My story - college weight gain and loss and gain!

gotfatincollege89

Just want to start off saying, so glad I found this site! I think it's gonna be REALLY helpful to me! Also, sorry if this gets a bit long-winded.

Alright, now here is my story. I entered college in fall 2008 at a very slim 155 lbs (I'm 5'11"). I loved running, and would head over to the university's gym nearly every night and go 4 -6 miles. I never ran as part of a track or cross country team. Don't even like running outside. I just loved hitting the treadmill, haha!

Anyway, I was really proud of myself. I probably got into the best shape of my life freshman year of college, when most people gain a few and get lazy. I continued this lifestyle through my second semester of sophomore year as well.

That winter break, I was burnt out. I returned home for a month and a half and got really lazy. I mean, really lazy. I didn't workout once I don't think and I was eating like a starved animal. I came back to college a whopping 15 pounds heavier. That semester, I also got a new job in the evenings... which completely cut into my gym time. I always went to the gym in the evening and now suddenly, it was work instead.

My appetite had grown since my winter break pig out and I started hanging out a lot more with one of my buddies who had the same job as me. He was what I like to call a "fat influence". He was never in shape and was always on the tubby side. We'd get off work around 11:30, and go to taco bell almost every night. As the semester went on, our orders at taco bell got bigger and bigger. We were both piling on weight. I went home briefly before we moved in together that summer and discovered that I now weighed 190 lbs.

Well, we both realized that we were getting really fat, so we decided to do P90X. It went really great the first month or so. We stayed true to it and we both lost about 10 pounds. However, I went on a long vacation mid summer and visited relatives who love to eat. Unsurprisingly, I gained those 10 pounds back. I came back from vacation completely unmotivated and slipped back into my old habits, and so did my roommate. And now, with both of us living together, our bad habits just played off each other in even worse ways. Especially after we turned 21 and could buy beer at will. By March, I was tipping the scales at 205 lbs.

One of my other buddies had noticed my extreme gains and was concerned, so he offered to help me out. I ended up moving in with him that summer, and by then I had slimmed back down to around 180. But that summer, I was fired from my new job and all of my friends were either back home or had dropped out. I had nothing to do that summer but eat, and eat I did. That August, I had a family reunion and lots of pictures were taken. I didn't even recognize myself in some of them. I was nothing like the former slim runner I had been just a couple years ago. I looked wide and bulky now, my face was like the moon, and from the side I looked about 15 months pregnant. To my horror, I had climbed to 215 lbs. Sixty pounds in college. I remember being so proud for not gaining the freshman 15, and now look where I was at.

However, that semester I got really serious and managed to get down to 178. I wanted to keep going, but I seemed to lose motivation and started thinking of my progress as "good enough". It's been about a year since then, and I have just always been stuck between 180-190. I'll start to fatten up again, then get on the weight loss train and lose weight, but just when I'm doing really good, I start to reward myself with food for doing so good. And inevitably, I get up to around 190 again and the process repeats itself.

Things changed a bit this summer though. I was on an antidepressant for anxiety. I didn't gain any weight while on it, but I decided to come off of it just a few weeks ago and ever since then, weight loss seems impossible and I seem to be gaining weight really easily. I haven't been able to budge from around 186 and I always seem to feel really bloated and big, no matter how well I do with eating and working out in any given day.

So obviously I need a little help. I'd love to get down to 170 lbs and feel good about myself again. I don't want to do the yo yo ing with my weight anymore. I want to start working out regularly and really clean up my diet for good, and not relapse into unhealthy habits every few weeks. By the end of my last semester here in college (mid December), I can be 170 lbs.

I have completely cut out alcohol, and my diet has been pretty healthy. I usually make a health shake in the mornings for breakfast, but lunch and dinner are kind of up in the air. Usually I'll make a sandwich or pan fry some chicken and veggies.
As for workouts, I have been pretty good at doing 15 minutes of cardio as soon as I wake up (before breakfast), but my night workouts are really inconsistent. The only gym I have access now to is the one in my apartment complex and it has treadmills, exercise bikes, ellipticals, etc so there is now excuse. It's literally a one minute walk to it, too. I'd like to start doing about 45 minutes of cardio 5 days a week, as well as add in some push ups and ab workouts.

So that's my story! I hope that weening off of this medication hasn't screwed with my metabolism too badly. I really think I can get down to 170 for the first time in years otherwise! :happy: