Any Ideas for a College Student?!

Hi! I'm a college student as well. Feel free to add me! Everyday, unless for some strange reason I can't, I do an hour of various cardio, plus strength/conditioning. I mix up my cardio because I found it surprises my body, and if I do the same thing over and over, my body gets used to it and I lose weight slowly.

Meal plans SUCK. I had it freshman year, but thankfully this year I have an apartment off campus and do all of my own meals. Try to estimate serving sizes and input them as best as you can on here. Also, fill up with healthy stuff like veggies, fruits, whole wheat, salads (but watch the dressings), and stuff like that. Sometimes, you can even sneak out some food from the dining hall! Also, watch their veggies. What may look healthy, might not be! A lot of my favorite veggies they offered wound up being drenched in butter. Instead, I would end up just getting something small at the dining hall, and then filling up with stuff from my dorm fridge.

My must have list all year for food in my dorm was Fiber One bars, Light and Fit yogurts, bananas, apples, carrots, edamame, 100 cal packs, natural peanut butter, wheat bread, oatmeal bars, peaches, Smart One/Lean Cuisine steamers, almonds.

I hope I helped, if any! Also...I was a sucker for the desserts at the dining hall. So, I started keeping Skinny Cow, Weight Watchers, and Smart Ones frozen treats in my dorm. They're so good and I still use them!

Haha all great questions. I'm curious to hear what other people say, too. I'm a sophomore in college and still have not perfected my healthy meal/exercise routine yet, but I'm trying every day! Here's what I do:
When I go to the gym (about 3 days a week, usually), I do the elliptical machine OR stair-master. Usually I do about 45 minutes of that. Then I do some weight machines--hip abducter, adducter, tricep extension, overhead press, and some free weights (like 5lbs raising them out to the side for a few sets). Then I usually get a mat and do bicycle crunches, a few 1 minute planks, stretching, and maybe some other ab exercises if i'm feeling ambitions. That usually ends up being a little over an hour in total.

On days I don't get to the gym, I'm either at a horseback riding lesson or yoga class (both off campus). You also might want to check and see if there are some fitness classes offered in the athletic center where you are. Those can be good sometimes, too!

As far as eating is concerned, I'm a vegan (which prevents me from getting most desserts), and I try to fill up on veggies and salads before I go crazy with whatever vegan meal they're offering, which can often be kind of high-Cal. Oh, and I eat oatmeal for breakfast and snack on apples if I get hungry during the day.

Hope that helps!

Hey, I'm a college student too! It is difficult to be healthy while in college, my first year I gained 50 pounds. Now I have 61 to lose to get back down to my high school weight. I was a big dummy for not keeping track of what I ate the first year and not exercising. Anyway, something that you could do is a work out program like p90x. Some people think this program is too expensive, but it is so worth the money. If you live in a dorm room, it will be hard to work out space wise. If they have dvd players in the gym you could do the work outs there. Otherwise an hour sounds like a good work out. Just make sure your heart rate is really up and you're really working! Also, instead of working out every other day, i'd recommend working out 5 days a week in a row and then taking the weekend off. With my school's cafeteria there is probably 85% of bad,greasy, fried, sugary, salty, and fatty foods to eat. The only things I usually eat there are a big salad with boiled eggs, shredded chicken, lots of veggies, and some low-fat salad dressing, sandwiches - tuna, deli meat and cheese, chicken salad, or egg salad, and on whole wheat bread, fruit - bananas, apples, oranges, low fat cheese sticks and sometimes a grilled chicken sandwich. I don't know how your school meal plan is, but that's about all the types of healthy foods mine has available. I usually eat really healthy throughout the week and then cheat a little on the weekend. So far it has been working, i've lost about 10 pounds but have a long way to go. Good luck to you! Hope I helped at least a little.

What about doing a workout video in your room instead of spending so long in the gym? Lots of people have great results with P90X-type programs. I haven't tried it, but it's on my to-do list.

OK, college was a while ago for me, but it's when I was in the best shape, so I'll tell you what I did.

First off, get the minimum meal plan the administration will let you get away with. I had a ten meal a week plan with some discretionary money for a la carte food purchases.

Hit up the salad bar a lot, and add a protein, preferably one without sauce or gravy. Try to eat less of the starchy dishes they serve (starches are cheap, so they use them a lot). Load up on vegetables, and limit your trips to the soda fountain.

More importantly, find some friends to play with. You're in a great group of young people with disposable time to play games like soccer or ultimate or volleyball or whatever. Use your gym -- I bet you have free access to a pool and racquetball / squash courts. Buy a bike, or borrow one.

Lastly, always check the spoons in the cafeteria. Yes, the spoons. See, if they're out of spoons, it's because dinner sucks and everybody's eating cereal for dinner.