Health in law school Forum

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Jameela

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Re: Health in law school

Post by Jameela » Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:24 am

i used to be the healthiest person on earth -- rarely ever caught a cold -- before law school. i think i may have gotten sick once in the few years i worked after college.

fall sem i had a two colds, one of which led to swine flu (low immunity), causing me to miss two week of school. i spent all day in bed, and had absolutely no appetite.

this semester...i don't want to discuss details but it's scarier than swine flu b/c i have symptoms but the doctors have not figured out what is wrong with me. fortunately, the symptoms do not require bedrest, at least not all day.

i eat super healthy (small meals, lots of greens, no soda, not too much red meat), don't drink any alcohol except red wine a once or twice a month, and used to be an avid runner before law school.

law school can be very detrimental to your health even if you think you're not that stressed. it kinda creeps up on you and takes your health away. your health is the most important thing you can keep in law school. without it, it will be very tough to do well.

0Ls, do everything you can to release your stress and especially if you are older (not going straight from college) don't think that you can still pull all nighters and be totally fine. take care of your body before you get here, and especially when you get here..

jxk

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Re: Health in law school

Post by jxk » Tue Mar 09, 2010 3:04 am

how ironic that i've stumbled onto this thread while i am sitting in bed, stuffy and congested, half-heartedly trying to outline my motion for summary judgment.

actually, my germy little sister got me sick over spring break so my current illness cannot be linked to the rigors of law school. i did notice some changes throughout first semester, however. i lost a bunch of weight (i don't know how much because i don't have a scale) because i don't have time to make or eat as much food as i usually would. i was still carrying some LSAT weight when i got to law school though so i'm pretty happy that it came off. my undereye circles definitely got worse due to lack of sleep. i totally bought eye cream over spring break to try and remedy this. i seem to have conditioned my body to function pretty well on 5-6 hours of sleep though. i try to get at least 5 hours of sleep a night.

i am proud to say that i made it through the first semester of 1L and half of the second semester without caffeine and without getting sick because of the stress of law school. as other people have said, it is SO important to eat right. this does not mean eating salads 24/7. i myself loathe salads. it just means no chips, candy or soda and eating whole foods (fresh vegetables, fruit, meat/fish and grains) that you cook yourself. obviously, i don't have time to cook during the week so what i usually do is cook a big batch of rice and some kind of meat and vegetable dish on sunday night that i can keep in the fridge and eat during the week until thursday/friday. over the weekend, i'll eat out with friends or cook something different. but then again, i love food and i love to cook so this doesn't seem like such a burden to me. if you really want to scare yourself into not eating random snacks and junk food, watch food, inc. or read one of michael pollan's books. you won't be able to bring yourself to eat 90% of what is in the middle of the supermarket again.

one thing i have been really bad about is going to the gym...i always rationalize that i'm losing so much weight that i don't need to go. however, next year, i'll be living in an apartment building with a gym right upstairs, so i really won't have an excuse then.

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superserial

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Re: Health in law school

Post by superserial » Tue Mar 09, 2010 5:31 am

amyLAchemist wrote: My biggest problem has been insomnia, probably resulting from a very messed up sleep pattern. It is kinda tricky to get all the work done and get my full 8 hours, so when I actually try to get my full 8 hours, I just cannot sleep. Icky.
+1 for insomnia (but -1... )

I literally forgot to eat today. I hope this trend continues.

but law school isn't bad most of the time.

ViIIager

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Re: Health in law school

Post by ViIIager » Tue Mar 09, 2010 11:36 am

Well, this thread certainly is a pleasure for a 0L who will be working full-time and going to LS part-time. :lol:

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A'nold

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Re: Health in law school

Post by A'nold » Tue Mar 09, 2010 11:59 am

ViIIager wrote:Well, this thread certainly is a pleasure for a 0L who will be working full-time and going to LS part-time. :lol:
And.......................your life is over as you know it. That is the worst possible scenario. Everyone that I have met that does this is the freaking walking living dead.

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Philaw

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Re: Health in law school

Post by Philaw » Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:21 pm

Wow, this really is interesting. Right now, I eat well and work out daily while maintaining 56 hours a week of work and a 20 credit hour schedule in undergrad, though I have gotten so used to the routine that this seems easy. I get up at 4:30 and work out, go to work at 6 in the morning, and keep an intermittent schedule of work/school until about 10 at night when it is time to do some more studying. After reading your posts, I am definately going to be more conscious of how I will approach health in law school with time management. Right now I'm 6'1 and about 230 with 9-ish % bodyfat, so we'll see what happens during 1L. I rarely get sick, which is why Jameela's post really hit home, as she seemed to be very active pre law school with little sickness like me, and she ended up with some apparently terrible results during 1L. Great post.

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Helmholtz

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Re: Health in law school

Post by Helmholtz » Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:27 pm

Philaw wrote:Wow, this really is interesting. Right now, I eat well and work out daily while maintaining 56 hours a week of work and a 20 credit hour schedule in undergrad, though I have gotten so used to the routine that this seems easy. I get up at 4:30 and work out, go to work at 6 in the morning, and keep an intermittent schedule of work/school until about 10 at night when it is time to do some more studying. After reading your posts, I am definately going to be more conscious of how I will approach health in law school with time management. Right now I'm 6'1 and about 230 with 9-ish % bodyfat, so we'll see what happens during 1L. I rarely get sick, which is why Jameela's post really hit home, as she seemed to be very active pre law school with little sickness like me, and she ended up with some apparently terrible results during 1L. Great post.
Damn, dude. A 30+ BMI with 9-ish BF% is pretty impressive.

LoriBelle

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Re: Health in law school

Post by LoriBelle » Tue Mar 09, 2010 1:29 pm

Protein is a must. I do not feel well when I'm not getting enough protein. You don't have to have a 4-course dinner every night to get protein, either. Hard boiled eggs for breakfast or some peanut butter (low-fat if necessary) or nuts for a snack are low-maintenance ways to get protein (and iron and zinc, I think). Also, there's really no excuse for not taking a multivitamin. It takes like 4 seconds a day.

I definitely fell off the wellness wagon in the first semester, however. I was prepared for the amount of work I would be doing, but I was not prepared for how exhausted I'd be when I got done. This exhaustion made cooking meals (and cleaning up after them) MUCH more difficult, and forget working out. As a result, I resorted to fast food and junk food way too often, and I gained 15-20 pounds in the first semester. I wish I had been one of the ones who lost.

This semester, I've done better. Our law school has changed locations, so I walk further to class. I also take walks with my husband a couple of times a week, and now that spring is here, I will be getting back into Ultimate Frisbee. I take a multivitamin almost every day, and I try to eat fruits and vegetables for a snack rather than chips or fast food. The challenge is keeping these items in the house, but I now have a system for making a grocery list that has made this much easier.

I have always had thick hair, and school has not thinned it. I have, however, begun to get a few gray hairs (six at last count). This is probably a normal result of the aging process, but I find the timing coincidental.

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mac.empress

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Re: Health in law school

Post by mac.empress » Tue Mar 09, 2010 10:59 pm

LoriBelle wrote:Protein is a must. I do not feel well when I'm not getting enough protein. You don't have to have a 4-course dinner every night to get protein, either. Hard boiled eggs for breakfast or some peanut butter (low-fat if necessary) or nuts for a snack are low-maintenance ways to get protein (and iron and zinc, I think). Also, there's really no excuse for not taking a multivitamin. It takes like 4 seconds a day.
That's me. Even to study I need meat or some other proteins source. And my multivitamins make school possible.
I definitely fell off the wellness wagon in the first semester, however. I was prepared for the amount of work I would be doing, but I was not prepared for how exhausted I'd be when I got done. This exhaustion made cooking meals (and cleaning up after them) MUCH more difficult,


+1. No one can explain to you how tired you will feel...

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