Now don’t get me wrong, there is a large majority of college students who do go to college and change their diets and get crazy fit and healthy and that’s fantastic. I’m talking to all the high school athletes who didn’t continue in college, those whose metabolisms finally caught up with them or those who said, “Fried mac and cheese for a meal swipe?! Heck yes!” (Like me). I’m one of them and trust me the struggle was real freshman year. You don’t realize how lucky you are to have a fast metabolism or you don’t think that your sport is really keeping you in that great of shape. However, when you get to college, you continue to eat the same way, or maybe you eat a little unhealthier because let’s be honest, Mom and Dad aren’t here to yell at you for eating ice cream for breakfast. You don’t notice it at first but you start to gain weight little by little and before you know it... BOOM. The freshman fifteen is here and it’s haunting you. I struggled a lot with this and still struggle with it as a senior.
Gaining the weight was super easy, losing it on the other hand, is an unbearable task. You try working out and eating Ben and Jerry’s a half a pint at a time rather than a full, but nothing changes. So you kick it up a notch and it still isn’t doing anything, maybe you even continue to gain and have no idea why. Most likely the stress of wanting to lose the weight is what will keep you from losing it, unfortunately. And, if you’re anything like me, you HATE working out and you just wish you could go back and do what you did in high school and before that kept you in shape for so many years, but you can’t. It's time to suck it up and get to the gym and eat that salad proudly when all of your friends are chowing down whole pizzas. My favorite workouts are those goofy dance videos. Go with a group of friends and dance it up like a total dork. It's fun and a huge stress reliever! Find something that you enjoy doing because it's much easier to convince yourself to go to the gym if you like what you're going to do.
Eating healthy in college is so difficult though. We’re all on a budget and we would much rather spend $5 on fast food than $30 on a grocery bill (I know I would). We are also all so busy and don’t have time to plan meals or cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I know on my campus, they advertise the healthier options but in reality they really aren’t that healthy. Have you ever had a prepackaged salad with cut up chicken strips on it? Yeah... it’s not good or good for you. It's so much easier to grab some french fries on your way to class or pick up a donut for breakfast than to make something or choose a healthier option. But once you start thinking about what you're eating, you will probably want to change everything immediately. Now, I'm a weirdo and I like to watch documentaries in my free time and that helped change my eating mindset, but you can still just simply look at labels and get the idea. It doesn't have to be obsessive (and it shouldn't be) but, counting calories really helps me keep track of what I'm eating and what I could skip. You can easily find out what your daily calorie goal is on any weight loss app or by googling a daily calorie target calculator. This isn't a necessity but it is interesting to see what meals you eat the most calories or what foods you eat that are the most unhealthy.
My advice for anyone struggling through their freshman fifteen or any other weight gain in college would be to use your resources, do your research, and stay dedicated. I googled TONS of healthy eating challenges and grocery lists that told me exactly what I could buy each week or even each month in order to stay on track with healthy options. I also learned what little things I could switch out of my daily diet that wouldn’t be a crazy change. Pinterest is a lifesaver too and I know it is mostly aimed toward females, guys can totally use it as well. If I learned how to make pasta in the microwave, you can learn anything you set out to learn!
Some of my favorite healthy hacks:
- Easy low calorie fruit smoothie: (With protein powder 210 calories, without 110 calories)
- Mixed frozen fruit (1 cup)
- Greek vanilla yogurt (2 ounces)
- Water (add until it blends)
- Vanilla or strawberry protein powder (I get the 100 calorie smoothie packs from Walmart) (optional)*
- Dessert Alternative: (Roughly 400 calories, which is pretty decent for a dessert)
- Dark chocolate chips (2 tablespoons) (kept in the freezer, yum!)
- A scoop or two of peanut butter (1 or 2 tablespoons, depending on how you want your PB to chocolate chip ratio)
