Wow alliteration.

Anyway - I lost 15 lbs over the summer, with a bit of exercise but mostly being careful about what I eat and how much of it. A combo of calorie counting, intuitive eating, and whole foods.

Since school started last month, nothing has changed. I take measurements, weigh-in a few times a week, and keep an eye on how my clothes fit. I haven't been noticing changes anywhere. I'm playing squash and doing a pilates class once a week, and will be starting a weekly run with some teammates in preparation for the spring field hockey season.

My eating schedule has been really thrown and my days are often long. I haven't been able to find the energy to be on top of my game and prepare for packing two meals to take with me. I have to carry these meals around with me and don't have a fridge or anything.

Has anyone else had this happen? Have you beat it? Any tips?

Of course!! I totally feel you =/ The lack of sleep and excess of coffee are not conducive towards weight loss lol. I hate it! Not to mention stress. I'm just trying to relax, drinking chocolate milk instead of coffee, and granola bars/salad/soup for lunch. I'm also studying engineering, so I'm stressed like crazy.

I have no tips lol. None that rly work for me anyway. I usually lose weight during breaks :/ sometimes weekends (I stay over my boyfriends house). I find I would suggest trying different solutions to see what works for you... I wish it was as easy as saying "stop working so hard" but ya :/ on the flip side, keeping busy may distract you from food..? Idk

Oy. I'm completely the opposite of you. I managed to gain (eek!) weight over the summer, despite going strong and losing for months while in grad school, working, tutoring, and working on my research. I don't do well without a strict schedule and with too much free time. I'm actually really glad to be back in a routine. I haven't weighed myself yet, but I know I've lost weight since classes started a few weeks ago! Anyway, I feel you on the effort it takes to plan/prepare/take meals with you. There are days that I'm gone from 7 AM to 10 PM, so I have to take all of my meals/snacks for the entire day with me. It's a pain, but once you figure out a system, it's not so bad!

That said, as far as tips go, I'll generally make several things on Sunday that I can easily take for lunch through the week (soups, chicken/tuna salad, http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/snac...hick-peas.html). I don't have access to a fridge (carry a lunch box with ice packs), but I do have access to a microwave, so that helps. If you don't though, I'm sure you can find some things that don't need heating.

Just a few of my favorite snack/lunch ideas:
-whole wheat pita w/tuna or chicken salad (I make mine with Greek yogurt instead of mayo)
-natural PB and banana on whole wheat bread
-hummus with veggies
-Greek yogurt with natural PB (I swear this tastes like peanut butter cheesecake!)
-string cheese
-raw nuts

All of these are pretty easy to prepare the night before and grab and go in the AM (if I wait until the morning to pack my lunch, it never happens!). A lot of times I buy an already cooked rotisserie chicken, remove all of the skin and such, and use that through the week on top of salads, etc. I know there are nights when I get home and the last thing I want to do is pack my food, but I make myself take 15 minutes and get it done. I'm sure once you can find a handful of easy things to take, it won't feel like such an effort! Good luck!

This is so me. I have to carry my lunches with me too and I have no where to store them. And yes, my weight-loss has definitely slowed since I've started school. My days are very long too.

Hey sophie!

Mine has slowed a little bit, but it's because I've changed my eating habits.. I stopped being so picky about exactly measuring everything out and became more about the "1 cup-ish/a bite of this doesn't count" tracking. I've been working out really consistently, though, which I'm proud of.. I found it works best for me to physically schedule exercise into my day, and cutting down on Facebook/3FC (sorry!) to accommodate it with such a busy school schedule.

Maybe you could try eating more little snacks rather than meals when you're on campus? The having-to-carry-it-around thing is inconvenient, but it would be easier to snack on something little between classes, I think, rather than come up with complete meals/time to eat it. I usually take an hour or so after I go grocery shopping to clean produce/chop things to make them ready-to-go for a rushed morning, I've found that really helps.

But this week I've been really strict with tracking everything I'm eating, and I was down to 201 this morning! I'm so close to onderland, ahhh!

Same here! It's mostly lack of activity except for my gym visits. I've also slacked a bit on eating, but I really don't go above 1300 cals a day max, which is frustrating : \

I'm also really not doing so well. I don't eat bad food, I just drink to much coffee with milk and alcohol... Welcome parties, student parties, french parties, english parties..?! Every thing is an excuse to just drink a lot here.. I also don't work out regularly because I'm here for a week now and I need to get into the system and pay the semester fee and I'll have gym for free later. I hope it's not to far.. But I'm active and I walk around the city all the time..I usually eat just in the afternoon (accidental IF) but I eat like pasta with veggies or something like that. Something fresh that gets cooked quickly.. Also Greek salads are good but its getting cold and I like the feeling of warm food in my belly while it's freezing outside
I don't know. Tomorrow I need to just step on the scale, see how much water weight I got from all the drinking and just suck it up and know that in a month and a half I have a super important black-tie event for my mother and I need to look my best in a super cute dress! It's better to just face the truth than ''hope'' for a miracle alcohol diet weight loss thing to happen. I think I can -from experience- say that it does not work if you drink and eat /not even a healthy diet. So maybe if I stop eating all together? ;D ;D I kid, I kid..
I know drinking is bad but it helps with meeting new people if you are very shy, like me. I don't know.. Student life I guess

I'm not doing so hot either. For me, weight loss seems to be 80% exercise, 20% diet, and I've just been so BUSY and TIRED since school started that I haven't put forth the effort into exercise like I should be. Morning comes awful early when you're up until 5am studying.

I've been pretty good about getting myself down to the gym for that daily half-hour, but it's been difficult lately (midterms.) I also lose weight slower at college because I eat for fullness and I don't have as much time for exercise. However, I try to eat for fullness with good stuff. I have a fridge with yogurt, almond butter, veggies, etc. But it's getting harder.

I currently have about ten greasy pork dumplings in there too. I paid for them, so I'm going to eat them, but in moderation. Two or three per meal, with veggies and whatnot. Hopefully ease the damage.

*Edit: About ten minutes after writing this post, I gave the dumplings to my dorm neighbor. Victory for forum motivation.

I also find cardio workouts pretty dull, so those thirty minutes are unmitigated boredom and muscular stress until weight-training comes about. Weight-training is just a relief compared to doing the same action over and over again for twenty minutes.

I am still struggling with diet and portion control, but that can be really hard when you want to feel full through class. I eat full meals during lunch so that I can get through those four or five hours of classes before dinner. I'm still learning, so hopefully.

But, as for coffee, I heard that the caffeine helps with weight loss to a minimal degree. As long as you don't overindulge, and you avoid sugar and high-fat milk, I don't see a huge problem. Personally, my main dilemma with coffee is the weird coffee high I get about twenty minutes afterwards. If I start feeling spontaneously at peace, I immediately know the source. :P

This is soo true! Being a members of societies and 'having' to socialise is an absolute nightmare for dieting. I try and stick to the vodka diet coke but even then the kcals add up. I gained soo much weight last year from drinking lager. Work loads adding up doesn't help either!

I've tried to keep working though these first few weeks by going to the gym as much as possible, eating things like hummus and veggies for a quick snack and drinking lots of tea (no sugar, low fat soya milk!). I have to admit though, I haven't been too strict on the dieting and when all the partying calms down a bit I'll get back on it. I still want to enjoy these first few weeks xx

I was just thinking about a post like this when I read yours. I am a grad student in PhD program and between taking classes, reading, writing, and working I feel like I have no time. I still make time to go to the gym, even if it means reading articles on the bike for an hour and then doing a quick few sets of muscles and stretching, but I try to stay active everyday. The food is hard, and sometimes I end up cooking a healthy soup that will last a week and I carry a thermos of soup along with some nuts or fruit or other healthy snack and just eat the same thing all week.

But another question for everyone, does the stress from school affect you more than the time crunch? Do you feel overwhelmed and turn to bad habits? How does stress make you act?

I was thinking this the other day. since the semester started I am soooo busy all the time and when I want to go to the gym I get redirected to homework or work stuff.
i HAVE to come up with a system ASAP!

I think the stress definitely affects me more than not having time. I do tend to get more snacky when I'm stressing out about something. However, I have been trying to keep my mind in a calmed state instead of stressed. It helps me manage my workload and I seem to put out more quality work. I just have to pump myself up by telling myself that I'm smart and that the work is easy, etc. It seems to work.

Nope, haven't stalled. I've joined a school athletic team=)

Let my slow response be a testament to how busy school is. I'm sure you are all in the same boat... for me, the workload is non-stop from now til the end of November.

Thank you everyone for the great snack advice/fitness tips/I'm-in-the-same-boat support. I miss 3FC! I think the overall takeaway message is be prepared and don't forget about all the good habits we've been making when school gets in the way.

I think my life in general is pretty disorganized at present... I'm not on top of my readings and I've been missing classes I shouldn't be. I've always been a pretty good student, but I'm feeling burnt out this year. Gotta just buckle down and get to work. Hopefully eating better will give me the energy I need to get through these last few months until graduation

This might sound really silly, but I also am anxious about going on 3FC at school. I love the forum, but I'd be embarrassed if someone read the forum name over my shoulder. It really helped me this summer to have a place to ask questions and read others' experiences, so I need to make more of an effort to check-in here and not let my goal get forgotten.