Is my "college" diet affecting my concentrating?
 

Hi all,

Recently I've been trying to get into better shape. I've been tracking how much I eat at www.fitday.com. I have knoticed I generally take in around 1300-1700 calories a day. The site, because of my lifestyle, says I burn anywhere from 3000 to 4000 calories a day.

I'm in school and I'm sure I'd eat more if it wasn't such a hassel to prepare food because the only place I can do so is in a kitchen 3 floors down. I basically eat chicken/turkey sandwhiches (with cheese, chips and water) and lots of fruits (apples, bannanas, etc.). Even though I eat little, I'm only hungry when I miss a meal. Rarely in between. What I'm trying to say, I don't feel like I'm starving myself, but the numbers seem fairly drastic to me.

This semester, I've had the hardest time concentrating on anything for more than a few minutes. Could my diet be causing this?

If so, do ya'll have any recomendations on how to improve my diet in my current situtions?

Thanks for ya'lls help.

~evident

Are you losing 3 to 4 lbs a week?

Not really. I have lost about 20lbs since january though.

Could be. You may not be drinking enough water either. There's a few things you may want to look into.

-Eating some carbs before class (I have a bowl of oatmeal, a banana or some wheat bread before I head out to class)

-Gallon of water a day. The next time you finish a gallon of milk, wash out the carton and keep it. Every morning fill it up and try to drink it all before you go to bed. You have to piss a lot, but if you've ever seen the benefits of water, well, you'll piss your pants.

-Exercise. Cardio in the morning right when you wake up, empty stomach. It'll kick your ass until you adjust, but you'll be running full throttle all day long.

-Good nights sleep. Easier said than done right? Wrong. Most people have no idea how drastically exercise and proper diet affect your sleeping habits.

-I find that singing to myself on the way to class puts me in a wonderful mood. I smile at more people, talk with more people and as a result more people smile and talk to me.

-Mental strength! It's all mental right? I read a book recently that was about picking up women admittedly, but the underlying thesis was self betterment. He talked about the voice in your head. What do you say to yourself in your mind? You can't do something? For most people that's the way they think. But thinking positively can help with not only school work, but with everything you ever do. It works too, he has you write down the negative things you think about yourself and replace them with positive things you can say instead. Just something to consider.

Actually I drink tons of water (I'm from Phoenix, so I have since I was real young). Normally I chug down 3/4 - 1 gallon a day. And yes, I pee more often than my 90 yr. old greatgrandfather ;)

I've been running right at 3 miles every other night (sometimes every nightdepending on how I feel). So you're saying I should move that to the morning?

I used to have a problem being able to concentrate but it was mostly cause by fatigue. I don't think it was a symptom of it own. What helped though was taking a suppliment with iron in it. You could just simply take a daily multivitamin and see if it helps at all. Since you don't eat a lot of vegetables or red meats there could be a few vitamins you might be missing. Such as Iron which you find more prevalent in dark green vegetables and red meats. Turkey has some iron but the amount is much less than red meats.

You could possibly seek out a nutritionist at the medical clinic who could advise you better. The college might have someone available who is qualified in that capacity. Check it out.

THat's a good idea. I'm gonna check on that.

Try Dual Tabs from Twinlabs.... morning and night. They are timee-release and have more than just vitamins. Next, think about yoga. It helps you focus and relax through meditation. Actually, yoga was developed to help people condition to handle long hours of meditation. You have to train your mind like your body. And finally....eat!! And eat right, which means balance, grasshopper.

You are miscalculating your calorie intake/outgo. Either that, or you are a huge amount of losing muscle mass, so much that you should be noticing it and/or unable to walk. ;)

3500 calories = 1 lb of fat.

Yeah, I thought that was a bit off, but it's what the website said.

But come to think of it, isn't the "average" person supposed to burn around 2000-2500 calories a day? I run an average of 15 miles a week, and lift weights nearly every day.... so... 3500 could be close.

I guess I'm somehow off more on my intake.