Losing weight in college

apeyboo

Hello! So I am back in college and really want to keep up with my weight loss. I gained my Freshman 30 last year, and I lost about 10-15 pounds of it over the summer I am still trying to lose the rest of it. Currently I probably eat 2 meals a day and a snack. My lunch usually consists of a turkey burrito, or a turkey sandwich on wheat bread. I usually pair it up with a bowl of fruit. For dinner it changes. I will usually eat anything the cafeteria cooks which could be grilled chicken, or pasta. I always get a good portion size for my body. I'm not full full but I'm not hungry either. Then I'll usually have a protein bar sometime during the day since I do workout so much. A typical Monday workout would be racquetball with my friend for about an hour. Then later on in the day I go to the gym and do the elliptical for 30 minutes and may add in 20 minutes on the bike. Wednesday's I do an hour of circuit training and that's all. My other days usually look like Monday. I workout Monday-Friday. I was wondering how long it would talk me to lose 15-20 pounds. I do drink plenty of water and get enough sleep. I am now cutting alcohol completely out of my diet. So no more thirsty Thursday's. I would love to lose 10 more pounds by halloween. But I am in no hurry for the weightloss, I just want a general idea. Thanks. And if you have any fitness tips I am open to new ideas. Running is not an option because of my knee problem which is why I do the elliptical. I am currently 165-170 pounds. It fluctuates often. My goal weight is to be 140.

eringrace95_

Have you calculated your TDEE? As long as you are eating around 500 under that and staying active you're fine!

apeyboo

How do you calculate the TDEE?

MlleKelly

Girl, when I did a dry month (no alcohol for 4 weeks....aie!) I dropped more weight than I did exercising more or changing my diet. Depending on how much you drink and how often, cutting the alcohol will help enormously on its own. Make sure you're fueling yourself properly before AND after workouts so that your workouts aren't just sweat sessions...make your body work for you!

In my first few years of college, I went from average high school size (not tiny skinny high schooler...average) to 226 pounds (I'm 5'8"!). I really don't know how much I gained because I don't know how much I weighed before college, but it had to have been 40-50lbs. It was bad habits. Eating out, not working out consistently, staying up late, drinking, etc. My senior year, I got serious and changed my diet - I became mostly vegetarian - cooked for myself, stopped drinking so much, and added in regular exercise.

I got down to 165 after about 3 years, and I'm still around 170 (trying to get below 160!).

My biggest bits of advice for not gaining/actively losing while in college are:
1. Make sure you're not mindlessly snacking while studying or hanging out with friends. Sometimes you don't even realize!
2. Make active dates with friends - hiking, biking, walking, tennis, etc instead of dinner/drinking dates.
3. PLAN when you are going to eat! I know classes can be crazy and schedules get crammed, so sometimes we forget to eat or have to eat whatever is handy. PLAN PLAN PLAN.
4. Don't let weekends derail you entirely. It's great to have a routine Monday - Friday and to let loose a little over the weekend, but don't get TOO crazy. Even if you're not going to the gym, stay active.

Good luck!

MlleKelly

Here's a great website for easy, delicious meals to make at home (with minimal equipment!) that are college-budget friendly: BudgetBytes.com

sweetteadrinker2

MlleKelly wrote: »

3. PLAN when you are going to eat! I know classes can be crazy and schedules get crammed, so sometimes we forget to eat or have to eat whatever is handy. PLAN PLAN PLAN.

This. I'm also in college and trying to lose weight at the same time. Make your own food, batch cook if you can. Cafeteria food is a giant no go for me unless it's something like celery and peanut butter. Take food with you everywhere.

REMEMBER TO FREAKING EAT! I know my classmates and I are horrible about this. When you start at 6am and go till 9pm it can be hard to grab lunch. Pre-make, pre-pack, pre-log and eat on the run. Mason jars seal well and are freezer, fridge and microwave safe.

threadmad

There are lots of websites with TDEE calculators. Google it and you'll get about a million hits. I'd paste one but haven't been able.to do that in MFP. ,/heavy sigh/