Disgruntled College Student

katiezi

HI everyone I'm new to this, but I really want to lose weight! I'm a college student and my goal is to lose about 20lbs! I'm in a hard situation as a college student. My roommate makes most of our dinners and she is an excellent cook, though she is an international student and doesn't really follow dietary guidelines. It's also hard to talk to her about groceries since she usually cooks I can't offer too many suggestions. My mother and I have been working on the flat belly diet and I am going to need help to keep going with it once school starts up again. Are there any suggestions anyone can offer about the grocery situation?

Other things about me, I'm actually pretty active but really need to change my eating habits. I like to run, hike and bike and have pretty good endurance than many smaller people I see at the gym. So what up with that?

mikaselm

I think going shopping together can be a big help. If you can go shopping with her, and she picks up a can of green beans, for example, flip it over and say "Ohh, look, this only has 20 calories!" or something like that. If you can't ever go shopping with her, maybe pick up some low calorie snacks, and talk about how they are so good for you? College roommies can be a tough situation to work in, and college is hard because you typically don't have alot of money, and I don't know about your campus, but at K-State, every event seems to come with free pizza or ice cream, or some other high-cal enticement to get people there.

Weeble91

hi katiezi! gotta love college living and eating! you did good by starting here...if you can track what you eat / hold your self accountable then that's the biggest start (for me anyway). as for your grocery question..not sure how groceries are bought but, some ideas are: go grocery shopping together; slpit the nights a week you each cook; check out the Eat This Not That books (they ROCK and have some easy switches that could add a health factor or delete a crap factor in the foods you're eating; know what is her recipies (if you know what you're eating, you can account for it and manage your calorie intake around what's for dinner); get into a good routine so that when you go back to school you keep on it (or close to it). for me, i like crap--i'm not gonna lie (just ate a special dark hershey bar actually). but with this site i can factor my crap intake with my activity and other foods. makes you at least think before eating. the Eat This, Not That books have made me change a few little things about what I eat that are bearable (Smucker Natural PB--NOT BEARABLE). They have an Eat This, Not That book for the supermarket--may want to invest and go through it with your roomie. Hope this helps...good luck to you!!!! ~weeble91

6Janelle13

think about portion control. I love cooking great food but if it i high calorie i eat less or just put a salad on the plate too. also one of MFP friends showed me this tasty web page with lightened up food that i lived on while away at college.

http://www.skinnytaste.com/

try offering to cook a few times a week also or put the crock pot to use. My husband and I eat different food so i do simple changes (ie he gets the tortillas he loves and i buy myself low carb low fat whole grain ones.) by doing that i can still make fillings we both love but i can save up to 100 calories with that change alone.

If you have a good enough relationship with her talk about your goals and ask if there are ways you can work together and make the delicious things a little lighter (ie using turkey or chicken and not starchy sides). My hubby loves working with me in the kitchen now. I can cook light and healthy but for every one pita pizza i make, he usually eats 11/2 to 2. I also offer extra toppings for him if ican budget it.

cooking is easy and once you find people and resources you trust, you both may find you feel better by eating better.

good luck.

Katherine912

I am in in the exact same boat as you. If your roommate doesn't want to eat healthy or make lower caloric foods, then you will just have to watch your portion control. Make sure you know your calorie counts of the meals and make sure you portion out your food so that it will not put you over your calorie budget. Also, I generally saved quite a few calories for the evening, so I could eat a decent portion at dinner. Hope this helps! Add me if you'd like!

6Janelle13

oh and watch liqiud calories! starbucks and alcohol are both evil to all college kids

wazabeth

When time to figure out what will be for dinner/lunch etc have the room mate make the grocery list. Then the both of you will go to the store and you will substitute some of the bad ingredience with a healthier choice and get the feed back from the room mate on the taste of the substituted ingredients. Let her know you want to lose weight around the waist (bring out the mesuring tape) and say "let's try something new and see if we can get it to taste the same!" Good luck.

mikeyml

Hi and welcome to the site! If I were in this kind of situation I would just be honest with her. I would say that I'm really trying to eat healthier and that I'd like to be more involved with the dinner selections. Like others have said you could go to the grocery store together and help pick out foods. Or maybe find a compromise on the foods you guys eat by making a menu for home.

katiezi

Thanks for all the suggestions!