New College Student

krystenxdevonne

Hi everyone I'm Krysten and I just started going to college this August and I've found my diet has gotten so much worse! They weren't kidding about the freshman 15! I haven't weighed myself since I moved here because I'm too scared! Haha well I bought tons of snacks the first week of school (pretty much all unhealthy) and I find myself eating them continuously throughout the day and I only have a couple dining halls to choose from to eat and I ended up eating a burger and french fries pretty much all the time. Yesterday I found out I'm going on a cruise in January and now I feel like I need to do something to not only get my diet more healthy but also exercise and get in shape! So if anyone has any pointers I would really appreciate it! I don't have a lot of money to go buy many other foods so I pretty much have to eat at the dining halls the majority of the time. But we have a huge gym on campus it's just a little ways from my dorm so I find myself not wanting to walk all the way over there. But I'm going to start going to classes next week like Zumba and Hip Hop so I think if I have fun exercising I will want to do it more. But yeah I need help with the eating and exercise so any help would be greatly appreciated!

wackedoutpet13

My experience with dining halls is that they can be a good place and a bad place for a diet. Depends on your will power, haha.

Good luck!

Feel free to add.

mallorybriann

Trust me, the freshman 15 turns into 100 lbs QUICKLY!
There are ways to cut cals easily.
-No soda.
-Take the bun off hamburgers or at least half of it.
-Eat a big breakfast.
-Don't buy the junk food. I don't even buy that stuff because I will eat it!
-Nix the mayo/creamy dressings/cream based soups etc.
-Take advantage of the gyms and classes. Even just jogging around campus. Get a group together, makes it easier.
-Walk or bike around campus.
-If your dining halls don't offer healthy choices, make them!

You can get healthy cheap foods easily. Beans, bulk items, frozen veggies, farmers markets.

Good luck!!!

Aviendha_RJ

Hey! I'm a college student too!

Costco. Trust me. You don't have to spend a lot... you don't have to eat ALL your meals at the campus cafeterias.

Get some Kashi cereal bars... Special K bars... Quaker Chewy Granola Bars... Yogurt Bars... Fruit Cups... Raisins... Nuts... Dried Fruit... Fruit-to-Go... If you spend $75, you'll only have to do it once a month. AND all your snacks are covered.

Also - Primo Soup at Costco... it's about $1 per can... microwaveable... & less than 200 calories for the whole can. Add a cereal bar, piece of fruit... Lunch = DONE.

I'm also a fan of cereal for breakfast. They have a bunch of good ones for dieting... Vector (at about HALF the grocery store price), Special K, Oatmeal Crisp... Quaker Instant Oatmeal... Breakfast... DONE.... Cheap calories. Dinner? Do your thing at the cafeteria. Just... No fries. Burgers will be ok, because you'll have leftover calories. Cereal & milk for breakfast is like, 300, soup & cereal bar is like, 300 for lunch. Leaves you like, 600 for dinner. Burger, salad... DONE. You're good. Even if you don't exercise.

It'll work out. Just... cafeterias are DEATH. Believe me. The freshmen 15 is an AVERAGE... I dropped it my first year... put it on when I was taking care of my Mom, but when she died of Cancer two years later, now I'm back in school & trying to take the stress-weight off. I've had to learn to eat healthily... & CHEAPLY.

Good luck with your studies!

jennp1313

Hey! I'm a college student too!

Costco. Trust me. You don't have to spend a lot... you don't have to eat ALL your meals at the campus cafeterias.

Get some Kashi cereal bars... Special K bars... Quaker Chewy Granola Bars... Yogurt Bars... Fruit Cups... Raisins... Nuts... Dried Fruit... Fruit-to-Go... If you spend $75, you'll only have to do it once a month. AND all your snacks are covered.

Also - Primo Soup at Costco... it's about $1 per can... microwaveable... & less than 200 calories for the whole can. Add a cereal bar, piece of fruit... Lunch = DONE.

I'm also a fan of cereal for breakfast. They have a bunch of good ones for dieting... Vector (at about HALF the grocery store price), Special K, Oatmeal Crisp... Quaker Instant Oatmeal... Breakfast... DONE.... Cheap calories. Dinner? Do your thing at the cafeteria. Just... No fries. Burgers will be ok, because you'll have leftover calories. Cereal & milk for breakfast is like, 300, soup & cereal bar is like, 300 for lunch. Leaves you like, 600 for dinner. Burger, salad... DONE. You're good. Even if you don't exercise.

It'll work out. Just... cafeterias are DEATH. Believe me. The freshmen 15 is an AVERAGE... I dropped it my first year... put it on when I was taking care of my Mom, but when she died of Cancer two years later, now I'm back in school & trying to take the stress-weight off. I've had to learn to eat healthily... & CHEAPLY.

Good luck with your studies!

Hey there. You're right, Costco is a great resource for cheap food. But be careful: a lot of that stuff is highly processed and filled with preservatives which may make losing weight more difficult, not to mention damage your health in other ways. Also, it's great that you are so on track with you're calorie intake (I'm not always so good!), but it sound like you might not be getting all the nutrients your body needs if you're only ever eaing the types of foods you mentioned. Variety is the key to overall good health. Anyways, good luck to both of you in college, and in losing weight!


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krystenxdevonne

Thanks for the tips everyone! I'm definitely working on the will power! With everyone around me eating unhealthy I just have to keep telling myself I will be healthier in the long run!

jennp1313

Absolutely! I know how you feel though; it's tough to stay on track while going to college. I just transferred to a university as well, and it seems like EVERYONE around me can eat whatever they want and not gain weight. I'm giving myself the same pep talk about the long run as you are :-) I don't have a whole lot of tips at this point, as I just started my health journey, but I'd be happy to share whatever new knowledge I pick up along the way! Do you have access to a stove, oven, blender, and/or microwave in the dorms? If so, I might have a few cheap recipes I could pass along.


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krystenxdevonne

Yes! It's nice to know someone is on the same page as me! All we can have in our dorms is a microwave so I have one of those. But they have an oven and stove in the downstairs common room so I could use that every once in a while if I need to. I would definitely appreciate some recipes!

mznisaelaine

I've gained the freshman 25 my first year! Very hard! And sad! But everyone is here to support you!