Staying on track when you're stressed?

futureflightnurse
futureflightnurse Posts: 5 Member
in Motivation and Support
I'm in my junior year of my undergrad and it's really hard for me to stick to the amount of calories I have allowed each day (which is actually a pretty sizable amount).
I don't stress eat per se, but I will just forget about tracking my intake and end up eating way more than I intended. Also, all nighters.
Does anyone have any pointers or is anyone going through the same problem?

Replies

  • AwesomeSquirrel
    AwesomeSquirrel Posts: 644 Member
    Plan your day and pre-log your calories. It will help you to think about how much you want to be eating at different points during the day. Also, if you are like me and happy to eat the same thing a few days running tracking can be a breeze! For example:

    Breakfast: I always have the same breakfast, sometimes the amount vary by a few grams (food scale!) but I just alter the quantity where needed using my mobile in the kitchen as I measure it out.

    Lunch: I usually cook a recipe that will be lunch for the next 4 days. Since I will eat the whole recipe myself I can average the calories out over the week even if eg the piece of fish is slightly larger one day than the other.

    Snack: I usually bring a smoothie for an afternoon snack. I have my commonly used staples and have saved some recipes as "meals" so I get all ingredients at once, then I can adjust the amount as needed.

    Dinner: I often have soup (again, make the soup as a recipe and average out your servings per week) with some Wasa crackers, turkey and cream cheese. I manage to hit almost exactly the same serving size (21 g turkey, 9 g cream cheese) most nights, it's just what's natural to top 2 wasa crackers.

    I find that tracking really only takes time when you eat out somewhere with no nutrition info available. Anything made in my own kitchen, pre-packaged or by eg. Freshii or Subway is quick and easy to track. If I know I'm eating out I look at the menu beforehand and try to pre-log the items.
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
    Try to change stress eating to stress exercising. I still struggle with stress and I'm in my mid-40s, so I'm not saying it's easy, but the more you can recognize the stress and then take the time to address it the better off you will be. This takes accepting that an hour in the gym or hitting the pavement for a run is time well invested in your health and even in your grades, because you will focus better if you exercise. Also, spending time with friends and even going to a party once in a while will help with stress management. Just make sure those times don't sideline your goals.
  • ellielittlewood20
    ellielittlewood20 Posts: 19 Member
    I'm in a similar position (2nd year undergrad) and find the thing I slip up on most is snacks when I'm working (especially when I'm tired or doing an all nighter). I think the things I've discovered most is:
    1. It's ok to mess up!
    2. Don't pull all nighters unless 100% necessary, because it just makes me tired and grumpy, which then makes me hungry and binge on rubbish food, which makes me feel worse... you get the idea! So sleep is definitely important, and it's easier to remember to track food if you're more awake.
    3. Finding people who eat well and cooking in the same space as them, because it starts to rub off.
    4. Make it a habit to record your food. When I started i was really rubbish at tracking everything, but after a few weeks I was more like "oh wow, I didn't forget today!" It's helpful if you have people/MFP friends who can see your diary and remind you if you forget.

    Hope this helps, feel free to add/message me if you want to ask anything :)

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