College and Weight Loss

NeverGiveUpKMV

Hello everyone!

I'm not new here (have actually been a member for about 2 years), but this is my first post!

I'm a 19 y/o female looking for friends and motivation.

I recently started college and with that began my weight loss journey, I have some very big goals in life.

Height: 6'1
SW: 245 lbs (as heavy as 260)
CW: 205 lbs
GW: 180 lbs (and then build muscle up to 200 lbs)

With college, I'm also an athlete and lifting is key to me!

If anyone is in the same boat as me whether that be with athletics, college, or lifting, I would love to hear from you!

One of my biggest struggles is eating clean and healthy because of my location (dorm room and campus food).

Please don't hesitate to respond,
"K"

MKEgal

Instead of trying to rebuild 20 lb of muscle, which is going to be really hard (assuming you're a normal,
natural woman with normal hormones), be doing weightlifting all along so you preserve what muscle you
currently have. Eat at a moderate calorie deficit, with lots of protein, and you will slowly lose fat while
preserving muscle. You might even get stronger, though at a deficit and with so little weight to lose it's
unlikely you'd build muscle.

These might be helpful:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/

http://fitness.bizcalcs.com/Calculator.asp?Calc=Body-Fat-Navy

MKEgal

And BTW, "eating clean" is meaningless, other than washing germs & dirt off your food.
Choose more of the foods which are less processed and/or more nutrient-dense,
and less of the foods which are more processed and/or less nutrient-dense.

You don't have to go to extremes or do any fad diet.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/2014-08-10-newbie-help-post-685689

Definitely read sexypants, which is the first thing linked there.

This calculator will tell you not only your BMI, but how many servings of various foods to eat to maintain that weight. If you enter your healthy goal weight from a BMI chart, or play with the weight to get in the healthy BMI range, this will help you plan your food intake.
https://www.bcm.edu/cnrc-apps/healthyeatingcalculator/eatingCal.html

NeverGiveUpKMV

Thank you so much for the insightful replies!

Yes, by "eating clean" I meant getting away from all the icky, highly processed junk foods.

The sexypants post is definitely helpful. So many great people on this site, and such a nice community.

The BMI calculator will be very helpful too, I was a little worried about the whole maintaining your goal weight thing once you get there.

I have been lifting 3-4 days a week for about 5 months now, and I have been seeing gains while losing weight thus far. We focus mostly on olympic lifts with core every day.

Will do more research into getting the proper amount of protein in my diet! I'm using shakes right now, but want to incorporate actual animal protein in their too (mainly chicken breast). It's hard to find those (chicken) on a college campus without them being pumped with sodium or deep fired

Again, thank you for your advice, I greatly appreciate it

LauratheViolinist

I'm also 19, female and in college! Losing weight while in college is definitely tough! I generally lose most of my weight when I'm at home. I have an apartment on campus but since I don't have a car, I don't have easy access to a grocery store. Fortunately, when I get a car next year, it'll be easier to cook more meals for myself instead of resorting to campus food.

amandammmq

I remember how hard it was to eat healthfully during college! There are so many food options, and it is tempting to overeat all of the choices. Plus, I hated that the cafeteria was only open certain hours... I think it made me overeat for fear I'd get hungry later when there was no food available to me. I'd take home a banana or an apple as a snack for later. To try and eat healthfully, I'd hit up the salad bar for at least one meal a day, and mix my own salad dressing (oil, vinegar, mustard, some herbs) from what was available rather than using the preservative laden premade options.
Also remember that beer has a LOT of calories. I know you said you're 19, but that is not always a deterrent! ;-)

elle_bear_11

Hey.. I'm 22;) same plan for me, trying to be healthy at college is not easy!
I started ad 154 and im 5'9, am now at 138.. Still a lot to do, but keep at it, its worth it..and sometimes when I'm having a bad day, junk food does help lol

NeverGiveUpKMV

I have to live in the dorms for one more year, but I'm counting down the days as it will make cooking so much easier!

I just found out today at our on campus restaurant you can order a grilled chicken breast with roasted vegetables (Win!), so I'll probably hit that up a few times a week since I'm on a meal plan.

I've found that losing the weight has been easier here, mostly due to me being too lazy to go to our Student Union to get food. I really want to get more involved with cardio though, and that's where I'm struggling.

I have to agree that junk food has it's place once in a blue moon

Yes about the beer too! Not being a drinker, that advice is not hard to follow, but that definitely made me smile!

stracenator92

As a fellow athlete I understand the struggle. Especially since I too face the struggle of being too lazy to go get food sometimes, or only having bad food. But I've sucked it up and bought groceries in order to make it better meals, my insides thank me.

NoIdea101NoIdea

I seem to be one of those rare people who actually lost a lot of weight during college! I was very active as my campus was a fair walk up a hill from where i lived which helped.

I was also poor as hell, which strangely helped. I was forced to buy 'basics' foods (supermarket branded) which aren't the tastiest, but it forced me to learn to cook to find ways of 'spicing them up' a bit. It's amazing what just a few herbs and spices can do!

Another thing that helped me was discovering when the local shops put their 'reduced' foods out and raiding that for veggies and meat; the veggies will need using within a couple of days as they are usually wilting or starting to turn, but the meat can always be frozen and used later. I think this was one of the most important things i learnt when it comes to living on a budget as you can really cut your spending this way!

(Also, i think i must have spent an exceptionally poor month eating nothing but rice and baked beans. I still choose to eat it as a meal to this day. So yummy ).

Good luck