exam season and late night sugar cravings!

fitlittlefittie

Hi everyone! So I just ended up eating a ton of chocolate and chips at two in the morning because I'm up studying for exams and decided it's about time I hold myself accountable so I created this acct. I'm not used to the school system here in the UK since I'm not from here, but exam revision period lasts for about 2 months - I'm already a month in, but my university is really intense and exam stress has gotten to me!! It's down to crunch time and I have a month left to go. Also, these exams are crucial for me -- probably the most important ones I've ever taken due to the fact that I'm trying to transfer to this university and it's conditional on my marks.

So here's my issue: I'm fine when the work is manageable, but I'm studying for 12+ hours a day (not by choice trust me) and at night (esp past 1am) I NEED sugar. Vegetables, hummus, and all of that will not get me through. If it was just a normal exam period, healthy snacks would be fine, but with the intensity of the work I'm doing I associate late-night studying with a snack that keeps me going and chocolate bars and chips do the trick. I really think they actually help me keep going and it's not just an association I have. Even if I'm full, I need some motivation to get through my work. I was running every other day up until last week, but lately I just haven't had the time. I will get back on that soon though because running at night helped somewhat.

I just have erratic sleep hours now and it is necessary to do well on my exams unfortunately!! Any suggestions for how to satisfy the sugar cravings while studying when it's not hunger?! Is there anything I can do that'll keep me studying even if I don't have that chocolate beside me? Also, I should mention that I'm not trying to lose a huge amount of weight (I'm at an ok weight and just want to tone up my arms and lose weight on my hips/thighs). However, right after exam time I will be eurotripping/going to the beach/etc and even if I'm relieved after exam period is over, it would be even better if I could celebrate with a toned body to go with it I just don't want summer to come along after exams are over and I look/feel terrible as always when I have to wear tank tops (although who knows, london weather has a mind of its own)! But actually, my arms are disproportionately large to body, don't even know how that happened hah.

I've also had a habit of binge eating (not to a huge extent, but in the range of 1000 calories and the guilt of course) in the past and I am a MAJOR emotional eater, got that habit from my mom. Just the other day someone said something that ticked me off and I just HAD to eat, but usually I can keep it under control (a recent improvement but we'll see). Over the past year or so I have introduced many healthy habits into my life that I love (aka my favorite mint green smoothies in the morning that my friends find disgusting - definitely their loss because they're delicious) and I can finally run outside without dying which is a huge improvement for me!

Sorry for the really long post, thought I should introduce myself since it's my first one! Any advice in general (even on exams, I'll take anything I get) would be super helpful and I will be logging my food/exercise starting tomorrow. Also feel free to add me as a friend

jaf320

When I'm doing night time studying, I love to have tea (sometimes with 1/2 milk/almond milk and 1/2 water as a latte of sorts) or decaf coffee (sometimes withe a little flavored creamer if I'm reallllly craving sugar). The warm liquid and the fact that I can't finish it all off in 2 seconds is awesome at night. I also like the 100 calorie popcorn or kettle corn bags - it is actually a decent portion and doesn't taste to diet-y/fake. Hot chocolate packets are always handy too.

On another note, if you are soooo tired that you aren't productive at all and have out-of-control chocolate cravings, you should probably just allow yourself to go to bed. Get some rest, start early the next day, and go to bed knowing that you haven't eaten crazy amounts of junk just because of stress (spoken from experience!). Good luck!!

fitlittlefittie

Ok I will definitely try out the tea&milk (just water won't do it for me), but I think that'll help! I start to get unproductive, but once I give in to my chocolate cravings, I somehow become 10 times more productive -- I don't know maybe it's just my mind playing games?!