Dieting in College

jhuff

Hello everybody!

I was originally 155 lbs my senior year in high school. (This is when I was 135 lbs my junior year). I gained 20 lbs for several reasons, and became extremely unhappy with myself so over the course of the second semester of 12th grade and this last summer, I dropped to 138. Now, as a freshman in college I'm up at 142 lbs, & I want to get down to 130 lbs.

The problem is that I'm so busy, and I find myself being hungry alllll the time. When you live in a dorm, and you're a broke college student, its difficult finding healthy snacks to keep on me that fill me up when I'm constantly on the go.

Does anyone have any snack ideas that are filling (without being too calorie heavy), cost effective, and require little to no preparation? And what's the best way to keep my energy level up? Some days I'm so tired from studying that I end up taking a three hour "nap" instead of going to the gym, haha.

Thanks!

BrendaLee

Bananas are pretty much a perfect food and make a great inexpensive snack- they also boost energy. Apples are good too. Get a can or bottle of almonds and divide them up into little plastic bags so you can grab one in a hurry for a snack. Your favorite cereal can be a good snack too if you like it without milk. I'm a big fan of Vegetable Thins crackers & cheese as well.

Make sure you're packing a lot of nutrition into every calorie...especially if you can't afford a lot of food. It wouldn't hurt to grab a multivitamin as well. Centrum Forte is a good, complete and inexpensive multi.

jhuff

Those ideas all sound great (and yummy!). Thanks (:

ranibauer

Eggs are good for breakfast, or snacks as hard boiled, or sandwiches. I personally feel like cereal has gotten really expensive lately... FIber Plus granola bars are yummy and have lots of fiber. Just try and find the healthiest version of what you can afford and don't eat past a certain time (like 10pm) cuz most college weight gain is from eating late and eating fast foods. Also, if you drink coffee watch your creamer measurments, or calories at Starbucks, those can add up!

Ktbell626

100 calorie snack packs are my favorite. You can find them in the cookie ile. Also when you go for ice cream go for the skinny dippers or something low calorie. I'm in college too and following this web site. I survive mid terms by not gaining anything but i didn't lose anything either. Start taking a multivitamin, you feel so much better and have more energy to study and work on projects. I've found if you exercise you will also have more energy to study. Look up the nutrition on your favorite restaurants so when you are out with friends you do not have to worry about going over. Good luck!

elysetoplin

i'm a sophomore in college. i started this summer at 165 after a year of college, lost 10 lbs and have been trying to lose a little/maintain my weight loss throughout the year. here are some of the changes i've made:

--i've been eating a TON of cereal lately...i bought some cheap cereal from target and a measuring cup so every morning i scoop out one serving (1 cup for this particular brand), put it in a baggie, and take it to class. that way i am actually more alert and awake for my 8:30am class and the gym afterwards. i also get like clifbars and lunabars for days i don't feel like having cereal, but those are more expensive

--for lunch most days i try to get a salad with protein (usually chicken or shrimp) and some kind of carb (usually spanakopita from the mediterranean place in my food court). if i don't do that, i try not to get something too crazy. also, most of the food locations at my school list the nutriiton informaiton, which has been amazing.

--i always get coffee with skim milk. also tea is another option; no calories but it has caffiene!

--i really like dried fruit that i can keep in my room or carry with me, like dried cranberries and stuff. all fruit in general is good

--i also recently discovered granola, and i like to eat that with peanutbutter (not the healthiest thing calorie-wise but SO GOOD!)

--i've found that the weekends are what screws me up the most, when i go out and drink with my friends. i go to a party school so that's been a struggle, but i've been trying to keep going out to the weekends only, and filling my time with other things to keep me from going out during the week. but i still go out; even though this is a lifestyle change it wouldn't be one i could stick with if i couldn't continue to go out and have fun.

--definitely hit the gym. you'll be amazed at how much more energy you have after just 30-45 minutes of exercise...and it's also a great stress reliever. if running to nowhere on the treadmill isn't your thing, your school probably offers some free or inexpensive classes you could take, that are a lot of fun. i've recently gotten into spinning (biking to nowhere) through the gym at my school and i'm pretty much obsessed.

these are just a bunch of thoughts i had - hope they help and enjoy your freshman year!

clk238

Dorm/College life is tough on your weight, I know, I'm still trying to lose the 30 lbs i slowly put on over the 5 yrs i was in college.

One reason I knwo I didn't gain MORE (what with all the pizza I ate) was the fact that i lived on a huge campus and had to walk everywhere. Try to do that if you can (ie don't take the bus or whatever)

one idea I have for dorm "cooking" is soup. broth-based (or low-fat cream-based) soups are usually pretty cheap, nutritous, and low-cal. Plus a lot of them you can make in the microwave. Also a lof of them (ckicken and rice, bean, etc) have more protein than previously-mentioned heatlhy snacks (cereal, cut veggies, yogurt..) so you can get some balance..

other suggestion is peanut butter- dont eat too much, b/c it's high cal but it's a good source of protein and "good fats" plus is great on (no-cal) celery.

also if you like cottage cheese, lowfat ones usually have very few cals, and are easy to grab n go..

good luck!

mrd232

I was stuck in the same boat in college... No time, limited money, and about 20 pounds of weight gained from nasty cafeteria food. No worries, though, you can fix it...

DO
- Use the gym
- Make coffee and tea in the dorm.
- Invest in a good water bottle and Brita pitcher.
- BUY IN BULK. If you have a farmer's market nearby, hit it up. If you have a Sam's or Costco nearby, go in with a couple people for a joint membership. Split the bill. I recommend - almonds, cheese, meat, and fruit. Awesomely cheap and healthy.
- Walk everywhere (this is pretty hard to avoid at most campuses I guess)
- Avoid the temptation of nightly take out food. It's bad for you and breaks the wallet.
- Consider a George Foreman grill or crock pot. I know a lot of dorm policies shun these, but seriously...just hide them when the RA comes around. I did.
- Keep salad ingredients in the fridge. Keep some bagged, washed lettuce on hand along with bite size veggies and precooked meat (chicken, tuna, etc). It's fast and generally, roommates don't steal the healthy food
- Drink in moderation. I know it's college, but usually what I did is made the rule of choosing one week night to drink - Friday, in most cases. Saved me a lot of $$$ and I got props for being the DD for my friends.

DON'T
- Eat ramen noodles, canned soups, or frozen meals. Under any circumstances. Noooo.
- Skip breakfast. Eat a filling breakfast each day with a good protein source. I don't recommend a high carb breakfast (ie. cereal) as it will leave you hungry an hour later and bound to hit up the snack cart. That and cereal (outside of bulk oatmeal) is a huge ripoff. Hardboiled eggs are good to keep around.
- Buy a bunch of mini snacks and treats to have in the room. I know a lot of people enjoy 100 cal snacks and what not, but they're crap in a foil wrapper that breaks the wallet and most of the time, other people (aka roommates) end up eating the whole darn box. A better suggestion is to buy a can of almonds (someone said this already) and put them in small containers or baggies. Jerky is good, too.
- Drink juice, soda, or sugary stuff. Reach for the water. It's free.
- Give in to roommates / friends bad behavior. If they want you to chip in on the pizza, just tell them no.

burbuja

I agree I think the 100 calorie snacks are good other good ideas would be sugar free jello the pre packaged ones you can just open and eat, some yoplait yogurt college cafeterias usually always have these individual yogurts, apples, baby carrots, I used to buy snack size ziplocs and pre pack baby carrots for on the go, they mentioned almonds which is always good just don't eat too many...you could probably make a ziploc the night before with some baby carrots, celery, almonds and an apple. Another thing I kept in my little fridge at college was turkey breast ham.At the moment I have kiwis for dinner I love them and they kill a sugar craving. I hope this helped.