Losing Weight Alongside University!

Hi there. GOOD LUCK FINAL YEAR! Does your Uni have gym - try getting in before classes /research in the morning. it is a pain at the start getting up earlier but our bodies get used to it.. Always bring lunch and snacks as you will prob have late evenings in labs and so easier to eat well if you bring bag with meals and snacks in it. Think fruit, veg And humus as snacks, wraps or healthy sandwiches etc meals, Also see if there is fridge /microwave you can use in the department where you study- then you could do cooking on weekend day for leftovers to take to Uni during the week and leave in fridge and heat up later. also is ther yoga you can do - helpful body and mind to switch off from all brain activity and stay focused and not burnout as it is a busy year you have ahead.
Best of luck final year!

Great goal- you can totally do it!! For me, the key was completely planning my meals once a week with a mind to keeping the meals as easy as possible to prepare while in my nutrition/calories range. When I was too busy I just reused a previous week’s meal plan. I would do all my shopping once a week so I wouldn’t have to think about it again- just remember to put meals with fresh fish, fruit, and veg that rot quickly at the beginning of your week, not the last day! One of my struggles was that I initially wanted to stress-eat, but since I did not have junk food in my house and I did not have time to run to the store, I started training myself to stress-drink water and herbal tea. I set a goal of running for 30 minutes first thing every day (not eating back my exercise calories in MFP) but did not beat myself up if I had to skip for a deadline or some sleep. Exercise was a bonus and made me feel better if I did it, and my weight loss would go a tad more quickly, but not running while I was swamped with a project did not “ruin” my weight loss goals. I used this approach when I was in school full time and working full time- and I lost about 30 pounds over a year. It was not too difficult to keep this up because I did not need to think “what am I going to eat?” more than once a week and my scale gave me positive feedback at my weekly weigh. When I graduated I had hit my goal weight and stopped managing my time/food/exercise so closely. I gained it back and now am starting again. My advice is to go into this knowing that if you set up a routine that works for you while you are in school you will need to have a plan in place for continuing your successful behaviors after graduation when you no longer have the same intense, regimented routine.

Taking nuts and dried fruit are a great snack, that limits your need to go get food from unhealthy sources (my favorite is the chocolate covered almonds). Also maybe limit your sitting when doing these projects. Find a higher platform to do your work and stand. It'll help with not putting your body into rest mode. Also, find workout buddies. Just someone to walk with is great on a busy day, and you can do it whenever you have free time.

I don't know if this helped, but GOOD LUCK!!!

For me, the key was completely planning my meals once a week with a mind to keeping the meals as easy as possible to prepare while in my nutrition/calories range.

^^ This, this, this! I just finished a full-time practicum and worked weekends, and I found this was the easiest way to go about things. I still do pretty much the same thing: make my breakfast and lunch options for the week on Sunday, and then plan my evening meals on one of those handy 'stick to your fridge' planners.

Good luck!