Keeping Your Grades and Yourself in Shape As a Third-Year Student

As a final-year student myself, I know how hard it is staying in any kind of shape, other than a circle. This blog post will provide you with a number of important guidelines to stick by in order to maintain your physical health, whether you wish to follow a strict diet alongside frequent gym going; or whether it is simply losing those stubborn excess pounds you have not been able to shift since the festive season.

If we are being completely honest, the majority of us are subject to, lets call it a lapse in concentration, beginning in late December and continuing throughout the limbo period in-between Christmas and New Year. We all know that short period when we are unsure of what day it is never mind keeping track of your micros, macros and being calorie conscious. Selection boxes become adequate breakfast and pork pie becomes a permanent fixture in your daily diet.

As we crawl through early January, it is easy to become a 'hermit', refusing to leave the comfort of your warm home at all costs. Except of course for your 9am's. Suddenly its the second term of the dreaded third year. You have a matter of months to write a dissertation; complete 2 end of your products; secure that beach body all whilst trying to solve world peace and reverse global warming. Third year has become a whirlwind of unanswered questions;

Will I get a first?

What am I going to do after graduation?

Am I getting fat?

Have I got time for the gym?

Will I get a 2:1?

Will I even pass my degree?!

Before you know it, you're in your bathroom mirror contemplating all of life's important and unimportant questions, and in reality wasting time that you could be putting to good use to answer the questions above.

During possibly the most stressful period of your life to date, you may think you are entitled to 'let yourself go' in terms of your physical well being. Comfort eating here, comfort eating there. However an American study carried out in California found a correlation between being classified as 'obese' and achieving a lower grade when graduating.

Before you have even finished reading this blog post you have opened a new tab and googled some generic fitness question like 'how to get fit fast'. Sadly Hugo with his perfectly sculptured six pack and his fitness programme 'thats just £19.99 a month' doesn't have the answers you're looking for.

Motivation. Motivation is the key factor that can both drag your lazy arse to the gym whilst also dragging your mediocre 2:2 to the promised lands that are the 2:1 or first. Everyone has their own way of self motivation whether you watch motivational videos, or just listen to the 'eye of the tiger' on repeat. However you do it, if you're motivated you've won half of the battle.


Shop Weekly. No this does not mean browse the ASOS sale page weekly. Do a weekly food shop. Preventing the 'it is 2 for 1 at Dominos' and the 'one more kebab won't do any harm'. Installing some organisation into your diet will mean you actually have food in the cupboards to feed your midnight cravings rather than lacing the pockets of your local takeaway of choice.


Wake Up Early. Students notoriously don't wake up at first light, in fact some of them wait until it starts getting dark again to leave their state of hibernation. As simple as it sounds, if you wake up early you have more time in the day to manage university work and staying on top of your physical well-being.


This advice alone will not get you a six pack and a first class degree, but it will surely improve both your mental and physical state putting you in the best possible position to succeed.