good amount of calories and it keeps me full for 4/5 hours. You can also play around with it to increase the calories

 

[AcademicNeurosurgery]

Granola/protein bars are good too. In terms of exercise, try to make time early morning or drop by the gym on your way home for a quick workout. It may be hard to do a full workout every day but you should be able to get in 2-4/week. Other than that, never take the elevator in the hospital.

 

[PrettyLadyDoc24]

I second carrying around granola bars and making an effort to avoid the hospital elevators (they'll slow you down anyway).

 

[tux4]

Don't eat the hospital food. They load that stuff with grease/oil/butter/salt. Get a crockpot and make healthy meal prep for the week. Stairs in the hospital are great, use when you can. Move throughout the day. Pullup bars at home are great..i would wake up in the morning and hit that up with pushups if I knew I probably couldn't work out later.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[Tsunnami]

Intermittent Fasting.

You'll also make all kinds of gains.

 

[jcorpsmanMD]

Intermittent Fasting.

You'll also make all kinds of gains.

How do you take advantage of intermittent fasting while on clinical rotations? What's your eating schedule like or how long do you fast for?

 

[iBS1972]

It's ridiculous how unhealthy food is in a place where the focus is on people's health. Even the food they serve to patients is like either extremely bland not unhealthy food or a hope-you-come-back junk.

 

[The white coat trainer]

About to start rotations soon and was wondering if anyone has tips on how to eat healthy on rotations (since I heard there are no meal times and you basically have to eat on the go)? Any recommendations for healthy foods that provide lasting energy?

Also, how did people who've been on rotations balance the lack of sleep and little time to exercise? Any tips to maintaining a healthy lifestyle while on rotations are much appreciated! Thanks!

Always eat breakfast. Use a combo of high fat high protein options to keep you full throughout the morning. My favorite is eggs and avocados. Also Try your best to meal prep some foods so that you have healthy food readily available to you on the go. As far as exercise, you can definitely fit in training sessions strategically.

Here are some quick tips on making time to lift while on rotations or residency.

 

[Tsunnami]

How do you take advantage of intermittent fasting while on clinical rotations? What's your eating schedule like or how long do you fast for?

Well, it's quite simple : for a person like me, who is the type "I prefer hunger over low-quality food", Intermittent Fasting is a natural way of life.
Also it might seem counter-intuitive and many people don't know it, but if you go longer without food, your hunger decreases for a period of time.
E.g. most of my peers are starving around 2 PM, while I don't give a damn about food. IF has this advantage that it makes your brain and body resistant to hunger; sometimes the effect is so strong that I'm not hungry even when I get home in the evening, although I ate 0-300 kcal the whole day ( I'm not saying this is a rule, because that would be dysfunctional, but it happens occasionally and I call it "The IF high", it's like being on uppers, only that this is a state that is naturally produced by your body, thanks to the hormonal response that is generated from hunger - Testosterone, Growth Hormone increases ).

As for the practical part :
1. You eat something very light during the day or you don't eat at all - it's up to you
2. You eat nothing in that 12-16 hours time period of IF ( time periods are different, some persons can go longer than others )
3. You eat ( it's usually in the late evening )

 

[Tsunnami]

Breakfast is overrated by the way 😀

 

[Redpancreas]

About to start rotations soon and was wondering if anyone has tips on how to eat healthy on rotations (since I heard there are no meal times and you basically have to eat on the go)? Any recommendations for healthy foods that provide lasting energy?

Also, how did people who've been on rotations balance the lack of sleep and little time to exercise? Any tips to maintaining a healthy lifestyle while on rotations are much appreciated! Thanks!

I always am happy to answer Qs like these on SDN. Haven't been a huge work out buff during my third year but established a semi-routine that would degenerate during the ends of rotations.

Nutrition:

Meals: To address the bolded, it shouldn't be that bad and will vary on which rotation and site. The average site will allocate 30 mins to an hour for lunch and will make sure you get time for a small dinner later on a long shift so relax there. You'll get meals, even during surgery.

Snacks: Here are the rules I follow for snacks. Protein bars are great but careful with the protein load. If you're eating pure protein all day like QuestBars (watch the fibre)/Pure Protein/Simply Protein, you're bound to get nauseous and get less nutrition than needed. For carbs, just don't carry any junk. Limit the grams of sugar to 3-4 grams a serving (unless it's a fruit or veggie) or else you'll get a rush and gain weight easily over time. It's hard to find pre-packaged good-carbs so just get the rice and wheat bread from your meals. For fats, nuts are amazing snacks. Peanuts can make you gassy, Pecans taste too good to be healthy, and walnuts/cashews have more fat, so I think almonds are the best but all are good options but don't eat too many!

Exercise:

Lifting: For rotations that start at 7-9 I really try to schedule my gym time for before. It's actually kind of hard with a 7 start time but sometimes I've been able to manage it for a week. Anything before that like surgery or inpatient weeks you're best bet is to go after work which really blows because working out before rotations get its out of the way and you have so much energy to start out the day.

Running: During your super early rotations, running is quicker than lifting. Instead of a 30 minute leisurely jog, try a 10 minute run at a much faster pace.

Avoid work-out death spirals! You know, where two days off turns to two weeks to two months, etc.

 

[Redpancreas]

Well, it's quite simple : for a person like me, who is the type "I prefer hunger over low-quality food", Intermittent Fasting is a natural way of life.
Also it might seem counter-intuitive and many people don't know it, but if you go longer without food, your hunger decreases for a period of time.
E.g. most of my peers are starving around 2 PM, while I don't give a damn about food. IF has this advantage that it makes your brain and body resistant to hunger; sometimes the effect is so strong that I'm not hungry even when I get home in the evening, although I ate 0-300 kcal the whole day ( I'm not saying this is a rule, because that would be dysfunctional, but it happens occasionally and I call it "The IF high", it's like being on uppers, only that this is a state that is naturally produced by your body, thanks to the hormonal response that is generated from hunger - Testosterone, Growth Hormone increases ).

As for the practical part :
1. You eat something very light during the day or you don't eat at all - it's up to you
2. You eat nothing in that 12-16 hours time period of IF ( time periods are different, some persons can go longer than others )
3. You eat ( it's usually in the late evening )

Strong post and agree with all the above. Just done combine this "IF high" with lots of coffee.😛

 

[iBS1972]

IF may be beneficial, but I am skeptical of how healthy it is as described by Tsunnami. If you're trying to keep skinny or actually lose weight, then it might be helpful. Otherwise, I would do more research on it.

 

[Stagg737]

About to start rotations soon and was wondering if anyone has tips on how to eat healthy on rotations (since I heard there are no meal times and you basically have to eat on the go)? Any recommendations for healthy foods that provide lasting energy?

Also, how did people who've been on rotations balance the lack of sleep and little time to exercise? Any tips to maintaining a healthy lifestyle while on rotations are much appreciated! Thanks!

It depends on the rotation. Some rotations really are insane and you may struggle just to get enough sleep at night. On others, you may actually find yourself with enough free time to workout and cook most days and even have some downtime a few times a week. It varies a lot depending on what rotation you're on and where you're doing it.

How do you take advantage of intermittent fasting while on clinical rotations? What's your eating schedule like or how long do you fast for?

I'd recommend against planned intermittent fasting on high stress rotations. If you're in the zone and you just aren't hungry and feel fine, then it's nbd. But if you feel hungry and are starting to notice physical effects then eat something. The last thing you need is to pass out during a surgery rotation and face-plant into the sterile field (yes, this happens). Additionally, I haven't been on or heard of a rotation in which you can't sneak 2 minute breaks throughout the day to grab a quick snack every couple of hours. Granola/protein bars, yogurt, pretzels, carrots/other veggies, an apple/banana, etc. are all small quick snacks you can eat in less than a minute to keep you from tanking during the day.

 

[grapefruit17]

It depends on the rotation. Some rotations really are insane and you may struggle just to get enough sleep at night. On others, you may actually find yourself with enough free time to workout and cook most days and even have some downtime a few times a week. It varies a lot depending on what rotation you're on and where you're doing it.



I'd recommend against planned intermittent fasting on high stress rotations. If you're in the zone and you just aren't hungry and feel fine, then it's nbd. But if you feel hungry and are starting to notice physical effects then eat something. The last thing you need is to pass out during a surgery rotation and face-plant into the sterile field (yes, this happens). Additionally, I haven't been on or heard of a rotation in which you can't sneak 2 minute breaks throughout the day to grab a quick snack every couple of hours. Granola/protein bars, yogurt, pretzels, carrots/other veggies, an apple/banana, etc. are all small quick snacks you can eat in less than a minute to keep you from tanking during the day.

I agree with all this.

First point, some rotations I had a 5 min lunch break others I had over an hour. That amount of time you have can dictate what you eat. Rotations are so variable you will inevitably sacrifice being healrhy on some of the harder ones. it's hard to carry around food on inpatient rotations unless they give med students somewhere to store it at your hospital. Protein bars are a great investment tho. Easy to carry around, and can satisfy hunger. Also I would get the mixed nuts from publix, forgot the brand, in the giant plastic jar. Would help me feel less hungry on long days.

I don't reccomend fasting on rotations, your goal is to learn and perform well, I feel like with fasting for long periods you would lose focus. And on rotations typically you put in a lot of energy