The OFFICIAL University/College Challenge

andforpoise

I'm 20 years old, studying Psychology with Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Leicester.

Current weight: 208lbs (haven't weighed my self for 2 weeks, don't plan on doing so for another week. My scales are at home :P)

Goal for the end of November: 202lbs

As for recipes, I generally cook what I want. I pretty much know what flavours work/don't work together and so go along those lines. I hate following recipes, and even when I do, I always tweak them to suit me. Cooking this way allows me to cook in a more healthier way and its really so much more fun! I love cooking!

Welcome! I am a Psych/Neuro major too! I'm not liking the Neuro as much as I thought I would because my brain isn't wired for science...but I like the arts base of Psych... and I really want to study therapy of some sort...either Play Therapy or Music Therapy

As for the challenge swinginchandra... I wish you well! I don't think I'd be able to do that...I like chocolate and ice cream too much... I thought that would be my down fall throughout this whole thing, but I've taught myself to eat for survival and not pleasure, so that's been working well... HOWEVER, I am at home for the week (break from school so I decided to hop on a plane and fly out to see the fam) and they have leftover halloween treats and I went for pizza with friends tonight... I am fortunate that my stomach is unable to handle too much overindulgence and I haven't gained yet... but it's only been a day so far! Going to try and do something active, like maybe a hike with my cousin, before the end of the trip just because I'm going to need to clear my head from the family drama! And get active! And because I miss the beautiful scenery of this part of Ontario!

So my challenge for this week is: try to get active at least once this week; try to avoid over-indulgence; and look DAMN SEXY when I have to "run into" my ex at the social event we're both going to be at tomorrow night... WITHOUT overindulging on the Jack Daniels to keep me sane... sounds bad, but that's how it goes... the perks of growing up in a small town...

Ooo and I forgot... weigh-in: this morning: 157.7... Wow! Is all I have to say... it keeps dropping after being on plateau for almost a month and only slowly losing...

LittleMissAlx

Swinginchandra, I'd love to try that, but don't think I'd ever manage cutting it out entirely for so long. Particularly on run days when I struggle to eat back all my calories as it is. I could definitely work on cutting down of the sugar though. Like setting a daily limit of calories that can be spent on non healthy foods. Assuming I exercise those days of course.

Andforpoise, you will indeed look damn sexy, and he'll just feel a complete fool for letting you go. I think a little bit of JD is allowed in such a situation! And yeah, I totally hear you. My mum lives literally 1 min away from my ex that's she's got her heart set on my marrying - she's going to be gutted when she finds out the truth! Lol.

LittleMissAlx

I've just discovered Graze boxes. I don't know if they're just a UK thing, but basically you go to the website and sign up, rate the food options on there as to whether you want to bin, try, like or love them, and then they send you out a box with a random choice of 4 in there based on your ratings as often as you specify. They have all sorts of things - from dried fruit to bread, olives and dips, nuts and some with chocolate in, and each little serving comes with nutrients and calorie counts. This is totally awesome for me - I'm a bit of a picky eater with regards to trying things, but I like the idea of having little boxes of snacks to munch through during class (just to absent mindedly grab at), and this is encouraging me to try new things when they arrive - and it has to be more healthy than what I have been doing. Even if I just find a few new options I like and then I could make my own bags of munchies lol.

I've got a code so you can sign up and get a free box if anyone is interested (you can then cancel your account afterwards if you just want a one off free food lol).

Anyway, life has gone back to normal after last weekend and the stomach bug. Back on track with the running plan, and my weight hasn't really changed at all so that's good. Hard core revision starts this weekend, eek, but we have a nice dinner planned for after my long run on Sunday, so trying to keep a mixture of work and play - not something I usually manage, but a better balance couldn't hurt mentally!

swinginchandra

yuck!!! I kinda severely damaged my hip snowboarding!! Boo. I feel my weightloss and new lifestyle in a treacherous position right now... I need to really kick it back into good habits.

Second round of P90X starts monday. I did hit my goal for the semester, but I think some of the loss was muscle tone .

LittleMissAlx

Aww no! That's rubbish. That's what scares me most, actually - injuring myself whilst running and then only being able to maintain through eating properly, not being able to make it ok with exercise. Hopefully you've not done anything too serious? Have you seen a doctor about it? Maybe there's something you can still do exercise wise that puts less strain on it

swinginchandra

yeah, they took me to the emergency room, got xrays and stuff... unfortunately I pulled an ab muscle plus took a nick out of a bone in my illiac crest area, which makes any kind of workout hard to do. Man, I'm trying though! Must keep up!

Amy

LittleMissAlx

Ouch! Bet that hurts! Only real suggestion I have is swimming, because at least then you're not putting any force on it. But I always find that so hard to do during term time, never know when the lanes will be quiet etc. But maybe?

swinginchandra

typing this from an elliptical, which seems to be fine, if not really really boring! Thanks for the support guys!

Also this is sending me back to weight lifting, which I think is good. Started a modified P90X yesterday... Woop. Is it too early to start saying I'm goign to be hot by swimsuit season?

Good luck to everyone through the holidays!

andforpoise

YIkes! That's one thing that scares me about being active - injury! I hope you're doing well!

I haven't popped in here for awhile now... I went home for a week, and then got back and things picked up and whammo - another week gone... and now only 3 weeks til I go home for Christmas! So only 3 weeks to lose.... 7 lbs! Can I do it? Here's hoping! I've lost 2 lbs this week (down to 156), and it seems mostly from finally adding in some significant exercise time. Have also noticed that said exercise time has been alleviating anxiety symptoms - killing two birds with one stone so to speak! Yea, I've decided that I'm going to train for a 5K that happens towards the mid-end of May...according to a plan from Runner's World, I should be able to run it in 31:55... but I think I should be able to do it quicker... I've got LOADS of training time. Anyone got any tips?

Overall, feeling pretty great! I still can't believe it when I tell myself that I've gone from being 43 lbs overweight now to only 6.... and the motivation to keep going is still so strong! I'm going to get you goal! People keep telling me to be careful (like my health nut bro-in-law for instance... and some of my friends) I say I have another 20+ lbs to lose... they say that's too much... I've lost 37 lbs so far (from 193 to 156) any opinions? I just want to be at a weight that, if I do slip up and gain a bit, I won't be considered overweight (for me that magical number is 130-135).

Oh and PS... in relation to my last post here... the ex, totally hitting on me that night... and then again via FB when I got back to Halifax - pig lol

LittleMissAlx

When I trained for my 5k, I did normal speed runs, sprints, and tempo runs, to get my legs used to working at faster speeds. Also, best advice I had was to really back it off the week before the race, something I found ridiculously hard to do at the time. Gave my body time to recover and I ran it at 24:12. You've got loads of time, I'm sure you'll beat that time

I think you need to stop losing weight when you reach a stage when you feel comfortable. I stopped a little before my goal because I was happy with how my body looked and I thought if I lost anymore, then I'd look too skinny and fragile. That's something only you can decide. If the number you are aiming for is healthy, then I don't see any reason why you shouldn't go for it if you want to. Having a little range for slip ups is good. Though maintenance people tend to look at their weight as a range, as opposed to a specific number. That way it has some way to fluctuate e.g. my goal weight is 125, but my range is 124-127, so I only deal with it if I go outside of those numbers.

And yes! Go you. Men are totally stupid. I mean, not to hit on you, that's what we expected :P But to let go of something and realise too late.

LittleMissAlx

Posted that, then realised I didn't really update on me.

My weight was all over the place this week. Started off way out of my range (sad) so dropped my calories, and it then spent most of the week going up, down, up, down, and finally now I've had two down days and it's in range, so I think that should be fine now. I'm one of those people who eat more cake etc when it's dark and cold outside, apparently. I hadn't even craved it for ages before that happened, but heck, now I'm a crazy cake eating woman.

Fiance hasn't had such a good week. He's got about 30lb to lose, and despite eating properly and exercising, the scale hasn't been going in the direction he wanted. Think he's lost 4lb in about 4 weeks, though on the plus side, he has lost 3inches round his waist - so obviously something is working! But, he doesn't really see this. He just looks at the number of the scale, yells at inanimate objects, then sits and sighs loudly for hours after, in a proper grump. It came to a head on Thurs, when I finally lost my temper - he was looking at even more low calories diets - and I know he'd lose weight, but he'd be even more hungry, less able to exercise, more fricking grumpy, and then when he went back to normal food, he'd put weight back on. So, after what was the closest thing to our first argument, he's sticking to the normal diet until Christmas, and going to try to look at the big picture. Fingers crossed his measurements continue to drop, even if the scale refuses to!

andforpoise

Hey! Thanks for the tips .... Setting up a range sounds good! I didn't really think of it that way. And with the 5K training, did you come up with that on your own? Or did you follow a plan? Either way, it sounds like a good way to go about it!

Crazy cake eating woman aha...that's a funny description :P Made me laugh a little out loud :P Sounds like you're back on track though! And a little cake binge now and then won't kill ya You have the tools and resources to realize when enough's enough and to get back into the game! That's what I tell myself when I have a slip-up... it's like... okay, you did this, probably not your best decision, but hey you know how to get back in the game!

Sending good vibes on the weight loss to your fiancee! It's tough! Is he on MFP? Maybe he'd get some inspiration/support from others like him if he is/was?

LittleMissAlx

I'm not sure where the plan came from. Fiance worked it out for me, I can ask where he got it from, probably runners world. Lots of good information on there. Or I can dig it out and send it to you somehow?

That's the thing, recognising that a mistake isn't the end of the world, then getting back on track. Really is a lifestyle choice. Been trying to substitute with dried fruit. Have a new addiction to cranberries this week. Using them to make my own snack boxes.

He is, but he doesn't really use the forums. Just uses the calorie tracker. He does seem to read different forums but he's not a big one for participating. Scale dropped for him this morning, so hopefully it keeps on doing that

andforpoise

The plan I started following is from runner's world too... what a great company they have going there! They have the site, the magazine and books! I bought their little beginners book last week and am enjoying that too...and it was cheap, so that was a plus! Love how they have so much free info on their site though!

Dried cranberries are amazing! What else do you put in your snack boxes?

LittleMissAlx

A few chocolate buttons (bad, I suppose but fine in small quantities lol) and dried apple, though I'm not quite obsessed with that yet, a bit like flavoured rubber! Looking for another alternative.

andforpoise

dried mango and peaches are good Banana chips? They'd go well with chocolate buttons! If you like bananas that is...

swinginchandra

oooh, I second the dried mango, it's one of my favorites!!

LittleMissAlx

Ooh, shall have to try it. 2nd graze box came today, had lots more new things to try - chutney, blackberries, coconut - sounds mad I know, but I've never really tried any of these things and have probably been missing out!

andforpoise

mmm chutney! What kind did they send you? There's this market here in Halifax, NS that sells samosas with mango chutney... very yummy!

I thought I would update for this week, since I am wide awake with a little bit of excitement... after volunteering at the hospital tomorrow, I have a date! It's been forever since I've been able to say this... and I'm feeling super good about it too! I told my aunt about it and she said to me "you're looking and feeling great, stay confident and have fun with it!" So that's exactly what I'm going to do, fun and no expectations

As for weight/habits... this week eating has been good... a couple days where I didn't eat all of my calories... because I burned significant amounts and then wasn't hungry... it's a little odd...usually when I exercise I want to eat everything in sight! Weight down another pound - 155 now... so that means about 15 to go til the high end of my goal range.... I'm excited about that! Had an issue with my scale this morning though... got on it and it told me 158...then flashed to 157... so I got off of it and stepped back on again and it read 155...and then got off of it again and stepped back on just to make sure... still 155! With all the running I've been doing, there's no reason for it to be higher than that! Been doing well with the running too... so that makes me happy

So anyone got any personal challenges set for themselves for the next week? Weight or non weight related? Mine is to actually get my lab report done in time for revisions to take place...instead of last minute and handing it in the way it is! I'm bad for that!

LittleMissAlx

Bramley apple and pear chutney. Sounds intriguing, and comes with tiny bread as well.

Ooh, sounds exciting! And that's a good attitude about it. I'm sure you'll have a great time!

Weight and habits wise, I'm within my range, though still eating 200less calories/day than I had been doing. Am trying to get to the lower end of my range so that when I go home over Christmas and get fed up by my Mum and am unable to do exercise, then there won't be too much long term damage. But it's not really happening. Weight is just sitting at top end, but still plenty of time. Not going home until the 20th. Which... (this will sound a bit bizarre)... is the day my fiance is going to repropose so we can tell the families about it. So my head is kinda filled with freaking out about making it all official (my Mum might not take it too well, lol), and freaking out about my uni exams in a couple of weeks. I think my challenge should be keeping my mind occupied on things that don't make me freak out when I do allow myself free time - last day of lectures today so should have plenty of time to go to gym classes and do my runs etc, and I have my revision planned out to the last minute for every day coming lol.