Struggling!

MissLexiLoo

Okay, so, I am a full time college student. I am majoring in nutrition and dietetics and saying I am passionate about it is truly an understatement. I am also a full time, single parent. By single parent I mean I don't have alternating weekends off, a day off, an hour off, the only time I'm away from my daughter is when I'm in class. I'm really REALLY struggling with motivation. If I put my all into my weight loss, I struggle with my motivation in school. If I put my all into school, I struggle with staying motivated getting my exercise in and staying within my calorie limits. I plan on taking summer quarter off, which I initially wasn't going to do. But I'm starting to think it may be the best scenario as of now. I don't eat processed foods, I try to make most of my daughter and I's food from scratch, low fat, lean, organic, hormone free, antibiotic free, etc... I also juice 80% of our fruits and veggies, including kale, spinach, cucumbers, pineapple, apples, pears, kiwi, celery, baby carrots, blue berries, strawberries, you name it, it's in there. Which takes me a good hour each day to wash everything, cut it, juice it, wash the juicer and put it back together. These are things that are part of my day that I refuse to give up, but am having a hard time KEEPING UP!! I'm just looking for some suggestions??

michellekicks

I was alone with my 2 kids for a while but not while going to school. My sister did that and I am constantly amazed by the stamina it requires to parent, study and she worked too... Wild. Just be kind to yourself. Recognize you can't do everything... cut out anything unnecessary. Enjoy your daughter. Study as hard as you can. Why not eat the veggies, though, instead of juicing them? You'd take less time, get more fiber and could just grab and go... Regardless, keep in mind, this is just a season of your life. Your daughter will grow up. You will finish school. Life will move along like a parade... take time to enjoy at least a few minutes of each day.

MissLexiLoo

I was alone with my 2 kids for a while but not while going to school. My sister did that and I am constantly amazed by the stamina it requires to parent, study and she worked too... Wild. Just be kind to yourself. Recognize you can't do everything... cut out anything unnecessary. Enjoy your daughter. Study as hard as you can. Why not eat the veggies, though, instead of juicing them? You'd take less time, get more fiber and could just grab and go... Regardless, keep in mind, this is just a season of your life. Your daughter will grow up. You will finish school. Life will move along like a parade... take time to enjoy at least a few minutes of each day.

If you've ever looked at 5 to 9 servings of veggies for an entire day, that's a LOT of vegetables!! Plus my daughter won't eat the vegetables, but she'll drink them, more like suck them down! She loves the juice! It's better than giving her a vitamin, and I know she's getting all her nutrients. I also use it as meal replacements, I make enough for a day or two, I pour it in a cup and run out the door with it.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I appreciate it. I hate being heavy, but I hate not having my degree. Both are equally important though.

ryliejaiden

I know you don't want to, but maybe cut out juicing. If you eat the whole fruit/vegetable you will get more nutrients and all the good stuff in the fibers that you are (I'm assuming) throwing out after you get the juice out.
Another thing to do is dedicate a couple hours once a week (for example a Sunday evening) to pre-make all your meals for the week. This way you can throw them in the freezer and defrost the day before you want to eat it and don't have to worry about trying to cook every meal, every day because you've already done it.
Also, I'm not sure how old your daughter is, but something I like to do is combine exercise and play into one thing. If she's old enough you can play tag with her, pass a ball with her, etc. Or take her to the park and jog around the jungle gym/do pull ups on the monkey bars, etc while she plays. You can still watch her and play with her and exercise all at once! Or maybe try walking to school for exercise if you can.
You can also try to study while working out/cooking. I used to download the audio version of my textbooks and listen to them on my iPhone while I drove in the car, exercised, etc. i can be tough to retain everything sometimes, but it definitely helps, especially if you are a slower reader/note taker, like me.
That's all I have for now, if I think of anything else I'll let you know.
Just remember that your health, your family, and your schooling are all very important and you need to keep trying to find balance with all three. I know its hard. Another thing that helps me is to make an hour by hour schedule. I find that it keeps me on track much better than any to-do list.
Good luck!

Stripple

Why juice so much, will take you that long to just eat if, chewing burns calories..
Do you have a freezer, you can spend just 1 day prepping your meals, defrost & eat, rather than slogging away at it every day.
You have a lot going on in your life, you need to cut some corners & get organised.
Good luck

ryliejaiden

P.S maybe try to incorporate some online classes so that you don't have to worry about commuting, plus it saves time.

aflowerinyourhair

I'm coming to the end of a two-year Masters degree which includes a full time unpaid 7-month placement (which I finish a week Wednesday thank goodness!) in a child protection team. I also work a couple of evenings and weekends in a paid job. I don't get to spend as much time with my children as I would like at the moment but luckily their dad (who I am separated from) has been very supportive. To say i have found the past two years a struggle would be an understatement but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I am totally focussed on the end goal. I do want it all and I don't see why I can't have it!

Can you do like another poster suggested and make the juice at the weekends and freeze it? That way you can have it every day but not spend an hour everyday making it? I am one of the least organised people I know but I'm managing to hold it together (as you are) so I must be doing something right! Keep on keeping on and stop once in a while to acknowledge how great you are doing.

MissLexiLoo

WOW! It never even crossed my mind to freeze the veggie/fruit juice! That would save me a bundle of time!! I'll have to try that! Thanks everyone for the comments and encouragement!

ryliejaiden- my daughter is 21 months old. She isn't only enough to run with me or play on the toys without my help while I exercise, but those are awesome ideas that I will definitely keep in mind! I also live 45 minutes away from my school, so as much as i wish I could walk to school (which would ROCK!) I can't! 40 miles is just a tad too much haha. If my school offered more online classes I would be taking them. Once I transfer to CWU there should be more options for more online courses and less commuting thankfully! Thank you for all the ideas and the support!!

aflowerinyour - wow! I am so proud of you!! It is not any easy journey by any means with kiddos! That is so awesome, I'm so happy for you and your family!! It's so hard to acknowledge what you're doing when you're in the middle of trying to do better, but I understand what you're saying. Thank you! and again congrats!!

wendyco

10 minute trainer! The answer to a busy day! Im training for a half, so I won't have time to do anything like 1 hr workouts. To top it off I work full time and new to the whole house wife stuff in particular cleaning n cooking (which a 20 minute meals takes me 1 hr to do -_-). SOO I've decided to begin 10 minute trainer....heard great things about it....and it can't hurt.

wrecktechno

You sound like you're a little burnt out by the food preparation. I agree with the others, make it simple.