Giving this a go

futurecowvet

Hello everyone,

This is a completely new avenue to me but I'm going to give it a shot and I figured I'd start off right by typing up an intro so I don't sign up for this site and then promptly forget about it.

A little bit about myself, I'm 23 and am currently in veterinary school which is making becoming healthy feel impossible. I've had hypothyroidism since I was 11 and while I was overweight I never felt that it was severe, I lived on a farm, and if I wasn't in school I was outside working with cows, helping with fences, hay or some other physical activity or I was working with my 2 horses. I rode each horse for at least an hour 7 days a week and fluctuated between size 10 and size 12 jeans. I went to undergrad and started gaining weight and it has just seems to be a continuous gain every year, but I never went over 200 pounds. That has since changed and my major motivator is the fact that when I travel home again I want to be under the 200 pound mark so I can ride my horse. It is not fair to ask him at 22 to carry my extra weight. I'm currently living on the island of St. Kitts in the Caribbean and go to school year round. We have 2 week breaks in April and August and a 3 week break in December. December is the only time I go home due to the already high cost of school (and living in St. Kitts) and flight/travel expenses.

I think the hardest things for me are going to be figuring out the gym and the equipment, there never seemed to be a need to use a gym back home because I was so active, my school has a small gym (per the college's description: 3 upright cycles, 2 adaptive motion trainers, 2 elliptical fitness cross trainers, 4 treadmills, multi purpose cable machine with pull up bar, inner/outer thigh machine, leg extension machine, seated curl leg machine, angle leg press machine, bench press station wit, angle leg press machine, 1 bench press station with a weight rack, dumbbells ranging from 5lbs to 60lbs, 5 adjustable benches and 2 straight bars for freestyle lifting) all of which means absolutely nothing to me because for the most part I have no idea what probably half of them are or how to use them properly.

I think the other thing that will be difficult is overcoming the food options that are so tempting. There is a lot of stress associated with vet school and sometimes I feel that is capitalized on by the fact that all the food options on campus are fried or sweets with the main options for drinks being coffee, soda or energy drinks (I try to avoid all 3). Then when I get home I usually sit down at the table and start studying and don't look up until I notice I'm hungry and then it's a scramble to eat before 8pm and I usually settle on making something that I can throw together quickly and leave with little fussing until it is done, or if it has been a stressful day I find myself not studying but baking sweets that then seem to disappear at a rather alarming rate.

Ultimately I think that I need to find a balance between an education that is costing me ~$300,000USD (not including undergrad) and changing an entire lifestyle that includes learning how to utilize the equipment in a gym that part of my tuition already pays for.

Kudos to anyone who actually read this entire posting. I really didn't think I had much to say until I started typing.

editorgrrl

According to your ticker, you want to lose 70 lbs. Set your goal no higher than 1.5 lb. per week, and log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly.

Take "before" photos & measurements. And read the Sexypants post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-Sexypants

riffraff2112

I did read it all, and think you know what you need to do and have all the motivation and reason to do it.

I'll try to answer a few of your questions / concerns/ observations

1. The Gym. I personally love working out and it is not that difficult to find someone to ask for assistance/advice/instructions on how to use equipment. BUT....you want to lose weight and 70% of that will happen by eating right. Weight training and cardio will definitely assist you in that regard but it is not going to derail you if you do not become a gym rat. There are far too many physical activities (many of which you mentioned) that you can partake in. Walk / jog / climb stairs on campus are all amazing caloric burns and are free...but again....losing weight is going to happen in the kitchen!

2. Temptation from lack of food choices. Not a lot of sympathy there. If this is important to you, you need to go shopping and load up your mini fridge with lots of real, healthy foods. Avoid the fast foods, pop and fried stuff that offers very little nutrition and can derail you in a hurry. Being on campus is tough, so is working anywhere where food is sold, or being surrounded by colleagues that invite you out for buffets three times a week, or having relatives and rituals that center around food. It is an obstacle that you have to deal with. There are quite a few non-perishable foods that you can take with you, they travel well in a backpack and you can have them right at your fingertips when studying. I bring my little lunch pack with freezer pack everywhere so I am always prepared to eat right. This way you can avoid grabbing the first thing you see when you are stressed. PLan your meals and pre-package. Think of it as homework. It doesn't take as long as you might think and it will pay off in the end. Some people say you can eat anything, so long as it fits into your caloric needs (I am not going to argue that but for me its hard to make junk food fit into my budget because they are just so calorie rich and I would prefer to eat more...but more fulfilling and nourishing choices).

To that end I would suggest finding some 'go-to' snacks or meals that you can count on to offer a satisfying meal/snack and not pack a ton of calories. For me that is cottage cheese, low fat yogurt, eggs, and turkey meat. I eat these things almost everyday because they fill me up, and are all low in calories and offer protein.

Honestly, what you are doing, and what thousands of people here at mfp have done successfully is easier than you might think. I wish I could go back ten years and make the switch then. I wasted some good years being self-conscious and insecure when I had it in me all along to just make a few simple changes. It will not require you to sacrifice anything from your education and future plans. It will not cost you anything in terms of money.

Get your eating under control, throw in some moderate exercise to build some good habits and you will see good things happen.

Wow....I typed more than you did. Hope it helps a bit. If not, someone will be able to provide more assistance, maybe someone closer to your age or life experience will be able to offer pointers. College was a long time ago for me but I can relate to being tempted because my workplace is a no-go zone filled with terrible eaters and snacks everywhere!

Good luck and study hard. Vets are awesome


and read the sexypants link from previous post.....it is full of excellent info

Delquin

I remember when I was in college my campus had a Mcdonald's and Little Caesar's Pizza, and a TCBY Yogurt on campus, not to mention all the fast food places immediately surrounding it. (I hope they've changed since then to some better options for students!)

But, even fast food places have healthier options. It's all about making a conscious choice. I used to go to McDonald's and get the Big Mac Value Meal with a Coke, Supersized, with 2 apple pies. And yes, I would eat it all. (UGH) But, I can't do that anymore. Generally, I don't go to McDonald's, but if I did, I would have to acknowledge how much I want the Big Mac, but then grab maybe a yogurt parfait instead or one of the grilled chicken salads.

It's not an easy choice. Because I know what tastes better to me. But once you do it over and over, it becomes a habit. If I go to a fast food place, I order a kids meal, because it's the right size (everything is so massive and calorie-laden now for adults). Plus, I can get some apple slices and a toy! lol

As for the gym - I don't have my membership anymore (me + laziness = waste of money) but when I started there, I had no clue about all of the machines. So I started with what I knew. Treadmill. Basic. Simple. And then I did the elliptical bike. Which was funny because I could only do 2 minutes the first day, but a month later I was doing 20.

I watched what other people did, and I followed their lead. I mostly stuck with weights because I found it more stress relieving than aerobics. (Though I always started with the elliptical to get warmed up.)

You can do this. Channel that stress into something positive and take it to the gym. I hated every morning I drove to the gym. But when I got there and started moving, I felt better and lost a lot of my anxiety because of it.

Feel free to add me. You're going to school for an awesome reason (I love animals!) and you're going to be a great, healthy vet!