Nursing school and weight gain

Calorie counting is just like balancing your checkbook at first. It gets easier with time. I probably spend ~10mins/day logging at most. Focus more on the habits that are not helpful to weight management and replace those with habits that enable and support your goals. Read on a treadmill/bike, read a chapter and do some calisthenics. Not only does this help you physically, enables memory capacity.

For the knee problem - start strength training, especially squats, but do so under review with a physical therapist. Do you have a PT available as part of your program?

The chief resident of emergency medicine took physical fitness very seriously and PT'd with the team at the beginning of every shift. He was always stressing the emergency mindset "What are you going to do if the elevator is out and you need to run 4 flights of stairs to get to your patient?" or "You need to be in good physical condition to handle a mass casualty situation."

I can relate! Nursing school is so hard. I'm in my senior year and I graduate in May (There's a light at the end of this long tunnel!) I decided at the beginning of this year that I'm really tired of being overweight and continuing to gain weight as I go through school. I started logging daily, bought a used Fitbit online, a cheap gym membership, and doing meal prep. There's time for it if you make time. I understand getting tired, overwhelmed, and burnt out. Power through. That 30 minute workout will make you feel better and able to focus better after you do it. I love Quizlet. I make flashcards and flip through them while on the elliptical. You owe it to yourself to focus on your health. I always joke that nursing school teaches you how to take care of people while forgetting how to take care of yourself, but it's true. Maybe you have a classmate that has the same problem and would like to he a workout buddy. You can always hit the gym between classes. I tend not to get a lot done between short (hour or so) class breaks. Might as well exercise and be more focused for the next class! As for meal prep, I usually spend about an hour or so on Sunday and make a weeks worth of lunch and snacks. This week I made spicy chicken with roasted sweet potatoes and green beans. Then added in some homemade "energy bites" and cottage cheese with fruit or Greek yogurt. Easy to grab and go, nutritionally dense, and something I like to eat. I've had a hard journey, I've fallen away from my plan during especially hard weeks, but I'm still trying to keep at it. I believe in you!