Law Student Looking for Advice

Schedule in regular workout times, but have a backup plan. Say you usually work out in the evenings but you have a late class, so get up early or go for a lunchtime run instead.

Hey, I just graduated law school in May so I know where you're coming from. I always exercise early in the morning to get it out of the way. Things always come up later in the day so it's harder to squeeze it in. For quick work outs, Jillian Michaels 30 day shred is a great 30 minute workout for cardio and strength.

Food - I always carry healthy snacks like Kind bars and fruit with me. Also, something that helps, when I'm not too lazy, is making food on Sundays. Sometimes I cut up veggies on Sundays and just put them in tupperware so that during the week it's easy to grab a bag of veggies as a snack or make a quick salad. I hope that helps a little. Good luck!

I'd focus on the nutritional content rather than "healthy" foods. Experiment to find foods that you like and that simultaneously fit your goals.

Law school feels very busy because it's probably as busy as you've been thus far, but life doesn't get easier once you start practicing; quite the opposite, actually. In any event, just make it a priority and you'll find time.

AmandaHugginkiss wrote: »

Grad school isn't exactly what I would call a "tight schedule." A second year law student has 3-6 hours a day course load and a couple hours reading at most in the breaks between classes or at night. Every single law student I ever knew in the history of ever managed to fit in time to watch countless hours of college sports, spend 3-12 hours in bars a week, keep up with their favorite TV shows, play golf, and sleep with each other. I'm positive you can manage to fit in an hour of exercise a day. If regular people working 9+ hours a day with 45 minute daily commutes can manage 90 minutes 4x a week while also raising kids, then you can manage a little exercise between Prosser and Keaton.

Meh, that's not really fair. It really depends on what you're doing during law school. Our editor in chief on law review worked 20 hours per week at a local firm, did a helluva lot more work than I ever did for law review, and still graduated in the top 5 of our class. She stayed busy. People in law school run the gamut from minimal effort to tons of effort.

That said, life typically doesn't get easier, and if you're the person putting in 60-80 hours of work in law school, it's doubtful you'll end up as a barista working 20 hours a week and contemplating the meaning of life afterwards.

AmandaHugginkiss wrote: »

There are usually only 1 or 2 people in a school who put in the effort of the editor in chief of the law review (and our editor ran marathons, so there's that). I worked 20+ hours a week in law school, devoted hours every week to moot court judging, and still managed to exercise, goof off, date, etc....Nobody spends 60-80 hours every week putting in effort during law school except for maybe during the 3 weeks before finals. People who want it, do it. People who want to say they're too busy will say they're too busy. That's true of any profession. There's nothing special about a law school that makes it so time consuming that exercise is impossible. There are thousands and thousands of top lawyers who managed to stay fit during school and as practicing attorneys.

I didn't say there aren't. I just said you can't assume someone in law school doesn't have a "tight schedule." Many people still commute, work side jobs, raise kids and so on while in law school - you can't just assume everyone is out drinking and watching sports all the time.

I'm in college, so I definitely know the feeling of being on a tight schedule.

For exercise - I walk to campus for class instead of driving (it's only a 10-15 min walk for me). Also, I'm way too busy to go to the gym during the week, so I go on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and have 30 minute workouts for each day. Also, another thing, when I'm in the library for a really long time and am in a slump, I like to get my blood moving by running up and down the library stairs (there's 9 floors).

For healthy food - I haven't quite worked out all of the kinks yet. Lately I've been bringing snacks or mini meals to campus with me but it's hard to gauge exactly how much I need to bring, so some days I cave in and buy the closest, unhealthy snack I can find.

I work a high stress client facing job. Not a JD, but some similarities. For me, I just make the time. I also make the most out of a workout. Examples are, I switched from using an elliptical machine for cardio to the Cybex Arc Trainer. Much more of a burn in the same amount of time... Also, I make my food count. I think of it as fuel vs just because I am hungry. I tend to go for more nutrient dense foods and drink lots of water... Hope that helps.

AmandaHugginkiss wrote: »

parkscs wrote: »

AmandaHugginkiss wrote: »

There are usually only 1 or 2 people in a school who put in the effort of the editor in chief of the law review (and our editor ran marathons, so there's that). I worked 20+ hours a week in law school, devoted hours every week to moot court judging, and still managed to exercise, goof off, date, etc....Nobody spends 60-80 hours every week putting in effort during law school except for maybe during the 3 weeks before finals. People who want it, do it. People who want to say they're too busy will say they're too busy. That's true of any profession. There's nothing special about a law school that makes it so time consuming that exercise is impossible. There are thousands and thousands of top lawyers who managed to stay fit during school and as practicing attorneys.

I didn't say there aren't. I just said you can't assume someone in law school doesn't have a "tight schedule." Many people still commute, work side jobs, raise kids and so on while in law school - you can't just assume everyone is out drinking and watching sports all the time.

You're missing the point. Life experience generally is that the people with the tightest schedules are the ones who seem to make it work the best. If someone is commuting, working side jobs, etc. while in law school, then they probably already know a thing or two about time management and aren't going to ask on a fitness site how to do it. They already know. If someone is new to managing time (someone more akin to the average law student who goes to school and studies and maybe works 10-15 hours a week if at all, starts to gain weight from all the sitting, studying, and goofing off) then they come to a fitness site and ask. Yes, assumptions are made, but they're educated assumptions.

She asked for tips. You reply was she isn't really busy and her schedule isn't a tight schedule, so just fit it in. How is "you aren't really busy" a tip for how to manage calorie counting and exercise on the go? It'd be different if the post was someone saying it's impossible for them to find time to eat right and/or exercise, but that's not really the case here.

And putting that aside, her question is a valid one, particularly for a petite girl looking to lose weight, as she's not going to get a lot of calories to play with on any given day. Many people struggle with hitting their calories/macros when eating on the go/dining out frequently, but that's especially hard when you only have ~1500 calories to play with. It's one thing to go out for dinner and a few beers at 3000+ calories/day, but it's another altogether if you're aiming for something like 1200-1500 calories.

But in any event, I do agree with the notion that being busy isn't an excuse - I just think that's more appropriate for other threads where people are actually suggesting it is an excuse in the first place.