Over thinking things and confusing myself :-/

cassienoe

Pretty sure I have the BMR/TDEE etc stuff under control. But now I am wondering about activity. I am not sure what to do!

I have a really tight schedule (I've posted before) working 8 hours (desk job) + 3 hours of night school (more desk) + a few hours for homework (more desk/couch). Leaves me crawling into bed between 11pm-1am depending on what is due. The old adage of eat less move more rings in my head telling me I need to get my butt out of bed (at 5:30am) and do some exercise.

What is more important? Exercise or sleep???? I don't want to hinder my goals because I am not sleeping enough, nor do I want to hinder them because I am not active enough. This semester is the hardest semester I've had because it is so time consuming so I am trying to decide what I need to do.

I am going on vacation at the end of October to Mexico and I want to look decent in a bathing suit (shallow, but come on...who doesn't???) but I don't want to sit here spinning my wheels getting no where because of something I am doing (or not doing)


Any suggestions????

ncmedic201

Sleep is very important! Can you go for a walk on your lunch break?

cassienoe

I drive to my house on my lunch break to let my dogs out to potty. I can't leave them out because they bark at the neighbor's dogs and I get tickets otherwise! I am on my feet while I'm there in the yard playing with them so it is some.
I also walk from my parked car to the light rail, take a 15 minute trip to the school and then another 10 minute walk from the light rail to my class room. And then do the same thing to get home.

Currently calculating TDEE using lightly active.

adorable_aly

Sleep is importabt- you need the mental energy for your job and school, not to mention you are probably likely to make better food choices when you have had enough sleep.

Maybe you could try a 15 min HIIT workout in the morning/ just before bed?

Also what do you do on the weekends? If you have them off you could make them more active, so that you don't have to do as much during the week.

jetlag

I would say sleep is more important than exercise. I've heard it said that diet is 90% of weight loss. I can barely exercise because of injuries, and am losing weight.

You also don't need to do all your exercise in one go. 15 minutes here and there is better than none at all. But, if you're on the go that much, you might actually be getting more exercise than you think. Have you considered a pedometer?

Bekahmardis

I would consider getting a FitBit or a JawBone or a Nike Armband or something like that which can help you truly understand how much you are burning on a day to day basis. I never understood how much I was undereating until I got my FitBit. Now I can eat more and I've reached my goal weight and am maintaining properly with it. It is SO MUCH easier!

cassienoe

Sleep is importabt- you need the mental energy for your job and school, not to mention you are probably likely to make better food choices when you have had enough sleep.

Maybe you could try a 15 min HIIT workout in the morning/ just before bed?

Also what do you do on the weekends? If you have them off you could make them more active, so that you don't have to do as much during the week.

Weekends vary but I for the most part I bet I could get be a lot more active on the weekends than I have been. Even if I have a ton of homework to do over the weekend, I could still get some activity in first thing before I start vs laying in bed drinking coffee!

megsmom2

Sleep is essential. Try to get a little exercise in three times a week, but for you I would advise getting your sleep when you can...you need to be alert for school!

ironanimal

Sleep is more important. Getting less than 5 hours a night will get you nowhere, fast. Is homework every night, including weekends? If you can get 3 hours of exercise a week, that will be all the time you need for it to be effective.

jasonp_ritzert

I'm assuming that you work 5 days/week and night school a few nights/week. Make workouts your focus on weekends and nights you have free. Rest is important to recovery and overall health. If you have your nutrition under control 7 days/week, you don't need to go full tilt at the gym 7 days/week. On my 'off' days, I always walk my dogs in the morning (30 minutes) and then get in 30-45 minutes during my lunch break too. Sometimes you just have to get creative and take advantage of situations. I've had to change how I work out recently since my daughter was born. It was a shock going from working out 5-6 days/week to 3 days/week at the gym, but I've made the changes and am still seeing progress.

cassienoe

I would consider getting a FitBit or a JawBone or a Nike Armband or something like that which can help you truly understand how much you are burning on a day to day basis. I never understood how much I was undereating until I got my FitBit. Now I can eat more and I've reached my goal weight and am maintaining properly with it. It is SO MUCH easier!

I have heart rate monitors (one bluetooth and one has a watch thing, both are polar) I bet I could wear the watch one (so I don't kill my cell battery with the bluetooth one) to get an idea. Start it in the AM and end it at the end it before bed. That would give me a pretty decent idea, right? Thanks!

cassienoe

I'm assuming that you work 5 days/week and night school a few nights/week. Make workouts your focus on weekends and nights you have free. Rest is important to recovery and overall health. If you have your nutrition under control 7 days/week, you don't need to go full tilt at the gym 7 days/week. On my 'off' days, I always walk my dogs in the morning (30 minutes) and then get in 30-45 minutes during my lunch break too. Sometimes you just have to get creative and take advantage of situations. I've had to change how I work out recently since my daughter was born. It was a shock going from working out 5-6 days/week to 3 days/week at the gym, but I've made the changes and am still seeing progress.

I will focus on exercise more on the days I am not in class (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) for now. The semester will be over at the end of the month so I will have some more time to kick it into higher gear when that happens, until fall! Looking at what I've been doing has been probably over doing it M-Th and Fri-Sun (when I actually HAVE free time) I have not been doing anything. That was really stupid of me, in retrospect! I can definitely make adjustments!

chantels1

Sleep is more important, but the weekends you can get in some exercise, and if you can record your lectures so you can study by popping in some ear buds and taking a walk. That will help too. Sounds like you are over booked, and a fitness lifestyle will be hard. Eating right will be the key to your success since exercise is difficult for you!!! Good luck!

DorothyR87

If you have extra money get one of those treadmill/desk combos. You could do your workout and homework at the same time!

MightyDomo

Any way you can incorporate exercise minimally during work/homework? Like if you are reading you could probably be do some running as you read (especially if you can manage to do that, my eyes are horrible so I wouldn't be able to), you can also do tricep dips and calve raises and stuff like that at your desk. If you have 15 minutes in the morning before you shower and same for before bed you could probably fit in a short routine into those time slots and still get as much sleep as you can It's all about finding the right amount of time to get what you need in.

Best of luck! Sounds like you are super busy!

Mokey41

I would consider getting a FitBit or a JawBone or a Nike Armband or something like that which can help you truly understand how much you are burning on a day to day basis. I never understood how much I was undereating until I got my FitBit. Now I can eat more and I've reached my goal weight and am maintaining properly with it. It is SO MUCH easier!

I have heart rate monitors (one bluetooth and one has a watch thing, both are polar) I bet I could wear the watch one (so I don't kill my cell battery with the bluetooth one) to get an idea. Start it in the AM and end it at the end it before bed. That would give me a pretty decent idea, right? Thanks!

HRM's only work with a significantly raised heart rate. You'll get grossly over exaggerated numbers if you wear it all day. Your activity level for TDEE would be sedentary, not lightly active. Sedentary doesn't mean lays in bed all day but it does mean sits at desk all day with occasional trips to the bathroom or lunch.

Exercise isn't necessary for weight loss, exercise is for fitness. The only reason a lot of people exercise at all is because then they feel they can eat more.

Juliejustsaying

Sleep..I have done the same schedule and will be doing it starting the end of next month. Fit the exercise in on the weekends and maybe one night during the week. As long as you do something 3 times a week..thats may have to be good enough for now.

jerseygirlmaggie

I would consider getting a FitBit or a JawBone or a Nike Armband or something like that which can help you truly understand how much you are burning on a day to day basis. I never understood how much I was undereating until I got my FitBit. Now I can eat more and I've reached my goal weight and am maintaining properly with it. It is SO MUCH easier!

DITTO!!! I can relate to this post. I was gaining and losing the same 4 pounds for 6 weeks. Got my Fitbit and turns out I was undereating anywhere from 600 - 800 calories. Upped my food and dropped 7 pounds in 4 weeks.

cassienoe

I would consider getting a FitBit or a JawBone or a Nike Armband or something like that which can help you truly understand how much you are burning on a day to day basis. I never understood how much I was undereating until I got my FitBit. Now I can eat more and I've reached my goal weight and am maintaining properly with it. It is SO MUCH easier!

I have heart rate monitors (one bluetooth and one has a watch thing, both are polar) I bet I could wear the watch one (so I don't kill my cell battery with the bluetooth one) to get an idea. Start it in the AM and end it at the end it before bed. That would give me a pretty decent idea, right? Thanks!

HRM's only work with a significantly raised heart rate. You'll get grossly over exaggerated numbers if you wear it all day. Your activity level for TDEE would be sedentary, not lightly active. Sedentary doesn't mean lays in bed all day but it does mean sits at desk all day with occasional trips to the bathroom or lunch.

Exercise isn't necessary for weight loss, exercise is for fitness. The only reason a lot of people exercise at all is because then they feel they can eat more.

Thank you, I get so confused. People giving different advice for the same thing. I was told before that I would not be sedentary because of walking around occasionally and it WOULD be considered lightly active. Though I could not understand how I could be lightly active with sitting for about 12 hours. TDEE with lightly active is appx 1700 and TDEE with sedentary is 1537. Though I did have it at lightly active when I was waking up early and making more time to exercise. So I guess sedentary would make sense!

cassienoe

Sleep..I have done the same schedule and will be doing it starting the end of next month. Fit the exercise in on the weekends and maybe one night during the week. As long as you do something 3 times a week..thats may have to be good enough for now.

Thank you. Glad to know someone else has been in my shoes! I am looking at doing online only classes next semester, that would give me better flexibility for working out!