Weight gain and the analyst years..?
About to start my analyst stint in MM IB. Wanted to hear how people stay in shape and/or keep off the pounds during the analyst years?
I'm trying to stay in shape and not put anything on over the next three years. Any advice is appreciated!
Definitely possible - ignore people who say things like buy pants a few sizes too big because you'll need them.
By far the most obvious and effective one is eat healthy food - find a diet that works for you and stick to it religiously. Lots get carried away by the dinner budget, but use the money to buy healthy grilled meat and salad vs burger and chips for example. I personally like a modified version of the paleo diet (fruit rather than vegetables because I exercise quite a lot, relatively speaking) so stay away from bread, coffee etc during the week.
Exercise whenever possible as well - will be much easier if your group has a culture where people go out to exercise for an hour in the evening. Make sure you lift weights as well as doing cardio - for me, lifting weights comes easily and I had to force myself to do more cardio at the start but it pays off big time. The breakdown here will depend a lot on what kind of shape you're already in.
None of that info will be new to you - you just have to prioritise it and really commit yourself to it. Too many people get busy and then let it slip and that's where the problems start - no one has any intention of getting out of shape at the start. You'll need to learn to balance rest with exercise and your body will tell you when you have to prioritise sleep and when you can push yourself a bit and work out - sometimes it won't be pleasant but you've got to do it. For example, I've had a busy past week and worked past midnight Saturday and Sunday, and till around/after two Monday and Tuesday (I'm in Australia, and the hours here are as bad ha). Although I've been running on ~4 hours of sleep since Sunday, I slept for under 3 hours yesterday and forced myself to get into the gym this morning - sometimes that's how it will have to be.
Some advice that my actually help, rather than what you already know - work on becoming good at predicting how lon your work will take/work to gain solid visibility over your projects so you aren't surprised by (or at least minimise the surprise that comes with) unexpected work/expected work that takes longer than planned - doing this badly is a really easy way to force yourself to skip workouts because of work.
Another easy way to keep the fat off ( albeit an unpopular way) is to minimise drinking on weekends - lots of alcohol will show up as fat very very quickly, especially when combined with a relative lack of sleep, likely slower metabolism etc.
If you have to drink, learn to drink the harder stuff (without sugary mixers) - fewer calories and will make you look cooler anyway.
Added benefit of not drinking too much is you don't waste your rare days off hungover, and are not eating the terrible ( but delicious) food that goes hand in hand with binge drinking.
On the other hand, if you just drink and smoke cigarettes, you should be fine.
The way I've learned to manage my weight is to have strict motivation. That's all there is to it.
A stationary lifestyle consisting of alcohol, stress, poor diet and sleep deprivation is a recipe for disaster. You can control some things though:
-Diet -Alcohol intake -Mobility
Eat clean and count your calories, put a cap your alcohol intake, and move around as much as you can. You can't really do much about the stress or sleep in the start. Maybe try meditation and micro sleeps, I've heard that it helped for some people.
I've gone through cycles where I've gained 15-20 lbs in a couple of extremely stressful months, and it's always been due to the same things: Not enough sleep, eating/drinking too much junk and sitting on my ass far too much. Being stationary and eating shit is a double whammy, as your calorie requirements drop, but yet you eat more.
Add the stress and sleep deprivation, and you have a potent mix where your testosterone levels are free falling while insulin and cortisol levels are shooting through the roof. Going too long like this and you'll have diabetes and/or heart problems coming your way. (Obviously not too much a deal for a normal 20 year old, but when you're pushing 30 with a beer gut, these threats are real).
Techniques I've found useful:
Intermittent Fasting, 14-16 hours of no eating, followed with 2-3 big meals in an 8 hour eating window. Vodka soda > all other mixed drinks (given added sugars). Burpees; "30 a day keeps the doctor away", especially when it's long days at the desk and you can't go to the gym. Steak with butter for dinner (when out with clients/coworkers), ask for spinach to start, skip breads and other carbs.
http://i1.wp.com/bayesianbodybuilding.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Th…
I gained a fair bit of weight over a few years and lost more than 10kg (22lb) over the past year. For me, it has been diet (e.g. reduced Coke intake from at least one everyday to one a week max, no Golden Arches for more than a year, introduced salads for lunch) and exercise, specifically an HIIT-type session every couple of days. Now I'm pretty close to my goal.
This article was my main motivation: https://hbr.org/2014/01/how-regular-exercise-helps-you-balance-work-and…
Guys, thanks for the responses. I sincerely appreciate the notes. Its good stuff to think about moving forward because I've been able to manage it the past 3.5 years but this semester (heavier course load) my exercise has tailed off a bit.
Counting calories is definitely the way to go. Don't need any equipment for it, after a while you should be able to count them quite accurately. Learn the calorie value of drinks as well and make sure to eat less when going out (added benefit: easier to get a buzz). Try to hit your daily calories in at least 3 meals. Have a "hard stop"--once you hit your daily calories just stop eating. No ifs, buts or exceptions.
I think doing sports is important but eating right is a lot more important to keep your weight down. Also, I am not sure it is healthy to do a heavy workout when you have only slept 3 hours.
It's probably not healthy to do often, and is likely unhealthy to do one pre 3 hours sleep, but it's fine every once in a while and post the lack of sleep - I had energy all day and was far less tired than I would have been on 3 hours sleep and without a workout. Definitely better than 5 hours of sleep and no workout at the time.
Simply avoid wheat based products and products that contain a lot of sugar and you're golden.
Hey, avoiding wheat products and that will not be working. These products are beneficial for health and fitness. Its just that we have to take a proper diet with some workout which will helps your body to be fit. If this is so then obviously there will be weight loss. I too have this kind of routine and I am happy to tell you all that my body is healthy and fit and also away from skin issues like itching or cellulite which are caused mainly due to fats and loose tissues.
Lol at all of the mentions of drinking. You will have the time and/or energy to go drinking maybe 2x per week, max. Even when your college friends manage to convince you to go out after work on their 30th attempt, you will have two beers and feel totally inebriated due to your having been denied access to basic human rights over the past 72 hours. Drinking will soon have no meaning. Friends will eventually lack meaning, as well. In fact, everything that is not sleep will mean nothing. Or excel keyboard shortcuts. So, sleep and the arrow keys. In those will lie the meaning of life.
In all seriousness, though:
Agreed. If I'm drinking something with calories it's going to be booze.
Booze and Milk ... the only 2 caloric drinks of champions
Eat healthy, exercise, and try not to get too stressed out and you'll be fine.
big unit did a great write-up a while ago.
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/the-sell-side-15-how-to-stay-fit-ye…
Theres an app i found yesterday for iOS that's called myfitnesspal. Tracks your food calories and the amount of walking you do. I'm using it to bulk but its also incredibly useful for tracking nutrition and exercise.
That app, Myfitnesspal, is a lifesaver. I noticed eating majority of your meals from a fast food joint,after college, isnt going to cut it anymore. With that said, you can still eat anything you want, if you know your maintenance calorie.
you can Easily eat anything you want if your maintenance calorie is relatively high. For example if my maintenance is 2500, its gonna take 3-4 lbs of (clean) food to hit my calories for the day; sometimes, I dont enjoy eating that much (clean) food ( my cooking skills arent up to par), and with the help of myfitnesspal, I can eat some mcdonalds/ five guys/ chipotle, down a protein shake and still hit my micro/ macros less the sodium.
Relevant: http://simplesciencefitness.com
Weight / staying in shape (Originally Posted: 07/15/2011)
I have lost a decent amount of weight this summer (going into junior year of college) and am getting into the best shape of my life: I plan on continuing this lifestyle until I end college, but I don't want my hard work to go to waste when I intern next summer and start full time after college.
For anyone who made a transformation, were you able to stick with it when you started your job? How difficult is it really to eat healthy while working at an ibank? Is it feasible to lift 4 days a week?
Thanks for any help.
Just eat salads
Seriously? Just bring a multi press power rack and a treadmill or stationary bike in your cubical instead of a chair/shelves and desk. This way you can work out as you work.
It's really not that hard.
since you will be working 100 hours weeks you won't think much about eating .... I lost around 10 pounds in my first internship ...
for the bankers here...
do you guys have time to work out? I'm an intern and workout at like midnight sometimes later. Do you guys have time to hit the gym while you are at the office when the senior guys leave?
No, not much time....
Early Morning Training Midnight Training
I hit the gym every (most every) morning before work -- usually from 6:30-7:30 or so. I am in the office by 8:30-9am. It isn't easy to get up but, like everything, getting in the habit is the hardest part. Admittedly, a few rough nights can put an end to getting up early. also, be careful what you order for dinner -- I got into a habit of ordering a healthy dinner (salad/wrap type thing) and ordering 3 clif bars with it. I eat the 3 clif bars the following day (I think they are around 250 calories each). Add a decent dinner to that (another 750 or so) and you are at/below maintenance even though all you do is sit around every day....all day.
4-6 workouts a week and eating healthy won't make you into a fitness model, but it will keep you in shape.
Just learn good seamless habits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleo_diet
You shouldn't be lifting 4 times a week. Stick to heavy barbell compound lifts (mainly squats, deadlifts, bench, press, rows) 2-3 times a week, and add in cardio on a few other days if you need to. You should always wait for at least 48 hours between trips to the gym for lifting unless you're doing a bodybuilding split routine (which I would recommend against if you're still building a foundation of strength which applies to 99%+ of people, me included)
It's tough to maintain a disciplined workout regimen on ibanking hours. Sleep is one of the most important contributors to strength gains as that is when your muscles recover. If you're running on 3-6 hours of sleep a night, a proper lifting regimen is going to kick the shit out of you.
Don't eat shitty food either. If you're in NYC you will be spoiled for choice, much of it healthy. I would honestly just make your goal not to regress into a fat blob while you're an analyst. As the previous poster said, there's no way you're going to get jacked, maintain your sanity/happiness, and do well at your job at the same time.
I didn't make my transformation until I started my job. Was always super skinny and finally started lifting heavy (for me) weights and eating more and have gained 10-15 pounds of muscle which puts me square in normal lazy slob strength territory, but still a big step up from where I was previously haha.
This is good advice. Also if that doesn't work, just start cycling D-bol for that ripped jersey shore look.
Walk to work in the morning, it makes a huge difference.
Go to the gym.
Eat good food.
Eat slowly - you'll end up eating less.
let me rephrase my question:
is there ANY way an investment banking lifestyle can create room for healthy muscle growth and strength gains?
as in, is it possible to eat properly, lift 4 days a week, and get enough sleep to allow recovery? from anecdotal talk, it would seem that it is straight up impossible given the hours and the fact that you are basically on call 24/7...
have supplements / routine taken care of so not looking for advice on how to stay in shape or that i should just do cardio etc.
Unless your employer gets to decide on what you eat which I don't believe is the case, even in banking, than you can eat healthy. Albeit, maybe not on the best schedule. Sleep will be another issue entirely I suppose but on 6-7 hours a night like a previous poster replied, you should be alright.
No matter what your "routine" is like without the proper amount of sleep and a solid diet your going to make shitty gains.
Check out Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe (www.startingstrength.com) If your doing anything else other than this your pretty much doing it wrong and your going to stay small forever.
Keep an eightball in your pocket and make trips to the bathroom every couple of hours for a bump or two. This will suppress appetite and make you a fucking rockstar at work.
Im going to start running into work - live about 5k from the office, which should take no more than 25 mins. Leave the house at 8am, plenty of time to get into the office and shower before work. Fitting a workout into my commute (which takes 30 mins on the bus/train anyway) seems like the easiest way of exercising...
Where will you shower? Do banks really have showers lol? That would be awesome.
I started FT this summer (I'm in my low-to-mid-20s), and before this, I've gone to the gym religiously 3-5 days per week since I was 16, basically only slowing down for exam periods. That said, I was never the type of person to inconvenience others so I could get a workout in or stick to my schedule (I'm sure we all know these types of people). All in all, I just can't do it anymore. My job doesn't allow it. As a first year, you feel extremely uncomfortable and it shows shitty commitment to the job if you're slipping out before dinner for every night to lift some weights. But it is not impossible to stay in shape... Staying slim is just a matter of not eating garbage. And in a banking city, you have a wide array of healthier foods to eat at all times. Just don't find yourself eating half a pizza at 11pm 4 times a week, and just keep track of roughly how many calories you intake. In terms of weights, you can do that maybe once or twice a week, preferably on weekends. Also, if you get home before 12 some nights, its nice to end the day with a 25 minute run. Going above and beyond this however will tire you out, reflect poorly on your work, or both.
College days are over, and chasing the 3-plate bench is no longer part of the game... Keep it light, and keep it tight.
Just curious...what type of group are you in? Does anyone else in your group go to the gym?
here's what i do:
and still work 80-100 hours a week. its about getting in the routine. for the first 6 months as an analyst it was hard for me to get up since i worried about getting hit up while at the gym. but i realized at the end of the day, an hour at the gym late at night is worth it even if i stay at work a night later (i would just communicate to those who i was working with that i would be going to the gym and they were supportive). it clears your mind and really makes you feel better about everything.
i started at 155 pounds, dropped to 145 after 6 months because i was stressed and not eating enough, but now six months later am at 170 (good weight gain) because ive just gotten into a routine
But its hard to gain muscle weight. You need enough sleep, thats important for successful muscle rebuilding..
Does hitting the gym twice a week really work for you guys? I mean do you actually get results from it? Seems a little too infrequent for me but shit with banker hours that's better than nothing I guess.
I think that there is not sufficient time to do certain types of training. Cardio and such are easily worked into an everyday schedule. However, I've played college soccer and was very concerned about bulking up after highschool. I would go to 6 am lift and lift again at 3pm. If you are looking at gaining muscle/strength, I think it would be very hard to find the time, and more importantly the energy. You CAN gain muscle just lifting 3 times a week, but they are very intense and if you are training properly, will usually get stiff and sore. Sometimes you just have to settle for what you can. If you are also looking to gain muscle, you have to be eating alot, and properly, which can be very hard on a constrained schedule. I think the best thing for staying in shape is taking up an activity (running, biking, boxing) something you can do for an hour and then move on to your day without worrying too much about what you're eating or doing.
The extent to which you realize strength gains on limited sleep depends on what phase of lifting you are in. If you are a novice, which I assume you are, you will still realize gains. As a novice lifter, you can do just about any dumbfuck program out there and get stronger. Any garbage you get from abcbodybuilding, Flex, Muscle & Fitness, CrossFit, P90X and other similar crap will work.
When you are an advanced lifter, you are working with loads that are very close to your genetic potential and thus need to carefully manipulate your workload and recovery time. Failure to do so will lead to overtraining and burnout. With limited sleep as a banking analyst, it is extremely hard to make gains at the advanced stage.
Bottom line: since you seem to be a novice lifter, lift 3 days a week using the major barbell exercises and sprinkle in some cardio if you so desire. Because you're in a phase where just about anything will work, don't worry too much about lack of sleep inhibiting your gains and don't waste your novice phase on junk programs.
Although I haven't tried it, I have heard good things for "10-Minute trainer". You might wanna check that out.
I am not in Ibanking so my hours aren't as bad as some people here so take what you will. I like to make my meals for the week on sundays. Grill up a couple pounds of chicken breast, tilapia, salmon, turkey, beef etc make 4-5 cups or brown rice and assorted vegetables. I'll wind up putting 6-8oz of meat, 1/2 cup rice and 1/2 cup vegetable in Tupperware and I have my meal. I also keep a tub of protein and protein bars are my desk for quicker meals throughout the day.
A friend of mine uses http://freshmealprogram.com/. Gets his meals delivered every day to him around 5-6am
I would also look into Bill Starr/Madcow 5x5 beginner program. Excellent program to follow and only 3 days a week. http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Bill_Starr_5x5
Losing weight while eating $50 worth of food a day?? (Originally Posted: 11/13/2014)
How do you guys keep in shape and even lose weight under a generous seamless account policy?
What do you do for workouts and what do you seamless? Inputs and outputs
Input: Calories
Output: More calories than you ate
Not hard to spend $50 on fish.
Weights & sprints 3/4 times per week. Expensive salads for meals.
Someone touched on the salads. I was going to say I have spent three times that on a single salad.
Please tell me more about this salad, thx
A decent meal of sushi is at least 50, but in general, any quality food could run 50+ and not exceed how many calories you should be eating in a day. Conversely, spending it all on 8 chipotle burritos a day is probably not the best idea...
Sushi is like 40 calories per piece. $50 gets you like either 3 special rolls or like....7 tuna rolls with a salmon tartare.
Why not just eat well and see where that takes you? If it's less than the $50, so be it.
Brown rice sushi is the answer.
Look at all these wannabe richies hating on an expensive salad.
Putting this in my signature
damn, which firm do you work at that has $50 seamless? We get 25
Buyside yo. Seamless for lunch ($16.50) and dinner (30-35$). Exact amount hasn't been figured out for dinner. Trial and error my friend.
Eating well when all your meals are at the firm cafeteria/seamless/surrounding food shops is hard. You really have to track the calories. My firm has calories listed in the cafeteria which makes it easier. And I track things on seamless either ordering from places that list them or ordering stuff I'm more familiar with.
I relatively the same every day and it's some combination of egg white omelets, grilled chicken sandwiches, salads, and sushi. Plus trying to squeeze in a 6am workout before I get going. I know people try to max out their seamless allowances but there is no reason to do that, IMO. Or, do what I do, and just load up on drinks I'll use later.
thanks. I do think self control is an issue in terms of getting healthy stuff but I absolutely believe that allocation should be maxed out. Not doing so is like leaving money on the table. Definitely max out on redbull if I got extra allocation
Chop't
Dude. No way you can drop $16 on chop't and get anything remotely close to healthy.
For fucks sake an IB job is shitty enough with out forcing yourself to eat rabbit food every day. Just make sure you work out a couple times a week. Along with that don't eat fried chicken for every meal.
He's a poser, can only afford 2 chains.
You can try salads low on dressing for lunch. They would help you improve your performance in the long run. Good salads have various textures and different flavor that all compliment each other. Ask for extra meat portions. Drink water.
permabulk
Permacut is the better solution for defined muscles.
Drinking lot of water every day and doing workouts, in that YOGA burn lot of calories. Eat oil and Fat free food.
It's a conspiracy.
The companies who provide generous free food are hoping to subtly sedate it's working population so they don't have the stamina/urge/desire to pursue outdoor activities.
I eat on average about $12/food day (this doesn't include eating out) and have competed in numerous triathalons, climbed Pikes Peak, Everest Base Camp, and will do Kilimanjaro this year.
But holy crap, $50 food / day for a cubicle worker? That's murder in disguise.
hmmm yeah don't tell people you climbed 'Everest Base Camp', not a good look for you, fam
Took me 10 years after I realized I couldnt workout like Michael Phelps and eat like him too.
Simple steps, NO: sodas, juice, lowfat anything, fried anything, carbs before noon if at all, fruit, bread, white carbs, milk.
Depends on your build, diet, exercise routine. It's 80% calorie in calories out, except if you are trying to lose weight then it's all macros. Maintaining is much easier than loosing.
If you need to lose fat I can speak to Keto being the best fat loss diet I have ever been on. Intermittent Fasting also does wonders, and when combined the fat melts off and you don't get hunger pangs or the 2pm sleepy's after lunch.
Breakfast: Eggs - filling nutricious and delicious. You can have them fried, baked, scrambled, poached and the list goes..
Lunch: Meat and veggies no starch.
Dinner: Meat and Veggies starch if you want. I used to only have fast carbs at dinner because I didn't want to be exhausted during the day, worked wonders for my productivity but not sure about my belt line.
The best diet is a routine and you are cycling through the same meals week in week out.
Good points.
What do you mean "the best diet is a routine and you are cycling through the same meals week in week out"?
Why cycling?
How much weight have you gained since starting IB? (Originally Posted: 05/23/2008)
How much weight have you gained since starting IB?
2 years in and about 15lbs. It's horrible.
When I summered at a BB, I had my pants let out after two weeks. I still laugh about that... at least until I start FT... then it won't be so funny.
I don't have the exact #s in front of me but I probably gained around 20-30 in my 1st year. It was pretty terrible. This year I started working out more regularly/eating a lot better and am actually close to where I started.
Takes a lot of discipline to pull off while doing this job but it's doable.
i actually lost weight (~5lb) when i summered. we'll see about fulltime.
I'm up about 5-10. Honestly, it fluxuates. I'm coming off of what has been my hardest 2 months on the job, and as a result i'm at a peak. However, I suspect I'll be able to get it down if things don't accelerate to crazy levels for another month or so.
i lost weight. But that's a factor of 2 things: 1) busy and not having time to eat (and being stressed). 2) my group is obsessed with the gym and does not really like the 'fatties' as they call it. Thus, whenever we grab lunch it's really healthy and stuff.
lost 5-10 lbs. Less junk food, more salads. Quieter environment makes time to go out to the gym. Less drinking, which definetely helps a lot.
Gained Weight from too many Business Meetings (Originally Posted: 06/15/2012)
I work in consulting, but I'm sure you guys have more input about gaining weight with the heavy workload and the unhealthy food choices. I'm unsure as to whether or not bankers get as many business meetings as us, but the food that we eat sucks, and I've gained a ton of weight since my first day being an analyst. I read two articles on two different websites on this, and I've attached them, but I want to know your opinions. What are the best ways to lose weight especially in those situations other than the smoking habits that most of us have.
SPAM LINK
Mod note: If you are going to post links to your blog, please do not be disingenuous about it. Further attempts to post blog links without posting blog ownership will result in a ban. -IlliniProgrammer
It is difficult to decline business lunches/dinners so I try to go for healthy meals, ie salads, fish, chicken. I am not in consulting but it is a similar situation wherever you face clients/vendors/etc.
It is not polite (or even possible) to decline these events based on nutritional aspects so reducing stress and bad habits elsewhere could help. Otherwise try to hit the gym multiple times a week and go for a run on a regular basis.. running had a really positive influence on my lifestyle.
One problem I still have is that I don't drink any alcohol though (never have). Some people give me "that look" when I have a water or some orange juice.
I'll cosign on working out and running. If you run three times a week (I'm talking like 3-4 miles in 30 minutes) and work out three times a week, you can eat just about anything and stay in reasonable shape.
I agree with this.
Curious how old you are though? I workout pretty hard but I'm still young. I fear the day my metabolism turns off.
I once had an instance where I was meeting a client for some quick casual lunch. For the sake of nutrition, I wanted something light, like a chicken ceaser salad or light pasta. Well, he ordered a full out meal on burger and fries. I really can't describe that situation but I just couldn't order salad when he ordered something the complete opposite of a "healthy choice". It felt disrespectful per say. So I had no choice and felt obligated to order something similar to his meal. Therefore, I fully understand your situation.
Like what GoodBread said, try to put some exercise in your weekly schedule even if it's a short run outside.
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