College Student and not doing well.

mighteemorphin
mighteemorphin Posts: 2
in Introduce Yourself
So... I've seen so many success stories on the internet ad I was starting to get motivated. I never thought I had too much of a problem and thought I was relatively skinny. I still fit into size 34 jeans and sure I had a little bit of extra weight but it wasn't noticeable. Well, I started thinking about it more and more and thought why not? I took one of the infamous "before" pictures and I nearly broke down. It seems size 34 waist doesn't accurately portray belly fat... I know i'm not in a horrible situation, but seeing my dad and brother struggle with weight issues my whole life, I don't want to get to where they are.

One of my biggest problems is that i'm a poor college student and I jump at the chance when I find free food on campus and usually eat to my hearts content. I don't know how to make good food for myself either. My parents were a hamburger helper family so my definition of cooking is a bit skewed... So now i'm ready to jump into it all, but i'm worried I won't be able to keep up with it. But i'm going to make it a habit to look at my "before" picture and remind myself where I don't want to be. I really don't know what to do.

Replies

  • davidvidgen
    davidvidgen Posts: 1
    Hi Just joined the website and read your post. I am a former personal fitness trainer, but also now find myself needing to lose about 12kgs.

    I just want to build upon your point you made about the "before" picture you have taken. One of the pointers I use to give my clients was to do this, and put the photo on your refrigerator. In addition to this, each week set yourself 3 achievable goals. i.e. exercise 2 x per week, limit coffee to three cups per day etc etc. Also put these goals on the refrigerator. If you achieve these 3 goals each week reward yourself, but not with food!

    I wish you the very best of luck.
  • TomTomato
    TomTomato Posts: 223
    Have yo educated yourself about nutrition, BMR, TDEE, nad what your goals should be? Are you living in a college dorm? Do you have access to healthy food choices? Try to find simple foods that wouldbe easy for you. Hard boiled eggs work well for me for breakfast. I usually boil (actually I bake them now) enough to last a week on the weekends. Tuna is also fairly inexpensive and a good source of protein. Drink plenty of water. Calculate your TDEE and subtract 20% from it. That is usually a good goal for your daily calorie intake. You may want to manually adjust your MFP Carb/Protein/Fat macros to 40%/30%/30%. Something else that has helped me TREMENDOUSLY is logging what I eat here on MFP.
  • mighteemorphin
    mighteemorphin Posts: 2
    The goals and picture on the fridge is a good idea. Sadly for me, I already only drink water. No coffee, pop, or juice at all. Occasionally powerade but only occasionally. So it seems i just need to go the exercise route.

    I do live in an apartment so I buy all of my own food. i just don't know any good meals really. I've been experimenting with somethings but i'm basically just guessing. I feel pretty happy that what I ate today was eggs and tuna so far even before your advice. haha. But thanks for the tips. i'll keep looking for new things. i don't really like hardboiled eggs, so is scrambled eggs just as good of an option? I would imagine the only difference is the cooking time, but hey what do i know? lol
  • ccarlst
    ccarlst Posts: 14 Member
    Hey, feel free to add me as a friend - I was in the exact same situation my freshman and sophomore years. I'm in my junior year now in an apartment, so we could swap meal ideas! I too am super broke.
  • TomTomato
    TomTomato Posts: 223
    However the eggs are cooked doesn't really matter. Just mentioned hard-boiled for the convenience.
  • Cheeky_0102
    Cheeky_0102 Posts: 408 Member
    I eat as cheaply as possible because we are going through tough times, and by all means, go get some free pizza, but it's a test of self control to have on piece, and it's a proud badge to have eaten only one piece (or two, whatever is reasonable - I used to take down most of a large on my own, and probably still could)

    I actually phoned my sister and had this convo

    me: I ate two pieces of pizza and stopped tonight
    her: come again?
    me: I actually stopped at two pieces of pizza there are leftovers
    her: I don't understand, how does one do that?
    me: you eat one piece, then another, then you stop
    her: no, no, that sounds too easy to be true

    yes it's hard, but you don't neeeeeed to stuff your face

    also, packaged food while it seems cheap is not cheap and doesn't help you. they are not in the market to lose money... lets break it down
    michelina's pasta - $2 "I can't make it for that!"
    yes you can!!!
    whole wheat pasta on sale - $2
    jar of marinara - $2
    random veggies (on sale, in season, farmer market whatever) - $4
    total - $8
    this is the equivilant of like 10 michelina dinners for $8! you can even freeze in portions so you have "frozen dinners"

    your muffin tins are probably exactly 1/2 cup, fill with rice or pasta and freeze, store in a ziplock bag
    do the same with pasta sauce, curry, whatevefr you want to serve on rice or pasta,,, pull a rice and a SAUCE OUT AND HEAT
    CHEAP. HEALTHY, NO EXCUSES
  • Cheeky_0102
    Cheeky_0102 Posts: 408 Member
    also, girls love a guy that can cook ;)
  • lovelyladyJ21
    lovelyladyJ21 Posts: 246 Member
    I use to be a college student and I understand the difficulties, of trying to find healthy food.

    Eggs are great, you don't have to have them hard boiled anyway you like them really....
    Is it just you in your apt? Do you have a crock pot? If it's just you I have some recipes that you could put in the crock pot and it would last you a week. If you don't have a crock pot you could always find a cheap one at a thrift store (I don't think I EVER paid more than $10 for mine).

    I made small changes to my diet when I was in college and instead of driving to every class I'd park my car at my last class of the day and I'd walk. Honestly that little bit of exercise helped me out tremendously.


    Feel Free to add me

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