im scared to go back to college..

ugggh i feel the same way.. my freshman year last year i actually started off losing weight.. twenty pounds.. bc i kept myself so busy and i wasnt even using the gym.. but by the end of the year i was getting stressed and gained back 25 pounds.. awwesome.. i even went to the gym too but i couludnt control my calories haha.. well the good thing about my school is it has the calorie and nutritional value on almost every food.. but idk how accurate that is.. do you have meal plans at your school? bc that could help, im doing only two meals/day this year so i wont be eating as much.. heyyyy well good luck

OK - I am not a Mom - or a "prude" but you are 19 years old. Isn't 14 drinks in one night dangerous? I used to party in college too but it was beer or cheap wine - and perhaps only 2 or 3. So - cut the major drinking out and save yourself and calories!

Enough about that - you know what to do. Ignore those who are telling you NOT TO GET HEALTHY. Just say "Hey" - I want to be healthy so cut it out!

I would bet your could pick the healthy items out of the cafeteria - and I know they have them because I recruited from colleges for many years.

Light Yogurts
Eggs or egg beaters
Canadian bacon over bacon, sausage, etc.
Grilled or broiled anything
Lots of veggies but not those in butter
Salads with the low calorie option dressing (bring your own if you have to)
Fresh Fruit
Healthy grains like brown rice, quinoa
Sweet potatoes - or white potatoes (roasted with herbs- no butter)
Water, Iced Tea, some Coffee - no sodas or sugar (OK maybe a diet soda or two a week)
No fast food

Good luck - don't be scared of those bullies! Take care to be safe!

I go back in 3 weeks also and I'm pretty nervous! My school's dining hall isn't the greatest so I often went for the old stand bys - pizza & french fries. I was able to find a couple better options though. I started getting whole wheat turkey wraps, even though it meant I had to stand in a long line. I admit I didn't totally deprive myself of french fries (I could never) but I kept it to a very limited amount, and didn't go back for more. Also I suppose this depends on your school, but I stopped using a tray when getting food, since it made me able to carry so much more stuff! I only take what will fit on one plate. I also kept better options in my room for snacking, which I know is tough sometimes because its harder to keep fresh stuff. I liked Special K, Bagel Thins, & fruit cups. If the gym is really too far then try walking around campus, or workout DVDs that don't require a lot of space. Right now I'm doing the 30 day shred and I really love it, and you only need a set of 5lb hand weights and enough space to do a jumping jack, so I'll be able to stick with it when I go back to my tiny room on campus!

As for the drinking... obviously the best option is to not. However I know that when I go back I am probably still going to go out and party... it's college! I guess my best advice in this area would be to stay away from sugary drinks & maybe at least cut back. One thing I would say is definately don't skimp out on meals in order to save calories for alcohol... I know people that have done that and it never ends up well because its never good to drink on an empty stomach and you won't be getting any nutrition.

Good luck!

I graduated a few years ago and I know how hard it is to keep a healthy routine in college. My first year I gained weight, then I transferred schools and changed majors and lost 25 lbs due to stress and really poor eating habits and overexercising.

I know its not fun to sit and watch your friends drink and not participate. Switch to vodka with club soda (sparkling water), you'll only drink calories from the vodka (64 per ounce). You also tend to make bad food choices when you've been drinking, either late night food runs or morning hangover cures can be horrible for the diet, although sometimes a plate of eggs or breakfast tacos is a necessary evil.

How far away from the gym are you living? Are you living on campus? If you're living on campus, make the trek and include it as part of your workout, or if you're too far from the gym to walk there go run laps around the football field or track or something. If you're eating in the dining halls, it differs by school but they should have salad bars and other decently healthy options. Avoid anything processed.

If you're living off campus, find a cheap gym close by! I would be willing to bet that gyms will give you a student discount rate. And cook your own meals.

I was in military. While isn't college, during our training (formal education in electronics/aerodynalics for 2-3 years, not running around the forest field stripping weapons) we would eat as much as we wanted - like a sumo wrestler - in the mess, and, workout like crazy some time in the mornings. Yes, our days were structured to include this hourly workout because we'd then spend 7 hours in a classroom afterwards, but the thing is, it was working out, everyday.
It'd be things like going for a run, playing a sport, circuit training etc. Just something 5 days a week for 60-90 minutes.
Now, we'd also drink like you wouldn't believe. 14 shots was a warm up. We'd drink to passing out, 4-5 days of the week. The local college kids couldn't hang with us .... but they certainly tried to and prior to meeting us, would think they'd easily drink us under table LOL. The good old days. I guess they thought that that extra layer of lard would help then stay vertical longer..
Anyway, because our day was structured, it didn't matter how hung over we were, or how bad we were feeling, we'd HAVE to get up and go for that run. We didn't put on a pound either, we were fit as anything.
Now, once we finished our education, we'd go on squadron where the exercise portion of or lives, was basically entirely up to us. We didn't reduce our drinking and eating, but without fail, probably at least 70+% of us would reduce our exercise to the bare minimum (none ?). We put on weight basically overnight ..... which is what happened to me and 10 years later (after leaving military too), I decided to do something about it.
So, what I'm trying to say is. That there is absolutely no reason why you cannot go to college, eat and drink and generally have fun, and still stay in shape or work towards being in shape. Just encorporate an ounce or more of discipline, no matter how bad you are feeling, or what excuse you can make, get up and go do that exercise. You have time, it's not like you're in class 8 hours a day, and working another 8 hours, you can find that hour or so in a day where you go for a run, a swim, go to crossfit, do something high intensity. You can find the time and you can do it. It will also benefit you later in life because you'll know what it actually means to work a full day and have a life too. Time Management and Motivation. It's all up to you.
You can also watch your diet too. Stay on target as much as you can, and when you have a bender with alcohol or food, so be it, just get back on track as soon as you can. Don't necessarily dog yourself for doing it and then starve yourself to get back calaories, just start back on your healthy ways the very next meal. So long as you're trying and perhaps doing 80% good work with the 20% living life, you'll be in better shape than simply giving up all together.

I gained the freshmen 15 (literally), but lost it by sophomore year. In addition to changing eating habits and exercising, these things helped me lose the weight:

- NO drunk food. I always used to get pizza or some of the other horrible stuff on the way home from the bars.
- I used to be a beer person, but I switched to mixed drinks with diet sodas which is like less than half the calories of a beer
- I also was lazy and took the bus to class (we had a good bus system at school that took you almost anywhere on campus). I made myself walk a whole lot more
- Get to the gym!! I lived very far too my sophomore year, but think of that walk over as the warm up

It also helped that I was no longer in the dorms my sophomore year so I could make my own food. I know you said you live in the dorms but do you have a mini fridge? You can get some lunch meats, bread, cereals, etc, so that you're only eating dinner in the dorms.

Good luck!

Thanks guys,
as for drinking.. i really don't see myself stopping. I dont drink really at home, but at school it's all there really is to do I guess. All my friends drink, and I go to one of the biggest party schools in new england. I need to budget my calories and try to only drink on friday and saturday. I think that if I eat less during the day then when i drink at night i wont need to drink as much.. resulting in less calories overall i guess. The good thing is that i live on the biggest hill in campus and i have to walk back up it after every time i eat and after class.. it sucks.. but its a good workout. thanks for you're suggestions guys, my school does have a lot of those options, but i think i really just like to know what is going into my food.. how it's prepared.. etc. I might just eat clear soups, sandwiches w/ turkey veggies on whole wheat.. and the vegetarian food they make is really good and light.. i think. My favorite thing they make is sushi.. but i dont know if that is even that healthy and def not that filling.

As for drinking, since i started eating healthier and cutting back on my calories, i get super tipsy off like one drink, no joke. So it def helps in that department. And my thing is i drink clear liqour and mix it with like propel or something diet. Try to stay away from the beer! And jsut dance your booty off, so your burning cals at the same time! Also, stay away form the alcohol that is mixed with super sugery mixes(margaritas, pina coladas) and don't join in at the 3 in the morning jack in the box runs haha. And on sunday and monday lower your caloric intake a little bit, and drink plenty of water. Also before you pass out, drink a HUGE thing of water and take 2 asprins...perfect hangover cure!

I know how you feel last quarter I gained 15lbs in 10 weeks so not cool. However, you can't live THAT far from the campus gym. I live 45 minutes from campus and I still manage to make it to the gym. Just in the morning pack all your gym clothes up so its ready to go and change in the locker room. Be grateful you live close enough to go home and eat sometimes, I'm super jealous. Last quarter I was on campus from 8am-9pm mwf, with no place to go and make food. Talk about a diet disaster. Also with the drinking I'd cut it down to the weekends, plus sometimes its fun to just sit and watch all the drunkedness from a sober perspective. Just comfort yourself by knowing they are killing major brain cells and destroying their livers while you are not. Plus if you carry around a cup filled with some water or diet coke everyone will assume your drinking and no one will give you a hard time.

lol omg hahahaha i do too.. hahaha biggest party school in ne.. i was like hmmm.. must be umass

I start university (or college or whatever you call it) this year. I've chosen Self-catered accomedation because the food that they offered looked REALLY unhealthy when I went to visit (asin, the healthiest thing I saw was chips, other than the salad bar but that didnt have much choice). I think if I start out as I mean to go on then I should be OK with continuing my weight loss. (hopefully). I might even get some healthy cooking skills too!