September Reflections

Noah Mallory – Setting up for September

Going into the month of September, I knew it was going to be a long semester. I was on the verge of beginning the medical school interview process and knew it was going to challenge me all along the way. My upperclassmen friends now in medical school informed me that waiting on interviews can be an anxious and emotionally exhausting process, meaning that forming good habits in the beginning would be critical for staying healthy. For me, this came in the form of physical wellness. I knew that my semester would start getting crazy soon so starting strong would be the key to consistency. My goal for the month of September was to lose 10 pounds and without compromising my muscle mass. The first step in this process was to design a nutrition plan that focused on my macros and changed on a sliding scale throughout my week. For example, I wanted to eat 1.5 grams of protein per pound of my body weight every day and then get the remain calories from carbs and fats. At the beginning of every week, 80% of those calories came from carbs and 20% would come from fat. But as the week progresses, these percentages would flip so that 80% of my calories would come from fat and 20% would come from carbs. The thought behind this process was to provide my body with plenty of quick burning energy initially and then transition into fat burn at the end of each week. By the end of the month, I had stuck to my diet and lost several pounds, but not the full 10 pounds. In the following months I will be focusing on my workout schedule.

Conner Vastola – September: The Beginning of Something Great

My focus during the month of September has been in physical wellness. To accurately keep track of such a subjective metric, I kept a comprehensive workout and dietary log as well as a journal describing how I felt before, during, and after physical activity or a healthy meal. This was fun for me because it required me to be hyper aware of what I was feeling at all times, something that I do not always do. What I found over the course of the month was that it was easy at first to make time for the gym and intentionally eating healthy. As a result, I felt wonderful. My body felt amazing, and as a result, I was more motivated and enjoyed most everything I did. As the semester progressed, it was more difficult to find time for physical activity, and during this period, I was made aware of just how important taking care of your body is. I chose not to go to the gym occasionally, and I felt more stressed because I had no release system. My nutrition lacked, and junk food left me feeling sluggish, with no energy. The motivation vanished and it was a grind to accomplish anything. After experiencing this, I dedicated at least 30 minutes a day to some form of physical activity. What I found is that even with this short time, I was able to release stress and stay motivated during my daily activities.

I experienced both the positive and negative sides of physical wellness this month, and it is obvious that eating properly finding a little time daily to get out and move benefit you exponentially in all aspects of daily life. If you feel good, you do good.