SparkPoints: (135)
Fitness Minutes: (119)
Posts: 5
11/17/12 12:32 A

Personally, stress is the worst because it affects every aspect of my life....starting with my body. When I'm stressed out I sometimes don't even realize it and before I know it ive skipped workouts and have made far too many trips to the vending machine in one night. Staying on top of everything is so hard and dealing with the pressure of wanting to do well and holding myself to a high standard. I also compare myself to just about everyone which doesn't help...ever!!

Posts: 4
7/9/12 4:29 P

Healthy food is getting to be really expensive. I think that is one of the hardest things. If I want to work out I make time no matter what but I can't make money appear if I don't have it.

current weight: 139.5

190 170.25 150.5 130.75

111

SparkPoints: (1,808)
Fitness Minutes: (1,222)
Posts: 15
7/4/12 8:59 P

Definitely motivation. After a long day of work/school the last thing I want to do is pay attention to what I'm eating/exercising. I want relaxing time. My friends tell me that once I find a routine I like though motivation comes easily. Fingers Crossed!

SparkPoints: (1,593)
Fitness Minutes: (893)
Posts: 54
7/3/12 1:22 A

Seeing other people eat food I want

SparkPoints: (1,852)
Fitness Minutes: (961)
Posts: 42
6/27/12 2:13 P

this sounds weird but the hardest thing for me is to get over the guilt of not studying/doing homework while i excersize. Two minutes into my Jillian Micheals DVD i get flooded with thoughts of "i should be studying for *this class*" or "I have a project due at the end of the week for *this class*:" i just cant get over the guilt!

Posts: 900
6/26/12 9:06 P

Food. I don't get much choice in food. I have to make the healthiest choices with what my dad brings home from the grocery store. Until I have my own place I have very little say in groceries that are bought. Then there's always issue of dinning hall food--I'll be going away for college in the fall and it'll be the second time I've had a meal plan. I gained over 20lbs my freshman year in university.

Posts: 3
6/22/12 11:10 P

The hardest thing for me is (pardon the cliche) finding time. I'm a genetics student who just finished his freshman year, and I found that I was really lacking on free time to do other things like going to the gym or to the trails for a run.

Posts: 47
6/21/12 12:37 P

The hardest thing for me is to staying motivated and consistent with exercising everyday. I have a lot of time to exercise, but I just find excuses not to exercise.

Posts: 200
6/20/12 10:08 P

The hardest thing for me is definitely time. I have specifically planned when my classes, extracurriculars, studying, and work times are, that I am almost always too tired to do a workout. Now that the summer is here, I made a bold decision... I dropped all of my summer lecture classes and enrolled in a Fitness 400 walking/jogging class. There's no better way to be accountable as a student being fit than to force it into a grade. I'm not doing any lecture classes, so I no longer have the excuse that I study too much. Once fall semester starts, I should be in my regular routine.

SparkPoints: (8,648)
Fitness Minutes: (6,270)
Posts: 21
6/19/12 6:34 A

Making sense of tracking my calories is really hard for me because sometimes I will get up at 7AM and the next day at 1PM. If I still eat the same amount of calories, something's not right. Right?

Posts: 900
10/1/11 11:55 P

Finding time to exercise. I'm a history major, so there's A LOT of reading and I'm not the fastest reader out there, especially when it gets to boring stuff I don't care about. That consumes a lot of my time. I've ended up running at night, and squeezing in simple exercises at home in between classes. Not ideal, but I have early morning classes and have no time to shower in between running and class when its a 20 minute commute.

Posts: 133
8/22/11 7:05 P

Drinking is the hardest thing for me! How do you know that a friend is going to ask you out for drinks on a certain day...it's so hard to plan for! I just love microbrews...I love going to places with huge beer lists and trying tasty, local beers, but who KNOWS how many calories are in a Three Floyds Gumballhead?

It's also hard for me not to snack at night. When I get home from work, I just want to sit down at my computer, do some homework, and eat some pretzels. Breaking that habit I think is going to be impossible, so I've been planning for it. And it's hard to keep fresh produce in my refrigerator because it spoils before I get a chance to eat it.

current weight: 137.8

145 138.75 132.5 126.25

120

Posts: 46
8/22/11 12:56 A

I feel like there are 2 hardest things for me. At school I have an easy time settling into routines, but it's the money and food prep factor that kills me. It's like I'm stuck in a dilemma of buying everything in bulk and then sending time separating the food into 100 calorie snack packs, or pay extra to have it already done. And when I'm making my 100 calorie snack packs or on Sunday's when I'm making most of my weeks dinners I'm always like, "I should be studying right now!". I guess it's overwhelming trying to juggle it all because you should be taking the time to make yourself healthy, but at the same time, if you don't make the grade you can be in a pretty bad spot. And then at home on breaks and stuff, my routines get totally thrown to pieces and it's frustrating to try and keep up good habits when nutrition isn't taken into care with each meal.

Posts: 33
8/21/11 11:48 A

the hardest thing for me was knowing what could have been. i was at miami university my freshman year and transferred to osu and am still there. miami really only had the traditional dining hall option, eat til you can't thing. that where i gained all my weight. at osu, there are a TON of grab and go options and i only went to the traditional dining hall once the entire year. I still gained some weight but not nearly as much as at miami. i am so much happier at osu, and if i had started there first and not done all the "buffet styles" i would be in a different place right now. so that's what's hardest for me.

Posts: 18
8/16/11 12:12 P

Honestly, the hardest thing for me right now is not eating a lot, constantly tracking my calories, constantly working out and not being lazy. Like right now, I honestly don't feel like working out, but I have to remember to not go off of my feelings but to go off of my logic to push me to workout. It really isn't easy, especially since I am really jealous of a lot of people I know who have lost the weight. There are days where I am pumped and ready to workout and then there are days that I am lazy and won't do it. If I could just find the motivation and stick with this then maybe I could lose the weight as well.

Posts: 14
7/4/11 9:48 P

To say that trying not to eat desert after every dinner is THE hardest thing would be a lie. I don't know if I have only one hard thing because it all feels like a battle to me. I also am currently struggling with finding out how to push myself. I have been going to the gym for so long that it's easy for me to get into a pattern of get on the elliptical, go slow/fast/slow/fast, stretch, maybe some weights and done. I do try out workout classes and LOVE them, however, I find myself not really sticking with them. I would like to start writing down ... everything. My diet, workouts, and thoughts for the day. I know that I can do that here but I want something that I can carry around. The only problem is this would take up a huge chunk of time that I don't always have.

I am starting over again, after a few months away from sparkpeople, and I hope this time I can develop a system that works for me.

SparkPoints: (1,842)
Fitness Minutes: (794)
Posts: 21
7/4/11 6:46 P

Mine is definitely snacking while studying and also after I spent hours of doing homework and reading and studying I really just want to space out on the couch and not do anything that involves my brain for the rest of the day!

Posts: 358
6/29/11 6:58 A

stop eating in the evening.. I always get my apetite at like 8 in the evening and I could eat everything at that time.. and of course snacking during studying.. :)

SparkPoints: (1,688)
Fitness Minutes: (105)
Posts: 56
6/29/11 2:11 A

yeah early morning workouts really is the only way to get it done lol

SparkPoints: (1,408)
Fitness Minutes: (0)
Posts: 613
6/29/11 12:49 A

Finding the time to work out and not stress eat. I can always follow my healthy lifestyle perfectly when I am not taking classes but other than that no way. I am struggling and hard. I found that most of the people on this team was right. Get the work out done early in the morning before you do anything else.

SparkPoints: (70,815)
Fitness Minutes: (30,690)
Posts: 5,035
6/28/11 10:06 A

Lack of motivation to exercise...after sitting in class the last thing I want to do is work out.

current weight: 110.0

160 147.5 135 122.5

110

SparkPoints: (1,688)
Fitness Minutes: (105)
Posts: 56
6/26/11 4:49 P

My biggest struggle is trying to fit diet and exercise into my schedule. It's not that I have no time (though I do have very little) but more that the time I have is at weird times of day. I go straight from class to work and dont have a chance to eat dinner till 10pm which i know is an awful thing to do

Posts: 400
6/24/11 4:55 A

Avoiding snacking whilst studying and letting exams stress me out until I binge UGH. Getting better though woohoo!

Posts: 13,636
6/21/11 2:25 P

time and focus. I need to assess the time I'll have next semester and see how reasonable I can be with myself (and my classwork) while juggling work. Thankfully one of my part-time jobs will give me lots of exercise, so I can at least get in a little each week (too wired to go home so I do restoration work on the battleship that day and wear myself out--hee hee)

Focus is the other--i often get so absorbed in doing this one thing that I push everything else aside, including exercise. I need to get back in the habit of doing at least a little each time, and then having 30 minutes a day regardless (not nearly enough, but a good start and far better than nothing for me).

current weight: 205.6

207 187.75 168.5 149.25

130

SparkPoints: (934)
Fitness Minutes: (630)
Posts: 26
6/21/11 7:58 A

The time and money thing is a major issue, especially since healthy food can be the most expensive. But I have always had trouble with the stress side of it. For instance during finals this past semester I was trying to study for tests and projects, plan my wedding which was the same week, and at the same time my parents were separating.

Sometimes the stress just gets to be too much and I don't care anything about myself, much less what I eat!

SparkPoints: (441)
Fitness Minutes: (432)
Posts: 11
6/19/11 7:10 P

I find it hard to make good food choices. I have the horrible habit of not eating all day, due to classes and homework, then ordering something greasy and gross to eat at 11 at night. Ugh. I also struggle with portions, and often will have triple servings of things when I eat in the dining hall. Knowing what foods to eat in the dining hall is hard too.

SparkPoints: (4,637)
Fitness Minutes: (5,844)
Posts: 35
6/18/11 12:09 P

I tend to have a lot of project work to do as well as other things so it can be hard to decide when to exercise. Sometimes I just have no energy but that's quite rare to be honest.

current weight: 370.0

385 376.75 368.5 360.25

352

SparkPoints: (929)
Fitness Minutes: (50)
Posts: 33
6/17/11 12:47 A

I find that when I am in school my homework seems to consume my sparetime time b/c I also work as an RN. Therefore, I become very inactive, because when I have a bit of time for myself I just want to do something mindless and that doesn't include exericise. I am typically a very active person but when I am in school, I spend most of my time on my gluteals doing reseach and writing. I am off for the summer and am trying to become more active and loving it. My intention is to get myself in a pattern so that when I return to school in the fall,. I will be motivated to contine some sort of workout schedule and make this a priority. I do not want to ever go back to being inactive again. I just feel like a blob when I am not active. '

Posts: 5
6/16/11 3:55 P

Definitely time and also the temptation to almost eat anything. School is a major priority and we seem to place ourselves last.

Posts: 239
6/16/11 11:05 A

What do you find is the hardest thing about being a student and trying to lose weight/develop a healthier lifestyle?

Mine is a lack of time and money.