Would love some advice on prioritizing

stacj27

Here's my situation. I'm currently going to 2 schools (one full time one part time) and fitting in work (minimal while I'm going to school). I'm usually going from 8am to 10pm for school with a few hours in the evenings between classes. Those evening hours are when I fit my exercise in, usually 30-45 min, but I do miss out on homework or work time due to the workout and shower after. In order to catch up on homework, I've made some bad choices with food and sleep. Fast food when I'm in a rush and minimal and scatter sleep. I'm really feeling it and had to leave on of my classes early today due to a cold that was made much worse with how tired I've been. I also haven't been losing weight, just yo-yoing between the same 5 lbs. Some workouts have made a little difference in my measurements, so I'm reluctant to give up some of my workouts. But if it makes things easier I'm open to it. So here are how I'm thinking about listing my priorities:

1. Food (I'll prep on Sundays)
2. Schoolwork
3. Sleep
4. Work
5. Family/Friends
6. Exercise

If anyone has any advice on if this is a good list let me know. If you think that certain things are more important than I'm making them definitely let me know and explain why. I know there are so many out there who juggle lots of responsibilities with work, kids, school, hobbies, gym time, and other commitments, so I'd love some help figuring out what would be best to keep me on track.

inertiastrength

I eat fast food every single day. What you choose makes a big difference. You need to make better fast food choices so they fit in your macros

SusanMFindlay

I'd bump sleep to #1. If you don't get adequate sleep, your school and work will suffer. You'll also be hungrier (due to hormone shifts resulting from lack of sleep) and more likely to make poor decisions about food.

Prepping food on Sundays sounds like a great plan. If you have to have fast food, look up the nutrition info. first so that you can make smarter decisions.

Also, you can see if you can fit in more incidental movement into your overall day. Increasing your daily steps can increase your calorie burn by as much - or more - as "working out" at the gym. Not to say that working out isn't a good thing to do, but I agree with your prioritization of sleep, healthy food and mental well-being (family/friends) over gym time. You could also combine things by reading for school while walking on a treadmill, spending time with friends/family while walking/hiking/cycling/playing sports. That sort of thing.