The same challenge exists for all sorts of people Tiffy. Whether they are students or not, when life gets busy and stress levels climb, consistent training and good nutrition seem to fall by the wayside for a lot of folks. The irony is that it’s during those periods in our lives that we can benefit most from regular strenuous exercise and proper feeding to help us manage the stress, and stay alert, productive and healthy.
No one is immune to this either. Even among those of us who work in the fitness industry, it takes dedication and hard work to stay on track when things get hectic. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I’ve seen it happen over the years. It may seem strange that it should be a problem for trainers, who spend the majority of their time at a fitness facility working with clients on their nutrition and exercise programs; but the first thing that usually suffers when a new trainer begins to get busy, is their own training and diet. It can be very challenging to find the time and motivation to prepare your food and train consistently when you arrive at the gym at 5:00 or 6:00am each day, and sometimes don’t finish with your last client until 8:00 or 9:00pm. A lot of trainers also find that the last thing they want to do after working at a gym all day long is venture out on the floor to do their own training. In any event, my point is that everyone has to work at staying on track during busy times.
Good nutrition is something you really do just have to commit to doing, no matter what; and although it sounds almost too simple, one of the best answers I’ve ever found is to simply not allow yourself to walk out of a store with food you don’t want to be eating in the first place. It all starts there; if you don’t have crap in your cupboards in the first place, then you can’t eat it. If you can manage that, and compliment it by setting a strict limit on how often you allow yourself to eat food you haven’t prepared for yourself; then you will find it a lot easier to stick to your plan.
You should also make sure you plan specific times every week to shop for groceries so you will have the food you need on hand; and prepare as much of your food as possible in advance and package it up. That way it’s there and all you have to do is grab it on your way out the door each day. If you have the right food with you at the start of the day, you are far more likely to stay on track, and will not have an excuse for eating out.
Making sure you are training consistently and hard is also one the best ways to support your efforts at good nutrition. If you are not eating well, it will definitely begin to show in your training before long. If you can make the connection in your mind between your nutrition and how effectively you are able to train, and then begin to eat with productive workouts in mind, you have another good motivator to keep you in line.
As for making sure you get to the gym, the single best strategy I have ever found is the very one you have already thought of; to get yourself a committed training partner. You are far less likely to blow off a scheduled session if you know there is going to be someone waiting for you at the gym.
A training partner can also help with your nutrition as well. If you make yourself accountable to your partner, and make a habit of discussing what you ate between workouts, you are more likely to stay on track; if for no other reason than to avoid having to confess to someone else that you failed to stick to your plan.
I hope this helps.