How I Fought the Freshman Fifteen

        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.

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!