Hello!
As all nursing students know, we spend way too many hours sitting in chairs or lying in bed with a textbook glued to our faces. The long hours of studying or our full clinical schedule can make it difficult to eat healthy and stay active. I have succumb to late-night chocolate temptation many times throughout my four years of college, but have vowed to make a life change for the better.
Being "fit" and "toned" was not something that I always aspired to be - I was very comfortable eating an entire can of Pringles in one sitting and remaining on the couch an entire day watching TV. This habit lasted me well through my teenage years, and into my freshman and sophomore year of college. Now, I was never "fat" by the classic label. I stand at 5'4'' with a fluctuating weight that sits between 120 - 125 on normal occasions. I have always fit in size small t-shirts and was content with having an average sized booty.
However, my second semester of Junior year, all of my nursing friends convinced me to go to the local gym. This gym is a very large facility that my University gives free memberships to during their course of being a student. I have never seized this great opportunity to utilize a free gym membership (that normally runs $500/year), and figured if everyone else was doing it, why not try.
Now, my journey started very, very slowly. Although I was "thin" by context, I certainly was not strong. My muscle mass was probably the equivalent to a bowl of jello, and my attempts at the different weight machines was literally comical (My best friend made no qualms about chuckling). Starting off with the bare minimum of 10 pounds on each weight machine and going for a solid five minutes on the elliptical seemed like a very impressive feat for Couch Potato Michelle.
Throughout the next year of my fitness journey I began to fall in love. I went up in weights on all of the machines gradually, worked myself up in time on the elliptical, and dedicated set times to go to the gym each weekday. I have been known to be that crazy girl who wakes up at 4:30 am to be at the gym when it opens, before attending my 8am class.
Although now I am far from looking like a body builder, I am able to feel a difference in my body. My legs are toned and if I flex really, really, really hard I can see definition in my arms. I feel more energy throughout the day and my moods improved from all of the endorphin's released at such an early hour. I could not imagine going back to my completely sedentary lifestyle and am grateful for having been introduced to a new lifestyle of fitness.
Diet is something that continues to be a challenge - as well all love chocolate cake more than we love salad. However, I keep my eating habits within moderation and view going to the gym as burning off those calories of that hotdog and fries I ate the night before while cramming for a quiz. Maybe one day I'll dive deep into the world of clean eating and a completely organic kitchen, but for now, I'm content with my moderately healthy food choices.
I know that getting fit during nursing school can seem like a very large challenge - it's just another thing to add to your agenda. I mean, who want's to go to the gym after having an eight hour clinical day?
My suggestion to those who want to start their fitness journey (from an amateur) is to start small and keep at it. The only way I got to the "level" I am today is through not giving up. I could have easily never walked into that gym again after struggling to lift 10 pounds on an arm machine. But, here I am having worked my way up to lifting 50 pounds with different specific muscle groups being targeted. It can be done and it can be done with a full schedule.
If you want it bad enough, you'll be willing to put in the work for it. Heck, that's what you've been telling yourself all throughout your own nursing school journey, hasn't it?
But, if all else fails, you can always lift your text books and use them as weights. Everyone knows their heavy enough.
Have a lovely day!
- Michelle
#BSNbabe
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