How to deal with Tu/Th

My Fall term just started on Monday.  (I'm working on my AA in Exercise and Sport Science - thanks VSG!)  I'm having trouble figuring out my Tuesdays and Thursdays and I feel like I'm missing something obvious.  

Here are the things that are set in stone:  

6:30am - wake up
7-9am - run, stretch
9am - protein shake (aka breakfast)

3-3:50pm - drive to class
3:50-4pm - at this point I've gotten to college and have about 10 minutes before class starts, using the bathroom and getting settled in the classroom takes about half of this time.

4-5:20pm - class, no breaks, can drink water, no food allowed
5:20-7:15pm - class, no breaks, no food or drink allowed because it's a lab.  Note that there is no break at 5:20, just a walk across the hall to the lab room. 

7:15-8pm - drive home

10:30pm - SLEEP

My boggle is the whole eating thing.  My body tends to get hungry for lunch at noon, but I can pu**** until 2pm.  The challenge is that I can't eat from 4pm-7:15pm and can't eat anything more than a protein bar in the car.  I need energy to get through the class - I've found myself really dragging during classes this week.  I can't eat anything more than a protein bar in the 3:50-4pm time either.  

Initially I was going to be free from 5:20-5:50, but that's no longer the case.  

I can scarf down a protein bar at 3:50 when I get to school, but I'm not hungry then.. so I'm only eating to be able to survive class, which sucks.  I don't want to eat immediately after class at 7:15, because I'd be stuck with a protein bar and I'd rather wait until I get home in order to eat a real meal.  Dinner is normally at 7:30 the other nights of the week, so I'm used to eating dinner fairly late.  In fact, normal meal times are at approximately 7:30am, noon, and 7:30pm.  But on Tu/Th I need more energy to keep my brain functioning during class. :/  

So, yeah.  I feel like I'm missing something.  Is my best option really just to eat a protein bar at 3:50pm whether I'm hungry or not because that's the energy my brain needs for 3.5 hours of class?  

Tough schedule! I know you've indicated that it's "set in stone" but what switching out your morning breakfast shake with a breakfast meal (there are lots of on the go options that you can make ahead) & have your protein shake during the 4-5:20 period (& have it closer to the end of the session) when you're allowed to have a drink. If it's in an opaque bottle, how does anyone know what you're drinking. This way you can have your protein closer to your normal dinner time and break up that long timeframe.

That is an interesting idea, thank you!  I don't really like eating solid food in the morning, but I can certainly try it and see how it works next week.  (And I often need to go to the bathroom within 30 minutes of drinking my shake... so that might not be a good option for the middle of classes when I don't have the ability to go to the bathroom.  But it's worth considering!)

Can you put protein mix in your water from 4-5:20?  Could you talk to your professor and explain your surgery and diet requirements and ask if you could either take a 5 minute break or have a protein shake during class? 

See my reply to the previous comment.  

Taking a 5-minute break isn't an option, since class would continue while I was out of the room and I'd miss material.  I can't afford to do that, as this is the class which will kick my butt.  :/

Moving my shake to later in the day could work - I'll need to experiment with it on non-class days to see how my body reacts!  

Thanks :)

You're between a rock and a hard place, aren't you?!?  Can you take leave from work for an extra half hour before your commute to class to sit down and have a small meal?  Something a little more substantial than a protein bar?  Then you have the focus to get through class (which sounds brutal, by the way), and eat a light dinner when you get home. 

Hm, this could work. I don't work, so there's nothing stopping me from heading to school earlier most days. Thanks!  I'll roll this idea around in my brain :)

You're always so busy, Gwen! Congrats on the sports medicine! i haven't been around in a while, and I'm so glad to see you're still so active on this site!

What I would do, is maybe have something to eat on the way to class. maybe something handheld like some a "sandwich" with lunch meat wrapped in lettuce or something like that and also get a small lunch box with an ice pack and on your way home have a snack? That way you are getting something right before and right after! Good luck! 

It's funny since I always fall into the trap of thinking "okay, when this thing finishes and the next thing starts, life will be less busy."  

Like this term, for instance.  Last term I had five classes and one lab, my dad was dying, and I helped my mom more.  So I kept thinking "okay, next term will be better - only three classes and two labs and my dad has died and my mom has moved!"  Of course I neglected to account for one of those classes being ANATOMY ARGH.  

Normally a 4 credit course (3 for lecture, 1 for lab) would be 4 hours a week, but anatomy is 6.  And, on top of that, the college changed the requirements for the class in the Spring, but then people were failing it in the Summer, so they removed the prerequisite but are requiring all students to go to an additional hour a week of what amounts to professor-led tutoring.  I could get out of it due to having taken intro anatomy last term.... but a FREE hour of professor-led tutoring a week?!  I'd be an idiot to pass that up.  But now my 4 credits are 7 hours a week.  Plus, you know, my other classes :P

I think that, what I'm going to try this week after synthesizing all of the suggestions here is this:  

I'll try to push my shake a bit later in the morning instead of right after my run/stretch.  
That should allow me to push my lunch later - hopefully I can eat lunch at 3.  This will logistically work out to right before I head to campus or as soon as I get to campus, depending.  (The anatomy tutoring schedule posted yesterday, and I have the opportunity to attend that 11-3pm on Tu/Th.  It's on a different campus, though, so I'll still be driving for most of 3-4pm.)  
Then, if I eat lunch at 3pm, I SHOULD be okay to not have any food until dinner when I get home around 8pm.  

If I hydrate during the times I'm able to, I should be okay.  I'll take a protein bar for emergency use this week, just to be safe!