College Student Seeking Motivation!

BeautyFromWithin
BeautyFromWithin Posts: 290 Member
edited September 28 in Introduce Yourself
Hello!

I'm a 19 year old college student, I'll be entering my sophomore year in the fall. I was wondering if there was anyone else here that is around the same age group or who is battling weight loss in college! It's okay if you aren't and want to say hello anyways though! haha!

I'll share a bit of my story actually. I've been on my life-long weight loss journey since I was 13 years old. I joined the Weight Watchers Program and lost 61 pounds. However, as soon as I got involved with activities in high school, I found myself missing meetings and quitting the program. I did take some of the many things I learned though from the program though and still use them to this day. Over the next 5 years I gained back half of my initial weight loss. There were good times and bad times because my weight was constantly yo-yo'ing.

When I started college last fall, I vowed to not gain the dreaded freshman 15 and though I did gain some weight, especially over the holiday break, I came out at the end of the year around 10 pounds lighter! So, I've got 15 to 16 pounds to MY goal weight. It might not seem like a lot or a drastic number, but it's these pounds that are SOOO hard to come off!

Anyways, I just wanted to introduce myself and see if anyone else out there can relate! Otherwise, hello to everyone else! Best of luck to you on your weight loss endeavors! I adore this program because it's such a healthy way to stay active and track calories! Don't hesitate to send me a friend request here! I'd love to accept it and get more motivation and inspiration from you!

Replies

  • swinginchandra
    swinginchandra Posts: 418 Member
    Hi, I'm a 22 year old college student, and I'm determined to lose all the weight, whilst doing awesome in college. Feel free to friend me! I've got about twice as far left as you to go...

    Good luck!!
  • BeautyFromWithin
    BeautyFromWithin Posts: 290 Member
    Hi, I'm a 22 year old college student, and I'm determined to lose all the weight, whilst doing awesome in college. Feel free to friend me! I've got about twice as far left as you to go...

    Good luck!!

    That's so awesome! Best of luck to you! Congrats on your weight loss! You're pretty close to my current weight too actually!
    There's just a weight I can't go less then because I was having heart problems last time I was there! It's so hard being home for the summer though because friends want to catch up and go out to eat and my family isn't the healthiest eaters either!
  • Kanzaki3
    Kanzaki3 Posts: 656 Member
    Hello. I'm 22 and a college student as well. I weighed 145 before entering nursing school and somehow got it to 175. I want to slowly but surely get back to my original weight. Good luck to us all.
  • kew736
    kew736 Posts: 28
    Hey, I'm 20, I never gain the freshman 15, but I can still tell that I've gained a few pounds the past 2 years.
    I don't really have a goal weight, because I want to trade flab for muscle....so its moreso looking good and not hating all of my clothes! lol
    I'm going to "start" offically tomorrow. the 1st of the month.and I hope to stay motivated longer than a week!
  • BeautyFromWithin
    BeautyFromWithin Posts: 290 Member
    It's not hard to gain weight in college, I had a couple stressful weeks that I resorted to food to comfort me, but thankfully I could usually slap myself before eating the Ben & Jerrys (a staple at my college) and would go blow off some steam at the gym instead!
    Best of luck to you! Thanks for posting!

    Oh and that's great that you're starting on a fresh new day of a month! ^^^ Good luck with getting back into shape and feeling confident about yourself! I'm slowing gaining confidence in myself, it's a fabulous feeling
  • Dinob661
    Dinob661 Posts: 251 Member
    Hey, 23 year old College Senior here! I completely agree with you....it is so easy to put on weight in college. It became a routine for me to go to the snack bar and buy a burger, fries, soda even some chips. And that would be 4 days out of the week! The good news for me is college is out for 3 months, and I have kicked that habit. I still got a ways to go to hit my goal. Feel free to add me.
  • claeysm
    claeysm Posts: 85
    im an 18 year old student in UK.. need to loose just over 15 pounds so similar to you... feel free to add me :D
  • BeautyFromWithin
    BeautyFromWithin Posts: 290 Member
    I already feel 10x as motivated then before I posted this!
    Thanks so much to those who took the time to post, I believe I added you all, but if I didn't please feel free to add me!

    I'm glad you kicked the burger and fries habit haha! My college is small and our food was TERRIBLE! It was gross. I'm so excited for fall though because I'm living in an apartment and will make all my own food so I can have more control over my calorie intake!

    I need to figure out what to do for exercise this summer though, because gyms are too expensive around here and my family's tredmill broke. I'll have to job outside at night when it's cooler! I did Just Dance 2 Sweat Mode today though.. that was a blast!
  • Chelseahhhhh
    Chelseahhhhh Posts: 3
    I'm gonna be a sophomore in college too. I might be able to help you. Going into freshmen year, I weighed 138. I now weigh 115.
    Good luck :]
  • CaWaterBug8
    CaWaterBug8 Posts: 1,040 Member
    Hi, I'm 19 and just finished my first year of college. Although I joined about a month ago and have made a lot of changes to my eating/exercising habits, I haven't really taken the time to start really getting into this amazing program.

    All throughout high school I basically in a pool either swimming or playing water polo and the week after I graduated I found myself at a desk job. I went from exercising year-round to siting and working all day. Through out all of this I noticed that as my co-workers would eat fast food I drifted from my brown bag and started eating more fast food.
    When school started in the fall I was working in the day and going to school at night and found that even in the highly populated area I work/go to school in NOTHING is open at 10 @ night. So with fast food being open I found myself having to go there on my commute back home, or go hungry for the 45 min drive home.

    My point being, I am 5'7" and in shape for water polo I weighed 145lbs. I don't have a scale @ home, but whenever I'm @ the gym (usually late at night) I weigh myself and am about 175.
    I started eating healthy foods and have been trying very hard to do that whole diet where you just eat about 5 meals throughout the day. It was totally working, but with that last few wks of school it totally killed my diet/exercise plan; so now I am trying to recommit myself to this program and try to get tips from all of you on here.

    Thank you and happy counting! :)
  • CaWaterBug8
    CaWaterBug8 Posts: 1,040 Member
    Gyms are def expensive! I was looking into them for quite some time and finally decided that Costco's deal with 24 hour fitness was good. I think it's around $300 and it's for a two-yr membership.
    It seems like a lot of $$ @ once but it rounds out to $12.50/mo (on sale they're monthly rate is around $35/mo) and it's convenient to not have to worry about monthly fees and such.

    Another perk that I love is that I can go to different locations too. I live in one county and work in another and I love that after work I have about 6 choices of gyms I can go to and then on the weekends I can just go to the gym 20 mins from my house vs. 50min away.

    Don't know if that's helpful to you, but it sure was for me when I found that out.
  • ljaglady
    ljaglady Posts: 39
    HEY!!! 22 year old college student here! I finished my first degree last year and somehow found 40 pounds instead of 15 0.0 I would love to to get some buddies in the same boat as me!!!! I am horrible with my eating habits mostly due to the fact I am a full time waitress and am an emotional eater!! I am 5'5 and 160 lbs. I want to be at 125-130 by October! So glad I found this site and I take it with me everywhere on my blackberry :D
  • BeautyFromWithin
    BeautyFromWithin Posts: 290 Member
    WaterBug, thanks for sharing your story and I know exactly what you mean about the fast food! Its hard too when the people you're surrounded by eat a ton of junk food and don't understand why you wont do the same! Time to trade it the french fries for veggie sticks though, huh? Good luck with your recommittment.

    Thanks for the gym tip too. I have free use of the gym up at my school, well actually a small price they take out at the beginning of the year but still..I don't want to join a gym here at home just for summer if that makes sense.

    Ljaglady- I can only imagine how hard it is being a waitress. All that food staring at you all day long! I was once an emotional eater too! So I've been there. I've since learned to channel my emotions into exercising! Im not a huge fan of exercising but it is a great stress reliever! And I started finding routines I love! Good luck with your goal! You can totally achieve it!
  • ljaglady
    ljaglady Posts: 39
    Thank you very much! I sent you a buddy request! Working in a restaurant is anyones worst nightmare as far as weight loss goes!! :sad: But im determined that it's time to stop using that as an excuse and just do what I say I'm going to do! Good luck!!!
  • newgrace
    newgrace Posts: 64
    Hello! I'm a 20 year old college senior. I've gained/loss throughout my time in college. But when I go back for my last two semesters, I want to look great and have a good senior year. When I'm at school I try to take advantage of the gym and fitness classes, but sometimes my work load gets in the way as does my emotional eating habits. This summer I've been trying to eat better (also, the apartment where I'm living only has a small fridge and microwave, so that limits what I can eat). I've also been run/walking as well as doing exercise videos that I've found on youtube, netflix, and have bought from amazon. There are many options out there, you just have to look for them. So, I definitely feel everyone's pain about college and weight loss.
  • BeautyFromWithin
    BeautyFromWithin Posts: 290 Member
    Thanks so much for sharing! We're really similar with the work load and eating habits it looks like.. and situations in general! I should look at doing exercise videos on youtube and netflix! That would be fantastic! That way I can avoid the summer heat some days too!
    Thanks for the advice! Best of luck with your journey!
  • shaazia011
    shaazia011 Posts: 2 Member
    Hey,

    I'm a 19 year old uni student from London and can't wait to lose some weight with MFP, and with the encouragement of people, so feel free to add me. Perhaps we can motivate one and other!! x
  • CaWaterBug8
    CaWaterBug8 Posts: 1,040 Member
    I always watch these and feel like I need a few wks to work up to her exercises, but, when I'm dedicates enough, I find that she is really helpful. She has a youtube; but here is her main website:

    http://www.bodyrock.tv/

    Personally, I don't exactly agree with how all of the videos are shot, but she's def successful and has great ideas!
  • BeautyFromWithin
    BeautyFromWithin Posts: 290 Member
    I added you!

    Also, thanks for the link for the exercises! Ill check it out tomorrow!
  • sccamero
    sccamero Posts: 164 Member
    I FEARED the weight gain. my senior year in Highschool, i lost 35 lbs then gained 45 lbs my freshman year without realizing it. I know what it is from too. My school has those buffet eat outs, and they put in a good pound of oil on each pan before cooking the food even if the food itself was healthy. Once I got off campus, I started to lose the weight because i don't cook with oil but i needed a bigger kick and found MFP. One more year of college with two degrees and can't wait to end it looking my best for interviews. :) Good luck on everyone's journey.
  • BeautyFromWithin
    BeautyFromWithin Posts: 290 Member
    Congrats on your weight loss so far!

    I know what you mean about food service at college.
    The food they served at my college was not only absolutely terrible, but it didn't help they had desserts instead of fresh fruit staring you down as you walked out into actual dining hall to sit. There was soft-serve ice cream sundaes too! TORTURE! I actually lost 10 pounds though once I started eating only from the salad bar or making english muffins, but I was paying huge bucks just to eat an English muffin.. and that wasn't fair!

    I'm so excited for the fall because I'm living in an appt. and get to make all my on food! YESSS! Now I just need to find a way to make some money to buy healthy groceries while I'm there!
  • BalancedBloss
    BalancedBloss Posts: 5
    Hey I am a university student, and I have a similar experience to you. I have about 18lbs to go until my goal weight...but these are the hardest ones to shed!

    Feel free to add me as a friend - I am new as well :)
  • BalancedBloss
    BalancedBloss Posts: 5
    I'm so excited for the fall because I'm living in an appt. and get to make all my on food! YESSS! Now I just need to find a way to make some money to buy healthy groceries while I'm there!

    I don't know if they have them where you live- but I buy all my fruit and veg either from the markets OR during semester I get it from the Food Co-op, which is an organisation which bulk buys at the farmers markets and then you pay $10 for a box of fruit and veg each week. I find I pay 1/4 of what I would in the supermarket when I do it like that and it has the bonus of the produce being much tastier :)
  • barbiex3
    barbiex3 Posts: 1,036 Member
    you sound exactly like me! i lost 10 pounds this year in college without really trying. I'm 19 years old too and I will be a sophomre in the fall too!! I was 157 at my highest. I've kind of always hated my weight. I was one of those kids that got tall and at their adult weight really fast. I've been 5'7" since I was 11, and I was at my adult weight shortly after. I was always bigger than my friends (who were always toothpicks!), and my senior year I gained around 15 pounds because I transferred schools & was depressed.
    I was always really active in sports and stuff, but I NEVER watched what I ate. I never thought I could loose weight because I was always gaining weight it seemed like until college! So i just keep watching what I eat. No more later runs to culvers or DQ for large blizzards!! haha that used to be an almost every day occurance!
    i'm glad to see someone like you on here!! =]
  • BeautyFromWithin
    BeautyFromWithin Posts: 290 Member
    Thanks for the advice! We have a farmers market and a Co-Op by my college I believe, so I will have to check them both out in the fall! I'd love to get some cheap fresh fruits and veggies from the markets!

    @barbiex3 - Wow, we are very similar aren't we? Feel free to add me as a friend! Its so great meeting people with similar goals and/or stories to me! Congrats on your weight loss so far! Your CW is what I'm hoping I can get down to eventually.. I'm set at my GW being 140 for now because when I was at 135 which has been my Lowest Weight, I was having health problems and don't want to face those again! But I know what you mean about runs to the fast food monsters! haha we only have a few in the small town I attend college, so my friends are always going to like DQ or McDonalds.. but thankfully we have a subway for healthier eating and I'll have to say no to the fast food runs next year!
  • barbiex3
    barbiex3 Posts: 1,036 Member
    yes! my college is in a small town too, and it seems like the only thing people want to do it eat or get drunk. both of which are recipe for weight gain! haha. It especially sucks for me because I go to school in Wisconsin aka drinking capital of the US & it's freezing during the school year so no one goes outside or on walks! haha. endless cycle. But good luck to you! hopefully this works out better than weight watchers =] I have it on my phone, so it's super easy! i added you btw !
  • minniebee
    minniebee Posts: 193 Member
    Hi! I know we're already friends on MFP, but I figured I would post my story if anyone else needs some friends. :smile:

    I'm 19 and just finished my first year of college. I stayed pretty consistent with my weight at college but have been overweight my entire life. Next year I am transferring to another university, and I would like to arrive showing up a little bit skinnier. Lol. I'm 5'2" and about 160lbs, so I have a while to go, I'm hoping to get down to the low 150's to mid 140's before the start, and just to see if I can keep up the weight loss next year. It's difficult for me while I'm home, because my entire family is overweight. But, I just try and cook my own meals when I can, and to eat lots of fruits and veggies!

    Feel free to friend me!
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