Avoiding the “Freshman 15” in College

First off, I just have to share with you that on my way home from work today, I stopped to get a little treat for myself!  It didn’t cost me anything either…even better!  Any guesses on what it is??

Goodies from Sephora!  I had a gift card and needed a couple new make up brushes.  Holy cow, I forgot how much my make up brushes cost!  Thank goodness for gift cards!  (Cody was thankful for my gift card too. 😉 )

I got an email today from my cousin, who is a sophomore in college this year, asking about some questions regarding healthy eating and exercising while she’s at college.  She wanted to know what I did in college to maintain a healthy lifestyle without missing out on all the fun.  I told her that her question would be a good blog post idea, so here it is!  Isn’t she beautiful, by the way?

College is a phase of life that you can have the craziest of times schedules, so it’s often hard to incorporate a “workout schedule”, let alone eating regular meals.  However, if not gaining the “freshman 15” is a priority to you, you’ll need to make some boundaries for yourself.  Many new college students will gain the freshman 15 from a variety of reasons: drinking, all-you-can-eat cafeterias, midnight munchies, 2 AM fast food runs, not being as active, etc.  I promise that there are ways around all of this freshman 15 nonsense though! 

When I went off to college, I was overly paranoid about gaining the freshman 15.  In fact, my freshman year of college, I even lost some weight because I was extra particular about eating right and exercising.  I didn’t necessarily need to lose weight, but I am glad I didn’t gain any! 

Here are some tips/ideas to avoid the “freshman 15” in college:

• Try to avoid what I call the “midnight munchies.”  I did this by trying to get to bed at a decent time throughout the week so I wouldn’t be awake to get hungry late at night.  Some nights (the weekends) it was inevitable, but I just tried to make wise choices about what I ate if I got hungry late at night. 
• My friends loved going out to eat.  I allowed myself one meal each week to go out.  Eating out can cost you a lot…in money and calories.  I just made sure I chose my “dining out meal” wisely!

• I ate one big salad a day, usually for my lunch or dinner.  I lived in the dorms my freshman year, so I ate in the cafeteria most days for lunch and dinner.  They had a huge salad bar that I took full advantage of.  I usually avoided the “main dish” that was so-called “food” that was sitting under a heat lamp for who knows long.  I also was a regular at the sandwich bar and made tons of deli and peanut butter/banana sandwiches. 
• I always had my purse/backpack stocked with some healthy snacks such as granola bars, fruit, carrots, pretzels, or crackers.  College schedules are crazy between classes and work, so eating regularly can be difficult.  Make sure you’re eating something (preferrably healthy) every 3-4 hours to keep your mind and body working efficiently.
• My friends and I loved our frozen yogurt (still do!), and in California, frozen yogurt places frequent the streets.  Sometimes I just had to say “no” because otherwise I would’ve (and easily could have) had frozen yogurt every single day (or even multiple times a day!).  That’s with anything else too, sometimes you just have to say “no”.

 

• I didn’t drink a whole lot in college, and when I did, I kept it to a minimum.  “Binge drinking” can be one of the worst habits for your health in college.  Limit yourself! 
• I tried to surround myself with friends that desired to be healthy too.  I went to the gym with one of my roommates regularly and ran around the track at our school consistently with another friend.  We all tried to remain active by going to the beach, doing intramural sports, playing volleyball, and regularly exercising.   

This post was so much fun to write.  It brought back some great memories from college.  I miss my friends so much!  If you have any other questions about how to keep a healthy lifestyle in college, please don’t hesitate to email me or comment below!  I hope this helps whether you’re in college or out of college. 

Questions of the Evening:

• How do/did you keep a healthy lifestyle in college?  Or didn’t you?
• What are some of your best college memories?

SORE and Just Not Feelin’ It

This morning my alarm clock went off (way too early) so I could get up for my morning run.  As I reached over to hit the snooze button, I think I said “OW” about twenty times.  Apparently the BodyPump Style Workout I did yesterday did some work!  I actually love the feeling of being sore.  It makes me feel accomplished, like I worked hard, like I did something good for my body.  However, I don’t always love the feeling first thing in the morning when I wake up and I’m as stiff as a board.  Regardless, I got out of bed, about ten times slower than I usually do, and started tried to get moving.  I brushed my teeth, put my contacts in, fed the dogs, etc. and started to feel a little less stiff as I started moving.  The thought of running was not exactly exciting to me at that point, but I knew I needed to do it.  I knew I needed to do it especially because I was sore.  

So many people will skip their workout or take a day off from exercising because they are really sore from a workout the day before, but that’s probably the worst thing you could do for yourself and your muscles.  Even though you might feel really stiff at first, you’ll loosen up as you go on, and you’ll feel much better by the end of it.  If you feel like you need to tone down your workout for the day since you’re so sore, that’s totally okay, but don’t skip it!

Here are some things you can do to help when you’re feeling sore:

• MOVE!  Walk, jog, elliptical, bike…something, but don’t sit or do nothing.  Your muscles need to stretch out and warm up, and you won’t do that by sitting.
• Stretch (after you move).  Do some light cardio and then stretch.  You want your muscles to be warmed up a bit before you start any sort of static stretching. 
• Don’t push it too hard.  Although I do say you need to move and not skip a workout, you should not overdo it.  Overdoing it can result in pulled muscles. (ouch!) 

So I got dressed and headed out the door with the best running partner ever.  Isn’t he just so cute??

The weather was cool and crisp and clear… perfect running weather in my opinion.  As we left my mind was excited when I thought about our run, but my body was just not feelin’ it this morning!  My legs felt heavy, and my normal 3-mile run felt like it was twice as long.  Ugh, I hate runs like that!  I was sure glad when we finished.  We got through it though, and it did feel quite good to feel accomplished even though the whole run was no fun.  I guess we all have those “no fun run days” though, right?  😉  I came home to a nice big glass of ice water and some peanut butter and sliced banana on wheat toast (one of the most perfect combos of foods if you ask me!).  Now I’m off to tackle the day! 

Questions of the Morning:

• Do you ever have days when you’re just not feelin’ it?  How do you deal with it?
• What do you do to help your muscles recover when they are sore?