Alternative foods for students? And the ideal glass of water a day? Im desperate to loose pounds

katches_97

Ill be grateful if someone give me advices and help me. I just started using this app like minutes ago.

tlblood

I don't understand what you're meaning in terms of alternative foods for students, but will be happy to make suggestions if you can clarify your situation and what you're meaning.

The general recommendation for water is 64 oz. a day (8 8oz glasses), but I've heard that it's more helpful if you drink half of your weight (i.e.: a 150 pound person should drink 75 oz.). I try to hit 64 oz. minimum; the rest is bonus.

RodaRose

Start weighting your foods (get a food scale) and log in the diary carefully everyday. Notice places where you can reduce your calories.

feministzilla

I've been a student for 6 years now (I'm finishing my M.A. now) and for the first ... 5 years, I kept saying "I don't have time to lose weight because I don't have time to cook at home!"

First of all, that's pretty much B.S. I work and go to school and take care of family, but I can still squeeze in time to eat well and cook at home. It takes 30-45 minutes of your day.

1. Buy tons of tupperware. Get ready to eat leftovers
2. Buy lots of veggies. If you're on the go a lot, buy the pre-packaged stuff in the veggie aisle at your grocery store. Dinner + Lunch, mix different kinds together that you like, dump them in a tupperware thing, add a few tablespoons of water, and microwave it. This is a great, filling side, at very low calories.
3. If you like sweet potatoes, buy some!! They only take 5 minutes to make. Microwave a sweet potato, add VERY LITTLE butter, some cinnamon or brown sugar. 200 calorie or less side. With those veggies, it'll be like 250 calories or less.
4. Buy some deli meat and either wheat bread or, I use flat bread or sandwich rounds. Chicken and Turkey is the best, but I like ham. But ham is full of sodium so be careful. That should be less than 200 calories for a lunch sandwich. Include your veggies and your potato, and that's a 400-calorie lunch. Very filling, too.
5. Buy lots of fruits! Apples are SUPER FILLING! I cut them into slices because it takes me longer to eat them, and it makes me fuller, faster. Same with cucumber, if you like it. Cucumber gives me that "crunch" that I miss from unhealthy snacking foods. I also rotate out oranges, nectarines, bananas, strawberries, and grapes. I usually buy 2 kinds one week, 2 the next. Bananas have the most calories though, so eat those sparringly.
6. Stay away from granola bars. They won't fill you up as much as an apple can, and granola bars are filled with sugar and calories. They will be tempting, because they're "on the go", but instead, just throw a bunch of fruits or veggies into a sandwich bag, or tupperware, and you'll be good to go.
7. Whatever you make for dinner, put the seconds into your tupperware for lunch tomorrow
8. Steel-cut oatmeal is great for breakfast. If you don't like oatmeal, I have been eating banana cheereos (1 cup) dry for breakfast, along with some fruit. Adding milk will run you lots of calories. If you like almond milk, adding unsweetened vanilla almond milk isn't a bad option, and will be better calorie-wise than milk.
9. Yogurt is ok, but will run you lots of calories and sugar. Just be wary of labels.
10. Drink sweeteners and diet sodas are ok -- I've read that you should stay away if you can because it drives up your dependence on sweet things, but if you're weaning from sodas, I think a diet soda or two might be ok. I add 0 calorie flavor to my water sometimes, if i'm craving something sweet.
11. Be wary of sauces and dressings -- avoid pre-made salads for this reason. If you can, start swapping sauces for spices. I like to add pepper and garlic to a lot of what I eat, and I can cut down on how much sauce I use for meats and the like.
12. Salads are ok, but you'll get bored of these fast. There are a lot of low calorie things you can eat instead that won't make you feel like a rabbit. Don't feel pressured to stick to salads.
13. As I said, tupperware and sandwich bags for 2go things are your best friend. You can find a microwave on your school campus in lots of places. Same with most workplaces. invest in a nice lunchbox
14. You should be drinking around 91 oz of water a day. I have a large waterbottle that has a small manual ticker that counts how many bottles I drink per day. I would say I drink around 3-4. The general rule of thumb is, 1 before lunch, 1 before dinner, 1 before bed. Get ready to pee 8x a day. that's normal, and will get less annoying. All the water will make you feel GREAT though!
15. If you must eat out, ask for a nutrition/calorie menu. Google "eat this, not that" + the restaurant name. Expect to eat a lot of chicken sandwiches, since there's not much else at restaurants you can trust. Wendys, you can get apples + chili + chicken sandwich for about 8 bucks and 500 calories. Same with Chick-fil-a's chicken sandwich and fruit bowl. The low-calorie options are everywhere once you start looking.

If you have any other questions, let me know. This is weight loss advice I would give to any 20-something. I've lost 30 lbs in 3 months by sticking to this.

Aim to lose 1-1.5 lbs per week. Don't go 2lbs per week using the calorie tracker. It will seem too difficult at first. Don't be in a rush. Instead, think of it as a lifestyle change and aim for 1400-1700 calories a day. It will get very easy once you know how many low-calorie options there are out there.

feministzilla

Also, start a exercise regiment. I walk for about 45 minutes a few times a week. That will shave off ~300-600 calories for your weekly calorie goal.

katches_97

Thank you feministzilla! I really really appreciate it. Im conscious about the foods ill take but i like your suggetions and ill do it, but not all because our microwave is broken haha. But i do like to walk though and im used to it.

Khukhullatus

Drink when you're thirsty. Unless you are exercising, or in extremely hot weather, your body will tell you when you need to drink.

The eight glasses of water a day thing is nonsense. It's based on ridiculously outdated research, it doesn't adjust for body size or environment, and the recommendation of eight glasses included the water you get from food. That might not seem like a lot, but even something like a slice of bread is mostly water by weight.

Just try to have a water bottle around and you'll find that your body is really really good at self regulating it's water needs.