I,m only nine months in but have already gained 1 stone - brining me from 8.5 stone to 9.5 stone!!! How enormous will be after 3 more years













:-(

Hi Ev, I haven't gained any, but I'm pretty sure I'd have lost weight if weren't PhDing. My thyroid medication was put up to a reasonablish level just before I started - it had been ridiculously low and I put on over a stone because of it. I haven't been able to shift that excess, but I keep hoping, maybe I'm like my neighbour's dog, I need more excercise...

I've been on high-dose steroids since 1998, and particularly high since 2004. They cause massive weight gain. Since starting my part-time PhD I reckon I've gained about 30kg! I get weighed regularly at hospital so we can work out drug doses properly, so I'm painfully aware of my weight. But while I'm on the drugs (and I'll be on them for life) I can't lose the weight unfortunately.

BilboBaggins! Is this some kind of mystery illness, I know all kinds of diseases could be cured except some neurological ones. I have gained 4 Stones and still gaining. I am not bothered now. BB remain optimistic!

I lost weight in the first and second year - and in this third year lost a lot. Recently I have gained enough to make me sightly larger than when I began, but in a healthy way. No need for new clothes etc so not an extreme gain.

It's a very rare 1 in a million auto-immune neurological disease. Incurable, and progressive, and could kill in a flash. The treatment is permanent chemo drugs and steroids. And the steroids cause huge weight gain, which can't be avoided.

BB, God can do miracles! Thanks and I wish you all the best.

well i don't want to go into actual figures - that would be horrendous. But I lost 2 and a half stone last year (2nd year PhD) for wedding, and have gained most of that back since christmas :$ I NEED to shift it.

I put on weight when I visit home for a few days but not really when I'm at uni. Being in Sunny Scotland means climbing a hill to get to uni each day. Having said that, my weight hasn't dropped either so I reckon when I get to the write-up house bound stages of my PhD I'll have gained a few pounds! A lot of PhD students I know frequently visit the gym, now I know why!! Don't worry Ev, you wont be enormous after 3 years, you'll probably find your weight going up and down rather than up and up!

CB x

I find that the gym is a great stress buster - I love pumping iron and pounding out a few KM on the treadmil after a long day of data collection/meetings etc - AND this keeps me super trim :-) and able to scoff what ever I like the next day while I sit idle at my desk!

I just can't afford the gym. Its £30 a month here! And time too - I can't spend 2 hours 3-5 days a week at the gym :-( I am trying to do more home exercise though (up)

I forget that gym can be vvv expensive - I am lucky, it is £50 per year where I am! :$
I guess you could run with your dog!

haha, I could, but I'm not supposed to jog - really bad back, plus the fact my dog likes to criss cross in front of you when you walk and gets under your feet. I've tried to run with her but she just trips me up!

Good question! I've gained over a stone since I started 18 months ago :-s

My research involves: reading, reading, writing, reading, writing, and more writing, then some more reading. I'd say that I spend - roughly - 10 to 15 hours per day sitting on my behind (which has, oddly, began to grow into the same shape as my office chair!).

I do teach a few times a week, which necessitates walking from my front door to the car, and then from the car to the university building (5 minutes walk in total), and when I arrive at class, I sit some more. When I mark essays, I also sit some more, and so I spend most of my life sitting unless I'm sleeping (in which case I lie down), cooking dinner (standing up for 30 mins tops), washing-up (another 15 minutes standing up), and pottering around the house (10 mins).

So, on average, I spend 45 minutes standing up, 8 hours lying down, 10 mins pottering around, 5 minutes walking, and - guess what? - 15 hours sitting down :$

I keep telling myself that although the fat-count is going up (which could imply health problems later in life), flexing my intellectual muscles for hours on end must mean that my brain is somehow getting bigger & healthier ;-)  Oh Sweet Self-deception!

I hate to point it out, but, if you lead such a sedentry life style, I doubt that your brain is that healthy ... excersise induces neurogenesis! gets blood pumping round the body and helps the immune system fight infections. Get rid of your car and CYCLE!!