Finishing my first year of college and noticing that I have gained "the freshmen 15" was devastating. The summer before, I swore that it wasn't going to happen, and I mentally prepared myself with different ways not to gaining weight. But food had a different plan for me. Starting the fall semester to a good start, took a quick turn the spring semester. Making myself more socially available, I began going to Wawa more, eating constantly, eating late, and not working out as much. For those who are reading this and will be attending college as a freshmen this fall semester, watch what you eat and please work out! "Freshmen 15" is real, and was very real to me. Also, believing that I could lose weight fast was not the mindset to have. I've learned this summer that losing weight takes time and there is no rush. You don't have to take diet pills or starve yourself, eating right and working out regularly can change your life completely. Here are some lessons I've learned this summer when trying to lose weight.

1. Preparing your mindset for losing weight and for being sore!

It is always good to start off something with positive thinking. Especially with losing weight! In the past years I've lack positive thinking and preparing my mindset for losing weight. I've noticed when I don't think positive, I don't get positive results. You have to believe that your going to lose weight, if you don't then your not motivating yourself and will be really hard to see the results you want. Also, prepare yourself for a lot of crying, because being sore is no joke. Being sore and I have a love/hate relationship, I hate feeling sore but I love it because I feel like I actually did something at the gym. Believe it or not, it builds your self-esteem and motivates you!

2. Eating healthy is 80 percent of trying to lose weight.

This transition from eating whatever you please to having strict boundaries, is the hardest. Practicing self-control while eating was something very hard for me to do, and may times I would given in and get seconds or even thirds. Many times pizza has gotten the best of me. But I can't emphasis enough how important eating healthy and eating in portions can be. Working out won't do anything if we continue to eat what ever we want. And, I've learned that. Just because I was working out five days a week didn't mean it would override my bad eating habits. I needed to learn to have self-control and know when to stop. I've also learned that if I want something sweet, I could have it, just not too much. Allowing yourself to have the little bit can prevent you from binge-eating it later on.

3. Taking vitamins and staying hydrated is very important.

Remembering to take vitamins and drinking eight glasses of water can be annoying, but it is necessary. In order for our body to work correctly throughout the day we need vitamins and to stay hydrated. Even if we don't want to, we need to, so that we are able to keep our body healthy. Many times I forget to take my vitamins and I begin to feel slouchy and tired. Drinking water and taking multivitamins will help your body absorb the nutrients it needs through the day, so that you don't feel tired but energetic.

4. Pre and post-workout shakes!

As we all know, working out can be very tiring and can suck so much energy out of us. On top of those multivitamins, I've found that pre-workout helps a lot! It gives you a burst of energy while working out so that you are able to burn the most calories. Thank God for pre-workout shakes!

5. Plan your gym days ahead of time.

I've found that planing my gym days ahead work best for me. With working more than 40 hours a week, it is some times hard to go to the gym. So when I plan ahead, I'm mentally preparing myself for the workouts ahead of time. Whether it's going to the gym or attending a kickboxing class, I always try to find a way to fit it into my busy schedule.

6. Making sure your working out the right way!

This one is a big, everyone wants to lose weight fast and don't quite understand that losing weight takes time. Learning how to work out can higher your chances of losing weight. Intensity weight training may not be beneficial for those who want to lose fat rather toning. I've learn this one the hard way. Being very insecure about my arms, I worked out my arms constantly my first month of going to the gym. Not working my arm correctly, I actually gain a lot of muscle on top of my fat, creating my arms to appear much bigger than they were before. After doing research about working out my arms I've found that my way was the wrong way.

7. Don't beat yourself up if you don't see results.

Again, losing weight takes time. Don't beat yourself up if you don't see results right away, or the way you want to see it. Keep being positive and motivated. If you keep eating right and working out regularly, you will see results.