I gained a disgusting 35 lbs while I was in college. This was mostly attributable to the extreme stress that I had (I stress eat) from taking 5-6 classes every semester, working 3 part-time jobs, leading 2-3 volunteer projects and finding the time to spend w/ the honey. From June to November, I’ve lost 20 lbs so far by controlling what I eat and being careful about the choices I make. Its been really difficult since I really love food and sweet things but with a combination of cooking most of my meals at home and when eating out, picking healthy meals, it has really helped me. I don’t really talk to anyone about this besides my boyfriend and mom because I feel really self-conscious about it but I’m slowly learning to be more open and proud about it. 15 more until I am back to my weight before my college. My goal is to lose 15 lbs every 3 months until I get to my safe BMI weight. For now I’m just gonna keep that goal to myself but I think with control and discipline I will get there.
The other thing I wanted to write about was my dilemma with money. A friend of mine informally offered me her apartment. It is $480/month w/ all utilities included besides electricity and is about 5 mins away from my current place. For my city this rent is an amazing deal. Its a $100 extra from what I would be paying for right now *and* it would be my own space to call my own.
I thought about it for 4-5 days straight. I searched for the prices of local apartments and compared and tortured myself with the decision. My lease is thankfully month-to-month so I would only need 30 days notice.
I calculated how much I made after taxes ($1200/month) and followed online posts that I should only spend 20-30% of my income on rent. I was shocked that $500/month would be 41% of my income (almost 1/2!!). After seeing that, I was very quickly disinclined to take up my friend’s offer. Plus I don’t have to worry about paying for utilities or paying for things like toilet paper or the plumber.
I will stick to wisely spending money and living the graduate school budget 🙂
asociologyphdstudent 