Advice Needed: Weight loss and Grad School?

I pretty recently finished my stint in grad school (master's degree, wooo!) so while we're no longer in the same boat, I can tell you that the best thing I ever did was organize a "cooking day". I would get together with some friends and we would cook one or two huge dishes, usually along the lines of soups, casseroles, stir fry, or anything else that stores relatively well in the fridge for later reheating. We'd make a ton of it, split it up into single-meal servings, and we'd all take some of those with us. This meant that I'd gotten my chance to be social and take a break from school while also making my life much easier later in the week. I already had delicious, ready-made, healthy food! This both saved me time and lowered the temptation to grab a quick bite from the many fast-food places around campus if I had to stay late at the office.

I'm in grad school right now, and the best advice I can give is just to make a schedule for yourself! Make sure to put your work out in your daily schedule, even if it's just a 20 minute work out. I do my work outs in the morning (my classes aren't in the morning) so I can get it over with and go to class later, do homework, etc. Also, pack yourself healthy food to eat between classes or when you're at school so you're not snacking on crappy, school food!

Good luck!

I am not in grad school, but my husband is going for his doctorate and is trying to lose weight. I find that by packing him a healthy lunch that is filled with filling, healthy calories, he doesn't eat his usual junk, which would include burritos from Qdoba, huge muffins and bagels in the food court, or burgers. He is (sadly) not a veggie guy, so I usually pack him a Greek yogurt, a couple of string cheese sticks, an applesauce, a Fiber One granola bar and some of these flax crisp crackers he really likes. It's a lot of calories--about 600 calories-- but it keeps him full and is full of protein and fiber. He always says that having munchies on hand helps keep him less hungry. He's lost about 12 lbs. in the past few months just due to this because he hasn't changed anything else.

whoopsie double post!

I'm just wrapping up my grad school nightmare...defending my thesis in a few weeks I work full-time and school was part-time for me. Like others have said, take 20 minutes a day for a workout (30 day shred is great for a good all-over workout in only 20 minutes). Also, I made nearly all of my meals on the weekend and stored them in portions for a quick reheat during the week. Large batches of soup, chili, and crock pot recipes work wonders. You can bang out a lot of food on a Sunday afternoon and it'll save you HOURS during the week.

Good luck!!!

I put on a bunch of weight during my 1L years(for those who don't know, that is your first year of Lawschool). I started using the campus gym during classes, or directly afterwards. I started bringing my lunches instead of going out with sectionmates. The law library was actually across campus, so I walked there a lot instead of driving. I then obtained a masters a number of years later and was teaching 3 classes a week and taking 3 classes. I did the same routine. Even with classes and work, you can find the time. I"ve found graduate school allowed me more time to be active then when I was out of school.