We all have heard about the Freshman 15, for me it was the opposite. I started DROPPING weight when I came to school and ever since my freshman year I have weighed the same, about 95 pounds. It sounds like not very much, but when you're only 5'1" it's not that bad. I understand that its hard to workout when you have school, work, and a social life, believe me I face that struggle everyday. It also is super easy to choose Taco Bell over a salad. Honestly, that is my biggest problem, I have a love hate relationship with Taco Bell. I love the food, but the food does not love me. I tend to eat when I'm stressed, and that is a huge contributor to weight gain. Here are the best things I've come up with to help you stay (somewhat) healthy in college, without stressing yourself out more.
- Set up a schedule. Do it in your Lilly planner, or write it on a calendar, but choose a day where you don't have too much going on and get to it. I usually choose Tuesday's, Thursdays, and Sunday's because I don't have school on those days.
- Buddy up. Go with a friend or someone you like hanging out with. Honestly, I have even gone with my mom and she's an awesome gym buddy. It's fun to have a little mother-daughter competition going between us.
- Avoid the late night Taco Bell run. I am the worst at this. Your body wants to avoid digesting food that late in the day, so set a cut off time, and don't eat after that time.
- If you're going to snack, snack on something besides candy and chips. My favorite snack has become the Boom Chicka Pop popcorn. It comes in tons of different flavors, and it is low in calories, it's gluten free and all natural too.
- You don't have to have a food diary to be watching what you eat. Try to make sure that in every meal you eat you have something from every food group. Your body will thank you for it.
- Buy some cute workout gear. Nothing makes you feel better than a cute new sports bra from Victoria's Secret. It makes you feel good about yourself, and pushes you to look even better.
- Choose walking or biking over a car ride. Sometimes it's good to go for a walk, or ride your bike. Same goes for choosing the stairs over the elevator. Both are little things, but over time, they can make a huge difference.
- Dance it out. Dance is one of the best exercises out there. I dance when I'm cooking dinner, I dance in the shower, in the car and if I had a boyfriend, I would dance with him around the kitchen. It's a fun way to burn calories.
- Take advantage of the beautiful Rec we have! They offer free classes quite often if you need the group setting. Besides that, it's totally worth getting up, walking over there, picking a machine, and getting to work.
No one is perfect, and you don't have to be a diehard workout fan to stay healthy. It's all about the little things you do that add up to make you feel better. For me, my goal isn't to lose weight, I just want to tone, maintain, and live a long time. I'm still working on it but hopefully when I'm 45 with two kids, I wont feel awful about dancing around in the living room with my kids. If you need a gym buddy, let me know!
