Motivation to eat right in college?!

amyyo523

Hi! I am new to this board and I have been trying to lose some weight for a long time...but I always have such troubles because everyone around me is doing their thing, getting sodas every day, etc. How do I stay motivated on my own?! Thankss

brittg7

by realizing its for me and i want to look good and so i choose to eat healthy and exercise more than normal...i get **** for it, like tonight i went to dinner and was logging my food and my friend gave me crap for logging and counting caloires...i didnt really care because in the end not doing it would drive me nuts. i want to lose weight and to do that i have to be on top of my ****.

you have to focus on you and if it means turning down a night of drinking and being the DD i do it, or by skipping out on sweets when offered because they dont fit in calorie wise i do it...the weight loss is for me, i want to love me again and be confident.

the motivation has to be internally and this site for me has really helped me find support for those days when saying no is tough...

sc1572

I'm a college student too, feel free to add me! I lost 15 instead of gained my freshman year. It's hard, but you just gotta hold your head up!

Jorra

Remember who you are doing this for. Remember that being healthy will help you in all aspects of life. You'll have more energy than the person who is suffering from soda sugar crashes all day and drinking all night. (Gross generalization of course...)

Don't forget to enjoy yourself too, you can share a pizza with your friends every once in a while.

semhe

I have that same problem at work. All the girls are always ordering out foods and drinkin soda and juice. What i do is try to always show up with a bottle of water, maybe a crystal light drink mix and if I feel the need to order food with them, i make sure its just a salad, u just gotta make good decisions. set a goal, mine at first was that id only drink diet soda, now its that i only drink water and can have a soda once a week. also, i tell myself that ordering food is just a treat on paydays. ALWAYS PACK FOODS WITH YOU and make sure you keep cabinets full of healthy snacks. if you have a granola bar in ur pocket, ur not gonna get something from the snack machines in the hallways. it takes a while to get into healthy habits, just dont beat urself up when u slip

MissbusyLizzie

I wish I would have started this when I was younger. I always tried, but really only saw success after I was out of college. It is HARD, but most things that are worth it are. Keep pushing yourself! I think I would have been a lot more confident and outgoing if I had. Just remember, YOU might change other people's habits by showing them you are making healthy choices and seeing results. Who cares if they are drinking soda. I bet they will be understanding of your life style changes. Just remember to have some fun, too!

ericalynn104

For me a big thing is remembering why I want to lose weight. It's not easy when you are surrounded by that, but if your mind is set, you really can do it! Good luck!

Feel free to add me!

Le_Joy

Carry a water bottle with you EVERYWHERE! That should help with avoiding sodas/coffee etc. And you can add emergen-c or crystal light or something like that if you don't like plain water. Also if you have the app on your phone you can enter food as you eat it and know when you have to stop. Some people may bother you about it but if you really want to lose weight you have to learn to ignore those people.

SnuggieMeeko

Im in college.

psychochillie

You are in the easiest phase of your life to improve your health! You likely are only responsible for feeding yourself (as opposed to a whole family) and you have heaps of down time, you can use for preparing good food and moderate amounts of exercise.

If you have peer pressure from friends to go with the flow, then I suggest you reconsider those friendships. Are people really worth having as friends if they aren't going to support your good efforts? An open and honest conversation with them should change their tune, otherwise you might like to find better friends.

Finding other reasons for losing weight and getting fitter would help. Just wanting to look good doesn't provide much motivation. What about your life long health? What about looking awesome, not just on the beach next month, but for the next 60 years? What about being fit and strong, so you rarely, if ever, get sick? In the future, what about setting an excellent example of health for your kids? (They will follow you.) Be an example of health to your friends too. Does drinking the sodas (or other junk) lead to good health or poor health? Are you loving yourself when you drink those?

If you do love to have a soda (or other junk food treat) then have it! Only occasionally though. Depriving yourself too much can be very de-motivating.

Hope these suggestions help.
From Heidi

acarter33664

I'm in college as well, and for me it's hard too. Each day, I remind myself that I'm doing this for me, so that I can be healthier, look and feel better about myself. Two of my friends are on the lose weight eat healthier mission with me, but even they aren't as strict. I carry a water bottle with me to the food court, and Tuesday will be 14 days without drinking anything but water. To keep myself from over eating, I carry my ereader with me everywhere on campus. It has the MFP app on it, and I plan what I'm going to eat before I actually eat it. I think truly what keeps me motivated is the fact that so many times I've tried and failed, but I'm tired of failing and I'm determined to keep this up and see results.

katharine1229

I wish I had thought to think of posting something like this question somewhere when I first entered college. Or that future me could even go back and just say to myself 'i don't care if you lose weight or not right now...just DONT GAIN ANYTHING. That in itself with the amount of school work and wanting to go out and drinking and meeting people, would have been an easy enough goal ya know? Just don't gain anything if you are already within a healthy weight, and if you are not, go slow with the weight loss. If you achieve results faster yay if not no worries, just promise yourself not to backtrack.

SouthernBell86

So, being a dork I used to read lots of academic journals that my University had sitting around the library. I found an interesting study done (obviously can't remember the journal title or anything now, so...no citation! Sorry!) about the effects calorie restriction can have on your brain, and why it is hard to lose weight in college.

Basically, your brain needs a certain about of glycerin in order to exercise will power. As a student, most if not all of that will power is usually directed to going to class and studying. That is one reason why so many people find themselves having good intentions for dieting, drinking less alcohol, not going to parties or whatever, and then totally caving under the littlest amount of pressure.

Your brain literally has to have energy in order to exercise will power.

The conclusion was that if you are a student who wants to lose weight, you will probably have to keep smaller, realistic goals, and also follow a grazing diet where you eat throughout the day. If you only plan to eat three big meals, your glycerin levels will get low between, and you will find yourself grabbing something from the vending machine, or freezer without thinking about it.

My suggestion for you is to eat six small meals a day, and carry a couple of healthy low calorie snacks in your bag with you at all times. That way if you are studying, in class and you feel yourself feeling mentally exhausted and wanting a snickers bar or chips or a soft drink or whatever you have something easy to reach for that won't break your diet. Focus on getting in some good complex carbs that digest more slowly, and this should help keep the amount of glycerin your brain can access more even throughout the day as well.

The other suggestion is to be okay with not losing weight fast. Look yourself in the mirror each morning and tell yourself you are beautiful the way you are. Write it on a post it note and put it on your mirror as a reminder!

Remember to have fun too! Give yourself permission to eat one or two pieces of pizza on Friday or Saturday night, and let yourself share some ice cream with the girls occasionally. As long as you keep the portion sizes down and it isn't everyday this really won't destroy your diet!

Good luck!

Losing weight for health purposes is great, but if it takes you longer due to circumstances don't let that upset you!