Eating Healthy and Working Out

It’s the beginning of the semester and you are feeling great from the summer where you were able to eat right and workout. For the first week or two you stay on track and then all of a sudden “KABOOM”, homework, group projects, quiz’s/tests, and the reality of grad school all start hitting you. You start to just eat whatever you can that’s quick and easy or even turn to the comfort foods like pizza, pasta, ice cream, chocolate, chips, etc – whatever your go to comfort food is. Working out becomes a term from your past because you have to decide if you can really take that one-two hours away from studying and homework. Plus you are trying to manage your time/social life so you can still see your family, friends, boyfriend/girlfriend, and still have a little you time. At this point you begin to stress even more because now you are worried about homework, group projects, quiz’s/tests, having a social life, having some you time, and you may event notice your beginning to gain some weight or you simply just feel tired and blah. 

 

This is when eating healthy and working out will help you more then you know. Just by taking 1-2 hours a week you can have healthy meals for the whole week. I personally take Sunday nights to do all of my meal prepping for the week and trust me I keep it really simple with things like:

For Dinner

·       Chicken, rice, and veggies

·       Turkey burgers, mixed in with rice and veggies

·       Sweet potatoes and turkey or chicken

·       “Healthy” eggplant parm

·       Zucchini pizza’s

·       Stuffed chicken  with asparagus and mozzarella cheese

·       Veggie burgers

For Lunch

·       Greek Yogurt and a Granola Bar

·       Fresh Salads- use veggies, fruits, meat, hard boiled eggs, & cheese to liven it up!

·       Soups- I LOVE LOVE LOVE Stockton’s Chicken noodle soup, chicken & rice soup, and when I want to indulge I will get broccoli cheddar.

·       Rice and veggies

·       Green Bean salad with tomatoes and mozzarella

·       Sushi – Stockton makes fresh Sushi that is delicious.

For Snacks

·       Fresh fruits – apples, bananas, peaches, blueberries, strawberries, grapes. Whatever is in season so it’s cheaper and whatever you love. I even take fresh fruit, lite Hershey’s chocolate syrup, and some whip cream and make a dessert once in a while.

·       Veggies- Cucumbers, celery, carrots.    

         Edamame                                                                      

·       Peanut butter- it’s great by itself or on fruit or veggies. You can even add some nuts or dark chocolate chips to sweeten it up.

·       Granola bars

·       Protein shakes – find one you like to drink

·       Trail mix- if you make a big batch of your own it has less salt and you can add your favorites

·       Hard boiled eggs- you can make a big enough batch to last you a week.

·       When I need a little pick me up I go for chocolate milk 

Tips:

-         PINTEREST has great quick, healthy, and cost efficient meals.

-         Buy Tupperware- in all different sizes.

-         Buying fresh vegetables will easier for you and give you more food.

Simple Rules to keep you on track

1.    Take an hour or two out of one day and meal prep for yourself. You will feel better when you are eating healthy, have more energy, your skin will be clearer, and overall you will sleep and learn better.

2.    Taking time to meal prep, it saves you time during the week & money. You will no longer have to worry about what you’re having for dinner or how much time you will spend cooking.

3.    You will be in a better mood because you will feel good and this positive attitude will help motivate you and keep you reaching your goals.

4.    Use good judgment and eat the “comfort foods” in moderation and allow yourself to indulge once in a while.

Working out

Working out and eating right go hand in hand however, this is something we always seem to say we don’t have time for. Well we are wrong! Even working out just 10-30 minutes a few times a week can give you an energy boost, help you burn calories, help you sleep better, and HELP YOU DE-STRESS!!! 

Tips on sticking to a routine

1.    Make it realistic.

2.    Pick at least two days a week where you could squeeze a work out in, even if it’s just a run, lifting weights, or just abs.

3.    Try to find a fitness class you enjoy – Stockton offers free fitness classes (yoga, aerobics, boxercise, and Zumba weekly).

4.    Workout with a buddy! I worked out with my boyfriend all summer, this made me push myself to actually go to the gym, try harder, and as a result I saw a huge change, had more energy, and felt wonderful.

5.    STICK WITH IT- It takes four weeks for you to really see a change, two weeks of sold clean eating to develop a routine, and one simple workout to give you a total boost!

Good Luck <3

-Jessica

Tips for getting through all of your readings

Graduate School is a big change from your undergraduate especially when it comes to the level of work, amount of reading material, and overall what is expected of you. It can become very overwhelming at first and almost make you second guess yourself. This is when you take a deep breath and tell yourself you can do it!! The secret is finding a system that works best for you. Let’s be honest for a moment there is simply no way one person can read and retain 100 pages of information for each class, our brains simply do not work that way. 

What works best for me:

My Books have questions at the end of each chapter that my professor has recommended we complete to use as a guide, and help us gage how much information we have retained.  I have started by answering these questions first and then reading through the chapter. This really helps me to pull out the important parts of the chapter and disregard all of the extra fluff. This way also keeps me from getting highlighter happy and having every page covered in color. By doing this I am also saving time. When I answer the questions I have to read through specific sections in order to find the answers which allows me to read and understand the chapter to then put it into my own words to make it more realistic. This is giving me further reinforcement of the material covered in the chapter because I read it, comprehend it, and then place it into my own words.

Another great tip is to look over your power points/lecture notes before reading a chapter. This gives you a sense of what your professor wants to focus on which will help you target specific areas more. It can also help you know what information to expect on a test/quiz.

Reading in Graduate School is a MUST, it is not like in your undergraduate where you are told to read and then no one ever does. The readings are implemented in your power points, lectures, assignments, and projects. Also the readings are not 100% gone over in class, so reading and jotting down questions will allow you to ask your professor. Reading the chapters will also reinforce what you are learning in class and help you to overall understand things better. Taking notes while reading may seem tedious however, they will come in handy as a great reference for tests, quiz’s, homework assignments, projects, and help you to participate in class. 

Final tips on how to make reading a little bit easier and even fun

1.      Use colorful highlighters

2.      Read with friends and have homework dates

3.      Meet with classmates to go over sections you don’t understand

4.      Read outside – a change of scenery is always a great thing

5.      Put some soft music on- (Time McGraw Pandora is my reading station or I use the Vitamin String Quartet when I really need to focus )

6.      Overall, find a system that works best for you!!

Hope this helps <3

                                                            -Jessica