You always hear that “everyone’s body is different” and
“what may work for me may not work for you” but it's true. ESPECIALLY when it comes to weight loss or
getting in shape. There are different
body types and everyone's metabolism varies, causing some people to lose weight
quickly or slowly. But I have noticed
ways that I can keep weight off and tone up even with all of the nasty foods
you might “have to buy” and are surrounded by on a college budget. Now keep in mind that I'm not a certified
nutritionist or physical trainer or anything like that, but exercising and
staying healthy is a big passion of mine, so I catch myself researching and
experimenting with different exercises. So,
here is what I have learned to work
to completely avoid and fight that dreaded freshman, sophomore, junior, or
senior fifteen.
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| Left: Winter Senior Year (2014) Right: Spring Freshman Year (2015) |
EXERCISE
This is kind of a given, but many students
tend to forget when they're staying busy with classes, homework, and other
campus events. But fitting some sort of
exercise into your every day routine will not only make you feel better, but
you'll also be on the road to slimming down! Some easy ways to fit in a little bit of
exercise includes walking to class, always taking the stairs, or even play basketball
with friends.
I have a pretty busy
schedule, but every day I usually have some sort of odd break between classes
or practices, so I'll use that time to go to the campus gym and either run or
do some sort of weight lifting for about 30 minutes to an hour. Many people like to work out at the end of the
day, but I prefer to exercise at the beginning if possible. Working out towards the beginning of my day
just wakes me up and puts me in a better mood for the whole day. There's a lot of science behind that, but I
won't go into those details :)
If you're
just too busy to fit in a 30 minute
workout at some point in your day, there are SO many workouts online (I LOVE
Pinterest) that you could pull up on your phone. I love to do the 5-10 minute workouts before
showers if I haven't had time to work out at any other point that day. I mean, you're about to shower. So why not work up a little sweat?? That is a
GREAT way to fit in some small workouts into your busy schedule. (If
you want me to go into detail with my workouts, let me know)
DRINK
WATER
Another given…but so important!! Girls, go buy a cute pink water bottle from
Walmart and keep it in your backpack (there's a special holder for it
remember?). Having a cute water bottle
always helps me get excited about drinking water…weird I know, but try it! Get
one with a straw so while you're sitting in class or even walking to your next one
you can be sipping on it all day. You
will be going to the bathroom a lot,
so be prepared.
Once you start learning to be less dependent on drinks
other than water you will notice a difference in how you feel, and possibly how
you look! As soon as I made the decision
to drink nothing but water, I noticed that I felt so much better and not so
groggy. As soon as I tried to drink a
soda, it made me sick! So now I only
drink water, and occasionally some lemonade or even an iced coffee, but not
much else. Not only will you feel and
look better, but you'll save so much money! Only a few restaurants charge for cups of
water, so choose the healthier, budget friendly route and order water instead
of sweet tea!
*tip for those who think they'll get headaches from not drinking
caffeine: slowly wean yourself off of it! If you have one drink with caffeine a day, try
to go 5 days without it, and work yourself up until you don't crave it anymore!
It takes dedication, but if you really
want to make a difference, you have to suck it up at some point and deal with
the cravings. It's not impossible,
y'all!
SLEEP
Sleep: a college student’s best friend. It's a blessing to have a break between
classes to have a quick nap. Really try
to get organized and manage your time wisely so you can get to bed at a
reasonable hour. Start to train your
body to go to bed earlier, or at least try to find times to squeeze in a power
nap. A power nap is NOT a 2 hour sleep. A power nap is a 20-30 minute snooze. You'll definitely notice a difference in how
you feel between long sleeps and power naps. Sleeping gives your body time to heal itself
from exercise and of course give you some more energy to get through your day.
EAT
HEALTHY
It's common for students to automatically assume
that there's no way they can eat healthy while in college. There's the popular stereotype that college
students are always eating ramen and cereal out of miscellaneous containers,
but it doesn't have to be that way. I
don't know how other college dining halls are set up, but at least at Troy’s
there is a shelf of apples and oranges. (Do
you realize how expensive those are at the grocery store?) So after you've
(hopefully) eaten a healthy meal in your dining hall, grab an apple or two and
save them for a snack when you're dying for that bagel from Einstein’s or those
peanut M&Ms. Now that's probably not
the best example of how to stay healthy in college, but just be smart and aware
of what you're putting into your body.
And when you see opportunities for (free) healthy food, don't hesitate
to take it!
“Myfitnesspal” is a GREAT app to use if you want to watch what you
eat. It's so simple too! You just enter in your information (height,
weight, etc.) and what your goals are (gain or lose weight, and how much) and
it tells you how many calories you can eat in a day and still lose or gain the
amount of weight you wish. REMEMBER:
there's a huge difference between 1000 calories of chicken and vegetables and
1000 calories of McDonalds. You just
enter the food that you eat into the app and it will tell you if you've reached
your sodium or cholesterol limit of the day, etc. The app has an exercise section so whenever
you go on a run on the treadmill or even a bike ride, you can enter in how many
calories you burned, and it will add that amount back to how many calories you
can eat! It will even count your steps! After using the app for a few weeks, it made
me much more conscious of what I ate and how many calories I was actually
burning in an ordinary day.
So there’s just a few things I've learned to help make sure
that I avoid gaining unnecessary weight and how I can feel healthier all day
long. Hopefully these tips will help you
and if I didn't explain anything in detail enough or if you have any questions,
please let me know in the comments!
