I don't know what it is about school that makes me so uptight but every time I even think about grades and homework I start feeling like I'm floundering to keep my head above water and then, I eat. This may be an odd way of looking at things but I just feel like I don't have enough time to do school AND healthy activities like exercise because then I won't get enough sleep (I have trouble sleeping except when I'm home) and I should just forgo exercise and nutritious food in favor of a dark, dank corner of the coffee shop with huge dose of caffeine to help me think. My GPA isn't exactly groovy (took me a few years to grow up and actually apply myself) so the thought of not being able to improve my grades before I graduate makes me sick to my stomach. I suppose its a hopeless cause, seeing as I'll be graduating in December but I don't want my GPA to drop any lower.
Anybody else feel like your life keeps you from enjoying it? Sorry for the defeatist tone, I haven't exercised in about a week bc of exams. Am lacing up right now for a run with my canine sidekick.
<3 The Pear

I think you need this mantra and maybe a hug (even if it is only virtually)...

Aim for Progress, Not Perfection

P.S. I just finished my grad degree last October so I know what the drain at the end feels like.

I thought that the first semester I was on campus, that ice cream helped me study and I didn't have time to exercise.
This semester I decided that was a bad excuse, I have 8 classes (plus 3 labs so more like 11 classes) and I still go to the gym 5 days a week, and eat clean.
If you don't have 'time' to work out, then at least eat better. Because not only will that help your body, it will help your mind. Your brain will function better with healthier foods then crap.
My grades are doing just fine while spending time everyday at the gym, I just schedule my time well. I'm at school from 8-5, then the gym from 5:15-6:45 then I come home, eat dinner then study till about 10 or 11 then I go to bed. And because I exercised, I fall asleep a lot quicker.
I used to have bad insomnia, I'd go to bed at 11 but not fall asleep till 2... I don't have that problem anymore

i definitely feel like my life is keeping me from enjoying it, i'm constantly worried and stressed about school and i've put everyting on hold until i finich college and now i hate college and i feel exactly the same..my exam period just ended and i'm already panicking about my next exams which are in june. instead of loosing up and going out and having fun i stay at home, online and just wasting time because i don''t have motivation to study. i wanted to quit so many times but my family is so proud of me for going to college and i don't want to dissapoint them. i want to have a degree but the price is too high. i also feel like i can't combine studying, exercise and eating healthy and most of the times my study is suffering because of my obsession to lose weight.
some days i am so optimistic and positive, but others i just feel like there is no end to this.
sorry for such a long post, just knw that i feel exactly the same and hope we will learn to control all this mess someday

YES - I never really felt this way until grad school, but i feel i am constantly just trying to keep my head above water - to keep up with school, life, social relationships, and working out. sometimes it is unbearable (I have high blood pressure and RHR I think as a direct result!) but this semester I have decided exercise is a priority... seems to be helping so far from keeping me from falling under...

Misspear2012, I know how you feel! I'm a fulltime college student, I work 44 hours a week 10pm to 9am, I just got engaged, I live on my own, bills, dog, two cats, etc. etc. and wonder; when the heck is it going to get easier?! Meh, I'm also trying to diet and juggle my life, which is wonderful but stressful. I keep telling myself that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and things WILL get better if I just keep on plugging along. I hate the idea that I'll probablly enjoy my 40's more than my 20's (which I'm enjoying regardless!) but understand that my hard work now will pay off later! My new favorite quote is: Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use. ♥
- Earl Nightingale
I'm trying so hard to do just that,I wish you the best of luck, you CAN do it! DO not lose faith in yourself or your abilities. Congrats on your weight loss so far! You go girl!!

I know how you feel. I'm in my first year or law school and while it isn't as bad as the first semester, it is still rough. There's just so much to do! I also stress over this nonsense because apparently a large portion of people gain weight through out the process. I'm determined to not be one of those. I have see people (one classmate) gain around 20 lbs since the beginning of school. I think it likely comes down to deciding that health is highly important and making exercise/cooking a priority.

i think the fine chicks here have given you some phenomenal advice, but here's the thing. weigh gain is a normal part of collage ( sorry im in canada, if i refer to university, it's the same thing). but when i was in university- my favourite was to sit down, buckle down with a solid latte, and about 3 people's worth of chinese food. (mmm chicken balls). but regardless, it is well known that stress leads to food- in a sense that when you are exhausted, hungover, stressed out etc, your body's natural reaction is to crave CARBS. so you carb load, and since you are fairly sendentary from studying, you gain.

but look at it this way, you are clearly a smart, educated and organized individual. do you live on campus? do you have a meal plan? if so- my trick was one portion of something "protein based" and a very large salad - ex, light breakfast (eggs and toast?) 1 "free" meal, and one lean protein/salad loaded meal, this was how i lost my first 60 lbs, in university, while doing 1 pilates class a week.

alternatively, if you cook for yourself, you are clearly excellent at prioritizing and task management and time blocking. you can either follow the same "formula" to at the very least maintain- but portion control, or you can "time block". 1 hour a week for grocery shopping. 2-3 hours a week to cook/portion out foods.

i just graduated in november, and i am now what you may consider a "young professional". i still do this every single week. i grocery shop, and on sunday nights fill my fridge with tupperware containers of food for the week.

you can do it!