I'm a sophomore looking to get into IB, but staying healthy is very important to me. I like to workout 1.5 - 2 hours per day and eat healthy (sleep isn't as important to me). As an IB analyst (specifically at a BB), is it possible to find time to exercise this much? Do most IB analysts gain weight? What strategies have you used to stay healthy on the job?
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Most analyst in my group workout 3-4 times throughout the week and are gone usually for 1.5hrs but that includes the commute so about an hour workout. Definitely able to stay fit but not to the level that you can achieve during college.
You probably arent going to get a 1.5-2hr workout (except the weekends) and while you mention sleep isn’t as important, trust me you’ll want every second of it.
Nothing about IB but if you're working out (properly) 2 hours a day and not caring about your sleep, you're doing yourself more harm than good because you're not giving your body enough time to repair.
Sleep is as vital as nutrition and exercise for your body.
two off cycle internships made me fat as fuck
I struggle to get weight, so you are saying that during my Off-cycle I will be able to finally get it haha ?
I've honestly never seen a fat junior banker. I think they just eat Sweet Green, drink smoothies, and get skinny
Maybe they are too stressed
Just over the summer, seamless made me put on a few pounds because I was eating way more than I was working out. Learned that working out before work was the only way I could get it into my schedule since nights are unpredictable. However, analysts would leave to workout in the evening.
I was also permanently exhausted and drank way too much coffee. One cup in the AM and one in the PM before dinner (usually both ventis from Starbucks, so definitely enough caffeine to make me jittery)
Two cups of coffee per day, that's some pussy shit
1.5-2 hours of workout per day means you're out of office for 2.5-3ish with commute, changing 2x, shower, etc. – probably not doable most days. This would normally stupid reason to choose a bank, but in your case it might be worth it to try to land at a BB where there's an in-building gym, given that fitness is such a big part of your life / happiness.
Eating healthy is super doable — just order your egg whites and kale on seamless and dig in! I like to order before I'm hungry to lock myself into the salad instead of the pizza.
Sleep will become way more important. You won't be able to function at work or recover from your workouts without it.
Honestly, if you were not a unhealthy fat person before IB you won't be one once you start as an analyst. It is easier to live healthy than interns think (they just hear absolute horror stories). If you can't discipline youself however because you were a unhealthy person to begin with, this could become worse once you are stressed out.
Exactly. It's all about discipline and you don't see a ton of fat people in finance, since it takes discipline to get a role in the first place.
Agreed that stress eating is the big hurdle – key is to 1) position dinner mentally as "finally, I get to do something healthy for my body today" not "time to escape into 6 slices" and 2) order before you're hungry to prevent $30 of General Tso's from showing up.
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