Students?

jabaa91
jabaa91 Posts: 19 Member
edited September 26 in Fitness and Exercise
I've been a member on this for a few months but i've only started to take it seriously... I want to lose around 10lbs. I'm a student have quiet an erratic routine like eating at different times not always healthy as i dont have time to make meals and going out a few times a week. I'm just not sure where to start, i feel like i eat the same foods all the time so healthy eating becomes boring and i'm always over my sugar count!! i do try to keep my calorie intake at 1400-1500 cals but dont feel like im losing any weight!

i do go to the gym 3-4 times a week and i'm trying to stop eating rubbish after a night of drinking!! want to tone up and lose weight around my hips and stomach....can anyone give me advice on lower calories meals/drinks and the types of exericses i can be doing to help?

also all the posts from the tiny people who do not need to lose weight depress me! just feel like i've hit a brick wall recently! :( help!

Replies

  • nilisabel
    nilisabel Posts: 338
    1. Gotta commit to doing the work - making meals, planning, cutting down on eating out

    2. drinking ALWAYS increases calories in two ways: making it easier to eat extra out at the club and then you feel crappy for a day or two so you feel like eating certain stuff that seems to make you feel better. I could go into the neurotransmitters involved and the incentive-salience reward pathway in the brain but it bores everyone I tell so just take my textbook's word for it. drinking=weight gain. Gotta cut it down.

    3. That's it!
  • nilisabel
    nilisabel Posts: 338
    oh! about that last bit, it sounds like you could use a little reminder that there are ebbs and flows in the way we lose weight. For me, I started tracking my weight EVERY SINGLE DAY. Some people say, oh don't do that it's gonna make you crazy. For me, it helped me give my perspective a reality check. I will tell you what, if you write down your weight on your calendar every single day (and try to take it at the same time of day, with similar amounts of clothes on, etc. - or if there's a variance, note that you were wearing shoes or you had eaten breakfast or whatever), then over a three-month period you will see certain trends emerge. Before I started doing this, I thought, oh gosh, I havent' lost weigh this week at all and I've been PERFECT, or shoot, I'm up a pound despite everything, or even, gosh! i ate like crap that day and yet lost a couple pounds. Here's the thing, after I started tracking my weight this way, I saw regular fluctuations in my weight that had to do with my body's own rhythms, I got to know myself better. If I feel crappy about my weight, I look back to the same day a week before and usually have lost a pound. Then, I look back a month before and see I usually have lost 5 pounds, regardless of the day-to-day fluctuations, the monthly change is the SAME. That has helped me keep my perspective, and my chin up!
  • Zelsawaf
    Zelsawaf Posts: 111 Member
    Hey, I'm in a very similar boat. I'm in law school right now, and go out pretty much every weekend and once or twice during the week. And I am certainly not one of those skinny people with no problem losing weight. I've had weight issues since I was in 6th grade and had to make the weight limit for football. About a year ago I decided to get this in check and slowly have been working my way into a position I'm pleased with. I started at about 237 and have gotten down to about 197, with my goal being to get to 167, then who knows. (Honestly, I just want my stomach to look good :)) Here are a few things that have helped me out.

    1 - Force yourself to make a commitment. By that I don't mean you have to make drastic changes, I'm saying you just need to acknowledge that you're committed, setting goals, and have some kind of plan. When you don't have a plan, you fall into some of the problems you say you're having.

    2 - Take some time out and plan your meals. It doesn't have to be anything crazy, but usually ill through marinate 5-6 boneless chicken breasts from Saturday to Sunday afternoon, grill them up Sunday afternoon/evening, and boom, I've got the main part of 5-6 meals that week. Pair that up with a salad, some fruit, veggies, yogurt, low cal/fat chips (baked lays for example) and you've got quick and easy meals. Also, don't be afraid to grab some of those frozen meals for a couple bucks. They're quick and easy. Another is just a simple veggie burger. Quick to do in the microwave and help a lot.

    3 - Drinking. This is what always got me. I love drinking, and I have no interest in stopping now or any time soon. One of big things that got in my way of trying to lose weight and get off my feet was I decided that I was not going to stop drinking - and I haven't. Having said that, I have adjusted. Now I'm lucky, because I'm a big whiskey drinker. So instead of beer, I focus on whiskey diets, or just on the rocks. Its about half the cals, and you get just as drunk :) The food after is definitely something you need to watch. When it comes to that, I would just say avoid it as much as you can, and when you can't portion control. A nice little snack I've found once I make it home if I've got the itch is some salsa or hummus and low fat pretzels, pita chips, or (at least with the hummus, not the salsa) carrots. I can tell you this, I've not slowed my drinking one bit (if anything it's only gone up) and I'm still getting decent results.

    4 - Don't make drastic moves or changes. Make them incremental. For me, the first couple of months all I did was start the Insanity program and lost about 8-10 lbs, but refused to change my diet. After a couple months I knew to get major change I would need to change the diet, so I focused on purely portion control. Didn't change what I ate, just how much. After a couple months of that and another 10-12 lbs, I started focusing on eating better, mixing in more fruits and veggies, and cutting down on eating out. Finally, after another 10-12 lbs, I joined MFP and really started really changing what I was doing in terms of counting calories and all that jazz. Really focusing on everything I eat. That's when I made the switch from 50/50 beer - hard liquor, to almost exclusively hard liquor.

    Now, obviously you have a much lower goal than I did, so you might not have to go this route. However, it worked best for me and helped me not feel like I was making major sacrifices since each step I only had to change a little bit, and not do anything that would make me uncomfortable or discourage me. Just make a plan that you're comfortable with and stick to it. That's gonna really what helps you get through it.
  • beffy191
    beffy191 Posts: 71
    I am also a student and I have been working since January to lose weigh and i've been on the site since the middle of March.


    1. Try to get a gym membership or something. I have one at my school and it has helped me to work out more often. I would run 2 or 3 days a week and since I have had the membership, I have been going to the gym 5-6 days a week. I usually ride the bus to the gym and then I walk back, which helps me burn even more calories.

    2. My cafeteria also has their menu online and I always look at it before I go to the cafeteria, and put it into MFP to see how many calories that I am going to consume. It helps me so that when I go into the caf, I know what I can eat and not have to worry about getting distracted and eating something else that isn't good or going to put me over my calories. Maybe see if your cafeteria or something has the menu online and you can plan out ahead what you are going to eat.

    3. I don't drink so i can't really help you there....


    The other thing: Don't be discouraged. I have actually only lost like 2 lbs-ish over the past month and a half but I haven't gained any like I used to, and I am toning up a lot. My jeans all fit a lot better and i have gone down a size without actually losing any weight. I can tell that I have toned up a lot though especially my tummy, so don't get discouraged.

    :) Hope I helped a bit?
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