My Dieting Tips for Busy Days

Halloween has come and gone, and that means the busiest time of the year (especially for us students) is upon us.

This is the time of year where all of our end of the semester final projects and papers start to receive our attention. With a little over a month of school left, these become priorities to take care of before our super busy week of finals. Now, most of us don’t buckle down over thanksgiving break to do schoolwork because we are busy traveling and seeing family…so it tends to cut into the free time (haha…right) that we generally have during the school week.

For me, an overload of papers/projects/exams = less time to work out. It is a tradeoff I hate. But what this means is that the way that I am eating becomes so much more important.

In a few days I have to go and get surgery on my middle ear. After the procedure I am not allowed to do any vigorous workout/heavy lifting for two weeks (I can’t even blow my nose…). When those two weeks are up the final two weeks of school are upon me and that means I will be wayyyy too busy to pick up with a steady exercise routine.

If you did the math, this means I will be relatively inactive for AN ENTIRE MONTH. The thought of it makes me cringe. But with my simple diet rules I follow, I should be fine. Here’s what I do:

When selecting food to eat I look at five main nutrition facts (I love nutrition facts!). If the food is low in fat, sodium and sugar (which generally means low calorie too) and high in protein and fiber, I am sold. As long as I don’t over eat from stress or boredom, I am sure I won’t gain any pesky weight.

Here are my favorite things to eat:

For Fiber: Raisin bran, oatmeal, whole wheat bread of pasta, beans, corn…ok any veggie I suppose

For Protein: Boiled skinless chicken, egg whites, fat free cottage cheese!!, protein shakes (love them), fish, yogurt, milk

Other: apples, bananas, no alcohol and A LOT OF WATER!

Unfortunately I can’t live without coffee.

PS- Does anyone know of an effective workout that isn’t considered vigorous and won’t affect the pressure in your ears?

Cheers!
Margot