First of all this is probably a huge debbie downer post, but I am just feeling in the dumps lately.  I still workout hard, trying to hit personal PR's and such. However, my body still seems to be adjusting to my new work schedule and its been almost three months.  I work 12:30-9p.m. at a hospital.  I have to leave my house at 11:30a.m. and dont get back till after 10p.m. most nights, also occasional on call weekends.  I am not always guaranteed a lunch and thats another problem. Before this job I was so strict with hitting my macros, now I am just trying to eat what I can, when I can, but all within decent nutrition sources. 

 

I feel I am being way too hard on myself which can be a gift to keep me going like I have been for years, however I am not comfortable on how I look and worry too much about what others may think. My poor girlfriend has to hear me continously bash myself and be so hard on myself.  THe main things are my quads/hams/calves and stomach.  I kill my legs yet genetics seem to beat me. I have a 4 pack, but the lower abs just wont come through and always feeling bloated even when waking up.

 

How can I get on the right page with my diet since IM not alway guaranteed a break most days at work?  I wake up at 7a.m. as it is and feel i have to try and cram food down my throat in 4 hours, by the time I get home its after 10p.m. and i go straight to bed.  Whats best for legs? High volume? Should I be concerned about how much weight im pushing?  I laid off the squats due to tenderness and pain in the knees. (My knees down pass my toes, and ive had a few peeps look at my form, seems great). I have resorted to leg press, bulgarian split squats, lunges, and dead lifts for alternatives.

 

I am just so motivated in the gym, but my life outside the gym and making things difficult.  Sorry this post is all over the place, Im typing a mile a minute lol. Thanks guys.

Kevin,

Sorry to hear about all your issues. A crazy job can definitely make it harder to reach your goals.

 

As far as eating at work, I'd try to pack a lot of snacks that you can eat quickly or keep in your pocket just in case you don't get to have a lunch. I'd also make sure I had a really good lunch just in case you got your lunch. Are your meals a home a bit more regular and planned out?

 

As far as the legs go, I'd make sure your knees are feeling good good before you do anything else. What kind of pain are you experiencing? Have you ever hurt your knees before?

 

Haley

I can understand the frustration with that schedule ...finding a balance for relationship, work, gym, prep, and more isn't easy. I did find that to help me with meals and snacks (especially on crazy days where I have almost no prep time) if I keep already made shakes and protein bars on hand, I am typically ok. You can keep them in your pocket or locker. Take it easy on the legs and focus on recovery.

Agree with the advice you've gotten to this point. I've kicked my own tail more than once on my journey and I'm way harder on me than I probably should be. So I'm going to try to take what I tell you to my own heart as well.

 

Be patient with yourself. As long as you are making progress you are a success story. If you try to force the issue, you risk injuring yourself and slowing your progress.

 

The people here are good for advice, information and motivation. Use them.

 

Take care.

Kevin, It is OK to feel overwhelmed sometimes with life's commitments. The key is not to focus too much on the challenges but rather on how to adapt to the job and schedule you have. It is also important to set realistic goals. You are not training for the Mr Olympia contest or to be on the cover of Men's Fitness. Many of those people have reached that status thru the use of drugs and Photoshop. It is OK to be hard on yourself to keep you motivated but if you are too hard it is counter-productive and you will never be able to enjoy the fruits of your hard work. You work in a hospital so see how disease can ravage the human body from poor nutrition. I am sure you see lots of people in much worse shape than you. Take pride in the fact that you are not one of these poor souls and contrary to what you might believe you more than likely look better than 90% of the people your age. John

@heyhay5212 Thanks for responding. I will try to aim for more snacks and such as you mention. My meals at home aren't quite on par yet. I struggle with eating my eggs in the morning, but try to consume no less than 3 eggs each morning. Hardest part is getting in a lot of calorie dense foods for breakfast.  My typical day seems to be craming in about two meals before work (one before gym, and one immediately after). Then I go to work and dont normall get a break so I get home and cram in more food before bed. I honestly haven't been tracking my calories the past few weeks because I know I am not getting enough to eat and have been trying to just focus on getting in what I can from healthy selections.

 

My knees were sore at one point so i laid off the squats for couple months and it got better. After three months of squatting it started to flare up again.  The pain I experience is more of a sharp pain in the patella surface and on top of the patella region. I have never had a sports injury or any trauma to my knees.

@jcgadfly  I guess in a way its a good thing to be hard on ourselves, but we need to know how to balance it out. That way we aren't wasting time focusing on the negative things, but rather on the positives and good health. Slow progress is probably the best way anyhow and more easier to monitor. I love this site and would never consider posting my personal issues anywhere else. Thanks man.

@jmboiardi  I can alway expect a nice post from you bro, I appreciate that. You are absolutely right. I am very overwhelmed and have been focusing way too much of my energy on the negatives, such as: not being happy with my size, legs, calves etc. Stress with work isn't healthy either. I need to get my balance in check and just take it day by day.  I definitely see so many things and sad moments in the hospital. Sometimes I tell myself "I can complain about my legs, but the guy today didn't ever have them" or many similar stories. Thanks for the uplifting words of wisdom.

Your knee pain sounds like patella femoral pain syndrome (PFPS). Foam rolling the quads, IT band, and hip flexors will help loosen up your legs and knees. The real root of the problem with PFPS is weak or inactive glutes. The quads are much stronger compared to the glutes so the quads are overloaded which puts extra stress on the patella when squatting, lunging, etc. Doing some gluteus maximis and gluteus medius strengthening will help as well. I hope that gives you a starting point with your knees.

Hey there. Don't let it wear you down too much.

Times change and there will be better times for you too !

 

For right now. A simple and good way is to prep easy and fast done stuff.
I like to precook rice, as it holds for long in the fridge or even freezer. And you can basically just take it with you, grab a can of tuna, grab a veggie. Doesn#t even need to be cut or cooked (just washed) and then eat that as quick pause meal (raw bellpeppers and such are doing a great job). Nutz are also good to get calories in and contain healthy fats (omega 3)

If you guys has a fridge in your rooms at the hospital, throw some stuff in there. Grab a few liters of milk and pack it there, get a bag of oats and keep them there or keep it in your car. Oats are easy to eat, even with water. And you can have those 2 things basically with you everywhere.

Eggs you don't need to eat scrambled. Cook them at the same time you prepare some rice and keep a whole pack of 25 eggs in your fridge. So that way in the morning you just need to grabb them along with your plastic bowl with rice, your veggie and can of thuna or whatever else you want / have for that day.

Make sure you always have some nuts (no premade salty / roasted mixes - really just plain nuts) with you and maybe also at least 1 piece of fruit. So you can utilize those as fast snacks whenever you have 5 minutes to grab in your bag and eat them.

If you don't get enough calories within the week still, with all these tips, you can also try to use the weekend as refill. But be careful what you eat on those days, so you don't shovel too much crap in just to make up for missing calories :)

Soup with rice, lentils, tons of veggies and meat in it is also great, it's easy as heck to cook, just throw it all in and heat it, and then you can store it and basically warm it up every day. And its a caloric bomb in a good way because it contains good carbs, lots veggies and protein.

 

Hope those some lifehacks help you too!

 

And don't let your head hang low.. tomorrow is always a new day =)

 

 

 

 

 

 

@heyhay5212. I do believe you are correct about some muscular imbalances. My glutes seem great since I did squat a lot.  Since my post I have laid off squats, and begun lunges, more deadlifts =), bulgarian split squats to still get some quads in, also have been doing light dumbbell front squats, but tons of full deads and straight deads.   I need to stretch more as being in a hurry we tend to forget that and its just as important too!

 

@crood thanks a ton for your response. I am really trying to hard boil eggs nice for a to go snack. I dont care for eggs as much, but i get them down.  I will have to look into the soup idea for sure.  Thank you so much!