Counting in college/work

You either remember, or you don't. It just depends on how committed you are and how bad you want to change. Sorry, your motivation will have to come from yourself. We all have to find it for ourselves. Luckily this site and the mobile app makes it SO easy, so there's half the battle fought for you. Good luck.

Many (most?) colleges I think have a registered dietician on staff shaping meal planning and the nutrition information is available online from the school. I lost all of my weight working at a university and eating everyday in the dining hall (the food is so much better than when I was in school) so it's definitely possible. I looked up the calorie counts and planned my meals, just as I did/do at home. I found lots of entries already in the MFP database by adding the initials of my school to the search string. You may find that as well. Good luck!

sheydizzle13 wrote: »

Hi! I was interested in hearing how everyone counted calories while working or going to school.

Working or going to school covers pretty much everyone who is counting calories. I'm not sure what exactly you're asking.

This has been my pattern for the past two years (4 semesters) - log for the first 2/3 of the semester like a pro. Binge eat the last 1/3 of a semester like crazy.

Honestly, I just lack discipline. My friends want to eat out? Okay. The fries taste good? Okay, I'll have so more. Alcohol? Sounds good to me. I'm bad at putting off short-term pleasure for long term gains, especially since I know the fun I'm having is temporary. You just need to do it, and do it for yourself. If your friends are creeps about it, make ones that either support you or don't give a shoot what you eat or don't eat.

If you are simply forgetting to log, set an alarm on your phone around meal times.

Are you making your own food in a kitchen, or do you have a campus meal plan? I second what themedalist says - my school has nutrition posted online. I try to avoid it just because I don't know how accurate it is, but it is better then nothing.

When I was eating in cafeterias it was really easy to sit and chat with my friends (good) and keep eating high calorie food (bad). Pick a healthy main course. Skip the bread and high carbs. Pick a small dessert you can budget in. If you want to keep eating, go back for salad.

Make sure you eat breakfast and lunch so you don't overdo at dinner or snack because you're starving.

Just because it's healthy, doesn't mean it's low calorie. Granola, nuts, chili, tons of healthy things have tons of calories. If you want a snack, grab a piece of fruit in the caf and stick it in your pocket for later. Or grab a SMALL amount of something like nuts that is an amount of calories you can budget in.

Don't eat snacks out of the bag. Chips, pretzels, cheetos - put them in a bowl in a known portion size and eat that. Then stop.

Walk. You have a great excuse being on campus.

Sign up for a gym class. The relaxation you get out of it will be worth the time you aren't studying.

Preparing meals or going to the nearest grocery store is what I use I do. Preparing meals is probably the best option though.

sheydizzle13 wrote: »

MissHolidayGolightly wrote: »

sheydizzle13 wrote: »

Hi! I was interested in hearing how everyone counted calories while working or going to school.

Working or going to school covers pretty much everyone who is counting calories. I'm not sure what exactly you're asking.

I was referring to a combination. Especially those college students.

Gotcha. Here's my take, then:

I felt really stressed and busy in college but now that I'm out and working full time, I realized how much down time I had before. Plus, I did a lot of walking which helps. I don't know your exact situation but if you're a traditional student, walk everywhere, use the gym and other health facilities provided to you, and stay as active as possible. Set aside times to work out and keep to that schedule, as if you have another class you have to attend.

As for eating, if you're doing the dining hall, eyeball portions best you can and find similar foods or nutrition facts direct from the food service. If you have an apartment, do like many on here and buy good food and prepare some meals in advance for the week so that you aren't as tempted to get take-out often. Leave room for fun, eating late night pizza, and drinking (if you drink), too, just fit it into your (overall) calories.

You're working and attending class just shy of 40 hours a week, plus time for homework. That leaves you lots of time to exercise, socialize, eat well, and sleep. Treat your course load and internship/preparing for future career like practice for working "in the real world". I think the big difference between college and adult life is FOMO (fear of missing out) but you can have fun while also committing to a healthy existence. I work 40+ hours a week and until recently was in grad school in top of work. When you're working, you still need to prepare for the future by keeping your resume up-to-date, networking, and thinking about the next job or promotion in your career path. Despite this, I still make time to work out regularly (even if it was later in the evening), make dinner, take care of my house and car, spend time with my husband, and socialize with friends and family. You can do it, just schedule it all in and prioritize when times get a little tight.

Oooh as a freshman in college, it's pretty hard to maintain or lose weight. Some of my friends are actually putting on a few pounds ahhaha when the food's good, I can't just resist. In the times my friends DO eat out, I either eat a bit or eat beforehand. My friends understand the way I eat and how I try to maintain my weight. Maybe you can talk to your friends about it. :-)

Logging in my calories with MFP has really helped me watch what I eat. And in the case of remembering to log in, you'll get used to doing it if you, well, keep doing it! Install the app on your phone, log in what you eat after every meal. It's better if you can make a meal plan the week or night before just so you'll steer clear of food that isn't part of what you're supposed to eat that day (although don't restrict yourself so much).

I learned to make my own meals from home (sandwiches, salads...) and bring fruits as snacks. Maybe a fruit smoothie if I haven't got the time to eat or make my own meal.

As for fitness/exercise. I created my own schedule and allotted 60-90 minutes a day 4-5x a week (Thank God my schedule isn't as hectic!). A meal plan and schedule is really something you should do. It's helped me loads!

I know how it feels, and it's pretty hard setting my priorities straight, too. But it doesn't mean it's impossible to squeeze in your health/fitness things. You can do it! Good luck! :-)

I am a nurse supervisor and work full time 36 hours a week. I am also attending college full time. I go to clinicals 20 hours a week for my master's degree currently. That is not counting class work which tends to take up 10-15 hours a week. My schedule has been like this for six years thru my ADN, BSN, and MSN. I also have a daughter who is on the swim team all year round, basketball league in the winter, and soccer league in the fall and spring and has typically practice four nights a week right after I get home from clinicals. I gained a lot of weight from this lifestyle due to eating a horrible diet plus never losing my pregnancy weight nine years ago. Of course I am 31 and have a child so i live in my own house and do not have to deal with a dorm lifestyle, not sure if that is what you are doing. I flunked out of counting calories daily, I found it is a lot easier to eat a lower carb/ low glycemic carb diet with a lot of protein and fats. I do track calories to see what I am averaging but not consistently every day. The things I tend to overeat on are carbs, pastries, junk food, pasta, bread so I avoid these things. I am not the type of person who is going to overeat on a pot of green beans or six pieces of fish(lol) but I will eat six cupcakes if I am not careful. I am also less tired than what I used to be eating a high carb/high sugar diet which is a plus. So I do my own cooking and have tons of tupperware containers. I cook healthy veggie soups or meat meals in the crockpot which I leave on when I am gone for the day. I make a lot when I am cooking and freeze them in individual serving containers for the week. Then I heat up one each for my daughter and I before we run around at night doing her activities rather than trying to cook dinner daily or taking her out for fast food frequently. For lunch I try to pack something high protein like tuna rather than going out to eat. I started meeting my buddies for walks or outdoor activities rather than eating out when I have time. My daughter has swim practice at the YMCA so I have a gym membership there and work out when she is at swim practice. Breakfast is usually a low carb muffin ( I found recipes and bake these while I study after my daughter goes to bed) or a protein shake/smoothie with spinach and fruit.

you can eat many of the same foods day to day so that you know for example that your breakfast is always xxx calories and your lunch is either xxx or xxx calories. then you just need to keep track of snacks and dinner which is a lot easier.