Trying to lose 10 pounds at college!!

loveannabel

Hey!!! I'm currently a sophomore in college (second year university) and am aiming to lose ten pounds and then from there really focus on body weight exercises and getting STRONG rather than just skinny!! I'm new to MFP & would LOVE some people to befriend and keep each other motivated & positive!

rosebarnalice

Hi there!
I've been a college professor for 20 years (which meant that I was a college student for way more years than I care to admit BEFORE that!).

From what I've seen and experienced, there are three keys to avoiding weight gain in college:
* time management: set yourself up a schedule that includes class time, study/project time, meal time, workout time, and sleep time (sleep is key!), and work time. Sure, you may not be able to stick to it every week perfectly, but the more you can manage your own time the fewer times you'll have to stay up late, pull all nighters, grab a sticky bun at the coffee shop on the way to class, and graze on 3-day old pizza crust you find in the mini fridge, or miss your workout. If you're assigned to a group project, be that person in the group that sets up the calendar and schedules the meetings and steers the conversation to setting deadlines so that YOU can control YOUR time rather than worrying yourself into a tizzy waiting on your classmates to come through.
* KNOW your food service options and plan plan plan!: Whether you're on a full or partial meal plan or if you have some sort of flexi-cash program for local restaurants, or even if you're responsible for all your own meals, ruthlessly inform yourself about what's available where and when so you aren't caught making bad choices just because it's what's at hand. Surely the campus cafeteria has a salad bar and some hot vegetable options so you don't live on a diet of pizza and burgers. There might be one coffee shop or pocket diner on campus that has hummus and celery sticks. May sound funny, but even check out the various vending machines on campus. You might find one or two that have some quasi-reasonable choices that you can use in a pinch (I used to head for the one machine that had unsalted peanuts. . . passing by four soda machines and two other vending machines on the way.)
* Give yourself a break. There is an uncertainty to life in college. And you WILL eat pizza at 3 am, and you WILL pull an all nighter because some slacker in your project group didn't carry his or her own weight, and you WILL get your schedule totally discombobulated during finals week, and you WILL discover that you just don't have time between your 9:00 a.m. class and your 1:00 p.m. class to squeeze in a workout like you originally scheduled because that was the best time you could regularly meet with your advisor. You WILL experience having zero cash and you have to figure out how to live on half a box of Altoids Mints and a box of Cheerios for a week (and this is when you start scouring campus event notices for those magical words "refreshments provided!"). When those things happen, give it your best shot, but don't beat yourself up and move on. It could be that learning some self-care and discovering the strength of your own internal resiliency may be among the most important lessons you learn in college!

Trish1c

College was a long time ago for me. I went to a big school with a huge campus. We walked everywhere so weight loss was almost automatic, despite the high carb diet, the late night snacking & all the partying.

So up the amount of walking you do. Take the stairs as much as possible. Park as far away from class as you safely can. Wear your back correctly with all the books; the weight adds resistance. Go dancing every weekend. Play an IM sport. Fidget in class. Not enough to be distracting to the prof or other students but do ankle circles, clench & unclench muscle groups, etc.

Bring a refillable water bottle with you everywhere. If you do drink at the parties on the weekends, make sure you drink at least 1 pint of water for every alcoholic drink you consume. This helps with sobriety & preventing hangovers too.

kipwi

Adding

mwalle09

College was less than 10 years ago for me but I gained a ton of weight there, that is when I first joined mfp. You have a good idea about what you want to do, strong vs. skinny and you have a good goal of 10lbs to start with. But don't be married to the scale, as you get stronger your weight will matter less and less.