[Anniemal]

So, I'm a nursing assistant and I'm super active for the entire 32 hours I work each week. My days are long and crazy. And when I get home, I exercise for about an hour . . if I don't binge and fall into a coma. Bad Annie!

Anyway, I haven't been very strict in my dieting because most of the time I'm burned out and sore or indulging in other excuses . . but I'm going hard to hit the 190s again before warm weather and I don't know how to do this right.

How does anyone workout and work around holding an active job? Do you exercise quite a bit or hold back because of this? Do you eat a higher amount of calories or on tight restriction?

I guess I would think the weight would fall off from my busy schedule, but its quite the opposite since I started working there this Fall. Plus, this job is super stressful . . Really, we run around like farm chickens until our lunch hour.

Anyway, any input would be very much appreciated!

[Eves]

I'm an archaeologist so when we're in the field it we basically walk and dig as fast as we can. What has helped me is to basically snack all day. On days when I'm in the field I'll eat a good hearty breakfast (like oatmeal), and then mix in a bunch snacks I can eat quickly and on the run (carrot sticks, hardboiled eggs, jerky), nothing that adds too much. Then a light lunch, at least one more snack to get me through the afternoon and then a light dinner. On days I work in the field I try to get a bit more protein and some more calories to get me through the day.

Honestly so far it's been working well. It does get a bit hard when you're trying to snack carrying a backpack, a post holer, a screen, and wearing winter work gloves but it's worth it.

I figured this out by experimenting. So it's well worth your time to figure out a couple of different solutions and then seeing which one works best. Good luck!

[baffled111]

It might also be worthwhile to start by logging what you eat now and calculating your maintenance calories. If you can figure how many calories it takes for you to maintain your weight and all the running around, you'll have a better idea of where to start with restricting your food intake.

ETA: Oops, I see you've already lost nearly 40 pounds! You must be doing something right!

[srmb60]

Hi Annie.

I hear ya! I'm not much good about fitting my exercise in between work. I have some weight equipment at home and I walk. All things you can do whenever they fit into you're schedule. But if I'm tired, I just don't do much or I skip it. Not very good advice but the truth.

As for food ... I'm going to suggest that you find a site like fitday.com and just start entering everything you eat. Don't even worry about cutting back or making changes just yet.
Within a few days, you'll see some places you can make small changes and 'clean up' your intake. A little less of this, a little more of that.
And we'll be here to help!

[JayEll]

Hey Annie!

It sounds to me as though you need to make sure you get enough food during the day while you're working so that you aren't as likely to binge at night. That's not a good habit.

Use FitDay or TheDailyPlate or some other tracker. Figure out how many calories, roughly (they are all only estimates), that you burn during a 24 hour period. FitDay lets you set your activity level to make the estimate. Then, subtract 500 cals from that number. That would be your target calories to eat every day to lose a pound a week. Now that you know that, you can start planning your foods.

You may know all this already, but I thought I'd be thorough.

You need to take food with you that you can grab as a snack when you have a minute. Kashi bars are a good choice for some folks, or a baggie with some carrot sticks or baby carrots... if you have access to a refrigerator, you can take some single-serving lowfat yogurts, some string cheese or other cheese... Aim for 100-200 calories per snack.

Good luck! You can do it, you just have to make it work!

Jay